Does the Philly school board’s public comment policy break the law? ACLU, board disagree.

The Philadelphia school board’s new policy limiting public speakers at its meetings violates state law and could expose the district to a lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union says.

In a Feb. 9 letter to the school board, lawyers for the group said they had fielded complaints from district residents about the policy. They stopped short of pledging a lawsuit, but suggested precedents regarding the state’s open meetings law would be in their favor.

“It’s perfectly understandable for the school district to try to get some order and organize meetings and perhaps make them a little less burdensome in some ways, but you can’t do that by rationing people’s participation,” ACLU Pennsylvania deputy legal director Mary Catherine Roper said in an interview. “We value participatory democracy, the board meetings are where decisions are made. It’s where people are entitled to have their voices heard.”

The pushback came after the board last month revamped its commenting policy that previously allowed for an unlimited number of members of the public to speak at meetings. The new policy limited the number of available slots and shortened their allotted time.

Joyce Wilkerson, the board president, has said the intent is actually to amplify new voices; the new procedure gives priority to those who have not spoken recently, and permits unlimited written testimony. But critics of the change — which took effect for the January meeting — were infuriated, saying they felt it was a bid to silence them.

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The shift came as the board shook up how it operates, with a greater focus and more meeting time spent on scrutinizing academics and in the wake of a meeting last summer where opponents of Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.’s reopening plan spent most of an eight-hour session blasting it. Ultimately, Hite pulled the plan off the table, but Wilkerson said those who spoke did not reflect the wishes of the whole community.

“Just relying exclusively on those people who speak out at board meetings has not been as effective as we need it to be to make decisions as a board,” Wilkerson has said.

The shift did not elevate new voices, said Roper, adding that the “Sunshine law is very very clear on this.”

The ACLU got involved after members of the public alarmed by the new policy filed complaints with the organization.

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Roper said she would not rule out a lawsuit challenging the policy. “We were really hoping the board would reconsider its position without more confrontational actions,” said Roper. “I’m not sure that option remains.”

The board said the case law is not germane.

As a result of the new policy, 10 students and 30 other members of the public are permitted to testify. Student slots are already filled for Thursday’s scheduled school board meeting, and a number of people who asked to testify were told they’re on a wait list because they spoke last month, and will only be permitted to speak if no one else signs up.

Lisa Haver, a retired School District teacher and founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, said that organization may legally challenge the board.

“It’s reprehensible,” said Haver. “It shows a contempt for the public, that they’re going to find some way to shut us out.”

City Councilmembers Kendra Brooks, Jamie Gauthier, and Helen Gym, in a letter sent Tuesday, urged the board to reconsider its policy shift, writing that it “restricts public input at a time when community voice, buy-in, and trust is urgently needed.”

The board has an obligation to provide robust public forums, Brooks, Gauthier, and Gym wrote. “Our decisions become stronger, more informed, and are better received as the result of an expansive engagement process,” the said.