Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 music
1:34 Thank you.
49:02 in the support staff that do a wonderful job in assisting with
48:41 keeping the schools
48:43 and facilities running smoothly. BPS maintenance department, carpenters,
48:48 electricians, grounds technicians, electronic technicians,
48:52 equipment
48:53 operators, think about the HVAC technicians. Without them to
48:57 keep the
48:57 air conditioning working, rooms would be hot, learning and
49:00 teaching would be very
49:02 uncomfortable. Lawn care technicians, locksmiths, masons,
49:06 painters, plumbers and
49:08 roofers and yes there are many other support staff positions
49:11 that keep BPS
49:13 schools operational. We take pride in the hard-working dedicated
49:18 support staff and
49:19 hope each of you will appreciate them and never forget their
49:22 positions and how
49:24 important they are to the operation of Brevard Public Schools in
49:27 any decisions
49:28 that you may make. Thank you very much for your time and I hope
49:32 each of you have a
49:33 wonderful evening. Thank you Dolores and thank you for making
49:36 sure that all of those
49:37 people get their recognition. Anthony Colucci.
49:42 My name is Anthony Colucci. I’m the president of the Brevard
49:55 Federation of
49:56 Teachers. First of all, I urge all stakeholders to watch the
50:00 board’s workshop
50:01 that was held this morning about a reopening metric. It is
50:06 posted on the
50:06 Brevard Federation of Teachers Facebook page and offered a great
50:10 deal of
50:10 information for everyone. Most notably, I urge all to watch Ms.
50:15 Belford’s comments at
50:16 49 minutes into the meeting. She offers a thorough and pointed
50:21 critique of the
50:22 governor’s reopening plan. BFT supports developing a reopening
50:27 metric and that
50:28 metric must be developed before it’s too late. Without a
50:32 reopening metric in place, we
50:34 are simply opening schools based on politics, not science. As
50:38 our teachers are
50:40 now in buildings, we need strong leadership from this board. The
50:44 reopening plan
50:45 plan and the protections offered in our MOA must be carried out
50:49 with fidelity. This is
50:51 how we mitigate against the spread of the virus. I remind you
50:55 that the Department of
50:57 Health clearly said that this morning. While I realize admins
51:01 are trying to wrap
51:02 their heads around a lot of information right now, I am
51:05 concerned that some of them
51:06 are choosing to ignore our efforts to mitigate against the
51:10 spread. For instance, we
51:12 secured language that essentially says a virtual link will be
51:15 sent ahead of a staff
51:18 meeting or professional development so those who are
51:21 uncomfortable attending a
51:23 person can attend virtually. Having less people in a room is a
51:27 mitigation
51:28 strategy, one you’re using right here at this meeting. Should
51:33 our teachers not be
51:34 afforded the same protections as you are? We’ve already got
51:39 numerous calls where
51:40 admins are trying to get people to come to meetings face to face.
51:44 Come on now, why am
51:46 I even here having to explain why this is an issue? Furthermore,
51:51 we secured language that says
51:53 teachers can work remotely after students leave for the day. We
51:57 did this so teachers
51:58 would be in the buildings less time and out of the way of custodians.
52:02 Those are
52:03 called mitigation strategies. What I’m asking for from this
52:07 board is for public
52:08 support of these and other mitigation strategies. We need you as
52:13 elected leaders
52:14 to right here and now say you’re supportive of these protections.
52:19 Clear the air. I
52:20 know most of you are supportive. Please say it so we can keep
52:24 people safe. The superintendent
52:26 takes direction from you and principles from him. So you need to
52:31 lead on this. I will say
52:32 on BFT’s part, we are educating all members on the protections
52:36 in place and we are telling
52:38 them to fight for those protections. On top of that, we are
52:42 urging them to not let their
52:44 guards down. We must all do everything we can to ensure safety
52:49 this year. Anything less
52:51 than everything puts our community in peril. Thank you.
52:57 Mr. Ray, you are our last speaker for this evening. Our last in-person
53:02 speaker, I should
53:03 say.
53:05 Dr. Mullins and the school board, thank you for letting me speak
53:08 today. Hello. My name
53:09 is Robert Ray. I’m one of your substitute teachers and I’m just
53:12 wondering what we can do to prepare
53:13 for the coming year. That’s it.
53:16 Thank you, sir. All right. Do any board members wish to respond
53:24 to any of those evening speakers? Ms. Deskovich.
53:25 I do. Mr. Perlman and Mr. Colucci seem to have the same concerns
53:31 and I think it would be responsible
53:34 of us to maybe address them a little bit right now since
53:37 teachers are already back at school.
53:39 I know we’re a big organization and I know we try to set some
53:45 high-level rules, but I think at a time
53:49 like this, it’s important to allow the grace and flexibility
53:52 that Mr. Perlman, did I get that right,
53:54 that Mr. Perlman mentioned. Do supervisors and principals have
53:58 the authority to say,
54:02 as Mr. Perlman requested, that he could call in from home. Dr.
54:05 Mullins, can you help me with that one a
54:07 little bit? I don’t know the specific circumstance of Mr. Perlman
54:12 in his department. We did set the
54:14 expectation to communicate to our supervisors that employees
54:18 were to return in person to their work
54:20 sites beginning no later than Monday of this week. Okay. So do
54:24 we have the flexibility? If we don’t,
54:27 I mean, we just, we need to be open and honest with our staff
54:29 because they seem to think that we
54:31 should. And Mr. Colucci is saying that we, it’s even written in
54:34 the, the MO, it’s not an MOU, it’s an MOA.
54:38 I’m sure people are watching right now and want to, want this to
54:43 be clarified. It, do supervisors or
54:45 principals have the authority to do that or do we definitely
54:48 need them all live all the time?
54:52 The, the, the MOU with the union addresses building level
54:57 teachers, uh, is my understanding. I’d have to
54:59 get additional clarification from, from my team, uh, and
55:03 principals, uh, that is understood that principals
55:06 can extend attending a faculty meeting at the school virtually.
55:12 Um, I, I don’t know the circumstances of Mr.
55:15 Mr. Perlman is not a building level teacher is my understanding.
55:19 He’s a resource teacher here at ESF.
55:21 Um, so I, I don’t know the circumstances to that. Um, I do trust
55:26 our leaders to make sound decisions,
55:28 but we also have employees that provide direct support and
55:32 services to our employees across the district and
55:36 their, uh, work attendance is essential to make sure that we
55:40 meet the needs of our schools. As we
55:42 take on the very big task of supporting them to reopen and
55:47 support now two platforms of learning for our
55:49 students, both in person and, uh, by through e-learning. I
55:53 understand and I, I don’t want to give a pass to
55:56 maybe the one employee out there that might try to take
55:59 advantage, but I do want for us to send a clear
56:01 message. If we are willing, if we’re willing to do it for
56:04 teachers in school, where appropriate, when a, when
56:07 a supervisor thinks so, I would hope that we could extend that
56:10 to employees in this building. If it’s
56:12 appropriate and it’s not absolutely necessary that they’re live.
56:15 I just, this is a little personal
56:17 for me. If I look back, um, when I worked for Northrop Grumman,
56:20 for example, there were times
56:21 that I had a sick child and I was a single mother and there was
56:24 work I could do from home, but the
56:26 corporate policy was you couldn’t work from home. And it used to
56:28 just frustrate me because I would think
56:30 my supervisor sees I can work from home right now. I know I can
56:33 get the work done. I could be with my sick
56:35 child, but no one had the authority because someone up high said
56:40 it wasn’t okay. When those of us that
56:43 could see it could be okay. I would, I’d want us to empower our
56:46 supervisors. I don’t know Mr. Perlman said,
56:48 maybe he needed to be here, maybe he didn’t, but just in general,
56:51 is that something we can address?
56:52 I’ll certainly address it with the senior staff. Okay. If the
56:58 board wants to give me direction to
56:59 extend that, uh, indefinitely, I, you know, certainly will take
57:03 direction from the board.
57:04 I feel pretty strong about it for the reasons that I just
57:07 explained. Not that I want everybody be able
57:09 to go rogue on their own decision, but I think their supervisor,
57:11 if they feel it’s feasible,
57:13 I don’t want them to feel contained by something that we’ve said
57:16 that you have to be there because
57:17 we think that’s best. I feel like a supervisor would know. I don’t
57:20 know. Anyone else want to chime in?
57:22 I would just recommend that there’s, there’s within the spirit
57:25 of grace and flexibility that there’s a
57:27 place between be in a pod with two or three other employees and
57:32 be at home. There are lots of places
57:35 here on camp, on this campus, for example, that you can go and
57:38 still be in the building and still be
57:40 present and, you know, out on the patio or another conference
57:44 room. I would suggest that before we say,
57:47 hey, let’s, can I be at home, which there’s, there’s reasons why
57:50 people need to be, you know,
57:52 on work site, right, for accountability above, you know,
57:55 anything else probably, that there’s,
57:57 there’s another option there. And that is, you know, to, to find
58:00 the place if you don’t have an
58:01 office of your own to, to do that. I would, I would say that
58:04 would be, you know, somewhere that you can
58:06 comply without feeling concerned. I, ultimately, I think the
58:11 safest place right now is home. If they
58:14 need to be here, they need to be here. And I’m, I’m not going to
58:17 fight for them to stay home by any
58:19 stretch of the imagination. But if the employee feels like they
58:21 can get the work done and the
58:22 supervisor feels like they can get the work done, I would hope
58:25 our supervisors are holding them
58:28 accountable for getting the work done. Just, it seems like that’s
58:31 grace and flexibility right now.
58:34 I do. So I, I just want a little clarification, if we can, with
58:43 Mr. Colucci, is this in the MOA
58:46 that we’re talking about? And are we talking about meetings? Is
58:49 that what we’re talking about?
58:52 Okay. Ms. McDougall, I would suggest, um, Dr. Thetty could
58:56 address-
58:56 Okay. That’s probably true.
58:58 The MOA on behalf of the district.
58:59 The MOA does allow for teachers who, um, need to attend the
59:05 meeting virtually from their classroom.
59:06 It does not allow for working from home.
59:09 Okay. Okay. Thank you for that clarification.
59:16 Okay. So, um, yes, I think grace and flexibility were
59:22 appropriate for, for the role. Um, but I,
59:27 the first thing that I thought of when I heard Mr. Perlman is if
59:29 he is in a very small space with three
59:31 other people, that’s probably an issue that we need to look at,
59:35 um, as a whole, as far as making sure that
59:37 the working space is, is appropriate and safe. Um, and so that,
59:41 that would be an area that I’ve just
59:43 asked that, that we take a look at and see if, you know, if, if
59:46 that is in fact an issue. And obviously,
59:48 you know, we don’t necessarily need to get down into the weeds
59:52 on all of it, but I know that we’ve made
59:53 some accommodations to ensure that our employees feel safe in
59:56 their space. And so I think that would be
59:58 important, um, as well, just to make sure that there’s no hindrance
1:00:03 to being in your workspace when it’s
1:00:06 needed. We, we have, we have sent a memo to staff, you know, uh,
1:00:09 outlining what the expectations are
1:00:12 for cubicle workspaces, um, entering them. We’ve provided staff,
1:00:17 uh, plexiglass barriers as well as
1:00:20 ensure that they’re, they can adhere to and maintain social
1:00:23 distancing. I, I don’t know Mr. Perlman’s
1:00:26 workspace personally. Um, but I, I would be very surprised to
1:00:30 hear that we hadn’t already addressed
1:00:32 any concerns related to social distancing, but I could certainly
1:00:35 follow up with staff to ensure
1:00:36 that’s true. Thank you, sir. Um, Mr. Susan. I’d like to say some
1:00:41 stuff too. I didn’t want to interrupt
1:00:43 you, but you were there. Yeah, no, and I have to apologize
1:00:46 because I have, Lewis is standing here
1:00:48 waiting on me because I was actually supposed to go into our
1:00:51 recorded comments, um, before I open it up for
1:00:53 board comment and I completely got off track, but go ahead. Well,
1:00:56 is it. It’s okay. We’ll wait.
1:00:57 Are you sure? Yeah. Yeah. Cause more people might talk about
1:01:01 something. Okay. We have just two
1:01:03 recorded comments. Are you guys okay if I get back on track and
1:01:06 then we’ll come back to any discussion
1:01:07 of the, I apologize for messing that up. Lewis. Thank you so
1:01:10 much.
1:01:17 I’m Sue Han. I’m the Assistant Superintendent for Facility
1:01:20 Services for Brevard Public Schools
1:01:22 and considerate concerns during the COVID-19 emergency guidance
1:01:27 from the Centers for Disease
1:01:28 Control and Prevention, as well as Executive Order 20-91 issued
1:01:32 by Governor DeSantis. It has been necessary
1:01:34 to modify our procedures for public comment. Tonight, your
1:01:37 comments will be recorded and we will play them
1:01:40 back under the public comment section of the board meeting
1:01:42 tomorrow. Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
1:01:45 Our moderator will keep track of your time and ask you to
1:01:48 conclude your comments when you have reached
1:01:49 three minutes. Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is
1:01:53 expected at all times. It’s appropriate
1:01:56 for our children who may be watching or listening from home.
1:01:59 Before speaking, please state your name,
1:02:01 the organization you represent, if any, and identify the topic
1:02:05 you’ll be discussing. We won’t be answering
1:02:07 questions on tonight’s call, but our staff will follow up with
1:02:09 you if you have a question or need a response.
1:02:12 Thank you. Go ahead. Okay. Well, Ms. Loxton, you can go ahead
1:02:18 with your comments. State your first and last name,
1:02:20 please, and then go ahead. Yes. Good evening. My name is Riepa
1:02:24 Loxton and I am a school bus driver for
1:02:27 Brevard County Public Schools and I come out of the North area
1:02:31 compound. I am a veteran bus driver of 26
1:02:34 years and I am also the union steward for the local 1010 for my
1:02:39 compound. In my 26 years of driving,
1:02:43 I have been able to get here from kids throwing up five minutes
1:02:48 after mom puts him on the bus to
1:02:51 all-out brawls and even concealed weapons. But this COVID-19
1:02:56 virus scares me the most. It is a silent
1:02:59 killer. You can and won’t see it. Your reasoning behind opening
1:03:05 the schools is that children are less
1:03:07 likely to contract and spread the virus. According to the
1:03:11 Florida Department of Health, over 31,000 children
1:03:16 under 17 tested positive for the virus statewide as of July 2nd.
1:03:21 That is up from 23,000 from February
1:03:25 until July 16, 2020. The latest death row on record is a nine-year-old
1:03:32 girl with no known conditions.
1:03:36 Florida has the third highest number of COVID-19 cases after New
1:03:40 York and California. Epidemiologists agree
1:03:43 community spread of COVID-19 can’t be controlled if positivity
1:03:47 rate is above five percent. That’s five
1:03:51 percent. We hear today the school board says that students are
1:03:56 to wear masks on bus and are to sit
1:03:59 two per seat. Sitting two persons per seat is not six feet apart.
1:04:04 What will be the mandate if students
1:04:07 show up at the bus stop without a mask or do not keep the mask
1:04:11 on? I’ve had had parents drop off their
1:04:13 children at the bus stop and run. Drivers will be expected to
1:04:18 wipe down all seats in common touched areas
1:04:22 between. This will surely cause delays in picking up the other
1:04:27 students which could cause delay in getting
1:04:30 those students to school and delay school start times. Many of
1:04:34 our drivers are what could be considered
1:04:37 high risk. Many are over the age of 60 and have under. I am 63
1:04:42 and relatively in good health but my husband
1:04:45 is 72 and a cancer survivor and also has diabetes. My daughter
1:04:49 and my grandson have recently moved in
1:04:52 with us and I do not wish to bring this virus home. I have a
1:04:55 mantra. You cannot leave unless you have
1:04:58 followed. How can you reasonably expect us to follow when you
1:05:02 yourself will not shake our hands or sit on a bus
1:05:05 just a foot away from your seat now. The school board needs to
1:05:09 reconsider face-to-face openings of the school
1:05:12 for it. Please take into consideration the health and well-being
1:05:17 of the support staff, the bus drivers,
1:05:19 the lunchroom ladies, and the custodians. Most of all take into
1:05:23 consideration the health of our most
1:05:26 precious resources our children. Thank you. Great, so go ahead
1:05:31 and say your first last name and then your comment.
1:05:33 Yes, my name is Kathy West. I am a substitute teacher.
1:05:42 I would like to also say that we’re still in a sub-crisis and
1:05:51 now we’re in another situation where we’re
1:05:55 dealing with COVID-19. My suggestion is to start the school year
1:06:01 out as it pays for all employees
1:06:05 because as it is sub-pay is not adequate as it is right now. And
1:06:12 so subs are very concerned and I’m
1:06:16 sure most of them are scared to have to work environment with
1:06:21 inadequate pay and I also would like to
1:06:28 suggest that we start to also start the year off as virtual
1:06:33 learning because they’re so we’re in the
1:06:36 epicenter of this coronavirus and it doesn’t seem like it’s
1:06:40 getting a whole lot better especially for Florida.
1:06:44 And that concludes my announcement. Thank you Ms. West. I
1:06:52 believe that’s all the comments that we have
1:06:55 for this process and I appreciate your patience with our
1:06:57 technical difficulties tonight.
1:06:59 So thank you everyone. Thank you Mr. Francisco and thank you to
1:07:07 all of our our speakers who took part
1:07:09 in the opportunity. Just to let the board members know and our
1:07:13 public know for that matter. I typically
1:07:16 try to log on and listen to the calls when they’re recorded just
1:07:18 in case we have any technical issues
1:07:20 and you know Ms. Hannah and I work through them and figure out
1:07:23 what our best course of action is to
1:07:25 respond to those. She was really jumping through some hoops last
1:07:28 night because our vendor that provides
1:07:30 the recording is in Idaho? Iowa. Aya something.
1:07:36 Colorado and their their servers are in Iowa. They were knocked
1:07:44 out by a major storm. I guess they had
1:07:45 hurricane force winds in Iowa last night. So they knocked out
1:07:49 the power, knocked out their systems,
1:07:52 but they came through with a zoom alternative for us. Yeah so
1:07:54 they they ended up working it all out. I had
1:07:57 the opportunity to listen last night and I did send an email out
1:08:00 to Reba Logsdon our bus driver just
1:08:03 with some additional information for her so she understood the
1:08:06 situation that we were in with you
1:08:08 you know the mandates um as far as reopening schools. So um and
1:08:13 I understand Dr. Mullins that Dr. Thuddy
1:08:16 has some additional information on our previous topic of
1:08:19 discussion.
1:08:19 Provide sorry about that I just wanted to provide some clarity
1:08:24 around the language in the MOA.
1:08:27 The MOA speaks to administrators making every effort to have
1:08:31 face-to-face staff meetings or professional
1:08:33 development in spaces that six feet of social distancing is
1:08:37 attainable. In meetings where that
1:08:39 cannot be possible face coverings are obviously required per our
1:08:43 board direction. If members of the
1:08:45 bargaining unit do not feel comfortable attending a meeting
1:08:48 where face coverings are not worn they can
1:08:51 attend the meeting virtually and principals are to send out a
1:08:53 link prior to that meeting. The other piece
1:08:55 that I wanted to clarify is with the exception of early release
1:09:00 days members of the bargaining unit will
1:09:02 have the option of working off campus after student dismissal
1:09:06 when there are no other obligations such
1:09:08 as team meetings IEP meetings parent conferences. Just wanted to
1:09:11 provide that clarity. Thank you ma’am.
1:09:14 Okay we’ll pick up where we left off with uh board members uh
1:09:20 wishing to
1:09:21 wishing to respond to speakers or additional discussion there.
1:09:24 Ms. Campbell I think you were giving me a
1:09:25 nod that you wanted to speak? Ms. Yeah unless Mr. Susan did you?
1:09:29 Ms. I was just going to go through and just make a
1:09:31 promise. Ms. Okay uh similar I was um first of all um I know
1:09:36 that we always love when students come
1:09:39 and advocate for themselves I think that’s the word that Dr.
1:09:42 Sullivan especially she especially likes when
1:09:44 students come so thank you um Chloe for coming and sharing your
1:09:47 heart and you know last year seniors
1:09:50 talked about how tough it was for them and it was but this whole
1:09:53 summer I’ve been thinking about this year’s
1:09:55 and um again that grieve the loss phrase comes to mind and no
1:10:00 matter how norm how much we can get back
1:10:03 to normal it still won’t be what it what you had dreamed that it
1:10:06 would be and so I thank you for
1:10:08 sharing your heart some of the things that you talked about
1:10:10 tonight we don’t some of them will be in
1:10:12 our control and some of them won’t and so but we I know I
1:10:16 understand as a parent of musicians especially
1:10:19 um that our extracurriculars are very important and I am so
1:10:23 thankful for our band directors and our coaches
1:10:26 and our choir directors and all those who are who are really
1:10:28 working to try to figure out how do we make
1:10:30 this happen in such a strange year so but thank you for coming
1:10:35 um I wanted to give oh miss uh is it Cisco
1:10:40 Cisco sorry um I wanted um to just share and I you know I don’t
1:10:44 expect our public to have watched all the
1:10:47 like 20 or 30 something hours worth of meetings that we’ve had
1:10:50 over the last month
1:10:51 but I just want to reiterate that what we all experienced last
1:10:56 quarter um is not going to be what
1:10:59 we’re going to experience this year because really our our
1:11:02 teachers did it and our staff did a commendable job
1:11:04 for throwing it together in in a week but um our um students who
1:11:08 are doing e-learning will actually have
1:11:11 their teacher in front of them on the screen doing the same in
1:11:17 real time and tell me if I’m getting
1:11:19 off Dr. Sullivan um but doing the same real-time instruction
1:11:23 that their peers who are in the class
1:11:25 the same instruction that they’re receiving and so and some of
1:11:28 that will be there may be part of that
1:11:30 block because we’re doing block schedule part of that 90 minutes
1:11:32 where they say okay now go and spend the
1:11:34 rest of the time doing this research or this reading or whatever
1:11:38 but it will be um rigorous um instruction
1:11:41 preparing them um for those uh AP exams or whatever it may be so
1:11:45 when people think about what it was
1:11:48 like in the spring just don’t no but um I would encourage you to
1:11:56 go um and and to contact your school it is not too late to
1:12:03 choose
1:12:03 e-learning correct Dr. Sullivan so if you want to get some more
1:12:06 specific information about that
1:12:08 um I would contact your school um you won’t know your schedule
1:12:11 yet until
1:12:12 your school does their registration that’s a little different
1:12:15 for each one
1:12:16 um and then also Dr. Thetty would you speak to for the substitutes
1:12:21 I know I heard some information
1:12:23 thank you Mr. Ray for coming about how we’re going to prepare
1:12:26 our substitutes for this coming year
1:12:30 thank you so we have we’re working out some training for substitutes
1:12:33 related to safety protocols related to
1:12:36 PPE things that you’ll do with your students I’ve got a team
1:12:41 working with Mr. Cheatham’s team on how
1:12:44 substitutes will be able to manage all the different platforms
1:12:47 in the classroom that is not ready to roll
1:12:49 out yet but they are working on that good good good so and
1:12:54 because we completely understand how essential
1:12:58 you guys always are but especially this year it’s going to be a
1:13:01 big year so and I knew that you guys
1:13:02 hadn’t forgotten them so I wanted to make sure that Mr. Ray knew
1:13:05 that as well that’s all I have
1:13:07 Mr. Susan thank you I I truly believe in uh grace and
1:13:12 flexibility um where my concern comes from
1:13:17 is I I was under the impression that we would try to take every
1:13:22 aspect and every opportunity to keep
1:13:25 people socially distanced but then also online so when we had
1:13:29 when we came back and I hear movements
1:13:31 that we had people inside of a room you know staff inside of a
1:13:35 room where they can be socially distanced
1:13:37 six feet apart it it to me it was kind of counterproductive in
1:13:41 my vision and it may not have been what
1:13:43 the board’s decision was and everything else but the bottom line
1:13:45 is is that if we’re going to move to an
1:13:47 e-learning platform in the event that we’re closing schools and
1:13:49 everything else then everything that
1:13:51 we do should behoove to practice and prepare for that movement
1:13:54 so if we’re coming back and we’re in
1:13:56 the same room for four hours eating lunch doing all that stuff I
1:13:59 think that’s counterproductive or
1:14:01 counterintuitive or counter whatever it is that we would be
1:14:03 moving towards so I’m I’m all about that
1:14:05 and I and I applaud the district for giving the teachers the
1:14:08 opportunity to leave um during early releases
1:14:10 and get out it gives us an opportunity to do deep cleaning over
1:14:13 the the time period that’s there the
1:14:16 other reason that I I think that it gives us an opportunity at
1:14:19 the end of the day to leave is
1:14:20 because those custodians need as much time inside those
1:14:23 classrooms to clean up and get to the next day
1:14:25 which is going to be difficult but the the idea that we have
1:14:29 some principles bringing in staff members
1:14:32 into a big room instead of just letting them be virtual inside
1:14:36 their classrooms I I don’t think
1:14:37 that’s a good idea I would talk against that and I think that
1:14:40 the opportunity um it should be that we
1:14:44 we move towards an e-learning type situation where if the
1:14:48 teachers can attend a virtual meeting online
1:14:51 that they attend that online so that was that piece so Mr. Perlman
1:14:54 that was and um that would be what I
1:14:57 would say to that the next thing is is that um second speaker
1:14:59 and I forgot your name ma’am um but my
1:15:03 daughter takes AP I was an AP teacher I told holistically
1:15:05 understand what you’re talking about
1:15:07 I’m sorry that you had a bad experience um we have some of the
1:15:11 most amazing like resource teachers AP
1:15:13 people to contact at the district so if you are experiencing
1:15:16 something like that if you can immediately
1:15:18 please reach out to them I do know as a former AP teacher that
1:15:22 that is an unacceptable behavior um that
1:15:26 you may have re felt so if you can reach out so that we can take
1:15:29 corrective measures to take care of
1:15:30 that that would be amazing um um so you would it depends on
1:15:35 which one of your if you are in secondary
1:15:38 you would start with the secondary schools and then you would
1:15:41 depending on science has one history has
1:15:43 another if you call the front office and you ask them they’ll
1:15:46 get you to the right person eventually
1:15:47 or Dr. Sullivan can speak up too okay I don’t want to speak she
1:15:51 is in charge of all of that and she
1:15:53 is much there we go go ahead go ahead so that’s Dr. Sullivan and
1:15:57 and she’s and she will definitely take
1:16:01 care of that but I hear you my daughter’s taking AP right now
1:16:03 same thing I would encourage you um to
1:16:06 make the decision that’s best for your family not so much what’s
1:16:09 best for you know because of that piece
1:16:11 I do know that the e-learning piece my daughter um is going to
1:16:15 be attending in person but I felt very
1:16:17 comfortable with the e-learning also so um there’s that piece if
1:16:21 that helps um Ms. Chloe I agree with
1:16:24 you 100 percent my um my daughter right now is is there also
1:16:28 when I was a teacher I taught eight I had
1:16:30 eight or nine extracurriculars in my class I mean I had a
1:16:32 strategy club where these kids came in and talk
1:16:33 strategy right I know that the meaning behind a student feeling
1:16:38 a part of a school gives them the
1:16:40 the attachment that sometimes they don’t have at home so I
1:16:42 applaud you for bringing this up because
1:16:44 not only clubs and activities but sports and when you said that
1:16:49 you can have access to something that
1:16:51 you can get your feelings out to it is a huge opportunity and I
1:16:56 and everybody on this board I will tell you
1:16:59 advocates for exactly the extracurricular activities that you
1:17:02 are looking for and they fight for them I know
1:17:04 Ms. Deskovich was I I can tell you right now that everybody on
1:17:08 here fights for that and we’ll do our
1:17:09 best job but at the same time remaining safe for all of our
1:17:13 staff and everything else but I do want
1:17:15 to say thank you for coming all the way up here it means a lot
1:17:17 when we have teachers or our students
1:17:19 come up here so thank you um Dolores 1010 thanks I agree with
1:17:23 you um the one thing that always gets
1:17:25 missed is and I’m a very big uh problem with it is that I’m
1:17:28 always talking about teacher this teacher that
1:17:30 because I used to be a teacher um and sometimes I forget to say
1:17:35 that they support staff is just as
1:17:37 committed inside their heart to what they do and the mission and
1:17:40 you can see that just with this
1:17:41 facilities crew um with everybody else so Dolores thank you for
1:17:45 coming down and speaking today um
1:17:47 Anthony I spoke about the same protections um Robert I I do miss
1:17:53 miss uh as far as the substitutes which is
1:17:55 Robert and Miss Kathy West which we love having Miss Kathy come
1:17:59 on um preparing for the substitutes we’re
1:18:03 two weeks out right is there a is there a deadline uh Dr. Thetty
1:18:06 that we are going to get these
1:18:08 information to them like so that they can do they know to be
1:18:11 prepared that they are going to have to
1:18:13 take something do we have them having to take whatever it is
1:18:16 that you’re doing prior to them coming back
1:18:18 can you talk about that process because I get it that we have
1:18:20 all these things coming but it’s getting
1:18:22 down to be the 20 the 14 day mark what can you give them some
1:18:24 guidance is that what you’re looking for
1:18:26 Mr. Ray I don’t have the date of rollout yet but it’ll be before
1:18:30 the start of school for substitutes
1:18:32 to be able to work with the tech associate at the school because
1:18:35 there are some challenges with how
1:18:37 things are set up that we’re trying to work through so that a
1:18:39 substitute who might be in a secondary class
1:18:42 with students in class face to face may have some e-learning
1:18:46 students could potentially have a teacher
1:18:48 who’s quarantined due to being a contact to a case with a close
1:18:51 familial relationship trying to work
1:18:54 through all of that there are a lot of logistics we’re working
1:18:56 out and as soon as we have that done
1:18:58 we will be getting it out to our 700 and I believe we’re up to
1:19:01 46 substitutes that have responded to
1:19:03 us that they will be returning this year we did do um a letter
1:19:07 of request for to all of our substitutes and
1:19:11 we’ve heard back from the majority of them and of them seven
1:19:14 over 700 are planning to come back
1:19:16 and what that will look like is virtual you know obviously and
1:19:20 we have all of your email addresses
1:19:22 and a way to push it out through our smart find system so that
1:19:25 you’ll have access to everything
1:19:26 thank you so dr teddy are you saying that this would be
1:19:30 something that the substitute comes
1:19:32 onto campus talks to the tech about or is that something that
1:19:35 you think a video is going to come
1:19:36 to them i think they’re kind of wondering what that’s going to
1:19:38 that piece is they’re going to look
1:19:40 like or is it still they’re going to get something and we’re
1:19:43 working that piece out and they’re going to get that
1:19:45 within the next seven days and it’ll be before school or
1:19:47 something i mean mr susan we’re working
1:19:49 it out the logistics are pretty uh intense that we’re trying to
1:19:53 come fix with access to the teacher’s
1:19:55 computer to be able to or not the teacher’s computer but to a
1:19:58 computer to be able to monitor and log into
1:20:01 all the different sites so once we have that we will roll that
1:20:04 out to subs the tech associate at the
1:20:06 school will be integral and helping out with um making sure they’re
1:20:11 set up to go on to go live i
1:20:12 guess on that day they’re there okay thank you um does that help
1:20:16 you out mr ray get ready it’s going to
1:20:19 be an interesting for you and we we love our the opportunity
1:20:22 that you came here tonight and that
1:20:24 you’re willing to ask those questions and put it on the radar um
1:20:27 our substitutes are again are just the
1:20:29 same as everybody else we’re all in this together we’re big
1:20:31 heroes and um going forward it’s going to be tough
1:20:35 and i think the message that some of the union said last friday
1:20:38 what i hear from many of our school
1:20:40 board members along with dr mullins is that we are all in this
1:20:43 together and that it’s not going to
1:20:45 be perfect but somehow we’re going to have to find a way through
1:20:48 it and that’s a perfect example with
1:20:50 the substitutes and i applaud dr thetty in your office for
1:20:53 trying to take that on i know that’s a huge
1:20:54 task um with the school bus driver i agree with you 100 percent
1:20:59 um it’s a difficult situation um we are
1:21:02 coming back to schools and it’s going to be a difficult
1:21:06 situation for many that are in that risk
1:21:08 class and um i uh i apologize for ahead of time for the
1:21:13 situation and conditions that we’re under
1:21:15 um but this is what we’re we’re going to be faced to do so i
1:21:18 appreciate everybody and i hope that helps
1:21:20 everybody with the comments that’s the first time i’ve ever gone
1:21:23 through everybody but i think it’s
1:21:25 something that we needed to do if they’re going to come down
1:21:27 here and talk to us i’m just glad we
1:21:28 didn’t have 136 speakers tonight mr susan that would have been a
1:21:32 lot of you talking um anyone else
1:21:36 before i have a couple of comments but miss mcdougall i just
1:21:38 want to yeah i want to
1:21:39 i have a question so we’re we’re at this point in phase two so i
1:21:48 can envision in a high school
1:21:52 because there’s many more teachers and support staff in a high
1:21:56 school than there would be in let’s say
1:21:59 an elementary school so i’m trying to think of a space that
1:22:02 would be big enough to have people six
1:22:06 feet apart dr setty so i guess i’m just concerned that people
1:22:09 are so rigid and i don’t want them to
1:22:12 be so rigid to as we’re using the word flexibility and grace
1:22:16 that and i don’t want to you know take
1:22:19 away the power from our administrators because that’s their
1:22:22 school and they know their spaces but at the
1:22:25 same time um people are scared people are scared and um you all
1:22:31 know how i feel and so i feel that we do
1:22:37 need to be a little bit more flexible um and again i don’t want
1:22:41 to step on any of my principal’s toes
1:22:43 but at the same time we need to be reasonable about for our
1:22:47 teachers um i’m trying to think of spaces in
1:22:51 my elementary school i can’t cafeteria but even a cafeteria
1:22:56 though i mean think about it we’ve only
1:22:58 got two at a table i mean so i just i don’t know i just would
1:23:03 like us to be open-minded and flexible
1:23:06 about that thanks miss mcdougall um i will make just a couple of
1:23:14 follow-up comments and um it’s nothing
1:23:19 that i haven’t said before but i think the more i can say it and
1:23:22 the more our public can can potentially
1:23:23 hear it the better off we are um the bottom line is that unless
1:23:29 we keep our numbers of people down
1:23:32 our risk is going to be higher there is there is not a zero risk
1:23:36 return uh to school and so
1:23:39 most people have heard me say and i’ve i’ve shared it with the
1:23:43 media as well if parents are able to take
1:23:45 advantage of e-learning and it is workable for their student and
1:23:51 i say that because for some
1:23:53 students it simply is not but if they are able to and it is workable
1:23:57 for their student i encourage
1:23:59 parents to take advantage of that e-learning opportunity because
1:24:03 it’ll provide a seamless
1:24:04 opportunity to roll back into the classroom when numbers are
1:24:07 lower it’ll help us keep our numbers low in
1:24:09 the school but there are some other things that go along with
1:24:12 that too transportation is going to be
1:24:15 a real challenge and what we heard from our bus driver is no
1:24:18 joke it’s going to be a serious challenge
1:24:20 so if parents can provide their own transportation for their
1:24:23 children to school if the children can walk
1:24:26 or bike safely we need to keep our numbers down on our buses
1:24:30 absolutely um and we also need to make sure
1:24:34 that we are being cognizant of numbers of adults coming together
1:24:37 in a school this morning ms kimball
1:24:39 referenced a letter that was put together by our three central
1:24:42 florida children’s hospitals and they
1:24:45 clearly say that in in all honesty the most dangerous place in a
1:24:49 school is probably going to be the faculty
1:24:52 lounge because people are going to feel like they can take their
1:24:56 masks off and relax and have lunch together
1:24:59 um and and that is something that we absolutely have to consider
1:25:04 as we are rolling back into
1:25:05 school is making sure that we are we’re not congregating um and
1:25:09 then the two other elements that are
1:25:12 going to be incredibly important to our success are making sure
1:25:16 that we and all of our community is
1:25:17 making good choices outside of the school because we’ve heard
1:25:21 over and over again that what’s going
1:25:23 on in our community is probably more important than what’s going
1:25:26 on in our schools with regard to spread
1:25:27 rates so if we have a high rate um you know if if adults in our
1:25:31 schools are going out and celebrating
1:25:34 after they get off work and spending time together at barbecues
1:25:38 on the weekend with people that they’re not
1:25:41 familiar with those are the areas where we see the spread and we’ve
1:25:43 seen it and in all of the hospitals they
1:25:45 will tell you people at the hospital are not getting sick at the
1:25:48 hospital they’re getting sick in the
1:25:49 community and then probably the most important thing that we
1:25:53 need to ask of our community is if you are
1:25:57 sick or your child is sick stay home that’s going to be critical
1:26:02 to our success to return and um you know
1:26:05 much much of what we’re hearing falls in with all of those
1:26:08 elements um we all want to get back to
1:26:11 extracurriculars chloe we get it we all want to get back to you
1:26:15 know having faculty meetings in person
1:26:18 but we need to we need to do what we can in the interim to make
1:26:21 sure that we can do it safely and
1:26:23 consistently keep our schools open so any other comments before
1:26:27 we move on to our consent agenda
1:26:31 miss balford may i just wanted to address a comment from mr kaluchi
1:26:36 the act he actually brought to my
1:26:38 attention his concern yesterday when we when we met about the
1:26:42 expectation and the adherence to the
1:26:46 safety measures and protocols we put in place specifically
1:26:49 wearing masks and so on and he
1:26:50 addressed it in his comments tonight and i’ll share publicly
1:26:53 what i shared with him last night it is
1:26:55 absolutely my expectation as a superintendent of brevard schools
1:26:59 that we adhere to our requirement of wearing
1:27:01 masks uh and that that transcends to all of our all of our
1:27:06 schools there are exceptions that are allowable and
1:27:09 we’ll certainly understand those but uh we we have to take
1:27:13 personal responsibility and we have to
1:27:15 we have to take group responsibility to model and demonstrate
1:27:20 our commitment to this so mr kaluchi i say
1:27:24 to you again well absolutely and if there are concerns bring
1:27:27 them to the attention that we discussed
1:27:29 yesterday and will it will be addressed so and dr thady i
1:27:34 believe that you wanted to respond to a comment
1:27:37 mrs mcdougall i just i didn’t jump in quickly enough before but
1:27:40 what i would really like to say about the
1:27:42 what the schools have set up schools did a variety of things no
1:27:45 no principal did the same thing as the
1:27:47 other principal we had schools that split their faculties in
1:27:50 half and were able to social distance in a
1:27:52 library or media center or cafeteria or auditorium in the high
1:27:56 school level we had principals who sent
1:27:59 out virtual links and did everything virtually and teachers were
1:28:01 in their classrooms they they wanted
1:28:04 to provide some sense of camaraderie but monitoring and and
1:28:08 holding to the social distancing and the
1:28:10 facial covering wearing and you know making sure that teachers
1:28:14 felt welcome and felt supported when they
1:28:16 came back also so i saw a variety of things happening and i’ve
1:28:18 talked to a lot of principals over the last few
1:28:21 days over this weekend as well as they were getting things set
1:28:24 up for their first day of school and
1:28:27 they were trying to meet their faculty’s needs to the best that
1:28:30 they could and they i saw pictures of
1:28:32 what they’ve done and i did see six feet of social distancing in
1:28:35 those cases where they brought people
1:28:38 together but other principals chose not to bring people together
1:28:41 and chose to have teachers work from
1:28:43 their classrooms and work virtually while they did their back to
1:28:46 school activities so it just depended on the
1:28:47 school and the needs of the school thank you all right that
1:28:52 moves us into the consent agenda dr mullins
1:29:09 there are 12 agenda items under this category thank you dr mullins
1:29:12 does any board member wish to
1:29:14 pull any item from the consent agenda then i will entertain a
1:29:17 motion to approve the consent agenda as
1:29:20 the consent agenda as presented move to approve second moved by
1:29:23 mr susan seconded by ms mcdougall any discussion
1:29:27 please vote please vote please vote the motion passes five zero
1:29:41 miss belford yes ma’am sorry just i it wasn’t
1:29:47 discussion related related to the vote but i just wanted to
1:29:50 point that one of the things we disapproved
1:29:52 in the consent agenda was the cares act um the first round of
1:29:57 cares act approval which we got for our plan
1:30:01 this last week right and so people want to follow up on the
1:30:04 agenda to see um some of those things that
1:30:07 have already been approved they can check that out on our agenda
1:30:10 page thank you ms campbell we will now
1:30:14 move on to the action agenda dr mullins ms balfred and members
1:30:17 of the board there are a total of four
1:30:19 action items for us to go through this evening
1:30:21 item g21 is on the emergency rule policy regarding face coverings
1:30:31 we had discussion this afternoon and determined some amendments
1:30:34 to the policy as presented
1:30:36 do i have a motion to approve the recommended emergency policy
1:30:40 authorizing the superintendent to
1:30:41 require face coverings consistent with the policy effect of august
1:30:44 11 2020 to remain in effect for 90
1:30:47 days unless extended pursuant to section 120.54 per n4 florida
1:30:52 statutes unamended for the following
1:30:54 remove the future policies on the top of the policy document in
1:30:57 section 2 add an iep and 504 exception
1:31:02 that removes the mask requirement based upon documentation that
1:31:04 has been provided during the iep and 504 process
1:31:07 and in section 2 remove supervisor approval for employees if
1:31:10 they are maintaining social distancing
1:31:11 to find us 6 feet and in section 4 change faculty are encouraged
1:31:16 to use face shields the faculty are
1:31:18 allowed to use face shields move to approve second moved by mr
1:31:22 susan seconded by ms mcdougall any discussion
1:31:27 please vote
1:31:38 and the motion passes 4-1
1:31:52 this is related to the last item as well i still feel the way
1:32:22 that i have felt for the last weeks and you guys understand so i
1:32:25 won’t repeat um the things that
1:32:28 i’ve said before but you know one of the reasons why we had to
1:32:31 have the emergency rule that we just had
1:32:34 is because we changed the language from expected to required
1:32:38 then we have to have a policy and i’m not
1:32:42 the reason why i can vote yes on that item and on this is
1:32:47 because you know the policy as it’s written
1:32:51 has the exceptions that i was hoping we would have um for the
1:32:54 people who you know the younger students
1:32:56 who it’s difficult for um the ones who have the medical um
1:33:01 exceptions but i you know at this point
1:33:05 the board even if it was three to two the board made the
1:33:08 decision to a few um two weeks ago when we met
1:33:13 um to change the language and i think that we have tried to make
1:33:19 this as easy of of a transition for
1:33:22 our students and parents as possible while i still don’t agree
1:33:26 with the idea of um
1:33:30 you know letting it be something that’s you know requiring
1:33:35 discipline over um something that we can
1:33:38 teach into with expected which again i appreciate dr mullins
1:33:42 continuing to say that he expects it from
1:33:44 the top down um i do appreciate the work that the staff has done
1:33:48 including mr gibbs over there
1:33:51 to try to help us formulate a plan that we can all come around
1:33:56 and i certainly um want to um
1:34:00 you know not continue to to fight when the battle uh but i just
1:34:07 i do appreciate the work that the
1:34:09 staff has done no matter what my initial thoughts have been
1:34:12 thank you miss campbell any additional discussion
1:34:16 please vote
1:34:28 and the motion passes four to one dr mullins item g 23 is board
1:34:39 action on procurement solicitations
1:34:41 what are the wishes of the board moved moved by mr susan seconded
1:34:46 by miss deskovich any discussion
1:34:48 please vote
1:34:55 and the motion passes five zero dr mullins item g24 is on
1:35:06 department school initiated agreements what are the
1:35:09 wishes of the wishes the board second is that you miss campbell
1:35:14 with the second moved by mr susan
1:35:16 seconded by miss campbell any discussion
1:35:18 please vote
1:35:22 the motion passes five zero dr mullins no no it is me we will
1:35:35 move on to the information agenda which
1:35:37 includes items for board review and may be brought back for
1:35:40 action at a subsequent meeting no action will
1:35:43 be taken on these items tonight dr mullins there are three items
1:35:46 under the information category does any
1:35:49 member wish to discuss any item
1:35:50 okay does any board member have anything else they would like to
1:35:55 report at this time
1:35:56 is this word report yes ma’am all right i have one thing that i’m
1:36:00 remiss and i feel very bad so when i was
1:36:03 giving a shout out to um our principal of the year i forgot the
1:36:09 assistant principal of the year miss mcduple
1:36:11 oh i know my microphone’s not on i’m so sorry as i was saying
1:36:15 that i forgot to give a shout out to our
1:36:18 assistant principal of the year who is at rockledge and that’s
1:36:22 carrie oh boy
1:36:25 thank you kalaga so congratulations to terry at rockledge for
1:36:28 the assistant principal of the year
1:36:30 thank you miss mcdougall for reminding us to celebrate that we
1:36:36 appreciate it
1:36:37 any other board members have anything to discuss at this point
1:36:40 dr mullins do you have anything more
1:36:43 there being no further business this meeting is now adjourned
1:36:56 have a great night
1:37:04 you