Editorial: Don’t filter what these speakers say

Tuesday, July 25, 2000 | 10 a.m.

Clark County School District officials claim that they are trying to be helpful by requiring residents to pre-register more than three hours before they make public comments at School Board meetings. This gives the district's assistant superintendents some time, then, to call the speakers before the meetings with the stated purpose of trying to see if there is a problem they can help them address in advance.

The fact is, though, that these calls not only can intimidate, but they also can discourage public comment. Indeed, as the Sun's Terry Webster reported Monday, more than a year ago the state attorney general's office warned the school district that this advance notice policy was at odds with the spirit and intent of Nevada's open meeting law, which is to encourage public comment at these meetings. For that matter, School Board member Shirley Barber believes this a violation of the open meeting law, and new Superintendent Carlos Garcia also questioned the wisdom of the policy when he was informed about it by the Sun.

School district administrators don't want to be embarrassed in front of their bosses on the School Board, a situation that obviously creates a temptation for them to find out what potentially bad news might be coming their way. But anybody who wants to use the public comment period to speak his or her mind should be allowed to do so -- without any interference by school administrators. The new superintendent should end this intrusive policy and allow individuals to appear before the School Board without first being contacted by school district administrators.