The Wake
County Board of Education shall follow the rules of order set forth below: A.
Order of Business 1.
Items shall be placed on the
agenda according to the order of business.
The order of business
for each regular meeting shall include but not be limited to the following: a. Call
to order and determination of a quorum b. Pledge
of Allegiance c.
Comments by Board Chair and Superintendent d. Discussion/Approval
of Agenda e.
Information items f. Public comments g. Consent
and Action Items h.
Recognition i. Closed session
(as needed) j.
Adjournment 2. The order of business will be set by the Chair and subject to adoption
by the Board with a majority vote at the beginning of each meeting. 3. If
the Board conducts a public hearing on an issue the Chair may prohibit public
comment on that issue at a regular Board meeting. B.
Role of the Board Chair 1. The Chair shall preside at Board
meetings. 2. To
address the Board, a member must be recognized by the Chair. 3. Rule motions in or out of order, including
the right to rule out of order any motions patently offered for obstructive
or dilatory purposes. 4. Determine whether a speaker has gone beyond
reasonable standards of courtesy in her/his remarks and to entertain and rule
on objections from other members on this ground. 5. Entertain
and answer questions of parliamentary law or procedure. 6. Call
a brief recess at any time. 7. Refer
any item on the agenda to committee prior to Board consideration. 8. Adjourn
in an emergency. 9. The Chair shall preside at Board meetings
unless she/he becomes actively engaged in debate on a particular proposal in
which case she/he may designate the vice chair to preside over the
debate. The Chair shall resume the
duty to preside as soon as she/he has spoken on the matter. C. Motions 1.
The Board shall proceed by
motion. 2. Any
Board member, except the presiding officer, may make a motion. 3. A
motion must be seconded. 4. A
member may make only one motion at a time. 5. A
substantive motion is out of order while another substantive motion is
pending. 6. A motion shall be adopted by a majority of
the votes cast, a quorum being present, unless otherwise required by these
rules, the laws of 7. A motion that is defeated may be renewed at
any subsequent meeting unless a motion to prevent reconsideration has been
adopted. D. Debate 1. The Chair shall state the motion and then
open the floor to debate on it. 2. The
Chair shall preside over the debate according to the following general
principles. a.
The introducer is entitled to speak first. b. A member who has not spoken on the issue shall be
recognized before someone who has already spoken. c. To the extent possible, the debate shall alternate
between opponents and proponents of the measure. E. Procedural Motions In addition to substantive
proposals, the following procedural motions and no others shall be in
order. Unless otherwise noted, each
motion is debatable, may be amended, and requires a majority vote for
adoption. In order of priority (if applicable), the procedural
motions are as follows: 1. To Adjourn.
The motion to adjourn may be made at any time. It may interrupt
deliberation of a pending matter, may not be amended, and is not debatable. 2. To Take A Recess. The motion to take a recess may be made at
any time, must include the length of time of the recess, may interrupt
deliberation of a pending matter, may not be amended, and is not debatable. 3. Call to Follow the Agenda. The motion to call to follow the agenda
must be made at the first reasonable opportunity or it is waived, may
interrupt a speaker, is not debatable, and may not be amended. 4. Rulings of the Chair. The motion to appeal the rulings of the Chair
must be made at the first reasonable opportunity or it is waived, and the
motion may not be amended. 5. To Suspend the Rules or Board Policy. For
adoption, the motion requires a two-thirds
(2/3) vote of members present, but in no case may the rules be suspended by
the affirmative vote of less than the number required for a quorum (minimum
5). 6. To
Amend an Agenda. 7. To
Divide a Complex Motion and Consider It by Paragraph. 8. To Defer Consideration. Consideration of a substantive motion that
has been deferred expires one hundred (100) days thereafter unless a motion
to revive consideration is adopted. 9. Call of the Previous Question. The motion is not in order until every
member has had an opportunity to speak. 10. To Postpone to
a Certain Time of Day. 11. To Refer to a
Committee. Sixty days (60) after a
motion has been referred to a committee, the introducer may compel
consideration of the measure by the entire Board, regardless of whether the
committee has reported the matter back to the Board. 12. To Amend. An amendment to a motion must be pertinent
to the subject matter of the motion, but it may achieve the opposite of the
motion’s intent. The motion may be
amended, but no further amendments may be made. 13. To Revive
Consideration. The motion is in order
at any time for one hundred (100) days after a vote to defer
consideration. A substantive motion
whose consideration has been deferred expires one hundred (100) days thereafter
unless a motion to revive consideration is adopted. 14. To
Reconsider. The motion must be made by
a member who voted with the prevailing side.
It must be made at the same meeting as the vote was taken. It may not interrupt deliberation on a
pending matter but is in order at any time before actual adjournment. 15. To Rescind or
Repeal. This motion requires a
two-thirds vote. 16. To Ratify. 17. To Prevent
Reconsideration for Six (6) Months.
The motion is in order immediately following the defeat of a
substantive motion and at no other time.
For adoption, the motion must receive a vote equal to the number
required for a quorum. It is valid for
six (6) months or until a new Board member is appointed, whichever occurs
first. F. Voting 1. Every member of the Board must vote unless
excused by the majority vote of the remaining members. 2. Failure to vote by a member who is
physically present and not excused from voting on the motion shall be
recorded as an affirmative vote. 3. The presiding officer shall have no
authority to vote except to break a tie. 4. Proxy
voting by Board members is not permitted. 5.
Board members must be present
at a meeting to participate in voting. An exception to this rule may be made
only under the following circumstances: a. the member is absent due to a
serious, ongoing illness or family emergency, or b. the member is absent due to other
extenuating circumstances deemed sufficient by a two-thirds vote of the
Board, and c. the member notifies the Board Chair
of the desire to participate under this exception at least four (4) hours
prior to the meeting, and d. the member is simultaneously present by
electronic means for public comment and Board discussion on the agenda
item(s) (e.g., conference call) prior to voting. G. Closed Session 1. The Board may hold closed sessions as
provided by General Statute 143-318.11.
2. The Board shall commence closed session by
majority vote to do so and end it in the same manner. H. Quorum 1. A majority of the actual membership of the Board,
excluding vacant seats, shall constitute a quorum. 2. A member who has withdrawn from a meeting
without being excused by majority vote of the remaining members present shall
be counted as present for purposes of determining whether a quorum is
present.
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