2024-01-23 - School Board Meeting

3:55 It. Saving it. Good evening. Welcome to the January 23, 2024 board meeting.

10:41 It is now in order. I’d like to welcome my fellow board members and the public. It is so encouraging to see so many faces at our very first board meeting of the year.

10:49 I want to go ahead and just remind the public that their opportunity to speak is during public comment time, and we’re going to ask that you refrain from commenting or making any kind of gestures in the audience until then. Paul, roll call, please. Ms. Wright.

11:04 Here. Mister Trent. Here.

11:06 Miss Campbell. Here. Miss Jenkins.

11:08 Here. Mister Susan. Here.

11:10 Thank you. At this time, the board’s going to hold a moment of silence, and I invite the audience to join in. All right.

11:32 Thank you. I believe we have a student here tonight is Charlie Kelford. You’re up here.

11:37 All right, you’re ready? All right, you’re going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. So, if you will, please rise. Our pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

12:09 Thank you. We are honored. Tonight we have a performance in store.

12:12 This is always a treat for everyone. I selfishly love this part of our school board meeting, so I’m very excited. This is the students from the Delora jazz band.

12:22 You guys have the floor. Sa. That was great, guys.

16:03 Uh oh. Got another one. Yeah.

16:17 Thank you very much. No, not again. Sa.

19:21 Sa. Wow, wow, wow. Thank you guys so much.

20:03 That performance was amazing. I want to give my fellow board members an opportunity. If you have any questions that you would like to ask, first of all, would you, right here in the trumpet section, would you stand.

20:15 Stand up on this little stage right here? I just want you to see they all have kind of similar shirts. I’m gonna turn around a second, but I’m gonna read it on the back. It has the word music, and it has spelled out.

20:24 Can you turn it so I can see? So I can see it first? Because I didn’t have it memorized. It says math, language, history, reading, science. Everybody get that message? Music education is important.

20:35 Now turn around, let everybody see how it’s. Isn’t that cool? It’s good stuff. So I love that.

20:45 I love that. So, fabulous job, guys. So, the question I have for you, jazz takes a lot of confidence, especially when you talk about improvising and doing solos.

20:53 So what inspires confidence in you when you have to come up to that big moment? So I think just playing jazz and doing solos, it just takes. You just kind of focused, focus on, on yourself and how you’re playing. Just kind of forget about the crowd and just sail smooth through it until you know you have to stop.

21:15 There you go. I like that. I like that.

21:21 Miss Jenkins. So how many of you are 8th graders? Everybody? All right, any of you got Mister Jenkins for history? Okay, I’m going to tell him to be nice to you from the this point forward. Also, special shout out to the saxophone, my fellow saxophone players, up front.

21:41 Well done. Well done. Yes.

21:45 So I know sometimes students are placed in band at some point in their educational career. So how many of you have only been playing the instrument that you’ve been playing for a year? Ooh, just one. Oh, no.

22:03 A couple hands. Yeah, yeah. Nice.

22:05 Wow. All right. Who plays more than one instrument? It’s impressive.

22:14 Awesome. Awesome. You guys.

22:17 You guys were fantastic, as expected. And hats off, hats off to your teacher for being there and just clearly doing what he loves every single day. Thank you, mister Susan.

22:29 I wanted to say thank you to all you guys for coming up. I know it’s one of the last things you guys wanted to do is drive up here and perform in front of everybody, but we have a standing room, almost only group here for you and you had a great night. I wanted to say thank you to the instructor you have taken.

22:44 It looks like you’ve gone above and beyond with all these kids. And there’s statistical evidence that shows that students that play instruments score higher on tests and everything else. And it’s because of individuals like you who are out there on the forefront taking your time.

22:56 Just so everybody knows, he doesn’t get paid tonight. He came out here to help out, to promote his students. And that’s what the core of a teacher is.

23:03 And I wanted to say thank you for your time. Thank you. Now, I only said that because my next ask is.

23:14 I’m going to ask of you is that I think our school board members have been asking every group of musicians that comes up here if we could play your instruments at some time. But we’ve never gotten anybody to be our takers, so. Because the naysayers down there at the other end say, no, no, no.

23:29 So if we’re not going to do it right now, but in the event that doctor Endell and some of the other ones that are interested in coming down may want to come play a couple of instruments with you guys. All right, there we go. Thank you very much.

23:47 I’m good. All right. Well, we obviously know that Mister Susan’s never taught junior high.

23:54 I don’t. Not I don’t want to be by your mouthpieces. That’s fine.

23:58 Hey, guys, how many of you realize you’re in the coolest group in the school? It’s the jazz band, right? So. But seriously, Matt kind of stole my story there that those that participate in music just accelerate in all other areas. Just a quick one.

24:20 How many hear other than what you’re doing now that math is your favorite subject? What about social studies? No, it’s not uncommon that musicians are mathletes. Unfortunately, I was the opposite of that. I play the radio.

24:37 That’s about all I do. You guys amaze me. Keep up the good work.

24:42 I know the dedication is not easy during school with the school work there, so. And parents, thank you so much for, you know, pushing and having them explore these different avenues. It’s wonderful for them.

24:56 So thanks again, guys. Yes, thank you guys so, so much. So one of the common things that you ask adults is like, do you have any regrets or things you wish you would have learned in a common, common thread that you’ll hear from a lot of adults is I wish I would have learned how to play an instrument.

25:15 It’s one of those things I wish I would have learned how to do when I was a student. So stick with it. You guys are amazing.

25:20 Honestly, I was blown away by that performance. Job well done. And thank you to your instructor again, because he’s dedicated a lot of hours and obviously it is paying off.

25:29 This. They are doing amazing. So, yes, good work.

25:32 Doctor Rendell, do you want to say anything? I just want to thank them for coming tonight and providing us with such great entertainment. One of the reasons we do this, many people don’t know we brought this kind of thing back. We used to do it years ago to have students perform at the beginning of the board meeting.

25:38 One of the main reasons is you get to show off, you get to show off to the community what incredible talent that you have, what incredible talent that we have inside of our schools. But it also refocuses us on what’s important. You know, when we’re up here making decisions about all kinds of stuff, we need to be reminded that it’s you guys, the students in our schools, that are really behind all of our decisions and everything we do.

26:08 So thank you for coming tonight. Thank you, parents for supporting them and making sure that they practice at night and all that kind of. Or maybe not, but no, just thank you guys for coming tonight and reminding us of why we do what we do.

26:22 Thank you. Yes. Okay, we’re going to take a short break.

26:28 That way we can take a photo and give them time to be able to move all their instruments. So we’ll take a short break and be very good. Five minutes.

32:13 All right. Thank you guys so much for the patience, how they cleared out. I want to offer my fellow board members and doctor Rendell a moment to congratulate or many recognitions that you have for community members or schools.

32:24 Anybody want to go first? Okay, keep up with the trans. So I want to just do a recognition for this community. It’s been a while, but we haven’t had a board meeting over winter break.

32:40 I had seen something on social media about a former student with special needs and their family that was struggling and needed some support. And so I just decided to share that with the community. And the community responded and ended up paying for, I believe, eight nights total of a hotel night stay, gift cards for food, and an outpouring of resources and support to offer to help this family get back off on their feet.

33:12 And it was just. It was heartwarming and it was incredible. And it got this family past New Year’s Day, which was really ultimately like the goal I had in my mind.

33:20 So I just want to thank this community for just reaching into their pockets and reaching into their hearts and giving to somebody that they don’t even know without a blink of an eye. So thank you so much for all of that. I also want to celebrate.

33:33 So I was late to the workshop today because I had the opportunity to be at Surfside elementary, and I have the pleasure of announcing an incredible feat that they had today. So NASA hosts a tech rise challenge nationally every single year. This is the third year that they’ve done it, in which six the 12th grade students across America and in the Virgin Islands get to apply with a proposal to be accepted to do a test flight of a prototype for NASA.

34:08 And they only select 60 schools in the entire nation and the islands. And Surfside elementary was chosen today as one of 60. That’s awesome.

34:18 That’s right. They are the only ones in Florida. Pretty cool.

34:25 That’s cool. And we’re almost confident because they went through the list really quickly, but we’re almost confident there’s only two elementary schools. These are 6th graders who are competing with 12th graders across the nation to get this.

34:38 It is absolutely incredible. And so what they’re going to get is they’re going to have weekly 1 hour mentor sessions with scientists from NASA directly. This team of four students, they’re going to get $1,500 worth of equipment and tools to build their experiment prototype.

34:57 And then in the summer, it’s going to be shipped out to California, which Miss Erin Stauff and I said, no field trip. And it’s going to be going up in. I don’t remember what it’s called.

35:09 I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not the balloon. They actually have the more insane option, the best choice that they could possibly get to go up into the stratosphere, 75,000ft in the air.

35:21 It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty incredible. So hats off to surside elementary, hats off to the teacher.

35:27 And hats off to Miss Erin staff, because apparently the sponsor for these students is now on maternity leave. So Miss Ehrenstaff now has to be the liaison for NASA. So hats off to all of you.

35:37 And last but not least, February 2 is crossing guard appreciation. So make sure you give some love to those people who keep our little safe as they go to and from school. Thank you, Miss Chinkins, Miss Campbell.

35:50 We’ve got so much thanks, you guys, for being patient. We haven’t had a meeting in a month, over a month. So we gotta get all this stuff in.

35:56 There’s been so much good stuff. So a few weeks ago, I went to the FMEA Florida Music Education Association’s conference week. I was there with my daughter because she was an Allstate student.

36:05 But while I was there, I got to see a lot of great things. You guys know, Viera high school performs and so does sunrise elementary. But in addition to that, we had.

36:13 This is what I do between concerts, while they’re setting up, I highlight the program and all the orange that you see, those are all the all state students from Brevard. I counted 98. We had 98 students from elementary to high school in all the all state ensembles.

36:27 And that is a great representation from our state. So good job to all those. In addition to that, Southwest Middle school was recognized with an enrollment award.

36:35 At the words program that I got to attend, 57% of their students are enrolled in a music class. Fabulous job. It’s one of the highest ones in the state for middle school.

36:45 And then they also recognize music educators that have served for a long time. And doctor Tom Sillman, who is the orchestra director at Southwest Middle School, was recognized for 34 years in music education. And so, congratulations to Doctor Tom.

37:01 Appreciate him very much. I want to make just a plug. The CTE expo that is happening on Saturday, February 10.

37:09 If you are a middle school parent or even a 9th grade parent, just want to make sure you’re aware this. It’s going to be the Space coast convention center from nine to twelve. I know it’s a little far of a drive, especially to live in the south end, but please take the time to go there.

37:21 All of our schools will be there with their CTE programs. There will be hands on things to see. It’s time for your kids to get in there and see some really great career paths.

37:30 And if they see it up front and close, up close and personal, maybe it’ll be inspiring them for a future career. So that’s February 10. Saturday, February 10, nine to twelve.

37:40 Yesterday, our take stock and children through Brevard Schools foundation has been having coffees to recognize and thank all our mentors. I got to attend one of those yesterday. Just want to do a quick plug because if you become a take stock and children mentor, you are going to be supported.

37:56 They give coaching. That’s one of the things that we did yesterday. They just walk you through, match you up with a student that’s perfect for you.

38:03 So if you are thinking about getting into mentoring, I just really want to encourage you to consider that. Last week I was in Tallahassee with FSVA for our day in the legislature, and I really wanted to thank, and I’ll give you guys a report if we have time, if it’s not too long of a meeting at the end, I’ll give you an update on the report time. But I wanted to thank Representatives Brackett, Representative Fine, Representative Saroy, and Senator Wright for taking the time to meet with me.

38:26 We really had some great conversations about deregulation, some of the other things that were happening. Finally, I just wanted to say, I’m going to take this page from Mister Susan’s playbook. We’ve got so many people here beyond the recognition, so many people who have come to speak and to attend.

38:40 And, you know, sometimes it means, oh, man, it’s going to be a long night. But you know what? I just want to thank you for participating in the process. And I want to say, you know, there’s in the news and in social media and the media, sometimes when people feel strongly on two sides of an issue, they come and they think we’re ready for a fight.

39:00 I would like tonight for us to be the most disappointing school board member meeting in that way that we disappoint them with the way that we are civil, in the way that we treat one another, with the way we talk about different sides of an issue. I would like Brevard to set the tone for graciousness and disagreement, because there’s going to be disagreement tonight, no doubt. So y’all join with me.

39:22 Let’s just be sweet. As my mother in law used to say, be sweet. And my husband would tell her, there ain’t no other way to be.

39:31 So that’s the way we’re going to be tonight. But I thank you for coming out and participating in the process. I appreciate you.

39:36 Thank you, Miss Campbell. All right, Mister Susan. Thank you, everybody.

39:41 I want to say there are a lot of faces inside this crowd that because it’s so large that I used to teach with, that I have been friends with, and I want to say thank you for all coming tonight, because each one of you is here for a piece of what we do, which is the overall development of our children and education for the society that we hold for the future. One individual, I see him in the back, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Thomas, who is back there with a lot of his ROTC friends. I want to say a big shout out to him.

40:06 Many people don’t know, but years ago, Tim and I, we tried to pass, pass a bill that was called the All American Flag act, that made all american, all flags made in government buildings to be made in the United States. You would think that’s the easiest thing to do, right? But Tim and I ran around for three years trying to get this thing passed, and in the process, China created an entire city called USA so that they could create it in USA. And we had to file an amendment, so.

40:29 But the truth behind it is, is that many of the men that we may see here in a minute, but along with Lieutenant Colonel Tim, Tim Thomas, I always have to say it correct because I don’t want to screw it up. Retired in the beginning of that, too. He always yells at me for saying it the wrong way.

40:41 Was very instrumental in that. And you have citizens inside this community that are leaders. Many of you are there.

40:46 I want to say thank you, Tim, for what you did to get that passed. And now all these flags and anywhere else in the state are made in the United States because of the work that you did with me and everything and all the other teachers and everything else. So thank you.

40:59 I wanted to. I wanted to give a big shout out to Wharton Smith. Wharton Smith is currently finishing up our middle school, and it’s on pace.

41:05 Many of you know how many of the supply chain that has been created an issue in the past with construction. They have not missed a beat. Our middle school in Viera is going to be opening in August of this year, and it’s going to be quite impressive.

41:17 The other thing that’s impressive about it is, is that we’re expanding elementary school sports to include many of the different soccer and everything else so that parents can have their children after school, school playing those sports. A lot of that’s going to be harbored for the middle schools inside that area. So I want to say thank you to Wharton Smith, because making sure that that thing starts on time is a big deal.

41:17 The other thing I wanted to do, it’s literacy week, everybody. And Miss Kublank. I called Miss Kublank over at Merritt island or Manatee Elementary School, and Miss Kublank is the media assistant or media specialist there.

41:49 What happened about eight months ago is that she led a charge to get, also to get back the media assistance that we had lost years ago. Many of you don’t know, but years ago, the media assistance were pulled out due to budgetary reasons. She led the charge, and she was able to get those media assistants back.

42:06 And now all of a sudden, she says, Miss Susan, I just want you to know what we’ve been doing. And so I looked over and I said, okay, talk to me about it. She said, in the month of September alone, 4287 books were checked out of her library by students at Misses Manatee elementary school.

42:21 That is phenomenal. And she said that never would have happened had we not been able to give those assistance back to her because many people understand the things that we’re trying to go through with the Department of Education rules and guidelines, that many of the books have to be reviewed and everything ahead of time. That’s all falling on our media assistant or media specialists.

42:38 So big shout out to Miss Kublank if anybody gets an opportunity on Thursday night, she’s having a big show about all the things that she does. But this is routinely happening in every one of our schools. All of our media assistants are working with our media specialists to create huge literacy programs and drive that inside of our schools.

42:53 And they owe a huge round of applause. And Miss Kublai gets one for driving that conversation. So I wanted to say thank you to her.

43:02 I also wanted to say there’s a special individual in the back, Miss Pam Dampier, that doesn’t get enough credit. She’s the tip of the spear for our discipline policies. And we had some stuff come out today that was golden.

43:11 We have, right now, we have a huge amount of referrals that have gone up. Like they’re saying, hey, the referral difference between, you’ve seen a huge spike in referrals well, guess what they are. Over half of the referrals that are up are because of cell phones and TarDis.

43:26 That means that our teachers are now able to effectively implement TarDis and cell phone policies for the first time in a while. There’s also, I’ve been around lately and I’ve talked to my administrators, my teachers, my bus drivers. They are more than ecstatic about what’s been going on to where they have control and they’re able to implement the discipline that’s needed for the individuals.

43:46 But that’s not the thing that we should celebrate. The thing we should celebrate is that physical aggression. Referrals are down 700 as of right now.

43:55 Fighting is down 250 incidences. And if you talk to anybody, ask them, is what you have today stronger than what you had last year? They will say yes. And all of it, the majority of it, is because of the lady in the back, Miss Pam Dampier, who goes every day to the schools, works with our staff and everything else.

44:13 Big round of applause for you, Miss Dampier. Thank you for giving us that presentation today. The other thing I wanted to finish up with is the CTE expo.

44:22 Absolutely. You are amazing to bring that up. We have, and it’s not just for middle schoolers.

44:27 If you’re a company that wants to come to come by and see what we have, you can come too. All you have to do is come in and ask the administration to give you call. How would they do that? How would they do? I don’t want to tell the whole world to come.

44:39 And then they don’t have an avenue, they just show up. Okay? So doctor Rendell says if you want to see some of them, and some of you guys may not know, like what is this CTE? What is this? Trades. All right, so we have the only standing hangar in the United States that’s part of a high school.

44:54 That program does avionics, works with NASA, does all kinds of stuff. They’ll be there. We have an automotive program that’ll be there.

45:01 There’s a host of those programs that are there. And what we’re doing is trying to show them off for the middle schoolers so that they’ll attend those programs and get into the workforce. But we also would like anybody who wants to come out to see it to be available.

45:12 And that’s on February 10. At what time was it again? Nine to twelve. So come on out and see it.

45:17 All right, I’m done. Thank you, Mister Trent. All right.

45:21 Well, the advantage of being vice chair, you go. What? So rather than talk about a lot of things taken off the list. Again, I will repeat some things.

45:31 Parents and grandparents, look around. Thank you for being part of this. This is such an important part of your students experience, and we are so excited for nights like this to celebrate.

45:45 It doesn’t always have to be state championship teams, and it so happens that a all three of the programs come from my district. I’m not keeping score or anything, but so I don’t have to go through a bunch of recognitions because that’s what you’re going to do for the rest of the evening. But again, thank you so much.

46:01 I want you to get home at some time, at a reasonable time tonight. So I’m going to just pass it on to our chair. I know I’m going to do my very best to keep it short as well.

46:04 I’m going to thank Miss Shockley and the Jackson team. I got the opportunity last week to attend a field trip and shopper on a field trip. And a lot of times our schools don’t ask us to do that.

46:17 Sometimes they do. I think they think we’re too busy to do it. But when you get the opportunity to shop around a field trip, let me just tell you, board jump on it.

46:24 It’s a lot of fun. So we got to go and we chaperoned or we got to go tour the Harry T. Moore center in mims.

46:30 And I will tell you, I’m a north Brevard resident, and I am ashamed to say that that was my first time actually touring it in that capacity with these students, and I was absolutely blown away. So, Miss Sonia that was there, I wanted she could tell a story that captivated and made an entire room of 8th graders dead silent. And I’m like, that is a skill.

46:48 That is a gift, and I would like to replicate you and bring you to all of our schools. So thank you. Thank you.

46:54 Thank you so much. I also want to give a shout to the union on this one. Because they needed chaperones.

46:58 They were asking the PTO to reach out and find out. Hey, can you get us any additional chaperones? And the union members stepped up. So Jonathan and Kyle, thank you for going and chaperoning alongside.

47:08 I got to chaperone with Kyle, but Jonathan went the day before, so appreciate you tremendously. And I also want to thank Miss Campbell. You’ll be proud of me.

47:15 I toured a school outside of my district. I know. So she challenges us with this quite frequently.

47:20 And so I was invited to go to University park. So I just want to say to Miss Diaz there. Wow.

47:26 You are just an exceptional individual and you are doing a great job leading that school out. She’s been with our district, I believe she said, 30 years and been an educator for 40 years and just a very inspiring person. And then, as well as Miss Jackie Small.

47:40 So I think everyone knows who she is. They, they call her small. They just use her last name and refer to her that way.

47:45 But she’s just a ball of energy, contagious joy, lots of good ideas, things that are going on there. You know, there’s a million things that have taken place, obviously, from our last board meeting till this meeting. We can go through all the holiday events that happened, the Titusville’s hundred year Jubilee.

47:59 We’re officially 100 years. Yay. You know, all these fun things, but I’m going to go ahead and turn it over to Doctor Rendell to do recognitions, and then we have some special recognitions that we’re going to do after that.

48:10 Thank you, madam chair. Before we get into recognitions, I do want to make an announcement to make sure the community is aware of two big events that we have next week. Next Monday, January 29, we have a big event for our 6th grade students.

48:22 They’ve been reading a book called the Coffee Bean, and it’s all about overcoming adversity. And this Monday, they’re going to hear from one of the authors, John Gordon, who wrote the coffee bean. John Gordon’s famous for a lot of leadership books, the energy bus, the one word and the one truth and a whole bunch of other books.

48:39 And he’s actually coming here to Brevard and he’s going to speak to our 6th graders. Now, some of our 6th graders will see him live and in person, and some of our 6th graders will experience the address through livestream. You see, we have over 5006th graders in our district.

48:55 There is no building big enough in Brevard county for 5006th graders. If there was, I’m not sure putting 5006th graders in one building would be a good idea anyway. But big thank you.

49:08 Huge thank you to Florida Institute of Technology fit. They have a large gymnasium, the Clemente center. And when it’s set up for events, it can seat about 2200.

49:18 So about half of our 6th graders are going to be bussed to the Clemente center to hear John Gordon speak live. The other half will remain at their school and they’ll watch the event on livestream. If you haven’t ever, if you haven’t read the coffee bean, I encourage you to google the coffee bean book.

49:36 It’s a really short read. It’s all about overcoming adversity. I’ll let you read it to get the message.

49:41 But it’s really cool. It’s really something. We think our 6th graders, as they’re finishing up their time in elementary school and getting ready to head off to middle school, we really think this is important for them to have that kind of skillset and that believe in themselves that they can overcome adversity.

49:54 And then on Tuesday, speaking of overcoming adversity, our 9th graders are going to hear from a young man named Eric Weinmayer. That’s his name. Eric has climbed Mount Everest.

50:05 He’s climbed all of the seven summits. Those are the seven highest mountains on each continent. And he’s also whitewater rafted down the Grand Canyon.

50:13 All impressive stuff. Eric is blind, so he’s done all that as a blind individual. So he has a story about overcoming barriers.

50:23 And so he’s going to be here once again at the Clemente center, once again speaking to half of our 9th graders, because again, we have over 5009th graders. Again, there’s no place to put them all, but we’re going to bust half of them there and the other half are going to be watching on livestream. So this is going to happen on Monday and Tuesday.

50:40 It represents a huge disruption to our normal operations. But I think for the 6th graders to hear from John Gordon and for the 9th graders to hear from Eric Weinmayer, I think it’s worth the disruption. If your son or daughter rides a bus and they’re not a 6th grader or 9th grader, it’s possible, we hope it’s not likely, but it’s possible their bus home could get delayed because we’ve got to bus all the kids back to their schools and then get the buses back, back out for the routes.

51:07 But we think we’re good. I just wanted the community to know what we’re doing Monday and Tuesday for our 6th and 9th grade students. I want to thank the Brevard Schools foundation because they secured a grant from the Space Coast Health foundation to pay for all this.

51:23 And also a big thank you to fit for hosting us in their gymnasium. You know, they’ve taken that gymnasium offline to prepare for us and then host us for two days so their basketball team has to practice somewhere else. But big events on Monday and Tuesday.

51:39 So, madam chair, I think you’ve got the first recognition according to the script. I do. Miss Jenkins had one additional one she wanted to do.

51:45 She just. Yeah. I appreciate it.

51:47 Sorry when I go first and then people start talking, I remember things I promised Mister Michael Kador I’d say this, so I don’t want to forget. We have a huge event on Thursday at Rockledge High, our college trades and scholarship fair. This is 430 to 07:00 p.

52:08 m. It’s free for all high school students and their parents. There’s going to be 40 colleges, ten different trade programs, and the US military there.

52:23 They’re going to be handing out admissions and scholarships for every single one of those programs in those schools. They give out hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of scholarships on that very night, in that very instance. So if you’re able to attend with your high school student, please do so again.

52:32 Rockledge High, 430 to seven on Thursday night. And you can go to horacescholars.org if you want to register ahead of time.

52:48 Thank you, Miss Jenkins. All right, we have several students in schools tonight that we’re going to recognize. We have three bps schools that are among 73 in the state of Florida to receive the 2023 Purple Star School of Distinction due to their support for military families.

53:05 So, you know, we often think that our military serves, and they do, but their family serves, too. And the sacrifice that military families make is a tremendous, tremendous sacrifice. So we want to congratulate Roosevelt elementary, sea Park elementary, and Space coast junior senior high.

53:14 I’m going to invite those school leaders up. So we’ll have, we’ll have. It looks like Roosevelt’s scheduled to come up first, but to earn this purple star, let me tell you what has to happen from the school’s standpoint.

53:43 So to earn the Purple Star of distinction designation, schools are required to maintain a school military point of contact, a school webpage for military students and families that includes resources like academic planning, transition planning, and educational opportunities. A student led transition program to assist military students coming into the school, among other requirements. So this is the way the school wraps their hands around this family and says, hey, we’re going to help with all aspects of you moving either into our community or out of our community, depending on that.

53:49 So I know they help with both those transitions. So if we can have the principal, you’re here. Thank you so much.

54:00 So Principal Hill brought again from Roosevelt. Good evening, everyone. I’m the proud principal of Roosevelt elementary, which is in Cocoa beach.

54:18 This is my first year there, and when I was there, the first thing I was able to see, we have 35% of our population are students from the military. And I thought that was a really high population of students from military families. And when that Purple Star School of distinction award came, application came through my desk.

54:28 I said, absolutely. I have to figure out what I need to do to apply for that because that definitely fits what my school is all about. So I worked with our school military liaison, which is here today.

54:43 That’s Susan Clark. She’s been a great asset. We also have Lisa Clark, who directly works with our school and works with our kids and is able to counsel them and work with them, talk about their deployment and have those conversations, have lunch with them.

54:47 It’s a very nice program. So we applied for the award. Very excited.

54:55 We have some wonderful things planned this year. April is month of the military child. We’re purple, and we have a lot great activities coming up.

55:00 So just an honor to receive this award for those students and families in my school. So thank you so much. Well, we thank you so much.

55:15 We’re going to present you with a banner that you’ll be able to hang at your school to show this distinguished award. All right. And we want to congratulate also sea parks.

55:40 Principal, Principal hall, if you’ll come up and say a few words. Well, it’s quite an honor to be able to serve all students, but particularly these students who their families are active military, serving our country and protecting our freedoms. So it is an honor to have this award.

56:20 And really, I want to recognize the people who made it happen, which is my guidance counselor, Sarah Schrader, and my fourth grade teacher, Miss Trejo, who is a veteran aw. And Arlene Francis, who is our military guidance counselor. And of course, that couldn’t be done with the support of my assistant principal, Angie Lizzick.

56:35 And a special thanks to Susan Clark, who has been a wonderful school liaison. And we really do encourage any school that is serving our military students to apply for this award. So thank you.

56:41 Yes. Thank you so much. All right.

57:05 And last but definitely not least, Principal Flora, if you will come up from Space coast junior senior and say a few words. I’d like to thank the board and doctor Rendell for honoring us here tonight. For us, it’s been, it is a huge, huge honor to be able to recognize the brave men and women who serve our country and their families.

57:24 As you mentioned, there’s a lot of qualifications that go into it, and, you know, obviously, we can’t do that ourselves. And I’ve got a great team of people here tonight who do the work every single day for our families and our kids. And so the team that helped me really put this together and put some procedures in place.

57:58 I’ve got my media specialist, Jessica Allen, my technology assistant, Josh Nibel, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Stevens for our Space Force ROTC program, and Miss Kaylee Shear, our college and career specialist. Yeah. So thank you all, my team, from the bottom of my heart, for the work you do every day for kids and families.

58:01 It’s irreplaceable. So thank you. Yes.

58:06 Thank you, boys. Thank you. All right.

58:16 BPS has a history of supporting military families. Last year, we had three schools that were named as well. So Cocoa beach junior senior high, Holland elementary and quest elementary were also purple star schools.

58:25 I would love to see the day where every one of our schools is named a purple star school. So that’s something we could strive for. I think we were going to take a picture, if that’s okay, for just a moment.

58:31 Yeah, sure. If I could just interrupt real quick before. We’ll take a picture of all three banners and everybody misses Clark.

58:48 If you could come to the microphone. Susan Clark is a liaison between Patrick Space Force Base and the school district. And if you could just tell a little bit about what you do and what you see and what a difference it is to have these schools support the military families the way that they do.

58:52 Nothing like being put on the spot. You can handle it. You can do it.

59:11 Good evening again. My name is Susan Clark, and I am the school liaison for Patrick Space Force base. I have the privilege of serving our military connected families as they transition to and from the area and having the department of Education put this program into place and then having our district embrace it and having schools embrace it and want to be part of.

59:28 Of that program really just reassures some of our incoming families that they have schools that will be supportive of them. You would be surprised the stories I hear of places that people go where they’re not being supported and their kids are left out of this. Left out of that.

59:55 So having programs like this in place, in particular, when they’re brand new to an area and they know no one really gives students an opportunity to build some roots. They may be short ones, depending on their situation, but gives them that chance to have a little bit of consistency, to build some community and to be part of something bigger than themselves. They may do it six, seven, 8910 times during their life, but they will remember the locations that embraced them.

59:59 Yeah, that’s good. All right, awesome. Thank you so much.

1:02:37 All right, we’ll take a photo real fast. All right, can we have the principals come up with their banners? We’re gonna bring your team, too. Yes, all right, we have more tonight.

1:02:58 So, Doctor Rendell, I’m going to let you take it from here on the next one. Thank you, madam chair. Last month, it’s actually two months ago, I think I had the privilege of traveling to the west coast to watch four of our JROTC Raider teams compete in these state championships, showcasing their skill and determination at the highest level.

1:03:36 So tonight we want to recognize all four of those teams and I’m going to call them out one by one. So first, please join me in congratulating the Viera high female team who took fifth place in the state. Congratulations, viera.

1:03:51 All those proud Viera parents taking pictures right now. All right, so next I want to congratulate the Merritt island high team, mixed team, for taking third place in the state. Come on out, Merritt island.

1:04:11 Congratulations. Stay right there. We line up over there.

1:04:17 See? They all know how to do it. They just line up. They know how to do it.

1:04:28 So next we’re going to call out the Cocoa beach male team and the cocoa beach female team. Both of these teams won the entire competition. They are state champions.

1:05:07 Congratulations to cocoa beach. Yeah, so we’ll get a picture in just a minute, but most of the people in the audience probably don’t know what a Raider team is. So these JRTC Raider teams competing at the highest level, two state champs, two placers.

1:05:31 So I’m going to ask one of the cadre, either Lieutenant Colonel Jim Discarden or Lieutenant Colonel Tim Thomas, to come up and explain what raiders is and what these people have done. So we looks like Jim Discarden is coming to the microphone, so he’s going to explain raiders. Good evening, everybody.

1:05:45 First off, I’d like to thank the school board and doctor Rendell for this invitation. These are absolutely phenomenal high school students. They’re, in my opinion, the most physically fit, the toughest students that you’re going to see.

1:05:54 Our practices start at 630 in the morning. Yeah, Rob. Yeah.

1:06:10 So on behalf of Tim Thomas and Sergeant Thomas and master sergeant Torres from Merritt island, my first sergeant, first sergeant Kevin Staddy, we’re incredibly proud of all of these students and athletes. They are phenomenal. They start practicing 630 in the morning.

1:06:24 Most teams, they practice five days a week. They start in August, and they run competitions all through the month of October. We compete with teams within Brevard county, and that leads us to a district championship and that leads us down to the state championship.

1:06:35 We habitually always participate at the state championship and we always do very, very well. What do they compete in? They’ll do a team five k race. So that’s they’re running five ks.

1:06:46 And our average time goes between that 18 minutes mark and that 24 minutes mark for our females. They construct a rope bridge over 60ft. So that’s rope to tree to tree.

1:06:55 And then all ten members cross that bridge. They do a tire flip. So the tires anywhere between 700 pounds, 607 hundred pounds.

1:07:00 They’re flipping as a team. 50 meters up, 50 meters back. They’ll do a kettlebell shuttle.

1:07:11 35 pound kettles up and around cones back and forth. They’ll also do a sprint drag carry. Everything they do is physically entailed and they do it in 4 hours.

1:07:18 They do it in 4 hours. These guys are absolutely phenomenal student athletes. And oh, by the way, they’re all probably one of the better students in the school.

1:07:40 So that’s all I’m saying. I’m going to be quick, but you’re ready. And then get up on the base here.

1:09:44 Then you guys back up. We’ll do one big group picture. So you guys just back up sat sa.

1:10:27 No, that’s something on the list. Oh, they are. Okay.

1:10:50 Place as a county. More kids in the championship rounds than any other county. We might be able to get like the count.

1:10:59 Wait, 24 so far. Isn’t Coco coming? They’re here. Yeah, I saw them coming in.

1:12:10 That’s our next one. Yeah, we need another minute. Where did all the smiles go? Why aren’t they sitting it? We’re going to go ahead and get started.

1:12:26 We have, we have one more group that we want to recognize tonight. We just talked about a couple state championships in JRTC Raiders. Those aren’t the only state champions we are going to recognize tonight.

1:13:01 So we’d like to welcome the Cocoa high varsity football team who won their second consecutive state championship this year. So we’d like to welcome them to come into the room. Congratulations, young man.

1:13:10 So I’ve asked Kilgo high athletic director about this great accomplishment. Mister Carsons. Yeah.

1:13:15 Good evening. We’re so happy. We’re so proud to be here.

1:13:32 These young men represent the best of what it is in Brevard county athletics and Cocoa high school. What you see here is a back to back state championship in football, which has not been done since 2018. Nine when Coco Hai did it.

1:13:47 So it’s been 14 years since the state knocked it back. Champions. In the last five years, 52 players have gotten division one scholarships.

1:13:53 Why? Because they’re student athletes. 3.1 from a GPA.

1:14:15 That’s why they have those opportunities to play in college is because they do the work in school, and that’s what makes me so proud to be part of the whole process. And they work 1111 and a half months a year to hone their skills and never say die. So these guys are warriors, great human beings, and they will be great contributors in the community no matter what they do.

1:14:29 So, thank you very much. I want to give a few moments just to say a few words to you guys. Yeah.

1:14:50 I’m so proud of you guys. So, I was wearing, because of this cold weather recently. Miss Stewart gave me a really sweet cocoa high sweatshirt last year when I came to your championship, and I may or may not have returned it to her, and I was wearing it all week, and so many people stopped me and asked the most ridiculous question, but they asked me where I got it from, but it was because they.

1:15:00 They recognized your success recently, and they were excited and they wanted to talk about it. So everyone in this community is so proud of you guys, not just myself, and I hope you’re cheating that. That weight room.

1:15:03 Good. Keep an eye on them. No.

1:15:11 Congratulations. And again, I love when you highlight the fact that these are student athletes. That’s what just took me away when I met all of you guys and all of your coaches.

1:15:23 They are committed to these students, not only on the field, but also in those classrooms and just personally and at home. So, thanks for all that you do for your kids. Thank you, Miss Campbell.

1:15:42 So, I know you guys had to overcome a lot of adversity. I mean, you were the pressure of being last year’s champs, right? You had a lot of pressure on you again, and there was a lot of adversity in this season. I know you probably had some injuries, you had some games that weren’t quite fair, maybe in the way they were, but we’ll stop right there.

1:15:57 But you know what? You overcame all that. But, you know, there’s pressure on top of that, of the community, because you guys brought hope and excitement and fun and joy to your community with that championship, and that’s an additional pressure. But that’s an awesome pressure.

1:16:09 So I appreciate you for. Because it wasn’t just coco that you lit up when you won, that you lit up our whole entire county. We were all rooting for you, for those of us who represent the south end of the county, the north end of the county, counting all in the middle.

1:16:31 So we’re so proud of you, and thank you for what you do for the community of Coco every day. And all you guys down on the end, coaches, you guys are what makes the magic happen because of the training that you guys give them and the leadership and training them to be men of integrity and character. So I just can’t thank you enough for the work that you put in to invest.

1:16:43 It’s not time spent, it’s time invested because it’s going to earn a dividend in the end. So thank you guys and we were proud of you. Yes, mister Susan.

1:17:00 First off, I wanted to say thank you to the coaches. You guys are who made these into these, these gentlemen into men and brought them to the state title. I also wanted to say thank you to your commitment to them because I know many of you take phone calls after they go off, they go into college, they may be having issues.

1:17:07 You’re their anchor. And I appreciate you guys, I really do. All the work that you guys do on the back end is what produces this.

1:17:24 And I would tell you guys, as a former coach inside bps, you guys represent us. And I wanted to thank you because you are the best. You guys went up against schools that recruit, that actually have parents on their teams, that get paid to be there for private schools, for everything else.

1:17:32 And you whipped there. You know what, and I appreciate that. But the other thing is, is that we as a school district try to prepare you for the next level.

1:17:44 So when you make your choices in the next level, what I always told my athletes was make it for you for the next part of your life. Football is always the next thing. But make sure that you finish that career as far as college and then come back.

1:17:56 Because there’s many individuals that are inside your community that have been sitting here and giving back to the community. Once you guys made that decision, it would be nice to have you guys come back too. Build something in cocoa that lasts 60, 70 years is what the goal should be.

1:18:09 And that’s on your guys shoulders to not only set that expectation but then come back and do it. So anything from our offices that we can do to assist you guys through the colleges and stuff like that, you let us know. Coaches, thank you so much for everything that you guys do.

1:18:17 Thank you for leading the coaches that you have. Because there’s a lot of other sports. You just had some girls win or play up there for this Cape coast championship and stuff like that.

1:18:20 Thank you, you guys. Appreciate you. All right, Mister Trent.

1:18:32 And I wanted to add one thing if I could, sir. And this team finished 16. Who’d they say was better than Coco? We won’t mention the other school.

1:18:38 That’s what I. That’s right. That’s right. All right, so, guys, great.

1:18:49 Just great job. And for the parents and the community of Cocoa, that that was behind you. It takes that whole community, and I want to say thank you to all of them.

1:19:04 You know, it’s not easy when it’s in Florida summer, deciding to go to practice or stay by the water, by the pool or something, but you guys did it. So, you know, that second time around is some might say, well, it was easy. They had a great team.

1:19:24 It is so much more difficult the second time around because now you played every game you played, you played a state championship game. Everyone who played against you, that was on their schedule as their state championship game, and you still overcome, you overcame those odds. So just pat yourself on the back.

1:19:33 It wasn’t by luck. Football games do not get decided by luck. Trust me, they don’t either either bad calls or they are just hard work by you guys.

1:19:43 So, you know, life lessons in sports, you guys will be remembering these moments for the rest of your of life. And the. Please try to remember these moments.

1:20:05 They might say, well, it was just high school, but you take the moments of teamwork, hard work, and that goes in every situation and walk of life, that you get to maybe share this with friends and eventually your family. Guys, you guys, you have such an opportunity now to just carry this with you for the rest of your life. So, congratulations.

1:20:08 An honor. Thank you. Good work.

1:20:16 All right, how many of you guys are seniors? Where are my seniors at? All right, have any of you guys committed to schools yet? At this point? Not yet. Okay. All right.

1:20:24 Well, I did. Congratulations. I mean, honestly, I think when I’m looking at this, going back to back championships, it’s like, we don’t always go to state, but when we do, we’re coming back with a trophy.

1:20:30 Right? Like, good job, guys. You guys did a phenomenal, phenomenal job up there. I was watching the video the entire time.

1:20:36 My husband and I are yelling, watching you guys play and cheering you on from Brevard county. But we’re proud of you. You make us proud.

1:20:47 You have the opportunity now to lead out as the state champions. You can invest back into this community and serve your community in a way that can make a difference. So good job on the football win.

1:20:55 I can’t wait to see how you gentlemen change the rest of the world, though. I think you guys are all going to be something very, very amazing. Coaches, job well done.

1:21:06 You guys have devoted a lot into these boys, so good job. We appreciate you guys. Doctor Rendell, just want to say think about the fact that you’re a champion, right? Champion in football.

1:21:20 But now you have the opportunity to be a champion in life. When you earn some kind of honor or accomplishment like this, now much is expected to whom much is given, much is expected. So now you’re going to be looked up to as a role model in your community.

1:21:30 So don’t let that down. Take that mantle of being a champion and a role model in your community. Help everybody else get better around you.

1:21:43 So don’t ever lose the sight of the fact, to lose sight of the fact that you’re a champion not just in football, but now you have the opportunity to be a champion in life. So congratulations on what you’ve accomplished so far, but way much more in life for you ahead. Congratulations.

1:21:53 Good job. We’re taking a photo. I think again, we’re just keep on taking pictures.

1:22:03 Kicked how many phone calls, text messages from all schools, fans, administrators. It was amazing. And the cocoa community is the best in Broad county, is the best in the state of Florida.

1:23:31 So thank you. Only two more awards. I know.

1:23:37 Who wants an award? All right. I know tonight’s a fun night. We have a lot to celebrate and I think that’s very exciting for us all.

1:23:53 We are also going to be honoring tonight our school board attorney, Mister Paul Gibbs. He we have representatives from the Florida School Board Attorneys association. The FSBA are with us tonight to honor Mister Gibbs with a special recognition.

1:23:58 I’m going to turn the floor over to you. Thank you, madam chair, school board members. Superintendent, my name is Amy Anvil.

1:24:23 I’m the vice president of the Florida School Board Attorneys association. It’s a privilege to be here today on behalf of the Florida School Board Attorneys association to honor one of our own by presenting the C. Graham Carruthers Award of Excellence to Paul Gibbs, your general counsel. The Florida School Board Attorneys association is a statewide collegial body of some 140 attorneys representing Florida’s 67 school districts.

1:25:00 The Seagram Crothers Award of Excellence was established in 2006 and it’s given annually to honor a Florida school board attorney who has demonstrated excellence in the profession, as exemplified by Graham Carruthers, who was one of the founders of the FSBAA in 1967 and served as a school board attorney for the Leon County School District for 35 years. Graham was a walking legal encyclopedia of every aspect of the law affecting public schools. He could recite rules, regulations, statutes and cases off the top of his head when rendering assistance to his fellow attorneys representing school districts throughout the state.

1:25:34 Your own general counsel is like that whenever a question arises among our group of board attorneys, which is many times a day, Paul is often the first to answer the question. Others follow him in agreement. Paul is well qualified to provide guidance to other attorneys representing school districts as a result of his current representation as general counsel of BPS and past experience as general counsel for the Marion County School School District, outside counsel to the Broward County School District, and assistant county attorney to the Seminole County Board of county commissioners.

1:25:46 Good evening, members of the board. I’m John Pomerini, the president of the Florida School Board Attorneys association, and it’s a privilege to be here. It’s a lot to provide legal services for a school district.

1:25:57 It’s not just school law. There are, we have, this is the 10th largest out of the 67 traditional districts. So there’s a lot of people, there is a lot of students, and there’s a lot of issues you have to deal with.

1:26:35 The myriad knowledge and expertise that Paul shares with his colleagues on a daily basis soundly supports the legal issues surrounding your district. These issues that he has to deal with every day, property law, contract law, employment law, negligence law, the laws related to charter schools, constitutional issues such as with freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, search and seizure, equal protection into due process of law, also section 504 of the Rehabilitation act idea. As I said, there is a bunch that Paul has to know on a daily basis, and he is a valued member of our association.

1:26:42 And I have to take a point of personal privilege here. I was sitting in the same position as Paul one year ago. Tonight.

1:26:48 I was receiving this award in front of my board. Paul has his wife and children here. I have my wife and children there.

1:27:06 There is no greater honor than for the entire state to say you are a symbol of excellence for school board attorneys throughout the state. Having worked with Paul on numerous issues, he is outstanding. You are very, very lucky to have somebody as good as him.

1:28:13 So, having said this, Paul Gibbs, our school board association attorney treasurer, it is our privilege on behalf of the board of directors to present you with the 2023 Graham Carruthers Award of Excellence in recognition for your contributions to the advancement of school law and the legal profession. Now, Amy and I are also here, but we have Dan Harrell, the former school board attorney from Indian or St. Lucie county, the 2016 recipient of this award, and Barbara Sadica, the general counsel of the St. Lucie County School District. We all wanted to come here to support Paul because we think the world of him and nobody is more deserving of this award.

1:28:28 Yep, I am usually a man of few words. And I try to get away with as few words as I can anytime. And this won’t be an exception, but mainly because I still don’t know what to say.

1:28:48 When they announced that I was going to get it, I was shocked, and I still am. And Mister Palmerini last year said that it took him weeks to get it to where it sank in that he had actually won this award. It remains an honor to be associated with these great attorneys who do the job every day for the year.

1:29:12 And it is a great honor to be associated with those who have come before me. And I’m humbled to think that they think so highly of me to one rely on anything that I have to say, but then award me with something that is as honorable as being the symbol of excellence in the state of Florida for school board attorneys. That being said, I couldn’t do it without support of my family, my wife and three daughters.

1:29:31 They tolerate me being away from them for conferences four times a year, and I can’t do it without thanking the board who supports and encourages such activities and takes me away from this job four times a year to do those conferences. So I thank all of you. I thank the FSBA.

1:29:43 They were great mentors when I came into being in house counsel with Marion. And I believe in paying it forward, and I try to mentor those who come after me and will continue to do so. So again, thank you.

1:29:51 Thank you, Dan and Barbara, for coming out, and thank you to my family. Congratulations. Let’s go grab a photo.

1:31:16 Yeah, it should we go? Ready to. Thank you so much. All right, board, I want to give you the opportunity, if you would like to say anything to Paul.

1:31:25 It sounds like Miss Campbell has a few words. I would like to say a few words. You know, I have appreciated so much.

1:31:38 You know, we had an amazing attorney and miss invol, who was our previous attorney, and then she left us. Yeah. And, you know, we had, you know, you talk about long board meetings, sat through.

1:31:51 One of the longest ones I’ve ever sat through was the meeting where we decided who we were going to hire. It took us hours, and we went round and round and round, and we, we picked the jackpot. We’ve been blessed to have you.

1:32:01 We’ve kind of all grown together. We, you have had to go through the wringer in this job. You know, got the job just right before COVID you know, trial by fire.

1:32:23 I don’t think any attorney school is district attorney was going through, was having an easy time of it. But I appreciate your support. If you don’t pick up the phone as soon as I call, it’s because you’re in court and always there and so ready to go back and forth with me when I’m trying to prove that I’m right and I know better.

1:32:40 And you don’t ever, like, slam me down or anything. You know, you let me talk it out and we work through so many things and so very much appreciate your integrity. I appreciate that you’re more than just this job that you.

1:32:51 When we have our health challenges, you always take those serious and how much you value your family because you talk about them. And so I just appreciate the man that you are. And I’m so glad that you’re on our team.

1:33:05 So, thank you, and this is very much. I didn’t know what we were recognizing you for tonight, so I agree with all this sentiments and think that you are very deserving and glad that you belong to BPS. Thank you, Miss Jenkins.

1:33:42 Yeah, I didn’t know what we were recognizing you for either tonight, so it was a surprise for all of us. You know, I’m sure you really don’t enjoy this attention at all, which kind of brings me a little bit of, like, sadistic joy to watch you go through. But I appreciate you not only in your expertise in your field, which you’ve been impeccable about in probably the most challenging time in public education ever, in a state that has the most challenging, confusing and broad laws ever, but I also just appreciate you as a human being.

1:33:55 You got here right before I did. And I’ll never forget the first package I got from you, which was a giant booklet with big red lettering that says, don’t break any of these laws. So, I mean, you’ve literally been here since the day I’ve got here.

1:34:11 And I appreciate your neutrality and your professionalism, and I really, really appreciate your dry sense of humor. It just makes my day. So I’m really happy for you, and I hope it sinks in soon, because you deserve every single second of it.

1:34:14 Thank you, Miss Stanz. Mister Susan. Yeah.

1:34:32 Thank you, Paul, for everything that you do for us. I saw your wife over there and I just kind of ran into her and I just said thank you, because I know that the time that you give towards our school district is more above and beyond, and it takes from a family, and you’ve got three beautiful children. And I can see being a good dad, because I know that’s inside of you.

1:34:42 When we talk about things where you’re running off to go to the doctor’s appointment here or do something like that. So, as a holistic person, you’re an amazing person. I wanted to say thank you for being a part of us.

1:34:53 I also wanted to tell a funny story. See, Paul had what I would consider my favorite brand of nuts inside of his office. So every time I would come in, I would grab his nuts.

1:34:55 I would go. I started eating. That came out wrong.

1:35:00 Sorry. But we would. I would go inside there and I would grab them, and I would start to eat them.

1:35:08 Right? And then all of a sudden, he stopped having those. And instead of having cashews, he ended up having walls. And then he has nothing inside there.

1:35:15 So I did not go. That did not go the way I was supposed to. I’m glad everybody has it.

1:35:18 Anyways, I did know. I did know that Paul. I did know that Paul was going to receive this.

1:35:32 I did know that Paul was going to receive the ward, because Miss Envel gave me a call and told me last month, or the month before. So I wanted to say thank you. But holistically, Paul, you’ve been through the wringer, and you’ve gone through a lot, and you’ve.

1:35:37 You’ve done a lot of. Got different things for us. And you’ve supported us in ways from, as Miss Jenkins said, a neutral perspective.

1:35:41 And I appreciate it, man. So, thank you. I’ll figure out how to deliver that other one.

1:35:46 A better talk to you soon. All right. I’m not sure how you follow that speech.

1:35:56 Would you like to say any kind words to Paul? Right. I would just say congratulations. Congratulations.

1:36:00 Yes. Paul, I do do not envy your job. His job is to keep us out of trouble.

1:36:11 Can you imagine? So, yeah, it is a difficult task. You are obviously juggling multiple personalities here. And you do this so neutral that I can’t tell one way or the other where you stand on things.

1:36:18 You just give me the facts. And I appreciate that. And you are extremely responsive in record time, which is a huge asset.

1:36:18 So, thank you for all the hard work you’ve dedicated to this district and to our school board specifically. I’m pretty sure everyone one of our district staff can say, hey, Paul is a wealth of knowledge. They call on him for all kinds of questions, and he’s there and he shows up.

1:36:38 So, thank you for all that you’ve done for us. We appreciate you tremendously. All right.

1:36:41 All right. We only have 16 more things we’re gonna recognize today. I’m just kidding.

1:36:43 We’re not. I’m totally kidding. All right.

1:36:49 This will bring us to the adoption of the agenda. Doctor Rendell? Thank you, madam chair. On this evening’s agenda, we have three.

1:37:08 Three administrative staff recommendations, 24 consent items, two public hearing items, four action items, and one information item. Changes made to the agenda since release of the public include the following. The addition of g 39, social studies textbook adoption, and revised items a.

1:37:19 Twelve administrative staff recommendations. Do I hear a motion? Move to approve? Second. Any discussion? No.

1:37:25 Paul, roll call, please. Miss Jenkins. Miss Campbell? Aye.

1:37:30 Miss Wright? Aye. Mister Trent? Mister Susan. Aye.

1:37:32 All right. Thank you. So that passes.

1:37:40 We are now at the administrative staff recommendation. Do I hear a motion? Move to approve? Second. All right, any discussion? No.

1:37:44 Paul, roll call, please. Miss Jenkins. Miss Campbell.

1:37:47 Miss Wright. Aye. Mister Trent? Mister Susan.

1:37:51 Aye. Doctor Rendell. Thank you, madam chair.

1:38:00 I’d like to recognize a few individuals who are in attendance with us this evening. First is Kendra Thomas. She was an assistant principal in Jacksonville, Florida.

1:38:11 And we’re appointing her to the position of assistant principal at Jupiter Elementary School. So congratulations, Kendra. The floor is yours.

1:38:15 Thank you. Thank you. It’s such an honor and privilege to be selected for this position.

1:38:20 I want to thank the board, my principal, Miss Teresi. I’m in the admin team. Also my husband here, Rodney Edwards.

1:38:25 So now it’s Kendra Edwards as of December 31. So one change. One change.

1:38:34 But I’m just grateful to be here in honor and ready to jump in and hope to further the mission to serve every student with excellence as a standard. Awesome. Thank you.

1:38:49 Congratulations. Next, we’d like to congratulate Kelly Rogers, who was an assistant principal in Osceola county. And we’re appointing her to a position of assistant principal at Westside elementary.

1:38:55 Congratulations, Kelly. Thank you, Doctor Randall. If I could just copy Miss Thomas’s.

1:39:01 Thank you. That was perfect. Actually, I’m very honored to be selected as well and join Brevard public schools.

1:39:11 Thank you to misses Woodbury and Miss Williams. I think we’re going to make a great team and I’m just ready to get started. And a hello online to my family that’s watching.

1:39:18 All right, welcome. And last, we’d like to congratulate Matthew Schnosky. He’s currently a teacher on a brought his own fan base.

1:39:32 He’s currently a teacher on assignment at Southwest Middle, but he now will be an assistant principal at Southwest Middle. So congratulations, Matthew. More work now.

1:39:49 Yeah. Well, first, I’d like to thank doctor Rendell and the school board for giving me the opportunity to serve brevard public schools in the role of assistant principal. I would like to thank principal delautor for taking the time to mentor me and helping me gain the experience over the past years.

1:39:59 It’s been a lot, but she won’t give me anything I can’t do. That’s what she told me day one. Thank you to miss Rivera, who’s always been there by my side, telling me what to do, do.

1:40:17 And, you know, any question I have could have used you today on a couple things. The rest of my administrative staff for being there and being a great team as they’re here supporting me. Also, I’d like to thank James Ramer for seeing the need at Southwest for another assistant principal and fighting for us.

1:40:28 And then last but not least, my beautiful wife and my beautiful daughter being there for me when I was going through the master program, the late nights with the administration team and putting up with me. Thank you, guys. Congratulations.

1:40:41 Congratulations, Matthew. All right. I know.

1:40:46 Congratulations. Are we taking any photos or. No, I don’t want to miss that opportunity.

1:40:56 But we disappointed. Listen, guys, we do it every other time. I know.

1:42:50 I’m like, we’re pointing three. We should definitely celebrate that. All right, so our.

1:42:57 All right, moving along. We are not the public comment portion of the meeting. Paul, how many public comments? 26.

1:43:09 We have 26 public comments tonight. They will each receive three minutes apiece. In an effort to remain unbiased on the speakers of the podium, we made some changes that went into effect at the last board meeting, and that will be that.

1:43:17 Paul, our parliamentarian, is going to be calling up the speakers. He’ll announce them three at a time. So if you guys will just kind of make your way over to the podium and line up.

1:43:24 I would like to take the opportunity, though, just to remind the public of the written rules that are in our board policy. Zero one six, 9.1.

1:43:38 All comments should be directed at the board or an individual board member, staff members, or other individuals shall not be addressed by name. Abusive, obscene, or irrelevant comments will not be permitted. Orderly conduct is expected from all public comment participants.

1:43:59 The presiding officer may interrupt, warn, or terminate the participants public comment opportunity. Mister Gibbs, if you will, please call up our first three speakers. Genevieve Rugg, Mindy McKenzie, Bernard Bryan.

1:44:15 All right, Paul, you got the clock this time, too? Yep. Okay. Before I begin, I am speaking to an aspect of the Guardian program.

1:44:23 Well, this was just to the board, so I wondered if that is appropriate for now since I’m kicking things off. Yep. Okay, great.

1:44:33 Thank you. All right. I’m rarely at a loss for words, especially when it comes to subjects about which I am passionate.

1:44:53 But some things are so fundamentally obvious that further support becomes a challenge. One of these things is the foolishness of adding guns to schools wielded by civilians. There are a number of reasons that arming civilians would be highly unwise.

1:45:09 When I say civilians, I’m speaking of teachers or administrators. Specifically, teachers became teachers to do good things with kids, and administrators are former teachers. Asking one of these civilians to shoot a child.

1:45:20 Excuse me, I misspoke. To fire at a child or even a teen would result in possibly disastrous hesitation. Excuse me.

1:45:46 Conversely, any of these civilian educators who could fire on a teen without hesitation would be the last person one would want to arm in a school. I spent decades in public school classrooms, and none had adequate storage to be considered childproof. And if it were sufficient, it would take too long to access the weapon to be helpful in an emergency situation.

1:46:21 I strongly believe the strategic promotion of brevard public schools will not be served by arming more civilian educators in our schools, including civilians in the Guardian will not. In the Guardian program, will not increase the perception of safer public schools, and will give kids the perception that we look at guns as solutions to our problems. Adding more guns to schools would result in tragedy of greek epic proportions.

1:46:41 So I implore you to listen, and not just hear us, your constituents, as white noise and dogs barking in the background. Thank you. Mindy McKenzie.

1:46:46 Bernard Bryant, rise. Walter. All right.

1:46:52 Mindy McKenzie. Hi. Good evening.

1:47:04 This is my first time at coming to a meeting. I do have two children that go to Viera High School, and so I am very worried about some of the things that I’ve been hearing and reading. That’s why I’m here tonight.

1:47:14 I left my job early. I’m a nurse. So I had to leave my patients aside to come here and have patience with the board and ask why we are here.

1:47:30 What are we doing? Why are we banning books? Why are we letting moms for liberty infiltrate our school system? And why are we now talking about guns in our school? I’m just a concerned parent. I’m a taxpayer. I’ve been in Brevard county for almost ten years.

1:47:45 Why? What are we doing? I don’t want my kids to come to this school and, like, be afraid. I don’t want this environment for my kids. I had one child graduate from Viera high school ten years ago, and this school was.

1:47:54 Was fantastic. I couldn’t have said better things about it. And now I’m scared every time my kids leave.

1:48:10 I’m terrified when they come to school and I don’t understand it. And it aggravates me that I have to come here as a concerned parent and as somebody in the community and speak up. Because so many of us have been so quiet for so long.

1:48:21 We sit back and let it be somebody else’s problem. We sit back and ask somebody else to take this stand and put their words to action. And now we’ve been called to action.

1:48:28 There’s a lot of us out here who have been sitting complacent for too long. And we’re done. And I’m not going to do this.

1:48:39 So what is a real solution here? I mean, there’s got to be a solution. It can’t be just arming our teachers. It can’t be banning books.

1:48:44 It just can’t be this. This is what our world has came to. I don’t.

1:48:52 And I did not prepare a speech, obviously. Like I said, I left my office early today. I’ve been sitting here for 2 hours just to speak.

1:49:02 Because I feel like I have to. My kids lives and everybody else in this room, their kids lives matter. And that’s why I’m going to be here and I’m going to speak.

1:49:13 I’m not going to be rude and blow belligerent and disrespectful to anybody. I know everybody’s job here is important, but so is mine as a parent. And so I just want the same respect both ways.

1:49:28 And I thank you for your time. Audience, I’m going to ask you to please refrain from clapping so that we can hear when he calls out names. We can’t hear when there’s clapping going on.

1:49:38 So if you don’t mind, please just refraining from that. That way we can hear Bernard Bryan’s next, followed by rise. Walter and Luisa Porter.

1:49:52 Happy new year to everybody. Thank you so very much for allowing me to speak today. This is probably my 30th time, but I just want to take this time today to say thank you to this board.

1:50:12 Thank you for the workshop you had with attorney Moore. My heart started to jump for joy. You know, what we saw is that this board decided to look at investigating more time and planning toward VPK for every child.

1:50:23 And when I heard that discussion, my wife and I, she’s a tremendous educator. She said, oh, my God. Now I understand what Isaiah meant.

1:50:38 In Isaiah, chapter 49 said, there is an acceptable time. And I want this board to understand. Your investment in VPK is going to minimize the educational gaps.

1:50:58 It will improve our children’s discipline. It will help those children to really perform highly in this technological world. And I can’t thank you enough for really putting that on the plate, but our expectation is the South Bevard branch at NAACP north end as well.

1:51:16 We are hoping that your goal is that every child in the marginalized community get access to VPK. Not only access, but really attend VPK. I believe that early investment is going to save you a lot of money on the back end.

1:51:36 So if you look at data, data shows us now, and I’m a data guy, we have investigated this. When you look at areas that are marginalized, the kids that are in the VPA, enrollment is very, very low. So I can’t tell you how much that we thank you for that.

1:51:53 I want you to also consider one other thing. We understand, based on studies, that parental engagement is a key for that school’s success as well as for that child’s success. So I’m asking you to consider.

1:52:16 You know, looking at your website, I noticed a school, at least one. I didn’t look at the whole site. A school has a parent school contract agreement, and I’m hoping that Bavar public schools, we use that secret sauce to implement that program across the county.

1:52:25 It’s a winning formula. And I can’t understand if one school can have this contract of parental engagement. Parental involvement.

1:52:43 Why don’t other schools do that? So I’m asking you to. I’m not sure what the legal ramifications are, but we really want you to take a deep dive with that because we understand parental engagement is a key to that child. Thank you very much.

1:52:55 Rise, Walter. Luisa Porter and Dan Ryder. Hi, my name is actually Risa Walter.

1:53:15 There’s two dots over the e. I am the communications chair for the Brevard Democrats. Our chair, Pamela Casalana, is out of state, and she wanted to make sure that the voices of not only the Democrats, but of all defenders of literature and free public education were heard.

1:53:28 I’m here with her words, but I’m also here with my own words. The kite runner is a powerful, gut wrenching, thought provoking book. Taking a necessarily shocking paragraph out of context.

1:53:54 Context and using it as a reason to remove a book from a high school shelf is unfortunately now almost routine and a gross overstep. The lessons in the kite runner are obvious. Father son relationship, with all its sharp edges and soft corners, remorse over action and inaction and self forgiveness.

1:54:21 It’s been more than ten years since I’ve read that book, but I remember it all. I also remember the backstory and the growth of the growth of the Taliban and its repressive autocracy in the name of religious nationalism. It struck terror in my heart then, and it does again today with the rise of parental rights groups that want to limit what students learn.

1:54:49 These are my words. Now, I understand and agree that every parent has the right to decide what their child can or cannot read. However, one parent or a few parents, or even the state of Florida should not have the right to decide what all students can or cannot read, providing that these books meet state standards of legality education.

1:55:21 Reading enables students to unlock and develop their power by reading about other cultures, other experiences, other histories. Young people, all people, can expand their compassion and empathy. Reading books that some people find controversial can actually help students chew on, contemplate sticky moral themes and dilemmas.

1:55:45 Yeah, there might be swear words or disturbing elements in these books, but they can actually spark conversations, dialogues which could liberate a student, a person, from prejudice. It can deepen an understanding. It could actually help a person break out out of a shell that it’s been trapped in forever.

1:56:05 This fear of books and history, to me, is a shameful disservice to our children and to our country. Education should not be based on or limited by religious or national agenda. Such actions are the actions of a repressive, authoritarian regime, such as exhibits.

1:56:12 I think you’re out of time. For the remainder of it, you can email the board any of the speech that you’ve prepared that you weren’t able to reach. I just encourage you to be creative.

1:56:24 Thank you, Louisa Porter. Then that’s Dan Ryder and Chrissy goss. Okay.

1:57:12 Pushing through the nerves for the second time. Man, I know y’all must be exhausted today after first starting to discuss whether or not to arm teachers at 02:00 right? And now more book regulations. Only the best of the best for our kids, right? So I just still don’t understand something, like most people, why the small group moms for Liberty have still so much influence over this board? I don’t understand how their tax dollars are more important than the rest because even, you know, now that there are no experts, I keep thinking that this is some crazy social experiment or something that you’re doing.

1:57:29 Like, next you’ll give a local LGBTQ group or an african american group of our community just as much control as the moms for liberty group have now. Just kidding. I know that’s not going to happen, but it’s too bad anyway.

1:57:51 So why humor this group? Moms for liberty is fueled only by irrational fears. They want to control what books students have access to while distrusting actual experts and parents. It’s just against the principles of a fair and inclusive public education system.

1:58:03 Anyone now can optimize their child out from accessing certain books if they want to control their children so much. And they do know that, right? I don’t know. They’re not really here tonight, I guess.

1:58:24 But you know that, right? But that’s not enough. Are we going to be the next county in Florida to ban dictionaries? Maybe even more. History? Where does it end? And you’re wasting so much time restricting books to high school libraries when it’s already where they are in the first place.

1:58:42 Thanks to experts. Man, authoritarianism, it’s a slippery slope. You see, while most of you are allowing these huge un american doors to open up here, educated Americans who know their history see the real damage you’re doing for the future.

1:59:00 And now please do better for the school system. Smart as heck. Students and educators need so much more than your shaming control and instilling fear of being persecuted and attacked.

1:59:27 Like all mothers tell their children, there’s never a wrong time to stop doing the wrong thing. But you wouldn’t arm teachers with guns, right? Dan Ryder, followed by Chrissy Goss and Paul Raub. Hi.

2:00:00 I’m a father of two Brevard county high schoolers, and like many of you here, I’m a devoted reader, though if the books brought up to the dais in the past meetings are an indication, have different taste in literature than some people. But as a reader and a parent of readers, I’ve been watching the meetings, and though I can’t say the discussion about books has been terribly edifying, I’ve at least come to appreciate the theatrical portion of these proceedings. The public comments they take on the form of morality play or tragedy or farce.

2:00:15 Some speeches are designed to inflame righteous indignation. Others attempt to instruct or open the minds of the listeners. But all the actors are earnest and believable enough, and all of them, ostensibly are concerned with the education of our youth.

2:00:41 One of the recurring themes is this notion that to protect the innocence of our children and teenagers, schools must remove books from the shelves that we as parents think might have a corrupting influence on them. Only, it seems to me, a crucial part of this book student transaction is being left out of the discussion. In order to read a book, a student must first make a conscious decision to go to the library and check that book out.

2:01:00 A more pragmatic approach to this problem, and one that would seem to be far easier than going through political contortions and filibustering might be to engage in a thoughtful conversation with your child. If your child is a reader, you might suggest books for them to check out. You might explain some books aren’t age appropriate.

2:01:18 You could even have them bring books home for your approval. And if they listen to you good. And if, on the other hand, yours is the type of child who is actively seeking out corruption, then the reality is high school library books should be the very least of your concerns.

2:01:53 To lock a high schooler into an airtight capsule of innocence, you must not only control every aspect of their schooling, but every waking moment, their phone activities, the phone activities of their friends, all their conversations in hallways, locker rooms, every computer they see, every tv, every movie theater, every magazine, every song they hear. I’ll concede that a book review process, a thoughtful curation of library materials, is a worthwhile endeavor. But I also believe that books, the intellectual basis of western civilization, should be deemed innocent until proven guilty.

2:02:21 If you don’t want to co parent with the government, then don’t co opt them as your watchdog of purity. If you have kids in Brevard county, if these people really have kids in Brevard county, and they really want them to be intelligent and wise, instead of instructing them on the usefulness of decrees and fear and censorship, I suggest you teach them a far more valuable lesson, the power of discernment. Thank you.

2:02:33 Chrissy Goss, followed by Paul Raub and Aiden McFadden. What is the speaker’s name? Chrissy Goss. Or yeah, Chrissy Goss, followed by Paul Raub and Aiden McFadden.

2:02:46 Good evening. As you said, my name is Chrissy Goss and I actually have been in Brevard county since 1972. I grew up here in Brevard county schools.

2:03:09 I’m here to talk about book banning and moms for Liberty, a self described parental rights organization pushing for the banning of books across the country. They favor censorship of books in public schools that they deem inappropriate. Sadly, most of the books they want to ban are great books of literature and address racism, hate, war and injustice.

2:03:39 The two books on the agenda tonight, slaughterhouse five and kite runner, should continue as mandatory reading for high schoolers. Ironically, moms for liberty are doing exactly what they say they are against as they are pushing their ideology on all children in public schools. They partner with heroes of Liberty and American Cornerstone Institute and brave books who have already put 1500 books into the public school system.

2:04:00 I’ve read these brave children books and they are fear mongering, racist, hateful and blatantly intolerant parents should opt out of the brave books. It’s clear moms for liberty are not for liberty at all. They want to take away our freedom of religion, speech and democracy.

2:04:14 They have systematically attacked hardworking, underpaid teachers. And because of their harassment that the teachers have received, we’re now short 8000 teachers in Florida. This is all part of their plan.

2:04:30 They work with the Heritage foundation and the Koch brothers to destroy public education. Why? Because they want to access the billions of dollars in public school funding so they can control it and give it to private schools. Here’s why that is dangerous.

2:04:48 Private schools can discriminate against anyone they choose. They don’t have to accept your child with special needs disability or different color of skin or religion. On the other hand, public schools are mandated to accept all children, no matter their race, religion, physical disabilities.

2:05:05 And 91% of all children in America attend public education. That is why we must protect it. If you’re here to defend democracy and stop moms for liberty, would you raise your hand to the school board? I’d like everyone in the school board to look up Jean Trent and Matt.

2:05:18 Susan, if you wouldn’t mind, for just a minute and look out at the crowd of the families that you represent. I guess not. You must continue working for all of us.

2:05:39 I’d like you to please remember Nat. Thank you, Paul Raub, followed by Aidan McFadden and Samantha Kirvin. Evening.

2:06:06 So, yeah, in a little bit, you’ll be voting on the fates in the school system of the kite Runner and slaughterhouse five. To recap for those who don’t know, the now advisory review committee voted by majority in both cases to keep with some restrictions, that being high school, was the majority vote clear? I voted keep with no restrictions. I’m gonna explain why in a second here.

2:06:17 I don’t know that other people are gonna sing the praises of these books. Don’t need to go over that again. I mean, the kite runner has been included as an AP test option for like twelve years running.

2:06:29 It’s one of the very few books that fulfills all possible AP tests. AP English prompts, which is a rarity, I’m told, by people who know more than me, which is any teacher. Slaughterhouse five is a classic.

2:06:46 It is one of the few books that we’re tasked with reviewing that has survived a previous banning challenge back in the seventies and actually up through the Supreme Court was sent back to library shelves. These don’t seem like difficult choices to me. And you guys have options.

2:07:00 You don’t have to follow a recommendation, obviously, you could, you know, do what moms for Liberty wants and just no buy book. You’re dangerous. You could rubber stamp the committee’s vote, which I hope you don’t do.

2:07:05 I don’t think you’re inclined to do that. But, you know, we are not media specialists. We are not the experts.

2:07:15 We are tackling this in earnest and taking this very seriously. But, you know, we are concerned parents. You could agree with the vote.

2:07:27 You could go with keeping with restriction to high school, which is what happened the last time out. That just codifies what the staff has already done. That is where those books are.

2:07:55 Those books do not exist on junior high school or elementary shelves in this county. And that’s another option you have, is to go with keep and let your staff, your teachers, make what appears to be the right decision that they’ve already been making. You could respect them and respect their abilities, their expertise and their good judgment and good intentions.

2:08:09 People mention the teacher shortage. If you’re a young, passionate teacher looking for where you’re going to work, and despite the governor’s best intentions, those do still exist in Florida. Are you gonna go somewhere where you’re respected? Are you gonna go somewhere where you’re micromanaged? Yes.

2:08:22 The responsibility does ultimately land with you guys. I’m aware of that. But that responsibility can also be shouldered through delegation and respect and trust for your staff.

2:08:32 And that’s hard. That’s also real responsibility, empowering and enabling your staff, and that’s real leadership. And it takes courage, and I’m asking you to have that courage today.

2:08:50 Thanks very much. Aidan McFadden, followed by Samantha Kirvin and Amy Raub. Hello, I’m Aiden McFadden.

2:09:03 I go to EFSC, and I graduated from satellite high school in 2022. And I just have a couple points that I wrote down that I would like to share. I don’t remember how long ago.

2:09:34 A couple months ago, maybe a year ago, a chorus teacher at satellite was arrested for trying to have relations with a student. And I just want to say, like, a little thought experiment, is imagine if he had access to a firearm in the school. And, you know, considering his intentions with a student.

2:09:58 It’s just scary to think about what could have happened if there are policies like that in place. And I also just want to point out something that I thought about, that at 16, you can have a license and you can drive and you can kill a pedestrian. You can and t bone a car, run a red light, but you can’t pick out a book that you want to read in the library.

2:10:55 There’s some things to think about. Maybe if school was a nice place that people wanted to go, obviously some people want to go, but majority of people are not always happy at school and nobody would want to bring a firearm to some place that they feel safe or someplace that they feel helps them, you know? And I think something that could help with that is better mental health education and policies that are more empathetic towards more of the student population. And another point is that the removal of a book from a public school library is a ban for any student that can’t afford that book outside of the school library.

2:11:18 So stop calling it not a ban. And the overlap between those students that can’t afford these books and the students that would feel safe, seen or heard or would gain anything from these books is not insignificant. And we need to fix this.

2:11:34 Thank you. Samantha Kirvin, followed by Amy Raub and Alison Curvin. Okay.

2:11:41 Good evening, everyone. Oh, yeah, I was about to say good morning. Day has gone by so fast.

2:12:06 So as a freshman looking at taking potentially and trying to about a full AP schedule, you know, please keep high school books on high school shelves. No, these books, as we know, are not in elementary schools. They are for high school.

2:12:29 They are put with high school. The kite runner and the slaughterhouse five are AP books. These books are validated and made with the intent of teaching having a lesson to learn from.

2:12:48 They’re for AP and they’re likely going to be on the AP exams so they should be taught. I would just say please like take that into consideration when you like, make your vote. Also something I just wanted to point out that I think is very ironic and quite funny.

2:13:03 Matt, Susan, I suggest you look at me when I talk about this because it revolves. You remember that dirty, really inappropriate joke you made? You know how we can’t like curse? You basically did the same thing. If you really want to complain about something, don’t do it yourself.

2:13:16 Thank you and good night. Amy Raub. Followed by Alison Curvin and I’m sorry, Alicia Weiss.

2:13:21 I hope I’m in there. Hi. So my name’s Amy Raub.

2:13:35 I’m from Ohio originally but started school here at twelve. So I’ve been through a lot of schools and my four kids have also. And so maybe now you’ll listen to me.

2:13:43 I don’t know. So, Mark Randell, I never thought I’d be like talking to you. Mark? Mark, you hear me? Wow.

2:13:56 Now correct me if I’m wrong, but did I miss you? Asking all the white kids to be better role models. Just wondering. Okay.

2:14:07 Gene. Trent. Rough.

2:14:20 Rough, huh? You hear me? R R r. Concerned parents are barking dogs because we’re bored. Imagine being so bored you run for the school.

2:14:23 School board. Megan. I watched the last meeting where those parents from Indian River county came up.

2:14:34 They banned 13 books. And you weren’t happy. And I was.

2:14:40 I was so, like, happy you weren’t happy. And it was interesting to watch you get uncomfy over there. Sitting on the wrong side of history.

2:14:44 Fascism. It’s like playing with fire. And you got burned a little.

2:14:59 It’s out of your control. Right? That’s fire. Except, you know.

2:15:15 I know for a fact you’re not the only person that’s been gaslit by moms for liberty. I know for a fact you wouldn’t be alone there banning books and calling it freedom or liberty. That’s gaslighting.

2:15:23 It’s wrong. Imagine that, unlike those people, you have authority and power to do something about it. Anything about your mistakes.

2:15:32 You have an opportunity to set an example of how to admit you were wrong. And this is how we fix it. Now.

2:15:41 Dissolve the committee. It’s useless. Okay, so I want to talk about the books.

2:16:02 And I also want to talk about the word innocence. Protect the children’s innocence. I hear all the time.

2:16:09 What does that mean to you? And what do you think that children that are victims of sexual assault. How do you think that makes them feel when you say they’ve lost their innocence? Innocence. The victims.

2:16:14 I’m a victim. It makes me feel like you don’t get it. They need to read about this stuff.

2:16:25 Do you understand me, Megan? They need it. Don’t ban books. Dissolve the committee.

2:16:35 Apologize to your county. All right. Thank you.

2:16:49 Allison Kervin, Alicia Weiss and Beverly marker. All right. Good evening, board members.

2:17:02 I’ve gone to the last three book review committee meetings and I have concerns about what I’ve heard. Mister Trent, your committee member has a political agenda and does not. And even the teenager in the room can see it.

2:17:10 Instead of talking about the book or the. Or the content of the book, she questions the district and how they do their job. And make suggestions.

2:17:24 Okay. And make suggestions to who? Things the district already does. She should not be influencing my education.

2:17:37 Miss Wright, it shouldn’t matter whether or not your committee member likes reading the genre of the book to keep hearing over and over again. I don’t like. It was annoying.

2:18:05 Not liking something doesn’t justify its removal. I read plenty of things I don’t like for my classes. And even though I don’t like them, they have educational value.

2:18:14 Miss Campbell, your committee member may need a reminder on equity to attack the graphic novel version of Slaughterhouse five, which gives students who struggle to read access to the same content, is alarming. The graphic novel wasn’t even part of the challenge. Mister Susan, your committee member seems to default to the room before making a decision on how to.

2:18:27 On how to vote. I’m not convinced that she actually wants to be in the room. This committee should not be affecting my education.

2:18:37 Your policy is flawed, and this committee is not serving the students of rebar. Fix it and do better. Thank you.

2:18:52 Alicia Weiss, Beverly Marker, and Paige St. Marie. Hi. This is my first time here.

2:19:30 I don’t know any of the board members, so it’s nice. Nice to be here and put a face to the names. Before I get into this, I want to say thank you for listening to me.

2:20:02 I know it’s been a long day, but the lack of professionalism that I’ve seen on this end of the board is like you shaking your head. I understand you don’t disagree with me, but I am a mom, and I’m here, okay? So that being said, I’m a local mom in satellite beach, and I’m coming to speak my piece as it pertains to this book banning agenda set forth by a very narrow minded minority of women that have decided to police my child’s education. Hold on.

2:20:16 I gotta get my shakes out. They are taking authority from me and the people I have entrusted with this task. I have recently read an article in USA Today which stated, a Florida school district last month pulled the Merriam Webster Dictionary from library shelves to comply with state law, batting books with descriptions of sexual conduct.

2:20:39 Eek. The dictionary was one of the several reference books taken off library shelves in that county, located in Florida’s panhandle. See, the problem with that is that we need the dictionary.

2:20:49 Believe it or not, we need access to these simple staples of our education. And I actually have an example of where that would come in handy. Now, for instance, the word liberty, right? The definition, as per Webster’s, the quality or state of being free.

2:21:13 The power to do as one pleases. Freedom free from physical restraint. Another example comes from the Oxford Dictionary.

2:21:30 Freedom to live as you choose, without too many limits from government or authority. Why would a group named moms for liberty perform the absolute opposite action of liberty by taking away my right as a parent as I see fit. Why limit my child’s freedoms and, in fact, invite our government to limit us more.

2:21:41 They say they stand against government overreach. They speak to people teaching principles of liberty in our homes and community. This is absurdly against even what this useless gaggle claims to stand for.

2:21:56 The next word I would like to reference is contradiction. And that is what miles for liberty really stands for. Thank you.

2:22:08 You can email the remainder of the speech to the board if you have it typed out, but the three minutes is up. But thank you for coming and speaking. Beverly Marker, followed by Paige St. Marie and Ava Wolfenkohler.

2:22:44 Just. Do you want to just go? Sorry, what was the next one’s name? Sorry, it’s Ben. Beverly Marker, followed by Paige St. Marie and Ava Wolfenkohler.

2:23:07 First of all, I understand that arming teachers is off the table. Is that true? Okay, as far as banning books is concerned, banning and burning books, it has an ugly history going back many, many years and worldwide. We seem to want to pretend that our students are all white, heterosexual christians, and that’s all they should be exposed to, and that’s all they could understand or read about.

2:23:31 We’ve got kids out there that need to read about race, ethnicity, racism, LGBTQ individuals. Some of them are struggling with these issues. It helps them to read about other experiences that people like them have.

2:24:09 We’re only promoting prejudice and hate by the kind of books that we’re banning. And if we want to pretend like students are. Are not exposed to true history and people that are different from them, in many ways, we’re just fooling ourselves.

2:24:43 So what do we really want to do, except to narrowly shape the students by what you’re doing when you ban books? We can’t afford to let this happen in the schools. Do we want to go back to Nazi Germany? That’s pretty much what a lot of you seem to want to do. Florida right now has an ugly, ugly image in many parts of the country, and it’s because of issues like this that it’s happening.

2:24:57 Let’s get smart about what we’re doing and be more accepting people issues and be honest about what’s going on. Thank you, Paige St. Marie, followed by Ava Wolfenkohler and Susan Cauci. Hi, I’m Paige Sainte Marie, and I’m a senior at satellite high school, and I just want to talk about the discussion of arming teachers.

2:25:05 But I was raised to be respectful to adults, so with all of my respect, I just want to dumb it down for just a sec. Gun plus gun does not equal safety. God forbid, if it comes down to it, one way or another, someone is getting a gun.

2:25:20 Pointed at them. One way or another, someone is going to get hurt. And most likely, one way or another, someone’s going to wind up dead.

2:25:33 Putting more guns in school is not going to help the problem of guns in school. In fact, it makes it more accessible to students. There’s a weapon designed to kill someone in the room with prepubescent, stupid kids.

2:25:50 I know so many freshman boys that would try to get it just for fun, just to see if they could. I understand you want to make school a safer place for us. Trust me, I want to go to a safe school.

2:25:59 But maybe instead of worrying about children reading about gay people in books, we can worry about making school a safer place without putting guns in there. Putting guns in school is not rational. I don’t know a book that’s killed anyone, but I know plenty of guns have.

2:26:12 But happy literacy week. Let me choose what books I can and can’t read. Thank you.

2:26:31 Ava Wolfenkohler, Susan Cauci and Michelle Perotti. Hi, I’m Ava. I’m a student at satellite.

2:26:54 I’m a part of Gen Z freeance and revards students for change. On February 6, the next meeting, students are rallying against the book bans so we can tell you how we actually feel about it, how it’s affecting us. So, just so you know, I wouldn’t normally, like, do this kind of thing.

2:27:13 I’m kind of nervous, but this is just like, insanity. Parents, non parents, teachers and students are here again to wait their turn to speak and ask you not to put our safety and their children’s safety in danger. Do you like us all sitting here and, like, begging you? Because it’s really sad.

2:27:37 Like, anyway, taking away books and bringing in guns? Like, is it something you’re proud of? That’s crazy if you think this is making schools better and giving kids motivation to learn. It’s not. What we need is more teachers.

2:27:44 Personally, I’m really excited to graduate and get out of here. I just turned 18, and I can’t wait for my first vote to get Matt Susan off the board. So today I really hope that you are actually listening and hearing these people taking time out of their days to sit at this boring meeting.

2:28:08 That’s all. Jennifer Jenkins. I love you.

2:28:16 Susan Cauci, Michelle Parotti, Kelly Kervin. Good evening, everyone. I’ll keep this brief, but I want to applaud all of those who have spoken and are going to speak this evening.

2:28:25 You have said what my thoughts have been for many, many months. I am a grandmother. I am a mother.

2:28:32 I was a teacher. My daughter is a media specialist in one of your schools. I know what she’s been going through.

2:28:49 My cousins have been teachers. My aunts have been teachers. So this is nothing new for me.

2:29:00 Other than the gun issue and the banning of boys books in school. The definition of liberty is the power of choice. If you remember nothing else from this meeting, that’s the definition.

2:29:22 It’s the power of choice. Removing dictionaries from the schools is ludicrous. Absolutely absurd.

2:29:51 In an interview that was held on tv this past past week on MSNBC, I watched one of the leaders of the moms for Liberty speak for about 25 minutes. She never answered a question. She walked around it.

2:30:10 It was as if she was a politician. I’m worried. I’m concerned, and I hope even the gentlemen that have not been looking at the speakers this evening, and I do thank the women for acknowledging us, and I hope you all will take some action as to what some of the folks have been proposing this evening.

2:30:25 Thank you. Michelle Parotti, Kelly Kervin, Greg Ross, Michelle Parotti. Last call.

2:30:46 Michelle Perrotti. All right. Kelly Kerbin, Greg Ross and Rochelle Jolly.

2:30:57 Accountability, defined by the Marian Webster Dictionary as an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. Megan, you and I had an email exchange after the last school board meeting. In that email, I shared with you my frustrations for your actions during the December meeting when you banned 13 books.

2:31:07 You ignored the BPS policy, which you claim is great. You ignored the work of the book reconsideration committee, whom you claimed to support. I pointed out that you lacked the experience to be an effective chairperson.

2:31:21 And the people you admonished for reading books during public comment are your people. They’re your supporters. Now, do you remember your reply? Let me jog your memory.

2:31:30 And I quote, I feel very sorry for you, Kelly. The amount of hatred and anger you spew all over the Internet and around you is just that. I hope one day you turn your life around and find joy and peace and happiness.

2:31:36 Huh. You further expanded with, and I quote, I can take your attacks and your comments. They don’t define me and they don’t bother me.

2:31:57 End quote. You can’t possibly think I’d believe that. We can roll the tapes back to prove that’s a lie.

2:32:15 And also, the passive aggressive southern mean girl thing doesn’t move me. I am very passionate about education, and I won’t apologize for that. I care about our students, our teachers, and our staff, more than many of you sitting up there on that dais and as I promised in December of 22, I will continue to be in the room and hold you accountable when you make bad policies that harm our district.

2:32:35 And fundamentally, that is why you hate me so much, because I do hold you accountable. And the word accountability sounds like hate when you try to slide your authoritarianism under the radar. You expected to serve a public that said thank you and gave accolades no matter what you did.

2:33:17 Read the room. We’re not happy and I already know you’ll retort with, and I quote, I won by 20% because guess what? I have that in an email too. And I’d like to remind you that you continue to showcase that you don’t understand the benefits of running during an off year with pitiful voter turnout, so you didn’t actually get the overwhelming amount of support that you seem to think you did.

2:33:39 I’m going to end with no amount of crisis. PR management is going to fix this board when the board is made up of people who care more about themselves and their political careers than the people and children they serve. As Megan admitted during the workshop on January 9, she ends every meeting reflecting on two things was she respectful to her fellow board members, and would she be reelected if the election happened that night? Not a word about serving all students with excellence, not a thought given to our teachers who are barely holding on, and no consideration to rebuilding BPS back to the glory days when we were a shining example to the state, not the laughingstock you’ve made us.

2:33:54 And obviously I wrote this earlier. In two weeks, that work session bias, we’re going to have a different conversation. Greg Ross Rochelle Jolly Julia Anton Board thank you for the opportunity for public comment.

2:34:15 Wow. Not sure how I’m going to follow that up. I watched with interest the December 9, 2023 work session in which attorney Moore provided input and feedback to the school board on improving your horrendous public perception in the local community.

2:34:40 It was a very interesting watch. When asked what the board thought was public perception of the board, school board members themselves used words like self serving, dysfunctional, disinterested in the goal, distracted, and a joke. As a community member, I can tell you those words rang true.

2:34:59 I was glad to see this board at least pretend to be taking an introspective look into what is causing the dysfunction of this board. As someone who has attended or watched every school board meeting and work session since early 2020, I think I can provide you with some insight on what the underlying causes to this board dysfunction. The root cause is political extremism that has infected this board.

2:35:19 I don’t mean that every policy passed by this board is infected with extremism, though some are. I don’t mean that every decision made by this board is infected with extremism, though some are. I do mean that almost every action, behavior, or statement from this board are infected with extremism.

2:35:37 Let me provide some examples. Mister Trent and Mister Susan making a few policy changes and waiting to see what the long term’s impacts are is not extremism. Claiming that you have made great improvements and have been very successful as learning gaps increase, discipline issues rise, and public perceptions fall is extremist.

2:35:58 Mister Trent, having outside counsel address the board to improve your public image is not extremist. Acting disinterested, insulting those who pay attention to school board matters, and blatantly ignoring the consultant and his advice is extremist. Mister Susan as well.

2:36:23 Having outside counsel addresses board to improve your public image is not extremist. Blaming citizens, the press, and political governance for your policy and leadership failures, all while failing to be introspective and self examine your behaviors and actions, is extremist. Miss Wright, wanting year round school is not extremist.

2:36:39 Suggesting the whole district do it all at once, without regard to impact on students, parents and staff is extremist. Miss Wright and Mister Susan, inquiring about school safety is not extremist. Implying that you want to arm teachers against a union contract, then denying the implication, and then publicly doubling down on your mistake is extremist.

2:36:54 Mister Trent, claiming that Brevard county is a conservative county is not extremist. Failing to grasp that conservatives only make up 40% of Brevard county and that you also represent the other 60%, is extremist. Do better.

2:37:11 Rachelle Jolly, followed by Julia Anton and Julie Mantell. I’m here to speak for a local teacher. Ask me to speak for her tonight.

2:37:46 Kurt Vonnegut, whose novel Slaughterhouse five is under consideration for censoring, served his country as part of the greatest generation. His experience in World War two was traumatizing. One, as he was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war in Dresden, a city known for its beauty and lack of military value.

2:38:00 While at POW, Vonnegut and the rest of the Dresden were bombed by allied forces, american soldier Kurt Vonnegut was nearly killed by his own country. 20 years later, war veteran Kurt Vonnegut watched as America prepared to send another generation of young men, including his own own son, to fight in a war in Vietnam and in this time, in cultural climate, he wrote Slaughterhouse five, a novel, which, while skewering the usual targets of governmental and warmongering hypocrisy, focused more on the traumatizing after effects of war on those who participate in Vonnegut’s post war experience. There was no diagnosis for PTSD.

2:38:28 Men came home with shell shock and didn’t talk about it or seek help. They perpetually lied about their mental health to seem normal and reasonable. Slaughterhouse five takes us in the mind of shell shocked soldier named Billy Pilgrim, a protagonist with a similar war story as Vonnegut’s own.

2:38:48 There is, of course, in this book about soldiers in war, vulgar language, violence, and references to sex. If a simple and unadorned pen and ink image feels pornographic to a reader, that perhaps says more about that individual reader than the book itself, Vonnegut wrote, it is true that some of the characters speak coarsely. That is because people speak coarsely in real life, especially soldiers and hardworking men, and even our most sheltered children know that those words really don’t damage children much.

2:39:23 It was evil deeds and lying that hurt us. Vonnegut’s most famous novel has critical value and is unquestioned by academic scholars. And it has something important to say about issues students still grapple with today, questions about fate, about perspective, about perseverance, about making sense of the hard times, about acceptance.

2:39:41 To ban this book sides not with the founders of our country, who prized free speech so much that they enshrined it in the Bill of Rights, but with those enemies that our greatest generation and Vonnegut himself, fought against, those book burning fascists so frightened of the fragility of their own ideas that they did not believe those ideas could stand up to scrutiny or criticism or thought. Most teachers who might use this book under their supervision in the classroom will also willingly offer alternatives to parents who still object to the content. That’s a stance most administrations have long since conceded to parents.

2:40:07 Despite the teacher’s training and expertise in selecting worthy and applicable texts for their curriculum, parents still have control of their own students. They do not get to say what everybody else’s student gets to do. They do not get to take away the rights of other parents because of their own prejudices.

2:40:16 In his response to the Drake school board in 1973, Kurt Vonnegut wrote, if you were to bother to read my books, you would learn that they are not sexy and do not argue in favor of wildness of any kind. They beg that people be kinder and more responsible than we often. Thank you, Julia Anton, followed by Julie Manteon and Richard Bieber.

2:40:38 Yes, Julia Anton. No. We have 26, right? Yep.

2:40:58 Okay. I’m sure you knew that I would be here to speak because I’m one of those barking dogs, but I had a hard time figuring out what I was going to say because there was just too much to say and too little time. So I’ve tried to narrow it down and I’m going to start speaking briefly about the book, the kite runner.

2:41:29 And wouldn’t you know, my note page is gone away. So I’m speaking off the top of my head. Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I did take a lot of constitutional law classes, and they would always try to trick us by giving us a problem and then throwing in all kinds of unimportant, extraneous information to see if we could pick out.

2:41:37 The line was the issue is whether or not, and that gives all kinds of other stuff, but could we pick out. The issue is whether or not. Now, we’re talking a lot about these books, but the issue is whether or not under the Supreme Court ruling that says whether we can control what people read or not, does this book so heinous that the Supreme Court ruling says, yeah, you can remove this book.

2:42:03 Now, I’m not going to try to give you a constitutional law class on that Supreme Court ruling because I’m not a lawyer. We have little time. You have a lawyer.

2:42:10 But there is one line in there that you need to focus on. And the line is taken as a whole. And that line taken as a whole means that you cannot do what mommy’s pretending to be for liberty does, which is do an Internet search looking for a dirty word in a book and saying, oh, I found a dirty word.

2:42:29 We’re going to ban this book. You cannot do that. And you cannot succumb to that.

2:42:52 You have to look at the whole book. Looking at the whole book, does it have value? And if it has value, the fact that there’s a dirty word or a little bit of sex doesn’t matter. You can’t throw it away.

2:43:06 And if there was ever a book that had value, it’s the kite runner. And I had planned to read to you the email that I sent to somebody, some friends when I finished it, because I was so overcome with emotion of what was in that book that was so valuable. I’m not going to make you wait, waste my time while I’m trying to find it.

2:43:22 But it talks about parent child relationships, about redeeming those relationships, about making a wrong choice in life. And are you doomed forever or can you come back and redeem yourself. It talks about taking responsibility.

2:43:39 It talks about the horrors of war, the plight of people who are trying to escape it and so many more things. I’m watching the clock. I know my time is over, but taken as a whole, that’s really valuable.

2:43:55 Thank you. Thank you. Julie Manteon, Richard Weber, Crystal Cayze.

2:44:02 Hi, I’m Julie. And my theater role, I enjoyed that from the earlier speaker is hopefully earnest instructor. I first want to give compliments to some of you on the board with what you’ve said this evening.

2:44:18 Katie. That’s why I said my first name because I’m going to use y’all’s first names. I love what you said about civility.

2:44:33 I want to aspire to do that all the time. I don’t always succeed all the time, but I want to aspire to do that. And kind of an ironic thing, I sort of felt like when you were talking about that, like that’s what discussing a really good book would be like.

2:44:43 People coming together, having been exposed to different ideas and being able to discuss them in civility and through that dialogue, having growth and education. So I love that you said that. Thank you.

2:45:12 Next, I want to compliment Matt when you talked about musical instruments as a tool of learning. I love that. I completely agree with you.

2:45:23 I teach humanities and the arts are a wonderful, wonderful tool to communicate. But I think almost everyone would agree that the world’s education system for the last 4000 years is based on books. Books are the most important tool of learning that the world has ever had.

2:45:40 And I agree with other speakers. We need to be very calm, cautious in removing those tools from institutions of higher of learning. That’s what schools are.

2:45:55 They are places to learn and books are tools to learn. And the third person I want to compliment is Megan. And I loved when you talked about the passion and the spark you felt on that field trip by hearing the voice of that person.

2:46:15 And I just realized that’s what it’s like when you read a really good book. That’s what it’s like when you’re immersed in kite Runner is you’re having a chance to have that connection, that story. That’s what books are.

2:46:35 And so I want you all to think about that and just understand where those of us who love books are coming from and how painful this is that you want to. It feels like Willy nilly remove them. The final thing I want to say is I also am very, very proud and excited that you guys want to talk about guardianship.

2:46:54 Every time I hear a siren on my I live down the school from the high school. It’s horrifying and scary. Rather than arming teachers, could we do a program where we ask parents to secure their guns and make sure that high school students or any students can’t get them? Like, hey, give your kids a good breakfast.

2:47:16 Make sure your gun’s locked. Like, like, is that legal? Can we do that? Okay. Thank you, Richard Bieber, Crystal Cayze, and Danielle McDonough.

2:47:56 Good evening, board. Rick Beaver. First of all, I want to urge you all to please vote, as the committee did, for the reconsideration book review committee, to retain the books at a high school level, the kite runner and slaughterhouse five.

2:48:07 It’s a mistake to have even taken off the library people to begin with. We all wouldn’t be here all the time if it wasn’t necessary to combat what has been undone, which, of course, starts at the state level with our governor and our representatives who don’t know how to draft a law and create mayhem and lie, a lie about what they’re doing up here. Like moms for Liberty saying they’re looking to remove pornography.

2:48:19 It’s a lie. A lie that the voters followed, that teachers are grooming students. Another lie.

2:49:03 And we have Gene Trent, who sits up there with his mom for Liberty cup, says that he. We have a. Well, congratulations.

2:49:28 You moved up in the world. So have any light bulbs gone off lately? I mean, can you see that the electorate did not vote for what is going on, not voted for the right wing policies that are creating this chaos, this mayhem, this lack teacher shortage, the removal of books. And, Megan, to say you’re proud of the woman who handed out the constitution that was made by church with advertisement on it.

2:49:38 It’s like you’re supporting, not supporting the separation of church and state and you’re supporting moms for liberty. For what? I mean, yeah. Where are they now? I wonder why they changed into moms for America, for one thing, because they saw how little popularity, how unpopular they were becoming.

2:49:55 And that’s nationwide. We can tell that by the elections also. So serve the students, all of the students, with an excellence of standard.

2:50:02 Let’s defy these stupid laws, defy taking our public monies out for charter schools. Do not be promoting it. Thank you.

2:50:22 Crystal Cayze. She left. All right.

2:50:44 Danielle McDonough. That’s our last speaker. I’m pretty sure the year is 2024.

2:50:55 I’m pretty sure we should not be standing here telling the school board to not censor books. Is it a conversation that we should not be having in my lifetime. We should not be having this conversation.

2:51:11 It should not be happening. You should not be limiting access to books for my children who attend your schools. What is book banning? It’s a form of censorship.

2:51:23 Book banning means a great group of authority. Limiting access to information and ideas within a book, that defines censorship. You are a group, the authority.

2:51:33 But you guys are not media specialists. You are not librarians. You are not the people who are trained to pick the books for our kids to read.

2:51:52 That’s not your role. We have media specialists. And I know that Mel Hai’s media specialist, who I meet with on a regular basis, is freaking amazing.

2:52:13 And she should be telling you guys what books belong on the shelves, not a group of parents who want to limit access. My kid isn’t Ap lang. I want my kid to read the books that are going to help her pass the tests.

2:52:21 Mister Susan spoke to teachers, new teachers, at the beginning of the year, and he told them that test scores equal our property values. Well, how do we improve test scores? We teach them to read. How do we teach them to read? We put books in their hands that they’re interested in.

2:52:30 Do you think every kid in the room wants to read the same exact book? No. I have three kids at home. They read completely different books.

2:52:42 Do I read every book they want to? No, because there’s some books that I’m like, I am not interested in this topic. But you like it. Great for you.

2:52:59 But they don’t want to read my books either. And that’s okay because we don’t have to like the same books. It doesn’t make the book bad.

2:53:16 It’s more important for us to put books in hands of children that they can relate to. And the librarian at Mohai, she is trying to get books in the hands of these kids. She is so creative and is trying to get more kids into the library.

2:53:31 We need to have books in the library that they can relate to. And Mister Trent’s nodding his head about that. But limiting access to books because you think a book doesn’t meet your standard, because of your religion or whatever is inappropriate.

2:53:41 Parental rights means it’s my decision to make. The school system has an ability to let the moms for liberty parents limit their children’s access to books, but they shouldn’t limit mine. Thank you.

3:03:22 Okay, board, this concludes the public comments. So we thank you for taking time to address the board. And I think we should probably call a short recess so that we can use the restroom.

3:03:26 So five minute recess break. Thank you. It all right.

3:03:32 Welcome back. Thank you for that small break that we just had. We are now at the consent agenda.

3:03:39 Doctor Rendell. Thank you, madam chair. There are 24 agenda items under this category.

3:03:46 Thank you, doctor Rendell. Does any board member wish to pull any of the items? No. Hearing? None.

3:03:49 I’ll entertain a motion to move to approve. All right. Any discussion? Nope.

3:03:51 All right. Follow roll call, please, Miss Jenkins. Miss Campbell.

3:03:59 Miss Wright. Aye. Mister Trent.

3:04:10 Mister sue. All right. We are now going to hold a public hearing.

3:04:17 Hearing to address the social studies textbook adoption. Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item? Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item hearing? None. Do I have a motion? Move to approve second.

3:04:19 Any discussion? None. All right, Paul, roll call. Miss Jenkins.

3:04:21 Miss Campbell. Aye. Miss Wright? Aye.

3:04:35 Mister Trent. Aye. Susan.

3:04:43 All right, g 40. We are at the attendance boundary change proposal for the school year of 2024 and 25. Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item? Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item hearing? None.

3:04:45 Do I have a motion? Second. Any discussion? Non. All right, Paul, roll call.

3:04:49 Miss Jenkins. Aye. Miss Campbell? Aye.

3:04:56 Miss Wright? Aye. Mister Trent. Mister Susan.

3:05:03 All right. All right, Doctor Rendell, will you please let us know about the items under the action portion of today’s agenda? Thank you. Madam Chair.

3:05:08 The first action item is h 41. Department school initiated agreements. Do I hear a motion? Move to approve second.

3:05:12 Any discussion? Hearing none. Paul, roll call, please. Miss Jenkins.

3:05:24 Miss Campbell? Aye. Miss Wright? Aye. Mister Trent? Mister Susan.

3:05:28 Aye. All right, Doctor Wright, the next action item is age 42, procurement solicitations. Do I hear motion? Move to approve? Second.

3:05:32 Any discussion? None. All right. Follow roll call, please, Miss Jenkins.

3:05:43 Miss Campbell? Aye. Miss Wright? Aye. Mister Trent? Mister Susan.

3:05:50 Aye. All right, Doctor Rendell, the next action item is h 43. Book review and challenges kite runner and slaughterhouse fire.

3:05:55 Do I hear a motion? Move to approve second. Any discussion? None. Hearing, none.

3:05:59 All right, Paul, roll call, please. Miss Jenkins? Aye. Miss Campbell? Aye.

3:06:11 Miss Wright? Aye. Mister Trent? Mister Susan. Aye.

3:06:24 All right, Doctor Mendel. The last action item is age 44, sales surtax Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. Committee? All right.

3:06:38 Do I hear a motion? Move to approve second. Any discussion? I would like to have a discussion about this, if that’s okay, for just a moment. Yep.

3:06:57 We’re on H 44, the ICOC appointment. And so we had a couple funky things that happened at the last meeting, and so they ended up pulling it and then bringing it back before. But board, I just.

3:07:19 I wanted to acknowledge we have a couple of great options, which I call that equality problem. Right? There’s, you know, individuals that are willing to serve our community in this aspect. But there’s one individual on here that applied his application, I believe ended up going into a spam filter of some sort, didn’t end up making it where it was supposed to be correct.

3:07:27 And that’s why we’re back here now, and we’re looking at talking about all these members. But one of these members whose application we didn’t get the first time, that we got the second time, he actually ultimately scored the highest from the committee standpoint. Now, there was probably some, maybe some things that were questionable as far as how they ranked them or whatnot.

3:07:43 And I say questionable, but not that one individual gave a zero. And I’m like, well, that throws off the numbers for everybody else. And so that is probably not the best way to do things.

3:08:07 But one individual on here has a wealth of knowledge. He also has three individual students that are in our schools. And I just feel like, goodness gracious, like, this is, I don’t want to lose this person because I think he would be very, very impactful for the ICOC.

3:08:20 And I really wanted to have a discussion with the board and see what your thoughts were on this, because it really comes down to two candidates. And so the committee’s recommendation was to apply the candidate that came in second place on the scoring sheet, not first place. The candidate that came in second place in the scoring sheet actually also sits on our millage committee as well.

3:08:25 And so to me, I’m thinking, hey, maybe this is good, that we have a really good individual. I talked to sue about this a little bit briefly, too. So just want to know what your thoughts are on the appointment of who we’re picking for this ICICI.

3:08:32 Can I ask a clarifying question? I’m sorry. Sure. I just missed something you said.

3:08:53 Which one is sitting on our millage committee? GARY SCHIFRIN okay. I want to make sure I heard you correctly. Yes, yes.

3:09:40 Yeah. So, madam Chair, I took some time on this one, and I kind of went back and forth with some of the staff to ask the questions, because the individual that was, that did not get nominated ultimately has an amazing record. Right? Like, I looked at that airport authority, other things that he had on there that makes him a very qualified individual.

3:09:59 So what I did was, I said, I called some of the other, talked to some MSU han and others and stuff like that to find out, like, what’s going on. And they said that the committee had agreed to select Mister SChifrin and that they had all given the indication that there would be vacancies these very shortly and that it would be a better thing to allow the individual that did not get selected to become selected during that time. So when I, after I read that, I came to the assumption that, you know, we have to support our committees and stuff like that with what they were doing and the fact that after this meeting I was going to call that individual and tell him that I look forward to hearing him apply for and becoming a member of it when it comes very shortly.

3:10:11 So my, my thought process was, I saw what you were saying, I read that thing, I looked through it and then on the back end I felt like we could support the committee’s recommendation and then the individual have an opportunity here pretty shortly to be on the committee. And so that’s what I thought if you needed the discussion. Thank you Mister Susan.

3:10:30 Anybody else have any discussion on this topic or. No? Yeah, I, so the, it was my understanding, and thank you Miss Ann, for sending us the recording of the two meetings. That was very helpful to listen to the discussion.

3:10:44 It’s my understanding that score sheet was really just as kind of a discussion point. And just a couple things to point out. If you look, there were actually only, out of the 1234-5678 members, there were only three people who scored that gentleman higher than Mister Shiffrin.

3:11:01 It’s just the way the scores felt, I’ll be quite honest. And I, because this is all public record, the idea of scoring someone a zero to me seems intentionally to tank the scores. Because here are the things they’re scoring on.

3:11:12 Community involvement, board experience, other special skills or attributes. You know, those kinds of, those are the three things they’re ranking. And so to me that’s, it’s unreasonable to put someone who’s had that much of experience serving on that very committee.

3:11:22 I mean if you just don’t want someone on there, you’re free to say it and that’s fine. But the committee deliberated and I agree. I like, I am so glad we have people who stepped up that are qualified.

3:11:33 And I heard from the recording same thing. We’re going to have openings very soon. And I hope we hang on to this, both those gentlemen’s information so they can be immediately in the pool the next time around.

3:11:37 But I think, I agree with Mister Stewart. I think we need to support the recommendation of the committee in this. And I think that would best reflect, you know, they are independent.

3:11:46 We do have to approve them, but they are independent. Part of being independent is they pick their own members. Right.

3:11:51 You know, so I think it will be good for us to go along with their recommendation at this time. And I will be supporting. And if I may, I sat on that committee.

3:12:02 You know what I mean? I was a part of it. It was. I was part of the inaugural year for the sales tax review committee.

3:12:08 And I felt like the direction that I was told is the committee and the opportunities that gentlemen will have would be there because I’ve sat on it and I understand it. You know what I mean? Right. That’s all.

3:12:19 And just for clarifying purposes, this is not to discredit any of the individuals that are on there. So I don’t. I’m like, we have a quality problem here.

3:12:22 We have two really good candidates. And so I just wanted to have the discussion because I’m like, he didn’t score as high. But I just do believe that that was a bit of a manipulation tactic with one individual giving a zero for a score, which is not the way we should do things.

3:12:25 So I don’t. I don’t condone that at all. So.

3:12:30 All right. Hearing no further discussion on this one. Do.

3:12:33 Can we have a roll call vote, please? Miss Jenkins? Miss Campbell. Aye. Miss Wright.

3:12:54 Aye. Mister Trent? Mister Susan. Aye.

3:13:05 All right, so we will move on to the information agenda, which includes one item for board review, may be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting. No action will be taken today. Does any board member wish to discuss these items? This item? Not these items? No.

3:13:23 Nobody? Nope. All right, so we will be moving on now to the board member reports. Does any board member have any information they need to report on? I would like to.

3:13:41 I’ll just try to be brief as possible, but took a few notes I wanted to share with you guys from the legislative days last week, just to give you an update. It’s an exciting year for public schools with the deregulation going on. You know, the Senate has already passed all three of their deregulation bills, and they’re ready to negotiate.

3:13:58 The House has theirs going through a third committee very soon, and so. And then they’ll be kind of haggling out the details. I will tell you that the House bill does not have any of the changes in the graduation requirements that the Senate has.

3:14:22 Neither do they have the changes in the adoption of instructional material schedule. The idea of let them go ahead and vet all the books and give us plenty of lead time so they’re not getting out their approval list when it’s time for us to buy them, and that’s not in there. But there’s still some wiggle room.

3:14:37 But one of the things that was shared with us by FSBA and whether you’re a member or not, and realize some of you guys are not members, it’s important to let our delegation know that this is important work that we’re glad they’re doing it. This is going to make, we’re talking about all the construction we’ve got to do, the cost per student station, all the things that hamper us needlessly because it was written in a law years ago and it’s not relevant anymore. Those things are really important to free up staff time and make our jobs easier so we can do the best for students.

3:15:07 So if you don’t mind sending something to your legislators and let them know, hey, thank you for doing this work. They need to hear from us just a little. We had some conversation about 1403, which is the choice bill.

3:15:16 It’s kind of a cleanup bill for HB one last year. One of the things that we talked about last week, and I shared this with representative fine, and he thought this was a good idea, is that we need some kind of a dispute mechanism when student gets a scholarship to go to use for private school or home education or whatever they’re in the first year and then again this year. It’s my understanding from Miss Licinski is that there are students who, they got a scholarship, but then they changed their mind and said, I don’t want to go to the private school or I’m going to go ahead and go to a public school.

3:15:32 And. But when this, when it came time to fund those students, the Doe said, oh, no, that’s a scholarship student. We said, no, no, no, they’re sitting in our classroom.

3:15:39 So brevard alone for last school year had 430 students that accepted a scholarship and then were in our schools. And so we’re owed $2 million. So I asked him if we could put some kind of dispute resolution that’s still being hackled out, and they’re working on it.

3:15:50 But when that happens, we just need a way because we’re not arguing back and forth. No, there’s scholarship. No, we have them.

3:15:59 So I asked him to, to take a look at that. So what we basically want is we want the money to actually follow the student wherever they are. That’s where the money needs to go.

3:16:37 Just one cautious thing. I don’t know if this one’s going to move, but there was one bill that was amended last week. This is HB 109.

3:16:57 The amendment on that bill is kind of scary, to be quite honest. And it says that if any school district has vacant property, that if the school district has a 1% drop in enrollment over at least two years, the DOE and the DM’s, which is Department of Management Services, I believe, can declare that property as surplus, rather than us being the ones to do that. We would have to make that available to an approved charter school with no rent or fees.

3:17:05 And after six months, if a charter school doesn’t want it, then it shall, where it is, shall be made available for affordable housing. Now, I will tell you what happened with that bill. The amendment passed, but because it so significantly changed the bill, the bill did postpone that in that last committee.

3:17:19 They haven’t moved it. Again, I don’t know if the Senate side is going to take it up, but that’s. We have a lot of property, and we’ve had conversations today about what we’re going to do with it.

3:17:29 We’re just not ready to do it yet. That’s kind of scary. So if we want to communicate, that’s HB 109, and it’s a bill about conversion charter schools, about, you know, how you can take a public school and convert it to a charter school.

3:17:49 So just one of those things that I hope doesn’t make it very much farther through, and then just another one. On school safety. This is only one I’ll mention today on school safety.

3:18:00 There is a part of the recommendations they’re taking are not from the Marjorie Stone and Douglas commission. Some of them are ones that they’ve talked about, but they’re not taking the ones from that commission this year. But one of the things they’ve talked about may be problematic, and that is the idea of, if you heard the phrase that all the doors must be locked, and, of course, your first response is probably the same as mine.

3:18:33 They already are. They’re talking about entire campuses, gates, parking lots. Like, you can’t, you can’t drive on, step foot on that campus without going through some kind of security.

3:18:41 That if you think about a campus, I’ll just give Milhi as an example, with 15 buildings, multiple ways in, it’s just logistically impossible and really probably not worth the, you don’t have the what’s the risk, benefit, whatever analysis kind of thing to do that and to staff it, and of course, it won’t be funded. So I don’t, hopefully that one doesn’t go anywhere like it is, because the goal is safety. But when they’re imagining it, they’re imagining a school that’s small has one way in, but most of our campuses are not that way.

3:19:16 So just to let you know, I don’t have the. I have the bill number in my backpack if you want the number. But FSBA is sending out updates.

3:19:18 There’s also the guy in Osceola sends out updates weekly. I got on his list who’s part of our Central Florida school boards coalition, and I can send you his information if you want to keep updated. But the main thing that’s been communicated to us, because deregulation is going to happen one way or the other, is if we want to let our voices be heard on that as they go into negotiations between the House and the Senate, now is a good time to reach out to them and just, first of all, thank them for doing what they’re doing, and two, to share with them that we really want to do our best and to not be hampered by things that are just not necessary.

3:19:34 So, thanks. That’s all I have. Thank you.

3:19:39 Does any other board member have any reports or anything to discuss? No, I have one thing that I need to discuss, which I know I stuck to our time certain stopping point today so that I. And so this got punted down till tonight. I wanted to say thank you to miss Campbell for going up there to. To Tallahassee and doing that.

3:19:50 That takes a lot of time away from your family, and I appreciate you going up. Very well. Thank you.

3:20:09 If you guys will do me a favor and pull up in your binders from earlier today, it should have in there a calendar. So one of the things that we had discussed at our previous. Was it a workshop? I think it was a workshop.

3:20:20 Was this idea of separating our workshops from our board meeting days so that we don’t have Mister Susan yawning because we’ve been here for 12 hours and our staff as well. So I. When we discussed this, we threw around a couple different days. Miss Jenkins, you were very clear that you were in favor of Tuesday being the day.

3:20:39 So the alternate Tuesday that we don’t have a board meeting, we would have a workshop. I know I had originally mentioned Thursday. I think staff needs clear direction and we need to make a definitive decision on which day.

3:20:42 So, board, I’m just asking you, are you in favor of moving all of our workshops to the Tuesday before the board meeting or the Thursday before the board meeting? And, madam chair, your idea is that. And I apologize. The idea behind this is that you wanted to have them present their workshop materials ahead of time so that we would be prepared.

3:21:00 Right. And be able to ask questions prior to being on a major vote. Right.

3:21:06 So Doctor Rendell, if we did it on the Tuesday prior, does that give us enough time to prepare for staff to be prepared for the item? Yeah, absolutely. I mean staff, once they know the dates of the workshops, then they backward plan and know they have to have their materials ready in time to be posted, reviewed by the board members, that kind of thing. It’s just a matter of.

3:21:15 We just need to know when they are. Okay, good enough. So I guess what I’m looking for is board.

3:21:30 Are you in favor of Tuesday or Thursday? Which one do you have preference over? You had brought this forward. Is Tuesday okay for you? Tuesday’s fine for me. I don’t have a preference on it.

3:21:37 So Tuesday is good for me. Tuesday, just for consistency in planning life. I did have a question because I have on my calendar that we’re doing one of our long policy sessions on February 20.

3:21:43 But we haven’t. It’s not on here. And I call in, didn’t see it.

3:21:58 You know, it has been advertised. Yeah, yeah, it’s. Yeah.

3:22:01 Oh, it’s not on the one that we have in front of us right now, but it is February 20. We do have the policy workshop. Lena, would you send us a calendar box that we hold that? Okay, hang on, let me pull it up real fast.

3:22:04 Yeah. It’s not on the printed counter you have in front of you. Oh no, I just found it.

3:22:19 Never mind. Just kidding. Yeah, yeah, I was thinking I didn’t have one in outlook too.

3:22:29 Okay, so that, so that’s already a day that’s taken right now. I would prefer two days if we can. And the thing is, as far as the scheduling with staff, I mean, not everything that we talk about sometimes we do have, we’re talking about in a workshop and we’re voting on that night sometimes.

3:22:43 But you know, like today, what we talked about, we, none of those things necessarily be voted on. So if they can make the adjustment easily enough. I mean, I’m fine, Mark.

3:22:51 Holding off every Tuesday and if there ever is a thing that we just can’t because there’s a big event or something like, you know, we had an Eric Weinmeier thing. Right. So that was one of the dates I was going to bring up is that our first, our next board meeting is on the 6th.

3:22:54 So if we were going to end up implementing this, we’re going to have to implement it after the 6th. Because if we were going to bump that work session, it would literally be right in the middle of his speech. And so that won’t do that.

3:23:06 And we had to advertise too. And we have to advertise for it. Exactly.

3:23:26 So it would take effect, in essence, for the board meeting on the 27th, which is a morning meeting. And we have a board meeting. Yeah.

3:23:37 If you look at your packet, Lena actually highlighted the yellow in yellow. It really starts with March 5. So we would carry through our normal schedule through February because we can’t really move the workshop that is on February 27 to February 20 because we already are doing policy on February 20.

3:23:50 Right. So we just stick with what’s on the calendar through February and then we start this and alternate plan March 5. Can I make a suggestion? Yes, ma’am.

3:24:02 Because we made a change. The first change we made was we were going to alternate times of the day, and then we made this change. And I think this is, like, way too confusing for the public.

3:24:10 And I know they can look it up. I get it. But would you guys be agreeable to work sessions at 930 and board meetings at 530? Well, no, I think that was what we were trying to do.

3:24:15 I personally, I wouldn’t. I think we need to in order to honor all of our community. Because some of our community works at night and so it gives the opportunity.

3:24:21 Right. Feel like the flip flopping is. Well, and all the work sessions would be at 930.

3:24:25 If we move to this, that’s what’s on the calendar. So every work session would be 930 on Tuesdays. So.

3:24:28 Yeah, just for clarifying, one meeting a month. I understand. Okay.

3:24:42 So every work session will be at 930. Yeah. Then never mind.

3:24:56 Just the continuous flip flopping is going to be like, yeah, when am I showing up? Yeah. Okay. And then the other thing is, there was a couple dates on here that we just need to discuss because July being one of them, we have that big break between June and July.

3:25:06 And so we have a board meeting on the 25 July. I know we expressed wanting to have that gap of time in between. So if we took this, this, we could potentially do the work session that Tuesday before instead of.

3:25:15 Because this is one of those funky ones. It’s a Thursday. So is everyone okay with us doing work session for the July 25 meeting? We’ll have a work session the 23rd.

3:25:19 So you’re saying 23rd is the what? The work session would be this 23rd? That’s a Tuesday at 930. Because we have a meeting. Because we have a meeting on Thursday.

3:25:20 It still gives us like 30 days. It still gives us a month. Yeah, it’s like, it’s a month.

3:25:36 So. I know. I’m just.

3:25:43 It’s just two days. Just two days. Is that Thursday at 930? It is a 530 meeting on Thursday because we’re trying to get away from these things, but it will be a very large one because we wouldn’t be there for 30 days.

3:25:50 Mm hmm. So, yeah, they’re going to be piling stuff. Well, and then the other thing.

3:25:55 Again, one more thing. Just one more thing. Last year, we had all of our summer meetings were morning meetings.

3:25:59 That seemed to be something that we did. But this particular meeting on July 25, we have scheduled for 530. That one has to be correct.

3:26:06 That one has to be the budget. Yeah. Oh, the budget.

3:26:13 Okay. Why does it have to be at night? Statute says budget meeting has to be after, I think, 05:00 or. Yeah.

3:26:22 Yes. That way, the people who work all day have the opportunity to come out and talk to the board about their budget. All right.

3:26:28 There is an error. On June is probably on the June 11 meeting. The June 11 meeting actually is a morning meeting because both of our June regular meetings are morning.

3:26:32 So that should be a 930. So the June 11 meeting should be a 930 meeting in the morning. All right.

3:26:38 And then on the November 19. So this is one of those. Those elections.

3:26:44 So we have to be here the week of thanksgiving when everybody else is gone. So with that being said. I know.

3:26:49 Remember that, guys, when you’re booking vacation, can we. No, no. Thanksgiving.

3:27:02 Yes. Thanksgiving is the 28th. Oh, madam chair, if I could interrupt.

3:27:10 Just. I want to make sure what we’re doing in July. Okay, are we doing the Tuesday, July 23? Are we doing it on the Thursday with the 20? Is this meeting? We’re doing the workshop on the 23rd.

3:27:28 And then the board meeting will be on the 25th. Yep. And then.

3:27:33 All right, so with that being said, I know you’re gonna get a new calendar. Are you sure that thanksgiving is that week? Sorry. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, which is the 28th this year.

3:27:36 So then does that. So we will not. So our special meeting still has to be two weeks after election day.

3:27:38 Election day is the first. Okay. Board meetings on the 19th.

3:27:49 So it’s not thanksgiving week. Yeah. Thank you.

3:28:01 I did not look to see when thanksgiving week was. I just assumed it was that week, and that was a bad assumption, so thank you. I was going to ask if we could move that to 930 in the morning, since it was the week that everybody’s off, but that’s actually not the week that everybody’s off, so.

3:28:12 All right. I don’t have any further discussion. Madam Chair, if I could, we have had a series of cities that have expressed interest in meeting with us and stuff like that.

3:28:22 I just wanted to talk to the board. It looks like Palm Bay satellite, the county and cocoa have expressed interest. And the idea would be that we would give them a series of the Thursdays because of the situation.

3:28:29 And if we can make those, great. If not, no big deal. But what we’re engaging is, is Sue Han has a list and an agenda to talk about collaborative work on all the different things.

3:28:35 And I think that would be good. I just wanted to kind of let everybody know if the date’s on there. It’s not that you have to go, it’s just that it’s recommended for you and stuff like that.

3:28:51 Okay. You know, I like it. I think honestly, freeing up this Thursday and that provides this day for it.

3:29:05 All right, just two quick things before we get off of this one in this happened a couple years ago. We had to make change. But August 20 is primary election day and a lot of people will be out working that.

3:29:21 So I think it would probably be good to go ahead and say, not have a meeting. Yeah, I won’t be here on August 20. Out of fairness for people who are interested in what we do, but also interested in the election, if we cannot have one on August 20.

3:29:28 And then the other thing I would just say is, Doctor Rendell, if we could, if there’s not anything to present and we just, you know, let’s not have a meeting. Just have a meeting. If we get everything covered, then let’s say we’re not having one this time.

3:29:34 I am not opposed to that. I don’t think we’re just going to come here and hang out. All right, anybody else? Madam chair? Yes, sir.

3:29:51 I have to apologize to the viewing audience. Anybody that’s still watching, we have great news. Huge news.

3:30:09 Yeah, we issued a press release this afternoon. The board members got an email from me about 04:00 and I was supposed to make an announcement during all of our recognitions and all that kind of thing, but it wasn’t in our script, so it got away from me. Huge news.

3:30:19 The state finally released the official graduation rates for last school year. So again, this is last year’s graduation rate. And we increased our graduation rate by two and a half points from 87.

3:30:24 2 to 89.7. That’s great.

3:30:41 It’s an incredible increase. It’s a lot of hard work by a lot of people. All of our high schools except one increased their graduation rate.

3:30:57 It’s fantastic. It’s great news. A big thing when you think about it.

3:31:06 The on time cohort graduation rate is always tied to the high schools. But it’s a measure of your whole k twelve system. If they don’t get to 9th grade with the skills and knowledge they need to get through high school, then they’re not going to graduate.

3:31:22 So having a high graduation rate and seeing an increase in graduation rate reflects the work of all of our schools, of all of our teachers from pre K kindergarten all the way through senior year. And so we’ve issued a press release. So I hope everybody at least reads the press release.

3:31:36 I’m sure it’s on the front page of our website. It looks like the media has already left. So I don’t know if we’ll get any coverage, but we’ll make a big deal out of it the next time we’re together.

3:31:44 But huge news. It really is, like I said, kind of the one. If you want to see how a school district is doing and you only have one data point to look at, on time graduation rate is the best data point to look at.

3:31:54 And us being right there at 90% and looking for more this year. But really good news. Thank you to all of our students, staff and parents for such hard work last year and the years leading up to last year’s senior class.

3:32:11 So really the last 13 years. And then hopefully we can do even better this year. But huge positive news.

3:32:29 Better than the state championship. We just, we got waylaid by all that stuff earlier and we didn’t get to it. So look for the press release and look for hopefully some articles in the paper about it.

3:32:33 Miss Campbell, I might be wrong, but do you think that might be the largest increase we’ve had in a long time? I can’t remember when you’ve had over a two point rise outside of the COVID year when we, we had the, the waivers. Yeah, no, I think that’s a, that’s a really, really good one. It’s so much to be proud of.

3:32:58 And I, I always like to clarify, you know, Doctor Mandel, when people see that number that they’ll be, oh my gosh, does that mean almost 10% of your kids aren’t graduating now? That means they may not be graduating with their, they have to be graduated with their class. So maybe they’re, it’s going to take them an extra year or they can take another path, but it’s still. That’s an amazing number.

3:33:05 Yeah. Correct. If we’re at 90%, that doesn’t mean 10% dropped out.

3:33:13 Right, right. 10% might be on a five year graduation plan or they may have transferred somewhere and we didn’t keep up with them and that kind of thing. The state issued a press release too, and it kind of does go into, if they didn’t graduate, does that mean they’re a dropout? And the percentage in their figures is about like a 2% would be considered truly dropping out and the rest are unaccounted for or something like that.

3:33:21 So really, really good data for us. Doctor, wasn’t there, there one school I think was Cocoa beach did pretty well. There was a high score there.

3:33:26 There were several high schools that had large increases. Cocoa beach did have a large increase, but I think, I think it’s ogallier. Palm Bay had the largest increase. It’s in your press release, in your email. I just got. I gotta give Tim Powers a call and thank him for all his hard work together. All right. Any other further discussion points? Hearing none. Meeting is adjourned. There we go.