The West Hartford Board of Education held a second reading Tuesday night and voted in favor of expanding its policy on public comment.

By Manon L. Mirabelli

The Board of Education on Wednesday evening decided in a 4-3 vote in favor of changing the public speak policy to allow comments on agenda and non-agenda items to be heard at both monthly meetings in order to simplify the process.

The revised policy was introduced for a first reading on Jan. 21, 2025 and discussed at that time as well as Wednesday night prior to the vote.

Voting in favor of the change were Democrats Jason Gagnon – a member of the policy committee who is also a lawyer and wrote the revised policy – as well as Democrat Shannon Marimón and Republicans Dr. Gayle Harris and Ethan Goldman.

Board Chair Lorna Thomas-Farquharson, LaToya Yagaloff, and Clare Neseralla, all Democrats, were opposed to the measure.

At the start of Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting during the public participation portion, West Hartford resident John Lyons spoke in support of the change saying he felt the existing policy, which was most recently revised in June 2023, was a reaction by those on the Board at the time to an influx of speakers – individuals who didn’t necessarily understand the town and/or education in general – but rather were reacting to politically-motivated outside forces. He said he views one of the vital roles of the board as a “potential last resort for a desperate teacher or student who sometimes does not  know where else to go for help and needs to be afforded the platform to bring an important issue to the attention of the Board.”

“While sadly, our wonderful, and unpaid, Board of Education volunteers have had to bear the brunt of some unfortunate attacks, it comes with the territory,” Lyons said. “Public comments must favor the voices of our teachers, students, and their parents and new policy does just that.”

Gagnon said the intent of the change is “not to squash speech,” but to promote Board of Education efficiency and allow comment on all issues, agenda and non-agenda items alike, at every meeting instead of just the first meeting of the month.

“It was designed to simplify and make the process easier,” he said of members of the public who have to juggle personal and family responsibilities to attend meetings just to be told they appeared on the wrong evening.

“This is a simple policy that allows for more access,” Gagnon noted.

Yagaloff, however, who voted to keep the most recent policy as written, argued that changing it might lead to “toxic discourse” leading her to “stand firmly” on her position.

“It’s about ensuring that public engagement is constructive, and that this Board can effectively carry out the business of serving students, educators, and families.”

She also cited that keeping the policy would reduce Thomas-Farquharson’s need as Board chair to mediate and control unruly discourse.

Neseralla said her no vote was based on her desire to add structure to the proceedings in order to keep them focused on the topic being discussed. She cited that one contentious year in particular that saw 154 public speakers contrasted sharply to the 37 speakers who appeared in a four-year period and just two residents in two years who spoke against the policy.

“It was never about silencing anyone, but about adding structure,” she said. “It would be a mistake to change the policy.”

“I appreciate and respect the comments and thoughts that each and every one of you have shared,” said Thomas-Farquharson, who voted against the update and shared the chronology of how the changes to the policy have come about.

There have been a few exceptions made to allow people to speak since the last change, but no challenges this school year other than when speakers insert comments about non-agenda items into their statements, Thomas-Farquharson said. She said the language on the agenda for each meeting had been updated to indicate information about who could comment.

Thomas-Farquharson said she accepts the responsibility of controlling the meeting, including when speakers are not following the rules, as part of her duties. “I appreciate my colleagues with respect to the chair’s role, and that is a challenge I receive because that is what I’m supposed to do as chair.”

“I think it’s important when there are rules in place, and when there’s a policy in place, for adults to respect that,” and there’s a proper place and time to speak. She said you don’t change a child’s bedtime to 10 p.m. instead of 8:30 p.m. just because they’re not happy about the time.

She added that she wanted to make it clear that “we are voting on removing the bookends to not be there” in terms of how many people can speak and when they can speak, and there will be no boundaries at the end of the meetings.

Originally, the policy allowed public comment on non-agenda items at the first regular meeting of the month and agenda items during the second meeting of the month.

The following is the wording adopted Wednesday night with the previous wording crossed out in red and the new wording added in blue:

West Hartford Board of Education agenda

The previous policy stated, “Each member of the public wishing to speak may address the Board for three minutes at the beginning and three minutes at the end of each meeting for a total of six minutes during the Board’s two public comment periods. Persons commenting on agenda items shall be permitted to comment first. At the first regular meeting of the month, no more than ten persons shall be permitted to comment during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting, provided that such limitation shall not apply to persons commenting on agenda items. A maximum of seven persons shall be allowed to comment on each subject matter. Public comment on non-agenda items shall only be permitted at the first regular meeting of the month.”

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