On March 19, 2021, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the law firm Offit Kurman P.C. filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas against the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia, challenging the board’s new policy limiting the number of speakers and the length of comments during the public comment period at board meetings. Filed on behalf of community groups UrbEd and the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, the lawsuit accuses the board of violating the state Sunshine Act by limiting speakers to ten students and 30 non-students and capping each speaker at two minutes each.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to find the board to be in violation of the act, halt enforcement of the new rules, require the board to hear from all of the students and community members who want to speak, and allow each speaker at least three minutes.
