The Clayton County school board wants to further limit when citizens can address the board and what they can say.

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On Tuesday, the board unveiled a proposal that calls for a separate monthly meeting solely for the public to address the board. This would mean that residents no longer would be allowed to speak at the board's regular business meeting.

The new policy also requires citizens to call the board secretary by 4:30 p.m. the day of the meeting to give their name and the topic of their comments.

All comments also would have to be submitted to the board in writing in advance.

The board presented the proposal Tuesday as a way to increase public participation and will vote on it Monday.

"I think it will give more time instead of fitting it in a small time frame. The public will have its own meeting," board chairwoman Michelle Strong said. "We need to be more open, more transparent and a way to converse with constituents."

But to parents, the new format is just another way of shutting out the public.

"They want to control what's being said," said Cyd Cox, president of the Clayton County Council of PTAs. "What's the sense of having a public comment session if you have to type it up and give it to them? That way they can restrict what you say."

Morrow father Larry O'Keeffe said he feels the new policy could be an infringement on citizens' First Amendment rights.

"It is definitely a way to shut us up," added Clayton County Concerned Citizens chairman Charlton Bivins, who has used the public comment session to ask for board resignations at past meetings. "People are accustomed to walking in and talking, not calling to make an appointment."

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools recommended the board be more open to citizens, among other changes. The district has until Sept. 1 to meet nine mandates or lose accreditation.

The state attorney general's office has also criticized the board for blocking the public out of meetings.

Under the new policy, the board still would not respond to citizens' questions and citizens still would be restricted to two minutes to speak.

The board was scheduled to vote on ethics complaints against board members Sandra Scott and David Ashe, but took no action. Strong declined to say why.