Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 music
2:06 to doing our best to ensure excellence in Brevard Public Schools,
2:08 we know that our success
2:10 depends heavily on an engaged and committed community to work
2:13 alongside us and help us
2:15 to continually improve. Thank you for being an active
2:18 participant in the process. Pam,
2:20 roll call, please.
2:21 Ms. Belford?
2:24 Present.
2:25 Ms. McDougall?
2:27 Present.
2:28 Ms. Deskovich?
2:29 Present.
2:30 Mr. Susan?
2:31 Present.
2:32 And Ms. Campbell?
2:33 Present.
2:36 The board will, Mr. Susan, the board will now hold a moment of
2:42 silent reflection and invite
2:43 you to join us.
2:44 Thank you.
2:56 Matt Reed, Assistant Superintendent of Government and Community
2:59 Relations, will lead the Pledge
3:01 of Allegiance.
3:06 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
3:10 and to the republic for
3:12 which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
3:17 and justice for all.
3:19 At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and
3:24 Dr. Mullins the opportunity
3:26 to recognize students, staff, or members of the community.
3:30 Ms. Campbell, you want to start down on that end today?
3:35 Yes, I will.
3:37 Because I’m not sure what’s going on next door.
3:41 All right.
3:42 So today, I shared last week that the Rivarra Achievement Center’s
3:47 Arts Festival was going
3:48 to be going on this week, and I was able to drop by today.
3:50 It’s also going on tomorrow.
3:52 So if you haven’t got a chance, you’ve got some time to drop by
3:55 the zoo.
3:56 I just want to thank the Rivarra Achievement Center, first of
3:58 all, for making this possible.
4:00 They pay the admission for all of our students, all our BE
4:06 students and other exceptional ed
4:09 students that come participate.
4:11 But I especially want to give a shot to student services,
4:15 because so many of them were there
4:18 with the BPS tent and doing art activities with the students,
4:22 and they were dancing and doing
4:25 some awesome movement activities, and there was music everywhere,
4:28 and so it’s lots of fun.
4:29 Also, our Bayside Teacher Academy was there yesterday, running
4:33 one of the tables for our students.
4:35 And then also a huge group from Eastern Florida was there today
4:40 of future educators who helped
4:42 run the show, really, for everybody.
4:44 So just really thankful for all those people who partnered in
4:47 order for this event to be
4:48 very successful.
4:49 I think there’s going to be about 1,200 students who will have
4:52 participated, and each of the classes
4:54 that brought students had to produce an artwork, and it’s on
4:58 display at the zoo as well.
5:00 And the public is certainly welcome to be a part, but just want
5:03 to shout out to all those people
5:04 who made that possible for our students.
5:05 Speaking of the zoo, I got to spend some time with Janelle Cummins,
5:09 who works with the
5:10 Education Department at our lovely Brevard Zoo, and she showed
5:13 me some of the new things that
5:14 are going on, and just really all the wonderful partnerships
5:17 that our schools have, from zoo
5:19 school, which lasts an entire week, to the reading programs
5:22 partnerships they have, and the
5:24 grants they apply for so that our students can come in.
5:26 And I have a fifth grader, you know, when they take the FSA
5:29 science, and she was telling
5:31 me some of the standards that they’re going through with their
5:33 curriculum.
5:33 And I went, recognize that one, and I recognize that one.
5:36 So they’re really just hitting those fifth grade curriculum
5:39 points that are going to help
5:40 our students just, you know, see it in real life.
5:43 It makes it soak in a little better.
5:46 So I really appreciate all the partnerships, and that’s, I just
5:48 mentioned a few of the many
5:49 things that they do.
5:50 Our Heritage High School show choirs went to Tampa for the
5:54 International Championship of High
5:57 School Acapella.
5:59 Think pitch perfect, but in real life.
6:03 And they did a fantastic job.
6:05 So proud of them, dancing and singing, and just amazing talent
6:08 all across the state.
6:10 And so I just want to congratulate them for the good job there.
6:14 They represented Brevard well.
6:16 And then I think that Dr. Mullis is going to talk about it, but
6:20 I got a chance to pop in,
6:21 and I know Ms. Deskovich did too, on the large and very large
6:24 district convening.
6:25 I’ll leave that to you to explain what that is.
6:27 But I just want to thank our leading and learning team for
6:29 putting such, so much work into that
6:32 convening.
6:32 There were districts from all across the state.
6:35 We were chosen because of the great work that our leading and
6:38 learning teams are doing with
6:40 our turnaround schools, and just was very impressed, and I heard
6:44 lots of praise about the event
6:46 from people across the state.
6:48 I’m so excited for the good work that you guys did.
6:50 That’s it.
6:51 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
6:55 Mr. Susan.
6:57 Tonight we have an individual that I’ve grown to respect in many
7:01 ways that’s retiring.
7:02 I wanted to give a shout-out to Tom Fitzgerald, who is, you’re
7:06 going to be here, you’re going
7:07 to talk?
7:07 Okay.
7:07 So I’ll save it for then.
7:10 I also wanted to say that on Saturday there was a drone race,
7:14 all right, and more and more
7:17 schools are joining on now.
7:18 This one was at West Shore.
7:19 They’re moving around to different schools.
7:20 And the technology that is occurring, I did have to give a shout-out
7:26 to the
7:27 Ms. Lukton from Choice, you know, Shireen, I got to say it right,
7:32 because I say Shireen
7:33 sometimes, she gets really angry at me, so Ms. Lukton is what I
7:36 always say, but she actually
7:37 goes out and works with them on the drones.
7:39 Like, she went out to some of the schools and she said, “Hey,
7:41 you know, how can I help you?”
7:42 and she spent a lot of time working with the Johnson program,
7:45 where they’re 3D printing
7:47 and they’re using some of the stuff that we had before.
7:48 So that is, I want to give a shout-out to her, and then also I’m
7:52 going to send you guys
7:53 an email where they’re going to be racing at the Innovation
7:56 Games, and then they have
7:57 a big drone race at the Astronaut Memorial Foundation, where
8:00 they’re going to be racing
8:02 in the big rockets and stuff like that in April, so it’s really
8:06 cool stuff.
8:07 And then I did want to also say that the Innovation Games are
8:11 March 6th, so you guys should put
8:12 it’s the day after our actual workshop that we have, so I think
8:17 that we could come to that.
8:20 Gibbs, I think it’s something you should come to.
8:22 You know, you could come down there and watch it for a little
8:24 bit of time.
8:26 So, I’m sorry, Mr. Gibbs, and then I also wanted to say we’re in
8:33 the process of going
8:35 through a challenge here where we’re going to be running, and I
8:39 wanted everybody to know
8:42 that I am challenging Dr. Mullins in this process, and I am
8:47 ready to take him down.
8:49 Now, I know that he’s a runner, and I know that I’m not in the
8:51 best shape in the world,
8:52 but I think I’ve got a chance here. So, I’m going to start
8:55 trying to challenge you
8:56 to add the miles that you’re running, and I did want to send out
9:00 a formal bid protest.
9:01 I also wanted to protest. I was under the understanding that you
9:05 may have passed that
9:06 down to him. He may have filed for some extra miles that he didn’t
9:11 actually deserve.
9:12 So, I think he jumped the gun a little bit. So, I’m filing this.
9:17 These are the rights,
9:18 Matt Susan’s right to protest and dispute the validity of the
9:21 running contract.
9:22 And then this is the actual, Gibbs, this is the actual protest
9:27 regarding the illegal count
9:29 of miles that you submitted ahead of the official start. So, I
9:32 put this here. You can read some
9:34 of the documentation. But you better be ready, Mullins, because
9:38 it’s about to get real,
9:39 and you’re going down, man. Mr. Susan, I don’t have to get ready
9:43 because I run regularly.
9:44 Listen to this. He’s already talking to us.
9:46 I told him you turned in 5.7 miles, and that’s what led to this
9:49 because he hasn’t gotten off the couch yet.
9:51 So, I would like you guys to know that I actually went out and
9:55 purchased a Fitbit for this.
9:57 All right. Big deal, right? Like, I’m, this is, we’re going to
9:59 get ready here, Mullins.
10:01 And I look forward to sending in my miles and taking it down. So,
10:06 let’s go. Game on.
10:08 All right. Hey, wait. You guys got the bid protest, right? You
10:14 got that? Okay, I’m serious about it.
10:16 He only has three miles right now.
10:18 I gave it to me. He only has three.
10:19 All right. Okay. Thank you.
10:21 Thank you, Mr. Susan and Ms. Deskovich.
10:24 Are you really finished, Mr. Susan?
10:29 Yeah, but can I wear this for a little while?
10:31 Sure. Whole meeting if you desire.
10:34 I thought you were going to play music.
10:34 I am. I’m waiting for him to talk. Now I’m going to play it over
10:36 time.
10:37 Oh, my gosh.
10:37 We’re just a ball of laughs tonight.
10:41 Okay.
10:48 Let’s see, J.A., Business Blast-Off Challenge again this year.
10:54 So, a huge thank you to J.A. and for the sponsors that helped
10:59 put on this event.
11:00 It’s kind of like our local Brevard Shark Tank for our high
11:02 school students.
11:03 And I was able, and I think Ms. Campbell, we were judges at the
11:08 first round.
11:10 We were in different groups.
11:11 So, I’m not sure who her team, was your team the winner, the
11:13 ultimate winner this year?
11:15 The team for my group actually won the whole thing.
11:17 That was mine last year.
11:18 So, congratulations to the winning team.
11:21 They were from Vieira High School.
11:22 They were called Team Safe School.
11:24 And for their teacher, Kat Armstrong, and their volunteer who
11:29 spends countless hours working
11:31 with them, helping them develop their business plan, some very
11:33 in-depth studies they do to
11:35 prepare market analysis.
11:36 And they learn a lot of great business skills.
11:39 So, their volunteer, thank you to Mr. Steve Davis for helping
11:42 them, and to J.A. for putting
11:44 that on.
11:44 Also, I want to thank Ms. Lisa Elam.
11:49 She has been working within our elementary schools on a program
11:53 called No One Eats Alone.
11:54 And I was able to stop by Sea Park Elementary School last week,
11:58 and see she was working with
12:00 the counselor there.
12:01 We also want to give her a shout-out, Ms. Schroeder.
12:03 And they worked together to put on, for third through sixth
12:07 grade, they had a lot of things
12:09 going on.
12:10 And one of them was they gave everyone a half of a heart with
12:13 numbers on it, and you had
12:15 to find someone that had your matching number and sit with them
12:18 and learn some new things
12:19 about them during lunch.
12:20 And so, you know, I kind of moved around the room and sat, and
12:23 it was fun to see the kids
12:24 interacting with kids they weren’t, they were familiar with but
12:28 didn’t know things about.
12:30 And then they had some activities going on also.
12:33 In the back of the cafeteria, they put a huge tree on the wall,
12:36 and the kids had to write
12:37 some nice, inspiring things and put leaves up, and it was really
12:40 a great, uplifting experience.
12:42 So we needed more of that going on.
12:45 On Friday night, Dr. Mullins, were you going to talk about the
12:50 Freedom Banquet, or?
12:53 No, go ahead.
12:53 Okay.
12:53 We had the NAACP, we had a whole table for Brevard Public School,
12:58 senior staff in the back,
13:00 and Dr. Mullins and I were there.
13:01 And it was a very special treat for us, because our principal
13:04 from Stone Middle School, Mr.
13:06 Hilary Poole, was the keynote speaker.
13:08 And I knew that he had gone to Stone and Palm Bay High, but that’s
13:13 the depth of what I knew.
13:15 But when he spoke, he kind of unfolded a whole history of how
13:19 deep his roots are in this community.
13:22 And in the audience was his mother and his grandmother, I
13:25 believe.
13:26 His wife and daughter were there, cousins.
13:28 It was just, it was so moving to hear how his, you know, his
13:32 uncle played a role as the first African American in the
13:35 community to do this and that.
13:37 And he’s so deeply connected.
13:39 And now he has the honor of serving as the principal in that
13:41 community.
13:42 And the whole event was just beautiful and very heartwarming.
13:46 Science Fair?
13:48 You’re covering Science Fair, Dr. Mullins?
13:50 Yes.
13:50 Okay.
13:51 I don’t want to double-do and waste everybody’s time.
13:53 And then what about Sunday’s Unity Community Meeting?
13:58 Do you want to touch on that one?
14:00 Which one?
14:01 The Unity Community Meeting, the Black History?
14:03 That was a lot of fun.
14:05 That was out in Palm Bay.
14:07 And I’m not sure who the organizer, the city of Palm Bay, put
14:11 that on directly.
14:13 But the highlight for me, other than the history and the
14:16 unfolding and just the celebration that was going on,
14:19 was the Heritage High School Marching Band, which I had never
14:22 heard before, embarrassed to say, because have you all heard
14:25 them?
14:26 They’re like, I’m sure you have, Katie, that’s in your district.
14:30 They are unlike any marching band I’ve ever experienced.
14:33 Their instruments go flying, and they’re dancing and shaking,
14:37 and their drum majors wear, like, sports outfits and whistles
14:40 and dance almost better than the drill team that’s with the
14:44 marching band.
14:45 And that was in the community center there out in Palm Bay.
14:49 So it was very loud, and I actually was sitting with Mrs. Mullins
14:53 down there, and I think we were jamming in the bleachers.
14:57 It was very impressive.
14:59 So I appreciate their talents and their teachers that have
15:02 trained them up to perform like that.
15:05 And for the city of Palm Bay for putting on that event and all
15:08 those that participated and spoke to unity in our community.
15:12 That’s everything.
15:13 Thanks, Ms. Belford.
15:15 Thank you, Ms. Tuskevich.
15:16 Ms. McDougal.
15:17 Thank you.
15:18 I, um, if you’ve noticed, we all have the same shirts on.
15:22 This is our kindness symbol from Tropical Elementary School, and
15:25 I want to give a shout out to Barb Wilcox and her kindergarten
15:28 class, who started this, and this is our anniversary.
15:31 A year ago, we here at Brevard Public Schools had a proclamation
15:35 that this was going to be the symbol that we use for kindness in
15:40 our school system, but also other communities around Cocoa Beach,
15:46 Cape Canaveral, all of our, I think even Rockledge, I think
15:51 everybody kind of got on the bandwagon and also has proclamations
15:54 that this is a symbol.
15:56 They were just up in Tallahassee and were honored, um, with, I
16:00 always mess up his name, um, Tyler.
16:02 Don’t say cirrhosis.
16:04 Ciroi.
16:06 I’m not, I know it’s not cirrhosis.
16:07 It’s Ciroi.
16:08 And he, um, honored them with the proclamation that this is a
16:11 symbol we’re using for kindness week, uh, this past week.
16:15 So, shout out to Barb Wilcox and her kindergarten class, and it’s
16:18 an amazing class.
16:20 It really is a fun class to go to, and they are so excited, and
16:23 they’ve done a lot of wonderful things.
16:26 So, I want to shout out to that.
16:27 And then, I want to shout out to a couple of our media
16:30 specialists who, with Literacy Week, have done some really
16:34 creative things.
16:35 And first, I’m going to talk about Cocoa Beach Junior Senior
16:38 High School, and they have it, um, Book It and Bake It.
16:43 And so, what it is, the students go ahead and, um, participate.
16:48 There was 109 students that participated in this event with 54
16:52 cakes.
16:52 And what they do, you read a book, and then they make a cake to
16:56 go along with their book.
16:57 So, the overall winner was, um, A Beautiful Mind, and this cake
17:01 was amazing, it had a brain on it.
17:03 Um, I was just so impressed.
17:05 And that was, um, one by Tess and Olivia.
17:08 Then, the next one was the most creative, was My Side of the
17:12 Mountain, um, by Riley.
17:14 And then, uh, interesting one was the book, 1984.
17:17 And it had Big Brothers Watching You, and that was very, that
17:20 was, they’re all very creative.
17:22 I’m hoping they’re on their webpage, so if you want to see some
17:25 of these cakes, you need to see them.
17:27 They’re amazing.
17:27 That was by Ricardo and Lana and Rachel.
17:30 And Soul Surfer was the best object cake, and then The Hobbit
17:34 was the best scene.
17:36 And, so, these are all kids who read the books, and then they
17:39 went ahead and made a cake.
17:40 And they were pretty fantastic.
17:42 Um, then another school I want to give a shout-out to is Edgewood.
17:47 And, of course, the 20-book challenge.
17:50 How’s everybody doing with that?
17:51 I’ve finished my 20 books.
17:52 All right.
17:53 Oh, my goodness gracious.
17:55 So, um, again, I want to give a shout-out to Erin, uh, Worchester
18:00 at Edgewood.
18:02 And she’s putting together a fun event for them, and that’s
18:04 coming up.
18:05 And, last but not least, I want to give a shout-out to State
18:08 Farm Insurance,
18:09 who awarded a $5,000 grant to Cocoa Beach Junior Senior High
18:13 School
18:14 for their fitness, health, and wellness program, where they can
18:18 go ahead and buy, um, equipment for athletics.
18:22 And, so, I want to give a shout-out to, um, the State Farm Agent,
18:26 Sarah Houston.
18:27 So, thank you very much, and that’s all I have.
18:30 Thank you very much, and thank you very much, and thank you very
18:34 much, and thank you very much, and thank you very much, and
18:38 thank you very much for being here for your time.
18:41 Thank you very much, and thank you very much, and thank you very
18:45 much, and thank you very much, and thank you very much, and
18:49 thank you very much for being here for your time, and thank you
18:53 very much, and thank you very much for being here for your time,
18:58 and thank you very much, and thank you very much for being here
19:02 for your time, and thank you very much for being here for your
19:06 time, and thank you very much for being here for your time.
19:11 The large and very large convening is a, the, the Florida
19:17 Department of Education calls on a district every year to host
19:21 this convening, and they reached out to Brevard Public Schools,
19:25 and said, we want to, we want you to share your success, uh,
19:30 from last year where we had all of our schools rise in school
19:34 grade, no D or F, uh, schools in our district, and the, the
19:38 theme of the, I believe it was, Ms. Klein,
19:41 and you can help me, sustaining systems of success, and, um, so
19:45 I had the opportunity to address, there was over a hundred
19:49 people there, uh, Deputy Chancellor was there from the DOE, um,
19:54 and it, there was a large group session, but then there were
19:57 breakouts, and our staff led the breakout sessions, or many of
20:01 them, for different districts across it, across the state, and
20:05 just a phenomenal representation of Brevard Public Schools,
20:09 sharing the, the
20:11 systems that we have put in place that have sustained success,
20:14 so I want to do a shout out to Ms. Klein, Dr. Sullivan,
20:17 particularly, uh, Tara Harris, who was the event planner
20:21 extraordinaire, it was, uh, the DOE said, one of the best convenings
20:26 I’ve ever seen, so, just very proud of our team for, uh, for
20:30 hosting that, and sharing, and exchanging, uh, what, what we’re
20:33 doing here with other districts.
20:34 So, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, three secondary regional science and
21:04 engineering fairs.
21:04 Uh, 81 students, and there had to have been, I don’t know,
21:07 hundreds, hundreds who competed in the science fair, 81 of them
21:11 from 21 different schools, will travel to the state fair in
21:15 March, and at least six students from six different high schools
21:18 will be traveling to the international, ISEB, International
21:21 Science and Engineering Fair in Anaheim, California, in May.
21:25 So, um, our community sponsors are amazing, um, I’ve got to run
21:30 down the list, Northrop Grumman, $15,000 that’ll be used to
21:34 offset the cost of our kids going to Anaheim, California for ISEF,
21:38 L3 Harris, over $6,500 in student cash awards, Collins Aerospace,
21:43 uh, over $5,000 for cash awards, mainstream engineering, $2,250,
21:49 society of women engineers, $1,125, the space coast women and
21:55 Defense gave over $1,000 in defense gave over $1,000 in cash
21:58 awards, and Florida Institute of Technology provided over, uh,
22:03 19 scholarships at different levels, but totaling over $4
22:07 million in scholarships to our science researchers.
22:14 But we know the reality is that our kids wouldn’t be set up and
22:21 prepared and challenged for that level of success if it weren’t
22:26 for our amazing science research teachers across our district.
22:29 Our elementary teachers, we’re one of the few districts who
22:32 still have a science fair in the elementary schools, so that is
22:36 a great feeder system, and then our sponsors have come alongside.
22:40 And Lauren Kingsley is our, one of our secondary science
22:43 resource teachers, I know there are others, but there was a,
22:46 there was a team of folks, hundreds of ribbons, awards, and they,
22:51 they, they, uh, it goes off without a hitch.
22:55 So, it’s, uh, really amazing.
22:58 Um, I want to recognize Mr. Susan, uh, mentioned Innovation
23:03 Games March 6th, Northrop Grumman is our title sponsor, and
23:06 essentially is not only, uh, paying for the entire Innovation
23:12 Games, but also providing, uh, lots of support throughout there
23:16 as well, so I want to do a shout out to Northrop Grumman for
23:19 their great partnership with that.
23:20 And this past Saturday, uh, uh, was it this past Saturday,
23:24 Odyssey of the Mine or this past week, um, Odyssey of the Mine
23:28 competition, uh, state regional tournament was, uh, here in, uh,
23:33 the building, one of 10 throughout the state, um, actually at
23:37 Vera High School, I’m sorry.
23:38 So we had over a hundred teams competing, 600 students from 50
23:43 schools, and we will now send 23 teams from 17 different schools
23:47 to advance to the state tournament, where they’ll compete for a
23:51 chance to move on to world finals in Iowa State University, uh,
23:55 at Iowa State University on May 27th.
23:58 And every year we, we, we have our kids, they bring home trophies
24:03 and awards, if history repeats itself, we’ll send those 80 some
24:08 students to state science fairs.
24:11 Our district represents less than 3% of the students in the
24:14 state of Florida, but we historically bring around 30% of the
24:18 first place, uh, first in place awards at the state science fairs.
24:22 So, our kids have an amazing preparation to compete, not only in
24:26 our district, but across the state and across the country. So,
24:30 thank you.
24:33 Thank you, Dr. Mullins. Ms. McDougall, circling back.
24:36 I’m so sorry. I, I, I inadvertently left off the name of the
24:40 media specialist at Cocoa Beach Senior, Senior High, and that’s
24:44 Shelly Colburn.
24:44 So I want to give a big shout out to Shelly, who put that whole
24:47 book it and bake it together. So thanks, Shelly.
24:50 And Ron Bradley’s back. How we doing, Ron? Where’s he at? Good
24:54 to see you, bud.
24:55 If y’all want to shout, I’m going to take both of you.
24:58 He probably could, too.
25:06 I’m back.
25:07 And we are happy to have you back, Mr. Bradley. Thank you so
25:14 much for joining us tonight.
25:15 Um, all right. I have just, uh, anyone else we need to circle
25:20 back on before I wrap up? Okay. Um, so Dr. Mullins and I had the
25:26 opportunity, I think it was a couple of weeks ago now, to attend
25:29 the Titusville Chamber Partners in the Business of Education
25:35 Luncheon.
25:36 Um, and we are really blessed in the fact that the, the Titusville
25:39 Chamber does so much to support our schools in so many ways.
25:42 And this is an annual event that they do. Each of our schools
25:45 gets to nominate three of their partners in education to be
25:47 recognized at this particular event.
25:49 They provide lunch. The schools attend. This year, I think, was
25:52 really special in that we had multiple schools that were able to
25:55 set up tables at the event and kind of publicize to the partners
25:59 in education the great things that are going on in their schools.
26:02 And so, um, many thanks to all of those partners in education as
26:05 well as our partner in education coordinators who make it all
26:09 possible. Um, because, you know, people don’t just walk in the
26:11 door and partner. It takes a lot of work to make that happen.
26:15 And so we certainly appreciate all of the effort that goes into
26:18 that. We know how incredibly important community support is in
26:20 the success of our schools and we appreciate them immensely.
26:23 Uh, Mr. Susan and I had the opportunity last week to attend, uh,
26:27 events at Jackson Middle School. Mr. Susan was there with the Tied
26:30 Together event, um, which is a, a wonderful event that I think
26:34 we’ve mentioned before.
26:35 And I was there for the career day portion for those students
26:37 that weren’t participating and tied together. And once again, a
26:40 phenomenal community support for that event. Um, I think one of
26:45 the most popular tables at career day was actually the funeral
26:49 director. Um, and then right after that was, was police and fire.
26:53 And so, yeah, he had a portion of a casket and an urn, which I
26:57 think, you know, the, the kids were interested in seeing. And so,
27:02 um, but then of course Titusville Fire, who, who also is every,
27:05 where we need them all the time supporting our schools and Titusville
27:08 police were other, other really popular ones. So, but many
27:10 thanks to all of the community members that came out to support
27:13 that. Um, interestingly enough, Dr. Mullins and I this morning
27:17 were at Astronaut High School for a presentation to the Titusville
27:20 Chamber Board of Directors. And, uh, I want to thank Marsha Gadke
27:25 and all of the board members for coming out to our schools. Um,
27:29 they have alternating business meetings every other month. And
27:35 so on their off months,
27:35 Marsha is coordinating for them to go out into the community and
27:38 their first stop out in the community for their board meeting
27:40 was to join us at Astronaut High School this morning. Dr. Mullins
27:43 did a great presentation just sharing with them kind of the
27:45 state of the schools information.
27:47 And then all of the board members actually went out into
27:50 classrooms during Astro Hour. Um, Astro Hour is a time for
27:54 students to get additional support or, or clubs or whatever. And
27:58 so the board members went out and worked with our students in
28:00 the classrooms. And visited the Eagles Nest, which is their
28:05 their, uh, food pantry that they have at Astronaut for the
28:08 students. And so we’re able to see kind of some of the need
28:11 there, um, at the school as well. So many thanks to them for
28:14 coming out and learning a little bit more about our schools. And
28:16 there was a lot of discussion about, uh, they just didn’t
28:20 realize and, and they are wanting to do more to support our
28:23 schools. Um, one of the big chamber partners, um, who, who’s
28:28 been active in our community for quite a while up in Titusville
28:31 said, you know what? Our, our schools really need us to wrap our
28:35 arms around them.
28:35 And so I think it was a great opportunity for all of them to
28:39 learn a little bit more and really see how important that
28:42 partnership is for our school’s success.
28:44 And then I’m just going to piggyback a little bit on what Ms.
28:47 McDougall said about our students, our TK-1 tropical students up
28:51 in Tallahassee.
28:53 They also, just because I want you guys to know how incredibly
28:56 cool this trip was for them,
29:00 Representative Soroy kind of started the ball rolling for them,
29:03 and his staff coordinated a great day for them while they were
29:06 in Tallahassee,
29:07 which included getting a signed document from the governor.
29:12 They also got tours of both the House chamber and the Senate
29:15 chamber.
29:15 So Representative Soroy was the sponsor in the House, and
29:19 Senator Wright was the sponsor in the Senate to get that
29:23 resolution through.
29:25 And so both of them and their teams, as well as the governor’s
29:29 office, were just really incredibly gracious with our students.
29:33 They got to do a scavenger hunt in the historic capital, so they
29:37 got to go over and see all of the historic elements as well.
29:41 So many thanks to all who made that trip possible to them, and
29:43 obviously for the teachers and students for all the work that
29:45 they’ve done.
29:46 So I was up there when they were up there, and the kids were in
29:50 the House chamber, and it’s where all the House members sit.
29:54 And he said, go ahead, sit in the chairs.
29:56 And what’s the first thing they start doing?
29:57 They hit all the buttons, and he’s like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
30:00 wait, and the whole thing starts lighting up on the top up there.
30:02 But it was the cutest thing.
30:04 They all got to sit there and move around, and he did an amazing
30:07 job, and he read the governor’s thing.
30:09 It was just, it was those moments those kids will remember
30:12 forever, and we’re so lucky to have a school system that
30:14 promotes it.
30:15 And, you know, it was great.
30:17 And representatives that support it as well.
30:19 Yeah.
30:19 Yep.
30:19 He did an amazing job.
30:21 Absolutely.
30:21 Ms. Belford?
30:23 Yes, sir.
30:23 I forgot to announce one very important thing.
30:25 Oh, gosh.
30:26 Did I have to put the headband back on?
30:27 Our Coco High Lady Tigers will be traveling to Lakeland on
30:34 Thursday to compete for the Final Four basketball championship.
30:39 4A championship.
30:41 It’s the first time they will be traveling to the Final Four
30:45 since 1979.
30:46 Wow.
30:47 So this is exciting for our Lady Tigers.
30:50 So go Tigers!
30:51 Thursday noon they’ll be playing, so everyone cheer them on.
30:55 You can watch online.
30:56 Awesome.
30:57 Nice.
30:57 Thank you, Dr. Mullins, for catching that.
30:59 All right.
31:01 This brings us to the adoption of the agenda.
31:03 Dr. Mullins.
31:04 Ms. Belford and members of the board, on tonight’s agenda,
31:08 we have administrative staff recommendations, a presentation, 17
31:11 consent items, and one action item.
31:14 You also have the yellow supplemental agenda, which are changes
31:17 made to the agenda since being released to the public.
31:19 Items A7 on administrative staff recommendations and F11 on
31:23 student expulsions receive revisions.
31:25 Item F18 on salary enhancements for non-bargaining personnel is
31:29 an addition.
31:31 What are the wishes of the board?
31:32 Move to approve.
31:33 Second.
31:33 Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Duskovich.
31:37 Is there any discussion?
31:38 All right.
31:40 Please vote.
31:42 Things gets faster every meeting.
31:48 Right?
31:48 Look at that.
31:51 Except my screen’s moving around.
31:52 I can’t catch my vote link.
31:55 And the motion passes 5-0.
32:09 Dr. Mullins, will you please let us know about our
32:11 administrative staff recommendations?
32:12 There is one person on this evening’s agenda for the board to
32:17 consider.
32:18 What are the wishes of the board?
32:19 Move to approve.
32:20 Second.
32:20 Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Duskovich.
32:23 Any discussion?
32:24 Please vote.
32:26 And the motion passes 5-0.
32:39 Dr. Mullins?
32:42 I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Mr. Tom Fitzgerald,
32:48 Director of Information Technology
32:51 on his upcoming retirement at the end of June.
32:53 Just as a personal note, Tom is the epitome of going above and
33:00 beyond.
33:02 not just in his professional life, but in his personal life, and
33:06 his impact on the community,
33:07 his work with Veterans Affairs, and just the leadership he has
33:12 provided to our tech department.
33:14 Tom, you will leave big shoes to fill, but it is a time well-deserved,
33:22 and we wish you only the best in your retirement.
33:25 But you still got a few months with us, like I said, so we still
33:28 got a lot of work to get done before you go.
33:30 But congratulations on your retirement, and we wish you the best.
33:34 Great. Thank you.
33:35 Wow.
33:38 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
33:43 The bad news is it’s very difficult to summarize a career that
33:47 started in 1993.
33:49 The good news for me is I’m the only staff recommendation
33:52 tonight, so I got about 30 minutes, I think.
33:56 And the better news for the public and the board is I only need
34:00 about three.
34:00 So to summarize, I did start in 1993 as a teacher at Astronaut
34:05 High School.
34:06 Evolved quickly into technology when technology was just up and
34:11 coming.
34:12 I was involved with the first networks that we had here at the
34:16 school district.
34:17 The net days, for those that were around, remember those, where
34:21 we had students, parents, and volunteers,
34:23 and we threw cable over the light fixtures, and we thought that
34:26 was okay.
34:27 But it worked.
34:29 And happy to say that I was part of that when Brevard County
34:33 Schools was first in the state
34:36 to get a 10 meg connection to the internet.
34:40 Oh, boy.
34:41 10 meg.
34:41 Today we have 20 gig, which is about 2,000 times more powerful
34:46 than what we had in the mid-90s.
34:48 At that time, we had about 500 computers, most of which were
34:52 terminals, dumb terminals in the front offices.
34:55 And we started to raid Ransom Road with NASA and all the NASA
35:01 contractors
35:02 and rebuilding machines and giving them to teachers to get
35:06 expanded into the classroom.
35:07 So today we’re at about 85,000 computers.
35:12 The challenges are just as great when we were evolving
35:15 technology to what they are today
35:18 because now technology is overwhelming all of us, and the budget’s
35:21 just not keeping up with it.
35:23 So our challenges are great as far as sustainability and a lot
35:27 of the technology fronts that we face.
35:30 The good news is that I’ve had a great career of tremendous
35:35 people.
35:36 I was a former Marine and also a police officer, and this is the
35:42 longest longevity career that I’ve had
35:44 and the most rewarding, and it’s all because of the people.
35:47 The cabinet, I see such great leadership and so good cohesity at
35:54 our front, and our mission is top.
35:57 So it’s going to be very difficult to leave, but my wife and I
36:02 are veteran advocacy,
36:03 and our pickleball game is calling us, and I’m going to try to
36:08 catch up with Mark Elliott and take him on.
36:10 But I owe a lot to my wife, Denise, who supported me through my
36:15 intensity and my drive to contribute to this great organization.
36:21 So many people to thank you, thank you all.
36:23 It’s going to be tough, but I’ll still be around.
36:35 Tom, I wanted to say thank you for everything that you’ve done,
36:40 for me, for the school system.
36:43 The first time I met Tom, he said, I’d like to meet and talk
36:47 about some of our IT systems, and he started walking me back
36:49 into the netherworld of ESF when they were painting all the
36:53 rooms.
36:53 So I don’t know if you guys ever watched those mafia movies, but
36:56 when he was bringing me back there, there was Visqueen on all
36:58 the walls, and it was starting to take me back there.
37:00 I was like, this is not going to turn out good for me.
37:02 But Tom was all the way in the back with all this plastic
37:05 wrapped around him, and I’m standing in there, and he’s just so
37:08 excited to show me what the bandwidth of the different schools
37:10 was and everything else on his computer.
37:11 And I was like, this guy is crazy, and then I got to know him
37:14 more and more, and I was like, yes, he is.
37:16 He’s amazingly crazy.
37:18 And everybody that I ran into, from soup to nuts, from Mims to
37:21 Mikko, even people that work not inside the schools, but
37:24 actually out in the community, say that you are the top-notch
37:28 human being in person for Brevard, and they love having you
37:31 around.
37:32 And with your work that you had, and seeing your wife and you up
37:35 there in Cocoa at the museum that day, and how passionate you
37:38 both are, committed to a cause, both with the school district,
37:41 but in the private life, that’s what we all strive to be.
37:44 And with you and what we went through with some of the other
37:48 stuff, and just keeping this district moving, and IT, and the
37:52 stress that we’ve put on us in general, you’ve pulled us through,
37:55 man.
37:56 And I appreciate everything you did for me, and I appreciate
37:59 everything you did for this district, and I look forward to
38:00 helping you in however I can up there.
38:02 So, that’s it.
38:03 Thank you, Mr. Susan.
38:06 Oh, and bring Rodden Bradley to your pickleball game, because he
38:09 seems like he’s got a lot of energy these days.
38:11 So, here it comes.
38:14 Thank you, Mr. Susan.
38:17 And thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald, for all of your service to the
38:20 district.
38:21 We appreciate you immensely.
38:25 All right, um, Dr. Mullins, will you please let us know about
38:30 tonight’s presentation, which I am so very excited about.
38:32 This evening, we have the pleasure of hearing about Sources of
38:36 Strength, uh, a program at Titusville High School.
38:40 And here to share information about the program is Principal
38:43 Jennifer Gonzalez, and Peyton Cook, Titusville High School
38:46 student,
38:47 who is also an active member of Sources of Strength.
38:50 So, Ms. Gonzalez and Peyton, take it away.
38:54 Well, good evening, and thank you, Dr. Mullins, and members of
39:03 the board, for having us here.
39:04 It is my honor to be the principal of Titusville High School.
39:07 We are really excited to share information with you about Sources
39:10 of Strength, and specifically about Sources of Strength at Titusville
39:14 High School.
39:14 So, I’m going to pass it over to Peyton Cook.
39:17 She’s a sophomore at THS, a very active member in Sources of
39:21 Strength.
39:37 All right, so, we are Sources of Strength, and our main goal is
39:40 to spread hope, health, and strength into every corner of our
39:44 community.
39:44 So, a little background on Sources of Strength.
39:48 Um, personally for THS, it’s not a club.
39:50 We’re actually an outreach program dedicated to improving the
39:53 mental health and just overall well-being for everyone at Titusville
39:56 High School.
39:57 We use positive and supportive means to reach out to our peers,
40:00 teachers, and anyone we possibly can through the components of
40:03 the Sources of Strength wheel.
40:04 We like to focus on the positive messages and look at the
40:07 positive side, such as stories of success, like this person went
40:10 through really hard times, but they’re better now, and they’re
40:12 here to share their story, and they feel better, rather than
40:15 ones that are more, you know, downers.
40:17 Um, we use this wheel that has different aspects, including
40:21 family support, positive friends, mentors, healthy activities,
40:24 generosity, spirituality, medical access, and mental health.
40:28 All right.
40:31 Some of the goals and impacts of Sources of Strength, this is
40:35 the proof that it works.
40:36 Um, it was founded on the ideas to increase youth and adult
40:40 connectedness and increase peer leaders’ school engagement, and
40:43 now we’ve seen that there’s been some really amazing impacts
40:47 from this, such as peer leaders in larger schools, they’re found
40:50 to be four times more likely to refer a suicidal friend to an
40:52 adult, and there’s been an increase in positive perceptions of
40:55 adult support for suicidal youth and the ability of seeking help.
41:02 Next, we have a video that we’ve put together with some of the
41:05 members and just students at Titusville about how they feel
41:08 about Sources of Strength.
41:09 Hi, I’m Samir Mezni, and I’ve been at Sources of Strength for a
41:15 year.
41:16 Sources of Strength helps everyone connect around the school.
41:20 Hi, I’m Helen Saluka, and as a student of Titusville High School
41:24 that isn’t a member of Sources of Strength, I am going to
41:28 highlight the aspects of my day that are changed by this club.
41:32 For example, Fridays, they’re playing, like, happy music over
41:34 loudspeakers throughout the hallways, which always puts a smile
41:38 on people’s faces, and also they organize presentations.
41:41 For example, when, to write love in her arms, came into school,
41:45 and they did a presentation in the auditorium, and people got to
41:48 go and see it, and it really just eliminated the important
41:52 aspects of life that people don’t necessarily talk about in
41:55 their day-to-day life.
41:56 Hi guys, I’m Mickey Mkhitaryan, as some of you may know.
41:59 I’m a junior currently, and I’ve been Sources of Strength since
42:03 sophomore year, and to me, it’s a great way to become more
42:07 balanced overall in life, and it’s impacted the Titusville High
42:11 School campus by creating more positive atmosphere for all of us.
42:15 My creative strength and component of the Sources of Strength
42:18 will is spirituality.
42:19 I do a lot of volunteer work with my church, so what I do at
42:22 church, I’m able to use and help me do spirituality with the
42:26 will of Sources of Strength.
42:28 I’m Julia Eckhoff, I’m in 10th grade, and this is the first year
42:37 I’ve been a part of Sources of Strength.
42:43 How has Sources of Strength had an impact from Titusville High
42:45 School?
42:46 We do many activities like sidewalk chalk, and sidewalk chalk
42:50 helps the kids who are sad and looking down, and it helps them
42:54 get through the day by looking at the spots.
42:57 My name is Andrew Castellanos.
42:59 Okay, what grade are you in?
43:00 I’m a sophomore.
43:01 And how long have you been a part of Sources of Strength?
43:03 This is my first year ever being a part of this.
43:06 Okay, and what made you want to join Sources of Strength?
43:08 I just, I like the overall idea of trying to spread positivity
43:13 in an environment, especially since high school is one of the
43:17 most mentally impacted, like, teenage group pretty much ever.
43:23 And a big thing that inspired me to join this was when I
43:27 actually lost my best friend in depression.
43:31 And ever since then, I’ve wanted to spread awareness so others
43:34 wouldn’t have to go through what I went through or what they
43:36 went through.
43:37 Writing something sweet down and chalk on the sidewalk.
43:40 Just letting people know that they’re cared for in whatever way
43:45 possible is definitely better.
43:47 Hi, everyone.
43:48 My name is Sarah Slukin, and I’m a senior here at Titusville
43:51 High School.
43:51 As someone who’s involved in a lot of clubs around campus, it’s
43:55 been really special to see the way the spirit of Sources of
43:58 Strength hasn’t stayed within the club.
43:59 It’s spread outwards, like a ripple.
44:01 So, for example, this year, SGA, we sponsored mental health
44:05 awareness signs that we put up all around campus to remind
44:08 people when they walk into school that they’re special and they’re
44:10 valuable.
44:11 And so, I think this club, Sources of Strength, has been
44:14 completely instrumental in helping us realize just how important
44:17 it is to be there and to be present daily for those people who
44:21 need it.
44:21 Hi, I’m Samir.
44:27 All right, so this is also some more examples of stuff that we
44:31 have implemented at Titusville High School to help and kind of
44:34 show off what we’ve been doing and working on.
44:37 At the top, there’s a picture that’s one of our meetings that we
44:41 had where we had people from the district come to the school and
44:44 kind of explain, you know, more stuff about sources and how we
44:48 work and just like stuff to keep us connected.
44:50 Also, we’ve had a bunch of guest speakers come to talk about
44:55 different things such as bullying and how it affects people and
44:59 how to rise above that.
45:01 So, these are some examples of our Wednesday.
45:04 Every Wednesday, we come to the school early at around eight o’clock
45:07 and we get together and we alternate days.
45:09 So, one week we’ll do chalk art and the next week we’ll do these
45:12 sticky notes.
45:13 So, the chalk art just goes around campus and we do little
45:15 positive messages and it’s like Julia said earlier in the video.
45:18 It gives the kids that are looking down and trying to avoid eye
45:21 contact a little thing to see at their feet that tell them that
45:24 they’re great and they can do this and that things are going to
45:27 get better.
45:27 We also have those sticky notes and we can stick them in the
45:30 bathrooms.
45:31 So, we’ll write little notes like have a great day or I like
45:33 your shirt or something like that just to stick around to show
45:36 people there are people that care.
45:38 And additionally, we have our sources of strength message board
45:43 outside.
45:44 The stars have names of teachers on them that students recognize
45:48 as trusted adults, somebody they can turn to in a crisis or just
45:51 to feel a little better about their day.
45:53 Additionally, we’ve kind of adopted the idea of nobody eats
45:57 alone.
45:57 In high school, it’s kind of harder to reach out with that type
46:00 of thing.
46:01 So, we’ve kind of adapted a mindset more so than like a movement.
46:04 So, anybody that’s a member of sources and just at the school,
46:08 they are actively looking for people that are sitting alone and
46:11 people that look lonely,
46:12 especially during lunch times, to go and approach them and be
46:14 like, hey, come and sit with us and make new friends.
46:17 We had to write love on her arms.
46:20 The founder, Jamie, he came and spoke to us about suicide
46:24 awareness and he shared a really inspiring story about this girl
46:28 who overcame really, really bad stuff that she faced in her life.
46:32 And a lot of kids were severely impacted and we brought out
46:36 people from the district.
46:38 We brought counselors.
46:39 We had people on site.
46:40 That way, the kids who saw this presentation, they had the
46:44 entire day if they needed to go and talk to somebody about it.
46:47 Because it really did strike a chord in a bunch of people and it
46:50 really impacted them.
46:51 And we kind of think we might, we may have saved a couple lives
46:54 by doing this.
46:55 And that’s it.
46:58 Thank you guys so much.
46:59 Thank you Ms. Gonzalez and Payton for joining us this evening.
47:12 And I understand that Mr. and Mrs. Cook may be with us this
47:15 evening as well.
47:15 Yeah?
47:16 Would you like to stand?
47:24 So thank you for raising such an awesome young lady who is
47:27 impacting, you know, obviously not only making good choices for
47:31 herself, but really impacting the entire culture of the school.
47:34 We appreciate it.
47:35 And thank you for sharing all the great things that are going on
47:37 at Titusville High School with us tonight.
47:41 Thank you all so much for coming in and sharing the Sources of
47:47 Strength program.
47:48 I, you know, I haven’t been on the board too terribly long, but
47:52 I can look at three years and see the progress that we’ve made
47:55 with mental health.
47:56 And I can’t remember how many schools, schools had sources of
47:59 strength when in 2016, but there was a couple and they were all
48:02 two and they were just in the north area.
48:04 And now I believe it’s, is it in all of our secondary schools
48:09 and 11 of our secondary schools.
48:11 And, and probably potentially growing, um, we…
48:15 The last five will be finished March the 12th.
48:17 They couldn’t hear that.
48:20 Can you repeat that?
48:20 The last five will be in place by March the 12th.
48:23 So, um, not only did I want to thank the young lady for speaking
48:28 and for her parents for doing a fabulous job.
48:30 And for the principal for, um, supporting this within your
48:34 school environment.
48:35 But I want to thank our student services team because I know you
48:38 ladies, and I think we have a few gentlemen too.
48:41 Uh, work very hard.
48:42 And the progress that you have made in the last three years with
48:47 the social and emotional support for our students is…
48:49 It’s ginormous.
48:52 I know that’s not a real word, but it’s, it’s ginormous.
48:54 And so I just want to thank you all.
48:56 Thank you, Ms. Tuskevich.
49:00 Any other board members wish to make comments?
49:01 All right.
49:03 Thank you again for joining us this evening.
49:05 We appreciate it immensely.
49:07 All right.
49:08 At this point, we’re at public comments.
49:10 We have four speakers signed up this evening.
49:13 Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
49:16 We have a clock in front of me to help you keep track of your
49:19 time.
49:19 When your time is over, you’ll be asked to stop and allow the
49:22 next speaker his or her turn.
49:23 Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is expected at all
49:26 times.
49:26 And your statement should be directed to the board chairman.
49:29 The chairman may interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant’s
49:31 statement when time is up, personally directed, abusive, obscene,
49:34 or irrelevant.
49:35 Should an individual not observe proper etiquette, the chairman
49:38 may request the individual leave the meeting.
49:40 Let’s all encourage an environment appropriate for our children
49:44 who may be present or are watching from home.
49:47 Our four speakers this evening are Anthony Colucci, Vanessa Skipper,
49:51 Dolores Barney, and Jonathan Hilliard.
49:56 Before speaking, please state your name, the organization you
50:00 represent, if any, and identify the topic you will be discussing.
50:13 Anthony Colucci: My name is Anthony Colucci.
50:15 I’m the president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers.
50:18 Tonight, I wanted to share an article with you that I recently
50:21 read called The Silencing Effect of Power:
50:24 Helping Leaders to Listen so Employees Can Speak Up.
50:27 Transparency and speaking truth to power are generally
50:31 considered to be desirable attributes of corporate culture.
50:34 Most leaders would claim to lead organizations where employees
50:38 are free to speak up and to challenge those in more senior
50:42 positions.
50:43 Anthony Colucci: They implicitly recognize that in the absence
50:46 of transparency and honesty across a hierarchy and between teams
50:50 that gets in the way of strong performance.
50:53 Anthony Colucci: However, we all know that in many organizations,
50:56 it’s not always safe to speak up, despite what leaders may say.
51:00 Anthony Colucci: In a recent major 18th month study into
51:03 speaking truth to power, the right conversation in Astridge
51:07 Business School, the barriers to transparency were laid bare.
51:12 Anthony Colucci: The findings unequivocally show that truth
51:15 telling is not driven by process, but is something that happens
51:19 in the moment and in the context of specific relationships.
51:22 Anthony Colucci: Speaking truth to power is a two-way street.
51:25 Anthony Colucci: It requires people to speak up and, crucially,
51:29 senior people to listen up.
51:30 Anthony Colucci: And herein lies the problem.
51:32 Anthony Colucci: The very word speaking truth to power suggests
51:36 that the problem, and therefore the solution, lies with those
51:38 who don’t speak, rather than with those who don’t or won’t
51:41 listen.
51:42 Anthony Colucci: It appeals to the courage and moral conviction
51:45 and more junior staff to do the right thing, and so puts all the
51:48 risk on those people who have the most to lose.
51:51 Anthony Colucci: Powerful people simply don’t understand what it
51:54 feels like to feel powerless, especially in settings where
51:57 people have been spoken at rather than listened to.
51:59 Anthony Colucci: Hearing the truth starts with senior people
52:03 daring to be ordinary and be interested in ordinary things.
52:06 Anthony Colucci: It also requires them to understand their
52:09 impact on others and to have an iron grip of self-control when
52:13 they hear things they may not like.
52:15 Anthony Colucci: Here are five questions to ask yourself about
52:18 how you enable or hinder those who want to raise their truth
52:21 with you.
52:21 Anthony Colucci: Are you honestly interested in other people’s
52:24 opinions?
52:25 Anthony Colucci: Before you conclude that you are, are you sure
52:28 you don’t have a problem in this area?
52:29 Anthony Colucci: It is useful to check by asking yourself how do
52:33 you know that you have a reputation for being interested in what
52:36 others think?
52:36 Anthony Colucci: Have you considered how risky it feels for
52:39 people to speak to you?
52:40 Anthony Colucci: How do you tend to respond when challenged by
52:43 different people?
52:45 Anthony Colucci: Do you welcome challenge or become defensive or
52:48 dismissive?
52:49 Anthony Colucci: How aware of you are the political game being
52:52 played?
52:52 Anthony Colucci: Politics is an inherent part of organizational
52:56 life and personal agendas play out all the time in what people
52:59 choose to say or not to say.
53:01 Anthony Colucci: What labels do you apply to people?
53:03 Anthony Colucci: And finally, what do you do and say to enable
53:07 others to speak?
53:08 Anthony Colucci: This is knowing what to do to enable others to
53:11 speak up.
53:11 Anthony Colucci: It might include anything from reducing status
53:14 differences.
53:15 Anthony Colucci: In conclusion, hearing truth starts with you.
53:18 Anthony Colucci: Thank you.
53:19 Thank you, Mr. Colucci.
53:20 Ms. Skipper, I believe you’re next.
53:23 Vanessa Skipper: Vanessa Skipper, Vice President, BFT.
53:32 There are less than three weeks of the legislative session.
53:36 And while there are still many unknowns, this is what we do know.
53:40 Today, two bills were heard.
53:42 Senate Bill 1220 and House Bill 7067.
53:46 They will continue the voucher expansion and divert even more
53:49 money away from our public schools.
53:51 Currently, more than $1.3 billion is diverted to unaccountable
53:55 and often discriminatory private schools.
53:58 We will continue to fight this type of legislation.
54:01 In our county, Covenant Christian School recently fired a
54:05 teacher for being a lesbian.
54:07 And in its student handbook cites homosexuality as a reason to
54:10 expel a student.
54:11 That school has received nearly $1 million in taxpayer funds.
54:17 This is just one of the many examples of schools with discriminatory
54:20 practices that receive money
54:21 that belongs in our public schools, where we educate everyone.
54:26 Also up today is the House Tax Package, House Bill 7097, which
54:32 not only expands tax breaks to major corporations,
54:35 it also would require school districts that pass capital outlay
54:39 referendums to share that money with
54:40 charter schools on a per-student ratio.
54:43 This legislation would require districts to share this money
54:49 with charters regardless of need.
55:01 This legislation would require districts to share this money
55:04 with charters regardless of need.
55:06 And remember that very few, if any, of the charter buildings are
55:11 owned by the public.
55:12 This means public taxpayer money would be given to a private
55:16 company for building improvements.
55:20 I am sure that you are all aware of the steep increase in FRS
55:23 costs, which will hurt funding and could lead to cuts.
55:25 I’d like to remind those listening or watching that the School
55:28 Boards Association, the Superintendent’s Association,
55:31 came out in support of the Governor’s funding and salary plan
55:34 when he released it.
55:36 Perhaps that isn’t reflective of each of your positions.
55:38 However, it would be good for you to express your thoughts to
55:41 our teachers and lawmakers about how you really feel about the
55:44 plan.
55:44 Put it on the record.
55:46 The Governor’s plan called for only $50 in the base student
55:49 allocation and that funding will be used to cover increased
55:52 costs.
55:53 50% of our instructional personnel will be left behind on any
55:56 state salary plan.
55:58 While our schools are woefully underfunded, we must be honest
56:01 that school districts are not completely blameless on the shortfall.
56:04 What is our plan for salary next year?
56:07 What is our plan to make sure we have excellent experienced
56:10 educators in front of our children in our classrooms?
56:12 I’ve said it numerous times and I’ll say it again.
56:14 It’s clear we can’t count on the state to do the right thing
56:17 with taxpayer money.
56:19 We need to let the voters decide on what type of educators they
56:22 want to keep in the classrooms of Brevard.
56:24 We can use capital funds to fix ACs, build new schools, renovate
56:28 older buildings, and buy the best technology on the market.
56:30 But what happens when there aren’t excellent experienced
56:33 educators to teach our children in those buildings?
56:36 Thank you.
56:37 Thank you, Ms. Skipper.
56:38 Dolores Barney?
56:43 Two left.
56:46 Mr. Hilliard, you are up, sir.
56:54 Jonathan Hilliard, fourth grade teacher at Apollo Elementary
56:57 School and second vice president of Brevard Federation of
57:01 Teachers.
57:01 I want to talk in support of our principals.
57:04 A great principal develops and encourages great teachers.
57:09 Without great principals, we don’t get great teachers.
57:13 Every meeting I hear the board do shout outs.
57:17 Well, I’d like to do a shout out to my principal, Mr. Frank O’Leary.
57:22 I know I’m a little biased, but he’s an awesome principal.
57:26 He’s strong, he’s steady, reactive, as opposed as including
57:32 being proactive.
57:34 He develops his assistant principals.
57:37 We have two awesome assistant principals, Trelawney Wise and
57:42 Cherie Cochran.
57:44 You know, I looked at it, between the three of them, they have
57:48 nearly 50 years of classroom experience.
57:52 Now, I’m not saying there’s a perfect formula, but wow, they
57:55 know what’s going on in our communities.
57:59 He develops his assistant principals, and I would like to
58:04 encourage our district, when it comes time,
58:07 that we consider those two assistant principals to move up into
58:10 a principal position.
58:12 Strong principals support strong teachers.
58:16 And without those strong principals, we don’t have the teachers
58:20 that we need.
58:21 We have a shortage.
58:22 Principals impact the experience of a teacher, both good and bad.
58:29 A good principal, a strong principal, encourages and supports a
58:34 struggling teacher.
58:35 Someone that we may end up not keeping in our profession.
58:40 But a good principal will encourage that person to stick with
58:45 our noble profession.
58:46 Stick with our kids and stay in our community.
58:50 A strong principal will continue to support veteran teachers
58:54 that have shown that stability in our
58:57 community for years and years.
58:59 Strong principals create strong teachers.
59:03 Thank you very much.
59:10 Thank you, Mr. Hilliard, Ms. Skipper, and Mr. Colucci for
59:12 joining us this evening.
59:13 All right.
59:17 That moves us into the consent agenda.
59:24 Dr. Mullins?
59:24 There are 17 agenda items under this category.
59:33 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
59:36 Does any board member wish to pull any item from the consent
59:39 agenda?
59:44 Are you requesting to pull F-18, Ms. Tuskevich?
59:55 I just want to comment on it.
59:56 Do I have to pull it to comment on it?
59:59 No, you can comment on it after we have a motion for approval of
1:00:02 consent, if you’d like.
1:00:03 Yes, please.
1:00:04 All right.
1:00:04 Then, seeing no request to pull any items from the consent
1:00:07 agenda, I will entertain a motion to
1:00:09 accept the consent agenda.
1:00:09 Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Campbell.
1:00:14 Is there any discussion, Ms. Tuskevich?
1:00:15 This is your window.
1:00:16 Ms. I don’t have a lot to say.
1:00:18 I just – I didn’t want it just to get buried in the consent
1:00:21 agenda.
1:00:21 This is the actual raise for the rest of our staff, and I know
1:00:26 several people, Dr. Mullins,
1:00:28 that have been working very hard to pull together every single
1:00:33 penny to give the rest of the staff
1:00:35 a substantial raise, and just didn’t want it to get overlooked
1:00:41 because we gave our teachers a raise,
1:00:44 we gave 1010 a raise, and I know the rest of our staff has been
1:00:47 wondering when their raise is coming,
1:00:49 and so I can’t recall the date of distribution for them.
1:00:54 April 15th.
1:00:55 April 15th, and it is publicly backdated through the beginning
1:01:00 of the school year,
1:01:00 if I am – if I read all that correctly.
1:01:02 So they will be backpaid for the rest of the year, and then the
1:01:06 raise will take an effect then.
1:01:08 So thank you, sir.
1:01:09 Thank you.
1:01:10 Thank you, Ms. Tuskevich, and thank you, Dr. Mullins and team
1:01:16 for making it possible.
1:01:17 Is there any additional board discussion before I call for the
1:01:19 vote?
1:01:19 All right.
1:01:22 Please vote.
1:01:25 The motion passes 5-0.
1:01:32 We will move on to the action agenda, Dr. Mullins.
1:01:37 Ms. Belford and members of the board, there is only one item
1:01:42 under this category,
1:01:43 G27, which is to hold a public hearing and approve board policy
1:01:46 2216, gifted education.
1:01:49 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
1:01:52 Is there anyone present this evening who wishes to address
1:01:56 policy 2216, gifted education?
1:01:58 Is there anyone present this evening that wishes to address
1:02:03 policy 2216, gifted education?
1:02:06 All right.
1:02:09 Seeing none, what are the wishes of the board?
1:02:10 Moved to approve.
1:02:11 Second.
1:02:11 Moved by Mr. Susan.
1:02:13 Seconded by Ms. Tuskevich.
1:02:14 Is there any discussion?
1:02:15 Woo-hoo.
1:02:17 Put that in minutes, Pam.
1:02:19 Did you get that, Pam?
1:02:20 Did you get that in the minutes?
1:02:21 Yeah, yeah.
1:02:21 One of these.
1:02:22 All right.
1:02:24 Seeing no further discussion, I’ll call the vote.
1:02:32 That’s our final vote on that, correct?
1:02:35 That was the third reading?
1:02:36 The motion passes 5-0, yes.
1:02:39 It is officially policy.
1:02:40 Ladies and gentlemen, Brevard Public Schools, for the first time
1:02:43 ever, has a gifted policy.
1:02:45 That’s a big deal.
1:02:46 That’s a huge big deal.
1:02:48 All right.
1:02:50 Does any board member have anything further to report?
1:02:53 Mr. Susan?
1:02:56 Yeah, I just wanted – I did just want to take a second and talk
1:03:01 about the pre-K,
1:03:02 and some of the things that they were doing.
1:03:04 And really, the thing that came across while I was up in Tallahassee
1:03:08 was with some of the pre-K
1:03:10 teachers was is that Ms. Grawl’s bill, 1013, redoes a lot of the
1:03:16 early learning pre-K
1:03:17 and a lot of the VPK sections inside of our legislature.
1:03:21 It takes the Office of Early Learning out of an area that may
1:03:25 not have been so effective
1:03:27 and puts it directly under the DOE.
1:03:29 There’s also – each one of the pieces that we worked on
1:03:33 throughout the last, I don’t know,
1:03:35 month and a half have now been submitted up to Tallahassee to
1:03:38 the staff.
1:03:38 So we commend Representative Grawl’s bill.
1:03:43 And it was literally three-quarters of what the pre-K teachers
1:03:47 and some of them were saying needed
1:03:48 to happen.
1:03:48 And now it’s just time for them to bring us across the finish
1:03:52 line as far as recognizing certified
1:03:54 teachers and pre-K. And I’m not sure if that’s going to happen
1:03:57 this year, but we definitely did our due
1:03:59 diligence. We definitely have moved. And I think that we’re in a
1:04:03 good position to show a lot of the
1:04:05 positivenesses and some of the things we saw in Head Start. That
1:04:08 is, Dr. Mullins, your Thrive to Five.
1:04:10 I mean, that’s it right there. That’s our mission. And I think
1:04:13 this is definitely going to make a
1:04:15 difference in what we do.
1:04:16 So I did just want to get and give you guys that Erin Grawl’s
1:04:18 bill is phenomenal. And we should,
1:04:20 you know, if you see her because you’re Deskowitz, you’re
1:04:23 friends with her, tell her thank you,
1:04:25 because this is great. That’s it.
1:04:27 Ms. Thank you, Mr. Susan. And thank you to all of our pre-K
1:04:31 teachers that have been up there
1:04:32 advocating on these issues. We – we certainly appreciate it.
1:04:35 And I think, you know, one big piece
1:04:37 that a lot of people are not paying attention to is that move of
1:04:40 the –
1:04:41 Mr. It’s huge.
1:04:42 Ms. – the early childhood education into the Department of
1:04:45 Education.
1:04:45 I think that’s one of the things we’ve been discussing for some
1:04:48 time is that we really
1:04:49 should be an early childhood to 12-plus organization as far as
1:04:54 the – our state Department of Education.
1:04:57 So that’s some – some good stuff taking place. Dr. Mullins, do
1:05:01 you have anything else? I’m sorry,
1:05:03 were there any other board members that had any additional
1:05:05 discussion points before? Dr. Mullins,
1:05:07 do you have anything else you’d like to discuss this evening?
1:05:09 Dr. I’m going to put her on the spot, but I would like to
1:05:11 introduce – this is our first board meeting with our new
1:05:14 Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Cindy Lysinski in the back.
1:05:18 Yes.
1:05:18 Dr. I want to welcome you.
1:05:20 Dr. We’re glad you’re here. And she’s gotten off to a great
1:05:24 start already.
1:05:25 Dr. I think drinking out of a fire hose is an understatement,
1:05:29 but she has done it with great
1:05:31 poise and grace and keeps coming back for more. So she’s been a
1:05:36 great addition to the team already.
1:05:38 So welcome, Ms. Lysinski. It’s great to have you. And I
1:05:41 encourage anyone who hasn’t met Ms. Lysinski
1:05:44 yet to introduce yourself before the evening is over.
1:05:46 Dr. Yes. We are so very pleased to have you. Welcome to the team.
1:05:50 Any additional discussion points? There being no further
1:05:55 business, this meeting is now adjourned.