PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — In their first meeting of the new school year on Sept. 11, Calvert’s Board of Education (BOE) used the consent agenda to approve nine policies, including Policy 1760, regarding professional interactions; Policy 1940, regarding political neutrality; and Policy 1945, regarding flags — all of which were debated in previous BOE meetings.
The policies were put up for public review in August and cleared the mandatory 30-day review period. Several of the proposals met resistance throughout the summer; most residents who showed up to speak about the policies at BOE meetings spoke in opposition to them. Supporters for these policies are very likely out there but have been much less vocal about them.
The consent agenda is a mechanism that allows organizations to pass several items at once, rather than calling for individual motions on each action. Typically, items are added to the consent agenda when they are expected to pass unanimously and without further conversation. The consent agenda is used to speed up the process of meetings like the BOE or the Board of County Commissioners, and adopting items through it is a routine part of meetings. BOE President Jana Smith-Post asked if there was any discussion before taking the vote, as is procedure.
However, when the policies are adopted through the consent agenda, the public may perceive a lack of clarity about why the BOE chose to move forward with them. Community members have expressed opinions that with some past actions, the board did not provide reasoning or dialogue about how or why they chose to take these steps in the face of the opposition they received, or why these policies were necessary at this time.
Others, like the repeal of the anti-racism policy in August, were precluded by brief statements.
The full list of policies with links is below:
- Regarding Educational Equity: 1015.pdf
- Regarding Anti-Racism: 1018.pdf
- Regarding Professional Interaction Between CCPS Employees, Volunteers, and Students: 1760.pdf
- Regarding Political Neutrality: 1940.pdf
- Regarding Flags: 1945.pdf
- Regarding Budget Transfers: 5515.pdf
- Regarding Fund Balance: 5520.pdf
- Regarding Employee Travel Reimbursement: 5600.pdf
- Regarding the Maryland Child Abuse and Neglect Laws in Calvert County Public Schools: 1460.pdf
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If any one member of that board felt like they wanted to, they are (procedurally) allowed to pull an item off of consent agenda for further discussion. Of course, that would only happen if the board actually had some diversity.