SIMI VALLEY : School Board Eases Rules for Speakers
Beginning next month, the Simi Valley school board will change a longstanding policy to make it easier for the public to speak at board meetings.
The board of the Simi Valley Unified School District on Tuesday decided to allow latecomers to fill out and hand in speaker cards, which indicate their desire to speak on a particular issue.
Until now, people who wanted to speak had to turn their speaker cards in to the board’s secretary within moments after the 7 p.m. meetings began.
Starting Feb. 1, the cards will be accepted up to the time that the speaker’s agenda item comes up for board discussion.
“This gives people more freedom to address the board,” said board member Doug Crosse. “We came up with a better way.”
Board President Carla Kurachi agreed. “A lot of times, people do watch (meetings) on television at home and decide they want to come down and speak,” Kurachi said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
