Trustees May Shave Speakers’ Time Limits

Residents who want to address the school board at its meetings will have to finish their thoughts in three minutes rather than five under a proposal to be considered by trustees Tuesday.

Santa Ana Unified School District trustee Rosemarie Avila said the proposal is meant to shorten the meetings, which begin at 7 p.m. and regularly last until close to midnight.

“We’ve been concerned that the meetings have gone too long,” she said.

But relatively little time--typically about 15 minutes--is taken up by public speakers, said Kathi Jo Brunning, president of the Santa Ana Council of PTAs. She was critical of the proposal.

The trustees “serve the community,” said Brunning, who frequently addresses the school board. “So why would they want to limit the input of the people they’re serving?”

Avila acknowledged that trustees could take other measures to shorten the meetings. For example, they often hold closed sessions before meetings and thus do not start on time, she said.

But she stood by the three-minute proposal. “If it’s just an opinion, you can do it in three minutes,” she said. “Sometimes it forces people to focus on the most important issues.”

The three-minute limit would bring the school board in line with the City Council, which limits speakers to three minutes.

The school board will meet at 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 1601 E. Chestnut Ave. Information: (714) 558-5555.