Public Comment for Oregon Administrative Rules
The State Board of Education’s primary responsibility is the adoption of Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) that govern our K-12 education system. Administrative rules implement, interpret or prescribe law or policy, or describe the procedure or practice requirements of any agency. Most often, they define terms, provide direction, create consistency, set processes, and overall describe how or when certain things need to happen in our state. Administrative rules carry the force of law and are most often developed in direct response to recent legislation passed by the Oregon Legislature.
The Oregon Department of Education develops administrative rules for consideration by the Board. In Oregon, all permanent rule revisions require a notice of intended rulemaking and an invitation for members of the public to provide public comments. To view proposed, adopted, amended, repealed, or suspended rules, please visit the Board’s Oregon Administrative Rules page. If you would like to submit public comment on proposed rules, please submit your comments in writing to ODE’s Rules Coordinator. All public comment received will be posted online and made available to both the members of the Board and the greater public. The Department also hosts monthly public hearings on proposed rules. These virtual hearings allow members of the public to provide verbal testimony on active rulemakings. All public hearings are hosted on Zoom. For more information, please visit the Board’s Oregon Administrative Rules page.
Public Comment for State Board of Education Meetings
The Board also maintains their own public comment process for Board meetings. This process allows members of the public to provide testimony on items before the Board or to raise issues to the attention of the Board and Agency Director. It does not allow an opportunity for dialogue between the speaker, Board, or Agency Director, nor does it replace existing complaints processes. The Board has no supervisory authority over any employees at the state or local level and will not hear complaints concerning individual personnel. The Board’s role is instead to actively listen and reflect on comments received.
Written public comment is encouraged via email or mail to: State Board of Education, 255 Capitol Street NE, Salem, OR 97310. Additional opportunities for public comment are included in the public notice for each meeting. Public notices are regularly shared a week before each Board meeting. You can click here to subscribe to State Board of Education notices and updates. All public comment received will be posted to BoardBook and made available to both the members of the Board and the greater public.
The Board uses a website called BoardBook to host its meeting-related materials, including meeting agendas, previously adopted rules, public comments received, and meeting recordings. The Board encourages all speakers providing comments on an agenda item to review materials posted to BoardBook before doing so.