Take Our Poll: Public Comment at School Board Meetings

For years, speaking during the public comment portion of an Easton Area School Board meant playing a game of "Beat the Clock."

The board limits each speaker to three minutes; go beyond that, and an alarm sounds, telling you that your time is up.

But now some board members want to change that. As Zach Lindsey of the Express-Times reported Saturday, board members are exploring getting rid of the time restriction for public comment.

"If we take another 40 minutes or an hour because we're listening to concerned citizens, then so be it," said board member Frank Pintabone.

There are questions board members need to answer first: If they remove the amount of time someone has to talk, does that mean limiting the number of people who can speak? Can they keep residents from all saying the same thing about the same topic? 

We'd like to know what you think? Should the board get rid of the time limit for comments? Take our poll.