The Augusta Board of Education will soon consider approving a new public comment policy to align with a federal court ruling last week that held some parts of the board’s rules likely violate the First Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann issued an injunction April 27 ordering the Augusta school board to stop enforcing rules aimed at limiting gossip and abusive or vulgar language during the public comment period of its meetings. Those rules are overly broad, Neumann wrote, and “impermissibly burden protected speech.”

The board’s policy committee agreed Monday to present the rest of the board with a new, attorney-written policy that removes parts of the rules referenced by Neumann’s order — specifically, the rules that bar public comment speakers from discussing “gossip” and “abusive or vulgar language.”

Superintendent Michael Tracy said the district received advice from Drummond Woodsum, the legal firm that represents Augusta schools, to revise the policy as soon as possible following Neumann’s ruling.

The board will consider the revised rules in its meeting on Wednesday, May 13. Tracy said members could vote to waive further deliberation on the new policy and adopt it immediately.

“Keep in mind, if a federal district court has found parts of our current (public comment) policy — I don’t want to say unconstitutional — not be able to hold up against the Constitution or some of those First Amendment rights, that’s important that we address that,” Tracy said during Monday’s meeting.

The new policy also changes a rule barring discussion of “personal matters” to “personnel matters.” Neumann called out the original wording in her decision as unconstitutionally vague.

Witham said the original wording was likely an unintentional clerical error, and the goal of the policy was always to prevent comments about the job performance or conduct of specific district staff. “Personnel matters” are a common restriction in public comment policies.

Via a statement written by Drummond Woodsum attorney Melissa Hewey, Witham said in Monday’s meeting that the changes are intended to comply with Neumann’s ruling and remedy First Amendment concerns, while maintaining “decorum and civility” during meetings.

“We plan to revise our policy as necessary to ensure that it stands up to our commitment to the First Amendment while continuing to provide protection to the privacy of our students and employees that the law also requires,” the statement said.

“It is important to note that the court’s opinion was based on the language of our public comment policy, not on a specific treatment of Mr. Blanchard,” the statement continued. “We do not read the Court’s opinion as giving Mr. Blanchard or anyone else free reign to disrupt the business of the Board, and we are committed to conducting our meetings in a way that exemplifies civility and respect for all.”

Although the board plans to consider approving the revised policy at the May 13 meeting, the ordinary public comment period precedes the business portion of the meeting.

The current public comment policy will apply, and Witham, the board chair, will not be allowed to enforce the rules affected by the federal court decision.