Public still welcome in person at Chesapeake School Board meetings

CHESAPEAKE — With positive case numbers soaring, the city of Chesapeake decided last week to restrict the public from speaking inside its City Hall chambers during council and planning commission meetings. Instead, citizens can phone in or email comments.

The same can’t be said at the School Administrative Building, just around the corner.

School Board members were scheduled to meet in person at 6 p.m. Monday, joined by the public as has been the case for most meetings since the pandemic started.

Not only are residents welcome to speak in person; they have to do so to have their voices heard publicly. Unlike a growing number of public bodies around the region, the School Board doesn’t take comments by video chat or phone.

Some say the practice restricts the speech of those who are medically vulnerable and don’t want to risk attending a meeting.

“I was going to speak tonight, but I can’t do it,” parent Ginny Gnadt said Monday afternoon. “The numbers have more than doubled since I spoke last.”

Gnadt was among the speakers at the board’s December meeting. She remembers positive rates in the city were around 10 or 11%.

Since then, rates have more than doubled to 23% as of Monday, nearly the highest in Hampton Roads, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Gnadt didn’t want to risk exposing her family.

“I feel like it’s a handicap,” said parent Melanie Cornelisse, who’s spoken at previous School Board meetings but chose not to Monday night due to the high case numbers. “It’s not fair to those of us who can’t afford to put our family at risk.”

Attempts to reach chairwoman Victoria Proffitt on Monday were not successful.

The School Board has been holding its meetings in person during the pandemic with one exception — an emergency meeting called on Nov. 23 to discuss COVID-19 data and any impacts on the division’s return-to-school plan. The board didn’t take public comment at that meeting, which was called a week after its regular monthly meeting.

Citizens who want to speak during a meeting can call the board clerk ahead of time to request a slot. The division has been limiting the number of people inside the meeting room at one time, calling in speakers shortly before it’s their turn at the microphone. They can then leave when they’re done. A cleaning crew member wipes down the podium in between each speaker, and audience seats are kept 6 feet apart.

The public can also email or call School Board members directly. Some list their cellphones on the division website.

A new feature on the website allows people to record a video comment or question for the board prior to a meeting. But it wasn’t clear Monday afternoon whether the comments will be played or read during meetings.

Without a guarantee that board members will watch the videos, some parents are concerned such comments will get lost in the shuffle.

“It’s a fairness issue,” Cornelisse said. “It comes down to, they’re our local government. They need to make it accessible to everyone so we all have a chance to have our voices heard.”

Chesapeake Mayor Rick West said he made the call last week to not allow the public to attend the City Council’s Tuesday night meeting in person. Members and a limited number of staff will be there. Citizens can either email or call in to submit their comments. The same goes for the planning commission meeting on Wednesday.

West attributed his decision to the rising numbers and concerns about having a large number of speakers gathered. He didn’t want to force people who are worried about exposure to come in when they otherwise would not have.

“All signs are not that we are getting a lot of people immunized quickly and the spread seems to be spreading at a faster rate,” West said.

For months, other governing bodies in the region have opted to hold meetings virtually, limit public attendance or provide another avenue for comments to reach elected officials.

Both Norfolk and Portsmouth have held City Council and School Board meetings virtually during the pandemic.

Virginia Beach School Board members and staff attend meetings in person. The general public can watch the meeting online and citizens can either speak in person or call in via Zoom to read their comments.

On the Peninsula, the Newport News City Council canceled its work session scheduled for Tuesday and opted to hold the regular council meeting virtually. Residents can submit comments by email, voicemail, a comment on the website or snail mail.

In Hampton, the School Board held in-person meetings from October through November, but the last two regular meetings in December were virtual. The board clerk can read people’s comments sent in by email or over the phone.

When Chesapeake parent Gnadt spoke at her first meeting last month, she said she was nervous. She waited outside in the cold until it was her turn because she didn’t want to risk being around people in the building. She used the video ask feature last week.

She didn’t know whether board members would see it, but did it anyway in hopes they’d listen.