How to Communicate with the Warwick School Board
Please consider attending a Warwick School Board Meeting and speaking up for our students’ right to diverse books and curriculum, supporting our teachers, and protecting our public education system.
As the governing body of Warwick School District, the public has the right to speak directly to the School Board and share your thoughts with them. In all your communication, we ask you to be factual, professional, and thank them for their service to our community.
Types of School Board Meetings.
Warwick School Board has several types of meetings and several subcommittees that also have meetings. This is the schedule of all school board meetings, but don’t let it overwhelm you! These are the most important to attend:
Regular Board Meeting: This is the voting meeting. All formal actions and board decisions are voted on at these public meetings; this is the most important place for the public to be present.
Committee of the Whole (CoW): This is a non-voting meeting for board discussion and gathering and reviewing information. CoW often includes presentations by district personnel, district partners, or outside advisors. This is a “working meeting” to consider items that may later be voted on.
Attend a School Board Meeting In-Person.
We encourage you to attend school board meetings whenever possible.
You can find the schedule of school board meetings on the district’s website.
Meetings are typically held in the Board Room of the Warwick School District Office located at 301 West Orange Street, Lititz, PA 17543, but are occasionally moved to the Middle School auditorium due to capacity. Check the Meeting Agenda for the location before you go.
When attending, the room will fill quickly—try to arrive early! An overflow area will be set up in the lobby should attendance warrant.
Public Comment at School Board Meetings.
At both Regular Board Meetings and Committee of the Whole Meetings, the public has the right to speak to the School Board during the designated “public comment” portion of the meeting.
You must pre-register to speak before each meeting by emailing boardsecretary@warwicksd.org with your name, home address, and the topic of your comments. Your email must be received by 3:30pm on the day of the meeting and you must do this for every meeting you want to speak at.
You may speak at Warwick School Board meetings if you are a Warwick resident, an employee of the district, or a representative of a relevant organization.
You DO NOT have to be the parent of a Warwick student. As a Warwick resident and taxpayer, you have the right to have a voice in how the district is governed.
What to do AT the School Board Meeting.
Your name will be announced when it’s your turn to speak.
Each speaker gets 3 minutes to speak to the School Board. It’s a good idea to practice what you’ll say in advance and time it to be sure it will fit within the time limit.
Tell the board what you’re concerned about and, most importantly, what you want them to do about it.
You may ask questions of the board or the Superintendent, but they’re not required to answer you.
Only address your comments to the Board or Superintendent. Do not speak to the audience.
Keep your comments factual, polite, and on-topic. When referring to issues involving specific faculty or students, be mindful of everyone’s privacy and safety, ie: you might use “an elementary student” rather than “a girl in my son’s first-grade class”.
Emailing the School Board.
If you cannot attend a School Board meeting in-person or have more to say than will fit within the 3-minute limit, you can also choose to communicate with the board via email.
Pennsylvania School Boards act as one body, not as individuals. While you may address your email to an individual School Board Director, please note that your email will automatically be copied to ALL School Board Directors AND the Superintendent.
There is no maximum length when commenting via email; your email can be as long as you want.
The board is not required to respond to emails from the public, even when they contain questions.
Emails sent to and from the board are public record and are potentially subject to Right-to-Know requests.
Email your thoughts to schoolboard@warwicksd.org. Individual email addresses can be found here.
