LAUSD Board Moves to Cut Public Speaking Time

“We are looking at our Board rules soon to make sure that we can hear all voices. Time of meetings and all things I think are valid concerns.”

- LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin

After working behind closed doors and without public input, Los Angeles Unified Schools District (LAUSD) Board member Nick Melvoin’s Rules “Committee” has submitted their recommended changes to the full Board of Education. While Melvoin had suggested that this committee was “a good place…to look at” expanding access of Board meetings for parents, students, and teachers, the changes suggested do not address the “time of meetings…location…wait times…equity on sides of an issue,” or any of the other issues outlined in the “Board Meeting Accessibility to the Public” resolution that was presented to the Board last September. Instead, the committee proposes that the time allotted for each speaker be reduced from three to two minutes, a change that had not been asked for.