Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 (upbeat music)
10:25 ♪♪♪
12:31 Good morning.
12:32 The August 27, 2024 board meeting is now in order.
12:35 I’d like to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
12:38 It’s encouraging to see so many familiar faces out there today.
12:41 Paul, roll call, please.
12:43 Ms. Wright?
12:44 Here.
12:45 Mr. Trent?
12:46 Here.
12:47 Ms. Jenkins?
12:48 Here.
12:49 Ms. Campbell?
12:50 Here.
12:51 Mr. Susan?
12:52 Here.
12:53 Thank you.
12:54 Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
12:57 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
13:02 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
13:07 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
13:11 Oh, I did.
13:17 You’re right, I’m flying through this.
13:19 All right.
13:23 At this time I’d like to offer my fellow board members and Dr.
13:26 Rendell
13:26 an opportunity to recognize students, staff, and members in the
13:29 community.
13:29 Does anybody like to go first?
13:32 Don’t everybody all jump up at once?
13:35 No?
13:36 Okay.
13:37 I’ll go first.
13:38 I’ll give everyone time.
13:39 All right.
13:40 This is something very untraditional, because these are not
13:42 necessarily
13:42 Brevard County residents, but I want to recognize the world
13:46 champions
13:47 of the Little League baseball team in Lake Mary.
13:49 So I don’t know if anybody out there got the chance to watch
13:52 that this weekend.
13:52 It was profound.
13:53 It was exciting.
13:54 It was everything you want to see out of a team that plays
13:57 sports.
13:57 And one of the coolest things I think that I saw happen is at
14:00 the end
14:00 of the final match, when it was coming down to the very last
14:04 couple minutes,
14:05 the last play of the game, you know, our team, Lake Mary,
14:09 Florida –
14:09 and I say ours because they’re Floridians, just like us – they
14:12 won.
14:12 And at that same exact moment, another team lost, right?
14:15 And so the same event happened, and it triggered two drastically
14:18 different
14:18 emotions from both teams.
14:19 But what was so special was watching those boys and the coaches
14:23 from Lake Mary
14:24 scoop up that other team, hug them, congratulate them,
14:27 because those boys fought a hard fight to get there as well.
14:29 So just want to congratulate that Lake Mary team.
14:31 They exemplified what you want to see out of an athlete.
14:34 They made Florida proud.
14:36 I think we’re all like, hey, let’s have a parade, let’s have a
14:39 party for them.
14:39 And we hope that all of our athletics demonstrate as much sportsmanship
14:43 as those boys did.
14:44 So congratulations to them.
14:45 All right.
14:46 Anybody else?
14:48 Ms. Jenkins, no?
14:49 All right.
14:50 You’re good?
14:51 All right.
14:52 Nobody’s – all right, just me.
14:53 All right, guys.
14:54 Dr. Rendell?
14:55 Thank you, Madam Chair.
14:56 Last week we had the opportunity to have a ribbon-cutting
14:59 ceremony
14:59 at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School for the Aqua Dome or
15:04 the Aqua Lab.
15:05 So it’s a greenhouse facility that houses a lot of huge tanks,
15:10 50 and larger gallon water tanks,
15:13 and it’s part of the aqua science program that we launched last
15:17 year
15:17 at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School.
15:18 So this is a CTE or vocational program where students will learn
15:24 all about
15:24 the marine science ecosystems and how to artificially recreate
15:29 those systems.
15:30 So to work at places like the zoo or SeaWorld or the aquarium
15:35 that’s going to be built at Port Canaveral.
15:37 So they’re going to learn all kinds of great things about how to
15:42 create
15:42 and maintain those artificial ecosystems,
15:44 but also about our own marine science right here in the Indian
15:49 River Lagoon
15:49 and how to preserve and maintain what we have here.
15:52 So it’s a great ceremony.
15:53 It’s a great facility.
15:54 If you ever want to go see it, you can go by Cocoa Beach Senior/Senior
15:57 High School
15:57 and ask for a tour, and they’ll show it to you.
16:00 In addition to the lab, we actually have a dock out back.
16:04 Cocoa Beach is on the water, so those students have the
16:07 opportunity,
16:08 the ability, the privilege of actually getting in the water
16:12 and doing experiments and research right there on campus.
16:15 So it’s a pretty cool program.
16:17 It was exciting to cut the ribbon there.
16:19 I want to thank Sue Han and her team for making this dream,
16:22 this vision of an aqua dome a reality.
16:25 So it’s quite a great facility.
16:27 You guys should go by and check it out.
16:29 All right, thank you.
16:30 I think Ms. Campbell says she has one.
16:31 Yes, I forgot about something.
16:34 We were able to recognize Ms. Angel Ottaway,
16:38 who is a brand-new minted teacher at Jupiter Elementary
16:42 from our Grow Your Own program.
16:44 And I know, Mr. Dufresne, we’re going to recognize some coming
16:47 up some more,
16:47 because there’s seven in the pipeline who are either already in
16:50 the classroom
16:50 or about to be in the classroom.
16:51 But Ms. Ottaway was one of our instructional assistants,
16:54 went through our program to earn her teaching certificate,
16:57 and is in the classroom, and we totally surprised her.
17:00 We were lurking in the shadows when she brought the kids back
17:03 from lunch
17:03 and shocked her with – the HR team had balloons and – not
17:08 streamers,
17:08 but, you know, flowers and everything, super excited.
17:11 And so congratulations to Ms. Ottaway,
17:13 and thank you for doing the hard work to get into the classroom.
17:15 And we have some more that are going to be recognized very, very
17:18 soon.
17:18 As soon as all their paperwork and everything gets in,
17:20 they’ll also be in the classroom, because we have spots for them.
17:22 So I’m excited that this Grow Your Own program is already
17:26 yielding some fruit.
17:27 Success, yes, wonderful, wonderful.
17:29 Shout out to HR and the amazing job that you’re doing there.
17:31 I do want to recognize something.
17:33 It’s kind of out of character, but I feel like it’s necessary.
17:36 We’ve had some messed up incidents happen recently over the past
17:40 two weeks,
17:40 and I think it’s important to recognize the staff members
17:43 and the community members who have stepped in in some very
17:47 tumultuous situations
17:48 and done right by our kids, and I don’t want that to kind of
17:51 disappear.
17:51 I want you to know that we acknowledge you and we respect you
17:54 and we appreciate you, so thank you.
17:57 Thank you. All right.
18:00 Mr. Susan, I’m sorry, I apologize, I didn’t even give you a
18:02 chance.
18:02 Is there anybody that you want to recognize or acknowledge?
18:05 No, there’s a lot that’s already been said.
18:07 Thank you very much, I’m good.
18:08 Okay, wonderful, thank you.
18:09 That will bring us to the adoption of the agenda.
18:11 Dr. Rendell.
18:12 Thank you, Madam Chair.
18:13 On this morning’s agenda, we have one recognition, 15 consent
18:16 items,
18:16 three public hearing items, six action items, and one
18:20 information item.
18:20 item. Changes made to the agenda since release to the public
18:23 include the
18:24 following we added b8 recognition of an instructional assistant
18:28 f-15 to approve
18:29 the 24-25 collective bargaining agreement with the Brevard
18:33 Federation of
18:34 Teachers and we revised a7 which are administrative
18:37 recommendations thank you
18:39 Dr. Rendell do I hear a motion? Any discussion? Ms. Jenkins? Aye.
18:46 Ms. Campbell? Aye.
18:47 Ms. Wright? Aye. Mr. Trent? Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye. All right we
18:52 are now at the administrative
18:53 staff recommendations do I hear a motion? Move to approve. Any
18:58 discussion? No. Roll call please.
19:01 Ms. Jenkins? Aye. Ms. Campbell? Aye. Ms. Wright? Aye. Mr. Trent?
19:04 Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye.
19:08 Thank you. Dr. Rendell? Thank you madam chair with that action
19:10 we have some people who have been promoted to
19:12 some new positions we want to recognize them first up is Adria
19:15 McDonough we want
19:16 to congratulate her on a promotion to director of early
19:19 childhood education
19:21 she’ll be leaving Oak Park Elementary where she serves as the
19:23 principal but we
19:24 won’t take her until we get her replacement in place so Adria
19:28 congratulations come on up.
19:37 Good morning can you hear me? I’d like to thank the board Dr.
19:42 Rendell thank you so
19:44 much for this opportunity thank you Mrs. Wright for always being
19:48 my big support
19:49 person on the board so thank you so much I am excited about the
19:53 opportunity I
19:54 also want to take a moment to thank my family my husband’s here
19:58 Paul McDonough
19:59 my beautiful daughter is here also Sydney and my mom who has
20:03 been at every
20:04 school for the last 30 years Nancy Cutlove and my son is at FSU
20:09 I’m sure
20:09 having a lot of fun over there he just got back for a second
20:14 year and I also
20:15 want to take a moment and just thank Dr. Smith, Ms. Chappie, Ms.
20:20 Harris, Mr. Raymer
20:22 all of the people that have supported me I see Dr. Wilson back
20:26 there that I’ve
20:26 been seeing and he’s been helping me with the security part of
20:30 the job I just
20:31 really appreciate this opportunity I love being a principal and
20:35 one of the
20:36 whys behind this move is during the COVID years our babies weren’t
20:41 able to
20:41 go to vbk and the pre-k programs and when they came back to
20:47 school they just
20:48 were not ready to go and so I saw the impact that these programs
20:52 have on our
20:54 education and so if I can have a piece and a part of that I just
21:00 I just am
21:00 amazed with this opportunity because it’s so important and it’s
21:04 important to
21:05 our proficiency in third grade and beyond so thank you so much
21:09 and then I
21:09 see Mr. Travis Diesel back he’s been my next door neighbor for a
21:13 long time and I
21:14 just want to say thank you to you as well so thanks everyone
21:17 thanks for the
21:18 opportunity I promise to work really hard
21:25 next we’d like to congratulate Jay Sobke on his promotion to
21:28 assistant principal
21:30 at Edgewood junior senior high school Jay come on up thank you
21:37 dr. Rendell and
21:38 thank you to members of the board I first wanted to say I deeply
21:42 appreciate
21:43 the opportunity this is a really a chance of a lifetime for me
21:47 that
21:47 especially getting to know the edge of a community and finding
21:50 out how I can make
21:50 a difference and contribute to the learning of those students
21:54 missing Rada
21:55 I deeply appreciate her trust in me to join her staff they’ve
21:59 already invited
22:00 me to their world old group so I look forward to going doing
22:03 that and then my
22:04 mentors that I’ve had I deeply appreciate miss Lundy and mr.
22:09 Pruitt and
22:09 the staff at satellite I couldn’t ask for a better family to be
22:13 a part of and
22:14 helped me grow my administrative career this bomb grant dr.
22:17 Booth are great
22:18 wonderful people to learn from as peer mentors and then my
22:22 previous occupation
22:24 to the Miss Riley and mr. Solomon to over at Oak Alley they were
22:28 wonderful
22:29 for me getting started and I also like to thank my very
22:32 understanding wife
22:32 who’s here today that all the admin duties and all the times
22:36 that I have to
22:37 stay and just things come up throughout the day that I just want
22:40 to make sure
22:40 that things are right for the kids and being able to go forward
22:44 and supporting
22:44 the teachers are supporting staff and I’m looking forward to
22:47 figuring out how
22:47 I can contribute that thank you next we want to congratulate
22:56 Francis O’Connor
22:57 for her promotion to assistant principal at Gardendale separate-day
23:00 school quite
23:01 the challenge there congratulations I want to thank you all for
23:07 giving me the
23:08 opportunity I don’t have a long list like everyone else I’m
23:12 fairly new to the
23:12 county but I want to thank miss Polly for you know briefing me
23:17 on all the
23:18 going ons at school and I want to thank miss plan as well and
23:21 the board as well
23:22 for giving me the opportunity I’m hoping to learn some more
23:26 about provide the
23:27 Brevard way but that again thank you
23:35 so now madam chair I’d like to bring up Ryan Dufresne our
23:38 assistant
23:39 superintendent of human resources we talked a little bit a few
23:42 minutes ago
23:42 about to grow your own program we want to make pathways
23:45 available for people
23:47 who want to become classroom teachers so he’s going to talk
23:49 about one of those
23:50 pathways and someone who’s done some incredible work in that
23:54 pathway thank
23:55 you dr. Rendell I’m gonna bring up Susan Kirk who’s actually
23:58 kind of in charge of
23:59 this program she’s been working really hard to make sure all
24:02 these people got
24:03 all their prerequisites complied with so I really want to hand
24:05 the stage over to
24:06 miss Kirk come on up good morning and thank you good morning
24:16 board I am Susan
24:18 Kirk I’m a district recruiter here and I am so pleased to be
24:21 able to talk about
24:22 our grow your own program it’s actually a support to teacher
24:26 pathway there’s two
24:27 pathways one where you can be a grow your own you can be an
24:29 elementary
24:30 teacher and the other pathway is you continue as an
24:33 instructional assistant
24:34 in an ESC classroom but in both since instances you have a
24:38 temporary teaching
24:40 certificate now we are so thrilled for this because this is
24:44 giving a true and a
24:45 clear path for us to grow our employees our exemplary employees
24:52 and we turn this
24:54 around pretty quickly this was an initiative it started by mr. Dufresne
24:59 I
24:59 would say March April and we spun it out at the end of April and
25:04 to have eight
25:05 people well seven today hopefully eight by the end of today she’s
25:09 taking her
25:09 exams today to have eight people who are in this position is
25:13 just astounding and
25:14 we are thrilled to have to grow your own teachers who are
25:18 elementary teachers in
25:19 an elementary classroom and five additional who are a teacher
25:25 apprentice
25:26 and that means they are nye a co-teaching with their mentor and
25:30 they’re slowly having a gradual release where they’re going to
25:33 gain more control
25:34 of the classroom by modeling by observing and by fun you know
25:39 going to a
25:40 Daytona State College full-time and taking over control of their
25:43 classroom
25:44 in the end of two years today I am thrilled to announce an an
25:50 exemplary
25:50 employee Brittany Vasik at Madison middle school in Titusville
25:55 she exceeded
25:56 everyone’s expectations so to back up to be part of this plan
26:01 you need an
26:02 associate’s degree then you have to take a subject area exam
26:06 which is pretty
26:08 pretty difficult because you have to show mastery of the subject
26:12 she not
26:14 only did those two things but she also finished her AA degree
26:19 she was short she
26:21 wasn’t at her AA she had to complete her AA take three
26:25 prerequisite classes intro
26:27 to elementary intro to exceptional student education intro to
26:31 elementary
26:31 math and past your subject area exam in ESC 26 credits one
26:38 semester in the
26:40 summer this is unheard of she is such a rock star that she had
26:49 to get a special
26:50 permission from the unit from the State University to be able to
26:53 do this because
26:54 Daytona State does not let people date 26 credits in one
26:59 semester it’s just
27:01 mind-blowing and we’re so proud of her every time that we bring
27:04 up Brittany’s
27:05 Brittany’s name we’re just we beam because it’s like our own
27:09 little child we you know we
27:10 fostered her and she’s now on her pathway and in two years she
27:13 will have
27:14 her bachelor’s degree in exceptional student education and she
27:18 will be a
27:18 fully professional certified teacher in ESC congratulations
27:24 Brittany all of you guys who put this out it’s really awesome I
27:37 stumbled upon
27:38 ESC education by accident I was a full-time real estate agent
27:42 and a mom
27:43 of five and I’m not gonna lie I subbed for a gen ed class one
27:48 day and I was
27:48 like no way I don’t know how these teachers do it god bless them
27:53 and then I
27:54 went to Madison and subbed for their ESC class and not gonna lie
28:00 I fell in love
28:01 with mr. DeSole with the staff everybody there all of the
28:04 students and then when
28:06 I saw that email I was I was bugging everybody like can I do
28:11 this so I’m just
28:12 grateful for the opportunity
28:16 I’m not sure if you caught that mom of five 26 credits since
28:22 April that’s
28:23 impressive okay we’re gonna take a short recess we can grab a
28:30 photo real fast if
28:30 everyone wants one I want to tell a story really quick if I can
28:33 recess so
28:34 because this is you guys are inspirational and that’s so
28:37 exciting so
28:38 due to the wonderful
28:41 world of Facebook. I caught up with a friend from Texas that I
28:43 grew up with.
28:43 She’s in her early 50s, had a similar path, decided after all
28:47 her kids were
28:48 grown and gone, I don’t know, you don’t look like yours are
28:51 grown and gone yet,
28:52 but hers were grown and gone. She went back to the classroom to
28:56 be an IA.
28:57 Loved it, decided you know what I want to become a teacher,
29:00 finished her master’s
29:01 or her bachelor’s degree, became a teacher. She’s been a full-time
29:04 teacher
29:05 for about three years and I just looked on Facebook and she got
29:07 recognized not
29:08 only for Teacher of the Year for their district but for their
29:10 whole region in
29:11 Texas, you know Texas is so gigantic. So that’s where I expect
29:15 to see you in
29:16 three years, I just want to say. Such a rock star. Thank you for
29:19 what you do.
29:19 Thank you. All right, we’re gonna take a short recess and take a
29:22 photo real quick.
29:38 ♪♪♪
32:27 - All right, welcome back. We are now at the public comment
32:32 portion of the meeting.
32:33 We have three speakers sign up to speak this morning. Each will
32:36 receive three minutes.
32:37 Paul will be calling you up to the podium. I want to remind
32:40 everybody of the policy,
32:42 board policy 0169.1. All comments should be directed at the
32:47 board or individual board members.
32:48 Staff members or other individuals shall not be addressed by
32:50 name. Abusive, obscene,
32:51 or irrelevant comments will not be permitted. Orderly conduct is
32:55 expected from all public comment participants,
32:57 and the presiding officer may interrupt, warn, or terminate the
33:00 participants’ public comment opportunity.
33:01 Mr. Gibbs, can you please call up the first and only three
33:04 speakers?
33:05 - Mr. Anthony Colucci, Julie Hanna, and Kelly Kerbin.
33:11 - Thank you.
33:18 - My name is Anthony Colucci. I’m the president of the Brevard
33:21 Federation of Teachers.
33:23 The vote on the 2024-25 collective bargaining agreement was held
33:28 at work sites from August 19th through August 23rd.
33:31 There were 3,097 votes cast, which means about 66% of members of
33:36 the bargaining unit voted.
33:38 There were 2,980 yes votes and 78 no votes.
33:43 Therefore, our bargaining unit has ratified the CBA with 96%
33:48 voting in favor of it.
33:50 I want to thank our BFT bargaining team as well as the district
33:54 bargaining team on a job well done.
33:56 I also want to thank this board and superintendent for
33:59 stretching the district budget to offer a competitive raise.
34:02 We know this wasn’t a great year for funding, but you showed
34:05 that your priority is to do the best you can for teacher pay.
34:09 As always, there is some misinformation and disinformation
34:12 surrounding the news of the agreement that I would like to
34:15 clarify.
34:16 First, there are some saying that this raise came from the millage
34:20 referendum.
34:21 To be clear, not a cent of this raise came from millage.
34:24 Secondly, some believe that new teachers will get paid more
34:27 under this plan than our current teachers.
34:30 New teachers to Brevard will not make more than any teacher who
34:34 was here last year.
34:35 In fact, because of the 3.5% of the 4% raise being based on
34:40 actual contract salary,
34:42 teachers who have been in Brevard will earn more dollars on the
34:46 raise.
34:46 Lastly, there are some saying that the health insurance premium
34:49 increases are more than the raise,
34:51 while in fact no teachers will see premium increases anywhere
34:55 near the raise total.
34:56 And most will see increases only between $2.76 per check and $7.46
35:04 per check.
35:05 Not to mention those amounts don’t start till January and don’t
35:09 reflect pretax implications.
35:11 With that said, I am very concerned about the lack of
35:14 information and the inaccuracy of information
35:17 that is being provided by our health insurance consultant, Lockton.
35:21 Lockton stated as late as March 20th that BPS would need to put
35:27 in about
35:27 a $4.9 million infusion into the plan by June 30th.
35:33 In actuality, BPS did not need to put a cent into the plan,
35:37 and by the end of June there was a $2.7 million surplus in the
35:42 fund.
35:42 That’s a big difference, an $8 million difference, and one that
35:47 we should all be concerned about.
35:48 I’m asking that you all put more eyes and focus on the health
35:52 plan
35:52 and start asking serious questions to our consultant and holding
35:56 them accountable.
35:57 My other ask is one that I’ve been suggesting for nearly a
36:01 decade, and I don’t think it’s ever been done.
36:03 That is to make the plan for next year’s raise now, not in June.
36:07 Don’t assume Tallahassee is going to send you a windfall and
36:10 assume they won’t,
36:12 so when they don’t you still have a way to address employee
36:15 compensation.
36:16 It won’t be easy, but with a year’s worth of planning it can be
36:20 done. Thank you.
36:20 Thank you.
36:22 Julie Hanna and Kelly Curvin.
36:31 Hello. Good morning. I’m a parent of two students in Satellite
36:36 Beach,
36:36 one at Delaware Middle School and one at Surfside Elementary,
36:40 and I know the Guardian program was adopted last year, and this
36:43 is the school year that it’s to be put into place.
36:49 And I called the schools to find out some more information.
36:51 I spoke to the school board phone number for some more
36:55 information,
36:56 but I have concerns that we parents aren’t getting any
36:59 information.
37:00 We don’t know who is around our children seven hours a day, five
37:06 days a week with a deadly weapon.
37:09 I didn’t know any of their qualifications to have a weapon
37:13 around my child.
37:14 I have concerns with these individuals’ qualifications.
37:18 I don’t know what the handling of emergency situation guidelines
37:21 is for them to be able to utilize such a weapon.
37:27 And for a district that talks about parents’ rights,
37:31 I think us parents have the right to know who is going to be
37:35 around our children in these situations.
37:38 And I’m not – I would like to request that this information be
37:43 made available to the parents.
37:46 That’s all I have.
37:47 Thank you.
37:49 Kelly Curvin.
37:58 Good morning, everyone.
38:00 There were a lot of things that came out of the last school
38:02 board meeting that I would like to address,
38:03 and first up is Dr. Rendell.
38:05 In your quest to admonish parents and community members,
38:08 you instead insulted our media specialists with comments about
38:12 their supposed expertise or whatever.
38:15 I agree. The community did want media specialists to be a part
38:20 of the conversation and have voting rights on the book review
38:21 committee.
38:22 I still do.
38:23 But I also recognize that part of being a professional and
38:26 having expertise in their field means following district
38:29 policies
38:29 and state laws even if you don’t agree with them.
38:33 Our school board has proven to our media specialists that they
38:36 do not have their backs,
38:37 that they will not fight for them in the autonomy of their
38:39 classrooms.
38:40 Matt Susan and Katie Campbell sat by and listened as extremists
38:44 called them groomers and pedophiles from this very podium
38:47 and did nothing to stop it or defend them.
38:50 Megan Wright and Jean Trent actively stood up with the
38:53 extremists who called our media specialists groomers and pedophiles.
38:56 The school board, once elected in 2022, made quick work of
39:00 changing the book banning policy to remove media specialists
39:03 from the conversation,
39:04 and then changes have been made over and over again, each time
39:08 pushing media specialists and their actual not supposed
39:11 experience further and further away from the conversation.
39:15 The irony is that Matt Susan and Jean Trent would rather trust
39:18 unreliable committee members who don’t even bother showing up to
39:22 the meetings over our media specialists.
39:24 And just so we’re clear, I don’t presume to speak for every
39:28 media specialist in this county.
39:30 But for my friends who are media specialists, for the ones who
39:33 have come to vent to me out of frustration,
39:35 for the ones who have asked for me about the tone in other
39:38 districts because they’re making plans to leave BPS,
39:41 for those who are making choices so that they can keep their
39:44 jobs, for those who don’t feel supported to use their voice,
39:47 those are the people I speak for because I can, because it’s not
39:51 my job on the line, it’s not my retirement, it’s not my pension
39:54 or my benefits.
39:55 So the next time you want to insult me or other community
39:58 members, think before you speak.
40:00 Matt Susan and Megan Wright, I share similar sentiments.
40:04 You dislike me and I get it. You’d rather have your
40:07 authoritarianism go unchallenged.
40:09 And again, I get it. That would be easier, wouldn’t it?
40:13 If parents and community members just accepted being lied to
40:16 without questions, you’d be in heaven.
40:18 But that is never going to happen, and while you two sat up
40:21 there throwing temper tantrums because you didn’t like what was
40:25 said,
40:25 a reporter from France was watching it all go down.
40:28 Not only do you embarrass public schools in this room, in this
40:32 county, and across the country,
40:34 but now you’re going to bring that embarrassment to the
40:37 international stage again.
40:39 And once again, I don’t care how many crisis PR consultants you
40:43 hire, you will never not be who you are.
40:46 Unprofessional, chaotic, self-serving, and liars.
40:53 All right. So we are now at the consent agenda.
40:58 Dr. Rendell.
40:59 Thank you, Madam Chair. There are 15 agenda items under this
41:02 category.
41:03 Thank you, Dr. Rendell. Does any board member wish to pull any
41:05 of the items?
41:06 I do.
41:07 Which item?
41:08 Sorry, my mic wasn’t on. F24.
41:14 Okay, give me one second.
41:21 All right. Any other board members wish to pull any other items?
41:27 No? All right.
41:29 I’ll entertain a motion to accept the consent on today’s agenda
41:33 with the exception of F24.
41:35 Move to approve.
41:36 Second.
41:37 Any discussion?
41:40 All right. Paul, roll call, please.
41:42 Ms. Jenkins.
41:43 Aye.
41:44 Ms. Campbell.
41:45 Aye.
41:46 Ms. Wright.
41:47 Aye.
41:48 Mr. Trent.
41:49 Aye.
41:50 Mr. Susan.
41:51 Aye.
41:52 All right. Ms. Jenkins, you asked to pull F24, so –
41:53 Make a motion and a second.
41:54 Move to approve.
41:55 Second.
41:56 All right. Discussion?
41:57 Yeah. I’m not going to go into grave detail.
42:01 Our individual evaluations for the superintendent aren’t
42:06 published, so it’s going to be published as a collective average.
42:11 I just wholeheartedly disagree with giving a $10,000 incentive
42:14 pay when we didn’t set
42:16 goals in the first place.
42:18 I also disagree with extending a contract two years in advance.
42:23 So that’s why I wanted to pull it.
42:27 Any other discussion?
42:28 No?
42:29 All right.
42:30 Call roll call, please.
42:31 Ms. Jenkins?
42:32 Nay.
42:33 Ms. Campbell?
42:34 Aye.
42:35 Ms. Wright?
42:36 Aye.
42:37 Mr. Trent?
42:38 Aye.
42:39 Mr. Susan?
42:40 Aye.
42:41 Thank you.
42:42 We will now hold a public hearing to address a few different
42:44 things we have on the public
42:45 hearing.
42:46 So Dr. Bell, do you want to go ahead and kick off the first one
42:49 for us?
42:49 Thank you, ma’am.
42:50 Chair, the first public hearing is Board Reviewed Policy Revisions
42:54 G26, Board Policy 3120, Employment
42:57 of Staff.
42:58 Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item?
43:05 Hearing none, do I hear a motion?
43:07 Move to approve.
43:09 Second.
43:10 Any discussion?
43:11 Call roll call, please.
43:12 Ms. Jenkins?
43:13 Aye.
43:14 Ms. Campbell?
43:15 Aye.
43:16 Ms. Wright?
43:17 Aye.
43:18 Mr. Trent?
43:19 Aye.
43:20 Mr. Susan?
43:21 Aye.
43:22 All right.
43:23 Dr. Wendel?
43:24 Thank you, ma’am.
43:25 Chair, the next public hearing item is Board Reviewed Policy Revisions,
43:26 Board Policy 7217,
43:26 Weapons.
43:27 Is there anyone present who – my mic turned off.
43:28 Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item?
43:34 Hearing none, do we have a motion?
43:37 Move to approve.
43:40 Second.
43:41 Any discussion?
43:42 No.
43:43 Call roll call, please.
43:44 Ms. Jenkins?
43:45 Aye.
43:46 Ms. Campbell?
43:47 Aye.
43:48 Ms. Wright?
43:49 Aye.
43:50 Mr. Trent?
43:51 Aye.
43:52 Mr. Susan?
43:53 Aye.
43:54 Dr. Wendel?
43:55 Thank you, ma’am.
43:56 Chair, the last public hearing item is G28, the 2425 Student Progression
43:58 Plan.
43:58 Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item?
44:04 Seeing none, do we hear a motion?
44:08 Move to approve.
44:09 Any discussion?
44:10 No.
44:11 Call roll call.
44:12 Ms. Jenkins?
44:13 Aye.
44:14 Ms. Campbell?
44:15 Aye.
44:16 Ms. Wright?
44:17 Aye.
44:18 Mr. Trent?
44:19 Aye.
44:20 Mr. Susan?
44:21 Aye.
44:22 All right.
44:23 Dr. Wendel, will you please let us know about the items under
44:24 the action portion of today’s
44:24 agenda?
44:25 Thank you, ma’am.
44:26 Chair, the first action item is H29, Department and School Initiated
44:28 Agreements.
44:28 Do we hear a motion?
44:31 Move to approve.
44:33 Second.
44:34 Any discussion?
44:35 No.
44:36 Call roll call.
44:37 Ms. Jenkins?
44:38 Aye.
44:39 Ms. Campbell?
44:40 Aye.
44:41 Ms. Wright?
44:42 Aye.
44:43 Mr. Trent?
44:44 Aye.
44:45 Mr. Susan?
44:46 Aye.
44:47 Dr. Wendel?
44:48 Thank you, ma’am.
44:49 Chair, the next action item is H30, Procurement Solicitations.
44:50 Do we hear a motion?
44:51 Move to approve.
44:52 Any discussion?
44:53 No.
44:54 Call roll call, please.
44:55 Ms. Jenkins?
44:56 Aye.
44:57 Ms. Campbell?
44:58 Aye.
44:59 Ms. Wright?
45:00 Aye.
45:01 Mr. Trent?
45:02 Aye.
45:03 Ms. Williams?
45:04 Aye.
45:05 Ms. Williams?
45:06 Aye.
45:07 Ms. Williams?
45:08 Aye.
45:09 Ms. Williams?
45:10 Aye.
45:11 Ms. Williams?
45:12 Aye.
45:13 Ms. Williams?
45:14 Aye.
45:15 Ms. Williams?
45:16 Aye.
45:17 Ms. Williams?
45:18 Aye.
45:19 Ms. Williams?
45:20 Aye.
45:21 Ms. Williams?
45:22 Aye.
45:23 Ms. Williams?
45:24 Aye.
45:25 Ms. Williams?
45:26 Aye.
45:27 Ms. Williams?
45:28 Aye.
45:29 Ms. Williams?
45:30 Aye.
45:31 Ms. Williams?
45:32 Aye.
45:33 Ms. Williams?
45:34 Aye.
45:35 Ms. Williams?
45:36 Aye.
45:37 Ms. Williams?
45:38 Aye.
45:39 Ms. Williams?
45:40 Aye.
45:41 Ms. Williams?
45:42 Aye.
45:43 Ms. Williams?
45:44 Aye.
45:45 Ms. Williams?
45:46 Aye.
45:47 Ms. Williams?
45:48 Aye.
45:49 Ms. Williams?
45:50 Aye.
45:51 Ms. Williams?
45:52 Aye.
45:53 Ms. Williams?
45:54 Aye.
45:55 Ms. Williams?
45:56 Aye.
45:57 Ms. Williams?
45:58 Aye.
45:59 Ms. Williams?
46:00 Aye.
46:01 Ms. Williams?
46:02 Aye.
46:03 Ms. Williams?
46:04 Aye.
46:05 Ms. Williams?
46:06 Aye.
46:07 Ms. Williams?
46:08 Aye.
46:09 Ms. Williams?
46:10 Aye.
46:11 Ms. Williams?
46:12 Aye.
46:13 Ms. Williams?
46:14 Aye.
46:15 Ms. Williams?
46:16 Aye.
46:17 Ms. Williams?
46:18 Aye.
46:19 Ms. Williams?
46:20 Aye.
46:21 Ms. Williams?
46:22 Aye.
46:23 Ms. Williams?
46:24 Aye.
46:25 Ms. Williams?
46:26 Aye.
46:27 Ms. Williams?
46:28 Aye.
46:31 Ms. Williams?
46:32 Aye.
46:33 Ms. Williams?
46:34 Aye.
46:35 Ms. Williams?
46:36 Aye.
46:37 Ms. Williams?
46:38 Aye.
46:39 Ms. Williams?
46:40 Aye.
46:41 Ms. Williams?
46:42 Aye.
46:43 Ms. Williams?
46:44 Aye.
46:45 Ms. Williams?
46:46 Aye.
46:47 Ms. Williams?
46:48 Aye.
46:49 Ms. Williams?
46:50 Aye.
46:51 Ms. Williams?
46:52 Aye.
46:53 Ms. Williams?
46:54 Aye.
46:55 Ms. Williams?
46:56 Aye.
46:57 Ms. Williams?
46:58 Aye.
46:59 Ms. Williams?
47:00 Aye.
47:01 Ms. Williams?
47:02 Aye.
47:03 Ms. Williams?
47:04 Aye.
47:05 Ms. Williams?
47:06 Aye.
47:07 Ms. Williams?
47:08 Aye.
47:09 Ms. Williams?
47:10 Aye.
47:11 Ms. Williams?
47:12 Aye.
47:13 Ms. Williams?
47:14 Aye.
47:15 Ms. Williams?
47:16 Aye.
47:17 Ms. Williams?
47:18 Aye.
47:39 Any discussion?
47:43 I’m not going to be voting to keep this one there, and I’m just
47:46 going to tell you why.
47:47 I’ve read every one of these books alongside this book committee.
47:50 This book is – it focuses on nothing other than a relationship.
47:55 It’s inappropriate.
47:56 You start the book, you read it backwards, you read it – I mean,
47:58 literally, when you
47:59 start reading a book, which we’ve been teaching our kids from
48:01 day one, you start at the beginning,
48:02 and you read from left to right, bottom to top.
48:05 Not that book.
48:06 You don’t – and so it’s just – to me, I’m going, no, this is
48:09 not the highest and best
48:10 book that we can offer our kids, and this is volume one, so I’m
48:12 not sure where this
48:13 goes because the entire book is focused on a romantic
48:16 relationship.
48:17 So I’m like, if this is volume one, where does the next one go?
48:20 So that’s the reason why I won’t be supporting the committee’s
48:22 recommendation of keeping
48:24 it.
48:25 So just letting you know.
48:26 I – since we’re discussing – I’m not going to defend this book
48:29 because I didn’t like
48:30 it.
48:31 I thought it was kind of stupid, personally.
48:32 I don’t think there’s a problem with it being backwards because
48:34 it’s Japanese, and it was
48:36 a literal translation, took the Japanese book and inserted the
48:38 English text.
48:39 But I can agree with the recommendation of the committee because
48:43 it doesn’t violate statute,
48:45 and I was looking for it, but it doesn’t.
48:47 So, you know, like I said, not necessarily one that I’m super
48:50 excited about keeping,
48:52 but if we’re going to – I’ve tried to stick with that, what the
48:55 law says, and I think
48:57 that’s where – I don’t think this one is violating the statute
49:00 for us.
49:01 All right.
49:02 Thank you.
49:03 Any other discussion?
49:04 No.
49:05 All right.
49:06 Paul, roll call, please.
49:07 Ms. Jenkins.
49:08 Aye.
49:09 Ms. Campbell.
49:10 Aye.
49:11 Ms. Wright.
49:12 Nay.
49:13 Mr. Trent.
49:14 Nay.
49:15 Mr. Susan.
49:16 Nay.
49:17 So, I would like to amend the motion to make a motion to remove
49:19 this book from our curriculum.
49:21 Do I have a second?
49:24 All right.
49:25 Any discussion?
49:26 All library books are considered curriculum, so I guess it’s not
49:29 curriculum.
49:30 Sorry.
49:31 I have a discussion.
49:32 Mr. Gibbs, by removing this book, even though it’s not a
49:35 violation of the statute, do we
49:37 set ourselves up for potential legal debates?
49:41 Based on the Escambia case, we’re already potentially up for
49:45 legal challenge if publishers
49:47 and authors have the right to sue school districts.
49:50 It’s going to come down to what that case says and who has the
49:53 right to remove books.
49:55 Okay.
49:56 So, I am not comfortable removing a book because we don’t
49:58 understand why it’s being read in
50:00 the opposite direction, potentially setting us up for legal
50:03 ramifications.
50:04 Yeah, if I can speak to this new motion, I’m not as concerned
50:09 about the Escambia case because
50:12 I think Escambia did beyond what their policy.
50:15 They did, you know, they kind of did a broad swath rather than
50:18 following process.
50:19 We have followed a process.
50:20 The board does get the final say, and Florida statute gives us
50:24 that.
50:24 But you started to mention about instructional materials, and I
50:28 just caution this there because
50:30 I don’t think going back to, and I don’t want to put words in
50:34 your mouth, but going back
50:35 to what the challenger put in here, I don’t think we’re about to
50:39 remove every book that
50:40 has a homosexual reference in our libraries because we’d be
50:44 getting rid of a lot.
50:45 Okay.
50:48 So, when we, I just, so, I mean, that’s, when we talk about
50:52 instructional materials or instruction,
50:55 this is, having the book in the library is not instructional,
50:57 again, not going to defend
50:58 the book, not a fan of it.
51:01 But that’s, you know, where I fall down on that.
51:03 And like I said, Escambia one doesn’t bother me.
51:06 Any other discussion?
51:07 No.
51:08 All right.
51:09 Call, roll call, please.
51:10 Ms. Jenkins.
51:11 Nay.
51:12 Ms. Campbell.
51:13 Nay.
51:14 Ms. Wright.
51:15 Aye.
51:16 Mr. Trent.
51:17 Aye.
51:18 Mr. Susan.
51:19 Aye.
51:20 All right.
51:21 We will move on to the information agenda, which includes one
51:22 item for the board to review
51:22 and may be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting.
51:23 No action will be taken today.
51:24 Does any board member wish to discuss this item?
51:27 None.
51:28 All right.
51:29 We are now at board member reports.
51:31 Ms. Campbell, do you have something to share with us?
51:34 I thought you –
51:35 I emailed – oh, sorry, things are on.
51:38 I emailed you guys a copy of what I had written up and just, as
51:45 long as everybody is good
51:47 with what I sent, I sent it on Tuesday the 20th, if you’re
51:53 looking in your emails.
51:55 Just the language – I didn’t – the committee will – once we send
52:01 it, if FSDB A is going
52:02 to adopt it, they’ll kind of refine it a little bit because I’m
52:04 like, ugh, I wish I had a better
52:06 way to just get all these words in here.
52:08 But number one was easy, but I did add that word “certified” and
52:11 I – because I know,
52:13 for example, like Charlotte County staffs their VPK with not
52:17 certified teachers and
52:18 I think that may be some of the hesitation for the state is if
52:21 they say, you know, preschool
52:22 teachers, then that might mean everybody, and some of them aren’t
52:25 necessarily certified
52:26 staff.
52:27 We’re specifically talking about certified staff.
52:28 So I went ahead and in the appropriate places added the word “certified,”
52:31 so if you guys
52:31 were good with that.
52:32 And it was – as long as you didn’t have any problems with the –
52:37 and the number five,
52:38 I – because Dr. Rendell had mentioned it came off the FSDB A
52:41 platform, I pretty much
52:42 pulled it straight off of last year’s FSDB A platform about the
52:45 workforce development
52:46 capitalization center program.
52:48 So are you good?
52:49 And I was – did not get into specifics with the unaccompanied
52:53 minor, but just for them
52:54 to take a look.
52:55 Was that –
52:56 Yeah, no, it’s – that’s fine.
52:57 I mean –
52:58 Okay.
52:59 Yes.
53:00 I’m fine with it.
53:01 I read what you had written.
53:02 Oh, good.
53:03 It’s copied to the agenda item.
53:04 Sorry.
53:05 I’m looking at my emails.
53:06 So if you guys are good, then I will this week upload those to
53:10 the platform that they
53:12 have opened up for us.
53:14 I’m good with it, Borden?
53:17 Yeah.
53:18 Mr. Susan, are you okay with that?
53:20 Yeah.
53:21 I’m good.
53:22 Sounds good.
53:23 All right.
53:25 Does any board member have anything further to discuss?
53:27 Yeah.
53:28 Just briefly, I serve as our representative on the Brevard
53:33 Cultural Alliance, and not
53:35 necessarily related to the arts, but they had a special
53:39 presentation – I’ve had someone
53:41 come in and do a presentation on the ad valorem tax abatement
53:44 program, and I just thought
53:46 I’d share that with the public.
53:48 And it’s not necessarily school-related, but it is – well,
53:51 directly, but it is.
53:53 Every 10 years, our county votes – and this year it’s coming up,
53:55 it’ll be on the ballot
53:56 in November – for the ad valorem tax abatement.
54:00 And what that is is allowing companies who come in who meet very
54:04 specific requirements
54:05 – like they’re going to create X number of jobs, and they have
54:08 to meet the performance
54:09 goals before they get those tax incentives – to have those tax
54:15 breaks.
54:15 And what it ends up being, for every – the stats that they –
54:19 they had a team from Florida
54:20 Tech actually do a research project on it.
54:22 For every dollar of tax incentives that this awards, our county
54:28 is receiving almost $5
54:30 in taxes, which includes school taxes, as well as things to
54:34 build roads and other things.
54:36 So just – it’s one of those things that, because it only comes
54:39 around every 10 years,
54:40 it’s not something we’re thinking about, but if you’d like more
54:43 information, I could certainly
54:45 point you to the right direction, but it’s going to be on our
54:48 ballot language listed
54:49 as the ad valorem tax abatement program, and it’s something that
54:54 I think we want to attract
54:56 these good businesses that are going to provide jobs to the
54:58 people in our community.
55:00 And Florida does not offer something like this as a state.
55:03 So the only thing we have really is these local opportunities.
55:08 Different cities do it, and this is the one for the county.
55:10 So something to take a look at when it comes to creating,
55:13 attracting, and retaining high-wage
55:16 job companies.
55:17 And the scary thing that he presented is they had a meeting with
55:20 some of these space companies,
55:21 space companies that we have been building relationships with as
55:24 a district, as well
55:24 as a community, and because now there is opportunity to launch
55:29 from other places in the United
55:31 States, the opportunity for some of these companies to move
55:35 their manufacturing and
55:37 other operations outside of Florida and outside of the Space
55:41 Coast would be devastating to
55:43 our local economy.
55:44 And so anything that we can do to – again, it’s very – there’s
55:48 very much accountability.
55:50 They have to go through an approval process, and then if they’re
55:53 not meeting those agreed
55:55 to measures as far as the companies they provide and the jobs,
55:59 you know, the – what the product
56:02 they’re producing, they don’t get to keep it.
56:04 It’s not a forever, you know, kind of tax abatement, but just
56:08 something to take a look
56:09 at, and I’d be happy to share the information that was shared
56:11 with us.
56:12 » Thank you.
56:13 Now I would love to see the information that was shared.
56:15 All right.
56:16 Dr. Rendell, do you have anything further to report?
56:18 » Thank you, Madam Chair.
56:19 I do not.
56:20 » All right.
56:21 Being that there’s no further business, this meeting is adjourned.
56:34 ♪♪♪