School Committee approves open mic

LYNN – Parents and students will have a say when it comes to future issues facing the Lynn School Committee as the board voted Thursday to allow a 15-minute public comment session prior to the start of regularly scheduled meetings.The issue of adding an open microphone session to the meetings has been one of much debate among committee members recently, and even sparked Mayor and School Committee Chairman Edward J. Clancy Jr. to suggest televising the meetings in an effort to become more visible to parents last month.First-term committee member Maria Carrasco has been looking to give parents more of a voice for months, after seeing no one show up to the public comment portion of fiscal 2009 budget negotiations. Carrasco believes the School Committee agenda silenced those who were upset about layoffs and school closings, because they could not speak to committee members during the meeting.Carrasco originally requested that a public comment section be added to the weekly agenda, but later agreed that holding the open microphone prior to the meeting was a better idea.The Lynn School Committee has experimented with public comment time in the past, but veteran board members say interest was minimal at the time, suggesting that parents who wish to speak should call ahead so the committee as a whole could meet to hear the issues.The idea of televised meetings and call-ahead commenting did not take off, but committee members did eventually agree that giving the public 15 minutes prior to the meeting could be a productive addition to the process. The board voted unanimously to approve the change Thursday night.”We need this so people can be able to express any ideas they may have to us prior to the meetings,” said Carrasco.The committee agreed to allow any parent with students in the school system to speak, a change from the original plan to allow only registered voters to appear before the elected board.Carrasco argued that the majority of families in Lynn school system, many of whom are immigrants, have members who are not registered to vote but still have a vested interest in the decisions of the School Committee.In addition, the committee agreed to lower the required age of speakers from 18 to 14, if a parent accompanies them.”Many of the parents even though they are not registered to vote should still be able to speak because they have children in the school and they pay taxes,” Carrasco said. “I think if you have children in the school and you pay taxes – that is enough – you should be given a voice.”Public comment will begin prior to the next scheduled meeting Nov. 14, and continue throughout what promises to be a busy school year.Along with negotiating a budget, that will no doubt be affected by the slumping economy, the committee will also chose a new superintendent and vote to approve several administrative hires in the coming months.Interviews for the superintendent position are open to the public and will begin in December, after a screening committee reviews resumes submitted during the job-posting period.