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Dear Dinosaur:   I am a school board trustee, and no members of my board have a firm grasp on parliamentary procedure, including our board president. I have done my best to follow parliamentary procedure in meetings, but it is difficult because the chair often brushes off my motions. For instance, during the last meeting, I said, “I think we should amend this motion to specify that we do a slow rollout and pilot this curriculum.” The chair said we couldn’t make an amendment because we hadn’t voted to approve the curriculum yet. I am not accustomed to dealing with a board like this, and I’m often not sure how to respond.

Answer: This is certainly a tough situation! Here are some suggestions.

• We recommend that you not say, “I think we should…” but simply say, “I move to amend the motion by adding the words … [whatever you propose].” As a member you have the right to move an amendment.
• If the chair declines to entertain the motion to amend, you can say,

“As a trustee of this body, I have the right –  as we all do – to propose amendments to motions. The amendments are processed before the main motion itself is voted on. This is in order to improve and perfect the motion. This is a basic right of all members and cannot be denied by the chair. I request that we consult our attorney, who will verify that this is common parliamentary procedure.”

• In general, you want to be able to state the parliamentary situation clearly and as forcefully as you can get away with.
• You have to be prepared to repeat yourself!
• If the chair is open, and state law permits it, you could speak with the chair outside of meetings about the basic principles.
• If feasible you could also consult the attorney.

It’s important to be firm and confident. Don’t smile or act apologetic, as we sometimes do to soften the message. Are there other members you could meet with, still following the sunshine act, and gain some allies?

Good luck!

Dear Dinosaur provides simple, practical answers to questions about Robert’s Rules and parliamentary procedure. Send your questions to Dear Dinosaur here. Our answers are based on Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, 12th edition. As always, nothing in this post constitutes legal or business advice. For specific issues, seek a qualified authority.