School boards navigate open meeting laws during closures

With group gatherings currently not allowed because of the coronavirus, school boards across the country have been transitioning public meetings to virtual platforms. But if they don’t have a plan for allowing public comments, are they at risk of violating open meeting laws?

Such laws vary from state to state, and not all specify whether members of the public have a right to address public officials. But some do. In California, for example, citizens have a right to attend — or in today’s reality — view the meeting and to “directly address each agenda item under consideration by the body either before or during the body’s discussion,” according to the state statute.

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