Guide to Board Meetings

The superintendent is a professional educator employed by the Board to carry out adopted policies and to be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the schools. The superintendent works with building level administrators who assist with building level responsibilities. The superintendent is not a member of the Board.

The superintendent and the president of the Board prepare the agenda for each Board meeting. This agenda becomes the order of business for the meeting. The agenda for each Board meeting is posted on the school website at https://go.boarddocs.com/in/munster/Board.nsf/Public and at the Administration Center for public information prior to the meeting.

The purpose of Board meetings is to act upon recommendations of the superintendent, adopt the annual budget and tax rates, adopt policies, and authorize the spending of funds. Although any matter may come before the Board, most school-related issues are handled through administrative channels.

Regular Board meetings are scheduled on the second Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the Administration Center. Occasionally, when special meetings are called or when a change in the time or place of a regular Board meeting becomes necessary, the change is announced to the public prior to the meeting. To confirm meeting dates, you may call the Superintendent's Office at 219-836-9111.

All regular Board meetings, special Board meetings, and emergency Board meetings are open to the public. On occasion, closed executive sessions are held for the purpose of discussion of items designated by state statute. No official action may be taken in executive session. All Board action must be taken in public meetings.

Any person requesting special assistance to participate in the School Town of Munster Board of School Trustees meeting should contact: Mrs. Deb Hayes, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent at 219.836.9111 no later than 48 hours prior to the start of the meeting. 

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS - REGARDING CURRENT ACTION ITEMS:

Members of the community who wish to address the Board regarding the current meeting’s action items must submit a request online (click here for a link) or in-person (at the School Town of Munster Administration Center). Each month the Board Meeting agenda will be posted no later than 7:00 pm on the Thursday prior to the regular School Board meeting.   

Online and in person requests to address the Board regarding Current Action Items will be accepted from 7:00 pm on the Thursday prior to the regular School Board meeting until 12:00 pm on the day of the regular School Board meeting.

When registering, speakers will be required to provide their first and last name and the item they plan to address.  To access the action items for this month’s meeting, please click here to view the agenda on BoardDocs.  PLEASE NOTE: Online/in-person registration will close at 12:00 pm CST on the day of the scheduled regular School Board meeting.

There will be a total of 30 minutes allotted for public comment on the current action items. Each registered individual will be limited to 3 minutes. The Board may exercise its discretion in allowing public comment to extend past 30 minutes but is not required to do so.  Any person who did not have an opportunity to speak may sign up to speak at the next regular meeting.

Speaker substitutions are not permitted.  A speaker may not yield their time to another individual before or during their remarks.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AT REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS - REGARDING GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS:

If you wish to address the Board during the “General Public Comments” section of the meeting, please put your name and subject on an index card and give to Deb Hayes before the start of the meeting.

Individual public comments are limited to three (3) minutes with a total of 30 minutes per section.

After formal approval by the Board, the minutes from a Board meeting are posted online - click here to view. 

Information for meeting agenda is provided to the School Board members on the Thursday before a scheduled Monday meeting. This gives the members time to read all materials over the weekend and to clear up any questions they may have. Members are not allowed to meet to discuss agenda items before the public meeting.

The Board will act on administrative recommendations at the next regular meeting. An item requiring extra information is a "discussion" item at one meeting and, when the Board feels ready to act, is put on the agenda at the next meeting as an "action" item.