File: BEDG - MINUTES

The minutes of a School Committee meeting constitute the written record of Committee actions; they are legal evidence of what the action was.  Therefore, the Clerk of the School Committee will be responsible for reporting in the minutes all actions taken by the Committee.

Minutes will include:

1.  a statement on the nature of the meeting (regular or special), indicating the time and the place.

2.  names of the members present or absent, indicating arrival and departure times.

3.  a complete record of official actions taken by the Committee relative to the Superintendent's recommendations, communications, and all business transacted. Motions and votes will be recorded in their exact wording, accompanied by the names of members moving and seconding them.  Reports and documents related to a formal motion may be referred to by subject and date.

4.  notation of formal adjournment.

Copies of the minutes will be sent to all Committee members at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting at which the minutes are to be approved.

The approved minutes will become permanent records of the Committee. Minutes of public meetings and minutes of Executive Sessions, that have been declassified, will be in the custody of the Clerk of the School Committee who will make them available to interested citizens upon request.

Specific comments and/or discussion should only be included in the minutes as a result of a vote of the Committee.  The minutes are not a transcript of the meeting.  Audio and/or videotapes of meetings may serve the purpose of preserving a record of discussions. They do not, however, have to be reflected in the minutes.

LEGAL REFS.:  M.G.L. 30A:22; 66:10

CROSS REF.:  KDB, Public´s Right to Know