What to know about participating in Northland school board meetings in 2024

Laws governing school boards in Missouri set baseline requirements, such as mandating that school districts open their meetings to the public unless they’re discussing specific protected topics.

But districts have quite a bit of leeway when they set policies for public comment, livestreaming meetings or providing access to recordings. Those policies can vary from district to district or even year to year.

If you want to learn what your Northland school board is doing, contact members or comment at a meeting, here’s an updated guide to three Northland districts.

To jump to a specific school district, click these links:

• Liberty Public Schools
• North Kansas City Schools
• Park Hill School District

A note about Missouri law

In Missouri, school boards are legally required to let residents add items to their meeting agendas by following this process:

• The item must be related to the district or charter school’s governance or operations.
• The resident must try to resolve the issue by meeting with the superintendent or someone the superintendent designated. The school district can waive this requirement.
• After the meeting, or if no one has met with the resident within 20 days of their written request for a meeting, they can ask the board secretary in writing to add the item to a meeting agenda. The request must be sent at least five business days in advance.
• The board can deny or delay the item if it’s heard a similar item recently or if the resident has broken district conduct rules. It can also postpone the item if there are too many resident-requested items on the agenda.

Many district and charter schools also set up additional ways for residents to contact or publicly address board members.

State law requires board meetings to be open to the public unless the board is discussing specific topics such as legal issues, real estate and private information about students or staff.

Liberty Public Schools

Regular board meetings are typically held at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday, with study sessions at 7 a.m. the first Tuesday of the month. A list of meeting dates is on the district website.

The meetings take place in the Liberty School District Administration Center, 8 Victory Lane, Liberty.

Regular school board meetings — but not the morning study sessions — are livestreamed and archived on the district’s YouTube channel . Meeting agendas and documents are also available online.

The school board allows public comment at each regular business meeting, according to board policy . To participate, fill out a request form and submit it before the meeting starts.

Comments are limited to three minutes per person and should be related to Liberty Public Schools or education. If many people request to comment, the board can limit comments to two minutes and cap the overall comment session at 30 minutes.

Board members can waive or end public participation by majority vote if they feel the meeting is being unnecessarily delayed.

Members of the public can also use the process outlined in state law to request for items to be added to the meeting agenda.

The email address for Denise Aldrich, board of education secretary and custodian of records, is denise.aldrich@lps53.org .

Emails and basic information for board members are on the board home page. Longer bios are on a separate page.

North Kansas City Schools

The school board typically meets at 7 p.m., holding work sessions the second Tuesday and regular meetings the fourth Tuesday of each month during the school year, with some exceptions for holidays and breaks. See the meeting calendar for details.

Most meetings are at the Doolin Center, 1900 N.E. 46th St., Kansas City.

Meetings are livestreamed and recorded on the district’s YouTube channel .

Agendas, minutes and documents are available online.

The school board sets aside up to half an hour for public comment at the beginning of each regular board meeting. Commenters can use an online request form before noon the day of a board meeting to request to speak or can make a request at the meeting by filling out a card.

To speak on an agenda item during the business portion of the meeting, contact the board secretary and submit a request form at least five days in advance.

Members of the public can also use the process outlined in state law to request for items to be added to the meeting agenda.

The district’s board clerk, Peggy Cole, is reachable at peggy.cole@nkcschools.org or 816-321-4361.

Basic information about board members, including emails and committee assignments, is on the website .

Park Hill School District

The school board typically meets twice a month at 6:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays at 7703 N.W. Barry Road, Kansas City. A full list of meeting dates is available online .

Videos of previous board meetings are on the district’s YouTube channel . The district website says upcoming livestreams are available at this YouTube link .

Board agendas are available online .

The district sends out an emailed summary of the meetings called First Hand. Sign up here .

The board allows up to seven people to make a public comment lasting three minutes or less during regular meetings.

People wishing to comment can sign up using this form by noon the day of the meeting. The form opens 48 hours before the deadline.

For more information, contact Opal Hibbs, secretary to the superintendent and the board, at 816-359-4050 or hibbso@parkhill.k12.mo.us .

Members of the public can also use the process outlined in state law to request for items to be added to the meeting agenda.

Basic board member info and email addresses are available online .

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