School Board Policy 6Gx50-2.591

CALLS TO ACTION

1. The School Board of Palm Beach County finds a clear and concrete public, educational purpose in encouraging community members and District employees to voluntarily participate, outside of employees' regular work hours, in contacting the federal and state legislative and executive branches to advocate the Board's position on legislative or budgetary issues affecting the district school system, because the Board reasonably expects that such lobbying activities will result in improving educational opportunities for students of the District School System by means of improved funding, legislation, or rules and regulations that are more practical or favorable to the district's educational program.

2. To achieve this purpose, the Superintendent/designee may recommend to the Board Calls to Action or other lobbying activities regarding specific issues. Alternatively, the Superintendent/designee may direct that Calls to Action be initiated on issues that have been voted upon by the Board or upon which the Board has otherwise clearly taken a position.

3. For any such Calls to Action or other lobbying activity, the Board declares a public, educational purpose in the reasonable use (by the Legislative Liaison and/or the Superintendent/designee, Chief Academic Officer (CAO), or Chief Operating Officer (COO)) of District-owned computers, e-mail and telecommunications systems, or other inter-school, intra-school, or intra-district communications (including newsletters, stationery, and postage), to inform members of the community and District employees concerning issues and their potential impact or implications for the District, and to invite them to advocate positions that would be in the best interests of the District. When possible, it is preferred that the Legislative Liaison, Superintendent/ designee, CAO, and COO use communications methods which impose little or no additional costs, such as e-mail and local fax transmissions, to disseminate information for Calls to Action.

4. It shall further be deemed a fitting and proper school purpose to expend reasonably-budgeted District funds on postage, other mailing costs and materials, or long-distance telephone expenses incurred by the Legislative Liaison, Superintendent/designee, CAO, or COO using District equipment to send out a Call to Action for community members or District employees (outside of their work hours) to voluntarily contact their state or federal legislators (or the Governor or President, as appropriate) regarding issues identified in Section (2).

5. If employees respond to a Call to Action outside of regular work hours using District equipment, they shall use communications methods which impose little or no additional cost, such as e-mail. (If employees participate in a Call to Action from their home and incur any expense such as postage or long-distance calls, those expenses are personal and voluntarily and shall not be reimbursable.)

6. The Superintendent or designee(s) who are registered lobbyist(s) shall be the employees authorized to contact the legislative or executive branches for purposes of lobbying during regular working hours pursuant to a Call to Action. Other than the Superintendent or registered designees, any employee desiring to contact the legislative or executive branches in response to a Call to Action must do so outside of their regular work hours.

7. Nothing in any other policy, including Policy 2.59 and Policy 3.29, shall be construed as prohibiting the Superintendent and designee(s) who are registered as lobbyist(s) from contacting state or federal decision-makers with District communications equipment or by mail during working hours for an approved Call to Action. Nor shall any other Policy prevent an employee from using District e-mail equipment, outside of regular work hours, to participate in a Call to Action under this Policy. To the extent that Policy 2.59 or Policy 3.29 might be deemed inconsistent with this policy, the terms of this policy shall control.