School Board Peppered With Questions for 2-Plus Hours

Most of the Gloucester Township school board's three-hour meeting Monday was taken up by a discussion on discussions—specifically, how the board and public have interacted lately.

The school board fielded questions for more than two hours, and it mostly revolved around the behavior of the public and the board during public comment. The board has two public comment portions in its meetings, in the beginning on agenda items only and in the end on any topic.

The board's last meeting in June featured an angry exchange between a woman questioning board solicitor John Wade about Open Public Meeting Act reporting requirements. The exchange grew heated and board President William Collins intervened.

"She said we were being rude and I said she was being rude," Collins said on Monday after a far more civil meeting.

The board inserted a paragraph into its procedure instructions for public comment that said:

"Individuals offering citizen comment are not permitted to make personal attacks on any district employee, board member, other testifier or member of the public."

It also instituted a five-minute time limit for comments. Collins said the instructions about personal attacks and the time limit were clarifications of existing policies and not new.

Joanne McDonald, a township resident who attended the meeting, spoke for several five-minute comments during the meeting and challenged the board.

"I'd like you, the board, to be held to this policy about personal attacks, as well," she said.

The board also approved appropriations for thousands of dollars of equipment and services, including: $300,000 for new text books; $90,900 for "GTBOE Maintenance;" $73,000 for 90 Dell computers; $86,803 for an additional 62 laptop computers.

The text books were for grades three, four and five. New books for kindergarten, first and second grade are scheduled next year.