March 18, 2020 – An executive order by Governor JB Pritzker is suspending quorum requirements of the Open Meetings Act. But the suspension only suspends the requirement that the quorum be physical.
Requirements are still in place regarding the notice requirements of the Act. Public bodies still have to give 48 hours of any meetings, and still need to post notices and agendas, at the location of the meeting and on websites.
The Governor also did not suspend the requirement that the meeting be open to the public and to the press or the requirement that the public be allowed to address the board.
This can create challenges for public bodies subject to the open meetings act as they work to govern responsibly during the COVID-19 outbreak. NowDecatur has reached out to the City of Decatur, the Decatur Public School’s Board of Education, the Macon County Board and The Decatur Park Board to ask about their protocols during this time to ensure that meetings stay “Open”.
Many public bodies are still planning to meet in person and are practicing “social distancing” and taking all precautions until Attorney General Kwame Raoul issues official guidelines. Those guidelines are expected in the coming days. Some public bodies, whose work is not critical at this point in time during the COVID-19 are postponing meetings as allowed by law until the beginning of April.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, the council attempted to practice social distancing by spacing members of the council and taping off seating areas to try to ensure citizen’s were not seated together. Some citizens did not comply with the request.
The Decatur Park District proceeded with it’s regularly scheduled meeting Thursday and allowed board members to participate by phone. Staff attendance at the meeting was also significantly reduced to practice appropriate social distancing. To allow for the public to participate, the public could call in on a conference ID.
The Decatur Public Schools board of Education will hold its regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, with open session beginning at 6:30 p.m. The following is a statement from the School Board:
The content of the meeting is being limited to only essential agenda items that the board must approve to keep District business moving forward; there will be no presentations or lengthy reports. However, due to precautions to protect public health and safety, the board meeting will be closed to the public.
To align with current federal recommendations for gatherings, in-person attendance at the board meeting will be limited to 10 people. Some board members and members of the DPS administration will participate in the meeting by phone or videoconference. Because of audio/visual limitations as a result of this virtual attendance, we will not be able to live-stream the board meeting as it’s happening on Facebook Live or Channel 22. However, a video recording of the meeting will be posted at www.dps61.org within 24 hours of the board meeting.
We are accepting public comments, which will be read into the public record during the board meeting. If you’d like to submit a comment electronically to be read, please email it to WeListen@dps61.org no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23, 2020.
You can also submit handwritten comments to be read during the board meeting. Please drop them off at the Keil Building, through the mail slot in door D (on the west side of the building from the main entrance), again no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23. For all comments — you must include your name and we request that you limit your comment to approximately three-minutes of content to be read. We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue working to protect the health and safety of our community.
