The annual schedule of regular meetings of the Board shall be established at a regularly scheduled meeting. This schedule shall not be changed unless adequate announcement of the change has been made to the public and public media, if a formal request has been filed (5 ILS 120/2.02(b)), in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. No business will be transacted at any Board meeting other than a regular meeting or at a special meeting called to transact business. All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public except those meetings or portions of meetings which are closed by majority vote of the Board for the purpose of discussing personnel, litigation, collective bargaining, or other such matters as may be lawfully closed to the public. All actions of the Board shall be taken in public session.
Special Meetings of the Board
Special meetings of the Board may be called by the chairperson of the Board, or any three members thereof. No business shall be transacted at special meetings except that which is designated in the notice of the meeting. Public notice of any special meeting, except a meeting held in the event of a bona fide emergency, shall be given at least 48 hours before such meeting, which notice shall also include the agenda for the special meeting. 5 ILCS 120/2.02 Service of the notices shall be by delivering the notice to the members by telephone and/or email forty-eight (48) hours before such meeting is to take place.
Attendance of the President
The President of the college, as executive officer of the Board, shall be notified of all meetings of the Board and shall be expected to attend, except when his/her own contract or salary is being considered.
Agenda
The President of the college, at the direction of the chairperson of the Board, shall prepare an agenda with necessary supporting reports and documents for each meeting. Any trustee may place items on the agenda by submission to the President six calendar days prior to a regular meeting. The agenda with supporting materials shall be available for each member of the Board prior to the day of a meeting. The agenda may be modified at the meeting by decision of the Board.
A typical Open Session agenda of a regular meeting shall include the following:
- Call to Order/Roll Call
- Public Comment
- Introduction of Guests/Recognition
- Amendments or Changes to Published Agenda
- Approval of Minutes
- Action Items
- Information Items
- Financial Reports
- Adjournment
Closed Session Section
- Personnel Hiring, Separations, Transfers, Changes in Employment
- Staff Evaluations and Compensation
- Collective Bargaining
- Litigation
- Real Estate Transactions
- Semi-Annual Review of Closed Minutes
Procedure
- Robert's Rules of Order, Revised, shall be followed in the conduct of Board meetings. Adequate permanent records of all actions of the Board shall be kept by the recorder for the Board. Should a meeting of the Board occur when neither the chairperson nor the vice chairperson is in attendance but a quorum is present, the members of the Board in attendance shall elect a chairperson pro tempore for that meeting only.
- Public Comments
After calling the meeting to order, the Board Chair will ask for public comments. Each speaker will be asked to provide his/her name and then be given three (3) minutes to comment. The Board recorder may read public comments submitted via voicemail or email. The public comment portion of the meeting shall be limited to twenty (20) minutes per topic and forty-five (45) minutes overall.
Quorum
A majority of the Board (four members) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. When, through temporary absence of members during a meeting, the Board is reduced below a quorum, a recess may be taken until a quorum is present. When a vote is taken upon any measure before the Board, a quorum being present, a majority of the votes of the members voting on the measure shall determine the outcome thereof.
Board Policy for Tape Recording Closed Sessions
- Verbatim Record:
A verbatim record shall be kept of all meetings of the Board of Trustees of Kankakee Community College which are closed to the public (as defined by the Illinois Open Meetings Act, 820 ILCS 130/1). The verbatim record shall be in the form of an audio or video recording. The Board Recorder shall securely maintain the verbatim records of all closed sessions for the 18-month period as required. The Board Recorder shall also announce the times the closed session commences and ends at the appropriate points on the recording. - Authorization for destruction of verbatim minutes (audio or video):
The Board of Trustees of the college authorizes the Recorder to destroy the audiotapes of Closed Session meetings in the month succeeding the 18-month holding requirement.