Fort Dodge Community School District

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Board of Education

The Board of Education meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. typically at the Central Administration Building. The school board members invite all patrons of the Fort Dodge Community School District to visit our schools and attend Board meetings.

                                               members of the board of education

FDCSD Board of Education Members     

Stuart J. Cochrane, President

Dan Altman, Vice President 

Diane Pratt

Keenan Schuur

Emily Dencklau

Brian Pederson

Molly Nelson

 

Board meetings are subject to Iowa’s open meetings laws, meaning the board meetings are open to the public and board action is done in an open meeting. While board meetings are open to the public, they are not public meetings in the typical sense. The public has a right to attend board meetings, but the public does not have a right to necessarily address the board at its public meeting and the board controls how information from the public will be received. On each board meeting agenda, the board receives public comment. The board is not required to receive public comment but has made a practice of allowing individuals the opportunity to make comments to the board if they so desire. 

For those who wish to attend a meeting of the Board and hope to address the Board, please be advised of the procedure that the Board will follow.  After some preliminary and brief agenda items, the board president will invite those in attendance who wish to address the board to do so. The board president will describe the procedure the Board will follow in entertaining public comments. Individuals who wish to address the board will be allotted 2 minutes each to make comments. Individuals will be asked to provide their name so the board secretary can properly record those who wish to speak. The Board will not be taking any action relative to any comments made to the board, nor will the Board be taking any action related to the recent mask requirement. The Board will not answer questions that might be posed by individuals making comments. There are times that a question can be answered with a simple yes or no, and occasionally the board president will try to respond to a question if he is able to do so without board discussion or referral to the superintendent. In most cases however, questions are noted and the school superintendent may be asked to respond at a later time. At the conclusion of whatever public comments are made, the Board will move on to the remaining agenda items on the posted board agenda. 

This public comment format is the same format the Board has followed for years. This communication is being shared to help avoid any confusion over how board comments will be received by the Board at its public meetings and hopefully avoid frustration from anyone who hopes or expects that the Board will be taking action on any comment or request made by individual members of the public. 

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