• Student Focus:  All students will have access to a challenging, fulfilling and effective learning experience aligned to college and career readiness through opportunities that foster creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication and citizenship.

• Health and Safety:  The district will support and sustain a safe, nurturing, respectful environment where staff, students and community members are supported emotionally, physically and academically.

• Engaged Community:  The Edwards-Knox Central School District will continue to encourage the school community to contribute in the growth and development of our students through open and honest communication and collaborative partnerships.

• Fiscal Responsibility:  The district is committed to fiscal stability through transparent budgeting, securing available sources of funding that supports our academic goals and that reflect our community’s values. 

Public Participation Protocol During Board Meetings

The Board desires community members of the district to attend its sessions so that they may become better acquainted with the operation and programs of the schools and that the Board may have the opportunity to hear the wishes and ideas of the public.

In order to assure that individuals wishing to appear before the Board may be heard and at the same time conduct its meetings properly and efficiently, the Board has adopted the following procedures and rules pertaining to public participation.

• Individuals wishing to address the Board are asked to sign up in advance of the meeting or prior to the beginning of the meeting, giving their name, address, and topic to be discussed, to the district clerk. Names will be placed on a Speaker’s List and the speakers will be called in the order signed up. Speakers will be limited to five minutes. Open session will not exceed a total of thirty minutes without the Board’s discretion to allow more time.

• The BOE will designate a time-keeper and parliamentarian for each meeting.

• Speakers may offer such objective criticisms of school operations and programs as concern them. In Public session, the Board will not hear complaints of school personnel nor against any person connected with the school system.

• Any individual may request to address the Board in executive session if the individual wishes to register a complaint against school personnel or any person connected to the school system. Such requests must be in writing to the District Clerk by 3:00 P.M. on the Wednesday, prior to the Board Meeting.

• Personal attacks by anyone in attendance at the Board Meeting are unacceptable. Persons engaging in such attacks will be required to leave the Board Meeting immediately.

• It should be noted that Board of Education meetings are open to the public; however, they are not considered public forums. Undue interruptions or other interference with the orderly conduct of Board of Education business cannot be allowed. Only the speaker recognized by the President has the authority to speak.

• The Board vests in its president, or other presiding officer, authority to terminate the remarks of any individual when they do not adhere to the rules established above. The presiding officer may terminate the speaker’s privilege to speak, if, after being called to order, the speaker persists in improper conduct or remarks.