Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Music
0:26 Good evening. I’m happy to welcome all my fellow board members
0:28 and call the January 14, 2020 School Board Meeting to order.
0:34 Whether you are in attendance here or watching from another
0:37 location,
0:37 my colleagues and I are pleased you took the time to join us.
0:40 We appreciate and applaud your commitment to partnering with us
0:43 in support of our schools,
0:44 our students, our staff, and our community.
0:47 While the Board and Brevard Public Schools staff members are
0:49 fully committed to doing our best
0:51 to ensure excellence in Brevard Public Schools, we know that our
0:54 success depends heavily
0:55 on an engaged and committed community to work alongside us and
0:59 help us to continually improve.
1:01 Thank you for being active participants in the process.
1:04 Pam, roll call please.
1:07 Ms. Belfer. Present. Ms. McDougall. Present. Ms. Deskovich.
1:15 Present. Ms. Campbell. Present. And Mr. Susan. Present.
1:19 Typically we move into our moment of silence, but before we do
1:24 so, we have a new face up here with us this evening, and so I
1:27 would like to introduce and welcome Mr. Paul Gibbs, our new
1:31 general counsel who has joined us, I think, seven days.
1:36 He’s been on the job, joined us first day after the break, and
1:39 so this is his first night joining us here in a board meeting,
1:43 and we are very thankful that he has chosen to be here and
1:47 looking forward to the great work that he’s going to do.
1:49 So if you would give me some applause for Mr. Gibbs in joining
1:54 us. Mr. Gibbs, anything you would like to say?
1:59 Mr. Gibbs, just a thank you, and I’m excited to be here, and it’s
2:02 like drinking water through a fire hose right now.
2:05 I know everyone is surprised to hear that.
2:10 All right. At this moment, or at this time, the board will hold
2:13 a moment of silent reflection in memory of one of our BPS family
2:17 members who recently passed away.
2:18 Sophia Nelson, a sixth grade student from Surfside Elementary
2:22 School, we invite you to join us.
2:24 Thank you.
2:43 Matt Reed, Assistant Superintendent of Government and Community
2:45 Relations, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance for us.
2:47 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
2:57 and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God,
3:02 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
3:06 Okay.
3:07 At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and
3:11 Dr. Mullins the opportunity to recognize students, staff, or
3:17 members of the community that have joined us this year – or
3:22 that are either with us this evening or
3:25 they would like to recognize since our last gathering.
3:31 Who do you want to start?
3:32 Who wants to start?
3:34 Ms. McDougall, do you want to go?
3:35 Ms. Campbell?
3:36 Oh, I’m ready.
3:37 You’re ready.
3:38 Go ahead, Ms. Campbell.
3:39 Sorry.
3:41 We’re having some technical difficulties up here.
3:44 I was able to go last week with my daughter to the Florida Music
3:47 Educators Association Conference.
3:49 It’s an annual conference that the music teachers from around
3:52 the state come to, and I just wanted to brag on some BPS people.
4:10 O’Galley High School’s orchestra was invited to attend.
4:15 It’s a great privilege for individual groups to get to come and
4:18 perform, and they have to submit those auditions ahead of time.
4:22 And I – because of the way the schedule – I would actually
4:26 miss the concert.
4:27 I was so sad.
4:28 But what I did not miss was walking into the room and hearing
4:31 some people from – some leaders from the Florida Orchestra
4:34 Association
4:34 gushing, literally gushing over the performance by the students
4:38 from O’Galley High School.
4:40 They were just amazed.
4:42 They were encouraging the students to, you know, share the story
4:45 of their journey toward their performance.
4:47 I mean, it – it was amazing.
4:49 So I’m super proud of – of the way they represented our –
4:51 their school and our school district.
4:53 And thank you to Eric Bryan for being such a fabulous orchestra
4:55 director.
4:56 Of course, Dr. Chad Kirk from Mel High was recognized as their
5:00 administrator of the year.
5:02 We’ve announced that before, but that was great to see – be a
5:06 part of that as well.
5:07 If I counted correctly, we had around 112 BPS students who were
5:14 part of an Allstate group, whether that was one of the orchestras
5:17 or the choirs or the bands or even the elementary school
5:19 festivals, the org groups.
5:20 We had over 112 – over 110, I know for sure – BPS students who
5:25 were part of an Allstate group.
5:27 So I’m really proud of the work that they have done.
5:29 The teachers who got them to that level.
5:32 It’s – it’s an amazing experience to get to listen to them
5:35 perform.
5:36 And then I just wanted to give a shout out to Dan Jankowski for
5:40 some work that he did really quickly.
5:42 Cindy Johnson, who is our music resource teacher, was – part of
5:46 the weekend is an opportunity for music coordinators
5:50 from around the district to recruit teachers because college
5:53 students who are music measures come and attend the conference
5:56 as well.
5:57 And she just tossed out an idea and he ran with it.
5:59 And between Monday and Wednesday, he created a flip book for her,
6:02 did a little QR code so that when she came up to a prospective
6:06 employee,
6:06 she could say, “Here, scan this QR code and learn all about our
6:09 district and why Brevard is a great place to come and be a music
6:12 teacher.”
6:12 And so I just want to shout out to him.
6:14 Thank you for working across teams to make that happen for her.
6:20 She was really excited about it.
6:21 So it was a great weekend.
6:22 And just one – one quick other thing, and that is the city of
6:25 Palm Bay is organizing a STEAM Day.
6:28 I don’t know if I have a title yet, but we have a prospective
6:30 date in November.
6:31 And really excited to see they’re going to be wanting to partner
6:34 with the school district and just communicating that.
6:37 They’re going to get business organizations and all our
6:40 wonderful engineering firms to have a hand in having a great day
6:45 for our public
6:46 and for our students and encouraging students to head in the STEAM
6:51 – into STEAM areas.
6:52 And I’ll be sharing some more about that later.
6:56 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
6:57 Mr. Susan, would you like to go next?
6:59 Yeah, I did – I want to echo some of the same sentiments about
7:03 our new addition, Mr. Gibbs.
7:05 I think that he is definitely learning as fast as he can about
7:08 us culturally, but he comes from a wealth of knowledge and in-depth
7:13 in his field.
7:14 And I did want to tell you guys that one of the first things I
7:17 did that I saw inside of him as a person is that he has three
7:21 kids.
7:22 He has a wife who’s a teacher, and his head is wrapped around
7:25 education, and he cares for the kids.
7:27 And one of the first things that I told him when he came on was
7:30 he said – we started talking, and I said,
7:33 the first thing that I would love to have you do is restructure
7:37 our expulsion system.
7:39 Because we have a lot of stuff that goes on, parents that are
7:42 arguing points that aren’t prudent to what we’re trying to do.
7:45 We have staff being berated inside these meetings, and it’s just
7:47 got to end.
7:48 Like, it’s just got to stop.
7:49 Our staff has wasted time in an expulsion hearing for half of a
7:53 day, and also being berated by these parents over issues that
7:56 don’t even – we can’t even judge because it’s a quasi-judicial
8:00 hearing.
8:00 We don’t even have the right to change some of the stuff that’s
8:02 going on.
8:03 So he said that he’s had much success in Merriam County, where
8:06 he’s from, and that he looks forward to doing that.
8:08 And I think after our first expulsion hearing today, he kind of
8:11 was agreeing that there’s some good things that we can do, and I
8:14 look forward to seeing him with that.
8:15 But I did, Mr. Gibbs, want to say that this is a great
8:18 opportunity for us and willing to welcome you aboard, and we’re
8:22 honored to have you.
8:23 And I look forward to when your kids come down, those FTE
8:26 dollars that we get next year, along with your wife being a
8:29 great teacher.
8:30 We know the guy that can make some of the hiring happen here, so
8:33 thank you.
8:34 Thank you.
8:36 All right.
8:37 That’s one, right?
8:38 You get another half.
8:39 No.
8:41 See all this right here?
8:42 No.
8:43 A half.
8:44 I’m recognizing you.
8:45 Next one is – I wanted to take a minute.
8:46 We have who we play for here.
8:47 You guys had an amazing fundraiser that you had, both at the
8:50 restaurant where you guys gave out awards, and I think they
8:53 brought the awards that you guys were supposed to get if you
8:55 would have been able to.
8:56 But the next day I got to play golf, and I went out there and
8:59 played golf at their golf outing.
9:01 And there are some really – I thought, man, I brought the guy
9:04 that literally set the course record there for four straight
9:07 years, played golf there from seventh grade to 12th grade at
9:12 Cocoa Beach High School, went on to college.
9:14 He has pictures on the wall.
9:15 I was like, we’re going to win this thing.
9:17 I was talking trash to Evan the whole time.
9:20 And then we ended up in like fifth place.
9:22 So, anyways, I wanted to say thank you for having me out.
9:25 Thank you for what you guys do for our school system.
9:28 Thank you for – for saving our kids’ lives.
9:30 And I wanted to give you guys an opportunity now that if you
9:33 wanted to do what you were going to do prior to, is this the
9:35 right time to do this?
9:36 Or would you rather do that in a minute, Madam Chair?
9:39 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: No, that’s fine.
9:40 You can go ahead.
9:41 JOSH SHARFSTEIN: Did you guys want to come up real quick and –
9:43 and do what you were going to do?
9:47 It’s still half, by the way.
9:49 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Still half.
9:50 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Well, I guess I’m going to be doing the
9:52 speaking first.
9:52 You notice it’s always age before beauty, right?
9:54 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Well, on behalf of the board of directors of
9:59 who we play for and also on behalf of the staff, we just want to
10:06 thank you guys as champions of the year for heart health.
10:11 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Brevard County is the first county of its
10:14 size in the country to make this a requirement for their student
10:17 athletes.
10:18 And I’m telling you, you guys have been watched.
10:21 Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral, and Brevard County are on the map
10:25 now nationally for what’s being done here.
10:28 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So kudos to you.
10:30 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Hats off to you.
10:31 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Want to say thank you.
10:32 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And also, you know, it’s just – the process
10:36 was fun to go through.
10:37 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And you guys are just a bunch of great
10:39 people.
10:39 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And the staff did a great job, too.
10:41 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So we want to give these awards out.
10:44 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: But I want to let Evan and Sean say a word
10:47 as well.
10:48 EVAN SEAN: Mr. Susan, one mistake you made in the golf
10:52 tournament is the four teams that beat you, I’m sure, cheated
10:55 and paid for mulligans.
10:55 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: We sell mulligans.
10:57 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I don’t know if we offered them to you,
10:59 though.
10:59 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I didn’t take a mulligan, but –
11:00 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You didn’t take a mulligan.
11:01 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Wow, that’s a game changer.
11:02 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: No, I should have known that.
11:03 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: But in the spirit of getting this going so
11:05 everyone can finish their meeting, again,
11:07 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: thank you so much on behalf of so many
11:09 families of Brevard.
11:10 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Just since June, we’ve had 10 kids have
11:12 surgery to potentially save their lives.
11:15 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And the data that we’re collecting right now,
11:17 it’s no exaggeration, is standard of care changing.
11:20 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So on behalf of all of us, to you guys, to
11:22 Mr. Meharis, to Ms. Moore, to Mr. Lankford, and so many more,
11:26 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: and we thank you to the end of time.
11:28 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And I’ll give it to the big, beautiful ball
11:30 guy.
11:30 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yeah, I just echo what Evan said.
11:34 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you all very much.
11:36 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: It’s really hard to believe how far we’ve
11:39 come in the last few years.
11:41 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: But, you know, I tell everybody whenever I
11:44 talk that Brevard County is definitely the safest school
11:47 district in the entire country.
11:49 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And that’s because of you all and taking the
11:52 time to listen and really caring about our students.
11:56 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And it’s an honor and a pleasure to live in
11:59 this county.
12:00 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And again, thank you so much.
12:02 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Mr. Seema, how many – you donate your time
12:04 to do these screenings, right?
12:05 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You don’t get paid for it.
12:06 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: How many screenings do you think you’ve done
12:08 over the last couple of years, if you could total them out?
12:10 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I mean, individuals, not actual screenings,
12:15 but individuals.
12:16 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I don’t know.
12:18 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thousands.
12:19 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: That’s amazing.
12:20 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yeah.
12:21 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Absolutely amazing.
12:22 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Well, you know the story of my daughter.
12:23 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I know, I know.
12:24 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I feel like this is give it back time.
12:25 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yeah, thank you.
12:26 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you all.
12:27 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you.
12:28 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You guys wanted – hang on.
12:29 Did you guys – you had awards for the school board, Dr. Mullins?
12:32 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yes.
12:33 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Anyone else?
12:34 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Mr. Leifert, Ms. Moore.
12:36 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Ms. Moore, Mr. Meharis.
12:38 Is Mr. Meharis here?
12:39 If you guys will come up, I think they want to get a picture.
12:42 Sorry.
12:43 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You got to go down there, Dr. Mullins.
12:44 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: All right.
12:45 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: We’re going.
12:46 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Mr. Gibbs, you can take the picture with us.
12:47 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yes.
12:48 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: This is a big pain in the butt for you.
12:49 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yeah, you got it.
12:50 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Cool.
12:51 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: All right.
12:53 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You can take the picture with us.
12:54 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Yes.
12:55 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: This is a big pain in the butt for you.
12:56 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you.
13:06 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you so much.
13:31 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you.
14:01 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you all very much.
14:02 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you.
14:05 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you very much.
14:06 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you.
14:07 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you very much.
14:08 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you.
14:09 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Thank you very much.
14:21 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: What?
14:22 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Are you still talking?
14:23 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: She said she’s going to do it.
14:24 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Okay.
14:25 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: She said stall.
14:26 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Okay.
14:27 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I’m okay.
14:28 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I got to keep going.
14:29 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: All right.
14:30 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So RIT has told me to stall as long as I can
14:44 because they don’t have me logged in.
14:46 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So I have a couple of other things that I’m
14:47 going to cover.
14:48 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I’m going to overrule Jackie on that, Mr.
14:50 Susan.
14:50 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Anyway, the other one that I wanted to do is
14:52 say a successful rally for our BFT members up in Tallahassee.
14:55 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You guys were amazing.
14:56 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You guys went up there.
14:57 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You took it.
14:58 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And a lot of positiveness came back.
15:01 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I didn’t get any of it.
15:02 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You guys didn’t corner and tar and feather
15:04 any of our legislators up there.
15:05 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So I was happy about that report.
15:07 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: And everything seemed to be a well-oiled
15:11 operation.
15:12 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So I wanted to say congratulations.
15:14 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You guys made the front page of the Florida
15:16 Today today, I think, too.
15:17 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So good job to that.
15:18 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: You want me to keep going?
15:19 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Pre-K teachers are going to come – are you
15:21 giving me the really bad look right now?
15:23 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: OK.
15:25 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: All right.
15:26 I’ll just bring them up later on.
15:27 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: That’s all right.
15:28 Go ahead.
15:29 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: Nah, that’s OK.
15:30 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: We’re good.
15:31 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: I’m just kidding.
15:32 Go ahead, Matt.
15:33 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: So we did goggles the other day, right?
15:37 And we were in the room and we were looking at a virtual image
15:42 of that area.
15:43 And one of you guys said, why don’t we do this with the zoo?
15:47 So I called them.
15:49 And they said they are excited to do it.
15:52 So our IT team is going to get with the zoo and they’re actually
15:56 going to do virtual pictures
15:57 of inside the habitats.
16:00 And then they’re going to use those in our Title I schools with
16:03 those goggles so the kids can
16:05 further their education of the zoo schools and other things
16:09 while they’re on site at the schools.
16:11 And I thought that was so cool.
16:13 And just in conversation, Miami-Dade Zoo wants to do it.
16:19 And then one of the teachers said, could we do other ones?
16:21 So there’s becoming this virtual platform where they may go to
16:25 St. Augustine and do some sites.
16:26 They may go to the zoo and do sites.
16:29 And they may, all out of us, doing a little goggles in a back
16:33 room here.
16:34 So that was cool.
16:35 So I wanted to say congratulations for that.
16:37 MS. Good job, Mr. Susan.
16:38 Thank you.
16:39 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: That’s it.
16:40 Thank you.
16:41 MS. Do you have more?
16:42 I wasn’t cutting you off.
16:43 DEBBIE CRITCHFIELD: No, they’re all for the end of the meeting
16:44 though.
16:44 No, that’s okay.
16:45 I was literally trying to stall for this thing.
16:46 I don’t know what’s going on.
16:47 MS.
16:48 We’ve still got the rest.
16:49 Ms. Tuskevich, would you like to do your recognition while we
16:52 work on the technical issue?
16:53 MS.
16:54 Sure.
16:55 I just have one.
16:56 Well, it’s one event, but lots of people to thank for, it seems
16:59 like a long time ago
17:00 now, but our holiday breakfast here at the education facility.
17:05 MS.
17:06 I don’t even know how many people we had in this room.
17:09 It was opened up all the way through the back, but hundreds
17:11 easily.
17:12 It’s a big undertaking, and so the team that worked hard to put
17:15 that together, the decorations
17:17 are beautiful, the food was excellent.
17:20 Thank you, food services, facilities for setting that up and
17:24 taking that down.
17:25 It’s no small task.
17:26 And to our own Ms. Campbell, who serenaded us.
17:30 We – no, it wasn’t We Wish You a Merry – Have Yourself a Merry
17:34 Little Christmas, I think
17:35 it was.
17:36 So we had an excellent holiday event, and again, thanks to all
17:40 that worked on that.
17:41 MS.
17:42 Thank you, Ms. Tuskevich.
17:43 Ms. McDougall.
17:44 MS.
17:45 I just have one thing to remind some of our schools if they want
17:49 to participate in the
17:50 Recycling Awards Program that was originally created by the
17:55 League of Women Voters, but it’s
17:58 changed hands now, and so there is a deadline if you want to
18:03 become one of the – win the
18:04 Recycling Award Program, and there’s a school application online.
18:08 The application is due by January 24th, and – I mean,
18:12 applications are due by January 24th,
18:15 and the early submission – and entry submissions are due by
18:17 April 20th.
18:18 So I know some of our schools have won these awards in the past,
18:21 and I just want to make sure
18:22 that if you’re interested, the deadline is fast approaching.
18:27 And they really do this to really have our students – as a
18:32 science – it kind of coordinates
18:34 with our science and about how we can be more energy efficient
18:39 and less waste in our schools
18:42 and in our homes.
18:43 So I just thought a little shout out to remind our schools that
18:47 this is available if you want
18:48 to participate.
18:49 That’s all I have.
18:50 MS.
18:51 Thank you, Ms. McDougall.
18:52 Dr. Mullins.
18:53 Thank you, Ms. Belford.
18:54 I just wanted to highlight Saturday evening the Brevard County
19:00 Sheriff’s Office hosted their
19:03 fourth annual Public Service Awards and Hall of Fame ceremony.
19:06 It was a wonderful evening, and what was particularly impressive
19:10 is we had 18 different Brevard
19:13 schools connected individuals recognize that evening for a host
19:20 of recognitions – law enforcement,
19:22 military community champions.
19:24 We had teachers, recognized SRO, administrators, media
19:29 specialists, guidance counselor, our support
19:33 staff from district security.
19:34 And what’s notable is that these 18 individuals were not
19:38 nominated by just the district office.
19:40 They were nominated by community folks across our district.
19:45 So just a great representation of the great community heroes
19:49 that we have in our schools that ultimately
19:52 make our school or our district just a great place to live.
19:57 So I wanted to give a shout out to them.
20:00 At this moment, this evening, Rockledge High School is hosting
20:03 the Infinite Scholars Fair,
20:05 which has been coordinated by Michael Kadorfer.
20:07 I think this is the third or fourth year.
20:10 Last year, more than $5 million was awarded to Brevard County
20:14 students in college scholarships.
20:16 And it’s just become a great partnership.
20:18 And I want to do a shout out to Michael Kador as a community
20:21 leader for his efforts to make that happen.
20:24 Interestingly, the Super Bowl festivities are going to include
20:29 our Melbourne High School’s culinary students
20:31 as they were chosen to assist celebrity chefs at the Taste of
20:36 the NFL in Miami on February 1st.
20:38 It’s a very prestigious and charitable event with celebrity
20:42 chefs, NFL players, and thousands of attendees.
20:45 And Chef Michael and his culinary students are going to be
20:49 representing us there in Miami.
20:51 Do we have any complimentary tickets to that?
20:52 Do they need chaperones?
20:53 I haven’t heard yet.
20:54 I put in a request.
20:55 Gibbs, isn’t there some rule that says that we have to follow?
20:58 You can’t accept gifts over $100.
21:00 But that’s not a gift if it’s complimentary and we’re helping
21:02 our kids.
21:03 Chaperoning is not gifting Gibbs.
21:05 Gosh, did we hire this guy?
21:08 And last, but certainly not least, Madison Middle School’s Vocal
21:13 Ensemble.
21:13 Again, a shout out to our music programs.
21:16 Chorus teacher Meg McGivney, who was recognized Saturday evening
21:23 at the Public Service Awards,
21:25 will be performing at the Disney Springs on February 21st, 6:15.
21:30 This group of young women has been volunteering and performing
21:34 in the community throughout the year
21:35 in hopes to raise funds for the trip.
21:37 And their upcoming fundraising events include El Leon City in
21:42 Titusville.
21:44 El Leon Cito.
21:46 Thank you.
21:48 Got one right around here, too.
21:49 It’s really good.
21:50 Yeah.
21:51 From 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM, a portion of the money raised or
21:57 spent at the restaurant will go to the chorus.
22:00 Main Street, Philly on January 20th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.
22:04 And Village Inn on February 6th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.
22:07 So last year, their efforts across the community funded the
22:11 entire trip.
22:12 Another shout out to our community for supporting our amazing
22:15 music programs.
22:16 Thank you.
22:18 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
22:21 I have just a couple.
22:24 Prior to the winter break, several of us attended the adult
22:28 education graduation at Clear Lake.
22:30 And this one was a really exciting graduation.
22:33 I know that I always harp on how awesome the adult ed graduations
22:37 are because they’re just very different than any of our other
22:41 graduations.
22:42 Not that all of them are not absolutely worthy of celebrating,
22:48 but the adult ed graduations just have a completely different
22:51 feel to them.
22:52 It’s a much more personal connection.
22:54 We hear lots of stories from students.
22:57 And this time, we were graduating some of their apprenticeship
23:01 students as well for the very first time.
23:04 So that was very, very exciting.
23:07 There’s usually like singing and dancing and every student that
23:11 graduates through our adult ed program actually gets a free
23:14 class at Eastern Florida State College.
23:17 And as they cross the stage, Mr. Arnott asks every single one of
23:20 them, what is your next step?
23:22 And so they’re already getting them thinking about and
23:25 committing to a future.
23:26 So really exciting.
23:27 And many thanks to all of the adult ed team that helps their
23:30 students to be successful to cross that stage.
23:33 It’s very evident in the feedback from the students that that
23:36 team is really a phenomenal team that comes together in support
23:38 of the students.
23:39 And so congratulations to all of those graduates and thank you
23:42 to the team that helps to make it happen.
23:44 Speaking of graduation, our team here at Brevard Public Schools,
23:49 as you all know, we have celebrated that our graduation rate has
23:53 been increasing for some time now.
23:55 And that is absolutely due to the hard work of our teachers and
23:59 our support staff and our guidance counselors and social workers
24:03 and all of the people that are supporting our students to get to
24:06 that success rate.
24:07 But a couple of years ago, we changed our approach a little bit
24:10 and stopped looking only at our graduation rate and started
24:13 really digging into our subgroup data to identify how are our
24:17 special needs students doing, how are our English language
24:20 learners doing, how are our various demographic subgroup
24:24 students doing.
24:25 And our team has been doing some phenomenal work in that area,
24:29 allowing us to identify where we need to put additional support.
24:33 So it’s not just our overall graduation rate increasing, but
24:36 setting goals for every single subgroup of students to be
24:40 increasing as well.
24:41 And based on that, I have to give a huge shout out to our
24:44 leading and learning team and all of the principals and the data
24:48 dives that they have been doing.
24:50 But I have to give a special shout out to Astronaut High School,
24:54 who we have recently gotten their graduation subgroup
24:59 information and Astronaut High School increased their graduation
25:04 rate in every single subgroup this year.
25:07 So kudos to them because that is pretty cool.
25:14 And then the last thing that I will share, and this is for those
25:17 of you who have not been with us all day today.
25:20 We had a phenomenal presentation by Sue Han earlier regarding
25:25 the use of our sales surtax revenues and some of our facility
25:29 assessments that are going on.
25:31 And I would encourage all of you, if you did not have the
25:34 opportunity to get that information, you can get all of the
25:38 documents on our agenda site.
25:40 And the workshop video will be available for you to watch.
25:43 But there was some really great information in there about the
25:46 importance of our facilities in addition to the importance of
25:49 our instruction and how our facilities impact student
25:53 achievement and faculty and staff morale.
25:56 And how we are facing some tough choices with regard to
26:00 facilities in Brevard County.
26:03 But how we’re also, Ms. Han and her team are working with
26:07 actually all of the teams here at Brevard Public Schools to
26:11 really put together a plan going forward as to what we need to
26:14 do to ensure that we can have great facilities for our students.
26:17 Ms. Han, thank you for all of your work and the work of your
26:22 team and making such great use of our sales surtax funds and
26:26 also making sure that we have the data necessary to look at what
26:29 are the challenges that we face going forward.
26:32 So we appreciate you and I encourage all of you to check out
26:35 that workshop if you didn’t get a chance to catch it, including
26:38 Mr. Rogers.
26:39 Ms. Eric Rogers with Florida today wasn’t able to be with us for
26:42 the workshop, but I had asked him to please make sure that he
26:45 takes a look at it so we can share that information with our
26:49 community as well.
26:51 Ms. Can I make one little advertisement for our all-county
26:54 concert?
26:54 Ms. Yes. Ms. Campbell, please feel free to go ahead and make an
26:56 advertisement.
26:56 Ms. I’m sorry because I just realized that our next board
26:58 meeting will be after this is over, but not this Saturday, but
27:01 the following Saturday, January the 25th, is the day for our all-county
27:06 concerts.
27:06 Ms. So if you want to just come and just be soaking in great
27:12 music, I encourage you to get tickets to one of our all-county
27:15 concerts, our all-county chorus, all-county orchestra, and then
27:20 the band concert in the evening.
27:21 So they’re wonderful groups to get to participate in, and so I
27:25 think you can maybe find those online or call.
27:29 Ms. They’re free.
27:30 Ms. Yeah, tickets are free, so make sure that you get your
27:33 ticket because it’s going to be a great day.
27:35 Ms. Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
27:39 Okay, that brings us to the adoption of the agenda.
27:42 Dr. Mullins.
27:43 Ms. Ms. Belford and members of the board on tonight’s agenda, we
27:46 have administrative staff recommendations, one presentation, 22
27:50 consent items, two action items, and one information item.
27:54 You also have the yellow supplemental agenda, which are changes
27:57 made to the agenda since being released to the public.
28:00 Item A7 on administrative staff recommendations receive revisions.
28:04 Ms. What are the wishes of the board?
28:05 Mr. Move to approve.
28:06 Ms. Second.
28:07 Ms. Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Deskovich.
28:09 Any discussion?
28:10 Mr. Ms. Ms. Belford, I’m sorry.
28:12 I need to strike that there is a presentation.
28:14 There is no presentation tonight.
28:15 Ms. Oh, excellent.
28:16 Thank you.
28:17 Ms. Motion is still okay to stand, Mr. Gibbs, with the amendment
28:23 to the –
28:24 Mr. Yes.
28:25 Mr. Yes, if there’s no change in the actual agenda, he just
28:30 missed votes.
28:31 Ms. Okay.
28:32 So I have a motion for Mr. Susan and a second for Ms. Deskovich.
28:35 Is there any discussion?
28:36 Ms. All right.
28:37 Please vote.
28:38 Ms. All right.
28:39 So I hate to say this.
28:40 Ms. It would be easier than –
28:41 Mr. I’m afraid to click.
28:42 Ms. Oh, there we go.
28:43 Mr. Where?
28:44 Ms. All I see.
28:45 Ms. All I see is that I’m not voting.
28:46 Ms. No, here we go.
28:47 Ms. Bear with us.
28:48 We have transitioned to a new platform for our agendas and –
28:51 Ms. And there you go.
28:52 Ms. Got it.
28:53 Ms. And there you go.
28:54 Ms. All I see.
28:55 Ms. All I see is that I’m not voting.
28:56 Ms. No, here we go.
28:57 Ms. Bear with us.
28:58 Ms. We have transitioned to a new platform for our agendas and
28:59 –
28:59 Ms. And there you go.
29:00 Ms. Got it.
29:01 in addition to a new platform for our agendas. This is our first
29:07 actual live run with the agenda.
29:09 I think I did it. It popped up in the action box. How come mine
29:16 didn’t say no actions available?
29:19 Well, I already voted, but it went away before I could write
29:23 down the – Mine went away, too.
29:24 That’s where I recognized you from. This is the guy with the
29:32 computer. Remember?
29:33 Oh, from the presentation. I was like, why is this gentleman up
29:35 here with us?
29:36 And then I remember now.
29:38 He’s from the company.
29:40 So am I the only one that can see the vote?
29:46 But will it show here so I can call the –
29:51 But I can’t see it? Nobody else can see it?
29:59 Okay. So, Pam, if you – it sounds like I’m not going to be able
30:06 to see the actual outcome of the vote,
30:07 but I think we probably need to have it for the audio of the
30:10 meetings. And I need to know that
30:12 everyone has voted before I move on. So when we have a completed
30:16 vote, can you just let me know the
30:17 outcome of the vote? And then I’ll know to move to the next item?
30:21 You don’t see the vote?
30:29 I do not.
30:29 Y’all can tell us how it came out.
30:33 Can they see it?
30:34 They can’t see it.
30:35 Oh, wait. I have it.
30:36 Oh, no, wait.
30:37 I’ve got it. I’ve got voting results. The motion passed 5-0.
30:40 Yay.
30:41 Okay.
30:42 So it just came up.
30:43 Here we go.
30:43 View.
30:43 How did it come up, though?
30:45 I don’t know.
30:45 It popped up on the right.
30:47 You see it there?
30:47 This is nice.
30:48 You did it to make it do that.
30:49 Simple majority.
30:50 Oh, I see.
30:52 Oh, this is interesting.
30:54 Simple majority and major majority.
30:56 Votes. Click on votes maybe.
30:59 It’s not showing on the screen anymore.
31:01 Click on votes.
31:04 We can work through it.
31:11 We got this.
31:13 Okay.
31:14 Dr. Mullins, would you please let us know about the
31:17 administrative staff recommendations?
31:19 Ms. Belford and board members, there are four persons on this
31:23 item in the agenda for the board to consider.
31:25 What are the wishes of the board?
31:27 Move to approve.
31:28 Second.
31:28 Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Campbell, I believe.
31:33 Is there any discussion?
31:34 Please vote.
31:37 Did it come up yet?
31:44 It has not come up yet.
31:46 Okay.
31:47 Just checking.
31:47 There it is.
31:49 That’s a whole lot of info.
31:59 Oh, I see.
32:00 But it flashes up and then it goes away.
32:02 And then it pops back up.
32:07 It’s really slow.
32:11 Five to zero.
32:15 Yeah.
32:16 So the motion passed five zero.
32:18 Dr. Mullins.
32:19 All right.
32:22 At this time, I would like to welcome and recognize Ms. Mary
32:27 Myers on her reclassification from the position of
32:30 Assistant Principal at Columbia Elementary School to the
32:33 position of Principal at Riviera Elementary.
32:37 Congratulations, Ms. Mary Myers.
32:43 Wow.
32:44 That’s impressive.
32:45 Wow.
32:46 That’s impressive.
32:47 Yeah.
32:47 Wow.
32:48 I don’t know that we’ve had that kind of fan club.
32:51 No.
32:51 Thank you.
32:52 Let’s read that again.
32:53 Not sure I can follow that.
32:54 Thank you, Dr. Mullins and members of the school board.
32:57 I would also like to thank Mrs. Klein and the team in elementary
33:01 leading and learning for this
33:02 opportunity.
33:03 Especially thankful for my mentors and former principals, Ms.
33:09 Roberts, principal at Columbia,
33:12 and Dr. Miller, retired principal from Saturn and now the
33:15 director of transportation.
33:16 Thank you for your support.
33:19 I have with me this evening my family, my husband, David, my
33:22 daughter, Rowan, my mom, Margie, and my–
33:26 who’s crying.
33:26 She’s going to make me cry.
33:27 I haven’t cried at all until now.
33:31 and my stepfather Bobby I would like to thank them for their
33:36 flexibility and
33:37 patience as I embark on this journey it is an honor to join the
33:42 Riviera team
33:43 and become a manatee and I am excited to work with the entire
33:48 school community
33:49 and ensure that all of our students have the opportunity to be
33:52 successful at
33:53 Riviera thank you all right team Meyers set the bar high for the
34:04 other
34:04 candidates now so I just have her come to every meeting you guys
34:10 are welcome to
34:12 come to every meeting all right just keep this thing going we’ll
34:15 just we’ll
34:15 make up we’ll give you a different appointment with the same
34:18 school over and
34:19 you guys can just come it’ll be fun all right congratulations
34:23 also go out to
34:23 dr. LaTosha Bowens on her appointment to the position of
34:27 principal at Madison
34:28 Middle School dr. Bowens comes to us from Ponte Verde Florida
34:33 where she was an
34:34 assistant principal congratulations dr. Bowen
34:41 wow oh my god I am so excited about being a part of the Brevard
34:49 public school
34:50 family and I am even more excited about being the new principal
34:55 at Madison these
34:56 people are wonderful I would call some names but I am still
35:01 learning names dr.
35:04 Sullivan and everyone who has reached out to me I’ve already
35:09 fallen in love with
35:10 this group of people I am so thankful to you I’m I brought my
35:14 mom with me and my
35:16 aunt these are the matriarchs of my family and it means so much
35:20 for them to be
35:21 here tonight and then the rest of my family is here tonight and
35:24 and my new
35:25 family is here tonight and I feel so blessed to be a part of
35:30 this team thank you
35:31 for welcoming me I’ve gotten so many emails already I feel like
35:36 I have I don’t
35:37 know I’m just like oh god I’m just so overwhelmed with the right
35:43 decision I made to
35:45 be a part of this family thank you so much for inviting me board
35:49 members thank
35:49 you so much for this opportunity I look forward to serving the
35:52 community and
35:53 connecting with all of you very soon so I hope to meet everybody
35:57 if you haven’t
35:58 met me yet I’m a hugger I love people so I’m letting you know
36:02 right now I’m looking
36:03 forward to being a part of the family thank you so much
36:08 all right one more we congratulate mr.
36:15 Tony Harris on his reclassification and transfer from the
36:19 position of teacher at
36:20 Heritage High School to the position of assistant principal at
36:24 Palm Bay Magnet
36:25 high school go pirate I am I didn’t bring my fan club with me
36:34 tonight but um to
36:35 everyone who clap for me thank you guys I am beyond excited to
36:40 be able to serve the
36:42 community of Palm Bay Magnet high school the students and the
36:45 staff I’d like to
36:46 thank the board dr. Mullins for the appointment I’d like to
36:50 thank dr. Sullivan and
36:51 dr. Harris for the recommendations dr. Harris for being a
36:55 phenomenal mentor
36:57 principal and a professor I have gotten many growth
37:02 opportunities from him some
37:04 of them I asked for some of them I did not but they made me a
37:07 well-rounded
37:08 educator I believe and I’d like to thank my new principal mr.
37:12 Judd Kaminsky for
37:13 bringing me on board I’m so excited to be a pirate I’m ready for
37:16 work tomorrow
37:16 packed and ready to go I would like to thank my parents
37:21 my dad’s here my mom couldn’t make it she’s at work but my my
37:24 father for making
37:25 it I appreciate you for always having my back I’d like to thank
37:28 the rest of my
37:30 team at a heritage high school I’ve learned so much from every
37:33 single one of
37:33 them I really feel blessed to have come up under the
37:36 administrators I did
37:38 Lucian Melendez dr. Dotson Vivi Finnerson Steven link Chris
37:44 Browning all of
37:45 them were just awesome to learn from and then last but not least
37:49 my better half my wife
37:51 Kyla amazing woman supports me and everything me Bryson and Janessa
37:55 are just
37:55 so lucky to have you and thanks again to the board I appreciate
37:59 the opportunity and
38:00 go pirates okay we are now at public comments typically we go
38:14 straight into
38:15 public comment I don’t know if you all are welcome to stay with
38:19 us for the
38:19 remainder of the meeting but if you would like for us to take a
38:22 little breather so
38:23 that you can get back to your your important work
38:30 I can I can see it but it’s not see that’s the approval of the
38:50 agenda I can’t see our last vote
38:53 so but if you can just let me know when you see it you can just
39:11 state the motion
39:12 pass five zero and then I’ll move on it’s fine
39:16 okay as they are exiting and we’re still continuing to work
39:33 through some of our
39:33 technical difficulties we appreciate your patient patience we
39:37 are now at public comments
39:39 those score policies zero one six nine point one limits to 30
39:42 minutes the portion of the meeting
39:43 during which the public is invited to participate in provide
39:45 public comment the
39:46 policy further provides that this time limit may be extended by
39:49 a vote of the
39:50 board we have five speakers scheduled for this evening so we
39:55 will not need to vote on
39:57 an extension each speaker is limited to three minutes we have a
40:00 clock in front of
40:01 me to help you keep track of your time when your time is over
40:03 you’ll be asked to
40:04 stop and allow the next speaker his or her turn always keep in
40:06 mind that
40:07 reasonable decorum is expected at all times and your statement
40:10 should be
40:10 directed to the board chairman the chairman may interrupt warn
40:14 or terminate a
40:15 participant statement when time is up personally directed
40:18 abusive obscene or
40:19 irrelevant should an individual not observe proper etiquette the
40:22 chairman may
40:22 request the individual leave the meeting let’s all encourage an
40:25 environment
40:26 appropriate for our children who may be present or watching from
40:29 home let’s begin
40:30 with the first three speakers Vanessa Skipper Anthony Colucci
40:34 and Kyle Savage before
40:36 speaking please state your name the organization you represent
40:39 if any and identify
40:40 the topic you’ll be discussing
40:44 good evening Vanessa Skipper vice president Brevard Federation
41:01 of Teachers
41:03 yesterday was truly an awesome day for public education in
41:06 Florida I could not have been
41:08 prouder of the delegation that represented brevard the
41:11 excitement enthusiasm and
41:12 passion was invigorating I want to thank all brevards educators
41:16 and public
41:16 education supporters who took a personal day showed up to bus
41:20 stops between 6:00 and 6:15 a.m.
41:22 traveled all the way to Tallahassee marched on the Capitol cheered
41:26 chanted and
41:27 let their voices be heard for our students I want people at home
41:31 and in the
41:31 community to know that they took a personal day to do this a
41:35 personal day that will now be one
41:37 less day that they can cash in over the summer or when they
41:41 retire to fiercely advocate for their
41:43 students their classrooms and their profession I’d also like to
41:47 give a huge shout out to
41:49 Sue Han for her helping to coordinate our bus stops because of
41:53 her willingness to collaborate with bft and
41:55 parks and rec we were able to have safe and legal parking for
41:57 our participants in addition I’d like to
42:00 thank everyone who stepped in to sub for a teacher who
42:03 participated I heard from Dr Mullins teacher
42:06 that he was an automotive from Miss McDougal and Miss Belford in
42:12 elementary Mr. Susan taught Spanish
42:14 and Miss Campbell taught English so welcome I know Miss Deskovich
42:21 you couldn’t make it for personal
42:22 reasons but we’ll have other opportunities don’t worry this is
42:25 another example of how great things
42:29 can be when we actually work together and the one thing that we
42:33 need to keep going is the momentum that
42:36 we saw in Tallahassee we can’t just stop with one day Tallahassee
42:40 police department estimated 15 000
42:44 at the capitol yesterday we need everybody in this room
42:48 everybody at home watching to make sure that
42:51 they are doing something every single day for the next 60 days
42:55 of the legislative session we need them
42:58 to contact their legislators we need them to tag them on
43:01 facebook tweet them you can go to feaweb.org
43:05 do find your legislators type in your address and it’ll get you
43:08 the contact information for your person
43:12 we need everyone to share how our students our classrooms our
43:16 schools and our profession will
43:18 benefit from being in the top 10 states to fund education not
43:22 the bottom 10. we’re 43rd in the nation
43:25 and that’s an embarrassment and anybody in this room that is not
43:30 going to contact a legislator and tell
43:32 them that that’s an embarrassment and we should be doing better
43:35 should be ashamed of themselves we must rise up
43:39 collectively together we can’t make what happened yesterday be a
43:43 one-hit wonder we must continue to
43:45 build activism that pressures lawmakers to do right by our
43:49 public schools lawmakers on both sides of the
43:51 aisle are saying the right things but if we do not continue to
43:55 do the hard work we will miss this
43:57 opportunity to bring real funding and a real improvement to our
44:01 public schools our students and our educators
44:03 lives thank you thank you miss skipper and thank you for all of
44:07 your work and advocacy
44:08 mr calucci
44:18 my name is anthony calucci i’m the president of the brevard federation
44:21 of teachers first of all thank
44:23 you to the board superintendent and district staff for your
44:26 support of the take on tallahassee rally which
44:29 happened yesterday we believe that a clear message was sent to
44:32 the state legislature and governor about the
44:35 abysmal level of funding for public education the overstep of
44:40 state control flawed laws and what needs to be done to
44:44 correct these issues this will not be a one-and-done effort we
44:48 will sustain our advocacy along with the orange
44:52 county teachers union and other local unions we have another
44:56 rally planned for saturday february 15th
44:59 in central florida i hope you will join us at that rally i
45:04 believe that a big reason why the rally
45:07 occurred without a hitch in brevard was because bft was
45:11 transparent with the district about about our
45:14 intentions from day one when organizations are transparent with
45:19 their stakeholders these organizations
45:22 gain the trust of those they serve tonight i’m requesting that
45:26 the district change a practice
45:29 that completely lacks transparency to get right to the point i’m
45:33 requesting that this board
45:35 advertise its off-site meetings and post the agenda for these
45:39 meetings on the district website
45:42 just like they do every other meeting for whatever reason the
45:45 current practice exists it does nothing but
45:48 cast suspicion on this board i understand that this board is
45:52 advertising these meetings according to the law
45:56 by placing an ad in the weekly eagle however i’ve lived in brevard
46:00 county for 20 years and have never seen
46:03 this newspaper anywhere i’ve learned that the newspaper can be
46:07 searched for electronically but it’s not
46:10 transparent for citizens to have to regularly search ads online
46:14 to know of meetings especially when other
46:17 meetings are advertised on your website as president of the
46:21 union a teacher and taxpayer i do not believe
46:24 i should have to puzzle together info to know when this board is
46:28 meeting where it’s meeting and what
46:30 it’s discussing this lack of transparency can easily be fixed
46:35 and i’m requesting that off-site meetings are
46:38 advertised as all the other meetings are thank you
46:44 thank you mr coachee mr savage
46:52 kyle savage the treasurer of the brevard federation and teachers
46:58 and in meeting last fall with dr mullins he asked what can be
47:02 done outside of teacher compensation
47:04 pay is important but i respected that question dr mullins and
47:09 members of the boards i think it’s time that we move forward to
47:12 offer
47:12 our teachers and your employees paid maternity leave yesterday
47:17 15 000 teachers marched on tallahassee
47:19 to let education stakeholders know it’s time for a decade of
47:23 change in education it is time for everyone
47:25 in this room as a local education stakeholder as a leader to
47:29 stand up for a decade of change one thing i
47:32 learned from my military career is that the most effective
47:35 leaders lead from the front let’s lead from the
47:37 front and brevard on this issue since i have started teaching i’ve
47:41 offered i have often wondered at a
47:44 female dominated profession why don’t we treat our pregnant
47:47 teachers better our expectant mothers better
47:50 our new families better i will be honest i came into this
47:53 conversation about maternity leave and paid
47:56 maternity leave without a lot of knowledge on the issue however
47:59 however over the last few months i’ve
48:01 started to research maternity leave and the process that our
48:04 teachers go through while being an expected
48:06 mother it’s unacceptable i have heard dozens of horror stories
48:11 from bps teachers about the process and lack
48:14 of benefit knowledge and lack of benefits provided to them
48:17 throughout the maternity leave process while no one
48:21 person is responsible for this problem let’s work together as a
48:24 team and solve this issue this the time frame that a
48:29 teacher or any employee becomes a mother should be a happy pro
48:33 should be the happiest time of their
48:35 life not a process that involves an enormous amount of stress
48:38 while it is true that bps offers short-term
48:42 disability for teachers that pay into it and other benefits for
48:45 employees having a child
48:47 these benefits fall very short of where they should be in the
48:50 year 2020 it is time for bps to offer paid maternity leave
48:54 for its employees many of brevard’s largest employees offer some
48:58 form of paid maternity leave the military
49:01 has been offering it for over 10 years i took advantage of it as
49:05 a father when i while i was in nasa harris
49:08 spacex bowen all offer some form of paid maternity leave i
49:12 understand there will be costs associated with
49:15 this program but i think there is a way to work reasonable to
49:18 determine the cost and create a plan that
49:20 works for everybody the brevard federation of teachers look
49:23 forward to working with the district
49:25 and all stakeholders to find a workable solution when we look at
49:28 paid maternity leave from a teacher
49:30 retention and recruitment this is a no-brainer but beyond that
49:34 when we look at it from a human being
49:37 from one person to another we should treat our expectant mothers
49:40 as best as we can as educators we
49:43 know the value of a family and we all know it starts from the
49:47 day of birth not when they enter kindergarten
49:49 thank you for your time and i really do look forward to working
49:53 with everybody on this issue
49:54 thank you mr savage next we have kathy west and then frank chong
49:59 is west
50:13 kathy west i am a substitute teacher and i’m here on behalf of
50:24 the subs that i work with
50:27 we’re still looking for our raises we haven’t gotten them yet i
50:31 know you guys are working on it
50:33 um also um i wanted to mention uh seeing if you guys could lower
50:41 get the testing fees lower some more
50:46 so that people that want to take this this subject area test are
50:50 able to take the subject area test
50:53 without having to scramble and struggle to um get the monies up
50:58 um i also went to the um the rally
51:04 yesterday in tallahassee very exciting we’re going to push for
51:08 whatever raises we can get for our
51:10 employees so that’s it i i that concludes my announcement thank
51:16 you miss west
51:20 mr chong good evening uh my name is frank chong um i’m the
51:27 father to anna chong she’s a uh she plays
51:31 uh she attends very high school she’s a first year uh student
51:35 there and she’s uh uh she plays the flute
51:38 for the vera high school marching band i’m here tonight because
51:43 i wanted to bring up a concern and a
51:47 disappointment uh resulting from a decision that was made by brevard
51:51 public schools that resulted in a
51:54 in a denial of an opportunity for excellence for both her and
51:58 for another student here in brevard county
52:01 and that is at the beginning of the year her band director had
52:07 recommended to her that that she apply
52:12 for a number of enrichment activities which includes all state
52:15 which as campbell you had acknowledged earlier
52:17 brevard all county and for uh various different enrichment
52:22 efforts by the florida flute association
52:25 in good faith she applied to all three
52:30 and uh we were blessed to have found out that she was selected
52:35 to participate in all three events
52:38 so if we just came back from all state and that was uh that was
52:41 a really uh wonderful and blessed events
52:44 i’ll say uh for for the other two when i learned about her
52:47 selection for those for those two items
52:50 i had flagged and said ah there’s there’s a little bit of a
52:52 conflict they’re scheduled for the same
52:53 weekend there’s a slight conflict where well i would need to
52:57 move her from one location to the other from
52:59 from melbourne up to orlando and she’d probably need to miss
53:04 maybe about by about two hours just because of the
53:06 the time it takes to transit from one one location to the next
53:09 that was raised up to the brevard public
53:13 school’s attention uh for both her and for this other student
53:17 and the response back was that they
53:20 needed to make a choice and the stance was unyielding i appealed
53:26 i went to one of the board members that
53:28 are that are here and she appealed and they’re both flat all
53:31 denial and they were flatly denied by both
53:34 um this one administrator as well as assistant superintendent
53:38 and this is despite bringing
53:40 evidence that the standards that were being held are different
53:43 than those are used for all state
53:44 those that used for other counties within within florida and in
53:49 different uh in one particular
53:51 instance where a combination was made within brevard county and
53:55 so
53:57 uh i’m concerned as a parent because it it impacts my my
54:01 daughter’s attractiveness for college for selection
54:07 for for for scholarship i’m also concerned because well she is a
54:11 ninth grader and she has another three
54:13 years and i have another daughter that’s right behind her that’s
54:16 equally talented and so just in sum
54:19 um i do have all the details here and in quite some detail which
54:24 i’ll provide deputy but i am asking
54:28 the board i’m asking superintendent mullins to please re-look at
54:33 this policy because i don’t want my
54:37 daughters to and i don’t want this other uh other students who
54:40 may be in similar situations to be denied
54:43 opportunities for excellence thank you thank you mr chong would
54:47 any board member like to respond to
54:49 any of the comments from this evening public speakers miss deskovich
54:53 i uh i want to thank bft and mr
54:57 savage specifically for bringing bringing that um the whole
55:01 issue forward i think it’s something very
55:04 important that we need to look at i’m not sure of our um how we
55:07 want to tackle this as a process but
55:10 at this point dr mullins i know at least i there’s a lot there’s
55:14 some avenues here that i want to look
55:16 at i’d like some more information and maybe even mr savage maybe
55:18 you and i can chat if you’ve already
55:20 gathered some information about other districts and i’m
55:23 wondering if we are behind the curve on this
55:25 or if we’re gonna maybe lead the charge if anybody else is
55:28 interested
55:29 so nobody else is doing that i like that uh anyway i’m i’m i’m
55:35 curious i would really like to explore this
55:37 uh treating pregnant moms that our employees the best we can
55:42 treat them absolutely is something we want to
55:44 do uh and then um there was one other thing i wanted to address
55:51 oh i think it was just with um the substituting i absolutely
55:58 wanted to be there yesterday and i had
56:00 signed up and committed and and then had a family uh commitment
56:03 that could not be moved and so
56:05 i apologize for not being able to support you all and and sub
56:09 yesterday because it definitely was on
56:11 my radar and i wanted to do that so thank you thank you miss dusk
56:16 much
56:16 can i clarify something with miss west miss campbell absolutely
56:20 yes miss west i had a question during
56:22 your time you you mentioned you asked about lowering um testing
56:26 fees for subject areas if you can just
56:28 give me a nod ahead i have a question for you real quick are you
56:31 talking about for the opportunity to
56:33 become a certified teacher okay thank you since that probably
56:37 didn’t show up on the tape i’m just going
56:39 to say that miss west indicated yes she was questioning about
56:42 the fees to become a certified teacher
56:45 anyone else mr susan i did want to say um thank you because uh
56:49 for mr savage for doing that there are
56:52 other op options besides the um the cost also which is breastfeeding
56:57 rooms and stuff like that that we
56:59 may be our administrators might need a refresher on some i know
57:03 some of our teachers um try to breastfeed
57:06 in certain areas and they’re they’re just in a closet sometimes
57:08 you know what i mean and that’s just
57:10 something that we need to look at but i do want to say one good
57:12 thing is that we are the only school
57:14 district in the state of florida right now to promote our breastfeeding
57:19 station at the new
57:20 elementary school at viera high school or viera elementary
57:23 schools we put although it’s fda like
57:25 i mean i’m sorry but although it is something that is required
57:28 by the state for us to have in federal
57:30 government we are setting it aside and making it past what is
57:34 the normal requirement and showing that
57:36 we are going in that direction so any help you need let me know
57:40 but i’m glad that he brought that up
57:43 i have a question uh just mr susan if i can uh i remember seeing
57:49 the plans originally for that and
57:51 it was attached to the restroom and i specifically stood there
57:54 and said it can’t be attached to the
57:55 restroom but i have not followed up unfortunately let’s make
57:58 sure of that yeah um just oh really
58:02 she’s giving us that’s good it’s not it’s not part of the
58:04 bathroom it’s literally it’s done yes she has
58:08 taken care of it you are the best and then um mr chong had
58:12 contacted me after the whole incident had
58:14 occurred and everything that he was concerned about i truly
58:17 believe that there’s something that we can do
58:19 um that we can work out to make sure that those kind of
58:22 instances in the past when i coached football
58:24 before we’ve had multi-level kids getting into different all-stars
58:27 and there’s ways to kind of work that out so i would like to
58:30 maybe in the future before we
58:32 come around to it next year maybe look at that at one of our off-site
58:35 meetings where we can discuss it as a group
58:37 miss escobar could you please make a note so when we circle back
58:42 for planning on those off sites and
58:44 i go pam what was i supposed to remember um that would be
58:48 fabulous and then mr calucci i i did want
58:51 to take an opportunity to respond to you we’ve been working with
58:54 mr gibbs and miss escobar with the
58:56 transition to our new platform and all of that stuff um go sorry
59:01 that’s okay good did that spill or is
59:04 it just empty no it didn’t okay uh going forward we will
59:07 actually have the agendas for the off-site and
59:10 i just want to clarify so there’s no um no confusion and
59:15 expectation so if this is not what you’re
59:18 looking for then you’ll need to circle back with me otherwise i
59:20 think it’s resolved um on our where
59:23 you go to all of the agendas for our board meetings the agenda
59:28 for the off-site will be listed there with
59:31 the attachments we are not however you know how we have the
59:35 sheet that lists all of the board meetings
59:38 for the year those that is a static if those are the meetings
59:45 that we approve in november at our
59:47 organization of the board and typically we do not we have a
59:51 statement on there that says workshops will
59:54 typically be the same day as a board meeting and off-sites will
59:57 be scheduled as needed so we will add the
1:00:01 agenda but we don’t beyond the the public notice meeting that we
1:00:05 put out for all of our meetings
1:00:07 there’s not really another avenue for us to advertise the
1:00:14 meetings so if you would like to discuss that
1:00:17 in more detail if you feel like there needs to be more by all
1:00:19 means reach out to me um but we will have
1:00:21 the agendas for future offsites posted along with the agendas in
1:00:25 the new platform okay um anyone else
1:00:30 need to respond okay the board wishes to thank this evening
1:00:33 speakers your willingness to speak to the
1:00:35 board is appreciated that moves us to the consent agenda dr mullins
1:00:39 there are 22 agenda items under
1:00:41 this category thank you dr mullins does any board member wish to
1:00:46 pull any items oh
1:00:51 no okay then i will entertain a motion to accept the consent
1:00:55 items as presented
1:00:57 second motion made by miss mcdougall seconded by miss deskovich
1:01:05 is there any discussion yes i didn’t
1:01:08 want to pull this item but i did did just want to recognize in
1:01:11 item 17 which is our head start um
1:01:14 annual report just recognize our head start program i know we
1:01:18 talked about them at last board meeting um
1:01:20 they in in the agenda item it listed that our head start program
1:01:24 received the 2019 child abuse prevention
1:01:28 task force of brevard social services group award that’s a
1:01:31 really long award but i just want to
1:01:33 recognize um our head start program for that great achievement
1:01:36 and recognized by our community for their
1:01:39 their outreach that they do um and for that a child abuse abuse
1:01:42 prevention award congratulations to our
1:01:45 head start team excellent thank you miss campbell all right i
1:01:49 have a motion by miss mc
1:01:50 mcdougall a second by miss deskovich is there any additional
1:01:53 discussion please vote
1:02:03 mcdougall a second by miss mcdougall a second by miss mcdougall
1:02:26 the motion passes five zero
1:02:33 i just want to make a comment real quick the top right corner
1:02:37 while we were voting on that said
1:02:38 current item administrative staff recommendations i mean i know
1:02:42 what we’re voting on because the next
1:02:43 square it changed now yeah it changed after i voted though so it’s
1:02:47 just it’s either really stuck
1:02:50 somewhere or something’s not right
1:02:54 okay um
1:03:00 we will move on to the ad action agenda dr mullins there are a
1:03:04 total of two action items on this
1:03:05 evening’s agenda
1:03:06 uh what are the wishes of the board move to approve second moved
1:03:12 by mr susan seconded by miss campbell
1:03:14 any discussion
1:03:15 uh first one is on procurement solicitations which is g30
1:03:25 yeah you’re right because we are technically voting right now on
1:03:34 the consent agenda
1:03:36 we already approved we already approved that’s what i’m seeing
1:03:39 oh on your yeah i mean i know we’re
1:03:41 got it verbally i see where you’re at see how the top says
1:03:44 current agenda item but then when
1:03:46 you click on the voting piece it shows the action item right it
1:03:49 reads what you’re actually voting on
1:03:50 it shows on the screen yeah but it was just we’ll get through it
1:04:04 everybody voted you don’t have anything yet i voted i voted
1:04:13 hopefully there’s a way we can speed this up
1:04:16 there we go yeah it just popped up so the motion passes five
1:04:23 zero dr mullins the next is on
1:04:26 department and school initiated agreements what are the wishes
1:04:28 of the board move to approve
1:04:30 second moved by mr susan seconded by miss mcdougall any
1:04:34 discussion please vote
1:04:46 okay okay yeah
1:05:16 and the motion passes five zero
1:05:32 we’re not the information items which are items that may be
1:05:36 brought back later for board consideration
1:05:38 no action will be taken on these items this evening dr mullins
1:05:41 there’s only one item on this evening’s
1:05:43 agenda regarding secondary career and technical education
1:05:46 materials does anyone want to discuss
1:05:48 this item
1:05:48 does any board member have anything further to report
1:06:02 okay there being no further business this meeting is now
1:06:10 oh wait is jake over there with you brandon okay i was just
1:06:15 going to recognize really quickly you guys
1:06:17 probably have seen him the entire time but um jake our our new
1:06:22 uh canine is has joined us this evening
1:06:24 so we can meet him so um welcome to the team jake even though
1:06:28 you can’t hear us and i will now call this
1:06:30 media jerk
1:06:42 so
1:06:44 you