Wren Abbott
Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez, left, SFPS Board President Barbara Gudwin and Board Vice President Glenn Wikle listen to discussion on a motion to "audit" student achievement data Gutierrez presented to the board.
There will be a "first reading" of several different potential public comment policies at the regular Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education meeting tonight.---
SFPS counsel Tony Ortiz, BoE VP Glenn Wikle and BoE Secretary Linda Trujillo have now all submitted proposed policies. The action is a response to an incident in June when an SFPS parent was gaveled down after she brought up a problem with misleading data that was used in evaluation of current SFPS Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez. The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government contacted SFPS with concerns about the incident, recommending a comment policy that doesn't attempt to restrict comment topics.
Ortiz has continued to contend that the parent's silencing was appropriate and lawful, and his proposed comment policy restricts the public from making complaints about district personnel. Should speakers not heed that restriction, the board would reserve the right to unplug their microphone, as happened in June, or even to interrupt the web streaming video recorded of the event, and could even "contact authorities," the draft policy states.
Ortiz' policy also restricts speakers from "detract[ing] from the decorum" of the meeting.
There is also a presentation tonight on SFPS' Annual Yearly Progress testing results, beginning at 3:30 pm. The regular meeting begins at 5:30 pm at 610 Alta Vista St; the public comment policy is one of just two action items.
