Yes! All meetings to conduct school business are open to the public.

On occasion, executive sessions--which are closed to the public--are held for the purpose of discussing specific matters as specified by the Indiana Open Door Law.

No matter what the issue, all decisions made by the board must be made in a public meeting. The board welcomes the involvement of its local citizens.

The Board welcomes citizens' input and questions. State law requires a public comment period at board meetings.

Boards are allowed to establish reasonable restrictions on the time, place and manner of public comment. For instance, school boards typically set guidelines on the length of an individual's comment (e.g., a certain amount of time per person), so no one person/item dominates the meeting.

TCSC has established a process to best balance the work that needs to be done at a board meeting while affording meeting attendees to ask questions. This process can be found on this page on the corporation’s website. 

The superintendent prepares the agenda for the board meetings; this agenda becomes the order of business for the public meeting.

Persons or groups who would like to submit an item for consideration by the board need to submit their proposal in writing to the superintendent at least seven (7) days preceding the regular board meeting.

The board president or superintendent will determine when and if an item will be placed on the agenda and/or if it should be addressed through a different channel.

Persons or groups submitting a proposal will be allowed a maximum of five (5) minutes for each proposal.

Anyone interested in running for the school board could contact Christy Crawford, Tipton County Circuit Court Clerk. You can email her, or call (765) 675-2795. 

While school board members represent different districts, voters can vote for all school board seats that are up for their election in their county—not just the school board seat representing their district.

Elected school board members in Indiana serve four-year terms. However, not all terms run on the same schedule--meaning only a portion of school board seats are up for election at the same time.

Anyone interested in running for a seat on the school board should begin by contacting Christy Crawford, Tipton County Circuit Court Clerk. You can email her directly or call (765) 675-2795, ext. 1. 

The superintendent is not a member of the board and does not vote on any board decision; the superintendent does make recommendations.

The superintendent is a professional educator employed by the Board of Trustees to carry out the policies of the board and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the school corporation. 

Prior to a board meeting, a monthly meeting notice describing the date and location of meetings and the agenda is created and posted. The agenda reasonably reflects the matters to be discussed.

However, the board is not precluded from addressing an issue that arises just because it was not on the agenda.

The meeting location and agenda can be found on the corporation website under “Board.” Only items on the agenda are discussed at a meeting.

The school board has a dual role: To represent the concerns of the citizens, taxpayers, and parents to the school administrators, and to represent the needs of the students and school district to the citizens, taxpayers, and parents of the community. A key role is to hold administration responsible.

Meetings of the board are for the purpose of setting or amending school policies, acting upon recommendations of the superintendent on a wide range of matters from personnel to building maintenance, legally adopting an operating budget and tax rate for the school corporation, and authorizing the spending of budgeted funds.

Although any matter relating to the operation of the schools may come before the board, most problems are routinely handled through the designated administrative channels.

The exception to this rule is executive sessions—closed meetings used to conduct board member training to discuss confidential matters such as corporation personnel. The board cannot officially enact policy in executive sessions; they must still vote publicly.

Board meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the TCSC Community Room. The Board holds business meetings at 6:30 p.m.

From time to time, meetings may be held in one of the school buildings. Executive sessions, when needed, are generally scheduled before or after the public meeting.

On occasion, meetings may be called for special purposes. If needed, emergency meetings may also be called. All meetings, except emergencies, are announced at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.

The Indiana School Boards Association acts as an accountability mechanism of sorts, as it provides resources to help school boards understand the legality of their decisions, but the main burden of holding school boards accountable falls on the public via elections and public meetings.

The Tipton Community School Board of Trustees consists of seven people who live in Tipton County and are elected by the community. The Board has seven seats--three for the City of Tipton, two for Cicero Township, one for Jefferson Township, and one for Madison Township.

Most likely not. Individuals may speak to the board, but issues can be complicated, particularly if the subject matter affects a number of individuals. The board may need time to discuss the issue.