Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Thank you.
3:00 Good evening and welcome to the September 5th, 2024 final budget
3:05 hearing and regular
3:07 school board meeting.
3:08 It is now in order.
3:09 I’d like to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
3:11 It is so encouraging to see so many wonderful faces in the
3:13 audience this evening.
3:15 No doubt for the wonderful performance that we will have momentarily.
3:18 If I could just please remind the public that their opportunity
3:21 to address the board is
3:22 during public comment portion of the meeting.
3:24 So I would ask for you to refrain please from loud speaking
3:26 disruptions, distractions, or
3:28 other forms of communications that might hinder the business of
3:31 the board.
3:32 Paul, roll call, please.
3:33 That’s right.
3:34 Here.
3:35 Mr. Trent.
3:36 Here.
3:37 Miss Jenkins.
3:38 Here.
3:39 Miss Campbell.
3:40 Here.
3:47 All right.
3:48 If you will, please rise.
3:48 I believe William, are you ready for the pledge?
3:49 All right.
3:50 You’re going to leave us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
3:51 I pledge you to the Pledge of Allegiance.
3:59 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
4:26 and to the Republic for
4:27 which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with
4:32 liberty and justice for all.
4:39 Thank you, William.
4:40 I appreciate you helping lead out that way.
4:42 Tonight, we’re very fortunate.
4:43 We have the Stevenson Elementary Choir with us.
4:46 We have the choir director, which is Mr. William Yeo, right?
4:50 Is that correct?
4:51 I don’t want to mispronounce it.
4:52 And I’m going to turn the floor over to you.
4:55 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
5:23 And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God,
5:33 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
5:45 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
5:46 For liberty and justice for all.
5:55 Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for
6:14 purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain.
6:23 America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good
6:37 with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
6:52 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
7:03 and to the ring of the Lord which it stands, one nation under
7:12 God.
7:14 Oh, beautiful of liberty, and chalice grace for all, and clarity
7:28 and justice for all.
7:36 America, America, of the ice cream.
7:44 America, of the sea.
7:50 Thank you.
8:38 and sleigh bells, and skitsled with noodles.
8:41 Wollies that fly with the moon on their wings.
8:45 These are a few of my favorite things.
8:50 Pearls with white dresses, and blue slats in stashes.
8:54 Snow lace that stay on my nose and eyelashes.
8:57 Silver white winters that melt into springs.
9:01 These are a few of my favorite things.
9:05 When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
9:08 when I’m feeling sad,
9:11 I simply remember my favorite things,
9:15 and then I don’t feel so bad.
9:22 Paint tops on great tops, and blue stars,
9:24 and blue slats, and blitzes, and blitzes,
9:27 and blitzes, and blitzes,
9:28 white copper crack tops, and metals,
9:30 and metals, and blitzes.
9:33 There’s nothing for package, it’s tied up with strings.
9:37 These are a few of my favorite things.
9:41 All the picas and constables for little.
9:47 Four bells and sleigh bells, and sleigh bells,
9:50 and twinkle and twinkle.
9:53 Wollies that fly with the moon on their wings.
9:56 These are a few of my favorite things.
10:02 I’m holding my glasses and distracted stashes.
10:05 Some lace that stay on my nose and eyelashes.
10:09 Silver white winters that melt into springs.
10:12 These are a few of my favorite things.
10:16 When the dog bites, when the feet slings,
10:20 when I’m feeling sad.
10:23 I simply remember my favorite things.
10:26 And then I don’t feel so bad.
10:37 Thank you.
13:28 All right.
13:29 Well, I want to take a moment and thank you guys so much.
13:32 Is there anybody that you would like to pick out that maybe
13:34 would be willing to go to the
13:36 microphone and speak?
13:37 Do we have a couple names?
13:39 No?
13:40 All right.
13:41 Drawing sticks.
13:42 Oh, how about Sabrina and Tayton?
13:45 Your names are on this piece of paper.
13:47 So I believe you have been nominated by your peers, I believe.
13:52 All right.
13:53 Thank you.
13:54 Miss Jenkins, do you want to start?
13:55 Do you have any questions or things to say?
13:59 Hey, everybody.
14:02 First and foremost, great job.
14:05 Miss Jenkins isn’t going to be here in two months and there isn’t
14:07 a whole lot I’m going
14:08 to miss except for this.
14:10 You bring so much joy to my heart.
14:12 And I have to say, two out of those three songs I sang when I
14:15 was in elementary school
14:17 chorus, so it brought back some pretty sweet memories for me.
14:20 You did such a really, really good job.
14:22 So I have a question and either one of you can answer this
14:25 question for me, but who is right
14:27 now your favorite singer?
14:29 Ooh, that’s a good question.
14:32 I’d say William because he’s always on top of everything and he’s
14:40 willing to take chances
14:42 and sing a bunch of songs even though if he doesn’t practice a
14:46 lot.
14:47 William, where are you?
14:49 Raise your hand, William.
14:50 Man, that was so sweet.
14:51 Oh, that’s awesome.
14:52 You know, Tayten, I thought you guys were going to tell me like
14:53 Taylor Swift or, you know, that was just the best answer ever.
15:09 You guys are so sweet.
15:12 Thank you so much.
15:13 Oh, my gosh.
15:14 Adorable.
15:15 Thank you.
15:16 Ms. Campbell.
15:18 Awesome job, everybody.
15:20 Let’s see.
15:21 I will ask my question to Sabrina.
15:24 So Sabrina, how many years have you been in this group?
15:28 I’ve been in chorus since third grade, so three years.
15:33 And Sabrina, you’re going to middle school next year, right?
15:36 Mm-hmm.
15:37 So when you get to middle school, are you going to be in some
15:39 music programs at your middle school?
15:41 Yeah.
15:42 I do orchestra right now and I think I’m going to continue with
15:46 the violin.
15:47 I love that.
15:49 I also have a question for Mr. Yeo.
15:50 Mr. Yeo, how long have you been the music teacher at Stevenson?
15:56 That’s rude, Ms. Campbell.
15:58 I didn’t ask him how old he was.
16:00 How many years?
16:01 It’s been a while.
16:03 It’s been 24 years.
16:05 I knew it had been a while.
16:07 That is amazing.
16:09 I love the longevity and that’s one of the reasons why Stevenson’s
16:17 music program has been so successful.
16:19 So thank you for your years of service.
16:22 All right, Mr. Susan.
16:23 Mr. Yeo, I just wanted to say thank you for what you’ve done for
16:25 these children.
16:26 The precision that they came in on, your intensity.
16:30 Many of you in the audience didn’t get to see Mr. Yeo sing the
16:33 entire song like I did.
16:35 And the intensity that he had just shows that after, I think you
16:39 said 24 years, that the dedication has continued and it’s
16:43 amazing.
16:44 I only wanted to invite, if we may, the school board member for
16:47 your district is Jean Trent.
16:49 You may have seen him around.
16:50 We love singing and we would love to come sing with you guys.
16:53 Jean’s been known to sing pretty well and I like to accompany.
16:58 So if you guys ever invited us out, we would love to come over
17:01 and sing with you guys and have some fun.
17:03 Ms. Campbell, we don’t want to invite her because she’s actually
17:06 really good and she’ll make us sound really bad.
17:09 So thank you so much.
17:10 Thank you everybody.
17:11 All right, Mr. Trent.
17:12 Give me that.
17:13 All right.
17:14 Are you guys sharing a microphone?
17:15 We’re not now.
17:16 Yeah.
17:17 His is right.
17:18 Yours is right there.
17:19 All right.
17:21 Guys, that was amazing.
17:25 So I don’t even have to ask.
17:28 One of the questions I sometimes ask is how often you practice
17:33 and you answer that in the songs.
17:37 They were broad show quality, so thank you so much.
17:44 And the second thing is you absolutely do not want me to be
17:47 singing in your group.
17:49 Don’t listen to him.
17:50 Send the invite.
17:51 The closest we came, Dr. Andell and I, last time we were there,
17:55 we got on stage and danced.
17:58 Somehow they coerced us to get up there and I don’t know if they’ve
18:01 recovered since, but that was entertaining.
18:05 But you guys, this is great.
18:07 Talk about a lifelong, you know, something to be, to have, to
18:12 learn.
18:13 This is, those of you that can perform and can sing and hold the
18:17 tune, you don’t realize how lucky you are.
18:20 You know, I’m not as fortunate as Matt here that Mr. Susan can
18:23 sing.
18:24 It’s something that we always, those that can’t do it, always
18:28 wish we could.
18:30 Um, you know, I play some, I play the radio, um, but it, it, it
18:34 doesn’t quite, you know, fill the bill.
18:36 So you guys are talented.
18:37 I know you’re talented in the classroom and now you’re talented
18:39 in this, in this manner.
18:41 And I hope it continues.
18:42 Uh, just one more way of showing the, the talents we have here
18:46 in Brevard.
18:47 So thank you so much and thank you very much for, for doing this.
18:50 Thank you.
18:51 Okay.
18:52 So by, by raise of hands, whose favorite song out of the three
18:54 that you sang tonight, uh, would
18:56 have been, “We Go Together.”
18:58 I knew it.
19:00 I knew that was going to be the most popular one.
19:02 Uh, you guys did amazing.
19:03 It was so fun to watch you.
19:04 So we only get to see the backs of your heads when you’re
19:06 performing, but the video’s going.
19:08 So we’re watching you guys do all the hand movements and I’m
19:10 like, this is amazing.
19:12 Uh, but thank you guys so much.
19:13 Parents.
19:14 Thank you so much for bringing the students out tonight to, to
19:16 have them perform to begin
19:17 with.
19:18 So you guys deserve a round of applause.
19:22 We, we would like to take us a photo with you guys if that’s
19:24 okay.
19:25 What about Dr. Rendell?
19:26 Oh, Dr. Rendell.
19:27 I’m sorry.
19:28 I know.
19:29 Well I was, no, I just, uh, this is our first in performance of
19:30 the year and Stevenson has
19:32 set the bar high.
19:33 Yes you have.
19:34 Congratulations.
19:35 Thank you.
19:36 It was, it was amazing.
19:37 We’re going to take a five minute recess and can we take a
19:37 picture with you guys before
19:39 you go?
19:40 Okay.
19:41 Awesome.
19:42 So we’ll take a five minute recess and grab a photo.
19:52 We’ll take a picture with you guys.
25:21 Welcome back.
25:33 That was so much fun.
25:35 What a good way to start our board meeting off.
25:37 At this time I’d like to offer my fellow board members
25:39 and Dr. Rendell an opportunity to recognize students,
25:41 staff, or members of the community.
25:43 Ms. Jenkins, would you like to go first?
25:45 I just want to recognize the Brevard Schools Foundation
25:49 has released its end-of-year report with the Hyman Foundation
25:54 about their after-school arts club that they have been doing
25:57 for the past four years.
25:59 And it’s important to know that this program will expire in 2025
26:04 if the grant isn’t renewed.
26:06 So I encourage people in our community,
26:08 if you haven’t checked out the Brevard Schools Foundation,
26:10 ways in which you can support that foundation.
26:12 There’s many ways, more than just this program.
26:15 But definitely check it out.
26:16 See if you can support in some way.
26:18 Not that it may not, that it isn’t going to be renewed,
26:21 but you never know.
26:22 They sent with it some cards that some of the students had
26:26 written
26:27 just to show the tremendous impact that these art clubs
26:30 after school in some of our communities really,
26:32 really do make a difference for our kids.
26:34 And so I just wanted to read a couple of them.
26:36 One of them, I’m not going to say the students’ names just in
26:39 case,
26:39 but one of them, very young clearly, said that my father died
26:44 when I was 11
26:45 and this helped me get through it.
26:47 Thank you.
26:48 I loved art clubs so much.
26:49 I got to meet new people.
26:51 And I had fun because there is not much to do when I go home.
26:55 I love art because it helps me escape my stress.
26:58 It’s my comfort zone and I feel freedom there.
27:01 So just always important to remember the partnerships that we
27:04 have in our community,
27:05 the ways in which they support our kids, not only during school
27:08 hours,
27:08 but after school hours, have such an impact in their lives.
27:10 So anyone who’s willing to help, please do.
27:13 And then last but not least, I just want to acknowledge the
27:16 tragedy
27:16 that happened at Appalachee High School in Georgia.
27:19 My heart is with those families, with that community.
27:23 Of course, it is disturbing for us to see another act of senseless,
27:29 preventable, disgusting violence.
27:36 And I know like many other families who are listening,
27:40 you hugged your kids tightly as you got them home that day.
27:44 I felt guilt as a parent that I didn’t even know it was
27:47 happening
27:47 until way after it was over.
27:49 So my heart is with you.
27:53 Thank you, Ms. Jenkins.
27:55 Ms. Campbell.
27:56 Thank you.
27:57 And thank you for mentioning that tragedy that happened
27:59 yesterday.
28:00 And we certainly already have been and will continue to pray for
28:03 that,
28:03 the community.
28:04 And I know our staff, every time something like this happens,
28:07 they reevaluate.
28:08 And we’re thankful for the partnership we have with district
28:11 security,
28:11 with the sheriff’s office and our local police agencies.
28:14 But we’re also thankful that every time something like this
28:16 happens,
28:16 they do reevaluate and take a look at what are we doing?
28:19 What can we do better?
28:20 What do we need to do in the future to keep our students and our
28:22 staff safe?
28:23 I just want to recognize, too, a student and then a group of
28:28 people.
28:29 This year was our inaugural voyage into online re-enrollment.
28:35 And it was a little scary for some schools who traditionally had
28:40 not had good participation
28:42 on FOCUS because it all – you had to have a FOCUS account.
28:46 You had to be able to get into FOCUS to fill out the forms.
28:49 And so I – Ms. Dampier shared with me some stats this week that
28:54 I was just so impressed with.
28:55 I had to share the kudos.
28:56 So first of all, thank you, parents, for taking the plunge and
28:59 getting online and getting it done.
29:00 But also to our schools and to our student services staff who
29:04 helped with that push.
29:05 Because of your continued efforts, our district-wide online re-enrollment
29:13 process percentage was 92.3%,
29:17 which I don’t remember what the data was for our percentage of
29:19 parents who were on FOCUS,
29:20 but it’s been considerably lower than that.
29:23 So great job, everybody.
29:25 And even a school like Endeavor, you know, we have a lot of
29:28 focus on Endeavor
29:29 because of all the community wraparound services.
29:31 Endeavor’s percentage was 85%.
29:33 And I know that student services staff were going out there and
29:36 helping and supporting that school.
29:37 And Endeavor had like parent nights and inviting families in to
29:41 show them how to get online and establish that account.
29:43 And it’s not just about the enrollment.
29:45 And this is what I want to say is once parents are – have the
29:47 FOCUS app on their phone and they’re enrolled,
29:50 then they can so much more easily get the notifications from
29:52 their school.
29:53 So they’re hearing – they’re getting that feedback and they can
29:55 contact the school because everybody knows how to use apps,
29:58 right?
29:59 Once you – it’s getting it on there.
30:01 And so that communication can go so much better.
30:03 So kudos to everybody who was a part of that.
30:05 And then I wanted to recognize a student from the bowling team
30:11 at Bayside High School.
30:12 Because if you didn’t see the reel that’s going around viral in
30:15 our community,
30:16 Caden Sylvester bowled – and I don’t even know what grade he is
30:19 in.
30:20 He looked quite young – bowled a perfect 300 in the match
30:24 against O’Galley High School this week.
30:26 I know.
30:27 So I don’t know what it takes to be a state champion in bowling,
30:33 but he’s – he’s on the way for sure.
30:35 And so congratulations, Caden, for such a – I mean, what –
30:39 what pressure to know you’re on the last frame.
30:41 And you’re – you’re so close to perfect.
30:43 And he handled it beautifully.
30:45 So congratulations to Caden and the – the Bayside bowling team.
30:48 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
30:49 Mr. Susan.
30:50 Yeah, I’m good.
30:51 Thank you.
30:52 All right.
30:53 Mr. Trent.
30:54 You know, I just wanted to have a shout out to really all the
31:01 admin in our county of – of just the hard work they put in over
31:05 the summer to have such a smooth opening.
31:09 And I mean from drop off and pick up lines and traffic –
31:16 traffic plans.
31:18 I mean, that stuff matters.
31:21 You usually get calls, emails, you know, flagged down, you know,
31:26 at the grocery store talking about the headaches of picking up
31:28 and dropping off.
31:29 And I’ve had very little after day one.
31:32 But since then, I mean, but it takes a lot of effort to – to
31:36 make sure, you know, that’s the – it’s a smooth opening.
31:41 And the communication that I have had personally with my two
31:45 children from teachers and administration has been wonderful.
31:50 I mean, that’s the one thing about communication.
31:52 I don’t think you can do too much of it.
31:54 And it’s been great.
31:56 So heads off and shout out to all the teachers and admin that
31:58 put in the hardware because it’s showing.
32:01 So that’s about it.
32:02 All right.
32:03 Thank you.
32:04 All right.
32:05 I’m going to give a shout out to a couple of different people.
32:06 So board, we all received an email this week that Melbourne High
32:08 School is celebrating their 100th season of playing football in
32:12 Brevard County.
32:13 So congratulations to Melbourne High’s football team on
32:15 achieving that milestone.
32:17 That’s something huge.
32:18 Hopefully we can all get out to see a game this season and it’ll
32:20 be one that makes us proud.
32:22 I also want to thank Senator Wright on helping Brevard County
32:25 secure the funding that we needed in order to build the
32:28 commercial driver’s license facility that’s going to be built in
32:31 Cocoa.
32:32 This is going to be a community hub that’s going to serve really
32:34 all of Florida, maybe even all of the country.
32:37 Because once this is completed, we’ll be able to have people go
32:39 through.
32:40 I think Mr. Susan, you signed up to be in the course the first
32:42 time.
32:43 You said you were going to be.
32:44 Senator Wright and I are racing each other.
32:45 Oh, okay.
32:46 I don’t know about that.
32:47 But I want to thank Senator Wright for helping with that because
32:49 that’s a huge undertaking.
32:51 It’s going to serve all of Florida, potentially all of the
32:52 nation.
32:53 We are grateful for your help there.
32:55 Also board, I know you’ll remember, I think it was back in the
32:57 summer.
32:58 I don’t know the exact date, but we had a parent reach out to us
33:00 in regards to their sixth grade student wanting to go and
33:05 compete for science fair.
33:06 But because Brevard County has sixth grades in elementary,
33:09 typically it’s in middle school, it was a little funky.
33:12 So we were trying to get it approved.
33:13 Hey, can my sixth grade student go and compete amongst the
33:15 middle schoolers?
33:17 And we received an email this week that our sixth grade student
33:21 was one of the top finalists.
33:23 Hang on, sorry, I’m trying to pull the email so I can read it to
33:25 you.
33:26 So let me see.
33:27 Jace was notified today that he was selected as a finalist for
33:30 the Thermo Fisher competition, which is a middle school version
33:34 of ISEF.
33:35 The county science fair department confirmed Jace was the only
33:39 finalist who advanced to this level from Brevard County for
33:42 sixth through eighth grade.
33:44 So kudos to him.
33:45 He’s obviously making Brevard very proud.
33:47 That was a good move on our part on saying, yes, please go
33:49 forward, do good work.
33:50 And we wish you the very best on that.
33:52 Further competition, Jace.
33:54 Dr. Rendell, do you have any?
33:56 I do.
33:57 Thank you, Madam Chair.
33:58 So Ms. Campbell mentioned a minute ago something about state
34:00 championships.
34:01 And usually we recognize students who earn state championships
34:04 or teams that earn state championships.
34:06 So tonight we want to recognize a staff member, a faculty member
34:10 who has earned a state championship.
34:13 So earlier this summer, Rachel Rutledge was named this year’s CTE
34:18 Administrator of the Year for Florida, for the Florida
34:22 Association of Career and Technical Education.
34:26 So we would like Rachel to come up here to the microphone while
34:29 I talk about her.
34:31 So the Florida CTE Administrator of the Year recognizes members
34:34 who have made extraordinary contributions to CTE, Career and
34:39 Technical Education.
34:41 Programs that exemplify the highest standards and organizations
34:44 that have conducted activities to promote and expand CTE
34:48 programs.
34:49 Award winners serve as inspirational leaders.
34:52 They embody the core values of serving their students and being
34:56 committed to CTE.
34:58 Rachel received the award at the Florida Association of Career
35:01 and Technical Education State Conference on July 17th, so
35:05 earlier this summer.
35:07 The board was treated to a workshop also earlier this summer
35:10 about all of the great things we are doing in CTE and then are
35:14 going to do in CTE.
35:16 And that’s all a result of Rachel’s hard work.
35:18 So congratulations.
35:19 Would you like to say a few words?
35:21 I just want to say thank you for your support of me over the
35:25 last four years.
35:27 And I want to thank my husband for dealing with me tirelessly in
35:31 my pursuit of excellence with CTE and also for my amazing team
35:35 here.
35:37 And Brevard.
35:38 Without them, we wouldn’t be able to serve the students and
35:40 teachers in the district with as much excellence as we’re able
35:43 to do.
35:44 And that’s it.
35:45 So thank you again.
35:46 Okay, you can’t go anywhere.
35:47 So you got your plaque back in the summer at the state
35:50 conference.
35:51 So we have flowers for you and we’d like to take a picture when
35:53 we take our next break.
35:55 So congratulations.
35:56 So don’t leave it.
35:57 Thank you.
35:57 Congratulations.
35:58 That’s all I have, ma’am.
35:59 All right.
36:00 That, uh, at this.
36:01 I’m sorry.
36:02 That’ll bring us to the adoption of the agenda.
36:03 So I’m turning it back over to you, Dr. Rendell.
36:04 Thank you, Madam Chair.
36:05 On this evening’s agenda, we have the final budget hearing, one
36:06 proclamation, 20 consent items, three action items, and one
36:09 information item.
36:11 Changes made to the agenda since release to the public include
36:14 the following revisions D14, adoption of the final fiscal year
36:17 25 budget, F20, the annual financial reports for fiscal year 23,
36:22 24, F28, support staff recommendations.
36:26 F30 to approve the 24, 25 salary adjustments for non bargaining
36:29 personnel, G40, which the coalition of state school boards, yeah,
36:33 coalition of state school boards association, federal advocacy
36:39 conference.
36:41 Thank you, Dr. Rendell.
36:42 Do I hear a motion?
36:43 Move to approve.
36:44 Second.
36:45 Any discussion?
36:46 Paul, roll call, please.
36:47 Ms. Jenkins?
36:48 Aye.
36:49 Ms. Campbell?
36:50 Aye.
36:51 Ms. Wright?
36:52 Aye.
36:53 Mr. Trent?
36:54 Aye.
36:55 Mr. Susan?
36:56 Aye.
36:57 All right.
36:58 Thank you.
36:59 So tonight we will be recognizing our winners.
37:01 for the 2025 Principal Achievement Award for Outstanding
37:07 Leadership and Outstanding Assistant Principal Achievement Award.
37:18 Dr. Rendell, will you tell us a little bit about these awards,
37:20 please?
37:21 Thank you, Madam Chair.
37:22 The Principal Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership and
37:24 the Outstanding Assistant Principal Achievement Award were
37:27 established in 1988 to recognize exemplary
37:30 exemplary principals and assistant principals for their
37:33 contributions to their schools and communities.
37:37 The program honors principals and assistant principals who have
37:40 spearheaded initiatives to increase student performance, promote
37:44 safe learning environments,
37:45 and establish partnerships with parents and community members.
37:49 Joining us for the recognition will be Gary Schifrin, Executive
37:51 Director of the Brevard Association of School Administrators,
37:55 along with Julie Demick from Community Credit Union, who will
37:58 present each winner with a check from our generous school
38:02 district business partners.
38:04 Before we go on, we’ll have Gary come on up to the microphone.
38:10 on behalf of the Brevard Association of School Administrators
38:17 and the Community Credit Union, I want to thank the
38:21 superintendent and the school board for taking the time to
38:25 recognize these outstanding educators who hold very important
38:28 roles in our school system.
38:31 Although we all agree that the teacher is the most important
38:35 person for the success of our students.
38:38 It needs to be said that without the support of a great
38:41 principal and assistant principal, our teachers would struggle
38:45 as they perform their jobs.
38:47 Our administrators provide the necessary resources, the
38:51 motivation, the research, the encouragement, and so many other
38:55 aspects of school life that allows our teachers to bring out the
39:00 best in our students for their success.
39:03 Our administrators put in so many hours as they leave home to go
39:08 to work in the dark and in many instances arrive back home well
39:12 beyond sundown.
39:14 And most of them do not know what a Monday to Friday job is as
39:19 they are attending the many sporting events, community meetings,
39:24 fundraisers, odyssey of the mind competition, robotics, future
39:29 problem solving, dinner fundraisers, a drama or band performance.
39:33 And that is only a few of the many tasks that school
39:37 administrators are involved in on weekends.
39:41 And I would add that the accountability issue has become so
39:44 important over the past years that administrators are held
39:48 responsible for literally everything that takes place in their
39:53 school.
39:54 We ask so much of our administrators and in Brevard County, I
39:58 can tell you that your administrators do an awesome job.
40:03 Without their expertise and total commitment, we would not be as
40:07 successful as never be taken away from you.
40:12 Indeed, congratulations are in order and you have much to be
40:16 proud of.
40:17 And being that this will be my final opportunity to be a part of
40:21 this recognition, I want to take this time to thank the board
40:26 and community credit union for taking the time every year to
40:30 recognize the amazing contributions and accomplishments of our
40:34 school administrators.
40:36 You have the best educational leaders who make this district
40:40 proud and as successful as we have been over so many years.
40:45 Thank you for all that you do as well.
40:47 Thank you.
40:48 Thank you, Gary.
40:49 I’d like to give Julie from Community Credit Union the
40:53 opportunity to say a few words.
40:57 They’re one of our strongest business partners and you’ll see in
40:59 just a minute how much they support our administrators.
41:02 Julie.
41:03 Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here.
41:06 I learned from Janice Kershaw that Community Credit Union was
41:09 started before Brevard Public Schools was actually formed.
41:14 So, I think that’s pretty interesting and the teachers that
41:18 started Community Credit Union started it back in 1953 and they
41:23 worked out of their homes and they got paid about $10 a month.
41:28 And so, I’m honored to be part of Community Credit Union.
41:33 My minor in education is education.
41:37 My major is business.
41:38 So, it kind of works together.
41:40 But I absolutely love watching the things that Brevard Public
41:45 Schools does for their students.
41:48 And I’ve seen so many lives touched and I’ve seen some great
41:51 educators and great leaders in the community as well.
41:55 And so, with that, I’d like to honor them with some support from
41:59 Community Credit Union.
42:02 Thank you.
42:03 All right.
42:04 So, Gary, if you want to stay up there.
42:06 Julie, if you want to stay up there, we’ll call them up each
42:07 individually.
42:08 They actually got these honors back at the superintendent’s
42:11 summit in July.
42:12 And so, we’re going to do this again.
42:14 So, first we want to recognize the principal of the year, Adria
42:17 McDonough from Oak Park Elementary School.
42:19 Adria, come on up.
42:20 Let’s do a couple individual pictures and then we’ll do a big
42:32 group picture.
42:36 Get in there, Gary.
42:51 And then similarly for our assistant principal of the year this
42:53 year, it was Kelty Fernandez from Golf View Elementary School.
42:57 So, we’ll do a quick picture with Kelty and then we’ll do a
43:03 picture with everybody.
43:07 So, if you want to take a break, we can do that.
43:08 Sounds good.
43:09 We’ll take a five-minute recess and then come back at 6:15, okay?
43:22 Let’s do a quick picture with you.
46:52 All right.
47:05 We are now at the proclamation.
47:07 Dr. Rendell.
47:08 Thank you, Madam Chair.
47:09 Tonight’s proclamation is to appoint the month of September as
47:12 National Suicide Prevention Month.
47:15 Ms. Campbell will now read the proclamation.
47:18 Thank you.
47:20 Whereas September is designated as National Suicide Prevention
47:22 Month as recognized by the National Association of Mental Illness.
47:27 And whereas many health officials and community leaders locally,
47:30 state, and nationally understand that mental illness is a
47:33 significant issue of concern, particularly among our youth.
47:36 And whereas we realize that to address mental health issues
47:39 requires more open and honest discussions about mental health.
47:43 And whereas one major hurdle is removing the stigma attached to
47:45 mental health treatment and discussion.
47:48 And whereas parents, teachers, administrators, coaches, mentors,
47:52 public officials, and peer students recognize the importance of
47:55 emotional health.
47:57 And whereas we can all play a valuable role in assisting others
48:00 who may show symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, or mental
48:05 illness.
48:06 Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Brevard public school
48:09 board supports the education of staff, parents, and students on
48:13 symptoms of and help for mental health problems.
48:16 And be it further resolved that Brevard public school staff will
48:18 encourage a positive, safe school environment and encourage
48:21 helping others while also promoting access to school-based
48:24 mental health supports and recognizing when young people are at
48:27 risk for or are experiencing mental health problems.
48:31 Adopted by the members of the Brevard public school board at
48:34 their regular school board meeting thereof held the 5th of
48:37 September of 2024.
48:38 Thank you.
48:39 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
48:40 Do I hear a motion?
48:41 Move to approve.
48:42 Second.
48:43 Any discussion?
48:44 Paul, roll call, please.
48:45 Ms. Jenkins?
48:46 Aye.
48:47 Ms. Campbell?
48:48 Aye.
48:49 Ms. Wright?
48:50 Aye.
48:51 Mr. Trent?
48:52 Aye.
48:53 Mr. Susan?
48:54 Aye.
48:55 Ms. Jeanette Haskins and Ms. Jeanette Gingling.
48:57 Is that right?
48:59 Here this evening who wanted to share a few words regarding the
49:00 proclamation.
49:01 If you would, please come up to the microphone and we’ll turn
49:03 the floor over to you.
49:05 Thank you and good evening.
49:07 I’m Jeanette Gingling, President and CEO of Space Coast Health
49:09 Foundation.
49:10 I want to thank you for your support of the Foundation’s effort
49:14 to note Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, which began
49:17 September 1st.
49:18 I also want to recognize Kelly Haskins and her friends with Do
49:22 It For Hunter, who are with me here today.
49:25 Do It For Hunter is a not-for-profit in Brevard County dedicated
49:28 to suicide awareness and prevention.
49:30 Her organization is also raising the bar in this important
49:34 effort.
49:35 The Brevard County School Board for many years has been a
49:38 partner and leader in helping the Foundation’s efforts to boost
49:41 access to quality health care, including mental health for our
49:45 community.
49:46 You have supported the Suicide Prevention Awareness Initiative
49:49 in the past, and I believe it’s making a difference.
49:52 According to the Florida Department of Health, the number of
49:55 suicides in Brevard County decreased to 115 in 2022 from 141
50:01 five years earlier.
50:03 The 2022 figure was the lowest number of suicides in the Space
50:07 Coast since 2014 when there were 114.
50:11 Obviously, one suicide is one too many, but we’re trending in
50:14 the right direction, and part of the reason is because of your
50:19 support.
50:20 It’s all about creating awareness.
50:22 It’s about helping us find resources for mental health and using
50:25 those resources efficiently.
50:28 It’s about making a difference.
50:30 The Brevard County School Board is making a difference.
50:33 On behalf of the Foundation, I thank you for the proclamation,
50:36 and I also thank you for your support of our Thrive Within
50:39 program, which has been going on in the schools to do prevention
50:43 and early intervention for mental health.
50:45 Thank you.
50:46 I just wanted to say a quick thank you for allowing us to do the
50:53 project, the sticker project, on all of the school laptops, on
51:00 all of the students in Brevard County schools.
51:04 That initiative that you allowed us to do may very well have
51:09 saved a life, so we appreciate that.
51:13 211 Brevard that operates the 988 line, they are instrumental in
51:19 helping us do what we do, and they answer the call literally 24/7
51:25 from those who are struggling.
51:28 So what we do is we put out, we help to share the 988 number
51:33 that is literally saving lives.
51:37 We do have a You Matter Day coming up, our third annual, coming
51:39 up on September 21st.
51:41 Dr. Rendell has graciously said yes to being in our dunk tank,
51:47 so come and visit us at Maryland High School from 10 till 2.
51:52 I haven’t given you your time slot yet.
51:54 And Mr. Ramer is going to take his turn also.
51:59 And if any of you all would like to take a turn getting in the
52:03 dunk tank, we would love it.
52:05 So just reach out to me.
52:06 Which high school is this going to be at?
52:08 Merritt Island High School, Saturday, September 21st.
52:11 All right.
52:12 Thank you.
52:14 Mr. Ramer and I are not afraid.
52:17 We can do the dunk tank.
52:18 We’re good.
52:19 We’re not afraid.
52:20 We need a deep one for Mr. Ramer.
52:22 Mr. Ramer is going to just sit there.
52:24 May I?
52:25 I just.
52:25 Ms. Haskins, I just want to say to you, just as a woman and as a
52:32 mom, I am so grateful
52:36 for you and proud of you for turning tragedy into advocacy and
52:39 from the moment I met you,
52:41 I have never forgotten you and your story.
52:43 You gave me a photo of your handsome son and I still have it.
52:47 I see it in my jewelry box with the band that you gave me as
52:51 well.
52:51 I’m proud of you, I’m proud of you and you’ve made a significant
52:55 difference and it’s not
52:56 just the stickers on the laptops, it’s on the ID cards too and I’m
52:59 grateful for you.
53:00 Thank you.
53:01 Yeah, thank you.
53:02 Madam Chair, if you want to take one more picture with the proclamation,
53:05 maybe.
53:05 Yes, can we take one more photo with the proclamation and you
53:07 guys to come forward please, thank
53:09 you.
53:10 Yeah.
53:11 Thank you.
53:54 All right, all right.
54:20 We are now at the second and the final public hearing for the
54:23 2024-2025 proposed millage
54:25 rates and final budget.
54:27 The hearing of September 5th, 2024 is now in session.
54:32 Now we’ll move on to the presentation of this hearing.
54:34 Dr. Rendell.
54:35 Thank you, Madam Chair.
54:36 Members of the Board, Ms. Cindy Leszinski, Chief Financial
54:38 Officer will present the
54:39 24-25 final budget and proposed millage levy in a presentation.
54:44 Good evening, Ms. Wright, Board Members, Dr. Rendell.
54:54 This is the second and final FY25 school budget and district
55:00 millage rate public hearing.
55:03 Tonight’s public hearing will cover this presentation of
55:07 proposed millage rates and FY25 budget, an
55:11 opportunity for public comment and board member discussion and
55:14 adoption of the total millage
55:16 levy as well as the adoption of the FY25 school board final
55:24 budget.
55:25 The truth in millage legislation requirements are detailed under
55:29 Florida statute.
55:30 The TRMM timelines are very prescriptive in law and the clock
55:34 started July 1st.
55:36 The total timeline to budget adoption is 80 days.
55:39 The statute dictates the order of business during the budget
55:43 hearings and TRMM requires two
55:45 public hearings for open discussion of the millage rates and the
55:51 proposed budgets.
55:53 Millage is a term that represents the tax rate levied on real
55:57 estate or other property.
55:59 One mill is equivalent to $1 in taxes per $1,000 in taxable
56:04 value.
56:04 So, if your home has a taxable value of $100,000 and you’re
56:09 assessed a 1 mill tax rate,
56:11 you will pay $100 in taxes.
56:17 The Florida Education Finance Program is a mechanism by which
56:21 state and local operating funds are allocated
56:24 to finance its school district’s operating costs.
56:29 Funding for FEFP combines state funds primarily generated from
56:36 sales tax revenue and local funds generated from property tax
56:40 revenue.
56:41 Required local effort is the local amount of funds the district
56:44 receives from levying the state certified local millage rates on
56:49 the district’s taxable property.
56:50 It is key to understand the Florida Legislature sets the
56:54 required local effort millage rate and the school board must levy
57:01 the required local effort millage rate in order to receive state
57:05 funding under the Florida Education Finance Program.
57:08 The proposed required local effort millage rate was set for Brevard
57:16 by the legislature at 3.063.
57:20 The required local effort rate adjusts year to year and is
57:23 normally less than the previous year.
57:26 You can see on the top row, the FY25 RLE rate of 3.063 is 0.072
57:38 less than FY24’s rate.
57:41 The basic discretionary operating millage is fixed at 0.748 and
57:48 the local capital improvement remains fixed at 1.5 mills.
57:51 Additionally, Bavard County voters approved a 1 mill operating
57:56 millage that overwhelmingly passed during the November 8, 22
58:01 election.
58:02 The operating millage allows the district to provide competitive
58:06 salaries to our teachers and other dedicated employees.
58:09 When total proposed millage related to school funding, the total
58:19 for FY25 is 6.311 mills.
58:28 Using the proposed millage rate at the 25 taxable property value,
58:37 our total projected tax levy is approximately $459 million at a
58:43 96% collection rate.
58:45 The required local effort and discretionary millage makes up the
58:49 local operating funds.
58:50 The capital outlay millage is levied for local capital
58:55 improvement and the voted operating millage is predominantly for
59:00 providing competitive compensation for our employees.
59:07 If the school district’s levy of 0.748 mill generates an amount
59:14 of funds per FTE that is less than the state average,
59:18 the school district will receive a discretionary millage
59:22 compression supplement in state funded dollars to bring the
59:26 district to the state average.
59:27 In the case of Bavard, the state compression calculation
59:33 guarantees $661 per FTE, so we will receive an additional $176
59:40 per FTE or $14.5 million in state discretionary funds.
59:47 The voted millage will continue to provide increased
59:51 compensation for our employees.
59:52 After proportionally sharing with our charter schools, BPS will
59:56 receive an estimated $72.7 million prior to commission.
1:00:03 80% or $58.2 million will be allocated for compensation for our
1:00:09 employees.
1:00:10 16% or $11.6 million will be allocated towards student programs
1:00:15 and 4% or $2.9 million will be allocated for technology
1:00:21 advancement in the classroom.
1:00:23 The local capital improvement millage will provide the district
1:00:29 $109.1 million.
1:00:31 16% or $1.7 million.
1:00:32 17%.
1:00:33 17% or $1.8 million.
1:00:50 17% or $2 million.
1:00:51 school districts to provide 40 percent of the total calculation
1:00:55 which is
1:00:56 approximately two million dollars 37.6 million will be used to
1:01:01 pay for the
1:01:01 district’s debt service which covers principal and interest
1:01:05 payments for
1:01:06 previously bonded debt that was issued primarily between the
1:01:11 years 1996 and 2008
1:01:13 to build schools and provide for major renovations of our older
1:01:18 schools LCI
1:01:20 also contributes 13.8 million towards facility maintenance cost
1:01:25 and pays for
1:01:26 the district’s 10 million dollar property insurance which leaves
1:01:30 approximately 45.6 million for facility projects equipment
1:01:36 vehicle and school bus
1:01:37 replacement as well as instructional computer replacement and
1:01:42 technology this
1:01:46 slide depicts a historic millage rates starting in FY12 the
1:01:51 required local
1:01:52 effort millage variable rate represented by the dark blue bars
1:01:57 has declined each
1:01:58 year as Brevard’s property values increase the orange bar
1:02:03 represents the
1:02:04 fixed basic discretionary operating rate the light blue depicts
1:02:09 the fixed local
1:02:11 capital investment rate and the two green bars represent the
1:02:15 voter approved one mill
1:02:17 operating millage as required by trim we must compare the
1:02:24 proposed millage rate to the
1:02:28 rollback rate when property values rise property taxes generate
1:02:34 more revenue for the total revenue generated to stay the same as
1:02:39 the prior year
1:02:40 the tax rate must decrease the rollback rate is the millage rate
1:02:45 that would generate the same
1:02:46 amount of revenue as last year if applied to the current years
1:02:50 adjusted taxable value
1:02:52 under trim the rollback rate is the benchmark for determining if
1:02:57 tax rates have increased or
1:02:58 decreased the rollback rate is generally less than the proposed
1:03:03 tentative rate when
1:03:05 the rollback rate is less than the proposed millage rates that
1:03:10 we received from the state we must advertise a tax increase
1:03:13 this slide depicts the annual certified school property tax
1:03:28 values from FY13 to current year
1:03:31 property values have increased each year with significant
1:03:35 changes post-pandemic in FY23 and FY24 the FY25 growth rate
1:03:43 of 8.25% is over 3% higher than the state projections that took
1:03:51 place in January 24
1:03:53 Debt service refers to the money required to pay the principal
1:04:03 and interest of an outstanding debt for a particular period of
1:04:06 time
1:04:06 this slide depicts our debt service that spans across the years
1:04:12 to FY36 this chart does include the district recent bond refinancing
1:04:17 savings of over 5 million spread across years 25 and 30
1:04:22 the debt service ratio is a tool used to measure the district’s
1:04:27 leverage per state statute school districts can use up to
1:04:32 three-quarters of their LCI for debt payments this would equate
1:04:32 to 1.125 mils or approximately 81.8 million at the 96% rate
1:04:32 however
1:04:32 your board policy is more restrictive limiting limiting debt
1:04:42 payments up to 1 mil or 72
1:04:42 72.7 million for each fiscal year under board policy the current
1:04:50 debt service ratio is 1.87
1:04:52 generally speaking we want to be above 1.25 at a minimum a debt
1:05:04 service ratio of one for example would mean that we are devoting
1:05:04 all our available dollars to pay debt
1:05:04 florida school district’s FY25 budget
1:05:13 florida school district’s FY25 budget saw little growth to cover
1:05:17 inflationary cost increases
1:05:17 the final FY25 budget is balanced we did however transfer 1.2
1:05:32 million from fund balance in the general fund
1:05:32 from the general fund a budget is our best estimate of revenue
1:05:36 against expenses and our budget is our best estimate of revenue
1:05:42 a budget is our best estimate of revenue against expenses and it
1:05:48 is not money in the bank we built this budget understanding our
1:05:51 priority priority is providing an excellent education and
1:05:56 personal growth for all students
1:05:58 we also considered several challenges that cause uncertainty the
1:06:02 impact of school choice legislation regarding enrollment changes
1:06:07 and growing pains of new business processes that will account
1:06:11 for family empowerment and
1:06:12 financial support and scholarship FTE which is now embedded in
1:06:15 the school district’s FEFP the impact of ESSER funding sunsetting
1:06:21 we have I think 24 days left or 25 the impact of and and and
1:06:31 then the ability to create a bridge bridges for any gaps we
1:06:37 considered inflationary cost increases and the need for
1:06:40 increased compensation
1:06:41 and pay benefits for our most valued asset our people this
1:06:47 budget includes a pay raise for teachers at 3.5 percent with 0.5
1:06:53 percent allocated for performance based bonuses and a salary
1:06:58 increase for new teachers bringing starting pay from forty eight
1:07:02 thousand seven hundred twenty five to fifty thousand four
1:07:05 hundred and fifty dollars
1:07:07 we also are providing a four percent raise for non bargaining
1:07:13 employees ten ten ten will be bargaining but they have not come
1:07:20 to the table yet
1:07:22 so that said this year’s budget will be tight and we will be
1:07:27 required to create efficiencies offsets and control our
1:07:31 expenditures in order to maintain our strong financial stability
1:07:35 this slide is a level a high-level summary of the 2025 all funds
1:07:42 proposed budget
1:07:42 this slide depicts the final FY25 fund balances by fund BPS has
1:08:01 a long history of maintaining a strong
1:08:05 financial condition ratio between 8 and 9 percent in the general
1:08:13 fund pre-pandemic the district financial condition ratio dropped
1:08:18 to 6.1 percent in FY22
1:08:20 which was caused mainly by a large drop in enrollment Fitch our
1:08:25 credit raters expect and are confident that we would return to
1:08:31 our historical levels to maintain our stable AA rating
1:08:34 AA rating and AA is considered very high credit quality and I’m
1:08:40 very happy to report that our financial condition ratio ended FY24
1:08:46 with a ratio of 7.6 percent so we’re almost there
1:08:52 the other funds the other funds the other fund that receives
1:08:56 close scrutiny in our self-insured health care is our self-insured
1:09:02 health care fund it requires 60 days of claims which
1:09:07 which was about 13.6 million at the end of FY24 and as you can
1:09:15 see in that column of internal service that we exceeded that
1:09:20 requirement
1:09:21 are there any questions as I move on next steps we have to
1:09:30 notify the Florida Department of Education the Florida
1:09:36 Department of Revenue
1:09:36 and the Brevard County tax collector
1:09:42 all right is that your last slide that is it that’s it all right
1:09:45 thank you thank you board do you have any questions for Miss Lisinski
1:09:52 all right all right the hearing is now open for public comments
1:09:56 we will in accordance with the Florida law accept the speakers
1:09:59 in the following order the 2024-2025 proposed millage levy
1:10:04 followed by the 2025 final budget
1:10:07 is there anyone who would like to address the board for the 2024-2025
1:10:13 proposed millage levy
1:10:14 is there anyone present who would like to address the board for
1:10:16 the 2024-2025 proposed millage levy
1:10:22 seeing none all right is there anyone present who would like to
1:10:27 address the board for the 2025 final budget okay come on
1:10:37 uh thank you so much uh first i want to say your budget is very
1:10:45 complicated um it’s very hard to understand but we’re going to
1:10:52 give it a quick shot uh just a couple of things that we have
1:10:53 some questions on
1:10:54 uh again thank you for a job well done you know one of the
1:11:01 things the community is concerned about is uh capital uh
1:11:02 expenditures for all schools that are old
1:11:05 uh and what i saw in the budget is that um there’s a capital 1.5
1:11:12 millage set aside for which equates to 109 million dollars for
1:11:18 capital expenditures
1:11:19 and then when i look at the repair categories there are 13
1:11:23 million dollars set aside for that
1:11:26 and when i look at the the discretionary funds there are 54.4
1:11:31 million dollars set aside for that
1:11:34 and then when i look at the unassigned on your final budget
1:11:38 there’s 38 million dollars set aside for that
1:11:41 so the community is concerned with some of our older schools um
1:11:48 and and i have a lot of confidence in and with and miss sue hans
1:11:54 what she’s doing
1:11:54 but we really need to drill down what does this mean for older
1:11:59 schools so that the public can see you know what’s happening
1:12:03 with stone university park some of the older schools in the
1:12:06 communities
1:12:06 but we really need to understand uh what’s happening in that in
1:12:10 that category because what i just heard a little while ago is
1:12:14 that a lot of the capital money is going to go to charter
1:12:17 schools
1:12:17 uh which is which is i guess required by law but we need to see
1:12:23 because we cannot drill down from a presentation like this
1:12:26 it all rolls up into a big bucket but i would like to see my
1:12:31 community partners would like to see when when are we going to
1:12:36 see a plan that drive down to the schools that need to be
1:12:40 competitive for our children
1:12:41 i’m very concerned about that that’s a ton of money and i pay a
1:12:45 lot of millage as well and so is the other communities but we
1:12:50 need to understand what that plan looks like even if it’s
1:12:56 preliminary
1:12:56 um you know what what are your thoughts toward older schools uh
1:12:59 what are you planning on doing uh because we know that a strong
1:13:03 community needs a strong school
1:13:06 and if these schools are getting older you can only put so much
1:13:10 money in it sooner or later they need to be replaced so that’s
1:13:14 my plea to this board and so that we can understand
1:13:20 how the communities are going to be how those schools are going
1:13:24 to be upgraded so and i know there’s some preliminary things you
1:13:27 know you guys are working on but kind of walk the community
1:13:31 through that because you know more millage is going to be coming
1:13:35 soon
1:13:35 and i want to have a good idea whether some of those millage
1:13:39 money that i invest in my schools is going to go to the areas
1:13:43 that need it the most
1:13:44 so thank you all right is anyone my mic turned off okay is there
1:13:51 anyone else present who would like to address the board
1:13:53 regarding the 2025 final budget
1:13:58 i’m i’m gina darrenge uh retired teacher and i just want to
1:14:03 reiterate what mr bernard was saying about what is the plan for
1:14:07 older schools my community school is c park and c park has been
1:14:11 going through some renovations this summer
1:14:13 um but it’s an old school my other concern is our concern with
1:14:19 voucher program and a decrease in students going to neighborhood
1:14:23 schools and going to charter schools instead or to private
1:14:27 schools or homeschooling
1:14:28 uh the question i keep on asking is a student decides to go to
1:14:32 homeschool for whatever reason i understand it if they’re being
1:14:37 bullied they don’t feel comfortable going to school i understand
1:14:41 that the parents then take that eight thousand dollars thinking
1:14:45 they can they can educate their child at home and they find out
1:14:48 that maybe their kid has a learning disability or maybe they
1:14:51 need to go back to work the question we have is that money’s
1:14:57 gone
1:14:57 um it’s gone it doesn’t come back um step up for schools has not
1:15:02 been very transparent with their data um triple a’s and other
1:15:06 organizations supposed to help as well um i worked in schools
1:15:12 that were old i worked at coco i was in the back building when
1:15:16 they made a decision to close clear lake and we had black mold
1:15:20 in the back building all the teachers that worked in the back we
1:15:24 all had respiratory infections
1:15:26 and when i was doing check out to go to heritage because it was
1:15:29 a newer school the assistant principal came down and said what
1:15:33 is this
1:15:33 and it was black mold that we always saw on our textbooks and i
1:15:37 said oh mr clifford cleans every day and she said no this is
1:15:41 black mold
1:15:41 and took off in her golf cart so that is a concern to me it’s
1:15:46 concerned of kids that are breathing air that may not be clean
1:15:49 that have respiratory problems it’s also for teachers who are
1:15:53 possibly breathing in air that’s not very clean so i guess my
1:15:56 anxiety is what are we doing about losing our
1:16:02 our account when the fte comes which is coming up soon right how
1:16:06 many days to fte count
1:16:09 what’s in october it’s in october and then we’ll find out what
1:16:12 our account is then and then how many kids who elect to be homeschooled
1:16:18 then come back into the class into our classrooms and that is a
1:16:21 concern
1:16:21 all right the public comment portion of the hearing is now
1:16:28 closed that will bring us to the recommendation for the adoption
1:16:28 for the 2024-2025 proposed millage levy and the 2025 final
1:16:28 budget dr rindell
1:16:28 thank you madam chair florida statute 200.0065 requires each taxing
1:16:35 authority levying millage to publicly state the name of the taxing
1:16:35 authority
1:16:35 the rollback rates and the millage rate to be levied prior to
1:16:42 the adoption of the millage levy resolution
1:16:42 in compliance with those requirements the following needs to be
1:16:49 stated the taxing authority is the school board of brevard
1:16:49 county florida
1:16:49 the 2024-2025 rolled back rates are as followed
1:16:56 in the operating fund the required local effort is 2.9733 mills
1:17:00 local discretionary 0.7094 mills capital outlay 1.4226 mills and
1:17:07 the additional voter-approved millage 0.944 mills
1:17:07 the following needs to be stated the taxing authority is the
1:17:10 school board of brevard county florida
1:17:12 the 2024-2025 rolled back rates are as followed in the operating
1:17:17 fund the required local effort is 2.9733 mills
1:17:19 local discretionary 0.7094 mills capital outlay 1.4226 mills and
1:17:27 the additional voter-approved millage 0.948 mills
1:17:29 for a total rollback rate of 6.0537 the total millage rate to be
1:17:38 levied exceeds the total rollback rate by 4.25 percent
1:17:43 the proposed 2024-2025 millage rates are in the operating fund
1:17:49 the required local effort 3.063 mills local discretionary of 0.748
1:17:57 mills capital outlay
1:17:58 1.5 millage rate of 1.5 mills and the additional voted millage
1:18:02 of 1.0 mills so the total millage rate to be levied
1:18:05 to 6.311 mills there are a total of five separate motions i will
1:18:12 read each of the recommendations into the record and then
1:18:14 request board action
1:18:16 the first is to adopt the resolution setting the required local
1:18:20 effort local discretionary additional voted millage and capital
1:18:25 outlay millage rate of 6.311 mills
1:18:27 for 2024-25 the written resolution is incorporated into this
1:18:32 motion by reference
1:18:34 the second motion is to adopt the final 2025 budget in the
1:18:41 following amounts the general fund is $837,025,979
1:18:41 the debt service fund is $38,018,445
1:18:48 capital project fund is $452,985,917
1:18:55 the debt service fund is $38,025,980
1:19:02 the debt service fund is $38,018,445
1:19:02 capital project fund is $452,985,417
1:19:08 the special revenue fund is $181,993,770
1:19:10 internal service fund is $110,946,439
1:19:23 and the enterprise fund is $9,687,388
1:19:25 total budget amount is $1,630,657,438
1:19:29 do I hear motion
1:19:36 move to approve
1:19:36 second
1:19:39 any discussion
1:19:41 Paul roll call please
1:19:43 Ms. Jenkins
1:19:44 Aye
1:19:44 Ms. Campbell
1:19:45 Aye
1:19:45 Ms. Wright
1:19:46 Aye
1:19:46 Mr. Trent
1:19:47 Aye
1:19:47 Mr. Susan
1:19:48 Aye
1:19:49 the third motion is to authorize the superintendent to adjust
1:19:51 the adopted millage levy and budget
1:19:53 and budget due to changes in the certified track tax roll
1:19:56 do I hear motion
1:19:57 move to approve
1:19:58 second
1:19:59 any discussion
1:20:00 roll call
1:20:01 Ms. Jenkins
1:20:02 Aye
1:20:02 Ms. Campbell
1:20:03 Aye
1:20:03 Ms. Wright
1:20:04 Aye
1:20:04 Mr. Trent
1:20:05 Aye
1:20:05 Mr. Susan
1:20:06 Aye
1:20:06 fourth motion is to authorize the superintendent to forward the
1:20:09 adopted millage levy resolution
1:20:11 to the Brevard County property appraiser and tax collector no
1:20:14 later than 30 days following the adjournment of the value
1:20:17 adjustment board
1:20:18 do I hear motion
1:20:19 move to approve
1:20:20 second
1:20:20 any discussion
1:20:21 roll call please
1:20:23 Ms. Jenkins
1:20:24 Aye
1:20:24 Ms. Campbell
1:20:25 Aye
1:20:25 Ms. Wright
1:20:26 Aye
1:20:26 Mr. Trent
1:20:27 Aye
1:20:27 Mr. Susan
1:20:28 Aye
1:20:29 Dr. Randolph
1:20:30 fifth motion is to authorize superintendent to forward the
1:20:32 following to the designated state agencies
1:20:34 a the adopted budget millage levy resolution certified tax roll
1:20:38 rollback rates
1:20:39 proposed millage and certified copies of the advertisement for
1:20:41 the proposed budget and millage rates
1:20:43 to the state department of education
1:20:46 also the millage levy resolution certified tax roll rollback
1:20:48 rates proposed budget and millage rates to the state department
1:20:48 of education
1:20:48 do I hear a motion
1:20:50 move to approve
1:20:51 second
1:20:51 any discussion
1:20:52 Paul roll call
1:20:53 Ms. Jenkins
1:20:54 Aye
1:20:55 Ms. Campbell
1:20:56 Aye
1:20:57 Ms. Wright
1:20:57 Aye
1:20:58 Mr. Trent
1:20:59 Aye
1:20:59 Mr. Susan
1:21:00 Aye
1:21:02 All right
1:21:02 the public hearing is now adjourned
1:21:03 all right
1:21:04 so we are now back to the regular school board meeting how many
1:21:09 speakers do we have signed up tonight Mr. Gibbs
1:21:16 eight speakers
1:21:18 all right
1:21:19 so Mr. Gibbs will call up three speakers at a time you’ll
1:21:21 receive three minutes to speak
1:21:23 I would like to remind everyone of the board policy that’s board
1:21:28 policy 0169.1 all comments should be directed
1:21:31 at the board or individual board members staff members or other
1:21:33 individuals shall not be addressed by name
1:21:35 abusive obscene or irrelevant comments will not be permitted
1:21:38 orderly conduct is expected from all public participants
1:21:40 the presenting officer may interrupt warner terminate the
1:21:43 participants public comment opportunity Mr. Gibbs can you please
1:21:45 call the first three
1:21:46 Ashley Oktar Bernard Bryan Gregory Ross
1:21:51 oh yeah come up to the podium sorry
1:22:04 my name is Ashley Oktar I am a local ICU nurse at the only
1:22:09 neurotrauma unit here in Brevard County
1:22:11 and I’m also a mother of two 10 and six years old both of my
1:22:15 children attend Quest
1:22:17 and I am here to ask you guys to please help me update the
1:22:20 diabetic management policy for our local county schools and for
1:22:26 the state of Florida
1:22:27 I have the guideline for care and delegation of students with
1:22:30 diabetes in Florida schools
1:22:32 it hasn’t been updated since January of 2015 so it’s almost 10
1:22:37 years old
1:22:38 my six-year-old is newly type 1 diabetic and very brittle
1:22:43 she would like to attend school like every other child
1:22:47 she loves to be around the kids and it is extremely scary to
1:22:51 send her to school every day
1:22:52 and not have a management policy in place that keeps her safe
1:22:57 I know that you guys work with the Brevard Public Health
1:23:00 Department nurses
1:23:01 that’s who’s provided to the schools if we’re lucky enough to
1:23:04 have one Quest has one that’s wonderful
1:23:06 but I’ve been working with them very diligently since before
1:23:10 school started to start using devices that are available to us
1:23:13 to monitor diabetic values in the school setting
1:23:20 there’s an app on phones iPads or there’s a device that looks
1:23:24 similar to your timer clock here that will show continuous
1:23:27 glucose value
1:23:28 they can keep it in the clinic and keep an eye on the student
1:23:32 and it has audible alarms that will go off if the child was to
1:23:35 become hypoglycemic
1:23:36 this helps alert them that something needs to be done
1:23:39 I’ve been working with them and I heard you say earlier that
1:23:43 after the horrific school shooting that we saw on the news this
1:23:46 morning
1:23:46 you know that we work with the Brevard Sheriff’s Department that
1:23:49 I’m very grateful for
1:23:51 but every time something like that happens we reevaluate
1:23:54 and we see how we can better the policy or change things to keep
1:23:57 our students safe
1:23:58 but I think that we forget about these kinds of policies
1:24:02 the stuff that’s in here is outdated
1:24:05 it needs to be rewritten and we need better education provided
1:24:08 to the nurses that are in the schools that are supposed to take
1:24:11 care of our children
1:24:12 when I tried to work with them and provide education to them
1:24:16 I kept hearing a lot about liability and responsibility for the
1:24:20 children
1:24:21 but when they’re at school you guys are liable and responsible
1:24:25 to keep them safe
1:24:26 so I don’t want to have to pull my child out of school because
1:24:30 of her diabetes that she has no control over
1:24:33 because we can’t come to a resolution to keep her safe within
1:24:36 the school
1:24:37 I’m not sure who I need to work with or who else I can talk to
1:24:41 I’ve reached out to Mr. Susan and his assistant
1:24:44 and the director of nursing at the Brevard Public Health
1:24:47 Department
1:24:48 I provided resources today at the school from the device
1:24:52 companies that my daughter wears on her body
1:24:54 and I’m willing to educate myself you know and show up anywhere
1:24:58 I need to be
1:24:59 but I would like this policy looked at and to be updated
1:25:02 Thank you. Ms. Dampere you’re in the back
1:25:06 are you able to speak with Ashley in regards to this policy I
1:25:10 think this goes in conjunction with a lot of the information
1:25:12 that you provided to the board on the updates that were
1:25:15 happening
1:25:15 is that okay? Okay so she’s in the very back so if you don’t
1:25:18 mind Ashley if you can go back there she’s going to talk to you
1:25:20 about some of the updates that are currently going on right now
1:25:22 okay?
1:25:23 Thank you. Thank you. Bernard Bryan, Gregory Ross, Paul Raub.
1:25:32 I apologize for double dipping. First I would like to thank Dr.
1:25:36 Rendell and this board for allowing me to speak again
1:25:39 and I just want to give a shout out to Dr. Rendell, Dr. Dampere
1:25:46 and Dr. Tara Harris.
1:25:48 We had a wonderful meeting down in South Melbourne
1:25:52 and Dr. Rendell put this team together to talk about chronic absenteeism
1:25:58 and Dr. Rendell the community is so thankful to you for taking
1:26:03 the time to listen to a big concern we think.
1:26:07 We’ve been looking at you know what’s causing the educational
1:26:11 gap, why are children not performing well
1:26:15 and we discovered that chronic absenteeism is a problem
1:26:20 and what Dr. Rendell and his staff did as well as his team gave
1:26:27 us some tremendous information that we could share with the
1:26:31 parents as well as leaders in the South Barbad area.
1:26:34 You know one of the things we did, we met with pastors in the
1:26:38 South Melbourne side to really share with them that absenteeism
1:26:44 is a problem.
1:26:46 I don’t know if you’re growing up but when I grew up I couldn’t
1:26:51 afford to miss one day.
1:26:53 If I missed one day I would get far behind.
1:26:55 But we got students that are missing 18 days a year and 30% of
1:27:01 the population is really missing that amount of time.
1:27:05 So it really makes sense to me a little bit what can we do in
1:27:09 the community to help close the gap.
1:27:11 One thing we could do is to make sure that the child goes to
1:27:14 school.
1:27:15 So I hope that the board will partner with us and help push this
1:27:21 issue.
1:27:22 If a child is not at school obviously he can’t learn.
1:27:27 So that is one concern that we have and again thank you Dr. Rendell.
1:27:32 I’ve gotten so many phone calls from those leaders that were
1:27:37 there that you took the time to meet with those leaders down in
1:27:41 the South Melbourne area.
1:27:42 Obviously my big concern going forward one of the things that we
1:27:48 have on our radar is to improve VPK participation.
1:27:54 And I’m hoping that this continues to be a goal of ours as well
1:27:58 as a goal for this team because we understand how important
1:28:02 early learning is.
1:28:04 If a child starts late, you’re going to spend so much money
1:28:09 trying to mitigate that child learning problem.
1:28:13 So please do everything you can to make sure that VPKs are in
1:28:18 those marginalized communities.
1:28:21 And lastly, you heard my speech about capital expenditures and
1:28:26 proven schools.
1:28:27 That is on our radar as well.
1:28:29 So thank you Dr. Rendell.
1:28:31 Thank you Dr. Dempere and Ms. Harris for your support.
1:28:35 Thank you.
1:28:36 Gregory Ross, Paul Raub, Amy Raub.
1:28:41 Thank you board for this opportunity to do public comment.
1:28:48 Um, I want to start with, uh, I’m going to echo Mr. Uh, Brian
1:28:53 here, Dr. Rendell.
1:28:54 I think that’s a great thing that you’re working on.
1:28:56 Um, absenteeism.
1:28:59 That’s, uh, that’s, that’s, that’s leadership.
1:29:02 I appreciate that.
1:29:03 Um, not focused on culture wars, but focused on actual education
1:29:08 issues.
1:29:08 Um, Matt, I wanted to address you, of course.
1:29:14 Um, it, it was enlightening to see tonight the director of CTE,
1:29:20 uh, you know, was awarded the best in the state.
1:29:23 I truly believe we have one of the best CTE programs in the
1:29:26 state, if not the country.
1:29:27 Um, lots of people are responsible for that.
1:29:30 Um, I, I think my concern is that your election signs say number
1:29:36 one trade programs in Florida, right?
1:29:38 Like you’re responsible for it, right?
1:29:41 Rather unethical if you ask me, but, um, it’s right there.
1:29:47 You can see it online.
1:29:49 Uh, that’s, that’s the kind of things that, that bother me,
1:29:52 right?
1:29:53 A lot of people do the work and you want to take the political
1:29:56 credit for it.
1:29:57 Um, Mr. Trent, I want to address something you said a few school
1:30:03 board meetings ago.
1:30:04 You claimed that we, the people who show up here every week,
1:30:08 hate the board more than we love the students.
1:30:11 That couldn’t be further from the truth.
1:30:13 We love the students and the community so much that we show up
1:30:17 here at every board meeting and workshop to hold you accountable.
1:30:20 We hold you accountable for your extremism, your lack of
1:30:26 qualifications, and mostly for your lack of governance.
1:30:29 That’s what this board suffers from.
1:30:31 It suffers from a lack of governance.
1:30:33 You’re too busy fighting culture wars instead of working on
1:30:37 education problems.
1:30:38 Um, I also saw the banning of the manga book last, uh, school
1:30:44 board.
1:30:45 I wasn’t here.
1:30:46 I saw it online.
1:30:47 And Ms. Campbell, I just want to point out to you, this is why
1:30:50 we fight against book banning,
1:30:52 because this is what happens.
1:30:54 You open the door and all of a sudden it’s, it’s, um, it’s not
1:30:57 an objective standard.
1:30:59 The state took away the objective standard of the Miller test,
1:31:02 right?
1:31:02 That never would have happened last week if the Miller test was
1:31:05 still there, right?
1:31:06 Because you couldn’t, you couldn’t come to that conclusion that
1:31:08 these three members came to, to get rid of that book.
1:31:11 So understand why we’re fighting this, because we predicted this.
1:31:15 We predicted this when, when Mr. Trent and Ms. Wright were
1:31:19 elected, um, almost two years ago.
1:31:24 And how, how do we know?
1:31:26 We knew because we saw who they, we listened to what they said
1:31:30 as candidates.
1:31:31 We saw who they embraced in their, um, campaigns.
1:31:34 We predicted this.
1:31:35 We are one.
1:31:36 We are strong.
1:31:37 And we are not going away.
1:31:38 Thank you.
1:31:39 Paul Raub.
1:31:40 Amy Raub.
1:31:41 Aiden McBadden.
1:31:42 Okay.
1:31:43 Thank you.
1:31:44 Paul Raub.
1:31:45 Amy Raub.
1:31:46 Aiden McBadden.
1:31:47 So, um, I’ve been putting together a timeline of the sort of
1:32:03 history, uh, inglorious that may be of book banning in this
1:32:06 school district.
1:32:06 Um, I don’t like in bio or something probably eventually.
1:32:11 Um, and it was just interesting because, you know, in a couple
1:32:16 years, uh, forgetting how much things have changed this sort of
1:32:22 slide into, uh, essentially a wood chipper for books and the,
1:32:25 the series of unforced errors.
1:32:25 You know, May 2022, I’d never been to a school board meeting,
1:32:29 could not believe, wait, people in this century are banning
1:32:33 books.
1:32:34 You’re, you’re kidding me.
1:32:35 Turns out, yeah.
1:32:36 Primarily, you know, with 30 plus books challenged by one person,
1:32:39 most of which ended up on the review committee’s list.
1:32:41 The review committee was convened October, November 22.
1:32:44 We had a couple of meetings with all sorts of experts on the, on
1:32:46 the committee who were fantastic.
1:32:48 They actually knew how things worked, knew what could be done.
1:32:51 Um, and perhaps as a result of that, those books stayed around.
1:32:56 Late November, get a couple new board members, a new chair, and
1:33:00 we can’t have those books sticking around anymore.
1:33:03 So, step one, committee gets suspended while we go looking for
1:33:06 new members.
1:33:07 For some reason that takes six months.
1:33:09 During those six months, um, we changed the rules.
1:33:13 Let’s remove the experts from the committee.
1:33:15 Let’s, um, under, uh, per Mr. Trent, uh, conflict of interest.
1:33:21 Um, let’s also change the rules so that the minute a challenge
1:33:24 is issued by whomever.
1:33:26 Somebody flies in from Alaska, fills out a challenge form.
1:33:28 That book’s gone from our kids’ schools until such time as it’s
1:33:30 reviewed.
1:33:31 Ahead of the state on that one, by the way.
1:33:33 You, you beat DeSantis in a fascist thing, so good job.
1:33:36 Um, June 22, we come back.
1:33:40 We have some new members.
1:33:41 Mr. Trent apparently panicked.
1:33:43 Needed somebody.
1:33:44 Saw that one name was all over the challenge forms.
1:33:46 That seems like a good person to go review her own challenges
1:33:48 because conflict of interest
1:33:50 is a fluid concept.
1:33:53 And now books start falling like, like dominoes.
1:33:56 Um, you know, that wasn’t, if that, that wasn’t easy enough for
1:34:03 some folks.
1:34:04 I think it was November 23 that Mr. Trent brought the list of
1:34:07 every book that had ever been banned
1:34:08 or removed or as we know, some of those terms can be tricky in
1:34:11 the state.
1:34:12 Let’s get rid of all those.
1:34:13 Luckily that didn’t go on.
1:34:14 Um, soon after that, we became strictly advisory.
1:34:17 So now the board can remove a book for whatever reason,
1:34:21 thoughtful discussion and debate.
1:34:22 Well, that’s nice, but you know, a book has gay stuff.
1:34:25 So we’re just going to remove it anyway, or, oh no, it’s read
1:34:28 from back to front.
1:34:29 What will our middle school children do?
1:34:32 Shockingly, this has led to, you know, quite an uptick in absenteeism
1:34:37 in these meetings
1:34:37 because, you know, I assume I wasn’t able to ask the people why
1:34:42 they’re not showing up
1:34:43 because they weren’t there.
1:34:44 You know, if your vote doesn’t matter, why cast it?
1:34:47 Um, it doesn’t have to be this way.
1:34:50 You can still undo these rules.
1:34:51 You can make sensible ones that are in some way for the benefit
1:34:55 of students.
1:34:55 You can do it.
1:34:56 It’s allowed.
1:34:57 Amy Raub, Aidan McFadden, Rebecca McAllenan.
1:35:04 Mr. Gibbs, who’s the next speaker?
1:35:19 Amy Raub’s next, and then Aidan McFadden.
1:35:22 Amy Raub: Okay.
1:35:23 Amy Raub: She said she’s skipping.
1:35:24 Amy Raub: Okay.
1:35:25 Amy Raub: All right.
1:35:26 Amy Raub: You’re good.
1:35:27 Amy Raub: I’m a little bored.
1:35:28 I’m Aidan McFadden.
1:35:29 You know me.
1:35:30 Amy Raub: I just wanted to remind you that we don’t read from
1:35:33 bottom to top.
1:35:45 Thank you.
1:35:46 Amy Raub: Rebecca McAllenan, Kelly Curbin.
1:35:49 Amy Raub: Good evening.
1:35:50 Amy Raub: I had some comments that I was going to make this
1:35:55 evening, but I was asked by a BPS
1:36:16 parent and teacher who is unable to attend tonight to read her
1:36:19 comments.
1:36:20 Amy Raub: Hey, Board.
1:36:21 Amy Raub: These are her words.
1:36:22 Amy Raub: Hey, Board.
1:36:23 Amy Raub: Dr. Rendell.
1:36:24 Amy Raub: I’m a BPS teacher of many years, as well as the mother
1:36:27 of a middle schooler
1:36:28 who has attended BPS school since kindergarten.
1:36:31 Amy Raub: Our media specialists here in BPS devote their entire
1:36:34 careers to encouraging our
1:36:35 children to read.
1:36:36 Amy Raub: They work without ceasing to provide an amazing array
1:36:38 of books in our libraries that
1:36:40 pull in reluctant readers.
1:36:42 Amy Raub: Not books they might choose to read, but the types of
1:36:45 books that help our children
1:36:46 grow or laugh or learn.
1:36:48 Amy Raub: And you sit up there and take a book.
1:36:50 Amy Raub: A book with a theme of kindness and standing up to
1:36:53 bullies.
1:36:54 Amy Raub: A book with puppy love and nothing more graphic than
1:36:56 that.
1:36:57 Amy Raub: Yes, I’m talking about the Japanese graphic manga
1:37:00 novel that you banned all of our
1:37:01 students from checking out of libraries this week.
1:37:04 Amy Raub: And Katie, you called that graphic novel that my own
1:37:07 child might love to read
1:37:08 kind of stupid.
1:37:10 Amy Raub: As if tearing down a child’s independent reading
1:37:13 choice is a way to build them up.
1:37:15 Amy Raub: And Megan, you called the book, the relationship in
1:37:17 the book, inappropriate.
1:37:19 Amy Raub: Meaning what exactly?
1:37:21 Amy Raub: That the boys are gay?
1:37:23 Amy Raub: Do you mean gay like many students in our schools?
1:37:26 Amy Raub: Like the parents of many of our students?
1:37:28 Amy Raub: We’d all really love some clarification on the
1:37:30 inappropriate relationship in that book.
1:37:32 Amy Raub: Since you have all began to respond to public comments
1:37:36 at the end of each meeting,
1:37:37 Amy Raub: I really would appreciate clarifying your stance on
1:37:39 the inappropriate relationship
1:37:40 Amy Raub: at the end of tonight’s meeting.
1:37:42 Amy Raub: Right now I have to keep up with school board meetings
1:37:44 just to ensure my child’s civil rights
1:37:46 Amy Raub: and access to a free and appropriate education are not
1:37:48 being violated.
1:37:49 Amy Raub: It’s incredibly helpful when you hold these meetings
1:37:51 during the school year,
1:37:52 Amy Raub: school day when no teachers or school employees can
1:37:55 attend.
1:37:55 Amy Raub: Yes, please keep that up.
1:37:56 Amy Raub: Speaking of bad decisions, Mr. Susan, what spirit
1:38:00 compelled you
1:38:00 Amy Raub: to hold a press conference about student discipline in
1:38:03 front of a jail?
1:38:03 Amy Raub: As a teacher in one of our highest poverty schools,
1:38:07 Amy Raub: I can state without a doubt that your press conference
1:38:09 and showboating changed nothing.
1:38:10 Amy Raub: You know what does improve behavior in our schools?
1:38:13 Amy Raub: Building relationships with students.
1:38:15 Amy Raub: Our admin working hard to fill social workers and
1:38:17 behavior support positions at our schools.
1:38:19 Amy Raub: Letting our kids know we believe in them.
1:38:21 Amy Raub: Making sure they’re fed.
1:38:22 Amy Raub: Buying them shoes that fit and holding them to high
1:38:25 expectations.
1:38:26 Amy Raub: But back to the books.
1:38:28 Amy Raub: When the lawsuit pops up regarding the banning of this
1:38:30 book
1:38:30 Amy Raub: because it was kind of stupid and inappropriate,
1:38:32 Amy Raub: my family will be happy to jump on board.
1:38:34 Amy Raub: You may have narrow minded views in your own head,
1:38:36 Amy Raub: but you do well to keep them there.
1:38:38 Amy Raub: And out of my child’s mind and out of his library and
1:38:41 out of our public schools.
1:38:42 Amy Raub: Thank you.
1:38:43 Amy Raub: Kelly Kerbin.
1:38:44 Amy Raub: At the last meeting, I implored this board and our
1:38:58 superintendent to think before
1:38:59 Amy Raub: they spoke.
1:39:00 Amy Raub: I urged Matt, Susan, Jean Trent and Megan Wright to
1:39:03 stop embarrassing us in this
1:39:04 Amy Raub: room in Brevard County in Florida and abroad.
1:39:07 Amy Raub: Instead, my reasonable ask was taken as a challenge by
1:39:10 Megan Wright,
1:39:11 Amy Raub: who, in cooperation with Matt Susan and Jean Trent,
1:39:14 Amy Raub: has embarrassed us again by banning a manga that doesn’t
1:39:17 violate state law.
1:39:18 Amy Raub: Last summer, Jean Trent told all of us that they weren’t
1:39:21 just banning books that broke the law.
1:39:22 Amy Raub: In fact, they would ban books that they didn’t like
1:39:24 the cover.
1:39:25 Amy Raub: I am a firm believer that we should believe who people
1:39:28 are when they show us who they are.
1:39:30 Amy Raub: Megan Wright is unprofessional.
1:39:32 Amy Raub: She is chaotic.
1:39:33 Amy Raub: She is self-serving and a liar.
1:39:35 Amy Raub: I said all of this two weeks ago, but now I have more
1:39:38 words to add to this list.
1:39:39 Amy Raub: Bigot, xenophobic, and anti-semitic.
1:39:42 Amy Raub: You tried to hide why you were banning the manga by
1:39:45 saying it featured an inappropriate relationship.
1:39:48 Amy Raub: Perhaps you expected the community to just take your
1:39:50 word for it, but they didn’t.
1:39:52 Amy Raub: Ms. Campbell, thank you for highlighting that the
1:39:54 manga didn’t violate state statute.
1:39:56 Amy Raub: Being gay isn’t illegal, although in Megan Wright’s
1:39:59 narrow and uncultured view of the world it seems to be.
1:40:03 Amy Raub: Having gay characters in a book isn’t illegal either,
1:40:06 Megan.
1:40:06 Amy Raub: But neither you or your book review committee members
1:40:09 seem to comprehend this.
1:40:10 Amy Raub: Her entire argument against the book was that it
1:40:12 featured a gay couple.
1:40:13 Amy Raub: And given that she and her family made the news for
1:40:16 openly discriminating against a gay couple with their own
1:40:19 business, her bias is well established.
1:40:20 Amy Raub: It should surprise no one that I have zero respect for
1:40:23 Megan Wright.
1:40:24 Amy Raub: I’ve known about her bigotry and Christian nationalism
1:40:27 values from the beginning, but I would have respected honesty.
1:40:30 Amy Raub: Just admit that you hate gay people and be done with
1:40:33 it.
1:40:33 Amy Raub: But no, instead of being honest about why you were
1:40:36 voting to ban a manga that didn’t violate the law, you justified
1:40:39 it by openly discriminating against Japanese and Jewish people,
1:40:43 too, when you said the way they read and write is backwards.
1:40:46 Amy Raub: Both Japanese and Hebrew are written in red from right
1:40:49 to left.
1:40:50 Amy Raub: From novels to manga to religious texts, that is their
1:40:53 language, and just because it is different from English doesn’t
1:40:57 make it backwards or a reason to ban a book.
1:40:59 Amy Raub: The Old Testament and the Bible, which you pervert to
1:41:02 justify your hate and bigotry, was originally written in Hebrew.
1:41:05 Amy Raub: Would you also ban that because it’s backwards?
1:41:08 Amy Raub: Do you realize you’re a talking point in Japan?
1:41:11 Amy Raub: They, too, are condemning your hateful bigotry and xenophobic
1:41:14 rhetoric.
1:41:15 Amy Raub: Do you comprehend that organizations across this
1:41:18 country have been waiting to make an example out of Brevard, and
1:41:20 you quite literally handed them a crystal clear case of
1:41:23 discrimination?
1:41:24 Amy Raub: Actions have consequences, Megan, and sadly our
1:41:27 students, teachers, and staff also share the burden of those
1:41:30 consequences.
1:41:30 Amy Raub: Megan said the manga wasn’t the best and brightest to
1:41:33 offer our students, when really it’s Megan Wright, Matt Seusson,
1:41:37 and Jean Trent who aren’t the best or brightest for our students.
1:41:39 Amy Raub: All right.
1:41:40 Amy Raub: Yay.
1:41:41 Amy Raub: All right.
1:41:44 That concludes public comment.
1:41:45 Board, you guys good to keep going forward or do you need a
1:41:47 break for a restroom?
1:41:48 I’m good.
1:41:49 Amy Raub: You’re good?
1:41:50 Amy Raub: All right.
1:41:51 So we are now at the consent agenda.
1:41:53 Dr. Rendell.
1:41:56 Dr. Rendell: Thank you, Madam Chair.
1:41:57 There are 20 agenda items under this category.
1:41:59 Amy Raub: Thank you, Dr. Rendell.
1:42:00 Does any board member wish to pull any of the items for
1:42:04 discussion?
1:42:05 None?
1:42:06 All right.
1:42:07 I entertain a motion.
1:42:08 Second.
1:42:09 Any discussion?
1:42:10 All right.
1:42:11 Paul, roll call please.
1:42:12 Ms. Jenkins.
1:42:13 Aye.
1:42:14 Ms. Campbell.
1:42:15 Aye.
1:42:16 Ms. Wright.
1:42:17 Aye.
1:42:18 Mr. Trent.
1:42:19 Aye.
1:42:19 Mr. Susan.
1:42:20 Aye.
1:42:21 Dr. Rendell.
1:42:22 Will you please let us know about the action portion of the
1:42:23 agenda this evening?
1:42:24 Thank you, Madam Chair.
1:42:25 The first action item is G40.
1:42:27 It’s the Consortium of State School Boards Association Federal
1:42:31 Advocacy Conference.
1:42:32 Motions to approve the travel for Ms. Campbell.
1:42:34 Do I hear a motion?
1:42:35 Move to approve.
1:42:36 If you approve, both of you approved, who’s second.
1:42:41 Okay.
1:42:42 Any discussion?
1:42:43 None.
1:42:44 All right.
1:42:45 Paul roll call, please.
1:42:46 Ms. Jenkins.
1:42:47 Aye.
1:42:48 Ms. Campbell.
1:42:49 Aye.
1:42:50 Ms. Wright.
1:42:51 Aye.
1:42:52 Mr. Trent.
1:42:53 Aye.
1:42:54 Mr. Susan.
1:42:55 Aye.
1:42:56 Dr. Rendell.
1:42:57 Next action item is G41 procurement solicitations.
1:42:59 Do I hear motion?
1:43:00 Second.
1:43:01 Any discussion?
1:43:02 No.
1:43:03 Paul roll call, please.
1:43:04 Ms. Jenkins.
1:43:05 Aye.
1:43:06 Ms. Campbell.
1:43:07 Aye.
1:43:07 Ms. Wright.
1:43:08 Aye.
1:43:09 Mr. Trent.
1:43:10 Aye.
1:43:11 Mr. Susan.
1:43:12 Aye.
1:43:13 All right.
1:43:14 We will now move on to the information agenda, which includes
1:43:16 one item for the board to review.
1:43:19 And it may be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting.
1:43:21 No action will be taken on this item today.
1:43:23 Does any board member wish to discuss this item?
1:43:26 Seeing none.
1:43:27 All right.
1:43:29 We will now move on to the information agenda, which includes
1:43:30 one item for the board to review.
1:43:31 And it may be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting.
1:43:33 No action will be taken on this item today.
1:43:34 Does any board member wish to discuss this item?
1:43:36 All right.
1:43:37 We are now at the board member report.
1:43:38 Does any board member have any information to report or discuss?
1:43:43 Nope.
1:43:45 Hearing none.
1:43:46 Dr. Rendell, do you have anything more to add?
1:43:48 No, Madam Chair, I do not.
1:43:49 All right.
1:43:51 Being that there is no further business, this meeting is adjourned.
1:43:51 Thank you.