Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 - All right, welcome back.
0:12 Dr. Undell, what’s on deck next?
0:15 - Thank you, Mr. Chair.
0:16 Next, we’re gonna take a look at the strategic plan.
0:19 We’ve talked several times about the fact
0:21 that we just revised our five-year strategic plan,
0:24 and we wanna take some time to go through
0:25 the different segments of the strategic plan
0:27 to make sure that not only the board members
0:29 are aware of it, ‘cause you’ve all been briefed,
0:32 but we want our public to see the different aspects
0:34 of the strategic plan, especially some of the goals
0:37 that we set before ourselves to make sure
0:39 we can track our progress and meet all these objectives.
0:42 So I’m gonna turn it over to Cynthia Rehn,
0:43 and she’s gonna take us through the two stages
0:46 of the strategic plan, two segments of the strategic plan
0:49 we’re gonna talk about today.
0:50 - Thank you, Dr. Undell, and thank you,
0:53 board chair and board members.
0:55 I’m good to be here again.
0:58 You know, like, as Dr. Undell said last month, you know,
1:02 we said we’re gonna dive deeper into each of our four goals.
1:06 And at some of these board sessions,
1:08 and also at the leadership teams.
1:11 And really, this is to give each goal team the opportunity
1:14 to share their strategies, objectives, metrics,
1:18 and for all of us to align on the details
1:22 and remain focused for our long-term vision.
1:25 So just let’s get going.
1:27 Just an update.
1:28 So remember, our new five-year plan centers around four key
1:32 goals.
1:33 Academic excellence, exceptional workforce,
1:36 community connection, and operational efficiency.
1:39 Last month, we focused on academic excellence.
1:42 So at today’s session, we’re gonna look at exceptional workforce
1:46 and community connection.
1:48 So we’ll get right to it and start with the goal of exceptional
1:51 workforce,
1:52 which is to recruit, cultivate, and retain exceptional talent
1:55 to positively influence students and advance academic
1:59 and organizational excellence.
2:02 The goal of exceptional workforce is supported by four key
2:08 objectives.
2:09 So I’m just gonna go ahead and turn it right over to Mr. Dufresne.
2:12 He’s gonna walk us through each objective and give us the how
2:14 and the whys.
2:15 Sure.
2:17 Good afternoon, board.
2:18 First, I want to give some flowers to Ms. Rayan.
2:21 She’s amazing and keeps us all on track.
2:23 And none of this would be possible without her dedication and
2:27 input.
2:27 So thank you, Ms. Rayan.
2:29 I appreciate you.
2:30 So good afternoon.
2:33 Again, we did four objectives in HR under exceptional workforce.
2:38 Always want to recruit a strong pool of candidates.
2:42 The objective number two is gonna be one of my bigger lifts.
2:45 It’s to implement a comprehensive professional development
2:48 framework.
2:50 I’ll talk about more of that in a second.
2:52 Our third objective is to retain a strong pool of candidates
2:56 for all classifications.
2:57 And the fourth is probably our biggest lift.
2:59 That’s going to implement our new HRS system or ERP system.
3:03 You know, it’s coming to alleviate a lot of duplicate work and
3:09 manual labor and all the things.
3:12 So next slide.
3:13 Outstanding.
3:14 He beat me to it.
3:15 All right.
3:16 So obviously, we want to keep recruiting the best and brightest
3:19 for our students to serve
3:21 every student with excellence as the standard.
3:24 We – I’m not going to go through a bunch of the metrics on how
3:29 we’re going to measure
3:31 that.
3:32 We’ve talked about it and the public can see it at their leisure.
3:37 Go ahead and go to the next one.
3:40 Okay.
3:41 Oh, sorry.
3:42 I’m – never mind.
3:44 Objective number two, like I said, probably our biggest lift –
3:48 or one of our biggest lifts
3:50 is this year with implementing a comprehensive professional
3:53 development framework that offers
3:55 all district employees targeted and continuous training
3:58 opportunities.
4:00 I wanted to focus on all district employees.
4:03 I believe we do a great job getting our teachers ready to serve
4:06 our students.
4:07 I think we have room for growth with all of our employees,
4:12 helping them become leaders,
4:15 helping them get a career ladder, et cetera, et cetera.
4:19 We’re going to really focus on that for all of our employees,
4:22 anywhere from our bus drivers
4:23 to finance to – I mean, you name the department – I want to be
4:27 able to provide them with leadership
4:28 opportunities and growth and professional learning.
4:32 So we’re going to focus pretty hard on that.
4:35 That being said, a couple board meetings ago, Ms. Campbell and
4:40 Ms. Wright asked me a question
4:41 about all the – with all the state statutes that are being
4:45 changed and all the CTE pathways
4:48 and all the leadership and certification and all cert, you know,
4:51 how are we with Manning on
4:53 that?
4:54 I was like, oh, we got it.
4:55 No big deal.
4:56 I think we’re going to be able to do that.
5:05 We’re going to be able to do that.
5:06 I think we’re going to be able to do that.
5:08 And we’re going to be able to do that.
5:09 We’re going to be able to do that.
5:17 And then with state legislatures changing, it’s going to be a
5:21 pretty heavy lift.
5:22 But I believe we can do it.
5:25 So that’s it for the professional development portion.
5:28 Like I said, I’m not going to go through the metrics on it, but
5:30 we’ve already talked.
5:33 Objective number three is retain a strong pool of candidates.
5:36 I’ve said that since I joined BPS.
5:39 Once we get them here, we want to treat them amazingly and keep
5:41 them here.
5:41 We’re going to give them the tools they need to be successful.
5:45 I think that’s our role here in HR is to give our people all the
5:49 tools they need to be successful.
5:51 And I also want them to be able to tie what it is you do to help–
5:55 I mean, ultimately, right,
5:57 we’re trying to produce a workforce or college-ready students,
6:00 right?
6:00 And so what does each– I want everybody in BPS to understand
6:04 what their role is in achieving
6:05 that, right?
6:07 Everybody’s role is important, and we couldn’t do it without
6:10 each and every one of them here.
6:12 So that’s it for objective number three.
6:16 And again, our fourth objective is implement a new HRS system or
6:23 ERP.
6:23 If anybody has had the pleasure of trying to go through Beacon,
6:28 it can be a challenge.
6:30 We have a bunch of manual procedures here that need to be fixed.
6:34 This system is going to do that.
6:36 In order to get that system up and running, we’re going to need
6:39 to train all over 8, 9,000
6:40 employees to actually use it, and it’s going to be– that’s
6:44 going to be a pretty heavy lift
6:45 as well.
6:47 So that’s pretty much it for my objectives.
6:50 Like I said, I didn’t go through the strategies or the metrics.
6:55 We can do that.
6:56 And if you have any questions or if the public has any questions,
6:58 I’d be more than happy
6:59 to address.
7:00 But those are the big lifts for HR and the exceptional workforce.
7:03 If you have any questions.
7:04 I have one.
7:05 Mr. Chair, that’s okay.
7:06 What is our average hire time right now?
7:08 Do you know–
7:09 Say that again?
7:10 The average amount of time it takes to hire on a new employee?
7:12 What is that now?
7:13 You’re trying to get down to 30 days.
7:14 What are we at?
7:15 Oh, we’re under a week on that.
7:17 Okay.
7:18 That one’s already been met.
7:19 Shh.
7:21 We’re working on it.
7:22 All right.
7:23 So here’s the issue.
7:25 We have a new– I’m forecasting an issue with that in the future
7:29 with our new fingerprint
7:31 program.
7:32 Right.
7:33 It could take up to two weeks for new employees to go through
7:37 the system.
7:37 Now, it’s great if they’re a current employee of the state at
7:40 somewhere, right?
7:41 And that’s just a quick, you know, done, bring them over.
7:44 But if it’s new, because the whole state is trying to implement
7:49 this program, I’m projecting
7:51 and I’ve got– I’ve heard some projections of up to two weeks
7:54 delay.
7:55 So we’re trying to forecast that in my plan.
7:59 All right.
8:00 You’re going to actually love this.
8:01 The health care system did this several years back and it’s
8:03 become like the best thing that
8:04 ever happened.
8:05 No.
8:06 Once it’s up and running, it’s going to be amazing.
8:07 It’s going to be good.
8:08 Sure.
8:09 And then I’m extremely excited about the new software that’s
8:10 coming.
8:10 So I know, you know, Focus, everyone was hesitant about that.
8:12 No one’s going to use Focus.
8:13 And now our parents are all using it.
8:15 I think the same thing’s going to happen here with that.
8:17 It’s something new and that’s fine when, you know, change is
8:19 hard.
8:19 But this is going to be a good change.
8:20 Yeah.
8:21 That’s a good one.
8:21 So thank you.
8:22 Appreciate you.
8:22 Yes.
8:26 On objective three, the third metric talks about reducing
8:33 turnover by 15% and then continuing
8:36 to track it and reduction.
8:38 What is our– do you know what that number is right now?
8:41 Or if you don’t, can you send it to us?
8:42 I can get it to you.
8:43 I don’t have it at–
8:43 OK.
8:44 Thank you.
8:44 Mm-hmm.
8:45 And then super excited about E4.
8:48 I know just to try things out there.
8:52 I got into Beacon about a month ago and tried to find– I just
8:57 want to be a bus driver.
8:58 Right.
8:58 And it’s a lot harder than you would think it would.
9:02 Oh, you’re not wrong.
9:03 Because you can drop down to bus driver under one drop-down box,
9:06 but if you don’t put it
9:06 on the other drop-down box, you will not find– it will look
9:09 like we don’t have any openings
9:11 in the bus driver category, which I know is not the case.
9:13 You’d have to know how to do it.
9:15 And so to be able to have a system where people can find the
9:18 openings that are there and it
9:20 be intuitive so they don’t have to have somebody from HR sitting
9:23 with them showing them how
9:24 to work Beacon.
9:25 Correct.
9:25 That would be so helpful.
9:26 I can’t tell you how many potential employees come into HR and
9:30 just help me figure out how
9:32 to apply, right?
9:33 Like the system is just–
9:34 Right.
9:35 It’s got some challenges.
9:36 That’s all.
9:37 And we’re going to fix it.
9:38 Yeah.
9:39 Very much appreciate that.
9:40 So I can strike that off of my to-do list.
9:41 Roger that.
9:42 Talking to you about fixing Beacon.
9:43 We have to fix Beacon.
9:44 I’m on it.
9:45 We can throw it in the trash can.
9:46 I’m on it.
9:47 So thank you.
9:48 Of course.
9:49 I’m all good.
9:50 Sure.
9:51 Just two quick questions.
9:52 Yes.
9:53 Number one, recruiting a strong pool of candidates?
9:55 Yes.
9:56 Can you kind of explain what we’re doing to attract the strong
10:02 pool of candidates?
10:02 Number one.
10:03 And number two, is there any hurdles or roadblocks that we could
10:08 possibly help remove that would
10:10 help the effort?
10:12 Yeah.
10:13 So our recruiters are doing a really great job of leveraging
10:17 different aspects.
10:19 And we’re here.
10:20 We just had a online recruiting trail.
10:23 We went to last week, I believe we’re in University of Florida.
10:26 We’re hitting a lot of HBCUs because I want a diverse workforce
10:31 that can just, you know,
10:33 it’s nice when students have teachers that look like them.
10:39 So GCR actually just hired someone, Ms. Jackson, who’s going to
10:47 help.
10:48 The first day I walked our recruiters over there because she
10:51 works with the LinkedIn and all
10:53 the social media sites that really push that.
10:56 We’re doing that currently, but it can improve.
10:59 And I was just two weeks ago was at a conference and learned
11:03 about some new avenues that we’re
11:05 going to pursue.
11:06 I hooked them up with our people.
11:07 So as far as what I need from the board, I don’t think anything
11:11 at the moment.
11:12 I’ve said this.
11:13 I didn’t realize until I start working here that Brevard is kind
11:16 of on an island.
11:16 And I keep saying this and hopefully people will start believing
11:20 me.
11:20 That’s why my third one is to retain people because once we get
11:23 them here, we’ve got to keep
11:25 them here because it’s kind of on an island here.
11:27 Obviously to the east is the ocean.
11:28 To the west is an hour’s worth of swamp.
11:30 North and south, you know, it takes a little bit to get to some
11:33 metropolises.
11:34 So once we get people here and learn how amazing it is here, we’re
11:38 going to treat them
11:39 right and give them the tools to be successful and keep them
11:41 here.
11:41 Thank you.
11:42 Yeah.
11:43 Mr. Thomas, what I’m going to be doing is I’m going to go to the
11:50 schools that have the education
11:53 programs and I’m going to tell them that we protect our teachers
11:56 and we have these great
11:57 programs and all that other stuff because one of the things that
11:59 our other school districts
12:00 don’t do is what we do here.
12:01 And I know that through knowing a lot of the other school board
12:04 members.
12:04 You do an amazing job, Dr. Vindell.
12:06 Look at our discipline and everything else.
12:08 So what helps our staff is when we go to those other colleges
12:12 where those educational programs
12:15 are, you know, sometimes a school board member will get more
12:17 access than a recruiter.
12:18 Sure.
12:19 And so I’ve reached out to some of those teachers and stuff like
12:21 that.
12:21 If you’d like to come along, John, we can go together.
12:23 Anybody wants to go, we just go talk to them.
12:25 So I think letting them know that the leaders of the community,
12:28 of the school district are
12:29 here to come to apply, I think helps out a lot.
12:31 Yeah.
12:32 So anyways, the other thing is, is I do notice that a lot of our,
12:38 throughout our history that
12:39 we want to try to hire from within, right?
12:41 Absolutely.
12:42 To show the better routines.
12:43 I saw your objective number one, recruit a strong pool of
12:45 candidates.
12:46 I applaud you for that from the classifications with the overbarred
12:50 public schools.
12:51 And I, and I know that you’ve been working.
12:53 I wanted to say thank you for all these metrics based
12:54 discussions or, or points.
12:57 Because I know that Dr. Vindell said to me when he first took
12:59 over, he said, there’s,
13:00 there’s a lot of these objectives in these strategic plans, but
13:02 they’re not based to metrics.
13:04 Right.
13:05 So I wanted to applaud you for that.
13:06 Yeah, we have to have smart, we have to have smart goals.
13:07 Otherwise, if you can’t measure it, you don’t know if you’re
13:08 meeting it, right?
13:09 Well, there’s another reason for that is so that if you don’t
13:11 meet it, you don’t
13:12 have to be called out for it.
13:13 Fair enough.
13:14 And that’s what, when you put the numbers down, it’s when you go
13:16 to it.
13:16 And I appreciate you.
13:17 That’s all.
13:18 Absolutely.
13:19 That’s all I got, sir.
13:20 I’m all good.
13:21 Okay.
13:22 Next.
13:23 I do want to just some good news.
13:24 I want to, I want to share with you guys.
13:26 Every Monday I get a, Dr. Vindell and I, we get a listing of job
13:30 openings.
13:31 And Monday was our lowest this year.
13:34 I think I was down just to instructional classroom.
13:36 So we still have some other openings, but instructional
13:38 classroom.
13:39 I think we had 28.
13:40 I think it was this Monday opening.
13:42 And it was last year this time, I think it was like 179.
13:46 So we’re making really good strides.
13:48 I’m pretty proud of my team and doing a great job.
13:50 And I got to give them some more support.
13:52 They’re telling me.
13:53 So I’ll work on it.
13:54 Yeah.
13:55 We thank you.
13:56 I’m in good hands.
13:57 Roger that.
13:58 Appreciate that.
13:59 Okay.
14:00 Great.
14:01 We’ll move right on then to community connection.
14:03 And so the goal of community connection is supported by four
14:07 objectives.
14:08 And I’ll go ahead and turn it open to Ms. Mernaghan.
14:11 Thank you.
14:13 Good afternoon to the board, Dr. Vindell.
14:15 Thank you so much.
14:16 So we have four objectives for community connection.
14:20 Strengthen the public trust and district decisions and
14:22 leadership.
14:23 Increase pride and Brevard public schools among internal and
14:26 external stakeholders.
14:28 Establish BPS as a top choice for prospective families and
14:31 increase funding and support directly
14:33 to schools and the district through positive community
14:36 partnership.
14:37 So our first objective, we really looked at, you know, the
14:42 volume of positive stories that
14:44 we’re pushing out and really making that a focus of the
14:48 objective and setting real metrics
14:50 against it.
14:51 It had been in the previous plan sort of there, but not, you
14:54 know, with specific dialed in.
14:56 It was more about just increasing.
14:58 And so we got really specific and put some metrics down as to
15:02 how much positive information
15:03 we put out there.
15:04 So we had the 10 positive media stories each quarter.
15:07 And that’s things like if you’re on, you know, our Facebook, the
15:10 CTE tours.
15:11 It’s the water safety.
15:13 It’s all of the materials we’re doing with coffee bean and
15:15 pushing those in terms of our
15:17 social media, but also inviting our media partners, really
15:21 trying to engage those audiences.
15:23 Managing the crisis with accuracy and speed.
15:26 So those are really the two things that matter the most in
15:29 crisis, accuracy and speed.
15:31 And one of the challenges I’ve noticed since we’ve since I got
15:35 here is the speed sometimes is a challenge
15:37 because you’re dealing with trying to talk to principals and
15:39 trying to talk to the sheriff’s office.
15:41 And there’s a lot of stakeholders before we send out messaging.
15:43 So initially really the goal is to sit down and start recording
15:47 and just having that metric of what is the speed.
15:50 Accuracy is already happening, but what is the speed in these
15:53 situations, particularly shelter in place, lockdowns, evacuations,
15:57 things that get parents really concerned.
16:00 Parents are my main focus when I’m thinking of that in terms of
16:03 speed.
16:04 I’m getting messaging to families.
16:07 And so really sitting down and recording that and then looking
16:11 at what are our opportunities for increasing the speed and
16:13 getting that information out more quickly.
16:15 How can we work with principals and the sheriff’s office to get
16:19 the information faster and to respond to families quickly?
16:24 And then, you know, gathering feedback from parents and students.
16:27 We have the parent leadership team and the student advisory
16:30 council, which we’ve had before.
16:32 But really those sources are fantastic for us to have that, you
16:36 know, direct feedback.
16:38 One of the things we’re going to try and do next school year is
16:42 really increase membership in both of those groups.
16:46 For our objective two, increase pride in provide public schools
16:49 among external and internal stakeholders.
16:52 Really this surrounds, you know, we’re going to track our social
16:57 media engagements through likes, comments, shares.
17:00 And we’re going to track sort of the interaction with our newsletters.
17:05 So, you know, in the past we have tracked things like follows.
17:10 And I think it’s really important to track things that are
17:13 closer to engagement.
17:14 So if you think like people who are actually not just seeing it
17:16 or it’s not – they’re not just coming across it on their page,
17:19 but they’re interacting with us.
17:20 They’re liking it.
17:21 They’re commenting it.
17:22 And looking at the trends and really shifting, being willing to
17:26 adjust our sales particularly on social media and say, hey, you
17:28 know, this is working or this isn’t working.
17:31 And the same thing with the newsletter sort of taking that and
17:34 saying, you know, how do we get people engaging with it more and
17:38 creating content that is different for two newsletters.
17:41 So we have the internal and external, but right now the content’s
17:44 a little too similar and sort of taking that content and
17:46 dividing it a little bit more for those two different audiences.
17:50 We’ve engaged with a social media and media monitoring service,
17:53 which we’ve never had before.
17:55 We just really signed the contract and started working on it
17:59 last week.
18:00 So hopefully we’ll be able to show you all and, you know, the
18:03 stories that are out there and have a better gauge of, you know,
18:06 what’s out there.
18:07 The other thing it does for us with the social media component
18:11 is it allows us to receive alerts.
18:13 So if for some reason BPS is suddenly or one of our schools is
18:16 suddenly popping off on social media, you know, it tells us.
18:20 And I mean, the problem with social media right now is just that,
18:22 you know, oftentimes things are happening before I know they’re
18:25 happening.
18:26 And so that’s a really helpful, useful tool.
18:30 And then you’re just highlighting employees, which I think we
18:32 already do a really good job of, but continuing that and making
18:35 that, you know, something that really matters and doing that
18:38 through the school board
18:39 and then taking that and pushing it out on our digital platforms
18:42 since, you know, it really is the employees and the kids that
18:45 are the heart of the school.
18:46 It’s the heart of our message and it’s where, you know, a lot of
18:49 our energy should be pushed.
18:51 For our third objective, establish Brevard Public Schools as a
18:54 top choice for prospective families.
18:57 Yeah, I mean, I think this metric could be measured by a lot of
18:59 different groups, but one of the things that when I got here, my
19:03 background has been very corporate communications.
19:05 And you always have a product, you know, you’re measuring how
19:08 you’re selling your product is how well your marketing campaign
19:10 is going.
19:11 And really our product is our schools.
19:13 And so it may be, you know, with population changes and whatnot,
19:16 there may be, you know, there may be challenges to measuring it,
19:18 but I still think we should measure it as in terms of, you know,
19:21 seeing if what we’re doing is effective.
19:23 And, you know, one of our big pushes is to push the IBs, the
19:26 Cambridge, the CTE, the art band, our special programs.
19:30 So also looking at, you know, how are we doing with enrollment
19:33 in those programs as we sort of push that narrative and tell
19:36 people what’s in our schools.
19:37 I think we have so much particularly in the CTE area in our
19:40 schools that really people don’t know about.
19:43 And so I think it’s making sure that message is out there.
19:46 You know, it’s inviting the media out to events and, you know,
19:52 creating a lot of these tours where some of these virtual, some
19:56 of these tours that we’re creating, the CT tours, they’re not
19:58 just for the media, you know, they’re for our internal marketing
20:00 efforts.
20:00 And they’re also for other legislators and people in the
20:02 community, you know, business partners, we’re inviting chambers,
20:06 we’re using it as an opportunity to get people in our schools,
20:08 you know, the more they’re engaging with us, the more it’s going
20:11 to be, we’re going to be able to work with them.
20:13 All right, I gave myself a bunch of notes on this next page,
20:16 just in case you guys have questions.
20:19 All right.
20:20 So increased funding and support directly to schools and the
20:23 district through positive community partnerships.
20:26 So when you think of how GCR is bringing funding into the
20:29 schools, it’s two buckets, right?
20:31 It’s the partners and education bucket, and it’s the advertising
20:34 bucket.
20:35 And so increased district wide advertising revenue by 25% is the
20:40 goal from what is almost 600,000 right now.
20:44 When you think of advertising, we’re talking about sponsorships
20:49 on buildings.
20:50 We’re talking about banners at schools, parking signs.
20:55 We’re talking about digital advertising on our website, the
20:58 calendars where we’re receiving advertising.
21:01 So that’s, that’s advertising, if that sort of spells out that
21:04 bucket for you.
21:05 And then we have this partners in education program that that
21:08 runs and does just a fantastic job.
21:10 And we’re, our goal is to increase the cash coming into that
21:14 program by 5%, as well as donations coming in, and to raise
21:19 volunteer hours by 10%.
21:21 So when you look at these buckets, cash really is what it sounds
21:26 like.
21:26 It’s cash money coming in through actual cash or gift cards
21:29 through the partners in education program or donations, which is,
21:33 you know, it’s a value of a donated item, right?
21:36 So what we have our partners in education doing is quarterly
21:40 reporting to that any donated items and putting values on those.
21:43 And that’s how we’re getting that number that you’re seeing
21:45 right there.
21:46 And then you’ll see the raise volunteer hours by 10%.
21:49 I know student services is also working on volunteer hours.
21:52 These are volunteer hours very specific to PI.
21:54 So very specific to business partners and community partners who
21:58 are in our schools.
22:00 But we are going to work with student services to try and, you
22:02 know, help all the volunteer hours come up and use some of our
22:06 experience with tracking volunteer hours to help them track
22:09 theirs as well.
22:10 Some of the things you might not be aware of is throughout this
22:15 PI program is we have newsletters that I don’t – we don’t talk
22:20 about that much.
22:20 So the PI coordinators receive a newsletter.
22:22 We have the business partners who are in PI receive a newsletter.
22:25 And we’ve just started a new sales email and sales newsletter to
22:29 try and bring in sales direct.
22:32 So we’re trying to do a lot more direct selling from GCR as
22:35 opposed to using external sources.
22:38 And part of the drive behind that is to really start driving
22:41 money more to our Title I schools.
22:43 The more we’re controlling it in-house, the more we can go for
22:46 not just the easy money, which is great, but to go to some of
22:49 these schools that maybe aren’t having a lot of push to have
22:52 sales in their school.
22:54 All right.
22:56 Questions?
22:57 Was that helpful?
22:58 That was.
22:59 It was very.
23:00 Ms. Campbell.
23:01 So this is my champion area.
23:04 We each got the area to champion.
23:06 And we had our first meeting.
23:07 I meant to do it two months ago.
23:08 I meant – but we had our first meeting last weekend.
23:10 So I want to, first of all, thank you for when we talked about
23:12 Brevard Public Schools being the top choice.
23:15 Thank you for incorporating art and music classes.
23:17 You mentioned that because –
23:18 I did because that was her feedback.
23:19 We talk about CTE all the time, but truly, in our county, there
23:22 aren’t other great options for people who want a rich music
23:25 experience.
23:26 We’re one of the best in the state, so that certainly makes us
23:29 the best within our own county.
23:30 And thank you for highlighting that because I think the more we
23:32 can push out that opportunity, which everybody loves.
23:35 And I’m sure we’re the best in sports too, Mr. Simpson.
23:38 No, I don’t think we are.
23:39 We have something in music today.
23:40 In the county?
23:42 Oh, yeah.
23:43 In the county.
23:44 I’m talking about in the county.
23:45 I’m talking national.
23:46 I know, but we’re trying – we’re not recruiting people from
23:48 outside the state of Florida.
23:50 Yeah, exactly.
23:51 So I think – I very much appreciate that.
23:54 I also – I think this is good work to focus on those Title I
23:57 schools.
23:58 And not just Title I schools, but I’ve talked to principals at
24:01 different times.
24:02 We had this conversation last week about one of their Title I
24:05 schools, but also those schools that they’re –
24:08 where they’re located, there aren’t a lot of businesses around
24:10 them.
24:11 A lot of our elementary schools, in particular, are nestled
24:13 within a neighborhood.
24:14 And so you don’t have those community businesses that are those
24:17 automatic partners, the low-hanging fruit.
24:19 And so they have to work a little harder.
24:21 So if you guys are working on their behalf when they’re doing so
24:24 many things, I think that focus –
24:26 we do that with our facilities.
24:28 We have a – with our matching programs.
24:30 We do it with academics.
24:32 You give those extra support to those Title I schools.
24:34 So I think this is a – I think this is a good effort to try to
24:37 do that for those schools that have limited resources and
24:41 limited partnership opportunities.
24:43 Great, thanks.
24:44 Mr. Chair?
24:45 Yes.
24:46 So I’d just like to, first of all, thank you and Yvette and all
24:49 your team for all you do.
24:51 Because I know you guys put a lot of time, effort.
24:53 You’re all over the place.
24:54 I can show up anywhere in the county anytime and one of you guys
24:57 is always there, if not both of you.
24:59 So it’s pretty amazing.
25:00 But we talked yesterday and I appreciate, you know, your
25:04 willingness to work, you know, to try to –
25:06 The police, yep.
25:07 – improve things and build our public trust.
25:09 I think that there’s no more important time, probably for your
25:13 area, from my limited knowledge of Brevard Public Schools, than
25:16 there is right now.
25:18 With two taxes coming up in 2026, our – our public trust has to
25:23 be at an all-time high, I believe.
25:25 Because it’s going to be a crowded ballot for us to get both
25:27 those things passed, which are both critical.
25:29 So I’m doing a little grandstanding here, but that’s – it’s
25:32 important.
25:33 And I think that – so what you’re doing, and to – in all
25:37 facets, media, social media, everything you’re doing to help us
25:42 grow the public trust is huge.
25:44 Because not only for the tax situation, but it also helps with
25:47 recruiting.
25:48 You know, it helps with student retention.
25:50 So our overall, how we’re perceived is huge in the community.
25:54 And you’re – you guys are the vehicle to help us get there.
25:56 So I just wanted to thank you publicly.
25:58 Thank you.
25:59 And I really appreciate Dr. Rendell and your – and yourself’s
26:02 openness.
26:02 I know the Board is aware I had mentioned to you guys a couple
26:05 weeks ago or a month ago that I was going to work with the staff
26:09 about a media policy.
26:10 And they’ve been awesome to work with.
26:11 And hopefully we’ll have something back for you guys to look at
26:14 here pretty soon.
26:15 But just really appreciate all you guys, you know, all your
26:19 efforts and all your input.
26:21 Thank you.
26:22 Thank you for all that you do.
26:24 I love watching, like, the social media pages that are going off
26:28 and the stories that are being highlighted.
26:29 It’s very positive.
26:30 And even the interaction that’s happening there is positive.
26:32 So it’s good to highlight all those things.
26:34 One of the areas on increasing the enrollment that you have, the
26:36 goal of 1%.
26:38 Just, again, marketing plans and coming from the business world.
26:41 Those are all things that I’m sure you’ve already thought about.
26:43 But being strategic about maybe working alongside our hospitals
26:47 here to tell us, you know, we’ve had new births.
26:50 Let’s go alongside those families.
26:51 We were doing that with that Thrive by Five program.
26:53 But I’m hearing some things that maybe that’s not – I don’t
26:56 know.
26:56 Anyways, but we maybe want to look at that as a strategic
26:58 marketing plan on targeting those families
27:00 and making them aware of the availability of VPK when that year
27:03 comes.
27:04 And it’s going to take some work on tracking all that data.
27:06 But those are our potential future students in there.
27:09 So I’m very excited about everything that your department does.
27:12 Absolutely love you guys.
27:13 Thank you so much for all that you do.
27:14 We appreciate you.
27:15 I appreciate everything you guys are doing.
27:19 That slide where you guys were talking and you had all of your
27:21 notes ready.
27:22 I did.
27:23 I thought you’d have a lot of questions.
27:24 I don’t have any questions.
27:25 I just want to say thank you for the direction.
27:27 I know that your goal with the new advertising is to push more
27:30 revenue into the schools.
27:32 You’re hyper-focused on where to put it and how to put it.
27:35 And yet the options that you guys are putting together is
27:37 incredible.
27:38 You know, your involvement in the community with the
27:41 grandparents raising grandkids,
27:42 the ECAC now that they have something I need to meet with Dr.
27:46 Rendell before I make the announcement.
27:47 But it’s something big that they’re working on that Yvette’s
27:49 been –
27:49 Like they don’t even care to like talk to me.
27:52 They just want to – what’s Yvette doing?
27:54 You know what I mean?
27:55 And then I know that that culture that you guys are building
27:57 within our chambers is phenomenal.
28:00 I got a little glimpse of it the last month and a half, two
28:02 months.
28:03 But it’s phenomenal.
28:05 All the way from Titusville down, we are – Yvette is getting
28:09 ready to literally grab all of those chambers
28:11 and pull them together with an educational directive and kind of
28:14 direction.
28:15 And phenomenal.
28:16 Like things that you don’t even think about.
28:18 Like we’re just – I’m just hoping that like my posts eventually
28:21 will get like five likes on Facebook.
28:23 Right?
28:24 And here you guys are driving an entire machine.
28:26 And I’m just so proud of you guys.
28:27 So thank you.
28:28 Well, thank you.
28:29 Yvette is a star.
28:30 I agree.
28:31 Yeah.
28:32 No, that’s you too.
28:33 Thank you.
28:35 Well, I’ll just continue on the same theme here.
28:38 It doesn’t take being around you and your team very long to
28:42 realize that you’re fully committed and involved in BPS.
28:47 And we thank you for that.
28:48 So, you know, you can have all the slides you want, but without
28:51 having the conversation and seeing you and your team work, you
28:54 don’t realize how much your heart’s in the right spot.
28:58 And that’s important in a position that you’re in.
29:00 You know, it’s – I hope that you were able to disconnect at
29:03 some point and go home to your family, but it really does seem
29:07 like you, you know, just live and breathe BPS.
29:12 And those are the people out there who don’t get the chance to
29:15 know you.
29:16 But we’re fortunate to have you and your staff.
29:19 We put together a staff that is – they’re like-minded in the
29:24 sense that, you know, the exposure of BPS is at the utmost
29:27 importance to you and your staff.
29:30 And we’re in good hands with you.
29:32 So, keep it up.
29:33 Thank you so much.
29:35 Thanks.
29:36 All right.
29:37 Okay.
29:38 Well, that would be it for today.
29:40 You know, I just want to say something, too.
29:42 These two – of our four goals, these two goals are probably the
29:46 hardest to measure.
29:48 And they – and behind the scenes, they have been working really
29:51 hard.
29:52 You know, they have a vision.
29:54 They have the plans.
29:55 Putting it in paper was one thing.
29:57 Putting it in the plan was one thing.
29:58 And then we get down to where it’s like, I need data on this.
30:01 And tracking it is – it’s just huge for them.
30:04 So, they’ve just been doing such hard work.
30:06 So, I look forward to when we can see some little visual charts
30:08 and graphs and stuff like that, and see how we’re moving the
30:11 needles.
30:12 Ms. Cynthia, that’s a testimony to you and the hard work.
30:15 Because I have heard numerous times about how you were driving
30:17 the ship and you were doing an amazing job.
30:19 So, thank you again for all of your hard work with the strategic
30:21 plan.
30:22 Well, that is hard.
30:23 That is hard.
30:24 Because she’ll come back to me and she’ll have all her ideas on
30:27 how to measure my department.
30:28 And it’s amazing.
30:29 Yeah, you are.
30:30 She’s very kind.
30:31 Because, you know, I go back to things and I say, but you say
30:33 this.
30:34 How are you measuring it?
30:35 I love that.
30:36 Four people.
30:37 She’s the nicest slave driver out.
30:38 Anyway, so that ends today.
30:41 So, we will be seeing you again in May.
30:43 And we will review our last goal, operational efficiency.
30:46 Thank you.
30:47 All right.
30:48 Thank you so much for all your work.
30:49 Thank you.
30:50 All right.
30:59 So, that is, are you done introducing or now I go with the.
31:02 Yeah, Mr. Chair, that’s the last of our topics.
31:04 Now it’s policy, proposed policy revisions.
31:08 So, I think Paul probably walked you through that.
31:11 Yeah.
31:12 We have it.
31:13 All right.
31:14 I would open it up for the board.
31:17 Just go down to point out any of the questions, comments that
31:21 they have on any of the policies.
31:23 That will probably be the fastest way than going through all of
31:25 them.
31:26 I believe most of them are all just Neola provisions for the
31:30 most part.
31:31 All right.
31:32 So, why don’t we just open it up.
31:33 All right.
31:34 Those of us that have questions, concerns.
31:37 And computers would help.
31:38 Sorry.
31:39 I just had a couple of things.
31:40 So, we have these several policies about meetings that we’re
31:49 rescinding so that we can just have
31:52 the one.
31:53 Right.
31:54 Neola condensed them all into one.
31:55 Into one.
31:56 I did notice in.
31:58 So, we’re keeping 165.
32:00 164.
32:02 Sorry.
32:04 Why do I have five?
32:05 They consolidated 165.
32:06 They put a whole bunch in 165.
32:08 Okay.
32:09 I’m talking about 165.
32:10 So, 165 we’re keeping.
32:11 We’re keeping it as amended by Neola.
32:14 As amended by Neola.
32:15 I noticed that our 165.3, which we’re looking at rescinding,
32:20 also has things in it about
32:22 that second little section, meetings, hearings, and workshops.
32:28 And I, maybe that part’s not necessary, but I didn’t see in the
32:32 new policy anything about
32:35 workshops.
32:37 It mainly is about our meetings, like official, like we’re going
32:42 to take a vote meetings.
32:44 So, does there need to be any of that?
32:46 And the part that particularly sticks out to me without, I mean,
32:50 I didn’t comb through all
32:51 those to try to figure out what do we want to keep.
32:53 But there’s a part that’s for us that has to do with when we get
32:57 the materials.
32:59 Oh, I just had it and I scrolled down and I lost it.
33:04 Number two.
33:05 An agenda shall be prepared in time to ensure that a copy of the
33:07 agenda may be received at
33:09 least seven days before the event by any person in the state,
33:11 blah, blah, blah.
33:12 No, hang on.
33:13 That one’s not for us.
33:15 Anyway, if we just take a look, if there’s anything in there
33:18 that, as long as we have something
33:20 that we don’t, as long as we don’t need any of this is what I’m
33:22 trying to get to.
33:23 I don’t know that it’s critical to have in our policy, but if
33:26 there is something you want
33:27 in there, I believe the working guidelines say that you guys
33:30 will get the agenda items
33:32 14 days before, so it doesn’t really need to be here.
33:35 Well, if you guys didn’t see anything here that we need to hold
33:37 on to in policy, I’m good with that.
33:39 I just noticed that was one of the things that was not included
33:41 in the new one.
33:42 Okay, and then 8500, which was the food nutrition services
33:47 policy all the way down at the bottom.
33:51 And it looks like there was lots of redlining and adding because
33:54 we’re just completely adopting
33:56 the NEOLA with the modification or with the options that the
34:00 staff chose.
34:01 But I did notice the easiest way to do it is on the page number
34:04 for the attachment on page 94.
34:07 It doesn’t have a number.
34:12 Alright, it’s on the 8500.
34:14 Yeah, page 94 of 103.
34:17 Down, it’s about, yeah, it’s almost, it’s close to the bottom.
34:25 It’s right above the part that says option A, and it begins, the
34:28 sentence, the paragraph begins,
34:29 a student who has exceeded the permissible negative balance,
34:31 that part.
34:32 Right.
34:33 There’s something when we crossed out lines that it doesn’t make
34:38 sense.
34:39 Because at first, so it said, it reads, a student who has
34:43 exceeded the permissible negative balance
34:45 in their account and does not have cash on hand sufficient to
34:49 purchase a meal will be treated respectfully
34:51 and will make efforts to collect the charges incurred by the
34:54 students.
34:55 I think somewhere we got a crossing of the wires because I think
34:59 that part of, after the strikeout,
35:02 has to do with what staff will do or district will do.
35:05 So can we fix that?
35:06 Yep.
35:07 Yeah, we’ll take a minute.
35:08 Okay.
35:09 We’ll work with Kevin.
35:10 Yeah.
35:11 Well, and is the intention of the district to no longer provide,
35:13 because it says that the district will provide meals
35:15 to the student with unpaid meal balances without stigmatizing
35:19 them?
35:20 Yeah, those, they, yeah, they went through all that above is
35:23 what we’re going to do.
35:24 You know, if they, if they don’t have food, you know, they can’t
35:26 buy from a la carte,
35:27 if they don’t have money in their account, but we’re going to
35:29 provide them meals for certain,
35:30 you know, they’re all the, this is listed out in the paragraphs
35:32 above that.
35:33 Okay.
35:34 But that particular one, it just doesn’t flow.
35:36 Right.
35:37 I see what you’re talking about.
35:38 Okay.
35:39 It applied to, it’s like two different things.
35:40 We need to add something in there to fix it.
35:44 That was the only thing that I had on the, this list of policies.
35:50 Thank you.
35:51 Yes.
35:52 I, I don’t have anything on these list of policies, so.
35:58 Anything there?
35:59 Yeah.
36:00 Just real quick.
36:01 Um, under policy, uh, school board meetings, one 65, there’s a
36:06 provision in there.
36:07 We had a, uh, situation for emergency meetings.
36:11 Uh, Mr. Gibbs.
36:12 Right.
36:13 It states that there’s three, there a way to, you know, you
36:16 notice it.
36:16 And one of them is posting a notice on the district approved
36:19 social media platforms.
36:21 Would that suffice to make sure that we, cause, cause here’s
36:25 what happened.
36:26 Um, on a, I think it was a Saturday, we made a decision to call
36:29 an emergency meeting.
36:31 The topic was the masks for a Monday, right?
36:34 And we had to put it in the Sunday newspaper or whatever that
36:36 was.
36:37 Uh, does that, does doing it on the social media platforms, is
36:41 that okay?
36:42 Yeah.
36:43 On a, for an emergency meeting.
36:44 Right.
36:45 Yeah.
36:46 We try to go full tilt on everything.
36:47 We put it on, we get it out to the news, the radio.
36:50 Right.
36:51 Put it on the website.
36:52 But it’s okay.
36:53 Advertise it in every publication we can get it in.
36:55 Yeah.
36:56 I see that 48 hours and all that stuff.
36:57 Yeah.
36:58 But, but if, if we run into a situation where we have to call an
36:59 emergency meeting for whatever
37:01 reason, God forbid, we can post it on the social media, but we
37:04 don’t have to do it on
37:05 the, but if the 48 hours for the radio is not there or the one
37:08 day for the, the print
37:10 media, we can get it on the social media.
37:12 The 48 hours is for special.
37:14 Yeah.
37:15 That’s not emergency.
37:16 Emergency.
37:17 Emergency is you get it out as best you can through whatever
37:20 media platforms you can,
37:21 because it’s health safety welfare issue.
37:23 So if it’s a special meeting, you got to give the 48 hours
37:25 notice.
37:26 So that’s different.
37:27 But now we’re, now we’re doing all of our notices for meetings
37:30 on the district’s website,
37:32 pursuant to the new statute.
37:33 So it’s a lot easier to get that communication out.
37:36 People are looking to the website now for those legal notices
37:39 instead of the newspapers.
37:41 So it, the timing lag has cut down quite a bit, but yes, we can
37:44 push it out through social
37:46 media.
37:47 We push it out everything on a, for an emergency meeting.
37:50 Yeah.
37:51 I was just, here’s what it reads.
37:52 It says notice of emergency meeting shall be provided in a
37:55 manner that is fair under the
37:56 circumstances and necessary to protect the public interest.
37:58 The board shall attempt to provide immediate public notice of
38:01 all emergency meetings as follows.
38:03 Right.
38:04 And then it goes one, two, three, four.
38:06 Yep.
38:07 And my question is, is do all four have to be done in order to
38:11 have an emergency meeting,
38:12 or does just the approval of social media platforms suffice?
38:15 Yeah.
38:16 We would attempt to get it out through all of them for an
38:20 emergency meeting.
38:22 The reality is newspapers, you’re not, if it happens on like a
38:25 Friday, you’re not going
38:26 to get it out if you’re going to call a meeting because they
38:29 need two day lead.
38:30 Right.
38:31 And then it’s not going to run for like two more days.
38:34 So the newspapers are out for the most part.
38:37 So we usually rely on the news, the radio stations, and posting
38:41 on the websites and social media.
38:43 But if all of those three don’t and the fourth one does, we’re
38:46 okay, right?
38:47 Yes.
38:48 Okay.
38:49 That’s it.
38:50 That’s all.
38:51 All right.
38:52 That’s it for me right now.
38:53 Thank you.
38:54 Mr. Wright, anything?
38:55 No.
38:56 Thomas?
38:57 Any board member have anything further to discuss?
39:00 Oh, I do.
39:01 We have a birthday that we have to acknowledge is in the room.
39:03 And so he almost got away without it.
39:05 So Mr. Cheatham, happy birthday to you.
39:12 All right.
39:13 Because there’s no further business, this meeting is adjourned.
39:18 Yeah, you did.
39:19 Sorry, Russell.
39:19 Had it.
39:19 Yeah, you did.
39:20 Sorry, Russell.
39:20 Had it.
39:21 Yeah, you did.
39:22 Sorry, Russell.
39:23 Had it.
39:24 Bye.
45:02 Thank you.