A community speaker told the Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education on June 23 that the board should not waive policy readings and should give the public time to review proposed policy changes. "If we wanna truly be transparent and want our community to be fully engaged and involved, then these policies should not be voted upon tonight," the speaker said.

The board responded by voting to pull a set of policy items from the agenda for additional public review. Trustees moved to pull policies listed as 9.2 through 9.12 and 9.13 through 9.24 from consideration and directed staff to post the policies on the district website ahead of the next regular meeting. Board members said the posting would allow the public an opportunity to comment and for trustees to reconsider whether to waive second readings at a future meeting.

During public comment the speaker also voiced concern about a provision that would give the board president additional discretion, arguing that no trustee should have more authority than another. Trustees discussed the matter in public session and agreed the policies should be available for review before any vote to waive readings. The board clarified the usual sequence: first reading, public comment period, then subsequent readings and possible votes.

Less-critical details: the meeting record shows multiple abstentions on motions to pull readings; the board said it would post the policies for review and allow public input prior to any final action.