School Board time limit scrutinized

Teresa Hinds

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Anyone who has attended a Clark County School Board meeting is familiar with the command, "Please sum up."

For the uninitiated, it's School Board President Larry Mason's way of telling speakers their time is up.

Everyone who addresses the School Board during the time set aside for public testimony is given two minutes. When the time is up, a buzzer sounds. Some find it obnoxious and obtrusive, while others see it as a way to control unwieldy speakers.

While most speakers abide by the two-minute rule, there are those who refuse to leave the microphone until they have finished, no matter how long it takes.

That scenario played out twice at last Tuesday's School Board meeting, and both times Mason called a recess to diffuse the tension.

Representatives from the group Westside Action Alliance Korps-Uplifting People were at the meeting hoping to persuade the School Board to vote in favor of converting Advanced Technologies Academy, a science and technology magnet school, into a full-fledged high school that would serve the West Las Vegas community.

When the two-minute buzzer sounded and Mason asked speakers Deborah Jackson and the group's president, Marzette Lewis, to "Please sum up," they refused. Mason called a 25-minute recess when Jackson refused to stop speaking and a 15-minute recess when Lewis refused to stop. Lewis was allowed to continue speaking after the recess.

"I think I was right on, as far as the recesses were concerned, to take care of the problems," Mason said. "I think I handled it in the best way possible."

But one parent who attended the meeting, Betty Johnson, doesn't agree.

Referring to the disruption members of WAAK-UP caused during other speakers' time and refusing to relinquish the microphone, Johnson said: "If I sat there and did that, (the School Board) would remove me."

In fact, that option was considered at Tuesday's meeting, according to Superintendent Brian Cram.

"When Mr. Mason took a recess he had discussed with staff what we needed to do," Cram said. "If the inappropriate behavior continued, we would escort them out."

The "we" included uniformed school police, who had a visual presence at the meeting. According to Mason, school police are always in attendance at School Board meetings, but usually are in plain clothes.

Mason does not expect to have uniformed officers at the Sept. 10 meeting. "Why create anything more than what it is?" Mason said. "Why make a mountain out of a mole hill?"

Johnson said by allowing Lewis and Jackson to disrupt the meeting, the message sent to the public is that the only way to "get anything done in this district is to sit on the podium, threaten people and threaten the board."

"The board is basically in fear of her," Johnson said of Lewis. "She can terrorize the School Board and get what she wants."

The threats Johnson was referring to include a statement made by Lewis warning white parents not to send their "little angels to school tomorrow, because there will be trouble in paradise."

Lewis threatened to take over ATA, and school police were at the magnet campus Wednesday morning in case of trouble. Lewis did not follow through with her threat.

At one point, Johnson said she felt as if Lewis was personally threatening her and the safety of her child.

But Lewis said she never intended for harm to come to any children, black or white.

"I just wanted to scare up some people," Lewis said. "We're not going to try and hurt or harm anybody's child. I wouldn't do that because I don't want that to happen to my child.

"I wanted them (white parents) to feel threatened. I wanted them to feel like we feel."

But at the same time, Lewis said this is not a racial issue.

"This is not a black and white thing. We can unite. We have to find a way to come together on common ground."

Extending the two-minute limit to at least five minutes is something Lewis favors, for several reasons.

First, Lewis said it is difficult to make a proper introduction of yourself, give your name and address and still be able to speak to the issue in just two minutes.

More important, she believes taking as much time as the speaker needs is a taxpayer's right.

"We voted them in," Lewis said. "If the constituents want to come and speak all night long, we should be able to do that. (The School Board) is getting paid to listen to us."

To cut down on the number of speakers, Lewis said Mason should ascertain if there is a designated speaker for a specific issue before public testimony begins.

According to Lewis, many times those who have signed up don't intend to speak; they merely sign up as a show of support. That would have been the case at the last School Board meeting, she said.

"Once I had spoken, there wouldn't have been anyone else that would have gotten up to speak" on the ATA issue, she maintained.

Although Johnson and others objected to the way the School Board handled the situation, Cram pointed out that the board tries to allow people to express opinions even when members do not agree with those opinions.

"They want to encourage a climate that people can participate in the process," Cram said. "In a public meeting, however, there is a standard that indicates you should show proper decorum."

Added Mason, "We are a public entity and the public has a right to voice their opinion. I have no problems with that at all. I just wish in the future people would respect other people's speaking time."

The time-limit issue is something Mason said may come up at the School Board's retreat in October.

Before the two-minute rule was instituted, one person was allowed to speak on behalf of several people, and at the same time accumulate their speaking time, Mason said.

That's an argument that comes up at many School Board meetings. It's not unusual, once Mason has asked a speaker to "Please sum up," to hear the speaker lament, "That's not the way it used to be."

The problem with extending the time, Mason said, is, "If you give someone five minutes, they're going to want six or seven."

Many times, as was the case Tuesday, more than 25 people sign up to speak during public testimony.