2025-05-06 - School Board Meeting

1:29 It’s. Sam. Sa. It’s.

4:34 It’s. Good evening. May 6, 2025.

9:25 Board meeting is now in order. I would like to welcome my fellow board members and the public. I would like to take this opportunity to remind the public that the appropriate place for public participation in this meeting is during your individual public comment opportunity as identified on the agenda.

9:42 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role in this meeting is as an observer. Paul? Roll call, please. Mr. Trent.

9:50 Here. Mr. Susan. Here.

9:52 Mr. Thomas. Here. Ms. Campbell.

9:54 Here. Ms. Wright? Here. @ this time, the board would like to hold a moment of silence.

10:00 I invite the audience to join. Thank you. I would like to invite Elena Medina to the podium.

10:32 Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Tonight we have the Lacmar Elementary Handbell Knights to.

11:51 I couldn’t do it. There’s something going on. It.

2:31:48 Sa. It’s. Sa.

2:31:48 It. It’s. Sarah, gabriella and abigail.

2:31:48 Had bells going on in the. What grade are you guys in? Sixth grade. Okay, so how long have you been doing bells for? Since last semester. Since last semester. Okay. And do you think you’ll continue doing bells in some kind of aspect once you move on to middle school? No. Oh. No, there aren’t any. Oh, there aren’t any. Okay, so we need to. We got it. Because there’s no bells program. Is that why? Okay. All right, fair enough. All right, let me ask, why do you wear the gloves when you guys are doing the bells? Because of our oils from our skins. It messes up bells kind of. Okay, good. All right, well, thank you so much for performing. This was a rare treat. We’re very excited to see you guys did exceptionally well. So thank you. First of all, you guys were incredible, all of you. And so thanks for being here tonight. I just wanted to ask both of you guys, what other instruments do you play other than the bells? I play the cello. Wow. My favorite. Very cool. Oh, yeah. I’m a singer. You’re a singer. Nice. Well, you guys did an awesome job. So thanks for being here. Yes, thank you. Well, I was so excited to see the Lacmar Bells on our agenda tonight. You guys, you just. You don’t know how hard this is, because I’m telling you, if you’re a cellist, you play all the notes right on the page. Right. If you’re a singer, you sing all the notes on the page. If you’re a Pianist, you play all the notes on the page. If you play the bell, you have two notes and you have to wait your turn and watch all the other notes go by until it’s your turn. It’s really hard, isn’t it? So you guys just did such an amazing job. Such an amazing job. It’s such a unique program and thank you, Ms. Hernandez, for keeping it going at Lockmar because it is such a unique program, not only in the schools, but even a lot of the churches that used to have Ham Bell Choir don’t have them anymore. So I hope that the Lockmar Bell Choir will continue. You guys did a great job. All right. So do you guys get to move around and change positions through the year or have you always been in your same spot? Well, I had to move three last semester and this one is just one. So do you like the low end or the high end better? It depends. They’re heavier over here, right? They’re heavier alright. What about you? I switched in between semesters. I used to be in like the mid section, but now I’m in the higher section and I think I like the bigger ones better. It’s just easier to grip. Ah, well, great job, you guys. I’m very proud of you. Yeah, thank you. I just wanted to say thank you to the parents who came tonight to support their children. You guys are amazing. We appreciate you being a part of bps. You have. Everybody in here was completely focused on you, the teacher and, you know, you just. Ms. Hernandez, you did such a good job of keeping the flow and getting it all set. I heard that Ms. Campbell came in and was doing a little bit before I got really jealous. So if Ms. Campbell ever wants to challenge me to doing these, I would try to do them with you guys. I’ll take you on, Mr. Take me up on a Challenge. I don’t know if I would do as well as you two did because I was watching you guys do the multiples. That was intense. Because I was watching to make sure you guys hit the note. You would shake one, put it down, pick up the other, shake it, then put it down. I mean, I was like, this is intense. This is going on here. So you guys must be the better of the group to actually be doing that. So I just wanted to tell you, I just want to tell you thank you to that. No, but we, we are very blessed that you guys came here tonight. Thank you so much. You guys must have drawn the biggest crowd we’ve ever had here because you guys brought the bells. They must have heard that you guys were playing. So they all came tonight. So I just wanted to say thank you to the parents, the teachers. I want to say thank you to the multiple bell operators, Ms. Campbell, for thanking for actually accepting my challenge to this. This is something we will have to do soon. And thank you to you guys. I truly appreciate it. Thank you. Well, it’s hard to top all that other than you guys were awesome. Thank you so much. Much. For some of you, how many of you do not play any other instruments? A couple of you, Brian. So this is a big risk right here. Thank you for doing that. That would be me out there. It takes a lot of coordination to make the bells work. I have a little bit of experience of being in the crowd for bells and it is amazing to see that. I can’t even imagine pulling off what you guys. So way to go. Way to do it, parents. Way to push activity, especially right now with testing going on. This is a great little out for you guys. So you don’t have to worry about that tonight. Right? You can take the night off. You don’t have to study. That’s from the school board. Just kidding. Just kidding. But otherwise it was great. Parents, again, thanks for bringing them out and pushing your children again. This just gives us an opportunity to see what the real reason why we’re here. And again, you’re making us proud of being a part of this bps. So the talent is extreme in our county. So just another example of it. So, Dr. Windup. Hey, Mr. Chair. Will you take a break so we can take a picture with these talented students? Absolutely. You guys don’t mind? Yeah. All right, let’s take a picture. It. It. Sa. It. At this time, I would like to invite Mr. Kevin Robinson, Director of athletics activities, to the podium to recognize the fall and winter sports coaches and athletes for school year 2025, Mr. Kevin Robbins. Good evening, Mr. Trent, school board and Dr. Rendell. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the success of our student athletes from our fall and winter sports this evening. Good evening. During our first two sports seasons this year, our BPS schools won four state team championships and earned 65 state medals, including six athletes who won individual state championships. We will also be recognizing the Cape Coast Conference coach of the year for each of our fall and winter sports tonight. Mr. Trent and Dr. Endell, I invite you to come to the front and center students. When I call your name, please come to the front, shake hands with Mr. Trent and Dr. Rendell and then move to the far side of the dais. And remain until all names are called. First up, from Astronaut High School, Sawyer Kinsey. Boys cross country, ninth place. From Bayside High School, Gary Bradley, boys wrestling, fifth place. Also from Bayside, coach Nicole Hunt. Cape Coast Conference girls volleyball coach of the year. From Cocoa high school, the 3A state champion football team led by coach Ryan Schneider, winning their third consecutive state championship. He should have. I know. Stand up on the next area. Hey, guys. Yeah, take that back row. Stand up on it. Give them some more. There you go. Rolling deep in here, Coco, huh? Hey, how are you? Did you guys bring the JV team too? Throughout the whole house, huh? Come on. Also from Cocoa High School, placing eighth in the state wrestling tournament, is Cole Webb. And from Cocoa Beach High School, the following wrestlers earned medals at the state boys wrestling championships. Wyatt Krauser, second place. Adrian Day, second place. Third place. Sorry. Madden Fredenberg, third place. As a side note, Madden also competed in the NHSCA Nationals in March and won the national championship at heavyweight in the sophomore division. This is a huge accomplishment for a high school wrestler his age and puts him in one of the top recruiting positions in the nation. Anthony Aquafrida, fifth place. Jett Johnson, seventh place. Nathan Pond, eighth place. And our coaches from Cocoa beach, earning Cape Coast Conference coach of the year honors are Chris Kelly, boys wrestling. Mary Hoyt, boys swimming and diving. And Elizabeth Walker, girls golf. From Egalie High School. I don’t know. We’ll find out. From Eau Gallie High School, coach Chris Sands, Cape Coast Conference football coach of the year. From Edgewood High School, Lincoln Moyer. Boys bowling, fifth placer. Too much success. It can’t be contained. We will resume with Edgewood. Oh, that was only the first task. Good. All right. And from Edgewood High School, Lincoln moyer. Boys bowling, fifth place. Veronica Peters. Girls diving, eighth place. Jonas Daddle, boys cross country, 15th place. And from Heritage High School, Caleb Klotz. Boys bowling, sixth place. Harper Noel, boys wrestling, eighth place. And Cape Coast Conference boys bowling coach of the year, coach Tim Sarco. From Melbourne High School, Sawyer Hackett. Boys swimming, third place at both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Mike Lord, Cape Coast Conference girls soccer coach of the year. From Merritt Island High School, the following wrestlers earned medals at the state wrestling championships. Timmy botta, state champion, first freshman wrestling, state champ in Brevard history, second place. Alex Gilletti, Judge DeYoung, third place. Landon Quiroga, fourth place. Titus DeYoung, fourth place. And Trey Drigott, fifth place. From Palm Bay high school, the 4A state champion girls basketball team, Aaron moffatt, kahmora sharp, jordan baker, gabby bugace, fantasia lauriston, jada civil, eliana wallace, trisha collins, carlisa wallace and zamari barber. Also from Bombay. State diving champion, boys diving champion, Lucas Schmidt. State boys wrestling champion Leonard Christian and Christopher Brunson. Boys wrestling. 6th place. From Rockledge High School, Elena Rowland. Girls swimming, 4th place at 103 and 8th place at 200. Im Reef Parman. Boys swimming, 5th place at 100 Fly Vladimir Drown. Boys wrestling, 7th place, Rihanna Nepomicino. Girls wrestling, 8th place. And from Satellite High school, Selena Coryell. Girls cross country, ninth place, Sawyer, David Davis. Boys swimming, second place at 53 and the third place 200 freestyle relay team of Sawyer Davis, Bastien Soto, Omar Panel and Jack Knight. Coaches from Satellite earning Cape Coast Conference coaches of the year are Doug Butler, Girls cross country and Morgan Velez. Girls swimming and diving. It’s. And from Space Coast High School Cape Coast Conference bowling girls bowling coach of the year, Christopher Hamilton and the Space Coast Viper football team. SSA Atlantic 1A state champions led by coach Jake Owens, Connor anderson, alex vanikowski, dominic berger, chris bernal, koslow farron cleary, e.j. clauser, seth christman, dylan echler, william ferguson, cole gamble, drayton gamrott, bryson gavin, henry, holzlander, makai joe, chad johnson, demarion kidd, evan klein, caleb klingenberg, jaden pyatt, carter quinlan, andre rodriguez, elmore azion, sandy jacob, starkey, bo storie, nathan strong, devin thomas, kaden thomas, dee parker, chris thiers, louis sanchez, christian burt, lucas ball, damian boter and chris McDonald’s it. Flora. Why don’t you get the pick? Great job, guys. Good job, guys. Look at this. And from Titusville High School, the following swimmers earned medals at the boys state swimming championships. Led by coach Natasha Kramer, Braden Hunt, state champion at the 100 free and third place at 50 free. Hayden Lester, third place at 100 backstroke and eighth place at 100 fly. Fifth place, 400 free relay, Killian Coy, Hayden Lester, Matthew Mahoney and Braden Hunt. Sixth place at the 200 medley relay, Hayden, Lester, Gavin Gamini, Killian Coy and Matthew Mahoney. And sixth place at the 200 free relay, Killian Coy, Trenton Payne, Matthew Mahoney and Braden Hunt. From Viera High school boys golf 3A state champions led by coach Paul Bentley. Individual boys golf medalists include Ryan Woodward, fourth place, Arth Senna, fifth place. In girls golf, Hannah hall was second place. Addison Elwell, girls cross country, 15th place, Sadie Demps, girls diving state champion and the following Individuals earned medals at the state wrestling championships. Emma Hoppe, girls state champion, first FHSA girls state champion in Brevard history. Catalina Kenney, girls wrestling, fourth place. Isabel Alvarez, girls wrestling, fourth place. Luke Accoli, boys wrestling, fifth place. Edwin Torres, boys wrestling, sixth place. Gustavo Ferreira, boys wrestling, seventh place. And coaches from Viera earning Cape Coast Conference coach of the year honors are Paul Bentley, in boys golf, Kyle Thompson, boys cross country, Logan Keith, boys basketball. Nick Nazan, boys soccer. And Jason Kuster, girls wrestling. And from West Shore High School, Salah Vigne, girls cross country, 15th place. And Eliza Hicks, girls diving, fifth place. Congrats to all of our teams and individuals who won state championships and the individuals who earned state medals, and to the coaches who earned coach of the year honors. I’m extremely proud of all these student athletes and coaches for their accomplishments and for all the hard work they put in to get here. With all 16 BPS high schools represented tonight, the boardroom is certainly filled with a profound visual of all the success we’re having in athletics in the state level in our BPS schools. That’s it? No, I could, but. All right. That brings us to the adoption of the agenda. Dr. Rendell. Thank you, Mr. Chair. On this evening’s agenda, we have two proclamations, 13 consent items, two public hearing items. Items, two action items and three information items. Changes made to the agenda since it was released to the public include the following revised were F11 meeting minutes, added C10 administrative staff recommendations. Do I hear a motion move to approve? Second. Any discussion, follow. Roll call, please. Mr. Thomas. Aye. Ms. Campbell. Aye. Mr. Trent. Aye. Mr. Susan. Aye. Ms. Wright. Aye. Our first proclamation tonight of tonight’s agenda is mental health awareness. I would like to welcome Yvette Cruz to the podium to read our proclamation for tonight. Whereas since 1949, mental health awareness Month has been a national movement to raise awareness, combat stigma and provide support for the millions of individuals and families affected by mental health health conditions. And whereas. Brevard Public Schools honors the resilience found in every mental health journey and recognizes that mental health is essential to the overall health and well being of students, families and staff. And whereas. Sharing personal experiences and fostering open dialogue about mental health encourages understanding, empowers individuals and helps to eliminate stigma. And whereas Building resiliency in children and adults. Adults Supports emotional growth, strengthens coping mechanisms and plays a key role in navigating life’s challenges. And whereas Resilience allows individuals to manage stress, recover from adversity and thrive in the face of hardship. Skills that are especially vital for academic success and personal development. And whereas Brevard Public Schools commits to fostering a culture of mental wellness through education, outreach, and support, and encourages all students, staff, families, and community members to take action, raise their voices, share their stories, and help change the conversation around mental health. Because in every story, there is strength. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Brevard Public Schools recognizes May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month across the district. Adopted by the members of the Brevard Public School Board, Brevard County, Florida, at the regular board meeting thereof held on the 6th day of May 2025. So tonight we have the do it for Hunter volunteers, as well as Hunter’s family, here to accept this proclamation. Do it for Hunter was founded three years ago in the memory of Hunter, a Merritt Island High School graduate who tragically took his own life in college. This organization raises awareness about mental health, health and support for those who struggle in silence. The organization has placed 18 suicide awareness benches across Brevard county, distributed thousands of 988 lifeline materials, and partners with local schools for outreach. I now invite Kelly to the podium to accept this proclamation. I’d just like to thank you all for recognizing Mental health awareness month. Dr. Rendell, I want to especially thank you for everything that you’ve done for us. You’ve said yes to a lot of the crazy stuff that I’ve asked you to do, like get into a dunk tank and, you know, some other things. Where’s Mr. Ramer? Oh, Mr. Ramer, I wanted to thank you again for saying yes. He stood in my living room a couple of days after we lost Hunter, and he said, what can I do? And I didn’t know what he could do, but I knew we had to. We had to do something. And together, about a year and a half later, my friends and family came together. We. We’ve never put together a nonprofit before. We put together a nonprofit. It is a grassroots nonprofit. Nobody gets paid. It’s not even grassroots. It’s more like weeds. But weeds are strong, and we’re not going away. And just like we weeds and we have lots of things that we do. We raise money. We do the benches, we do stickers and bracelets, and all of it is given away for free. We want our message, our you matter message to get back to the kids. And this is the best way that we could reach the kids is through the school board, through the school system. So thank you for allowing us to do what we do. Thank you for saying yes to my crazy things that I come up with. While we love the recognition, what’s even better, though, is saving a life. And that’s what we’re all about, just saving one life. So thank you. We need to do that. Do I hear a motion move to approve second discussion follow. Roll call, please. Mr. Thomas? Aye. Ms. Campbell? Aye. Mr. Trent? Aye. Mr. Susan? Ms. Wright? Aye. Do you have any comments on this one? Or we can come up so we can do the next one and then we’ll break for some pictures. All right, great. The second proclamation tonight is brain cancer awareness. Ms. Cruz will also read this proclamation. Whereas the month of May is nationally known as Brain Cancer Awareness Month, an opportunity to recognize more than 4,000 children in the United States diagnosed each year with central nervous system tumors. And whereas. Every year on May 17, communities across the United States and around the world come together to observe DIPG Awareness Day, honoring the lives of the children affected by dipg, a rare, aggressive and currently incurable form of childhood brain cancer which affects approximately 2 to 400 children in the United States each year, primarily between the ages of 4 and 11. And whereas. Treatment options for DIPG have remained largely unchanged for decades and funding has remained relatively low in the realm of cancer research, despite its devastating impact on families and its urgent need for medical advice advancement. And Whereas. The observance of DIPG Awareness Day was inspired by the courageous journey of Michael Mosier, a six year old Maryland boy who bravely battled DIPG and whose family has now led national efforts through the Chad Tough Defeat DIPG foundation to raise awareness, drive research and honor children affected by this disease. And Whereas. Thanks to the tireless efforts of families, advocates and legislators, more than 30 states and the United States Senate have officially recognized May 17 as DIPG Awareness Day, helping to elevate this critical cause at both local and national levels. And Whereas. Raising awareness and supporting research during Brain Cancer Awareness Month and DIPG Awareness Day helps shine a light on the urgent need for breakthroughs in treatment and provides a platform to honor the lives of the children and families impacted by this devastating diagnosis, including some of our very own Brevard Public School students. Now therefore, be it result that Brevard Public Schools recognizes the month of May as Brain Cancer awareness month and May 17, 2025 as DIPG Awareness Day to honor all children and families impacted by DIPG across Brevard County. Adopted by the members of the Brevard Public School board, Brevard County, Florida, at the regular board meeting thereof held the 6th day of May 2025. So tonight we have the Sleuth family accepting this proclamation. Vivian sleath is in 4th grade and attends Viera Elementary. Vivian has been battling DIPG for 2 years and 11 months. She is a true warrior whose 10th birthday is this Thursday, May 8th. I now invite Vivian and her mom, who is currently a support specialist at Viera High School, to the podium to accept this proclamation. Hi. Hi. For those of you that don’t know what DIPG is, it’s diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. You typically only get six to nine months to live from diagnosis. My amazing fighter, thankfully has been beating the odds and we can only hope she continues. Thank you for honoring our family with this proclamation. It means more than us than I can express. This recognition goes beyond acknowledging my daughter and her courageous fight. Against dipg. It helps bring critical awareness to a devastating disease that continues to steal the lives of our children. I’m deeply grateful to be her voice and the voice of so many others still battling dipg. We need a cure. And as to the compassionate action of people like you that we move closer to that goal, thank you for highlighting Brain Tumor Awareness Month and National DIPG Day and for giving us the opportunity to be here today day. This journey has been unimaginably painful, but the support, kindness and commitment of our community has helped carry us through. We are sincerely thankful for your efforts to shine a light on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Every year Viv runs a lemonade stand. So if you’d like to come support her next Saturday, this will be her fourth annual lemonade stand. It says this is the. Oh God. Visit the Team Viv Facebook page for more information. Sorry, she cries a lot. It. Second discussion call. Roll call, please. I’ll figure it out. Mr. Thomas. Ms. Campbell. Aye. Mr. Trent. Aye. Mr. Susan. Aye. Ms. Wright? Aye. Mr. Chair, I think it would be appropriate to take a brief recess while we take a couple pictures. We’ll take a brief. It. We are now at the administrative staff recommendations. Move to approve discussions. Paul, Roll call please. Mr. Thomas. Aye. Ms. Campbell. Aye. Mr. Trent. Aye. Mr. Susan. Aye. Mrs. Wright? Aye. Thank you. Mr. Chair. I’d like to take a minute and congratulate some people who just got promoted by your activity. First we want to congratulate Javier Alfonso who has been appointed principal at Saturn Elementary School. Javier, come on up. Good evening. I want to start by thanking Dr. Rendell and the board for entrusting me with this opportunity to lead. Thank you to Mr. Ramer and Ms. Harris for believing in my vision and capacity to make an impact. Your guys support means the world to me. Tonight’s not just about a new role, though. It’s about a commitment. A commitment to the students, staff, and families of Saturn Elementary. I’m ready to lead with purpose, with heart, and with high expectations. And I truly believe that together we will be one of the reasons why Brevard is a top 10 district in the state. I would not be here without the unwavering support of my family. With me tonight, I have my daughter, Blake. I can’t look at them. Jackson, my son, my wife, Alyssa, and my mom, Terry. I’m nothing without them. They are my rock, and I’m forever grateful for them. To my endeavor family, thank you for shaping my leadership journey. Ms. Murphy, your guidance and tough love has pushed me to grow in all the right ways. And Mr. Reed, as my mentor, thank you for always offering me wisdom. Sometimes. Sometimes you say it a little differently, but it’s exactly what I need to hear. I’m honored to be named the principal of Saturn. And I’m ready. I’m ready to serve, I’m ready to lead, and I’m ready to make a difference. Thank you. No. No questions. Now we want to congratulate Kelly McClooney, who has been appointed principal at Palm Bay El elementary School. Congratulations, Kelly. Thank you to Dr. Rendell and members of the board. When I moved to Brevard about 13 years ago, I started a unique path to leadership. I’ve worked in bps as an after school worker, a media assistant, a teacher, a toa, an ap. And now I stand before you tonight. I’m excited. I’ve met a lot of people along this journey who’ve helped to guide me, support me, encourage me and pave the way. There’s so many to name. A lot of them are in this room. But I have to give a special thanks to a few Principal Corey Story, my colleagues in crime at school at Saturn, Cherie Cochran, Arlene Velazquez, my directors, Dr. Mela, Chris Reed, Lisa Hyam, Bobby Pruitt, my mentor, Carrie Castillo, my amazing rope team who have supported me so much through this journey. We created our own cohort within a cohort. Every mentor, mentee, student, teacher, and family I’ve encountered along the way. I’d also like to thank Mr. Ramer, Ms. Hudson, Dr. Ivory, and Ms. Harris for your votes of confidence in my ability to lead at Palm Bay Elementary. The work we’ve done at Saturn has taught me a great deal. We’ve grown together and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Palm Bay elementary. I know Ms. Van Bremmer has done a lot of work and her team has done a lot to be where they are now. I look forward to continuing on that path and working with Ms. Hudson in the south area leading leadership team. I’d like to thank each of you again for entrusting me with Palm Bay Elementary School. But last but not least, I have to thank my family for their support. My mother, my brother who tried to be here, but he’s stuck at work. My daughter Brooke. My son Justin. My father, who’s no longer here with us, but who will be proud to hear me say, let’s go, little pirates. And finally, congratulations to Laura Hobson, who has been promoted to principal at Sable Elementary School. Okay, first of all, I want to thank Dr. Rendell and the school board for believing in me and entrusting me with this amazing opportunity. I have big, big dreams and big goals for our school and I’m excited to get started with those. Thank you to Mr. Ramer and to Mrs. Harris for also believing me. And Ms. Harris is. Was very instrumental in getting me started about six years ago and, and saw some potential in me and, and gave me that opportunity to go to endeavor under Mr. Reed. I have to. I. I think I probably learned the most that I’ve ever learned in my life that year at Endeavor. He’s a great coach and a great mentor, so I’ve appreciated being able to work with him. I need to definitely thank my director, Dr. Ivory. She has coached and supported and encouraged me and asked me hard questions and made me think, and so I’m excited to be able to continue that journey with her as continuing to be my director. Mrs. Trossett, who is my current principal, has been an amazing, amazing partner. We really work well together. We have a very similar vision for our school and it’s been wonderful to be able to share that with her. I’m going to really miss her. I joked for a long time that we need to figure out a way to get two principals because I don’t want to leave Sable. So it worked out this way. I’m going to miss her. And thank you very much for all of your guidance and believing in me and giving me that opportunity to try new ideas and put system in place and make those decisions. She set me free to be able to do that. So I appreciate that. My mentor, Mrs. Marines, who is the principal at Sherwood elementary, amazing data driven brain and has been great leading me in those areas. And Mr. Pruitt, the changes that has been happening in the leadership academies and the AP and the principal academy that I’m hearing coming up have been instrumental in shaping us. So that’s been wonderful. My Sable family, some of whom are here tonight, I am so excited not to have to leave them. We are doing hard, hard work, and we’re doing it together, and we believe in each other and support each other. You will notice that everybody here, pretty much that’s from Sable, is wearing this color of blue. We are using doing the Ron Clark Academy house system at Sable. Super excited to see the changes that are already happening in place. I am the leader of river, and this is river blue, and my team all wore river blue in my honor, even though a lot of them are not river and it’s probably burning their skin. But my rope team, I don’t know what I would ever have done getting through the last four years. This is a hard job as an apartment. Hats off to all APs in the work that they do every single day. Our cohort within the cohort that Ms. McCloney referred to, we are partnered for life, I think, and excited to see the rest of our rogue team finish level two and come with us. And then, most of all, I am so proud to be the mom of two amazing sons who came all the way through bps, are very successful adults now. My oldest son, Brendan, surprised me by coming all the way from Tampa tonight for this, and my other son, Drew, works here at the Cape launching rockets. So I’m so, so proud of both of them, and they are my greatest achievement. R E D R E E V e u r Mr. Chair, if we could take another short recess for some pictures? We shall recess. Sa. Sam. Sa. All right, we are now at the public comments portion of the meeting. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind the public that the appropriate place for public participation in this meeting is during your individual public comment opportunity as identified on the agenda. Outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role in this meeting is as an observer, a warning to those in attendance. If you cause a disruption, you will be asked to leave the premises. If you continue to cause disruption and or fail to leave the premise, you are in violation of Florida State Statute 8771 3. And you will be committing trespass, and the board will enforce these rules. We have how many speakers, Paul? Eighteen on the agenda. Okay. Each will receive three minutes. Our attorney will call the speakers in the order in which they signed up to speak. Mr. Gibbs, please call the first three speakers. Bill Perlman, Pamela Castellana, Allison Lackey. Good evening, Mr. Trant, school board and Dr. Rendell. I’m Bill Perlman. I’m a retired Brevard educator, and I’m proud to support outstanding teachers like Mrs. Calhoun. But tonight, I’d like to speak in favor of Policy 3120 that’s on tonight’s agenda. I’d like to read one of my favorite parts of that policy. Any misstatement of fact material to qualifications for employment shall be considered to constitute grounds for dismissal. It is undisputed that Mr. Trent lied on his application for Brevard Schools. It’s a fact that he was barred from employment with BPS for one year. Based on his lie. It’s a fact he was arrested at least twice, including once for battery. Knowing he was going to be terminated, Mr. Trent resigned his teaching job instead of taking a leave of absence, and he ran for the school board, thereby avoiding any actual consequences. And now, Mr. Trent, you are going to hold others accountable for a policy that you violated. If only there was a word that describes. All right, Mr. Perlman, 3120. We’re talking. I understand I stopped your time, so give me time. I must remind you to keep your remarks focus on the agenda item that you signed up for. If you wish to speak about that would be up to us. Thank you. If only there was a word that describes when someone’s behavior does not conform to the moral standards and beliefs that they claim to have. Fortunately, there is a word. Mr. Trent, you are, by definition, a hypocrite. Not only did you lie on your application, but in 2023, you reported an individual for the exact same thing under 3120, but you were able to get away with it. The investigation finding that individual in Violation of Policy 3120 took 5 days. Your investigation was delayed, delayed, delayed, and took 161 days, plus another 30 days to be made public. And that delay conveniently allowed you to be elected to the school board, fire the superintendent, and vote to hire your former boss, Dr. Rendell, as the new superintendent. Mr. Trent, you have a moral and ethical obligation to resign from the school board immediately for lying and violating Policy 3120 and also violating Policy 3210, because you did not live up to the district standards of ethical conduct. Now, if you are comfortable being a hypocrite and you refuse to resign, which I suspect will be the case, the board should hold a vote of no confidence in you. Failure of the board to do this puts the board’s moral and Ethical standards in question. Now, with my remaining seconds, I would ask members of the audience please stand. If you support Mr. Trent’s immediate resignation from the school. He’s been asked wish to see Mr. Trent Redesign. I still have 19 seconds. Let’s let him hear it. 19 seconds. All right. All right. Now this is for the audience. Pursuant of Florida State Statute 1001 that 372, the presiding officer of any district, school board may order the removal from a public meeting held by the district, school board or any person interfering with the expeditious or orderly process of such meeting, provided such officer has first issued a warning that continued interference with the orderly process of the meeting will result in removal. This is your warning. I will ask staff from this point forward, please address any and all disturbances according to the statute. Pamela Castellana. Alison Lackey. Jocelyn hofstad. Thank you, Mr. Gibbs, for always pronouncing my name correctly. It has nothing to do with my comment, but I appreciate that. I really want to speak about the overall enforcement of policies. Can I do that when you’re talking about policies, or do I need to come back? The subjective nature by which we enforce or don’t enforce policies, does that count as that policy? Speak on a specific policy that you signed up to speak on. Why I signed up to speak on the overall addressing of policies. Katie’s shaking her head. Mr. Chair, could you just tell me. Do I. Can I speak about the overall the way that we enforce policies as a district, or do I need to say that I don’t believe that’s on the issue agenda? Well, it kind of should be. It’s subjective versus objective. Thank you. I’ll reserve my time for a non agenda. Allison Lackey. Jocelyn Hofstad. Lee Price. Hello. Good evening, members of the board and Dr. Rendell. My name is Allison Lackey and I have a concerned parent of three elementary age BPS students. I’m speaking to you today concerning agenda item 30 and the board’s role in supporting the teachers of this district. Our teachers are doing extraordinary work, but they’re doing it under exhausting conditions. They face overwhelming workloads, low and stagnant wages, increasing behavioral challenges, safety concerns, and political interference in the classroom. As a parent and a former public school teacher, I do everything I can to support my students teachers. I know that they are the absolute reason my kids go to school happy every day and the reason they come home having learned something every day. I know I don’t have the power to change all the teachers. If I could stop you for Just one second. I stopped your time. Was just curious. What. What policy we were speaking of our agenda. The employment of and dismissal of teachers. Item 30. All right, so speak of the policy would be great. Okay, so. But I do everything I can to show them how much I value them. I’m asking the board tonight to do the same. Use the power you have to support teachers. By supporting teachers, you are supporting students, which is what you were elected to do with every decision. Ask yourself, are we showing our teachers that they are valued? That their expertise matters? That this district is a place where they can thrive as professionals? In a time when districts across the country are scrambling to find and keep educators, letting go of a teacher like Ms. Calhoun isn’t just unfortunate, it’s an egregious step in the wrong direction. Students everywhere will pay the price for this decision as the ripple effects on teacher morale go far beyond satellite high. I know from my own experience that great teachers don’t grow on trees. My kindergartner didn’t have a teacher for three months and we ended up switching schools mid year so he could have one. Ms. Calhoun’s classroom won’t be the only classroom without a teacher due to this decision, which sent a message to all teachers that are not. To all teachers that they are not valued or respected. To say teachers are essential in education is an understatement. Teachers are everything. What you are doing to. What are you doing to make this profession sustainable? If you want better outcomes for our students, you start by treating excellent teachers like the essential professionals they are. Show the teachers of this district your Support by reinstating Ms. Calcific Calhoun. When you support our teachers, you support every child they teach. Thank you very much for your time. Allison lackey. Lee price. Stephanie argelo. Sorry. Jocelyn Hofstad. Lee Price. Stephanie Argello. Hi. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jocelyn Hofstad. I’m a Brevard county resident and mom of two in our public school system. I am both thankful for the opportunity to speak here tonight and disheartened that I find it not only necessary but incredibly urgent to do so. I want to speak About Agenda Item I 30. The proposed school board policy updates. This job that each one of you has the absolute privilege of holding is the role of a public servant. You are elected to work on behalf of the community and as a member of this community. It has become clear to me that collectively this board is more interested in self serving and partisan decision making and not in acting out the duties of service. The school board Policy states, and I quote, that it is the desire of the board to maintain a staff of well trained, competent instructors to all offer comprehensive services to the students of the district. The summary point for this agenda item here tonight states that the proposed revisions regarding employment are an effort to promote transparency and accountability. I love those words, right? Accountability and transparency. And I really appreciate that those are driving factors regarding policy revisions. My concern is that your track record with those ideals is not so great. How can I, as a parent, trust that you will act on transparency and accountability with sincerity? Since the early days of COVID I have seen this board time and time again choose to put politics over the needs of the community you are elected to serve, put personal biases above the safety of students, and all but abandon support for the exact type of teacher you claim you want to attract and retain. So you are either saying one thing and doing another, or there are some serious hardcore cognitive dissonance going on here. Who this county chooses to employ and who it chooses to let go is extremely important to me as a stakeholder. Recent events reflect a board that has displayed woeful incompetence at best or willful ignorance at worst as it pertains to this exact issue. And I can no longer sit idly by. My kids deserve better. All our kids deserve better. I do want to give a shout out to Mr. Thomas who has demonstrated a much appreciated show of compassion and critical thinking. Critical thinking. Who’d have thought that has proved lacking from his fellow board members. I understand that your job as school board member can be tough. I’m sure it isn’t easy to get yelled at a jokers like us at meetings such as this. But hearing our voices is a part of being transparent and accountable. My plea for each of you is to humble yourselves, set aside your own agenda so that our students can effectively learn and our teachers can effectively effectively teach. Thank you for your time. Lee price stephanie argelo ryan matrigali. Hello, My name is Lee Price. I’m here to speak About Agenda Item 30. I’m the mother of two elementary school students in Brevard County. County. I’m also a military spouse, a business owner and a volunteer mentor for one of our local high school students through Brevard Schools Foundation. But I’m not in the habit of speaking publicly, so bear with me. And I’m not in the habit of coming to school board meetings. But I do care deeply about making sure that public school works for everyone. To me, that’s a pretty basic expectation and I’m getting Tired of that basic expectation not being met, met because of this board’s actions, I attended public school from kindergarten through college education. My mother was a public school teacher. And I’ve always been taught the value of strong public education for all. In 2019, my husband and I moved our family to Brevard County. We were thrilled to live within walking distance to public schools for our kids. Then came 2020. That was tough. My oldest child started kindergarten Garden. I didn’t want to fight about masks. I just wanted my kids to be safe. I just wanted public school to work for everyone. Then came the book banning. On the first day of second grade, my daughter found all of the books in her second grade classroom covered up by black tablecloths. Her teacher covered all of the books the entire year because they were afraid to get in trouble or lose their job. I didn’t want to fight about books, books. I just wanted my kid to be able to read at school. That doesn’t seem like too much after time. If you could just stick to the policy. Sure. Thank you. Now, an English teacher at the very high school my kids will hopefully someday walk to has been let go for maintaining a compassionate and respectful classroom. I don’t want to come to school board meetings. I just want my kids to have strong teachers throughout their public school careers. That doesn’t. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask to me. Now, Mr. Trent, I know you’ve said that you represent parents in Brevard county who have a conservative worldview, that you serve them, and if they don’t share your worldview, they can just move to that. I say, I think you are misunderstanding your job. You serve everyone in this county, my family and the families who cannot and are not going to leave this county. Even if public school doesn’t meet their basic expectations, Brevard deserves better. You each ran for the privilege and duty to make sure that public school education works for everyone. But it seems to me that you’re often doing the opposite. Standing between teachers and students, manufacturing obstacles that keep teachers from doing their jobs, intimidating teachers. Brevard deserves better. I just want public school to work for every. And ostensibly, that’s what you want, too. It’s a basic expectation I have as an American, a taxpayer and a parent. And it’s an expectation that the parents of this county are going to hold you, too. Stephanie Argelo. Brian Matrigali. Kelly Columberti. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Arguello. I’m a proud product of Brevard county public schools. And in fact, Proud product of the gifted program at Tropical elementary that has helped me to remain curious throughout my education, throughout my career. I’m also a millennial mom to an 11th grader, and I work for Equality Florida for the Safe and Healthy Schools program. So I’m here again with all of those hats to speak to you. Referring to to item number 30 on the agenda, which talks about employment, especially again in a time when we’re all struggling across the state to keep good teachers. I speak today out of deep concern, not just about one teacher and one contract, but about the direction that we continue to see, that we’re going into investigating teachers because of expressing ideas that might be different from what each of us hold as individuals. I speak out with deep concern today about how these continued culture wars are impacting our students and our future workforce. Again, in a time when we think about those kids who are leaving college and choosing where they want to be employed, how scary is it to start your career in a place where you’re scared that if you say the wrong thing, it could end your career? And imagine having that be a choice that you have to make As a new and important emerging teacher who is excited to reach our next generation of leaders, Our schools should not be battlegrounds for political culture wars. And yet we’re here again having continued conversations without seeing willingness to at least explore other options, which is what I really want to advocate for. Yes, we want to make sure that our teachers are following the policies as they’ve been laid out. But I would aspire that since it is an educational system that we use education rather than reprimanding when we want to get better, a different outcome or different results, if we’re not seeing the anticipated behaviors that we want, to me, that signals an opportunity to educate, an opportunity to provide that clarity and those guidelines so that your teachers can confidently go in the classroom and focus on what is the most important piece for them, which is those kids that are right in front of them, rather than fear, rather than uncertainty about what they can and can’t do. And again, a lot of these rules do come from the state. It’s not that it’s the board that is creating these rules, but there is an opportunity, again, if we remain curious less about how we agree or disagree, but more so about how can we provide the clarity so that there is no gray in the space? And as someone who, again, works with our school districts, I want to advocate for considering what that education could look like so that we’re not leading by fear in a time where it’s scary to be a teacher. It’s scary to not know if you’re going to be able to support your family because of something that might happen on a day to day. So I just want to really advocate for us to consider what that education could look like, what those guidelines could look like to provide that clarity so that we don’t have to keep playing whack a mole with every situation that comes up. Thank you so much. Ryan Matrigali. Kelly Columburdi. Lauren Kingsley. Good evening esteemed board members. Thank you for enabling me the liberty of speaking tonight at this board meeting. I won’t waste time and get right into it. I will be talking on agenda item i30, specifically the policy 3140 or suspension or dismissal of staff. I would like to first point out that this is an agenda item. This agenda item is a policy. Not a law that can be broken, but rather a policy that was adopted and enforced by this board. This policy is vague and not specific enough to have any real power. The reasons for suspension or dismissal are, and I quote from the board’s actual website, immorality, misconduct in office, incompetence, gross insubordination, willful neglect of duty, or being convinced or convicted or founded, guilty of or entering a plea of guilty to regardless of education or guilt, any crime involving moral turpitude. For everyone’s information, moral turpitude is the action of anything that is inherently immoral or depraved, violating social norms and standards of morality. Found from Google. The person affected by this agenda item is a teacher who has done nothing but support her students through thick and thin. I ask you now, esteemed board members, why did you not renew Ms. Calhoun’s contract? I suppose I’m just confused as to why you, the board did not follow your procedures and policies for this specific teacher. Why does this teacher get an exception from your normal procedures while others blatantly break rules, but it suddenly becomes not your problem. I ask you board members reconsider your decision or at the very least re evaluate the decision you previously made. I ask you go through the procedure and proper steps that you are are required of you to make a decision as impactful as this. I ask you, as a student, reconsider your actions. Do not mistake my words as ridicule or hate. I respect you, all of you. It has just become increasingly difficult to stand behind your decision when it makes so many people, including myself, so unhappy. Thank you for your time. Kelly Columburdi Lauren Kingsley Zander Muritz. Hello Hi, my name is Kelly. Luckily for you guys, I’ve had a migraine all day, so I’m not going to go too ham at the mic. But I am here to discuss the agenda item I 30. I’m concerned about the vague wording on moral character for educators. I believe it leaves too much leeway for subjective and personal personal enforcement. And this belief is easily substantiated when you consider the board’s recent commentary pertaining to different Brevard snafus, if you will, where a teacher and principal who were throwing a dangerous house party with over 100 minors. Okay? @ least one of which needed medical treatment. Those two were treated very differently. I want kids to be learning. I want them to be focused on the subjects that are going to serve them later in life. I don’t want them interrogated by leadership of schools about things that are absolutely benign. I am outraged. You’ve got teachers afraid, okay? You’ve got students nervous. You’re wasting their time interrogating them. And I don’t see a single lick of shame on any of your faces. Not a single bit. All right, I’m done. Lauren kingsley. Xander muritz, then venezia mantello. For about seven or nine. Good evening. My name is Lauren Kingsley, and I’m currently in my 23rd year working as a teacher for BPS. I’m speaking to board agenda item eight, the mental health Proclamation, and I’d specifically like to mention how important school culture is and how it impacts the mental health of teachers and students on campus. I am a classroom teacher, but my previous position granted me the privilege of working with every secondary school in our district. In doing so, the schools that always stood out to me were the schools that had a positive culture. It was obvious that the mental health of all the people on campus was valued there. When I decided to return to the classroom, I was selective. There was one school that had the most amazing culture. So strong, so powerful in fact, that it’s really hard to describe. Whether you lived in the local community or commuted from over 30 minutes away, you felt home there. Everyone was happy. In a world even where we know education is hard. No matter the difficulties and the complaints of the job, everyone at this school wanted to be there. It was like magic. When this school had an open position in my field, I jumped on it. I was so excited to join the faculty at Satellite High School. My mental health as an educator there has been the best I’ve ever known. If you work in education, you know school culture can make or break your success. It impacts student behavior, teacher buy in, and all of the specific data measures that we are so fond of tracking. I cannot stress enough what a positive experience it has been to work at Satellite. I have often said that I work at the happiest place on earth. However, this March, something changed. We could feel a shift. It wasn’t clear at first, but we could feel it like cancer cells slowly growing in our BSL2 lab. It was grounded in anxiety and fear. Then the news reached us that a beloved, highly effective teacher would not be returning in the fall because her contract was not renewed. Our. Our school culture was decimated. Students were heartbroken. Teachers were overcome with fear and anger. Our administrators were put in a position where supporting student and teacher voices became unpopular and dangerous. I’m here today because I’m grieving, I’m sad, and I’m angry that you have gutted the culture and mental health at my perfect, hidden gem of a school. My colleagues at work are questioning whether we can do this anymore. Rather than celebrating graduation and looking forward to next year. When we pull into the parking lot, we sit there and we look at each other and we try to take deep breaths and muster the strength and courage to put on a fake smile and try our best for each other and our students. With one rash decision. You’ve stolen a highly effective teacher’s livelihood, but you’ve destroyed our entire school culture. Please reinstate Melissa Calhoun and join us in rebuilding this amazing culture that Satellite High School used to represent. Thank you. Xander murret, Xander Murit, Venetia Matella and Shandon Stewart. Good evening, board members. I’m here today because what’s happening here in Brevard isn’t just disappointing, it’s very, very dangerous. Over and over again, this board hides behind policy to avoid accountability. But a policy is only good as the people who enforce it with integrity, with care, and with empathy. And when you use that policy to silence people, silence dissent, dodge responsibility, and punish teachers who show compassion, it’s not policy. It’s. It’s a shield. It’s an agenda. It’s political theater. You’ve had students, parents, and teachers tell you that the experience of Brevard Public Schools. All right, what policy are you speaking about? 30. What was that? The agenda. Item 30. Was this working? What was that again? 30. Which policy? I 30. That’s the item. Which policy under I 30, in which you talk about the rules in which you. And hire teachers. Thank you so much. Say it again. Didn’t know. 3120 and 3130 I didn’t memorize the numbers. When I came up, I read what the policy was about, and then I wrote a public comment to address it. That’s typically what I do. Yeah. Can you reverse my time? And then you’re talking. You’re speaking. No, no, no, no. I was answering a question about procedure. Keep going. Board member Campbell, you asked me a procedural question that I’m confused about. Why was it important to note the specific part of the policy I was discussing in my comment? So we know you have to speak to an agenda item. I was. But now my time has been taken from me to say that I was. I have it stopped now. Go ahead. Well, what. Can you ref. Reverse my time? Because the time that I wanted to speak was taken to tell you that I was speaking. It was after I stopped it, then I started it again, and I stopped it again. Speak. Okay. I will speak extra quickly and extra powerfully because this board, in my comment, in which I was saying that you use your policies to silence speakers and prevent dissent from being heard, you silenced a speaker to prevent dissent from being heard. And that’s the problem here, is people aren’t taking this as an isolated incident. You just had an educator tell you that the school culture you’re creating is cancerous. And it’s because they witnessed their leaders, the people that control their careers and their futures, behave like this. What you’re showing is that this wasn’t an incident with Ms. Calhoun. It wasn’t an isolated action. It comes from the political consciousness and the political theater that this board attempts to perpetrate throughout the school district. It comes from the fact that there wasn’t a specific instance with Ms. Calhoun that you had an issue with. It came from the broader political agenda that you all are pushing from this board onto students, onto parents, and onto teachers. Because it didn’t just hurt Ms. Calhoun. It now hurt every other teacher who has to do what that teacher just said and think about how they show up into their classrooms every. Every single day. There’s enough to think about. There’s enough to think about when it comes to the material, the curriculum, the individual issues every student is dealing with, the large issues we’re dealing with as a country when it comes to safety in the classroom. And now we have a culture where people don’t feel like they can come to you safely. And of course they don’t, because when they do come to you, you turn it into a quiz about, well, are you really speaking to the agenda? Well, what are you doing here? How can I silence you here. See, but even that. Like you give a sassy little. You’re not speaking to the agenda and do that. But the thing is that I’m your constitution. The thing is that. But see even here it’s. And see even it’s that attitude. It’s the belief that you don’t work for the people. Which is why you’re not going to be on this board for too much longer and is why that this room is so full. Venetia mattello. Shandon stewart. Sebastian martinez. Good evening. My name is Venezia Mattello and I will be speaking to. Agenda item 30. Dismissal of employees. I’m a Satellite High School graduate and I was blessed to have one of the best English teachers in in the district. Melissa Calhoun was my ELA teacher in 8th grade at Delora and again in 9th grade at Satellite. She helped me increase my state reading assessment scores to fours and fives. Several weeks ago, BPS dismissed Mrs. Calhoun when they did not renew her contract. There was no due process given. There were no criminal charges filed against her. You did not follow your own written policies about the teacher contract renewal. At the last meeting, Mr. Thomas suggested that Mrs. Calhoun’s contract renewal will be readdressed. Thank you for that. The rest of you weren’t willing to even consider the hundreds of positive things that have been said about Mrs. Calhoun. Instead, you are listening to one negative that ultimately has not hurt anybody. I would not be the person I am today without Mrs. Calhoun and other teachers like her that make all the students in class feel safe and seen. In my 13 years of education, Mrs. Calhoun has had the most positive impact on in both my personal life and education along with hundreds of other students. We work harder when we feel a connection with our teachers. She has hundreds of testimonials from current and previous students, colleagues and parents. I urge you as elected officials to look at us and really see us. We are real people in a small community who love and support this teacher. We are not political pawns and this is not about politics. Mesa Kahuna. A phenomenal teacher with a multitude of data points to support that claim. But she’s even more than that. Mrs. Calhoun is a member of our local community. We know her. We go to church with her. We see her children at our weekend and summer camps. We see her attending satellite sporting and music events as well as science fairs to support her students after hours. Please reconsider and really see Mrs. Calhoun for who she truly is. A highly effective teacher and well respected person in our community. Reinstate her contract for next year. And please welcome her back to Satellite High School as she welcomes every single one of her students with open arms into a classroom. If you want the schools to be a place where students feel safe, then you need to provide them with teachers who make them feel safe. Just as Melissa Calhoun makes every single one of her students feel like they belong. Thank you. You so much. Shandon stewart. Sebastian martinez. Crystal casey, Speaking on Policy 30. Sorry, I don’t speak publicly. I’m sure this is. This was written by another teacher that I teach with who is unable to attend, so he asked me to read it on his behalf. Dear Ms. Calhoun, we see you. You are an incredible teacher. You are the sort of teacher that parents hope to see. This if I could just stop you for a moment. It really sounds like an open public comment that goes on at the end of the meeting. Not really. Towards agenda item. You’re. You’re more than welcome to just have that time put where you can come back and speak. Okay. Thank you. Sebastian Martinez. Crystal Casey. Richard Weber. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Sebastian Martinez. Pulling up my little speech I wrote here. Okay, but first, really quickly. I don’t think I’ve seen a board with such disdain for its own constituents. You reference your constituents, but your constituents come up here. They speak to you, they share their experiences and you glare at them, you shrug your shoulders at them and you laugh at them, which isn’t acceptable as a public servant. Onto the agenda. Yeah. What agenda item you speak? Policy 3140, sir. All right, let’s get going. Regarding the dismissal of staff, the policy’s vague language like insubordination and immorality invites misapplication, as we saw in the unjust firing of Ms. Calhoun, a satellite height teacher and Brevard educator of 12 years. Her case shows how this policy will fail our educators and students. I want to share my perspective of its flaws and propose changes to you as a board to ensure fairness and prevent reproduction repeats of national controversy. Policy 3140 has undefined terms such as insubordination and immorality, which are concerningly subjective. Ms. Calhoun’s contract was not renewed for using a student’s preferred name. Was not renewed for using a student’s preferred name. An act of compassion. Yet Policy 3140’s vague just cause could easily be stretched to justify dismissals like those of Ms. Calhoun without clear evidence of harm. This ambiguity risks punishing well meaning professional educators, as seen with Ms. Calhoun, whose 12 years of service in education were dismissed over a single non malicious, non violent and non harmful act. The policy lacks specific specificity. Also fails to guide administrators, leading to inconsistent rulings that will erode trust in this district. We see the community outrage with over 55,000 petition signatures and community protests which show where the public stands without clear definitions, this policy will continue enabling unfair firings, chilling teachers ability to support students, and creating a culture of fear rather than collaboration. You have a current educator, a couple speakers earlier who came up to you, who said what that culture is like. As a teacher, that’s something you need to acknowledge. That’s not a political statement. That’s an educator who works in your school’s current that you oversee. And Ms. Campbell, really quickly, your district is District 5, correct? Your constituents, District 5. You have the largest district in Brevard county with 91,294 people. What policy you’re speaking of? Let’s keep it to the policy. I’ll go back. I’ll go back to policy 3140. Yeah, okay. Policy 31 40. You only won with 12,000 votes. To prevent future injustices like Ms. Calhoun, I proposed three changes. First, define just cause terms like insubordination and immorality with objective criteria. For example, insubordination should require documented repeated refusal of lawful directives. Second, align Policy 3140 with state laws like House Bill 1069, but include safeguards such as mandatory training and legal requirements and review process before disciplinary action, something that Mr. Thomas had recommended, which was a common sense solution to prevent these things from happening in the future. Policy 3140’s vague language enabled the unjust firing. All right, thank you for your time. Crystal Casey, Richard Weber, Zaire. That’s correct. This evening I will be speaking on agenda items. Bravo8NG27. Please do not interrupt my constitutionally protected speech. Mental health awareness should be a topic at the forefront of every month, not just this month. Mental health of students is in jeopardy every time that they are betrayed by those in authority positions who violate the laws of our state and on the federal level. For example, under Agenda G, number 27, this district wishes to approve the contract renewal of Pineapple Cove Classical Academy Lockmar in Palm Bay, Florida. This is the crime scene of a sexual battery which occurred not only to Thomas Benson, but other students too. When principal Paris Koblitz was notified of these crimes committed at her school, she wrote a narrative to deter DCF and law enforcement. To fully examine all of the facts, the principal’s only own report directly contradicts an official detective interview with a victim in a sworn statement. Thomas was an exemplary student with a bright future ahead of him. He has an IEP for cop comprehension among other struggles which Pineapple Cove and this district has denied records to his mother for over a year. In fact, PCCA Admin extorted the mother of the victim in emails stating that she could have her son’s IEP records when she attended a meeting with them to sign documents. PCCA Admin post dated meeting notifications with Thomas’s mother to ensure that she couldn’t attend alienate this family from due process under Title 9. Today, Thomas is suffering from depression for which he has to attend counseling due to the negligence of Pineapple Cove failing to support a victim of rape and sexual battery. PCCA further stigmatized this IEP black student by putting a label on him as a pedophile after expelling him. BPS has a history of re victimizing students entrusted to their care, even retaliating against parents. In fact, BPS has used law enforcement to corruptly assist them in covering their tracks when they fail our students. If you are a PCCA student who was sexually battered by Lucia Gonzalez, you may anonymously email me@report reportrapeotmail.com that email again. Reportrapeotmail.com BPS, you are on notice for participating in the concealment of crimes against children and the shame of that will forever be with you. In reference to this agenda item, I strenuously oppose the contract renewal of Pineapple Cove Classical Academy Lockmar in Palm Bay, Florida. Richard Weber. Zaire. Kena Sametti. And I’m Richard Beaver. Erica oris. Erica’s after two, two after me. Anyway, it’s i30 that I’m going to speak about and I want to say that I’ve heard nothing but glowing things about Ms. Calhoun. And my understanding was that Dr. Rendell was one to make the decision to not renew her contract and then followed up by a vote by the board to not renew her contract in the last minute meeting. Well, let’s talk about moral turpitude. I mean, what I understand is this student went by the name. I won’t say the exact name because I didn’t want to say the student’s name, but. But it looks a kind of like saying stop you right there. Just Samantha. All right, when you see the time stopped, just stop and I’ll. One second, sir. I’ll give you your time. Just hold on one moment, okay? We want to hear you. Are you sure you’re speaking to the agenda item. Would you care to speak at non agenda item time where you can speak about anything you want, but you need to be specific to the policy. We’re just going to ask you that of how you will handle hirings. Does this speak of hirings and retention policy. That’s all. We’re going to keep you target be focused on that. Otherwise speak at the general comment at the end. Okay, well, talking about policies. Thank you. Well, you all made that decision and there was no need to make decisions. That decision. That decision was not something that had to be determined. Why did you make that decision? A common thread through these conversations tonight are putting politics above students. And we want students above politics. You pick out this one teacher. Well, and by the way, way the mother of this child. What was she? Moms for liberty, Moms for America. All right. That has zero to do with the policy. Okay, so this would be. We’re gonna make take a quick recess. That was your final warning, Mr. Beaver. It. Next speaker. Mr. Gibbs. Zaire Kekahuna. Sameti. Samdi. Samdi. Okay. Erica Oris then. Greg Ross. Good evening. I’m here to speak on agenda item I30. Policy 3140 and 3120. Brevard deserves better. Better policies, better leadership and better treatment of our educators. Policy 3140 uses vague terms like willful. If you just hang out, a second timer’s dead. I’ll give you all the time. You don’t mind starting back over again? Okay, just hang on just a second. Cyber attack. There’s a switch on the back. Did you bump it? Nothing’s happening. I have a phone. Go to your. All right. Use your phone. It is. I got happy feet. Sorry. Policy. Can I start now? Yeah, you can start over. I got real loud. My bad, y’. All. Policy 3140 uses vague terms like willful negligence and gross insubordination without defining them. When you leave discipline open to interpretation. Can you all hear me correctly on this? Okay. When you leave discipline open to interpretation, you don’t create clarity. You create confusion, fear, and unequal enforcement. When definitions are missing, discipline stops being about conduct and starts being about politics. And while this policy claims to offer due process, the district has found a loophole. Call it a non renewal instead of a discipline, and suddenly the protections vanished. Students before politics means that educators who stand up for students. Students well being shouldn’t be dismissed without Fair procedures. Policy 3120 says teachers should demonstrate good moral character. But where is the protection when they do just that Ms. Calhoun used professional judgment to support her student, and since she was punished for it, that’s not accountability, that’s political retribution. Worse, the very justifications used to fire her gross insubordination and immorality, remain undefined in both the current and proposed versions of these policies. That tells every teacher you’re only safe as long as your values match those in power. And while you’re tightening discipline, you’re also tightening hiring requirements, making it harder for adjunct instructors to enter the classroom. We’re in the teacher shortage crisis across the state and across the nation, and these changes don’t solve the problem. They deepen it. Brevard deserves better. We can’t afford to turn away good educators. We can’t afford to silence those who put students before politics. And we certainly can’t afford policies that punish the very people that we rely on to care for and educate our children. And also, just for the record, I watched the last school board meeting on the live stream and I was able to able to hear all the comments that were made under some of the board members breath on the mic. I don’t know if you guys heard that here in the boardroom last board meeting, but I heard all the disrespectful things that were said on the mic, including a comment made about your own staff member who is in charge of separating agenda item comments versus public general comment. Just want to let you guys know that we heard everything on that mic. Erica or Oris? Greg Ross all right, well my name is Erica Oris and I’m speaking. I’m going to pull it back to B8 mental health awareness and I want to thank the board to bring this out to our community, especially in reference to our teens. There are multiple factors that affect mental health. The more risk factors adult adolescents are exposed to, the greater the impact to their mental health. Factors include stress, exposure to adversity, pressure to conform with peers, and exploration of identity, Media influence and gender norms can exacerbate these difficulties as well. The prevalence of mental health and suicide related risk indicates is high across all demographic groups. However, prevalence was highest among female students and LGBTQ students. Teen girls are twice as likely as their male counterparts to fall into this category and LGBTQ students are two to three times as likely to experience these indications. Biology also appears to play a role. The age of puberty has been dropping for decades, especially in girls like leading to the difficulty of processing complex feelings in early puberty. Regions of the brain are oh it is policy, okay. Emotions and social behavior are developed developing more quickly than regions responsible for cognitive control of behavior. So when we look at this for all genders, we look at parental monitoring, and adolescents with mental health problems, they lack parental monitoring. So there’s a high correlation between, between parental monitoring and lower mental health disorders. So we want to encourage parents to be part of their children’s education and have that open dialogue Remaining focused on teenage girls. Studies indicate that they are much more likely to struggle with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and gender dysphoria. And again, looking to social media, we see those with gender body dysmorphia deciding to hurt their bodies so that they can look like the pictures on the school, you know, or on their Instagrams. And there’s been a lot of talk about gender dysphoria. There’s a recent study coming out of Brown University and it says that rapid onset gender dysphoria can be cast as maladaptive coping mechanisms. So it’s just another way to look at it. Thank you for your time. If you can send that to us. That was your three minutes. Yeah, you did. Greg Ross. Well, it won’t be hard to follow that word salad. Thank you, board, for this opportunity to speak. How’s that new public comment policy working out for you? Right. You know what I’m talking about. I’m here to speak on item I30. All the policies, all of them. But let’s stick to item 3140, suspension or dismissal of staff. Let’s read some from the policy. It is the desire of the board to maintain a staff of well trained, competent instructors in order to offer comprehensive services to the students of this district. Any instructional personnel with an annual contract may be suspended or dismissed at any time during the term of the contract for just causes defined below. Immorality, misconduct, blah, blah, blah. Right. Well, let’s scroll down a little bit more. Here’s another sentence. No member of the staff may be dismissed by an action of the board. No. No member of the staff may be dismissed except by an action of the board. And then a little bit further down. And this is where we get to the meat of it. Right? Non renewal. I’m sorry. Any member of the instructional staff who’s employed under an annual contract may be suspended or dismissed at any time during the term of his or her contract for cause pursuant to provisions of Florida statutes. Why is that in there? Do you know why? Because if you go up a little bit further, if they suspend somebody under this policy here, right. You have to give them due process Says right here, if the employer wishes to contest the charges, he she must, within 15 days after receiving the written notice, submit a written request for a hearing to the board. So why is that little clause in here, right? Hey, if you do any of this stuff, we’re going to fire you and we have to give you due process. Oh, except if we just decide not to renew your contract. How nice. What a nice escape clause, right? It allows the board to put politics over students. Why don’t you get rid of that? Why don’t you write a policy that handles that, that gives people that you want to summarily dismiss and not renew their contract. It gives them hearing. It gives them due process. Right? You guys didn’t think about any of that. You don’t care about the escape clause because it works out well for you to push your politics that are pushed by the state. We know it. Everybody knows it, Everybody sees it. Due process is important. This teacher, Ms. Calhoun, deserved due process, and you didn’t provide it. Thank you. Is that it, Paul? All right. That concludes agenda items only. Public comments. Thank you for taking your time out of your schedule to attend address the board with your concerns and suggestions. I would like to remind the public that the board is accessible for further conversations outside of our business meeting. Through scheduling a meeting, we are now at the consent agenda portion of our meeting. Dr. Rendell. Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are 13 items on the list under this category. Thank you, Dr. Rendell. Does any board member wish to pull any of the items? I will entertain a motion to accept the consented items on tonight’s agenda. Move to approve. Second. Any discussion? Follow roll call, please. Mr. Thomas? Aye. Ms. Campbell? Aye. Mr. Trent? Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye. Ms. Wright. We will now hold a public hearing for the following G26. Is there anyone present who wishes to address this item? Is there anyone present that would wish to address that item? Do I hear a motion? Move to approve? Second. Any discussion? Follow roll call, please. Mr. Thomas? Aye. Ms. Campbell? Aye. Mr. Trent? Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye. Ms. Wright? Aye. G27. Is there anyone present that wishes to address this item? Once again, good evening. This agenda item for G27 is the proposed contract renewal for Pineapple Cove Classical Academy Lockmar in Palm Bay, Florida, which was the crime scene of multiple sexual batteries rapes of multiple students in April of 2024, which was reported, unfortunately, as I’ve already mentioned this evening, the principal, Paris Koblitz, created a narrative that was false in order to deter law enforcement and DCF involvement. To find the facts of the cases Plural. Multiple students sexually battered and raped. And yes, this does fall under your purview because Mark Grindel signed off on the expulsion of at least that we know of, one student named Thomas Benson. Hear his name? Thomas Benson. I’m going to say it again. Thomas Benson was expelled as a victim of sexual battery and rape at Pineapple Cove Classical Academy Lockmar in Palm Bay, Florida. Because he was a victim. And in sworn testimony with a detective, Detective Graves, by the way, she mentioned to the mother, and it is in that sworn statement that Thomas Benson was a victim. He was not the perpetrator. The perpetrator. We know the name. Her name was Lucia Gonzalez. Write it down. Lucia Gonzalez battered multiple students at Pineapple Cove Classical Academy in April of 2024. The principal participated in covering it up. Multiple administrators at Pineapple Cove Classical Academy participated in covering up up these crimes against children. I will not stop talking about it until you deal with it. I want to know, how does this board retain their insurance bond? How do you retain your insurance bond when you participate in the COVID ups of crimes against children that are sexual battery against multiple victims? After the mother filed a report with the Palm Bay Police Department in November of last year, do you know what magically happened? Thomas’s focus account, which she had no access to. Magically, she had access to and daily. Somebody at this district was falsifying his records to make it appear as if he was present at school when he was not. He was was suspended and subsequently expelled. So for these reasons, I strenuously oppose the contract renewal of Pineapple Cove Classical Academy Lockmar in Palm Bay, Florida. Do I hear a motion move to approve? Second. Any discussion? Paul? Roll call, please. Mr. Thomas? Aye. Ms. Campbell? Aye. Mr. Trent? Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye. Ms. Wright? Aye. All right. Dr. Rendell, will you please let us know about the items under the action portion of tonight’s agenda? Thank you, Mr. Chair. The first action item is age 28. Department and school initiated agreements. All right. Do I hear a motion move to approve? Second. Any discussion? Follow roll call, please. Mr. Thomas? Aye. Ms. Campbell? Aye. Mr. Trent? Aye. Mr. Season. Aye. Aye. Ms. Wright? Aye. Mr. Chair. The next action item is Procurement Solicitations. Age 29. Do I hear a motion move to approve? Second. Need discussion? Follow roll call, please. Mr. Thomas? Aye. Miss Campbell? Aye. Mr. Brent? Aye. Mr. Susan? Aye. Ms. Wright? Aye. We will now move on to the information agenda which includes three items for the board to review and may be brought back for action at subsequent subsequent meeting. No action will be taken on these items tonight. Does any Board member wish to discuss this item. At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and Dr. Mandel an opportunity to recognize students, staff or members of the community. All right, Ms. Kimmel. All right. The week of the last meeting was senior project judging at West Shore and Edgewood and I got a chance to do both. I know Mr. Thomas was there for the West Shore event. Seniors, as always, did an incredible job. I wanted to thank especially the district staff who took the time out of their day and also some of our county commissioners, elected officials, and of course, lots of parent volunteers and people from the community who came to participate in that because it helps the students to see that people in the community care and they always do an excellent job. It was probably the best year of senior judging that I’ve done in my time on board. On a couple Saturdays ago, our local FCA Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization hosted a day at the Field of Dreams park in West Melbourne, which has adaptive equipment and adaptive ball fields and things like that. They hosted an all ability family Fun Day. And I just wanted to thank them because a lot of our students were participating in that. They created a really great day for students to participate in games and competitions that made them feel. And they were cheering them on as they were walking under this balloon arch and everything. They just celebrated each and every one of them. And even though that’s completely they organized it, it’s separate from the school district. I just want to thank them for the way they loved on our kids that day. Thanks. Many thanks to Rachel Rutledge and the CTE department for coordinating the CTE tour of for the District 5 schools. And thanks to the principals and the CTE staff at Milhigh, Heritage and Bayside. They did a really great job. And the community members, I think I had the biggest group. Not that it’s a competition, but I think I had the biggest group going on the tour and had lots and lots of good feedback from them. And they actually really enjoyed the bus rides. Not because, you know, it’s tough to be an adult riding on a bus, but they gave us really good time to have conversations and get their feedback and for them to ask questions. And so I hope we get to do this again and highlight some different programs next year too, because it was really a great day. And then finally, not only is this Teacher Appreciation Week, which has been mentioned a couple times, but it’s also School Lunch Hero Week. We had School Lunch Hero Day on Friday, Friday. But it’s School Entry Hero Weekend. So we continue want to thank not only our teachers, but our cafeteria staff for the work that they do every day to support our kids. That is all I have. Mr. Chair, thank you so much. That’s right. All right. My microphone doesn’t want to move tonight, man. It has been a busy couple weeks for me. So I’m just going to go ahead and give a couple shout outs to a few different places and spaces and people want to give a shout to out out to really Thad Altman and what he’s doing there for the state of the space. That’s an amazing event. Honestly, when you look at all the things that are happening around the space center, the leaders that are there that are really devoted, and then seeing our teacher get to sit on a panel and talk with a lot of these industry leaders about all the amazing things he’s doing in his aviation program. So that was an overall great event. I’m sure Dr. Rendell will want to shout out to the teacher, so I’ll let him do that part of it. Also, we had the Performance Art Schools Foundation’s Champions Lunch. That’s always an inspiring event board. I wish you guys would have been there. We had just really great kids that were performing and, you know, everyone gets their checkbooks out. We write checks for good causes and overall a huge success. So thank you so much for that. I want to thank Dr. Michael Cador. He has been seems to be at almost everything. I’m not sure how he does what he does, but he does. But he actually gave a speech for the ths signing day sign ceremony, which was a huge hit. He’s so well received by all the students there and, you know, just he resonates with them. So thank you so much. Also, I want to thank fpnl. They are sponsoring a classroom in the north end. I believe they’re sponsoring one in the south end as well. But they’re going to have a STEM classroom that’s going into one of my schools in the north end. It was a great, huge Chuck presentation. So thank you for being such a wonderful partner with our school system. And then also Knights Armament, I had the opportunity to go tour their facility as a local employer here and just kind of hear about some of the struggles that they’re having with finding quality employees and how we can partner with them, especially when it comes to our CTE programs. And so I got a very good in depth tour that’s probably every man’s dream museum to go to because it literally has every firearm from 1776 to current day. So it’s amazing. I want to thank them for that amazing tour. Looking forward to finding some solutions and thankful for the help that they’ve been providing since they’re working on a welding program. You know, they have, they have generously raised quite a bit of money to help our students at Cocoa High go the dual enrollment route along with Eastern Florida. And there was some funds that were needed for cost there. And he’s done an amazing job. So, Art, thank you so much. If you’re listening to this, other than that, want to thank all of our teachers. You know, a lot of days the job seems thankless and a lot of days it seems like the best job in the world. So that’s a good thing. I, I remind myself that when I walk the schools, I’m like, all the good that happens in the schools, that’s where it’s at. So we’re very, very grateful to each one of you for making a difference in lives of all of our children. My own children, personally, we love you today and every day. So thank you, teachers. Who wants Ms. Campbell? Oh, you already went. That’s right. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d just like to congratulate three children empowerment, which is a non profit group that I’ve had the privilege of serving on the board with. They held their first event a couple Saturdays ago. It is spearheaded by Dr. Michael Cador, Ray Herring, who is a former player of mine at Holy Trinity, and Coach Hurley Brown, who’s the current head coach over at Holy Trinity. They brought in many community leaders from across Brevard County. A lot of names that most of you guys would recognize, recognized through the years, young and old. But the organization is a way of being mentors to young youth. Not just athletes, but kids from all walks of life and all interests. And they’re really working to inspire and empower these kids. So I think you’ll hear a lot more about this organization, 3, 2, 1 empowerment, as it moves forward. But it had a great kickoff. Thanks to Eastern Florida State College for hosting it and just look forward to big things from that group. So thank you. Mr. Susan. Yeah. I wanted to say thank you to Ms. Rutledge for the CTE tour that she put together for us in the center part of the county. Satellite Viera and Eau Gallie have very different programs. Some are similar, but some are different. And it was incredible to watch the engagement and get some of the business partners that are locally start to get involved for the first time. So as you guys know, the reason behind these is to drum up the interest and get business partners to be a part of our program. That was successful moving in I think duly noted. Next year we do it again and go and you know, support our programs. But you know, under Dr. Rendell and the expansion of career and technical programs in this program board’s direction over the last, you know, eight years and the recent one, your guys direction is become the number one trades programs in the state of Florida. And I promise you they are very proud of that. I also wanted to take a second and remind Everybody that on May 15th the ECAC enlistment ceremony is at Viera High School. We now have over 125 kids that have signed on. We’re gonna there’s 350 that are required requested. So we’re going to be having a swearing in ceremony for all of those students. All of the ROTC battalions will be in attendance along with special guests from the Pentagon, from the 45th Space Wing, from Patrick Air Force Base and others and our great superintendent. I hope all you board members can make it. I want to say that’s an amazing thing that Yvette Cruz has put so much effort effort into making sure that there’s nothing that’s going to go wrong. We have massive military armored vehicles that are showing up and that takes a lot of precise care and if you go talk to her about it, she’s put a lot of effort in. So I want to say thank you Ms. Cruz for all of your work on that. I also want to say thank you we, we all attended the state of State of Space. That was an incredible opportunity to see some of the things that our schools are leading in the, in the county and in the state of Florida and Branson. Some of the coalition and you know, co synergy between all of the organizations that are in the space fields. I want to say thank you to Sea park and Longleaf and a couple other schools that I visited at talk about the farm to table talk about the nurseries and all the other stuff as far as a lot of the vegetation and stuff like that in some of those outdoor gardens. Sea Park’s phenomenal and there’s a lot of great things going on at Longleaf. I wanted to say thank you to those principals for having me and letting me speak to staff and answer and ask any questions that we can for direction over the summer and then that’s it. That’s all I got. All right. Well I too would like to thank Ms. Rutledge for the CTE tours that we had in the central part of the county. Both at Merritt island and at cocoa. Ms. Lubers showed us around Merritt island and those programs, programs there are just top notch. So just making us proud once again to see what is happening inside our schools and the opportunity that we’re giving our students above and beyond what, you know, a college prep looks like. It’s, you know, we talked about farm to table. Well, we’re talking about, you know, students to workforce. It is exciting to see those students excited to get out and start making a living and making an impact in the community. So we saw that both at Merritt island and then Ms. Stewart also showed us around at Cocoa High to look at those awesome CTE programs there. I was there a month ago, but again to sit there in the, in the auto body shop area. I just love that area. The noise, the action, the smells of working on a car. It was, it just, it’s exciting to know that these kids are at absolutely learning to trade. Some were earning dollars as we speak after school and on weekends already. What was interesting was the diversity in there, the girls and the boys, you know, with welding and sanders and painting. It was, it was exciting. So I know they’re excited about that program and our business partners are excited for us to give them work ready students so they can get out there and start earning a bit little. And I’m sure the parents are pretty jacked about that as well. So that was exciting. Again, this is May. We’re a couple weeks away from end of the school year, so again. That’s right. You said shout out to the teachers. It is test time, so it is early to bed. Have a good breakfast for our students. I know you guys are doing this. You’re probably studying as we speak, so you’re probably not up watching this but a shout out again to the test testing coordinators, the administrators, the staff at these schools that coordinate these amount of tests that are going on in the month of May. It is crazy. And we do our best to stay out of the schools this time of year because it’s a well oiled machine in most of those schools. We appreciate you. You’ll be able to, you know, rest for a few hours after the school year is over before I know you’re going to be looking back at what went well this past year. Reflective teaching is exceptional teaching and you’ll start rewriting those lesson plans for next year. But please, we’re there for you and you only got a few weeks left on that. So thank you very much as we Go ahead, Dr. Rendell. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, follow up in some stuff I shared. The last time we were here I was about to travel to Orlando to support our our all county academic team in the academic state championships. Academic team state championships. And it was a very successful weekend for our students. It’s a very demanding tournament. It’s tournament style. Each heat or each round has four different school districts competing and you have to place in the top two to advance through each round. And in every single round or heat our academic team placed at least second. And so they kept advancing all the way to the championship round and they fell just short finishing second in the final round and it’s in the championships. And it was amazing to see all of the students that the IQs obviously were off the chart. I could answer maybe one question each round, maybe, maybe with the help of Google. No. But it was really an amazing event and tournament for our team. And so as we honor the athletic champions today, state champions in placers, we will honor that academic team probably at our next board meeting. And I’ll just finish with despite some of the rhetoric tonight, anybody who knows any of us up here on the board, anybody in leadership knows that we do appreciate all the hard work of all the educators in the building buildings. We do value them. And that’s about all I’m going to say. Well said. Well said. Okay, we’ll take a short recess to prepare for the non agenda item public comment portions of this meeting. It. Sam. Sa.