Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
11:00 ♪♪
11:54 -Good morning. The March 10, 2026 board meeting is now in order.
11:57 I’m happy to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
11:59 I would like to take this opportunity to remind the public
12:01 that the appropriate place for public participation
12:03 in the meeting is during your individual public comment
12:06 opportunity
12:06 as identified on the agenda.
12:08 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity,
12:10 your role in the meeting is as an observer.
12:14 Paul, roll call, please.
12:15 -Mr. Sheason? -Here.
12:16 -Ms. Wright? -Here.
12:17 -Mr. Commins? -Here.
12:18 -Ms. Campbell? -Here.
12:19 -Mr. Trent? -Here.
12:21 -At this time, the board would like to hold a moment of silence.
12:23 I invite the audience to join.
12:29 [ Pause ]
12:47 Thank you. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
12:54 -I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
12:58 and to the republic for which it stands,
13:01 one nation under God, indivisible,
13:04 with liberty and justice for all.
13:10 -That brings us to the adoption of the agenda.
13:12 Dr. Rendell?
13:14 -Thank you, Mr. Chair. On this morning’s agenda,
13:16 we have one proclamation, one presentation,
13:19 41 consent items, and three policy public hearing items.
13:25 Changes made to the agenda since it was released to the public
13:27 include the following.
13:29 Added were F12 through F17, revised F9 and F41,
13:34 removed was F18, F19, termination of instructional employee.
13:40 -Do I hear a motion?
13:42 -So moved. -Second.
13:44 -Anything to discuss?
13:47 Paul, roll call, please.
13:48 -Mr. Commins? -Aye.
13:49 -Ms. Campbell? -Aye.
13:50 -Mr. Sheason? -Aye.
13:51 -Ms. Wright? -Aye.
13:53 -Mr. Trent? -Aye.
13:55 -Please welcome Ms. Yvette Cruz to the podium
14:01 to read the Bleeding Disorders Month Proclamation.
14:12 -Whereas considered rare bleeding disorders
14:14 that include hemophilia, von Willebrand disease,
14:17 and rare bleeding disorders are characterized by blood
14:20 not clotting normally due to the lack of clotting proteins,
14:23 also known as clotting factors.
14:25 And whereas in the United States,
14:27 more than 20,000 individuals live with hemophilia
14:30 and rare bleeding disorders,
14:32 with 6,000 of them living in the state of Florida.
14:34 And 1 to 2% of the American population
14:37 who have von Willebrand disease
14:39 and while treatment can help,
14:41 the conditions are not incurable.
14:43 And whereas symptoms of a bleeding disorder
14:45 include unexplained and excessive bleeding,
14:48 larger debruting, nosebleeds and bleeding into joints,
14:51 muscles and soft tissues,
14:53 and if someone has a bleeding disorder,
14:55 they may have extended bleeding with incidences
14:57 such as injury or trauma, menstruation, surgery,
15:00 or dental procedures.
15:02 And whereas the Bleeding Disorder Foundation of Florida,
15:05 founded in 1996,
15:07 supports the bleeding disorder community
15:09 throughout the state and its mission
15:11 to improve the quality of life
15:13 for people with the condition and their families
15:15 through education, information, and referral services,
15:19 advocacy, support, and research.
15:22 And annually the organization hosts 5Ks and fund maps
15:25 and other events throughout Florida
15:27 to bring awareness to the community
15:29 and needed funding for research and support services.
15:33 Now, therefore, it would be a result
15:35 that the Brevard Public School Board
15:37 does hereby proclaim the month of March, 2026,
15:41 as Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month,
15:43 a time to encourage all citizens
15:45 to increase their understanding and awareness
15:47 of these serious bleeding disorders
15:49 and thank the efforts of health care professionals,
15:52 the Bleeding Disorders Foundation of Florida,
15:54 and the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation
15:56 organizations for their dedication
15:58 and their commitment to improve treatments
16:01 and ultimately a cure.
16:03 Adopted by the members of the Brevard Public School Board,
16:05 Brevard County, Florida,
16:07 at the regular board meeting,
16:09 they’re upheld the 10th of March, 2026.
16:11 Do I hear a motion?
16:13 Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, sorry.
16:15 I was going to wait.
16:17 Do I hear a motion?
16:18 Move to approve.
16:19 Second.
16:20 Any discussion?
16:21 All in favor signify by saying aye.
16:23 Aye.
16:25 Now go ahead.
16:26 That was a different type of roll call.
16:27 I did it, I did it.
16:28 Go ahead now.
16:29 So I’d like to invite Samantha Nazario
16:31 up to the podium representing
16:33 the Bleeding Disorder Foundation of Florida.
16:43 Good morning, board members, superintendents, and guests.
16:45 Ms. Sam, before you get started,
16:47 I just want to take a second and say thank you
16:49 for all of your service on the BIPOC committee,
16:52 along with many of the other things
16:54 that you do for our community down south.
16:56 I know that during COVID you worked really hard
16:58 on doing a lot of different stuff
17:00 as far as member of the food drives we did
17:02 and everything else.
17:03 You deserve credit for that before we go.
17:05 Today is about this ceremony,
17:06 but you deserve something else.
17:07 So I just wanted to say thank you for that
17:08 before we get started.
17:09 Thank you, Matt.
17:10 I appreciate that.
17:11 Good morning.
17:12 I’m Samantha Nazario.
17:13 I stand here today as a mother,
17:15 a resident of this community,
17:17 and the 2022 National Advocate of the Year.
17:20 I represent the Bleeding Disorder Foundation of Florida,
17:23 the National Bleeding Disorder Foundation,
17:25 our Familia de Sangre,
17:27 and 120 other real illnesses that stand here with me today.
17:31 March 2026 marks two milestones,
17:34 the 10th anniversary of National Bleeding Disorder awareness
17:37 and our sixth year of a historic partnership with BPS.
17:41 As the first in the nation to recognize our cause,
17:45 you did not just pass a resolution,
17:47 you ignited a movement.
17:49 When my son Tyler was diagnosed at age six
17:52 with Von Willebrand disease,
17:53 our lives changed forever.
17:55 We handle medicine costing $15,000 per dose.
17:59 Because specialized care is rare,
18:01 Tyler’s treatment center is over two and a half hours away.
18:04 We keep three treatments on hand
18:07 just to safely pull off the driveway.
18:10 The average cost for a patient like Tyler
18:13 is anywhere from $300,000 to $1 million per year.
18:17 The literal distance separating my son
18:20 from life-saving treatment is two and a half hours.
18:23 We don’t just survive, we thrive.
18:26 Tyler is a proud BPS alumni
18:28 and was honored as the first ever
18:30 Hispanic Heritage Alumni Spotlight
18:33 in partnership with many people on this board.
18:36 He is also the creator of Team Tyler,
18:38 which has raised over $75,000 for the Hemophilia Foundation,
18:43 of which 89 cents on the dollar
18:45 goes back directly to patient care.
18:48 As a national advocate, he spent his 2024 spring bake
18:51 from Eastern Florida State College
18:53 in Tallahassee securing support from Senator Mayfield
18:56 for the Co-Pay Accumulator Act.
18:58 His work helped lead a historic moment
19:00 where Congressman Bill Posey
19:02 stood as the only Republican signature
19:04 to sign the quill to Congress,
19:06 discharged petition with 218 names
19:09 to enforce the Affordable Care Act before his retirement.
19:13 This county has a history of crossing party lines
19:16 for what is best for our children.
19:18 This isn’t just one dose.
19:20 It’s about a financial crisis.
19:23 Look at the rising insurance premiums we’re all seeing.
19:26 This isn’t just about red or blue.
19:30 Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat,
19:33 we all have blood, and we all need blood,
19:36 and we all need our blood supply to be safe.
19:39 Locally, the crisis is urgent.
19:41 In April of 2025, the CDC was dismantled.
19:45 Over 4,300 jobs were lost in the blood division alone.
19:49 Our country stands with only two people
19:51 to observe and protect our nation’s blood supply.
19:54 This also halted over 383 clinical trials,
19:59 leaving over 75,000 patients and two decades of research
20:03 in the dark.
20:05 There’s more people than the 71,000 students
20:09 you service in Brevard County School Districts.
20:11 We cannot go backward.
20:13 We must honor the 10,000 lives lost to contaminated blood
20:17 that led to the Ricky Ray Act
20:19 and always remember the Ryan White Act
20:22 and the 30,000 Americans who died
20:26 because of our lack of resources and protections.
20:28 Thank you, BPS, for leading the way in this fight,
20:31 and we appreciate you very much.
20:33 Yeah, thanks.
20:35 Thank you, Ms. Samantha.
20:37 Can we get a picture with you?
20:39 Let’s go down there and get a picture with her.
20:42 Just going to denote that the red and the green
20:44 is Italian colors.
20:46 Thank you.
20:48 Somebody with a white shirt can stand in between.
20:58 [inaudible]
21:30 Thank you so much.
21:32 You’re such a good advocate.
21:33 Thank you.
21:34 [inaudible]
21:38 Tyler Hayes for being exceptional.
21:41 [inaudible]
21:43 Yeah, stay safe, my friend.
21:45 Keep advocating.
21:46 Yeah, you spend spring break like no other figure is.
21:49 Thank you so much.
21:51 [laughter]
21:53 [inaudible]
22:20 We’re going to move on to Dr. Endell, who’s going to overview
22:25 his entire reorg
22:26 that he has going on.
22:27 So Dr. Endell, go ahead.
22:29 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
22:30 It’s not an entire organization that changed just a few lines of
22:34 changes.
22:36 As the board members are aware, our chief financial officer,
22:38 Cindy Lisinski,
22:39 has tendered her resignation.
22:41 She’ll be leaving at the end of the month.
22:44 Having a CFO position open presents a big challenge.
22:49 That’s a pretty important job.
22:50 It’s a member of the executive team.
22:52 It’s a high salary job.
22:54 Before we go out and look at a new CFO, we thought about, well,
22:58 do we have people here on staff that could do the work?
23:02 Can we absorb the work here?
23:04 We are in a challenging budget time right now,
23:07 so if we could save a little money and keep the work in house,
23:11 we thought we would do that and take a look at that.
23:13 So I’ve discussed this with each of you individually,
23:17 but we want to share this information with the public.
23:19 There is some misinformation out there about we’re adding all
23:22 kinds of positions
23:24 at the district office, yet we’re cutting positions other places.
23:28 That is not true.
23:30 So I’m going to walk you through a PowerPoint presentation today
23:32 that should answer a lot of those questions.
23:36 So as I mentioned, the resignation of the CFO presents an
23:39 opportunity
23:39 to streamline district management.
23:43 So our proposed organizational restructure, HR, human resources,
23:47 the assistant superintendent of human resources will take over
23:50 payroll.
23:51 They already oversee health and benefits.
23:55 The deputy superintendent, Sue Han, would be responsible for
23:58 financial services
24:00 but also retain her role supervising facility services.
24:05 Some key staff positions we created and modified in financial
24:08 services
24:09 and facility services to better serve our operational needs
24:13 and make sure that we can get all the work done.
24:16 It’s also a way for us to start to build some succession
24:19 planning,
24:20 especially in that financial department, in the Department of
24:23 Finance.
24:24 So many of these changes are on today’s board agenda,
24:27 so I’m going to walk you through what the organizational chart
24:29 would look like.
24:30 I’m a visual learner, so I imagine a lot of the people,
24:32 this might help explain some things.
24:35 This is the current organizational chart for the executive team.
24:40 The district and school security officer, Major Robert Klein,
24:43 is a direct report to me, but he’s not considered part of the
24:46 cabinet.
24:47 All of the other nine positions under there are considered part
24:50 of the cabinet
24:51 or the executive team, so there are nine positions.
24:54 As you can see, the chief financial officer is listed as vacant.
24:58 So the proposal is to eliminate this position
25:02 and streamline and reduce the members of the executive team,
25:07 so to go from nine members of the executive team to eight.
25:10 You can see the change in title for deputy superintendent.
25:13 Suhan is just deputy superintendent now, not 15 other things,
25:17 just deputy superintendent.
25:19 So this is the proposed structure.
25:21 We eliminate the chief financial officer position,
25:23 reducing a cabinet level position, reducing a salary cost.
25:29 Now, we’re going to use that salary to spread out over some
25:32 other positions,
25:33 but also we will realize some savings in the end.
25:37 This will be a cost reduction in the end.
25:40 So right now, Suhan oversees facility services.
25:44 The proposal is that she would oversee facility services and
25:47 financial services.
25:50 This is the current makeup of financial services,
25:54 the CFO position, which is now vacant, three director positions
25:58 under that,
25:59 director of accounting services, budget cost accounting, FTE,
26:03 and payroll services.
26:06 The proposal for financial services looks like this.
26:09 Suhan, the deputy superintendent, would oversee financial
26:12 services overall.
26:14 We do want to add a new position, executive director of
26:17 financial services.
26:19 The job description is on the agenda for today.
26:22 So this would be like an assistant CFO, maybe a CFO in training.
26:26 This would be someone who we believe has the skill set to lead
26:29 this department,
26:31 but maybe doesn’t have the experience just yet, that kind of
26:33 thing.
26:34 So this is the only additional position in financial services,
26:39 so this would be an add.
26:41 Obviously, the salary for this position would be much less than
26:44 the CFO position that we’re eliminating.
26:48 In the bottom right of the other three boxes there, you see
26:51 director of accounting services,
26:53 director of budgeting, cost accounting, and FTE.
26:56 Those were both on the previous chart.
26:58 That position to the right is new, director of financial
27:01 planning and cost analysis.
27:03 That position was already in the budget for next year.
27:06 The board had approved that position two meetings back,
27:09 and we have interviewed and are ready to hire that position.
27:13 So this is not a new cost to the budget.
27:15 We already had this in the budget.
27:17 It’s a new position, but it already was in the budget.
27:20 And we have selected that person, and their appointment is on
27:24 the agenda for today.
27:26 So even though it’s a new position, it’s not a new cost.
27:28 It was already in the budget.
27:31 For facility services, there are also some changes on the way.
27:37 So, you know, deputy superintendent Sue Hand, this is the
27:40 current.
27:41 She has those three directors, planning and project management,
27:44 environmental health and safety,
27:46 plan operations and maintenance.
27:49 The proposal is to keep those three directors in those spots,
27:53 but then upgrade some of the people that report to them.
27:57 The facility planner position is new,
27:59 but the cost for that will be offset by eliminating a vacant
28:02 position.
28:03 The manager of environmental health and safety would be a new
28:06 position.
28:07 The manager of maintenance operation would be a new position.
28:10 We have people identified for those positions,
28:12 and so when we promote them to those positions,
28:16 the only delta will be the difference in what they’re making now
28:19 and the new salary.
28:20 Their current positions will not be filled.
28:23 So when you add all these changes up, we’re still going to see a
28:26 budget reduction.
28:28 The only other change to the organizational structure is payroll.
28:33 Right now, assistant superintendent of human resources Ryan Dufresne
28:36 has human resources
28:37 and professional standards and labor relations.
28:40 He would just add payroll to his area of supervision.
28:44 In a lot of districts, payroll does reside in human resources
28:47 anyway, so it’s a natural fit.
28:51 What we’re asking the board to do today is, number one, accept
28:55 the resignation of the CFO,
28:57 appoint the director of financial planning, cost analysis and
28:59 innovation.
29:00 Again, that was a position that we added two or three weeks ago.
29:04 It was board approved. It’s already in the budget.
29:06 It’s not an additional cost.
29:08 Then the new job descriptions for deputy superintendent,
29:11 executive director of finance,
29:13 manager of environmental health and safety,
29:15 manager of maintenance and operations, and that new facilities
29:18 planner job.
29:19 So the idea is when we thought about the fact that we had a CFO
29:24 opening,
29:25 do we have the people in the room, so to speak, on staff already
29:29 that can do this work?
29:30 And we do. We think we do.
29:32 So we want to restructure the organization so that those people
29:35 can do those jobs,
29:37 fill those positions.
29:39 I think one of the things that makes this, I don’t want to say
29:42 easier, but more attractive,
29:45 is the fact that Sue is a big player in this.
29:48 Everybody respects Sue and her work.
29:52 She already oversees a rather large budget in capital, and
29:56 everybody trusts her work with that.
29:58 She also oversees the sales for tax funds, and everybody trusts
30:02 her work with that.
30:04 She actually came to me when we realized we were going to have a
30:07 CFO opening and said,
30:09 “I have experience in this type of stuff.
30:11 I feel like I could help the district in some way by overseeing
30:15 finance.”
30:16 So that’s the proposed restructuring.
30:20 Any questions?
30:23 Go ahead.
30:25 Thank you for the detailed explanation of this, and obviously
30:27 when you presented this to me personally,
30:29 my concern was is this a cost savings to the district?
30:33 And the question I would like you to answer publicly, is this a
30:35 long-term plan,
30:37 or is this a short-term fix for something?
30:40 Do you anticipate hiring a CFO, and how will that change the
30:45 structure if we were to hire a permanent CFO?
30:48 Yes, it’s a really good question.
30:50 I think we’re looking at this for at least a year to 18 months.
30:53 We want to see if this organizational structure will work, and
30:57 if it works, then we will carry it forward for perpetuity.
31:01 But if in the next year to 18 months we see that that assistant
31:04 director position becomes someone who can take over the role,
31:10 then maybe we go back to having a CFO.
31:14 If we were to do that, that would change Sue’s role.
31:18 Thank you.
31:19 I want to say also to Sue, thank you, because honestly you
31:21 manage so much right now,
31:23 and so there is a level of relief I think for myself, and
31:26 probably I don’t want to speak for everybody else,
31:28 but knowing that you’re willing to step up and step into this
31:30 role, because we do trust you implicitly, so I appreciate you.
31:34 That’s the only question that I had. Thank you.
31:40 I just want to make one last comment, since we’re on television
31:43 or whatever.
31:44 There was some chatter out there in the public about us adding
31:47 positions while we’re cutting positions other places.
31:50 We are streamlining.
31:52 There are some new job descriptions.
31:54 There is one new position, but in the end this will save money.
31:57 So there was chatter out there about that,
32:01 and we don’t always get to explain before job descriptions go up
32:04 on the agenda and that kind of thing,
32:06 so hopefully this presentation will allay anybody’s fears that
32:10 we’re adding more bureaucracy while we’re cutting other places.
32:14 So it will streamline and make us more efficient.
32:18 On that line of thought, can you just share again the 7% that
32:23 has been wildly misunderstood in the public,
32:26 that you’ve asked people in this building to do?
32:29 That work is already in process, was already in the plan.
32:33 Ms. Lisensky had already identified areas of positions that
32:35 wouldn’t fall in this chart
32:38 because they’re farther down in the structure, right?
32:41 But we’ve already had reductions or planned reductions due to
32:44 retirements, natural attrition, vacant positions.
32:47 Those things are continuing to happen that will be part of the 7%
32:50 across the district leadership, district offices, correct?
32:55 Yeah, so again, I want to make sure everybody understands the 7%
32:58 reduction was for district-based services,
33:01 so not school-based people, not teachers, not anything like that,
33:05 district-based services.
33:07 And it’s cutting 7% of the district-based payroll, you know,
33:13 human capital for next budget year.
33:16 So nobody, you know, now we did realize some of those savings by
33:19 vacant positions that are positions that are vacant today
33:22 that we went ahead and eliminated for next year’s budget.
33:25 But there were some reductions of actual positions, but most of
33:29 it was realized with restructuring or eliminating vacant
33:33 positions.
33:34 But again, that was not at the building level, at the school
33:36 building level.
33:37 There were some small reductions in par, but we typically see
33:40 those every year anyway.
33:42 Yeah, thank you.
33:44 So Dr. Rendell, thank you so much again and applaud you for
33:48 bringing forward something that is going to reduce costs.
33:52 And I applaud you for cutting the budget from the district
33:55 headquarters because everybody always says that.
33:57 If there’s a way that the board members can get the overall plan,
34:01 you know what I mean, reviewed so that we know ahead of time.
34:04 The other thing is that, you know, we all deal with the chatter
34:08 online of all the social media that tells people things that
34:11 aren’t true.
34:12 And you know what I mean, that’s why it’s called fake book and
34:15 other things that we understand.
34:17 So anybody that’s listening out there, please wait until the
34:20 school board meeting to figure out exactly what the truth is
34:22 behind things
34:23 because there’s a lot of false accusations out there.
34:27 So with that, everybody good on this?
34:29 All right, thank you so much.
34:31 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
34:38 I’m going to roll into some stuff now.
34:41 We’re now on to the public comments portion of our meeting.
34:43 We’ll have are we still at three to two public speakers.
34:48 Each will receive three minutes.
34:49 Our attorney will call the speakers in the order which with
34:51 their signed up to speak.
34:53 Mr. Gibbs, please call the first two speakers.
34:56 Mark Levine and Bernard Brian.
35:18 Morning, Mr. Superintendent, members of the board.
35:21 My name is Mark Levine.
35:22 I’m with the firm of Levine and Stivers in Tallahassee.
35:25 And I’m here on behalf of your agenda item regarding the Dan
35:28 Bennett and his –
35:31 the superintendent’s request to relieve him without pay during
35:35 dependency of a termination hearing at the end of the month.
35:39 Your comments about social media, Mr. Chair, absolutely
35:42 appropriate.
35:44 Social media is out of control.
35:46 And I hate the fact that you guys have to deal with it.
35:49 But I hate the fact that anybody has to deal with it.
35:52 So let me suggest to you this, which should be helpful.
35:56 The Department of Children and Families has cleared Mr. Bennett.
35:59 And as of 4/30 yesterday, the sheriff’s department in Brevard
36:03 County has cleared Mr. Bennett.
36:06 I was with the detective personally with Mr. Bennett.
36:10 And they announced they were closing their file.
36:13 I’m quite disturbed by this press release.
36:17 I presume each of you have seen it. It’s about half a page that
36:21 went out.
36:22 I don’t know why it went out.
36:25 This whole incident has not been discussed publicly, nor has it
36:28 been ramrodded around through the district.
36:32 This just generates more concern, more publicity, more comment,
36:38 particularly on social media.
36:40 Plus the press release is absolutely inaccurate.
36:44 It says specifically that two students engaged in oral sex while
36:48 Mr. Bennett was under their care.
36:52 That is not true.
36:54 The sheriff’s department confirmed that there are varying
36:57 stories about what occurred.
37:00 The seriousness of the event they cite to Mr. Bennett being the
37:05 past president of BFT, which is true.
37:08 And for those of you who were on the board when Mr. Bennett was
37:11 president, you will remember that he was very instrumental in
37:14 helping this board and the union come together on a number of
37:18 important issues.
37:20 To bring this out about Mr. Bennett is just another strike at
37:24 the union.
37:25 It’s uncalled for and it’s just pushing the program of the
37:29 commissioner of education and the governor to do anything to
37:33 criticize union and move forward to make public education
37:37 private schools.
37:39 The press release is inadequate. Whoever put this out ought to
37:44 be ashamed of themselves.
37:46 They ought to be ashamed of themselves because they embarrass a
37:49 32-year employee with no discipline, his family, his children,
37:53 and they put this out when there’s no reason to do so.
37:57 Now if the superintendent wants him suspended while we go to a
37:59 hearing, because I can tell you we’re going, we’re signed up for
38:03 this one, then they ought to do it.
38:06 You ought to consider that at the end of the month on March 31st
38:09 when you consider the termination recommendation.
38:13 If you want to punish Dan and continue to punish him while this
38:17 is pending, then go ahead and put him on leave without pay. No
38:23 reason.
38:24 Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Levine. Mr. Bryant.
38:39 Good morning, Dr. Rendell. Again, my name is Bernard Brian and I
38:45 represent the South Dakota branch of the NAACP as well as the
38:48 concerned citizens.
38:50 I just want to say a couple of things. Looking at your
38:55 administrative recommendation, I just want to publicly thank Ms.
39:01 Bowman and I’ve heard that she’s retiring.
39:04 Ms. Bowman has done a fantastic job engaging the community. It’s
39:09 kind of how I got started, so I just want to personally thank
39:12 her.
39:13 She got the community together talking about educational issues
39:17 and she deserves a lot of credit for that.
39:21 And I would also like to give a big shout out to Ms. Suhan. You
39:26 guys said that she has a lot of credibility.
39:30 We trust her. We consider her our family a little bit, so I’m
39:34 her adopted brother and we just pray that she can handle all
39:38 this workload and that she can stay healthy during this time.
39:43 But I want to have a shout out. This past week, last week, I
39:47 visited University Park Early Education Program and I did a walk
39:52 through with Ms. Myers, Ms. Ballo, as well as Ms. McDonough.
39:59 I was so impressed with what I saw with the early learning
40:03 classes. Those kids were engaged. The team was so professional.
40:09 When I saw those kids, they came running to me, hugging me. I
40:12 went hugging them. In my mind, I said, “Why don’t every child in
40:16 Brevard County have that early learning opportunity?”
40:20 So that’s my plea with you today. We looked at your millage
40:24 taxes. Is there any opportunity to move some of that bucket to
40:28 help in the canvassing area?
40:31 Are there any opportunity to really boost the advertisement in
40:35 those modularized communities?
40:38 I just want to beg this board to really put all the resources
40:44 you can. When I saw those kids’ faces, it was like, “Oh my God,
40:50 Brevard Public School has the best early learning program.”
40:55 I was so proud to be there with Ms. McDonough and the team. I
41:01 just want to see what we can do to canvass more, advertise more.
41:09 I’ve been passing out flyers personally.
41:09 Every child needs to experience that, no matter what side of the
41:13 track you live on, no matter what your finances are.
41:18 I just hope that we hurt our heads on that. We want to partner
41:22 with you. If you need me to pass out flyers, call me. I would do
41:26 that.
41:27 This is where it all begins. Kindergarten readiness is where the
41:32 gap is going to close.
41:35 Looking at the modularized areas, there are a lot more
41:37 opportunities to engage every child.
41:40 Thank you, Mr. Bryant.
41:45 That concludes the agenda items only for public comments. We
41:48 thank you for taking time out of your schedule to address the
41:49 board with your concerns and suggestions.
41:51 I would like to remind the public that the board is accessible
41:53 for further conversations outside of our business meeting
41:55 through scheduling a meeting.
41:57 We’re now on to the consent agenda, Dr. Rendell.
41:59 Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are 41 items on the agenda under
42:02 this category.
42:03 Thank you, Dr. Rendell. Does any board member wish to pull any
42:05 of these items?
42:06 Mr. Chair, I’d like to pull item 18, suspension of instructional
42:09 employee.
42:10 Okay. Anybody else?
42:15 All right.
42:18 I’ll now entertain a motion to accept the consent agenda for
42:22 tonight’s agenda minus the number 18.
42:26 Would anybody else like to pull item?
42:28 No?
42:31 Minus the 18.
42:32 Right.
42:33 Okay.
42:34 Got to get a second somewhere?
42:35 Second.
42:36 All right.
42:37 Paul, you want to roll call, please?
42:38 Mr. Thomas?
42:39 Aye.
42:40 Ms. Campbell?
42:41 Aye.
42:42 Mr. Susan?
42:43 Aye.
42:44 Ms. Wright?
42:45 Aye.
42:46 Mr. Thomas?
42:47 Aye.
42:48 I’m sorry.
42:49 Mr. Tran?
42:50 He said aye twice.
42:51 All right.
42:52 Mr. Thomas, you have number 18.
42:53 We need a motion and a second.
42:54 Move to approve.
42:55 What’s the motion?
42:56 Move to approve this number 18, the suspension of instructional
43:00 employee.
43:01 Do I have a second?
43:04 You have to second it to have the conversation.
43:06 All right.
43:07 I’ll second for conversation.
43:08 Is there a second?
43:09 Yep.
43:10 There we go.
43:11 Your floor.
43:12 Okay.
43:13 Thank you.
43:14 Yeah.
43:15 So I would like to postpone this item or at least discuss it
43:20 today, though I in no way
43:22 condone the alleged inaction of our teachers and staff that were
43:27 involved in this incident
43:30 if that actually occurred.
43:32 I just want to ensure that we have all the facts and make sure
43:36 the due process is taken
43:37 into account and all rights are protected on the student side
43:40 and the teacher and staff
43:41 side.
43:43 And after reviewing the investigation, I think it would be
43:45 prudent for us to make sure that
43:47 we have the DCF summary and obviously the final police reports
43:52 before we take any action
43:55 on this.
43:56 So I know this is only for suspension at the moment.
43:59 The other thing I’d like to, you know, I guess ask the
44:02 superintendent or bring to the board’s
44:03 consideration.
44:04 I don’t know if this is a board matter, if it’s appropriate, but
44:07 I know that currently
44:07 he is on unpaid leave and I just want to make sure that this,
44:11 how this teacher is being
44:12 treated until proven guilty is consistent with how we’ve treated
44:17 other teachers that
44:18 have been arrested for this teacher hasn’t even been arrested.
44:21 He’s been cleared apparently by the BCSO.
44:23 So to make sure that this teacher is not getting unfairly penalized
44:27 before we have are able
44:28 to get all the facts.
44:32 You said that he was currently on unpaid leave.
44:36 He’s currently paid.
44:37 Oh, he’s currently paid.
44:38 Okay.
44:39 I was under the understanding it was unpaid leave.
44:40 According to now it is, this would be, that would be the motion
44:43 that you’re doing.
44:44 I just wanted to make sure that on February 25th, mr Daniel
44:46 Bennett was placed on unpaid
44:47 leave from his position.
44:48 That’s what it says in our, in our, in our packet.
44:51 And this is furthering the February 20.
44:53 Okay.
44:54 So I’m, my suggestion is, is I don’t just for discussion
44:56 purposes, I think, and make
44:57 sure that we’re being consistent with other employees and
45:00 teachers that, um, like I said,
45:02 no way condone.
45:03 I don’t know, have all the facts yet.
45:04 So I’m not saying he shouldn’t, you know, these not, we shouldn’t
45:07 move forward with
45:08 the process.
45:09 I just want to make sure we have all the facts and I, until we
45:11 have all the facts, I want
45:12 to make sure that we’re consistent with how this particular
45:15 teacher is being treated,
45:16 that it’s consistent with other other employees of, you know, in
45:20 a similar nature or worse.
45:22 Okay.
45:23 Mr. Trump.
45:24 Okay.
45:25 I appreciate the, the due diligence that you want us to have.
45:33 I, you know, mr Levine does his job.
45:36 He does his job.
45:37 Well, um, his job is to defend a member of the union and every
45:41 time that I’ve had him
45:42 or any other person for you didn’t come before me when it, since
45:45 I’ve been on the board,
45:46 they, they do the same thing.
45:47 They emphasize the points that they, um, feel like they need to
45:51 emphasize to defend their
45:53 clients.
45:54 I will have to just, I just want to get our focus back on what
45:58 the focus is.
45:59 The things that mr Levine mentioned are not necessarily the most
46:02 important, at least for
46:03 me to, I think to the district, what the most egregious error
46:07 was, which has been admitted,
46:09 the non reporting.
46:11 It is once something happens or you are told that something has
46:15 happened, it is, it is
46:17 not as a, as a teacher or an IAA or a custodian or a cafeteria
46:21 worker, it is no longer in
46:23 their realm of authority.
46:25 They must immediately report it to their supervisor because that
46:28 person is the one who is responsible
46:30 for doing the investigation, for making sure that the, you know,
46:34 the I’s are dotted and
46:35 the T’s are crossed.
46:36 Uh, the teachers don’t get to make that decision of whether they’re
46:39 going to report it or not.
46:41 If there is a, if there’s a concern, they think something might’ve
46:43 happened, they have
46:44 to take it to their supervisor.
46:46 And that is the thing that’s, that’s, that’s the law.
46:50 It’s our policy.
46:51 It’s also the law and that’s what we’re looking at regardless of
46:55 what the sheriff might’ve
46:56 said.
46:57 DCF might’ve said those things have not been reversed that I’m
47:00 aware of and it certainly
47:01 wasn’t mentioned this morning and if they had been, I think they
47:04 would’ve, we would’ve
47:04 been told that.
47:05 I did have a question that will help me, um, help us I think
47:09 make this decision.
47:10 Um, Paul, if, um, we go to the hearing and a magistrate judge,
47:15 whoever’s in charge of
47:17 it decides that we, uh, unfairly, um, made even this, this
47:21 decision putting Mr. Bennett
47:23 on unpaid leave, um, there is recourse for him to receive back
47:28 pay if that decision is
47:30 found in favor of the employee.
47:31 Is that correct?
47:32 Right.
47:33 Yeah.
47:34 If they wouldn’t really view this piece, if he’s reinstated, if
47:37 you move forward with
47:38 the termination, as Mr. Levine mentioned is on the agenda for
47:41 the 31st, he would get back
47:43 pay to the period, I mean the, the, the decision could be a
47:47 suspension without pay for 20 days,
47:50 30 days, whatever it is.
47:52 And then he would get back pay without the 30 days.
47:55 But yes, it would be if he were to prevail at the hearing, he
47:59 would get back pay.
48:01 Okay.
48:02 That, that helps.
48:03 Um, but I, I, your question is fair and if the superintendent
48:06 would be willing to answer
48:07 or absolutely willing to answer is as far as what we have done
48:11 when we put people on
48:12 unpaid leave versus paid leave, you know, depending on the
48:15 situation, um, being consistent,
48:17 that is a legitimate request that, um, it would be good to get
48:20 answered if we could.
48:22 Yeah.
48:23 Thank you, Mrs. Campbell.
48:25 We have put other employees on unpaid leave.
48:29 This is not the first time we’ve done that.
48:32 Several instances recently.
48:34 Thank you.
48:37 So my question is, is, I know that we’ve had teachers that have
48:40 been arrested on, I don’t
48:42 remember specific cases as far as paid or unpaid leave, but even
48:45 more egregious than
48:47 probably than this incident, not saying that this is not, it
48:50 could be potentially egregious.
48:53 My concern is, is that there’s no doubt there a teacher, whether
48:56 this turned out to be unsubstantiated
48:58 by the report and what doesn’t mean that the teacher did not
49:01 have a duty to report even
49:03 if it turned out to be false.
49:04 Don’t dispute that at all.
49:05 I just want to make sure that we’re consistent with how this is
49:09 investigated and that the,
49:11 both the teacher and the students are protected.
49:13 I’d like to weigh in on this one if possible.
49:18 Okay.
49:19 Um, all right.
49:20 So just for clarification purposes, teachers are mandatory
49:23 reporters.
49:23 That is a fact.
49:24 They are not mandatory reporters to their supervisor.
49:26 They’re mandatory reporters if they see something, as far as
49:28 they can, they’re concerned for
49:29 child abuse, neglect, abandonment, or other misconduct that will
49:32 affect a student’s health.
49:33 They’re mandatory reporters to DCF.
49:35 Um, my issue, and I, I’m, I’ve been very honest about this with
49:39 my conversations with Dr.
49:41 Bell and HR, I spent quite a bit of time reading through the
49:43 investigation yesterday myself,
49:45 um, is consistency in application.
49:47 I feel like that’s a very valid question.
49:49 There were other adults that were in the room when this alleged
49:52 incident took place.
49:53 Are we consistently applying fair discipline across the board?
49:56 Um, so I have some concerns there as well.
49:59 Uh, I in full transparency, I acknowledge my bias to this
50:03 teacher.
50:03 This teacher taught my child and taught my child very well.
50:06 And so I know him and I am, uh, you know, he’s an exceptional
50:10 educator.
50:11 And he does have a stellar record for 32 years.
50:13 Uh, it doesn’t take away the fact that he is still required as
50:17 is every other employee
50:18 of our district, uh, to report anything that they suspect when a
50:22 child is potentially in
50:24 danger.
50:25 Um, so that part of it, I wrestle with the, the disconnect there.
50:29 Um, right now the motion that stands on the floor is for us to
50:32 approve the re the superintendent’s
50:34 recommendation.
50:35 And so obviously we’ll have to go through that motion, uh,
50:38 depending on how that motion
50:39 comes out.
50:40 I suspect the proper protocol would be for an amended emotion.
50:44 If it doesn’t pass.
50:45 Is that correct?
50:46 Mr Gibbs?
50:47 If it fails and there will be no motion on the floor, somebody
50:49 can make a motion, make
50:50 another motion.
50:51 If there was needing, you can also amend the current emotion.
50:53 You can amend it for different, yeah.
50:56 So when I guess the, the, the issue I have is that the
51:00 investigation is not completed
51:01 for all the other employees that were present in the room, right?
51:05 So there, there is that, that does exist.
51:07 And so how do we pick one that we chose first that we’re going
51:11 to go ahead and investigate
51:13 and then what about the others?
51:15 And so there is inconsistency there in my mind.
51:17 Um, but I’d like to make an amendment to the current.
51:21 Well, I can’t amend her motion.
51:22 She’d have to amend her motion.
51:24 You can correct.
51:25 You can make a motion to amend, but then it would have to be
51:28 approved by the board.
51:30 You would approve yours and then it would come back to it to
51:32 approve.
51:33 That’s the proper process.
51:34 No, it’s better than going and denying something and coming back.
51:38 All right.
51:39 So I, I’m going to make a motion to amend, I guess Ms. Campbell’s,
51:42 uh, original motion
51:43 to approve and just ask that this be pulled until the complete
51:47 investigation for all employees
51:49 is done and it’s addressed at the same time.
51:51 I don’t think that works with this motion.
51:57 That’s I would recommend you to just make that motion separately.
52:00 Okay.
52:01 You wanted to do that?
52:02 That’s what I was saying.
52:05 That’s not really an amendment.
52:06 That’s just postponing the decision down the road, which is fine,
52:11 but I would take the
52:14 vote on this.
52:15 It’s going to get messy.
52:16 Well, that’s what I was thinking.
52:17 That’s what I was saying.
52:18 Should we put hers at work?
52:19 I would recommend you.
52:20 Okay.
52:21 All right.
52:22 So I haven’t, yeah, again, just to summarize what I said, I have
52:24 issues with consistency
52:25 of application and um, I too was frustrated with that letter
52:28 that got sent out.
52:29 I think it was, I understand the district’s position in this.
52:33 I understand it and I understand the union’s position in it and
52:35 somewhere between this,
52:36 the board is caught, right?
52:37 Because we’re the ones that are responsible to make the decision
52:39 that is the best decision
52:40 to protect the overall wellbeing of the district and our
52:42 students.
52:43 So it is a struggle for me.
52:45 I will, I will go ahead and convey that very clearly.
52:47 Um, but I do think that we have to have consistent application
52:51 if nothing else.
52:52 So Mr. Chair, actually, um, Trent hasn’t weighed in yet.
52:59 Oh, he said he was good.
53:00 I thought.
53:01 Yeah.
53:02 But you can get them back and forth years.
53:03 It’s a man of many words, especially today.
53:06 Did you have something you need on his side?
53:11 No, I can, if I could speak to, it’s right here, I, you know, I
53:16 will express my own frustration,
53:18 which I share with Dr. Rendell yesterday about the press release,
53:21 but I have to make this
53:22 decision today regardless of what we might’ve put out to the
53:25 press.
53:25 Um, as far as going with other employees, we can, um, I, I haven’t
53:29 heard or seen anything
53:31 that says that we’re not also following the process with other
53:34 employees.
53:34 That discipline just hasn’t come to us and I don’t think it
53:36 would ever be appropriate.
53:38 I don’t think this is exactly what you’re saying, but it’s kind
53:40 of coming across this
53:41 way that we would make one employee’s discipline dependent on
53:45 another employee.
53:47 We have the ability to, and we should, because also the level of
53:50 responsibility is different.
53:51 The reporting is the same, but the level of responsibility in
53:54 classroom is different to,
53:55 make sure that we’re going through each one.
53:57 And also some of it has to do with, um, what was admitted, right?
54:01 If someone admits something, then there’s not really a whole as
54:04 much investigation that
54:05 has to happen.
54:06 So, um, you know, I, I just would be, I would caution this
54:10 always against making the decision
54:13 on one employee dependent on another.
54:14 I think those are, those are separate.
54:17 They need to be done.
54:18 The investigation needs to be done.
54:19 They just need to be made if they need to be brought before us
54:20 and to be brought before
54:21 us.
54:22 But those are separate and they all always need to remain
54:24 separate in my mind.
54:25 Mr. Chair.
54:26 Yes, sir.
54:27 Well, this is some good discussion here.
54:30 Um, I would like to, uh, a mentor motion and Ms. Campbell’s
54:34 motion and, um, move forward
54:36 with it, move for approval, but change it from unpaid to paid
54:39 until this has been resolved.
54:41 Um, and I will tell you this, the, my hiccup in the whole thing
54:45 is, um, yes, because he
54:47 is a 32 year old, a 32 year employee with a stellar record has a
54:52 phenomenal record as
54:54 a teacher here that we want to make sure that, um, yes, there’s
54:58 not, not condoning even through
55:00 his own admission.
55:01 He should have reported it, but there’s a big difference between
55:04 reporting something
55:05 that was a rumor and unsubstantiated and an act, something that
55:08 actually occurred and
55:10 proven to have occurred in my mind for not saying he shouldn’t
55:13 have received some kind
55:14 of discipline, even if that, even if it was just a false rumor,
55:18 he still had a duty or
55:19 a duty to report.
55:21 But obviously if it not being, sorry, um, but I think it lessens
55:27 the severity if it
55:29 turned out to be proven to be a false rumor, unsubstantiated, uh,
55:33 claim.
55:34 So now saying there’s not, is it worth, is it, should a teacher
55:37 of 32 years with a stellar
55:38 record be eventually terminated because they, because of this
55:42 incident or should they be
55:44 received discipline?
55:45 That’s something that we can, can be determined.
55:47 I just don’t think it can be determined at this point.
55:50 So the motion on the floor is to take the termination of pay and
55:55 move it to suspension of pay to move it to the same time
56:01 as a possible termination?
56:03 I’m just moving it to make it paid until we
56:06 have– until the issue comes back up.
56:09 And I think by the time this comes back up on the agenda,
56:12 hopefully we’ll have the DCF summary
56:14 and we’ll have more facts on the investigation.
56:17 So basically, the next time they would come up
56:19 would be at the termination would be–
56:21 or the non-termination or anything like that
56:23 when it does come up.
56:24 So if it does come up that it’s termination,
56:26 then that would be the date that we would decide to terminate
56:31 the pay under this motion.
56:33 And if you moved forward with it and there
56:35 was no termination that comes up,
56:36 he’s continued to be paid, is what it is.
56:38 Correct, I just think–
56:39 Does anybody understand that?
56:41 Yeah, I have a question.
56:42 Oh, sorry, I wanted to–
56:43 He needs a second.
56:44 I have a question if the suspension is the right term,
56:46 because is it– do we have suspensions with pay?
56:49 It’s just unpaid.
56:51 Right now, yeah, they’re putting them out on unpaid leave.
56:53 But that’s the nature of a suspension.
56:55 He wants to make it paid leave.
56:57 No, he’s making a–
56:59 No, he’s just saying that he wants
57:02 to terminate the pay upon termination, is what it is.
57:05 I’m saying that while this is going on,
57:07 to change it from unpaid leave to paid leave.
57:09 I’m sorry if I threw in the term suspension.
57:11 The suspension is what is in the motion,
57:13 so we need to change it from suspension to paid leave,
57:15 because that’s a different–
57:17 That’s what’s in labor relations.
57:18 It says suspension of instructional leave.
57:22 Which is by nature, unpaid.
57:24 So we need a second.
57:26 Sorry, OK.
57:27 I’m trying to wrap my head around.
57:28 Your recommendation is to change it to paid leave–
57:32 excuse me– until this comes back before the board
57:36 at the end of the month.
57:38 Or if they don’t bring it before the board, it never happens.
57:40 They may move in a different direction,
57:42 depending on the DCF summary and once the investigation is
57:46 complete.
57:47 I’ll second the motion.
57:48 OK.
57:50 All right, so now we’re on the next discussion.
57:54 Do you want to care to elaborate anymore?
57:56 Does anybody else wish to speak to this motion?
58:00 Ms. Campbell?
58:02 I am in favor of my original motion without change.
58:07 I think, like I said, if we get the investigation done,
58:10 the pay will come back.
58:11 But I don’t think this is the right direction to go.
58:18 Oh, you’re hitting your button, go ahead.
58:20 Well, like Ms. Campbell said, and I
58:22 think Dr. Indell could weigh in on this, too,
58:25 when we mentioned suspension, it is typically without pay.
58:32 Many times.
58:33 So I concur with Ms. Campbell.
58:36 During the suspension, it’s without pay.
58:39 If it comes at the end that this teacher prevails,
58:44 he’ll get whatever he’s got coming to him.
58:47 So just to keep it under the same language,
58:52 I would keep it the same myself, instead of changing things
58:55 around at this point.
58:57 If I can add one thing really quick.
58:59 This was actually from a slide show
59:02 put on by union representatives at a school faculty
59:05 meeting last week.
59:07 They thought that this particular issue
59:09 was so important.
59:10 May have been unprompted, but my guess
59:12 is it was unprompted by the current situation.
59:14 They actually had a whole slide that they went over in detail,
59:16 saying student supervision and reporting,
59:19 and here are the bullets underneath it.
59:21 Do not leave students without supervision.
59:23 Treat every incident, no matter how small,
59:26 as something that must be reported.
59:27 If a student trips and falls, report it.
59:30 If a student shares information with you,
59:31 even if it sounds like a rumor, report it.
59:34 When in doubt, document it.
59:35 If a conversation happens verbally,
59:37 follow up with written documentation.
59:39 Protect yourself by assuming nothing is too minor.
59:42 The union thinks this is important.
59:47 Any other discussion?
59:51 All right.
59:52 Paul, roll call, please.
59:53 Mr. Thomas.
59:54 Just to clarify, this is for Ms. Campbell’s original motion.
59:57 No, this is for your amendment.
59:58 Amended amendment.
59:58 Then I vote aye.
1:00:00 Ms. Campbell?
1:00:01 Nay.
1:00:02 Mr. Season?
1:00:02 Aye.
1:00:03 Ms. Wright?
1:00:04 Aye.
1:00:05 Mr. Trent?
1:00:05 Nay.
1:00:07 Now back on to the original motion.
1:00:09 Anybody have any conversation on it?
1:00:10 I do.
1:00:11 Now it’s the motion as amended, so it would be [INAUDIBLE]
1:00:16 I have a question.
1:00:17 OK.
1:00:19 It’s still leave though, right?
1:00:22 And without it, we don’t have an end date
1:00:25 to this until– I mean, our proposed end
1:00:27 date was the next time it comes before the board on the 31st.
1:00:31 OK.
1:00:32 I have one more thing, too, when you’re done, Ms. Campbell.
1:00:35 I also want to recommend that we take this time–
1:00:37 and I asked this question when I was in HR yesterday,
1:00:39 spending several hours going through the file
1:00:41 and the investigation– that the district takes the initiative
1:00:44 to go ahead and send some type of link, some kind of additional
1:00:47 training on mandatory reporting to every single individual
1:00:50 within our– and I know this probably happens when it comes
1:00:53 to professional development, but I couldn’t get a real clear
1:00:56 answer there, so I think it’s a good time right now just
1:00:59 to remind all of the employees their responsibility
1:01:02 and requirement is not to investigate.
1:01:03 It’s not to assume that something is or isn’t true.
1:01:06 It is to report.
1:01:06 That is their responsibility.
1:01:09 And this case kind of makes this glaringly obvious point.
1:01:14 Mr. Chair?
1:01:15 Sir?
1:01:16 Mrs. Wright, it’s part of their annual training every August.
1:01:20 Every August.
1:01:21 Can we do it twice a year?
1:01:25 I mean, I just feel like–
1:01:27 How many times does it take to get this message?
1:01:31 This is a very important message.
1:01:32 And I’m pretty sure they have to sign off that they watched it
1:01:35 or went through the training.
1:01:36 That is correct.
1:01:37 Well, fair, but I mean, just in this conversation,
1:01:40 Ms. Campbell, you just stated that they are supposed
1:01:42 to report it to their supervisor.
1:01:44 They know they’re supposed to report it to DCF.
1:01:45 So that’s why I’m just saying, I think there’s a misconception–
1:01:48 and this case is very obvious about this–
1:01:50 on who am I reporting it to.
1:01:51 Because there were three adults in that room.
1:01:53 And that means that, technically speaking,
1:01:55 three adults should have all called DCF, all three of them.
1:01:58 They shouldn’t have reported it to another teacher or an admin
1:02:00 or whatever they should have–
1:02:00 And they should have let their admin know.
1:02:01 Well, absolutely.
1:02:02 But their first step is calling and reporting it.
1:02:04 And so that’s why I’m just saying,
1:02:06 I think there’s a misconception.
1:02:08 And if you have a 32-year veteran that
1:02:10 has this misconception, it’s probably a fair assumption
1:02:12 to make that there are many others in the district that
1:02:15 have–
1:02:15 You’re assuming that it was a misconception.
1:02:17 And without knowing, I would think that’s a stretch.
1:02:21 There was three adults in the room of different levels.
1:02:24 And they all had the same misconception.
1:02:25 So that’s all I’m saying about that.
1:02:27 And I do want to clarify.
1:02:28 I did say supervisor.
1:02:29 But my main point was that it’s not their job.
1:02:33 And you clarified that for me.
1:02:35 It becomes someone else’s.
1:02:37 It’s not at your level of discretion
1:02:40 to determine as that employee.
1:02:41 So I want to clarify that.
1:02:43 I did want to make sure we’re super clear what
1:02:46 a yes or no vote on this.
1:02:48 Now that it’s amended, if we were to vote no,
1:02:52 that means this employee is not on leave
1:02:56 and could go back into the classroom.
1:02:58 OK, thank you.
1:02:59 So if our intention is for him to not be in the classroom,
1:03:02 then we need to vote yes, amended or not.
1:03:05 OK, thank you.
1:03:08 Any other discussion?
1:03:10 Sorry, what did you just say?
1:03:11 She basically is.
1:03:12 Because if we don’t approve this right–
1:03:14 If I don’t like the amendment that was just made,
1:03:17 I’m not going to vote no now.
1:03:20 Because then I’m voting for him to go back into the classroom.
1:03:22 So whether I like the amendment or not, I need to vote yes.
1:03:25 Otherwise, he’s back in the classroom.
1:03:27 Not necessarily back in the classroom.
1:03:29 Well, not on leave.
1:03:31 Let me clarify because they could put him in the warehouse
1:03:33 or somewhere else like that, right.
1:03:37 All discussion done, everybody good?
1:03:39 OK.
1:03:40 Now we’re voting on the actual–
1:03:42 We’re voting on the motion as amended by Mr. Thomas.
1:03:45 Mr. Thomas?
1:03:46 Aye.
1:03:47 Ms. Campbell?
1:03:47 Aye.
1:03:48 Mr. Susan?
1:03:48 Aye.
1:03:49 Ms. Wright?
1:03:49 Aye.
1:03:50 Mr. Trent?
1:03:51 Aye.
1:03:52 Is everybody good?
1:03:54 Don’t need to take a break or anything?
1:03:55 Nope.
1:03:56 Nope, I think we’re good.
1:03:57 We’ll now hold a public hearing on proposed policy
1:04:00 for revisions for public hearing and regular board member
1:04:03 meetings, PO employment and staff.
1:04:06 Is there anyone here who wishes to address these items?
1:04:08 Anyone here who wishes to address these items?
1:04:10 You’ve got to call them individually.
1:04:12 What’s that?
1:04:12 You’ve got to call each one.
1:04:14 So the first one would be 3120.
1:04:16 I did.
1:04:16 Employment and staff.
1:04:17 Oh.
1:04:18 I did.
1:04:19 You didn’t say the number.
1:04:20 Yeah, I was looking for the number, sorry.
1:04:22 Sorry.
1:04:23 Move to approve?
1:04:25 Second.
1:04:26 Yep.
1:04:26 Any discussion?
1:04:27 No.
1:04:28 Paul, roll call, please.
1:04:29 Mr. Thomas?
1:04:29 Aye.
1:04:30 Ms. Campbell?
1:04:30 Aye.
1:04:31 Mr. Susan?
1:04:31 Aye.
1:04:32 Ms. Wright?
1:04:32 Aye.
1:04:33 Mr. Trent?
1:04:33 Aye.
1:04:34 Next up.
1:04:35 Is there anyone here for PO 6210,
1:04:38 Allocation and Use of Ad Valorem Millage?
1:04:40 Is anybody here who wishes to address these items?
1:04:42 Anybody here who wishes to address these items?
1:04:45 Move to approve?
1:04:46 Second.
1:04:47 Any discussion?
1:04:49 Paul, roll call, please.
1:04:50 Mr. Thomas?
1:04:50 Aye.
1:04:51 Ms. Campbell?
1:04:52 Aye.
1:04:52 Mr. Susan?
1:04:53 Aye.
1:04:53 Ms. Wright?
1:04:54 Aye.
1:04:55 Mr. Trent?
1:04:55 Aye.
1:04:56 PO 8407, Safe School Officers.
1:04:59 Is there anyone here who wishes to address these items?
1:05:05 Move to approve.
1:05:06 Second.
1:05:07 Any discussion?
1:05:08 Paul, roll call, please.
1:05:09 Mr. Thomas?
1:05:10 Aye.
1:05:10 Ms. Campbell?
1:05:11 Aye.
1:05:12 Mr. Susan?
1:05:12 Aye.
1:05:13 Ms. Wright?
1:05:13 Aye.
1:05:14 Mr. Trent?
1:05:14 Aye.
1:05:15 We are now at board member discussions, reports,
1:05:18 and recognitions.
1:05:19 Mr. Thomas or Mr. Trent.
1:05:22 Can you go?
1:05:23 Yeah, I can go.
1:05:24 OK.
1:05:25 I need a minute on–
1:05:25 Everybody was kind of scrambling because we
1:05:27 got to it pretty quick.
1:05:28 Oh, that’s fine.
1:05:29 Just bear with me.
1:05:31 Don’t typically–
1:05:33 I’m ready when you are.
1:05:34 Eric, go ahead.
1:05:35 All right.
1:05:38 This week, I’d like to recognize an employee
1:05:41 from Meadow Lane Intermediate School, elementary school.
1:05:45 Ms. Barnett, the principal, had provided me
1:05:48 some information about her.
1:05:49 And I’d like to read it to you at this time.
1:05:53 Ms. Barnett stated, “I would love
1:05:55 to recognize our literacy coach, Mrs. Lisa Hershey,
1:05:58 for the tremendous impact she has on both the staff
1:06:01 and students at our school.
1:06:02 Mrs. Hershey is an instructional leader
1:06:04 who works closely with our grade level teams,
1:06:06 meeting with teachers to collaboratively plan
1:06:09 standards-aligned lessons that support strong literacy
1:06:12 instruction across our campus.
1:06:14 She also leads our lead mentor program,
1:06:16 where she supports new teachers by modeling
1:06:18 effective practices in their classrooms
1:06:20 and helping them build strong instructional foundations.
1:06:24 In addition to supporting teachers, Mrs. Hershey
1:06:26 dedicates significant time directly to our students.
1:06:29 She teaches in our academic support program
1:06:31 and leads six small reading groups each day,
1:06:34 providing targeted instruction to help students
1:06:36 strengthen their literacy skills and build confidence
1:06:39 as readers.
1:06:40 What truly makes Mrs. Hershey special
1:06:42 is the way she makes learning joyful.
1:06:44 Her reading groups are engaging in fun,
1:06:46 and students are always excited when it’s their turn
1:06:49 to be a part of her group.
1:06:51 You may also spot Mrs. Hershey around campus
1:06:53 with her beloved Woot Woot Wagon and Cool Schools Tools,
1:06:56 celebrating students who have passed their eye-ready lessons.
1:06:59 These moments of recognition motivate students
1:07:01 and bring a sense of excitement and pride to learn.
1:07:03 Mrs. Hershey is a welcoming, anticipated presence
1:07:05 in classrooms.
1:07:06 Throughout our school, both staff and students
1:07:08 admire her energy, dedication, and unwavering commitment
1:07:11 to helping everyone succeed.
1:07:13 We are incredibly grateful for all
1:07:14 that Mrs. Hershey does that strengthens our teachers,
1:07:17 inspires our students, and contribute
1:07:21 to the positive culture of our school community.
1:07:24 So I would just like to mirror those comments
1:07:27 and say congratulations, Mrs. Hershey,
1:07:29 and thank her for all that she does
1:07:31 for Medellin Intermediate Elementary School.
1:07:34 That had to be the best recognition I’ve ever heard.
1:07:38 Who else?
1:07:38 Who’s next?
1:07:39 I’m trying to shake it up a little bit
1:07:41 because Ms. Campbell always gets called next,
1:07:42 and we go down the line.
1:07:43 I just had to write one more note, and I’m good now.
1:07:45 You’re good?
1:07:46 No, go ahead.
1:07:46 All right, so you’ll have to bear with me on this.
1:07:51 So this past weekend– we’ll go from here–
1:07:53 we had the flag football jamboree, which was amazing.
1:07:58 It was great.
1:07:59 It was all over the place.
1:08:01 So it started as early as 8 in the morning.
1:08:03 And I had the pleasure of starting off
1:08:06 at the 8 in the morning over at Gulfview, and all the parents.
1:08:10 What a showing.
1:08:12 It was great.
1:08:12 I’m sure everyone here is going to say where they went.
1:08:16 But it was like a big fair.
1:08:17 I mean, it was the excitement that early in the morning.
1:08:20 They had cheerleaders out from all the different schools.
1:08:22 Each site had about four different schools
1:08:24 that were competing pretty much all day long.
1:08:27 So a shout out to all the principals that showed up.
1:08:30 We even had one of the principals
1:08:31 had to jump in and be a referee for the whole day.
1:08:34 So he was out there.
1:08:37 So started at Gulfview, went over to Autobahn,
1:08:40 and they hosted three other schools.
1:08:43 And again, same excitement.
1:08:44 The place was packed.
1:08:45 Parking was out under the street.
1:08:47 And they had a little food truck.
1:08:49 And again, the cheerleaders from this high all the way up
1:08:54 through.
1:08:55 And then lastly, over at Roosevelt–
1:08:58 and this one was special.
1:08:59 They have such amount of land back there.
1:09:01 They had three games going at the same time.
1:09:03 But this district is so well connected.
1:09:08 And we care about students so much
1:09:09 that we must have contacted Space Force because they
1:09:13 were doing flyovers all day training for the helicopters.
1:09:18 And I said, of course, we scheduled that.
1:09:20 But I think the second flyover, they
1:09:22 realized what was going on.
1:09:24 And they actually circled the field a little bit more.
1:09:27 And the kids had a blast there that day.
1:09:31 So that was a wonderful time.
1:09:33 So a shout out to all the principals, the staff,
1:09:37 the parents, and of course, the students.
1:09:41 These are kids that would probably– most of them
1:09:44 would have probably still been in bed on that Saturday morning.
1:09:47 But they took the time out to come out there.
1:09:51 They all had their uniforms.
1:09:52 And it seemed like many of them.
1:09:55 This was their maybe first shot at athletics on the field.
1:10:01 It was really nice for them to experience that.
1:10:04 So a shout out to the board here to approve all this,
1:10:07 to get that in place, and actually
1:10:10 have thousands of kids across the district
1:10:12 participate in something other than maybe watching
1:10:15 their phone on Saturday morning.
1:10:16 So it was very nice.
1:10:19 So I had the pleasure also to be over at Cocoa High School
1:10:23 with your vote as your– with your voice.
1:10:28 And it was a great showing there in the auditorium
1:10:33 with the kids.
1:10:35 These kids get the assembly.
1:10:37 They get a veteran up in front talking
1:10:39 about the importance of voting.
1:10:42 I had the pleasure of speaking and saying, look, guys,
1:10:45 this is the first time in your lives
1:10:47 that you can make an impact on the decisions
1:10:50 that us old people have been making for you your whole lives.
1:10:54 So you can pre-register.
1:10:55 You can learn about the topics, and then you
1:10:57 can get out there and vote.
1:10:58 The only way you’re going to change things
1:11:00 is to put your vote out there.
1:11:01 So I’ve had a pleasure all year visiting in my district,
1:11:06 the high schools.
1:11:07 And Tim Bobanek, supervisor of elections,
1:11:09 has done a great job getting kids registered to vote.
1:11:13 So a shout out to Principal Stewart and all the staff
1:11:16 that made that possible.
1:11:17 And then lastly, some state champions.
1:11:21 I think some of us are going to be talking about that.
1:11:23 This one, I’ll specifically talk about our wrestling champions.
1:11:27 So we had– I had four in my district.
1:11:32 So Coco Beach, Gustavo of Ferrara–
1:11:37 I’m really bad at pronouncing it.
1:11:39 That’s my math guy, not an English guy.
1:11:41 But Marin Island had two, both Timothy and Trey.
1:11:46 They took home the gold.
1:11:48 And in Rockledge, Vlad Drowned was the state champion there.
1:11:54 So Brevard– and I know Matt’s going to talk about it.
1:11:56 He always brags about Brevard being the number one
1:11:59 county in the state for state champions.
1:12:01 And this year, we did nothing but add
1:12:04 to that title of being the best in the state.
1:12:08 So also, I just want to– a shout out to all the staff
1:12:12 and all the teachers out there, because I know
1:12:14 they’re gearing up for the stretch run.
1:12:19 I mean, you say it’s only March, but it’s really close.
1:12:22 And they’re getting– everything’s
1:12:23 set up for all the testing at the end of the year.
1:12:25 So shout out to all the classroom teachers out there.
1:12:29 We’re supporting you.
1:12:30 And we know you’ve got this one.
1:12:32 So I’m good.
1:12:34 Thank you, Mr. Trump.
1:12:37 All right.
1:12:39 I did also get to go to a couple of black football events.
1:12:44 I did.
1:12:44 Oh, yeah.
1:12:45 I ran into Mr. Thomas and ran into a couple other people.
1:12:47 It was a great day.
1:12:48 And the kids had a lot of fun.
1:12:50 I’m one of those people who has more fun talking on the
1:12:52 sidelines
1:12:52 and pay attention to the game.
1:12:54 But I did want to do a public service announcement,
1:12:57 since this is not just our shout out.
1:12:59 It’s also our talking points.
1:13:00 I actually had a principal tell me–
1:13:02 we’ve been talking about all this vaping stuff–
1:13:04 tell me that they had to go– they had a PA system,
1:13:07 because they were doing the national anthem and things
1:13:09 like that, that they had to go on the PA system
1:13:11 and tell the parents that they couldn’t smoke or vape.
1:13:14 So all the announcements to the adults who need to man up
1:13:21 and woman up, you cannot smoke or vape on school district
1:13:25 property.
1:13:27 It’s illegal.
1:13:28 And it’s also setting a truly terrible example
1:13:32 for our children.
1:13:33 So parents– and we’ve got a row of students in the front row
1:13:36 and some of them are nodding.
1:13:36 Thank you for your support in that.
1:13:38 Adults, we need to be setting a good example and have
1:13:41 some self-control in a public situation,
1:13:43 but especially on school board property
1:13:45 where it’s against the law.
1:13:46 So throw that out.
1:13:47 Back to positive.
1:13:48 All right.
1:13:49 This room has been taken over as well as
1:13:51 multiple rooms across the middle of the ESF facility
1:13:55 by Mission Moon for the last couple of weeks.
1:13:57 I got to judge one day next week,
1:13:59 and I’m judging again tomorrow.
1:14:01 It is such a fun event.
1:14:03 They’ve kind of revamped it.
1:14:05 And the students are really going with the flow.
1:14:07 And it is really exciting to hear schools and their success
1:14:13 and the different things and the originality
1:14:16 they have to bring to their mission.
1:14:17 And it’s a lot of fun.
1:14:20 On a couple Saturdays ago, we had the elementary music
1:14:23 festival.
1:14:24 I got to go to the south area concert, the central south area
1:14:27 concert.
1:14:27 It was wonderful, all the string students and the choir students.
1:14:30 And we had Orff instruments and teachers performing and singing
1:14:34 along with them.
1:14:35 It was a wonderful day.
1:14:36 And I very much appreciate all our elementary music teachers
1:14:39 and Miss Minior for coordinating that while she was also
1:14:42 in the middle of helping to coordinate all the MPA contests
1:14:45 that are going on at the same time.
1:14:46 January and February and March is just really crazy time
1:14:49 for music.
1:14:51 So kudos to everybody.
1:14:54 Last Tuesday, I believe, Dr. Ndell and I ate lunch.
1:14:57 I don’t know, my calendar–
1:14:58 I’m having to go day by day, but I think it was Tuesday.
1:15:01 We had lunch at Mel High where they
1:15:04 had administrators and teachers, staff from Hoover, Central,
1:15:08 and Melbourne all coming together
1:15:11 to share with us where we’re going with the IB Middle Years
1:15:15 Program.
1:15:16 So we have multiple schools that have the IB–
1:15:18 Cocoa Beach, we’ve got Mel High–
1:15:21 that’s it– who have the International Baccalaureate
1:15:23 Program in our district.
1:15:24 It’s kind of like Cambridge.
1:15:26 It is an internationally known program, unlike AP,
1:15:30 which all of our schools have, which is just a United States
1:15:33 thing.
1:15:34 So it’s very recognized.
1:15:36 People want to send their schools to those programs
1:15:38 because if you complete the IB program,
1:15:40 you can automatically get Bright Future scholarships.
1:15:42 You can get easier admissions into multiple schools.
1:15:46 But they have a Middle Years Program
1:15:48 that is kind of backing it up and creating
1:15:51 a framework that sets students up for success.
1:15:54 I really appreciate the way that we’re
1:15:55 going to be doing this at Hoover and Central
1:15:57 because it is not just going to be for the high flyers gifted
1:16:01 students.
1:16:01 We’re opening the doors for all students
1:16:04 to start learning a language early.
1:16:09 It’ll go along with the things they’re already doing.
1:16:11 Central is an avid school, so they’re
1:16:13 learning the specific note taking helps and all of that.
1:16:16 Hoover has their gifted program that’s going to continue,
1:16:19 but this is just an added piece.
1:16:21 The students are excited.
1:16:22 They’re already doing the work, but they
1:16:24 won’t get to have the final approval by the IB board
1:16:27 until next spring.
1:16:28 But I’m just very proud of the way those three schools are
1:16:31 working together as a feeder system.
1:16:33 I think that’s going to be very attractive to our parents,
1:16:36 especially in the middle school realm,
1:16:38 because it’s such rigor and just a great thing for all
1:16:43 the schools together.
1:16:44 But there is definitely a spirit of cooperation
1:16:46 that was so unique and wonderful to see
1:16:50 as the principals of all three schools,
1:16:51 the IB teachers from all three schools are there.
1:16:53 And parents are in that Melbourne High School, Hoover,
1:16:57 Central area.
1:16:58 And of course, you can always opt in to these programs.
1:17:01 I think you’re going to be excited about what
1:17:03 you see in the coming years.
1:17:04 And they’re already seeing increased enrollment, increased
1:17:06 ELOs and EPOs through the program.
1:17:09 The other thing I would say about that
1:17:11 is that even Melbourne High School is changing
1:17:15 the structure of IB before.
1:17:17 When my kids first started going there,
1:17:21 IB classes were only for IB program students.
1:17:23 But now the idea is we want everybody,
1:17:27 as they’re going through Melbourne High School,
1:17:29 and they’ll be set up in Central and Hoover, everyone
1:17:32 to experience at least one IB class during their high school,
1:17:36 to experience rigor.
1:17:37 And that is good practice.
1:17:38 We want every school to, every student
1:17:40 to have a taste of what a rigorous class is like.
1:17:44 I was sitting next to my son last night.
1:17:45 He’s picking his senior year classes.
1:17:47 And he’s picking an AP/IB combined course.
1:17:52 But the class behind him, that’s the expectation,
1:17:55 that they’re all going to be a part of that.
1:17:57 They’re all going to be really doing this excellent work.
1:17:59 Heritage High School has done this for years with Cambridge.
1:18:02 The expectation is that every student who
1:18:04 goes through Heritage will take a Cambridge class, an A’s
1:18:06 course, while they’re there.
1:18:08 I think this is good practice, because they all
1:18:10 need just a taste of it.
1:18:11 Because some students don’t know what they can achieve
1:18:13 until they’re pushed a little bit to try to do it.
1:18:16 And so it’s a good job to all of them.
1:18:18 And then my last recognition, I mentioned to you guys before
1:18:22 that I sit on the board of directors for the Florida School
1:18:24 Music Association, is the board that makes the rules
1:18:27 and guidelines for the MPAs, all the music contests.
1:18:30 And when we get together, which we did last weekend,
1:18:34 each of the organizations of the state
1:18:36 gives a report, the Florida Bandmasters Association,
1:18:39 the Florida Vocal Association, and the Florida Orchestra
1:18:41 Association.
1:18:42 They all come together to give us these reports.
1:18:44 And as I was reading through the orchestra report,
1:18:46 I recognized some names.
1:18:48 And so I just wanted to congratulate
1:18:51 Ms. Marci Spurr, who is the orchestra teacher around the corner
1:18:55 at Vera Middle School.
1:18:58 She is going to be the all-state coordinator for the seventh
1:19:01 and eighth grade all-state orchestra for this coming year.
1:19:04 It’s a big responsibility on top of what she’s already doing,
1:19:07 to coordinate that whole process and then the event that
1:19:09 happens in January.
1:19:11 I also saw the name of Samantha Felber,
1:19:13 who is the orchestra at Heritage High School.
1:19:15 And she will be coordinating the 9th through 12th all-state
1:19:18 honors orchestra.
1:19:21 Again, the process and then the coordination
1:19:23 of the actual event in January.
1:19:25 And then as I kept going down the report,
1:19:26 I recognized another name.
1:19:29 And that is a student.
1:19:30 Guy Francis Charleston, who is a 12th grader at Melbourne High
1:19:33 School, who is in the orchestra under Ms. Egan,
1:19:37 for the student composition contest, middle division–
1:19:41 these were the division winners.
1:19:42 And so Guy Francis was the high school division winner
1:19:46 for his piece entitled Slow Movement.
1:19:49 And it’s a really big deal.
1:19:52 And so I’m super excited to have this recognition,
1:19:54 but especially of our 12th grader Guy Francis Charleston.
1:19:57 Congratulations to him and for Ms. Egan for supporting him.
1:20:00 They had to compose the piece.
1:20:01 They had to record it using midi or live orchestra
1:20:04 and submit it.
1:20:04 And they had a whole group of judges.
1:20:07 And so good job, Brevard Orchestra Programs.
1:20:11 You are shining across the state as always.
1:20:17 All right, I’m up next.
1:20:18 All right, I want to give a shout out
1:20:20 to a former principal of ours, Ms. Blair Loveless.
1:20:22 She has since retired, but she was the fearless leader
1:20:25 of Coquina Elementary up until this coming school year.
1:20:28 She was recognized by Florida Tax Watch.
1:20:32 And thank you, Ms. Campbell, for attending
1:20:33 that wonderful presentation.
1:20:34 And thank you to Florida Tax Watch.
1:20:36 One of the cool things that they do
1:20:37 is that they allow the principal to pick a student.
1:20:40 And they get to award that student
1:20:41 two years of prepaid college.
1:20:43 And it’s an elementary school student.
1:20:45 And so I cannot even imagine how hard that
1:20:48 is to do, but it’s just a meaningful ceremony.
1:20:50 So not only are you honoring the principal
1:20:52 for their phenomenal leadership and the work
1:20:54 they’ve done there, but they get to also plant
1:20:56 that legacy for that student coming forward.
1:20:58 And so that was a very cool event.
1:20:59 Thank you, Dr. Rendell, for attending that as well.
1:21:03 I became the board liaison for the Circles of Care Advisory
1:21:06 Council for the Homeless Coalition.
1:21:07 And I really wasn’t sure what I was stepping into with that.
1:21:10 I’m not really– Mr. Thomas, I think
1:21:11 I took that off of your plate.
1:21:13 But I just have to say that that group of individuals
1:21:17 that sits in that room are really
1:21:18 trying to tackle homelessness in Brevard County.
1:21:21 And we work well with Stanley Briz.
1:21:23 He helps with our drug diversion program.
1:21:25 My board, you probably remember him coming and presenting.
1:21:28 But he stepped up.
1:21:29 I always ask our team.
1:21:30 I say, OK, how many homeless students do we have
1:21:33 or students in transition?
1:21:34 And then how many unaccompanied youth
1:21:37 do we have, which is truly just a minor child that
1:21:39 is couch hopping?
1:21:41 And they give me that data.
1:21:42 And I report it each time that we have one of these meetings.
1:21:44 But Stanley’s organization, he’s working
1:21:47 with our team in our district to figure out
1:21:49 how to attack some of these things like cap and gown,
1:21:53 senior year expenses.
1:21:54 If anybody’s gone through their senior year
1:21:55 or had a child through their senior year, it’s very expensive.
1:21:58 Prom, there’s Grad Bash.
1:21:59 There’s all these events that take place.
1:22:00 They all cost money.
1:22:01 And when their students are just trying
1:22:03 to figure out where they’re sleeping tonight,
1:22:06 that is just such a far-fetched idea.
1:22:07 So I just want to thank you to Stanley for really
1:22:09 being willing to step up.
1:22:10 And we’re working with Ms. Collado
1:22:12 on figuring out what does a senior package look like?
1:22:14 How much does it cost?
1:22:15 And Stanley’s going to work with some of his organizations
1:22:18 to partner with us and help our students, which
1:22:20 is a very cool thing.
1:22:22 Want to give a shout-out to Mayor Connors and the Council
1:22:25 for City of Titusville, as well as the Titusville Police
1:22:27 Department.
1:22:28 So recently, much like our bus arm cameras,
1:22:31 there are cameras that were going up in the Titusville area.
1:22:33 Now, this has been controversial in some areas.
1:22:35 It hasn’t been as successful.
1:22:37 But Titusville has taken an approach similar to how
1:22:39 we have on some of these things and really studied
1:22:42 what didn’t work, why it didn’t work,
1:22:43 and how can we make it work.
1:22:45 And so these are going to be cameras that are installed
1:22:48 that are right outside of the flashing light zone, where
1:22:50 our children are walking across the street.
1:22:52 And if you drive in Brevard County on any given school day,
1:22:56 you will see people who fly through school zones that
1:22:58 don’t even slow down when there’s
1:23:00 a kid standing right there, literally trying
1:23:02 to walk across a crosswalk.
1:23:03 So to me, that’s a huge initiative.
1:23:06 So these cameras, they’re going to go into a trial phase,
1:23:09 much like what we did with the bus arm.
1:23:11 So there will be 60 days of warnings,
1:23:13 which will gather some data for the city
1:23:15 to know how many people are actually speeding
1:23:18 through these school zones.
1:23:19 They don’t run all day long.
1:23:20 There was a lot of just stuff on the internet,
1:23:23 like, oh, this is big brother monitoring you.
1:23:24 And they run all day long.
1:23:25 And they’re going to issue tickets all the time,
1:23:27 and blah, blah, blah, all false things, inaccurate.
1:23:30 So this is just an initiative to really help
1:23:32 our students arrive to school safely
1:23:34 and go home at the end of the day safely.
1:23:36 And hopefully, it is a reminder to all the people
1:23:38 that are driving, if you see that flashing light, please,
1:23:41 please, please just slow down.
1:23:42 There’s nowhere that you need to be that is that important
1:23:44 that it risks somebody’s life on the other end.
1:23:47 I want to also give a shout out to Ms. Rouse.
1:23:49 I had an amazing visit at Oak Park.
1:23:51 Jonathan from BFT went up and joined me for,
1:23:54 typically don’t do unannounced visits,
1:23:56 but we were in the area.
1:23:56 And so it’s like, hey, let’s go see Oak Park
1:23:58 and what they’re doing.
1:23:59 And just want to thank them for the work
1:24:01 they’re doing there.
1:24:02 And I think when you look at some of the schools that,
1:24:04 you know, you hear things, everyone hears things.
1:24:07 They are doing a phenomenal job.
1:24:08 They’re running the Ron Clark Academy.
1:24:10 And I’m sure many of you have been in schools
1:24:11 and recognize the Ron Clark Academy
1:24:13 and it’s this house mentality.
1:24:15 Like we might be different, I’m gonna use the wrong word,
1:24:19 different like departments or something,
1:24:20 but we’re all one house.
1:24:22 And so it was fun.
1:24:23 We got to sort Jonathan into a house while we were there.
1:24:25 And every kid, you know, they’re all part of a house
1:24:27 and they’re trying to raise the bar for their entire team
1:24:30 and it’s all grade levels.
1:24:31 And it just really brings it all together.
1:24:33 So that was a fun school visit.
1:24:35 Jonathan is also team revered like me.
1:24:38 So that was a lot of fun to be sorted into that house.
1:24:41 Board, I have one more thing that I need to ask of you.
1:24:43 And I’m not sure if this is the appropriate time,
1:24:45 but I guess since we’re doing board member reports
1:24:47 and I’m gonna go ahead and do this.
1:24:50 As you know, I’m not a member of the FSBA for the board.
1:24:53 There’s several other members of you that represent there,
1:24:55 but that saves our district a significant amount of money.
1:24:57 I’ve brought this up before when there was an organization,
1:25:00 but this one I think is a little different.
1:25:01 So Space Coast has a Space Force unit, JROTC unit.
1:25:05 And I was working with the commander out there.
1:25:07 We got a field trip scheduled, very exciting.
1:25:09 Well, with the field trip comes an expense
1:25:11 of bus transportation, and that’s an unexpected expense.
1:25:14 And I honestly wasn’t thinking that through all the way.
1:25:17 So I’m just asking for board approval
1:25:18 to be able to allocate some of that membership travel dues
1:25:22 that I have every year left over,
1:25:25 ‘cause I’m not being part of FSBA.
1:25:26 It’s only a couple hundred dollars,
1:25:28 to be able to cover the transportation costs
1:25:30 for 40 students that are in the Space Force,
1:25:32 to be able to go over and experience
1:25:34 what is right at Patrick’s.
1:25:35 So hopefully we can recruit them
1:25:36 and keep them here in Brevard County.
1:25:38 So I think I would need board approval on that.
1:25:40 I’m not really sure.
1:25:42 - Yeah, I’d have to go on an agenda,
1:25:44 but it’s too late to add it necessarily.
1:25:46 When is the travel?
1:25:47 - Why would she need money for her own budget?
1:25:50 - It would be the board.
1:25:51 If it’s under the threshold, the superintendent can approve.
1:25:54 So the board can always give that guidance without a vote.
1:25:57 - But I think what she’s saying is
1:25:58 she has not allocated her revenue
1:26:00 that she has inside of the board.
1:26:01 Each one of us has allocated a certain amount of money.
1:26:04 - Right.
1:26:05 - And what she’s saying is I would like to take that
1:26:06 and allocate that for the kids.
1:26:10 However, she feels like if I wanna just turn around
1:26:12 and go to an event, that’s what I use to pay for it.
1:26:15 And I don’t have to go before the board to approve that.
1:26:18 - Yeah, that’s not, yeah.
1:26:19 - But it was designated.
1:26:20 We’ve had this battle before.
1:26:22 It was designated.
1:26:23 - I’m not questioning that piece.
1:26:24 I’m questioning the total cost of the trip.
1:26:26 I don’t know what it is.
1:26:27 - It’s $200.
1:26:28 - Okay, so–
1:26:28 - And it’s actually our transportation,
1:26:30 so we’re not getting charter buses or anything fancy.
1:26:32 It’s literally staying all in-house.
1:26:34 And I just wanna be able,
1:26:35 ‘cause they’re trying to figure out
1:26:36 where do we pay for transportation?
1:26:37 What strand do we use that from?
1:26:38 And I’m like, well, can I just, can I,
1:26:41 is that an okay allocation for it?
1:26:43 - And that would just be
1:26:44 within the superintendent’s threshold,
1:26:46 so he can approve that.
1:26:47 - Okay, so then I don’t need board approval for it.
1:26:49 - But here’s the thing.
1:26:51 Hang on.
1:26:53 ‘Cause Ms. Campbell, just so you know,
1:26:54 this has been going on since,
1:26:55 Ms. Campbell and I have been doing this since 2018.
1:26:57 Every year, they take and scoop the funds
1:27:01 out of the funding that you guys have.
1:27:03 - Right. - Right?
1:27:04 - Whatever’s not spent.
1:27:04 - But that was not what was originally intended, all right?
1:27:07 I will say that, and I will be, and I can,
1:27:11 so that just started happening, right?
1:27:13 I have issues with that.
1:27:14 It’s one of the things I have
1:27:15 at the office I used to talk about that.
1:27:16 But the thing is, is that the other piece is,
1:27:19 is that we have authority to utilize
1:27:22 the funding that we have for things that we want to help,
1:27:25 as long as it’s a school-based thing.
1:27:27 So you couldn’t go take it like you,
1:27:28 remember that one you tried to go–
1:27:30 - Right, there was an organization, right,
1:27:32 that wanted to come in and–
1:27:33 - That kind of starts getting into that area,
1:27:35 but for a school-based organization,
1:27:36 for you to take $200 and cover the cost
1:27:38 out of the allocated revenue that you have,
1:27:41 I think falls under it.
1:27:42 And I think–
1:27:44 - Well, I just need guidance on legality of that,
1:27:46 and how would I tell the school?
1:27:47 - I think what we could do is give direction right now–
1:27:51 - If the board supports that.
1:27:52 - But supports the motion that you have the authority
1:27:55 within your own budget to distribute to–
1:27:59 - I got it, I’m in here, Mr. Sisson.
1:28:00 - Yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
1:28:01 - Because the verbiage that you’re using is inaccurate.
1:28:05 You’re saying we have authority within our own budget.
1:28:08 I don’t have a budget.
1:28:10 I do not have a Katie Campbell budget.
1:28:12 I have never had a Katie Campbell budget.
1:28:13 As a board member, what there is is a line item,
1:28:18 and I totally, so I would rather take $200 out of my pocket
1:28:21 and pay for those guys to get where they’re going,
1:28:23 than for us to set up a precedent,
1:28:25 which I believe is a problem.
1:28:26 So let me just walk through this.
1:28:28 We have line items that are specifically lined out
1:28:32 for board membership, board registrations,
1:28:36 I think it’s listed, and board travel that Lena manages.
1:28:39 And those things can cover chamber luncheons,
1:28:45 or if we want to join, you know,
1:28:48 what are some of the other organizations
1:28:49 that covers those of you guys that are part of the EDC,
1:28:53 or things like that, that also covers that.
1:28:56 - You’re right, our present, our memberships,
1:29:00 registrations, travel, those kinds of things specifically.
1:29:04 It’s not lined out to be for a fund
1:29:10 that we have as board members to hand out to schools
1:29:14 within our district.
1:29:15 We have not, I know that that happened previously.
1:29:18 It was before my time on the board.
1:29:20 It was specifically restructured.
1:29:21 It is labeled that.
1:29:22 And the reason why, I don’t want us to do something
1:29:25 that we wouldn’t let our employees to do,
1:29:27 just so you know, that they don’t have the authority to do.
1:29:31 I don’t have the authority to take,
1:29:33 it’s not my money, right?
1:29:35 And the reason why I say this is it’s travel,
1:29:37 and there’s this line item that says Campbell Travel.
1:29:39 I frequently go over because I’ve been your representative
1:29:42 on things, and so I’ve had to travel,
1:29:44 you know, in the years that I was on board of directors,
1:29:45 had multiple travel things.
1:29:46 And so, or I went to the national conference
1:29:49 up in Washington, D.C.
1:29:51 We came and said, hey, so you all gave me money,
1:29:53 the people that had money in their budget still.
1:29:55 - We all came to a consensus that it was okay,
1:29:57 ‘cause otherwise I was just not going to go.
1:29:59 We had people who weren’t using it.
1:30:01 Can we use that, ‘cause I’m representing you guys in D.C.
1:30:04 Yes, but that’s still to the purpose of it.
1:30:07 If we have departments who change the purpose of the money,
1:30:10 they have to submit budget amendments to us.
1:30:12 The superintendent has to submit budget amendments,
1:30:14 some of which we approved tonight,
1:30:15 saying this is money going here,
1:30:17 but we don’t need it for there.
1:30:19 We’re gonna need it here, so we’re moving it around.
1:30:20 But it still has to be within their department
1:30:22 if they’re changing the purpose for it,
1:30:24 they have to submit budget amendments.
1:30:26 I think I’m understanding that process correctly.
1:30:28 So I just, as much as I,
1:30:29 I want these guys to go on us to find a way.
1:30:31 I just don’t think this is the way on principle.
1:30:35 - I have a solution.
1:30:35 - So Ms. Campbell, I would definitely disagree
1:30:37 with a couple of things that you say.
1:30:38 If you did not have an account, and you did not have it,
1:30:42 then when we’re told that we’re getting close
1:30:44 to our threshold, then that is exactly what that is.
1:30:47 And just so you know,
1:30:48 as I’ve requested the budgets in the past,
1:30:51 it has come down that the board budgets,
1:30:53 and then inside of it,
1:30:54 how much each one of us are gonna spend
1:30:55 with how much money’s left over.
1:30:57 So whether the finance department decided
1:31:00 to move to a direction that there’s one big account
1:31:02 or whatever, we’re still told when we get close
1:31:05 to being at a certain level, which means it’s identified.
1:31:08 - I’ve actually never been told.
1:31:09 - Well, that’s why you came,
1:31:11 because you said that I was going over.
1:31:13 And you said, I better come in and ask.
1:31:15 You stated that, you said I was going over.
1:31:17 What were you going over?
1:31:18 Your allocated amount that was inside of your area.
1:31:22 There’s a certain amount for every one of us.
1:31:23 And the reason that Ms. Wright thinks
1:31:27 that she has money left over from the FSBA
1:31:30 is because we are allocated a certain amount.
1:31:33 I will not sit and just say like, I’m wrong,
1:31:35 when that was the case,
1:31:37 and finance must have made some changes,
1:31:40 but we didn’t know about it,
1:31:41 but we’re still under the assumption
1:31:42 that each one of us has an account.
1:31:44 - All right.
1:31:44 - That’s, hang on, hang on.
1:31:46 To now, I’m gonna, this is gonna be a thing,
1:31:49 because this keeps coming up.
1:31:50 And never should they have ever pulled out
1:31:52 the bottom of our revenue,
1:31:54 and never should we not have had our accounts.
1:31:56 I have an issue with that.
1:31:57 So if that’s the way it is,
1:31:59 then we need to go back to the way it was.
1:32:00 And right now, we all know that we have limits.
1:32:03 And that’s what she’s trying to get under.
1:32:05 And I have the perfect, I would definitely agree,
1:32:08 and say that she can use that 200.
1:32:11 Not only that, if we have to have a discussion
1:32:13 about it right now, we can do that.
1:32:15 And we can allocate to allow us to use our revenue
1:32:17 for anything inside of the school district
1:32:19 that we feel is gonna approve the kids
1:32:20 for a school-based function.
1:32:22 I literally feel that right now.
1:32:24 - Mr. Chair, if I might just,
1:32:25 I think I have a really easy solution to this.
1:32:27 So should I chaperone that field trip,
1:32:30 and I will be on that bus,
1:32:31 and that would be considered a travel expense for myself,
1:32:34 because I need the bus, technically speaking.
1:32:36 Would it not?
1:32:38 - I don’t know about the travel part.
1:32:40 I’d have to look at the policy,
1:32:41 but I do believe the board can provide consensus
1:32:43 to allow the superintendent to pay for the $200.
1:32:45 - Okay, it’s an insignificant amount,
1:32:47 and this sounds like a conversation
1:32:48 that’s probably a much larger conversation
1:32:50 where the board needs to hash it out.
1:32:51 And I’m sorry every time I open this up,
1:32:52 but I thought this one, I’m like,
1:32:53 “This one, this is the Space Force.
1:32:55 “This is going to Patrick like no big deal.”
1:32:58 So I apologize for stirring the pot on that one.
1:33:01 I thought this one was an easy one.
1:33:03 So what do you recommend?
1:33:06 How do I go about this?
1:33:07 - Just the board can provide consensus
1:33:09 to allow the superintendent to fund that trip.
1:33:11 - Okay, board, can I get the board’s consensus
1:33:13 on allowing the superintendent
1:33:15 to fund the transportation to that trip?
1:33:18 - Yes, I’m good for that.
1:33:20 - So can I, yeah, I just want some clarification.
1:33:24 Is it to provide funding for that trip
1:33:28 from Mrs. Wright’s travel account?
1:33:30 Is that what we’re asking?
1:33:31 - Yeah, I think that’s what she’s asking,
1:33:33 that transfer funds that are allocated
1:33:35 to the board for travel that would otherwise be allocated
1:33:38 to her for travel to FSBAA.
1:33:40 - Correct, I just wanna make sure I understood the question.
1:33:43 - She’s asking the board for consensus to move $200 from–
1:33:46 - Should I just give them $200?
1:33:48 - No, no, this is a great fight.
1:33:49 - Is there an opportunity to take it from somewhere else
1:33:51 until we can hash out the process
1:33:54 and an agreement in the board?
1:33:56 Because I don’t want us to open this up.
1:33:58 And then we have, we’ve opened what I believe
1:34:01 is a hornet’s nest.
1:34:02 This is clearly a point of disagreement
1:34:03 between Mr. Seuss and I.
1:34:05 But we need more than just the five of us,
1:34:08 seven of us to weigh in.
1:34:09 I think we need to make sure we can look at it
1:34:11 and go back and find out when did it change or whatever.
1:34:14 But if there, is there another way to do this
1:34:18 besides $200, besides doing weird things with the budget?
1:34:23 - Yeah, so what I suggest is that we review
1:34:28 how the money is allocated right now.
1:34:30 I believe each board member is given a string
1:34:33 with an amount to begin, one for travel,
1:34:36 one for memberships, as Mrs. Campbell stated.
1:34:40 That’s what the money’s supposed to be used for.
1:34:42 But with board direction, we can use it for something else.
1:34:46 I think a longer term conversation would be,
1:34:49 do we want to continue that restriction
1:34:54 or that allocation travel membership?
1:34:57 Or do we wanna take the amount that usually covers
1:34:59 travel and membership and put it in an account
1:35:03 for each board member to authorize the use of?
1:35:06 That’s a different conversation,
1:35:08 similar to what was happening before
1:35:10 that Mr. Susan and Mrs. Campbell have alluded to.
1:35:13 But right now, if I have board consensus,
1:35:16 we can make sure we pay for the field trip
1:35:20 with some travel money from Mrs. Wright’s account.
1:35:25 - And we, are you guys okay with bringing this back
1:35:28 on March 31st? - Yeah, I think this is
1:35:29 probably a good area of–
1:35:30 - Can we talk about it on March 31st?
1:35:32 - Okay, all right, we’ll bring that back.
1:35:34 Good point, Ms. Campbell. - Do you have board
1:35:35 consensus or do you want– - You have board consensus
1:35:37 to move– - That’s all three people
1:35:39 approved, so. - Yeah, at least three.
1:35:41 - Okay, all right. (laughing)
1:35:44 - All right, we’re good?
1:35:45 Okay. - Sorry.
1:35:46 - Anybody else got anything crazy?
1:35:47 Wanna throw something on the table here?
1:35:49 - No, I’m good, actually, this is good.
1:35:52 - All right, everybody else is good.
1:35:53 Ms. Campbell, you’re good?
1:35:54 Everybody so far?
1:35:55 I just wanted to take a second, Ms. Campbell,
1:35:57 and agree with you on the school zones.
1:35:59 Years ago, we had a student that was crossing
1:36:02 post road when they put up those midpoint blocks,
1:36:04 you know, the ones that flash and they go through there,
1:36:07 and was killed, and so I started this whole journey
1:36:11 of trying to get into where the school zones are at,
1:36:13 try to slow the kids down, work with the DOT,
1:36:16 and it was the biggest honeycomb of stuff that I couldn’t,
1:36:19 there was no, it took DOT 50 approvals and 60 months
1:36:24 to get ahold of anything and do anything.
1:36:26 So anything you can do to support those school zones
1:36:29 in that area, I’m 100%, and thank you for bringing
1:36:32 that to the board, absolutely.
1:36:34 I also went to the flag football games,
1:36:38 and when we were at the flag football games,
1:36:40 I walked up and found out that I was going to coach
1:36:43 one of the teams, literally five minutes before it started,
1:36:47 and took it and had to go up against one of my former
1:36:50 coaches, Mr. Owens, who I tied, and then he beat me
1:36:53 in the finals, so it was a lot of fun,
1:36:56 and I had a lot of fun doing it.
1:36:58 I wanted to send a big shout out to Gary Miracle
1:37:02 for what he did, Gary Miracle held it here,
1:37:06 and for Vieira, and I’ve asked him to kind of work,
1:37:09 so one of the things that you hear from all
1:37:12 of our football coaches in this flag football
1:37:14 is that they wanna help coach, but there’s no connectivity,
1:37:18 and we don’t have the availability or the bandwidth
1:37:20 to try to start creating that, so I asked Gary
1:37:23 if he would come in, work with our area and your areas
1:37:26 and stuff to connect the high school football coaches
1:37:29 down to the elementary school so that they can coach ‘em
1:37:31 prior to the little six-week season,
1:37:34 just to come down two days a week.
1:37:35 They’re more than happy to do it,
1:37:37 they just needed that availability and stuff like that,
1:37:39 so he’s gonna work on pulling all that together.
1:37:44 I have some other things down here, but I’m good.
1:37:49 - One of the things I wanted to highlight
1:37:50 on the flag football was I saw a lot of high school
1:37:54 football players reffing and supporting,
1:37:57 and I think that was fantastic, so kudos to those coaches
1:38:01 who reached out, like the Bayside football team
1:38:03 was out in multiple ways supporting,
1:38:05 and I think that’s a great partnership.
1:38:07 I don’t know if I was gonna ask Mr. Robinson
1:38:08 if he did it on purpose, but if he didn’t,
1:38:10 I think that’s a great idea, to reach out
1:38:12 to our football coaches and ask them to get involved
1:38:14 because it’s so, the kids loved it, and it was good.
1:38:16 Honestly, a lot of those guys, they may never play
1:38:19 in college or pros, but becoming a ref on the side
1:38:22 on the weekends is a good gig, and if they’re getting
1:38:24 this experience, they’re not getting paid for this,
1:38:26 but if they’re getting this experience kind of built in,
1:38:28 I think that would be great resume building
1:38:30 for maybe a good weekend job.
1:38:32 - So the guy that runs all of the referees
1:38:34 is putting together a package that we’ll look at
1:38:37 that allows our elementary, or I’m sorry,
1:38:39 our high school students who are 18 years old
1:38:42 to start refereeing many of our things and other stuff.
1:38:44 It’s a whole feeder system that he wants to put together,
1:38:47 so write what you were saying, and I just wanna tell you,
1:38:49 I’m impressed that you went down there,
1:38:51 so I have to definitely make some of the music stuff now.
1:38:54 - Yeah, Mr. Schusen, I go to a lot of the things.
1:38:55 - No, I know you go to a lot of things,
1:38:57 but it’s impressive that you were supporting
1:38:58 that sports stuff, so thank you.
1:39:00 - I didn’t shout out to Ms. Harris ‘cause she,
1:39:02 I went to them as well.
1:39:03 I didn’t even put that on my thank you
1:39:04 because everyone else did, but Ms. Harris,
1:39:05 thank you for attending all the north end ones.
1:39:06 Appreciate you.
1:39:07 - And Mr. Raymer.
1:39:09 - All right. - All right.
1:39:10 - With that, we’ll take a break.
1:39:12 - No, no, no.
1:39:13 We have one more item. - Oh, yeah, you have
1:39:14 one more item. - Ms. Wright does need
1:39:15 a recess prior to us doing that.
1:39:17 - What’s that? - Prior to voting on this.
1:39:21 - Prior to the last vote, Ms. Wright wanted a recess.
1:39:22 - Okay, so we’re gonna take a recess.
1:39:24 - Then we’ll come back, yep.
1:39:25 - Thank you.
1:39:47 (silence)
1:48:47 - The chair recognizes the board’s attorney, Paul Gibbs.
1:48:52 - Board members, I am notifying you that advice is needed
1:48:55 regarding the pending litigation-style Brevard Federation
1:48:58 of Teachers Local 2098 versus School Board of Brevard County,
1:49:02 AAA case number 01-25-0002-4853.
1:49:09 Pursuant to 286.011 Florida statute known as the government
1:49:12 and the Sunshine Act, I am requesting an attorney-client
1:49:14 session with the board for the purposes of discussing
1:49:17 strategy and/or expenses regarding this litigation.
1:49:20 I will ask the board’s clerk to cause reasonable public notice
1:49:23 of the time and date of this attorney-client session
1:49:25 and the names of the individuals attending to be published.
1:49:29 If the board approves, I will work with the board clerk
1:49:31 to coordinate dates for the attorney-client session,
1:49:33 working with our council’s availability and provide notice
1:49:35 of the meeting inclusive of scheduling a court reporter.
1:49:38 It is anticipated that approximately two hours
1:49:40 will be needed for the session as required by this statute.
1:49:43 Only the following individuals may be present.
1:49:45 School board members Katie Campbell, Matt Susan,
1:49:48 John Thomas, Jean Trent, Megan Wright,
1:49:50 Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell, Paul Gibbs,
1:49:53 General Counsel Jeff Mandel, and Molly Mullen of Fisher Phillips
1:49:57 in person or via Teams.
1:49:59 As required by statute, I will ask a court reporter
1:50:01 to record the session.
1:50:03 Their notes will be fully transcribed and filed
1:50:05 with the clerk of the school board.
1:50:06 Upon the conclusion of any litigation and/or settlement
1:50:08 of all claims arising out of this case,
1:50:10 the transcripts will be made public record.
1:50:12 I recommend the board hold an attorney-client session
1:50:15 pursuant to section 286.011 flawed statutes
1:50:19 to discuss strategy of pending litigation.
1:50:20 If there are no objections, I will instruct our attorney
1:50:23 to work with the board clerk and schedule
1:50:25 as soon as the matter may be heard.
1:50:28 Everybody good?
1:50:29 Good.
1:50:30 All right.
1:50:32 We’re going to take a brief recess.
1:50:34 Thank you.
1:50:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
1:50:45 [MUSIC ENDS]