Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:31 Good evening. The October 25, 2022 board meeting is now in order. I’m happy to welcome my fellow board members and the public. I would like to take this opportunity to remind the public that the appropriate place for public participation in the meeting is during your individual public comment opportunity as identified in the agenda.
0:47 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role in the meeting is as an observer. Mister Gibbs, roll call, please. Miss Belford? Present.
0:57 Miss McDougall? Present. Miss Jenkins? Present. Miss Campbell? Present.
1:01 Mister Susan. Present. The board will now hold a moment of silent reflection and invite the audience to join.
1:28 Thank you. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I didn’t even know that I was blocking you with Mister Cass.
1:56 All right. At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and Doctor Mullins an opportunity to recognize students, staff, or members of our community who would like to get us started this evening. There’s your wife, Miller.
2:12 Mister Susan. Got anything? Sure. I mean, I can if you catch me earlier.
2:16 It gives me less time to keep writing stuff so I can’t keep talking. Hey, everybody. I just want to say thanks for coming out tonight.
2:23 We have the Viera high baseball team and I just want to take a second. Earlier today in the workshop, we decided that we were going to put in what will be a try to. It’s called a reimagined middle school program.
2:38 And part of what we’re trying to do is create more competitive sports in middle school so that we have a feeder program that will feed your baseball programs up. And many of you know that we’re building and opening the Viera middle school pretty soon. So the idea would be that we would be able to expand baseball softball, some other sports, depending on how it all plays out, and that those kids could play at the middle school and then be able to come over to the high school and be pretty close.
3:06 The reason is, as many of you know, is that there’s a just, you know, there’s a disconnect between the rec leagues and the kids being able to afford that. So what’s happening is many of our athletes in the middle schools are actually could play or no longer playing sports and no longer playing into the high school level because they don’t get it in the elementary and middle school. So we’re trying to do that.
3:27 I just wanted to let you guys know, and I wanted to say thank you for everything you guys do. Our sports are one of the pinnacle parts of our school district. And I really appreciate your time.
3:35 I did want to say thank you to Mister Miller for coming. Doctor Miller, Doctor Mullins was saying earlier that the whole stipends and all the things are moving through and Doctor Thetti is, you know, working on that. So I feel very positive that we should have something.
3:50 I noticed a couple more of the bus drivers coming off, so we’re trying to go as fast as we can, sir. But thank you for everything you’re doing in transportation. Many of you guys know our bus drivers.
3:59 There’s limited amount of them. And what they’re trying to do right now is cover every one of the rides right now. So they’re getting hit from the parents saying why are you late? But what they’re doing is just jumping in the bus to try to catch another ride to get the kids to school or from school.
4:13 So we’re trying to address that by incentivizing some of them to do more. I did want to say thank you to the veterans associations that met. I met over at the veterans Memorial center with multiple people from the veterans associations, from the Veterans of Foreign wars, the American Legion, Vietnam vets, there’s a bunch of them.
4:33 And what we’re doing is that in November we’re going to meet and we’re going to set forward all of the direction for each one of their essay policies and everything else. These guys give out a $1000 stipends for writing a kid to win an essay, but they’re sometimes giving them american revolution essays in March. And it doesn’t tie to our curriculum.
4:54 So I’m trying to work with them to realign it, get more veterans into the classroom so that they can do some stuff. And I wanted to say thank you to Don Weaver for putting it together. And I look forward to doing that.
5:04 And then many of you guys don’t know, but on this agenda, and I won’t have a time to talk about it, is something known as school improvement plans are being approved tonight. And if you guys have never looked at a school improvement plan, please look at yours. Because not only does it break down each one of the demographics, the school scores, but it also talks about what the direction of the school is.
5:26 And we need help from our parents, we need help from our community so that they can understand the direction and we can all row our boats in the same direction. And I think that if you get an opportunity, if you have a chance, go to our website tonight, go to the agenda, go to the Sip plans, and take a look. So with that, I’m done.
5:45 Thank you very much, Miss Gamble. Got anything? I’m good. Campbell? Yes, I do have something.
6:03 So, tonight is our last school board meeting for Miss McTougall and Miss Belford. And the end of four years and then eight years of serving. And, you know, I think Doctor Mullins mentioned earlier today, this is kind of a thankless job.
6:24 And here’s what I would say to both of you. First of all, thank you for caring about each one of us. And I’ve seen you do it for the staff as well.
6:34 Not just in our role as school board members and staff, but as people. You check on us, Miss McDougall. You make sure that we are.
6:39 You check on us on our own mental health, our families, our pets, you know, our other jobs, and make sure that we are in a good place. And, Miss Belford, you have done that as well. You have cared for each one of us as people, and not just in the role that we play as we sit up here next to you.
7:02 You know, a lot of times in the public sphere, the focus is on the votes that we take that are three two or four one. But we have many, many, many 50 votes. And it’s not just the things that are formalities.
7:19 They’re good work that we’ve done together and that we’ve come. We were hashed out and come to agreement on. And I just want to celebrate those 50 votes that we’ve done.
7:30 And I will tell you, Miss Belford, you have not only served for eight years, but served as the chair and the leader in a position that you had directly the line of fire. Some of the things that the rest of us won’t ever know or understand because you sat in so many more meetings and things that we were never a part of and took a lot of those shots on our behalf. And I very much appreciate that.
8:01 And, you know, the truth is that whether we agree on every issue or every political side, I do believe for both of you, that you made every decision for what you thought was what was best for kids. And I’ve seen your tender hearts and the investment that you have made in your schools, every single one of your schools. They know you.
8:23 The staff, the leadership there, they know you. You come and you love on them, and you bring them things and support them as best you can. And you have set a model for each of us in visiting schools and serving them and keeping them connected to community resources.
8:42 And Miss Belford, for being our. A lot of people in the public don’t know, but you’re our wordsmith. And we’re very much going to miss you when we’re trying to come up with how we’re going to say something in one paragraph and everybody has different ideas and we all just kind of throw it out there and somehow you take it all and craft it into a succinct, understandable paragraph.
9:02 It takes quite a lot of skill to get five different people to come to one agreement just in writing a sentence. So we’re going to miss that skill that you provide. So I just wanted to thank both of you for your service.
9:15 And just thank you as a person for the ladies, the women that you have been in my life over the last four years. And I know that you’ve got great things ahead. Just so the public knows.
9:27 Both of these two were over in the security department this afternoon getting fingerprinted. So they’re ready to volunteer. That, my friends, is the way you go out.
9:36 So I very much appreciate the example you’ve already set. And I’m sure when it comes to volunteering, mentoring, if you could be a security specialist, I know you’d love to do that, Miss Belford. But you guys will continue to be invested in our community and in our schools.
9:49 And I very much appreciate that. So thank you, Doctor Holland. Got anything? So I will.
10:09 I’ve got a couple things. One, I won’t attempt to follow Miss Campbell’s very eloquent recognition of your service, but I would add my own. Miss McDougall, Miss Belford, thank you for your steadfast community leadership, servant leadership, example.
10:27 Not only up here on the dais, but for our entire community, not the least of which is our 68,000 kids that we strive to serve with excellence every day. Appreciate your example and appreciate your leadership, not only over the past years, but that leadership that we know will continue moving forward. So, my personal thanks.
10:49 Next I’d like to share. I’m going to do. I didn’t get a chance to connect with Doctor Miller.
10:54 Doctor Miller, is Miss Roxy here tonight? She is. Okay. There she is.
11:01 I have a very special opportunity to recognize one of our heroes on the front lines, serving our kids every day with joy and love. Not the least of which is a smile. We received an email from one of our own employees who was asked, one of our directors, who was asked to accompany one of our help out at one of our schools, Gardendale Day school.
11:31 And then she was asked, could you ride on the bus and provide some extra support to our kids on the bus. And I’m not going to try and capture what she said without reading exactly what she said because it just represents beautifully what she experienced. She writes, I was the extra assistant on day one from student services.
11:52 We were asked to support, to have additional smiling faces and support the kiddos for Gardendale. Miss Roxy is amazing. She knows all caps, knows the kids, the families and parents, and she shared that.
12:09 She chose to keep this route with these kids as they are facing big change this year, moving schools to Gardendale and no longer going to Riverdale. I cannot say enough great things about Miss Roxy. Her heart and love for these kids and their families shines through.
12:29 I loved seeing the hugs and smiles and high fives on day one as the kids were comforted by seeing a trusted and familiar face as they entered this new school year. Miss Roxy Ann Wanda, who rode the bus, who was an instructional assistant at Riverdale, now one of our new BPS employees. We got both are amazing with our kids.
12:52 Thank you to the south area team and all of the drivers and supports for an amazing start to the school year. And it doesn’t seem enough to just read an email or even to provide applause. So, Miss Roxy, will you come up here and join Miss Belford and I as we present you with a heart of Brevard award for your support of our kids.
13:15 Thank you. And the reason behind that is it Miss Belford? I just want to take a second. I didn’t know you guys were going to.
16:19 I thought we would do that whole thing at the end, so I apologize. I wasn’t trying to not say thank you and stuff like that to you guys. You know, I think the biggest fear in the district is now that you’re not going to be the wordsmith that I’m going to be.
16:33 Somehow the wordsmith. And I write basically, like with my feet. So I really appreciate some of the things that we’ve traded paint with over the last two and a half years may not agree with, but I will tell you that you have done it with governance and with respect.
16:52 And prior to the years that the recent ones, the relationship that we had and the things that I’ve seen that have been consistent from six years that started in 2014 when you came out of the school trying to be a huge change agent, which you were, you made a massive. Not many people know from 14 how you made changes to this district back then, and you continue to do so. And I think you will after you leave.
17:18 I did want to take a second and say thank you for your governance, thank you for working as hard as you do and people out there have, if they want to try to define the last couple of years. Look at the whole time that you’ve been here, because you have consistently believed in who you are and what you do, and you’ve delivered. Thank you so much for being on the board with me.
17:41 And I appreciate working with you, Miss McDougall. Not many people know that you are probably the largest fiscal conservative. That’s up here sometimes, right? Like, how many times have we actually been into debates? And you come from that side.
17:56 So many people try to define individuals based on whether they’re political party or something like that, but they don’t actually know the person. And I’ve gotten to know you very well over the years, and I really appreciate being next to you and some of the conversations that we have up here at the dais. It’s meant the world to me.
18:12 I do want to let you know that I did talk to the county, though, and you are a lifetime member of the value adjustment board at this time. So, just so you know, the value adjustment board is what they call the worst board in the history of the world. I enjoy it.
18:26 But because she did such a great job, we’re going to nominate her for the rest of her life to be a part of it. But for the most part, I really appreciate having you guys on the dais. I appreciate who you are.
18:39 Look forward to working with you in the future. And if there’s anything we can do together, let me know. So thank you, Miss Belford.
18:44 Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Good.
18:52 All right. I will just say thank you. And with that, we are at the adoption of the agenda.
19:06 On this evening’s agenda, we have one proclamation, one resolution, one presentation, 13 consent items, three action items, and ten information items. Changes made to the agenda since release to the public include the addition of d ten student behavior update presentation, and revisions to items f 14 instructional staff recommendations. I 29, board policy 5780.
19:28 I 30, board policy 5520, and I 31, board policy 24. Ten. What are the wishes of the board? Move to approve.
19:36 Second moved by Miss McDougall, seconded by Miss Campbell. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Same sign.
19:45 Motion passes 50. Doctor Mullins, we now move on to resolutions. The first is to approve lights on after school proclamation.
19:57 Excuse me? Proclamation, not resolution. For October 20, 2022, Mister Brune will read the proclamation. Mister Brun.
20:07 Good evening, board doctor Mullins. Whereas Brevard public schools, through our brevard before and after school program, stands firmly committed to quality after school programs and opportunities because they provide safe, challenging and engaging learning experiences that help children develop life, physical and academic skills. Support working families by ensuring that their children are safe and productive after the regular school day ends.
20:36 Build stronger communities by involving students, parents, business leaders, and adult volunteers in the lives of young people, thereby promoting positive relationships among youth, families, and adults. Engage families, schools, and community partners in advancing the welfare of our children. Whereas after school programs provide engaging, hands on learning and opportunities to connect with caring adults and peers, today, programs are supporting young people and families as they navigate the return to school and continue to innovate to meet ever changing needs.
21:10 Whereas Brevard public schools, through our brevard before and after school program, has provided significant leadership in the area of community involvement in the education and well being of our youth, grounded in the principle that quality afterschool programs are key to helping our children become successful adults. Whereas lights on afterschool, the national celebration of afterschool programs was held this year on October 20, 2022, promotes the importance of quality afterschool programs in the lives of children, families, and communities. Whereas more than 28 million children in the US have parents who work outside of home and 7.
22:11 7 million children have no place to go after school. Whereas many after school programs across the country are facing funding shortfalls so severe that they are being forced to close their doors and turn off their lights. Therefore, be it resolved that brevard public schools urges the citizens of Brevard county to ensure that every child has access to a safe, engaging place where the lights are on after school.
22:30 And be it further resolved that this school board chair enthusiastically endorses lights on afterschool and is committed to innovative afterschool programs and activities and ensure that the lights stay on and the doors stay open for all children after school. Thank you. Mister Broome, what are the wishes of the board? Move to approve second by Mister Susan.
22:35 Seconded by Miss McDougall. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye.
22:40 Any opposed? Same sign. Motion passes 50. Doctor Mullins.
22:54 Now is a resolution supporting the Space Coast Transportation planning organization Vision Zero initiative. Miss Sue Hand will introduce the resolution. Miss Hand.
22:59 Good evening, everyone. I’m honored to be here today. This is kind of a special thing for me.
23:22 Space Coast Transportation Planning organization is an intergovernmental collaborative body, and it includes Brevard county government, many of the municipalities, Port Canaveral. The idea is that we work together on transportation planning and also on transportation patient safety. And so Brevard Public Schools serves in a capacity on the technical advisory committee.
23:42 We coordinate with many of the municipalities in the county regarding development, activity, school enrollment, bus routes, things like that. So we are a partner in the process of transportation planning in Brevard county. This particular resolution is centered around safety and safety for everyone and brevard schools.
24:00 I got to thinking about it today. We are heavy, heavy users of the transportation system with our 8500 or so employees, our 68,000 school kids, our buses. We have folks that are coming to school in cars, in buses, in golf carts.
24:25 They’re walking, they’re bicycling, and probably a few other things with wheels. So we really are, are a part of the process and need to be cognizant of transportation safety for everyone. And so Kim Smith, who’s with me this evening with Space Coast TPO, she’s the education and safety coordinator and the Vision Zero project manager.
24:48 She has been bringing a version of this resolution to all of our partners around Brevard county. And we thought, you know, we, as the school district, really should be part of this initiative. And Vision Zero really is about the philosophy that no injury or fatality is okay and that it really, the only acceptable number is zero.
24:59 So I’m going to read the resolution for your consideration, and Miss Smith and I are happy to answer any questions, and you may want to say a few words. So let me read the resolution. It’s Resolution 2022.
26:56 202, a resolution of the School Board of Brevard county supporting the Space Coast Transportation planning organization Vision Zero initiative, an effort to eliminate fatal and serious injuries on Brevard county roadways, providing for an effective date and providing for adoption whereas the growth and vitality of our district requires safe and reliable transportation systems and whereas, the life and health of district residents are our utmost priority and wheReas, vision zero is the concept that there is no acceptable number of traffic deaths and serious injuries on our roadways, and whereas, the school board of Brevard County, Florida recognizes that no one should die or be seriously injured while traveling on our streets and using our roadways, whereas children, the elderly people, children, the elderly, people of color, and people in low income communities face a disproportionate risk of traffic injuries and fatalities and whereas, people walking and bicycling represent a disproportionate number of these fatalities and whereas, schools typically serve a diverse population and are an effective partner in sharing information on roadway safety and whereas, school officials and teachers are trusted to supply important safety information to parents and students within their communities and whereas, driver behavior, including speeding, distracted driving, and drunk driving, are significant contributing factors to the loss of life and whereas, space coast transportation planning organization adopted resolution 2002 endorsing Vision zero to achieve zero traffic deaths and serious injuries and whereas, the Florida Department of Transportation has formally adopted driving down fatalities, its own version of the national vision towards zero deaths. Now, therefore, it be resolved, the School board of Brevard County, Florida hereby supports and adopts the goal of Vision Zero, that no loss of life is acceptable on Brevard county roadways. Hereby agrees to promote a culture of traffic safety within brevard public schools.
27:41 Hereby supports and will provide district staff to participate in a county or multi jurisdictional vision zero committee comprised of members of organizations and agencies with expertise in transportation enforcement, education, public health, emergency response, equity, transit, biking, walking vehicles and freight, who will work together for the development and implementation of a vision zero safety action plan and hereby supports traffic safety education by continuing to support the Bicycle Pedestrian education program in partnership with the Space Coast TPO and Safe routes to school program. Duly adopted and approved by majority vote of the School board of Brevard County Brevard County, Florida at the regular school board meeting held the 25th day of October, 2022. Thank you.
28:08 Miss Han, I just want to say thank you for your consideration of this important initiative. To date, we do have 13 municipalities, Brevard county and the Space Coast CPO. Brevard county is kind of leading the way on this initiative in the state, really with a number of government agencies, agencies that we’re pulling behind this.
28:19 And we are so thrilled about the school board considering this. And I can tell you the safety administrator at FDOT was extremely excited about this, too. Let me know how it comes out.
28:34 She was really excited just thinking outside of the box. We have enjoyed a longstanding 25 plus year partnership with BPS aimed at traffic safety. And, you know, it gets forgotten.
28:47 What’s happening on our roadways gets first got. And it’s like, oh, we’re going to lose people on our roads. The bottom line is we don’t have to, you know, and I know that there’s people sitting even up there at the front of the room that care about this.
29:03 Board member Susan came to me a few years ago and said, hey, we’re going to be looking at drawing lines on a map about where kids go to school. Can we draw those lines so they don’t have to cross, cross Ogalla Boulevard? That’s what vision zero is about. Think about how we can do it better and safer.
29:18 And so, you know, just in closing, we had a stark reminder last week in the city of Melbourne. We lost five people in one city in one week. And, of course, one of those was an educator.
29:23 We’ve got to put an end to it. So thank you for your consideration. Thank you.
29:37 What are the wishes of the board? Second moved by Miss Jenkins, seconded by Miss Campbell. Is there any discussion? Real fast, because we spent a lot of time together. I want to let you know who this woman is that stands before you is.
29:55 We had a lot of issues a couple years ago with crossing guards, dodging traffic, with signage, with education of our children. And she literally, the energy you just saw is what she brings every single day. When she wakes up, she hits it and she comes through.
30:01 There was. I get a lot of nos, you guys outside the box. I come up with some ideas, and I hear, no, no, no.
30:05 She’s one of the yes people. So she said, yes, let’s do this. Yes.
30:16 This is what’s right for kids. This is what it is. And I can’t tell you how a breath of fresh air working with you was, how you do have the utmost safety for our children in mind.
30:26 And I’m proud to be a part of what we did together. And I look forward to doing it again because I got a couple crossing guard spots that I need to talk to you about to bring to the transportation. Well, you might have to do it with somebody else.
30:34 No, I know, I know. But you have a loud voice with all these safety people, so I need you. But anyways, I did want to just say thank you for the education of our kids.
30:47 What you do every day, and, miss Hand, what you’ve put together, coordinating a lot of the city officials for the Capitol committee that we put together, also helps in this regard. So thank you. Both of you guys are amazing.
31:06 Thank you. That’s it? Yeah. She’s phenomenal.
31:12 Thank you. All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye.
31:25 Any opposed? Same setting motion passes 50. Thank you. All right, tonight’s presentation will be a student behavior update presented by none other than Doctor Mullins.
31:38 He makes his way to the podium. Thank you, Miss Belford and members of the board. I wanted to come back.
32:06 Miss Morris is joining me. I’m going to do my best, but she really is somewhat of the guru behind this, along with certainly my leading and learning assistant superintendents. If you remember, I came to the board back in June and provided the introduction to a conversation I was beginning with stakeholders across Brevard, somewhat in response to, but in acknowledgement of.
32:29 We were seeing incidents of student behavior that were not what we were hoping to see and expecting across our schools and certainly across our classrooms. And so the conversations began at the end of last school year. But one of my findings was the conversation needed to be expanded beyond those who I had already been talking with.
33:21 And so those conversations around student behavior expanded to my parent ambassadors as well as student services, who are on the front lines of responding to questions and inquiries from our school leaders and teachers on how to be better equipped and respond to some of the behaviors our teachers are seeing in the classroom. SAT with principals across our schools, all levels to get their feedback, as well as assistant principals expanded to more teacher ambassadors to include recommendations from our federation of teachers of individuals that they wanted to be part of the conversation, as well as employees across the organization. Each of those conversations began, as you will likely not be surprised, around data.
33:38 We spent an hour and a half just beginning to take a look at student achievement data across our district earlier this afternoon. But this data honed in on some of the behavior incidents that we’re experiencing across our schools. And what you see before you.
33:53 I know it may be a little hard to see, but these are incidents that are identified and reported to the state as a incident, a school environment. I’m going to spot. I don’t remember what SUSR stands for exactly.
34:00 Is it on there? There it is. School environmental safety incident report. This has existed for several years in the state of Florida.
34:27 We have been mandated to report all incidents that fall into these categories, which are clearly defined on the Florida Department of Education website. So you see several identifiers or acronyms at the bottom, but I’m going to kind of highlight just a few of those. In some instances, we were encouraged with what data was showing us.
34:55 You’ll see about the fourth group of bars in that references bullying, documented bullying in our schools. And you can see over the last five years a considerable decline or decrease in those incidents of bullying that are documented across our schools. But conversely, you can see those areas that I’ve highlighted are certainly areas of concern, particularly as we see some significant increases.
35:12 That first one that’s highlighted in yellow are actual incidents of drugs on our campus campuses across Brevard. This is aggregated data from all school levels, elementary, middle, and high school. Of course, we have it disaggregated as well, but for.
35:40 We looked at the disaggregated data in our conversation and discussions with all of those different individual groups. But for tonight’s discussion, I just present the aggregate. The next category you see highlighted there, it’s called other major offense, another major offense is defined by the state of Florida as any serious harmful incident resulting in the need for law enforcement consultation not previously classified.
36:01 So, for example, an incident of drugs would require law enforcement because if it’s drugs as an illegal substance, that there would be law enforcement involved. But if there’s an incident that hasn’t previously had law enforcement, that law enforcement was needed to be consulted, it would fall into this category. One example is a student possessing drug paraphernalia.
36:16 So it’s possible it would fall into that incident, like that would fall into that category. Other major offense. Next to it you see a category pha, which is titled physical attack.
36:56 And that is typically a one sided physical contact situation would potentially be considered battery, which is a one sided unwanted harmful contact by another person. I’ll note that on the DoE website for our administrators across our schools is a detailed outline of not only what the definition is, but what are examples as well as non examples. And so the state takes very seriously schools and districts reporting these incidents.
37:19 And then the category on the far right that’s highlighted, you notice at the highest frequency of incident, that is tobacco. Now I pause because I would provide clarification. I think we won’t be surprised to know that that is not the traditional tobacco we might think of of recent past.
37:36 Past like cigarettes, chewing tobacco dip, that type of thing. This is where individuals or students who would be in possession of a vaping device that would be classified in that incident. And I’m disappointed to have to share with the board and ultimately our community.
38:06 But at the same time, I share it openly that we’re seeing as much of an increase in incidents in our elementary schools as we are across our secondary schools. And so while I present some rather disturbing data, we have to pause and remind ourselves somewhat of two things. One, while there is a rise in incidents, we know there is a rise in incidents.
38:36 In other words, our administrators are being responsive, attentive, and addressing these issues as they are being realized across our campuses, and certainly addressing it consistent with our discipline plan established across for all of our schools. And I’ll talk about that a little bit more in a few minutes. You want to jump in? I think the other part that’s significant is that we sit in student services.
38:45 We sit on a lot of community boards. This is not isolated to brevard public schools. This is a community concern.
39:16 We have seen a rise in the severity and intensity of child abuse. We’ve seen a rise in drug addiction across all grade levels that our community partners are also seeing. So when we look at this, we can’t just focus in on Brevard public schools, although we’re an agency that can support and help and educate, but across all of our community partners, and we’re working very closely with our community partners to address it outside of the schools as well.
39:31 And that goes hand in hand with what I wanted to share next. And that is what some of the feedback is that we heard. And Miss Moore attended all of those community conversations with me, with all of those stakeholders, as well as some of her staff.
40:05 And so I wanted to share what some of the comments, themes were or some of the common threads of feedback that we received in that conversation. One, students inability to control emotions and actions is more significant, and at younger ages, significant aggressive behavior among us, among our youngest learners, students are, and this is where Miss Moore had to kind of bring her expertise into the conversation. But what we’re seeing is that students are turning to either fight or flight, and that’s not an unusual.
40:53 We are familiar with that reference already, but the fight is the manifestation of that aggressive behavior. But flight is manifested in isolation, closing off, taking it, taking on some internalizing negative behaviors that we might see in the manifestations of drug and or vaping use, as well as eloping from class, trying to escape from situations or an environment. In addition, we see that we heard from parents they’re struggling with the same behaviors at home and that they are asking for help.
41:35 Schools are a reflection of the community and that came out in our external stakeholder conversations where school districts and other places. As we heard from parents who coming from other places, they were experiencing the same challenges elsewhere as well as as I talk to leaders across the state, we’re all tackling the realizations of some of the same behavior that I’ve already mentioned. We heard that we need to communicate expectations more clearly and more, more frequently to all stakeholders, whether it’s students as well as parents and the community at large.
42:05 Because as we take on helping our kids better manage, better self regulate and correct behavior, it’s going to take all of us. And then schools also share that they’re experiencing parent behavior that demonstrates they’re struggling to manage their own behavior at times with interactions with the school. So although these conversations have continued as recent as last week, I met with my SGA student leaders last week.
42:27 I smile because I tell you our student leaders are amazing and they bring value add to every conversation that I have the opportunity to have with them, but I wouldn’t. But I wanted to share with the board. We have not waited until the conversations ended or we got to perhaps an ending place or first stopping place.
42:42 Miss Moore and her team, as well as leading and learning. We were hearing these things and we began, okay, we’ve got to start responding and putting some things into action. So I want to share what are some of those things that we put into place? And Miss Moore may jump in as well.
43:00 You can see that we increased our training for teachers began with a new training called ESE pathways. It was actually four full days of training, which was before for pre planning. So our new ESC teachers are brought in to participate in this training.
43:26 We focus in day one on classroom practices, everything from environment to behavior, but also the curriculum and instruction. Because we know the best classroom management plan is one that is instructionally focused. We know that when we have engaging, dynamic, relevant instruction and learning going on, that in itself mitigates dysregulation.
44:22 Day two, policies, procedures, as well as strategies for behavior management. Day three what are the resources we have as a district? The board got a glimpse of those earlier this afternoon, but making sure that our teachers know where they can go to get additional resources across our website and in our divisions of leading and learning and student services, as well as just a greater understanding of disability awareness, because we know that students with disabilities are generally our students who may struggle the most with processing, with what’s happening around them and knowing the best way to manage that impulse control or manage the situation in a positive way. In addition, student services expanded the autism spectrum disorder endorsement course and it actually just about doubled in participation this year over last year.
44:42 I think the word is getting out and actually the first training significantly increased in participation as well. That included for the first time, Gen Ed teachers. And so this course, the four day course of pathways, gives general education teachers the opportunity to move towards getting ESE certification.
45:33 We actually had general education teachers do this and then take the certification exam and are now ESC certified teachers and then more most recently a pre k varying exceptionalities teacher training. That’s a full day training that focuses on nine physical and mental tasks that help calm, help regulate to promote cooperative interaction among our students. In response to the feedback we receive that some of our most significant impulse control or dysregulation behavior we’re seeing in the youngest ages, as well as how to use adaptive technology to promote communication and multisensory approaches to learning, again making the classroom relevant, dynamic, engaging, and interactive.
46:05 In addition, we expanded training for our administrators. Now, I’d remind the board that we have always, every summer, brought in our deans and we do a four hour training, about 4 hours going over our student code of conduct, going through our discipline plan, defining and explaining what assessor incident is, when that’s required to report to the state bullying packet and what is involved with that. Making sure that’s both experienced and new.
46:14 Deans. It’s that refresher of let’s all get on the same page. Let’s make sure we promote consistency across our district in these incidents.
46:24 But here we have additional training that’s been provided. The MTSS behavior resources. This is a three part training received very positive feedback from our administrators.
46:31 One focusing on at the tier one level. I know the board understand that’s for all students. That’s campus wide.
47:07 The key elements of classroom management, providing administrators resources that include checklists that they can then work with their teachers, particularly those teachers who may be struggling specifically in the elements of classroom management. Tier two, the behavior support kit and intervention log that goes at the next level. You can see some of the topics that that task and that is in response to the feedback and the data that I shared with you earlier, as well as developing the functional behavioral assessment and the subsequent behavior intervention plan.
47:44 I know those are very familiar terms to Miss McDougall as you served as a school social worker in the past, but supporting our administrators and understanding how do we use that intervention tool to be proactive as to promote positive behavior rather than simply reactive through our discipline plan and the consequences. Very recently, Doctor Sullivan brought deans together and hosted a diving deep into our focus app. So you heard our new focus tool highlighted earlier today.
48:20 It is the access point for student management for parents to access their students information, grades, progress reports, graduation progress and so on. If I have any parents out there who haven’t already gotten their log on for focus, please call 321633 1000 tomorrow morning and let us help you get logged in. The focus app is just a tremendous gateway to engaging with your child, your student at a other level.
49:07 But on the administrator side, we use it also to document or to input our referrals, our discipline referrals. We began that new this year with the implementation of focus and Doctor Sullivan took our deans through. This might be called rabbit hole of data analytics, but it’s really a powerful tool that we’re using on our side to dig down and understand better what are some of the student behaviors, the where, the what, the how that help us as the leaders on our campuses put strategies and interventions in place to either mitigate or even prevent inappropriate behavior or dysregulation.
49:32 Let me give you an example. One of the significant data points that we shared in our conversation was also an incident that is identified as out of assigned area. This might be a situation where a student asks to leave class to use the restroom during the lunch hour of the day, albeit not their lunch.
50:23 And coincidentally, they never made it to the restroom, but they may have made it to the cafeteria to see friends or to be with friends or to potentially engage in a conflict. And so we had our deans like look at that specific incident because it was such a high frequency area and they were able, because we entered the referral with not only the date, the student, the class they came from, we also entered the time of the referral and the analytics take it all the way down to the hour of when it occurred. And so what our deans realized is that our out of area incidents were most frequent during the lunch hour and towards the end of the day, and Doctor Sullivan coached our deans.
50:57 So now what do we change about our behavior during those times that then don’t set us up to have those kinds of incidents? And so we are using the focus tool at a new and deeper level. It’s much more user friendly than our antiquated as 400 process that requires required ET to help us in some cases download reports, import them into excel, then do all the filtering and so on. The focus app helps us dig into it right away.
51:16 In addition to teacher and administrator training, we also launched expanded parent training as well, beginning with the parent leadership team that was reinstituted toward the end of last school year. We’ve continued it this year. Every month Miss Moore and her team provided a presentation.
51:47 Let me back up for a second for those who are watching don’t know what parent leadership team is. Every school has at least one parent leader representative for their school and they come on a designated day, typically a Friday. We spend pretty much the morning together with our parents across the entire district, provide resources and then that parent is a spokesperson, is a resource tool to the parents back at their school, very often involved in the school advisory council or PTA, PTO, those types of connections with the school.
51:59 So Miss Moore and her team brought to the early parent leadership team student behavior and making a better school home connection. We used that premise in the first parent academy. I’ll talk about in a minute.
52:06 But then a second session. They were asked to come back. We want more mental health supports for families.
52:25 This is a great testament to district to community connection. Health foundation picked up our request to provide the all day youth mental health first aid training for parents. That’s a state initiative.
52:44 We are required to train our staff. We have to get all staff trained by sometime in the near future. We actually are leading the state with I don’t know how many thousands of our staff already trained in youth mental health first aid, but parents understood the benefit if they could be trained in those same, same areas.
53:26 So Space Coast Health foundation took that on and there is a nominal fee for that training November 15 at the Space Coast Health no, I take that, yes, the center for Collaboration in Rockledge and they’re going back on November 4 to present conversation around identifying and removing barriers to student learning. In addition, we launched our first ever parent academy about three weeks ago, on October 2, around parents and educators partnering to improve student behavior, again promoting that school home consistency, common language. We’re in the process of identifying a date to bring that same training back.
54:01 It was immediately after the break from the hurricane. So we’re hoping to have even more participation at the next session as well as the presenting vaping education, the signs of use, and the interventions for your child using a vaping device as well as drug abuse prevention in addition to trainings. In addition to trainings, we’ve identified those supports we want to continue to promote across our district.
54:23 Again, the focus app use of analytics for for intervention, not just collecting data and knowing the when and where, but then how do we take on the responsibility to intervene? And we’re working on that with all levels of our administrators. This insights the behavior pilot I may have to have Miss Moore jump in on this one. This is a new tool that we’ve just brought on as a district.
54:43 Actually, I stumbled on it and brought it to Miss Moore, I think over the summer and it heard about as a tool other districts were using, it is sent, you know what, you’re better at it. You do this part. So this is a tool that takes teachers through what a functional behavior analysis is.
55:07 So it asks very directed questions. The teachers just answer and click and it takes them through what the function of the behavior is for the student and then leads them on again through answer, question and click what the appropriate replacement behavior and reward might be for a behavior intervention plan. More importantly, it then tags in training videos.
55:59 So if you want to know what that behavior plan looks like in practice, if you want to know what that reward system looks like in practice, what the replacement behavior and training looks like in practice, you can click and watch a video and get some more information about how you as a practitioner can go into the classroom and support students, especially when you’re looking at, you know, you’re still at a tier two level, you haven’t quite decided to that you haven’t put in as many interventions or as long a period of interventions as you want. And so we need to get those hands this in teachers hands to begin to train and learn better how to do FBA bips. Again, that was in response to some of the feedback we heard from our employees who said we understand what a bip is and what the benefit could be.
56:15 It’s just too dang cumbersome to get through. And so this resource, it doesn’t do it completely for them, but it just walks them through. It is that intuitive click down menu kind of process.
56:50 But we love the training videos as well that help teachers with those vignettes of how to implement in the classroom behavior MTSs website that is in response to the administrative training I referenced earlier and it is an expansive resource for our staff, everything from aggressive behavior and the interventions and resources, but also any type of dysregulation behavior. The board is familiar with our mentoring framework that student services developed over the summer. We launched it at the beginning of the school year.
57:22 I’m excited to say we’re getting some positive response, not as much as I would like, but we didn’t know how many mentors we had before. But we’ve had, in addition to the mentor schools have had already in the past that have come back, but through this gateway, if you will, to mentoring. We’ve had 81 new mentors added this year and I want to give a great shout out to two particular schools who have been proactive and ambitious about using this as a way to bring in mentors.
58:28 Stone Middle School added 32 mentors to their school this year already, and astronaut High school has added 19 additional mentors to their school and we hear that it is making a difference and that it is a positive impact. In addition to those things that I’ve already mentioned, wanted to highlight some things we’re continuing to pursue and walk out as we go into second semester. Monitor we will continue to monitor our data monthly all the way down to the school and then reach out and provide supports where we start to see some of those concerned areas, making sure they are familiar and aware of the resources we have available and as importantly, how can we come and be supportive and help in the work we know you’re trying to accomplish as a school? We’re going to continue to expand parent academy more topics second semester obviously focusing on drug use, abuse and the signs of to help our parents know what they should be looking for in the home.
58:43 Also, we want to expand that functional behavioral assessment vip resource tool beyond six schools. But it’s not free and we want to make sure that schools are ready to onboard it. So as the word gets out, we’re ready to provide the support for them.
59:10 To utilize that, I’m currently working on producing a message to our secondary students. The board is very familiar with our lead simply focus this year how we promote and utilize the principles of model, connect, involve. That was my charge to leaders, but if we pause as I reflected on it, it has a great message to our students.
59:41 Model the behavior you know your peers need to see. Connect with that adult on your campus who is trying to reach out and connect with you and then involve them when facing a situation that would be much more positive than taking matters into your own hands. So that message will be going out to students, reminding them of how to make the positive choices, but also being very clear about what the consequences are for making poor choices.
1:00:12 And we know what those are and how disruptive it can be to a student’s placement in their school as well as the continuity of their learning. Expanding the vaping and drug education across our schools recently, we received very positive feedback from a guest speaker who was in eight of our high schools, a gentleman by the name of Mark Romero. He spoke to our schools about making positive choices with an anti bullying, anti drug, suicide prevention, making positive choices message.
1:00:29 And so we’re exploring what and how we may expand that type of opportunity for our schools. In addition, conscious discipline. We’re continuing to study the expansion and acceleration of implementing conscious discipline across to all of our elementary schools.
1:01:01 That was part of our original plan over a few years, and we’re looking at how we might accelerate that because the feedback and the results we’re seeing in schools who are our anchor schools in conscious discipline is very positive. The student data is validating that that is the right direction to go. Certainly continuing conversations with those stakeholders that I mentioned earlier and making sure that we’re continuing to be responsive and active in providing them supports.
1:01:53 In addition, I’m finalizing a letter to be sent to all parents and staff, recommunicating those expectations, our organizational values that have been a part of our organization for at least two decades. But as you take a moment and look at these organizational values that really guide the work, whether it be our mission, whether it be working with one another across divisions here at the district office as well as in our schools, this is the message we need to be promoting not only to our staff, but also to our students and our parents. So I’ll be sharing those with our stakeholders here as we kind of close out first nine weeks and move into second nine weeks this school year.
1:02:17 And so with that, I want to. I’d like to transition into just a quick academic performance overview, but I certainly want to give the board an opportunity to ask any questions as it might pertain to student behavior, some of the actions and steps that we put into place to be responsive, supportive and proactive. Before I move on, questions for Doctor Collins.
1:02:37 Before we google, I have a question with the drug and the tobacco. Let’s say if somebody is vaping and they have thc in it, where does it fall or does it fall in? Both. Same question.
1:02:42 It falls into drug. Drug. Okay, so we don’t count it twice.
1:03:05 It depends on what else is going on, but generally it’s just going to fall into drugs. And so I’m excited that we’re talking about an educational program for drug education, because I think that’s really important. And I know that we’ve seen the anxiety level and the coping skills that many of our students are using vaping as a coping tool when there’s other things that could be more beneficial, obviously.
1:03:12 So I appreciate this report. I do appreciate it. In the time that went into putting it together, it’s enlightening.
1:03:15 So thank you. I think it’s. I appreciate you saying that.
1:03:33 And I think it’s significant to understand that what we’re really seeing is the impact of trauma on kids. And so when we look at any child that had some adverse childhood experiences, they learn to cope. They learn to cope through family, they learn to cope through their sources of strength, they learn to cope.
1:03:45 But when we add on, and that’s kind of what we had with the pandemic. Their whole whole life changed for three months. And then for a year, there was, are we? Aren’t we? And now we’re kind of seeing the result of that.
1:04:02 And so the more consistency, the more persistence, the more programs, the more sources of strength, the more family support, the more community support we can wrap around our kids, the quicker we’re going to come out of this hole. Yes. Thank you.
1:04:35 You know, in my conversation with stakeholders, I said we may have deceived ourselves, because I can personally remember saying through that period of pandemic celebrating our kids and saying, wow, you’ve been so resilient to all of this interruption, disruption, change and uncertainty. And now we have to pause and ask ourselves have they really? Not their fault. But now this is our reality.
1:05:24 And now how do we come around our kids and provide them with positive strategies, positive interventions to help them cope and work through the trauma that they’ve experienced as a youth, whether it be our kindergarteners who experienced a tremendous amount of uncertainty for the two and a half years at least, before they joined us in school. Not to mention we talk about our third graders all the time. How are our third graders doing in learning and the progress they’re making and so on? Why kindergarten cut short by a quarter of the school year, right at that pivotal time when they’re learning to read? First grade, very disruptive e learning.
1:05:49 We’re here, we’re not second grade, tremendous amount of quarantines and interruptions and disruptions, and not just kids being quarantined. Let’s not forget our teachers were quarantined. So a lot of disruption that we’re having to kind of step back and say, okay, how do we reset, how do we support and how do we help our kids equip them? So thank you.
1:06:08 Any other questions? Yeah, I think one of the hardest parts for me as a school board member, and I think you all would agree, is when we have to go to an expulsion hearing, because the majority of the children that go to those expulsion hearings are great kids. In fact, almost all of them are. I’ve only seen two throughout the years.
1:06:20 And the issue that we have is that in every single instance, these kids just made one mistake. Most of the time a vape pen, you know, this or that, and they end up going. And I think.
1:06:43 I think the issue that we have is that the students sometimes forget that, that one instance that they get hit with either carrying drugs, getting into a fight, whatever it is, because they are lashing out. I’m angry, somebody says something to me, bam, right? I’m coping, whatever that is, that instant, right. There is a hole that most of them can’t even drag out themselves out of because they get expelled.
1:07:06 They go to ALC, they end up in a place where they have to crawl out of a hole. And sometimes having a community and parents and stuff like that, understand that they then proactively lets them start to talk about the vape pens and stuff like that. Because we know for a fact that the majority of kids that are getting the vape pens at the older levels are getting it from their friends, but at the younger levels are getting it from some of their parents.
1:07:20 And some of the issues that they have is that some of those parents don’t understand. Well, yeah, you know, whatever. But what ends up happening is if that student gets caught, gets expelled, gets all that stuff, the hole they have to pull themselves out of is incredible.
1:07:30 And the amount of work they have to do and everything else, and it creates more coping, more anger, more all the way down the line and it’s just. Doctor Mullins, thank you for doing this. Thank you for bringing it out.
1:07:48 One of the things that I’ve been looking at, and I’ve been talking to some of the other officials is that we have HUD housing has dollars in place that works with some of the same students that we’re working with. Melbourne, city of Melbourne has dollars that they work with the same kids in some of the housing developments. We are working with those kids.
1:07:59 We’re sending tax dollars from multiple entities that are circled around one kid. But in some instances, we’re not coordinated in those efforts. So that would be one of the things that we can do to move forward.
1:08:07 But thank you so much for putting this together. I just think that part of this is the parents also. In some cases, these children don’t have the support at home.
1:08:38 But I know some parents that could do a better job at communicating to their parent their kids the right thing to do because it is not fun on the other end, you know? Thank you. Sorry, just getting out of my soapbox probably. I’m only beating Chris from walking up to the mic because I think she would say the partnership that our community resources have committed to putting, bringing to the table to help us because they see it, they’re dealing with it outside of the school environment because they’re supporting families as well, really has been quite admirable.
1:08:56 And so we’re leveraging all of those resources, bringing ourselves to the table, obviously, and saying, okay, how do we tackle this as a community? This is not a brevard public schools problem only. Yes, it is. We’ve got our own challenges to face and confront, and we are, and we will continue.
1:09:12 But the real solution lies into your point, Mister Susan, as we continue to come together and arrive. I just. How many times have we sat in those expulsion hearings and looked at the kid and just said, man, I wish this wouldn’t have happened, because now they’re stuck, you know what I mean? And it just is hard.
1:09:28 It’s hard to look at those kids, that’s all. I mean, I was with one that’s literally going to West Point that we expelled four years ago because he did something, because he had ADHD, right. I was with him last weekend and he was playing football out there and I was just sitting there and I was like, this is insane.
1:09:42 Like, that kid’s life went through heck and he was able to get it back around. I’ve coached so many kids that have gone out and had instances like this, and it comes back to the parents and the community saying, look, man, if you’re going to do that, get it out of the school. Don’t do it inside the school because this is what’s going to happen to you.
1:09:46 At least there some of them don’t do that. And that’s where we end up with these kids. Like, that’s all.
1:09:51 Sorry. Sorry. I get my soap up.
1:10:09 Campbell, thank you for giving us this update, particularly the update on the mentors. I was excited to hear the numbers that you shared and kudos to Stone and astronaut and the schools who already had those programs in place. I think Hoover already had a mentor program beforehand before we opened this initiative up.
1:10:19 But I, you know, you said 81 88. Okay, good. Yay for those last seven.
1:10:25 All right. Super excited about the 88, but that’s still averaging out to about one per school. So I would just.
1:10:35 I’m going to put. I know I’ve already done this several times over the last several months, but I’m going to put the challenge out again because we have heard from our community for the last year at least. You know, you’ve got behavior issues in the schools.
1:10:43 You’ve got behavior. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? And the challenges have been put out. What are you going to do? Because this is not just us.
1:10:48 We need those community mentors. We’re opening wide the doors. Fingerprinting is still free.
1:11:05 Schools are developing the initiative. If you are not already involved as a mentor some way, shape or form in like boys and girls clubs or take stock and children, or at your local church, find a school. If you don’t have a school, we’ll help you connect with one in your community.
1:11:38 If you go to your local school and they say, I don’t know what you’re talking about, you just come to us, we’ll make sure you find a place because we need these mentors. And so I’m ready to see people who have been complaining about what they’ve been hearing about step up and say, I’m ready to be a mentor. I’m ready to invest in a child’s life so that I can be an extra set of hands and ears and just a loving heart and to hear and invest in a child who needs that extra little oomph to help them get through some of these behavior challenges, someone else they know is looking out for them and challenging them to make the right decisions.
1:11:45 And so I just want to put that plea out to our community again. Get on the website, get yourself fingerprinted, and come be a mentor. Thank you.
1:12:04 Miss Campbell, you reminded me of a note I had. I didn’t highlight, and I think I put it on a slide somewhere that our mentoring initiative will be my second semester call to action for our community. I talk about it everywhere I go, and there’s no shortage of where I go.
1:12:23 Second semester, it’s going to be going back around again and say, okay, I didn’t hear from you, so I’m back. And now with a commitment card, it’s going to be kind of like an altar call in church. And I’m going to ask our community, it’s time to answer the need we have, and it costs nothing out of your pocket.
1:12:32 It’s going to cost a little bit of your heart. But I guarantee the return on the investment will be enormous. So thank you.
1:12:53 And, Miss Campbell, thank you for that. I will see your challenge and raise your challenge because I will say 20 to 30 minutes once a week. If you’re working with boys and girls club, if you’re working in your local church, you can still spare 20 to 30 minutes once a week to go in and meet with a child, and I’ll raise it even further.
1:13:11 I think Miss Campbell makes a phenomenal point at the feedback that we have been hearing as we’ve been out in the community and the concerns around behavior. And they have been far and wide. And I will tell you that 99% of those people have not stepped a foot in our schools to see what the real challenge is or to walk alongside us to address it.
1:13:26 So I’ll take it a step further. If you are a business owner in this community and you have employees, I challenge you. Put the bill for your employee to take 20 to 30 minutes once a week to go and mentor in our schools.
1:13:47 We have schools throughout the county. They can pick a school close to them, make it an incentive through your business for them to be able to go out and do that and build those relationships and give that time to our schools. Because the reality is, and we’ve said this over and over, we can suspend and suspend and suspend and expel and expel and expel, and it doesn’t change the behavior.
1:13:59 These are the things. And I can’t thank you guys enough for the hard work. You know, it would have been easy for you and your entire team, Doctor Mullins, to just keep, you know, issuing those suspensions and those expulsions.
1:14:10 But you guys dug in and you looked at what the real issue is. And I, you know, I don’t remember if it was Miss Moore, Doctor Mullins, who made the comment about fight or flight. And the reality is that’s.
1:14:30 That is what we’re seeing in our kids and that’s what we’re, you know, I’ll tell you, I work with very young kids prior to elementary age, and I have an international network of instructors that I communicate with. And we’re all seeing. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Florida or if you’re in Maine or if you’re in Wisconsin or if you’re in Maui or wherever you are.
1:14:53 We’re seeing those same types of behaviors and our very littlest children. And so I think we have to, number one, keep that in mind. But I think it also speaks to the importance of having programs and supports in place because, you know, Doctor Mullins, you said the best classroom management is instructionally focused, where we’re actually engaging our children in coursework.
1:15:11 And that couldn’t be more true. And number one, our teachers, especially if they have not gone through a formal education program, don’t get that classroom management instruction oftentimes. And quite frankly, most of our education programs don’t provide classroom management instruction.
1:15:28 So our teachers are only getting what they’re getting from the district when they come in, which makes it a real challenge. But, you know, we look at, well, let’s just take that student out of the class. What happens when that student comes back to the class? They’re even further behind and getting them re engaged in that education is nearly impossible.
1:15:46 And so while a lot of people want to say we just have to be tougher on that behavior, the reality is, no, we got to get to the bottom of it because we need them in class learning. We need them engaging. We need them falling in love with learning and falling in love with reading and all of those things that make the educational experience so important.
1:16:09 And the importance of a positive relationship with an adult in that situation cannot be overstated, especially if they don’t have that encouragement at home. So you’re a business owner, if you’re retired, if you are a parent, whatever it is, please sign up to mentor in our schools. Our kids need you, our schools need you, and our community needs you to take that action.
1:16:37 And the last thing I will say is, I love the insights to behavior. Like, I haven’t seen it, but the concept of it, because, you know, we’ve heard for years that the MTSS process is so long and it’s so arduous and it, and I feel like the mentality is we just have to gather data, gather data, gather data, gather data and expect that there’s going to be some magic fix at the end of the day gathering all of that data as opposed to some of those strategies that our folks can use and see immediately implemented through the videos. So what an awesome find.
1:16:57 Thank you. Can I. Yeah. So I just want to, I want to double down or triple down, quadruple down on the mentor program, you know, because the reality is, like you said, time and time again, our community actually has stepped up when it comes to mental health resources, but the resources are limited.
1:17:25 And I believe it was just yesterday it was announced the state added a whopping twelve sites to address drug addiction, which is obviously a really insufficient number to tackle the challenges that our state is facing. I mean, it’s obviously a country ride problem, but the community is already helping and so we appreciate that. And I’m glad that you guys continue to forge those relationships a little bit deeper, as much as we possibly can.
1:17:41 But they’re struggling too, and they need some help too. So we need to continue to be advocates on that front. I’m really excited about the FBA bip pilot, someone who sat in many an IEP meetings, I think.
1:17:47 What was it? Form seven. I feel like that’s the. Yeah, one of the forms.
1:18:02 All I remember is, do you have a form seven? No. So frustrating and understandably frustrating for our teachers who have, you know, 25, 30 kids in a classroom. They’ve got plenty of kids that have behaviors, but they got one that really needs to get addressed.
1:18:18 And, you know, we put all these demands on them, like Miss Belford said, to collect all this data, hoping that we’d find out what’s going on with the child. And then, you know, we only have so many behavior analysts to come in and do an assessment for that kid. And then it takes about three months until the assessment is done and then maybe we’ll have a behavior tech to come in to support that teacher.
1:18:30 And at that point, that teacher’s burnt out. Done. And so I love that pilot because it actively engages them in that behavioral assessment program.
1:18:51 It allows them to say, oh, that’s not really what Johnny’s doing. And it gives them those videos and those tools to understand why that behavior analyst might be telling them to do what they’re doing because at the time when you’re frustrated, you’re overworked, you’ve got, again, you’ve got five kids with behaviors, but you’re only focusing on one at the same time. Time you forget, you know, you’re like, oh, they gave me a sticker chart.
1:19:06 And you’re frustrated, but you don’t understand the intent behind the sticker chart or when to use it and when not to use it. And I’m obviously dumbing it down to a sticker chart, but you get what I’m saying. So I’m really, really excited about that and I would love the opportunity to take a peek at that.
1:19:13 I know it’s only at some of our schools just to see what it looks like. I’m really curious. So thanks.
1:19:28 You’re more than welcome to come and do the training with us so that you can see how it works. Process. The thing that you said, there was two things that you guys said that I think are really important and significant about the FEA bip.
1:19:58 When you’re looking at one student with one issue and then you start going, oh, there’s, there’s ten students in this classroom, you have to look at it differently. And that’s where we go back to that tier one approach, what’s happening in this classroom? So when we talked about the classroom and behavior checklist attached to that are also training, training for the teacher to narrow in. You know, we say to teachers, we’re going to give you lots of training to be a reading teacher and you got to get better at classroom management, which could be anything of a hundred different things.
1:20:14 So that behavior checklist does go through and have some training videos attached to it as well so we can help teachers and coach them when it’s a bigger problem than just one student. And the second thing that misses Belford you were talking about is about suspending kids. Suspending kids.
1:20:27 And that kid doesn’t get any better. The research says when you suspend kids, the whole class’s academic achievement goes down. So I know there’s some conversation about, well, if that kid wasn’t in here, everybody else would do better.
1:20:47 Well, the fact of the matter is when that kid is suspended and comes back, it actually decreases the ability of the whole class, the achievement of the whole class. I apologize. And so when we work to teach, instruct on the miss on the right behavior to replace the misbehavior, we actually increase the achievement of the whole class.
1:20:53 So I thought that was really significant as well. Thank you. Thank you.
1:21:04 I just texted the rugby coach and he’s going to get the rugby players to become mentors for some of our teams. So. Yeah, I mean, and I’ll be honest with you, don’t think that rugby players are a little bit crazy.
1:21:08 They are, but they’re business owners. They’re everybody else. So they.
1:21:11 He just said that he’ll get them. He said give the. Give the bad kids to the rugby guys.
1:21:15 They’ll straighten them out. That’s what he said. No, no, the tough kids.
1:21:20 Sorry, tough kids. Politically correct. Whatever.
1:21:29 Tough kids. Whatever. Give them to them.
1:21:52 I just want to say thank you to the board for your support and your reinforcement of the commitments that we’ve made as a district to serve our kids, serve our community and help be part of the accountability to get our community to check in. Absolutely. Anything else before Doctor Mullins moves on to the academic stuff? Thank you.
1:22:10 I promise this is not as many slides as Doctor Sullivan and misses Klein presented earlier this afternoon, but I’ll do a shameless plug. Again, tremendous amount of very important and valuable information related to district wide student achievement. Really drilling down to several different layers.
1:22:26 But I felt it necessary to come back to the board through the conversation I presented over the summer as well around district school grades and district grade that was somewhat incomplete. Formally we had five schools that were identified with an I, which stands for incomplete. It doesn’t mean they didn’t complete assessment.
1:22:54 It doesn’t mean they had problems with their assessment. It means that there was some noticeable anomaly in the percent of students tested and not tested, that the state just wanted some verification, some validation that there wasn’t a reason why that was. And so it is a normal appeal process that we go through every year.
1:23:19 It’s not uncommon for us to have a school or some schools, particularly with the disruptions and interruptions we’ve had over the last couple years for us to go through that appeal process. So I wanted to come back. Those five schools have received their earned school grades as they’re reflected there on the screen, adding to the percentage of students who received an a, b or c across the district.
1:23:39 But I did want to come back to district level grade, not only for this last year but historically. So we can see where has the district been, where have we gotten to and where are we on the road back to. So here you see school grades over the last ten years.
1:24:00 You can see that several years ago there were multiple years the district had earned a b. More recently, pre pandemic, we had established and achieved a consistent a grade as a district in 2020. That was the year we closed on March 15.
1:24:09 It’s embossed in my brain forever. Friday, March 15, 13th, was it? 13th. It was my birthday.
1:24:14 Your memories, I get. Yeah, so much. So much for it being embossed in my brain.
1:24:18 I was trying to. Yeah, we were here until ten. This is what I do remember.
1:24:35 We were here till 10:00 that night trying to figure out how do we close a school district and keep learning going. And I give a huge shout out to the leaders in the back of the room who were there with me as we worked together. But there was no assessment that year.
1:24:53 FCAt, if you will, or FSA was canceled for that school year. And so not only did we not have an assessment, there’s no school grade. In 2021, FSA resumed, but the state gave districts the option to either receive the assignment assessment grade or not.
1:25:03 We chose not to. There was just so much interruption, disruption, unsure what some of the sanctions could be around that. And we did, in fact, earn a b that year with achievement.
1:25:15 And I’m going to dive into that a little bit further here in a minute. And then this past year, we did. We had assessment again, and we did, in fact, miss an a by one percentage point.
1:25:33 But what I want to do, and this is a lot, I’m going to give you a chance to kind of orient yourself to this chart. This focuses on the last, really, five years. You’ll see that school year 2020 is missing because that was a year of no assessment.
1:26:50 Okay? But it began the years that we were consistently in a and actually had no d or f schools when we had previously had had as many as six b schools. And so when you break down, even by we, as the board knows, we break down our performance and achievement by every subgroup that the state assesses and holds us accountable to. And when you compare 2022, this last school year back to 2018 pre pandemic, where we were really beginning to show intentional student achievement growth due to the strategies outlined in our strategic plan, I would suggest there’s a really great story and more importantly, a necessity to give our staff, our teachers, our instructional assistants, our administrators, a tremendous commendation and a shout out.
1:27:40 Because even through COVID, essentially in two years, I’d even argue more like one year, we are seeing achievement return to pre pandemic levels, where we’re out on the brink of getting back to the performance we were at three, four years ago. Even in the midst of all of the interruptions and disruptions this district has faced over the last two years, when the rest of the country is still struggling to just get back on their feet. You don’t have to look far to pick up a educational journal and see where districts and states are struggling to get student achievement back on the path that they want for their community.
1:28:02 And I’m so proud of the work that has been done and accomplished. And you can see that although we missed an a by one percentage point, who knows by how much of less than a percentage point? We don’t get down to the decimal point level from the state. But I broke it down so the board and our community could see, yep, we’ve got some work to do, no question.
1:28:20 But we know exactly where we’re focusing our efforts and why. And I’m proud of the work that our team has put into to get us where we know we want our kids and our schools to be achieving. So some additional good news, I’ll close on a couple.
1:28:35 What I would suggest are pretty positive things. One, brevard public schools did receive. We just got our formal notice that our, that we received the school recognition funds that were in question for our schools based on their performance.
1:28:53 So we are in receipt of the $4.4 million allocated to brevard public schools. The overall statewide allocation was 200 million, and we received 4.
1:29:16 4 of that. It’s the largest allocation to date. It’s approximately $185 per FTE.
1:29:25 So 30 of our schools will be receiving funds in recognition of their achievement for last school year. And now they go through that process where you’re likely familiar with, where they work with their faculty staff and determine how will we distribute the funds that are distributed to those schools. And that has to be completed no later than the end of February.
1:29:39 Those dollars go directly to our teachers and staff at our schools. Those don’t stay at the district. And then finally, I wanted to give the board an update on enrollment.
1:29:58 We did just work through FTE. We are now in the correction window for FTE as we double check our reporting and so on. We had projected almost 65,340 students for last year.
1:30:20 I would like to note that that was a very, that was an ambitious projection. We, it’s been a very unsettling period of time trying to understand exactly where we are, where to expect return and so on. And I’m very pleased to share that.
1:30:31 We’ve essentially met our projection for this year. It’s a over 650 student increase over last year. And since we experienced that decline three years ago, we’re at almost 1400 students higher than we were at that low mark back in 21 school year 21 with that.
1:30:50 Happy to answer any additional questions the board may have. Any questions for Doctor Wolfman. I will just say again, kudos to the team for all of the hard work.
1:30:59 I mean, obviously, you know, none of this occurs without. Without commitment at every level of the organization, from our teachers and our instructional assistants, our resource teachers that are providing support, our guidance counselors and social workers that are wrapping their arms around our kids and all the way up to the top. So, thank you for the good work.
1:31:10 Appreciate it. All right. With that, we are going to move into the public comment portion of our meeting on agenda items.
1:31:22 We have only two speakers on agenda items. For those of you signed up to non agenda items, know that your opportunity will come. We just have to get through some board business first.
1:31:34 So we only have two speakers for agenda items this evening, meaning each will receive three minutes. Please note that the time is per speaker, not per agenda item. Topics not specific to agenda items will be moved to the non agenda portion of the meeting.
1:31:48 We have a clock in front of me to help you keep track of your time. When your time is over, you will be asked to stop and allow the next speaker his or her turn. Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is expected and your statements should be be directed to the board chair.
1:32:14 The chair may interrupt, warn or terminate a participant’s statement when time is up. It’s personally directed, abusive, obscene or irrelevant. Should an individual not observe proper etiquette, the chair may request the individual to leave the meeting for the audience.
1:32:36 Please remember that outside of your personal public comment period, your role is as an observer. Therefore, I would ask that you please not disrupt the meeting by interjecting comments or noises during public comment. Our two speakers this evening are Katie Delaney and Max Maddle.
1:32:55 Thank you. About a year and a half ago, I was told by a board member that when we spoke about these policies, that at this point, it’s pretty much too late and the rules are done. And I was told that I have the opportunity to go to workshops and participate in rulemaking and things like that.
1:33:33 So from that point on, I’ve been to every single workshop and there’s really. I mean, there really hasn’t been a point. Because anytime parents have anything to say about any of these policies, you guys either pick it apart and tell us why we’re wrong or you just don’t care and do what you want to do.
1:33:52 Anyway, the reason why I’m saying this is because I’m speaking on the policy about the student, parent, legal guardian, complaint. The policy says that you guys have 37 days to talk about to resolve the issue. And in the workshop I mentioned, well, what about harassment, bullying, those type of things? I understand they’re separate policies, but those were just a couple of examples I mentioned.
1:34:12 There are so many things that 37 days is too long. What about if a kid gets a bad grade or if maybe a teacher made a mistake and something wasn’t right in her his or her grade book or something? 37 days. You’re done with your.
1:34:38 You’re out of the marking period at that point. So now the kids grades are messed up, and that’s happened. I’ve personally seen that happen to people where those things don’t get resolved and then a kid gets a bad grade and, you know, gets kicked out of national junior honor society or, you know, some of these things.
1:34:49 So it’s just. It’s just really disheartening that the public is supposed to be part of all of this, and you’re supposed to be our representatives, and you’re supposed to take what we have to say and take it into account and hear us and not try to pick it apart, but try to hear us. We get to tell you guys how we want our county to run.
1:35:02 So I’m going to say this again. Like I said in the workshop, I think 37 days is too long. And I hope that you guys discuss it and think of a plan maybe that will be better for our kids.
1:35:08 Thank you. Thank you, Miss Blaney. Have a great day.
1:35:20 Good evening, board. My name is Max Madl. Tonight I will be speaking on board policy 20 416.
1:35:37 But more specifically, about the one to one program that brevard Public Schools has recently implemented. First off, one to one has various issues. For starters, it is unethical to force every student to take a laptop when one is not needed.
1:35:53 When a student possesses their own personal device, it is unnecessary for that student to be forced to take a laptop. It is a waste of money, if you ask me. But I am aware that students are becoming much smarter than the people that work here at the district and are hacking into things they should not have access to.
1:36:25 So the district needs to keep their eye on device usage. In addition to this, one to one causes what I like to call legal limbo. When a dual enrollment student is accessing their assignments in the grading and assigning program, canvas, canvas displays the students grades.
1:36:42 If these laptops are being monitored and recorded, which various teachers and administrators have informed me is the case, then the student who, then anybody who then monitors or records what is on a laptop screen in which canvas is pulled up may be in violation of FERPA. The only employees within a school district that are allowed to look at a student’s dual enrollment grades are their own guidance counselors. I have had many meetings with administrators about various academic subjects and each and every time they pull up my current grades they ask how I am doing in my college classes.
1:36:59 When one asked how my dual enrollment grades are, I asked why they did not see them when they pulled up my grades. They told me that it is a violation of FERPA if they had access to my own personal grades from another institution. This poses a potential legal issue created by one to one.
1:37:14 Thank you very much. That concludes the public comment on agenda items. We thank you for your willingness to address us in this public manner.
1:37:23 And just as follow up to the concern expressed on the 37 days in the policy, I just want to point out that we have that much time. It doesn’t mean that nothing’s going to be done within those. That timeframe.
1:37:32 It’s that that is what aligns with the statutory language. And obviously the goal is to resolve things as quickly as possible when there’s a concern. So.
1:37:38 But you all will continue to look at that language, I’m sure. All right. That is going to move us into the consent agenda.
1:37:48 Doctor Mullins, there are 13 agenda items under this category. Thank you. Doctor Mullins.
1:38:00 Does any board member wish to pull any item from the consent agenda hearing? None. I’ll entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented. Move to approve.
1:38:06 Moved by Miss McDougall. Seconded by Mister Susan. Is there any discussion? Yes, I wanted to make a comment about our calendar amendment that will be approving with this vote.
1:38:28 Oh no. Sorry. I want to thank the staff, Doctor Mullins and your initiative.
1:38:34 We are very pleased to have the opportunity. Opportunity to be able to make up the hurricane days without taking away the Thanksgiving break with our vote tonight and which will mean for our students having four early release days that will be full days. So really you’re just losing like an hour and 15 minutes four times to make up three full school days.
1:38:51 And our employees will not have to have any additional days because they were already going to be there at the time. So I just. Thank you guys for the.
1:39:02 The school calendars are so incredibly complicated between state laws, school board policy, all the contract requirements, all of that. So it’s really complicated. I want to thank the BFT also for cooperating with making the adjustments to the early release.
1:39:20 But I think this is going to be really great for our community, and I’m thankful that we can offer this opportunity to not have to lose our wonderful Thanksgiving break. Everybody was so looking forward to make up for Hurricane day. So thank you, guys.
1:39:24 I would second that comment. Any, any additional discussion? Well, Miss Belford, members of the board, Mister Broone has been waiting for that decision, and he is pushing out that notification to our parents, like, as I speak. We haven’t voted yet.
1:39:29 Oh, yeah, there’s that. Hold on, Mister Broon. Don’t hit enter yet.
1:39:55 Hurry up. Pull it back. I know our community has been anxious to know.
1:40:08 I appreciate their patience as we’ve worked through the significant complexities of our calendar, not the least of which is there is already less days first semester than second semester to accommodate thanksgiving all around. We have statutory requirements for instructions and minutes for funding, so it’s not a small task. But I don’t take for granted our community’s anxiousness to know what’s happening for thanksgiving.
1:40:20 You don’t have to change any plans, hopefully, if it gets the vote. But we have that notification going out to our staff, to our parents and everybody as soon as the board makes the final decision. Thank you.
1:40:26 And so everybody knows there’s not a single person that wanted to take away Thanksgiving. It was never on the table. And quite frankly, it would have been like communism to try to do that, because that would have been like taking away everybody’s vacation and everything else.
1:40:48 So, just so everybody knows, it was never part of the discussion. And this is a great solution. Thank you, everybody.
1:41:20 Thank you. On a different note, although I am appreciative for the calendar, I just want to point out, you know, we had a lot of conversation this evening about the way that our community is working together with us to address issues. And part of this consent agenda that we are about to approve has the Toole community development group concept proposal for Kyler.
1:41:33 And I just want to point out, thank you to the Tooley development group for the work that they have done. You all may recall that at the last board meeting, one of my recognitions was that I had had an opportunity to go and meet with Miss Curry and see the facility and the great work that they’re doing and challenged you all to go out as well when you had an opportunity and see the facility and see the great work that’s going on there. So just wanted to recognize them and the work that they’re doing alongside us to address some of the challenges that we’re seeing in our community and to provide you all a name a face with the name.
1:41:41 So if you want to connect before they leave this evening, I’m sure they would love to host you the facility as well. What you guys are doing is a model that will hopefully spread. And if there’s anything I can do to help you.
1:41:45 I have a lot of need in my area for something that’s like that. And I looked over that. That’s a very nice agreement.
1:41:50 $10 a year. Let’s make it happen. You know what I mean? So great job.
1:41:54 I couldn’t be more proud of you guys for what you’re doing. Thank you. Thank you so much.
1:41:59 All right. With that, I will call the question. All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:42:03 Any opposed? Same sign. Motion passes 50. Hit send.
1:42:06 Mister Broune. Hit send. Don’t send the one that says we’re taking away.
1:42:14 Thank you. That would be bad. All right.
1:42:18 Doctor Mullins, will you please let us know about items under the action portion of today’s agenda? Yes. The first item is h 26. Department school initiated agreement.
1:42:24 What are the wishes of the board? Move to approve. Moved by Mister Susan. Seconded by Miss McDougall.
1:42:30 Is there any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Same sign.
1:42:32 Motion passed as 50. Doctor Mullins, the next item is age 27. Procurement solicitation.
1:42:40 Moved. Approved. Second moved by Miss McDougall.
1:42:44 Seconded by Mister Susan. Is there any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Any opposed? Same sign.
1:42:49 Motion passes. 50. Doctor Mullins, the last item is age 28.
1:42:55 School improvement plans. What are the wishes of the board? Approved. Second moved by Miss Campbell.
1:42:59 Second by Miss McDougall. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Please signify by saying aye. Aye.
1:43:08 Any opposed? Same sign. Motion passes. 50.
1:43:14 We’re now moving on to the information agenda which includes items for board review and may be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting. No action will be taken on these items today. There are ten items under this category.
1:43:24 Does that. Does any member wish to discuss any of them? Just that we, the interscholastic athletics needs to get pulled. That’s all.
1:43:33 You know we’re not voting on it. So technically, since we pulled it during the workshop, it normally doesn’t go there. That’s all.
1:43:42 Do you need anything on that? Mister Gibbs? Are we good? Yeah. No. Doctor Mullins can pull it from the December meeting and we’ll add it on later on.
1:43:46 Thank you. All right, we are now at board member reports and discussion points. Anyone have anything to add? Sure.
1:44:06 Absolutely. Miss McDougall. Miss McDougall.
1:44:28 Are you doing like, a sign off thing? Okay, can I go first so I don’t ruin that? Yes, you can. So I quickly went on Facebook because I wanted to share the Thanksgiving news. But then I had noticed that Mister Bruin had shared something, something that I had asked him to share, that someone in our community had actually asked me to share.
1:44:39 I know that this is not the only person that is experiencing this, but this is just someone who had reached out to me. We have an educator at Palm Bay Magnet High School whose young daughter is suffering from a very rare brain cancer. And the best friend of the daughter’s father reached out to me and asked if we could share this information.
1:45:01 On Saturday, they’re having a brave the shave event. So that was pushed out by Mister Brune. I’m assuming for legal reasons he couldn’t push out the GoFundMe link, but I did.
1:45:10 And if you can give anything, anything, you can even just kind words, there is a Facebook page to just kind of share your love and support for this educator. I think it’s really important for team bps to kind of wrap their arms around this teacher and her beautiful daughter as they go through this really incredibly scary journey. And I believe that this rare treatment is in Washington, DC.
1:45:21 And so that is why they have a GoFundme for travel expenses, medical expenses, and so, thank you, Mister Brune. I just noticed that you had shared that to the world. So thank you.
1:45:28 I just wanted to bring that to everyone’s attention. And before you sign off, I was waiting till the end because I wanted you guys to have at least a positive ending. I, of course, didn’t forget about you.
1:45:34 We still have public comment, you know. I know, I know. But I’m just gonna do it anyway.
1:45:43 I’m not gonna do it as well as Miss Campbell. That’s why I didn’t want to go after her either. But I just, you know, I just want to thank you guys.
1:46:00 I can’t believe it’s been two years already. It’s pretty scary. But thank you for your integrity.
1:46:34 I appreciate that most of all. And, Miss Belford, it’s kind of a weird journey for me because you were here when I started my career with BBS. So I’ve kind of watched you from the other side of the dais and then had the honor of sitting beside you.
1:46:43 I can say, Miss Belford, I don’t think there is anyone, and can be anyone who understands this district more than you do in terms of a board member who dedicates every waking minute to making sure that you are connected to not only your community, but the schools that you serve, the staff that serves brevard public schools and our students. And I respect that. And I aspire to even come close to being there.
1:47:09 You live, breathe, died for this job, and you should be really proud for everything that you did. Herbert Brevard Public School. So thank you for that.
1:47:23 And Miss McDougall, thank you for being supportive, compassionate, and like Miss Campbell said, you know, you really looked out for everybody when it comes to just being a human being, and I respect that. And I know you’re not as sad to leave because you’re going home to an adorable little puppy. So I hope you enjoy retirement.
1:47:44 I want to say thank you. But most of all, it has been an honor to work with this board. We have gone through a lot in the four years that I’ve been on this board, and Miss Campbell and I started at the same time.
1:47:55 And like she said, after the first year, we said, oh, I said, did you know it was going to be this hard and this difficulty? But you know what? Everyone on this board cares about public education. Everyone on this board cares about students and our staff. And it has been an honor to work with you all and the staff in the back.
1:48:04 What an amazing team. So thank you, because you make us look good. You worked your tails off the times that you worked till 10:00 at night.
1:48:16 We’ve had meetings till midnight, and you have started your day at 530. I can’t thank you all enough. And it’s been an honor to work with you and to know you.
1:48:45 And I hope that I have a couple connections still with you all once I leave this. And I am looking forward to playing with my puppy in the future. So thank you to you all.
1:48:55 And you know what? This probably won’t go over too well, but I do have the best district ever, district two, and the best principals. And I’ve been very blessed with the principals and the staff in those schools, and I’m going to make a road trip and say goodbye to them all. So thank you all.
1:49:09 Then we’re going to hear our remaining speakers who signed up to comment on non agenda items. There are seven of them. Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
1:49:25 We have a clock in front of me to help you keep track of your time. When your time is over, you’ll be asked to stop and allow the next speaker his or her turn. We will hear from the speakers in the order in which they signed up, including those who may be waiting outside, which I don’t believe is an issue this evening.
1:49:46 As stated earlier, reasonable decorum is expected at all times, and your statement should be directed to the board chair. Should audience participation and or favor speakers being heard or hearing me, I’ll be forced to clear the the room. When I call your name, please line up along the east wall of the boardroom to facilitate the smooth transition of speakers.
1:49:51 Our first three speakers are Brandy Schaffhauser, Katie Delaney, and Julie Bywater. You all would not mind. And Brandi, you can actually go ahead and approach the podium.
1:50:02 Start whenever you’re ready. Thank you. All right.
1:50:16 Hello, board. I wanted to take the time and say thank you guys very much for all the work that you do for schools. I have three teenage kids, all, that are attending or have attend heritage High school.
1:50:36 Some days have been good, some days have been bad, so. But all in all, pretty good experience. The reason that I’m here today is because my 15 year old son is in JROTC, and he recently went to a competition.
1:50:59 And whenever they were doing the poles or the bridge, where they have to do the rope bridge, they have to put a rope up to these two poles and tie it together. They were not prepared. And whenever I talk to the students, because I do talk to the students, all of them, I’m very vocal like that.
1:51:07 I asked them, what’s going on? Why are you not prepared? Are you guys nervous? Like, what’s the deal? And they informed me that they do not have the access to either of those poles to make the bridge, so they know how to train and do that. I was a little taken aback by that. I was like, why is something like that even occurring? Right? I watched three high schools go as heritage high school.
1:51:11 Just waited there. And I. I felt really bad for them because they were embarrassed. Viera went, they were very good, by the way.
1:51:13 Satellite went and cocoa beach went. And, I mean, these guys were quick. They had like, three minutes.
1:51:53 They got across. They got their feedback from fit. It was a good experience to watch, but I was pretty devastated for my son and the other boys and girls.
1:52:07 It was a co ed team that said that they didn’t have access to those things. Whenever I approached to school on and asked them, they said it was an insurance issue, that there was an issue at Cocoa beach, that I guess a student fell or the polls had dry rotted, student fell, and they were no longer putting these polls in at the schools anymore. So surely this can’t be true, right? So I wanted to come to the board, bring it to you guys and say, can I get some support, some help or even some answers to find out if we can play? Please get.
1:52:12 If we can get the polls, that’d be great. If not, I would really love it for the school to be able to have access to those so this ROTC team can at least practice and be prepared going into these competitions. Thank you for your time and consideration.
1:52:21 Thank you. Can I follow up that real quick? My last name’s Susan. Send me an email.
1:52:25 I know doctor Mullins is very passionate about that, but we’ll take care of what you need. Actually, doctor Sullivan’s going to catch up with her right now. Get some more information.
1:52:35 Please send me a name, doctor Sullivan. In the back. Thank you guys so much.
1:53:12 Sorry, I normally don’t do that. Miss Delaney had me going. As I reflect on the last two years, I remember the school board meetings last lasting until midnight.
1:53:34 I remember the chairperson removing whole rooms of parents, blocking the public from speaking or not being allowed in the building at all. I remember a board member putting my child on the national news as they called brevard parents domestic terrorists. I remember the chairperson allowing dangerous criminals on district property as they screamed murderer at my eleven year old daughter and she defended their presence.
1:53:53 I remember you forcing a mask on the children of Brevard, crippling their mental health. I remember you refusing to hear true science. For two years I’ve asked this board to focus on the failing reading and math scores, but we had to get rid of single gender sports instead.
1:54:04 I pleaded for this board to follow the law, but a special needs little girl, Sophia, got hurt instead due to your unlawful policies and poor leadership. You all messed up. You pissed off the moms.
1:54:14 Going forward, this is an olive branch to the new board and to any government official. We want to work together for the betterment of our community. One bit of advice.
1:54:18 Don’t mess with our kids. For my closing statement, I’ve been wanting to say this for two years. Misty, you’re fired.
1:54:31 Thank you. Have a great night. Miss Delaney.
1:54:33 Miss Bywater. After Miss Bywater, we have Pete Sosa, Fred Kilgeln and then Larry McIntyre. If you all wouldn’t mind going ahead and getting on deck when you’re ready.
1:54:40 Oh, sorry. You’re good. Good evening.
1:54:52 My name is Julie Bywater. I am a member of the Montreal Liberty Brevard chapter. I also have had.
1:55:04 I have two kids in high school at Rockledge and two kids that graduated from Rockledge. I just wanted to share with you some perspective. Two weeks ago we had a school board meeting.
1:55:23 We had about 15 people in the audience. That Thursday night I had the opportunity to attend the Dearborn school board meeting. I’m sure all of you have seen on the news.
1:55:36 I watched as 1400 people stood in an auditorium, each taking their three minutes to speak to their board. I saw overflow rooms with 300 people in one overflow room. At least 400 people in the gym they saw stopped counting.
1:55:58 So we’re talking 2000 parents in a school district addressing their school board who didn’t listen to them. It made national news. These parents were passionate.
1:56:04 They were for the most part, respectful. But I caution you, when you look at parents that are that upset and you have 2000 parents saying the same thing, it’s time to listen to the parents. We don’t want to be a school district that doesn’t work together.
1:56:22 And my goal with this board and with the incoming board members is to work with you. We have to work together. We have to find common ground.
1:56:47 We have to find those places where we agree. And even when we disagree, find avenues that work together because our mission is right behind you. It’s to serve every student with excellence as a standard.
1:56:55 And may I make one suggestion? Let’s put it on the back wall too. Let’s do it so that not just the parents are looking at that sign while you’re up there, but that you’re looking at that sign while we’re in the audience because we’re working together. We should be working together because 2000 angry parents and their rules are much different.
1:56:59 They don’t get to cut them off. They didn’t. They could cut them off with the three minutes, but they weren’t cutting them off as speakers.
1:57:20 Those parents could address each board member. They could bring up teachers names, they could bring up the situation. They could bring up the library.
1:57:32 They could bring up it all. We don’t want to be on the national news because we’re not getting along. We want to be on the national news because we’re breaking ground and we’re getting along and we’re working together and we’re setting a gold standard.
1:57:43 That should be our goal. Let’s work together. I’ve enjoyed interacting with you and I will continue to interact with you because those kids are my goal, just like you guys.
1:57:56 Good night. Thank you, Miss Bywater. So good evening.
1:58:17 And thank you as well for everything you guys do. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. So my name is Pete Sosa and I’ll be speaking on behalf of numerous Viera high school parents that are here in attendance today.
1:58:41 We all have student athletes that play baseball at Viera or have played in the past. So first thing we want to start off by saying is acknowledging the wonderful job that coach Brock Doty and Bob Doty have done with our young men over the years. Not only have they guided them on the field, but I’ve mentored them off the field as well.
1:59:02 And Viera High School is very fortunate to have them on board. We’ve noticed recently that the district has passed down some restrictions on our fall program and fundraising, and we don’t understand why. These are activities that have been in place for years, way before any of us had students, even at the high school.
1:59:07 Right? So this has been happening for years within the baseball program. Unfortunately, the only feedback we were able to get from the school district or from the school is that the district is mandating it because a parent or parents have complained. Most recently, we were told not to launch our pizza gallery fundraiser, which we do every year.
1:59:16 It’s because the team has not been made yet. Right. Cuts have not occurred.
1:59:22 So this is obviously, baseball is a spring sport. Obviously cuts have not been made. Fundraising in the off season is essential to the program.
1:59:35 Right. All uniforms, spirit wear, equipment, baseball, etcetera need to be purchased before the season starts. Starts.
1:59:48 If we wait to the fundraise when the season starts, by the time we get all these materials, the season will be at least three quarters of the way over. We saw it happen last year, particularly after COVID. Things are just delayed in manufacturing.
1:59:54 So with that being said, we want to know if there’s actual written policy for that. If there’s a rule or policy written for that, that you cannot fundraise in the off season. And the reason we have that question is because all the other sports teams do it at the high school schools within the county as well.
2:00:03 Right. Off season fundraising is done by. I don’t have to name the other high schools, you guys know the names of the high schools.
2:00:08 So. And also keep it in mind, before we start fundraising, we make it very clear that it’s optional. It has no bearing on whether or not you make the JV or varsity team in the spring.
2:00:20 It’s purely optional. It’s not mandatory, it’s written. And it’s also.
2:00:29 And it’s also verbally said to the children by the coaching staff. So the last point. So these are just some of the things that when we started acknowledging, we’ve seen a series of events since March of 2022.
2:00:40 Most notably, a parent or parents made false accusations regarding the coaching staff. In our booster club without any evidence. Without any evidence, I may add.
2:00:54 And the booster club had to provide all of our financials. Of course, no wrongdoing was shown once they were provided. But I also want to make the point that this individual, individual is targeting minority students.
2:00:59 Just last night or yesterday, there was a residency verification done at two latino homes, and we don’t know why. As you can see here, no one else here had the same residency verification. So, unfortunately, your time is up this evening.
2:01:05 But feel free to reach out to the board if you have additional information that you would like to share. Okay, thanks. You’re welcome.
2:01:16 Thank you. Mister Kilgallen, you’re up next. And our last speaker is Liberty L.
2:01:22 If you would like to go ahead and get on deck on the east wall. Mister Kilgallen, you’re up. Whenever you’re ready, sir.
2:01:33 I’ve always loved this feature since I found it. Good evening. My name is Fred Kilgowen.
2:01:55 I am here as a part of families for safe schools. We’ve worked with you for two years. We’re going to continue working with you, and we look forward to working with you in the future.
2:02:16 Thank you very much. I’m here, actually, not to address you because you guys can’t officially have any voice in this, but we’re going to talk about millage and why our organization is for it. So actually, I’m addressing the crowd, but unofficially, Mister Cogellum, because you’re not allowed to address the crowd directly.
2:02:50 So as long as it’s talking to the board, you know the game. Yeah, it’s one of those weird situations. Funding for schools is a mixture of local and state taxes, and it is largely controlled by the state, even though local funding gets mixed in with it.
2:02:59 Local funding that we provide through millage gets mixed in with other millage amounts from the state as a way of kind of equalizing funding between rich counties and poor counties, rich districts and poor districts. Back in about 2006, property rate values started climbing in Florida. Everybody was here for that, you remember? And the legislature stepped in to limit the amount that school districts could raise or profit from through the millage because they didn’t want property owners to be taxed out of their houses.
2:03:30 Understandable. So they lowered the amount by a lot. And that millage rate has been low consistently for years.
2:04:00 As a result, in Hillsborough county right now, their millage usage rate is the same as it was in 2012. Just to give you an idea of how this goes across the state. So, property values are again rising, and the legislature is making funding tied to very narrow expenditures, specifically funding pay for beginning teachers and not veteran teachers.
2:04:09 So, as you’ve heard many times, no doubt there are veteran teachers working with coaching with new teachers, and they may only be making $300 more than they’re making, which is ridiculous. So, with one exception, every county who has voted on millage has approved it for the same reasons that we’re voting. They can now afford to pay veteran teachers.
2:04:26 And veteran teachers know this. This is about funding for teachers, and it’s about funding for students as well. Whatever affects teachers, affects students.
2:04:32 What affects students, of teachers didn’t used to be a contentious thing, but it is now. Unfortunately, there are systems that have collapsed that have been taken over by the state and it has not gone well. That could be us.
2:04:43 Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you support the millage. Thank you, Mister Co Gallen. Appreciate you joining us this evening.
2:04:54 Mister McIntyre. When you’re ready, sir. Madam chair and board, my name is Larry McIntyre.
2:05:04 Hold on 1 second. Larry, can you hit that button and bring that mic down closer to you or just pull it toward you? It’s very directional. There you go.
2:05:32 Cool. My name is Larry McIntyre. I’m the proud parent of two Columbia Southwest and Bayside graduates.
2:05:51 I understand the important role that schools play in our children’s life. As a businessman that has been active in the community, I also see the role our school system has in bringing new jobs and exciting jobs to our community. Just last week, the Dassault Aviation company announced they were bringing in over 400 new jobs and 115 million in capital outlays to the Space coast.
2:06:31 They’re doing that because we have a talented and educated workforce. Successful students and businesses rely on a strong school system. That is why I agreed to spearhead an effort to support the ballot measure titled School District of Brevard County Advarum Millich election.
2:06:52 Our committee, better Schools of Brevard, has been working to build a broad community support. We are trying to educate and inform the voters to let them know the importance of voting yes to help our schools stay competitive, to recruit and retrain our high quality educators, to be able to hire bus drivers to take our kids safely to school. You drive around this county, there are CDL drivers needed everywhere, and they don’t have the responsibility of having children behind them to be able to hire more workers.
2:07:07 So we have a safe and healthy environment when they get to school. Right now we have endorsements from the Melbourne Regional Chamber, the Space Coast association of Realtors, Business Voice, and as well as 50 individuals and businesses. They all understand the quality schools will help strengthen brevards future.
2:07:17 We will continue with our outreach program and funding right up to election day. We are hoping for a positive outcome and that will continue to make the space coast one of the best places to live in the state of Florida. Thank you.
2:07:28 Thank you, Mister McIntyre. All right, last speaker, Liberty L. Going once, going twice. All right, that concludes our public speaking for this evening. The board wishes to thank you for joining us. Unless any board member has anything for the good of the order. Going once, going twice. There being no further business, this meeting is returned.