Santa Rosa City Schools to limit public comments to in-person, email

The Santa Rosa City Schools District will limit public comments at board meetings in response to a rash of hateful Zoom bombing incidents in local public meetings.

Starting Wednesday, those wishing to make public comment must either attend board meetings in-person or email their comments. The change will remain for the foreseeable future, said Vanessa Wedderburn, district spokesperson.

The recent escalation of antisemitic, racist and homophobic comments has posed a challenge in “maintaining respectful discourse among those who participate in the Public Comment portion of the Board meeting via Zoom,” the district said in a news release.

Board meetings take place every other Wednesday at the Santa Rosa City Hall Council Chambers at 100 Santa Rosa Ave. Email comments to the Board’s Executive Assistant Melanie Martin at mmartin@srcs.k12.ca.us.

Members of the public can still watch board meetings live via Zoom at zoom.us/j/93947473860 or by phone. Spanish translation is still available for in-person and online attendees.

According to the news release, the decision to curtail online public input was made after “a series of disruptive hate speech comments and inappropriate behavior” during their last regular board meeting on Sept. 13.

The remarks from about a dozen people via Zoom were cut short by district officials, but attendees said their actions still diverted attention from important discussions on school business, including safety concerns amid an uptick in violence at Herbert Slater Middle School.

School officials said the hate-speech diverted from the board meeting’s purpose and exposed children to harmful language.

“The changes are necessary to ensure that the Board meeting is reserved for its intended purpose — for the Board to complete school district business,“ the release stated.

The recent escalation of antisemitic, racist and homophobic online comments also affected the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors’ Sept. 19 session, leading the county board to also reduce access to public comments for two weeks in a row.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8531 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.