Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Transcription by CastingWords
26:29 Ms. Deskovich? Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye. And Mrs. Campbell? Aye. All
26:14 right, Dr. Mullins, will you please let us know about our
26:16 administrative staff recommendations? There are two persons on
26:19 this evening’s agenda for the board to consider. What are the
26:22 wishes of the board? Move to approve. Second. Second. Moved by
26:25 Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Campbell. Discussion? Discussion.
26:32 First of all, it doesn’t make me happy to second this
26:36 motion because there’s two people in here that we hate to see go,
26:39 but, you know, I certainly appreciate Mr. Small and his tenure
26:43 at Bayside High School, but it really hit me in the gut to see
26:46 Janice Scholl’s name on our list tonight. I know she’s still
26:49 with us till the end of July, but I just want to say publicly
26:52 what a treasure she is to our district. When people, you know,
26:57 talk about the great things that our career technology programs
27:01 have done, every single one of those programs in our schools has
27:04 her fingerprints all over it.
27:06 And I know that Dr. Sullivan has expressed to me what a loss
27:09 this is going to be. She’s got huge shoes to fill, but just
27:12 appreciate her so much, and she certainly deserves a wonderful
27:15 retirement, but, oh, man, we’re going to miss her terribly.
27:18 Couldn’t agree more. Ms. Campbell, any additional discussion?
27:22 All right, then, please vote.
27:36 All right, please vote.
28:06 As indicated in my opening statement, persons wishing to comment
28:08 were registered in advance on the district website and were then
28:11 called and the comments recorded. We will listen to the recorded
28:15 messages at this time.
28:30 Hi, good evening, everybody.
28:31 My name is Sue Hamm. I’m the superintendent for facility
28:35 services for Brevard Public Schools, and I, along with our folks
28:40 at Telephone Panel Meeting, will be hosting your meeting tonight.
28:43 In consideration of the current health concerns during the COVID-19
28:48 emergency and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
28:52 Prevention, as well as Executive Order 2091 issued by Governor
28:56 DeSantis, we’ve had to modify our procedures a bit for public
28:59 comments.
29:01 So tonight, your comments will be recorded, and we will play
29:04 them back under the public comments section of the board meeting
29:07 tomorrow.
29:08 As with our normal protocol, each speaker is limited to three
29:11 minutes.
29:12 Our moderator will keep track of your time and ask you to
29:14 conclude your comments when you have reached three minutes.
29:18 As with our normal meetings, always keep in mind that we promote
29:22 the forum as expected at all times and keep your comments
29:24 appropriate for children who may be watching or listening from
29:28 home.
29:28 So before speaking, please state your name, the organization you
29:31 represent, if it’s applicable, and identify the topic that you
29:35 will be discussing.
29:37 As with our normal board meetings, we won’t be answering
29:40 questions on tonight’s call, but our staff will follow up with
29:43 you if you have a question or need a response.
29:45 So with that, we can go ahead with our public comments.
29:48 Thank you, Ben.
29:49 You’re welcome.
29:53 Thank you.
29:53 So if you do have a public comment, please go ahead and press
29:56 zero now, and Taylor will get your name and then push you
30:00 through to speak.
30:01 So go ahead and press zero now, and as soon as Taylor gets us
30:06 through, I will pull you up, and we can get your comments live.
30:11 And it looks like they’re coming through right now.
30:15 All right.
30:17 So give us one second.
30:31 Anthony, you are live, and go ahead with your public comment.
30:42 My name is Anthony Colucci.
30:45 I’m the president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers.
30:47 First of all, I’d like to once again compliment everyone who
30:51 works for BPS, including the board and superintendent, on an
30:54 outstanding job of handling this crisis.
30:57 The speed and efficiency with which the board and superintendent
31:00 have worked during this crisis has been exceptional.
31:03 With that said, I’m hopeful that this newly found speed and
31:07 efficiency in problem solving will be the new norm in BPS.
31:10 Without a doubt, I’ve been honored to represent our teachers and
31:14 instructional personnel who have once again showed themselves to
31:17 be the utmost of professionals as we’ve shifted to remote
31:21 education.
31:22 Our teachers continue to stay calm and work incredibly hard to
31:25 meet their students’ needs while so many are caring for their
31:28 own children and families at home.
31:30 For everyone involved in this process, the goal of remote
31:34 education needs to be to do the best you can, not trying to
31:39 recreate what we usually do.
31:40 And I would be remiss if I didn’t say our students and their
31:43 families are doing an awesome job, too.
31:46 These are not normal teaching and learning conditions.
31:49 What we are experiencing now is emergency remote teaching and
31:52 learning, or as some have called it, pandemic pedagogy.
31:56 Though we are still experiencing some bumps in the road, I’m
31:59 confident as long as the dialogue continues to be open and
32:02 honest, we will smooth out those bumps.
32:05 As discussions begin about returning to school, I urge this
32:08 board to proceed with caution and make sure you are using your
32:12 influence to prevent hasty decisions from being made.
32:15 The decision to return to school too early could literally be a
32:18 deadly decision for students, teachers, staff, and families.
32:22 If we return too soon, it is clear that many teachers and staff
32:26 members will be forced to take personal or family leave under
32:30 the provisions of the Family First Coronavirus response Act.
32:33 Furthermore, I believe that many families will not send their
32:36 children back to school if it poses a threat to them and unenroll
32:40 them from BPS.
32:41 Finally, let me just say something that other leaders in Brevard
32:44 have been hesitant to say for political reasons.
32:47 The restrictions in place are not only about your rights as a
32:50 citizen, but your responsibilities as a citizen.
32:53 If we do not isolate and social distance ourselves with fidelity,
32:57 this pandemic will continue.
32:59 If you’re not an essential worker, then stay home.
33:03 Stop putting other families at risk because of your own desires.
33:06 Stop delaying or return to normalcy.
33:08 As of Monday morning, there are 140 cases of COVID-19 in Brevard.
33:13 Keep in mind that just a month ago, New York only had 140 cases
33:17 too.
33:17 Isolation will be the only thing that prevents us from being the
33:21 next New York.
33:22 Let me end with the mantra I’ve repeated to my teachers from the
33:25 beginning.
33:26 Stay safe.
33:27 Stay calm.
33:28 Stay determined to deliver the best education we can for our
33:31 students and stay home.
33:33 There is a light at the end of this tunnel and together we will
33:36 get through this.
33:37 Thank you.
33:38 Great.
33:42 Thank you, Anthony, very much for your public comment.
33:44 We are now going to go to our next public comment from Jail.
33:48 Jail, you are live.
33:51 Go ahead and do your public comment.
33:55 Thank you so much.
33:56 My name is Jail and I’m a parent and I wanted to talk about the
34:00 return to school process.
34:02 First, I’d like to thank you and all of the teachers and admin
34:06 for your response and perseverance
34:09 to getting our children to learn in record speed with remote
34:13 learning.
34:14 This has been difficult for all of us, but it’s been amazing how
34:18 the community has been coming together on this.
34:21 And we certainly couldn’t do it without your guys’ leadership.
34:24 So thank you for that.
34:25 As a concerned citizen and parent, I understand and I appreciate
34:30 that the decision to open the school is not up to each district,
34:35 but each district can make recommendations that carry some
34:39 weight with the state’s decision.
34:41 And with that, given that there’s only going to be, if we go
34:46 back to school returns made for it, then there’s only three full
34:50 weeks and four days at half days to send the kids back to school.
34:56 Without a measured way and parameters that allow us to get back
35:02 to school and keep everyone safe, this seems like a very rushed
35:10 decision to move us forward for basically three and a half weeks
35:15 of learning.
35:16 And do we really want to take that type of toll on our community?
35:22 Unless there’s some information that I’m not aware of, I think
35:25 it’s safe to say that there’s no near-term vaccine in size.
35:29 The antibody test is still in development and the testing
35:34 parameters have opened up in general for the public, but the
35:39 locations are regional, which impacts availability of tests
35:43 still.
35:44 And so I would like to echo the gentleman’s concerns who was
35:49 ahead of me to say that we should really make sure that we’re
35:53 not rushing into this and we take a measured approach and we don’t
35:58 go into this with, you know, with the thought of we just want to
36:04 hurry up and get back to normal.
36:06 We need to protect everybody.
36:13 Great.
36:14 Thank you very much for your public comment.
36:18 All right.
36:19 Next, we are going to go to Dolores.
36:23 Dolores, go ahead with your public comment.
36:26 Yes.
36:27 Good evening.
36:28 My name is Dolores.
36:29 And my son is a senior at Calvary Magnet High, so I’m just
36:32 speaking on behalf of a parent.
36:34 And, again, I, too, thank the school system for how well the
36:38 transition has gone and all his students that he works with and
36:43 his teachers and so forth.
36:45 However, I am kind of in the middle of the road as far as
36:48 looking forward to hopefully the children getting to return to
36:52 school.
36:53 Even though this person, former to me, I mentioned that they
36:57 only would have a short time of school left, it is still a very
37:02 huge amount of information that they are not going to gain by
37:06 staying at school and not learning in a classroom atmosphere.
37:10 I don’t believe anyone is suggesting that we rush ahead without
37:13 adequate information about moving forward.
37:16 But on the positive side, which no one seems to want to focus on,
37:20 is that the percentage, and the CDC has announced this, of kids
37:25 who are 18 and under who have been infected is 2% or less.
37:30 So we need to realize that this age group is not the hugest
37:34 concern.
37:35 I know the teachers are older than that.
37:37 But more so, I speak tonight on behalf of, even if they don’t
37:41 get to return to school this year, which I feel would be a shame,
37:44 very much so, that these seniors really need to be considered
37:49 right now.
37:50 I’m speaking on behalf of my senior.
37:52 He’s an outstanding student.
37:53 He’s worked very hard in school, scholastic career.
37:56 And I think an effort and plan needs to be getting worked for,
38:00 and his principal is really positive about this, on how these
38:03 people are not going to have their momentous time stripped from
38:07 them because of this.
38:09 It is not fair, and they need to be taken into consideration at
38:12 this time.
38:13 And I do believe we need to be looking toward a positive and
38:17 hoping to get these kids back in school in a very wise way of
38:21 going about it, and not hoping that these kids don’t go back to
38:25 school.
38:26 We should be trying to focus our efforts on making a safe way of
38:29 letting them get back to the classrooms.
38:32 And that’s all I have to say.
38:33 Thank you.
38:34 Thank you very much, Torres, for your comments.
38:39 Next, we are going to go to Vanessa.
38:42 Vanessa, you are live.
38:45 Go ahead with your comments.
38:47 Good evening, everyone.
38:48 This is Vanessa Skipper, and I’m the Vice President of the Brevard
38:51 Federation of Teachers.
38:52 Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you
38:55 never really knew.
38:56 They’re what makes the instruments stretch, what makes you go
38:59 beyond the norms.
39:00 Cicely Tyson.
39:01 One of the greatest things I’ve noticed since we’ve gone into
39:04 pandemic distance teaching mode is the amount of organic
39:07 collaboration that is happening.
39:09 I’m constantly seeing my colleagues at all levels sharing ideas,
39:13 files, tools, and strategies.
39:15 Teachers choosing to work together, to work smarter, not harder.
39:18 And the best part about it is no one told them to do it.
39:21 No one scheduled a meeting and told them to turn in their notes.
39:24 No one’s scripted a product to be developed.
39:27 No one’s looking over their shoulder with a fancy Excel
39:29 spreadsheet.
39:30 They’re just doing it because that’s what teachers actually do
39:33 when no one’s looking.
39:34 We plan, we collaborate, and we get the job done.
39:37 During this time, Brevard’s Educators are helping families and
39:40 students cope with some simplest abnormality.
39:43 Enterprise Elementary is having a spirit week this week, and
39:46 today will show off your pet day.
39:48 A teacher from McNair is focusing on the human aspect and
39:50 keeping those relationships with their students by using a
39:54 weekly Google check-in and asking questions like,
39:56 what are you snacking on, that TV or movie you’ve watched, and
40:00 what form of assessment would you prefer for our end of
40:03 legislative branch unit.
40:05 A BTK teacher from Ocean Breeze is driving packets to each of
40:09 our students’ help, waiting to make sure they get it, and safely
40:11 staying in her car to answer any questions they might have.
40:15 These are just a few of the awesome stories I’ve seen about our
40:18 public school teachers.
40:19 While our teachers are going beyond the norm during this
40:21 uncertain time, they’re hoping that you’re focusing on the
40:24 future.
40:25 We know that Tallahassee passed a budget that will raise the
40:28 beginning teachers’ salary, but we don’t know what this will
40:31 look like for our veteran teachers,
40:32 some of whom will have 15 years’ experience, yet will make the
40:35 same as someone with zero.
40:37 Even though we are taking this pandemic one day at a time, we
40:41 still hope you are planning for how we’re going to retain our
40:44 excellent veteran teachers.
40:46 Given what we know about the FRS increase and the increase of
40:49 base student allocations, we, again, cannot rely on the state’s
40:53 plan to do what needs to be done for all educators in Brevard.
40:57 What’s your plan? It’s mid-April, and teachers are relying on
41:02 you.
41:02 There’s no doubt about it. Public schools are an essential part
41:06 of our community.
41:07 We are the largest employer in the county, and with that comes
41:10 great responsibility to the community we serve.
41:13 A responsibility that we provide a certified and experienced
41:16 teacher in our classrooms for our students.
41:18 A responsibility that we provide enough mentors for our newer
41:21 teachers and for our struggling teachers
41:23 so that every student gets served with excellence as a standard.
41:28 And the responsibility that we don’t carry nearly 100 vacancies
41:32 for the majority of the school year.
41:34 So while we are in uncertain times, it is still time to plan for
41:39 our future.
41:40 And I hope that you consider that. Thank you.
41:43 Thank you very much, Vanessa, for your comment.
41:47 And now we will have Sue close us out.
41:49 Thanks, everyone. I just wanted to give you my sincere thanks.
41:53 This is a new process for everyone.
41:55 And I appreciate that everyone chipped in and made it work for
41:58 us tonight.
41:59 And we’ll be playing your public comments after the school board
42:02 meeting tomorrow night during the public comment section.
42:08 All right. Thank you so much, Sue, for facilitating all of our
42:16 public comment last night.
42:20 Thank you to those who joined us to provide public comment.
42:24 We certainly appreciate your input.
42:40 Would any board members like to respond to any of the public
42:42 speakers before we move on to our consent agenda?
42:45 Madam Chair, I’d like to just take a moment that one of the one
42:48 of the speakers referenced our seniors.
42:50 And, you know, certainly our seniors have this whole uncertainty
42:56 and being not being able to enjoy the final weeks of their
43:02 senior year that they have anticipated like likely all of us
43:06 remember it certainly has taken its toll on our on our kids and
43:11 our seniors.
43:12 I am meeting with my student government association leaders on
43:17 Thursday to continue discussion about graduation and senior
43:20 activities and so on.
43:22 We’ve had conversation with our principals, our high school
43:25 principals already, and they are unanimously supportive of a
43:29 delayed graduation if we’re unable to graduate our seniors in
43:33 the traditional ceremony on the dates that have been provided.
43:37 Uh, I felt it was important to make sure we heard directly from
43:40 our student government leaders to make sure that they have that
43:44 same sentiment.
43:45 That’s not that the school principals haven’t already been
43:48 hearing from their, their seniors.
43:50 They certainly have, but I wanted that, that opportunity to
43:52 connect with them personally this week.
43:54 Um, so I anticipate we’ll be coming out, uh, making
43:57 recommendations shortly for some graduation, some delayed
44:01 graduation date alternatives, um, for our seniors so that they
44:06 can.
44:06 You know, plan and see and, you know, kind of put that in the
44:09 scope of their future.
44:11 So just want our community, our kids, our seniors and, and their
44:14 parents know that we are looking at that very closely this week.
44:18 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
44:20 And I, I would just add in response, in response to the comments
44:24 about us going back to school.
44:26 Uh, and it was referenced in the public speaking, but I think it’s
44:29 important for, for all of our public out there to understand
44:33 that, um, the decision to return to school or not to return to
44:36 school is not up to us as a district.
44:38 We will be told, um, either that we will not return or that we
44:41 will return on a specific date.
44:43 Um, but I do want to encourage our families, even as we worked
44:46 with our families prior to the decision to close schools in
44:50 unique situations where we had students that were at risk, um,
44:53 we will continue to work with our families to do the best to
44:56 support them.
44:57 Uh, however, it, it works out going forward, obviously within
45:00 the scope of what the state will allow us to do.
45:03 But we certainly want to make sure that all families are, are
45:06 comfortable, um, whichever way we end up going.
45:08 So we will, I think, uh, our district team has done a phenomenal
45:11 job of, of working with and accommodating various needs of
45:14 families.
45:15 And, and I would expect that they would continue to do exactly
45:18 that.
45:18 All right, Dr. Mullins, that moves us into the consent agenda.
45:22 There are 22 agenda items under this category.
45:25 Does any board member wish to push any, pull any item from the
45:29 consent agenda?
45:31 All right, then I will entertain a motion.
45:34 Second.
45:35 Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by my, by Ms. Deskovitz to approve
45:39 the consent agenda as presented.
45:41 Is there any discussion?
45:43 All right, please vote.
45:46 All right, it’s not letting me vote.
45:58 All right, I’m having a hard time getting to this.
46:03 It won’t let me do this for some reason.
46:05 Okay, we can just take a, we’re taking a voice vote anyway.
46:08 So Ms. Escobar.
46:09 Ms. Belford.
46:11 Aye.
46:12 Ms. McDougall.
46:13 Aye.
46:14 Ms. Deskovitz.
46:15 Aye.
46:16 Mr. Susan.
46:17 Aye.
46:18 And Ms. Campbell.
46:19 Aye.
46:20 And the motion passes five zero.
46:23 You guys don’t need a break at this point.
46:24 Do you?
46:25 No, I’m good.
46:26 All right.
46:27 Then we will move on to the action agenda.
46:28 Dr. Mullins.
46:29 Ms. Belford and board members, there are three items under this
46:30 category.
46:30 First item is G31 on the resolution regarding the extension of
46:40 the one half cent school capital
46:44 outlay sales surtax.
46:45 What are the wishes of the board?
46:46 No to approve.
46:47 Moved by Ms. Campbell.
46:48 Second.
46:49 Seconded by Mr. Susan.
46:51 Any discussion?
46:52 No to approve.
46:53 Moved by Ms. Campbell.
46:54 Second.
46:55 Seconded by Mr. Susan.
46:57 Any discussion?
46:58 I just – I don’t have something to say.
47:03 I just want to make it clear to the public.
47:06 There’s been some discussion I’ve seen online in some forums
47:10 that this is moving forward with
47:12 us putting on the ballot or moving forward to the county
47:14 commission to be put on the ballot
47:16 the half cent sales tax renewal and that is not the case.
47:20 All we’re doing is moving some language over to APAGA, a
47:24 government agency, to evaluate
47:25 if the language is proper basically.
47:26 I mean, you all know that.
47:27 But I just want to make sure the public knows that before we
47:30 vote.
47:30 Yeah, Ms. Tuskevich, I think that’s a really important point for
47:32 our public to know.
47:34 I’ve had a couple of conversations around this issue.
47:37 And our challenge is what we are doing tonight is nothing more
47:42 than an administrative process.
47:46 Because the state requires with new sales tax efforts that we
47:52 provide the language to APAGA.
47:56 And APAGA has a certain amount of time that they – we have to
48:01 give them 180 days, I think, correct, Mr. Gibbs,
48:05 to hire a CPA to complete an audit if it’s necessary.
48:09 And then that has to be done 60 days before a ballot initiative.
48:14 And so really what it comes down to is this is just the first
48:17 step to make sure that we are poised to take action should
48:20 things improve.
48:23 And it’d be appropriate.
48:25 But this is just that first step.
48:27 And very clearly on this agenda item, it states that this is not
48:30 giving authority to move forward with presenting it to the
48:34 county commission,
48:34 which will be our second step for approval in the event that we
48:38 do not have to have an APAGA audit.
48:41 And so that will be discussed at a later date.
48:43 So thank you very much, Ms. Tuskevich, for bringing that up.
48:46 Is there any additional board discussion on that item?
48:50 Ms. McDougall, you good?
48:52 I’m good.
48:53 All right.
48:54 Then I will call for the vote.
48:57 I don’t know why my computer will not let me.
48:59 I can see Katie and you, but it won’t go to my name.
49:02 And I don’t know why it won’t go to my name.
49:05 Can you see the scroll bar on the right-hand side?
49:07 Yeah, it’s not.
49:08 It only goes to you and to Katie.
49:11 I don’t understand.
49:13 That’s okay.
49:14 We’re doing a voice vote anyway, so.
49:16 Ms. Escobar?
49:18 Ms. Belford?
49:19 Aye.
49:20 Ms. McDougall?
49:22 Aye.
49:23 Ms. Deskovich?
49:27 Aye.
49:28 Mr. Susan?
49:29 Aye.
49:30 And Ms. Campbell?
49:31 Aye.
49:32 Ms. Campbell?
49:33 Aye.
49:34 And the motion passes 5-0.
49:35 Dr. Mullins?
49:36 Next, we have item G32, which are procurement solicitations.
49:40 What are the wishes of the board?
49:42 Move to approve.
49:43 Second.
49:44 Moved by Ms. Campbell, seconded by Ms. Deskovich.
49:46 Is there any discussion?
49:47 All right.
49:48 Please vote.
49:49 All right.
49:50 Please vote.
49:50 Ms. Escobar?
49:50 Ms. Belford?
49:51 Aye.
49:52 Ms. McDougall?
49:52 Aye.
49:53 Ms. McDougall?
49:53 Aye.
49:54 Ms. Deskovich?
49:54 Aye.
49:55 Mr. Susan?
49:55 Aye.
49:56 And Ms. Campbell?
49:56 Aye.
49:57 And the motion passes 5-0.
49:58 Dr. Mullins?
49:59 Motion passes 5-0.
49:59 Ms. Mullins?
50:00 Aye.
50:01 Ms. Deskovich?
50:02 Aye.
50:03 Mr. Susan?
50:04 Aye.
50:05 And Ms. Campbell?
50:06 Aye.
50:07 And the motion passes 5-0.
50:08 Ms. McDougall?
50:09 Aye.
50:10 Ms. Deskovich?
50:11 Aye.
50:12 Mr. Susan?
50:13 Aye.
50:14 And Ms. Campbell?
50:15 Aye.
50:16 And the motion passes 5-0.
50:18 Dr. Mullins?
50:20 Item G33 is on amendment to catapult virtual tutoring of Title I
50:28 private school students.
50:30 What are the wishes of the board?
50:32 Move to approve.
50:33 Second.
50:34 Moved by Ms. Susan, seconded by Ms. Deskovich.
50:36 Aye.
50:37 Is there any discussion?
50:38 Alright.
50:39 Please vote.
50:40 Ms. Escobar?
50:51 Ms. Belford?
50:52 Aye.
50:53 Ms. McDougall?
50:54 Aye.
50:55 Ms. Deskovich?
50:56 Aye.
50:57 Mr. Susan?
50:58 Aye.
50:59 And Ms. Campbell?
51:00 Aye.
51:01 And the motion passes 5-0.
51:04 Next, we have one information item.
51:08 While we won’t act on this item this evening, it may come back
51:10 to us at a later meeting for
51:11 a vote.
51:12 Does any board member wish to discuss the information item?
51:15 Okay.
51:16 Does any board member have anything further to report?
51:22 Ms. McDougall?
51:23 Just checking in.
51:24 Since I can’t see your face, do you have anything additional to
51:25 report?
51:25 No, I’m okay.
51:26 Thank you.
51:27 Awesome.
51:28 Dr. Mullins, do you have anything else you wish to add?
51:29 No, ma’am.
51:30 Thank you.
51:31 There being no further business, this meeting is now adjourned.
51:32 Thank you.
51:34 Dr. Mullins, do you have anything else you wish to add?
51:36 No, ma’am.
51:37 Thank you.
51:38 There being no further business, this meeting is now adjourned.
51:40 Thank you.
52:10 you