Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Thank you.
7:29 The September 8, 2022, final budget hearing and board meeting is
7:33 now in order.
7:33 I’m happy to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
7:36 I would like to take this opportunity to remind the public that
7:39 the appropriate place for
7:40 public participation in the meeting is during your individual
7:43 public comment opportunity
7:44 as identified in the agenda.
7:46 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role
7:49 in the meeting is as an observer this evening.
7:51 Mr. Gibbs, roll call, please.
7:53 Ms. Belford.
7:54 Present.
7:55 Ms. McDougal.
7:56 Present.
7:57 Ms. Campbell.
7:57 Present.
7:58 Ms. Jenkins.
7:59 Present.
7:59 Mr. Susan.
8:00 Present.
8:00 Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
8:07 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
8:11 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God,
8:15 and indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
8:19 The board will now hold a moment of silent reflection and invite
8:26 the audience to join.
8:29 Ms. Campbell, did you want a request on our focus for silent
8:31 reflection this evening?
8:34 I don’t know as the world is mourning the death of Queen
8:38 Elizabeth, but we just might have that in our hearts as well.
8:42 Thank you.
9:04 At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and
9:06 Dr. Mullins an opportunity to recognize students, staff, or
9:09 members of our community.
9:10 Ms. Jenkins actually has a special recognition this evening, so
9:14 I’m going to provide her the opportunity to go first.
9:17 Yeah, I’m going to go down and go down real quick.
9:33 All right.
9:35 So, I am super excited to address this in front of everybody.
9:42 We kind of talked about this a couple of times.
9:44 I had received a phone call on Martin Luther King Day, so it’s
9:47 been a really, really long time, from city councilman Alex Goines
9:51 and Cocoa.
9:52 And we had started this journey together to figure out a way to
9:55 rejuvenate the weight room in Cocoa High School.
9:58 And I don’t want to spend too much time on how that happened
10:01 again, because I’ve already told this story, but it’s done.
10:05 It’s over.
10:05 And I’m really excited to celebrate it.
10:07 I want everyone to be aware of it.
10:09 I want everyone to be aware of all the people it took to come
10:11 and put this together.
10:12 So, this is a weight room that not only serves the football team
10:16 that was highlighted during this project, it serves all of the
10:20 students at Cocoa High School that are in any athletics program,
10:23 as well as their weight training class.
10:26 So, I want to say a special shout out to Cocoa City Councilman
10:29 Alex Goines.
10:30 Thank you for making that phone call in the first place to me.
10:33 This would have never happened without you.
10:35 The next person who is one of the major key players is an actual
10:39 satellite high school graduate.
10:41 His name is Patrick Abrahams.
10:43 He is a college game day producer for ESPN.
10:46 He is an Emmy award winning producer.
10:48 I know we had another student in BPS that we acknowledged
10:52 recently that is a college game day Emmy award winning.
10:56 He is a college student as well.
10:57 So, let’s give a shout out to our to our amazing students.
11:00 Ms. Stewart, the principal of Cocoa High School, thank you for
11:04 all that you’ve done.
11:05 Mr. Wilson, before you became our COO, you were in the game with
11:09 me on this as well.
11:10 We’ve got athletic director, Mr. Mark Karstens, all of the custodians
11:14 at Cocoa High School.
11:16 The amount of boxes that we had to unbox was insane.
11:21 Thank you for being a part of that and taking care of that for
11:25 us.
11:26 Thank you to the parents and the community members who stepped
11:28 up and showed up to build the actual equipment with us, to paint
11:32 that room with us, to put that room together.
11:34 And to Tomorrow’s team, a non-profit organization out in Orlando
11:37 who came and sent some volunteers to help support us as well as
11:41 building that equipment.
11:42 Special shout out to our facilities department, Ms. Sue Han,
11:46 Sean Hines, Ed Bresnia, I’m sorry if I’m saying your name wrong,
11:49 John Rittenhouse, and Trey Rose.
11:52 Thank you to every single person who participated in this.
11:55 It was a four-day event.
11:57 It had to happen quickly.
11:59 On a Sunday, we got together.
12:01 We banged it out.
12:02 We built everything.
12:03 We unpackaged everything.
12:05 The next day, we had the pleasure of Marty Spiff, an ESPN
12:09 commentator, a NASCAR coverage commentator, working for Academy
12:14 Sports and a program on YouTube called Traditions.
12:17 He came out, surprised the school, surprised all of the coaches
12:21 and all of the students, and did some interviews with everybody.
12:24 It was a really incredible experience on Monday.
12:28 Had some tear-jerker moments.
12:31 They had an opportunity to interview three of our athletes who
12:35 have already accepted college applications and offers to go play
12:40 there.
12:41 And one of them is actually the valedictorian of the school this
12:44 year, which is pretty impressive.
12:46 And he’s working towards a perfect SAT score.
12:49 Really incredible students, really incredible stories.
12:52 Got to hear words from the coaches, why they do what they do,
12:56 why they love these students, and what makes Cocoa High School
12:59 so unique and so important to them.
13:01 And that was really important to me.
13:03 So thank you, again, to Academy Sports and Outdoors, to CAD
13:08 Athletics.
13:09 And they gave us $75,000 worth of equipment.
13:14 $75,000.
13:16 Awesome.
13:17 So some of the pictures that you’re going to see here are the
13:21 finished weight room.
13:23 However, the floors aren’t done yet.
13:25 Those are coming.
13:26 We couldn’t procure those fast enough, but they are coming.
13:28 They’re going to get a fresh new floor.
13:32 Okay, so special recognition.
13:34 There is an incredible human being here today that I asked to
13:40 come here today.
13:41 And he is one of the assistant coaches for the football program.
13:46 And I met him early on in this journey because of Mr. Goines.
13:51 I would have never known who this man was if I never received
13:54 that phone call.
13:55 And, man, I am so grateful to have met this man, Mr. James Falston.
14:01 You can stand up.
14:02 Come here.
14:03 Mr. Falston, I might get this wrong, and I’m going to be aging
14:10 you at the exact same time.
14:13 I apologize in advance.
14:15 Coco, class of 89.
14:17 Yes.
14:18 Okay.
14:18 This incredible man went to Coco High School himself.
14:23 He went off to college.
14:25 I believe you got scholarship for that as well.
14:27 Went off to play for the Los Angeles Raiders, the Arizona Cardinals.
14:32 And when he retired from the NFL, unlike many of his colleagues,
14:37 like he said in the interview,
14:39 I had the pleasure of watching, he decided to come back to his
14:42 community.
14:43 Come back to Coco, raise his own children, send them to the
14:46 school that he went to.
14:47 He loved, and he respected.
14:49 Mr. Falston has donated over 15,000 volunteer hours to Coco High
14:54 School.
14:55 He does not receive $1 as a decision coach for the school.
14:59 He refuses to take a penny.
15:00 He gives his own financial contributions.
15:04 When we had talked about doing this room, and we said we wanted
15:07 some murals to inspire some community
15:10 and pride for Coco High School, Mr. Falston took it on his own
15:14 right away.
15:16 Within 24 hours, he got the Vera High School graduate, Jesse
15:19 Travis, to come in and agree
15:21 to do it for us.
15:22 And he also encouraged another Coco High School graduate, who is
15:27 now the assistant coach of the
15:28 Chicago Bears, Mr. James Rowe, to fund the mural for us.
15:32 So thank you for that.
15:34 And I’m just going to share a little tidbit of something that I,
15:41 there was so much from
15:43 your interview that I loved, but I’m not going to share it all
15:45 because I want you all to watch
15:46 it when it finally airs.
15:47 But Mr. Falston had explained to Marty that they refer to it as
15:54 the jungle, the weight room
15:57 and their training program.
15:59 And he said their motto is, we do more with less, which is great,
16:06 which is wonderful.
16:09 And it’s wonderful that the students never complained about it.
16:12 But I had the pleasure of speaking to those students and telling
16:16 them, I’m so proud of you that you’re able to do more with less,
16:19 but you shouldn’t have to.
16:20 You’re worthy just like everyone else in this school district.
16:22 And I’m so proud that you have the opportunity to now have this
16:25 new weight room to continue to blossom and grow.
16:27 And my favorite part of the interview was when Marty said, well,
16:32 what are you going to do if we get you a new weight room?
16:35 What’s that going to mean to you?
16:36 And his response was, we’re going to need a new motto.
16:39 So Mr. Falston, I asked you to come here today because I know
16:46 you are respected, you are admired, you are loved by your
16:50 students, your staff, and even your community.
16:52 Because I’m pretty sure there’s a Mr. James Falston day in the
16:54 city of Coco.
16:56 But I felt like it was absolutely necessary for us as a distrist
16:59 to just acknowledge you and to thank you for all that you do,
17:03 that you continue to do, and to inspire others to come back to
17:06 their community and give back like you do every single day.
17:10 And I don’t want to be the last one to say positive things about
17:13 you.
17:14 I did ask Ms. Stewart just to share a little bit more about the
17:17 amazing things that you do.
17:19 So thank you.
17:26 This is truly an honor to be able to express my gratitude, not
17:32 just personally, but on behalf of the school and Coco community.
17:39 One of the things that I love most about being principal of Coco
17:45 High is the amount of pride that our community, our students,
17:50 our staff, and most importantly, our volunteers like you, of
17:54 course, you are
17:55 above, heads and shoulders above when it comes to volunteer
17:59 hours, asking nothing in return.
18:01 Nothing.
18:02 This is not something that I know that you would want or ask for.
18:08 And I’m sure that you are standing there like, please just
18:10 finish this up.
18:11 But you need to take your moment in the sun because you have
18:16 given so much to the students of Coco High, to the community of
18:21 Coco High.
18:24 Coach Carsten said today, you are the epitome of selflessness.
18:28 And I don’t know that I can say that better, so I’m going to
18:31 leave it there from the bottom of my heart, sir.
18:34 Thank you so much for everything you do for the school and the
18:38 community of Coco.
18:39 Man, it’s an honor to be standing here in front of you guys.
19:03 I grew up in Virginia Park.
19:05 I tell this to the kids and everywhere I speak all the time.
19:09 Sometimes we got to know what’s our why.
19:13 My why was I grew up in Virginia Park.
19:15 Grew up in a two-bedroom house, shared one bedroom with four
19:18 brothers.
19:19 All five of us in one bedroom.
19:21 No sense of air and heat.
19:23 Box fan in the window.
19:25 Bunk beds in the room.
19:27 I chose to sleep on the floor.
19:29 To some, sleeping on the floor is a hardship.
19:32 For me, it was a luxury because I had an opportunity to sleep on
19:36 the floor in front of a box fan that was also on the floor.
19:40 And so, I mean, you know, growing up with all the resources that
19:45 we have now, I didn’t have it.
19:47 Nobody in my neighborhood had it.
19:50 So to have an opportunity to come back and give back, I mean,
19:54 and I can say this right now, in those locker rooms I had, had a
19:58 lot of veteran leadership with the Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals.
20:01 And quite a few of those guys always talking about going back
20:04 and give back.
20:05 And some of their paths were slightly different than mine.
20:08 But we all, I mean, still had the same common goal.
20:12 We all had war stories.
20:13 With that being said, most of them moved to bigger cities to
20:18 give back.
20:19 I mean, a lot of them, they moved to small towns, Cocoa or
20:22 whatever it may be.
20:24 And a lot of guys were from South Florida.
20:26 I mean, it’s easy to go back to South Florida and give back.
20:28 But to come back to Cocoa, demographic location, I mean,
20:31 household mediums, what, right at 30, 35 to 37,000.
20:36 And so I felt like if I can come back and show these guys the
20:40 why and let them know what pitfalls to avoid, if I can reach one,
20:45 that means I’ve done what I was supposed to do when I came back.
20:49 My ultimate goal was to come back for 10 years and ride off into
20:52 the sunset.
20:53 I’ve been here now for, what, 15 years.
20:56 So I appreciate this opportunity to stay in front of you guys.
21:01 I appreciate you guys for acknowledging me, man.
21:03 I mean, hey, we moved forward.
21:05 We moved forward.
21:06 We got more to do.
21:07 And the ultimate goal is hopefully 10 to 15 years down the road,
21:10 some of the kids that had opportunity to instill livelihood in,
21:15 hopefully they come back to give back the same way that we’re
21:17 doing.
21:18 Thanks for having me.
21:26 Ms. Jenkins, I just want to take a quick moment and I hope I’m
21:30 not stepping on your toes, but I just want to recognize Councilman
21:35 Alex Goins who came in after you started.
21:39 So he wasn’t here for the recognition, but we appreciate you,
21:43 Alex.
21:44 Thank you.
21:45 I appreciate that.
21:46 I kept scanning the room.
21:47 I’m really sorry, Alex.
21:48 I said your name like 100 times, though.
21:49 Yeah.
21:51 I think he was walking in as you were saying it once, but I just
21:54 wanted to make sure he knew that he was, in fact, recognized and
21:56 that you knew that he made it.
21:58 So, okay, that’s a tough act to follow, but I will now offer my
22:01 fellow board members an opportunity for their recognition.
22:05 I’ll talk fast.
22:08 I just wanted to recognize a couple of things.
22:11 We had Lock Mar Elementary in Palm Bay had National Hero Day Parade,
22:15 and they organized just about the whole entire school in the car
22:19 loop, and the Palm Bay Police Department were such great sports.
22:23 They came to the loop, waved at the kids.
22:25 The sirens were going off.
22:27 The SWAT truck was there.
22:28 They had donuts for the officers at the end.
22:31 It was fantastic and such a great way for our students to get to
22:34 recognize our local heroes, and so kudos to Lock Mar and to the
22:38 Palm Bay Police Department for being a part of that day.
22:42 You know, we have workforce shortage.
22:44 That includes our substitutes.
22:45 Just wanted to give a shout-out to the Human Resources
22:48 Department.
22:49 I know Dr. Thetti and all her staff have been working really
22:51 hard on that.
22:52 We have a new app called Red Rover, and I challenged the board a
22:55 month ago, hey, y’all jump in when you can and sub.
22:58 I’ve already gotten my first three sub jobs behind me, and the
23:01 app is actually pretty easy to use, and I think we’re having
23:05 better fill rates than we’ve ever had before.
23:08 So kudos to her team for walking the new substitutes and the old
23:11 substitutes through this new process, and for our staff for
23:14 taking advantage of it.
23:15 And they have actually been doing these little sub socials at
23:18 our schools that are harder to fill, so our subs get to know
23:21 those schools and realize, hey, this is a great place for you to
23:24 come, meet the principal, walk with the school.
23:26 And so hopefully we’ll see a better fill rates at those schools
23:28 where we’re having a hard time getting subs.
23:31 So, and just one other shout-out, I noticed it at Bayside High
23:33 School on the first day of school, but I know some of our other
23:36 schools are doing it as well.
23:37 They’re really integrating some technology now that the buses
23:42 have the passes with the kids’ IDs.
23:45 Some of the schools, like Bayside, are integrating their ID
23:49 cards on their lanyards with focus, with the bus passes, with
23:53 everything all together.
23:55 So while Dr. Mullins and I were there, we had a kid walk up, I
23:58 don’t know where I’m supposed to go, and the administrator came
24:01 and scanned the kid’s ID on the back, and they could tell them
24:04 what class they were supposed to go to, like a freshman who didn’t
24:06 know where they were supposed to go, or what bus they were
24:08 supposed to be on.
24:09 So it was a great integration of technology, they’re using it
24:11 for their passes in and out of the bathroom.
24:13 So, just proud of our schools, who are all doing something a
24:16 little differently sometimes, but they’re integrating that
24:19 technology to try to streamline the process that makes it easier
24:22 for our students, for our staff, and for the admins.
24:24 So, good job.
24:25 See, I talked back.
24:27 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
24:29 Mr. Susan.
24:31 Well, it’s funny that you talk about that technology, because we
24:35 have our transportation director and his staff here tonight,
24:39 which everybody here who understands the war that we’ve been
24:43 doing to try to get the kids to school with,
24:46 to say as an understatement, less than the individuals needed to
24:49 do so, and trying to mismatch at the last minute, many times in
24:53 the beginning of the morning,
24:55 the staff that’s there takes calls that these three bus drivers
24:58 weren’t able to make it, and they’re trying to coordinate just
25:01 off the top of what they can try to do to make it happen.
25:04 So, those individuals that are sitting right there, Mike, you
25:06 can raise your hand so everybody, I’m going to embarrass you.
25:08 That team right there is responsible for your central, north,
25:11 and south area transportation, and you guys just made us look
25:15 real good by implementing those new cards for everybody,
25:17 because now, Joey gets on the wrong bus, we know about it, and
25:20 we know where he’s at, you know what I mean?
25:22 And then there’s one other individual that I wanted to thank
25:25 that’s in part of this team.
25:28 She was Miss Emmer, she, when I was a teacher at Space Coast,
25:32 noticed that he’s here today, I was, a bus didn’t show up for my
25:36 wrestling team,
25:37 and you stopped and said, I will take the team, and you
25:40 coordinated other buses to go, and drove those kids to satellite,
25:43 and we won that tournament,
25:45 and those kids will always be in remembrance, we won that by the
25:47 largest margin Space Coast ever had in wrestling, and it was all
25:50 because of you,
25:50 so thank you so much for that, and I appreciate it, and I
25:52 appreciate everything you guys do, thank you very much.
25:55 The other thing I wanted to do is, we’ve got a couple of really
25:57 cool things that are on the agenda tonight, we’re not really
25:58 going to talk about them,
25:59 but the Vieira High Classroom Edition, just so everybody knows,
26:02 there’s a CTE program going in there,
26:04 it’s going to be a construction and framing program, that kids
26:06 are actually going to be working straight right there,
26:09 and then go to work into Vieira Builders, because, like a lot of
26:12 Palm Bay, Vieira and Titusville, I was up there the other day,
26:14 it is insane,
26:15 they need direct workforce, and that is going to fill that, so
26:19 this Classroom Edition that we approved tonight is going to have
26:22 that inside of it,
26:23 and it’s absolutely amazing. Also, Marine O’Galley High School,
26:27 the only Marine Lab that we have inside the entire county,
26:30 and one of the very few inside the entire state is getting an
26:32 overhaul, and it’s much needed,
26:34 but that is the most amazing thing, because not many people know
26:38 that we are one or two largest manufacturers of boats in the
26:41 United States.
26:43 Not many people know that we have all of their headquarters here,
26:45 and so that program feeds a lot of those kids that are out there,
26:48 and those kids that actually go through the certifications, they
26:51 go on, and they end up winning awards,
26:54 and taking those down all over the place in the United States
26:56 for, like, Evinrude, and some of those other outboard motors,
27:00 so it’s a phenomenal program I was really excited about, and
27:02 then we have the FASA liftoff.
27:05 I don’t know if you guys know about it, but many of our students
27:08 do not fill out for, they don’t fill out information for college,
27:13 and when I was a coach at Space Coast, not to keep talking about
27:16 it, and at O’Galley, and at Vieira,
27:17 at the end of the year, what would end up happening is, is we
27:20 would work with those kids to try to fill out FASA,
27:22 because their families wouldn’t fill it out, and this is an
27:25 opportunity for our kids to receive money,
27:26 and that was one of the only ways these kids could actually get
27:28 to school.
27:29 So our school district is taking an initiative to make sure that
27:32 we do that at a better rate,
27:34 so thank you, Dr. Mullins, for all of that.
27:35 I do want to throw out, you guys are all invited,
27:39 the Central Florida Manufacturers Association is hosting a made-in
27:43 Central Florida.
27:44 They’re trying to initiate a very large initiative to bring
27:49 manufacturing back past what it is now.
27:52 So many of you know that right now, a lot of the manufacturers
27:55 that are coming into the Space Coast
27:56 are actually denying it right now.
27:58 We’re seeing denials, and the reason is, there’s not enough
28:01 actual housing.
28:02 Like, they say that they’ll come here for their headquarters,
28:05 but then there’s not even enough housing here for them to move
28:07 here.
28:08 So what’s happening is, the Central Florida region is working
28:11 together to create a plan across the board,
28:15 and I’ll get you guys that information, but I sat down with him,
28:18 and he’s going to reach out to each one of you guys to talk
28:20 about what that means.
28:21 And then Andrew Ramjet, I, Giles Malone, and a host of other
28:26 athletic groups
28:28 are going to form the Brevard Athletics Association officially.
28:30 We’ve got almost $100,000 donated, and that’s for three
28:34 different things to assist with athletics.
28:36 Many of the situations, and I want to say thank you to Ms.
28:38 Jenkins for doing the work over there inside the weight room,
28:41 and that is throughout the entire county, as far as other things
28:45 that we can help out with,
28:46 vertically integrate recreational programs with the high school
28:49 programs,
28:50 so that the coaches that are down in rec leagues will be able to
28:53 learn exactly what the high school coaches are doing,
28:55 and it’s vertical integration, we need to start having combines
28:58 for each one of the sports,
29:00 and run that so that we can actually get our kids to end college
29:03 scholarships and get promoted.
29:05 So, I just wanted to say thank you to everybody, and I was quick.
29:09 I just talked a lot.
29:10 So, thank you, everybody.
29:12 Thank you.
29:12 Yeah.
29:13 Thank you, Mr. Susie.
29:16 Ms. McDougal?
29:16 I just have a couple, and first, I want to give another shout-out
29:20 to our facilities department.
29:22 Our facilities department, where’s Sue?
29:26 Is she out in the hallway?
29:27 Ms. Hand and her department, it was like, if one thing can
29:32 happen, then the next thing will happen.
29:34 We had air conditioners and chillers go down one after another,
29:38 and schools have no fans and moving people,
29:42 and they worked overtime, round the clock, to make sure that our
29:46 schools were cool and able to accommodate our students.
29:50 So, shout-out to our facilities department.
29:52 So, thank you very much for that.
29:54 And I know that Ms. Jenkins has been thanking everyone, but Ms.
29:58 Jenkins, I really want to thank you for taking the time
30:01 and being connected and going forward with Cocoa High School,
30:05 that when you looked at that weight room,
30:07 it was really dangerous and atrocious, and now it’s fantastic.
30:11 So, thank you very much for putting that all together.
30:14 I appreciate it.
30:14 Dr. Mullen?
30:18 Thank you, Ms. Belford.
30:20 I do want to make a couple of recognitions.
30:22 I’m going to ask Mr. Susan to help me out here.
30:24 Will you just hold that up?
30:26 That’s a little heavy.
30:27 Don’t break it.
30:30 You have to hold it up and not let it down.
30:33 I’ve got a long speech.
30:35 I’m trying not to get in the picture.
30:36 Here we go.
30:36 Is this good?
30:37 Are we good here?
30:37 All right, go ahead.
30:39 I’m very excited to share that for the 10th year in a row, the
30:42 Government Finance Officers Association
30:44 has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in
30:48 Financial Reporting to Brevard Public Schools
30:50 for its annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal year
30:54 ending June 30, 2021.
30:57 It’s a year lag, so I know we’re just closing 22, but 10 years,
31:01 right?
31:02 There you go.
31:02 The report was judged by an impartial panel to meet the high
31:05 standards of the program,
31:07 which includes demonstrating a constructive spirit of full
31:10 disclosure to clearly communicate
31:13 its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups
31:17 to read the report.
31:18 The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of
31:20 recognition in the area of governmental accounting
31:23 and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a
31:26 significant accomplishment by
31:28 a government and its management.
31:30 Would you please join me?
31:32 I know we have some of our accounting services team here in the
31:36 room, so can I ask all of our
31:37 accounting services folks?
31:38 I see you back there.
31:40 Come on, stand up.
31:41 Come on.
31:51 Congratulations, and we know that that is no small
31:53 accomplishment.
31:55 Ten years in a row takes consistent dedication, commitment, and
31:59 attention to detail to ensure
32:02 that we can pout this award and assure our community that we are
32:08 committed to not only full disclosure,
32:11 but using every dollar we are entrusted from our taxpayers to
32:14 the benefit of our students and
32:17 for return on investment for our community.
32:19 So thank you to our amazing accounting team.
32:21 Appreciate you.
32:22 And I just want to know, whose wall does this hang on?
32:25 Because it requires like a 200-pound…
32:27 It’s actually pretty heavy.
32:30 Mr. Susan’s had to lean on the counter to hold it up.
32:33 Congratulations, accounting.
32:35 Thank you, Mr. Susan.
32:37 Anytime you need me to hold up the award.
32:41 And then I also want to take a moment and just share…
32:45 This is an amazing story of recognition of one of our students,
32:49 the type of young men
32:52 and women that we have the privilege of helping raise up.
32:54 So if you’ll indulge me for just a couple minutes.
32:57 A BPS student was recently honored by the Brevard County Fire
33:01 Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office
33:03 for using CPR to save the life of a girl struck by lightning.
33:08 You can see her photo…
33:10 Pictures should be on the screen.
33:12 North Island.
33:13 Two girls, two young ladies, Lori, age 14, and Mackenzie, age 12,
33:18 were struck by lightning in June.
33:20 Lori was in cardiac arrest and was given CPR by Ava, age 14, who
33:26 was a Merritt Island High School student.
33:28 You see her in the middle, depicted with Mr. Reamer, the
33:31 principal.
33:33 Ava was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher giving CPR directions
33:37 to Ava.
33:38 The brave actions taken by Ava helped keep Lori alive until deputies
33:42 and paramedics arrived.
33:44 Thanks to everyone working together, Lori’s life was saved.
33:48 Mackenzie also suffered severe injuries in the lightning strike,
33:52 but both she and Lori were able to walk out of the hospital
33:55 thanks to the quick actions of Ava,
33:58 the 911 dispatcher, first responders, and the medical staff at
34:02 Health First in Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital.
34:04 Ava and first responders were honored during a special ceremony
34:08 where they received certificates and challenge coins for their
34:10 bravery.
34:11 Ava, Lori, and Mackenzie also spent time together during the
34:15 emotional ceremony.
34:17 And again, UC Principal James Reamer from Merritt Island High
34:20 School.
34:20 He attended the event and showed his pride for Ava and her
34:23 actions.
34:24 Lori also recently started attending Merritt Island High School
34:27 after recovering from her injuries.
34:30 These are sometimes the otherwise unsung heroes across our
34:34 community who at the unlikely young age step forward,
34:39 demonstrate bravery and courage, and reach out to our community
34:43 resources to save lives, literally.
34:46 And I just don’t think it can be understated how proud we are of
34:51 Ava for her bravery, her courage,
34:54 and keeping her wits about her in the midst of a very, very
34:58 scary and dangerous situation.
35:00 So Ava, we’re very proud of you.
35:10 All right.
35:11 I just have one pretty quick one, and that is, I know it seems
35:16 like it has been forever,
35:17 but this is our first time together since school started.
35:20 And like I said, it seems like forever ago, but I just have to
35:26 give a shout out to our entire team
35:28 for the yeoman’s work that they have done to start off the
35:31 school year.
35:32 It certainly has not been without challenges and tribulations,
35:36 but the team has been more committed than ever at every level of
35:39 the organization from our transportation folks
35:42 and our custodial teams and our obviously our teachers and our
35:46 media specialists that are facing their own challenges
35:48 and, you know, our leadership teams at the schools and you name
35:53 it across the board.
35:55 Everybody has just really stepped up to take on those challenges
36:01 with their head high
36:04 and determination that we’re going to do what’s right for our
36:06 kids.
36:06 So just a huge thank you to all of you.
36:09 All right.
36:17 That is now going to bring us to the adoption of the agenda.
36:20 Dr. Mullins.
36:21 Madam Chair and members of the board, on this evening’s agenda,
36:27 we have the administrative staff recommendations, the final
36:30 budget hearing,
36:30 which includes a presentation, time for public comment, and five
36:34 items for board action.
36:35 One recognition, one resolution, one presentation, 37 consent
36:39 items, two action items,
36:41 one information item, and one board discussion topic.
36:44 Changes made to the agenda since release to the public include
36:48 the addition of items F-21,
36:49 financial statements for period ending April 30th, 2022,
36:54 and I-60, budget amendments for June 30th, 2022.
36:58 Revisions were made to A-7, administrative staff recommendations,
37:02 A-8, final budget hearing presentation,
37:04 A-12, 2023 budget adoption, D-18 transportation update
37:10 presentation,
37:11 F-52, Vieira High School classroom edition, H-59 procurement
37:18 solicitations,
37:19 and K-61 legislative platform issues.
37:24 All right.
37:26 Board, I would like to request a motion on this very
37:30 specifically,
37:31 if you all will indulge, and that is to move item B-16
37:35 to immediately after adoption of the agenda
37:38 to allow us to do our recognition prior to the budget hearing,
37:41 if the board would be so kind.
37:44 I move that we move…
37:46 She already said it.
37:48 B-16, yes.
37:49 Second.
37:50 Thank you.
37:51 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
37:53 Aye.
37:53 Any opposed, same sign?
37:54 All right.
37:55 Motion passes 5-0.
37:57 Mr. Gibbs, do I need to now adopt the amended motion,
38:03 or the agenda as amended?
38:04 Okay.
38:05 So I will entertain a motion from the board to…
38:08 Motion and a second.
38:10 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
38:12 Aye.
38:13 Any opposed, same sign.
38:14 Motion passes 5-0.
38:17 And with that, we are going to move to item B-16.
38:21 We’re getting there.
38:29 Hold on.
38:30 All right.
38:38 So that puts us at recognition of visitors, guests, and staff.
38:41 Dr. Mullins.
38:42 I was expecting you to go to Dr. Thetty.
38:47 Sorry.
38:48 I got you.
38:49 No worries.
38:50 Dr. Beth Thetty, Deputy Superintendent, Chief HR Officer,
38:55 will provide tonight’s recognition on the 2023 Principal Achievement
38:59 Award
39:00 for Outstanding Leadership and Outstanding Assistant Principal
39:03 Achievement Award, Dr. Thetty.
39:05 Thank you so much, Ms. Belford, and board, Dr. Mullins.
39:09 And thank you for your flexibility this evening.
39:10 We really appreciate it.
39:12 It is my honor and pleasure to announce our Principal and
39:16 Assistant Principal of the Year Awards
39:17 for Brevard Public Schools.
39:19 The Principal Achievement Awards for Outstanding Leadership
39:22 and the Outstanding Assistant Principal Achievement Awards were
39:25 established in 1988
39:26 to recognize exemplary principals and assistant principals for
39:30 their contributions
39:31 to not only their schools but also their communities.
39:34 The program honors principals and assistant principals who have
39:37 spearheaded initiatives
39:38 to increase student performance, promote safe learning
39:41 environments,
39:43 and establish partnerships with parents and community members.
39:46 We know and appreciate the challenges of being a school
39:48 administrator
39:49 and all of our finalists and winners being honored tonight
39:52 exemplify true leadership, determination, and professionalism
39:57 in working with teachers, staff, parents, district, and the
40:01 community
40:02 to ensure they embody the mission of this school district
40:05 to serve every student with excellence as the standard.
40:08 They are representative of all of the exemplary school leaders
40:12 we are so fortunate to have in BPS.
40:14 Joining us for the recognition tonight will be Joe Flora,
40:18 President and Gary Schifrin,
40:20 Executive Director of the Brevard Association of School Administrators,
40:23 along with Nancy Thompson and Malak Hamad from the Community
40:27 Credit Union.
40:27 And just so you know, Community Credit Union is a member-owned
40:31 financial institution
40:32 that has a very long history of supporting Brevard Public
40:36 Schools,
40:37 and tonight is no exception.
40:38 They’ll be providing our winners with a check,
40:42 and some goodie bags.
40:43 We’ve had the privilege this year of honoring at this board
40:47 meeting,
40:48 not only the winners from this year and the finalists from this
40:52 year,
40:52 but also from the two previous years where we have not been able
40:55 to bring honorees
40:57 to a board meeting for recognition.
40:58 In addition, we are also, I said this, we’re going to honor
41:02 finalists this year,
41:02 which we have not done previously as well.
41:04 Each of our principal and assistant principal of the year
41:07 winners
41:08 will receive a $500 check and a goodie bag from our amazing
41:11 business partner,
41:12 Community Credit Union, and a $500 check, flowers, and a gift
41:16 card from Brevard Public Schools.
41:17 Our two 2023 finalists for principal and assistant principal of
41:22 the year
41:23 will each receive a $250 check and flowers from Brevard Public
41:29 Schools.
41:30 Prior to beginning the recognitions, I’m going to provide Mr.
41:34 Gary Schifrin
41:34 with Brevard Association of School Administrators a moment at
41:37 the mic to say a few words,
41:39 and then I’ll be back to start the awards.
41:40 Mr. Schifrin.
41:41 Good evening, everybody.
41:46 On behalf of the Brevard Association of School Administrators
41:50 and the Community Credit Union, I want to thank the
41:53 superintendent and school board
41:55 for taking the time to recognize these outstanding educators
41:59 who hold very important roles in our school system.
42:02 Although we all agree that the teacher is the most important
42:06 person
42:07 for the success of our students,
42:09 it needs to be said that without the support of a great
42:12 principal
42:13 and assistant principal,
42:15 our teachers would struggle as they perform their jobs.
42:18 Our administrators provide the necessary resources,
42:22 the motivation, the research, the encouragement,
42:26 and so many other aspects of school life
42:29 that allows our teachers to bring out the best in our students
42:33 for their success.
42:34 Our administrators put in so many hours as they leave home
42:38 to go to work in the dark
42:40 and in many instances arrive back home well beyond sundown.
42:45 And most of them do not know what a Monday to Friday job is
42:49 as they are attending the many sporting events,
42:52 community meetings, fundraisers,
42:55 Odyssey of the Mind competition,
42:56 robotics, future problem solving,
42:58 dinner fundraisers,
43:00 a drama or band performance,
43:02 and that is only a few of the many tasks
43:05 that school administrators are involved in on the weekends.
43:09 And I would add that the accountability issue
43:12 has become so important over the past years
43:14 that administrators are held responsible
43:17 for literally everything that happens in their school.
43:21 We ask so much of our administrators,
43:23 and in Brevard County,
43:25 I can tell you that your administrators do an awesome job.
43:29 Without their expertise and total commitment,
43:32 we would not be as successful as we have been over the years,
43:35 where we are indeed one of the top districts in the state.
43:39 And let me take a moment to comment on the amazing work
43:43 our administrators have done
43:44 over the past two years with the pandemic.
43:47 No one, and I mean no one,
43:50 could have ever predicted what COVID would do
43:53 to turn our education upside down.
43:57 The demands not only placed on our teachers,
43:59 but also on our administrators,
44:01 stretched them like nothing anybody could imagine.
44:04 It was not enough to do what you had been trained to do,
44:08 but during the past two years,
44:10 administrators were having to implement
44:12 new creative programs
44:14 to keep our students and staff safe,
44:17 as well as deliver instructional programs
44:20 to ensure our students were progressing and learning.
44:23 We are so proud of all of you
44:26 that are being recognized tonight.
44:28 You represent the very best we find
44:31 in our awesome administrators.
44:33 This recognition puts you in an elite group
44:36 of former principals and assistant principals of the year.
44:40 As a former superintendent once told me,
44:43 this is a recognition
44:44 that can never be taken away from you.
44:47 Indeed, congratulations are in order,
44:50 and you have much to be proud of.
44:52 Thank you, Mr. Schifrin.
45:00 I’m going to start with the honorees
45:03 from our 2021 principal and assistant principal of the year
45:06 program
45:07 and move forward to this year’s honorees.
45:09 We’re going to take a photo of each one
45:11 in each group individually,
45:12 and then at the end,
45:13 we’ll do one large group photo of all of the honorees.
45:16 At this time,
45:17 I would like for school board chairperson,
45:19 Mrs. Belford,
45:19 Superintendent Dr. Mark Mullins,
45:21 Mr. Joe Flora,
45:22 principal at Space Coast,
45:23 junior, senior high,
45:25 and president of the Brevard Association
45:28 of School Administrators,
45:29 Mr. Gary Schifrin,
45:30 executive director of BASA,
45:33 and Ms. Nancy Thompson
45:34 and Ms. Malak Hamad
45:35 with Community Credit Union
45:37 to join us in recognizing
45:38 these outstanding administrators tonight.
45:40 Along with our first honoree,
45:43 Chris Reed,
45:43 former principal
45:44 at Endeavor Elementary School,
45:46 current director of student services,
45:49 and our first honoree
45:50 to come to the podium.
45:51 Come on up, Mr. Reed.
45:53 Thank you, Mr. Reed.
45:58 So we’re going to let Mr. Reed
45:59 gather his goodies
46:00 and come on over here
46:01 and then I’m going to talk about him
46:02 for a moment.
46:03 How much is that check for?
46:08 Go over there.
46:09 How much is it for?
46:10 $1,000?
46:10 I think so.
46:12 Hey, Chris.
46:13 Put a zero over there.
46:16 Go ahead over, guys.
46:17 Chris Reed
46:20 is our 2021
46:21 Principal of the Year winner
46:23 who began his journey
46:24 serving the Endeavor community
46:26 in October 2018.
46:28 Upon his arrival,
46:29 Endeavor Elementary School
46:31 was identified by the state
46:32 as a school in turnaround status.
46:34 Under his leadership,
46:36 Mr. Reed created
46:37 a sense of urgency
46:38 in meeting the needs
46:40 of all students
46:40 and worked diligently
46:41 to renew Endeavor’s status
46:43 as a community school
46:44 to provide health care
46:45 and family support services
46:47 at the school.
46:48 In addition,
46:49 he is a leader among leaders
46:51 and he shares coaching
46:52 and academic progress monitoring systems
46:54 with Brevard
46:55 and state leaders.
46:56 Please join me
46:57 in congratulating
46:58 Mr. Chris Reed
46:59 as the Brevard Public Schools
47:00 2021 Principal of the Year.
47:02 Congratulations.
47:03 The next person
47:22 that we’re going to recognize
47:23 is not present this evening.
47:25 She, Terry Kalaga,
47:27 our 2021 Assistant Principal of the Year,
47:31 retired shortly after receiving this award.
47:33 But I wanted to take a moment
47:35 and just honor her accomplishment.
47:36 So she’s not going to be up here tonight.
47:38 We will deliver her goodies
47:40 to her individually.
47:42 Ms. Kalaga was a Rockledge Raider
47:44 since 1995,
47:46 first hired as a social studies teacher
47:48 and then becoming the Dean of Students
47:50 in Curriculum AP for 21 years.
47:52 She served as a mentor
47:54 to countless new assistant principals
47:56 over the years
47:57 and was passionate
47:58 about her school,
47:59 her community,
48:00 and most importantly,
48:01 the success of every student
48:03 at Rockledge High School.
48:03 Mrs. Kalaga is the epitome of the rock
48:06 and what it means
48:07 to bleed Raider blue.
48:09 Congratulations to Ms. Kalaga.
48:13 Our next Principal of the Year
48:20 and Assistant Principal of the Year honorees
48:22 are from 2022,
48:23 Mr. Judd Kaminsky
48:25 and Ms. Denise Stewart.
48:26 Would both of you please come up
48:28 and join us
48:29 at the front of the room?
48:30 Thank you.
48:43 So I’m going to start
49:03 with Mr. Kaminsky.
49:04 Mr. Kaminsky,
49:05 our 2022 Principal of the Year,
49:08 began his tenure
49:09 at Palm Bay Magnet High School
49:11 in January 2016.
49:13 Having worked in the community
49:14 and also as a graduate
49:16 of Palm Bay High School,
49:17 he knew many of the parents,
49:19 students,
49:19 and community members
49:21 and was able to immediately
49:22 build upon those relationships.
49:24 Mr. Kaminsky encourages students
49:26 to do their best
49:27 and promotes their successes
49:28 through the Palm Bay Magnet High School
49:30 Facebook page.
49:31 Palm Bay Magnet High School
49:32 offers students
49:33 a variety of opportunities
49:34 to include over 20
49:35 advanced placement courses,
49:37 dual enrollment courses,
49:38 and a variety of CTE courses
49:40 and is proud to be
49:42 the only school
49:42 in the county
49:43 to offer a special program
49:44 with Florida Institute
49:45 of Technology.
49:46 The Pirates to Panthers program
49:48 allows Palm Bay High School
49:49 students to take classes
49:51 at FIT
49:51 during their 11th
49:53 and 12th grade years
49:54 free of charge
49:54 and students
49:55 who successfully complete
49:57 six credit hours
49:57 with a 3.0 grade point average
49:59 will be automatically
50:01 accepted for admission.
50:02 Mr. Kaminsky
50:04 is a strong professional leader
50:05 who is committed
50:06 to the success
50:07 of his students,
50:08 staff,
50:09 and Palm Bay High School.
50:10 Please join me
50:11 in congratulating Judd Kaminsky
50:12 as Brevard Public Schools
50:13 2022 Principal of the Year.
50:15 On to Ms. Denise Stewart.
50:24 Receiving Brevard’s 2022
50:26 Assistant Principal of the Year Award
50:28 is Denise Stewart,
50:29 who received this award
50:30 while Assistant Principal
50:32 at Cocoa High School.
50:33 She is now Principal
50:34 at Cocoa High School.
50:35 So congratulations twice.
50:37 Since arriving at Cocoa,
50:39 Ms. Stewart has worked
50:40 tirelessly
50:41 to become part of the fabric
50:42 that makes up
50:43 the Cocoa High School community.
50:44 She has a tenacious belief
50:46 in her students’ abilities
50:47 and is involved
50:48 in all academic decisions
50:50 made for
50:51 and with those students.
50:52 Because of Ms. Stewart’s
50:54 passion for all students,
50:55 she spearheaded a pathway
50:57 for students to dual enroll
50:59 at Eastern Florida State College
51:00 called Tigers to Titans.
51:02 This new pathway focuses
51:04 on non-traditional
51:05 dual enrollment students
51:06 and expands opportunities
51:07 for not just high school
51:09 but also after graduation.
51:10 Please join me
51:11 in congratulating Denise Stewart
51:13 as BPS’s 2022
51:16 Assistant Principal of the Year.
51:17 Thank you.
51:40 Congratulations.
51:41 I’ll give them just a second
51:52 and then I’m going to start
51:53 with the next ones.
51:54 New this year,
51:59 we are also honoring
52:01 our two finalists
52:02 for 2023
52:03 Assistant Principal
52:05 and Principal of the Year,
52:06 Ms. Jackie Ingrada
52:08 and Ms. Heather Smith.
52:09 Would you both please
52:10 come up and join us
52:11 in the front of the room?
52:12 Thank you.
52:31 The decision to determine
52:40 the representatives
52:41 for this year’s
52:42 Principal and Assistant
52:42 Principal of the Year Award
52:44 was made exceptionally difficult
52:46 by the high caliber administrators
52:47 we are so fortunate
52:48 to have in Brevard Public Schools.
52:50 And we wanted to ensure
52:52 that we also recognize
52:53 this year’s finalists
52:54 as well as our winners.
52:55 I’m going to start
52:56 with Ms. Jackie Ingrada.
52:57 Ms. Jackie Ingrada
52:58 from Edgewood Junior Senior High School
53:00 is our BPS finalist
53:01 for 2023
53:02 Principal of the Year
53:04 and is a master mentor leader
53:07 who has served students
53:08 and staff at Edgewood Junior Senior High
53:10 for over six years.
53:11 Because Ms. Ingrada
53:13 is a nationally trained mentor,
53:14 she has a deep understanding
53:16 of how to be supportive
53:17 of all training needs
53:18 of her teachers
53:19 and she looks for them
53:20 to always be the best
53:21 they can be for students.
53:23 When the staff at Edgewood
53:24 were asked what they feel
53:25 has been Ms. Ingrada’s
53:27 single biggest contribution
53:28 to the culture at Edgewood,
53:29 the most common answer
53:31 is her focus on the whole child
53:33 and the training she has brought
53:34 to the school
53:35 with the same focus.
53:36 Please join me
53:37 in congratulating Ms. Ingrada
53:38 as finalists for a BPS 2023
53:41 Principal of the Year.
53:42 Heather Smith,
53:48 who is now the principal
53:50 at Central Middle School,
53:51 was previously
53:52 the assistant principal
53:53 at Vieira High School
53:54 and as our finalist
53:55 for assistant principal
53:56 of the year.
53:56 Mrs. Smith makes every decision
53:58 with students’ best interests
54:00 in mind
54:00 and her intentional work
54:02 the past four years
54:03 at Vieira High
54:04 has significantly impacted
54:05 student achievement,
54:06 student culture,
54:07 and the staff on campus.
54:09 She is considered
54:10 a leader among her peers
54:11 and shares best practices
54:13 with other assistant principals
54:14 through coaching
54:15 and mentoring
54:16 new assistant principals.
54:17 Please join me
54:18 in congratulating
54:19 Ms. Heather Smith
54:20 as a finalist
54:20 for BPS 2023
54:22 assistant principal
54:23 of the year.
54:23 Thank you.
54:52 It is now my honor
54:59 to introduce
55:00 and congratulate
55:00 our 2023 Brevard Public Schools
55:03 Principal
55:04 and Assistant Principal
55:05 of the Year,
55:06 Ms. Blair Lovelace
55:07 and Ms. Kelly Grugan.
55:08 Would you both please
55:10 come forward?
55:18 I’ll start with
55:37 Mrs. Lovelace.
55:38 Blair Lovelace,
55:40 our winner
55:40 of the 2023 Principal
55:42 of the Year Award,
55:43 has been the principal
55:44 at Coquina Elementary School
55:45 since 2017.
55:46 Coquina is a Title I school
55:49 serving a diverse population.
55:50 During her five years
55:52 at Coquina,
55:52 Ms. Lovelace
55:53 has worked tirelessly
55:54 to improve instruction
55:55 for all students.
55:56 When Ms. Lovelace
55:58 took over as principal,
55:59 the school grade
55:59 was a D.
56:00 Coquina is now a B
56:02 under her leadership.
56:06 From her first day
56:12 at Coquina,
56:12 Ms. Lovelace made it
56:13 her mission
56:14 to have targeted focus
56:15 on strong core instruction
56:17 for all students.
56:18 She knew for student achievement
56:19 to improve
56:21 that the development
56:22 of relationships
56:22 with students,
56:23 families,
56:24 and staff
56:25 needed to be the priority
56:26 and it still is today.
56:27 Ms. Lovelace
56:28 is constantly being reflective
56:30 on the work
56:30 she and her staff
56:31 are doing
56:31 as she says
56:32 you can’t be set
56:32 on something
56:33 that’s not working.
56:35 Her recognition
56:36 of the need
56:36 for collaboration
56:37 and communication
56:38 have been essential
56:39 as she is constantly
56:40 working with her teachers
56:41 and leadership team
56:42 on what the data show
56:43 and how to use data
56:44 to move student achievement forward.
56:46 Her students
56:47 are her biggest fans
56:48 and when asked
56:48 to describe Ms. Lovelace
56:50 these are just a few
56:51 of the words
56:51 that they say.
56:52 She’s interesting,
56:54 uplifting,
56:56 supportive,
56:57 she loves us,
56:58 and she’s amazing.
56:59 Ms. Lovelace’s leadership
57:01 at Coquina
57:02 has positively influenced
57:03 all aspects
57:04 of the school
57:05 with the greatest impact
57:06 being student achievement
57:07 for all students,
57:08 a legacy
57:09 that will last
57:09 for years to come.
57:10 Please join me
57:11 in congratulating
57:12 Ms. Blair Lovelace
57:13 as our BTS’s
57:14 20th and 20th
57:15 since the last year.
57:16 Oh, the bell.
57:28 I’m going to take a second.
57:29 If anyone knows
57:30 Ms. Lovelace,
57:31 she knows
57:31 she and her school bell,
57:33 right?
57:33 Love the bell.
57:34 And I would suggest
57:36 that we ring this bell
57:37 as a ceremonial recognition
57:39 that we send
57:40 your applications
57:41 to be Principal of the Year
57:43 for the State of Florida
57:44 with great anticipation.
57:46 I put you at the top
57:47 of the list in a second.
57:48 We’re so proud of you.
57:50 Ring the bell.
57:51 Miss Kelly Grugan is next.
58:01 Receiving Brevard’s 2023
58:03 Assistant Principal of the Year Award
58:05 is Kelly Grugan,
58:06 who at the time of the award
58:07 was the Assistant Principal
58:08 at Riviera Elementary School
58:10 and is now the Assistant Principal
58:12 at Gardendale Separate Day School.
58:14 Miss Grugan is a go-getter
58:16 with a can-do attitude
58:17 who will find a way
58:18 to support all stakeholders
58:19 while keeping student achievement
58:21 as the focus.
58:22 When data showed
58:23 a particular grade level weakness,
58:25 Miss Grugan worked diligently
58:26 to form a plan
58:27 with the teachers
58:28 to improve student achievement
58:29 and student performance
58:30 while providing feedback
58:32 and support
58:32 to ensure the plan
58:33 was successful.
58:34 Miss Grugan has handled
58:36 some very difficult situations
58:37 this past school year
58:38 while graciously covering
58:39 other schools,
58:41 and during these,
58:42 she has demonstrated
58:43 true leadership
58:44 by acting according
58:45 to established procedures
58:46 while all the time
58:47 remaining calm
58:48 and in control.
58:49 Please join me
58:50 in congratulating
58:51 Miss Kelly Grugan
58:52 as BPS’s 2023
58:53 Assistant Principal of the Year.
58:55 Thank you.
59:21 We’re going to do
59:22 one group picture
59:23 of everybody.
59:24 So if you all
59:25 will stay up there,
59:25 I’m going to bring
59:26 everybody else back up.
59:27 You’ll put them down, yeah.
59:30 Thank you.
59:55 Thank you so much,
1:00:18 and congratulations
1:00:19 to our winners.
1:00:20 Thank you.
1:01:22 Board, as our esteemed guests
1:01:32 are filtering out of the room,
1:01:33 I do have a request
1:01:34 from one of our peers
1:01:35 for an additional motion
1:01:36 on a rearrangement
1:01:37 on the agenda.
1:01:38 You are?
1:01:40 Sure.
1:01:41 Motion.
1:01:42 Ms. Campbell.
1:01:42 I have a request
1:01:42 for an additional
1:01:43 rearrangement on the agenda.
1:01:44 Motion to rearrange.
1:01:45 Ms. Campbell.
1:01:47 Ms. Belford,
1:01:48 I move that we
1:01:50 make one more adjustment
1:01:52 to the agenda
1:01:53 and move item C-17,
1:01:55 our National Suicide Prevention Month
1:01:57 resolution proclamation
1:01:58 to now before we move on
1:02:02 to our administrative staff recommendations.
1:02:04 I have a motion.
1:02:05 Do I have a second?
1:02:06 I have a second.
1:02:07 All in favor,
1:02:07 please signify by saying-
1:02:08 Wait, wait, wait.
1:02:09 We didn’t give you any heads up.
1:02:10 Ms. McDougal is like giving-
1:02:10 She’s hitting me.
1:02:11 She wanted to second,
1:02:12 so I heard her say it.
1:02:14 So, absolutely.
1:02:15 All in favor,
1:02:16 please signify by saying aye.
1:02:17 Aye.
1:02:18 Any opposed?
1:02:18 Same sign.
1:02:19 Motion passes 5-0.
1:02:21 So that then is going to take us
1:02:23 into-
1:02:25 Yes.
1:02:28 Our resolution.
1:02:29 Tonight’s resolution
1:02:32 is to approve the month of September
1:02:33 as National Suicide Prevention Month.
1:02:35 Mr. Russell Bruhn,
1:02:36 Chief Strategic Communications Officer,
1:02:38 will read the resolution.
1:02:39 Mr. Bruhn.
1:02:41 Sorry, I guess I could’ve given you
1:02:45 some warning on that.
1:02:46 No, I’m coming up.
1:02:47 Good evening, everybody.
1:02:50 This is also National Suicide Prevention Week,
1:02:53 as well, so it’s appropriate.
1:02:54 Whereas September is designated
1:02:57 as National Suicide Prevention Month,
1:02:59 as recognized by the National Association
1:03:01 of Mental Illness,
1:03:02 and whereas many health officials
1:03:04 and community leaders locally,
1:03:06 state, and nationally,
1:03:07 understand that mental illness
1:03:08 is a significant issue of concern,
1:03:11 particularly among our youth,
1:03:12 and whereas the COVID-19 pandemic
1:03:15 had a detrimental effect
1:03:16 on many students’ mental health,
1:03:18 and whereas we realize
1:03:19 that to address mental health issues
1:03:22 requires more open and honest discussions
1:03:24 about mental health,
1:03:25 and whereas one major hurdle
1:03:27 to removing the stigma attached
1:03:28 to mental health treatment
1:03:30 and discussion,
1:03:31 and whereas parents,
1:03:32 leaders, administrators, coaches,
1:03:33 mentors, public officials,
1:03:35 and peer students recognize
1:03:37 the importance of emotional health,
1:03:39 and whereas we can all play
1:03:40 a valuable role in assisting others
1:03:42 who may show symptoms of stress,
1:03:44 depression, anxiety,
1:03:45 or mental illness,
1:03:47 now therefore be resolved
1:03:48 that the Brevard Public School Board
1:03:50 supports the education of staff,
1:03:52 parents, and students on symptoms
1:03:54 of and help for mental health problems,
1:03:57 and be it further resolved
1:03:59 that Brevard Public School staff
1:04:01 will encourage a positive,
1:04:02 safe school environment,
1:04:03 and encourage helping others
1:04:05 while also promoting access
1:04:07 to school-based mental health supports,
1:04:09 and recognizing when young people
1:04:10 are at risk for or are experiencing
1:04:12 mental health problems,
1:04:14 adopted by the members
1:04:15 of the Brevard Public School Board,
1:04:17 Brevard County, Florida,
1:04:18 at the regular open public meeting
1:04:20 held on the 8th day of September, 2022.
1:04:24 - Thank you, Mr. Bruhn.
1:04:26 I’ll entertain a motion.
1:04:28 - Move to approve.
1:04:28 - Second.
1:04:29 - Moved by Ms. Binkins,
1:04:30 seconded by Ms. Campbell.
1:04:32 - I think Ms. McDougall had it.
1:04:34 - Ms. Campbell.
1:04:35 - Is there any discussion?
1:04:37 - I would just say that we’ve witnessed
1:04:40 tonight a lot of the people
1:04:44 who are intricately involved
1:04:47 in the mental health response of our schools.
1:04:52 We’ve had assistant coaches, mentors, volunteers,
1:04:57 our administrators, and of course we’ve had teachers,
1:05:01 and we’re gonna be talking about bus drivers later,
1:05:04 and so I’m just so thankful that our staff,
1:05:07 but also our community has come around us,
1:05:10 and we, and it’s not, we’re not done.
1:05:13 We need more mentors, more volunteers,
1:05:17 to be a part of the equation,
1:05:18 along with our community support.
1:05:20 We have many members of our community here tonight
1:05:23 to join us tonight in this recognition,
1:05:26 but I’m just thankful that we were able to see
1:05:29 how many times did we hear in that recognition
1:05:30 of our administrators alone,
1:05:32 and our assistant coach that how,
1:05:35 what an impact they had on their students,
1:05:37 and as well as their peers and the teachers
1:05:42 who work with under them,
1:05:43 and so what a great recognition of them.
1:05:46 It just all fits together in our agenda for this evening.
1:05:51 - Absolutely. Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
1:05:52 Any additional discussion?
1:05:54 There’s a lot I want to say here.
1:05:55 I don’t want to think about this stuff.
1:05:56 This is amazing, so thank you.
1:05:58 - Absolutely. Anyone else?
1:06:00 All right, all in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:06:04 - Aye. - Any opposed?
1:06:06 Same sign.
1:06:07 - The motion passes 5-0.
1:06:08 Yes, and thank you to our guests who joined us
1:06:12 for the resolution this evening as well.
1:06:14 - Good evening.
1:06:21 I’m Johnette Gindling with Space Coast Health Foundation,
1:06:23 and I want to thank you for this opportunity
1:06:25 to say a few words about the resolution on mental health.
1:06:28 Many of you know that the mission
1:06:30 of the Space Coast Health Foundation
1:06:31 is to enhance the health and wellness
1:06:34 of everyone in Brevard.
1:06:36 In the more than 10 years that we’ve been in existence,
1:06:38 we’ve collaborated on numerous projects with the schools
1:06:42 as it relates to this mission,
1:06:43 and I thank you for those opportunities to do so.
1:06:46 Of course, this mission involves mental health,
1:06:49 which statistics show is one of our community’s
1:06:54 most pressing health needs,
1:06:56 which is why it is the foundation’s number one priority.
1:07:00 Our recent released community health needs assessment
1:07:04 for the Space Coast showed that
1:07:05 27% of Brevard residents were experiencing
1:07:10 fair to poor mental health.
1:07:11 That’s up from 16.2% just three years ago.
1:07:17 For our children between the ages of five and 17,
1:07:21 that figure has jumped from 11% three years ago
1:07:25 to 16.1% this year.
1:07:28 Obviously, we are concerned.
1:07:30 At the foundation, we use task forces comprised
1:07:33 of health officials and community leaders,
1:07:35 including representatives from the school district.
1:07:38 I want to thank Chris Moore and Jayna Jenkins
1:07:41 and Kelly Saria for their participation in these meetings.
1:07:45 These task forces help us to prioritize resources
1:07:49 and make decisions on grant distributions.
1:07:52 Last year, at one of our behavioral health task force meetings,
1:07:56 it came to our attention about recent suicides of school
1:08:00 children
1:08:00 on the Space Coast.
1:08:01 We also were informed that some of these potential tragedies
1:08:06 were averted
1:08:07 because school staff were trained and made aware of the real
1:08:11 possibility of students harming themselves.
1:08:14 I want to publicly thank the school staff for their quick action.
1:08:18 We have enormous gratitude to you for averting what could have
1:08:22 been a tragedy and saving students’ lives.
1:08:26 Upon learning this, we decided to create a committee to
1:08:29 specifically look at the issues of student mental health and
1:08:32 suicide
1:08:33 and find areas where we, as a foundation and as a community,
1:08:37 could help.
1:08:38 Catherine Goddard from the Catholic Charities Central Brevard,
1:08:42 who is here with me tonight,
1:08:43 chairs this task force.
1:08:45 And because we knew we needed student input as we moved through
1:08:49 this discussion,
1:08:50 we were fortunate to have a Bank of America Leadership summer
1:08:53 intern student on our staff to help.
1:08:56 Her name is Hannah Saleh.
1:08:58 She’s a senior at West Shore and is also here tonight.
1:09:01 Hannah has agreed to continue her work with the committee and to
1:09:06 help us.
1:09:07 Thank you, Hannah.
1:09:08 We, as a foundation, are committed to helping the district on
1:09:12 its mission to improve mental health services
1:09:14 and student resources.
1:09:16 We also want to assist in rallying students, parents, and
1:09:20 community and business leaders
1:09:21 to focus on this issue of mental health.
1:09:24 One way to help is to start by reducing the stigma associated
1:09:29 with it.
1:09:30 This resolution will go a long way in assisting our efforts, and
1:09:35 we appreciate your support.
1:09:37 I’d now like to give Catherine an opportunity to give you a
1:09:39 little bit of information on the work of the subcommittee.
1:09:44 Thank you, Jeanette, and thank you to the school board for
1:09:53 allowing me to share just a few words with you.
1:09:57 I want to say a very special thank you before I go on to Kelly Haskins,
1:10:00 who’s here with us tonight, from the launch credit union,
1:10:03 whose son, Hunter, died by suicide one year ago.
1:10:06 Hunter was a Merritt Island High School graduate who took his
1:10:11 life during his first year as a student at UCF.
1:10:14 Thank you, Kelly, for being a part of our sub task force, for
1:10:18 lending your experience and your strength to our suicide
1:10:22 prevention efforts in Brevard.
1:10:24 And as some of you may know, she has put together a number of
1:10:28 suicide awareness events for this Saturday on Merritt Island
1:10:32 under the theme of You Matter Merritt Island.
1:10:35 And I have to say, Kelly, I am awe-inspired by your bravery and
1:10:39 your drive through your grief.
1:10:42 Thank you.
1:10:43 There has been an increase in the reported youth suicidal
1:10:49 thoughts, attempts, and completions in the county of Brevard.
1:10:54 So the data for this remains incomplete at this time.
1:10:58 The Florida health charts shows that the death rate by suicide
1:11:03 has risen for youth from zero to age 19 in Brevard to 1.4 in 100,000
1:11:11 in the year 2020.
1:11:13 This compares to a 3.1 per 100,000 overall for our state.
1:11:19 As a parent of two teen daughters, my eldest of which, Hannah,
1:11:24 is a survivor of the Sandy Hook School shootings almost a decade
1:11:27 ago.
1:11:28 I am very much aware of the consequences of unnoticed and unattended
1:11:36 mental health issues and their costs to our families and to our
1:11:39 community.
1:11:40 The youth prevention suicide sub-task force is comprised of
1:11:43 members of our community, lifetime counseling, Brevard Public
1:11:48 Schools, Brevard Cares, the National Center for Innovation and
1:11:51 Excellence, Catholic Charities, and Space Coast Health
1:11:55 Foundation members.
1:11:56 The task force exists to create strategies and make
1:12:00 recommendations to the behavioral health task force on actions
1:12:03 to close the stigma gap that exists between youth and their
1:12:07 parents or adult caregivers on emerging mental health issues and
1:12:11 to create a readily accessible coping skill connection and
1:12:15 implementation and support for youth throughout our county.
1:12:17 By these efforts, we will spark the difficult conversations to
1:12:24 create to create a supportive and responsive environment for our
1:12:29 youth and empower our young people to help themselves and each
1:12:32 other get connected before suicide becomes a viable option in
1:12:36 their thought processes.
1:12:36 This resolution, this coming together of our school and our
1:12:40 community will give us the opportunity to stretch farther, to
1:12:44 reach out, to lean in, into the lives of our young people, and I
1:12:49 thank you very much.
1:12:49 Thank you, we appreciate all the work you all are doing.
1:13:19 Thank you.
1:13:49 Okay. Good stuff this evening. All right, Dr. Mullins, we are
1:13:56 moving to administrative staff recommendations. Are you ready?
1:13:58 Yes, I think I have re-found my place in all of the adjustments.
1:14:04 Ms. Belford and members of the board, there are two items for
1:14:09 your consideration.
1:14:11 Do I hear a motion?
1:14:12 Motion to move.
1:14:13 So moved.
1:14:14 Moved by Ms. McDougall, seconded by Ms. Campbell, page 3, Ms.
1:14:18 Jenkins.
1:14:19 Thank you.
1:14:19 Oh, you don’t have a page, so you never mind.
1:14:21 No, I’m lost.
1:14:22 Administrative staff recommendations.
1:14:23 Thank you, Levin.
1:14:24 So I have a motion and I have a second. Any discussion?
1:14:28 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:14:31 Aye.
1:14:31 Any opposed, same sign.
1:14:33 Motion passes, 5-0.
1:14:35 Dr. Mullins.
1:14:36 Thank you.
1:14:37 I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate
1:14:40 Ms. Tina Myla, who is here with us this evening.
1:14:44 Ms. Myla is being reclassed from the position of ESE Support
1:14:47 Specialist and Administrative Support to the position of
1:14:51 Assistant Principal at Space Coast Junior Senior High School,
1:14:54 effective September 12th.
1:14:56 So congratulations.
1:14:57 Hi, thank you so much.
1:15:04 I want to thank Dr. Fontan, the ESE side of the house.
1:15:08 I’ve been doing it a long time and learned a ton, but super
1:15:10 happy to join the Space Coast team.
1:15:12 I’ve been with them for two years as their staffer.
1:15:14 So excited to be part of their administrative team.
1:15:17 They are phenomenal and I’m just thrilled.
1:15:20 So thank you, thank you, Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Flora.
1:15:23 I’m really excited.
1:15:25 Thank you.
1:15:25 Go Vipers.
1:15:29 All right.
1:15:35 That is going to move us to the final budget hearing portion of
1:15:39 the agenda, Dr. Mullins.
1:15:41 Okay.
1:15:47 All right.
1:15:49 First, Ms. Lucinski, our Chief Financial Officer, will provide a
1:15:53 presentation on the proposed 2022-2023 millage levy and final
1:15:58 budget.
1:15:59 Ms. Lucinski?
1:16:01 Gave you the look, didn’t she?
1:16:17 I’ll just slide it out.
1:16:19 Good evening.
1:16:46 Before I start, I wanted to acknowledge Susan Denyer and Diane Lichtenstein
1:16:52 for their incredible heavy lift of completing the annual
1:16:58 financial report and building the FY23 budget.
1:17:05 These two ladies have just amazing experience and they’ve come
1:17:10 in and looked at processes that we have done since, I don’t know,
1:17:15 the dawn of time.
1:17:16 And they’ve looked at those processes.
1:17:20 They’ve automated.
1:17:21 They’ve said, why do we do this?
1:17:23 They’re just making incredible changes and they’re both five-star
1:17:30 servant leaders that I can’t say enough about and I can’t
1:17:35 explain of how amazing they both are.
1:17:39 That said, I also have a lot of gratitude for the entire BPS
1:17:44 team.
1:17:46 We couldn’t do anything without E.T.
1:17:48 We couldn’t do, you know, the grant managers, the resource
1:17:51 advisors, the bookkeepers.
1:17:53 We count on everyone.
1:17:56 And we all know that there’s a lot of vacancies for teachers,
1:18:03 for bus drivers, but also accountants and budgeteers and bookkeeper
1:18:10 turnover.
1:18:12 There’s just a lot out there, and these two ladies just pulled
1:18:17 it together with their influence and experience, and I just can’t
1:18:22 thank them enough.
1:18:23 Thank you, ladies.
1:18:25 Thank you.
1:18:26 We appreciate you.
1:18:26 Thank you.
1:18:26 So this is the second and final budget hearing to adopt the FY23
1:18:34 millage rates as well as the FY23 tentative budget.
1:18:40 This tentative budget was built with our four guiding principles
1:18:45 in mind, protection of an excellent education, protection of the
1:18:49 effective workforce, maintain the fiscal strength of the
1:18:53 district, and protection of the taxpayer interests.
1:19:01 Tonight’s public hearing agenda includes a presentation on
1:19:05 proposed millage and budget, an opportunity for public comment
1:19:08 and board member discussion, a request that you adopt a
1:19:12 resolution setting the proposed total millage levy that was set
1:19:18 by the state to support the FY23 tentative budget,
1:19:23 a request that you adopt the budget as presented, and request
1:19:28 authorizing the superintendent and staff to perform all
1:19:33 necessary actions to comply with the truth and millage
1:19:37 requirements.
1:19:41 The truth and millage legislation was enacted in 1980 to
1:19:46 redirect taxpayers’ concern over rising taxes from the property
1:19:50 appraisers who do not control the levying of taxes toward the
1:19:55 government taxing authorities that set the tax rates.
1:19:59 The truth and millage legislation are detailed under Florida
1:20:03 statutes are detailed under Florida statutes, trim timelines are
1:20:06 very prescriptive in law, and the clock started on July 1st.
1:20:10 The total timeline to budget adoption is 80 days.
1:20:15 The statute dictates the statute dictates the order of business
1:20:19 during the budget hearings as laid out in the previous slide,
1:20:23 and trim requires two public hearings for open discussion of the
1:20:27 millage rates and the proposed budget.
1:20:30 Millage is a term that represents the tax rate levied on
1:20:37 property.
1:20:39 One millage is equivalent to $1 in taxes per $1,000 in taxable
1:20:45 value.
1:20:46 If your home has a taxable value of $100,000 and you’re assessed
1:20:51 a mill tax rate, you will pay $100 in taxes.
1:20:55 The Florida Education Finance Program is a mechanism by which
1:21:01 state and local funds are allocated to Florida school districts.
1:21:07 The Florida legislature sets the required local effort millage
1:21:11 rates, and the school districts receive their rate no later than
1:21:16 July 19th in the FEFP second calculation.
1:21:19 The school board must levy the required local effort millage
1:21:24 rates in order to receive any state funding under the Florida
1:21:28 Education Finance Program.
1:21:34 The total proposed millage related to school funding for FY23
1:21:39 school year totals 5.495 mills.
1:21:43 This millage rate will generate revenue for the general
1:21:46 operating and capital outlay funds.
1:21:48 The required local effort rate adjusts year to year while the
1:21:53 discretionary and local capital remain fixed.
1:22:02 The required local effort and discretionary millage makes up the
1:22:06 district’s local operating funds at $240.1 million.
1:22:12 And on the capital side, the local capital improvement millage
1:22:17 generates $90.2 million at a 96% collection rate.
1:22:24 As stated in the prior slides, the board must levy the required
1:22:30 local effort in order to receive BPS’s total FY23 school
1:22:35 operating funding from the state.
1:22:38 The discretionary local effort millage will garner $45 million.
1:22:45 When combined with the RLE, when combined with the RLE, we get
1:22:48 the district’s local portion of $240.1 million.
1:22:52 This is 40% of the FY23 FBFP school operating funding.
1:23:00 The state funding is $370.7 million, and the total FBFP
1:23:08 calculation is $610.8 million.
1:23:12 The total FBFP includes a pass-through of over $106 million for
1:23:17 charter schools and private school scholarships.
1:23:23 When a school district levies $0.748 million and it generates an
1:23:28 amount of funds per FTE that is less than the state average of $719.62,
1:23:38 the school district will receive a discretionary millage
1:23:41 compression supplement that will bring the district up to the
1:23:46 state average.
1:23:48 In the case of Brevard, our 0.748 mills generated $596.62 per FTE.
1:23:58 In order to get the state average, the state provided an
1:24:02 additional $123 per FTE, which equates to $9.3 million.
1:24:09 The local capital improvement millage, or LCI, will provide the
1:24:15 district $90.1 million.
1:24:19 $37.6 million comes off the top as it is used to pay the
1:24:24 district’s debt service,
1:24:27 which covers principal and interest payments for previously
1:24:31 bonded debt that was issued primarily between the years 1996 to
1:24:36 2008 to build schools and provide for major renovations that are
1:24:41 older schools.
1:24:42 LCI contributes $10.3 million towards maintenance labor costs.
1:24:48 LCI also pays for the district’s property insurance, which
1:24:52 leaves $36.2 million for capital project needs throughout the
1:24:57 district.
1:25:04 This slide depicts the historic millage rates over the last 13
1:25:08 years.
1:25:09 FY12 is the high watermark.
1:25:11 Millage rates have continued to decline each year as our
1:25:15 property values continue to increase in the county.
1:25:18 As required by trim, we must compare the proposed millage rate
1:25:31 to the rollback rate.
1:25:33 When property values rise, property taxes generate more revenue.
1:25:37 For the total revenue generated to stay the same as the prior
1:25:42 year, the tax rate must decrease.
1:25:45 So the rollback rate rolls back the rate as property values
1:25:49 increase.
1:25:50 It represents what the rate would be in order to levy the same
1:25:54 amount of tax dollars as the prior year.
1:25:58 Under trim, the rollback rate is the basis for determining
1:26:02 if tax rates have increased or decreased.
1:26:05 The rollback rate is normally less than the proposed tentative
1:26:10 rate
1:26:10 because maintaining revenue at the same level as the previous
1:26:14 year
1:26:15 does not provide for funding new student growth or basic
1:26:19 inflationary cost increases.
1:26:31 This slide depicts the annual certified school property tax
1:26:35 values going back 15 years.
1:26:37 FY 2009 was the highest annual tax roll prior to the Great Recession.
1:26:46 Property values continue to increase each year since FY13 with
1:26:50 the most significant change this year.
1:26:55 Last year when I presented this slide, the EDR’s estimate for
1:26:59 Brevard’s FY23 school tax roll was an increase of 6.9%.
1:27:07 And you can see it came in at 20.99%.
1:27:13 This slide illustrates the changes in school-related property
1:27:23 taxes for a homeowner over a seven-year span.
1:27:31 In this example, we started with a home valued at $200,000 in
1:27:39 2016 and increased the assessed value by 3% each year.
1:27:45 The maximum allowable under Save Our Homes.
1:27:48 In 2016, the home would have generated roughly $1,210 in school-related
1:27:56 property tax.
1:27:58 If the owner qualified for Save Our Homes by 2022 school year,
1:28:05 the assessed value of that same home would be $238,810.
1:28:12 Based on that valuation, the school-related property tax would
1:28:21 be $1,174.
1:28:24 This is a decrease of $35.18 from the 2021 tax year,
1:28:31 and across five-year, a total decrease of $35.41.
1:28:42 So, what does this mean?
1:28:46 You can see that $3.21 a day is critical in serving our children’s
1:28:54 education.
1:28:55 This is less than the cost of a Starbucks coffee per day
1:29:01 and pays for a tutor once a week for one hour.
1:29:11 Over the last several years, we’ve faced much uncertainty about
1:29:15 the economy
1:29:16 and how life after the pandemic would look like in the county,
1:29:19 state, nation, and globally.
1:29:21 Early 2022 has been challenging with massive supply disruptions
1:29:28 resulting from the ongoing pandemic,
1:29:30 the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
1:29:33 Additionally, the conflict is a major driver of increased oil
1:29:38 and food prices.
1:29:39 Job openings across the nation are at all-time highs,
1:29:44 which we are all well aware as we posture ourselves to recruit
1:29:48 and retain Brevard’s best
1:29:50 to teach and support our community’s future.
1:29:53 This is a long way of saying our proposed budget is our best
1:29:57 estimate of revenue against expenses
1:30:00 at a snapshot in time.
1:30:04 This budget is not money in the bank.
1:30:06 We are optimistic about our enrollment as membership continues
1:30:10 to grow,
1:30:11 and we are also very aware that rising inflation will directly
1:30:16 and indirectly increase our expenses.
1:30:18 Using a common phrase from my military days, no plan survives
1:30:24 first contact.
1:30:25 We are prepared to make necessary adjustments to ensure we have
1:30:29 resources available to meet the needs of every student.
1:30:32 This is the district’s total proposed budget in summary form.
1:30:40 The general fund is where most operating expenditures are paid
1:30:44 and provided,
1:30:45 and about 97% of the general operating dollars come from the FEFP.
1:30:53 The debt service fund is used to pay for the outstanding bonds
1:30:59 of the district.
1:31:01 A primary resource is the transfer from local capital
1:31:05 improvement funding.
1:31:08 The capital projects fund accounts for major construction and
1:31:11 renovation projects.
1:31:13 The district receives minimum state support.
1:31:16 Our primary sources are sales surtax, property tax, and impact
1:31:21 fees.
1:31:21 The special revenue fund consists of food services, federal
1:31:27 education stabilization funds,
1:31:32 schools’ internal accounts, and special revenue fund, other,
1:31:35 which encompasses federal grants.
1:31:38 The food service program continues to be a self-supporting
1:31:43 operation with a $68.7 million budget.
1:31:48 Its funding is primarily from federal reimbursement, USDA
1:31:53 commodities, and local sales.
1:31:58 The projected budget for federal education stabilization funds
1:32:02 is $149.3 million.
1:32:05 The purpose of these federal dollars are to address the impact
1:32:09 of COVID-19,
1:32:10 to include the areas most impacted by the disruption and closure
1:32:14 of schools,
1:32:15 sustain operations, and support academic acceleration.
1:32:19 Other stabilization grants that come in throughout the year will
1:32:24 be amended into the budget as approved.
1:32:27 The school internal funds budget is $21.2 million.
1:32:34 These funds are administered by each individual school.
1:32:38 Parents and community support generate funding for this account.
1:32:43 Examples include funds from ticket sales, fees, gifts,
1:32:48 contributions made by music or athletic,
1:32:51 booster clubs, civic organizations, parent-teacher organizations,
1:32:55 and school fundraising.
1:32:57 These funds pay for items such as uniforms, field trips, travel,
1:33:04 and sports officiating.
1:33:06 Revenues and related expenditures decreased in FY21 and returned
1:33:12 to pre-COVID levels this past year.
1:33:15 For 2023 school year, we expect activity levels at the same or
1:33:23 slightly higher as last year.
1:33:26 The special revenue other funds budget is $63.5 million.
1:33:33 The source of these dollars are from federal grant programs.
1:33:37 These revenues are restricted for specific purposes such as
1:33:45 Title I, IDEA, Perkins.
1:33:48 And Perkins funds and expands opportunity for every child to
1:33:54 explore and follow career and technical education programs and
1:33:58 pathway to earn credentials.
1:34:00 The internal service fund budget is $93.7 million.
1:34:08 And this includes the district’s medical property and general
1:34:13 liability insurance and workers’ compensation claims.
1:34:17 An enterprise fund is our school-age child care program.
1:34:23 Their budget is $5.1 million.
1:34:25 This is a self-supporting fund through customer charges.
1:34:35 This slide projects our ending fund balance for FY23 for all
1:34:41 five funds.
1:34:43 Using the operating fund as an example, starting with the top
1:34:47 box on the left-hand side, you see that our beginning balance,
1:34:51 which is also
1:34:53 our FY22 ending balance, is $50.6 million.
1:35:00 Going down the column, we established $599.5 million in revenues.
1:35:08 Transfers ends in at $28.4 million, which includes revenue for
1:35:16 facility maintenance, labor, property insurance, and capital for
1:35:23 charter
1:35:23 schools, which you also know as PICO.
1:35:28 We are also projecting to receive a transfer of $2.3 million
1:35:32 from the enterprise fund.
1:35:34 This gives us a total revenue of $627.9 million.
1:35:40 Less estimated expenditure leaves a projected FY23 fund balance
1:35:45 of $48.5 million.
1:35:48 The bottom box depicts how the fund balance is reported.
1:35:53 Non-spendable fund balance are amounts that are not in a spendable
1:35:59 form, and this represents inventory of $676,000 and prepaid
1:36:07 property insurance.
1:36:09 Restricted amounts are constrained to specific purposes by the
1:36:13 providers.
1:36:14 The $10.7 million is unspent state categorical balances to be
1:36:21 rolled forward.
1:36:22 Assigned fund balance are amounts intended for a purpose.
1:36:27 The $12.3 million includes $5.7 million of project balances from
1:36:32 grant donations and school operating unspent balances, encumbrances
1:36:38 of $3 million, and healthcare infusion of $2.7 million.
1:36:43 Unassigned is where you’ll find our board contingency funding.
1:36:55 So that is the presentation, and we recommend the adoption of
1:37:02 the proposed total millage levy that was set by the state to
1:37:07 support the FY23 tentative budget.
1:37:09 And we also recommend that you adopt resolutions approving the
1:37:13 FY23 tentative budget as presented.
1:37:16 Are there any questions?
1:37:18 Thank you, Ms. Licinski.
1:37:20 Any questions from board members before I open up to the public
1:37:24 hearing?
1:37:25 No.
1:37:26 All right.
1:37:27 The hearing is now open for public comments.
1:37:28 We will, in accordance with Florida law, accept the speakers in
1:37:30 the following order.
1:37:31 The 2023 proposed millage levy followed by the 2023 final budget.
1:37:36 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023
1:37:39 proposed millage levy?
1:37:41 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023
1:37:45 proposed millage levy?
1:37:47 All right.
1:37:49 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023 final
1:37:52 budget?
1:37:53 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023 final
1:37:57 budget?
1:37:58 Firstly, thank you all for all your hard work, and please don’t
1:38:03 take any of this as a personal attack.
1:38:07 My only concern is that we don’t have where the dollars and
1:38:15 cents are going.
1:38:17 All we have is a general pot of where our money is going, and I
1:38:19 feel that that’s extremely irresponsible to pass a budget that
1:38:22 we don’t know where the dollars are going.
1:38:26 I’ve said this countless times the people need to see where our
1:38:39 dollars are being spent.
1:38:45 You know, we’re talking about almost $1.5 billion here.
1:38:54 This isn’t a little bit of chump change.
1:38:57 This is a lot of money to pay a lot of teachers.
1:39:00 And now this board is asking to get more of our money, and we
1:39:08 don’t even know where our money is going now.
1:39:12 Have any of you looked at the budget?
1:39:18 Have any of you looked at where all of our dollars and cents are
1:39:22 going?
1:39:23 You’re supposed to be up there representing us, protecting us,
1:39:27 protecting our interests, providing a quality education for our
1:39:33 children, providing a safe environment for our children.
1:39:37 We have air conditioning that is out constantly.
1:39:42 We have a new system that went into our buses that the first few
1:39:47 weeks of school was crashing and people didn’t know where their
1:39:53 kids were.
1:39:54 This is a real problem.
1:39:56 We need to know where our money is going.
1:39:58 Thank you.
1:39:59 Thank you, Ms. Delaney.
1:40:01 Thank you.
1:40:02 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023 final
1:40:05 budget?
1:40:06 Ms. Mursky?
1:40:07 I’m curious.
1:40:08 Is there a presentation on a website or something where we could
1:40:14 see where the money is going?
1:40:16 Yes.
1:40:17 And I will be happy to address that when we take a break, if you
1:40:19 would like to ask me.
1:40:20 Okay.
1:40:21 Ms. Mursky.
1:40:22 I’m going to lower it a little bit.
1:40:35 Good evening, Madam Chair and Board.
1:40:36 My name is Sarah Mursky.
1:40:37 I’m a wife, mother of two children, Brevard Public Schools,
1:40:41 taxpayer, voter, constituent, college student, and I live in
1:40:45 District 2 for School Board.
1:40:47 I just want to echo some of the sentiments that Ms. Delaney had
1:40:51 shared.
1:40:52 I think your group did a great job and a great presentation, and
1:40:55 it’s not a personal attack, but the issue is that there needs to
1:40:59 be more transparency as to where the actual dollars are going.
1:41:04 Why, you know, there’s not a balance on certain contracts that I’ve
1:41:12 asked about.
1:41:13 We don’t know.
1:41:14 I don’t understand why our money isn’t allocated more equitably
1:41:18 across the district as it should be, especially at a school like
1:41:22 Endeavor Elementary and our schools in Cocoa.
1:41:25 I mean, I don’t understand why things aren’t where they should
1:41:31 be.
1:41:32 And, you know, if I was working a job, another job, and I was
1:41:36 accountable to my boss, such as the school board is accountable
1:41:41 to the taxpayers, at this point I’d be fired.
1:41:45 But it was very interesting, the election results the past
1:41:48 couple of weeks, so thanks so much and have a good evening.
1:41:51 Thanks, Ms. Mursky.
1:41:52 Ms. Mursky.
1:41:53 All right.
1:41:54 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023 final
1:41:58 budget?
1:41:59 Is there any individual who would like to address the 2023 final
1:42:03 budget?
1:42:04 All right.
1:42:05 The public comment portion of the hearing is now closed.
1:42:08 That brings us to the recommendations for the adoption of the
1:42:12 proposed millage rates and final budget.
1:42:15 Dr. Mullins?
1:42:17 Florida statute 200.065 requires each taxing authority levying
1:42:22 millage to publicly state the name of the taxing authority, the
1:42:26 rollback rates, the percentage of change from the rollback rates,
1:42:29 and the millage rate to be levied prior to the adoption of the
1:42:32 millage levy resolution.
1:42:34 In compliance with those requirements, the following needs to be
1:42:37 stated.
1:42:38 The taxing authority is the school board of Brevard County,
1:42:41 Florida.
1:42:42 The 2023 rollback rates are required local effort 3.0520, local
1:42:50 discretionary 0.6338, capital outlay 1.2710, total rolled back
1:42:59 rate 5.9568.
1:43:03 The total millage rate to be levied exceeds the total rollback
1:43:07 rate by 10.86%.
1:43:10 The proposed 2023 millage rates are–
1:43:14 Dr. Mullins, can I stop you for just one moment?
1:43:16 Yes.
1:43:17 Our total rollback rate should be 4.9568, and I believe you read
1:43:22 it to be 5 point something.
1:43:25 Let me repeat it for the record.
1:43:26 I apologize.
1:43:27 It’s all good.
1:43:28 Okay.
1:43:29 So the total rollback rate is 4.9568.
1:43:35 The total millage rate to be levied exceeds the total rollback
1:43:40 rate by 10.86%.
1:43:43 The proposed 2023 millage rates are required local effort 3.247,
1:43:51 local discretionary 0.748, capital outlay 1.500, for a total
1:44:01 millage rate 5.495.
1:44:04 Now we will move into the five separate motions for the board to
1:44:10 consider.
1:44:11 I will read each of these recommendations into the record and
1:44:15 request board action.
1:44:17 The first item is to adopt the resolution setting the required
1:44:21 local effort, local discretionary, and capital outlay millage
1:44:25 range of 5.495 mills for 2023.
1:44:31 The written resolution is incorporated into this motion by
1:44:36 reference.
1:44:37 What are the wishes of the board?
1:44:38 I will move.
1:44:39 Second.
1:44:40 Moved by Ms. McDougall.
1:44:41 Seconded by Ms. Campbell.
1:44:42 Is there any discussion?
1:44:43 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:44:45 Aye.
1:44:46 Any opposed, same sign.
1:44:48 Motion passes, 5-0.
1:44:50 The next item is to adopt the 2023 final budget in the following
1:44:56 amounts.
1:44:57 Operating, $678,560,974.
1:45:03 That service, $37,997,197.
1:45:11 Capital outlay, $379,694,784.
1:45:21 Special revenue, $302,698,996.
1:45:28 Internal service, $93,676,041.
1:45:34 Enterprise, $5,096,815.
1:45:40 Subtotal, $1,497,724,807.
1:45:46 Less transfers, $67,584,868.
1:45:59 Total budget, $1,430,139,939.
1:46:05 You can take a deep breath now.
1:46:07 Whew.
1:46:08 What are the wishes of the board?
1:46:10 Moved by Ms. McDougall.
1:46:12 Second.
1:46:13 Seconded by Ms. Jenkins.
1:46:14 Is there any discussion?
1:46:16 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:46:18 Aye.
1:46:19 Any opposed, same sign.
1:46:20 Motion passes, 5-0.
1:46:22 Dr. Mullins.
1:46:23 Next is to authorize the superintendent to adjust the adopted
1:46:26 millage levy and budget due to changes in the certified tax rule.
1:46:30 What are the wishes of the board?
1:46:31 Moved to approve.
1:46:32 Moved by Ms. McDougall.
1:46:33 Seconded by Ms. Campbell.
1:46:34 Any discussion?
1:46:35 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:46:38 Aye.
1:46:39 Any opposed, same sign.
1:46:40 Motion passes, 5-0.
1:46:42 Next is to authorize the superintendent to forward the adopted
1:46:45 millage levy resolution to the Brevard County property appraiser
1:46:49 and tax collector no later than 30 days following the adjournment
1:46:53 of the value adjustment board.
1:46:55 What are the wishes of the board?
1:46:57 Move to approve.
1:46:58 Moved by Ms. McDougall.
1:46:59 Seconded by Ms. Campbell.
1:47:00 Any discussion?
1:47:01 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:47:03 Aye.
1:47:04 Any opposed, same sign.
1:47:05 Motion passes, 5-0.
1:47:06 And last is to authorize the superintendent to forward the
1:47:14 following to the designated state agencies.
1:47:18 One, the adopted budget, milly levy resolution, certified tax
1:47:18 roll, rolled back rates, proposed millage, and certified copies
1:47:18 of the advertisements for the proposed budget and millage rate
1:47:18 to the State Department of Education.
1:47:18 Two, the millage levy resolution, certified tax roll, rolled
1:47:22 back rates, proposed millage, and certified copies of the
1:47:26 advertisements for the proposed budget and millage rate to the
1:47:30 Department of Revenue.
1:47:32 What are the wishes of the board?
1:47:34 Moved to approve.
1:47:35 Moved by Ms. McDougall.
1:47:36 Seconded by Ms. Campbell.
1:47:37 Any discussion?
1:47:38 Quick question.
1:47:39 Real quick question.
1:47:40 In the AFR report to the state, I’m sorry, the AFR report to the
1:47:50 state, when does that go to the state?
1:47:57 Has that already gone?
1:47:59 I know it’s pretty close now.
1:48:00 It goes on Monday.
1:48:01 Monday, that’s what it is.
1:48:02 Yeah, the 11th.
1:48:03 Can you send us a copy of that AFR when you send it?
1:48:05 Oh.
1:48:06 Is that okay?
1:48:07 We already have it.
1:48:08 Yeah, we also sent that electronically to you.
1:48:11 Is that part of?
1:48:12 Okay, good.
1:48:13 But that’s the final one.
1:48:14 There’s no changes to that.
1:48:15 That’s what’s going to the state.
1:48:17 Okay, perfect, perfect.
1:48:18 That’s all I needed to know.
1:48:19 When it was going to the state was when I was wondering about
1:48:21 what’s going on Monday.
1:48:22 Thank you.
1:48:23 Any additional discussion?
1:48:25 All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:48:26 Aye.
1:48:27 Any opposed?
1:48:28 Same sign.
1:48:29 Motion passes 5-0.
1:48:30 The public hearing is now adjourned.
1:48:31 Could I make one comment before?
1:48:32 Yes, absolutely.
1:48:33 I just wanted to say that, you know, the board has reviewed the
1:48:41 proposed budget, all funds,
1:48:44 and we’ve submitted to them.
1:48:48 Also, the AFR, which is in great detail of how we spend our
1:48:52 dollars.
1:48:53 So, there’s a lot of information on the site that we have, and I’m
1:48:58 willing to share if you would like to come over.
1:49:02 We just completed the cost report, which is incredible detail.
1:49:07 I mean, it’ll make your eyes cross.
1:49:10 So, I just want to assure you that this presentation is very,
1:49:14 very high level, but the board has received all these and
1:49:19 receives quite a few briefings along the way.
1:49:21 Ms. Lasinski, since you’re on that subject, would you mind
1:49:24 sharing with our public where on our website they can find all
1:49:27 of that detailed information?
1:49:28 I know that the cost report may not be posted, but as far as
1:49:32 navigating to our budget and the amendments and all of those
1:49:35 sorts of things.
1:49:36 I’m going to look at my…
1:49:37 It should be under the department services.
1:49:46 Yeah.
1:49:47 If you start at the top of the website, go to departments.
1:49:50 Yeah.
1:49:51 You’ll go down to an alpha list of all departments, and you’ll
1:49:54 see financial services, and then you’ll go to the accounting
1:49:57 services link from there.
1:49:59 Super.
1:50:00 Thank you.
1:50:01 And thank you, Ms. Lasinski, for providing that additional
1:50:04 information.
1:50:05 We appreciate it.
1:50:06 And we have posted not only the budget, but the AFR, the annual
1:50:09 financial report, and historical documents as well.
1:50:12 Everything is available online.
1:50:13 Yep.
1:50:14 Thank you.
1:50:15 All right.
1:50:16 We are now going to be moving to presentations.
1:50:19 It would be my recommendation, board, that perhaps we take about
1:50:22 a 10-minute recess, recharge, and then we’ll come back into
1:50:26 presentations.
1:50:26 Okay?
1:50:27 Sounds good.
1:50:28 All right.
1:50:29 Thank you.
1:50:35 All right.
1:52:05 Thank you.
2:13:04 save time and be more efficient across their different stops
2:13:12 so i commend our transportation team for fully diving into this
2:13:17 program
2:13:18 and leveraging it for all of the the assistance they can provide
2:13:23 now you might suggest this is not a slide that we necessarily
2:13:26 want to put up
2:13:27 but i have always prescribed to being transparent
2:13:31 with our data and i would never begin to suggest and i know mike
2:13:35 doesn’t either
2:13:36 that a 71 72 percent uh on time arrival rate is not something
2:13:42 that is not our goal that isn’t that is far from satisfactory
2:13:46 our goal in fact is a minimum of 90 percent
2:13:50 and we’re striving for that by the end of first semester
2:13:54 with that we’re looking at uh collapsing routes
2:13:57 reroute or collapsing um stops if we have two stops that are
2:14:02 close to each
2:14:03 other with two and three kids at them we can consolidate them
2:14:06 students may have
2:14:07 to walk a little bit further but collapse that to once
2:14:11 one stop picking up five students and that saves time
2:14:14 and provides uh opportunity to improve our on rival
2:14:18 on arrival time our last year our average is about 82 and a half
2:14:23 percent
2:14:24 on time arrival so we definitely have room to return to uh where
2:14:30 we were
2:14:30 providing service last year but that was uh but this year not
2:14:36 only
2:14:36 uh but we’re experiencing part of the reason that the the
2:14:40 arrival time is down is
2:14:41 our bus utilization from students has grown considerably
2:14:45 from last year to this year which is which is great news
2:14:50 so i want to take this opportunity to highlight reaxiom again
2:14:55 i’m actually going to go to this slide first i think it gives a
2:14:57 better depiction
2:14:58 of what the rollout looked like of this system it was installed
2:15:02 on all buses they have an ipad
2:15:04 like product on the bus students scan their card and it
2:15:08 identifies what time
2:15:09 they come on the whole on the bus and obviously their attendance
2:15:14 on that
2:15:14 bus ride over 21 000 badges were provided to
2:15:18 students and kudos to our partners to get all
2:15:26 of the badges printed prior to school most of them went out to
2:15:29 students during the
2:15:30 registration process and now our bus compounds are providing
2:15:34 services to print badges as they’re needed you can see that we’ve
2:15:38 begun to launch our
2:15:39 bulletin sent to to the school as well as to parents
2:15:43 giving them updates of where buses are where they are in route
2:15:47 and then very soon uh we are planning for by second semester
2:15:52 parents will be able to directly monitor their students progress
2:15:56 on our bus
2:15:56 through an app that will be available to them and they can see
2:16:00 exactly where there’s
2:16:01 when their student gets on the bus when they arrive to school
2:16:04 and so on
2:16:05 so definitely parent notification helps with
2:16:08 assuring parents that we we know exactly what the experience is
2:16:13 that their student is having
2:16:14 it helps us manage customer service better and being
2:16:17 increasingly responsive as well as
2:16:20 because we can actually see on our system where buses are on the
2:16:24 road we and if we get notice of a
2:16:27 roadblock uh in front of their their route we can give them
2:16:32 assistance on where to go to re-route to avoid
2:16:35 extended delays as well as we can keep our schools increasingly
2:16:41 aware
2:16:42 of exactly what is going on and when they’re but they can expect
2:16:45 the buses they normally have to arrive in their schools
2:16:48 so with that i just want to echo again or reiterate my thanks
2:16:55 and appreciation and and commendation for our
2:16:59 transportation team and the challenges they faced i want to
2:17:02 extend my sincere and personal thanks to our families
2:17:06 uh for their patience and understanding i um i had a dad email
2:17:11 me about two weeks ago
2:17:13 uh five something in the evening concerned that there was a
2:17:17 breakdown in communication and unaware of where
2:17:20 uh a situation with their where his son was
2:17:23 i didn’t get to that email until later in the evening and i he
2:17:28 left his phone number and i was concerned and i
2:17:31 called the dad before i called even transportation and i said i
2:17:35 hope you have a positive report for me
2:17:38 but because i’m getting right before i get ready to call my
2:17:40 transportation team and the dad was very
2:17:42 appreciative of the reach out and his son had gone home shortly
2:17:45 after he had sent the email he was extremely
2:17:48 kind and accommodating in the midst of the uncertainty and he he
2:17:53 just thanked us for our work thanked us for
2:17:56 continuing uh to assure him that we’ll get better and that that
2:18:00 situation ended positively and uh sent that
2:18:04 on to the transportation team and they quickly re went could go
2:18:07 back because we have reaction and see
2:18:10 exactly where the breakdown was and put a correction in place um
2:18:14 and i i just want to add to my appreciation
2:18:17 to the transportation team that as i have had concerns brought
2:18:22 to my attention and forward them to the team
2:18:24 without exception they’re extraordinarily responsive and
2:18:28 following up and providing support and service to our our
2:18:31 families
2:18:32 and again i would uh express my appreciation to our community
2:18:36 for their understanding their patience as we work through this
2:18:39 and know that we’re committed to continually improve our
2:18:42 processes
2:18:42 work towards uh full staffing in our transportation department
2:18:47 and continually improving our on-time arrivals and uh continuing
2:18:51 to provide great customer service
2:18:53 happy to uh answer any questions support may have
2:18:56 i don’t have any questions but i just want to also thank the
2:19:04 transportation department and every
2:19:06 morning when i’m on merit island driving around and i see the
2:19:09 big yellow bus i want to wave and honk but
2:19:11 i’m afraid that i would make them nervous and i just so
2:19:14 appreciate you all and i did behind the school bus the other
2:19:17 morning on tropical trail
2:19:20 and there’s a lot of stops on tropical trails let me tell you so
2:19:24 i just want to thank you all for
2:19:26 the hard work that you do getting our kids to and from school
2:19:29 safely so thank you so much
2:19:31 anybody else mr susan um please don’t make that recommendation
2:19:38 are you going to make that
2:19:40 no okay this is what we do up here is a little different all
2:19:43 right um dr mullins one of the
2:19:45 things i was going to say is is that um we have i heard that we’re
2:19:48 having some people in the north that are uh resigning and stuff
2:19:52 like that are we doing the same thing that we do for teachers
2:19:54 with a post interview to find out exactly what it is
2:19:57 and then also um we had spoken before about um like our
2:20:02 administrators when we’re listening to them
2:20:05 before how the culture just like you said they’re the bookends
2:20:08 right um and some of the code some of
2:20:10 the bus drivers were out there saying hey when i pull up to the
2:20:13 school you know what i mean it would
2:20:14 be nice if we were just family like there seems to be like that
2:20:17 little disconnect and i know that
2:20:18 you’ve been doing a great job and and and uh dr miller’s amazing
2:20:22 and his team’s amazing but um
2:20:24 if there’s a way that we can kind of rally around the flag on
2:20:27 that piece because these kids
2:20:28 are in some cases are making it very difficult on our bus
2:20:31 drivers with some of the discipline that
2:20:33 we’re seeing on top of the bus post covid they have forgotten
2:20:36 what their rules are and quite frankly
2:20:38 some of their parents just don’t control them like they should
2:20:41 and our bus drivers are feeling that as
2:20:43 the bookends so there’s a way for me to get out there some sort
2:20:46 of a hey just thank
2:20:48 your bus driver fridays or something you know i mean something
2:20:51 um i think it would go a long way for
2:20:53 us to collaborate as a team so that’s all yeah i i know that our
2:20:56 school administrators also greatly
2:20:59 appreciate uh the drivers that bring their kids to school um i
2:21:04 want to commend mike last toward the end
2:21:06 of last year he he took his staff out to the schools to meet
2:21:09 with all of the principals and engage with
2:21:12 them personally to just to build that collaboration and that
2:21:15 connection and to build a culture of
2:21:18 togetherness and team and uh we’ll i’ll absolutely echo that
2:21:21 message because it’s important that
2:21:23 so we know that we’re in this together and uh we got to work
2:21:27 together to make sure that uh we maximize
2:21:29 the opportunity for our kids when i talk about dr miller one of
2:21:31 the things that’s funny is i get more
2:21:33 people tell me about how great he was as a principal also his
2:21:36 legacy your legacy inside the school
2:21:38 district’s amazing man because there’s people that come up to me
2:21:40 all the time you have no idea you
2:21:42 think you did a good job in transportation you should have seen
2:21:44 him as a principal so i just wanted to say that to you thank you
2:21:47 sir
2:21:47 uh thank you uh i will just echo the sentiment of extreme
2:21:56 appreciation for you all um i you know
2:22:00 there i think there’s nothing worse than when you are frantically
2:22:03 working in really challenging
2:22:06 circumstances to get the calls that um i just got a call from a
2:22:09 board member and i need you to check into
2:22:12 this stop or this route um and i know i have been guilty of that
2:22:16 multiple times this year um and so
2:22:20 i apologize for putting that additional pressure on you um but i
2:22:23 can’t tell you how incredibly
2:22:25 appreciative i am that every time i have reached out um you all
2:22:28 have gotten on it and and looked into it
2:22:31 and done what you can do and it’s you know we can’t fix
2:22:33 everything um but where we can make those
2:22:36 improvements you all certainly are doing the yeoman’s work to do
2:22:39 that and to serve our families and our
2:22:41 students and in our schools as well so um i yes our bus drivers
2:22:46 are absolute heroes and i’ll be the first
2:22:48 one to admit that i could not be a bus driver i did have a cdl
2:22:51 at one time but you don’t want to recruit
2:22:53 me i promise you um but no you don’t um but our bus drivers are
2:22:59 amazing but the team behind our bus
2:23:02 drivers um can’t be recognized enough either because we know
2:23:05 that you guys have really been put through the
2:23:08 ringer and and asked to do like figuring out routes for the
2:23:11 summer program like oh yeah here figure this
2:23:14 thing out right away so that we can serve our students and so i
2:23:17 just want to make sure that that
2:23:18 you all know that how very much we appreciate your team as well
2:23:22 so thank you and it’s mutual did you
2:23:23 see the story in the newsletter a couple weeks ago maybe about a
2:23:27 month ago now where um the south
2:23:30 area transportation department went over to university park and
2:23:33 uh like pulled weeds and
2:23:34 did mulching and all that so that one got me you know i so i i
2:23:39 love that it the partnership works
2:23:41 both ways and they’re paying attention to the needs of our
2:23:44 schools just like we want our schools to pay
2:23:45 attention to the needs of our drivers and transportation
2:23:47 department so but that one was an amazing story of
2:23:50 that the whole team pulling together yes absolutely thank you
2:23:53 miss camville i just was reminded of a
2:23:56 miss belford you may remember when we were at jackson middle
2:24:00 school on the first day of school i ran out
2:24:02 and was uh welcoming our kids off the bus and i hopped on a bus
2:24:05 and i think the bus driver’s name was miss
2:24:08 sarah forgive me if i got your name wrong and i said how are you
2:24:11 doing just checking on you how’s the new
2:24:13 scanning thing going and she go and just as cool as a cucumber
2:24:17 she said yeah it’s going it’s going
2:24:19 really well the kids are a little slow at it but it’s only going
2:24:21 to get better and that was it uh so
2:24:25 mike you got a great team they took on the challenge and they’re
2:24:28 uh they’ve overcome it so appreciate you
2:24:30 and appreciate every one of our drivers for uh their can-do
2:24:34 attitude absolutely thank you dr mullins for
2:24:38 the presentation thank you mr wilson for all of your work as
2:24:41 well we appreciate you all right we’re
2:24:45 now at the public comments portion of the meeting on agenda
2:24:48 items we have four speakers on agenda items
2:24:50 therefore each speaker will receive three minutes please note
2:24:53 that the time is per speaker not per
2:24:54 agenda item topics not specific to agenda items will be moved to
2:24:57 the non-agenda portion of the meeting
2:24:59 we have a clock in front of me to help keep track of your time
2:25:01 when your time is over you’ll be
2:25:02 asked to stop on the next speaker his or her turn always keep in
2:25:05 mind that reasonable decorum is
2:25:08 expected and your statement should be directed to the board
2:25:10 chair the chair may interrupt warrant a
2:25:11 terminated participant statement when time is up it’s personally
2:25:14 directed abusive obscene or obscene
2:25:17 or irrelevant should an individual not observe proper etiquette
2:25:20 the chair may request the individual
2:25:22 to leave the meeting for the audience please remember that
2:25:25 outside of your personal public comment period
2:25:27 your role is as an observer therefore i would ask that you
2:25:30 please not disrupt the meeting by interjecting
2:25:32 comments or noises during public comments since we only have
2:25:34 four speakers i’m going to call them all up at the
2:25:37 same time anthony koluchy delete katie delaney sarah mirski and
2:25:41 connie rook if you all wouldn’t mind
2:25:43 getting on deck on the east wall so that we can get everyone
2:25:46 through appropriately that would be wonderful
2:25:58 my name is anthony my name is anthony i’m the president of the
2:26:08 brevard federation of teachers
2:26:09 tonight i’m here to address item f27 instructional staff
2:26:13 recommendations at the last meeting all five
2:26:17 of you rightfully delayed the hiring of a community coach
2:26:20 realizing that the hiring of this coach over a well-qualified
2:26:23 teacher is an issue being decided in arbitration
2:26:26 in arbitration you seem to give clear direction to staff that
2:26:29 you wanted your hired outside legal counsel
2:26:32 to move the process as quickly as possible to have the arbitration
2:26:36 decision prior to the basketball season
2:26:38 i personally reached out to your hired legal counsel and offered
2:26:42 a way forward that would likely result
2:26:44 in a decision prior to the season i promptly received a response
2:26:49 of no from your counsel and final confirmation of a date that
2:26:52 worked for them in november
2:26:54 which begs the question what is the role of this board do you
2:26:59 really believe that staff
2:27:01 have more authority than you as elected officials none of you
2:27:05 can explain why all of a sudden the district
2:27:08 is choosing to ignore the arbitration from 17 other than some
2:27:12 staff think it’s a good idea none of you can
2:27:14 explain how a principal can blatantly ignore board policy and
2:27:17 not be disciplined it sure seems that we’re back to
2:27:21 having a separate set of rules for principals i urge you to not
2:27:25 approve the hiring of the community coach at coco beach high
2:27:28 school
2:27:28 as well as end this arbitration and hire the teacher as a boys
2:27:32 varsity coach and let’s be clear this is a
2:27:35 highly effective educator and an experienced coach with a proven
2:27:38 track record i’m asking that you follow
2:27:41 the very guidance and procedure your hr department has honored
2:27:45 for the past five years but if you choose not to
2:27:48 because it’s against the advice of staff and bft prevails in the
2:27:52 arbitration i will not sit by idly
2:27:54 that must be held accountable for their poor judgment i will be
2:27:58 back here and in the media calling for the
2:28:00 the termination of the three staff members who colluded to
2:28:04 prevent this well deserving teacher from getting this position
2:28:08 these staff members will be responsible for using taxpayer
2:28:11 dollars to argue this language for the third time
2:28:14 in 15 years i estimate the cost around a hundred thousand
2:28:17 dollars
2:28:18 they’ll be responsible for the upheaval that this will cause
2:28:20 amongst the students on the team
2:28:22 and their parents when the teacher ultimately gets a position
2:28:26 these three staff members will have caused
2:28:28 an uphill battle for the teacher to earn students trust when the
2:28:32 position is awarded to them not to
2:28:34 mention the issue will cause for the community coach when they’re
2:28:37 removed from the position and no this is
2:28:40 not the union’s fault the union is only asking that the arbitration
2:28:44 and practice be respected this situation
2:28:47 was intentionally created behind the scenes without seeking your
2:28:52 approval they knew the issues this
2:28:54 action would cause and they did it anyway you must hold them
2:28:58 accountable thank you mr collucci delaney
2:29:09 since i already spoke on the budget um i’m going to speak on h58c
2:29:15 loving guidance um procurement and i just
2:29:20 wanted to share um a story that um i was at an event and i met a
2:29:27 teacher and we were talking about the
2:29:30 discipline in the classrooms and i asked them i said to them
2:29:35 what is what do you think about your
2:29:39 discipline training and i didn’t use the name loving guidance
2:29:42 because i wanted an unbiased um
2:29:46 opinion from this teacher and the first thing they said was
2:29:50 loving guidance is ruining our schools
2:29:52 our kids don’t have consequences for their actions they’re
2:29:59 getting
2:29:59 ice cream and candy and getting sent back to their teachers
2:30:04 our teachers are getting hit pissed at um i saw a video of a
2:30:12 teacher literally got knocked down
2:30:15 and they were unconscious and all the students ran out of the
2:30:19 classroom they were videoing it
2:30:21 it’s obviously not working and we’re spending a hundred and i
2:30:28 think i saw 170 something thousand dollars
2:30:32 on a program that’s not working and that’s just this contract we’ve
2:30:37 seen this loving guidance over
2:30:40 and over and over again i don’t even know how much money we’ve
2:30:43 spent on them over the past years
2:30:44 our kids need boundaries they need consequences we can’t always
2:30:56 pat them on the back and tell them it’s okay that they behave
2:30:59 poorly that’s it’s not okay if if my kids
2:31:06 teachers told me that my children were behaving poorly in their
2:31:10 classroom you better believe that my kids
2:31:14 would come back the next day behaving like a new child
2:31:20 we need we need to teach our kids to respect their teachers and
2:31:22 to not harm them to not harm anybody
2:31:26 and it’s a real shame that we’re not listening to our teachers
2:31:31 we’re not listening to them when
2:31:34 they’re saying that discipline is the reason why they’re leaving
2:31:38 i went to tractor supply the other day
2:31:41 the lady at who was checking me out i was talking on the phone
2:31:44 with somebody about
2:31:45 all the school district stuff talking about discipline and she
2:31:49 says to me that’s why i left
2:31:51 she would rather work at tractor supply than be in our schools
2:31:59 that should tell you something about this conscious discipline
2:32:02 love and guidance training thank you
2:32:05 thank you miss delaney miss mirski
2:32:07 good evening madam chair and board my name is sarah mirski i’m a
2:32:20 wife mother of two children in
2:32:21 brevard public schools taxpayer voter constituent college
2:32:25 student and i live in district two for school
2:32:27 a board tonight i’ll be speaking on agenda items uh c17 and f23
2:32:33 your suicide prevention resolution which is
2:32:36 the c17 i 100 wholeheartedly support this this board finally
2:32:42 recognizes the importance of mental health
2:32:45 and how important a parent’s role in recognizing mental health
2:32:48 concerns it’s too bad members of this board
2:32:52 called parents like me a liar when i was here board meeting
2:32:56 after board meeting talking about the
2:32:58 mental health concerns on children with your illegal covet 19
2:33:02 policies uh what they had on the children
2:33:05 of bps including the special board meeting you had a year ago to
2:33:08 force face mask our children after we
2:33:11 enrolled them in school pulling a bait and switch there were
2:33:14 several mental health clinicians who spoke out
2:33:16 against the detrimental mental health effects of that particular
2:33:20 policy as well i quoted many of the
2:33:22 statistics tonight that were shared tonight on suicide and
2:33:26 mental health at past uh school board meetings
2:33:30 i took 30 seconds of silence out of my one minute of speaking
2:33:34 time at that time to honor those uh who had
2:33:38 committed suicide and would commit suicide and um who struggle
2:33:42 with mental health issues i’ve always said
2:33:45 this um and i’m gonna say it again mental health is just as
2:33:49 important as physical health
2:33:52 um the other uh agenda item i’m speaking on is f23 um f23 your
2:33:59 student code of conduct lots of good things in
2:34:03 the student code of conduct i read the immunization requirements
2:34:06 with great interest what is missing from
2:34:09 this is a 681 foreign provision which is a state law um whether
2:34:14 or not it was intentional or unintentional
2:34:18 to not have this language in this in your student code of
2:34:22 conduct it’s still discriminatory against
2:34:25 uh families and parents who have diverse religious faiths i i
2:34:31 suggest you not pass this without
2:34:33 adding that provision also in the student code of conduct it
2:34:37 says the school board will not tolerate
2:34:40 bullying cyber bullying harassment dating violence and abuse
2:34:43 including cyber sexual harassment
2:34:47 and the board should not tolerate that however you have you are
2:34:52 tolerating materials and libraries across
2:34:55 the district that have a step-by-step book as to teach a child
2:35:00 how to put themselves in these dangerous
2:35:02 situations it was never about banning books for me but always
2:35:07 about safety thank you thank you marissa bro
2:35:17 good evening hi i’m going to be speaking to c17 suicide
2:35:20 prevention good evening my name is connie rook
2:35:22 and my three children have attended brevard public schools i’m a
2:35:25 retired military veteran a vps volunteer
2:35:28 an avid tutor a science fair judge math tutor take stock and
2:35:31 children mentor a robotics coach a coding club
2:35:34 and a makerspace sponsor so yeah i’ve logged a couple of hours
2:35:37 in our schools a couple of weeks ago during early
2:35:39 voting at viera regional i had a conversation with an older
2:35:42 gentleman about our public schools
2:35:44 we talked about teacher shortages and history curriculum and at
2:35:48 one point he asked me well what
2:35:49 about these news reports about boys sneaking into girls
2:35:52 bathrooms and i stopped him right there i said
2:35:55 sir have you ever met a transgender person he seemed a little
2:35:58 surprised that i would ask and he grunted well
2:36:00 no and i replied well i know several in fact i was a college
2:36:03 readiness mentor to a young man at our local
2:36:06 high school for five years he’s one of the kindest most empathetic
2:36:09 people i’ve ever known and we’ve never
2:36:11 in a million years heard another person then i went on and asked
2:36:14 him i said do you know anyone that’s gay
2:36:17 he replied well yeah of course and i asked him do you think that
2:36:20 because someone is gay they are
2:36:22 automatically a predator his eyebrows shot up and he said no of
2:36:25 course not i said well when you perpetuate
2:36:28 rumors and accusations and lies like that about lgbtq people
2:36:32 that’s exactly what you’re saying
2:36:35 those lies span the flames of hate and discrimination and they
2:36:38 put a target on the back of every lgbtq
2:36:41 student in our community you’re setting them up for harassment
2:36:45 bullying violence and even more anxiety
2:36:48 and depression lgbtq youth are four times four times more likely
2:36:54 to attempt suicide than their peers
2:36:58 and you know they are not inherently prone to suicide risk
2:37:01 because of their sexual orientation or gender and
2:37:04 identity but rather placed at a higher risk because of how they
2:37:08 are mistreated and stigmatized in society
2:37:10 think about that you are putting children at risk it’s ugly and
2:37:16 it’s cruel anyone that should does that
2:37:19 should absolutely absolutely be ashamed of themselves and anyone
2:37:23 that spreads those lies has no business
2:37:26 whatsoever holding elected office
2:37:28 it’s okay to say gay we have to be better we have to do better
2:37:35 our schools and our kids
2:37:37 they deserve better thank you thank you mr
2:37:40 all right that concludes our public comment items on agenda
2:37:48 items we thank you for your willingness to
2:37:50 join us this evening and anyone signed up for non-agenda will
2:37:54 have the opportunity to speak once the board
2:37:56 completes its work that is going to move us into the consent
2:38:00 agenda dr mullins there are 37 agenda items
2:38:04 under this category thank you dr mullins mr susan i believe you
2:38:07 have a request to pull one item
2:38:09 like to make a motion to pull um c27 is that what it was i wrote
2:38:13 it down and handed it
2:38:15 you have number 27 on here but i think it’s it’s f f27 yeah
2:38:23 sorry all right so i will entertain a
2:38:25 motion to accept the consent agenda with the exception of item f27
2:38:34 um wait i was i was asking for a motion and i don’t think that i
2:38:39 got a second use
2:38:40 you want a motion to pull it yeah i want to i want to pull that
2:38:45 item for discussion but in order for
2:38:47 me to do that i think you don’t need a motion to pull it perfect
2:38:50 yeah so i’ll entertain a motion to
2:38:52 accept the consent items with the exception of the item pulled
2:38:54 for discussion
2:38:56 moved by ms campbell seconded by ms mcdougall is there any
2:38:59 discussion just briefly included in our
2:39:03 in our consent agenda is the contract for revarted federation
2:39:12 teachers i wanted to thank mr
2:39:14 koluchy eft team our hr team bargaining team for the work they’ve
2:39:17 done i did want to just mention
2:39:19 because i’ve been in contact with several of our 1010 employees
2:39:22 over the last several weeks who are just
2:39:24 concerned that because we went ahead and raised that minimum pay
2:39:27 up to 15 an hour they think that’s
2:39:29 all we’re doing i just wanted to just put that word out there
2:39:32 one more time that we are currently in
2:39:35 negotiations with the 1010 contract so for all of our support
2:39:39 staff and that will be coming hopefully
2:39:42 very shortly so i think and dr that i believe you guys go back
2:39:45 to the table and within a couple weeks
2:39:48 correct on the 15th okay so just let them know that that’s
2:39:51 coming we were solidifying this contract
2:39:53 tonight and thank you for financial services for the work you
2:39:55 guys are doing to try to get that
2:39:57 out to our teachers quickly that’s all thank you thank you ms
2:40:01 campbell any additional discussion on
2:40:02 consent all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
2:40:06 opposed same sign motion passes 5-0
2:40:09 um mr susan item f27 you have pulled it is your motion sir yes i’d
2:40:16 like to make a motion to
2:40:19 withdraw or pull wardell jefferson collins only for the head
2:40:23 coco beach basketball coach not the
2:40:26 middle school portion because that was not in arbitration um for
2:40:30 the reasons that i would
2:40:31 discuss but during discussion get a second was there a second on
2:40:35 that motion
2:40:37 all right i have a motion in a second open for discussion so
2:40:40 yeah so um this isn’t an this isn’t
2:40:45 an argument over who’s a better coach who’s worse coach who’s
2:40:47 all that other stuff that’s sometimes where
2:40:49 it goes um and what i’ve said from the beginning is that i truly
2:40:53 believe that the burden of proof
2:40:56 falls on the district to change the ruling from a previous arbitration
2:41:00 before moving forward with an
2:41:03 appointment to um for this that that’s how i feel we’ve stated
2:41:06 this before we were all up here um
2:41:09 since the other pieces were is that um it splits the players up
2:41:13 um and so what happened is is that
2:41:15 last time we we said hey let’s do it with expedience and
2:41:19 everything else and then we saw some of the
2:41:21 emails that were coming through that we tried to have a meeting
2:41:25 prior to and it ended up getting pushed to november
2:41:28 so when i was saying and i met with dr thetty and dr thetty
2:41:31 thank you for being open and honest and
2:41:33 sitting with us dr thetty laid out hey this it just wasn’t
2:41:35 working out with the lawyers and everything
2:41:37 else and i was like well i truly believe that if our burden of
2:41:40 proof falls on the district to overturn a
2:41:43 ruling that had already happened that we still don’t have the
2:41:45 right to do so so that’s why i was making
2:41:47 this motion any additional discussion yeah i just want to um
2:41:52 because i seconded this motion i just
2:41:55 want to make it clear i don’t think our staff did anything
2:41:58 intentionally wrong or inaccurate um i’m
2:42:02 i definitely don’t agree with those statements um i think that
2:42:05 this is a due process that should happen
2:42:09 and i think we’re following the right steps um i just my
2:42:12 personal belief is that we shouldn’t be
2:42:15 instating somebody while we’re in the middle of an arbitration
2:42:18 to decide who is going to eventually
2:42:19 end up with this position um so i just want to make it clear
2:42:21 where i stand on this has nothing to do
2:42:23 with our staff doing something wrong by any means um i just
2:42:26 think we need to go through the process and
2:42:29 follow those steps so any additional respect to so i um i just
2:42:34 want to say one of the arguments is that
2:42:39 you know the students will not um they might have to switch
2:42:42 coaches i know for a fact that the
2:42:45 man that we’re talking about at this point is on his own time
2:42:50 not on school grounds has a team
2:42:53 together and is coaching them and helping them with basketball
2:42:58 um even while this is going on at this
2:43:01 point so the students are already connected with him and i think
2:43:07 i don’t know if they’re familiar with
2:43:09 going on or not but i do know that he’s already volunteering his
2:43:13 time to do this and i do concern
2:43:15 to me it’s about the students at this point they should have a
2:43:19 coach they should be able to get ready
2:43:21 for basketball and that’s where i stand on this can i follow
2:43:26 hold on let me make sure there’s not an
2:43:29 additional miss campbell hasn’t had an opportunity to comment
2:43:32 miss campbell you know we just my
2:43:34 understanding after talking with dr fetti i didn’t get a chance
2:43:36 to check with paul but he could probably
2:43:38 confirm that even if the arbitration could have been held um you
2:43:42 know within a week or two of our last
2:43:45 meeting that then each side has 30 days from the time of the
2:43:50 arbitration to get their final um i’m not
2:43:54 sure what the word is brief uh what is it brief briefs in and
2:43:57 then the arbitrator has another 30 days
2:44:01 generally before they have to issue an opinion so at that point
2:44:05 am i saying that yeah accurately
2:44:07 roughly so at that point even if we could have had the hearing
2:44:10 within two weeks of our last meeting
2:44:12 we’re talking about not being able to have a final decision
2:44:15 potentially until right after basketball
2:44:18 season um as well underway as far as the tryouts and all that
2:44:21 kind of stuff so and and and you know
2:44:23 that was that was if we had it in august um so at this point it
2:44:26 really wouldn’t have mattered if it
2:44:28 was before the november date we weren’t going to have a decision
2:44:31 in a timely manner and so um you know
2:44:35 and you know we have no idea of knowing what the arbitrator will
2:44:39 decide but i know we have past
2:44:41 president um where they’re in their arbitrations have happened
2:44:45 and the change that was that the
2:44:47 arbitrator had said hey make this change didn’t happen until the
2:44:50 following season the following
2:44:51 school year you know pay the person as if they’re doing it but
2:44:54 you know you know said no no idea of
2:44:56 knowing how this one would turn out but it’s not an automatic
2:45:00 that um that an arbitrator would would
2:45:02 require us to change uh coaches in the middle of a season so
2:45:07 mr susan yeah um miss mcdougall i would i would caution to say
2:45:14 that he’s coaching them now sometimes
2:45:16 they’ll put pick up stuff because it’s illegal for coach to grab
2:45:19 a team prior to season starting and the
2:45:21 season doesn’t start until near the end of october so if he’s
2:45:24 out there coaching with them as a team
2:45:26 it’s it’s i know he’s not doing that i’m just saying he might be
2:45:29 connecting with them but just
2:45:31 um i wouldn’t throw that out there too fast the uh um and i
2:45:35 agree with you like i’ve seen listen this
2:45:37 has played out a hundred times where the community coach
2:45:39 connects with the kids he comes up with them
2:45:41 like the rec leagues many of them come up with the rec leagues
2:45:44 through the system and they’re able to
2:45:46 connect with them there there’s great people that are in the
2:45:49 community that’s not what’s being argued
2:45:51 here what’s being argued here is is the fact that the burden of
2:45:54 proof i feel falls on the district
2:45:56 um you could have the one of the greatest coaches ever but the
2:46:00 fact is is that i truly believe that
2:46:02 if you have two prior precedences that say that this is the way
2:46:05 things are and we’re going in to do it
2:46:06 right now that we should as a district have the um court cases
2:46:11 and stuff like that taking care of prior
2:46:14 doing that um i do want to say that we can talk about the timing
2:46:18 being that way but there’s there
2:46:20 has been the opportunity to meet there also it’s not always
2:46:24 going to take it if an arbitrator knew
2:46:28 that the decision that he was making was based on the fact that
2:46:30 kids would or would not have a coach
2:46:32 at the time then he would obviously be one that would free up
2:46:36 that arbitration and not wait till the
2:46:39 last day so i appreciate miss campbell your um schedule of
2:46:43 timing saying the longest times to push
2:46:46 it back but i would argue that we truly could have as a district
2:46:49 met got it done pushed it to the
2:46:51 arbitrator arbitrator could have come back prior to season and
2:46:54 that’s why i hang my hat on thank you
2:46:56 any additional discussion yeah yeah i just want to say so i
2:47:01 seconded this motion because um i think it was
2:47:05 valid to have a discussion about it because we’ve discussed it
2:47:07 in the past but i think it made sense
2:47:09 um i’ve said publicly i i think we should be waiting for this
2:47:13 arbitration um but i also don’t
2:47:16 believe in leaving these kids without a coach because we know we
2:47:18 know the timeline right the last time
2:47:20 we had this conversation we were hoping for this timeline to get
2:47:22 a little bit faster and to get done
2:47:24 um so you know i know that this school district will have to
2:47:28 honor whatever the results of that
2:47:30 arbitration are um i just wanted publicly to say for a second
2:47:35 time my beliefs of it i do believe
2:47:39 we should have waited but i’m not going to leave these kids
2:47:41 without a coach either um and so i hope
2:47:44 that it doesn’t get delayed anymore and gets done as soon as
2:47:47 possible um and whatever the results are
2:47:50 i mean we have to abide by them so i have to say one last thing
2:47:54 hold on and then anyone else want to
2:47:56 comment a second time before i allow mr susan a third time
2:48:00 thank you mr susan i just want to say thank you to ms jenkins
2:48:04 for seconding it that’s all
2:48:05 anything else
2:48:07 no i’m to clarify before um you call for the vote ms belford
2:48:17 exactly
2:48:17 the motion was to approve it minus the coach it has been seconded
2:48:24 so if we vote
2:48:26 yes at this time are we voting for mr susan’s motion are we
2:48:30 voting to approve
2:48:31 you’re voting for the motion that was made which is to pull the
2:48:38 community coach off the uh okay i just
2:48:40 want to clarify before we take a vote so we all know what we’re
2:48:42 voting voting for yes we’re ready for the
2:48:45 question yep all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all
2:48:50 opposed same time all right motion fails one
2:48:54 to four so i’ll entertain a motion well i’ll i’ll entertain a
2:49:00 motion i would suggest that that motion
2:49:02 should probably be to approve item uh f27 as presented but i
2:49:06 will leave that up to your
2:49:08 uh move to approve there you go okay so we have a motion on the
2:49:13 floor to approve item f27 as presented
2:49:16 and a second on that motion is there any additional discussion
2:49:19 needed all right all in favor please
2:49:21 signify by saying aye aye all opposed same sign nay motion
2:49:26 passes four to one
2:49:30 okay miss belford if i may i wanted to wait until the board was
2:49:33 done with that vote just to make some
2:49:34 additional comments that i feel necessary to make in response to
2:49:38 my staff first it was suggested at
2:49:42 the prior board meeting that the process to put the
2:49:44 recommendation on the board meeting was not regular
2:49:49 practice but dr thetty you know clarified that with the board
2:49:52 and that is that was the consistent practice
2:49:55 of the board for that type of position so i just wanted since it
2:49:58 was publicly presented that way previously
2:50:01 i wanted to recognize my staff had done that appropriately at
2:50:05 the last board meeting it doesn’t preclude
2:50:07 the board from taking the action they did at the last board
2:50:10 meeting having discussion but i did want
2:50:12 to correct record that it was done correctly and consistent
2:50:17 consistently with past practice
2:50:20 the second thing is i want to provide some clarification to the
2:50:24 suggestions of delay
2:50:26 i don’t think it is appropriate to for anyone to interpret delay
2:50:32 being on behalf of my staff related
2:50:34 to this incident my staff has been ready to go to arbitration
2:50:38 for weeks it is not dependent on
2:50:41 my staff it is ultimately dependent on the availability of three
2:50:47 at least three other independent parties there’s
2:50:49 really five parties involved in this situation that’s the legal
2:50:53 counsel for the school district that’s
2:50:56 the legal counsel for the for brevard federation of teachers it’s
2:51:00 the arbitrator then it’s also bfts
2:51:03 availability and then finally brevard public schools that’s a
2:51:07 complex suggestion of schedules to bring together
2:51:12 we’re at least three of those entities have very full-time jobs
2:51:19 unrelated to brevard public schools or school districts
2:51:22 we have to fit into their schedule of availability and i would
2:51:27 suggest that if there has been any delay
2:51:30 it’s the result of those outside entities not being able to
2:51:35 coordinate their schedules throughout the process
2:51:39 so i just wanted to provide that correction my my staff has been
2:51:43 prepared and ready to present
2:51:45 their positions for arbitration for some time now the challenge
2:51:49 has come in bringing five different
2:51:51 entities together for the calendar and we were after the last
2:51:54 board meeting and the boards charged to
2:51:58 do everything that we could to expedite that appointment we went
2:52:00 back to them i think mr gibbs
2:52:02 facilitated that once again and november was the best date that
2:52:07 could be brought forward so i just
2:52:09 want to demonstrate my staff’s efforts and their consistent
2:52:13 practice thank you
2:52:14 i’d like to follow dr mullins so i think where the consistency
2:52:18 and what we were talking about with
2:52:20 them putting out on the on the agenda dr mullins was the fact
2:52:23 that there had never been a basketball
2:52:26 coach that had been put on the agenda in the last five years
2:52:29 during that time and that’s where the consistency
2:52:32 was talking about when dr when dr feddy and i were talking what
2:52:35 she was saying is is that when they receive these
2:52:38 that it behooves them to put them into the system immediately
2:52:42 after that so it was that it was not
2:52:45 the fact when i was speaking before it was about how never in
2:52:48 the history of our school district had
2:52:51 we already done and approved somebody so when i was saying that
2:52:53 it was inconsistent with that it was
2:52:55 inconsistent with that what dr feddy came back and said to me
2:52:59 was is that you know what the inconsistency
2:53:01 it was not what it is it’s sitting there that when we receive
2:53:05 the recommendation from and we have their
2:53:07 paperwork ready we have to get it in because that’s what best
2:53:09 practice is and that’s when sometimes you
2:53:11 see some of them at different times i just wanted to clear that
2:53:14 piece up the second piece is is that
2:53:16 the delay in availability in many law firms if there’s a if
2:53:19 there’s a problem with timing sometimes
2:53:21 they’ll have one of the other associates or the other law
2:53:24 lawyers filling in and helping out in different
2:53:26 aspects so that they can get there i truly believe that this was
2:53:29 an issue that we needed to agenda
2:53:31 with that we needed to come forward with and get done prior to
2:53:34 the time and i think that if we
2:53:36 would have truly expressed that to the law firms and made them
2:53:39 work as hard as they can to get there
2:53:41 i think we could have gotten there so just want to reiterate
2:53:44 that’s all
2:53:45 any additional
2:53:49 okay dr mullen did you have no okay uh will you please let us
2:53:57 know about items under the action
2:53:58 portion of today’s agenda there is uh next uh well sorry ahead
2:54:04 of myself the first item is h58
2:54:08 department school initiated agreements one of those is the board
2:54:10 second moved by ms mcdougall second by
2:54:14 ms campbell is there any discussion yeah ms campbell sorry i
2:54:17 know it’s been a long night but i’d ask
2:54:20 ms moore if she wouldn’t mind answering a couple of questions um
2:54:24 on this item in under the health
2:54:28 services uh contract which is not necessarily a monetary
2:54:33 contract but it’s our agreement with the brevard
2:54:36 county health department it incorporates some of the things that
2:54:39 we’re doing as far as the um
2:54:41 not questionnaire what’s the word i’m looking for the form that
2:54:44 the parents are having to fill out
2:54:46 thank you the health consent form and because there’s continues
2:54:50 to be a lot of confusion around
2:54:52 what that is i asked ms moore if she wouldn’t mind just kind of
2:54:57 walking through that form i mean
2:54:59 obviously everybody knows what a band-aid is and taking the
2:55:01 temperature or whatever but there’s a couple of
2:55:02 terms on that form that have been have caused some confusion and
2:55:05 some angst in the community and i
2:55:07 understand why because you know people look at the news uh
2:55:09 across the country the last couple years and
2:55:12 think of maybe certain things are going to happen so would you
2:55:14 mind just um first of all just kind of
2:55:17 walking us through um those besides the obvious ones what what
2:55:22 some of those terms mean because i know for
2:55:24 me the goal is that we get those forms in because if a parent
2:55:28 hasn’t signed the form to give any kind of
2:55:30 direction then the school has no choice but just put a column on
2:55:33 those and i won’t go into all the
2:55:35 legislative you know because that’s been explained earlier but
2:55:38 can you just kind of walk us through
2:55:39 mainly what those terms mean on the form yeah i can um first i
2:55:43 do want to take a minute to introduce
2:55:45 chris reed again award-winning chris reed award-winning chris reed
2:55:50 you know whenever we work on any of
2:55:52 these documents it’s just a balancing game of making sure that
2:55:55 we’re meeting statute language
2:55:57 that we’re working with our core partners which is department of
2:56:00 health and working within our policies
2:56:02 so it’s really a puzzle of making sure that we fit all the
2:56:05 pieces together and that we’re accurate
2:56:07 accurately representing what is expected by our our doe and our
2:56:12 legislators to do in our in our school
2:56:14 district so the uh consent form we wanted to make sure it was
2:56:20 related to the other required documents
2:56:24 that we have which is why uh what you see in front of you is the
2:56:27 school health plan that school health
2:56:29 plan is required i think it’s required to be revised every two
2:56:33 years but we also pull it and amend it
2:56:35 as needed and it comes before you guys to see it again so when
2:56:39 we put together a consent form um there
2:56:41 wasn’t a whole lot of guidance from the department of education
2:56:43 in fact they weren’t allowed to give us
2:56:45 guidance and there wasn’t a whole lot of guidance from the
2:56:47 department of health because in fact they
2:56:49 weren’t allowed to give us guidance so we decided that our best
2:56:53 option was to make sure that we had a guiding
2:56:55 document that we could refer parents to and that’s what you guys
2:56:58 are seeing before you tonight
2:56:59 so i know nursing assessments we’ve gotten a couple questions on
2:57:03 that the definition of what a nursing
2:57:05 assessment is is part of this document uh the first thing i
2:57:09 should let you know is that
2:57:11 a nursing assessment has to be done by an rn most of the people
2:57:16 in our schools are health techs we do have
2:57:19 some lpns but only rns are by doh requirement allowed to do a
2:57:24 nursing assessment and that is designated
2:57:28 health care staff conduct reviews of students medical status and
2:57:31 develop a health condition list at the
2:57:33 beginning of the school every year designated rns will assess
2:57:36 students with actual potential or
2:57:38 suspected health problems and develop appropriate nursing care
2:57:41 plans for identified students so as we get
2:57:45 information in from parents if they need to review and revise a
2:57:49 health care plan that’s what our rns do
2:57:51 the school principal reviews and signs in collaboration with the
2:57:56 nursing supervisor
2:57:57 any chronic health forms being considered for approval so
2:58:00 students who have a chronic health condition
2:58:03 that is going to necessitate them to have more absences than a
2:58:06 typical child without a chronic health
2:58:08 condition but not necessarily more doctor or hospital visits
2:58:12 there’s a process by which they can submit a chronic
2:58:14 health form our rn reviews those to make sure that everything is
2:58:19 medically legit and then our
2:58:22 principals also sign off so that those students aren’t held to
2:58:24 the same attendance standard
2:58:26 um again it’s all in this plan uh health appraisals we’ve gotten
2:58:32 some questions about what health appraisals
2:58:35 are i’m going to skip down because i’m going to go in order of
2:58:39 the document health counseling um is on there we’ve
2:58:43 gotten some questions about health counseling uh provide health
2:58:46 teaching and health advice as appropriate
2:58:49 the um school health staff will provide health teaching health
2:58:54 advice as required referrals will be made to the rn
2:58:57 supervisor as needed for additional assessments as needed uh of
2:59:02 both students and or parents or guardians
2:59:04 also if deemed necessary the lea that’s the local education
2:59:08 agency will refer a student to appropriate
2:59:10 counsel social worker staff parents consent for this service in
2:59:14 writing will be done annually
2:59:16 um we’ve added that throughout this that’s part of a couple of
2:59:21 other pieces of legislation that we had to pull in
2:59:24 um before you go off of that one that health counseling that
2:59:28 would be maybe for more of those chronic
2:59:31 typically for more of those chronic condition type things like
2:59:34 diabetes it very well could be i mean
2:59:36 i don’t want to limit it and put you know right but most often
2:59:40 it’s for students who have chronic
2:59:42 conditions or medical conditions that um diabetes is a good one
2:59:46 our little ones have a difficult time
2:59:48 uh regulating that they have a difficult time understanding what
2:59:51 they’re allowed to eat
2:59:53 they have a difficult time understanding what they eat and how
2:59:56 it impacts them and so
2:59:57 we often have ongoing conversation as kids with type 1 diabetes
3:00:02 get older
3:00:02 um the other one i do want to talk about health appraisals
3:00:08 because we’ve gotten a couple of
3:00:09 questions on that chris what page is that on item two does not
3:00:13 help me page six
3:00:15 page six i went right past it sorry guys hidden down at the
3:00:21 bottom
3:00:24 it is thank you thank you for giving me that grace i appreciate
3:00:28 it uh health appraisal number two
3:00:30 determine the health status of a student the school will request
3:00:33 parent guardians to provide new or
3:00:35 updated medical information to be listed on each in each student’s
3:00:38 file we do that every year this
3:00:40 information is to be shared with need to know personnel as
3:00:43 necessary to provide medical care to the
3:00:46 student this could include teachers and bus drivers whoever has
3:00:49 a visual or a time with a child that has a
3:00:53 health condition that needs to be monitored a school records are
3:00:55 reviewed for student health needs daily
3:00:58 health needs of students are assessed during clinic visits
3:01:00 parents will consent to this service in
3:01:03 writing annually um i think those are the big ones that we keep
3:01:07 getting questions on um with that one
3:01:10 just to help clarify what that one would be something um for
3:01:14 example if for a student with a severe
3:01:16 allergy that has to carry an epi pen or whatever that would be
3:01:19 something that so that when you talk
3:01:21 about need to know personnel then that that student’s teacher
3:01:25 may if it’s let’s say a peanut allergy needs
3:01:28 to be aware and so that’s part of the whole plan of
3:01:32 communication yes yes and i mean there’s other
3:01:35 steps that go along with that but yes right seizures right yeah
3:01:39 because i mean every time you read the
3:01:41 incident report there’s a student somewhere at some school in
3:01:43 the district that had a seizure and
3:01:44 that’s just an ongoing yeah that our clinic um thank you for
3:01:48 going through those did you have any other
3:01:51 ones i think everything else is pretty self-explanatory yeah
3:01:54 those are the big three this went to um
3:01:57 shack which is our school health advisory council yesterday they
3:02:01 you know they took a look at it we have
3:02:03 some partners from outside agencies as well as the department
3:02:06 health as well as you know department of
3:02:08 education and some parents that sit on that committee um cheryl
3:02:11 mcdougall is our our board representative
3:02:13 on that committee um they had a couple of little questions but
3:02:16 you know we we can’t fit a 20 page or
3:02:19 so document into one sheet so we do want to keep referring
3:02:22 people back to the school health services plan
3:02:26 and so well and i think one of the things that happened you know
3:02:30 like i said my opinion is that
3:02:32 sometimes it’s just what people have heard in the news and they’re
3:02:34 afraid that what that might what
3:02:36 that means is something that’s not what it means and so i’m glad
3:02:39 we have this document that really more
3:02:41 spells out what it is who’s responsible for it who you can ask
3:02:46 um and the other thing i also consider is
3:02:49 that often we we think about terms things in terms of our own
3:02:53 family our own experience and i know that
3:02:55 we have schools for example where mr reed used to be the
3:02:58 principal that is a community partnership
3:03:00 school and the services that we are not providing through the
3:03:03 school but we are help helping our
3:03:06 students and families connect to in the community may not be you
3:03:09 know i if my kids are having health
3:03:11 issues no big deal we go down to our doctor but some of our
3:03:14 families really struggle and so we have to
3:03:15 think outside the box i encourage people to think outside the
3:03:18 box and realize that sometimes our schools
3:03:20 through our social workers through our community partners
3:03:22 especially in a school like endeavor that is a
3:03:24 community partnership school um we’re helping students connect
3:03:28 with vital just checkups and
3:03:30 um you know our health head start program every time they come
3:03:33 to us they talk about the um the
3:03:36 hygienist and the dental screenings that is required by their
3:03:39 programs but that those students
3:03:41 from those families don’t always have those connections with
3:03:44 that other families might and so um but
3:03:48 like i said early at the beginning the important thing for me is
3:03:51 making sure that people get the form
3:03:52 in and if they’re concerned about some of these services because
3:03:55 they’re still suspicious of what it
3:03:56 might be by all means don’t check those boxes but we need to get
3:04:00 them in and i know you had you had shared
3:04:01 with me a little bit of why why we weren’t able to do it at the
3:04:03 registration time because some of it was
3:04:06 the fuzziness around what the the state department of health and
3:04:10 department education wanted us to have on
3:04:12 that but moving forward are we going to be able to incorporate
3:04:17 this form in our annual registration
3:04:20 form so that we can get a better um return from our parents on
3:04:24 this document yeah this is this is
3:04:26 absolutely going into registration next year um unless there’s
3:04:31 some new legislation uh because you know
3:04:34 it’s as some people know most of the legislation that gets
3:04:37 passed it gets you know we see it we see
3:04:39 it going through committee and then it’ll have a effective july
3:04:44 1st um but it may be november december
3:04:46 january before we get any kind of guidance on it so pending any
3:04:50 new legislation this is going
3:04:52 to be part of our registration packet and we might um you know
3:04:56 if it was up to me it’d be part of our
3:04:58 registration packet and update it after but um it is we we just
3:05:03 sent a memo out or memos going out on
3:05:05 monday um for how our schools are going to input all of this
3:05:08 into focus so we have a electronic um record
3:05:12 of everything right now it’s paperwork and um and then we’ll be
3:05:15 able to really see you know what we’re
3:05:17 missing what we have and start you know reaching out to parents
3:05:21 to better support them make sure they
3:05:23 got the right paperwork and make sure that we get it in right
3:05:25 when when we get all that in and i know
3:05:27 it will be a very quick process even when it’s available would
3:05:29 you give us at the board an update as
3:05:31 far as how many percentage wise of our students have that form
3:05:35 returned and how many of them don’t and
3:05:37 i know our schools are going to be continuing to communicate i
3:05:40 have gotten it from both of my
3:05:41 children’s schools reminders you know fill out your form we
3:05:43 turned ours in yeah um but uh that’s really
3:05:47 important so in the meantime if parents are still paying
3:05:49 attention to the board meeting at this
3:05:50 point and they get a call from the school it might be because
3:05:53 they didn’t turn that form in yeah so
3:05:56 thank you for um all of that i appreciate you miss moore uh just
3:05:59 one quick question for you miss moore
3:06:01 for our families obviously this document is available on this
3:06:05 agenda um but where else can they locate
3:06:09 that document to read it do we know where it is the health um
3:06:12 this the school health services plan yeah uh last
3:06:16 year’s is posted on the website it is it is in a bizarre
3:06:20 location um it is a function of our food
3:06:24 services group so if you go to department and uh departments on
3:06:28 our website you’re going to go to
3:06:30 food services and there’s going to be a left-hand column and in
3:06:33 the left-hand column it’s going to say
3:06:34 school health services plan this one will be signed and sent up
3:06:40 to the does it go to the doh chris
3:06:43 that’s what i thought um it goes to the doh and then we will up
3:06:46 as soon as everything is signed we’ll
3:06:48 upload this one to the food services site thank you mr susan
3:06:52 that’s one that you avoided because
3:06:54 everybody else puts all of those kind of things into your bucket
3:06:57 right athletics and everything else
3:06:58 and that one’s in food services but you’re still serving you’re
3:07:01 still doing it but it shows up on their
3:07:03 stuff and then anyways that was just kind of a things but um
3:07:09 want to walk through the immunization
3:07:12 situation when somebody comes in to register they say do you
3:07:14 have your immunization card right and if
3:07:16 they don’t have it do we tell them you need to have these immunizations
3:07:20 or you can have that you can
3:07:21 get the uh i forget what it’s called right yeah yeah so um yes
3:07:27 and um in the code of conduct it
3:07:30 does talk a little bit about what our policy states and it’s you
3:07:33 know based on parent uh parents can
3:07:35 send in a note about their religious beliefs uh we can accept a
3:07:38 doctor note about uh medical
3:07:40 conditions um but yes it will say um what our immunization
3:07:44 policy is what the expectations are
3:07:47 and then if a parent has a do they know that when they come in
3:07:51 that they can make those two choices is
3:07:53 what i was saying um it’s in our student code of conduct and it’s
3:07:56 in our policy so if they walk up and
3:07:57 get registered in there and hey you have to have your immunizations
3:08:00 where’s your immunizations uh we
3:08:02 say what well i can’t say what 84 different clerks at 84
3:08:07 different schools might say but i can say
3:08:10 it’s in our code of student conduct and it’s in our policy and
3:08:12 when those questions come to us we respond
3:08:15 with you can certainly write a letter and let us know that it’s
3:08:17 against your religious beliefs for
3:08:19 immunization or you can bring in a doctor’s note saying you have
3:08:22 a medical reason uh not to move forward
3:08:24 with immunization okay and then um by the way the immunization
3:08:28 form is not ours the immunization
3:08:29 form is the department of health we have no authority to change
3:08:32 or edit that right and in the in in the
3:08:34 event that somebody does not want to immunize and do immunizations
3:08:38 um for certain things if there is an
3:08:40 outbreak of those certain things then they tell the individuals
3:08:44 who don’t have those immunizations um
3:08:47 there’s like a rule process that they have today and all this so
3:08:50 there’s so it depends on different
3:08:52 yes and uh different diseases have different definitions of
3:08:59 outbreak sure so it’s going to depend
3:09:02 on what the illness is and what they what the health department
3:09:05 determines as a cluster
3:09:06 or an outbreak and then what they’ll do is they will decide how
3:09:11 big a circle needs to be around sure
3:09:14 so i’ll give you a for example if five students get chicken pox
3:09:18 in a class that would absolutely be an
3:09:20 outbreak the department of health would look at the immunization
3:09:24 records of that class
3:09:26 they would call us and they would say these students are not
3:09:30 immunized by uh for chicken pox and they
3:09:33 need to go home for a very specific period of time and that is
3:09:36 also different by every illness
3:09:37 so um but they wouldn’t say every child in this school needs to
3:09:43 go home because they’re not
3:09:45 immunized for chicken pox yeah i was just i was just walking
3:09:47 through it we get a lot of questions
3:09:48 about the immunizations and stuff like that so i just wanted to
3:09:50 make sure it was here thank you
3:09:51 sure that’s it yeah you bet any additional discussion on this
3:09:57 item all in favor please signify by saying
3:09:58 aye aye any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0 all right dr mullins
3:10:06 next is item h59 procurement
3:10:09 solicitations one of the wishes of the board move to approve
3:10:12 moved by mr susan seconded by miss mcdougall
3:10:15 is there any discussion on this item all in favor please signify
3:10:19 by saying aye aye any opposed same sign
3:10:21 motion passes five zero we will now move on to the information
3:10:26 agenda which includes items for
3:10:28 board review and may be brought back for action at a subsequent
3:10:30 meeting however no action will be taken
3:10:33 on these items today dr mullins there is one item under the
3:10:37 information category does any board member
3:10:39 wish to discuss the information item on tonight’s agenda all
3:10:43 right we are now at board member reports
3:10:46 miss campbell uh requested discussion of our legislative class
3:10:49 platform issues um and i sent all of the board
3:10:53 members an email the uh fsba has a deadline of i believe the 16th
3:10:57 to submit legislative platform requests
3:11:00 um so miss campbell wanted to have at least some discussion
3:11:04 about are there some things that we can
3:11:07 submit to fsba i know there’s you know we go through a normal
3:11:10 legislative process but um it’s not going to
3:11:14 align with this timeline right and i just you know there’s there’s
3:11:17 no requirement that we send anything
3:11:19 in but if we are going to send something in this is our only
3:11:22 chance to have that conversation um and
3:11:24 then to submit it um obviously we’re not ready to have our yes
3:11:28 or our board um legislative documents
3:11:33 prepared yet but i didn’t know if there was something that we
3:11:35 had submitted before that we were interested
3:11:37 in submitting again we on our personal agenda we you know a lot
3:11:42 of movement was made um obviously we got
3:11:45 the appropriation for the the fire thing and uh fire program but
3:11:49 that’s that’s not something we would
3:11:51 have submitted to fsba and honest honestly off the top of my
3:11:53 head i can’t remember exactly what was
3:11:54 submitted last year um to fsba just the pre-k item but i know if
3:11:59 there was interest in um submitting any
3:12:03 either one of these i’m speaking particularly the first two ones
3:12:06 uh that we talked about last year the
3:12:08 pre-k teachers um having them take a look at that or the
3:12:12 definition of classroom teacher to include all
3:12:15 instructional personnel or at least to take a look at that again
3:12:17 because it continues to come up and cause
3:12:20 problems so um is there yeah you know the other the other thing
3:12:25 that and i i mentioned it when mr ford
3:12:29 was here with us earlier but i really think that we have to push
3:12:31 them on the per student station cost
3:12:33 yeah i wonder though is that because he when you shared if i
3:12:37 remember what he would share with me the
3:12:39 other day is that the legislature has directed the doe to make
3:12:44 that changes happen i mean i guess
3:12:47 legislatively they could say hey do we now’s the time um so well
3:12:51 they were supposed to have done it by
3:12:54 2020 right and they they have not done that yet and i i feel
3:12:58 like you know as we continue to see growth
3:13:01 and we’re not the only district that would affect so maybe that
3:13:03 would be yeah it’s going to come
3:13:05 more and more of an issue um orange county just built like 5k
3:13:08 through 8s they’re squeezed i’m sure
3:13:11 all of the urban districts are exploding you know what i mean
3:13:13 like you’re right i mean they should have
3:13:14 they were directed to do it in two years ago inflation costs
3:13:17 everything else yeah and realistically it
3:13:20 probably needs to be done on an annual basis you know at least
3:13:23 take a look at how about it’s impacted
3:13:25 because that the you know without the cost per student station
3:13:29 issue we would have been very close to
3:13:32 not having to finance for the middle school right um so i that
3:13:36 that would be my recommendation and i would
3:13:40 certainly support you know i don’t know that they’re going to
3:13:42 get anywhere but i would support
3:13:43 submitting the other two as well i think i think it you know the
3:13:47 construction industry literally has
3:13:49 pretty tight indexes that they can follow it’s not a you know
3:13:53 hey this is the inflation today or
3:13:55 whatever i mean it’s pretty strict and the fact that they haven’t
3:13:57 come back in two years and done it
3:13:59 and we’re getting pinched on it right now like we’re going to
3:14:02 literally have to
3:14:03 take out loan and pay interest because they didn’t do that that
3:14:07 there’s an issue with that you know
3:14:08 what i mean there’s a real issue with that so um i agree with
3:14:12 you on that um and when you’re done
3:14:14 i had one that i would thought i’d throw in there too well so
3:14:18 well throw yours in there i was just going
3:14:20 to recommend that we um i was going to ask miss belfer would you
3:14:24 mind writing up something
3:14:27 that was that encapsulates our conversation about the cost per
3:14:30 student station
3:14:31 issue and submitting because we probably need to have one person
3:14:35 submit our um i’m volunteering you
3:14:40 do you mind doing that i’d write everything i know you are the
3:14:44 wordsmith of the group did you have
3:14:46 another one that you wanted to add to our i did i think both of
3:14:48 what you were saying also was really
3:14:50 good too i think when you were talking about the pre-k and the
3:14:52 other piece that just keeps i mean we
3:14:54 keep getting hit with it and it’s just not fair it’s not fair dr
3:14:57 mullen it’s not fair staff i agree with
3:14:58 you on that um the other thing that i was going to say is i’ve
3:15:01 been getting a lot of positive um with
3:15:04 the legislators on the idea of a review commission to review the
3:15:08 regulation of the doe on the school
3:15:10 districts over the last like 15 years maybe possibly reduce some
3:15:14 of what we’re having to deal with with
3:15:16 paperwork and everything else right um they they actually
3:15:20 thought it was a good idea because they’re
3:15:22 deregulating or they’re making it smaller right um really and
3:15:26 truly for us it’s there are so many
3:15:28 things that i feel like we could streamline and do better that
3:15:31 would take time less for our teachers
3:15:33 and everybody else so i truly believe i don’t know how i could
3:15:36 articulate that um but there’s some want
3:15:40 on that piece and i’ll be with them anyway so i can kind of try
3:15:43 to wordsmith it and put it in there
3:15:44 at the last minute um but that’s where i was thinking because
3:15:47 there’s i’m just tired of like literally
3:15:50 everybody says you know it was great in 1950 our education was
3:15:54 great in 1950 and i’m like
3:15:56 yeah but we actually were able to teach 180 days you know what i
3:16:00 mean now we have all these regulations
3:16:02 we’re teaching like like 70 days when it’s all said and done and
3:16:05 that ain’t enough so that’s all so kind
3:16:08 kind of like a similar to the federal uh paperwork reduction act
3:16:11 you know we’re just asking them yep
3:16:14 and and with the premise that the teachers in the classroom need
3:16:18 more instructional time and it’s
3:16:21 being eaten up by all of the good idea fairies regulation quite
3:16:25 frankly over the last 10 years
3:16:27 they come up with these new ideas and then all of a sudden the
3:16:30 teacher work more paperwork
3:16:31 more regulation more of this and all of a sudden we’re literally
3:16:35 have like half of the days to teach
3:16:37 that aren’t testing that aren’t running out and doing fire
3:16:40 drills that aren’t doing the you know all
3:16:42 of those things so that’s all miss hand i see that you poked
3:16:45 your head in the door were you were you
3:16:47 poking your head in in response to what our discussion was or
3:16:49 did you just happen to come in the door at
3:16:51 that time okay did you have concern about my recommendation to
3:16:55 address cost per student station
3:16:57 analysis okay perfect um i would just like to add i think it’s
3:17:03 really critical uh that fsba get in
3:17:10 the fight when it comes to accommodating the salaries of our
3:17:14 staff and our teachers and to stop ignoring
3:17:17 the fact that legislatively we are again handcuffed when it
3:17:21 comes to how we can give raises to our staff
3:17:24 um it’s insane that they are dictating the percentages of what
3:17:28 we can give to what staff
3:17:30 members when every single district quite frankly is different
3:17:32 especially you know like we talked today
3:17:34 we’ve got 22 districts that have millages passed their salaries
3:17:39 are very different than ours their
3:17:41 discrepancies between certain staff members are very different
3:17:44 than ours and to give us an insane
3:17:46 calculation that quite frankly is contradictory to the tsia
3:17:49 calculation that they tell us to give
3:17:51 is not only confusing um it appears to be intentional uh to
3:17:58 continuously drive wage compression
3:18:02 and keep salaries down for our staff so i think fsba would uh i
3:18:10 just think it’s their i think it’s their
3:18:14 obligation i think we’ve been silent on it so all right so i’m
3:18:19 sitting in if i can add just a couple
3:18:22 considerations i know fsba and fads collaborate uh you know
3:18:27 across organizations associations just some
3:18:30 conversations that we’re having as i said on the board for
3:18:33 effort or for fads uh one is to begin
3:18:37 discussions or proposal to move tsia allocation into the fefp as
3:18:42 a separate categorical it is more subject
3:18:45 to potential defunding or underfunding moving forward and that
3:18:49 is a perpetual recurring cost to districts
3:18:52 and to provide security for that funding uh interest in having
3:18:57 the doe move it into the fefp so it’s not
3:19:01 likely to be uh reduced in funding like we saw recently with a
3:19:04 class size amendment allocation
3:19:07 second is um reconsideration of the calendar year sit out for an
3:19:14 individual who retires
3:19:17 that uh does drop and can come back into the system the reason
3:19:21 my understanding just provide some
3:19:23 background my understanding is is that became an issue based on
3:19:28 irs uh regulations having to sit out for
3:19:33 a year that has been that question has been called and answered
3:19:38 and when uh the state wanted to reduce it
3:19:41 down back to the 30 days for emergency responders and so it was
3:19:46 approved for emergency which opens the door now for other
3:19:49 uh classifications of employees that take advantage of or
3:19:54 utilize florida retirement system
3:19:56 but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen automatically we’ve
3:19:59 got to be a strong voice in saying
3:20:01 we want to move all employment classes back to a 30-day sit-out
3:20:05 which would allow us
3:20:07 to then give opportunities for continued employment for teachers
3:20:10 administrators and so on one of the
3:20:14 concerns was is that individuals could get reinvested in the
3:20:18 retirement system i would propose as a
3:20:21 concession that employees aren’t interested because the the term
3:20:25 of reinvestment is now eight years it used
3:20:29 to be six to expect an individual who has done 30 years maybe
3:20:34 plus five of drop or seven and then to do
3:20:37 another full eight to get vested is probably that’s a that’s an
3:20:42 extreme case but to keep them in the
3:20:45 system for two more years or three more years certainly is a
3:20:48 proposition i think we should lobby to the to the
3:20:51 state for so um add on that topic i know the supervisor of
3:20:57 elections i think i shared this a couple years
3:21:00 ago was also interested in that so there’s other forces because
3:21:03 i know they they look at retirees
3:21:05 recently for positions like poll workers um and i know i’ve
3:21:08 heard glory scott in the past talk about
3:21:11 if they if it wasn’t here she would have an easier time finding
3:21:13 those um poll workers from recent retirees
3:21:17 as well absolutely so i i will craft some verbiage around this
3:21:23 and then send it to you all and dr
3:21:26 mullens if you have anything that fads has already put together
3:21:28 on those two issues if you wouldn’t mind
3:21:30 forwarding it’s me um and then i’ll send it out to you all just
3:21:35 in case you have any feedback on it
3:21:38 mr susan you are now our appointee so you’re going to have to be
3:21:43 able to speak intelligently to those
3:21:45 issues at the meeting absolutely okay i’ve got a board of
3:21:47 directors meeting in october i’m going
3:21:49 to be over there for a couple days on bail and a couple other
3:21:51 things too so it’ll be good okay yep
3:21:54 absolutely i’ll be on there all right anything else on
3:21:56 legislative platform issues any other items
3:22:00 on board discussion uh i have something i want to talk about
3:22:05 okay yeah uh so
3:22:06 as elected officials we operate under florida sunshine law we
3:22:15 are subject to public records
3:22:17 requests we’re no strangers to them and um i want to bring this
3:22:22 up to my fellow board members
3:22:24 and to people who are listening i’m going to read a statement
3:22:28 here from our sunshine manual and i’m
3:22:31 going to kind of jump around just because there’s a lot of
3:22:33 numbers in here and they’re not going to
3:22:34 make any sense to anybody um so the definition of a public
3:22:38 record specifically includes
3:22:40 a record made or received in connection with official business
3:22:49 any connection with official business is public record
3:22:52 regardless of physical form characteristics
3:22:55 or means of transmission i’m going to skip a lot here because
3:22:58 there’s a lot of references to chapters
3:23:00 and yada yada yada that’s not going to make any sense if i’m
3:23:02 just saying it verbally to you
3:23:04 um the determining factor is the nature of the record and not
3:23:08 whether or not the record is located
3:23:11 in a private or government computer or communications device and
3:23:14 so the reason i read that i’m going to be as
3:23:17 as broad as possible here i submitted a public records request
3:23:21 myself to this district and
3:23:23 the response i got to something that i requested specifically on
3:23:29 a personal device was that it
3:23:33 doesn’t need to be responded to because it was on a personal
3:23:37 device and i’ve received plenty of public
3:23:42 records asking for things on my public my personal device if it
3:23:46 exists i know we’ve had a couple of
3:23:49 lawsuits come up where we’ve had to go through our personal
3:23:52 devices if anything exists and submit that
3:23:54 as well and so i just want to bring that up to my fellow board
3:23:57 members that that is a grave concern of mine
3:24:00 it opens the district up to potential legal issues if we are not
3:24:05 fulfilling those public records requests
3:24:10 and i think that the public has an obligation to hear um but
3:24:16 that is a response
3:24:18 and it concerns me it concerns me with transparency it concerns
3:24:23 me with accountability because essentially
3:24:26 what that means is that not only us as elected officials but
3:24:30 anyone who’s working in the school system
3:24:33 is also subject to public records request that if we do those
3:24:36 things on our personal device
3:24:38 we don’t have to submit them and i don’t agree with that and i
3:24:42 don’t think that the law says that either
3:24:44 um and i just wanted to make you all aware of that and my
3:24:49 concern my concern is it’s going to open up
3:24:51 some legal issues thank you mr jenkins any additional board
3:24:57 discussion paul do you wish to clarify anything
3:25:00 here or are you okay because the public records request was for
3:25:05 a record that doesn’t exist and i put plenty
3:25:09 case law just like other people who said this to her previously
3:25:13 also and now i sent that to you for review
3:25:17 right yes okay and so the request was not said that it wasn’t
3:25:22 that it’s on a personal device and it
3:25:25 doesn’t happen it’s on because the public record doesn’t exist
3:25:29 period so is that the nature of what
3:25:32 was sent to you i can’t remember verbatim what it was it was a
3:25:36 fairly long email um there was a
3:25:40 if they don’t hold it in public business like on a personal
3:25:44 device like if it’s not being held by
3:25:46 the entity then it wouldn’t exist by the entity for a public
3:25:49 records request if it doesn’t exist on
3:25:52 on the device if it doesn’t exist in the public doesn’t exist at
3:25:55 all cannot be a public record
3:25:57 so that’s what those court cases and the defining support and
3:26:01 everything was that’s all so
3:26:07 what’s that that’s been clarified before too i’m just i i wasn’t
3:26:10 going to get specific but now i’m going
3:26:12 to uh the response that i received was not that it doesn’t exist
3:26:17 no and uh that’s a concern to me uh and i
3:26:24 and listen i did a request of business phone and there were no
3:26:31 results yet public statements were made that
3:26:35 these communications had happened and uh i have people in this
3:26:40 room who say that these communications
3:26:42 happen on the private phones there’s people who have under oath
3:26:46 made that statement so it’s concerning
3:26:52 to me so mr kibbs i i would love for you to clarify for me if
3:26:56 the response i got was that they didn’t
3:26:59 exist at all because that’s not what happened and i wasn’t going
3:27:02 to get specific there but for you to say
3:27:04 that i’m going to double down that is not the response i
3:27:06 received
3:27:07 i don’t know what public records actually sent to you i know the
3:27:14 email correspondence that was
3:27:16 going back and forth with my office and there was a case law
3:27:20 citing
3:27:21 that defined the record under 119 uh let’s see if i can find
3:27:28 where the statement is
3:27:34 that it was in regard to school district owned devices call logs
3:27:39 on school officials personal
3:27:41 mobile phones would not become public record unless the log
3:27:44 itself was prepared in connection with
3:27:46 official agency business and intended perpetuate communicate or
3:27:51 formalize knowledge of some type based
3:27:54 on a 1980 florida supreme court case which further defined the
3:27:59 term record as used under 119 florida
3:28:02 statutes to mean any material prepared in connection with
3:28:05 official agency business which is intended to
3:28:08 perpetuate communicate or formalize knowledge of some type and
3:28:10 it went on to say they were not aware of
3:28:15 a government officials personal phone being a public record as
3:28:20 it’s not held by the public they’re not
3:28:23 public records unless public agency or public employee makes use
3:28:27 of the logs themselves based on
3:28:29 nissen versus pierce county in washington from 2015.
3:28:34 so i’m going to go ahead and read the email i received good
3:28:38 afternoon miss jenkins mr susan has
3:28:41 provided a response to your phone log request citing case law
3:28:43 that states personal cell phone records do not
3:28:46 qualify as public records that is not saying that they don’t
3:28:51 exist that is saying that they are not um to
3:28:55 be they are not subject to public records law and so that to
3:29:01 call for review prior to
3:29:04 he was supposed to contact your public records department to
3:29:08 tell them to hold until he’s reviewed
3:29:10 so the fact that they jumped the gun and did that whatever i can’t
3:29:14 speak for the public records
3:29:15 well it’s not jumping the gun when i submitted the request
3:29:17 almost a month ago no no listen i have a
3:29:20 right to say that not only as a fellow elected official who’s
3:29:23 been subject to the same public records request
3:29:26 i have the right to say that as a constituent myself um i think
3:29:30 it is subverting public records law
3:29:34 and i think that as a board we need to be concerned because
3:29:36 there could be legal ramifications for it
3:29:38 miss jenkins i just would like to review the fact that our own
3:29:41 attorney just cited case law specific
3:29:44 to your request we just went ahead and found out publicly that i
3:29:48 returned the information to
3:29:50 mr gibbs so that he could review it send it over to the public
3:29:54 records group they must have sent an
3:29:56 email to you ahead of time that was not part of the plan so what
3:29:59 you’re saying and what you’re doing
3:30:01 is outside the scope of what our legal counsel is in the process
3:30:04 of doing so i would refer him
3:30:06 you to him and find out what it is because that’s the proper
3:30:09 process for our school board members to
3:30:11 take care of absolutely and mr gibbs have i met with you about
3:30:14 this yes yes and mr gibbs do you believe
3:30:16 that this case law either supports or um goes against
3:30:26 this being a public record do you believe that it says either
3:30:29 way i don’t think it’s super clear i
3:30:32 think there’s a lack of clarity in the email actually knowledge
3:30:36 there’s no direct on point
3:30:38 case law finding whether or not personal records would be public
3:30:41 record on a phone log and for a
3:30:43 personal device okay thank you so i have a right to still be
3:30:46 concerned that it is circumventing public
3:30:49 record as well thank you are we good
3:30:54 then dr mollens do you have anything more to add if i may i have
3:31:03 three quick
3:31:04 um updates for the board i i think you’ll appreciate being made
3:31:09 aware of one i want to uh just i provided
3:31:12 the board an update on student enrollment after our three-day
3:31:15 count process uh enrollment was looking
3:31:18 favorable then it is looking even more favorable now our
3:31:22 enrollment is actually over projection in our
3:31:24 elementary and secondary schools by over 460 students and we
3:31:29 continue to grow historically into the october
3:31:33 for fte so uh i would i would let the board know that our
3:31:37 projections for this year were already ambitious
3:31:41 and we we determined those back in january february of last
3:31:46 school year and not only have we met those
3:31:49 projections we’ve exceeded them considerably across our
3:31:52 traditional elementary elementary and secondary
3:31:55 schools so very positive encouraging news there second just want
3:31:59 to do a a continuous plug for our
3:32:02 mentoring program frame framework i have mentioned it uh several
3:32:07 times in public presentations it is alive
3:32:10 and available on our website we can monitor like access to that
3:32:15 website and we’ve had considerable numbers
3:32:18 of folks at least visit the website and appear to be going
3:32:21 through the training process uh our
3:32:25 fingerprinting and background check cost is still zero for
3:32:29 individuals to meet that first benchmark requirement
3:32:33 for becoming a mentor and i would just implore our board and i
3:32:37 know you do already but our community
3:32:40 to uh go through the mentoring program if you’re available and
3:32:43 you would love to mentor some of our
3:32:45 students our principals are ready and receptive to getting you
3:32:49 plugged into our schools across the district
3:32:52 and finally i want to put uh put a big plug out for our parent
3:32:57 first ever parent academy which will be
3:33:01 launched end of september or uh first week in october we’re
3:33:04 finalizing dates and locations
3:33:06 the first topic is going to be uh in the student behavior uh
3:33:11 arena how parents and school can come
3:33:14 together and partnering to improve student behavior it’s about a
3:33:18 90-minute session what’s exciting is
3:33:20 we’re really leveraging a lot of technology and kind of a new of
3:33:25 new venue we are simulcasting the
3:33:28 training from the boardroom to five satellite locations across
3:33:31 the district where there will be an
3:33:33 in-person opportunity in our schools our staff there will work
3:33:37 with the families at that site where the
3:33:41 instruction will be delivered simulcast and then they’ll have
3:33:44 the hands-on activities with staff in
3:33:46 the schools so we have capacity at the parent academy for
3:33:50 hundreds of families to participate at the same time
3:33:54 of course it’ll also be recorded and parents can utilize it if
3:33:58 they’re not available to participate in real
3:34:01 time to access that information as well as all the resources
3:34:05 that we’ll be providing our parents along
3:34:07 the way so that’s the first of several parent academy uh
3:34:11 engagement opportunities that will be
3:34:14 continuing across the school year so very excited about that we’ll
3:34:17 be doing a big uh launch of the
3:34:20 information the specifics locations the time how to access the
3:34:24 simulcast and or the podcast afterwards
3:34:27 so just got to keep speaking that out there and get the word out
3:34:31 that we have that great opportunity
3:34:33 big thanks to miss moore her team that is working on the content
3:34:37 and mr brune and his team are working
3:34:40 on the logistics of technology and all of that fun stuff so
3:34:45 thank you to my team for their great work
3:34:48 thank you miss moore can i just i just want to make one quick
3:34:52 comment and i know this is not
3:34:54 board member and it’s not specific to what you shared dr mullins
3:34:57 but i just feel like it’s
3:34:58 necessary to make the comment so you know we we talked earlier
3:35:02 in the meeting about the fact that
3:35:04 we have this is the first time that we’ve come together since
3:35:07 the school year started and all the great work that went to
3:35:09 to making sure that we started off strong that our students are
3:35:12 being served and the great work of
3:35:14 our bus drivers and you know all of the people who have poured
3:35:17 in making this a successful start to
3:35:20 the year albeit with challenges i just have to point out and i
3:35:24 know that we internally and as board members
3:35:26 have had this conversation we saw the exact same thing last year
3:35:31 from this team who serves our district
3:35:33 and that is not only are they maintaining right keeping us afloat
3:35:38 and getting our school year started
3:35:41 but they are expanding and working on parent academies and doing
3:35:47 the work that you know we’re doing in
3:35:49 elementary and secondary to continue to support students to
3:35:51 success and doing all of focus on boarding and
3:35:55 the new um substitute app and the i mean it they just don’t mind
3:36:02 boggling it is absolutely mind-boggling and
3:36:06 um so okay yeah couldn’t let that go
3:36:12 okay
3:36:16 all right we have two public speakers on non-aboard non-agenda
3:36:24 items
3:36:25 we’ll now hear the remaining speakers who signed up to comment
3:36:29 on non-agenda items each speaker is
3:36:31 limited to three minutes we have a clock in front of me to help
3:36:33 you keep track of your time when
3:36:34 your time is over you’ll be asked to stop and allow the next
3:36:37 speaker his or her turn we hear from
3:36:38 the speakers in the order in which they’re signed up uh only two
3:36:41 of them so miss delaney and then
3:36:43 miss mirski as stated earlier reasonable decorum is expected at
3:36:45 all times and your statement should
3:36:47 be directed to the board chair so the audience participation
3:36:50 interferes speakers being heard or
3:36:51 hearing me i’ll be forced to clear the room i don’t think we
3:36:53 have any audience left other than
3:36:55 our two speakers so it shouldn’t be a reason a problem um good
3:36:59 night and the rooks are leaving so
3:37:02 there you go what about ms mullins mrs mullins do you anticipate
3:37:07 being you know disruptive or okay
3:37:10 um all right so we will start with miss delaney when you’re
3:37:15 ready ma’am
3:37:16 so there is i’m going to read something that i uh saw today in a
3:37:23 mom swap group um
3:37:25 and i will not say the child’s name but it’s written in this and
3:37:29 again these are not my words
3:37:33 this is not something i typically do but here it goes if your
3:37:36 son named blank is in eighth grade and
3:37:39 goes to space coast junior senior high and he comes home with a
3:37:43 bloody nose just know it was my daughter
3:37:45 my seventh grade daughter that did it it has been he has been
3:37:49 bullying her since the second week of
3:37:51 school she has told teachers deans and multiple other adults
3:37:55 nothing has been done i’ve called and spoke
3:37:58 to the deans and multiple other adults nothing has been done she
3:38:02 came home yesterday with marks from
3:38:06 where he stabbed her and scratched her with a pen that was the
3:38:09 last straw i told her that if he touches
3:38:12 her or touches her with anything she has my full permission to
3:38:15 defend herself and do what she feels
3:38:18 necessary to make him stop if the adults at the school did what
3:38:22 needs to be done we wouldn’t
3:38:24 be in this situation i have been talking about this for two
3:38:28 years now at every almost every meeting
3:38:31 i’ve been talking about this i don’t care if a student is any
3:38:36 kind of demographic any kind of sexual
3:38:39 orientation any kind of anything i want our kids safe in school
3:38:45 i don’t care what their label is it
3:38:49 doesn’t matter i want our kids to be highly educated and i want
3:38:53 our kids to be safe and you know we
3:38:55 talk about suicide prevention how about how about our kids being
3:39:02 bullied relentlessly and none of the
3:39:05 adults are doing anything about it and if if an adult does come
3:39:09 out about it like a friend of mine
3:39:12 she gets sued by the district and fired
3:39:19 we need to have an honest conversation about this i will work
3:39:28 with anyone to fix this problem i don’t
3:39:32 care who you are i will work with anyone i want all the kids in
3:39:36 our our schools to feel safe
3:39:38 something that we don’t talk about is dating violence it happens
3:39:43 in our schools every day
3:39:46 i’ve mentioned before the girl who gets walked around by a leash
3:39:49 by her boyfriend in school
3:39:50 how is that not stopped
3:39:53 we need to protect our kids we need to set the example we need
3:40:00 to be the adults thank you
3:40:05 thank you miss delaney miss marsky
3:40:07 good evening madam chair and board my name is sarah marsky i’m a
3:40:21 wife mother of two children in brevard
3:40:22 public schools taxpayer voter constituent college student and i
3:40:26 live in district 2 for school board
3:40:28 wow what a difference in election makes um i want to touch on a
3:40:33 little bit of the materials the
3:40:36 inappropriate materials in the libraries that i mentioned before
3:40:39 when those on the dais say kids
3:40:42 have personal electronics where they can access this material
3:40:45 anyway i would say you are out of touch
3:40:47 with what the majority of parents in your district and voters
3:40:51 want the parent leadership team in brevard
3:40:55 overwhelmingly wants help with keeping their kids safe online
3:40:59 let me know if you need a need a resource to
3:41:02 help parents the other issue i want to talk about was d18 it was
3:41:07 on the agenda but apparently i couldn’t
3:41:10 discuss it in the agenda items um which is confusing to those of
3:41:14 us who come and we prepare to speak and
3:41:17 we time our speeches to do respect the business of the board and
3:41:21 our time and the board’s time as well
3:41:24 um just wanted to share that part um everyone sitting on the dais
3:41:29 should be driving a bus most of you
3:41:31 subbed last year in a classroom it’s time to drive a bus um i
3:41:36 watched you know there’s been reports
3:41:40 about from all over this district about lots of
3:41:47 uh really again it goes back to the safety issue of these
3:41:52 children children being dropped off where
3:41:53 they shouldn’t be dropped off um people not knowing where
3:41:55 children are um and this is not the fault of
3:41:59 the bus drivers okay the bus drivers try to come and speak at a
3:42:03 school board meeting in february and they
3:42:05 only had one minute and then they were cut off and that is not
3:42:09 fair and that’s on the leadership of you
3:42:11 madam chair um and i’ll leave with this um this past week so my
3:42:17 son gets picked up before my daughter on
3:42:22 the bus it’s at 50 minutes between time on tuesday morning my
3:42:26 son was still waiting at his bus stop
3:42:29 and my daughter was picked up before my son was and he said to
3:42:33 the bus driver uh can you please take me to
3:42:36 my school too and then my son missed a whole period the first
3:42:40 period of school and then the school ends up
3:42:42 calling me or the robocall and saying that my son was not at
3:42:47 school or that he was tardy or he had
3:42:50 missed more than one period and then me as a mom i was really i
3:42:54 didn’t know where my son was or why he
3:42:56 wasn’t in school that day so you know there’s just it’s so
3:43:00 important to listen to parents and to work
3:43:03 with your constituents thank you thank you um i will share with
3:43:09 the board just for your knowledge
3:43:12 since there was reference to a situation in a school in my area
3:43:16 that that particular parent has updated
3:43:18 that information and did speak with leadership at the school and
3:43:22 has spoken with the parent of the child
3:43:24 that was referenced um and all seem to be on the same page so
3:43:28 just so you are aware that that information
3:43:32 was was left out what was shared all right anyone else have
3:43:35 anything for the good of the order this
3:43:38 evening then let’s go home this meeting is adjourned all right
3:44:02 so