PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two community groups are suing the Philadelphia Board of Education, saying its new policy limiting the number of public speakers violates the Sunshine Act.
The Board in January changed its policy to cap the number of student speakers at ten and adult speakers at 30, giving them two minutes each. Previously, an unlimited number of speakers had three minutes each.
The ACLU is suing the Board in Common Pleas Court on behalf of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools and UrbEd, claiming the policy is a violation of the Sunshine Act, a state law that requires public agencies to hold meetings that are open to the public.
Alliance co-founder Lisa Haver said the board can’t arbitrarily change the rules from one meeting to the next.
"If there are 40 official items on the agenda, they were only allowing 30 people to speak, which is a deliberate barrier to having people speak about official actions," she told KYW Newsradio.
Haver said allowing written testimony doesn’t have the same impact as delivering a message live.
"When I speak on something or anybody speaks on something at a public meeting – and other people echo my sentiments because they hear what I’m saying – that often spurs the board into a discussion and possibly changing their vote on that item," she said.
The suit seeks an injunction to stop the policy. A spokeswoman for the Board said they are currently reviewing the lawsuit.
Board President Joyce Wilkerson in a letter to the ACLU last month said the policy meets the spirit and the letter of the Sunshine Act. She wrote that the Act requires a “reasonable” opportunity for public comment, but not an unlimited one.