| Southern Local School District |
| Administrative Guidelines |
0161 - RULES OF ORDER
Specific Rules of Order of the Board are as follows:
| A. | QUORUM | |
| A quorum shall consist of not less than three (3) members of the Board. A quorum being present, precisely at the hour to which the Board meeting is called, the President, or in his/her absence the Vice President or member appointed, shall take the chair, call the meeting to order, and proceed to business until the President or Vice President shall appear. | ||
| B. | ABSENCE OF QUORUM | |
| If a quorum is not present at the time for which a meeting is called, the member or members present may recess the meeting if a public announcement is made to that effect. | ||
| C. | CONDUCT OF BUSINESS | |
| It shall be the duty of the President or presiding officer at all times to preserve order and to endeavor to conduct all business before the Board with propriety and dispatch. | ||
| D. | VOTE OF PRESIDENT | |
| The President, as such, has no casting vote; his/her right is to vote on every question by virtue of his/her membership. | ||
| E. | QUESTIONS OF ORDER | |
| The President may speak to points of order in preference to other members, and shall decide questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Board by any two (2) members. | ||
| F. | MOTIONS | |
| A motion made must be seconded, and then repeated distinctly by the President or read aloud before it is debated. Every motion shall be reduced to writing if the President or any of the members require it. | ||
| G. | WITHDRAWAL OF MOTION | |
| Any member who shall have made a motion shall have the liberty to withdraw it, with the consent of his/her second, before or after any debate has taken place thereon. | ||
| H. | POSTPONEMENT OF QUESTION | |
| The consideration of any question may be postponed indefinitely or to a fixed time. | ||
| I. | RENEWAL OF MOTION | |
| A motion once voted down cannot be renewed at the same meeting of the Board, without the consent of the majority of the members of the Board. | ||
| J. | AMENDMENT | |
| An amendment may be moved by any two (2) Board members on any motion, and shall be decided before the original action, but not more than one (1) amendment to an amendment shall be entertained. | ||
| K. | DIVISION OF MOTION | |
| If the motion under debate is composed of two (2) or more parts, which are so far independent of each other as to be susceptible of division into several questions, any two (2) members may make a motion that it be divided and a vote taken on each part. | ||
| L. | INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS | |
| When any business is brought regularly before the Board, the consideration of the same cannot be interrupted except by a motion to adjourn, to lie on the table, for a call to move the question, to postpone, to commit or to amend. | ||
| M. | MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT | |
| A motion for adjournment shall always be in order and shall be decided without debate, except that it cannot be entertained when the Board is voting on another question or while a member is addressing the Board. | ||
| N. | PREVIOUS QUESTION | |
| The previous question cannot be moved by less than two (2) members requesting the same, and, when thus called, all debate shall be precluded. Nevertheless, the call for the previous question shall not cut off any pending amendment, but the vote shall be taken without debate on the amendments in their order, and finally on the main question. | ||
| O. | POSTPONEMENT | |
| A motion for postponement precludes commitment, and a motion for commitment precludes amendment or decision on the original subject. | ||
| P. | RECONSIDERATION | |
| A motion for reconsideration can be entertained only when made and seconded by members who were in the majority in the vote on the original question. | ||
| Q. | RIGHT TO SPEAK | |
| On questions of order or postponement, no member shall speak more than once; on all other questions each member may speak twice, but not more often without express leave being granted by the chair. | ||
| R. | ORIGINAL MOTION | |
| If the original motion be decided in the negative, the effect shall be to arrest the discussion and produce an indefinite postponement. | ||
| S. | INTERRUPTION OF SPEAKER | |
| No member shall be interrupted while speaking, unless s/he be out of order by the Chair, or for the purpose of correcting mistakes or misrepresentations. | ||
| T. | DISORDERLY CONDUCT | |
| If any member acts in any respect in a disorderly manner, it shall be the privilege of any member, and the duty of the President, to call him/her to order. | ||
| U. | APPEAL OF DECISION | |
| If any member considers himself/herself aggrieved by a decision of the Chair, it shall be his/her privilege to appeal to the Board, and the vote on such appeal shall be taken without debate. | ||
| V. | TAKING VOTE | |
| When the President has commenced taking a vote, no further debate or remark shall be admitted unless there has evidently been some mistake, in which case the mistake shall be rectified and the President shall recommend taking the vote. | ||
| W. | RECOGNITION TO SPEAK | |
| The first person recognized by the President as desiring to speak has the right to the floor. |
Questions of procedure at meetings shall be determined by Robert's Rules of Order, newly revised.