Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Thank you.
0:30 All right. At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board
0:45 members and Dr. Rendell an opportunity to recognize students,
0:50 staff, or members of the community who would like to go first.
0:54 I would.
0:54 All right, Ms. Campbell.
0:55 Thank you.
0:59 Let me just catch myself up.
1:01 First of all, I wanted to thank the One Voice Revard
1:04 Organization for the Helping Hands Free Disability Resource
1:08 Conference they did on August the 2nd.
1:11 It was a terrible weather day, but even with that, this being
1:15 the inaugural event, it was my understanding that they had 433
1:19 people come.
1:20 And we had two of our representatives from BPS, Dr. Fontan and
1:24 Dr. Baez, were there, and they sat on a panel and shared
1:27 resources that are available through the school district.
1:31 So I wanted to thank them in particular for being there
1:33 representing BPS and the great work we’re doing with students
1:36 with disabilities.
1:38 Second of all, I wanted to thank Dave Lindeman and the
1:40 construction project coordinators.
1:43 I did my annual summer construction project tour, a field trip
1:47 last Wednesday, and Dave, you know, took me around to several
1:50 South Area District 5 schools.
1:52 They just are representative of lots of the projects that went
1:54 on across the district.
1:56 I know they were all happening in all of your districts as well.
1:59 We got to see such great work that our team did.
2:02 So I thank all those people, including the administrators at the
2:06 school, for coming off task for a little bit to show me around
2:10 and let me share with the public what was going on with their
2:13 tax dollars.
2:14 And third, I want to talk about the bus patrol.
2:18 This is very important.
2:19 And one of the reasons why, if for no other reason, I think we
2:22 need to be back on camera because I know the sheriff did his
2:25 live stream on Friday.
2:26 But we want to make sure everybody’s understanding that starting
2:30 yesterday up until through September the 17th, we finally have
2:35 those stop arm cameras activated on our buses, on every bus.
2:40 And for the people who are ignoring the state laws about how you
2:46 stop completely when a bus is stopped with the lights, the
2:51 lights are flashing, the red arms are out, and people blow past
2:55 them all the time.
2:56 I have gotten very aggravated on Derry Road in West Melbourne
2:58 all the time when I see it happens all the time.
3:00 So I just want to give a warning to everyone.
3:03 We want to keep our kids safe.
3:05 So please, please, please, when you see those buses stop, arms
3:07 out, lights flashing.
3:09 We don’t want people to get those $250 tickets that that number
3:13 is set by the state, but that’s going to happen.
3:16 And so from this period, we’re in the warning period.
3:18 It probably will just be about a week before people start
3:20 getting those warnings.
3:21 And as soon as we get to September 17th, it’s not a warning
3:24 anymore.
3:25 It is a fine.
3:25 So please pay attention.
3:27 We want to keep our kids safe.
3:28 And if you watch the video, you saw some of the atrocious video
3:32 of people ignoring those signs, ignoring the law, and putting
3:35 students at risk.
3:36 And we don’t want that to happen in Brevard.
3:39 So finally, board, not finally, I’ve got a couple of other
3:43 things, are the FSBA legislative platform proposals are due.
3:48 The submission deadline is September the 5th.
3:50 We can all, of course, as individual board members, if you’re
3:54 part of FSBA, submit a proposal that would potentially go on the
3:57 platform for this year.
3:58 But if we want to do something together, our next board meeting
4:02 workshop day is our last time to kind of workshop that.
4:05 And I know, Dr. Wendell, we probably need to be getting our own
4:07 Brevard-specific platform together because committee weeks start
4:09 in October.
4:10 But if I would like to request that our next workshop, we kind
4:14 of have just a short time to think if there’s anything we want
4:17 to put on together as a board.
4:19 And then we can submit it together that it’s come from all of us.
4:23 Or if any of us have individual ones, we can put those on there
4:25 as well.
4:26 I wanted to address something about the cell phone issue.
4:29 And I think, especially after having a conversation with Russell
4:33 Cheatham, I just wanted to address a couple of things.
4:37 One, phones can still be used before and after school.
4:41 And I know that doesn’t help the students who can’t stay after
4:43 school to work on science projects.
4:45 But those things, as soon as that last bell rings, students can
4:48 use them to record auditions, to practice with friends, to do
4:52 science projects and things like that.
4:54 Because the restriction is from bell to bell.
4:56 But also, because several people mentioned the laptop, I just
4:59 thought I’d share this from Mr. Cheatham, about the laptops
5:03 being super slow in these last couple of days.
5:06 He mentioned that after the computer slipped through all the
5:08 summer, when the first time they get fired up, which has
5:11 happened a lot in the last two days,
5:13 that it does take quite some time for those laptops to do all
5:17 the updates.
5:19 And so that very, it’s not going to be every day that it takes
5:21 15, 20 minutes, you know, however long for a computer to fire up
5:24 and get going.
5:25 So I just wanted to clarify that.
5:26 And then finally, I did want to address some things that were
5:32 said about Ms. Calhoun’s situation.
5:36 I believe that as I went back to listen to my own response in
5:41 the April meetings and the times we’ve had this conversation, I
5:47 wanted to make sure that I’m being consistent.
5:51 You know, the first meeting that Mr. Thomas brought it up, it
5:53 was a surprise to me.
5:54 So it was like this first reaction off the cuff, but then the
5:56 next meeting we have a conversation.
5:58 So I will tell you that what a lot of people have said tonight
6:01 about the board said this and the board promised, those are
6:04 words actually that came out of my mouth.
6:07 I said that I would hope that after the, that I supported the
6:10 recommendation of the superintendent back in the spring when he
6:14 non-renewed her, that I would hope that once the state was
6:17 finished, that she would apply and be able to come back.
6:20 That is me.
6:21 I am one board member.
6:22 But I will tell you, I also shared, and I still do believe this,
6:26 that this is not a simple matter.
6:28 And I’m going to liken it to this.
6:32 We have, one of my good friends is a media specialist, and we
6:36 had all the conflict about books a few years ago, and I was
6:39 finding out about the process in which they add books to their
6:42 collection.
6:44 She said to me, you know, when I see, the way that they add
6:47 things to the collection is, they either have read it through
6:50 themselves, or they’ve done, I think it was three, they’ve read
6:54 three reviews from professional sources.
6:58 But she said to me, look, if I see a book, and it looks like it
7:01 might be a controversial topic, I’m reading that one.
7:04 I’m not just going to take somebody’s word for it.
7:06 To me, this is the same kind of situation.
7:09 We do have, since almost two years ago, the nickname rule.
7:14 And I get it.
7:15 My son goes by his middle name.
7:17 I have to fill out the form.
7:18 It’s there in focus.
7:19 So I get that.
7:22 But if you have a situation where a name doesn’t match, just to
7:26 be completely honest and transparent, the biological sex, that
7:30 is one of those situations where you probably should check.
7:35 So I’m going to say this, that being said, I have shared as a
7:40 board member, and each board member, I’m sure, I have shared my
7:46 thoughts with Dr. Rendell.
7:50 And I still am of the mind that I hope that once Ms. Calhoun, I
7:54 hope she finds an opportunity at a charter school, private
7:57 school, if that’s allowed, I’m not sure about the rules.
8:01 And if the opportunity opens up next year, I hope that she would
8:05 be able to return.
8:07 But I will say, that is me, Katie Campbell, as a board.
8:09 I have shared my thoughts with Dr. Rendell.
8:12 Nothing that I’m saying tonight is a surprise to him.
8:14 But that being said, I also know my role and my lane as a board
8:17 member.
8:18 It is the superintendent’s job to make the hiring and firing
8:21 decisions in this district, and the board approves them.
8:24 I am not willing, considering what his statement has been, I am
8:30 not willing to create new precedent to step in and step out of
8:35 my lane.
8:36 So, I feel like I can say all that and be consistent with what I’ve
8:39 said from the beginning.
8:40 It is the superintendent’s role.
8:44 So, I just wanted to be clear about that.
8:46 And so, I won’t be bringing forward a motion to ask you to do
8:51 anything that is not in my lane.
8:54 Great.
8:56 Mr. Chair?
8:57 Ms. Wright, do you want to go first?
8:59 Next.
9:00 All right.
9:01 I’m going to change gears.
9:02 So, board member recognitions, that’s where I’m going to focus
9:04 right now.
9:06 Obviously, we’ve had the start of school, so lots of good stuff
9:08 happening.
9:08 All of our kiddos are back in the classroom.
9:10 Thank you so much to the GCR team to help coordinate the first
9:13 day school visits and coming out and taking pictures with us.
9:16 That was a lot of fun.
9:17 I selfishly went to my own child’s school, and I will say Dr.
9:20 Connors is off to a running start at Space Coast.
9:23 She had the band goal and cheerleaders there.
9:24 It was good.
9:25 The atmosphere was welcoming and fun, and I am just very excited
9:28 to see what she’s going to do at Space Coast.
9:30 I want to give a shout-out.
9:31 I mentioned this board to you before that at the very beginning
9:33 of this month, there’s a special individual in the north end, Ms.
9:36 Edna Wilson, who raised funds for this Kicks for Kids.
9:41 And we had the opportunity to go and help, and it was so
9:43 successful that they had to do it for two weekends because there’s
9:47 1,400 pairs of shoes, brand-new shoes, where the kids get to go
9:51 into a shoe store, not just pick any pair of shoe that was
9:53 donated.
9:54 They get to go pick their own pair of shoes, and I just – it
9:57 was a special event.
9:58 I think it really speaks to the fact that that’s what community
10:01 looks like when everybody chips in to help, and I want to thank
10:04 you, Edna, for – I know you worked a ton of hours, and I know
10:07 you helped fundraise, and it’s all for the love of the kids, and
10:11 I just cannot thank you enough for that.
10:13 Ms. Campbell, you obviously already talked about bus patrol, so
10:16 we are very excited about that.
10:18 I want to thank all of our municipality, you know, officers that
10:21 came and stood with us and said, hey, this is a unified front.
10:24 We’re going to do what it takes to make sure that our children
10:27 are safe, and so I’m excited to make sure that that’s one more
10:29 step, that our kids are safe getting on and off of the bus.
10:32 And then other than that, obviously, we had our commissioner of
10:35 education here in Brevard County, so very grateful for that
10:37 visit.
10:37 He got to see a lot of the good CTE stuff that’s going on around
10:40 our county, and I want to thank him for taking the time, the day,
10:43 to come here and see all the amazing things that are happening
10:46 in Brevard County.
10:47 Other than that, I do not have anything else.
10:50 Thank you.
10:50 Mr. Susan?
10:51 Okay, you can pass it up.
10:56 Mr. Thomas.
10:58 So, two things, or actually three things.
11:03 First two are positive.
11:04 The third one is very important to our school district.
11:07 First of all, I’d like to echo the comments about the GCR from
11:12 the Mrs. Wright made.
11:15 Most of you guys know that we all, each of us went to different
11:18 schools on the first day of school and, you know, welcomed the
11:22 kids back.
11:23 And Allison Kimmey with GCR put together an amazing story on
11:28 Facebook.
11:29 If you haven’t seen it, go to our BPS page and click story.
11:33 I believe it’s a trick on how to do it.
11:34 And I like it, but she did a really good job, and it really
11:37 highlighted, you know, all the kids coming back to school.
11:40 So, much appreciated, and kudos to Allison Kimmey.
11:45 Secondly, I’d like to give a shout-out to Dr. Rendell for his
11:48 State of the School presentation.
11:50 He put it on at Vera Middle School.
11:53 Accentuate, or Accelerate Brevard was the host, and he did a
11:59 phenomenal job.
12:00 I think everybody that walked out of that auditorium was a
12:04 believer in BPS and saw all the good things that were going on.
12:08 So, good job on that, Dr. Rendell.
12:10 Dr. Rendell and then last but not least I have I’m gonna bring
12:14 up obviously my
12:16 concerns with Melissa Calhoun and just to answer a couple of
12:19 things that you had
12:21 mentioned I think we’ve taken a simple matter and the district
12:25 has made it
12:25 complicated I think it’s a very simple matter there was a rule
12:29 violation she
12:30 admitted it there was a discipline issued and we have gone above
12:34 and
12:35 beyond that so it’s a very simple issue and my issue is not
12:38 parental right you
12:39 know about parental rights and parental rights were upheld it is
12:42 that we have
12:43 gone above and beyond that so I did make a few comments we are
12:47 staying in our lane
12:48 by the way because you know yes it is the superintendent’s job
12:52 to make personnel
12:53 decisions but when we have we question that decision it’s our
12:57 job to make sure
12:57 that we you know it’s not not card blanche you know we make sure
13:03 that we we
13:04 question and and make sure that we the public know our concerns
13:07 and that’s
13:07 exactly what I’m doing now I have great respect for Dr. Rendell
13:10 before I make
13:11 these comments this is not a personal attack on anybody I think
13:14 Dr. Rendell has
13:14 done a very good job I disagree with him on this decision and on
13:19 his judgment for
13:20 this decision but that doesn’t take away that he’s doing a lot
13:23 of other great
13:23 things and we got we’re in a school district for two two years
13:26 in a row so
13:27 that should not be forgotten he’s he’s he’s done a very good job
13:31 but the
13:31 district told Melissa Calhoun publicly in writing quote Miss Calhoun
13:37 is welcome to
13:37 apply to work at the district when the issue is resolved with
13:40 the state unquote
13:42 that was our word no question that was it
13:45 the state clear to certificate to teach again despite being falsely
13:55 accused of
13:55 gender affirmation made a scapegoat and facing intense media
14:00 scrutiny and
14:01 financial stress of not knowing if she’s going to have a job she
14:03 remained
14:04 dedicated supporting her student success and immediately she
14:12 supported her student
14:13 success and immediately reapplied as soon as she had the
14:15 opportunity had the
14:17 opportunity to do so why did she do that after all that all that
14:20 she went through
14:21 all her family went through she still first thing she did as
14:23 soon as she got
14:24 cleared was reapply who in their right mind would reapply after
14:28 everything
14:28 she went through all right let us talk up here thank you so you
14:36 know I think that the
14:37 reason why she reapplied is because it was driven by her love
14:40 for teaching for her
14:41 students and for this district and that should not be ignored I
14:44 wish we had every
14:45 teacher had that kind of commitment to our district
14:49 and the term has been used but tonight a couple of times but it
14:56 was I’m going to
14:57 claim it because it was my original term and now the goalposts
14:59 have been moved and
15:00 that’s not fair it is my belief that this district’s word is our
15:05 bond and we
15:07 should act with honor and when we say something we should do it
15:10 if we break that
15:11 trust we lose a moral authority to lead and we betray the
15:14 confidence of the
15:15 9,000 employees who rely on us to be consistent and fair and
15:19 principled
15:20 Melissa Calhoun should not be a political pawn or a headline she
15:24 should be a Brevard
15:25 public school teacher
15:30 and I do want to be clear because you know it always kind of
15:36 everybody’s talking about
15:36 parental rights parental rights were were supported in this
15:41 situation there was an
15:42 investigation Mrs. Calhoun was very forthcoming she said
15:46 everything the
15:46 reason why she got in trouble is because she was honest
15:48 so the question shouldn’t be whether there was a violation that
15:57 is that’s not the
15:58 question there was a violation that’s that’s that ship has
16:01 sailed the question
16:02 is now is you know do we keep our word or do we punish her you
16:06 know an additional a
16:08 third time for you know we’ve already gave a written reprimand
16:11 the state already
16:12 levied their their punishment and now we’re gonna go ahead and
16:14 do a third thing
16:15 by not rehiring her to me that’s just that’s that’s triple
16:19 jeopardy
16:19 Melissa Calhoun is a dedicated teacher who made a mistake one
16:23 without malicious intent
16:24 she’s not a woke educator when asked she spoke the truth openly
16:33 and honestly she faced disciplinary
16:35 action from both this district and the Florida Department of
16:38 Education and did exactly what was
16:40 asked of her she did not hide did not lie and did not make
16:43 excuses there was no defiance no hidden
16:46 agenda Melissa simply called a student by the name she had known
16:50 for years the investigation found no
16:52 evidence of malicious intent only that she had intention
16:55 unintentionally broken a DOE rule that was
16:58 communicated to her in a faculty meeting in 2023 but by her own
17:02 admission was not at the forefront of
17:04 her mind at the end of the 2024 2025 school year is that an
17:08 excuse for breaking the rule absolutely
17:10 not yet now some push a false narrative claiming she consciously
17:15 engaged in gender and gender affirmation
17:17 that claim that claim is not supported by any fact zero as
17:25 conservatives we must stand firmly against
17:27 government overreach against punishing someone in this case for
17:31 a third time for the same matter
17:32 leadership means keeping our word even when it’s difficult
17:36 moving the goalposts especially if
17:39 politically motivated sends a chilling message no one is safe
17:42 for becoming the next scapegoat so I will end
17:50 with one final question now nowhere in this investigation any
17:53 facts emerge to support the claim that Melissa
17:55 Calhoun deliberately engaged in gender affirmation the allegation
17:59 is simply and unequivocally false if this
18:01 decision was not politically motivated if Melissa truly posed a
18:05 grave threat to our students she truly posed a grave
18:08 threat to our students why did the district allow her to finish
18:12 the entire school year
18:13 and if that were the belief she would have been removed
18:18 immediately if that if that was the belief she
18:21 would have been removed immediately but she was not instead dr.
18:25 Rendell made it abundantly clear on
18:27 april 22nd to WKMG quote she is still teaching today her
18:31 students are still getting prepared for the AP exams we
18:35 understand that she is an effective teacher but unfortunately
18:38 she violated the law and we’re not going to
18:41 to reappoint her to her annual contract while her certificate is
18:44 in jeopardy unquote well her
18:47 certificate is no longer in jeopardy the district allowed
18:52 Melissa to finish the year there was no
18:54 reason to keep her out of the classroom then obviously and there’s
18:58 no reason to keep her out of the
19:00 classroom now so therefore I make the motion that this board
19:04 request the superintendent
19:06 reevaluate all the facts of this case involving Melissa Calhoun
19:09 and reconsider the decision
19:10 that they are not to rehire her
19:12 okay now for that please refrain from the applause please this
19:25 is our time for the board discussion
19:27 okay all right so I’ll do a couple things we’ll do well
19:40 okay if there’s no second yet it fails
19:43 it just goes away so all right so I’ll say a few words on a
19:50 positive on the end note
19:51 for the the school visit a few schools the first day of school
19:57 went off without a hitch it was awesome
19:59 you know our open gate worked at one of our largest high schools
20:04 it was as if it was not even an issue
20:07 so it was very very uh the same as it was before we had that in
20:11 the place so kudos to all the teachers
20:15 administrators who again a lot uh let first day of teaching go
20:19 through or the schools open and
20:21 no emails no craziness that we couldn’t get the first day of
20:27 school started so uh hats off there
20:30 i will address a couple things that words matter and we did hear
20:33 a lot this evening about a teacher being cleared
20:38 words matter there was no teacher being cleared okay so i don’t
20:43 believe
20:44 probation and needing to take an ethics class is cleared okay so
20:51 let’s be clear on words because words matter
20:53 this board did not say or vote on rehiring said teacher at any
21:00 moment ms campbell you said it out
21:02 eloquently you may have alluded to that and that’s you’re right
21:05 okay but as a board that was not there
21:08 to say so to say this board said something and did another that’s
21:12 political in nature that’s wrong
21:16 the fact is we did not we didn’t take it up for a vote we said
21:20 even a board member said that person
21:23 could reapply now if we didn’t allow that person to reapply that
21:28 would be doing one thing and saying
21:30 another that would be hypocrisy they did apply okay she was okay
21:40 okay so words matter she was not cleared i support the decision
21:45 of our superintendent i know my lane
21:48 that’s an hr issue yes we may disagree on an hr issue but to
21:54 continue to run to the media is not
21:58 the solution it’s not the answer okay we’re one out of five
22:03 votes up here and the sooner we realize that
22:07 it matters okay you understand your role so that’s really all we
22:12 want to say on that okay dr rindell
22:15 would you like to finish i just want to remind everybody that we
22:18 just opened school two days ago
22:20 it takes a herculean effort to get schools open on the first day
22:25 i want to make sure that all the
22:26 people that are responsible for that do get a shout out at some
22:29 point tonight mr trent did talk about
22:32 the teachers in the classroom and the people in the buildings
22:35 but did a lot of work at a lot of
22:36 buildings over the summer to get them ready so i think the
22:39 facilities and maintenance team deserve
22:41 some recognition for that a lot of work was done over the summer
22:45 and we always have to worry about
22:47 making sure that it’s ready on the first day of school and we
22:49 opened with all those projects
22:51 completed and ready on the first day of school and aside from
22:54 one ac shut down today we’ve had two
22:56 really good days smooth openings some bus some late buses as
23:00 usually happens on the first few weeks of
23:02 the school but all the people that did all the work over the
23:05 summer to make sure that we were ready to
23:07 open they deserve some kind of gratitude from the dais today so
23:10 i want to thank all those people who made that happen
23:15 that’s it okay no other business this meeting is
23:29 you