Dayton Public Schools maintains its board agenda and associated documentation on BoardDocs. Agendas are available for public review no less than 48-hours before the scheduled meeting.

The board agenda primarily consists of reports from the superintendent and his/her staff and items requiring board approval, e.g., contracts, staff changes/appointments, resolutions, and purchase orders exceeding $50,000. Also, time may be allotted to allow student and staff recognitions and presentations, hearings by pre-selected groups, and public input. The board president presides over the meeting, public hearings, policy discussions, and/or presentations indicated on the agenda.

• Complete a request form before the hearing of the public.
• When called upon, identify yourself and state your reason for addressing the Board.
• Address the Board as a whole through the President, and not Board members, individually.
• Materials for distribution to the Board are handed to the Treasurer.
• Limit remarks to three (3) minutes. The President has the discretion to extend the time. When your time is up, you are to stop speaking.
• It is inappropriate to address any matter involving pending disputes, grievances under a labor agreement, disciplinary action involving an employee or a student, ongoing labor negotiations, concerns or matters that have already been settled, and/or any matter which, because of its nature, is deemed appropriate to be discussed in executive session.
• The purpose of the public hearing portion of the meeting is for public members to express viewpoints and public concerns.
• A copy of these procedures is made available at each Board meeting.
• At its discretion, the board strives to respond promptly to viewpoints presented during the hearing of the public.

For more information, please view the following board policies:

• BDDH
• BDDH-R
• BDDH-E

Officially, there are only two types of meetings: regular and special. For the sake of clarity, however, the Dayton Board of Education assigns names to all of its regularly scheduled meetings.

Organizational Meeting

The Board is required to hold an organizational meeting no later than January 15 of each year. The primary purpose of this meeting is to elect members to serve as president and vice president. The Dayton Board of Education also uses this meeting to establish regular meeting dates for the year, approve membership in the Ohio  School Boards Association, establish the service fund (the Board’s budget), and to approve a resolution for the advance payment of taxes (as needed). 

Ohio Revised Code sets the service fund for a public school district  at a rate of “two dollars for each child enrolled in the district or  twenty thousand dollars.” Regardless of enrollment, the service fund cannot exceed sixty thousand dollars. (ORC 3315.15) 

Review Session

Each month, the Board is asked to approve recommendations from the superintendent and/or treasurer regarding issues such as staffing, contracts, major purchases, and curriculum. To allow the members an opportunity to gain information that will aid in their decision-making, a review session is held approximately five days before each Business Meeting. 

Members are provided with a complete list of recommendations from both the superintendent and treasurer, and during the review session, they may question the superintendent, treasurer, or members of the superintendent’s cabinet about the details of any of the recommendations.

Board Retreat

The Board holds a retreat four times a year with the dates being specifically chosen to coincide with four major topics: first-quarter metrics/Strategic plan (January); five-year forecast  (March); superintendent and treasurer evaluations (June) and release of the district report card (September). 

Retreats are held on the fourth Saturday of the month. If time allows, retreats are also used as an opportunity for board member training and development.

Special Meeting

A meeting is labeled a “special meeting” if it is called after the meetings for the year have been established and publicized at the  Organizational Meeting.  

“A special meeting…may be called by the president or treasurer thereof or by any two members, by serving a written notice of the time and place of such meeting upon each member of the board at least two days prior to the date of such meeting. Such notice  must be signed by the official or members calling the meeting.”  (ORC 3313.16) The media must be given notice 24 hours prior to holding any special meeting, with the exception of emergency meetings in which case notice must be provided as soon as possible.

Emergency Meeting

Emergency meetings are called when a matter of urgent necessity must be decided and there is not enough time to allow for the 48- hour notice to members, or the 24-hour notice to the media. An example of a reason to hold an emergency meeting would be if a  boiler were to suddenly break down in a school building and need replacing. The board could then call an emergency meeting to authorize payment. 

Executive Sessions

Ohio Sunshine Law allows the board to move into executive session to discuss matters deemed private. These matters are established by Ohio Revised Code, and examples include, but are not limited to, hiring/firing of an employee, purchase and/or sale of real estate, conference with an attorney, and labor negotiations. The public can attend a board meeting when it enters the executive session and may re-join the meeting once the executive session has ended. At its discretion, the board may invite other individuals to join the executive session if their presence is deemed necessary. The Board will always open and close meetings in public session, and no formal action (i.e., vote) is taken by the Board while in executive session).

1. Consideration of the appointment, employment, dismissal,  discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of an  employee, student, or school official, and/or to investigate  charges of complaints against any such person, unless the  person in question requests a public hearing (when an  executive session is held under this provision, the motion and  vote must state which one or more of these purposes is  involved but need not state the name of any person to be  considered); 
2. Consideration of the purchase of property for public purposes,  or sale of property at competitive bidding, but only if premature disclosure of the information would give an unfair  competitive or bargaining advantage to a person whose  personal, private interest is adverse to the general public  interest; 
3. Conferences with an attorney involving pending or imminent  court action; 
4. Preparing for, conducting, or reviewing negotiations with  employees regarding their compensation or other terms and  conditions of their employment; 
5. Matters required to be kept confidential by state or federal law  and/or; 
6. Specialized to details of security arrangements. 

The Board is not permitted to take any official action (vote) during an executive session. Likewise, minutes are not to be taken.

REPORTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT

The superintendent routinely updates the Board on information about district operations. These reports generally focus on academic updates, evaluation of programs, and department updates. Additionally, the superintendent, at his/her discretion, may invite an outside entity to make a presentation before the Board.

REPORTS OF THE TREASURER

As the board's chief fiscal officer, the treasurer will make regular presentations to the Board related to the district’s finances, budgets, revenue, and expenditures.