2021-08-10 - School Board Meeting

0:13 Brevard county is a community on the move as one of the fastest growing counties in the state. With increased business opportunities, a booming tourism industry, and a key role in the return to space. Living in Brevard county means being where the action is, and in the middle of that action is Brevard county public Schools. Brevard Public Schools is a community leader actively working to shape young lives into individuals capable of making real world impact.

0:44 Accessibility is of high importance and as such, 84 schools are offered throughout the county spanning from Mims to Palm Bay. Proud to be an a district with a 90% graduation rate, Brevard ensures students have every opportunity to succeed. This can be seen in the 414 graduates who earned their associate’s degree while still in high school and the 47% of graduates who earned certificates in STEM and CTE courses, further showcasing national leadership in career and technical education.

1:20 Brevard students dominate in science, with seven high schools ranked as America’s best for STEM. For those students interested in other areas of study, our schools offer 82 different industry certifications, a unique aviation, assembly and fabrication program, a top notch robotics program, and a maritime program that uses technology only found in one Florida high school right here in Brevard. All of our CTE programs prepare students for for college and the workforce, whether in automotive, tech, 911, public safety, or culinary.

1:57 These programs strengthen the future of our children and Brevard county. Not just available to high school students, CTE programs are in middle school and yes, elementary schools, too. When it comes to academics, our students shine using a robust AP program, dual enrollment Cambridge program, International Baccalaureate Program, and National Honor Society.

2:22 If you want the best educators in Florida, they are inside Brevard classrooms. Experienced, energized teachers and staff are leading our kids from kindergarten to graduation. At Brevard Public schools, the sky is not the limit we aim for.

2:39 Beyond Apollo elementary was built in 1966, right in the middle of the Apollo program, which brought the astronauts to the moon. This school has a special place in Titusville because of that, and I think it’s important for us to continue our relationship with Kennedy Space center and the space program. The best thing about the school, it’s an environment where students are nurtured, where they are given what they need, become global citizens, where everybody works together collaboratively so that they can be successful.

3:29 My favorite thing about Apollo is just the culture that it promotes. The teachers are kind and they work together, and the students respond well to them. When you have everybody working together, it just makes a stronger school.

3:43 Just being such a tight knit community, we really want to work with those kids that maybe are struggling in an area. We work a lot with the kids that maybe are excelling and academically. We have a lot of programs.

3:56 We will make sure that every child is taken care of no matter what the need is. They know no matter what, when they go home, that they’re loved. And we just want to see Apollo continue to succeed.

4:07 It is really easy at Apollo to make friends, and I got lots of great friends here. I really love how the teachers helped me here at Apollo elementary. I actually want to be an astrophysicist when I grew up because of all the space type things we do here at Apollo.

4:26 We actually have a moon tree. There are seeds that they took to space and took them back, and one of them is actually planted right, right in front of the school. It’s really great to walk through the school knowing that this school has a part of history that will forever live on in our lives.

4:53 My favorite thing about astronaut high school are the students. The students make everything that we do worthwhile. I think the most unique aspect about our school is that we serve a diverse population.

5:08 We have outstanding, experienced educators who really put the students first and celebrate our ability to serve our students here at Astronaut High. My favorite thing about astronaut high school is the community. The culture is about every student being successful.

5:22 From the moment you step in here, it’s a different feeling. There is no other school like astronaut high school. We are just here to support our students, support our community because we are a family.

5:32 There is something for everyone here at astronaut. From accelerated academic programs like our AP academy, to our career and technical programs such as welding, construction, and nursing. We have great opportunities for all of our students.

5:46 We have a group of teachers who feel like astronaut high school is home. They’re truly invested in the students, and they want to see them succeed. The connection between our administration, it’s what makes the school work, and it’s what makes this such a special place.

6:02 I feel like everyone’s really involved here. It’s a really positive environment. Everyone here is like a family.

6:08 Everyone’s here to support you and make sure that you succeed in everything that you do. My favorite thing about Astronaut High is just the experience and the friendships I have here at the school and the relationships I build here. There’s many things that you can do here at astronaut high school, and they give you so many opportunities.

6:25 The teachers really do care about your future. Astronaut just gives me that home feeling. If I could describe astronaut high school in one word, it would be passion, family, community, excellence learning special.

6:37 It would definitely be pride. Upon arriving to this campus, they’re going to arrive to an atmosphere of caring faculty. Teachers are energetic about what they do.

6:57 Their passion is undeniable. Their reputation is undeniable throughout the county, and not just throughout the county, throughout the state of Florida. Whether the student has ambition to go to Harvard or Yale, or to be a machinist at the Cape or one of our local industries, those opportunities exist and they’re well rounded for any student, whether it’s in the classroom, the athletic department, our clubs and activities, our JROTC program, which is a very popular program here at Bayside High School, even our blast program, which is students that have graduated but have decided to continue on in their education.

7:35 They have real world experience in transitioning from school to independent living. I can’t say enough wonderful things about the CTE department and all of the variety of courses we offer, from machining to culinary, tv productions, drafting. Not only do we have world class instructors, but we have world class equipment.

7:55 There are a lot of academic opportunities here for kids at Bayside High School. The dual enrollment program and the Early Admissions program is where students can enroll in eastern Florida classes and if they complete the program, they can graduate with their AA degree and their high school diploma. We have a wide variety of AP courses here that they can take on campus and earn college credit for.

8:14 There’s something for everyone. The staff definitely does care about us here. I feel like they tailor us in a certain way so that we all feel comfortable learning certain things because not everyone’s the same.

8:25 They really try to make it beneficial and comfortable for everyone. At Bayside High School, I always feel like staff and faculty are putting an extra step forward when it comes to their student success. They’re very easy to reach out to and will always help you with anything academic related and non academic related.

8:40 The people you’ll meet here are just wonderful and they’re super easy to get along with. Community is just fantastic. In heritage High school you can find a lot of different cultures, diversity, and everybody respects each other and it’s kind of like a really, really big family.

9:12 We have very successful students that are striving for excellence in many different ways. We have Cambridge programs, we have dual enrollment, we have CTE programs, automotive programs, the Academy of Environmental, Water and Technology have a very strong athletic program. And then of course we have the best band in the business and our performing arts programs are very good also.

9:35 So all types of opportunities here at Heritage High School for a well rounded student that enjoys the performing arts that enjoys athletics but also has college and career in the back of their mind. My favorite thing honestly, has to be our Cambridge program. The kids will have a chance of earning college credit while they’re right here on campus with us.

9:53 If the students earn their Cambridge diploma and also get 100 hours of community service, they qualify for bright futures, which will pay for their college for up to a four year degree plus a book stipend. Our kids, they get along. Our teachers, they love them.

10:04 And we hear this back and forth from the kids. We have visitors that come onto campus and they may comment about how pleasant our kids are to interact. We are inclusive, we are robust and your kids will feel welcomed here.

10:18 I feel like the staff here really does care about the students success and just their well being. We have great teachers here to get you prepared for the exams. Here at heritage you can do everything at once.

10:31 I can manage tv productions, live stream all the football games and earn my Cambridge diploma at the same time. I love being a student here because it’s so easy to meet new people. People aren’t segregated into their groups of band kids or athletes or this or that.

10:45 Everybody mixes together so you can really make a lot of different friends at once. Imperial’s a fun place to be. The school is family and that’s what my classroom is.

11:05 You as a parent become part of the family. You work close with the teachers. The teachers know each student.

11:11 I have third graders that come to my door to wave at me and tell me good morning. So it’s just a family atmosphere. Your child’s coming to a school that they’re going to feel the love, they’re going to feel that we care about them and their growth.

11:27 We have a lot of teachers and staff members that put in the extra effort and time to get to know our kids and work with our kids. You come here because we do have quality educators and we thrive ourselves on getting better and doing our best with our students in the classroom and outside of it, we have some great programs, the robotics program. We have wonderful computerized programs where we’re dealing with technologies and we have a great art program where students can stay after school and, you know, work on their creativity.

12:02 The students are able to help each other out. They’ve got a lot of spark. Everyone’s helpful and friendly and like, if you don’t know something, if you just ask someone, they’ll lead you the right way.

12:14 You can be yourself and no one will make fun of you. This is a special school that is always wondrous to come to in the morning. They’re really special because these teachers, they’ve taught you for years and they know you.

12:29 They know your family, they know all of you, basically. We have the greatest kids, we have the greatest teachers, and we have an outstanding community. We believe in every child’s ability to learn and we believe it’s our responsibility as educators to create access for them, to access the educational world and have the success that they deserve.

13:00 We are an avid school. We’re one of the few avid elementaries, one of only two here in Brevard schools. And avid, I believe, really helps create the purpose for why students come to school.

13:09 It helps them understand what elementary school is going to do for them in the future. We have a lot of great programs like our drone teams, our sea perch teams. We have stem clubs and steam clubs.

13:20 We have orchestra. They’ve been growing vegetables in the garden. They’re learning and exploring.

13:25 And I have no doubt that we’re cultivating the next generation of thinkers, innovators and creators. And I’m very excited for what our kids are doing. At Pompeii elementary, we have quite a few programs that are unique.

13:37 We’re a Special Olympics unified champion school, so we’re super proud of our large, exceptional education program. Part of that is our gifted student program. Our kids are super involved in lots of different academic competitions and different community events.

13:51 So we have a lot of opportunities for kids outside the classroom to participate in authentic learning. Palm Bay elementary is a special place to work and learn and grow. Because of our sense of community and our commitment to our students, we give them the platform to practice their leadership skills.

14:12 At Palm elementary, the teachers make you feel really welcoming and comfortable here. It feels like family. The first day you came here, it feels like you’re automatically just a part of it.

14:22 What’s awesome about Palm Bay elementary is where they always have something new. Every year or a month they offer new clubs or more hands on activities. And I also like that you can make a lot of new friends in this school and have opportunities to learn new things in the school.

14:47 We have really grown and really been able to offer some very unique learning opportunities for students. I fully believe that the school is one of the best kept secrets in South Brevard. We have anything and everything you can imagine and you’re not going to find much like this in the district.

15:03 We’re the only magnet high school in Brevard county where our focus is steam. We have so many opportunities within that. Not only the rigorous courses such as dual enrollment and AP and honors.

15:15 We have a pirate to Panther program where you can take college courses at fit while you’re in high school. It’s complimentary to our students. Avid stands for advancement via individual determination.

15:28 We provide leadership and community service opportunities. We have an avid tutoring center. Students volunteer during their lunch to help all students on campus, so everybody gets support.

15:39 We all have one goal in mind, and that’s for our students to succeed. Palm Bay Magnet High School is an emotionally safe environment. Its diversity is its strength.

15:49 And when I say diversity, I don’t just mean cultural or linguistic diversity. We have a wide range of academic abilities. We have a wide range of programs to meet every student at every level that they come to us and we have such knowledgeable faculty.

16:04 But they’re not just knowledgeable, they’re really genuinely caring. And they want to meet the students where they are and work to make them come up to where we need them to be and to where they need themselves to be. It’s been amazing.

16:18 I’ve seen aspects both from in the classroom and in sports. We all support one another. The coaches are great.

16:25 They’re going to push you to be your best on and off the court. Our teammates are going to push each other. We know our strengths and weaknesses and we continue to strive for the better for all of us and not just individually.

16:35 One of the things you notice if you talk to any of the adults on campus is how much they genuinely care for the students here. The goal of Pompeii high is for everyone to feel included. The culture of Port Malabar can be summed up as positive, supportive.

16:59 Many of our teachers have their own kids enrolled here. Many of the teachers were students themselves here. So I’m very proud of that family oriented, family focused, very warm, welcoming feeling that we have here at Port Malabar.

17:11 Academics and social emotional growth will be the focal point, and we will take pride in making sure your child grows and progresses. Fort Malabar elementary is an incredibly unique place for your child to attend. We have several unique programs.

17:28 We have an exceptional gifted program. We focus on multiple intelligences such as arthem, music, stem, and the kids really shine. The teachers take such good care of the kids here.

17:39 Honestly, safety is first and after that, we just love your children so much. When you walk in, you can feel it. There’s love here, there’s caring.

17:48 We take good care of the kids and they want to come back every day. We also have five teachers that are bilinguals. We’re very proud of that.

17:55 We try to have one per grade level. So if your student is struggling with English, we can accommodate them. Teeny.

18:02 Unalumno que no ablato podemo modalo de mo and un salon don de la maestro abel. I like coming to school because the teachers care about me and like my own way. My favorite thing at Port Malabar is recess because it’s the time where you make new friends and you get to spend time with them.

18:26 I feel like our teachers really do care about us and they comfort us when we may be having a bad day or something’s going on, either at school or at home. It does feel really special when we’re recognized for our hard work because of our pelican pride. Awards prepared, respectful, improved, dependable and enthusiastic.

18:44 I’ve had a really fun time here at Fort Malabar and I totally recommend it. Riviera is a very open school. We’ll do almost anything for our students in order to make sure that they’re successful.

19:05 We do believe in that village mentality where it takes a full village to raise a child. The thing that excites me the most is we’re not stagnant. Every year, our expectations here for our students expand and they get greater and greater.

19:18 What gets me excited about coming to work each day are the kids seeing them learn. I enjoy greeting them in the morning, seeing their excitement for coming to school every day, and the positivity that they have, knowing that no matter what happens, we’re here to support them and they’re safe while they’re here doing it. I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done at Riviera to make our core academics really strong, specifically in the areas of reading and math and science.

19:43 I am very proud of the fact that we’re all a tight knit community and we’re all working towards a common goal, which is for the students to be successful. We’re full of instructors and staff that reflect, and so our number one goal is to make every day better than the day before. For me and my team, we love seeing the progression that the students have.

20:05 The light bulb going off is basically why we do what we do. We work hard with these students five days a week. So you’re sitting with that student and those students, working hard, and to see them progress, see them understand something, it makes it all worth it for someone new.

20:24 Coming to Riviera, you can expect kind people and people that can help you. They don’t just, like, say, the answer. They teach me how to get the answer.

20:34 I like science because we get to do some experiments time to time. They provide kindness, respectfulness, and mostly fun. I am a product of Brevard Public schools.

20:58 I’ve been with brevard Public Schools for approximately 18 years. South Lake is an amazing school, and what makes it special is the collaboration between the teachers and the faculty. Well, students have different learning styles, and part of what we do in the smart lab is that choice if they’re interested in 3d printing or video or building engineering.

21:32 And I think that giving students the opportunity to follow their passions in the smart lab helps with engagement, helps them find that success. As students decide on the careers that they want to do, what they learn here is really going to help them. I love the fact that we honor, respect, and take ownership in all the diversity and the differences and uniquenesses of all of our teachers, staff, and the students.

22:01 Every aspect of South Lake is a teaching opportunity. Be ready to be enriched. Get ready for the adventure of learning.

22:09 And not just having one teacher, but having 50 teachers, not just having one friend, but having hundreds of friends. In my opinion. I really liked PE and smart lab.

22:20 You do things on the computer and things with robots. I really like it. You can go into school and go like, oh, I wonder what is gonna happen today, because there’s just new things every day to try for me.

22:33 You can kind of, like, feel the friendliness about Southlake. You can wave at people and they’ll wave back like, you smile and they smile. I love Southlake because of stuff like that.

22:51 When I talk to fellow people and I say, I’m at sunrise, they say, oh, I’ve heard of that school. That school. It’s always for really amazing things.

23:04 We are making the kids more responsible for their learning. Now, we are all here for the children and just holding them up to, I think, higher expectations. Knowing that we will reach every child here on whatever level they need, is why they should come to sunrise.

23:20 Sunrise elementary is a school community where it just radiates joy and love and a super passion for learning. Sunrise is well known for academic success and helping every student shine. Our teachers love what they do.

23:38 They learn right along with the students, but they also collaborate with one another to plan and execute amazing, fun and engaging lessons. And that’s what I want for the future of Sunrise elementary. I want our little sea turtles that come here to be able to come start when they’re young, grow up in our school, and we want to be able to help them meet their full potential and help them shine as they become young adults in the world.

24:03 We came up with three standards that aligned with our core values, which is be safe work hard and be nice. And we run our day to day lives here at sunrise that way. And we recognize students and staff and faculty that follow that mindset.

24:18 You know, it’s just a great guideline of what you should be doing at all times. Every teacher’s classroom rules aligns with the sunrise standards. You can ask any student and they’ll tell you what the sunrise standards are.

24:28 We really work on having those kids take ownership of their behavior. All the teachers care about all the students, and all the students, like, look up to the teachers. Everybody’s very kind.

24:38 Everybody’s very nice and like, it’s just a great place to be. All the teachers, they’re wonderful. They don’t treat the students differently.

24:46 They treat all the students the same. They never treat you because of how smart you are. They treat you because of who you are.

25:03 We are a hidden gem. Where else can you walk outside and see a rocket launch? Deep traditions in the school. The spirit, the pride in this community is just unbelievable.

25:14 You see it on this campus. You feel it as soon as you walk through the doors. And there’s just so much pride in Titusville High School.

25:21 You can’t not love it. There’s academically different pathways that we can lead our students. One is through the AP coursework or the more advanced coursework.

25:33 We have the dual enrollment path or we have the CTE path, which is the career technical education path. We definitely feel responsible for the child, the person, and then the academics. On top of that.

25:46 We have so many things here at the school. We have great academics. We have all these amazing art programs.

25:51 We have amazing culinary program. We have an amazing auto program. We have a CNA 911 program.

25:57 That there is really something for every interest of every child at our school. And it makes it feel like a family. Instead of just where you come to do something, you have to do.

26:08 We have an actual community. It’s not just a school. It’s not just an institution.

26:12 It is a community in which people are willing to help each other. The students and their enthusiasm and their gusto for learning is unparalleled. The academics here are tremendous, as well as the caring of the faculty and the teachers we have here.

26:27 I love all the teachers here. They’re awesome. They make the day better, honestly, like, half of the school is the atmosphere that is given by the teachers and staff and administrators.

26:36 And you can tell that they really care about their students. It’s really fun to have people that are passionate about the school and want to participate. And it’s really good to have the whole school spirit at the level that we do.

26:46 Inclusion is super important to us. At Titusville High School, everyone’s really friendly and, like, you can really talk to anybody and everyone’s here to help you. I’m proud of the atmosphere.

26:56 I’m proud of, like, the things we get to do. It’s a good environment, especially for you, to join clubs and be involved in the school. You’ll have a good time.

27:18 I think one of the most common misconceptions about a virtual school is that a student sits behind a computer, doesn’t talk to other human beings. The computer is there, and that’s the vehicle. But it’s the vehicle for engaging with teachers and with their peers.

27:32 We still have an amazing culture here at Brevard virtual. We’re all local. We’re here in Brevard, and that allows us to do those face to face activities.

27:41 Brevard virtual is a great opportunity for parents to be able to have their kids with more flexibility. I have a travel nurse parent, and so she’s traveling and the daughter can travel with her, but she can still be getting her education, and it’s more opportunities for them to be able to participate as a family and have flexibility. Did you go on a field trip with her on the computer? Yes.

28:01 Where did you go? Remember where you saw lots of animals? Yeah, it was a zoo. I don’t remember where it was either. It was the Astra Bs zoo.

28:12 Well, we started with BVS at a rough time in our lives when my oldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer. And I pulled my son Kalief from brick and mortar because I spent a lot of time at Nemours children’s Hospital. He was a very, very timid child.

28:28 But Kalief was inducted into the National Junior honor Society as well as the National Honor Society. When he started BBS, he was so quiet. And now, outside of our community, he is an activist for pediatric cancer.

28:43 I like to call students just to say they’re doing great. And that’s part of the monthly contact. So when we call the parent or email the parent, we’re letting them know, not just the bad things, we’re letting them know, hey, they’re doing great.

28:57 And so it’s just a way that we build the community even further with parents as partners with our teachers at Westside, we are a family. Every single day that my students come to school, they want to be here. They feel safe.

29:20 They’re in an environment where they’re having fun and they can respect each other. We make sure that all individual needs are met. We have educated generations of families here within our school community.

29:32 Our school focuses on high academic expectations. We have standards based instruction, writing programs, gifted programs, and support for our struggling readers. But in addition to that, we have a variety of enrichment programs to build the whole child.

29:47 We have a very strong music program that involves orchestra and chorus and the only steel drum band here in Brevard county. In our athletics, we have one of the largest running clubs, our elite running club that places multiple times in local races. We also have stem in science, and then we build good character traits in our kindness club and our happy hand sign language club so students are becoming aware of inclusive children.

30:14 We develop a community in our school where students are feeling loved so that it’s okay to fail, and they feel that confidence and that belief that the staff has for them. Westside has a wonderful school family. We are able to implement a lot of different strategies with how diverse our population is here and being able to allow students to learn about one another and interact with one another regardless of their differences.

30:39 Everyone is so respectful here and that you can always be yourself here and the teachers are so welcoming and that they will help you with your grades and they’ll make sure you’re doing okay. Everyone at school is very caring and that even though we’re different, everyone feels the same. It’s very easy to make friends here.

31:09 Brevard county is a community on the move as one of the fastest growing counties in the state. With increased business opportunities, a booming tourism industry, and a key role in the return to space, living in Brevard county means being where the action is, and in the middle of that action is Brevard public schools. Brevard Public Schools is a community leader actively working to shape young lives into individuals capable of making real world impact.

31:41 Accessibility is of high importance and as such, 84 schools are offered to throughout the county spanning from Mims to Palm Bay. Proud to be an a district with a 90% graduation rate, Brevard ensures students have every opportunity to succeed. This can be seen in the 414 graduates who earn their associate’s degree while still in high school and the 47% of graduates who earn certificates in STEM and CTE courses.

32:12 Showcasing national leadership in career and technical education. Brevard students dominate in science, with seven high schools ranked as America’s best for STEM. For those students interested in other areas of study, our schools offer 82 different industry certifications, a unique aviation, assembly and fabrication program, a top notch robotics program, and a maritime program that uses technology only found in one Florida high school.

32:43 Right here in Brevard. All of our CTE programs prepare students for college and the workforce, whether in automotive, tech, 911, public safety, or culinary. These programs strengthen the future of our children and Brevard county.

32:59 Not just available to high school students, CTE programs are in middle school and and yes, elementary schools, too. When it comes to academics, our students shine using a robust AP program, dual enrollment Cambridge program, International Baccalaureate program, and National Honor Society. If you want the best educators in Florida, they are inside brevard classrooms.

33:24 Experienced, energized teachers and staff are leading our kids from kindergarten graduation at Brevard Public schools. The sky is not the limit we aim for beyond Sadeena. Sadeena.

38:24 Sadeena. Sadeena. Sadeena.

43:14 Sadeena. Odd Sadeena good evening. I’m happy to welcome all of my fellow board members and the public and call the August 10 school board meeting to order.

43:28 For those joining us in the audience this evening, I want to advise you of a few things. First, if you must leave the building for any reason, you will not be permitted to re enter. Your seat will be given to the next person waiting to enter.

44:38 Additionally, please note that this is a business meeting of the board held in the public. The board is authorized to adopt rules or policies to maintain orderly conduct or proper decorum in a public meeting, and your opportunity to be heard is subject to those rules and policies. The appropriate place for public participation in the meeting is during your individual public comment opportunity as identified in the agenda outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role in this meeting is as an observer pursuant to Florida statute 877.

45:24 13. It is unlawful and a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine for any person to knowingly disrupt or interfere with the lawful administration or functions of any educational institution or school board, or knowingly to advise, counsel, or instruct any school pupil or school employee to disrupt any school or school board function or activity on school board property. I will ask persons deemed to be knowingly or intentionally disrupting this meeting of the Brevard Public School board to stop or leave.

45:54 If persons receiving the warning do not follow my instructions, I will instruct Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies to take any law enforcement action they deem appropriate and you may be escorted, detained, or arrested depending on the conduct. Persons who refuse to depart after a warning may also be committing the crime of trespassing. Contrary to Florida Statute section 810.

46:01 009. These statutes apply to conduct on all school board property which includes this boardroom, as well as the outside of this building and the sidewalks. In the event multiple individuals fail to adhere to these expectations and board business cannot continue due to disruption, I will call a recess and request that the law enforcement officers present clear the boardroom of attendees.

46:10 When the room is cleared, the board will return and resume their meeting with no public presence. Those who are signed up to speak will be seated under the front entry area and called in when it is your time to speak. If you continue to cause a disruption, you are in violation of Florida State statute 877.

46:54 13. Or if you fail to leave the premises after being warned by the sheriff’s office, you are committing trespass. And the board has authorized the sheriff’s office to enforce these rules.

47:15 Miss Escobar, roll call please. Misses Belford? Present. Miss McDougall? Present.

47:23 Misses Jenkins? Present. Misses Campbell? Present. And Mister Susan? Present.

47:34 The board will now hold a moment of silent reflection and invite the viewing audience to join us. Thank you. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance.

47:39 Individual liberty and justice for all. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our local health partners to the meeting this evening. We appreciate you taking the time to be with us.

47:44 Will you please take a moment to introduce yourselves? We’ll start here. Doctor Mary Ulrich with pediatrics and brevard. Thank you.

47:56 Doctor Ulrich, I’m Helen Medlin from the Department of lab counsel. Thank you, Helen. John Davis from the Brevard County Health Department.

48:03 I’m the community health nursing director. Thanks, John. Hi, I’m Maria Stahl.

48:22 I’m the administrator at Florida Department of Health and Brevard. Thanks, Maria. Good evening.

48:34 My name is Eric Depert. I’m the Florida chief medical officer for the region for steward Healthcare by Sebastian Rockledge and Melbourne. Thank you, Eric.

48:47 Would your colleague like to. Are you just here for the ride? For moral support? Okay, perfect. She likes to elbow me.

49:18 I like it. All right, we will utilize time after Doctor Mullins presentation for board member questions for our health panelists. While you are more than welcome to join us for the entire meeting, it is my hope to get you out of here expeditiously this evening as we anticipate a significant amount of public speakers.

49:25 We will be opening up the opportunity for questioning after Doctor Mullins and Miss Moore. And then once we are done with that, you all are free to go on. I know you have very heavy plates at the moment, so we’ll get you out as soon as we can.

49:51 Okay? All right. At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and Doctor Mullins, the opportunity to recognize student staff or members of the community who would like to get us started. Miss McDougall, I have one.

50:00 I want to give a shout out to Pastor Corky Calhoun and the congregation of Georgiana Church. I happen to be at Cambridge elementary on Monday, and here comes seven pickup trucks fully loaded with backpacks and school supplies for every single student in that school and plus more. So a big shout out to Pastor Corkey and his congregation.

50:14 Thank you, Miss McDougall. Anyone else? Miss Campbell? Sure. Oh, forgot your done that.

50:26 I just wanted to give a shout out. I was able to visit one of our schools yesterday and a couple today, and just to our principals, our assistant principals, and our teachers and rest of our staff who have done an amazing job getting our buildings ready for today and with all the uncertainty, they really have done a great job. And several paces that I went to just took that extra special measure of making the parents facilities as they came in for registration day.

50:49 So I very much appreciate those principles. And the buildings looked great, beautiful. Always loved the beginning of the school year with all the fun signs and everything.

51:15 I also wanted to thank a group. It’s not necessarily a group, but more of a movement here in the county called we Pray Brevard, who gathered on Saturday to pray for our schools and teachers and staff and the school board as well. So just appreciate their support in that way.

51:36 Thank you. Thank you, Miss Campbell. Mister Susan, did you have any recognitions you wanted to share? Absolutely.

51:53 I wanted to say thank you to all of the team bps out there that has gone off and made today go off without a hitch. Called all the way from Mike Miller at transportation to all of our entities to check in to make sure everything was good. Drove by a couple of our schools to watch the kids going in to see how that was transitioning and everything else, and it just went off without a hit.

52:15 So Team Brevard went off really well and I wanted to give a big shout out to them. I also wanted to give a big shout out to miss Hardy from the Pre K team who pointed out last Friday that there was an opportunity through early learning coalition to get thousand dollars grant for our ias and a lot of our pre k teachers that because of the way that they had sent the email, had gotten into the trash folders of all of our principal. She was able to get ahold of me.

52:23 And then I pushed through, made some phone calls over to early learning coalition and our staff jumped on it. And all of a sudden now across the county, we have certain teachers that qualify for pre K and the IAS in there that will be getting thousand dollar check from early learning coalition. It’s a huge thing that she did and she doesn’t qualify for it.

52:53 She was looking out for her people and that’s that pre K team. And just as a shout out on the other side, the pre k once again didn’t get some of the grant or some of the money from the bonuses from the governor based upon their qualifications. That early learning coalition stipend was supposed to make up the other side of that.

53:04 So that’s what she was doing. And I just wanted to give her a big shout out also. I’m not sure if anybody’s seen the news that came up here, but Miss Carpenter, who’s a bus driver, actually just doing just her job, normally was able to find a toddler that was almost walking out into the street, stop the bus, and then have the child connected with the Brevard county sheriff’s office and then eventually brought back to their parents.

53:26 So once again, bps going out, out of their way to do a great job. And thank you to Miss Hardy for everything that she does. And that’s it.

53:41 Thank you, miss. Doctor Mullins, did you have any? Well, I was going to recognize Miss Renee Carpenter as well, our bus driver who just went above and beyond a demonstration of true attention and responsiveness to our community. Well beyond the 40, 50 students she may have had on our bus to see a little toddler by themself in the community.

53:56 She and the assistants on her bus intervened, so she doesn’t like to be in the limelight. She was very taken back and we made a big deal about her today. But she deserves hero status among our community.

54:27 So, Miss Carpenter, we’re so proud of you. And I would echo Miss Campbell’s sentiments to team bps and Mister Susan. It takes nearly 9000 men and women to welcome not only 65, 70,000 children by opening doors of buses and opening doors of the cafeteria and opening the doors of classrooms.

54:53 But Miss Carpenter is an example of how brevard public schools open their hearts to the lives of children across Brevard county. And I’m so proud of the work that they’ve done today to welcome our kids back. Thank you.

55:05 Thank you, Doctor Mullins. I would certainly echo the same sentiments with so much appreciation for our school based teams that have worked tirelessly to make sure that we were ready to welcome our students back today. And also just.

55:22 I know I feel like I say this often, but the way that our community has wrapped their arms around our students and families has just been phenomenal. Everything from. We had a realtor that raised, I think, $5,000 to provide 100 pairs of shoes to kids in our community, to barber shops that gave away free haircuts, to have the opportunity to volunteer at the supply zone school supply giveaway, not this past weekend, but the weekend before.

55:46 So many people who came together to support that event and make it possible and was so successful that I actually was able to leave with my car loaded full of supplies to take to some of my north area schools that are my. My highest percentage of title one schools. And so just everyone has been so phenomenal at coming together and supporting our kids in so many ways to make sure that they can kick this year off in a successful manner.

56:05 And we are incredibly appreciative. Thanks to all who made it possible. All right, that is going to bring us, Doctor Mullins, to the adoption of the agenda.

56:22 Miss Belford and members of the board. On this evening’s agenda, we have administrative staff recommendations, one presentation, 15 consent items for action items, and one information item. Changes made to the agenda since it was first released to the public on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 are as follows.

56:27 Item a seven on administrative staff recommendations received revisions. A placeholder under presentations for a superintendent’s report was removed and subsequently added for Covid mitigation strategy summary a presentation for first day of school recap was removed. An item on consideration quarantine timelines for students and staff was deleted.

56:32 Thank you, Doctor Mullins. And not to go out of order, Brett, Mister Susan has requested that he be given an opportunity to say something additional. So Mister Susan, prior to me calling for a motion on the adoption of the agenda, would you like to address your comment? Yes, thank you, Miss Belford, for giving me the opportunity.

56:40 I forgot while I was trying to give praise to everybody that the reason that I’m not there is I started showing symptoms of COVID related symptoms of the sniffles this morning. So I went in and got a test and tested positive for Covid. So like everybody else, I decided to quarantine and do the right thing.

56:48 Have checked. There’s absolutely nothing wrong. The only symptoms that I have is that I have sniffles.

57:04 So I’m going to quarantine for ten days. And I appreciate the board and everything else. Just wanted to say that’s the reason I’m calling in.

57:12 Thank you. Thanks, Mister Susan. All right with that, what are the wishes of the board? Move to approve.

57:19 Seconded. Moved by Miss Campbell. Seconded by Miss McDougall, is there any discussion hearing? None.

57:34 Please vote. Mister Susan, are you able to vote online? No. Okay, so are we going to need a voice vote on all votes? Miss Escobar.

57:45 Okay, Mister Susan. Miss Escobar saying that if you let her know whether you are an I or an a, she can put you in. So we don’t have to do voice vote on all of them.

57:51 Yes, I am. I am in favor. I apologize.

58:02 I will get caught up here momentarily. There’s a whole lot going on. Okay.

58:08 And that motion passes. 50. Doctor Mullins, will you please let us know about the administrative staff recommendations? Miss Belfer, there are six persons on this agenda item for the board to consider.

58:34 What are the wishes of the board? Move to approve. Moved by Mister Susan. Seconded by Miss Campbell.

58:52 Is there any discussion hearing? None. Please vote. Madam chair.

59:24 Would you just like me to say yay? That way she can enter it in. That’s fine, Mister Susan. Thank you.

59:42 Thank you. And that motion passes. 50.

1:00:10 Doctor Mullins. I believe that brings us to your superintendent’s report, sir. Good evening again.

1:00:30 Members of the board and community wanted to provide the board and the community just a summary of the mitigation strategies that have in place, including recent communications with our leadership team to reinforce those expectations. The detailed Covid mitigation strategies for the 2021 to 22 school year were presented at the July 29 board meeting. This full presentation was sent to our leadership team again yesterday, along with summarized guidance as reinforcements of our current organizational expectations, which I’ll share this evening with the board and the community.

1:01:11 Just highlights from that presentation, but things we have been reinforcing certainly that vaccines are highly recommended for all those who are eligible for them. And encourage all individuals to confer with their. At least confer with their doctor to determine if that is an option for them.

1:01:29 Also, face coverings are optional currently, but strongly recommended for our students and staff, particularly for unvaccinated children and employees, particularly or especially when social distancing is not possible. It is also strongly recommended that all students riding a school bus wear a face covering at all times. The current Florida Department of Health updated guidelines for quarantine protocols.

1:01:49 As of Friday last week, August 6, those will be implemented in Brevard Public Schools students. Miss Christine Moore, our assistant superintendent of student services. When I conclude in a moment, we’ll provide the board and the community an overview of those updated quarantine protocols.

1:02:06 But as consistent with last year, we encourage and thank you, Mister Susan, for leading by example. All those showing any symptoms should stay home and consult with their doctor. Continued successful strategies for last year that we have maintained this school year certainly frequent hand washing as well as hand sanitizers available throughout all of our schools, as well as our cleaning protocols that were raised last year have been maintained in place, including our strike force custodial teams who go out to our schools and assist them as needed.

1:02:38 Additionally, extra furniture clutter remains removed from our classrooms to maximize social distancing. Hallway traffic patterns, which I experienced this morning as I had the privilege to visit an elementary, middle and high school this morning. Just a personal note of privilege.

1:03:09 It was an absolute joy to see our students, our young men and women returning to our campuses today. They warmed hearts and brought smiles everywhere I was going. But also our plexiglass barriers remain available for our staff to utilize across offices, classrooms, and et cetera.

1:03:43 We encourage, particularly our teachers, to capitalize on those resources. Water fountains remain restricted to filling water bottles. Clinic spaces, as we’ve talked about, will continue to separate students and maintain all of the protocols they utilized last year.

1:03:50 But also schools should prioritize seating arrangements that minimize close contact for students, carefully monitoring and adhering to, wherever possible, the guidelines of the CDC. With three to 6ft social distancing. We do allow our teachers to utilize instructional opportunities outside of that, but encourage them to use plexiglass barriers and so on to make sure we’ve taken extra precautions.

1:04:42 So I wanted to emphasize what we have continued to communicate with our leadership across brevard public Schools as an organization and the expectations we will continue to uphold. But at this time, I’d like Miss Moore to come forward and kind of walk through the new flowcharts that we have for quarantine practices. Good evening.

1:04:58 Before I jump into the flowcharts, I want to just take a moment to explain a little bit about rules that come down and how they typically come down and how they’ve come down to us recently because I think that’ll alleviate some of our parents frustration about, you know, school has started. Why are you changing the rules now? So last Thursday evening we were noticed that there would be an emergency rule meeting for both the Department of Education and the Department of Health. It’s extraordinarily unusual.

1:05:06 Typically, we get noticed of a change of rule. We have time to give input. We can send it out to our people.

1:05:24 They can review and give us any concerns so that we have an opportunity to really understand and give input before that rule is voted on. So Thursday evening, like I said, an emergency rule meeting was announced and both divisions, both the Department of Education and the Department of Health had their rule meetings, got input from the community as they could, and passed two new rules Friday, which greatly impacted our way of being, our operations, and our plan for this school year. So as parents wonder, why now? Why change? It is in reaction to the passing of three new rules by the Department of Education and Department of Health, which are, for all intents and purposes for us now, law.

1:05:39 This is what we have to do. So the main one I’d like to focus on tonight is the one passed by the Department of Health. It’s 64 der 20, 112 protocols for controlling Covid-19 in school settings.

1:05:50 And it greatly impacted and informed our work on the flowcharts that we had already kind of had, well, let me be frank. We had already trained our principles. We were already operation go.

1:06:01 We had already given them to you guys. So this is going to be some changes, and I’ll try to highlight the changes, especially as we go. It would be remiss of me not to say again in this big orange box right there for you guys all to see.

1:06:34 Sick people need to stay home. We are once again going to excuse any parent that sends in a letter that says, my child has one of these symptoms of COVID Those absences will not count in the nine days. They will not count against the child.

1:07:24 We will offer no perfect attendance awards. It’s not going to happen. We want ill kids to stay home, and so we’re going to encourage that any way we can.

1:08:19 So this first flowchart is for students who feel sick. If they’re at home, stay home. If they’re at school, we’re going to send them to the clinic, and the clinic is going to ask a very simple question.

1:08:46 Do you have one of the symptoms of COVID or don’t you? I will tell you that we used to have the symptoms on here, but now what happens is the Department of Health regularly gives us updates. They have a letter that they send to our clinic, and so we’re going to refer all of our, all of our flowcharts to that clinic letter so that they can review those Covid symptoms with their parents and the students. If the child doesn’t have any symptoms of COVID we want them to go home until they feel better and then they can come back.

1:09:01 If they do have a symptom of COVID we are going to call the family, and the family is going to have to come and pick up the student. If the family says, my child has had Covid within the past 90 days, we’re going to ask them to show us a lab report showing that the child had Covid in the past 90 days and if they have, they come back to school when they’re feeling better. One of the things I did not highlight, but it’s new to the flowchart is what I read below is regardless of vaccination status, so whether you’re vaccinated or not, if you have a symptom of COVID we are going to go down this flow chart.

1:09:30 So again, if the parent has a positive lab report, they submit it, the child comes back to school. If they have not had a, had a had Covid within the past 90 days, they are going to stay home for ten days from the onset of symptoms or they will get a written permission to return to school from a medical doctor, osteopathic physician or advanced registered nurse practitioner. That language is slightly different and that language is directly taken from 64 der, 20, 112 or they have to bring in a negative diagnostic test with no fever.

1:09:49 So last year there was lots of parents that wanted to use a negative antigen test to come back from quarantine. What we know so far is that negative PCR tests and negative antigen tests will be acceptable to return to school. However, whenever we pass rules quickly, and it was an emergency rule, it needed to be done quickly.

1:10:09 There are lots of little questions hanging out there. So I’m getting lots of questions about what other tests might be acceptable. We’re working closely with the Department of Health and they’re getting updates every single day as they question Tallahassee.

1:10:38 Will this test work and will that test work? At this point I can let you know that we don’t know if the home test will work. We are waiting to hear from Tallahassee if that’s an acceptable test for a negative result. I think I’m going to go through the students and then I’ll stop and address questions and then Beth doctor Betty is going to go through employees and she’ll stop and address questions, but that’s basically it.

1:10:51 If a student feels sick, those are the three ways for a student who has Covid symptoms to come back into the school setting. Now, this one gets a little bit more complicated, so stick with me. This is for students who are a close contact to a case.

1:11:20 Close contact is still defined by CDC as somebody within 6ft of a COVID positive person for longer than 15 cumulative minutes in a 24 hours period. If the student is at home, we expect our parents to notify us. It’s not.

1:11:41 It’s a hop, skip and a jump from a contact to a case to a case. And so our principals do a lot of work trying to ensure that we’ve wrapped our hands and arms around the cases that they are dealing with in order to ensure that we’re trying to stop Covid before it. If the student is at school and we are notified that they are contacted case, we ask our parents to pick the student up as quickly as possible.

1:12:09 Sometimes we are noticed at noon and we start making the phone calls. And we know some parents are at work. And the reality is it may take all day for that child to get home.

1:12:38 What we won’t do is put a contact to case on a bus to send them off. We will continue to reach out to parents because, like I said, it’s a hop, skip and a jump sometimes between a contact case and case. We’re doing our best to mitigate the spread and transmission of COVID So there are four things that happen, or it could happen if a student is identified as a contact to case.

1:12:54 The first piece up here, this is for our staff, this is for our principals and how they’re communicating with the Department of Health and how the Department of Health is communicating back and how we’re monitoring symptom cases in school. So that’s the first part. It’s the bottom part that I think our parents are going to be most interested in.

1:13:11 If your child is a contact to case, and they themselves have been a verified case, within 90 days, they can come back to school with the submission of a lab report. If your child has been identified as a contact to case and your child is vaccinated, your child can come back to school with the submission of a shot record. And then we have our last two groupings.

1:13:19 And this is where it gets complicated. And you’re going to notice that I’m going to say something different that’s on this chart, because remember when I told you, when we pass rules quickly, it leaves room for lots of questions and interpretation. And one of the pieces of this chart was clarified by Tallahassee, I’m going to say about 15 minutes before the start of this meeting.

1:13:32 So if your child is identified as a contacted case and is asymptomatic, they have no symptoms. They go home for seven days. For seven days to have passed since the date of the last exposure.

1:14:12 And as long as they remain symptomatic, they can come back to school. I’m going to rest here for a second because this is the most important thing I think parents can hear. If the case is at the school, it’s going to be really easy for us to say.

1:14:44 The last known exposure was Monday. Monday is day zero. We count seven days out from that.

1:15:10 You’re asymptomatic. There are many symptoms. You can come back to school if the case is in the house.

1:15:36 If the person in the house with COVID does not isolate, the last day of exposure for that child will be the full ten days that that person is in the house. So let me give the example. If I have Covid and I’ve been given a ten day quarantine period, the child who is the contact, my son or daughter, is at home with me for those ten days because they’re contact to a positive case and they are out seven days beyond that.

1:15:43 So last year we would have said a 14 day quarantine period. If families don’t isolate within their homes, it’s going to be a minimum 17 day quarantine period. So in terms of what families need to do in order to keep their children and get their children back to school, it’s going to be reliant on how well they isolate within the home.

1:15:56 Worst case scenario is if there’s no isolation in the home and Covid goes from one family member to another family member to another, which is very, very typical. It is the most common scenario we saw last year. The child who starts off as a contact to case will get seven days tacked on to whoever the last person is to get Covid.

1:16:25 So I just want to remind everybody that this came down as a DOH rule and so we have to follow it. The other, there’s a big or, and I think you guys will see a big or. They can test on day five.

1:16:48 I know the chart up there says four. That was changed about that was clarified. I don’t want to say changed.

1:17:05 That was clarified about 15 minutes before this meeting. And so the charts we update, it will say day five. They can test on day five from the last date of exposure.

1:17:45 So again, if the exposure is school exposure is day zero, we count out five days, they can test and they can return to school upon receiving a negative notice. If that is a rapid pcr and they test on a Tuesday at ten, by 1030, they can be back in school. If the exposure is the home, same rules apply.

1:18:09 The last day of exposure is going to be the last day you’re around an infected person. So if family members don’t isolate and they’re under quarantine for ten days, their 10th day is that child’s day one. So for those students who are identified.

1:18:23 I’m going to this final column for those students who are identified as a contact to a case who then either test positive or develop symptoms. They need to stay at home and away from others. That’s that isolation period.

1:18:50 And they can return with a negative diagnostic test. As long as they become asymptomatic, their symptoms are gone, or they receive written permission to return from a school to school from a medical doctor, osteopath, or nurse practitioner. Again, that’s the exact language in 64 der, 20 112, or ten days have passed since the symptom onset or their lab date, and they remain and they’re asymptomatic or their symptoms have improved.

1:18:56 So this is different than last year. This is going to be different for our parents, and they’re going to want to know why the change. And I think it’s important to recognize that, how and why the changes happen and that we’re going to be responsive to them.

1:19:26 One of the questions from last week was about athletes and when athletes can come back and when they can start to participate. 64 der, 20 112. All kids are treated the same.

1:19:58 When they’re done with their quarantine, they come back as a fully participating student. I’ll just note before doctor Thetti comes up to talk about the employment Covid charts, one of the DOE rules was about attendance. And we had a meeting today because we have questions about what it means to us.

1:20:25 When we pass a rule quickly, it leaves us with questions. And that’s okay. We’re going to get clarification.

1:20:56 But it’s all about whether a student who is quarantined, if they’re accessing school support, that they would not be considered absent either for any FTE week for any of the reasons why we might count a student absent. So we’re getting a little bit of clarification on that. And as soon as we have a fully formed understanding of that Doe rule, we’ll be sending you guys an update on what that means and how it impacts us.

1:21:18 So any questions about students before Doctor Theti takes over the mic? Miss Campbell? Thank you, Miss Moore, for wading through all of that. Just a couple of questions. Is there a way for, if a student has had a verified positive case in the last 90 days, is there a way for the parents to go ahead and supply that information to schools ahead of time which will save them some time voluntarily? A couple of things.

1:21:23 We were looking at ways for that to happen. For example, we were looking at ways if we could start collecting parents who have immunized or vaccinated their children. But the way our as 400 system is set up, it’s set up by state codes for immunizations and they haven’t set up a state code yet for us to put on to our school health records, the COVID vaccine.

1:21:28 So I know a lot of principals are looking for ways to make this easier, both for them, because it’s an enormous task every time this happens, but also for our parents, so they can submit medical records to their school clinic. We don’t want to hold their medical records. And it certainly would make things easier if a principal were to call a parent and say, your child’s been identified as a contact case and the parent was able to say, our positive lab result is in the clinic.

1:21:39 I want to be super clear. We are not requesting lab results, we are not requesting vaccine cards. If a parent chooses to supply that information to us because it helps them with their needs for their child to be in school, we will happily accept them.

1:21:53 Good. Thank you. So it would be like a print out of an email.

1:22:03 Usually they send you a text or an email to a link or whatever we can. Parents can do that. Thank you.

1:22:27 There was some question. I know Mister Gibbs had sent us that the original rule that they were looking at the DOH was looking at was 6ft and then they had reduced it down to 3ft. Did that happen? Or.

1:22:41 So what happened was the original was sent out. It was actually quickly corrected by the DOH and assigned version was sent to us within hours. It all falls under the heading of sometimes when you move fast, you make mistakes.

1:22:53 But that’s. They corrected it and the correct version is the signed version that’s up on their website now, which is 6ft. Okay, thank you.

1:23:08 So it is 6ft. When you talked about the situation, which is very frustrating, I’m sure, to many of the quarantine being longer than the 14 days because of the contact. If the child, as has often happened in families, if the child becomes positive, either their symptoms, then they wouldn’t necessarily have 17 days.

1:23:15 If their ten days start somewhere in there. Great point. As soon as you test positive and you start your ten days of being a positive case, as soon as you either test positive or you become symptomatic in that house, your ten day window starts.

1:23:31 And then. Just another question. If they haven’t provided this clarification, I know last year sometimes students were out, not necessarily because of quarantine, because they were positive themselves.

1:23:32 Well, they have the same benefit of the attendance. If they’re feeling bad and don’t want to do any school, but if they’re actually, you know, asymptomatic or are just mildly symptomatic, and they log on. Last year, there was kind of an absent code, but they were participating.

1:23:37 Yes, I know we’re excusing those, so maybe it doesn’t matter, but is there. I know some parents were upset because you’re kind of my kid, absent, but they’re doing the work. Right.

1:23:46 So again, we’re getting clarification, but the actual term is stay home. They’re getting a stay home. And the state is developing a code so that, yes, they are counted in attendance during a stay home as long as some instructional qualifications are met.

1:23:56 Right. They’re going through focus or whatever. Okay.

1:24:06 Thank you. Welcome. Thank you, Miss Campbell.

1:24:19 Any other board members have questions for Miss Moore or Doctor Mullins? Because we didn’t take questions on his either. I don’t have a question. Half a second, Miss Jenkins.

1:24:28 Sorry, go ahead. Yeah, I don’t have a question. I do want to say, though, thank you for going through this extensive, extensive, extensive flowchart.

1:24:44 And I know how quickly you guys had to push this together. But I just want to give you a shout out and a thank you. Because a lot of people don’t realize that we had.

1:24:55 Everyone’s job was really difficult last year. But you basically had the burden of documenting all of the contact tracing for our students last year. And it was an absolutely ridiculous task.

1:25:11 And you went above and beyond to do that. And I know you had so many sleepless nights. You were here way too long.

1:25:29 And I just want to thank you for sticking it out with us and doing your absolute best at this job and being committed to our students and trying to keep them safe. So, thank you very much, Miss Moore. Thank you.

1:25:45 Thank you, Miss Jenkins, for those comments. Anyone else have comments or questions for Miss Moore or Doctor Mullins before we ask? Doctor Thetis. Thank you so much.

1:25:59 Miss Moore. Good evening. Thank you very much.

1:26:15 There are some distinct differences between students and adults. As I’m sure you know, there are fewer changes to the adult charts than there are to the student charts. But one of the most significant differences between a student and adult is that our adults, our employees, are considered critical infrastructure workers.

1:26:27 So you’ll see on our charts, when I get to the point of being a close contact to a COVID positive case for our employees that’s applicable only to a household case. It is not applicable to an exposure at the school. But I’ll start with the employee feels sick chart.

1:26:44 And as misses Moore pointed out, this chart is regardless of vaccination status. So if an employee becomes ill, whether they’re at home or not, if they’re at school, they leave school. If they’re at home, they stay home, they are on.

1:27:00 As you all know, they will be on our brevard defined FFCRA leave up to ten days. But while they’re on that leave, if they’re feeling unwell, they have to go get tested for Covid. And there are four avenues that they can take.

1:27:19 One is they are either a verified case within 90 days and again, they have to give us proof that they have been a case within 90 days. If that’s the case, they stay home until they’re feeling better and they come back to work. If they have a medical release from a physician, they can come back to work.

1:27:35 If they have no test result or they refuse to test, they remain awake. They are either on RFFCRA leave or if they are refusing to test, they would be on their own, accrued leave and they stay home for ten days. Since the symptoms ten days have passed.

1:27:56 Since the symptoms have gotten better and they have no fever over 100.4 for longer than 24 hours and with no fever reducing medication. And then the final gray box is they’re waiting on test results.

1:28:18 They still stay home and remain away from others. If they are negative, they stay home till they’re feeling better. If they are positive, they continue on their ten days and they return at the conclusion of their ten days.

1:28:28 For an employee who is a close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 individual, the difference here, like I said, is we’re critical infrastructure workers. So if the exposure is at work, they come back to work with a requested masking and monitoring. If they are.

1:28:36 If they’ve been a verified case within the last 90 days, and I’m over on the right side of, I’m sorry, the left side of the chart, if they have been a verified case in the last 90 days, then they will remain at home. I’m sorry, if they’ve been a verified case, they get to come back to work. If they are vaccinated, they also get to come back to work.

1:29:02 We are not collecting employee medical information. If they are vaccinated, they’ll let us know that they’re vaccinated and we’ll be able to bring them back to work. If they are not a verified case or they’re not vaccinated, then they remain at home and self quarantine and they isolate from their family member, just as misses Moore indicated with students, we need to keep our employees isolated from the.

1:29:24 From the positive Covid person. If they live in the home with that individual, they are on quarantine. And this is the biggest change for our employees.

1:29:36 And we train principals on this yesterday. This came up yesterday probably right before we trained principals. So it’s been a very short time.

1:29:52 Last year, they were quarantined for 14 days. We were able to work out, in cooperation with our brevard Department of Health, that they will be quarantined for ten days, or as long as they are remaining isolated from the family member who is ill. They can test on day six and then return on day eight from quarantine, as long as that test result is a negative test result.

1:30:07 Of course, if they become symptomatic during any point during that quarantine period, then their ten day starts from when their symptoms began, and then they will return to work. They’ll go to the employee, feel sick, flowchart, and they’ll return to work at the end of that quarantine period. So it’s a little bit easier with employees as far as quarantine times and figuring out who can come back to work and who can’t.

1:30:15 But there are some significant changes with the ten days and then the testing on six days. Does anybody have any questions about that? Board members have questions for doctor Thetti on that floor. No.

1:30:37 Good. Can I just do one more? Misses Moore reminded me of one thing that I meant to say when I walked up here that is really critical. The rule that she talked about, the DOH rule, is applicable to students only.

1:30:48 It is not applicable to the adults. And the advice from the Department of Health and the Department of Education is that we continue to work with our local department of health, which we have done to develop these flow charts. Thank you, Doctor Thetti, for mentioning that.

1:31:12 We appreciate it, Miss Jenkins. Yeah. Not to be redundant here, but I’m not going to just let you stand up here and not acknowledge this either.

1:31:37 But Doctor Thetti is, again, someone who had to go above and beyond her job responsibilities last year and was basically responsible for all of our adults and their contacts and their quarantines. And so I want to thank you equally for your responsibility and your dedication to every one of our staff members. So, thank you very much.

1:31:40 Thank you. Thank you for those comments as well, Miss Jenkins. All right.

1:31:52 At this point, board members, we have wrapped up the presentations. We have representatives from Steward health, pediatrics, brevard, pediatrics, as well as our local health department. They are with us only during this question and answer session, I promise them that they will be able to leave when we are done and not have to wait until the end of our meeting tonight.

1:32:05 So I will go ahead and open the floor to any questions that you have for the health experts who have joined us this evening. Who would like to go first? All right, Miss Campbell, thank you so much for joining us again. I know, doctor Lucker, you did join us last year over the phone.

1:32:17 Right. So it is. Again, thank you guys for your time.

1:32:31 I just had a few questions. You know, our parents and our community, there’s been such a frenzy with the alarming numbers, numbers that we’ve seen here. And I just.

1:32:45 I want to get accurate information. It’s not from the news, but from the people who are dealing with these numbers every day. And then, of course, I religiously follow the numbers that get put out that we have access to.

1:32:57 Unfortunately, we’re not having all the information. We can’t see hospitalizations on the Florida DOH website anymore. But I wanted to ask some questions, actually, miss Moore, before you go away, my first one’s for you.

1:33:31 Because it was about the dashboard. There was some concern in the community when the first dashboard came out on Tuesday, and I’ve already asked you this, but if you could confirm that it was 95 students, 58 employees. But those weren’t, because those weren’t.

1:33:49 Most of those people weren’t even in our buildings yet. So can you just share that? That was what the DOH sent over to us of people who are on our rolls, either our payrolls or our school rolls, who were. Who would need to start a quarantine, correct? Yeah.

1:33:59 We get information two different ways. We either get information coming from our families to our schools, or we get information from the department of health to our schools. The hub is always the school.

1:34:23 And so mostly over the summer, we did have some parents to call us up to notify us about their child testing positive for Covid or employees did. But for the most part, it was the DOH that was handling the lab results. And as they got lab results and identified them as either students not necessarily actively participating in any summer activity, or employees not necessarily actively participating in any event at school, we continued to handle those cases, especially if they quarantined into the school year.

1:34:32 So that’s part of the reason why we started keeping the dashboard again when we did, because we knew that is when the quarantine would begin to impact the school year. Thank you very much. All right, so I think that you guys may have shared this answer with us last meeting, but I apologize.

1:34:35 I’ve forgotten. When we look at the hospitalization rates that we are hearing about, they’re not on your website, but I think they’re being published in the newspaper. I know you guys are tracking those.

1:34:42 Does that include ER visits? So if someone comes to the ER and test positive or whatever, then does that, is that counted in the hospitalizations? Miss Stahl? Go ahead. I can speak for Rockledge, Melbourne and Sebastian. We follow the state and CDC guidelines to re report all positives.

1:34:46 Okay, so is that so they, they do. When you, if someone comes into the ER, they’re not admitted, it still counts as part of that hospitalization rate. I don’t know if it’s reported.

1:35:06 It’s hospitalization rate. We report them all to the state. Yeah.

1:35:13 It will report as a positive case. It will not report as a hospitalization. A hospitalization has to be admitted.

1:35:22 Correct. Thank you. And I know I saw.

1:35:39 Thank you, Miss Jenkins, for sending us the county’s update yesterday. And I just, because we have a public platform here, I wanted just to share what the part of that that stuck out to me was. They’re really asking for people who are not in an emergency situation to please not utilize the emergency room.

1:35:46 And if you want a second to talk about, about that, because it sounds like we’re having people come. Oh, I just tested positive for Covid. I need to go to the hospital or.

1:36:02 I had some mild symptoms. So I would love to give you just a few seconds to reiterate that. No, I appreciate that.

1:36:09 First of all, to my community members and colleagues who are on the table here in healthcare, it’s really a ministry. It’s what we do. Some men and some women are called to be priests and mothers, sheikhs or rabbis.

1:36:38 And others of us are ministers to the Sikh. It’s what we do. And so we don’t run away from the fire.

1:37:00 I can tell you unequivocally, I come to you, to Florida, back to Florida in March of this year. I spent the prior two years in Corpus Christi, Texas. And for those of you who like the Game of Thrones, I’ve been to the wall.

1:37:10 I’ve seen the White Walkers. Covid is real. And it was bad there.

1:37:19 We had over 8000 patients that were hospitalized, not positive. Over 8000 hospitals, over 16 hospitals. And I can tell you unequivocally that the majority of the patients that we had that were staff members, nurses or otherwise, who became positive were people who were tracked through our infection control to being exposed in the community, not in the hospital wearing appropriate PPE.

1:38:01 I don’t want to get into a whole song of dance about wearing masks and things of that nature, but I know in our house in the hospital where it’s contagious, you get backed. So for me it’s all about washing your hands, it’s all about social distancing. Wear a mask responsibly, you don’t want to wear it, don’t wear it, but I encourage you, if you’re close distances, to wear it.

1:38:30 Right. And vaccination, I think, you know, we’re seeing a lot more cases of younger kids now. We didn’t see it last time, we’re not seeing the same attack rate.

1:38:50 98.8% of our patients in the hospital right now are patients who were not vaccinated. That’s kind of where we’re at.

1:39:15 So again, I know it’s very politically charged and people are probably going to holler all about it, but for me, good hand washing, social distancing, consider, unless there is part of the frenzy, I believe is the statements that are going around about the Delta variant and about it being so much. I’m just putting this in quotes because this is what is coming through the news and through our emails, so much more dangerous for children. I want to know is that statement accurate because I. Or is it that we’re just having so many more cases? I’m looking at the data.

1:39:26 The reason why I ask that is because when I have the, our most recent data, the report that came out last week actually breaks down the demographics of positive cases by 100,000 for, you know, by age group. And when I look at that, I mean obviously it’s high, all of our age groups are high. But the under twelve, which is the area of greatest concern for most of our families because those are the ones who haven’t been eligible for the vaccine.

1:39:38 If the family is going to choose that they actually have the lowest number of cases per hundred thousand of any age group except for the 60 and olders. So in fact half as much, almost half as much as the thirties and the twenties. And then it goes on from there.

1:39:51 But at 476 cases per hundred thousand, which is a very high number, they are just above the 60 and up 60 to 64 is like 455 per hundred thousand. So that’s saying to me that actually per hundred thousand are under twelve s are still not getting it as much. And I. So when people are saying it’s more dangerous for children, is that an accurate statement? I think you need to look at the term dangerous.

1:39:56 Right? And let’s put that in quotation marks. Last year, at the peak of Covid-19 in my Texas market, the r naught value, which is the infectivity, was 1.3.

1:40:01 That meant for every one, every positive patient, when you coughed in a room, you would infect 1.3 people. The r naught value right now in this Brevard county is between five and nine, which basically similar to varicella or chicken pox.

1:40:18 So it’s the communicability and the asymptomatic carriage. Not only are we trying to protect our children from getting sick, but also the community spread. We’re not going to stop this until we get herd immunity.

1:40:47 So thank you. And I’m getting there, too. I’m sorry if I asked y’all questions.

1:40:56 Sorry. I have my list here. So it is definitely.

1:41:08 It’s more contagious, to use layman’s term, more contagious. So then the word virulent gets thrown out there, and I had to look it up, make sure I’m using it the correct way, which extremely severe, harmful effects. And again, people are saying it’s more virulent for children.

1:41:19 So I. Then the older versions. All right, so I guess I’m trying to get down to it. Is a child who gets the delta or an adult who gets the delta variant this summer more likely to have severe disease and possibly die than a child who caught an earlier version of COVID say, last summer? And I know it’s maybe hard to track down, but I’m looking at the rates, and it doesn’t appear to be so because our hospitalization rates seem to have been falling since last fall.

1:41:46 Our death rates seem to have been falling since last fall. Great question. I am a board certified internist, so I don’t have little kids.

1:42:17 So any of my colleagues here are pediatricians? Yeah, that’s open. I’m going to defer the mic to my colleagues. Well, I’m a pediatrician, but I’m not sure I have the data to answer that exactly.

1:42:24 I think that because it’s more contagious, we’re seeing more children with it. I think more data is coming out about the effects of the virus. Previously on kids.

1:42:33 I mean, they did a study of the alpha variant that infected healthy athletes, like teenage early twenties, and up to one in 40 of those had myocarditis from the disease, and it was about 1597 students. Now, they weren’t symptomatic. They did a test on their heart to look for it.

1:42:55 So there can be problems with the disease from previously that we’re just now really beginning to recognize that may be there. The majority of children, though, seem to not be very sick or symptomatic from it that we see. Do we, as you know, for our doctors and our, do we have more effective treatments now than we had last summer? Well, it’s a viral illness, so the treatments are supportive, really.

1:43:39 Right. And it’s not a cure, but just, you know, what’s the word, the medical word? Therapeutics. Right.

1:44:01 That kind of thing. And I still may not be using the right word for children. It’s just supportive like any other viral illness.

1:44:40 I want to talk about natural immunity a little bit, because obviously, with our numbers being so high, we’re actually developing natural immunity at a pretty quick pace. And so, unfortunately. But if there is a benefit to any of this spike that we’re having, it’s that many more of our students are coming into our buildings already having tested positive recently.

1:44:58 And bringing that natural immunity is the benefit from what we’re seeing so far, is the benefit received even if you’re asymptomatic? So if you have a child who didn’t ever developing symptoms but they had a positive case, is that natural immunity then? Is that showing to be, as far as we know, about the same as someone who was symptomatic? Is there any difference to any of you? Well, I can speak to our experience with the adults. I mean, there is recently a beginning to see a breakthrough, even in vaccinated patients. And so as this virus mutates into Delta and Lambda and who knows whatever else, there’s no.

1:45:15 There’s no guarantee that the natural immunity will work. But we do know that the vaccinated patients, the attack rate is far less than those who have not been vaccinated for the variance. So at least right now, that appears to be the benefit of being vaccinated, even if you actually had Covid-19 yourself.

1:45:30 We talked last time about the 90 days set by the CDC maybe being a conservative low because that’s where we had some tested breakthrough for people who had previously had tested positive. Covid. Just talking about even before the vaccine, our children who’ve already had Covid, whether they were nor, and I know we’ve also talked previously about, you know, these are that we have numbers of people who’ve tested positive, but then we are estimating above and beyond that, a higher number of people have actually had it because either they thought it was a cold, they blew it off, or now they’re using an at home test and it didn’t go through the Department of Health or they didn’t have symptoms and so they didn’t even know.

1:45:39 So we know that’s higher. So as we’ve had, as that number is going up, are those children serving as kind of somewhat of a barrier for our children who have not had Covid? I know there’s a limit and the CDC is given the 90 days, but they, that’s. We talked about herd immunity.

1:45:54 I mean, the virus is going out, trying to bounce around. Does that provide. I’ll ask our immunologists here or from the Department of Health or whatever, is that some of a barrier for our students who are in schools that haven’t been vaccinated and haven’t had the disease? I think we probably do not know the answer to that question.

1:46:08 Really. What they are saying is you don’t necessarily have immunity from another variant. So if you had the original Covid, you might not have immunity to the Delta or a new variant that comes out.

1:46:16 So I think it’s a little. Would you agree? I think it’s a little too. We just don’t know the answer to that question.

1:46:36 It appears that exposure to the virus and having the virus itself and that herd immunity is hopeful in a sense that again, we’re seeing some protection. Anecdotally, the recurrent cases are low. Right.

1:46:51 And in vaccinated patients, the recurrent disease delta or even lambda now in Texas is low. So the pretest or pre injection probability protection appears to be quite good. But time will tell.

1:47:14 So. And I don’t want you guys to stretch it farther beyond, you know, what the studies that are out there. I guess what I’m thinking is the CDC has already said 90 days.

1:47:42 The Department of Health has said 90 days. It’s pretty fair to say, I would think that in the last 90 days, the majority, if people who are developing art, it was Delta. So we’re talking about now these next couple of weeks, which we’re expecting to still have high cases, that natural immunity is probably going to be, probably going to be to the same strain that is out there.

1:47:52 So I think, I’m not talking about you got it last fall or do you still have immunity but. Right. For these 90 days, this is, I’m going to skip that one.

1:47:58 So when it comes down, and this is my last one, you know, regardless of a mask mandate or not a mask mandate. And so that set that to the side because our community spread is high, are we likely going to see a large number of cases over the next few weeks? Yes. Yeah.

1:48:07 So you’ll find that when you have a high incidence of disease in a community, all the small communities inside of that will reflect it. So when you see these high cases in Brevard county, that’s going to be reflected in a classroom, an office space. So those same attack rates are going to happen within the school system.

1:48:10 And I think when we look at our numbers from last year, our dashboard, it was pretty much reflective spikes in our schools reflected the spikes. Yes, we did. In the community.

1:48:24 Thank you. That’s all I have, Misses Leffer. Thank you, Miss Campbell.

1:49:11 Any other board members have questions? I do. You can go, Miss Jenkins. I’m sorry.

1:49:29 Was it supposed to. I’ll get it. If she doesn’t have any question, I’ll get it.

1:49:54 Okay, go ahead. So I actually, I kind of want to just jump off of what you just said right there. Smaller communities within the communities reflect what is going on in terms of the spikes.

1:50:10 So my question is, brevard public schools, their students and their staff were about one 6th of the population of Brevard county. So in any one up here, expert opinion, we had masking in place. And so when you say that we mimicked what was going on in the larger community, when you take into consideration that we have small spaces, no social distancing, poor air circulation, and if we did not have masking, do you believe that we would have still been mimicking the larger community, or will we have surpassed what was going on? I think that what you’ll see is, in general, that you will reflect the community, and then you will end up with an outbreak.

1:50:47 You may end up with an outbreak, which will then increase the numbers. And that’s what we see in everywhere. We see that, like in an office space where, you know, you might be reflecting the community until suddenly someone brings it in and spreads it, and then there’s an outbreak.

1:51:00 So on the whole, you’re going to reflect the community until there’s an outbreak in that place, and then it spikes. Okay, thank you again. Whoever wants to answer do or can children function as carriers and spread Covid? Yes.

1:51:20 Yes. And so as children continue to spread throughout our community, and we have hospitals that are already overwhelmed, I saw a news report. I actually would love if somebody here can speak to the news report.

1:51:37 I saw with mobile morgue sitting outside of them here locally, what is going to happen to our community? Studies have shown that all the things that you’re doing to take precautions make a huge difference. There’s a really good article by the CDC called transmission of SARS Cov two nk through twelve schools. You may have readdez updated July 9, but what it says is still true and it gives incidence after incidence of schools that made some of the changes that brevard schools are doing.

1:51:56 I really appreciate all the time and effort and care that you’ve put into deciding the things you’re going to do for our schools. It’s so hard. But when you take precautions, it really does reduce the spread.

1:52:04 It really does. Just the things that you mentioned, trying to have good ventilation and hand washing and social distancing and masks, it does make a difference and it does reduce the spread. And it’s been shown over and over again that it does help.

1:52:07 Thank you. And I kind of would just like to point out those things that you just mentioned. Some of those things we do our best to mitigate, but it would be dishonest to say that we’re able to do all of those things that are on that Covid-19 mitigation.

1:52:16 I think it’s really important to bring that up to the public again. If you step foot inside of our classrooms, it’s nearly impossible in almost every single one of them for us to have 6ft apart. And now that we’re having elearning students return, which I would love somebody to remind me of at the beginning of last year, how many students were learning.

1:52:19 Doctor Mullins, can you answer that question for me? Roundabout? I don’t expect you to give me an exact number. I don’t remember. I would say it’s.

1:52:39 It was close. Close to. I don’t know the exact number.

1:52:44 I know we ran about a 60% to 65% in person rate. About 35% of our students were e learning. It was right in the 20,000.

1:52:58 That’s what I thought. Okay. I didn’t want to misspeak.

1:53:33 So we have about 20,000 more students coming into those buildings, which means it’s basically virtually impossible for us to keep them socially distanced. So I think that’s really important for our community to remember and understand. It wasn’t happening with 20,000 kids gone and it’s definitely not going to happen with 20,000 kids back in our schools and especially with our ventilation systems.

1:53:40 I think. I think that speaks for itself with some of the ages of our, of our building. So I appreciate you saying that, but I don’t.

1:53:57 I just want to make it really clear to our public. It’s great we’re doing those things, but we can’t do them to the best and the max capacity. I do have another question.

1:54:29 Have children died from COVID And are we seeing more cases under the ten year old mark? And I saw something recently that I feel like has been reported in central Florida with an increase in cases under the age of sex. We’re basically seeing an increase in cases in all ages, except for even over the 65. But the over 65, which is more.

1:54:49 More vaccinated? That increase. I’m sorry. Is that better? I apologize.

1:55:03 I know my voice is soft. So we are seeing an increase in cases in all ages. So over 65, who are more vaccinated, it’s not as significant.

1:55:15 But the caseload of children that we’re seeing is high in that if we focus on just the children, on our daily counts, we’re seeing around 100 pieces of those. I think that the ages spread pretty evenly between those under ten and those over. So you said there’s about 100 daily cases of children under what age? In Brevard? About 18.

1:55:37 Okay, so children under 18 were seeing about 100 daily cases of COVID positive at this point in time, on average. So it varies, obviously. So when you say that those hundred positives, these are obviously, I’m assuming these are children that have some kind of symptom to go get tested.

1:55:59 There would be two way. Two reasons typically that people get tested. One, that they have symptoms, or two, they’re a close contact, so not all of them have symptoms.

1:56:07 Thank you. Again, some of these questions seem kind of redundant, but I think it’s important to just ask them all again. And we have different people here today.

1:56:17 So does universal masking reduce the spread of Covid-19 and the variance that we see? It’s one important tool. It’s a very important tool. Vaccination, social distancing, hygiene, mask wearing, these are all important tools to reduce the spread.

1:56:40 And then I asked this last time, but I love that we have a pediatrician here because I think this is the perfect for you. Have you had cases of adverse effects of masking on children? Sometimes. And what does it look like? So for some patients who are, for example, who might have claustrophobia, they may have difficulty wearing the mask.

1:56:43 That’s probably the most common one. Most of the time, children can get used to wearing it. Otherwise.

1:56:53 I have seen more acne. It does cause more acne. That happened when I turned 30, too.

1:56:59 And I just want to clarify, too, for the community and the public, we had an option, an opportunity for students that had disabilities and any 504s struggling with anxiety. I know we’ve had a lot of public comments about students with autism. We had an opportunity for those students to have a medical exemption, correct? Yes.

1:57:07 Yes. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

1:57:29 So if we have a student that struggles with an anxiety or some form of claustrophobia, that is not something that we would have to. So thank you, I appreciate that very much. And that’s all I have.

1:57:40 Thank you. Thank you. Miss Jenkins, Mister McDougall.

1:57:57 I just have a few. I just have a few. So first I want to thank you all for taking the time out of your schedule to be here.

1:58:07 It’s been said, well, some people think that this is just a summer event, that this surge right now is just for the summer and that it’s going to go away. What’s your medical take on that at this point? This is the Delta variant. That’s the season of Delta.

1:58:20 So we have different seasons for different viruses? No, I’m just sorry, making it. No. So it’s the Delta variant, it’s not seasonal.

1:58:52 This is the variant as opposed to the previous variants we have. And because the attack rate is much higher, we have a higher burden of disease in the community. How long this will last, I cannot tell you.

1:59:15 I think last time that I spoke to you I said that it had been doubling every week. That stopped last week. Last week.

1:59:34 Last week was our first week without doubling cases. Still an increase, but certainly not doubling. I thought that it had peaked last week, but I believe that this week we will outdo.

1:59:47 Last week I was on a call with one of our local children’s hospital and they made a comment which I didn’t think about until they talked about it. But they said every year, about ten days after school starts, you see an uptake in your office visits, in your urgent cares, and it’s all respiratory affected. So I guess I’m saying your thoughts about what’s going to happen with this Delta virus right now.

2:00:05 I’m curious if you have figures from last year, ten days after school started to what’s going to happen ten days from today? Really? The one thing I can say is they’ve told us to expect the increase of cases to last till October. That’s what they’re anticipating, although nobody knows for sure. You’re absolutely right.

2:00:23 With last year, everything was down, strep was down, flu was down, everything was down because of masking. We don’t know. Yes, Doctor Albrecht maybe can mention a little more what she sees in her office, but that is true.

2:00:43 Before COVID at the beginning of the school year, Strep would start everything else would start, which we did not see a whole lot last year, so. But I’ll hand it to Doctor Ulrich Tahan to talk a little more. I agree with that.

2:01:01 Typically we would in the past big increase a couple of weeks after school started, but last year we didn’t. And we’re seeing a lot more this summer of all kinds of different things than we usually see in the summer. And I assume it’s because everybody had stayed in and been careful through the winter.

2:01:34 And then this summer it really lightened up and things spread around the summer more than they have. So we’re not just seeing Covid right now, we’re seeing Hamphena mouth disease and RSV and other things that we usually see a lot in the winter. So it’s hard to predict how this winter is going to go because we’re already seeing these things.

2:01:49 So I’m hearing it’s already higher than certainly because last year, you’re right, we had mitigations in place and people were more cautious. You know, the whole natural immunity and herd immunity. So what now? I know they keep changing the number on herd immunity.

2:02:05 Where are we on that number? I know we’re not anywhere close in Brevard, but what would be the ideal if we could ever get there? And would herbal immunity help with the herd immunity? If you’ve already. Yeah. I can tell you what our vaccination rate is right now for Brevard county.

2:02:18 And then I’ll hand it to one of the doctors, or epi, to talk a little bit more about herd immunity. In our population that’s eligible for vaccines, which is the twelve plus population, we’ve had 61% of our population that has received at least one dose of vaccine, 52% are totally complete. When you look at the twelve to 19 age group, which would be the school age group, 37% are vaccinated with 27% complete.

2:02:28 When we look at the 65 plus population, which Helen was talking about earlier, we’re not seeing as many cases. We have 81% vaccinated, which 74% complete. So that’s a big piece of herd immunity.

2:02:37 I think we’ve got to get close to 70%. But I’ll hand to herd immunity, just from my perspective, it’s a difficult word and number because we’re focused right now on Brevard county. We have a global problem here.

2:02:56 So unless we have herd immunity around the globe, we’re at risk for another variant coming from some other country. So this is not going to go away tomorrow. We can only hope that we can keep knocking it down and controlling it.

2:03:18 Less virulent, less aggressive, less mortality. But herd immunity, from my perspective that’s a global issue. I can speak on herd immunity.

2:03:22 There are two ways to gain herd immunity. One is through vaccination and one is through disease. The most costly way to do it is through disease.

2:03:32 There’s cost on the human, the illness. There’s loss of work, there’s loss of income, there’s stress, there’s loss of life. So herd immunity through disease is the most costly both to society and to the individual.

2:03:43 If you’re thinking that we might achieve herd immunity through disease, it’s not the way to go. We need to vaccinate. Thank you.

2:03:51 I was going to answer that. It makes sense at this point. I didn’t want to do it later.

2:03:53 That’s okay. We were wondering. I know I hear different things about a possibility of the vaccine coming for our children under twelve.

2:03:59 Any new updates on that? Any thoughts? I mean, I know it’s out there. I know they’re testing but I don’t know if anybody’s got any new information about possibly when. Unless the physicians do.

2:04:02 I think we see the same news as you see on that day. Yeah. Thank you.

2:04:25 I think that’s all I have. Thanks. Thanks.

2:04:31 Miss McDougall. Mister Susan. Did you have questions for the our health visitors? Nope.

2:04:45 I’m good. Thank you. All right.

2:05:07 Any board member need to circle back with questions? Miss Jenkins? Yeah. So I’m going to ask a question that Mister Susan actually asked last time I don’t think we brought up tonight. So does anyone here have information on our hospitalization rate? You know what I can mention? We don’t have hospitalization rates.

2:05:31 You’re talking specifically for pediatrics, correct? Whatever you got, tell me. Okay. Well, what I can tell you.

2:05:44 Well, I can tell you our local hospitals are busier than they have been since the beginning of COVID They are very busy. They have capacity. But they are converting regular rooms to IC rooms.

2:06:06 They’re converting conference rooms into ward type settings. So they are very very busy. You’ve seen some of our hospitals have tents outside of them to triage and deal with the non emergent cases coming in, specifically with pediatric admissions.

2:06:13 We do not have a whole lot of pediatric beds here in Brevard county so most of the pediatric patients are going to go to Orlando. I did ask the question on our hospital call today, which we’ve been having daily and they did relate very few pediatric cases coming through their ER. The other thing I do have that came out just yesterday.

2:06:28 From the Florida hospital association. And this is statewide numbers, so it’s not going to be Brevard county or even locally. The total number of pediatric COVID patients in ICus are 41.

2:06:40 And the total number of pediatric COVID patients on vents are ten. So that was yesterday’s report, but it was statewide. Okay, so I do have a follow up question to that, because we’re seeing a lot in the news about our central Florida hospitals, because we don’t have any pediatric icus here in Brevard, so all of our sick children essentially will get shipped over to Orlando.

2:06:49 I saw that Advent health was, I believe they called it a code black. I might be calling that the wrong thing. They’re concerned.

2:06:53 They’re concerned about their capacity. I saw that Arnold Palmer and Nemours and all of those hospitals are reporting that they do have children in the hospital with COVID Obviously, the numbers for ICU are lower. Thank goodness.

2:07:05 So I just kind of want to clarify there because, you know, that’s kind of two different things, two different messages here. So who exactly was telling you that it’s the state or our. This is Florida Hospital association.

2:07:19 But remember, what I reported was ICU and vents. Okay, so they can be in the hospital and not be in ICU. So they were saying that ICU and vents are low.

2:07:40 Yeah, that’s what I reported to from the Florida Hospital association. Okay. Okay.

2:07:56 So I just wanted to clarify that because I, you know, it has been all over the news that Central Florida is getting very concerned about their capacity for their pediatric beds. So I just want to make that really clear. And we don’t.

2:08:16 And obvious, and this report doesn’t have a number on just admitted Covid. So. So my other question, which I believe is for Epi, because I feel like you were the one who said this.

2:08:36 So I believe it was our transmission rates, is when you say so many numbers in 100,000. And so can you please remind us of that number where people begin to get concerned? Somewhere in the hundred range, I believe. So high risk transmission is when you have 100 cases per 100,000 of population.

2:08:54 And that’s averaged over a week. Where are you now? Yeah, I’m thinking so this week, when the numbers come out on. On Friday, we’re approaching that 700 per 100,000.

2:09:17 Right now, with our last report, I believe it was 600, 2626 per 100,000. To put that in perspective, last year at the start of school. So at that point, we were looking at about, depending on the.

2:09:54 On the week, 50 to 80 cases per 100,000 we got to a low at one point of, I believe it got down to about 48 cases per hundred thousand. So again, basically we’re saturated at this point. There’s no bubbles anymore.

2:10:07 And that’s what you’re looking at going into school this year. So I appreciate you predicting what my follow up question was going to be. I don’t know if you can answer this question, but where, where are we in Brevard? We’re sitting in the 700 range.

2:10:20 Where are we compared to the rest of the state and our surrounding counties? How do we look like the rest of them? Yes, we’re all very similar. So last week we were, I believe we were 32 out of 67 counties. In terms of our rates per hundred thousand, our positivity rate, 39 out of 67 counties.

2:10:37 Vaccination rate, we were 22nd out of 67 counties. So how do we look compared to the rest of our nation? Like what is the average going on right now? So Florida is, has a high, very high transmission rate. I’m not sure where we are in perspective to some of the other states, but we’re definitely up there amongst the top three, depending on the day.

2:10:53 Florida, Texas, Louisiana. Every day it’s changing. I mean, to me, the thing that really need to focus on is that we have a lot of patients that are in hospitals and we’re always going to do the right thing.

2:11:34 Our nurses, our staff, they’re working double and triple shifts. We’re trying to bring people in to help out. You’re right, we have icus that are expanding to floors, floors that are becoming cafeterias, becoming unit, whatever, we do what we have to do.

2:12:07 Fortunately, with the steward world, we have three hospitals. So I can rob a little bit from Peter to pay Paul, and they have the umbrella of the larger corporation nationwide that can give us resources. So I’m comfortable that we will always be able to continue to deliver care, but it’s not easy right now.

2:12:29 And that’s why I’m saying, and I’m begging, that people consider at least hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask. Need your help. Thank you.

2:12:46 Any other follow ups from any board members? I just have a couple, I think I’ve spoken with you guys at the health department and I’ve, I’ve been in touch with pediatrics and the hospital, so I don’t have a ton of questions, but one thing that I’m just seeing anecdotally in my other hat, I work with very young children. And what I saw last year was it seemed that oftentimes maybe not oftentimes. It didn’t seem unusual to hear that one person in the family tested positive for Covid and the rest of the family never tested positive.

2:12:59 What I’m seeing just in the families that I work with is there seems to be much. It seems to be much more common that one person in the family tests positive and it’s rolling through the entire family, is that it’s just a, you know, my little small microcosm of what I’m seeing. But are you all seeing the same kind of change and spread pattern, if you will? I can speak to that, yes, and that’s because of the attack rate.

2:13:21 I think that was explained to you earlier that, you know, before it would be a house of four or five people. Obviously, it’s dependent on how closely they live together in that house. So the more contact you have, the more likely you are to be infected.

2:13:35 Obviously. But we would see that, you know, that it would skip a member or two in their family, or even that one would be positive. And then maybe the next one, they might see the disease in the house again.

2:14:09 But it’s totally separate from the first this time. What we’re seeing is it’s taking out a whole family almost. It’s rare to not have that one person.

2:14:21 It does help in families where there’s some people who are vaccinated. That kind of stops the disease a little in its spread at this point in time, but it definitely speaks to the attack rate, and that’s the picture that you will see. So I don’t know if you all.

2:14:46 And maybe this is just a pipe dream as far as data. Right. But we talked a little bit earlier about the quarantine practices and what happens, like, when your day zero starts, if you’re in a home and someone is exposed.

2:14:57 The other thing that I’m seeing because of this kind of rolling through families positives is I’m seeing several of my families that, for example, are dealing with extended quarantine. Like, I have a couple of families now that are up to almost a month of quarantine because of the rolling positive. Do you all do any tracking on those, like, family quarantine lengths, I guess would be the best way to say it.

2:15:06 I know you’re directing individuals, but there’s no. No, we don’t. But I can say that, you know, I’ve seen it in talking to parents how that can happen.

2:15:14 Obviously, you know, once you’re positive, it’s just the ten days, it’s the one that never gets sick, that’s never positive. They’re the ones who ended up, who end up with that extended quarantine because they’re always, you know, in close contact. And that’s why it’s really important in a family situation that that one person who is sick isolates themselves from the rest of the family.

2:15:29 So if it’s a parent, the one parent goes into the room and the other parent looks after themselves. But that makes it really difficult. In single families they can’t do that.

2:15:56 In families with young kids they can’t do that. And so you end up with those extended quarantines. Okay, thank you.

2:16:32 And Mister Susan has indicated to me that he has some questions. So Mister Susan, if you’d like to go ahead. Yeah, thank you.

2:16:58 I just wanted to say thank you for bringing up that Florida Hospital association memo that 188 hospitals had responded to that and that did include the Orlando branches. So thank you. It was 41 of those Covid cases for pediatric.

2:17:15 But as I looked around the only place that I could truly find any of the information on pediatrics, the best knowledge that I had was or best statistical data that I could find is from the American Academy of Pediatrics. And they give out the reports and they just had one on August 5 that just came out. And what it showed was if you go through the whole evaluation it shows the increase of cases just like you guys had indicated.

2:17:26 And then it also shows that each one of the hospitalizations and all that stuff in children are pretty much remaining consistent with the increase of the amount of cases. So whether it’s 100 or 5000 cases it’s not that the going back an entire year that the delta variant or anything like that is creating more hospitalizations and Covid rates in children is what the pediatrics piece was saying. Are you guys seeing the consistency? I know it’s difficult because you guys aren’t tracking the hospitalizations and Covid rates.

2:17:40 But is there, and this is for any of you, is it remaining pretty consistent that the children that are going in, I guess this would be for Mister Stewart. The children that are going in are remaining consistent with numbers that were a year ago as the american pediatrics memo was saying. Or is it that, you know what I mean, that you’re seeing a spike in the hospitalizations, perennial amount of children percentage.

2:17:50 Does that make sense to you? I can’t really comment on the pediatric population. I can comment on an increase in patients 18 to 30 which we didn’t see last year. But I’ll defer the pediatrics to my colleagues.

2:17:53 Well, and I’m not seeing the patients in the hospital, I’m only seeing them outpatient. We’re certainly seeing more positives now than we were. But I haven’t personally had anyone who was severely ill.

2:18:05 And so the data put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics is what I would go by. Yeah, it’s that, um. Yeah, that American Academy of Pediatrics, somehow they’re getting that data and it was really a good thing to go by.

2:18:12 It is showing the increase of children in cases just like you guys had said, and it’s just remaining consistent. So I really appreciate it. I just didn’t know.

2:18:34 Thank you so much. That’s it, Miss Belford. All right.

2:18:39 Thanks, Mister Susan. No, I want to. I want to ask the one thing that we haven’t asked you all and just making sure we have no follow up.

2:18:42 Correct. Is there. Go ahead, Miss Jenkins.

2:18:52 Yes, Miss Dahl, I just want to clarify again, so when I. When you said 41 pediatric hospitalizations, that was for ICU and ventilations. Correct? 41 ICU, ten on vents. Okay.

2:19:41 Thank you. So that is not a number of hospitalizations for pediatrics. Correct.

2:20:01 I just want to clarify that. Thank you. Correct.

2:20:25 Thanks. Mister Hibbsen. One question I will ask before I open it up to you all to just give random feedback.

2:20:59 One of the things we’ve talked about, and it’s been touched on repeatedly, I think in every conversation I’ve had with every health professional, is the difference in the data that we’re receiving this year compared to what we received last year? Is there any discussion indication that we will get higher quality, more detailed data again? Or is this just going to be our norm and we just got to figure out how to swim in the forest? We have not had any indication that the data will change from the weekly. And you’re absolutely right, Miss Belford, that it’s sketchy, especially when broken down to the county level. They’re not giving us a whole lot of information, but we have not heard at all that it’s going to change.

2:21:10 And several of our counterparts have asked that question and said, we really would like that. And it’s continuing to just be weekly. It could change, just like Miss Moore said, everything else, everything changes right on the drop of a dime.

2:21:16 So it could change, but we’ve not seen indication that it will. Okay, super want to give you all your evening back, but before we thank you a final time, is there anything that we didn’t ask that you would like to share with us? I’ll just leave you with one quote I think is helpful here. And for those of you who have some gray hair in your head like I do.

2:21:53 You may remember the president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and JFK, at the 1963 Yale commencement address, told the young graduates that the greatest enemy of truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, dishonest, and deceitful, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. And he challenged those young kids to not hold true the myths of the forebears. So I’m asking everybody, forget about the myths.

2:22:12 Let’s look at evidence based, peer reviewed literature and go for it. Thank you. Thank you, Eric.

2:22:17 So, audience. Well, we certainly appreciate your support, but let’s try not to interrupt. Flo, okay.

2:22:40 Is there any additional input from any of our other health experts that perhaps we didn’t ask and you really want us to hear? I just want to say thank you to all of you for working so closely with us. Miss Moore, you know, doctor Thetti and the school board and Doctor Mullins, because we can’t do it alone. As the health department, we have the hospitals helping us, we have you helping us, and it is a community, and brevard is a great community, and everybody does work together, and we do need to work together, especially in a situation like this.

2:22:51 So I would encourage, as many people that feel comfortable to get vaccinated, please do so. That’s going to get us out of this, just as we’re hearing if we don’t get vaccinated, variants are going to keep popping up. So that’s my closing remarks, but thank you.

2:34:03 Thanks, Maria, Don, or Helen. Anything you want to add, doctor, or. No.

2:37:11 Thank you for having us and for all the work that you do well, and thank you all for being here with us this evening. I know that you have very, very full plates right now, and we definitely appreciate you taking some time out to assist us as we make some tough choices moving forward. So, with that, we are actually going to go ahead and take a brief recess so that our medical experts can egress and the board can stretch.

2:37:14 Just a minute. Thank you. I was just going to say, I know that I appreciate you guys thanking us, but, you know, just like our first responders, these people are the front lines.

2:37:29 And I cannot thank you enough for the work that you’ve done over the last 18 months. Sadeena. Sadeena.

2:37:54 Sadeena. Sadeena. Sadeena.

2:38:11 Sadeena. Sadeena. All right, the meeting is back in session, and we are now at public comments.

2:38:33 The school board policy. Zero one six, 9.1 limits to 30 minutes.

2:38:44 The portion of the meeting during which the public is invited to participate and provide public comment. The policy further provides that this time limit may be extended by a vote of the board. We have 56 speakers signed up for this evening.

2:38:56 Some of our speakers may have chosen to wait outside. Those persons will be called in the order in which they signed up. As we have more than our allotted ten speakers who can finish in the 30 minutes allotted, it would be my recommendation that the board vote to permit an extended period of time for tonight’s public comment, increasing the regular 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to moving forward with the remainder of the agenda.

2:39:04 Would anyone like to make said motion or a different motion? I would. Personally, I. Hold on, Miss Jenkins. Sorry, go ahead.

2:39:10 Personally, I believe I would like to make a motion that everyone gets to make their public comment. We’ve done that from this point on, and I think it’s unfair to be doing that no matter what side of the aisle you’re on. So, am I understanding that you are putting a motion forward to hear all public commenters in the first 30 minutes section of the public comment portion? So.

2:39:15 I’m sorry, I thought your motion was to only limit it to an hour. No, I can’t actually motion. So my.

2:39:32 So my suggestion was directly from the script to say we can increase our regular third minutes. I’m sorry. To 1 hour, or I can take a.

2:39:35 And any other motion that would like to be put forward. I apologize. I thought you meant it would be cut off at an hour for the rest of the night, and I just want that to happen, so.

2:39:47 Okay. So are you putting forward a motion? Yes. Move to approve? No.

2:39:55 You have to motion first, though. I’m motioning to extend it to an hour. Wait.

2:40:14 I think you just motioned. What? You didn’t mean to motion Miss Jenkins? Because extending it to an hour would not allow for all 56 people. So, if I may assist, what I’m hearing you say is you would like to make a motion to take all 56 speakers during the original public speaking section of the meeting.

2:40:22 Is that accurate? Yes. Thank you. I have a motion for Miss Jenkins.

2:40:52 Do I have a second? Well, hold on. If you guys can give me a hand, then I can give you a mic. I’m not sure that I was really wanted to second that particular motion.

2:41:02 Only that I. We haven’t even gone through our business yet, have we? No, ma’am, we have not. All right. But we have.

2:41:08 I need a second for discussion if you would like to discuss the motion. Okay, so I have a motion by Miss Jenkins and a second by Miss McDougall to take all of our public speakers in the first section of public comment on the board agenda. And that must be Dougal would open it up for discussion.

2:41:10 If you would like to make an amended motion, you could certainly do so. Am I on? You are on. Okay.

2:41:35 So if I’m understanding the motion correctly, that we would let every single person, no matter what they want to speak on for the next 2 hours, is that correct? Before we finish our business? That would be the accurate motion. I will tell you that speaking on our agenda, I have probably, but I just want to make sure I have it. Looks like it.

2:41:43 I’m looking at it. Or three, that may technically not be agenda, then I’m not too worried about it. Let’s just go ahead with the motion and we’ll continue and hear everybody speak.

2:41:56 All right. Is there any additional discussion on the motion on the floor? Miss Campbell, is that of hand? Yes. Okay, 1 second.

2:42:31 Let me get you on. Go ahead. Yes, ma’am.

2:42:52 As obviously, none of us really want to stay for two and a half hours hearing the next round of the great mass debate, but we want to hear you. I would just ask that you can shorten yours. We know where people are going to and those emails we have read over the last couple of weeks, I would just encourage the audience to, out of respect for one another, we’re here.

2:42:54 I plan to be here till whenever. Almost brought a blanket. But for a nap this afternoon, not while people are talking.

2:43:00 But I just would just ask you. I’d respect one another if you could keep it short. We kind of know where most of you are going with this one side or the other, but we definitely appreciate you being here, but I’m in for the next two and a half hours with you guys.

2:43:08 Thank you, Miss Campbell. And I would add to miss Campbell’s comments, I don’t know how many of our board members are aware, but our deliberation following public comment is going to be even more challenging than figuring out our motion for extending public speakers today for several reasons. So the sooner everyone can succinctly share their stance and we can move through an, I actually get to that deliberation because it is going to be fairly time consuming and I know you all want outcomes, so.

2:43:16 All right, with that being said, we have a motion on the floor. And Miss Escobar, do you need a voice vote on that? So I have a motion on the floor to take the entirety of our 56 speakers during this public comment section of the agenda. All in favor, please signify by saying aye.

2:43:26 Mister. Susan, are you with us? Yep. I’m good.

2:43:39 I’m all right. All right. So you were eye on approving that motion, correct? Yes.

2:44:08 Okay. So the motion passes 50, and we will take all of our public comments. Okay.

2:44:18 Each speaker is limited to three minutes. We have a clock in front of me to help you keep track of your time. When your time is over, you will be asked to stop and allow the next speaker his or her Yden.

2:44:42 We will hear from the first. We’ll hear from all of the speakers in the order in which they signed up the remaining public speakers. That doesn’t apply.

2:44:50 Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is expected at all times, and your statements should be directed to the board chair. The chair may interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant’s statement when time is up. It’s personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant.

2:45:08 Should an individual not observe proper etiquette, the chairman may request the individual leave the meeting. Let’s all encourage an environment appropriate for our children who may be present or are watching from home. All right, our first three speakers are Jodi Hand, Thomas Jefferson, and Dustin Flatter.

2:45:30 Jodi. And for our speakers, we have moved instead of the center mics. We are speaking back at the podium.

2:45:38 Take your time. Dear members of the board, Superintendent Mullins and all of the parents here tonight, regardless of your views, I applaud all of you for being here, for doing it for the kids. All of us are here for the same reason, because what we believe is what we believe is best for our children.

2:45:58 So, thank you to all the parents here. I work with moms for liberty. I’m the secretary on the board for Brevard.

2:46:08 I’m here to ask you to keep the existing mask optional policy. Under HB 241, which is now law, medical decisions lie in the hands of the parents. Tom Grady, in his meeting, in his meeting last week, said one of the best quotes I have ever heard.

2:46:42 There is no better local control than that of the parents. Additionally, I would ask that the quarantine procedures be reevaluated once data that wasn’t collected last year relative to contact tracing to a COVID positive case is accrued. Keeping healthy kids out of school will only widen the achievement gap you’ve previously presented to us.

2:47:10 We did our own informal poll of 105 students. This comprised 89 schools. Grades leveling.

2:47:31 Excuse me, grade levels ranging from pre k to 12th. Children quarantined up to six times. Of those 105 students, three were positive for Covid, two were asymptomatic, and one was symptomatic.

2:47:47 Fortunately, all three survived. Sorry. Thank you.

2:48:00 Thank you. Lepan. Thomas Jefferson.

2:48:00 Well, actually, I had to change my whole message tonight after we had all these doctors and medical people up here. So I didn’t hear any one of these medical people discussing the death rate of the vaccine, but I hear everybody trying to push the vaccine, but I didn’t hear anything about death rates from anybody. I didn’t hear any board members ask about death rates from the vaccine or anything like that, so.

2:48:41 And I just want to thank God for our governor DeSantis, okay, that’s keeping us free and keeping us open, and he said that he will dock the pay. I don’t know if something’s going on with my mic here, but it seems to be cutting in and out. Is there a problem if you back up from the mic? Okay, well, it’s still kind of coming in and out.

2:48:49 It’s not. I hear you. Okay, well, I want to thank Governor DeSantis for keeping us open, and I want to thank Governor DeSantis for making the call that he will dock the pay of the superintendent or anybody that enforces a mass mandate on our kids.

2:48:52 Okay? Now, to address any mandates, we, the people of brevard will not bow to any mask mandates at all. Not at school or not on the buses. We the people will not bow to any vaccine mandates.

2:49:17 We the people will not bow to any lockdowns, and we the people will not allow this school board to continue to ruin our kids lives by stopping their education, to keep quarantining our children over a flu virus. For the last two years, we have sat here and let five board members dictate to us what is right and what is wrong for our children. Not anymore.

2:49:30 We the people decide how to raise our children, not you five. Every board member that has not opposed. Has not opposed the LGBTQ agenda.

2:49:56 Equity or equality. Audits mass mandates in school, on the bus. We the people will vote all of you out of office.

2:50:09 It’s coming. It’s coming. Everyone.

2:50:33 All five are going to be voted out of office because we, the people, okay, make the decisions for what we do with our kids. Okay? We will not allow you to continue to force our kids will not allow you to continue to force our kids or mandate LGBTQ critical race theory on our children anymore in Brevard county schools. We, the people are fed up with your.

2:50:50 With your government overreach. Give me liberty or give me death. Dustin Platter.

2:51:24 And as Dustin’s approaching, I would ask that you all keep down the noise from the audience, during the speakers. Because the truth of the matter is, whether you agree with them or disagree with them, nobody can hear what they’re saying when you all are making noise in the audience, whether it’s supportive or against. So if we can just cut that out, let’s get through our two and a half hours of public conversation and get to the work that we need to get to.

2:51:35 Please. Mister Platter, whenever you are ready, sir. I am here regarding the issues of returning children to school safely through the 2021 2022 school year.

2:52:06 For decades, we have had precedence that the school boards and the Department of Health are able to make decisions to ensure children are able to attend school safely. It is one of your central responsibilities, whether that has been lice checks at school, vaccine requirements, or mandatory active shooter drills. We have decided as a society that the school board must make these decisions to ensure a safe environment for all students.

2:52:21 Parents are not given the choice to participate in active shooter drills. And while we do have exceptions for vaccine requirements, parents are required to undergo a process to opt out. We don’t do this to take away parents choice or parental rights, but to ensure the other students health and safety is considered.

2:52:41 In none of the cases I’ve mentioned above have we allowed parental choice to dictate the safe environment provided to students. Yet suddenly, amidst a global pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, literally, and is increasingly targeting children, as pointed out by the local health experts attending last week’s meeting and national experts, suddenly we want to break decades of precedence and move a critical public health decision from schools to individual parents, allowing a small group to put the health of all other students at risk. Every major medical group has been clear on this issue.

2:52:49 Masks are the best tools we have to get children back into school safely. It is not child abuse. It does not cut off their oxygen or cause toxic CO2 syndrome.

2:52:59 To vote against the mask mandate is to consciously and legally decide to go against the advised health recommendations by every major medical community. Any child that is infected as a result of an unmasked classmate will be a direct result of your vote here tonight, and those parents should hold you accountable. If you proceed with voting against masks, then you are choosing to exclude families like mine who are unwilling to accept the school board’s decision to go against recommended health procedures and jeopardize our children’s health.

2:53:11 As I stated when I spoke before you previously, this is a clear choice, and it infuriates me that this is even debated. Countless experts, medical professionals, etcetera, have stated kids need to wear masks as much as they have said. Kids need to be back in school.

2:53:32 Likewise, they have debunked the countless false and hollow arguments made against masks. There is no reason to miss a spike driven by unvaccinated people refusing to wear masks to give those same people the choice of whether they should attend school mass. Supporting that argument is what has led Florida to new daily number of 56,000 cases.

2:53:49 Please listen to the experts. Follow the decades of precedence. Put our children’s health first and restore the mask mandate.

2:54:07 Your job is to ensure they have a safe environment as possible. Please do that. Thank you, Mister Plotter.

2:54:19 All right, next we have Alejandro Plotter followed by Ayesha Hosey and then Benny Jackson. Alejandro. There should be a step stool there for him.

2:54:27 I think I lowered it. Okay. He’s cute.

2:54:47 Hi, I am Alejandro Platter and I am nine years old and I am in fourth grade. My iq is in the teen years range and I am in the gifted program. I love science and my favorite part is doing experiments.

2:55:10 Covid makes people sick and I have an illness that makes me have risk. I know people who have died from COVID I don’t want to get it. Are you going to make it safe for me? A simple mask makes it safe for me.

2:55:26 A mask is not uncomfortable. Having needles in your arm every month at the age of four is uncomfortable. I stood up to bullies at eight.

2:55:46 Five. I suggest you stand up to the one bully now to protect children. Children are the future.

2:55:56 I am the future. Will you do the right thing so I have a future? Thank you, Alejandro. Aisha.

2:56:12 Isha hosey. I’m going to do as requested and shorten mine. I think we’ve heard from the experts and I didn’t hear any either of anyone, as I’ve not heard anywhere from health experts to say that masking is going to be harmful to our children.

2:57:05 As a matter of fact, all I’ve heard is the recommendation that we use everything necessary to protect our children. Masking is one of those things. I sympathize with you, the board.

2:57:15 You’re under a lot of pressure. Especially when you’re in the state of Florida and you have a governor that’s saying you cannot do what your job is. I ask that you look around the state and notice that many school boards have selected to ignore the bad advice.

2:57:28 And that’s something I want you to do. It takes a lot of strength to do that. I know he’s even threatened your income, which is just really abysmal.

2:57:47 And I do feel for you. But we need you today and we need you to exercise the strength of doing what is right for our children. We need you to protect them in every way possible.

2:57:55 You mentioned some anxiety with wearing the mask. Do you think it’s not anxiety with the children who are now being given the option of wearing the mask? You’re giving a five year old the option once the parent sends them from school and they’re on your territory in your school, do you not that know that they’re going to be under pressure, peer pressure, to remove those masks that the parents wanted them to wear, that the parents wanted to be used for their protection? I need you to put everything in place to make sure that these children in Brevard county are protected and that parents don’t have to make the decisions to take their children out of your school system because you are not protecting them. And you know that’s happening and it’s a large number.

2:58:05 It’s happening in large numbers. They’re paying their taxes for school that now they cannot access because you aren’t protecting their children. That is not fair.

2:58:14 It is not right. It is not just, it is not what this country is about. The governor said that we are seeing a rise in the numbers because we are going inside.

2:58:31 We went inside of our homes during the holidays. What do you think school is if not inside? We’re sending all of these children inside and we have to put things in place to protect them. Thank you so much for listening to me and we depend on you.

2:58:43 As John Lewis said, we have to do good trouble sometimes. We have to do what’s necessary. Thank you.

2:59:04 Thank you, Miss Hojie. Benny Jackson. Benny Jackson.

2:59:21 After Benny, we’ll have Pamela Castellano, Elizabeth Logan, and Jonathan Schumann. Mister Jackson, whenever you’re ready. Yes, thank you.

2:59:57 And I’d like to first congratulate you on the panel that you had here. That was very informative, at least for me. What I’d like to do first is read the statement of the virus, updated for August 10 from the New York Times.

3:00:29 And I’m just going to read a section. The Delta variant continues to drive case and death numbers up across the country. Daily caseloads have increased tenfold since late June.

3:00:41 Death reports, which can lag well behind case data, have doubled. More coronavirus patients are hospitalized than any than at any point since February. Florida, Louisiana and Hawaii are reporting their highest daily caseloads of the pandemic.

3:00:45 The situation is especially drier in Louisiana and Florida, which have the country’s worst hospitalization rates. Now we’ve heard a lot of information today. We’ve seen there’s a lot of metrics out there.

3:01:04 I pulled some numbers from the Brevard Public School Covid-19 dashboard, and so there are six categories displayed on that dashboard. I would ask this board to add another category, and that is hospitalizations. And then I I would also ask this board, what’s the magic number that’s going to change your vote? We have all of these categories.

3:01:32 We got hospitalizations, we got new cases, we got this, we got that. What’s the metric and what’s the number? My community wants to know what’s, what’s the number? Since our governor wants to put a our teachers and our children as sacrifices, I want to know what the number is. Thank you, mister Jackson.

3:02:11 Pamela Castawana. And then Elizabeth Logan is next, and she is outside, if we could. Okay, Cooper, thank you.

3:02:29 She’s inside. Thank you. Hi.

3:02:34 My name is Pamela Castellana, as you know, and thank you for your time. And this is not a political issue, or at least it shouldn’t be. I am here as a concerned citizen, a private business owner, the grandparent of three Brevard public school students, and the proud mother of a brevard public school teacher.

3:02:44 The same people accusing you, our school board, of overreach, are celebrating the actual overreach of Governor DeSantis in his, frankly, unconstitutional attempt to decide what local school boards can and cannot do to protect their children. These same loud but false voices wanted our school board to arm teachers and janitors to keep kids safe from a bullet. But they now say it’s not the school board’s job to keep kids safe from a virus which is currently ravaging the entire world.

3:03:13 In accordance with the revisions of chapters 1003 and 1006 in Florida state statutes, school boards are responsible to provide for the proper accounting for all students of school age, for the attendance and control of students at school, and for proper attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the welfare of students. The new parental Bill of Rights, which is frequently being brandished against a mask mandate, does not provide parents the right to determine dress codes code, and it does not provide the governor a legal justification to block locally elected school boards from accounting for the health and safety of our students. It provides parents an opportunity to opt out of health examinations, vaccinations, and sex ed.

3:03:40 It does not provide parents the power to dictate protections we provide to our students, our teachers, and our staff. The DOH representative tonight said they would not at our last meeting, said she would not feel safe in a classroom with 30 completely unvaccinated and unmasked children. And she was vaccinated herself.

3:04:00 I get it. Masks are apparently uncomfortable. So is a ventilator.

3:04:08 Missing two weeks of athletic or performance art activities could hurt your college career. You know what else can dying. Dying could really cramp your college experience.

3:04:21 Our school board has been threatened with the financial ramifications of those opposing masks by withdrawing their students from schools. Those parents choosing to follow our national health guidance and evidence itself will do the same without a mask mandate, or at least those who have the financial ability to do so. One of our local state representatives who serves as the chair of the appropriations committee for Public K twelve schools in Florida is actively working to defund public schools by diverting funds by misusing our hope scholarships for private schools.

3:04:34 Clearly, public school students are not randy Fine’s priority any more than they are to Santas. Our school board has now been threatened with withholding of your $40,000 a year salary if you vote to protect all of our students, teachers and staff. While it’s now clear that DeSantis has a $40,000 price tag on the value of the lives in our schools, it is my deepest hope that you, our elected school board members, know that those lives are indeed priceless.

3:04:43 Thank you. Pamela Elizabeth Logan. So, I’m a local healthcare provider, and I’m also the mother of three beautiful girls who attend Brevard public schools.

3:04:54 I’m deeply concerned about the direction this disease is headed. Our ers are full. Patients line the hallways and the tents outside.

3:05:08 Admitted patients have to wait, sometimes three days, before they get a bed on the floor. Healthcare workers are being stretched to their limits. Our providers are being asked to work inpatient when they normally work outpatient.

3:05:21 So it’s a very good chance that somebody from dermatology will be rounding on patients in the hospital because there’s not enough staff. Unfortunately, many in this county are not taking this seriously. Yes, the vaccine works.

3:05:43 You may still catch COVID but the vaccine keeps you out of the hospital. It keeps you from dying. And vaccinated or not, you can still spread it.

3:05:56 Vaccines, in combination with other mitigation measures, such as universal masking, are the best way to combat this disease. It’s airborne. My mask protects you.

3:06:13 Your mask protects me. There are children who are starting the school year in our district without a mom or dad who died from COVID Within the last few weeks, kids have brought it home from summer camps. That’s a fact.

3:06:19 And there will be more parents and grandparents who will not be sitting at the thanksgiving table this year. And yes, kids are getting very sick from COVID and sometimes requiring hospitalization. But the bigger issue is community spread.

3:06:34 When 70,000 children and 9000 staff members are together in small rooms without adequate ventilation or social distancing, they will get infected and they will spread it to the community. And I’m not sure how much more our hospital systems can take. Already people are waiting hours to be seen in the Erde, Covid or not.

3:06:50 Resources are finite. And while our hospitals are doing very creative things with space and staffing, it may not be enough. It’s completely unfair to our children and our community to put us all in this situation.

3:07:03 The answer is simple, universal masking, contact tracing and quarantine. Now is not the time to dig in our heels and talk about how the government should have no control over the things we put on our bodies. Now is the time to come together as Americans to fight an enemy we all have in common.

3:07:12 This virus. United we stand, divided we fall. Like it or not, we’re all in this together.

3:07:35 None of this is easy, but we have a choice. We can do things the very hard way or we can do things the hard way. The very hard way will end in a lot of suffering with a lot of our loved ones getting severely sick.

3:07:47 The hard way, while still not easy, is the responsible way. It’s following the science, getting vaccines and wearing masks when you’re unable to social distance. So, yes, we need masks in our school to protect our kids, our teachers and our community.

3:08:06 And you, five or three of you, thank you. Unfortunately, your time is up for this evening. Thank you.

3:08:33 Jonathan Schumann, followed by Cheryl Wojcikowski and Andrea Canizaro. Soundcheck. Hello, my name is Jonathan Schumann.

3:08:55 I’m a retired teacher and I’m a bioscientist. I’ve had studied science for over 40 years, and I’m going to tell you that I’m in full agreement that the current hospital crisis is only going to get worse. Most of Florida is exhibiting an extreme spread of the virus.

3:09:07 Hospitals are nearing capacity. When they hit capacity, death rate of 1.4% now will be climbing to three and then possibly as high as 6% when they hit capacity.

3:09:40 Resources are not available and people are also resources and they will start to get burnt out, make mistakes and people will die. Okay. For every person who dies, many more are going to have permanent long term disabilities that nobody’s really talking about.

3:10:03 Our economy will go in the tank. Okay? And basically, I have to tell you that I’ve got the deepest respect for this board. I know most of you, either personally or by way of your previous actions, and I’m going to tell you that the school boards of Florida have been set up to fail, okay? And they’ve been set up to fail because these are the questions that I’ve been trying to answer.

3:10:23 Why would any governor tell the school board. Excuse me, the Florida Board of Health, to withhold data and to make data less available. Why? Why is the masking directive suddenly issued when last year it actually held, bend the curve and get us under control for the virus? Third question.

3:10:32 Why is e learning now not provided for supportive students? I participated that it works. It wasn’t perfect, but it did work. So why is the funding gone? And why would anybody.

3:10:50 Why would a governor look to take away masking, okay, and punish school boards for mask, for passing masking support and withhold funding? And the answer to me is that there’s some kind of political gain that would come from this infection running out of control for the 2024 election. What kind of insanity is it? Okay, you’ve been threatened. Withholding a pay for doing your job.

3:11:03 I recommend you ignore the governor’s threats and protect our children with mandatory masking and e learning support. Find the funds from somewhere, the federal government will come to your rescue. The vaccine will not keep protecting us, okay? The strain that’s resistant to the vaccine, statistically, already exists.

3:11:29 It’s just a matter of time before it reaches us and spreads through our community. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Cheryl.

3:11:47 Good evening. My name is Doctor Cheryl Wojahowski. Wearing seat belts, wearing bicycle helmets, no smoking in restaurants.

3:12:09 Organizations such as the American association of Pediatrics, the American Medical association and the CDC have all recommended such life saving interventions. The use of many of these have been mandated into law. These organizations also recommend the use of face masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

3:12:34 The decision to mandate face masks must be made based in science, not politics, not emotion. Science has gotten us through past pandemics. We must no longer worry about smallpox, polio, rubella, diphtheria.

3:12:48 When the scientific community makes a discovery, a recommendation, or a new vaccine, the new information goes through a rigorous peer review process. That means mask wearing and vaccine guidelines come not from just one person, but from a group that performs the research. And it does not reach the public until it has been scrutinized by other scientists who dedicate their lives to this field, to their fields.

3:12:58 The peer reviewed research is what we depend on to advance our understanding of the natural world and adapt our behavior to survive in it. It is what the organizations I mentioned use to create their recommendations to wear masks. Be wary of unsubstantiated claims and please check your sources.

3:13:11 So recently, the proceedings of the National Academy Assignments of Sciences published a peer review paper this past January. This was a consortium, an international consortium of scientists looking at over 140 peer reviewed publications on the effectiveness of masking and preventing Covid-19. This is the cumulative work of thousands of people.

3:13:28 What did they find? We recommend the adoption of public mask wearing as an effective form of source control in conjunction with hygiene distancing, contract tracing. We recommend increasing focus on mask wearing by infectious people, rather than only mask wearing by susceptible people. We recommend that public officials and governments strongly encourage the use of widespread face masks in public.

3:13:44 It is not enough to opt out of mask wearing. No one enjoys wearing. But wearing a mask is something we all must endure because it’s worth it to save even one child from the emergency room.

3:14:04 When this is over. Oh, please let it be over. I want to look back and know that we did all we could give our kids the in person education they deserve and need.

3:14:43 And then we did everything in our power to keep them healthy. We need to look back in five years not at unnecessary losses and regret and lack of action, but as a proud example for the future. Thank you.

3:15:18 Thank you, Andrea Canizzaro. And then after that, we’ll have Michelle Barineau, Molly Doman, and Jabari Hosi. Andrea? Hello.

3:15:27 My name is Andrea, and I am the mother to a medically fragile student in Brevard county who has cystic fibrosis, common variable immunodeficiency, asthma, and protein binding leptin deficiency. He literally has no immune system. Last week, my son approached me and said, mommy, I know you’re scared.

3:15:38 And I know it’s because of my health and education. I want you to know if it’s okay if we stay home again this year because I rather us be frustrated than for me to die from COVID and a mommy. As much as I miss my sister, I do not want to go to heaven anytime soon to see her because you guys need me here and have fought so hard to keep me here.

3:15:49 And in case you’re wondering, Sissy Bear is our daughter who died in February of 2020, right before COVID started. Tonight, I would like to present the board with some important facts that explain the importance of masculinity to save our children. It is fact that Florida statute 100.

3:16:06 42, section eight a, that the brevard school board must pay proper attention to health, safety and other matters relating to the welfare of our students. It is fact that 32% of Brevard county students are medically fragile that require some type of medical intervention or medication each day. The individuals with disability acts that children have the right to a free and appropriate education.

3:16:16 This means they have the right to physically attend school and to have their needs met by the school, not forced to always stay home, home school or divert to a private school who does not even have to abide by those laws. It is fact that on August 4, at my son’s meet and greet, my son’s assigned teacher and assistant principal both advised that a reasonable accommodation to his 504 in hospital homebound would be to be a desk in the back of the classroom with plexiglass away from his peers who would be in pods of five. That is literally isolation and discrimination.

3:16:23 And again, per the Individual’s Disabilities act, it is not appropriate. Isolation is not appropriate. His doctors don’t even require him to be isolated.

3:16:29 Segregation is not appropriate. This accommodations violate the federal laws. It is fact that 528 children nationwide have died due to Covid.

3:16:34 That is 528 families who have had to bury a child. I have buried a child. And I can promise each of you sitting here, it is the worst thing I have ever gone through.

3:16:34 It will be the worst thing on your conscience. Lastly, it is fact that you all took a note to serve and protect every child in Brevard, and there are only two board members willing to do this currently. I ask, I beg, and I demand that all of you join them in protecting our children before it’s literally too late.

3:17:07 Thank you. Thank you, Molly. Hello.

3:17:21 This is my third time here. Same topic, worsening conditions. I know a lot of us are sick of this same conversation.

3:17:30 I can’t imagine how sick you are of it. There’s a real simple solution. Just mandate the mask.

3:17:47 Let’s move on. I am really tired of you mentioned the word frenzy. I’m tired of anger.

3:18:05 I’m tired of being angry. Tired of the feeling of helplessness. I’m tired of the futility of arguing with people who think they know more than the experts when they don’t.

3:18:17 I’m tired of words like patriot and freedom used as weapons by Americans against other Americans. I’m really tired of government officials too worried about party politics, optics, or re election or their next elected position to do the job they were elected to do. Now.

3:18:25 And I’m standing here seething that this room is actually safer than the classroom my daughter had to go to today. So I’m here to ask you to do your jobs. I’m not saying it’s easy.

3:18:39 It’s not. It’s incredibly difficult. And I applaud you for taking this on, but take it on you did, and now it’s time to show up and do it.

3:18:47 Our government is supposed to be for the people. And in the preamble of the constitution, it says that one of the government’s role is to promote the general welfare. Our governor has decided to pass on that, and he’s trying to prevent you from doing your job.

3:19:18 Are you going to let him? If it was his job, he wouldn’t have to bully and threaten you. When someone’s bullying and threatening you to do your job, there is a problem. We have a no bullying policy in our schools.

3:19:39 We need a no bullying policy in our government. This should not be tolerated. If he’s threatening to take your paychecks because you stand up for our community and you do the right thing, well, your community has got your back.

3:20:01 And I will start a GoFundMe page, and I will make sure you get your salary, if that’s what the cost is. All right. Don’t let.

3:20:18 Don’t. Don’t let threats that are outside of his job and probably outside the law stop you from doing what you came here to do. And that’s provide a safe learning environment for all of our children.

3:20:31 Thank you very much. Thank you. So, Molly.

3:20:54 Molly. And after Molly, we have Jabari Hosey, Kelly Dammereau, and Karen. One of them is in Orlando getting chemo for her son, but he’s going to start on Thursday.

3:21:12 And God help, right? Because children like one who’s children like son, they’re. They’re at your hands and their lives are in your hands. And I think we all know this.

3:21:20 And so we talk about holding money from the governor. We can talk about all sorts of bureaucratic stuff to what your real job is, is to save the people and protect the people that are in your. I’ve already contributed.

3:21:27 GoFundMe, our school librarian, just got out, thank God. But you know, our music teachers, he died over the summer. And I can’t do that again.

3:21:38 I cannot claim to son that we’re losing people. And if I do, I’m gonna call on you and I’m gonna say, hey, they said no masks. They said it would be fine.

3:21:53 You have medically people in under you. And we’re asked as parents, as teachers, as one of the hospitalists or Holmes emailed you all told her. Told you she couldn’t be here tonight.

3:22:13 She’s at a soccer game. But she’ll be there tomorrow for her twelve hour shift where she had COVID patients dying, asking her to just to hug them before they go. The mother to four shouldn’t have to do this.

3:22:31 We have the ability to stop the spread. This doesn’t mean forever. We all know this doesn’t end.

3:22:44 I don’t want it forever for everyone. Okay? So let’s follow the science. Science, the curriculum.

3:22:55 Okay? No more q and a, no more myths. Let’s just go with what we know. Go with the expert and end this for everyone.

3:23:08 Nobody will be mad at you. Okay? When they’re living. Okay? But I’m going to tell you, if I lose a teacher for one of my kids or a friend, you guys will be the first I’ll call.

3:23:16 I want you to come in, tell them what kid do. Thank you. Hi, my name is Jafari Hosi.

3:23:45 I had two students attending Viera elementary, but due to you guys response, you had to make a tough decision and they’re no longer dead. I want to point out the fact that it’s not just me trying to convey to you. It’s the science and data of what’s currently happening.

3:24:05 Here are just a few recommendations that we’ve heard from the experts that seem to be negated by this board. The American Academy of Pediatrics. They recommend all students older than two and all staff wear a mask.

3:24:23 The CDC recommends universal indoor masking, maintaining 3ft of physical distance if possible. The World Health Organization. They’ve been unchanged during this entire pandemic.

3:24:36 They still recommend continued universal masking indoors. The Florida Department of Health, all individuals in Florida. Their recommendation is to wear a mask indoors and have social distancing when social distancing is not possible.

3:24:40 Brevard Department of Health go to their website. The first thing you say. Wear a mask at all times in the public period and inside.

3:25:01 OSHA, our occupational safety and Health Administration advises all employers to allow face coverings in the use of masks unless it requires a respirator in their job. The American Hospital association, the American Medical association, the American Nurses association have built an entire campaign on wearing masks indoors. There are virologists, epidemiologists, pediatricians, medical professionals, data scientists, nurses, all providing decades of studying and data.

3:25:46 These groups give us recommendations for what we rely on today to protect ourselves. They conduct the research, they collect the data we rely on today for the numbers and what’s going on with the pandemic. If you do not believe the recommendations to follow those, then you must not believe in what’s going on with the pandemic at all.

3:25:53 I’ve researched medical and safety organizations that would recommend students not wear a mask indoors. You know how many I found? I zero. This seems to be a handful of parents, this state’s governor, and three board members up here that don’t believe in science or refuse to think critically.

3:27:30 This is the time to do what’s right, not political. This is the time to act to protect our children, not pander to political constituents. A part of your job is to protect the health and safety of our children.

3:27:49 And the main way to do that in this instance is universal masking. This is the wrong science has been clear. It’s been right this entire time.

3:28:06 This is the wrong time to challenge it. Fear of threats made by, to dictate what’s the right decision by our governor. I’m asking you to follow the science and the data, do your job and protect our children.

3:28:25 Thank you, Kelly Dammero. After Kelly, we have Karen Clark, Julie O’Neill and Katherine Hamilton. If you all would like to get on deck long and hard about whether I even would speak, having bachelor’s, master education and classroom.

3:28:46 I can’t speak from a teacher perspective, but we’re going to have teachers and people representing that view. I thought about as an attorney, a local practicing attorney, what I would love to tell you about the power that you have because of the Florida Constitution, the duty that you have because of it, the responsibilities and the right to act as an independent board without limitation, unfairly put on you where it really can’t be, and from a really narrow legal perspective about how the standing issue has changed now that your individual salaries have been challenged. So, but you have qualified, highly qualified legal staff to give you advice on that.

3:28:58 I thought about talking to you earlier as a mother, and I know there’s a lot of them in this room and a lot of them that have contacted you as a mother who dropped her daughter off for her first day of pre k today, who’s not there to ask her how it went, because I’m here trying to make sure that she can continue to go to the school that she loves and is so excited about. But I wanted to give you a unique perspective of someone who wanted to be in your shoes and sitting up there and thank you for getting facts right from the medical sources. Thank you for all the questions you asked.

3:29:14 There were wonderful questions. And really I saw in, everyone saw a search to get as much information and data to make this decision on your as you can. And I wanted to say that I think more people understand how difficult the position you’re in is.

3:29:41 Then you realize that it’s impossible. It’s a no win situation. And so at the end of the day, you’re going to have to follow your gut and your heart and what it tells you to do and put all the everything else aside.

3:30:01 And I think you’re all serving up there because you care about and love children and education and teachers and the whole system. And that can only lead you to one conclusion, and that’s to keep them all as safe as possible. Thanks, Kelly.

3:30:19 Karen Clarke. Hello, my name is Karen Clark. If Florida were a country, we’d ban travel to Florida.

3:30:38 We’re in the midst of a surge of COVID infections. Students eleven and under are not eligible to be vaccinated at this time. Your number one job is to keep students safe.

3:30:56 All your students stay safe, not just some of the students. The fallacy of parental choice does not reflect reality. When your parental choice infringes on the rights of my child, there is no parental choice for me.

3:31:13 You may believe that masks and vaccines are not effective, but there are many studies showing that masks and vaccines help reduce the spread of this disease. Schools already require vaccinations to attend school, and although the COVID vaccines are currently under an emergency use authorization, full FDA approval is being actively sought. You may say the recommendations keep changing.

3:31:20 That is true because science isn’t static, and as more data is received, things change. That’s how science works. Maybe you remember in just the last couple of weeks where the Walmarts on Palm Bay Road and Malabar Road were closed for deep cleaning due to Covid outbreaks.

3:31:29 Do you think that Walmart closes for days on a whim? I saw a comment on a news story where someone said that pediatric deaths in Florida was 0.0%. I asked this person what was his acceptable amount of deaths or long term health issues for a child.

3:31:39 He didn’t respond. I ask you, what is your acceptable amount of death or long term health issues for a child? Parents send their kids to school sick all the time. They’re going to send their kids to school sick now due to work issues.

3:31:48 The flowchart on how to respond to Covid illness is very, very confusing. The isolation rules won’t work for people who live in a small home or in a hotel if they’re homeless. We need to do everything in our power to reduce the spread of this disease.

3:31:55 This newest variant is highly contagious. The schools are not going to be able to stay open due to staff and students testing positive for Covid. If we would mandate masks, we could decrease infections and be able to keep schools open.

3:31:55 Thank you. Thank you. Julie O’Neill.

3:31:55 And then after that, we have Kathryn Hamilton and Christopher Paganoni. Hi. Thank you.

3:31:55 Thank you for being here. I have a daughter at one of our public high schools, and I would be lying if I said that I would. That this wasn’t about her at all.

3:31:55 But truly, the reason I’m here to speak tonight is this is a community issue. I’m speaking. I’m asking that you make masks mandatory in the Royal county public school system.

3:33:24 I want a mask mandate. Sorry. I want a mask mandate to protect all members of our community.

3:33:39 I want it for the 50 or so moms who couldn’t be here tonight because of immune compromise or have other things. I want it for my daughter’s pregnant teacher and the other pregnant teachers in Brevard county. In our community.

3:33:58 I want it for the 30 year old pregnant. Sorry. 30 year old Brevard County Postpartum mom that lost her life to Covid and leaves behind her one week old baby girl.

3:34:09 I want it for the at risk children in our school system who are being compromised or disabled in some way. I want it for all the children in Brevard public schools that are not old enough to be vaccinated. I want it for the classmate of my daughter that just lost her parent to Covid.

3:34:21 I want it for the 16 year old girl in Jacksonville that died of COVID I want it for the 172 children who have admitted to Florida hospitals for Covid. One child is too many. And if one child dies, that’s too many.

3:34:46 I want it for the hospital staff that’s working like crazy to control that are overworked and underpaid. I want to protect the children whose parents aren’t masking. We all make sacrifices for the good of the community.

3:35:07 We obey road rules and stop lights. Everyone doesn’t run red light because it’s an inconvenience to stop. It is our community or it’s our civic duty, just as it is community effort that will end this pandemic so we can all get back to normal.

3:35:22 My final note is if you make an opt out clause, I ask that it be the same that you’re requiring for all of the other clauses that it be signed as medically necessary by an arMp, an MD, or a Pl. And really, I think that. Listen to those experts.

3:35:52 There’s 50 there was 50 per 100,000 last year, and now there’s 700 per 100,000. That’s not. There’s no question that math should be required.

3:36:06 They work. Thank you. Katherine Hamilton will be our next speaker.

3:36:17 And, sir, holding the large sign in the back of the room, could you please lower that? Because you’re dropping the people or blocking the people behind you. Thank you, Miss Hamilton, whenever you are ready. I’m here as a concerned mother who also happens to be an ICU nurse who has taken care of some of your very employees, who has, unfortunately, also had to witness some of them put in body bags.

3:36:30 So our school funding, your salaries, are being threatened if we ignore what’s proven to help keep kids safe. That political agenda has no place when it comes to our kids. The real concern is, like everybody said, to make sure that we’re doing what’s right, what’s proven, what’s evidence based to keep our kids safe.

3:36:43 Masks are the least thing that we can do to try and help protect them. Everybody said it. The CDC, Department of Health, World Health Organization, and Reputable Literature, which I brought with me if anybody wants to read.

3:36:56 You wanted proof from real sources, not myths, that masks work and that labile mask use does not work when implemented in other places where they tried to do optional masks, their cases continued to rise, as did their deaths versus places that had very strict mask mandates. Their cases decreased. It’s no secret that the hospitals are running out of beds.

3:37:31 You have one doctor here who’s sitting here telling you you have emergency management systems putting out memos and press releases. Please stop calling 911 unless it’s really, really an emergency. Why would they say that? We are running out of rooms.

3:37:47 We are running out of beds. And despite the man who doesn’t work in the hospital saying that that’s not true, I will tell you, I see it every day. I went to work today.

3:37:58 I went in there earlier because we are so understaffed and we are flooded with patients that are critically ill. They are dying young. Two mothers last week, not just one.

3:38:05 Two in our hospital will never get to hold their newborn babies. They have single dads at home taking care of them because their mothers are dead. There is more just like them.

3:38:12 The wave that we’re in right now is not like the ones that we’ve seen in the past. They’re younger, they’re sicker. And I don’t think it should be a question when evidence says that mask mandates work when used correctly, when they cover your mouth and your nose.

3:38:33 And I wish that people would understand the concept. Giving them the option to wear the mask is not helpful because the whole concept is your mask protects me and my mask protects you. And in the same way that we’re talking about trusting parents to make all these right decisions, do parents always make the right decision? Is there parents out there that make bad decisions, not just for themselves, but for their kids? You have people that don’t even believe that it’s real, as they’ve said, and you’re going to trust them to abide by the rules to keep our kids safe.

3:38:52 Thank you. Thank you. Christopher Paganoni and then Erin Davison, Elliot Davison, and Lashawn Taylor.

3:39:00 Christopher. Hi there. My name is Christopher Paganoni, and I’d like to say thank you again to the council of the board and to the superintendent for having this meeting.

3:39:19 Just take note. 18 people came in front of me. Almost all of them touched this microphone.

3:39:31 Touch this thing, touch this podium. Not one of them wiped it down. Not one of them did anything else.

3:39:45 Okay. One of the most fundamental things you can do, I’m not asking for applause, please. One of the most fundamental things you can do if you’re going to use the bumper sticker of wear a mask, and I expect a lot of direct cards to come up behind me shortly, is hand sanitization keeping your areas clean.

3:39:59 There’s a lot of dangers of bumper stickers. All right, everybody, you know, I’ll be the first to tell you masks are effective. There are studies out there that say masks are absolutely effective, but they also make it very clear that it’s the proper use of the mask that makes them effective.

3:40:16 People like to quote literature. I’d like to quote the who, the who, and their guidance for the use of masks on influenza like outbreaks. In bold.

3:40:25 In that statement, they say using a mask incorrectly, however, may actually increase the transmission rather than reduce it. If masks are to be used, the measure should be combined with other general measures to help prevent human transmission of influenza and also training. The correct use of masks.

3:40:45 Masks are, if they’re going to be effective, require training. If you look at a n 95 mask, it has a statement of training on it. It asks if the individual is trained.

3:40:51 How many people know that you do not put an n 95 mask on a child? And that is according to three M’s publications. In that same note from the WHO, they also add, avoid touching the mask. Touch it.

3:41:32 Clean your hands with soap and water. Using an alcohol based sanitizer, replace the mask with a new, clean, dry mask. As soon as it becomes dampen, humid, or soiled, and do not reuse single use masks.

3:41:41 Dispose of them immediately upon removal. With respect to cloth masks, there’s insufficient information available on effectiveness. If used, they should be immediately removed and washed immediately with household detergents at normal temperatures.

3:41:55 This is not a joke. If you’re going to require masks, or if you even think about it, you better have a mandate for how to train your staff. Train the students.

3:42:02 And I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a five year old or a teenager’s room, but keeping something extremely clean is not an option. They’ll be throwing them away, which means we need to have the disposable containers for biohazardous waste. Because why are we wearing these masks? To stop a virus, the biohazard.

3:42:22 So you better have the right way to dispose of it. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

3:42:46 Erin Davidson Erin Davidson Erin Davison that’s okay. I specifically want to know how many kids who were close contact foreign teens ended up testing positive. I was then referred to Christine Moore, who referred me to Amy Lewandowski to do a public record search.

3:42:59 After a few days, I was sent this response. There are no records responsive to this request. You may view the BPS Covid-19 dashboard on our website.

3:43:12 This confirms that in addition to the health department, BPS also has no data to support quarantining healthy individuals. I took your advice and went to the COVID dashboard to extrapolate the data myself. I sent it to you in an email earlier this week.

3:43:31 It looks like this. Here’s what I found. You had approximately 80,000 students and staff in the BPS system last year.

3:43:46 From August 31, 2020 until June 14, 2021, there were a total of 3233 COVID positive cases. That’s only 4% of the BPS population. Despite this, you managed to quarantine 16,151 students and staff.

3:44:03 This means over 20% of the BPS population lost at least two weeks of school or work with no measurable effect. Based off your own stats, it is obvious that the majority of the quarantines are not showing up positive since the system wide positivity rate remained 4%. At a minimum, over 13,000 bps students and staff would needlessly quarantine for multiple weeks.

3:44:12 In addition, all the parents of those close contact quarantines lost weeks of work and potentially pay to stay home for their kids. The numbers speak. Quarantining the healthy is ineffective and detrimental to families.

3:44:25 If you aren’t convinced to eliminate the quarantine of healthy people. I am requesting the please implement the most minimal quarantines possible. The state DOH’s ruling last Friday is a reasonable start.

3:44:43 You must start tracking close contact quarantines to determine if they ever become COVID positive. You need data to prove the necessity of quarantining healthy individuals. And three, I realize I may need to take this to the state level, but please add positive antibody testing into your metrics for not having to quarantine.

3:44:52 A positive antibody test should count the same as a prior infection or shot. A vaccine should never carry more weight than our God given immune system. As a reminder to parents, if the DOH calls you after a positive test, you have the right to refuse all questions.

3:45:05 You don’t have to reveal close contacts. They can’t quarantine healthy individuals. Thank you, Miss Belford.

3:45:30 Hold on just 1 second just to. Thank you, Miss Belford. I just want to provide the audience just some microphone instructions.

3:57:36 You don’t need to get your face or mouth right up to the microphone. The last speaker we could hear very clearly and she was several inches away from the microphone. So it is a proximity microphone.

3:57:53 It is not a performance microphone. So when you get up close on the microphone, it actually distorts and makes it your voice distorted and difficult for us to understand you. So I would just ask that help us understand what you want to say and remain several inches away from the microphone.

3:58:00 Okay, you got it? All right. You’re perfect. My name is Elliot Davidson and today I walk into my first day of 10th grade.

3:58:10 Today I saw that at the most, eight students were wearing a mask. Over 1300 people go to my school. This should tell you that we, the students you vowed to serve, don’t want to wear masks.

3:58:20 Thank you to my board that we will do our best to take a break approximately every hour this evening for restroom and recharge so that we can stay fully engaged with our audience. So we’re going to take about a five minute recess just for refreshment and then we will be back. Back and resume with our next three speakers.

3:58:29 Okay? Sadeena. Sadeena. Sadeena.

3:58:42 Sadeena. Sadeena. Sadeena.

3:59:26 Sadeena. Radhe. Sadeena.

3:59:46 All right, we are back in session and we’ll resume with our public speakers. Our first three speakers will be crystal Coates, Rosemary Brown and Julie Bywater. Crystal, I apologize.

3:59:59 Lashawn Taylor. Miss Campbell, you were right. I was a head one thank you for correcting me on that.

4:00:11 I appreciate it. Good evening, board members. First, I’d like to say thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share my personal experience with my daughter in school last year.

4:00:23 My name is Lashawn Taylor. I’m here to speak on behalf of my daughter, who is in the third grade. Shortly after the school began to require mass last year, my daughter started to wake up on school days in a panic.

4:00:38 She would cry hysterically, saying her belly was hurting. She was unable to eat breakfast on most days, and on the day she did, she would throw up. I didn’t know what was going on.

4:00:52 It happened for four months straight to the last day of school. I thought maybe she was having stomach issues or something after having to keep pulling her out of school to go to the doctors, which merit doctor. Mary Ulrich is my doctor.

4:01:11 They wanted doctor’s notes because they kept pulling us out because they thought she had Covid. And after so many doctors appointments, we got a permanent doctor’s note for the school saying that we had ongoing issues. We were trying to find the cause.

4:01:16 After numerous blood work tests, stool samples, x rays, GI visits, and other intrusive tests, we were able to rule out any physical or medical issues. So we started down the path of investigating possible stress related and psychological causes. We then contacted her teacher and asked if there was anything going on at school with her, the students of or schoolwork.

4:01:32 She absolutely said absolutely nothing was going on at school. Then we started private counseling for her. The counselors were able to help us determine that she was having a panic attack.

4:01:47 Panic attacks which were directly related to the sudden change at school due to Covid and especially having to wear a mask. On one occasion, her school even had to call an ambulance because she passed out and collapsed at school after putting her mask back on after recess. That was the end of the masks for our family and my children of three.

4:02:17 We had simply had enough throughout the summer break. We had not had one single episode since we cut out masks. Today was a little rough, though, because school started back, and she was about to have a panic this morning and started crying.

4:02:28 I talked her down and we did some breathing techniques. I told her that God would help her if she needs to try and stay calm. She pulled it together after I told her she doesn’t have to wear masks at school ever again.

4:02:40 The damage this has done to my child is heartbreaking. She never had any kind of anxiety issues ever in her life before. All of this, the psychological and physical damage these masks are doing to our kids is very real and needs to stop.

4:02:59 At this point, we have more than enough reliable data showing that the risk of forcing our kids to wear masks in school far outweighs any benefit. The decision should be up to the individual family. I’m tired of hearing people say that masks don’t affect our kids and kids are resilient.

4:03:29 The long term effects of forcing our kids to wear masks are not known and for some might not even show up until much later. So thank you for listening to my story, and thank you in advance for allowing each family to do what’s best for them by allowing masks to be optional. Thank you.

4:03:49 Loshaun. Good evening, board. I’ve spoken to you all a couple of times before.

4:03:53 Know where I stand. I post mandatory mask. It should be an option.

4:04:05 I wanted to tell you a little bit about my family. We have been very blessed to not have been affected by Covid directly since the beginning of the pandemic. I sympathize with all of the families that have been affected, and we do take the virus very seriously.

4:04:20 Our family moved to Brevard county early in this year, and the optional masking for small children, which is what I have, you’ve seen them here at the meeting, probably. It was a big deciding factor for me on coming to Brevard. We looked at all over Florida.

4:04:40 We came from Dade county, which is, as you know, is extremely locked down. So when we got here, it was very surprising to see that the elementary school was mandating masks for all children, including my four year old son, who, just like the lady who spoke before me, not as severe, thank goodness, also complained of bellyaches every day on the way to school, sometimes crouched over in the car the whole way to school because of the mask. There was nothing wrong with his belly.

4:05:02 He was sent home a couple of times. My daughter developed headaches so much that the pediatrician recommended that we keep a headache diary. So every two minutes, I found myself writing down in the diary that her head hurt.

4:05:24 A and all of that went away when they stopped wearing the mask. I told my children that they were not going to have to wear masks ever again. I’m sticking to that.

4:05:52 If that means that I have to take my children out of brevard public schools, I will do that. Our family is prepared to do that. And luckily, a lot of other families, because there are thousands who think just like me, have the hope scholarships and family empowerment scholarships to make those same choices if they want.

4:06:00 We wash our hands, sanitize, we stay home when we’re sick, we take all of the necessary precautions, but we don’t wear masks because they have negatively impacted our children and our families. And I just want to remind you that right on the packaging of the mask, it says that it’s not effective for Covid-19 just like the gentleman before me. Every single mask recommendation comes with the preface that masks need to be worn properly.

4:06:11 Children are not doing that. My four year old had a filthy rag on his face every single afternoon when I picked him up full of leftover lunch. Boogers not fit, and anything else that he picked up on the playground, including sometimes no masks, because it was gone.

4:06:24 He lost it. He didn’t even know where it was. He had one that the teacher gave him.

4:06:29 So I don’t think that you all should take on the responsibility of deciding for every family in the county. I think that that is a huge burden on all of you, and you should leave the choice with your parents where it belongs. Thank you.

4:06:47 Thanks, Crystal. Me. So I’m a parent.

4:06:55 I have a daughter currently, and I have that. At the last meeting, I decided I’ve never done anything like this. I’m nothing fancy.

4:07:02 I’m just me and a mom who has no parent. And I felt strongly for, you know, the mass and, you know, we have so much time. It’s like, I’m gonna say this, you know, and then I wanted to make sure I made use of the time right and blah, blah, blah.

4:07:15 And, you know, there’s a lot of back and forth. You can’t, we already know, can’t make everybody happy, and it’s just tit for tat, back and forth. And we all have a story, but there’s one universal thing that, you know, keeps happening.

4:07:30 Where’s the facts? The facts. I think that you brought in people to get facts, or, you know, and they’re going in one year and out the other, and I feel like I’m on another planet or something, and things keep getting answered and kind of like you see something happening looking the other way. I think it just comes down to as a universal whole, I want to protect my child.

4:07:51 I, you know, want them to be okay, and I’ll do what I can. I lost two children myself. We all have a story we got to look at.

4:07:51 You know, we’re not going to all get along or agree. So that’s why you’re here. And I’m here to say mask is a very.

4:08:25 I know people are going to like this, but, you know, to keep my kid alive and well of possible further, you know, health problems. I’m going to do it. I lost two children.

4:08:55 Guess what? I care for you. If you have any kids or just you yourself as an adult. I’m a human.

4:09:09 I care about all human beings, and I don’t want to sit here and keep going on to the same thing. It comes down what’s right and what’s wrong. I think there’s a lot of people that just don’t want to do something and don’t want to be told to do it, but I can’t.

4:09:21 I’m here because my child. I want to keep my child healthy. You healthy and everybody, let’s get this gone.

4:09:28 Let’s get this thing out of here. And it’s by doing the right thing and trying to protect each other and care about one another. Thank you.

4:09:46 Thank you, Rosemary. Julie Bywater. And then after Julie, we have Alexander Grodin, Julie Kellgren, and Ashley Hall.

4:10:00 Julie? Hi, I’m Julie Bywater. I am with moms for Liberty, but I’m really just speaking as a mom and as a student because I was a student at Eastern Florida State College. I just graduated this week.

4:10:14 I’ve sat with those students in those classes, and I want to remind you of an experience that I had. I took sign language class for the first time ever, and we are seriously neglecting one with these masks, our deaf and hard of hearing community. The masks cover the faces of both the speaker and the person who is communicating.

4:10:25 So when you cover up your face, you’re making it hard for them to lip read. That means students in your classrooms can’t lip read what their teachers are saying and vice versa. When you do sign language and you cover up a face, all of the grammar is in their face.

4:10:44 So when you kind of laugh at the interpreters that are out there and they’re faces are all crazy and everything. That’s because that’s the grammar, and it’s incredibly important. So we are, by wearing masks, constantly neglecting our deaf and hard of hearing community.

4:11:16 In essence, I also have a child who has an auditory processing issue. So every time a teacher speaks to him and they’re masked up, he can’t understand them. When he has his speech issues, which he has had his whole life, he needs to look at your face and see your mouth moving, because for him to constantly see that face is how he mimics and how he practices his speech every single moment of his life.

4:11:43 And for the last year and a half, we have watched his feet become incredibly hard to understand because he no longer has those cues over the summer, it’s gotten a lot better. Fantastic. Because he’s at home seeing our faces.

4:12:01 You mask them back up, it’s going to get worse again. I have a daughter who, with the social side of all of this, she’s struggling, too. She’s got severe acne.

4:12:21 The mask makes it worse. It’s cystic acid acne. The bacteria in her face is just there all the time.

4:12:31 She washes her face four times a day at school and puts on a new mask four times a day at school, and she’s still suffering because of the mask. The dermatologist has said, get that mask off her face. It’s incredibly hard for a lot of our students.

4:12:53 They don’t speak up because their mask covers their mouth and they’re afraid to speak up. They can’t speak up. Teachers are complaining that the classrooms are quieter than they’ve ever been because the mask, it’s hide behind them.

4:13:11 They don’t participate. There’s more than just the actual science. And I’m incredibly disappointed that nobody on that panel was an adolescent mental health care provider.

4:13:29 Really disappointed. Thanks. Julie Alexander.

4:13:38 Hi. I’m a father of two children that attend schools. I came after I watched the last school board meeting because I wanted to make sure I gave balance to what I saw there, which was just a little crazy, to be completely honest.

4:13:50 What I heard during that time was people coming at this board with a lot of rage and belligerence, failed threats, and honestly, some proclaimed patriotism all around. Ill informed appeals to personal liberty. And to be completely honest, I guarantee you those feelings would be different if what we were debating here at the board was about rainbow flags or burqas or skirt lengths.

4:14:00 The fact that we’re even having a conversation about what experts, your own panels that you brought in, who you claim to be extremely concerned about not just their opinions, but wasting their time. The fact that we’re even talking about this is a sign that what we’re really talking about isn’t whether or not masks are the right decision to make, but whether or not this is a political issue. Clearly it is.

4:14:18 If you didn’t want to waste your expert’s time, you would already have your answer. You would mandate mask. A gentleman came up earlier and threatened to vote every member of the board out if you did not strike down this mask.

4:14:32 Mandate. Well, let’s talk about politics for a second. There’s the only reason I can think of that the board would ignore pure science that has been peer reviewed is political calculus.

4:14:50 But let’s talk about some facts. Right. The people that are anti mask studies suggest they’re also anti vaccine.

4:15:00 And I hate to put it that way, but the people that you should be really concerned about are the people wearing a mask and asking for a mask mandate, because they’re the ones that are more likely going to be around to vote. 39,000. Over 39,000 people in Florida alone have died.

4:15:17 I also have good news for you. During this meeting, news channel eight, which maybe here, I don’t know, reported that the White House has said that they’re willing to help any school district DeSantis has decided to defund based on mask mandates. There’s your good news.

4:15:27 Now you can do it without worrying about monetary repercussions. Thank you. Thank you, Julie Kellgrenhe.

4:15:38 Thank you for having me. So I’m in a fairly unique position compared to everybody else here. My kids are actually not enrolled in the public school system.

4:15:48 We are at St. Mary’s, have three children, VPK third grade. We were issued a math mandate on Monday, late. Our school day starts tomorrow.

4:16:00 I know everybody here started today. We were given no time to change schools or consider this decision. We were given no chance as parents to even have a say or be heard about it.

4:16:08 I have spent more than $16,000 in tuition, hundreds of dollars on school supplies. But today I am considering enrolling my children in a public school for which we are zoned. I am here to issue a forewarning to those who do not think statistics can be manipulated in the catholic school system.

4:16:12 We are under the guide of the Diocese of Orlando with Henry 48. At the PO, we were recently given statistics of a 20% positivity rate in Brevard county. This means that one out of five people who are already suspicious that they have Covid do.

4:16:23 If you want a true understanding of the positivity rate, then we ought to be doing randomized testing, not testing only the people who are actually suspecting they have Covid. Automatically the percentage will be high and could continue for 20 years this way. This non randomized sampling leaves the statistics vulnerable to manipulation and false sense of reality in our community.

4:16:31 The diocese will not let up on mask mandates unless the percentage goes below 8%. That is the number it was back at the start of the 2020 school year. This also coincides with when testing was free.

4:16:42 Anyone could get a test and were because we did not have enough information regarding symptoms and were told to sneeze, cough and fever were all you needed to be suspicious and get a test. Now doctors ask a plethora of questions before they even administer it. They will ask you who you have been in contact with, why you think you need one.

4:16:53 Have you been vaccinated? 50% of the population doesn’t even need to get tested at this point because the rules have changed for the vaccinated. No quarantine time for them. No need to worry because the vaccine takes care of it all.

4:17:15 In spite of statistics saying vaccinated people are also spreading it. That leaves the rest of us fighting for common sense statistics on covidactnow.org, comma, the website our beloved diocese is using to make major decisions.

4:17:48 Statistics are a lot lower than what the board here said, so I will say that I changed it a little bit. On the website, it says 91.4 out of 100,000 people.

4:18:33 And today I learned it’s 626 out of 100,000. We only have in our school 215 or less children and a faculty of about 30. That means 626 out of 100,000 people.

4:18:38 That is a six 10th of a percent of people with COVID 626% of people. Let me be clear. I’m not an anti masker.

4:19:01 I was wearing masks before. They were cool. I actually know that they work.

4:19:11 I am absolutely understand the science. I am, however, a pro parental choice to do what makes sense for your family. As parents, we are capable of making these decisions for our children.

4:19:30 Making mass mentoring and manipulated statistics means you are forcing my child to wear a mask for no reason. Making masks optional means anyone can wear a mask if they say. Thank you, Julie.

4:19:52 We appreciate you joining us this evening, Ashley. Thank you. Hello, members of the board.

4:20:04 My name is Ashley hall. I’m the brevard chair of moms for Liberty. I just wanted to quickly thank you all for allowing school to ensue today with masks optional, I think.

4:20:13 I don’t know if you guys went into the schools today, but I have an overwhelming consensus that the vast majority of teachers and students have chosen not to mask. I feel that that should be taken into consideration with all of this. We are toiling over masks or no masks.

4:20:28 What does the majority want? What is the majority willing to do? The risks we are willing to take to ensue, you know, school, school time? So anyway, I wanted to talk about the. I had a couple of questions that I would have liked to have asked of the medical professionals here. I would actually like for that to be announced ahead of time so we can submit questions as the constituents to be able to ask our own questions.

4:20:38 So have there been in any studies done in the safety and effectiveness of long term mask wearing of non regulated masks on children for six to 8 hours a day. I would have loved that question to be asked. How long do doctors or nurses wear non n 95 masks before they’re discarded? Are concerns of bacterial growth and cloth masks due to moisture from breath, constant touching, unsanitary conditions? Is that a valid question? Why were flu rates down and Covid up if the masks work? Wouldn’t Covid have not had such a spike? I want to see the peer reviewed study that shows that masks are the reason for the flu to be non existent.

4:21:00 So again, thank you for allowing kids to go back to school. With masks optional, of course. You know where I stand.

4:21:05 Thanks, Ashley. All right, Danielle McDonough, Dina Stone, and then Gordon Sumner. Danielle, inpatient care.

4:21:16 I can support what that ICU nurse said to you earlier today. I’ve been a nurse for 32 years. 32 years.

4:21:57 In 32 years, I have never witnessed what I am seeing in our hospitals. I have never seen fatigue, burnout, exhaustion, sadness. I’ve never seen that in 32 years.

4:22:10 We have been dealing with this pandemic for over 18 months. We deal with it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The teachers have dealt with it all last school year, and I support them and I commend them and I thank them for everything that they did.

4:22:15 It was not an easy year, and they were so thankful when their year ended and they got a break. But when their year ended, ours didn’t. The pandemic got worse.

4:22:26 It got worse because the CDC said, hey, people are getting vaccinated. Let’s stop wearing masks. And with that, the pandemic continued to spread.

4:22:29 We now have a 24% positivity rate in Brevard county. Put that in perspective. You closed school when we had a half a dozen cases in our county closed school.

4:22:38 You mandated masks. When we were at less than a 6% virus positivity rate. We’re at 24%.

4:22:51 I see husbands and wives lying in bed in the hospital next to each other in shared Covid rooms because there’s no single rooms to put them in. Today I saw a hospitalized patient in the emergency room because he couldn’t get a bed in the hospital. All of this is true.

4:23:01 I work there. I know it’s true. I see it.

4:23:07 Katie and I have kids that go to the same school. A child lost her father on Monday. A child in our school.

4:23:18 One of our teachers is eight and a half months pregnant. How are you protecting that teacher? That teacher who’s about to have a baby should she test positive for Covid because she was exposed to a classroom full of unmasked kids? How will you handle that situation? So I thank you for your time, but step up, do your job, protect the children. It’s actually something you’re required to do because you’re supposed to protect us from immunoglobul diseases.

4:23:25 Karina. Thank you. Hi, my name is Karina Stone.

4:23:34 Thank you for having us. Me and my husband are both paramedics. We’ve both worked in the hospital.

4:23:36 And I’m here to tell you all now, there are always short staff. It’s not because of COVID Hey, Karina, if you could stay focused this way, I’d appreciate it. Our kids will not be wearing masks.

4:23:51 We are not anti vaxxers. We’re paramedics. We’ve never been anti vaxxers.

4:23:55 Due to Covid, there is zero proof that the vaccines are keeping people from getting Covid. Zero. There are actually people.

4:24:03 More people are getting Covid that have vaccine than not have the vaccine. That is true. It is up to you to decide whether we stay in your school system or nothing.

4:24:13 Please choose wisely. Thank you. Gordon Sumner, followed by Bernard Bryan and then Teresa Hart.

4:24:21 Gordon. Y’all are gonna be so happy. I’m the only person coming up here.

4:24:28 I don’t care how you vote. I don’t care what you vote on either way, because my kids are coming to school unvaxed, unmasked, and unafraid. I have a lawyer on retainer for when you send them home.

4:24:38 After that, I’ll pull them, take my funding, continue the lawsuit. I still pay taxes. You won’t get rid of me.

4:24:45 We’ll get rid of them. My youngest is eight, so I’ll outlast all y’all. But what I wanted to come out here, that.

4:24:50 That’s my perspective on. I don’t care what you do. I don’t care what indian harbor says.

4:24:58 I don’t care what Brevard county says. I don’t care what Tallahassee says or DC if it’s against the constitution. The only reason y’all are getting away with all this stuff, because I haven’t been to court yet, because people are consenting to it.

4:25:11 We, my family, do not consent. We will not do it. I don’t care what you say.

4:25:20 I don’t care what any of you say. We don’t believe you. You’ve lied to us over and over.

4:25:32 But I do have a solution to all of it. And this is something that I have not heard from any politician. I actually had a talking with my pastor about it.

4:25:43 Nobody, no politician said, I need to go read my bible about it. I need to go pray about it. I never hear that.

4:25:47 But actually I did. Mike Pompeo, after I said that with him, he did come up and say that. So maybe give me a little bit of hope.

4:26:04 But we belong to God. And those who know God listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the spirit of the truth, of the spirit of deception.

4:26:12 I don’t see the spirit of God in anything y’all are doing or anything the government’s doing. Trying to shut this down. But it ends.

4:26:28 We say it ends. We do not consent. We don’t care what you say.

4:26:44 And the only reason you can do it, because it hasn’t been to court yet. Guess what? I got a lot of time on my hands. A lot of time.

4:26:54 And we’ll find out if it’s law. It’s not against the law to be a free american yet. I will stand up against all this crap until you make it illegal or until everybody else wakes up.

4:27:08 One or the other. But either way, it’s going to end and God wins. I know where I’m going.

4:27:19 Y’all need to get right. And for the media back there, I didn’t accuse the department of Health of being Nazis. I accused them of violating the Nuremberg code.

4:27:41 Read it. Coercion being the experiment. Paying people, lotteries, a vaccine so great that we have to force it on people.

4:28:05 But I’m just telling you, we’re not going to do it. They’re coming to school. You can send them home.

4:28:29 But the torment from that and them standing up from themselves and this crap is better than them submitting. So you decide you want to get in it with me. We’ll go.

4:28:46 Bernard. Brian. And after Bernard, we have Theresa Hart, Ron McClelland, and then Candice Bodner.

4:29:07 Mister Bryan, thank you so much for allowing me to speak with you today. My name is Bernard Bryan and I’m a SAC member of University Park Elementary School, Stone Middle School, as well as Palm Bay High School. School.

4:29:22 I have no children that are currently in the Brevard public school system. But I got to tell you, I do love this school system. I care about every child, every parent, everyone that involved in Brevard public school.

4:29:51 And I’m very happy that Mister Susan is doing well. And so, prayers are with this board. Our prayers are also with him.

4:29:59 But I gotta tell you, everybody hasn’t been blessed as Mister Susan has today. I lost a brother he had Covid. He experienced death.

4:30:18 And the reason why he died is because he wasn’t wearing a mask. And I said, I was so hurt because I wasn’t there with him. I was not able to hold his hand.

4:30:42 I was not able to see him go through that. But I want every board member to realize, all of you have children. And I guarantee you, if your child experienced Covid, your attitude would be, what can I do to help that child? So that’s why I’m standing here before you.

4:30:58 I want to talk to your heart a little bit. As you notice what was said today, a lot of professionals said that Covid is the case is going higher without children. You also heard today as well that the cases in our county is ten times more today than it was last year.

4:31:05 And you also heard that only 21% of students at the ages of twelve and 19 have been vaccinated. So I want to talk to your heart a little bit. The young man talked about scriptures and I want to share some of that with you.

4:31:18 The Bible says, love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, and with all your strength. And then he says, secondly, love your neighbor as yourself. So I want to leave that with you.

4:31:35 It’s not always about us, it’s not always about you, but how we care for our neighbor. And I think, and God said, really? He said, that is the second greatest commandment, that you love yourself, love God, and love your neighborhood. So I just want to share that with you today.

4:31:43 Think about your children, think about you being impacted, and think about how you can help others as well. Thank you. Teresa Hart.

4:31:57 Teresa Hart, going one, going twice. All right, Ron McClellan, found chair, Doctor Mullins, school board favor and prince. Looks like the coronavirus is going to be with us for a while.

4:32:09 There’s four other variants lurking around out there. Five if you count Delta. Plus it’s only a matter of time until they reach us here in Brevard.

4:32:18 Just for a second, for a couple of moments, let’s look at this from a higher perspective. Let’s reframe our conversation. What if I told you that the coronavirus was a national security? How so? Because sick nations cannot defend themselves.

4:32:26 Why should I bring this topic before school? The question some of your students, our children, they’re going to join the military. They will be the future defenders of our republic. Just to say that 25 26% of adolescents are going to be long hauling.

4:32:45 You quote late Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Those that are unknown, unknowns in other words, we don’t know what the long term implications a single infection might be. Sorry, is that better? Awesome.

4:32:52 Sorry about that. So in the movie, this is the part where we montage through everything. Unfortunately, we can’t montage through it.

4:33:00 We have to live through the science. We just haven’t gotten that far in the path yet. But what I want to do is present you with a different option.

4:33:19 Generate some curriculum based on the military’s NCBR training. We can count on our kids, our staff and our students to know what to do. When there’s bullets flying during an active shooter situation, then I’m pretty sure they can handle time, distance, and shielding.

4:33:32 Our eight year old has learned time, distance, and shielding. And throughout the whole pandemic, he’s been safe. Thank goodness.

4:33:54 Let’s stop using tactical solutions for strategic problems. Now, some of you might ask, well, who is this guy? I’m answering that with my remaining time. I’m a veteran of the nuclear navy.

4:34:06 I’ve never gone to sea on a vessel that was not nuclear powered. I’m sub suckers. Warfare qualified, surface warfare qualified and air warfare qualified.

4:34:24 I believe I’m qualified to talk on this topic. I’m also a grieving parent. Long before we even heard of COVID I buried my son.

4:34:32 That’s something that you don’t ever want to go through if you adopt this new curriculum. Look it up online. Time distance is.

4:34:57 Surely you’ll teach our students critical thinking, situation awareness, and best of all, we can stop having these friendly little get togethers. And with that, madam chair, I’ll yield back. Thank you, Mister McClellan.

4:35:17 All right. Candice Bodner. And then we have Kristan Galaski and Liz Brookshire.

4:35:34 Candice. Hello. So I have a little bit of a different viewpoint that I wanted to bring up and ask you to consider.

4:35:46 I am a retired teacher. I am on the substitute list. I was fortunate enough to be able to opt to stay home most of the time last year and not substitute much because I am in frequent contact with people who are highly high risk people.

4:35:56 So I didn’t want to convey anything to them. And that was with the children masking with the mandate in place. When I did seven, I had very little problem with any of the kids keeping the masks on.

4:36:24 Occasionally I would have to ask somebody, I need you to put it over your nose. I understand and can sympathize with parents who have children who have issues with masks. I’ve worked with exceptional education kids in my background, as well as kids who did not have any of those issues, and I do think we need to have exceptions for some of our students.

4:36:33 However, I also know that we have way more kids. In fact, one of our speakers earlier said she went to school today and very few kids had masks on. Kids aren’t going to choose it.

4:36:45 It has to be something that the parents teach, responsibility for yourself and responsibility for caring for your community. It’s not just about that individual, it’s about the community. Again, why I stayed home most of last year am now vaccinated.

4:36:55 My husband is a high risk. He is now vaccinated. I was prepared to go back this year because the numbers were low.

4:37:08 Now that the numbers have drastically increased, I will not be subbing until either there is a mask mandate in place or the numbers come back down. Think that’s going to be a while. I would ask you to think about and look at this today for how many days you had teachers out that needed substitute coverage and you did not have it last year.

4:37:27 And I know there was a lot because I know how many times people called me even though I had blocked out and said I’m not going to be subbing. They’re like, we’re desperate with the numbers what they are now if we do not have masks to help mitigate the transmission. I know maths don’t work 100% of the time.

4:37:41 I agree that students need to be trained how to do it, take care of them. I think parents need to be a part of that as well. But if the numbers where they are, if you are giving people a choice, your rate of teachers infection is going to be higher, you’re going to have greater need for substitutes.

4:37:50 And there are other substitutes like me who are going to choose not to be there. Thank you. Thank you.

4:37:53 Chrisanne Galaski. Christine Galaski. Going once, going twice.

4:38:23 Liz, looks like it’s you. I’m odd man person out today because I am not here to discuss Covid or masks. I’m here to discuss Titusville High school swim team sharing a pool with Space coast and astronaut high school.

4:38:40 We have 42 kids on our roster. We have to swim in the morning for 80 minutes. Other schools are getting longer times two to 3 hours.

4:38:57 We’re sharing a pool with three teams with no lights at night. Merritt island has lights. They can have as many teams as they need to practice there, but they get to use their club.

4:39:08 Team gets to practice. We’ve had this issue last year and we thought we figured it out and everything. Saturday we received.

4:39:12 Sunday. Excuse me. Sunday we received an email from our coach telling us that our practices have been changed again because Space coast doesn’t want to do what they had signed up to do.

4:39:29 They want to use our pool. Why do they want to use our pool? We don’t know. We have how many high schools and how many pools in Brevard County, Titusville alone had three pools at one time.

4:39:55 Jackson Middle School and Madison Middle School. What happened to those pools? They got filled in with cement. So we have three high schools sharing pools and then we have other high schools that don’t have to.

4:40:12 So let me start this, because I’m going to be kind of all over the place because I didn’t expect that I was going to have to be here because. And I’m going to get his name wrong. Ranjit.

4:40:31 Liz. No names, please. Thank you.

4:40:43 The assistant director of student activities was not kind enough to return any of our emails that we sent him. We have, like I said, 42 kids that are on our team, on our roster. 24 of them only can make practice in the morning because either they’re in zero block, they ride the bus, and they have no way to get there to practice in the morning, or they have other obligations that they can’t make practice.

4:40:58 So I had our coach sent us all the information that was going on between everything with all the schools. And the athletic director said, this is no longer up for discussion. Sorry, that’s not going to happen.

4:41:17 It’s up for discussion. Why should our kids only get 80 minutes in the pool when other schools are getting two to 3 hours in their pools? We asked for first block to become a swim practice. We were denied.

4:41:32 Rockledge High School has seven periods. Their 7th block is swim. What’s the difference? Why are you putting three? Thanks, Liz.

4:41:43 I will as committed earlier. I’ll follow up with you. Okay.

4:41:46 Thank you. You’re welcome. Carly Smith, Julie DeLuca, and then James Paddock.

4:41:55 I’ve never spoken or I’m sorry. And I honestly, I am someone who loves the Lord and I’ve been very concerned about hurting my witness because this is issue is so divisive and so ugly and people are so passionate about it because they feel so strongly. But I took my boys, I have a seven year old and a ten year old to their meet the teacher last week.

4:42:19 And I did see two families while I was there who chose to wear masks, and that’s their right. And that doesn’t stress me out or bother me at all. But I did get to see all of their friends and their teachers, and I got to meet their teachers, y’all, and it was just such a great thing from my heart.

4:42:34 And I went and I hugged the woman who my son spent 8 hours a day with last year, who I never got to meet. And she. The common consensus from all of the teachers was how horrible last year was and how much it affected their emotional, social, emotional health, as well as the children of having to do the mask thing every day.

4:42:43 And the children, I mean, everyone’s here talking about the hospitals, but the hospitals are not filled with children. They’re filled with adults. And I know we have teachers, and I have nothing but respect for the teachers and for the people who have to be around our kids.

4:42:59 But bottom line, we’re asking our children, who are not equipped to really wear the masks appropriately or even be fitted properly for them to bear the burden of this pandemic. And it’s just not worth it. So I want to close with this.

4:43:25 I told you all I love the Lord, and it stresses me out sometimes when people get up here and they’re so passionate about things, and I feel like sometimes it’s a lot of finger pointing and can get ugly, and I don’t want to be that way. But the scripture that I always think of and I feel like is a huge thing. During this pandemic, God did not give us a spirit of fear.

4:43:44 He gave us a spirit of power, love, and of self control. And I feel like fear has just reigned during this whole last year and a half, up on two years. And I just would challenge you to not make a decision out of fear.

4:44:06 We do have an executive order for you to fall back on now, and, I mean, kind of lifts the burden from you. I can’t imagine what you guys have gone through in the last little bit here. Not a little bit.

4:44:37 Long time. So I just want to thank you. I thank you for your service.

4:44:59 I’m sorry for all of the things that you have to put up with, but thank you for letting me. Thank you. Carly.

4:45:09 Julie Deluca. Good evening, and thank you for your time. I’m a woman of a certain age, an age where my dad’s remote control, which was every kid, was sitting closest to the television, an age when an outbreak of chicken pox was an all inclusive neighborhood ordeal, and an age when my dad would tell us to look it up when we had questions about different topics.

4:45:13 Of course, looking it up in my day, and I never thought I’d be old enough to say that line, but it meant going to the encyclopedia. Like, here we are, living in the information age. Yet, sadly, only information that fits a narrative is being provided.

4:45:26 We need to wake up. We are no longer at the mercy of Encyclopedia Britannica. I am a rule follower, but I am not a sheik.

4:45:38 I question, I research. I sit back and listen to both sides. My dad always taught us that the best way to win a debate is to be able to successfully debate both sides, which requires knowledge, understanding and empathy of both sides.

4:45:58 But what I see happening at a national level with trickle effects down to the local levels, is that all the information, all the science is not being listened to. It is not being considered when making decisions. There are lists of nationally and globally well renowned doctors who have differing opinions on what’s being presented on Covid, but we are putting all of our eggs in the CDC best.

4:46:12 Are you aware that the CDC and the NIH both did mask studies and proved beyond question that masks do nothing to stop the spread of respiratory diseases, which is what Covid is. You didn’t know that? Well, as my dad would say, look it up. It is.

4:46:30 Isn’t it true that if masks were effective against the spread of respiratory disease, we would have masked up against the flu years ago? I do not like my opinion, my thoughts, my choices, forced on me, especially by people who are unwilling to educate themselves on any subject. And I’m sure you as a board feel the same way. So I’m not going to tell you how to think or how to vote.

4:46:41 What I am going to do is ask you to consider some things as you make your decision. A decision which I prayed is not being pressured by those who make noise or decisions being made to appease only factions of your constituents. How many children over the summer tested positive for Covid? How many school age children are being brought in from the southern border who are untested and unvaccinated and being dropped into brevard public schools.

4:46:57 Does the Brevard Board of Education rely on any medical opinion other than CDC? Because some of the medical professionals up here sure talked a good game, but they didn’t offer a lot of factual statistics. Everybody was offered the same choices. I don’t know why my choices are being usurped by other people who don’t agree with me.

4:47:09 Thank you for your time. James Paddock. Hi, my name is Jim Paddock.

4:47:42 I’m a. I’m going to speak to you on a different note. I’m not going to speak with emotion.

4:47:45 I’m not going to speak with any anecdotal stories. I’m not going to speak about religion or politics. I’m just going to state some facts and some common sense walked in here tonight and saw a family of four sitting behind me, two children and two adults.

4:47:53 I watched a Brevard county sheriff separate them after they came here unmasked in the same car. He separated them. So I walked into a room where I saw immediately common sense not being used.

4:48:05 I listened to a doctor, a couple of doctors eloquently speak tonight about how masks are effective. I watched a Mount Sinai doctor in the Mount Vernon school, high school district address school board and say precisely the opposite, as this woman just did, saying that the masks are not effective. Nobody spoke about the statistics tonight.

4:48:15 You are asking for the ma’am down on the end. The article that Mister Susan referred to today, that was in the American Academy of Pediatrics says that 4.3 million children have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the beginning of the virus.

4:48:40 The death rate is 0.0081 of those who have died, which is about 480% of them had underlying illnesses that caused their death. Healthy kids are not dying for this from this at all.

4:49:00 My son, his face is broken out all over from the masks. How does that affect his self esteem? How does that affect his health? He’s been quarantined two times. He missed ten days of school.

4:49:06 He never tested positive. I’m sorry, 20 days of school almost never tested positive. As Aaron said before, on your own guidelines, three quarters of the children that you’ve kept home and quarantined have not been sick.

4:49:29 You’re doing something wrong. You need to wake up. Secondly, those who’ve professed that you guys have the sole authority over our children’s health, I’m sorry, the state constitution does not say that.

4:49:47 Article one, article nine of the Constitution, section one, two and four, put the health of our children in the hands of the seven people appointed by the governors to oversee the health of the state department of Health, like Governor DeSantis Ornate, he’s the chief executive of the state. He’s issued a mandate that you cannot put masks on the children and force them onto them. If you defy that, every person’s children in this room has every right to defy your orders and rules locally, in the schools, by son included.

4:50:03 I don’t care if you like them. I don’t care if you don’t like them. Stop playing.

4:50:38 You folks have a responsibility to follow the rule of law. He took civics last year. He understands how this works.

4:51:11 He asked me today, dad, if the governor issued an order, how did those five people say, we’re not going to listen well. We don’t all get to choose what rules we follow. We follow the rule of law.

4:51:21 And I hope you people have the courage to do it. Aaron Dunn. Aaron Dunn.

4:51:29 Followed by Amy Sibel and then Mithu Sharon. Thank you, board, for being here today and listening to everyone’s comments and concerns. My name is Erin Dunn.

4:51:34 I was a brevard public schools teacher for about the last ten years. Last fall, you lost me as a teacher because I was high risk and I was being put in a situation where I did not feel safe in my classroom. And I went on leave this past year and just this past spring, decided not to continue with brevard public schools for the time being.

4:51:46 I loved my job. I was teacher of the year. But I did not feel safe in my classroom last fall.

4:52:07 And I guarantee you that if you continue not requiring masks, you will lose more teachers who feel the same way as Covid rates go up. Right now, your Covid mitigation strategies barely cover aerosol spread at all. And from the CDC website I read today, current evidence strongly suggests transmission from contaminated surfaces does not contribute substantially to new infections.

4:52:19 So why are the vast majority of our Covid mitigation strategies on the school board website related to tufts? They’re related to surfaces and they’re not related to aerosol spread. Some of them say, well, we strongly suggest masks. We suggest plexiglass, but plexiglass doesn’t necessarily anymore.

4:52:34 They’re seeing that it’s actually can contain the spread of COVID and keep the germs near you. So that’s some outdated research that maybe needs to be updated. Speaking of, Doctor Mullins, in your welcome video, you quoted yesterday, Rita Pearson.

4:52:47 And I know about Rita Pearson as a teacher because she has worked with students in poverty and she speaks up for them. And so one of the things that we know about Covid-19 is that families living in poverty are the most highly affected by Covid-19. And by choosing to keep masks optional in our community, you’re allowing our most vulnerable families and our most vulnerable students to be the most affected negatively by this economically, by illness, by not having the resources you can give a kid a computer, but that doesn’t mean they have people at home to learn from.

4:53:01 And if you listened to what we heard today about the new quarantine rules from the state with kids staying home for an entire month, possibly, how are they going to learn? I would think that right now, I understand some of you guys don’t like masks, but I feel like if the goal is to keep our kids playing football and being in band and being in school. Then even if we don’t really like masks, don’t we want our kids to be in school? We all do. So wouldn’t we, say, keep masks on the kids so they can stay in school and not have to quarantine for such a long period of time? We don’t want that to happen.

4:53:21 I have one more thing I’d like to say. It’s impossible for you guys to make everybody happy. I understand that, and I very much appreciate what you all do very much.

4:53:47 But your job is not to make everybody happy. It’s your duty to keep your staff, some of my very best friends, and our students safe. My son and my husband also work.

4:53:59 My husband’s in the county and my son attends brevard public schools. Thank you very much. Thanks, erin.

4:54:06 Izejdeheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh… amy, hi. Good evening. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight.

4:54:18 I have a daughter in satellite high school and a son in fifth grade at surfside elementary. We moved here a year ago and for the first time last week, I was able to see the campus of Surfside and meet his fourth grade teacher from last year face to face. For the first time, I saw the maskless smiles and positive energy radiating off the faculty and staff at both schools, giddy with excitement.

4:54:44 I forgot to take pictures. It was wonderful. I know I only speak for two schools in my district, but I assure you that the vast majority are in favor of the mass optimal protocol.

4:54:55 I have to give kudos to our teachers. They’re absolutely awesome and have to deal with so much. Really great to I’ve heard a lot said about science tonight and a whole lot of opinions, even from the board of medical.

4:55:11 Kind of hoping to get more. We still haven’t gotten a response to the request for Covid pediatric data that was requested by members of the board. Last there is currently not a valid pediatric statistical data leg to stand on.

4:55:23 With. That said, I feel it seems a little negligent to consider reversing an optional mask policy without the scientific data to back it. The information presented tonight wouldn’t stand as substantial evidence in the court of of law, and it shouldn’t hear either.

4:55:34 My kids have participated in many non school related extracurricular activities throughout the entire year. My son plays satellite Seahawks, tackle football, has done so mask free this season and last without any Covid issues. My daughter is a junior cheer coach for the Seahawks, which also helps her gain volunteer hours for bright futures.

4:55:43 They have also remained mask free with no Covid related issues they participated in baseball, travel, baseball, competitive sports, theater productions, mask free, with no Covid related issues. So I tell you that to tell you this, unless we’re willing to suggest that students refrain from maskless activities outside of school, or that Covid only exists within the boundaries of the school, the mandating mask theory seems a little erroneous to me. Thanks.

4:55:58 Thank you. Matthew Sharon, followed by Jeff Sharon. And then we are going to Risa.

4:56:10 Hi, thank you board, for letting me speak. My name is Methyl Sharon. I’m here as a parent and also as an individual.

4:56:40 I received a PhD in microbiology, so I feel I can look at the data and analyze it properly. I’m here to request that you keep the mask option in place. Make it optional and keep it optional.

4:56:55 Washing hands, washing surfaces, and staying home when sick works, something that can be achieved wearing cloth masks and asking children to wear it properly and clinically does not work, is a futile effort. This board, this state, this country really has to come to the face reality, which is we will never eradicate respiratory illnesses. They’ve been with us ever since before humans existed and evolved viruses were here.

4:57:07 Respiratory viruses will never be eradicated. We have to learn to live with it and learn to live in that paranormal, balanced life. Why will we never eradicate it? It’s the way viruses, respiratory viruses work.

4:57:26 They peak and fall throughout the year. They go into hiding in animal reservoirs and they come back mutated and they come infect humans again. That’s what we’re seeing right now with this summer and with the Delta variant, Israel had 100% vaccination rate mandated masks.

4:57:36 They’re experiencing the surge. Anyone who believes that the CDC mandates or the WHO recommendations will quote unquote, stop the spread, is foolish. That’s not how respiratory viruses work.

4:57:50 Somebody here earlier mentioned smallpox and the eradication of smallpox. That was a unique situation because it had no animal reservoir. That does not work with respiratory viruses.

4:58:05 Keeping masks optional gives parents a choice. Those who believe masks work can keep their kids in masks. Nobody is stopping them.

4:58:12 If they want to believe that those masks work, they’re free to do so and can send their kids that way, send kids to school that way. If you read the data carefully, positive cases does not equal certain death. Everything you do in life has a risk.

4:58:20 You walk out the door, you could get hit by a car. We can’t mandate everything. But parents have brought children into this world and have a right to keep them healthy the best way they see fit.

5:00:56 But mandating masks, things that don’t work for children, is a futile effort, and it continues the falsehood that Covid could be eradicated. Thank you. Thank you.

5:07:19 Thanks for having me. Last week, the director of the National Institute of Health went on National TV and told vaccinated parents they should wear masks inside their own home when they’re around their children. He even said, I know it sounds weird.

5:09:31 You don’t have to listen to these experts. The reality is we do not have the ability to stop the spread, as my wife said, any more than we do the flu. We tried for 17 months.

5:09:39 The CDC itself said this in March 2020, before all this hysteria started. The public health officials are doing their best, but we’ve asked them to do something that is impossible. We will never get to zero Covid, and we need to accept that masks haven’t made a difference.

5:09:53 Social distancing has not made a difference. As soon as the delta variant is over, we’ll have the lambda variant, the Epsilon variant. I don’t any other greek letters.

5:10:05 They will mandate masks forever if we let them. And judging by the vast majority of kids and smiles I saw at registration night, that is not what parents want. The vast majority of parents and kids I saw were not wearing masks.

5:10:16 My kids were so happy to see smiling faces at their new school. We moved here in June from California because people peddling this fear and doom had our schools closed for an entire year. That’s what they did.

5:10:29 This needs to end now or it will never end. We’ll be having these same things for the flu. Put masks on forever.

5:10:41 No quarantines of healthy kids. And please, let our kids breathe. All right.

5:10:51 With that, we are going to take a ten minute recess to read charge. And we will be back with Eddie Nunes. Edie nunes.

5:10:59 Sadeena Radhe, Sadeena Ramdez. Sadeena. Sadeena.

5:11:13 Sadeena. Sadeena. Sadeena.

5:11:28 Sadeena. Sadeena Radhe. All right, we are back in session.

5:11:41 Thank you for your patience. Hope you got an opportunity to stretch a little and recharge as well. We are in the home stretch of our speakers.

5:12:09 We have 56 total, and we will be starting with our 45th speaker for anyone who was curious. So, Edie Nunes, followed by Sarah Schiavario and then Katie Delaney. Sarah.

5:12:48 I’m sorry, Edie. Good evening, board. I’m here to respectfully ask you to please vote against mandating masks again.

5:13:21 Please keep mask option optional. To quote my child, masks make him feel like trash. He suffered tremendously last school year from mask wearing with headaches, which he never experienced before.

5:13:37 He could not breathe properly. He could not focus nor concentrate and his grades dropped drastically. He developed bacterial skin infections on his face from all the mask wearing and on his hands from constant sanitizing.

5:13:49 He regressed when he contracted Covid from school. Hence, masks are ineffective. He did not feel as sick as he did when being masked all day.

5:13:55 I implore you to please keep mask wearing optional and revise the ridiculous quarantine rule. We should all be afforded the freedom to choose what is right. Parental rights matter.

5:14:05 Freedom is a human principle. Follow actual facts, not emotions. In theater, fear and irrationality, or reason and freedom.

5:14:29 Let’s end this lunacy. Thank you. Thank you Sarah good evening madam chair and board.

5:14:55 Hope everyone had a wonderful first day back to school today. I’m Sarah. I have two kids in brevard public schools, wife to a husband in the commercial space industry, voter taxpayer, and I’m a college student pursuing three degrees in behavioral science.

5:15:01 Science is our way of life as a family. I know this isn’t a q and a session when I ask my questions in my comments. It’s for the board to reflect on as you consider voting on policy.

5:15:13 I ask that when the board wants to have a discussion or a policy vote on masks, mitigation or quarantine strategies that they bring better cited and well researched studies and not from their own personal offenses or issues. The last study from the CDC that people should wear masks indoors failed peer review. I would never be able to write a college paper and get a passing grade if I cited that particular study or just did a quick Google search.

5:15:27 I expect board policy to be written with higher standards than that. At the last meeting, I shared about the mental health downfall of the mask wearing lockdowns and quarantines in children. What is going to happen to a BPS child’s education if that child is quarantined and healthy? What’s going to happen to their mental health? Are you really going to be responsible for that two week learning gap? Anyone know how mental health visits have changed or increased in children since COVID restrictions? Oh, and by the way, why don’t you have a pediatric psychiatrist on your panel tonight? Because I know what clinicians are reporting and treating.

5:15:48 Do any of you know how many children a day are walking into ers with suicidal ideation? It’s more than children who need to be hospitalized for code. Psychiatrists are concerned that the lack of facial expressions for children will lead to developmental delay in communication and empathy, especially around reading emotion. There are reports of children with increased asthma attacks, bronchitis, sinus infections, fungal growth on skin, as well as anxiety and depression.

5:15:56 Listen to the roundtable by Governor DeSantis. There are well qualified doctors and PhDs who strongly disagree with your masking and mitigation plan. Hopefully, you have reached out to those doctors to understand their viewpoints and reviewed the studies they referenced.

5:16:05 Your own board policies, 8453 and 3126. Go against your own current mitigation plan. I ask that you abide by the law that is already set in place by you, the Brevard county school Board.

5:16:13 Mental health is just as important as physical health. Keep mask options. Thank you.

5:16:22 Thanks. Katie Delaney. And then we have Ashley Joyner, Jonathan Skinner and Karima Hosey.

5:16:29 Katie? Hi. The first thing I want to talk about is I’m just really getting over the fact that our freedom is being bucked. At any time any of us bring up freedom, it’s just people smirk at it or laugh at it.

5:16:59 And we are the greatest nation on this planet because of our freedom. We are the only country in the world that has freedom, which is why there are millions of people at our southern border waiting to get in here because of our freedom. So I’m sick and tired of people balking at that.

5:17:33 We cannot let it go. We have to fight for it. We have to hold it.

5:17:46 And we have. We cannot let go of our freedom. My husband fought in Afghanistan.

5:17:58 Both of my grandfathers fought in world war two against Hitler. Freedom is worth everything. I am not going to give up my freedom.

5:18:07 And another thing that I want to talk about is that members in this room and on the board have been seen at local events without masks. But then you show up here with masks on the. You all want to say, we’re making it political.

5:18:23 Ridiculous. You know, there’s. There’s.

5:18:32 We’re over it. We are a free nation. You are not going to mask my children.

5:18:44 Now, quarantines, they make no sense to quarantine our healthy children. It just. It makes no sense.

5:19:11 My kids were quarantined four times last year. Four times. Not once did any of them get Covid.

5:19:41 Ridiculous. You have. It’s your responsibility to educate our children.

5:20:07 And if you keep taking our healthy kids out of school, you are stopping them from getting a quality education, especially with getting rid of the e learning option and the zoom and all that stuff. What are these kids going to do when they’re quarantined for a month? Their parents have to work. Who is going to be there to instruct them? Only children who test positive should have to take them out of school.

5:20:23 Every other healthy children child should be able to continue to go to school. Thank you. Thanks Katie Ashley, I’m here obviously to make ask for you also healthy kids was one of the children that was quarantined last year to a contact never came back positive.

5:20:42 Luckily last year they were only doing four classes a day and now she’s in seven classes a day. If she gets stuck home seven days, she’s missing seven classes all seven of those days. The e learning option is not available.

5:21:00 So I feel that the children will do much better if they have in person instruction. They’re not going to get that from home. They’re only going to get in papers and here, figure this out on your own and when you come back maybe we’ll help you out, walk you through it.

5:21:05 I just don’t feel that quarantining helping children should happen and I think the mask should still be optional. Thank you. Thank you.

5:21:14 Jonathan Skinner. Jonathan Skinner. After Jonathan we have Crema Hosey, Edward Connor and Jeremy Bullock.

5:21:25 Hello. I am not here to talk about masks tonight. I am here because this is the only way I felt I could gain an audience with all of you.

5:21:42 My name is Jonathan Skinner. I’m a third generation Brevard Public schools student. My mom is a current brevard skills teacher for 30 years now I own two successful businesses in Merritt Island.

5:21:56 I went to Cocoa Beach High School when a certain somebody was a math teacher back in the early two thousands. Last year I chose to keep my daughter home and did brevard virtual school flex. I researched and did every bit of reading that I could, including the BVS flex faq that says being a part time flex student with BVS means that the student is enrolled in another public school.

5:22:12 The reopening plan from 2020 that on page 31 says students may transfer from BVS back to their home school at any time. My daughter was an Elo, so this past summer we reapplied for Elo renewal on time and it took a week or so to reject and said we had to do a new registration. We did a new registration and they didn’t tell us it was denied until August 5, five days before school starts.

5:22:24 I contacted the head of Elo for the entire county and she told me that Covid last year she said things rules were being amended and changed nonstop. And I said, well, how come? When I called her school last year and they said if I want to put her back in, I can, she told me that if I had put her in even the very last week of last year, it would have honored her seat. But that’s not what I was told.

5:22:42 That’s not what was put in writing. I called this morning out of options, attempting to reach the superintendent. I believe I got an administrative assistant who told me that in fact, Elos can be revoked at any time for any reason.

5:23:16 And it happens all the time. I don’t believe that’s common. I specifically said, you’re telling me students have gone Elo for a year or so and then been yanked? And she affirmed me that it happens all the time and that if I would just do my due diligence and read the Elo on the website, that it would clearly state that.

5:23:21 So I spent the next 2 hours reading the Elo website top to bottom, where it says renewal applications do not go into a lottery. Where it says students can only be removed if they exhibit poor academic effort, poor attendance, poor behavior. My kid makes good grades.

5:23:39 She’s a good kid. She’s doing good in school. And I feel like.

5:23:45 I know Covid was confusing and we didn’t have rules for everything, but I feel like the information I was given was wrong. I was misinformed. Misled.

5:23:58 And every person I call keeps telling me that I’m the misinformed one. Including my phone call today where I went and read everything online. And I still feel like I’m not the misinformed one.

5:24:12 Thank you. Mister Skinner. Mister Hosey, still with us, Miss Klein, are you wanting.

5:24:22 Mister Skinner, could you make your way to that side of the room, please? Thank you, Mister Hosey. Not with us. Edward Connor.

5:24:56 Edward Conner. Jeremy Bullock. Following Jeremy, we have Kimberly Gibbs, Ashton Josenes, and then crystal doty.

5:25:24 Oh, who’s your Jeremy first and then Kim. Yep. Sorry for the confusion.

5:25:31 I’m gonna put a mask on real quick. I have a nicotine vape here. Y’all tell me how this stops.

5:25:41 Covid, you can’t, can you? Yeah. I find it ironic that the people who are always screaming trust science are the ones who use an appeal to emotion to get people support. You say that one child that dies is too many, but you know how many panic attacks are too many? How many bad acting problems are too many? I would like to address everybody.

5:26:11 No, I need you to focus. Keep it focused up here addressing the board. Okay.

5:26:28 All right. Well, how many panic attacks are too many? No answer. How many really bad acne problems that a teenager has to deal with are too many? Yeah.

5:26:49 No answer. Right. That’s what I thought.

5:27:12 Y’all know this is political. Let’s not pretend. Y’all are pretty much doing the same thing that David Hawk said, you know, let’s just be real about it.

5:27:27 I think we could all respect each other a little more if we could just be real about this whole situation and realize that this is not about trying to protect our kids. This is about an authoritarian power grab. Come on, let’s be real here.

5:27:55 You know, these people don’t really. They might care, but this is all done out of fear. Again, right back to this appeal to emotion thing.

5:28:21 The one guy brought his son up here, nine years old, gifted, child, tested genius, right? I was a gifted kid. I tested 143 IQ in the third grade. Okay? I was taught by Brevard county teachers, actually, 25, 30 years ago, that the moment someone brings up an appeal to emotion in a debate, there are red flags that should be raised.

5:28:49 So if you all are listening to any of these people who cry about, you know, one child’s too many, and, you know, my child needs to be saved, that’s a red flag immediately. And any of you guys, any of you men, women, or in betweens should know that. And last but not least, I’ve heard a lot of people say that it’s your job to keep our kids safe.

5:28:57 It’s not your job. It’s your job to educate our children. We keep our kids safe.

5:29:04 So please, I ask, please, nicely keep that in mind as y’all make your decision on this. Thank you very much. Kimberly.

5:29:12 Kimberly. Our son attended 10th grade at Merritt Island High School. We were persuaded to choose in person learning because of the mask mandate, because of your leadership today.

5:29:27 Our son started 11th grade, and we are very concerned that the MAS requirement is not enforced. And he reports that about 99% of the people in school today were not wearing a mask. So the optional mask policy means no mask policy.

5:29:51 It will not happen without a mask mandate. I believe there is strong evidence that the masks are effective, an effective part of the mitigation strategy. So I’m here today to urge you to reinstate the mask requirement.

5:30:15 I strongly oppose Governor DeSantis misguided executive order aimed at preempting any local control that doesn’t ride with his dogma. I also realize that many people believe that vaccines are the solution which will remove the need for masks. And they talk about them as if they’re the magic pill.

5:30:32 But these are a few facts that trouble me. Currently, there are no Covid vaccines that are FDA approved. Instead, these products have been granted emergency use authorization.

5:30:54 These are experimental drugs. And as with any pharmaceutical product, each person should carefully weigh the benefits and the risk. As of July 30, there have been more than 70,000 reports of serious adverse events or injuries reported to the vaccine adverse event reporting system following Covid vaccination.

5:31:04 These include deaths. These adverse event reports provide evidence for conducting further investigations and do not necessarily represent a causal relationship with the vaccine. These rare but serious side effects include an assortment of autoimmune and neurological disorders, including Guillain Barre syndrome and acute transverse myelitis.

5:31:07 I am concerned personally by reports of heart inflammation following Covid vaccination, particularly in young people. So we’re faced with some imperfect choices, some difficult choices, and I think what’s going on in Israel with the very high vaccination rate, and the breakthrough even brings more concerns about the effect of. Thank you, ma’am.

5:31:32 We appreciate you joining us this evening. Ashton. And then after Ashton, we have crystal Doty and Katie.

5:31:55 Amy Ainsley. Hi. So I’m a mom of two kids.

5:32:31 Ashton, if you’ll get a little bit closer to that mic for me, please. Sure. Is this better? I’m a mom of two kids in brevard public schools.

5:33:04 I have two nephews, one who had heart surgery two weeks ago and one who has a compromised immune system. My mom teaches at another elementary school in river public schools. She has stage four colon cancer and is in an out of the hospital.

5:33:33 I also take care of my 85 year old grandmother, my mother in law who is immunocompromised, and I work with pregnant people and newborn babies in my career. Masking is the simplest, most effective piece of protection we can provide for our children and the family members they come in contact with. It is impossible for classrooms to social distance or put plexiglass between each student.

5:34:05 We wear seat belts, don’t allow smoking in public places, have put up metal gates around every school in the county to supposedly keep our children safe from guns. If we can do all of those things to keep our children and community safe, surely we can wear masks until thousands of new cases aren’t popping up daily. In our state, we do not have the hospital capacity or policies in place to take care of children and staff when outbreaks happen.

5:34:20 Right now the wait at the ER at homes is over 8 hours. My mother was in the hospital a week ago and had to be moved halfway through her stay because they to open another Covid floor. I noticed that most of you are wearing masks tonight, so you clearly know that masks do something to protect either you or the people around you.

5:34:26 Why is it a question for our children, Doctor Mullins, in your video to parents and students, you called for champions for our children. I completely agree and want to thank Jennifer Jenkins for being a consistent champion for BPS kids. Please vote the math mandate back in and ensure that opt out require a doctor’s note and not just a parent refusing to listen to experts.

5:34:38 Thank you. Thank you. Crystal.

5:35:00 Hi. Hi. My name is Crystal Doty.

5:35:06 So, like many of you here tonight, I’m sure I’m exhausted and. But I feel like this is really important to advocate for my son, who’s just started first grade today, and I want him to have a safe environment right now. Depending on what day you ask him, he wants to be a scientist or engineer or an astronaut or sometimes all three at once.

5:35:07 But I’m struggling right now with how to enroll him and keep him in the school system, where they’re not necessarily believing in science or taking the advice of scientists, but they’re just picking and choosing what they should follow and what they should believe in. But science is facts. And that’s how I raise him.

5:35:20 And I’m struggling with how we’re going to be able to raise and inspire our next generation of scientists and mathematicians and doctors when right now, the school age children who are going to grow up and become that next generation of STEM, STEM workers, they’re seeing our current generation undergo a lot of ridicule and just being ignored and mocked everywhere they go. And that doesn’t really inspire them. That if they grow up and they go and choose these fields, they’re going to be able to make a difference in the world if they’re just ignored.

5:35:27 We raise our son on facts and compassion, not fear. We’ve had a difficult time doing this in the last year because we’ve constantly had to explain to him why he has to mask up to protect his friends and our vulnerable family members and the people who can’t even be bothered to return that consideration. And we’ve had to explain to him that if his friends don’t wear a mask, it’s not their fault they’re kids, right? It’s what they’re exposed to at home.

5:35:53 And a lot of adults are fighting against the science and the reality because of misinformation or lies or sometimes just lack of compassion and empathy for the health and safety of others. And I wanted to speak tonight because I know some of you are fighting for science, for science to have a voice and for reality to rule. And I want to thank you guys for doing that and for listening to all the speakers today.

5:35:57 I know it’s it’s been a long night. And I know that a lot of school boards across the state are stuck between a rock and a hard place because of the men in power trying to score political points at the sacrificing our most vulnerable constituents. And so I just want to summarize by thanking you guys and knowing that it’s a long, hard fight, but plan to continue to advocate for my kid and I will do so in the next election.

5:36:06 Thank you. Katie. Katie Ainsley.

5:36:41 Katie Ainsley. Going once. Going twice.

5:37:09 All right, that’s going to conclude the speakers for this evening. Thank you for joining us and for taking the time to share your thoughts. That is going to move us into our consent agenda.

5:37:22 Doctor Malone, Miss Belford and members of the board, there are 15 agenda items under the consent agenda. Any board member wish to pull any item from the consent agenda? Mister Susan, are you still with us? I am still here. And nothing to pull from the consent agenda? No.

5:37:30 Awesome. Then I will entertain a motion to accept the consent items with the exception of the items that were. I will.

5:37:44 Hold on 1 second. Move to approve. I will entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented.

5:38:00 Move to approve. Thank you. Moved by Mister Susan.

5:38:26 Seconded by Miss McDougall. Do you need a voice vote, Miss Escobar? All right, so. Board members present.

5:38:38 Please vote. You just want me to say aye, yes or nay, whatever you prefer. Kind of sounded like I was dictating your vote there, Mister Susan.

5:38:51 Yes. Mister Susan, your vote. Is I correct? Yes.

5:38:55 Yes. And the motion passes. 50.

5:39:53 All right, board members, the moment of discussion. We are going into our action items, which include our discussion of mask policy and then department and school initiated agreements, as well as procurement solicitations. For your knowledge, I anticipate the discussion on item g 25 to be fairly lengthy because there are several different elements that we are going to have to discuss.

5:40:19 Unless. I guess you guys could surprise me, but I anticipate it’s going to be fairly lengthy discussion. So do you want to move forward? Do you want to take a break? What are the wishes of the board when you say moves, Campbell? Can we consider and vote on the rest of the action agenda, as well as get through the information part and all that stuff out of the way? Can we.

5:40:35 Can re. Even though we’ve already approved the agenda, can we reorder it after we’ve done that? Nothing else? Mister Gibbs? Okay. I don’t know that it really matters.

5:41:07 Let’s just go. So everyone. I’m hearing that everyone would prefer to just continue moving forward with that discussion.

5:41:46 Okay. All right. So, Doctor Mullins, will you please let us know about the items under action? There are three items under this category.

5:42:02 The first one was requested by Misses Jenkins. Item G 25, consideration of the reimplementation of policy 8420.02, protective facial coverings during a pandemic epidemic event.

5:42:45 Jenkins, do you want to make a recommendation? Yes, I would like to amend my motion so we don’t have a motion on the floor yet. What? I want to make a motion. What? Am I making a motion.

5:43:06 I’m making the motion right now with all the. Okay. I want to make a motion to re implement the policy for mass mandating.

5:43:36 I will second it. I have a motion and a second for reimplementation of policy 8420.02, which would open the motion for discussion.

5:43:44 Miss Jenkins, your motion. Your first opportunity for discussion. If you’d like.

5:44:03 Can I amend now? Thank you. I would like to amend my motion as much as I am very much against and opt out, and as much as I cannot be intimidated into making a poor decision for the health and safety of our staff and our students, past conversations with this board just leads me to believe that a majority of these school board members are not going to support a motion that doesn’t have an opt out in it based off of the changes that we’ve been having going on. And so I would like to amend my motion to implement our current policy with an addition of a strictly outlined opt out option.

5:44:16 And until a form can be created with that strict outline, it can be handled by parental requests. How do we need. Give me just 1 second.

5:44:23 I just want to make sure that we have the motion accurate for Miss Escobar’s sake. So, Paul, do you want to repeat or I’m. I tried to get the notes down, but do you want me to read what I have and we can.

5:45:07 Okay, so, Miss Escobar, I have a motion on the floor that request that we re implement policy 8420.02 with a strictly outlined opt out option. Strictly outlined opt out option.

5:45:17 Did I correctly characterize that? Miss Jenkins, it. All right, so I have a motion to amend on the floor from Miss Jenkins. Is there a second? 2nd.

5:45:28 So I have a motion and a second which will open the motion to amend for discussion. Who would like to. Is there any discussion that needs to take place? Yep.

5:45:52 Miss Jenkins, would you like to speak to discussion, or are you good? All right, bear with me here, but over the last two weeks, I’ve been struggling to comprehend how we live in a county that launches rockets into space and we’ve launched a civilian into space. How the leaders of this educational institution, of this county continue to argue with science. And today I’m not going to take any time to defend the transmission of the delta variant or the effectiveness of masking because I truly believe that all of you know this to be true.

5:45:59 I just can’t understand how or why so far we’ve chosen to ignore it. I asked for a meeting prior to this one three separate times and I was denied by a majority of board members. And quite frankly, it’s a disgrace that you were in favor of a special meeting to remove the mask in May because families needed to make decisions.

5:46:23 Yet we saw no responsibility or urgency to do the same when we’re seeing numbers higher than we’ve ever seen before after we received hundreds of emails from concerned parents. And frankly, if we come to a consensus tonight in favor of a mandate, that’s great. But I believe that we should also be ashamed because today we potentially expose 70,000 students and 9000 employees to a deadly virus when they walked onto our buses and our campuses.

5:46:40 And that is not leadership. It is completely irresponsible. It was expressed at the last meeting that we believe people will do the right thing.

5:46:54 And I was told essentially the same exact thing when I advocated for our massive professional developments last week to be virtual. I was sent dozens of images and I know you guys had seen some of them as well. So many concerned staff members of crowded classrooms, standing room only, and a handful of people wearing masks.

5:47:15 It was completely irresponsible. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that doesn’t mean that every opinion is equally valid. If I had a heart condition, I wouldn’t ask for your opinion.

5:47:38 I would go to a cardiologist. If I was diagnosed with cancer, I wouldn’t ask anyone’s opinion up here. I would lean on a team of health professionals.

5:47:50 And if I’m battling a global pandemic of a mutating virus in the epicenter of the world, in the epicenter of the United States, in the top 30 of Florida, I wouldn’t want my opinion or any of your opinion. I would just speak to the people that were in this room, the professionals who were here when we debated for far too long, if we were going to have protection for myself and my colleagues last August, the experts who were supposed to be here when we removed masks in May, and the specialists who were present during the last meeting, these people who continue to show up and do their responsibility to their community, despite how often their information and expertise is falling on deaf ears. Because my opinion doesn’t matter, and neither should any of yours.

5:48:15 Because it’s not personal, it’s not political, and it’s not self serving. This is life and death. I said their names last time, and I’m going to say it again.

5:48:50 Elizabeth Toro and Wayne Moore. We lost two frontline heroes last school year. And we would have lost more if you didn’t do the right thing and decide to mandate masks to mitigate the spread last year.

5:49:14 And I don’t ever want to look into the eyes of my colleagues like I did in November. It haunts me to this day, and I can’t imagine how it continues to haunt them. And the fact that I received an email today saying that those same staff members have to deal with that same fear again this year, that is not okay.

5:49:39 Last meeting, Miss Kimball, you said you couldn’t support the mandate because we have vaccines available now, and that was a positive thing. And we have been told that masculine vaccinated individuals still spread the delta variant. And, Mister Susan, you said you needed one more data point.

5:50:09 And we have that data point. It’s been reported over and over again, and we have countless others, and none of them are good. And, Miss Belford, you expressed our hands were tied by an executive order threatening to withhold funding, and that is no longer a concern.

5:50:32 So if the loss of life isn’t motivating enough, let’s talk money. When brevard virtual schools applications reopened last Wednesday, after I asked Doctor Mullins to do so, I only got information on days Wednesday and Thursday. And these are just applications.

5:50:48 These are not people who have officially unenrolled from Brevard Public School. But between Brevard Virtual School and homeschool applications, in just two days of that emergency opening, 427 applications were received. That doesn’t include an entire nother day.

5:51:00 That is millions of dollars in funding we could have potentially lost to Florida Virtual School. And we can still potentially lose if they choose not to enroll in Brevard. What about our already struggling self funded healthcare? At one meeting, we were told a staff member on our health plan with COVID and ICU cost us about $250,000 each visit.

5:51:18 We were told nearly $2 million in claims were due to Covid last year. What will it look like if that virus is attacking their dependents? How do we afford substitutes? How do we even get substitutes? We’re starting this school year with 58 staff members. With COVID What about when they had enough of the stress and the risk to their health and they decide to retire.

5:51:32 This last school year, it was said we had 825 teachers retire. That is up by hundreds from years prior. And if it’s not about money, then let’s talk about continuity of education.

5:51:49 With mitigation in place, we still face two whole school closures, countless classroom closers, tons of quarantines are for both teachers and students. If we don’t, if we do not mitigate, teachers and students will be in the classroom less often. I read something that the CDC had stated that government officials must acknowledge that the war has changed with this delta variant.

5:52:04 And so I am begging you, for my husband, through my daughter, who starts kindergarten on Friday, for my colleagues that I worked with for seven years, and the colleagues my husband has worked with for eleven years, acknowledge the war has changed. Step up, lead and do the right thing. Because if more children die or their family members die, it will not just be the governor that they blame.

5:52:23 And so I’m begging you to do the right thing like you did last. Thank you. Yes, please.

5:52:52 I may not be as articulate as Miss Jenkins. I wrote it, but, you know, from the very beginning, when this all started, last year, when I was the first person who said, I’m the only one wearing a mask and I’m protecting you, but no one was protecting me. And we had people on both sides of.

5:53:06 But I agree with Miss Jenkins in that I’m not a medical expert. I need to depend on people who are the medical experts, who are frontline people, who have the data, who have the information, and I am hearing over and over again, hygiene, wash your hands, social distance when possible, ventilation, and wear a mask. I don’t think these are hard things, but if we can protect our staff and our children that come to our school, which is safety, is in our law, our bylaws.

5:53:22 I don’t think it’s too much to ask. I really don’t think it’s too much to ask. I am concerned because we already have teachers out of substitutes are hard to come by.

5:53:53 We knew last year that they were very hard to come by. I don’t think they’re getting any easier to come by. I was at a particular school and with a principal the other day, and there was a volunteer who was there, and the principal was excited to see her and said, oh, are you coming back? And she hesitated a lot.

5:54:02 She says, I’m not so sure. Well, how about if we don’t put you with the public? How if we don’t put you with children? Oh, I need to think about it. So I just wonder how many volunteers we’re not going to have.

5:54:15 We already heard from substitutes that they’re not going to be here. So I really do feel that to me this is a compromise, but it’s a compromise that I’m willing to take at this point. I do support the measure.

5:54:36 Thank you. Mister McDougall. Campbell, you look like you would like to weigh in to.

5:55:07 Yes. So at the moment we have the amendment on the floor that we are open for discussion on and we’ll have to take action. I will tell you, I am really, I’m not excited about an opt out.

5:55:23 The other counties that have putting a mandate with an opt out, I think we’re going to end up with the same scenario. You know, you look at Orange county and they’re saying all you have to do is send in a piece of paper saying my child doesn’t have to wear a mask. I have all kinds of problems with that.

5:55:38 The fidelity of being able to track it. And we’re, you know, as you said, we started school so at this point we know it’s going to take some time. So I don’t think we’re going to accomplish exactly what you’re looking for to have that a strictly defined opt out.

5:55:47 And then not to mention that if we did something temporarily, maybe I misunderstand, I think the motion, I think what you said was let the parents make the decision until that point. So we’ll still have at least a week until we can put anything in place. I think we’re going to get right back to the place where we were and we will have create a mandate that will make some people feel better, but we’re going to come back right to where we are, which is not going to help the people who are asking for the mandate.

5:56:00 There were some, and Mister Gibbs correctly said today they’ve made some change. There were some districts that said we’re going to put a mandate, but we’re not going to enforce it. And I really truly hated that idea because the idea that we’d put a rule in place and say well students, we have this rule, but you don’t have to follow this rule.

5:56:14 That’s a horrible idea. So I, you know, we’re kind of talking around, you know, the original motion, so I’ll just go ahead and deal with that. You know, there is, the data is there, I see it.

5:56:25 We talked about it tonight. But you know, when we listen to our, the people that we brought in here, they do recognize and acknowledge that where we are. Yes, we have way higher cases with a much more contagious vaccine, but not a more virulent, not a more virulent strain, not one that is more dangerous for children, except that more children are getting it.

5:56:38 We do have the vaccine available for so many. We do have higher numbers of people with natural immunity. We do have better treatments.

5:56:47 And I do believe that there is, I said frenzy earlier. There is because it’s coming around and we’re having, people are so afraid. And I understand that fear.

5:56:53 And as I listen to people who on both sides say things in ugly ways, I recognize that a lot of that came from a place of fear. And I have compassion for that fear. But I do think that we need to make a decision long term.

5:57:19 And honestly, it’s not about, we’ve been accused by both sides about making decisions based on politics, which I have never done, I don’t have any intention of doing, and actually didn’t even know anything about the salary thing until people started talking about it tonight. What I am willing to do is to encourage people, as I have all along, like I wanted us to do starting last summer, to if you don’t have that natural immunity, please wear a mask. I have encouraged, I went into schools today and tried to set the example by wearing one myself in schools.

5:57:36 And I know I’m not wearing one right now, but I will. If you want to come ask me afterwards personally why I’m not, I’ll let you know. Not because I don’t think they may make any difference, but I do think, you know, we’ve heard, we’ve talked about the health plan.

5:57:51 I will just share with you, and maybe it’s because I’m on psych. I have more information, but give me a head nod or a shake. Doctor, thet those dollars for Covid affected, if they are on a plan, those can be reimbursed with our federal dollars.

5:57:59 Is that correct? We submitted them as part of that, yes. Okay. Thank you.

5:58:13 As far as continuity of instruction and some of the other things that were mentioned, you know. Yes. The disruption, you know, I’m anticipating us having a lot, but it’s because we have a lot of community spread.

5:58:25 We’re going to have they. To a person that said yes, when I asked, are we going to have a high number of cases in the next few weeks, regardless of a mass mandate? And they all said, yes, we’re going to have high cases. What really bothers me is that we have high cases.

5:58:38 And the people who are upset because we’re not putting a mask mandate in place are going to say, oh, it’s because you didn’t put a mask mandate in place. And we’re going to have high community spread. We are.

5:58:49 And I do think it is up to our community to take responsibility. I do think that. I think our community needs to keep their sick kids at home, keep their sick selves at home.

5:59:08 Our community doesn’t need to say, well, I don’t really want my one. One of my kids has it, but my other one doesn’t. And they don’t have any immunity because they haven’t had it before.

5:59:40 But I’m going to go ahead and send this kid to this birthday party or to this whatever. That’s irresponsible. I want our parents to make responsible choices.

6:00:00 I want our staff to make responsible choices. But then what was said is, it’s not too much to ask, but with a mandate, we’re not asking, we’re telling. And it’s, I don’t know that you, if you guys have noticed, but you know when last year we had a significant number of our staff emailing us, asking us for this mandate.

6:00:16 This year that hasn’t been the case. And I, like said, I am not in a place right now where I want us to go back to a mandate. Same as what I’ve said before.

6:00:42 I really don’t like the opt out option because I think it’s just placating certain people without really having any effectiveness. I do want to make this point. I’ve been trying to tell people, and I did talk to Doctor Mullins about this weeks ago, and he has confirmed we do have the KN 95 mask.

6:01:04 And I want. I have been telling parents who are concerned, who have great concerns, and I do understand people have health issues. I will correct one thing.

6:01:23 Someone has mentioned to us in emails, too, about medically fragile students. We have a specific definition for that. And I think to say that we have 35% of our students are medically fragile is highly inaccurate.

6:01:43 But we do have KN 95 masks available, and we will make those available to students. We’ll make them available to students every day. Those are the masks that are more protective for the wearer.

6:01:55 And I would encourage our families who are interested in that to please contact your principal and find out how you can obtain one. We do have those supplies and we have our federal dollars. We can continue to keep that supply going.

6:02:05 So please contact your schools for that. But that is where I am on, on the original motion and the amendment. Thank you, Miss Campbell.

6:02:14 And Mister Susan, you out there yes, I am. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak, madam chair. First off, I want to address the accusations that were being made about not being cognizant of the health and welfare of our students and our staff.

6:02:22 First off, the request came through that we wanted to reinstate the mask mandate after the governor had already said that that was going to be illegal. The second piece that came through was to request something that I did not feel was possible to tell everybody on a Monday that on a Tuesday you’re supposed to show up with your mask. And if you want to do a mask opt out form, you can call or do.

6:02:25 However that is going to happen. It’s irresponsible to think that everybody, all 65,000 students, parents of ours, are actually watching a school board meeting, that we’re going to make a decision and then put those kids in there. To me, neither of them were worth coming to an emergency meeting.

6:02:28 And by the way, I’ve made seven requests for emergency meetings and never gotten an emergency meeting. So I understand. And I made the absolute promise that I would always honor an emergency request.

6:02:33 But when we can’t even pass what is supposed to be asked, there was no sense in having an emergency meeting to put everybody through it. So, Paul, Mister Gibbs, if you can pull up. One of the issues that I’m having is that we are currently trying to amend a policy to give an opt out form which goes against multiple pieces of our actual policy.

6:02:45 Can you pull up G, H and I and J of the policy? I just need to get your professional opinion. Because I think that her motion may need to be amended because it says H student compliance. Students who do not wear a face covering will at first be offered one.

6:03:00 If refused, the student will be referred to administration for a level one offense. If the behavior escalates in response to the intervention, a student may be considered for a high level offense. Students who personally violate this policy may be referred to elearning after apparently conference to discuss the concern.

6:03:25 I think that if you’re offering an opt out form, it’s going to have to go. That’s going to have to be deleted. Also with a piece where the staff says that if the employees who refuse to wear a face covering may be disciplined according to board policy and the applicable collective bargaining agreement, I believe that that also needs to be deleted.

6:03:42 And I also believe. Can I interrupt you just 1 second? Mister Gibbs is attempting to find a functional microphone. Because all of the ones on the table have gone dead.

6:04:00 Apparently so. I’m getting a thumbs up from Mike that five and a half hours. I can see why.

6:04:28 Oh, they were muted before. Okay, so sorry, I just didn’t. Mister Gibbs was frantically trying to find a place to respond to you, and I wanted to make sure that he could.

6:04:42 Could hear what you were saying. I apologize for the interruption, mister. Susan, go ahead.

6:04:54 All right. He has a mic, so if you can. Go ahead.

6:05:06 If I. If you had more to say. No, I’m good. I’m good.

6:05:28 I got a couple more things. I just need to get that clarified before we get started. Because if she truly wants to make.

6:05:40 If our board member wants to make that recommendation, we might need to make more amendments to that. That’s all. I don’t believe the recommendations requiring amending the policy.

6:05:46 The recommendation is to charge implementation of a procedure which the superintendent can do. Right. But if the procedure is in direct conflict of three or four of the parts of the policy, wouldn’t that be.

6:05:58 I don’t think a procedure has the procedural power to supersede a policy. Does that make sense? Where are you seeing a conflict? Well, it says that if students that don’t wear a faith covering will be offered one if refused. So this is H I n j, dealing with staff student compliance, staff compliance, visitors and vendor compliance.

6:06:35 Right. So it’s going to come down to how you’re going to discipline. I don’t think you can discipline based on the DOH order, because all a parent’s going to do is say I opt out of your mandate, and therefore can’t be disciplined at all.

6:07:13 So, I mean, the mandate with an opt out is essentially an optional mandate. Right? I mean, the employees. The employees we can discipline as long as the union is in agreement with the working conditions so we can mandate employee compliance.

6:07:30 I don’t know where the MoU with the union is as far as whether they’re in agreement with mask or not, that has not come out. So the policy that we are going to enforce, to re implement is saying that the staff, if they refuse to wear face covering, would be disciplined. We’re giving the students the opportunity to opt out.

6:07:41 But this one right here is saying that if they’re going to be disciplined in the board policy, that this is going to make it to where if they don’t wear a mask, that they’re going to be disciplined. I just want to make sure. And it’s okay if Miss Jenkins believes.

6:07:51 Just to clarify, I does say according to board policy and applicable collective bargaining agreements. So if we have an agreement somewhere that says they agreed to a mask, mandate, then that would be fine. So I would be fine as well.

6:08:43 Well, Jay is visitor and vendor compliance. We control visitors anyways and can implement whatever requirements for visitors we want. There is no property right for visitors.

6:08:49 So if I’m hearing you correctly, as this stands right now, we would have to go back to collective bargaining to make them agree to actually having a mask mandate on their employees. If it’s going to be. Yeah, if it’s going to be disciplined, then you would need to probably engage in a impact bargaining to go for the disciplinary piece.

6:08:58 If all we’re going to do is let adults opt out as well, I don’t know what the intent is, then it wouldn’t. Then that provision just isn’t going to apply. The same with student compliance.

6:09:26 Student compliance. We don’t have elearning anyway, so we can’t do e learning. And the student compliance piece.

6:09:38 If whenever you say we’re going to discipline a student, the parents just going to say I opt out of and now they don’t have to wear a mask. That’s the problem with the opt out. You can’t enforce an opt out provision.

6:09:46 But the motion on the table is to enforce this policy with an opt out provision, which on its face will say that we will be as soon as we make this decision taking staff and unless, until we get an MoU from the teachers union that says that they will not be or they do agree to a mass mandate. I think that, that I just need to be procedural because she may want to make a recommendation to pull that out. I don’t know, but I wanted to make sure going down this road, we can’t, we can’t pull anything out of the policy on this one that would under, that would require rulemaking.

6:10:08 So it’s implement with directions to implement a opt out provision and whatever that would look like. Okay, so under, what the motion today is to do is to pass a policy with a recommend with an amendment to it or to reimplement a policy with an amendment to it that takes our staff and makes them force mandate that we would then before we actually are able to implement this, would have to go back to the collective bargaining agreement with the teachers union to get them to agree to that portion of the actual policy. Correct.

6:10:42 If we’re going to discipline employees, you would need to do impact bargaining. I would think that the policy that we are implementing right now is saying that. And I just needed clarification again, it would be if you never disciplined any employee, they, the policy would never be implicated.

6:11:08 Yes, you’re correct. If we’re going to actually discipline employees, I don’t know what the intent is as far as employees go. I would say that whatever our policy is, I think.

6:11:31 Okay, thank you for that. Mister Gibbs. The next step that I wanted to ask is currently I think we came to an agreement with the MoU, with the teachers union and just to make sure.

6:12:02 And clarification, it hasn’t come to the board for discussion yet, but I think one of the components of that MoU was stating that the teachers would know, would not have any part of an opt out form, meaning that they were not going to collect them, that they weren’t going to enforce them, that they weren’t going to do any of that, and that the provisions left it onto the admin. Is there somebody, doctor or Mister Gibbs, I don’t know if you’re inside those negotiations or somebody can give us. Doctor Mullins, can you give any clarification as to the opt out form in relation to the teachers union MoU that was agreed to between the two parties but has not brought before the board? Can you guys give me that kind of clarification? Doctor.

6:12:15 Doctor thet is coming to a mic. I think she has that information. Lewis, if you could turn the mic.

6:12:53 Okay, got it. Mister Susan, I’m sorry, I need clarification. There was not discussion in the MOA about opting out of map.

6:13:03 The discussion in the MOA was related to staff meetings and professional development that if the board adopted a mask mandate, the social distancing would change from 6ft to 3ft. I just need clarification about what you’re. So there was no, there was no portion of that that said that the teachers would not have to administer or anything to do with the actual opt out forms or anything like that.

6:13:28 It just dealt with social distancing. If you’re talking about if for students, that the teachers would deal with an opt out for students. The language in the MOA speaks to administrators.

6:13:38 Handling the opt outs for students. Is that in your. Since that was part of the discussion, if you can elaborate on that.

6:13:47 I think that the idea is that the administrators would deal with the enforcement collection and all that stuff of the, of the opt out forms, but it would not be on the teachers for that. Is that correct? That was the intent of the MOA as it relates to students opting out of any potential mask policy. Okay, thank you very much.

6:14:26 I appreciate it. I wanted to speak specifically to those two points because those are the main reason and a lot of that is because of why calling an emergency meeting? It’s very difficult to make a decision, a quick decision, when you have so many components to this that are in there, especially when we’re going to meet the next day. The other piece that I want to say is that there was some discussion wrapped around people taking pictures of unmasked staff members and actually saying how irresponsible they are and almost like a bullying type thing.

6:14:56 And that is not what we’re supposed to talk about here here. Because later on when we go into board discussion, I would like to bring forward very strong language that says we will take zero tolerance on bullying. And whether you’re wearing a mask or if you decide to opt out on a mask or you don’t wear a mask, however that works, that is your decision, and that is not to be bullied either way by either group.

6:15:11 And I hope that there’s not individuals that are out there that are taking pictures of people, posting them on the Internet and then pushing their views on those individuals because they decided not to wear masks. All right, so let me get into this piece with the opt out. When I made my decision, I made them based on multiple facets.

6:15:36 First, I wanted to try to get down to the real numbers. I wanted to get down to the numbers that were saying, what is it that hospitalizations, what is it that are icus? What percentage are we increasing, what is all of those things so that we can grasp the risk. The next thing is go talk to the employee group, including the teachers union, including the admins, including the bachelor, including our deputy superintendent, including our bus drivers, including our 1010.

6:15:56 Go talk to them. What does this do for you? If we were to mask, mandate or opt out or just go, optional masking, what does that mean? Then go and watch the teachers. Go and watch the admin.

6:16:07 So last week, when we had all of our meetings, who was wearing their mask? Who wasn’t wearing their mask? Then you go look at all the governing laws and policies currently. What is actually legal, how long is it going to take, and what can we do? Then go look at the employees and then look at how, if we were to do something, if they would abide by the rules that are there. So with all of those pieces put together, then you make the policy, then you make your recommendation, not just based on what is science.

6:16:15 We all agree those numbers are rocky. There is no doubt there’s not a single person inside this room that doesn’t agree with that. We all agree that all of those components are happening.

6:16:28 But what people don’t understand that are inside of here is that those kids don’t just go in and put the mask on, keep it on the whole day and then never take it off. It reminds me when I was a teacher of when individuals used to come in and they used to say, here’s how you can teach your class. And they used to give these great grandiose things that you’re going put into your classroom and all of a sudden the kids are going to stand up and they’re all going to learn everything that you’re trying to tell them.

6:16:44 And that’s great. It’s like utopia. But the real reason is, is that these kids are wearing their masks below their nose, they’re touching their faces a hundred times.

6:17:05 I substituted a high school. Half the kids aren’t even wearing the mask on their face. They’re half hanging off, they’re running out the door, they’re on top of each other.

6:17:17 The validity of the math mandate mandate is not conceptually what everybody thinks it is. Just because we mask mandate doesn’t mean that all of a sudden all of the kids are going to turn around and they’re going to put them on and then if they have an opt out form or they don’t, they’re just going to be perfect. And in actuality, just like what was said with the World Health Organization is that in some cases, if it’s not worn correctly and you don’t wash your hands and you don’t, it’s actually detrimental because they pick up the bacteria from the hand and then they put them on their face by readjusting the mask and pulling it down.

6:17:27 The fact that the validity of that, the other piece that you have to look at is if 80% to 90% of the teachers that are in secondary are not wearing masks, when they come back, the fact of the reality is, is that they’re not going to tell that kid that has the mask half hanging off their face to pick it up. They’re not going to enforce like you guys think that they will, they just won’t. And it would be amazing if we could, don’t get me wrong, but they just won’t.

6:17:43 And then today I drove by a couple of the, a couple of the areas inside the schools just to see in transition, in some of the bells what was going on. And a lot of the secondary kids aren’t even wearing the mask. Almost 80% of them aren’t wearing them.

6:17:58 So enforcing a mask mandate, you’re going to have 80% of those kids that are going to be filling out opt out forms so that they can go ahead and come to school without a mask already causing a massive amount of work on our staff just for these actual forms. And in the end, if a parent wants to opt out of it, they can. So it’s not a true mass mandate.

6:18:15 And so in the end, when you look at all of the collective pieces, yes, the numbers are there. Yes, they are rising. But saying that the validity of what we are about to do is going to completely stop it or it’s going to end it, because all of a sudden, kids that weren’t going to wear their masks are now going to wear their masks.

6:18:27 I don’t believe that. That’s true and that’s why I will not support this amendment or this motion. Thank you.

6:18:48 Thank you, Mister Susan. Yes, can I do a. Miss Jenkins? Thank you.

6:19:00 So I want to clarify something now. The first request for a special meeting was before the executive order was ever even instituted. So just want to make that clear.

6:19:09 And the emergency meeting was after the opt out option was put on the table, so want to make that clear as well. And to say that we wouldn’t have enough time to tell parents that they need to bring a mask for their students. We have masks to provide to the students.

6:19:15 If they didn’t know that they needed one, we did it for an entire year. We still have them. And lastly, you say you want to survey them, you want to ask our staff members, you go inside the classrooms, you see if they’re wearing them.

6:19:20 Are they complying? I worked for BPS. I worked with students. I worked with our youngest students.

6:19:38 My husband is a teacher. Yes. Staff members have been constantly emailing me and calling me and messaging me for the past two weeks because they are concerned.

6:19:55 But yes, yes, sometimes people make bad choices. And when we were, when our teachers came back and they were in their classrooms by themselves and they were with their peers thinking they’re all vaccinated. Yeah, they made some really bad choices.

6:20:13 But I’m telling you right now, they’re not happy about today with all those students coming back into their classroom. They’re not happy. And I’m just curious, you have all these questions, you want to see if it’s working? I’m just curious.

6:20:27 Did anyone stop to ask these questions at Johnson Middle school when we lost a teacher? Did anyone go to Cocoa Beach High and ask these questions when we lost a teacher last year? It is like, mind blowing to me that we’re here right now. I don’t understand the difference between last year when you made the right choice and right now. Except that things are worse and we know better.

6:20:31 I don’t understand it. There is no defense to it. It is absurd.

6:20:37 And to use the excuse that the opt out doesn’t actually mandate it is also absurd because you know very well that if I had proposed something without the opt out option, you would use the excuse that it doesn’t follow the executive order. We need to do what we can to mitigate the spread. So yes, if there’s an opt out, there will be parents who choose to opt out.

6:20:52 But there will be a significant majority of students and staff wearing that mask and would mitigate the spread. That is our responsibility. That is our job.

6:20:59 Thank you. Miss Belford. Should I follow if somebody else has anything? Miss McDougall asked if she could speak.

6:21:22 Mister Simpson, are you good if I go to her and then come to you? Say that again. I’m sorry. Sorry.

6:21:42 Miss McDougall asked if she could speak. Are you okay if I go to her and then come to you? Yes. Absolutely.

6:22:20 Absolutely, Miss McDougall. So I am puzzled, quite frankly, because last year we were arguing about what metric are we going to use? And we didn’t know and we were only at five eight. We’re at 20 plus right now.

6:22:45 And we’re arguing about putting a mask on whether it’s going to help us. I feel that we need to do anything we possibly can to keep our students safe in school and our teachers and all of our staff. So I don’t understand the logic.

6:23:02 I struggle with the logic at this point when our numbers are so much higher and this is a much, what we’re hearing from the medical professionals is that this is much more contagious. It’s as contagious as chickenpox, if not more so. I’m just struggling here.

6:23:26 I don’t understand why we’re here at this point and how difficult this can be to just do what’s right. Keep safety for all of our staff and students. Thank you, Miss McDougall.

6:23:40 Mister Susan. Yeah. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity.

6:23:51 I just wanted to say it’s not about the rising numbers. I couldn’t disagree. I agree with you.

6:24:15 That’s not what this is about. And comparing last year to this year, there’s rules, governance laws that have been passed put us in the box that we’re in. So we are currently in the box that the only thing that we can do is put an opt out provision into this.

6:24:52 Okay? That’s what we have to do. It’s not about that and nobody’s disagreeing. I will be the first person to tell you that the numbers arrive.

6:25:21 I am not against that. What I’m telling you is that when 80% of your teachers and 90% of your students don’t wear masks the first time that they’re back on the school, and then all of a sudden I’m told that a significant majority of them want this to happen. I find that to be very difficult and I don’t need to survey.

6:25:38 I literally just look across. If anybody went any of our major high schools today, they would have seen the numbers exactly the same way they would have seen that 90% of those kids aren’t wearing them. So when I look at, it’s not about the numbers rising, it’s about the validity of what we’re trying to do.

6:26:03 We are literally trying to enforce on secondary a series of opt out forms that 90% of the kids didn’t feel necessary to do today, that are going to then fill these forms out that our administration is going to have to go through, figure out which kids are where, figure out a process of how to put that in. On top of that, the teachers union have put into their MoU that they basically didn’t want anything to do with the enforcement of. So this is all on our administrator to put a form in that they already don’t want to do.

6:26:17 The students and the teachers, the majority of them have shown that now that might change when the things are rising and that might change in the views might change, we might be right back to them. That is a distinct possibility. But I will tell you this, after viewing what we viewed for the last week, I do not think it’s fair to put a policy that one is not, does not have validity in action when it’s being used.

6:27:03 And on top of that, creates more work to just get us back to the original piece, which is an optional math policy. That’s it. Thank you, Miss Kimmel.

6:27:41 Thank you. So the evidence of going to the schools and seeing 80% to 90% people not wearing masks is the exact same evidence as to why we need a mass mandate and kids can’t opt themselves out. So yes, your high schoolers didn’t choose to put them on, but they can’t opt themselves out.

6:28:03 Their parents have to opt them out. And 90% of those parents aren’t going to opt them out. And to say that it’s a burden for administration to collect a form.

6:28:18 They collect forms for everything. You fill out registration packets, you know how long they are, they’re still all paper based. They have to sign a form to take a photo.

6:28:42 It’s not that big of a deal to mitigate the spread of a global pandemic. And if that is the excuse, that is absolutely absurd. Done.

6:29:10 Anyone else feel the need to weigh in on their comments? All right, so I typically just let perhaps inaccurate or not completely accurate information go, but I feel like it has been addressed multiple times, this argument back and forth. And so in that instance, I just. I feel like I have to clarify.

6:29:32 So, Miss Jenkins, you stated that your initial request for the first emergency meeting or special meeting was prior to the executive order ever coming out. And there is truth to that, because the executive order itself had not been delivered. But we did have very clear information that the executive order was coming and that the governor was not going to tolerate a mask mandate.

6:30:28 So I’m not saying your information wasn’t, wasn’t honest, because it was. It did come before the actual executive order. But I think we have to be also completely honest in saying that, yes, it had not been signed, but we knew it was coming.

6:31:15 I knew it was coming. I had had conversations with people in Tallahassee and board members throughout the state, and so we all knew it was coming. And then I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that you said your second request, but I think it was the third request came after the opt out was put forward, and that is correct.

6:31:46 However, I think understanding process is important as well. So in order for us to have had a meeting, we can’t just call a meeting. Right? We have to notice our meetings.

6:32:08 Even if it’s an emergency meeting, it has to be noticed. So when a request came in on Saturday for an emergency meeting prior to school starting, we would have had to go through herculean things to advertise that we were having a meeting on Monday, because we have to give 24 hours notice and the paper can’t get the notice in, which means we have to coordinate television, radio, all sorts of notifications prior to us having that meeting. And we had already been told that we have to get the word out however we can to our community.

6:32:34 Yeah. So, point being, we had already been given the information that all we had was we had the DOH guidance from Friday and we had the state rule from Friday. And I’ll be honest with you, I think that a mandatory mask policy with opt out is useless, because I think what’s going to happen is all of the people who don’t want to wear masks are not going to wear masks.

6:33:05 And they’re going to opt out of the policy. And if I felt that we were honestly going to see a difference, then I might have even supported your request for a special meeting on, when you sent the notification out to us on Saturday. But all of us looked at it and made the decision based on what has been put forward to us.

6:33:32 Is there a reason for a special meeting? Because you stated earlier that, you know, my excuse of the executive order being gone and the loss of funding being gone and all of those things aren’t true. And that’s not true. We still have the executive order.

6:33:43 We have the rule from the Department of Health and the two rules from the Department of Education. And even, you know, I, I would caution our public on going by media headlines and make sure that you’re looking at the details, because I’ve had numerous people tell me that, oh, other districts have pushed against the governor. Well, you know what has happened when they pushed against the governor.

6:34:09 Leon county, who was the one that was going to require a doctor’s note for their opt out policy, received a very nice letter today from Commissioner Corcoran that said there is absolutely no room for error leniency when it comes to ensuring compliance with policies that allow parents and guardians to make health and educational choices for their children. Therefore, it is imperative that you work together to remedy the glaring noncompliance and resolve it by tomorrow at 05:00 p.m.

6:34:22 so, yes, there are districts that are taking action, and there are districts that are getting their hands slacked and their action is being undone, done. And I think we have to be honest with ourselves about understanding what’s going on and knowing what the process is going to be. And I’ll be quite honest with you, I think that people in our school should be masking.

6:34:32 I think that our community is in a major health crisis. I think that if we want to stay in our schools and have all of the opportunities available to our students that we need to take every effort that we possibly can to stop the spread and keep healthy and happy, that’s important, too. But the truth of the matter is, if we adopt a mask mandate with an opt out, the only thing that we are impacting, and I feel like this is critical, too, we are creating an enormous amount of work for our administrators because they are the ones who are going to have to enforce who has opted out and who has not opted out.

6:34:42 They’re the ones who are going to have to track who’s wearing a mask in the classroom and who’s not wearing a mask in the classroom. And if I felt like the outcome was going to be different, if I felt like we were going a mask mandate with an opt out was going to result in a safer environment in our schools, more people wearing masks, or even the majority of people wearing masks, which I think is a stretch, then I might be able to justify the additional stress on our administrator. But the truth of the matter is we have people who, God bless our administrators, they’re handling contact tracing again, they’re handling the closing of the learning gap again.

6:35:08 Their plates are incredibly full. And to ask them to know every student in the school that has signed an opt out form and monitor them all day long, and every time a teacher sees a student that’s not wearing a mask, they’re going to have to check to see if there’s an opt out form and then call an administrator to enforce the opt out form. Like, to me, it’s just unnecessary stress on our team for what I don’t see as a different outcome.

6:35:17 And we still are very much under the rules that have come down from the state, whether we agree with them or not. The letter that went out to Leon county, and I just want to address the lack of loss of funding, and several people have commented on ourselves. I’ll be honest with you guys, the state can take my salary.

6:35:17 I’m not making enough money for that to be the justification for my decision. And if that were the consequence, then I would certainly probably analyze things differently, because I don’t that that, to me, is nothing. It’s not reason enough to make a decision one way or another.

6:35:52 But I think we have convinced ourselves that that is the only thing that’s going to happen. And I think our public needs to understand that. The letter that went out to Leon county today, not addressing a mask mandate, just addressing the fact that they wanted to have a doctor’s note in order for an opt out, clearly says if this matter is not addressed by submitting the documentation, establishing compliance with the law, the maximum accountability measures provided for under the law will be imposed.

6:36:03 So, yes, the governor has said salaries of superintendents and school board members, but this goes way beyond salaries to suggest that the maximum accountability measures will be imposed and the maximum accountability measures is all dollars that the legislature account allocate to our district. That’s what the law says. So I certainly appreciate all of the perspectives.

6:36:17 I know there are a lot of people that have looked at this a lot of different ways. I will guarantee you, I have done my homework extensively. I have spent hours and hours on the phone with our medical professionals.

6:36:39 And I do think that we have a crisis and I think we have to send a very strong message. But to suggest that we have leeway to make decisions beyond what has been put forward I think is disingenuous. And given the restrictions that we have been placed in, I just don’t see where the win is with an opt out policy.

6:36:45 Can I ask Mister Gibbs a question, please? Mister Gibbs, what I propose tonight is that in compliance with the executive order, as long as there’s an office. Okay. Thank you.

6:36:49 So there would be no penalty. Thank you, madam chair. I just want to say one more thing.

6:37:03 So it was said that we all didn’t support the meeting. That I just want to make it clear that Miss Madougal supported every single one of my requests. So it wasn’t.

6:37:15 It wasn’t everyone. And yes, God bless our administrators, God bless all 9000 of our employees. And yes, they have a lot of work, but how much more paperwork do you think they’re going to have to do when it comes to tracking Covid cases and contacts to cases when no one is wearing a mask, it’s going to be intense.

6:37:53 And to say how are they going to manage which students have that and whatever. However teachers do that on a regular basis, they know their kid. They know what kid has an IEP, what kid has a 504, what kid gets what therapy, what time and what day they go with what therapist, what kid gets pulled for title one, what kids get small group, what kids get intensive reading.

6:38:13 They know what kids go on a bus, go on a daycare van, go in the pickup line, who has free and reduced lunch, who’s allowed to have a photo. They know all of this. They know what kid doesn’t have technology at home.

6:38:16 They know what kid doesn’t have two parents in the household. They know all of it. A simple whether or not Johnny is allowed to wear a mask is not taking them over the edge.

6:38:22 They have so much on their plate. Yes. And this is, yes, another thing to ask them for, but it’s to mitigate the spread of a virus.

6:38:31 And I just can’t wrap my brain around the argument that, oh, I can’t support it because it’s not effective or it’s not everyone and no one’s gonna do it. Great. But that’s the situation we’re in right now.

6:38:48 I don’t want an opt out either, but this is the situation we’re in. And to show the community that, like, you’re not even willing to do that, I just can’t wrap my brain around it. I just can’t.

6:39:19 Mister Susan, you requested to speak. Miss Campbell has requested to call. The question is that.

6:39:27 That’s exactly where I was going. Call the question. All right.

6:39:33 So the question has been called. Miss Husk Bar, do you need a voice vote on the amendment? You do not need a voice note. All right, so the question has been called.

6:40:00 Board members, please vote. Mister Susan, if you would vote by voice for Miss Escobar. No.

6:40:13 Yeah. This time. All right.

6:40:37 And the motion fails two to three. So that is going to bring us back to the original motion, which we will need to vote on, which was a motion to approve the existing policy. Is there any.

6:40:45 There’s no more discussion on that. I have a discussion. So if.

6:40:51 Miss Jenkins, if you would please. Hold on. I’m asking for guidance from Mister Goodmande.

6:41:14 You can have discussion if you want, on the original motion. Okay, Miss Jenkins. Thank you.

6:41:25 If the argument is that the opt out is ineffective, that I’m curious to see what people think when it’s on the table without one. I am so curious about this because it doesn’t make any sense. Miss Campbell has called the questions.

6:41:48 All board members, please vote. No. All right. And the motion fails. Two to three. Guys. Keep it down, please. Keep it down, please. All right. That is then going to Doctor Mullins. We are now moving on with our action items. Miss Belford and members of the board, item G. Excuse me. G 26 is on department school initiated agreement. What are the wishes of the board? Moved by Miss Campbell, seconded by Miss McDougall. Is there any discussion? Hearing? None. Please vote. Yay. The motion passes. 50. Doctor Mullins, item G 27 is on procurement solicitations. What are the wishes of the board? Move to approve. Second moved by Mister Susan. Seconded by Miss Campbell. Is there any discussion? Hearing? None. Please vote. Yay. The motion passes. 50. We will move on to the information agenda, which includes items for board review and may be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting. Will be taken on these items tonight. Doctor Mullins, there is one item under the information category. Does any member wish to discuss this information item? Does anyone have anything else to report? And Doctor Mullins, do you have anything else to add? No, ma’am. There being no further business, this meeting is now adjourned. Have a great night.