Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees are conducted the third Monday of each month unless formally changed by the Board of Trustees. The superintendent's office prepares the Board agenda and delivers it to the Board of Trustees 72 hours prior to the regular monthly meeting. The complete agenda includes detailed back-up material on each item. This provides an opportunity for the trustees to request and receive a thorough briefing and ask questions of the superintendent. This procedure also enables individual Board members to be prepared to vote yes or no on most items before they arrive at the meeting. The trustees move through the prepared agenda, viewing educational presentations by the staff, meeting honored students and teachers, awarding contracts for building construction, formulating policies for implementation by the administrative staff, and employing personnel.

Regular meetings of the board begin at 6:15 p.m. in the Board Room at the Central Administration Building, 3315 Washington St. A session closed to the public is normally held at the beginning of each meeting. Members in closed session, as authorized by the Texas Government Code in accordance with Section 551, may, in private consultation with the board's attorney, discuss the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property and/or personnel. Action may be taken following the closed session.

Communicating with the Board of Trustees: If a District resident or employee wishes to formally communicate with the Board for a purpose other than appeal of a complaint [see Board Policies DGBA, FNG, or GF], the individual may: 1. Send a letter with the information to be shared with the President of the Board to the District central office at 3315 Washington St., Commerce, TX 75428 2. Sign up to make comments on either agenda or non-agenda topics as described below. Audience participation at a Board meeting is limited to the public comment portion of the meeting designated for that purpose. At all other times during a Board meeting, the audience shall not enter into discussion or debate on matters being considered by the Board, unless requested by the presiding officer.

At regular meetings, the Board shall allot approximately 20 minutes to hear residents and employees who desire to make comments to the Board. To participate in this portion of the meeting, it is necessary to sign up with the Board secretary before the meeting begins. Presentations are limited to the four specific purposes listed: 1. To discuss an item that appears on the agenda/notice of the meeting. 2. To make a request for specific factual information. 3. To ask for a recitation of existing policy. 4. To redress grievances. No presentation shall exceed five minutes unless extended by majority vote of the Board. Individual presentations shall not mention any individual by name or position or contain any personally identifiable references.

Specific factual information or recitation of existing policy may be furnished in response to inquiries, but the Board shall not deliberate or make decisions regarding any subject that is not included on the agenda posted with notice of the meeting. The Board may consider a proposal to place the subject of a public comment on the agenda of a subsequent meeting, in which case it may be discussed by the Board. Each citizen inquiry will receive a written response, and it will be accessible on the district's website under the Citizen Inquiry link on the Board of Trustees' web pages.

The presiding officer or designee shall determine whether a person addressing the Board has attempted to solve a matter administratively through resolution channels established by policy. If not, the person shall be referred to the appropriate policy to seek resolution as follows: Employee complaints – DGBA; Student or parent complaints –FNG; Public complaints – GF.

The Board shall not tolerate disruption of the meeting by members of the audience. If, after at least one warning from the presiding officer, any person continues to disrupt the meeting by his or her words or actions, the presiding officer may request assistance from law enforcement officials to have the person removed from the meeting.