Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL

2021-11-10 - School Board Meeting

0:00 Thank you.

10:29 I welcome my fellow board members and the public and call the

10:32 November 10th, 2021 special

10:34 school board meeting to order.

10:35 This is a business meeting of the board held in the public.

10:38 As such, the board is authorized to adopt rules or policies to

10:40 maintain orderly conduct and

10:42 proper decorum in a public meeting.

10:43 Please note that your presence here is subject to those rules

10:46 and policies. Pursuant to Florida Statute 877.13, it is unlawful

10:50 and a misdemeanor of the second degree punishable by up to 60

10:53 days in jail and a $500 fine for any person knowingly to disrupt

10:56 or interfere with the lawful administration or functions of any

10:59 educational institution or school board or knowingly to advise

11:03 counselor instruct any school people or school employee to

11:06 disrupt any school or school board function or activity on

11:08 school board property.

11:11 To facilitate a cooperative environment for all, please be aware

11:13 of the following.

11:14 The appropriate place for public participation in the meeting is

11:18 during your individual public comment opportunity as identified

11:22 in the agenda.

11:23 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role

11:26 in the meeting is as an observer.

11:27 I will ask persons deemed to be knowingly or intentionally

11:30 disrupting this meeting of the school board of Brevard County or

11:33 not complying with the policy to stop or leave.

11:35 If persons receiving the warning choose not to follow my

11:37 instructions, I will instruct Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies

11:40 to take any law enforcement action they deem appropriate and you

11:42 may be escorted, detained or arrested depending on the conduct.

11:45 Persons who refuse to depart after a warning may also be

11:48 committing the crime of trespassing in accordance with Florida

11:52 Statute Section 810.08.

11:54 These statutes apply to conduct on all school board property,

11:57 which includes this board room as well as the outside of this

11:59 building to the sidewalks.

12:00 If you continue to cause a disruption, you are advised that you

12:03 are in violation of Florida State Statute 877.13 or if you

12:07 failed to leave the premises after being warned by the sheriff’s

12:09 office, you are committing trespass and the board has authorized

12:11 the sheriff’s office to enforce these rules.

12:13 In the event multiple individuals fail to adhere to these

12:16 expectations and board business cannot continue due to

12:18 disruption, I will call a recess and request that the law

12:21 enforcement officers present clear the board room of attendees.

12:24 When the room is cleared, the board will return and resume their

12:27 meeting with no public present.

12:29 Those who are signed up to speak will be seated under the front

12:32 entry area and called in when it is your time to speak.

12:35 Pam, roll call please.

12:37 Mrs. Belford.

12:38 Present.

12:38 Mrs. McDougal.

12:40 Present.

12:40 Mrs. Jenkins.

12:41 Present.

12:42 Mr. Susan.

12:43 Present.

12:44 And Mrs. Campbell.

12:45 Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

12:48 Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

12:55 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God,

13:00 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

13:05 All right, that is going to bring us to the adoption of the

13:09 agenda, Dr. Mullins.

13:11 Belford and members of the board, on this morning’s agenda,

13:15 there’s an action item on the elementary and secondary school

13:19 emergency relief fund under the American Rescue Plan, also known

13:24 as ARP.

13:25 Also, there’s a discussion item added under the superintendent’s

13:28 report.

13:29 The only change made to the agenda since it was released on

13:32 Thursday, November 4th, is the addition of the discussion item

13:35 regarding the 2021-22 school calendar amendment to allow all

13:39 district offices and schools to close the week of Thanksgiving.

13:42 What are the wishes of the board?

13:44 Move to approve.

13:46 Second.

13:46 Moved by Mr. Susan.

13:47 Seconded by Mr. McDougal.

13:49 Is there any discussion?

13:51 All right, all those in favor, please, do you have discussion?

13:54 Yeah, I just wanted to ask, so we’re allowing, just for the

13:58 public, Monday and Tuesday, all employees to go home,

14:01 transportation, custodial.

14:03 Wait, the motion is to approve the agenda.

14:05 Okay, all right, yeah, let’s go.

14:06 Okay.

14:07 So I have a motion on the floor to approve the, or to adopt the

14:10 agenda.

14:11 Any additional discussion?

14:13 All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

14:15 Aye.

14:16 Any opposed?

14:17 Same sign.

14:17 The motion passes five.

14:20 4-0.

14:21 Thank you, Mr. McDougal.

14:23 All right.

14:26 We are now going to be at public comment.

14:32 We have two speakers this morning, both on the action item on

14:38 the agenda.

14:40 Per policy 0169, public participation at board meetings, we are

14:46 limited to 10 speakers.

14:49 We only have two, so both speakers will get three minutes.

14:51 And I am going to move up there to run the clock for the

14:56 speakers.

14:57 So if you all will bear with me as I move.

15:00 Do you want to run the clock and do that?

15:01 If you want to?

15:02 Yeah, I’ll do that.

15:02 Okay.

15:03 I’ll go up there and hang out.

15:03 We will have a clock behind me to help you keep track of your

15:06 time.

15:07 When your time is over, you’ll be asked to stop and allow the

15:09 next speaker his or her turn.

15:10 Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is expected at all

15:13 times,

15:13 and your statement should be directed to the board chair.

15:15 The chair may interrupt worn or terminate a participant’s

15:17 statement.

15:18 When time is up, it’s personally directed, abusive, obscene, or

15:21 irrelevant.

15:22 Should an individual not observe proper etiquette, the chairman

15:25 may request the individual leave the meeting.

15:26 Let’s all encourage an environment appropriate for our children

15:29 who may be present or are watching from home.

15:32 All right.

15:33 Before speaking, please state your name, the organization you

15:35 represent, if any,

15:36 and identify the topic you will be discussing.

15:38 Our first speaker is Sarah.

15:39 Sarah, if you would like to…

15:41 Ms. Belford, just so we don’t have backs to the speakers,

15:44 would you mind if we allow them to come to the table and use the

15:46 microphone here?

15:47 Yeah, that’s right.

15:48 Or do…

15:48 I don’t know.

15:49 If we need them, Mike, in the magic room back there.

15:52 Jackie’s shaking her head no that we’re good to do that here.

15:55 Okay.

15:55 I just…

15:57 Mr. Gibbs and I don’t particularly want to have our backs to the

15:59 speakers, so…

16:00 Sure.

16:02 And Sarah, Mr. Susan’s running her clock.

16:04 Good morning, Madam Chair and Board.

16:09 I’m Sarah Mirsky, wife, mother, student, registered voter,

16:12 taxpayer, stakeholder from District 2.

16:15 A huge thank you to all our vets for their service and sacrifice.

16:18 I want to thank the Board for finally coming into compliance

16:22 with the DOE

16:22 and most importantly, giving parents the right to choose to mask

16:25 their child or not.

16:26 The choice should have always been the parents all along.

16:30 What a very interesting couple of weeks that has been for the BPS

16:33 Board.

16:34 I wonder how many more lawsuits are going to pile up against the

16:37 school board for recent illegal policies

16:39 and how much our tax money is having to be paid out to defend

16:42 the Board.

16:43 I sincerely hope the Board starts to build relationships with

16:46 all parents

16:46 and take their fiduciary responsibilities seriously.

16:50 Part of the reason why we are seeing record inflation is due to

16:53 all the money that PPS is receiving in SR funds.

16:56 So many families are making financial sacrifices at the gas pump

17:00 and grocery stores.

17:02 Please use our tax money wisely.

17:05 Now on to the actual SR funds.

17:07 We definitely need to repair air conditioners across the

17:09 district.

17:10 My son had to wear a mask in class with no AC.

17:13 Would like to know how you’re trying to keep my child safe in

17:16 that scenario without trying to suffocate him and others.

17:19 It was 95 plus degrees that day outside.

17:22 I can’t imagine what the classroom temperature was.

17:25 One thing that all parents can agree on, on all sides of the

17:28 mask issue is better air filtration.

17:30 We need hospital grade air filters in our classroom.

17:33 We need more teachers and our remaining teachers need to be

17:36 compensated better.

17:37 As I mentioned before, one of the ways to retain the teachers

17:41 you have is not to mandate masks or vaccines.

17:43 We need more mental health professionals in schools so that

17:47 children can get the services they need.

17:50 I like the idea of having Thanksgiving week off.

17:53 However, I think it would be great for next year.

17:56 It would be too disruptive for too many families to try to scramble

17:59 to find child care and make arrangements for this year.

18:02 I ask that the board stop bringing their own personal grievances

18:06 and politics to the dais and work together in a nonpartisan way.

18:09 My son brought up a great point last week as we were discussing

18:13 those in elected office.

18:14 He reminded us of a simple saying from Spider-Man.

18:18 Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, with great power comes great

18:21 responsibility.

18:23 Simple yet profound.

18:24 Thank you.

18:25 Katie Delaney.

18:26 Okay.

18:29 All right.

18:31 Mr. Susan, I think you’re done up there then, sir.

18:33 All right, Dr. Mullen, please let us know about our action item.

18:41 Item G6 is to approve the development and submission of funding

18:45 opportunities under the Elementary and Secondary School

18:48 Emergency Relief Fund under the American Rescue Plan ARP Act

18:52 grant proposal.

18:53 Do I have a motion?

18:54 Let’s approve.

18:55 Moved by Ms. McDougall, seconded by Ms. Jenkins.

18:58 Is there any discussion?

18:59 Hearing none.

19:02 All right.

19:02 All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

19:04 - Aye.

19:05 - Any opposed, same sign.

19:07 The motion passes four zero.

19:09 All right, Dr. Mullins, if you would please go over

19:13 the item in the superintendent’s report.

19:16 - Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

19:17 I wanted to bring to the board this morning a discussion

19:20 that I’ve had with senior cabinet,

19:23 as well as administrators across the district.

19:26 And with respect to a very, very unique opportunity

19:30 that we have kind of this moment in time.

19:33 As the board knows, we’ve had a very, very challenging

19:37 school year already.

19:39 Certainly during the spike of the coronavirus Delta variant,

19:44 where we were experiencing hundreds, if not thousands

19:49 of students and staff members COVID positive,

19:52 but also thousands of quarantines,

19:56 providing a tremendously disruptive impact

19:59 impact on our schools.

20:01 Coupled with the nationwide workforce shortage,

20:05 where our schools and clearly across the entire organization,

20:10 no function of Brevard Public Schools operates in isolation,

20:15 without having translating and cascading impact

20:21 on our schools and the support, as well as the services,

20:24 we can provide our students, our teachers, and as well as our

20:28 parents.

20:28 So the nationwide workforce shortage has certainly impacted our

20:33 district

20:33 tremendously, not in our classrooms, but also across all

20:38 departments

20:39 and divisions.

20:39 And the impact or the reality is,

20:43 is our team members doing an amazing job of standing in the gap

20:49 in those instances.

20:50 Teachers covering classrooms, in many cases,

20:54 days of the week at a time, as well as picking up dropped bus

21:02 routes,

21:02 covering stations and our food service departments,

21:06 but also our maintenance workers, our air conditioning

21:12 technicians

21:13 that are shorthanded, our mechanics in our shops,

21:17 picking up and covering for everyone else.

21:19 It’s been a very challenging year and I’m not suggesting that

21:22 Brevard Public Schools

21:23 is unique to the challenges.

21:25 Certainly every district in the state of Florida,

21:27 if not the country, have experienced the same kinds of

21:31 difficulties.

21:32 I’ve said before that life has not given us any breaks,

21:37 along with the unprecedented, I’ll say, era of a pandemic,

21:43 a global pandemic.

21:44 And the emotional and mental health strain on our employees

21:47 is certainly real.

21:51 And it has certainly been compounded,

21:55 given everything that we’ve gone through.

21:57 This year, in addition, is unique.

22:01 Fortunately, I can, you know, we can all reflect and say

22:04 we did not face a demanding hurricane season this year.

22:10 Can’t say that always, but this year we can.

22:14 Yes, thank goodness.

22:15 The board understands that our school calendar is very, very

22:23 tight.

22:23 It is very, quite frankly, restrictive.

22:26 We have one of the shorter school days of school calendars

22:31 across the state,

22:32 which really limits flexibility.

22:34 The board knows in the past when we have experienced a hurricane

22:38 day closure,

22:40 it has required a lot of adjustments to the calendar to meet our

22:46 statutory instructional requirements

22:48 and our credit earning course instructional minutes.

22:52 And we’ve done the best we can.

22:55 In some cases, we’ve had to even make up school days in years

22:58 past.

22:59 Given we’ve not faced that and our administrators’ willingness

23:03 to make some flexible adjustments

23:06 to bell schedules, particularly at our secondary schools,

23:09 we have an opportunity this year to close our schools Monday,

23:16 Tuesday of Thanksgiving.

23:18 It would provide that extended opportunity for our staff and our

23:23 families across the district

23:25 to have that time together.

23:27 It certainly is one of the most popular, most persistent asks of

23:32 our community,

23:33 of our employees when we work on our school calendar.

23:36 But due to the restrictions of when we can start the school year,

23:40 as well as meeting other commitments, semester and end of year,

23:44 we’ve not been able to build that in.

23:47 Because of no hurricane, we can give that consideration.

23:50 I want to acknowledge that this is short notice.

23:56 I want to recognize that for our community and wish that weren’t

24:01 the case.

24:03 But we still have this moment in time opportunity to do this for

24:08 our employees,

24:09 as well as, I hope, for many families who would seek to use this

24:12 as time to come together,

24:14 rebuild, renew, revive as a family unit.

24:18 But we also recognize there are some families in many difficult

24:23 situations,

24:24 work demands and so on.

24:26 I can only come to you with also the, with this, this

24:30 recommendation,

24:31 knowing that we’ve already reached out to our community, Parks

24:34 and Recreation.

24:35 They had planned a day camp available at different locations

24:40 across the district.

24:41 On the Wednesday, we were going to be closed anyway.

24:44 We’ve talked with them.

24:45 They’re prepared to look at extending that for the week, Monday,

24:50 Tuesday, Wednesday,

24:51 to make some additional child care opportunities available to

24:56 our parents and our families.

24:57 In addition, you know, this is a time when we can call on our

25:03 community.

25:04 And our community has always come to our aid.

25:09 And I’m proud to be a Brevardian.

25:12 I’m pleased to say we have a, I would suggest a wonderful

25:20 relationship with our

25:21 faith-based community.

25:22 They have a strong representation in the superintendent’s

25:27 community ambassadors.

25:28 I made a phone call last, in the last couple of days to Jarvis

25:33 Wash,

25:34 who is a pastor in, in central Brevard, a pastor of the real

25:37 church,

25:38 and several community-wide initiatives as well.

25:44 And I said, Jarvis, I need your help.

25:47 Parks and Rec may be able to do some things, but I really think

25:50 this is an opportunity for

25:52 our faith-based community to come alongside us and say, we’re

25:56 willing to look at what could

25:57 we do as well.

25:58 And he said, absolutely.

26:02 Let’s, let’s pull them together.

26:04 In fact, I have a meeting with Pastor Wash and some faith-based

26:08 leaders this afternoon

26:10 to talk about what might our faith-based community be able to

26:14 provide families as well.

26:15 And they’re willing to look at that in support of our teachers

26:19 and our staff and our administrators

26:21 across our district, recognizing the challenge that this year

26:25 has been already for them.

26:27 So I’m pleased that, to no surprise, like Brevard does, Brevard

26:32 takes care of Brevard.

26:34 And we’re looking to provide some outlets, some, we don’t want

26:38 to provide additional stress to

26:39 families, certainly during this time.

26:41 So I’m pleased that we’ve got these opportunities that are being

26:44 worked on, and we’ll certainly

26:46 do what we can to communicate those opportunities to families.

26:49 The other factor that we looked at is we know we send kids home

26:53 with food insecurities

26:55 on the weekend, particularly.

26:58 Right now, we provide weekend meals.

27:02 In addition, we all, we’re very familiar with Children’s Hunger

27:04 Project.

27:04 They provide weekend meals to, I think, nearly 3,000 children

27:09 every, every week.

27:10 Our food service team has also been providing a weekend food

27:17 pack, if you will, to nearly 12,000

27:21 students.

27:21 In addition to that.

27:23 I went to Mr. Thornton, I said, we’re trying to, we’re

27:26 considering this, is there something

27:28 we can do to not only send a kid home on Friday with three meal

27:32 snack packs, could we send them

27:34 home with five on the Friday before Thanksgiving week?

27:38 And he said, we’ll make it happen.

27:41 So, I don’t want, I’m not bringing this recommendation of the

27:46 board without some very careful consideration

27:48 and thought of the impact across our families.

27:51 Certainly, I’m aware and striving to meet families where they

27:56 are and that type of thing, and make

27:59 sure that we’re making a reasonable decision, not only for Brevard

28:03 Public Schools and our team,

28:05 who this is well-deserved for, but also, uh, the impact on our,

28:09 our families and community.

28:10 Um, the, the recommendation is, is that we close all district

28:15 and school offices Monday, Tuesday,

28:18 Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, uh, holding employees harmless

28:22 with pay.

28:22 They will receive their regular pay, uh, on schedule.

28:26 We would, um, I would ask for board consensus, uh, support for

28:32 that, and would bring back to

28:34 the board on November 16th, next Tuesday’s board meeting, a

28:38 formal calendar amendment that

28:40 would provide for that.

28:41 I couldn’t bring that today without more public notice, but this

28:45 could provide the public notice

28:46 so we can move forward to notify our schools, our families, uh,

28:51 of the intent to bring forward

28:52 this, uh, calendar change, as well as providing support for our

28:57 community.

28:57 I’m reminded of one last thing.

28:59 We do have dual enrollment students in, uh, at Eastern Florida.

29:03 Uh, Dr. Sullivan worked with her high school principals.

29:07 They are prepared to work with families on a case-by-case basis

29:11 to support students who may need assistance,

29:13 you know, uh, getting to Eastern Florida State College.

29:17 They felt very confidently.

29:18 They know their kids, they know the circumstances, they can work

29:22 with them, and ensure that, uh,

29:24 we can help them meet their academic responsibility, because

29:27 Eastern Florida is in session on Monday and Tuesday.

29:29 Uh, Madam Chair, do you have any questions?

29:33 Thank you, Dr. Mullins.

29:34 Do any board members have comments or questions for Dr. Mullins?

29:36 All right.

29:37 Ms. Jenkins.

29:38 Thank you, uh, for addressing all of the concerns we all had

29:43 probably brought up.

29:44 Um, I, I do want to say, I know, um, it is last minute and it’s

29:48 difficult, but I appreciate, um, the thought being thrown out

29:52 there.

29:53 Uh, you know, there’s extreme burnout across all levels of our

29:58 staff, and, uh, it’s difficult

29:59 for us to reward our staff members when it comes to, uh,

30:03 compensation and, and financial

30:05 incentives.

30:06 And, uh, you know, each and every moment we have to reward them

30:11 mentally, um, and with time,

30:14 and time to kind of regroup themselves and come back fresh and,

30:17 and rejuvenated, I think

30:19 it’s really important for us to, to take advantage of that.

30:22 Uh, you know, being a BPS employee myself, it, it may seem silly

30:27 to people listening in

30:29 the public that an extra day or two to yourself to breathe, uh,

30:32 doesn’t seem like a big deal,

30:33 but, um, it absolutely is, especially when it comes around that

30:36 holiday time and, and around

30:37 this halfway point for, for educators.

30:40 So, um, I appreciate you and, uh, I absolutely support it.

30:43 Thank you.

30:44 Thank you, Ms. Jenkins.

30:46 Ms. McDougall.

30:46 Um, I just want to say thank you for bringing this forward.

30:50 And I, it was funny, we just had our calendar meetings for the

30:54 upcoming calendar.

30:55 And I did perfectly ask this question.

30:58 Why don’t we have the whole week of Thanksgiving?

31:00 And it is related to our tight, shortened work, work day, our

31:04 school day for our students.

31:06 And we need to get the hours in that’s needed.

31:08 I’m so glad we didn’t have hurricanes here and that we will have

31:12 the ability to offer this

31:13 to our teachers because I think, and I agree with what Ms.

31:16 Jenkins said, and I think we

31:17 all will, our teachers are stressed.

31:19 They are doing double duties in many ways.

31:21 Our admin is working their tails off.

31:23 I know that people get here at 530 and some days don’t go home

31:26 until 11 o’clock at night.

31:28 So everybody could use a break.

31:31 And I think this is a great idea.

31:32 I’m so glad that we were able to bring this forward.

31:34 Dr. Mullen, thank you.

31:37 Mr. Susan.

31:37 I agree with your sentiments.

31:41 One of the things that some of the individuals that are out

31:44 there that say that may not support

31:46 this, because there would be a couple of people out there that

31:49 wouldn’t, I’d ask them to look

31:50 into the eyes of a teacher who’s covering many of the sub-vacancies.

31:55 I’d ask them to look at the bus drivers, look into the eyes of

31:58 the bus drivers who are sitting there every day

32:01 trying to put together an attendance sheet, writing it in handwritten

32:05 and then turning it in and then scanning it,

32:07 trying to tell the kids to sit in your seats, put on your mask,

32:11 people are worn out.

32:13 Many vacant positions throughout our district are being covered

32:16 by teachers too.

32:17 Principals, writing COVID, quarantines and tracing and

32:21 everything else.

32:23 It’s been a long haul.

32:24 And I think also a lot of it goes out to the ESF staff who left

32:28 here during COVID so that we could keep our darn schools open

32:32 and still keep the responsibility that they have normally.

32:36 And I think that when you look into the eyes of each one of

32:39 those individuals, you realize this is much needed.

32:43 And one of the main reasons I support it is because you’re right,

32:47 Ms. Jenkins, this is much needed across our,

32:50 and our people are burnt out.

32:51 So I applaud Dr. Mullins for bringing this forward.

32:55 I applaud the staff for all of their hard work, and it’s well-deserved

32:58 across the district.

32:59 The one question I had was, and you alluded it, I’ve received

33:04 emails and everything else about,

33:06 well, they’re telling me that if I have to take it off, I have

33:10 to take my vacation time or whatever.

33:12 We’re not doing any of that, right?

33:14 You get the time off, it doesn’t hurt your vacation, and it’s

33:16 great.

33:17 Okay.

33:18 Hey, this is great, Dr. Mullins.

33:20 Thank you.

33:20 So, Dr. Mullins, thank you for bringing this forward.

33:26 And I, you know, we talk a lot about what our team members are

33:29 going through and the challenge that it’s been,

33:31 and I certainly do not want that to be overshadowed because I

33:34 think that’s a huge,

33:36 huge focus for what we’re doing here.

33:37 But I would argue that our students need the break, too.

33:40 And, you know, and it’s been a tough year for them in many

33:49 respects with quarantines and, you know,

33:51 threats and all kinds of things that they’ve had to deal with,

33:54 too.

33:55 And so, I just, I really think this is a win-win.

33:57 And I thank you for, you know, having the conversations with

34:02 Cabinet and with us about the concerns that would be brought

34:05 forward for families

34:06 and making sure that we can address those concerns and those

34:08 needs.

34:08 I will be on the phone with Parks and Rec as soon as we finish

34:11 here this morning.

34:12 They are ready to stand up those camps throughout Brevard.

34:17 Thank them for their partnership and for you being proactive in

34:20 reaching out to our faith-based community as well.

34:24 I think, you know, that gives us two really strong solutions for

34:26 families.

34:27 And, yeah, it’s, we have to take advantage while we can.

34:32 What Ms. McDougall didn’t mention when she was talking about our

34:34 calendar meeting, and I feel like it’s important to put out

34:37 there,

34:38 we don’t have the opportunity to build this into our calendar

34:42 typically because we have a shorter student day in Brevard

34:45 County

34:46 because we have 15 additional minutes of planning every day that

34:50 other districts don’t have.

34:52 So, our student day is shorter because we prioritize that

34:55 planning opportunity for teachers.

34:57 And so, that’s why we can’t, given our current structure, build

35:01 this into our calendar next year or the year after.

35:03 Hey, hopefully we get really lucky and we don’t have hurricanes

35:06 next year either, and we can do it again, right?

35:08 But, but that is the challenge that we face right now.

35:13 So, I support it.

35:15 I think it is going to be incredibly beneficial for all of us to

35:19 just reset.

35:19 And the only last thing that I will say, and this is to my

35:22 fellow board members, and I’m sure I don’t need to say it,

35:25 but sometimes you say things because if you don’t say them, you

35:28 get, you know, you wish you had.

35:29 And that is that you guys have to take those days off too and

35:34 not be emailing our staff.

35:36 Okay?

35:38 So, that means, that means, Mr. Susan, when you have lots of

35:41 time on your hands,

35:42 and Ms. McDougall and Ms. Campbell and myself, there is a method

35:47 for you to schedule your emails to go out later.

35:50 So, if you feel that you must work during break, please schedule

35:53 that to not go out until the following Monday

35:56 so that we can truly, truly give our entire team a break.

35:59 Okay?

35:59 How about we just ask Cheatham to shut them all down?

36:01 Thank you for acknowledging that I don’t do that.

36:04 No, Cheatham, you can just shut the whole district down.

36:06 You’re welcome, everybody.

36:07 And then they’ll just pool and they’ll get done.

36:09 Because I know the way that some of the directors will work.

36:11 And they’re not going to listen to you, right?

36:14 They’re going to keep going.

36:15 So, Russell, I mean, let’s shut it down.

36:18 Let’s just shut the email system down.

36:19 Assuming we can turn it back on.

36:22 That’s kind of important, Ross.

36:24 It gets worried every time we shut the system down.

36:29 Shutting it down is easy.

36:31 Restarting it, that’s the hard part.

36:33 Yes.

36:33 So, do you need any further direction from us, Dr. Mullins?

36:37 No, I appreciate the clear direction from the board.

36:39 We will proceed with communicating with our staff, our community,

36:44 our parents, as well as our community partners

36:47 for their already support that they’ve expressed and certainly

36:51 express our appreciation of them as well.

36:54 And just a point of clarification for our families, as we get

36:57 information on those child care opportunities

36:59 and the logistics of meals and any of those other things that we

37:03 need to address,

37:03 we’ll be sending that communication out as well.

37:05 Yes, Mr. Bruin is already on it and has got a schedule for send

37:08 out information regularly to our families.

37:11 Awesome.

37:12 Perfect.

37:12 Thank you so much.

37:13 All right.

37:16 I think that is going to end our meeting.

37:25 So, there being no further business, this meeting is now adjourned.

37:46 I think that is going to end our meeting.