Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 location my colleagues and I are pleased you took the time to
0:02 join us we
0:04 appreciate and applaud your commitment to partnering with us in
0:06 support of our
0:07 schools our students our staff and our community while the board
0:10 and Brevard
0:11 Public Schools staff members are fully committed to doing our
0:14 best to ensure
0:14 excellence in Brevard Public Schools we know that our success
0:17 depends heavily
0:18 heavily on an engaged and committed community to work alongside
0:22 us and help
0:22 us to continually improve thank you for being active
0:26 participants in the process
0:27 Pam roll call please just a moment mrs. Belford mrs. McDougall mrs.
0:41 Deskovich
0:42 present mr. Susan present and miss Campbell present Thank You
0:47 Pam Matt Reed
0:48 assistant superintendent of government and community relations
0:51 will lead us in the
0:52 Pledge of Allegiance
0:54 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
1:00 and to the Republic for which it stands
1:03 one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for
1:08 all
1:08 Can we try to keep that door closed? At this time I’d like to
1:32 offer my fellow board members and Dr. Mullins the opportunity to
1:35 recognize students, staff, or members of the community.
1:38 Ms. Belford can we start with you?
1:40 Ms. I’d be happy to Ms. Duskovich. And if you don’t mind I would
1:46 like to ask for a little leeway in the definition of recognition.
1:51 Typically I would provide a legislative update toward the end of
1:56 our meeting but today was the start of the budget conference and
2:00 I would really like to give an update on that while we have our
2:04 teachers here so they can have an idea of where we are in
2:08 process and where we’re going forward.
2:08 Ms. If that would be okay?
2:09 Ms. That’s absolutely fine.
2:10 Do you want to wait until they’re all in?
2:12 Ms. Yeah.
2:13 I’ll go ahead and do a couple shout outs while they’re filtering
2:17 in and then I’ll move to that if you all are okay with that?
2:19 Ms. Sounds good to me.
2:20 Ms. First, thank you Ms. Duskovich for your coordination of the
2:25 security summit with the school board members from around the
2:28 state the other day.
2:29 I thought it was great conversation and great things covered and
2:33 probably very valuable for all of us to have those conversations
2:36 and know what’s going on in other districts as well.
2:38 So kudos to you and thank you to Sheriff Ivy for hosting us at
2:43 his amazing facility and letting us take up part of his day and
2:48 his staff.
2:48 I appreciate it very much.
2:49 Huge shout out to Atlantis Elementary.
2:52 I had the opportunity to join them last week for their student
2:56 talent show and the talent show was coordinated by Beth Wallach
3:01 and Andy Hanson, their music teacher and their PE teacher and it
3:05 was actually a fundraiser for their music department so they
3:07 could purchase instruments for their music department.
3:09 Students were phenomenal in their performances, I was so proud
3:13 of them although it was all girls that performed and so Andy, I
3:19 don’t know if any of you know Andy Hanson, but he and Beth
3:22 decided that to encourage the boys to be in the next talent show,
3:28 he and Beth performed a duet and it was his debut for vocals and
3:33 he did a phenomenal job so if you haven’t seen it it’s on my
3:37 Facebook page but give Andy a shout.
3:38 But give Andy a shout out and Beth a shout out for the amazing
3:40 work that they do and the passion that they bring to encouraging
3:43 their students in various ways, I thought that was awesome.
3:46 There’s also some video out there and a couple individuals that
3:49 are here of our talent show that we were in a couple of years
3:51 ago if they need to provide that or any kind of first-hand
3:54 knowledge on our experience in those regards.
3:57 Appreciate that Mr. Susan.
3:58 Anytime.
3:59 Just offering it up.
4:00 Yeah, excellent.
4:01 Also want to say thank you to the Titusville community for
4:04 joining Dr. Mullins and I and several staff members for our
4:09 community conversation.
4:11 I think ours was the first one up in Titusville and got some
4:15 great feedback, some good recommendations and had, I think we
4:19 had about 70 people in the audience so very much appreciate the
4:24 community coming out to support that conversation.
4:26 Also want to give a shout out to our teachers, I was able to
4:30 participate in the walk-in at Fair Glen.
4:33 And so just want to say thank you to them for advocating for
4:39 additional funding for public education and was very pleased
4:44 that it was a positive encouraging event.
4:47 So many thanks to them.
4:48 I’m going to divert now to my not real recognition but kind of
4:55 recognition.
4:57 Several of the board members probably are aware but I feel like
4:59 it’s important the teachers know where we are in the legislative
5:02 process as well.
5:03 Today was the budget conference organizing meeting and so we’re
5:06 at a really critical point in the legislative process where they
5:11 are now coming together to determine what is going to be funded
5:16 in several buckets.
5:17 So today was the organizing meeting and those efforts are led by
5:22 Senator Bradley and Representative Cummings.
5:26 However, each of the individual committees are working on
5:29 different areas of the budget.
5:31 And so at this point the Senate and the House have come together
5:34 and agreed on the amount of money that’s going to be in the K-12
5:38 education budget.
5:39 So kind of like when we set our budgets, for example, for
5:42 groceries.
5:43 Maybe we budget, I’ll say $100 for groceries this week.
5:48 But we don’t necessarily decide right away what we’re spending
5:51 that $100 on.
5:52 That’s the point at which we are in the budget conference.
5:55 And so the Senate and the House both came off of their original
5:58 position a little bit.
6:00 And they have at this point allocated about just under $13
6:06 billion from general revenue for K-12 education in Florida.
6:11 And the reason that I mention this is because this is the time
6:15 when we, as well as you all, might be well served to reach out
6:20 to those individuals who are serving on the budget committees.
6:23 The way that the process works is each of the committees works
6:27 on now determining exactly how that $13 billion is going to be
6:31 spent.
6:32 And then they will bring anything that can’t be settled within
6:34 their individual committee back to the leaders who will work out
6:39 those differences.
6:41 So really critical that we are right now reaching out
6:44 respectfully and positively and asking those committee members
6:49 to advocate that those dollars be spent in the way that is going
6:51 to be most – to have the greatest positive impact on public
6:56 education.
6:58 So you can Google budget conference committee if you want to see
7:03 who those folks are.
7:05 Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone in our local delegation that’s
7:08 sitting on the K-12 committee.
7:10 But that doesn’t mean that we can’t reach out to them and help
7:12 to educate them on the issues that are challenging for public
7:15 education.
7:16 For anyone who is not familiar, one of our only sources of
7:19 flexible revenue comes through what’s called the base student
7:23 allocation.
7:25 And that is the amount that last year we got a $0.47 increase in
7:29 our BSA.
7:30 The bulk of the other funding that comes out of Tallahassee is
7:33 through categoricals, which means they tell us exactly how to
7:37 spend those dollars.
7:38 And an enormous amount of money last year went to things like
7:42 mental health and security.
7:44 And we know that there are agendas from leadership in both
7:48 houses taking place this year as well.
7:52 But it would be really great if you don’t know what to say to
7:56 them as to encourage them how to best impact public education.
8:00 That base student allocation would be a really great area to
8:03 focus because that’s the only funding that is available to us to
8:06 provide raises for you all.
8:08 And so it’s really, really critical that we encourage them to
8:11 put as much funding into that base student allocation as
8:13 possible as they’re going through this conference process.
8:16 There are lots of other areas that we could certainly
8:19 communicate with them about best and brightest still on the
8:23 table and potentially could be massaged to allow that to be a
8:27 pay raise as opposed to a bonus.
8:30 There are some lots of funds and voucher programs and those
8:33 sorts of things.
8:34 So if you are interested, if you want more information, I don’t
8:36 want to belabor the issue and go on forever this evening.
8:40 But I do think that it’s critical that we are reaching out to
8:41 them right now and letting them know how they can best serve us.
8:44 So if you want more information, reach out to me, belford.misty@bevardschools.org
8:49 if you need specifics.
8:50 Or if you want to, you know, ask some questions about the
8:53 process or specifics of the budget, I would be more than happy
8:57 to answer that.
8:58 But I think it’s important to understand that we on the board
9:01 are only five votes and you guys are a whole lot more votes.
9:05 So even though you’re not voting on anyone sitting on that
9:08 actual committee, I think it’s important that we have that
9:10 communication.
9:11 And then the last piece that I will say is I think it’s
9:13 important to understand that our legislators are dealing with a
9:16 multitude of issues.
9:18 And so their area of expertise may not be education.
9:22 And so sometimes we have to educate them on how those various
9:26 decisions impact us and explaining that BSA being the flexible
9:29 funding is one area that they really need to understand.
9:34 How we can utilize those dollars to have positive impact.
9:37 So thank you, Madam Chair, for allowing me a couple of minutes
9:40 to get on my budget and advocacy soapbox.
9:43 No, very important.
9:44 We appreciate that update.
9:46 Thank you so much.
9:47 Do you have any other recognitions?
9:49 No.
9:50 The only thing that I would say on the conference, you all can
9:52 actually go back and watch that on Florida Channel.
9:55 You can watch what took place today.
9:57 But very interestingly, and I haven’t seen this in years past,
10:00 the communication between the two chambers has been very
10:05 friendly.
10:06 And several times it was referenced how good they are working
10:10 together.
10:11 Earlier in the week there was some speculation that they may go
10:15 beyond session and have to go into special session to resolve
10:18 budget issues.
10:19 But they seem very determined to work together and come to
10:22 conclusions.
10:23 So that can be a good thing as long as we get them on the same
10:27 page.
10:28 Thank you, Ms. Belford.
10:29 Mr. Susan.
10:30 I also wanted to reiterate what Ms. Belford said.
10:34 I wanted to give a shout out to the teachers as I was at Ralph
10:37 Williams giving a walking into the schools for the raises also.
10:42 I think everybody, but I think, I think everybody up there needs
10:46 to understand that in our own way, we’re all fighting for the
10:49 raises the same way.
10:51 I think that my other school board members, I’ve never seen
10:54 passion in getting to there too.
10:57 I mean, Ms. Deskovich and I are going to be in Tallahassee
10:59 tomorrow speaking to legislators and I’m going to be focusing on
11:02 the house budget side because they’re the ones that are lower
11:05 than the Senate side.
11:07 I do know that Dr. Mullins and everybody else have been pounding
11:10 our legislators and others to try to get our base student
11:14 allocation up.
11:15 Just so that you guys know, the house is roughly at about 150,
11:19 Senate’s at about 350.
11:21 We need to get the house to get to 250 to 275.
11:25 The Senate’s holding strong in making it to where this is a key
11:28 component of their budget.
11:30 Whereas the house is trying to play a little bit.
11:32 So if you are looking at that budget estimating conference or
11:35 you’re looking in there to who to call, focus on your house
11:37 members and tell them how much that base student allocation
11:40 means and that they need to match the Senate’s allocation.
11:44 I do want to, I did want to say thank you to Sue Han for capital
11:48 outlay meeting that we had yesterday.
11:52 She basically laid out all of the issues that we have to our
11:55 student, our city managers throughout the entire county, all the
11:59 way from the grasping mode at the different facilities and
12:02 everything else.
12:03 And let me tell you why that’s kind of important.
12:06 All of the city managers came together and said, how can we help
12:08 the schools?
12:09 And some of them stood up and said, we don’t mind taking over
12:12 when you guys get swamped with the mowing to go in and help mow
12:16 some of those areas for you.
12:18 Other people said, let’s work together on different things.
12:20 So I really wanted to give Ms. Sue Han a shout out for all the
12:24 hard work that you do because that’s extra on top of what we
12:28 normally do.
12:29 And it’s definitely beneficial for what you do.
12:32 So thank you so much, Sue.
12:33 I really appreciate everything that you’re doing there.
12:35 I did have the absolute opportunity, amazing opportunity to go
12:42 to Johnson Space Center last week.
12:45 And some people keep saying like, what is this thing that you
12:47 keep talking about?
12:48 And I realized I haven’t done a good explanation because I get
12:50 so excited about it.
12:52 But here’s what’s happening.
12:54 NASA is looking for a place to create a manufacturing center
13:01 where students will make parts that go to the International
13:05 Space Station.
13:07 So here’s how it works.
13:09 Your astronauts that take off here and go into outer space are
13:12 in this International Space Station.
13:15 And they have all of these components that they have to build in
13:18 order to make up their file lockers, everything.
13:22 And when they go to Northrop Grumman or they go to these places,
13:25 they say, well, that’s a specialty item.
13:26 That’s $100,000.
13:28 So what NASA said was there’s a definite need to manufacture
13:31 these goods somewhere.
13:33 And what they wanted to do is create a partnership where they’re
13:36 going to offer to put four NASA engineers inside of a school
13:41 that work 12 months a year.
13:44 And what they do is they manufacture parts for the International
13:48 Space Station alongside with our kids so that they can gain the
13:51 experience.
13:52 And the kids that work there, guess where they get an
13:54 opportunity to go to work over the summer?
13:56 It’s also manufacturing and going to launch facilities out at
13:58 Kennedy Space Center.
14:00 The opportunity is absolutely phenomenal in the fact that no
14:04 other school in the state of Florida has this opportunity.
14:09 So I was just, I was crawling through the mock-up of the space
14:13 station because that’s what they have at Johnson is, is they
14:16 have the real astronauts that are going up next month.
14:18 And they have us inside the space station.
14:21 And they’re saying, this is what else we need. This is what we
14:23 need.
14:24 I just absolute amazing opportunity.
14:27 And I have to give all the credit to Dennis Sobolisky and Janice
14:31 Schultz, who are head of career and technical, because this
14:33 never would have happened without them.
14:35 Their passion for our kids is amazing.
14:38 And just with that, that program alone will put us on the map
14:41 nationally.
14:42 So that was a big deal.
14:43 And I was really proud to be a part of it.
14:45 I do have a shout out that I wanted to do.
14:47 We have a, we’re trying to create a community track at Vieira
14:53 High School.
14:54 So I’m going to be basically running around and fundraising for
14:57 the next three months for, to build the track.
15:01 We also having a Vieira Eat My Crust 5K, where all the proceeds
15:04 go to the track.
15:06 So if you guys run and you’d love to come support it, please do.
15:09 It’s going to be a community track like satellite, where we
15:11 allow people in the community to go run on in the evening and
15:14 stuff like that.
15:15 So I wanted to give a shout out to that. And with that, I’m good.
15:18 For real though, this is the time for you guys to reach out with
15:22 us to go and try to get that house to come up on the budget.
15:26 If there’s ever a time for us to unify and make a fight, it’s
15:30 now.
15:31 Being a former building rep for nine years with the teachers
15:35 union, for being a teacher, being one of you, being in Tallahassee
15:39 for all nine years,
15:41 fighting for teachers raises when I was a teacher and knowing
15:44 the commitment that we have up here as a board and what we were
15:47 dealt last year.
15:49 It’s up to us together now to put aside our differences and go
15:52 up to Tallahassee and get us this, get the revenue that we need
15:55 to create the raises that we know we can give.
15:57 So I look forward to seeing the emails. You can CC me. I’ll CC
16:00 as many people as we can.
16:02 And let’s make the big push because now is time. With that, I’m
16:04 done. Thank you.
16:07 Thank you, Mr. Susan. Ms. Campbell.
16:10 Thank you, Ms. Belford, for keeping us always up to date and
16:13 serving on the FSB Legislative Committee because I know that’s a
16:17 lot of extra time on your part.
16:18 I appreciate you. We had our District 5 Community Conversation
16:22 meeting at Heritage High School last week and didn’t have a huge
16:26 one.
16:26 Didn’t have a huge crowd, but I just wanted to thank all the
16:28 administrators that showed up.
16:30 And I don’t think that they were threatened into going, but I
16:33 was – there were a lot of principals and they shared some great
16:35 ideas.
16:36 Some of our teachers that were there shared great ideas. Of
16:38 course, we had parents there, too, but had some fantastic ideas
16:41 coming out of that meeting.
16:43 And I appreciate the administrators being there because they
16:45 wanted to hear, too.
16:46 If people were going to talk about their schools, they wanted to
16:48 hear what they had to say.
16:50 So I was very thankful to see them as well.
16:54 We are winding down, and so it is – because the testing’s moved
16:59 to May, all of our fine arts programs are going to be doing
17:02 their end-of-the-year programs.
17:03 If they haven’t already done them, they’re going to be doing in
17:05 the next couple of weeks.
17:06 And so I’d encourage you to get out if you need a little fine
17:08 arts in your life to our programs.
17:10 I got to go to a couple of musicals a few weekends ago.
17:14 Heritage High School did Fame Junior, and then Bayside did Pippin.
17:18 They were fantastic.
17:20 Our students are so talented, and our fine arts teachers at our
17:24 high schools are just opening doors for our students to do some
17:28 pretty amazing things.
17:30 And really looking forward this summer to our summer fine arts
17:34 musical theater workshop,
17:36 where we’re going to get to see students from lots of different
17:38 schools coming together under the leadership of our teachers to
17:41 do some even more amazing performances.
17:44 April is School Library Month.
17:46 And so last Monday, I got to be the librarian for the day at Meadow
17:51 Lane Primary.
17:52 And Virginia Campbell, who is the media specialist there, was a
17:56 gracious host.
17:58 And I had a fantastic day getting to join her in some lessons in
18:02 the makerspace activities and getting to go through a book on
18:07 different kinds of buildings around the world.
18:09 Meadow Lane Primary is one of Florida’s power library schools,
18:13 and it’s kind of like the fine arts model schools for media
18:17 centers.
18:18 And so there’s – it takes a lot to get it done, and I’m super
18:23 proud of Meadow Lane Primary for serving that.
18:26 And Ms. Campbell, as well, is serving this year on the Sunshine
18:30 State Reader Committee for the primary grades.
18:34 And so those lists just came out, and so proud of her
18:37 accomplishments in that area.
18:39 Ms. Deskovich and I got to attend a UNICEF club event at Mel
18:43 High last week.
18:45 And the students there were – we got to share the stage with
18:49 some pretty incredible women.
18:51 Melbourne City Council Debbie Thomas, and the mayor, Kathy Meehan,
18:59 was there.
19:00 It was not on the panel, but she was in attendance as well.
19:03 And we had a few engineers and business people and a student
19:09 from FIT who is into jet car racing.
19:12 And so just – it was a great opportunity to share with our
19:16 students, male and female, the changes that have happened.
19:20 And the wonderful opportunities that women have to have roles in
19:23 government and business and in engineering and to encourage
19:27 those girls to work hard and to pursue their passions.
19:32 I got to visit the South Area Alternative Learning Center last
19:36 week with Christine Moore.
19:38 And that has been a topic of conversation frequently for the
19:45 board since I’ve joined just in the last five months.
19:49 But I will say that I had – I was really blown away.
19:54 And I shared this on my page because we had four students who –
19:57 there were students who requested meetings.
19:59 They looked at the assistant principal and said, “I want to talk
20:01 to your boss.”
20:02 And so Ms. Moore went, but I went with her.
20:05 And so they got – they were so appreciative of being able to be
20:09 heard.
20:10 But I want to – my shout out is to the teachers and staff that
20:14 work there at the South ALC
20:16 because they have done such a great job with these students, at
20:21 least these four.
20:22 I know every student is not like these four.
20:24 But every single one of them presented their issues and their
20:28 concerns in such a respectful way.
20:31 And they advocated for themselves.
20:33 And they were so self-aware.
20:35 There was – the first student that walked in was a seventh grader.
20:38 And he was so self-aware.
20:40 I mean, he could look back and he knew where he came from and
20:43 how he had changed and what he needed.
20:46 And so I’m so thankful.
20:47 I know a lot of that change had to do with the counseling and
20:50 the social workers
20:51 and the teachers who have worked with him over the last several
20:52 months.
20:53 And so I just want to thank the staff there at the South ALC.
20:56 And I’m sure similar things are going on at the North ALC
20:58 because they have a really, really tough job.
21:01 But they are making a difference in those students’ lives.
21:04 And all four of the students that we got to speak with were just
21:08 on point with the way they presented themselves.
21:11 The final thing is I’ve asked – you know, we’ve had our pin
21:15 recognition that we’re doing for bridge building
21:18 and excellence achieving and big dreaming.
21:20 But being kind of new to this role, I have asked for help
21:25 through social media.
21:26 And I’m really excited because in the last couple days I have
21:29 gotten seven or eight emails from people,
21:31 from parents, from coworkers, from a child protective service
21:38 investigator,
21:40 naming our staff, speech therapists, and teachers, and office
21:46 staff,
21:47 and just different people who have had a huge impact.
21:49 And the stories are like paragraphs long.
21:51 So I’ll be happy to recognize those staff members and teachers
21:56 in the coming weeks.
21:57 But it’s really great to see staff members recognizing one
22:00 another
22:01 and to see the impact that you guys are having on the community.
22:05 So I’m really excited to start giving out those pins.
22:09 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
22:10 Dr. Mullins.
22:12 Thank you, Ms. Tescovich.
22:14 I’d like to – I think last meeting I highlighted the April 13th,
22:18 their upcoming jazz – all-county jazz festival concert at the
22:22 King Center.
22:23 And I think I may have even said it’s one of my favorite all-county
22:25 concerts.
22:26 Well, I was not disappointed.
22:28 It was an absolutely phenomenal performance by both our middle
22:31 school jazz bands
22:32 and our high school jazz bands.
22:34 So my shout-out just to our music teachers.
22:37 Do a phenomenal job of training up, inspiring up, and supporting
22:42 our –
22:43 the future musicians of our community.
22:45 It was a fantastic concert.
22:48 I had a unique experience last weekend, April 15th – excuse me,
22:53 April 13th,
22:55 visiting for the first time the Viera Wetlands.
22:58 And I don’t know if you’ve had the opportunity to visit the
23:00 wonder of the wetlands.
23:02 They celebrated the 10-year anniversary right here in the Viera
23:05 community.
23:06 It was an absolutely fantastic natural environment.
23:11 We watched sunset over the wetlands.
23:13 It was – and watched thousands of birds come into the – I’m
23:17 not going to get the right word –
23:19 where birds come into – aviary, I think, is what they call the
23:22 hammock of vegetation.
23:25 It was beautiful.
23:26 If you’ve not had the privilege of visiting the wetlands, I
23:29 highly recommend it, particularly before it gets too hot.
23:32 But it was a beautiful evening.
23:35 I had my SGA student shadowing experience on April 15th last
23:40 week at Merritt Island High School.
23:42 Ariann was my student who I shadowed.
23:47 It was a great day or great afternoon at Merritt Island High
23:51 School.
23:52 My shout-out to Ariann.
23:54 She’s a SGA president, a completely impressive young lady.
23:59 Will be graduating, and she is going to go on to do great things.
24:02 I would not be surprised the politics are in her future.
24:05 She is such an outgoing individual.
24:07 She probably greeted 20 students by name around campus as we
24:13 were walking around, and not just her friends.
24:16 These were students of all ages and all across the campus.
24:22 I was so impressed with her as a student leader and the impact
24:25 she’s having on her campus.
24:27 And I attribute that to Mr. Roach, who is the teacher there.
24:31 He’s the SGA sponsor.
24:33 Has a student leadership elective class.
24:37 Just a very positive influence on students.
24:40 He participated on my team in the kickball game that we had a
24:43 couple days later at Merritt Island High.
24:46 If you may remember, I committed to a kickball game with the
24:49 school who raised the most money for the students.
24:51 raised the most money for the Real Men Wear Pink campaign.
24:54 It was Merritt Island High School as well.
24:56 And it was also a fantastic time with our students and faculty
25:00 from Merritt Island High School.
25:01 And it doesn’t matter who won.
25:04 But I won’t – and I would be remiss if I didn’t say we did have
25:10 a couple student ringers on our team.
25:12 But made us look a lot better than we would otherwise.
25:15 And thank you to Ms. Belford and Ms. Campbell for hosting the
25:19 community conversation meetings with me.
25:22 Do a note that Monday, April 29th, Community Conversation O’Galley
25:28 High School for District 4.
25:31 May 3rd, District 3 at Satellite High School.
25:36 And May 14th, District 2 at Merritt Island High School.
25:40 So Mr. Seusson and I are together on Monday and look forward to
25:44 having our community come together.
25:47 Also had a meeting with our maintenance community for community
25:51 conversation last Friday.
25:53 Met with them at the Rockledge High School auditorium.
25:55 Had to have been well over 100 staff members.
25:59 And really a great conversation.
26:02 Some good feedback and suggestions of things that we can do to
26:05 be more efficient with the resources we do have.
26:09 And so I appreciate their work.
26:12 As I said that morning, completely behind the scenes, making so
26:16 much happen that we too often take for granted.
26:20 So a shout out to Ms. Hand as well and Mr. Ross and so many
26:25 other of our district leaders to support our teams out there
26:29 doing great work to support our schools.
26:31 Thank you.
26:33 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
26:35 I’d like to start off with Phantom of the Opera.
26:38 If you have never seen it, as I have never seen it.
26:40 I’ll be enjoying it this weekend at Satellite High School.
26:43 Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, 7 p.m.
26:45 And Sunday at 2 p.m.
26:46 You can buy tickets by going to Satellite High’s website.
26:49 There’s a link right on there.
26:51 So they’re $15.
26:52 And I have a feeling they’re going to do an amazing job.
26:55 So if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, here they’re
26:57 going to sell out.
26:59 So get your tickets.
27:01 Ms. Campbell and Dr. Mullins and I attended Sea Park’s 60th
27:06 anniversary.
27:08 And our hearts were full when we left there.
27:11 What a perfect, ideal, community-based school.
27:16 It’s a small school.
27:17 It’s one of our smallest schools.
27:19 It was built and opened in 1959.
27:22 And they had a newspaper clipping for any time Sea Park has ever
27:27 been in the paper since 1959 saved.
27:29 And to just see pages and pages of history.
27:32 The school has had over 1,000 students at times.
27:36 It’s gone down to 300 students at times.
27:39 It has almost been closed several times and made it by the skin
27:43 of its teeth to stay open.
27:46 And newspaper clippings of people in tears at board meetings as
27:49 it wasn’t closed.
27:50 And it was very emotional.
27:52 And we were able to meet third-generation Sea Park students and
27:56 second-generation – current teachers teaching in the classroom
28:02 that they attended when they were in first grade with their
28:04 mother there who used to teach also in that same classroom.
28:07 And it was just – everybody was.
28:09 And then I posted some pictures online.
28:11 And people were saying, “Oh, you know, my son too.
28:14 We’re the third-generation Sea Park students.”
28:16 So it really was a beautiful experience to really celebrate with
28:19 them 60 years of an excellent school.
28:22 So, two weeks ago, Dr. Mullins and I were asked to speak at the
28:26 Teacher Leadership Academy.
28:29 And that was put together by Linda Buffum and Bridgett Reed.
28:33 And it’s really – they’re really doing a remarkable job putting
28:37 teachers that aspire to move into teacher leadership positions
28:41 or even maybe ultimately into administration through a program
28:44 of exposing them to areas that they need to grow into leadership
28:50 positions.
28:51 And we had a really great time with these teachers.
28:55 It was a very candid conversation.
28:56 It was a very open discussion.
28:57 They shared with us a lot of their concerns.
28:59 We shared with them a lot about our role and what we do.
29:05 And I think it was a very successful evening.
29:08 Now I have three more and then I’ll wrap it up.
29:11 These were all pins that were awarded this week.
29:14 And I really want to acknowledge these ladies.
29:16 They were all at Port Malabar Elementary School.
29:19 The Big Dreamer pin was – she was nominated by her principal,
29:23 Miss Cindy Whelan.
29:25 And it went to Heather Hammond.
29:27 She is a school counselor there.
29:28 And some of the things that her principal said about her is that
29:33 she’s always looking for ways to support and inspire their
29:37 students.
29:38 She’s always involved in the latest trends to improve mental
29:41 health.
29:42 She works on building the character of all students at the
29:44 school.
29:45 She coaches Odyssey of the Mind.
29:47 She sponsors her favorite club.
29:49 She is the epitome of Big Dreamer.
29:51 And she wrote up a whole page on her and her great qualities.
29:56 And I was honored to award her the Big Dreamer pin.
29:59 Miss Mary Garrido is their ESOL teacher.
30:04 And this woman has so much life in her.
30:07 Everyone around there loves her, hands down.
30:10 And my favorite quote out of what the write-up was from Miss Whelan
30:13 on her was that she puts on these potluck dinners whenever she
30:18 meets with the ESOL parents to kind of bring the community in.
30:20 And she has everyone bring food from their ethnic background.
30:24 And she said, “Breaking bread with her families has created
30:27 lasting friendships and established warm, supportive
30:30 relationships for our students.”
30:32 And you can see that.
30:34 You can see that on the campus.
30:36 You can see that in her personality, in her room, her
30:38 relationship with her students.
30:40 And so we’re very grateful to have her in our district.
30:43 And I know Miss Whelan is grateful to have her at her school.
30:45 And last but not least is Michelle King.
30:47 She’s the literacy coach there at Port Malibar Elementary School.
30:50 And Miss Whelan said about her, “Her work is accurate without
30:53 fault.
30:54 And her enthusiasm for our school never wanes.
30:57 She is a perfect example of an excellence achiever.”
31:00 So we awarded her with the excellence achiever pin.
31:03 She said, “Her work ethic is outstanding and she never complains.
31:07 She goes above and beyond in every task.
31:09 And her support of their school is phenomenal.”
31:11 And of course, you know, another full page about how amazing
31:14 this woman is.
31:15 So we are grateful for our employees.
31:18 And especially this week, I’m grateful for those three at Port
31:20 Malibar Elementary School.
31:21 Thank you.
31:22 Okay.
31:23 That brings us to the adoption of the agenda.
31:28 Dr. Mullins.
31:29 Ms. Deskovich and members of the board, on this evening’s agenda,
31:32 we have administrative staff recommendations, one presentation,
31:35 28 consent items,
31:37 two action items, one of which is a public hearing, and two
31:40 information items.
31:41 You also have the yellow supplemental agenda, which are changes
31:44 made to the agenda since being released to the public on Tuesday,
31:49 May 16th.
31:51 Item 2019.
31:53 Item A7 on administrative staff recommendations, F10 on meeting
31:57 minutes, F11 on student expulsions, and F34 on educational
32:01 facilities impact fees received revisions.
32:04 An item on job description, accountant one, and job description
32:09 retirement specialists were deleted from this agenda.
32:12 What are the wishes of the board?
32:14 Move to approve.
32:15 Second.
32:16 Moved by Mr. Susan.
32:17 Second by Ms. Belford.
32:18 Any discussion?
32:20 Please vote.
32:29 Motion passes 4-0.
32:32 Do I have to account for Ms. McDougall?
32:35 Not.
32:36 Because I counted her F.
32:38 So I just say motion passes 4-0.
32:41 Is that a – great.
32:42 Thank you, Pam.
32:43 Motion passes 4-0.
32:45 Dr. Mullins, will you please let us know about the
32:47 administrative staff recommendations.
32:49 There are four persons on this agenda item for the board to
32:52 consider.
32:52 What are the wishes of the board?
32:55 Move to vote.
32:56 Second.
32:57 Moved by Mr. Susan, second by Ms. Campbell.
33:01 Any discussion?
33:06 Please vote.
33:10 Motion passes 4-0.
33:12 Dr. Mullins.
33:14 I would like to welcome and congratulate Ms. Lena Weibelt on our
33:18 reclassification and
33:20 transfer from the position of principal at Bayside High School
33:23 to the position of director
33:25 of secondary leading and learning.
33:27 Congratulations Ms. Weibelt.
33:30 Good evening.
33:33 I’d like to thank Dr. Mullins and the board for this opportunity.
33:37 I’d like to thank Dr. Sullivan for always believing in me.
33:40 Sherry Pullman, Molly Vega, and Robin Novelli for their support.
33:45 One of my biggest fans here tonight.
33:47 Former assistant principal and amazing principal of Hoover
33:50 Middle School.
33:50 Herbert Clark, who came out to support me.
33:53 And, last but not least, my Bayside family, who warmly embraced
33:58 me two years ago when I
34:00 showed up on their doorstep.
34:01 We’ve done some amazing work over the last two years, and I know
34:04 they’ll continue it without
34:06 me.
34:07 And they will always remember to show their pride in Bayside.
34:09 Bayside.
34:10 Go Bears!
34:11 Thank you.
34:13 Next, a little bit of a bittersweet, but we want to welcome Dr.
34:20 Michael Corneau, principal
34:21 of Stevenson Elementary, and wish him well on his upcoming and
34:26 anticipated retirement.
34:28 Dr. Corneau, thank you for your years.
34:36 Yeah.
34:37 We can go ahead and do that.
34:38 Dr. Corneau, I know I already expressed my own appreciation at
34:41 our leadership team meeting,
34:42 but thank you again for your dedication and service to the
34:45 students of Stevenson, the only
34:48 principal of Stevenson Elementary School, if I remember
34:50 correctly.
34:51 You leave huge shoes to fill, but a lasting impact of leadership
34:56 in the Stevenson community.
34:59 Thank you.
35:01 On behalf of the board, Dr. Mullins, certainly Ms. Jane Klein,
35:07 comes emotionally to leave.
35:10 It’s time for me to do it.
35:13 I have nothing but the fondest of memories right now as I think
35:17 about the 19 years that I’ve
35:20 spent at Stevenson, the children every day warm my heart.
35:25 When I see them working collectively together to problem solve
35:29 and to find the words to express,
35:31 sometimes I think they do say the darndest things.
35:36 I want to thank the parents for their commitment and passion and
35:41 support of Brevard County Public
35:43 Schools for Stevenson especially.
35:47 They have an undying commitment.
35:49 And then lastly, I have never worked with a finer group of
35:54 teachers.
35:54 I view them as smart, dedicated, compassionate, and passionate
36:03 about what they do to elevate
36:05 kids every single solitary day.
36:08 They are truly a pleasure to work with.
36:11 I mean that with the bottom of my heart.
36:13 I see one of them right here.
36:17 And I guess I leave Brevard County Public Schools with memories
36:22 and memories and many memories.
36:24 And as I fade into the sunset as they say so to speak, I go fondly
36:31 with those memories.
36:33 And I thank Brevard County Public Schools for that opportunity.
36:38 Thank you, sir.
36:52 Dr. Mullins, let’s proceed with the presentation this evening.
36:56 Thank you, Ms. Deskovich.
36:59 Ms. Penny Zerker, Chief Financial Officer, will provide us with
37:02 an audit update.
37:03 Ms. Zerker.
37:04 Good evening.
37:05 As we’ve been doing for about a year and a half now, every time
37:21 the Audit Committee meets
37:26 and accepts audit reports, I come before you to share with you
37:30 the audit reports that the
37:31 board – the Audit Committee has approved.
37:35 Today’s audit – audit update will cover the most recent half-cent
37:40 sales surtax, as well
37:42 as some internal audit follow-up report.
37:47 The half-cent sales surtax, this is our sixth one that we’ve
37:50 done since the establishment
37:52 of the half-cent sales tax.
37:54 The purpose is to test financial reporting to the ICOC, its
37:59 appropriateness, its existence,
38:02 and most importantly, its accuracy and valuation.
38:06 The audit period under consideration is December 1st, 2017
38:11 through June 30th.
38:13 And the procedures included revenue – testing revenues,
38:17 expenditures, and procurement.
38:19 And again, for the fifth time in a row, I’m happy to say there
38:22 were no exceptions found
38:24 in the audit.
38:27 The internal audit follow-up, this is through our internal
38:31 accounts district level, centralization
38:34 of processes and sponsor training.
38:36 This continues to move forward on the centralized internal
38:40 accounts.
38:41 We’re just about through with the deposits and PCARD
38:46 implementation and currently are piloting
38:49 schools on check writing.
38:52 the thing that they did find was the training schedule for
38:56 training our
38:57 teacher sponsors were this summer at the teacher conference
39:00 meetings in both the
39:02 secondary and elementary they will again test in December 2019
39:08 for the training
39:09 schedule under community relation relations advertising revenue
39:14 they
39:15 looked at the internal funds accounting strings created
39:18 procedures developed to
39:19 address billing and collections and the risk related to the
39:23 manual processing
39:24 accepted separate accounting software that was originally
39:28 recommended was deemed
39:30 not feasible at this time but the manual mitigation has been
39:35 accepted by RSM and
39:38 the finding has been closed they still have three additional
39:44 follow-ups to do
39:45 that they will be working on here in the spring that’s a payroll
39:48 time key
39:49 being update transportation services inventory fuel and
39:53 purchasing card
39:55 procedures and then another look at the internal accounts
39:58 district level that
39:59 they’ll begin late May early June if anyone is interested in
40:04 obtaining copies of
40:06 the audit report they may contact my office and the information
40:10 is available on
40:11 the screen you happy to take any questions the board may have
40:18 thank you mr. does anyone have
40:19 any questions from mr. Kerr thank you for your time we are now
40:27 to the public comments portion of our
40:31 meeting those school board policy zero one six nine point one
40:35 limits to thirty minutes the portion of the meeting during which
40:37 the public is invited to participate and provide public comment
40:40 policy further provides the
40:41 as well as that this time limit may be extended by the vote of
40:44 the board we have four speakers signed up this evening
40:47 each speaker is limited to three minutes we have a clock in
40:50 front of me to help you keep track of your time when your time
40:53 is over you’ll be asked to stop and allow the next speaker his
40:56 or her turn
40:56 always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is expected at all
41:00 times and your statement should
41:01 be directed to the board chairman the chairman may interrupt
41:04 warn or terminate a participant statement when the time is up
41:07 personally directed abusive obscene or irrelevant
41:10 should an individual not observe proper etiquette the chairman
41:14 may request the individual leave the meeting let’s all encourage
41:17 an environment appropriate for our children who may be present
41:18 or watching for home from home let’s begin with our first three
41:23 speakers Anthony Colucci Vanessa Skipper and John
41:26 I’m going to thank you for joining us, Jonathan Hillard.
41:53 My name is Anthony Kluge. I’m honored to fight for the Brevard
41:57 Federation of Teachers.
41:59 Last meeting was the sixth time our teachers rallied in order to
42:05 draw attention to the fact that Brevard County teachers are
42:09 amongst the worst paid teachers in the nation.
42:12 It was the sixth time courageous teachers got up here and poured
42:16 their hearts out.
42:18 Last meeting we finally got a response, but rather than address
42:22 any of the issues surrounding pay, it was mostly discussion
42:26 about contempt for BFT leaders because we’re not separating
42:30 issues from people.
42:32 Of course, when politicians can’t solve problems, they want to
42:36 be separated from them.
42:38 This union will never separate politicians from issues.
42:42 After all, the board members create and vote on the budget.
42:47 The budget doesn’t create itself.
42:49 There will be accountability for not supporting teachers.
42:53 We will always hold politicians accountable for their failure to
42:58 live up to campaign promises and correct issues.
43:01 And you don’t support teachers if you don’t support teachers if
43:09 you don’t support their union.
43:11 You don’t support teachers if you don’t reply to them when they
43:14 express their concerns meeting after meeting after meeting.
43:18 You don’t support teachers when you chastise them when they come
43:22 to these meetings and express their concerns.
43:25 And you don’t support teachers when you engage in protest shaming.
43:30 Protest shaming is a way for those in power to maintain control
43:35 and deflect from issues.
43:37 Whereas last meeting it was said that no one has ever been
43:41 insulted into agreement, we believe that power concedes nothing
43:46 without a demand.
43:47 It never did and it never will.
43:50 No matter how we protest, there is always someone who wants to
43:55 shame us.
43:56 How can you work to the contract?
43:58 Don’t you know that hurts kids?
43:59 Do you really think chanting in the streets is a good example
44:02 for students?
44:03 How do you think airing concerns in a public forum makes this
44:07 district look?
44:08 What were the latest attempts at shaming?
44:10 That a public display of frustration isn’t effective?
44:14 And that walk-ins weren’t acceptable because they were sponsored
44:17 by the Florida Education Association?
44:20 Your teachers are the Florida Education Association.
44:24 Now, of course, BFT is open to collaboration, productive
44:29 discussion, and civility.
44:31 But that does not happen when we speak and you do not respond.
44:36 I am excited that we did manage to collaborate on our walk-ins
44:40 last week.
44:41 That Ms. Belford, Ms. McDougall, and Mr. Susan walked in with
44:44 our teachers.
44:45 And helped spotlight the lack of state funding for public
44:49 education.
44:50 And we’re grateful for the ongoing support that our
44:52 administrators have provided us this entire year.
44:56 Teachers are cheering for us because they see and hear how hard
45:00 we’re working.
45:01 They need to see and hear how hard you’re working.
45:04 And you need to create a budget that rewards them for their work.
45:07 Thank you.
45:09 Thank you, Mr. Colucci.
45:10 Go ahead, Ms. Skipper.
45:19 Good evening, members of the board.
45:20 Dr. Mullins, Vanessa Skipper, Vice President of the Brevard
45:23 Federation of Teachers and proud English teacher from this
45:27 district.
45:28 I’ve spoken to you guys time after time.
45:31 I’ve said it before for six years in the classroom.
45:34 Now I’m out of the classroom.
45:36 I can’t say, you know, if I would have said 12, 13 years ago
45:39 when I started teaching that I would be doing this.
45:42 But I believe passionately in this profession.
45:45 I believe passionately in our students.
45:48 And I do believe in collaboration.
45:51 I can’t speak to any single board member because that’s against
45:54 the rule.
45:55 But I have emailed board members and never received a reply.
45:59 I have spoken at public comment for six years and sometimes
46:03 never received any kind of communication back from my comment.
46:07 The only time I can get you guys all in the same room to talk to
46:11 you is at public comment here.
46:14 So I absolutely 100% believe in collaboration.
46:17 I’ve handed you folders of research from the Economic Policy
46:20 Institute regarding salary.
46:22 I’ve handed you folders of research and what’s happened as far
46:25 as the passing of referendums in this county.
46:28 I’ve asked for participation in numerous things that we have
46:32 done throughout the years, including working together to meet
46:37 with legislators for common needs.
46:39 I am thrilled, 100% thrilled, that you started the meeting out
46:45 with explaining to our teachers what exactly is happening from
46:50 your end.
46:51 In fact, as you were speaking, a mass text message went out from
46:55 the Florida Education Association to our membership who have
47:02 signed up for those alerts to reach out to their legislators
47:04 with the very same budget concerns that you guys mentioned.
47:08 These are things that we do every single day and think how much
47:12 more powerful we could be if we did actually work together.
47:16 I am so excited to see the amount of administrators that
47:20 encouraged not only the walk-ins at their schools but walked in
47:24 with their teachers.
47:26 The SROs walked in with the teachers.
47:29 The staff, faculty and staff walked in with the teachers.
47:34 If you’re interested, you go to FEAactionCenter.org.
47:38 Anybody can go there.
47:39 You put in your name and information.
47:41 It will link you directly to your legislator so you can call or
47:45 email.
47:46 That site’s been up for years.
47:49 I want to give a shout out to Ms. McDougall even though she’s
47:52 not here.
47:53 She and I had a very good meeting regarding some concerns I sent
47:57 out about both ALCs and what we’re going to do to work together.
48:01 In fact, both she and I shadowing different days and different
48:06 situations to figure out what’s needed.
48:09 And what was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting turned into two
48:13 hours of solid discussion.
48:15 And that’s because she returned my phone calls and she returned
48:19 my emails when I asked.
48:21 So I’ve sent out communications.
48:23 All you have to do is respond.
48:24 Thank you.
48:25 Thank you, Ms. Skipper.
48:26 Good evening.
48:36 I’m Jonathan Hilliard, teacher and Vice President of Brevard
48:39 Federation of Teachers.
48:41 Two weeks ago I had an opportunity to speak with you and I spoke
48:48 about keeping the main thing the main thing.
48:51 Well, tonight I want to talk to you about what if.
48:55 I teach fourth grade and you know fourth graders are great about
48:59 the what if scenarios.
49:01 Mr. Hilliard, what if a sinkhole swallows up the swings and we
49:06 all fall in.
49:07 They love to what if.
49:09 Recently, the what ifs have changed due to the drills that we’ve
49:14 had.
49:15 The shelter in place, those drills.
49:18 And when we come back or we debrief, they give me some more what
49:23 ifs.
49:24 And the what ifs allow me to really get in touch with some anxieties,
49:29 some fears, and sometimes some really, really good thoughts and
49:35 ideas.
49:36 So let’s what if for just a moment.
49:39 What if Brevard County was the highest paid county in Florida?
49:48 What if.
49:51 What if people from, teachers from Orange County wanted to drive
49:56 an hour and 20 minutes to come to our county to teach.
50:02 Because they were appreciated and recognized and paid an
50:07 incredibly affordable wage, a living wage.
50:12 What if.
50:15 What if our number one achieving teachers were also number one
50:19 paid teachers.
50:21 What if.
50:25 What if the teachers that are always mentioned at the low end of
50:30 some statistical scale were now at the top end of that scale.
50:37 What if.
50:39 There’s an African proverb that says it takes an entire village
50:43 to raise a child.
50:44 Well, let’s take a look at the village right here in Brevard
50:47 County.
50:48 We all agree, parents are number one.
50:51 Parents influence our children the most.
50:53 They spend the most time.
50:55 But look at who number two is.
50:58 Teachers.
51:00 What if.
51:04 We were able to think outside of the box and look at budgets
51:08 differently.
51:09 What if.
51:10 We were to prioritize the needs of our teachers and make them
51:15 number one.
51:16 What.
51:17 If.
51:18 Brevard was not only the best teachers but the highest paid
51:21 teachers in the state of Florida.
51:24 What if.
51:26 Thank you.
51:26 Thank you, Mr. Hilliard.
51:27 Our final speaker is Mr. Ronald Bradley.
51:40 I’ve got a few unanswered questions that I’d like to find.
51:55 And after this meeting, I’d like for somebody to let me know who
52:01 I need to talk to.
52:03 I spend a lot of time doing stuff at home.
52:08 And.
52:09 I found out.
52:10 Out of 13 counties.
52:13 The Bard County has got more spelt buses than any county of the
52:18 13th.
52:19 I found out.
52:21 That there’s five counties.
52:24 That schools don’t have air conditioning in all the buses.
52:28 And.
52:29 I found out.
52:30 That some counties.
52:31 Have got.
52:32 Hardly any.
52:33 Spare buses.
52:34 And I’m wondering why.
52:35 We have so many spare buses.
52:36 I’ve been.
52:37 To Haiti.
52:38 Nicaragua.
52:39 El Salvador.
52:40 And they take a bus.
52:41 And.
52:42 They take a bus.
52:43 And.
52:44 They take a bus.
52:45 And.
52:46 They take a bus.
52:47 And.
52:48 They take a bus.
52:49 And.
52:50 They take a bus.
52:51 And.
52:52 They take a bus.
52:53 And.
52:54 They take a bus.
52:55 And.
52:56 They take a bus.
52:57 Here in the states.
52:59 That they think it’s completely wore out.
53:01 They take it over there.
53:03 And.
53:04 They fix it all up.
53:05 They take the automatic transmission.
53:07 The road ranger in it.
53:08 Because.
53:09 To going up the.
53:10 Mountains.
53:11 The automatic transmission wouldn’t last.
53:14 They put a jake brake.
53:16 And if you don’t know what a jake brake.
53:17 If you ever heard one in your house.
53:19 It’d shake the windows.
53:21 They don’t need air horns.
53:22 When they come down the mountains.
53:24 They pull that jake brake.
53:26 And.
53:27 Everybody gets out of the way.
53:28 Now.
53:29 Why.
53:30 Do we have so many.
53:32 Extra buses.
53:33 And.
53:34 Why.
53:35 There’s so many extra.
53:36 Other counties.
53:37 There’s a lot of counties.
53:39 I’ll give you this sheet.
53:41 It’s proof.
53:42 And.
53:43 You can find out.
53:44 We have vehicles.
53:45 Brand new vehicles.
53:47 We got six.
53:48 Automotive shops.
53:49 Why don’t you let them.
53:50 Repair.
53:51 The.
53:52 Vehicles.
53:53 That broke down.
53:54 And let these boys.
53:55 Get some experience.
53:56 I understand.
53:57 That some of these.
53:58 Auto schools.
53:59 They’re not getting enough money.
54:00 To buy.
54:01 Hand cleaner.
54:02 And.
54:03 Towels.
54:04 To keep the kids hands clean.
54:05 Now.
54:06 If you want to do the trades.
54:07 Get it done.
54:08 And get it right.
54:09 Or get out of it.
54:10 What you’re going to do.
54:11 Is keep fooling around.
54:12 Because all you’re going to have.
54:13 Is charter schools.
54:14 And different schools.
54:15 Because.
54:16 Our public schools.
54:17 Aren’t doing the job.
54:18 That they’re supposed to be doing.
54:19 And that’s my story.
54:20 And I’m sticking to it.
54:21 Thank you Mr. Bradley.
54:23 Would any board member.
54:24 Like to make any comments.
54:25 Ms. Belford.
54:26 Um.
54:27 So.
54:29 I’m going to.
54:30 To make any comments.
54:31 Um.
54:32 So.
54:33 I’m going to.
54:34 To make any comments.
54:35 Um.
54:36 So.
54:37 I’m going to.
54:38 To make any comments.
54:39 And.
54:40 To make any comments.
54:41 And.
54:42 To make any comments.
54:43 And.
54:44 To make any comments.
54:45 And.
54:46 To make any comments.
54:47 And.
54:48 To make any comments.
54:49 And.
54:50 To make any comments.
54:51 Um.
54:52 So.
54:53 Uh.
54:54 A.
54:56 Couple of things.
54:57 Mr. Bradley.
54:58 Um.
54:59 If you would like.
55:00 To touch base.
55:01 With.
55:02 Kevin.
55:03 Can you.
55:05 Have that conversation.
55:06 Mr. Bradley.
55:07 Kevin Thornton.
55:08 In the back of the room.
55:09 Um.
55:10 He was our.
55:11 Our interim CEO.
55:12 COO.
55:13 I just gave you a promotion.
55:14 Kevin.
55:15 Um.
55:16 Interim COO.
55:17 Um.
55:18 And handles our transportation issues.
55:19 So he.
55:20 Can you.
55:21 Answer some of your questions.
55:22 More specifically.
55:23 Um.
55:24 So.
55:25 I’ll.
55:27 Let him.
55:28 Go into those specifics.
55:29 But I’m sure he’d be happy.
55:30 To take a look at the information.
55:31 That you brought forward.
55:32 Um.
55:33 Mr. Colucci.
55:34 You and I had.
55:35 A.
55:36 Lengthy conversation.
55:37 After the last board meeting.
55:38 Um.
55:39 And a spirited conversation.
55:40 And.
55:41 Um.
55:42 I think.
55:43 I hope.
55:44 You would agree.
55:45 That.
55:46 That’s an initial conversation.
55:47 For us to have.
55:48 One thing.
55:49 That I think.
55:50 There is some.
55:51 Misunderstanding on.
55:52 Is.
55:53 My discussion.
55:54 Was.
55:55 Not.
55:56 Primarily.
55:57 About my contempt.
55:58 For BFT leaders.
55:59 My discussion.
56:00 Was an admission.
56:01 That I had been.
56:02 Allowing myself.
56:03 To feel some contempt.
56:04 But also.
56:05 Addressing.
56:06 The contempt.
56:07 That the BFT leaders.
56:08 Have been displaying.
56:09 Toward the board.
56:10 And.
56:11 I would absolutely.
56:12 Agree.
56:13 With the.
56:14 The statement.
56:15 That you put.
56:16 Forward.
56:17 That power.
56:18 Concedes.
56:19 Nothing.
56:20 Without demand.
56:21 But I think.
56:22 Where we are.
56:23 Differing.
56:24 And where I’m.
56:25 Questioning.
56:26 Is what that.
56:27 Demand needs to look like.
56:28 And the message.
56:29 That I conveyed.
56:30 Last board meeting.
56:31 Was.
56:32 We absolutely.
56:33 Need to disagree.
56:34 And we need to demand.
56:35 But we need to do it.
56:36 Better.
56:37 Between us.
56:38 And between.
56:39 And.
56:40 While absolutely.
56:41 You have to demand.
56:42 To get difference.
56:43 I think the way.
56:44 That you do that.
56:45 Demand.
56:46 Impacts your success.
56:47 And I understand.
56:48 From your perspective.
56:49 That.
56:50 That you all.
56:51 Have been coming.
56:52 For six meetings.
56:53 And speaking.
56:54 And.
56:55 Protesting.
56:56 Or picketing.
56:57 Or whatever.
56:58 You want to call it.
56:59 I don’t want to give that.
57:00 A negative.
57:01 Connotation.
57:02 Because I.
57:03 I don’t think.
57:04 That teachers having.
57:05 A voice.
57:06 Is a bad thing.
57:07 I think it’s.
57:08 In.
57:09 In Brevard County.
57:10 And throughout the state.
57:11 But.
57:12 What I.
57:13 What I do think.
57:14 That we need to realize.
57:15 Is the impact.
57:16 Of how we choose.
57:17 To have those.
57:18 Disagreements.
57:19 And.
57:19 Use our voice.
57:20 Is critically important.
57:21 Ms. Skipper, you and I had – and I’m sorry to call you out, Ms.
57:25 Skipper, without – Mr. Kaluchi knew that we were going to have
57:29 this conversation.
57:30 But I don’t mean to call you out, but you and I also had a
57:32 conversation at the end of the last board meeting.
57:35 And you said, you know, we’ve been coming for six meetings and
57:38 finally we got movement on language.
57:41 And my response to you was, we got movement because board
57:46 members and because staff members have been working hard to find
57:50 a way to make that work.
57:52 Not necessarily because of the way that the communication’s been
57:55 taking place.
57:56 And I absolutely would like to be able to collaborate with you
58:00 all in conversations with our legislators.
58:03 But for me, the way that we have those conversations is
58:05 critically important.
58:07 And what I don’t want to do is to – I don’t want to hamper our
58:13 progress and the way that our message is received.
58:16 And so that’s why that has been a big area of focus for me is
58:20 making sure – and you all have heard me, I don’t know how many
58:23 times,
58:23 when I spoke at the beginning of the meeting today, I said, it’s
58:26 time for us to respectfully ask that they allocate those dollars
58:30 in the way to have the greatest impact on public education.
58:33 And I think that’s important. And I think really, if you all
58:36 think about it, it makes sense.
58:38 If a student comes to you and they’re respectful and they say,
58:40 hey, I’m really struggling on this issue, can you help me?
58:43 Absolutely. You feel inclined to help them.
58:46 If a student comes to you and they’re yelling at you or
58:49 insulting you – and I’m not saying that all of you have been
58:52 doing that,
58:52 I’m just giving the example of the issue and why it’s so
58:55 important – the likelihood of listening is much smaller.
58:58 And my point at the last board meeting was this issue is so
59:02 incredibly important, not only to the board, not only to BFT,
59:07 not only to the teachers, but, you know, I could get on my soapbox
59:10 about the importance of education in our society
59:12 and the long-term impact in our community that we have to make
59:17 sure that we’re focusing on how to get the best outcome.
59:21 And that was what my message was last board meeting.
59:24 So if there was misunderstanding of my intent behind that
59:27 message, I will publicly apologize for that.
59:30 But I do stand behind what I said, and that is people don’t get
59:35 insulted into agreement.
59:37 And I am willing to stand toe-to-toe and have disagreements like
59:42 you and I did, Mr. Colucci, after we spoke the next day after
59:47 the board meeting.
59:48 I think that’s productive.
59:49 I think it furthers us and our efforts.
59:52 But it is critically important to me that we do it in a way that
59:56 is respectful, not only among us, but also when we’re having
1:00:00 those conversations with our legislators.
1:00:02 So if anyone wants any additional clarification on my intent, my
1:00:06 message, by all means, reach out to me and I will be happy to
1:00:10 discuss it.
1:00:11 One of the reasons that we tend to not respond from up here is
1:00:14 because exactly what’s going to happen tonight.
1:00:17 And that is I am going to have an opportunity to respond to Mr.
1:00:20 Colucci and he’s not going to get an opportunity to respond back
1:00:23 to me until next meeting or not publicly.
1:00:26 We’ll have a conversation, I’m sure, before then.
1:00:29 So that’s one of the issues with us responding is we get last
1:00:33 word, which I don’t think probably feels very good to you all.
1:00:38 And so we tend to not respond from up here on several issues.
1:00:43 I will address some of the things that came up tonight.
1:00:45 There was comment about our funding and why we are not the
1:00:52 highest paid teachers.
1:00:55 And I think I’ve explained to you all a little bit about the
1:00:57 base student allocation and that doesn’t differ.
1:01:00 All of the districts in the state got the same basic increase in
1:01:03 base student allocation.
1:01:05 However, there’s also another factor called the district cost
1:01:08 differential.
1:01:09 And if you’re not familiar with that concept, what Florida did
1:01:12 was they put a formula in place many years ago to equalize
1:01:16 funding in districts throughout the state.
1:01:18 And so if your cost of living is lower than 1.0, which is how
1:01:24 they rate it, then your district actually gives up funding to
1:01:29 other districts in the state.
1:01:31 Brevard County is one of those districts that loses money
1:01:34 through the district cost differential.
1:01:36 The other aspect that we face here in Brevard, obviously we’ve
1:01:40 all talked about the lack of millage in Brevard, which impacts
1:01:44 our ability to fund.
1:01:45 And you guys know where I stand on that, I think.
1:01:48 But the other thing that we experience is that our cost of
1:01:51 living is significantly lower in Brevard County.
1:01:54 And yes, we are absolutely lower than teachers in other
1:01:58 districts, and we need to work on fixing that.
1:02:01 So don’t mince my words, don’t think I’m making excuses.
1:02:05 I’m just trying to understand or trying to explain where some of
1:02:08 our funding difficulty comes from.
1:02:11 If you look at all industries for all counties in the state of
1:02:16 Florida, Brevard County’s average pay for all industries in the
1:02:20 state of Florida is approximately $4,500 between the average of
1:02:24 all industries in the state.
1:02:26 And so our community is funded lower.
1:02:30 Now, does that help you all when you can cross the county line
1:02:32 and get a higher paying job in Orange County?
1:02:34 Absolutely not.
1:02:35 And we realize that, and we continue to work on it.
1:02:40 But there are multiple factors that go into the available
1:02:44 funding, which is why I implore you all to reach out to the
1:02:48 legislators and have that conversation about the base student
1:02:51 allocation.
1:02:52 Because that’s where we get the funds available to provide
1:02:57 teacher raises.
1:02:59 I think the only other thing that I want to say is the comment
1:03:02 was made about protest shaming.
1:03:05 And I am in no way attempting to protest shame.
1:03:08 As I said, I think your voice is important.
1:03:11 I do think that in some instances we need to think about the
1:03:16 impact.
1:03:17 I had a teacher when I joined you all for the walk that made a
1:03:20 comment to me that she was upset that a board meeting back in
1:03:24 December, as you all were coming in chanting, we had asked you
1:03:28 all to quiet down.
1:03:29 And I think our security folks had done the same thing.
1:03:32 And I can understand why that would be perceived.
1:03:36 I would like to give you all an explanation as to why that takes
1:03:40 place.
1:03:41 One, we had a large group of very small children in the room
1:03:47 that day.
1:03:48 And I will tell you, even on the walk that I did with you all on
1:03:52 the 17th, I had a young girl behind me that was walking in with
1:03:56 her mother.
1:03:57 And as the chanting started, for any of you who were there, the
1:04:02 Red for Ed chant started as we were entering the stairwell, the
1:04:07 little girl behind me absolutely broke down.
1:04:10 She was terrified.
1:04:11 It was absolutely overwhelming for her.
1:04:14 And so I think that absolutely is a consideration.
1:04:17 And you’ve heard us ask that we make sure that everything is
1:04:20 appropriate for children as far as comments.
1:04:23 And that night, we had a large group of small children in here.
1:04:27 And that is an intimidating scene for them.
1:04:30 The other thing that I think plays a part in that is this is a
1:04:34 public meeting, and you all are coming in after we have started
1:04:37 our public meeting.
1:04:39 So I kind of equate it to, if you’re teaching in a classroom and
1:04:43 you have a group of students that are upset with you about exams
1:04:48 or whatever,
1:04:49 and you have started your lesson, and they march into your
1:04:52 classroom chanting, I don’t think it would be very well received.
1:04:56 So while I encourage you to absolutely have voice, I ask you to
1:05:00 also understand that we have started our meeting oftentimes when
1:05:03 that happens.
1:05:04 And so we’re not trying to be disrespectful.
1:05:07 What we’re trying to do is to make sure that what we’re saying
1:05:10 is heard.
1:05:11 And Mr. Colucci and I had this conversation as well.
1:05:13 There’s a perception that our recognitions at the beginning of
1:05:15 the board meeting are to pat ourselves on the back.
1:05:18 And that is absolutely not what it’s about.
1:05:22 If you listen to what we’re saying during those recognitions, we
1:05:25 are recognizing the hard work of our students, of our teachers,
1:05:29 of our administrators.
1:05:30 We absolutely mentioned that we are there because that’s how we
1:05:34 know about it.
1:05:35 But it’s not to say look at the good work we’re doing.
1:05:38 It’s to say look at the great work that’s going on in our
1:05:40 district.
1:05:41 And so I would encourage you to take that into consideration.
1:05:46 If you have direction to us as to how we can do that better to
1:05:50 make sure that the message is coming across, I absolutely
1:05:53 welcome that.
1:05:54 But I do think it’s important to understand both perspectives
1:05:59 and where the focus is on that.
1:06:02 So I’m going to stop talking at this point because I think I
1:06:04 have talked long enough.
1:06:05 I welcome any of you to follow up with me.
1:06:07 Ms. Skipper, I think I have always returned your phone calls.
1:06:10 And so feel free to reach out if you have things that you would
1:06:14 like to share.
1:06:15 I am more than happy to have the conversation.
1:06:18 Thank you, Ms. Belford.
1:06:19 Does anyone else have a comment?
1:06:21 No.
1:06:22 Madam Chair, may I?
1:06:23 Go right ahead.
1:06:24 I need to – Mr. Bradley, I appreciate your interest and your
1:06:31 support to operate efficiently and effectively.
1:06:35 No question.
1:06:36 And I know Mr. Thornton can provide you some additional
1:06:39 information with your concerns and questions about
1:06:42 transportation.
1:06:43 I do want to, for the benefit of the audience and for the
1:06:46 viewing public, specifically with relation to our transportation
1:06:50 department.
1:06:50 I was rather close to it in my recent past.
1:06:53 We actually have one of the state’s recognized highest operating
1:06:57 transportation departments.
1:06:59 We receive – although transportation is woefully underfunded
1:07:04 from the state, we actually – the funding we do receive
1:07:09 actually covers a relatively high percentage of our cost when
1:07:13 compared to other districts across the state.
1:07:15 In spite of the fact that we have a rather unfavorable bus fleet
1:07:21 average age.
1:07:23 And what that means is, is we, quite frankly, have too many
1:07:26 buses out of warranty that we can’t take advantage of.
1:07:29 The reason – one of the reasons we keep a larger number of
1:07:33 buses in our reserve is so, quite frankly, we can cannibalize
1:07:37 them to repair the buses that we use in our daily runs.
1:07:41 And many of them do not have air conditioning.
1:07:43 So, very proud of the fact, and I don’t want it to be
1:07:46 misunderstood, that our transportation department doesn’t do a
1:07:51 fantastic job
1:07:52 of seeking and searching for every efficiency we possibly can.
1:07:57 They know they’re underfunded, that service is underfunded, and
1:07:59 they continue to seek efficiencies even as recently as saving a
1:08:03 million dollars in rerouting runs this last year that helped our
1:08:07 overall budget.
1:08:08 And second, I have got to do a shout out to our CTE programs.
1:08:14 An independent analysis of our CTE programs from Florida Trend a
1:08:19 year ago identified it in the top two CTE programs in the state
1:08:24 of Florida.
1:08:26 That’s evidenced by almost 40% of our graduating seniors
1:08:29 receiving an industry certification at the time they walk across
1:08:33 our stage at graduation.
1:08:35 In fact, Dr. Sullivan shared with me recently that the Federal
1:08:39 Department of Education asked the State Department of Education,
1:08:43 where should we go to look at CTE programs that are high
1:08:46 functioning, highly effective, and are doing great things for
1:08:49 students.
1:08:50 And the DOE said go to Brevard County.
1:08:53 So, Mr. Susan, it is an additional add-on to your shout out
1:08:59 earlier to Janice Schultz, Dennis Sobolewski, our CTE leadership
1:09:05 under the direction of Dr. Sullivan that makes our CTE programs
1:09:10 shine across the state.
1:09:11 And that’s only possible with the teachers that we have leading
1:09:15 them.
1:09:16 We all know that the effectiveness of the program is led by the
1:09:20 passion of the leader in the classroom.
1:09:24 So, just had to take advantage of making the record a little
1:09:29 straight.
1:09:30 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
1:09:31 As he was speaking, I was thinking about how involved you were.
1:09:34 And with reducing our fleet and streamlining and tracking down
1:09:37 all those old junk cars.
1:09:39 And I know you had a big role.
1:09:41 So, I’m glad that you spoke up on behalf of the good work you’ve
1:09:45 done.
1:09:46 I would only add to that that I’m sure that Mr. Thornton will
1:09:51 give you more information.
1:09:53 But there’s a lot of federal and state laws that guide what
1:09:57 condition a bus can be in.
1:09:59 And so, I’m not sure what a – would you call it a juke brake
1:10:03 that they use?
1:10:04 I’m not sure that would fly for inspections here in the United
1:10:08 States.
1:10:09 But I’m sure Mr. Thornton can expand on that for you.
1:10:12 Ultimately, we want to thank all the speakers tonight.
1:10:15 And I want to thank the board for responding.
1:10:17 I like this more interactive response that we are doing.
1:10:22 Feel free to email us and let us know if you think this is –
1:10:25 you know, it’s a longstanding tradition that we sit here silent
1:10:27 while you speak.
1:10:28 And it bothered me when I would come speak as a member of the
1:10:32 community.
1:10:33 So, I started when I became chair asking if anybody wanted to
1:10:37 say anything.
1:10:38 Yet, we still would be silent because I think it’s just been
1:10:40 tradition.
1:10:41 And like Ms. Belford explained, it almost feels imposing or like
1:10:44 we’re starting an argument if we try to respond to some of these
1:10:47 things.
1:10:47 But I think it’s a more open dialogue.
1:10:49 And I like it.
1:10:50 So, let us know what you think.
1:10:51 And hopefully, we’ll continue.
1:10:52 And you all feel free to speak up at the end there.
1:10:54 So, thank you again for taking your time to come here this
1:10:57 evening to speak to us.
1:10:59 This moves us on to the consent agenda.
1:11:01 Dr. Mullins.
1:11:02 There are 28 agenda items under this category.
1:11:05 One with prior information.
1:11:06 What are the wishes of the board?
1:11:08 Move to approve.
1:11:09 Second.
1:11:11 Motion by Mr. Susan.
1:11:12 Second by Ms. Belford.
1:11:13 Any discussion?
1:11:14 Please vote.
1:11:15 Could you ask if anyone wanted to pull anything?
1:11:16 Oh.
1:11:17 We already voted.
1:11:18 Did anyone want to pull anything?
1:11:19 Was there anyone that wanted to pull anything from the consent
1:11:31 agenda?
1:11:32 Sorry about that.
1:11:33 Motion passes 4-0.
1:11:34 Dr. Mullins.
1:11:35 Action agenda?
1:11:36 Yes.
1:11:37 Want me to read the exact lines?
1:11:38 We will now move on to the action agenda, Dr. Mullins.
1:11:39 I got distracted.
1:11:40 Ms. Deskovich and members of the board.
1:11:41 Item G-38 on purchasing solicitations.
1:11:42 What are the wishes of the board?
1:11:43 Move to approve.
1:11:44 Second.
1:11:45 Motion by Mr. Susan and second by Ms. Belford.
1:11:46 Mr. Mullins. I got distracted. Ms. Deskovich and members of the
1:11:50 board, item G38 on purchasing solicitations. What are the wishes
1:11:55 of the board? Move to approve. Second. Motion by Mr. Susan and
1:12:01 second by Ms. Belford. Any discussion? Please vote. Motion
1:12:08 passes 4-0.
1:12:16 Dr. Mullins. Next, in accordance with Florida statutes, we will
1:12:19 hold a public hearing to approve the charter application for
1:12:22 Pineapple Cove Classical Academy at Pineda.
1:12:26 I think I got a – do I got a – Pam? Do I have to – public
1:12:30 hearing is now open. Is there anyone who has come to make
1:12:34 comments on the charter application for Pineapple Cove Classical
1:12:37 Academy at Pineda?
1:12:46 What are the wishes of the board? Move to approve. Second.
1:12:49 Motion by Mr. Susan and second by Ms. Campbell. Any discussion?
1:13:01 Please vote.
1:13:08 Motion passes 4-0. We’ll move on to the information agenda which
1:13:20 includes items for board review and will be brought back for
1:13:24 action at a later meeting. No action will be taken on these
1:13:28 items tonight, Dr. Mullins.
1:13:30 There are two items under the information category. Does any
1:13:33 member wish to discuss either of these items?
1:13:36 We are now at Board Member Reports. Does anyone have anything
1:13:42 they would wish to add before we start? I just want to add
1:13:46 another recognition. This week, and I think more specifically
1:13:50 tomorrow, is Administrative Professional Day.
1:13:54 I forgot that earlier. Yes. Good to see.
1:13:56 And we would be hugely remiss if we did not acknowledge our Pam
1:14:01 for all that she does.
1:14:04 Pam – yeah, she’s getting claps from the back, too. Pam manages
1:14:08 all five of us and sometimes even Dr. Mullins a little bit. So,
1:14:12 she has a hard job managing all of our requests and what we need
1:14:17 and these meetings, and we are very grateful for you, Pam.
1:14:20 Thank you. Okay. Now we are on to Board Member Reports. Does
1:14:24 anyone have anything that they wish to add? Dr. Mullins?
1:14:29 Ms. Deskovich and members of the Board. At this time, I’d like
1:14:33 to invite Ms. Zirker back up to the podium to provide you with a
1:14:36 brief budget update that it was part of our scheduled process.
1:14:40 So, Ms. Zirker?
1:14:41 Good evening again. When we met on March 12th at the Budget
1:14:52 Workshop for the 19-20 school year, we committed to share our
1:14:57 budget updates with you along the path. Today is our first
1:15:01 opportunity to do that. We have received all of the school
1:15:06 budget requests as well as the department budgets. My team and I
1:15:10 are in the
1:15:11 process now analyzing each of the requests, comparing it to our
1:15:17 three-year historical database, and meeting with cabinet members
1:15:23 to discuss those budgets. I’m very pleased to say that in the
1:15:28 initial review, many are making reductions where they can to
1:15:33 assist the district and the board in identifying funds for the
1:15:39 new year. We anticipate to be complete with
1:15:41 the review by the review by the end of May, which will put us in
1:16:11 a timeframe to provide you your next budget workshop reviewing
1:16:11 all funds on June 25th. As soon as we get all of the budget
1:16:11 requests for schools and departments approved, I believe a
1:16:11 couple of you have requested to see that, we will get them sent
1:16:11 out, but it will take us probably into May before we’ll have
1:16:11 that ready for you. May I answer any questions on the update?
1:16:11 Thank you, thank you, Mr. Zucker. Real quick, we’re going to
1:16:14 have, we will have at that time, the June 25th, the actual
1:16:17 numbers from the state, correct? The session will have ended and
1:16:20 we should have them then. Oh yes, we should actually have the
1:16:23 conference report early May,
1:16:26 and that will be one of the items we’ll start working with to
1:16:29 balance against our reductions and budgets to identify funds.
1:16:33 Okay. Anybody else have questions for Ms. Zucker? Just one more
1:16:37 follow-up. The capital side of the budget, so we’re talking
1:16:40 about operating on June 25th, is that also including the capital
1:16:44 side too? All funds will come including the capital and the
1:16:48 recommended allocations of those funds. So we’re going to go
1:16:51 through the same process we do for the operating side that we do
1:16:55 for the
1:16:56 for the capital where they come for the board, the board says
1:16:58 this is what we would also like in that process. Yes. Okay.
1:17:02 Thank you. Any more questions for Ms. Zucker? Thank you, Ms.
1:17:07 Zucker. Thank you. Dr. Mullins, do you have anything else? That’s
1:17:11 all. Thank you. Any board member, anything else? This meeting’s
1:17:15 adjourned.
1:17:18 Thank you.