Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Thank you.
4:59 We have four presentations on the agenda for today.
5:02 The first presentation will be on some options for the 27-28
5:08 school calendar, instructional
5:10 calendar.
5:11 This is for 27-28, this is for 27-28, for any members of the
5:17 audience viewing this, Mr.
5:20 Ramer and Mr. Pruitt are going to present some options, some
5:23 variations, some possibilities
5:25 for the 27-28 calendar.
5:27 The board did ask, can we start doing a kind of a two-year look
5:30 ahead?
5:30 So this is not the upcoming instructional calendar that has been
5:34 approved by the board.
5:36 This is for 27, 28, and just looking at some options.
5:40 The next presentation is on school choice scholarships update.
5:45 So we have the ability to charge families who are taking a
5:49 scholarship or a voucher for classes and for some of our
5:53 programs.
5:54 So Mrs. Harris and Dr. Mayer are going to give us a presentation
5:57 on that.
5:58 And the third presentation will also be Mrs. Harris and Dr. Mayer,
6:02 and they’ll be talking about our before and after school program.
6:05 Some changes that we’re recommending for next year.
6:08 And then the fourth and final presentation will be Deputy
6:12 Superintendent Sue Han and her team about the strategic
6:15 facilities plan.
6:16 All right.
6:18 Our first presentation will be on the school year 2027-2028
6:21 calendar options.
6:22 will be presented by Mr. Ramer and Mr. Pruitt.
6:24 Here we go.
6:26 Thank you, sir.
6:27 Good afternoon.
6:28 And thank you to the board and Dr. Rendell for allowing us the
6:30 opportunity to discuss future calendar planning.
6:33 Today’s presentation is designed to review draft calendar
6:36 options for the 2027-2028 school year that best support our
6:40 students, staff, families, and stakeholders.
6:43 Our focus will be on presenting these options, highlighting
6:45 their key features, and gathering your feedback to help guide
6:48 next steps.
6:49 We will begin with a review of the state requirements that shape
6:52 all of our calendars, which will ground our discussion in the
6:55 parameters we are required to meet.
6:57 We will also connect these options to prior board initiatives
7:00 and requests that were discussed as we developed and finalized
7:03 the 2026-2027 calendar.
7:06 We will identify where those initiatives could be reflected and
7:08 where there may be opportunities for further alignment.
7:12 State statute and state board rule govern our calendars and
7:16 state that we must have 180 days or equivalent hours throughout
7:21 the school year.
7:22 Florida Administrative Code identifies those hours as 720
7:26 instructional hours K-3 and 900 instructional hours in 4-12.
7:32 Those are for FEFP, FTE purposes to receive full funding for
7:36 students.
7:37 Our minutes that we must have for high school credit are 4,050
7:42 for one semester or 67 and a half hours, or 8,100 minutes and
7:47 135 hours for full credit.
7:49 So we utilize those state statutes and the state board rule to
7:53 help govern how we create the calendar, what must be inside of
7:57 the calendar,
7:58 in order for students to not only earn high school credit, but
8:01 for the district to receive full FEFP, FTE for students.
8:04 The board initiatives that were discussed during the 2026-2027
8:09 development and finalization of the calendar were items such as
8:15 increased instructional time,
8:16 reducing or eliminating the need for hurricane makeup days,
8:20 maintaining the week-long Thanksgiving break, which I’m excited
8:24 to say we’ve been able to accomplish over the past few years,
8:27 end first semester prior to winter break, possibly election day
8:32 as a non-school day,
8:33 depending on the year and the elections that are taking place,
8:37 more professional learning opportunities embedded for staff,
8:41 a potential fall break, and to complete the school year prior to
8:45 Memorial Day.
8:47 Those were the board initiatives and requests that were
8:49 discussed as we went through the 2026-2027 calendar options.
8:54 So to start the discussion, we want to look at the first
8:58 calendar that was provided,
9:00 and that is the 2027-2028 draft calendar that would have early
9:05 release as it currently stands in our BFT contract.
9:08 So in that calendar, we would have early release every Friday
9:11 outside of the first Friday of the school year.
9:14 We would continue to have Labor Day off.
9:17 We’d have a professional learning day for our staff in September.
9:21 That’s our PM1 day.
9:23 That’s on September 27th.
9:24 We continue to have the work day that is embedded in the
9:27 contract in between first and second nine weeks.
9:30 Veterans Day would continue to be on the date in which Veterans
9:34 Day is celebrated.
9:36 Thanksgiving break would continue to be a week long, and we
9:39 would go into winter break after 12-17, starting on 12-20,
9:44 which would continue to be 10 days as per our policy that states
9:48 no less than 10 days for winter break.
9:51 That would put us at 85 days leading into winter break, which
9:55 would then mean that we would have to come back second after
9:57 winter break and continue first semester.
10:00 So in this calendar, first semester continues on January 3rd and
10:05 then ends on 1-7-2028 to give us a full 90 days in first
10:10 semester.
10:11 Second semester would start on January 10th and continue
10:14 throughout the remainder of the school year with Martin Luther
10:17 King Jr. Day on 1-17.
10:19 Our contract professional learning day in February.
10:25 Our teacher work day between 3rd nine weeks and 4th nine weeks
10:28 on 3-17, leading in the spring break, which would start on 3-20.
10:32 We are excited to announce that we have communicated with
10:35 Eastern Florida State College, and we have aligned that spring
10:38 break,
10:38 and that is their tentative spring break week also for 27-28.
10:43 So we believe that that’s going to remain where it is.
10:46 We continue through with a 4-14 student-teacher holiday,
10:51 and then from there, we would go through the remainder of the
10:53 school year, finishing with 90 days in second semester
10:56 for a total of 180 days for the school year,
11:00 and teachers would finish the day after the early release exams
11:03 as their post-planning day.
11:04 At the bottom of the calendar, it breaks down semester one days,
11:09 and it breaks down semester one minutes, along with semester two
11:13 days and semester two minutes.
11:15 So the important part here is that we are meeting our FTE
11:18 requirements.
11:19 In addition to that, we are meeting the requirements of 180 days
11:22 or equivalent,
11:23 and the 40-50 for the high school credit.
11:28 So the very last line tells you that we would have, in both semesters,
11:32 170 minutes to exceed the requirements that are set forth by the
11:36 state,
11:37 which would give us approximately three and a half days over
11:40 what is necessary to meet those requirements.
11:44 Typically, in a year, first semester, we would use those three
11:48 and a half days if we had to make,
11:49 if we had a hurricane, and we didn’t have to make up days.
11:52 So essentially, we would look at this as if we missed three and
11:55 a half or less days for a hurricane,
11:57 we wouldn’t have to make up any minutes in first semester.
12:00 We would have enough to cover them.
12:03 It would go second semester, would mirror first semester,
12:06 so we’d be looking at that three and a half days for each
12:08 semester for a total of seven days
12:11 for the school year that we would be, I will say, in excess,
12:15 but over the requirements set forth by the state.
12:18 So one of the things that we would look at here is that we would
12:22 have some availability,
12:23 but we would have limited options in order to meet some of the
12:27 initiatives that were set forth
12:28 and suggestions or requests by the board.
12:32 For example, in this calendar, we would not be able to finish
12:35 first semester prior to winter break.
12:37 It wouldn’t be feasible because we wouldn’t have the minutes in
12:42 order to do so.
12:45 We would be able to do something like add in a day for election
12:50 day.
12:51 We would be able to potentially, you know, do something smaller
12:55 scale for a fall break,
12:57 but in reality, we’d be very limited in this calendar to do some
13:00 of the initiatives that we talked about,
13:02 adding professional learning days, etc.
13:05 And this would mirror where we currently stand in 25-26 and 26-27
13:09 with regards to instructional time in the classroom.
13:12 We usually fall somewhere between three and four days each
13:14 semester,
13:15 depending on how many days are in each semester.
13:18 This year, we’re currently operating on an 89-91 and not a 90-90.
13:22 So with that calendar, like I said, we would have some options
13:27 to meet the requests and initiatives
13:29 that the board has discussed with us during the 26-27
13:33 development,
13:34 but we would be limited in our opportunities to do things
13:38 different within the calendar.
13:40 The second calendar that was provided to you is a monthly early
13:47 release.
13:49 So when we look at the calendar as a whole, where do we not get
13:54 as many minutes as we would on a normal school day?
13:59 And that’s obviously our Fridays.
14:00 So we operate at the high school level on a 49-39.
14:04 So we have 49 minutes Monday through Thursday in all of our
14:07 periods or more,
14:08 and we have 39 on Fridays or more.
14:11 So when you look at this calendar, all the dates that we
14:14 discussed on the first one mirror one another inside of this
14:17 calendar,
14:17 what we want to look at is the bottom part, which is where the
14:21 minutes start changing,
14:22 because instead of having early release every Friday,
14:24 early release would be on the last Friday of each month.
14:27 So we’d have one a month, last Friday of every month.
14:30 So when you look at the semester one and semester two, they’re
14:33 both 90 days.
14:34 They both have 82 full days.
14:35 They both have eight early release days.
14:37 Where you get a difference is the total number of minutes,
14:40 which is 280 more than what is required by the state.
14:46 And on the first calendar, it was 170.
14:49 So it’s 110 minute difference, which is equivalent to
14:53 approximately five and a half days,
14:56 maybe 5.7, depending on how we look at it.
15:00 So you now have five and a half days where more of the
15:03 initiatives and more of the suggestions or more of the requests
15:07 could be met.
15:08 For example, since we have five days of first semester after
15:11 winter break,
15:12 we could essentially end prior to winter break in this calendar.
15:16 We would have those five days already built in with a half day
15:21 to a 0.7 more.
15:22 Obviously, we would have to have some different discussions
15:26 there for potential hurricane makeup days going into second
15:29 semester, etc.
15:30 But this calendar would provide us with more flexibility where
15:34 we could make things work like the election day.
15:37 We could make the fall break.
15:38 We could look at ending first semester prior to winter break.
15:43 It would increase instructional minutes in the classroom because
15:46 now early release wouldn’t be every Friday.
15:48 So some of the suggestions and, you know, requests and
15:53 initiatives,
15:54 more of them would be able to be met in the calendar, such as
15:57 the second one,
15:58 which would have early release on the last Friday of every month.
16:02 The last potential calendar that we’re going to present today is
16:09 if we were to not have early release embedded in the calendar at
16:13 all.
16:13 So this would be with no early release.
16:16 So every school day would be a traditional day,
16:19 which means that we would have 49 or more minutes in all of our
16:21 secondary class periods every day.
16:24 All of the dates are going to stay the same, right, with regards
16:32 to Veterans Day, Labor Day, winter break, spring break, etc.
16:38 Semester one and semester two in this calendar would remain at
16:42 90 days.
16:44 So 87 full days and then three exam days.
16:46 So our three exam days would still be early release days, but 87
16:50 of the days would be traditional days.
16:52 This would yield us 4,380 minutes, 330 more minutes than state
16:58 requirements,
16:59 and roughly give us six and a half to seven days that we would
17:03 be able to do more of the suggestions, requests, and initiatives
17:08 with.
17:09 For example, this would clear first semester to end at winter
17:14 break and still provide us with approximately two days for
17:17 hurricane.
17:18 We did not have to make up hurricane days, etc., before we’d
17:22 have to go into second semester.
17:25 Obviously increases instructional time when we talk about items
17:29 like Election Day that we talked about,
17:32 when we talked about completing the school year before Memorial
17:35 Day.
17:35 All of these calendars could do that or will do that.
17:40 Fall break, professional learning opportunities.
17:43 It would also give us the potential opportunity to reduce from
17:46 180-day school year to the equivalent,
17:51 which means we would be able to go down to 179 or 178.
17:55 Some districts have moved in that direction.
17:58 We spoke to one over the summer that has moved in that direction
18:01 for a variety of reasons.
18:02 Some of it was to embed professional learning days into the
18:05 school year.
18:05 But we would have the minutes in order to do something unique
18:09 like that.
18:10 So 178 days of students and then two more days of professional
18:14 learning would be an example
18:15 of something that we could do inside of a calendar that provided
18:19 us with more minutes
18:20 as opposed to where we currently stand, where you get about
18:25 three, three and a half days each semester.
18:27 So we’re really using those and bracing against hurricane makeup
18:31 days.
18:31 That’s really what we have buffered right now.
18:34 The calendars with early release on the last Friday or no early
18:38 release not only give us that buffer,
18:40 but they also give us the option to move in other directions to
18:43 meet the initiative, suggestions,
18:45 or requests that were made during the development of the 26-27
18:48 calendar.
18:49 So those are the three calendars that we’ve prepared for you.
18:53 In the folder, you also have the calendar in month format as
18:57 opposed to by day.
18:58 And then what the modified calendar would look like as it stands
19:01 right now for 27-28.
19:03 That would obviously mirror as we move forward with any type of
19:08 movement in regards to early release Fridays.
19:12 So I do want to obviously thank you guys again for the option to
19:16 present three different calendars for 27-28.
19:20 Obviously, we appreciate your time and the consideration and the
19:24 thoughtful opportunity to guide us
19:27 as we work to develop what 27-28 calendars could look like.
19:30 Once again, best support our students, staff, and community.
19:33 We do appreciate any feedback that you are able to provide us
19:36 with today
19:37 as that will shape the direction that we move forward.
19:40 And I do want to keep in mind that as we talk about early
19:43 release Fridays,
19:44 I want to note that any changes would need to be negotiated.
19:47 That is part of the contract.
19:49 So this isn’t something that we could decide today and move
19:52 forward with.
19:53 It would have to be part of negotiations with our union.
19:56 I will throw out a secondary option, not to confuse anybody,
20:02 but if you were to look at districts that surround Brevard,
20:06 we do have one of the shorter school days.
20:10 So we currently operate at 6.5 for our elementary schools, 8 to
20:15 2.30,
20:16 and then we operate at 6.45 for our secondary schools, 8.45 to 3.30
20:22 like high schools.
20:23 Some of our surrounding counties operate on seven-hour school
20:27 days,
20:28 operate on six-hour and 57-minute school days.
20:31 Some operate more than that.
20:33 If we were to extend the school day, which is an option,
20:36 by 15 minutes, we could pick up at least two minutes per period
20:41 at the secondary level,
20:42 which also would provide us some flexibility to meet the board
20:46 requests, initiatives, or suggestions.
20:50 So I did want to put that as a secondary option.
20:53 For example, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Volusia, and Seminole,
20:57 all of our surrounding counties have a longer school day.
20:59 Depends on level, but at least at the secondary high school
21:03 level,
21:03 they have a longer school day, which is where that 40-50 comes
21:06 in.
21:07 It’s not too difficult to meet the 720 K-3 FTE requirement or
21:11 the 900 requirement.
21:13 So that’s just something to keep in mind as we move forward.
21:18 Mr. Thomas?
21:21 Yeah, a couple questions.
21:22 When we, on the years we have a hurricane,
21:25 do we have an average of how many days we normally lose to
21:31 storms?
21:32 I don’t think we’ve done an analysis of the average.
21:36 If I was to say I would really bank it at like one to three,
21:39 it would probably be somewhere in that average.
21:41 Typically, we’ve, some of our days have obviously been for, you
21:47 know,
21:47 facilities, maintenance, repairs, but not necessarily for full
21:51 closures
21:52 to reduce some things as some of our districts, unfortunately,
21:56 in Florida have been hit a little bit harder.
21:57 I like how long that we’ve had in the last year is just three.
22:00 Yeah, I think if you want to look for an average, it’s two.
22:03 Yeah.
22:03 Because we’ve had two to three,
22:05 and then one year we just had one.
22:07 I know it always depends on the severity of the storm.
22:10 I was just curious.
22:11 And this year, no.
22:12 Let’s keep it that way.
22:12 Did, I don’t recall when the hours changed.
22:16 Have we always been shorter than the other surrounding districts?
22:19 Or is it, is that something that we’ve changed in recent years?
22:24 For as long as I can remember, like we’ve been operating as a
22:26 principal and in this role,
22:27 and prior to that off of what I would call a very similar bell
22:30 schedule.
22:31 I know some districts have recently sent out a survey to their
22:35 stakeholders,
22:37 but it was more about start and end time than it was about
22:39 length of the school day.
22:41 It was, do we want to start, you know, some of our high schools
22:44 and surrounding areas start 7 a.m., 7.15.
22:47 So it was more about, do we want to shift that start time, as
22:50 opposed to, do we want to extend the school day?
22:53 We just know by looking at some of the uniform schedules and
22:56 calendars that are in districts that surround us,
22:59 that we are probably 10 to 15 minutes shorter than the country,
23:06 or the county, sorry, that surround Brevard.
23:08 Is there anything that indicates that academic performance is
23:11 better or worse with a shortened school day?
23:13 I don’t, I don’t think there’s any reliable statistical evidence,
23:19 because some of those districts have a longer day, but don’t
23:23 have the same academic performance we do.
23:25 Some have a longer day and do have a higher academic performance,
23:29 but I wouldn’t necessarily tie it to instructional minutes.
23:32 It’s not, it’s a, we’re looking at a variation of one to two
23:35 minutes per class period,
23:37 if you’re looking at secondary, so.
23:39 Yeah, thank you.
23:41 My only comment is, is that the, I know, it’s my understanding
23:43 when we have a hurricane makeup day,
23:45 that that costs the district extra money that we weren’t
23:48 planning on necessarily.
23:50 So I think incorporating either option two or three would give
23:54 us a little extra buffer to help
23:56 make sure that we’re not incurring any extra costs that we may
23:59 not otherwise, you know, have to plan for.
24:02 Yeah, and two years ago we did start building a hurricane makeup
24:07 plan that we can make sure our stakeholders had and staff had
24:11 and obviously families,
24:12 where if we miss two days, it’s built into the calendar.
24:15 If we miss a third day, we pull it from here.
24:17 A fourth day, we pull it from here.
24:19 We’re trying to protect our professional learning opportunities,
24:21 while at the same time supporting all the requirements we have
24:25 to meet and student learning outcomes.
24:27 So while in a length in school day, if it’s one or two minutes,
24:33 but if we push that out over the entire year,
24:36 for example, in our current calendar, we’d have 71 full days for
24:42 27, 28 in that original calendar I presented.
24:46 One minute is 71 more minutes plus, then you get another minute
24:50 in early release.
24:52 So the 90 gives you 90, which at its own rate is another day and
24:56 a half that is built in just by the minute that we would add.
25:00 If you add two minutes, obviously that continues to grow.
25:04 And that is part of the reason why some of our surrounding
25:07 counties that operate on a 50-minute period,
25:09 when we make up some hurricane days, some of our surrounding
25:13 counties don’t make up those same days.
25:16 Well, I’d definitely love to see us in the first semester at
25:19 holiday break or winter break.
25:21 And if there’s a way to change the length in the day to build in
25:26 those extra days, I would be all for exploring that.
25:29 All right.
25:33 First of all, thanks for doing this work.
25:36 And thank you for mentioning the seven-hour school day,
25:38 because I know my experience of every school I’ve ever attended
25:42 or taught in, you know,
25:44 previous to moving to Brevard, it’s always a seven-hour day.
25:48 Even I can remember as a little kid, it was either 8.30 to 3.30,
25:51 9.00 to 4.00 or 8.00 to 3.00 is always a seven-hour day.
25:56 So it does make a difference.
25:57 And when I’ve looked before and we’ve talked about the early
25:59 release, that was one thing that stuck out to me.
26:01 I’m going to give you, like, things that I would, you know, be
26:05 more positive about, neutral about, and then not necessarily
26:09 excited about.
26:10 So instructional time and hurricane makeup, I think, are
26:13 especially instructional timers.
26:16 So whatever we do to use these days, I want to make sure we’re
26:18 still taking advantage of additional instructional time,
26:21 because I’m actually looking forward to this year, even though
26:23 it was only 15 minutes a week,
26:25 you know, saying, you know, we won’t ever know exactly what it
26:28 is that helps us increase our scores,
26:29 because it’s a combination of lots of things.
26:31 But getting that extra instructional time has an opportunity to
26:34 pay off.
26:35 And I don’t want us to sacrifice too much of those extra minutes
26:39 to just have holidays and things like that,
26:43 because the extra instructional time is critical, as well as the
26:46 hurricane makeup.
26:47 So I want to keep the Thanksgiving break.
26:49 The people have spoken, and we’ve been very successful with that
26:52 since the first year the board did it in 21, I think.
26:54 And then more PD, always excited about that.
27:00 One thing that consistently through the years that people have
27:03 asked for is Memorial Day.
27:05 I think that’s when we can do that on the years that Memorial
27:09 Day falls early, if we can use that.
27:11 And it’s hard for, I’m trying to, I think we need to continue.
27:15 I know you guys are thinking about it, that it’s still going to
27:18 be a year-to-year thing, right?
27:19 Because sometimes Memorial Day doesn’t play a factor, because it’s
27:22 the 31st, or it’s somewhere, and we don’t,
27:23 but when it’s early, that’s when it’s the years that it’s
27:25 problematic.
27:26 So in those years, I think it would be helpful.
27:29 The things I’m kind of neutral on, I don’t really care so much
27:32 about, is I don’t care as much about ending the first semester
27:34 before Christmas,
27:35 because we’ve usually been able to work around that, and the
27:38 election day off.
27:39 For example, in this calendar, it won’t really matter.
27:42 But one thing we should be cognizant of, as we move forward past
27:46 this year, like in 2028,
27:48 when it will be a big, because hardly anybody in our county does
27:51 odd-year elections.
27:52 There are a few, but not enough to make a county-wide holiday.
27:56 But in 2028, depending on what Congress does, if they do any
28:01 kind of elimination or shortening of early voting,
28:04 there’s some Supreme Court decisions going on.
28:06 I don’t know how much you guys pay attention to that kind of
28:08 news.
28:08 If any of that goes away, Election Day itself becomes more
28:12 important, long lines,
28:14 any kind of limiting where you have to get it on certain days
28:17 could potentially be a factor.
28:19 In 2028-29, that may be a really important year, depending on
28:24 what Congress and the Supreme Court do,
28:26 in making sure that we have that day off.
28:30 So that would be, I would push that up.
28:33 But for like this calendar and years, it doesn’t matter.
28:35 That’s low priority to me.
28:36 The one thing I’m really kind of down on is the fall break idea.
28:40 Since we’re getting this whole week off Thanksgiving, and we
28:42 have a day off, well, for students in September,
28:45 we have a day off for students in October, to me, the fall break
28:49 doesn’t make as much sense,
28:51 because we’re already getting a couple of three-day weekends in
28:53 addition to wherever Veterans Day falls
28:57 and wherever, you know, Labor Day falls.
28:58 So I’m, I don’t really see the purpose of adding fall break.
29:02 I think those other things I’d actually go for finishing first
29:05 semester before Christmas,
29:06 before I want to take a fall break, because we’re so limited in
29:10 that fall semester.
29:11 So that’s kind of where I am on the ups, downs, and the neutrals.
29:18 It’s going to be year to year, but I think it’s at least worth
29:22 pursuing with the union what it might look like.
29:26 You know, we say PD days, but I sometimes, sometimes those days,
29:33 you know, principals work really hard
29:35 to create space for their teachers to work together to do
29:40 collaborative planning during the day.
29:44 Some of those, if we can, you know, this is maybe getting into
29:47 the specifics of it,
29:49 but it could be PD or designated collaborative planning time,
29:55 where it’s, you are required to do this, this isn’t a work-from-home
29:58 day,
29:59 but we’re going to put in this time the teachers say they don’t
30:01 have enough of,
30:02 you know, to, for those, for those days, if that’s what we end
30:07 up doing.
30:07 But that’s, those are my thoughts on that.
30:11 Okay, thank you, Ms. Campbell.
30:12 Mr. Trent.
30:14 Guys, thanks a lot for this work.
30:17 This is a lot, you know, and knowing that you’re putting a lot
30:20 of work into this,
30:21 and we’re not going to use most of it, you know, these are all
30:24 options.
30:24 But I’ll echo some of the same.
30:28 I’ll start with the neutral part.
30:30 It is the fall break, because if we can get everything else we
30:32 want in there,
30:33 I know that’s, that’s fine.
30:34 I do believe as, as a teacher and a parent,
30:36 finishing before Christmas break is, I think that’s a big deal.
30:41 I think it’s good for planning as a classroom teacher, too,
30:43 because, I mean, we know how mine’s shut down, you know, in just
30:47 a couple weeks.
30:48 So, to make best use of our time,
30:52 it’s finishing it before Christmas break would be wonderful.
30:56 So, that’d be good.
30:58 The, the Thanksgiving break, like you said, that’s, that’s great.
31:02 Let’s keep that.
31:02 And, you know, finishing in before Memorial Day is, is, is
31:06 perfect as well.
31:07 I think we need to keep those.
31:09 Thank you for doing the options of,
31:12 if we limit it, the early release days.
31:17 It really shows the amount of minutes that we can get back as,
31:22 as teachers.
31:22 You know, that’s, it’s extremely important.
31:25 So, I think that’s going to be an interesting conversation for
31:29 us moving forward.
31:30 But I’m all for longer class periods and less days.
31:35 You know, I’d love to have those kids in there.
31:37 It just, every, even if it’s two minutes a day, that matters.
31:40 Especially if it’s, you know, five days a week, it’s, it’s a big
31:43 deal.
31:44 You know, I hear way too many times students completely dismissing
31:49 Fridays.
31:51 I have, I have kids in my house and, I mean, can I take Friday
31:55 off?
31:55 Why, you know, well, we don’t do anything and it’s not, it’s a
31:59 kid.
31:59 I know where I’m getting it from my, my child.
32:01 And, but if it’s not used properly, I mean, it’s, that’s a, it’s,
32:05 it’s really a, you know,
32:06 a three day weekend in, in some students minds every week.
32:09 So, if we can get back in, you know, Monday through Friday
32:13 routine, and I don’t care if
32:14 we do longer days, I think that’s great too.
32:16 I’m used to longer days as well, teaching.
32:19 So, I think you kind of know where I’m headed in all of those.
32:23 So, I, I appreciate all the hard, hard work and we support,
32:25 support you.
32:26 I just wanted to say, I don’t necessarily think we should go
32:27 back to, go to seven hour days.
32:29 I know that.
32:30 I know.
32:30 Why not?
32:31 Some combination of that.
32:32 It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s at least, it’s good to explore and to
32:36 show those options there that,
32:37 and, you know, seeing what other counties are doing around us
32:40 and the advantages of,
32:41 of having that.
32:41 So, in negotiations.
32:43 Now, seven hour days and all that.
32:46 Yeah.
32:47 So, do you know, do you guys know if there’s any statistics
32:51 showing that early release day
32:53 increases achievement?
32:55 Is there anything anywhere that shows that?
32:57 I looked, I couldn’t find it.
32:59 Have you guys ever seen that that would indicate higher
33:02 achievement scores in any way?
33:03 Just being as a former teacher, and I think Mr. Trent touched on
33:07 it, the early release days
33:09 that we had when I was teaching, which was not set up this way,
33:12 it was difficult to get
33:15 on a schedule to, because now all of a sudden your normal class,
33:18 which is four days, you have
33:20 your bell ringer, you have your lecture, you have all these
33:22 things, but now it’s changed
33:24 up a little bit, and sometimes for the good, sometimes for the
33:26 bad, but I do think that
33:28 we could deliver stronger academics if we had a full day on
33:31 Friday.
33:32 I really do.
33:33 I’ve always felt that way.
33:34 The reason we moved to this, as everybody knows, is that we
33:38 could not give the raises
33:40 that we wanted to during that time, so we gave them the time off
33:43 instead.
33:44 Yep, yep.
33:46 And the issue that we have now is, is that I think it’s time to
33:50 really look at that early
33:51 release day as an option.
33:52 There is other things where you can move to six out of seven, or
33:57 six days instead of seven
33:59 periods, all that other stuff.
34:00 But I really feel strongly about looking at getting rid of the
34:03 early release days.
34:05 I feel very strongly about increasing the time period that the
34:07 students are inside the classes,
34:09 just because it gives us the opportunities that we’re at.
34:12 I did look, 2029, it’s May 28th, 2028, it’s, yeah, May 28th on
34:22 29 and 28th, May 27th on
34:26 2030, May 26th on 2031, May 31st on 2032.
34:30 So the next, yeah, that’s the next time that we really have to
34:34 deal with a shortened time
34:36 would be 2031 where the 26th is.
34:38 So that’s just, it’s not, it’s not like it’s the end of the
34:41 world for at least, I don’t
34:43 know, three or four years that we’ve got to deal with.
34:45 So I, I feel confident though that increasing the achievement
34:50 days, I taught block scheduling.
34:53 And when I did, I felt very confident that I was able to deliver
34:56 more instructions just
34:57 based on the fact that I could carve out more time and do it.
35:00 And we’re not even talking about that much time.
35:02 We’re talking about slim, but I would be in favor, and I may not
35:05 have the majority here,
35:06 of moving to a seven hour day, just so that we could put more
35:09 time in and more, it gives
35:11 us a lot more options to play with.
35:12 I appreciate everybody in the work that you guys did.
35:15 We had asked you guys to come forward with it because a lot of
35:18 other school districts go
35:19 on two year schedules.
35:20 And I think that allowing our families to know that there’s a
35:24 two year schedule would help
35:26 them.
35:26 And I think also preparing this ahead of time.
35:30 So we’re not like coming out and trying to, you know, make these
35:32 decisions in a rash decision
35:34 making at the beginning of the year, the normal time that we do
35:37 it, it would be helpful so
35:38 that we can kind of plan out.
35:39 So thank you so much.
35:41 Do you guys need any other direction from us?
35:44 No, I want to make sure that all stakeholders are aware that
35:49 these are draft options.
35:51 So some of the dates that were put out there, please don’t go
35:54 out and start planning any long
35:56 future vacations.
35:57 I do appreciate the feedback on the initiatives and suggestions
36:01 that were brought forth during
36:03 the 26-27 planning.
36:05 I was not trying to prioritize any of those like fall break, et
36:10 cetera.
36:11 I was just making sure that I tried to capture and we tried to
36:14 capture as many of the suggestions
36:16 and asks that we were asked of.
36:18 I think that when we look at prioritizing, it was instructional
36:22 time.
36:23 Obviously, we’re always going to try to reduce or eliminate
36:27 hurricane makeup days.
36:28 We’re going to prioritize, obviously, Thanksgiving break as the
36:32 stakeholders have spoke on that.
36:33 Finishing prior to winter break seems pretty consistent.
36:39 I know Ms. Campbell wasn’t as high on your list, but it was
36:42 there.
36:44 Obviously, Election Day, as we’ve talked with Dr. Rendell prior
36:46 to this, is going to be a
36:48 year-to-year type of decision-making or based on some rulings or
36:52 legislation that might come
36:54 through, having to change that.
36:55 For example, the year that we discussed, not necessarily as
36:59 important as, or I won’t say
37:01 important as, you know, something we’d have to pursue as much as
37:04 maybe future years.
37:06 Professional learning opportunities as a priority, not really a
37:10 priority as in doing anything
37:11 with a fall break, and then completing the school year before
37:14 Memorial Day as another priority.
37:16 And I just want to point out the start date for the school year
37:20 by the state is August 10th.
37:23 So that’s whenever we start the school year, whether that’s at
37:25 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
37:26 Thursday, Friday, that’s the first day we’re allowed to start
37:30 the traditional school year.
37:33 So I just want to make sure that even if Memorial Day does shift
37:36 on us, we can’t shift the start
37:38 date of the school year up to match that. We’re pigeonholed into
37:41 the 10th of August.
37:43 You have to start exactly on that day, or could you start on the
37:45 11th if you have enough days?
37:46 So the state statute reads that you can start no earlier than
37:49 August 10th.
37:50 That’s what I thought.
37:51 So if we had extra days, we wouldn’t be able to be cornholed
37:53 where we have to come in on Friday
37:55 and then start out the next week.
37:57 We could make the decision. The statute is we just can’t start
38:05 before August 10th.
38:06 Right. These are all great options. I think our calendar is
38:10 improving and improving every year,
38:12 and I appreciate you. Does anybody else have anything sold
38:14 before we get started?
38:14 So, Mr. Chair, I’d like to summarize and make sure we understand
38:17 what the direction is.
38:19 So the first calendar that was presented to you doesn’t require
38:22 any changes to the contract.
38:24 What I heard from the board is they’d like us to explore
38:27 increasing minutes,
38:29 either by eliminating some of the early release days or all of
38:32 the early release days,
38:34 or increasing the school day.
38:36 So that’s going to require negotiations.
38:38 So the direction of the board is, as we work on the 27-28
38:42 calendar,
38:42 we might need to work on some of those changes.
38:44 Okay.
38:45 I want to circle back to Mr. Ramer’s point about August 10th
38:49 being the start date.
38:50 You know, finishing Memorial Day, looking at the date of
38:53 Memorial Day is the finish,
38:54 but the start is actually really more important.
38:57 So if you look at the 27-28 calendar, August 10th is a Tuesday.
39:01 So the next year it will be a Wednesday and then a Thursday.
39:05 So finishing first semester before Christmas break will get more
39:10 challenging unless we increase minutes.
39:12 So, you know, we won’t be able to do it.
39:15 In fact, in the first version where we don’t increase minutes,
39:19 we don’t finish before Christmas break.
39:21 So as the next three or four years go, unless we increase
39:25 minutes,
39:26 we will never be able to finish before Christmas break.
39:29 So, you know, that’s something to think about is increasing the
39:33 minutes available each semester.
39:35 It means we can finish before Christmas break almost every year.
39:44 The start time for after Christmas was January 3rd.
39:47 I was one of the biggest, pre-you guys, I was one of the biggest
39:52 proponents for let’s start earlier,
39:53 because in one couple years we didn’t come back to like the 9th
39:55 or the 10th.
39:56 It was crazy.
39:56 And families, children who don’t have access to food, I mean, it’s
40:00 a really long break.
40:01 It was almost three full weeks.
40:03 But the 3rd is actually the earliest we’ve come back in like my
40:06 memory.
40:06 So I would also suggest that we consider maybe, because I don’t
40:10 know if that’s too early,
40:11 but maybe the ramifications of pushing that out one day,
40:15 just because it seems like the 3rd is really quick for what we’ve
40:18 normally done.
40:19 Maybe it’s not a big deal to anybody.
40:21 And I won’t have kids in a school, so it doesn’t matter to me.
40:24 But the 3rd seems a little bit early,
40:27 because I don’t know when is the last time we’ve ever come back
40:29 before the 4th.
40:29 Yeah, correct.
40:30 And as we work on this 27-28 calendar, we’ll take some of those
40:34 things into account.
40:35 For example, in the coming school year, staff come back on
40:39 Monday,
40:40 but students don’t come back until the Tuesday.
40:41 And remember, food services and transportation had asked for
40:44 that,
40:45 you know, so they can make sure everything’s,
40:47 the kitchens are stocked and ready to go.
40:49 And we make sure there’s, everything’s working when you flip the
40:51 breakers on,
40:52 you know, so that in this 27-28 calendar, we may very well do
40:56 that as well.
40:57 You know, the Monday, January 3rd might end up being a work day.
41:01 And then, you know, we’d steal a day later from that semester.
41:05 Mr. Chair, while we’re still talking about the account, are you
41:09 good?
41:10 Yeah, I was just going to say that was facilities and operations
41:14 had asked for that day.
41:16 So that is something that we have already considered.
41:19 We do want to always keep in mind that if you do that, it shifts
41:22 everything one more day,
41:23 which then puts us right up on the Memorial Day cusp, right,
41:26 for the last day of school and that day of post-planning.
41:31 So I just want to make sure that if you do that day,
41:33 it just shifts everything one day closer to Memorial Day.
41:37 I do want to take a moment to thank Mr. Pruitt.
41:40 He does all the work behind the scenes and meets with the
41:42 calendar committee
41:43 and really works hard to put the calendars together
41:47 and think of really reasonable and high expectation options
41:52 that will provide our staff and students with the best
41:55 opportunities for success.
41:57 So I do want to thank him for all of his work to put this
41:59 together
42:00 and to collaborate with me and the committee on best practices
42:04 for future calendars, current calendars,
42:06 but most importantly for our students, staff, and families.
42:09 All right.
42:12 So, Mr. Chair, for the members of the audience and other people
42:15 watching,
42:16 at our off-site, I proposed a change to the calendar for this
42:20 school year.
42:21 So, in the draft that we were talking about today
42:24 and in the coming school year’s instructional calendar,
42:27 we finish before Memorial Day, but in our current calendar, we
42:31 do not.
42:31 We have two days of instruction after Memorial Day.
42:35 And we didn’t have any hurricanes this year, so we have extra
42:39 minutes, so to speak,
42:40 that we could eliminate those two days as instructional days
42:44 and we would still meet all of our minimum minute requirements.
42:47 For example, first semester this year only had 89 days.
42:51 Second semester right now has 91.
42:53 So, if we were to cancel those last two days of the school year,
42:57 we would still have 89 minutes in first – 89 days in first
42:59 semester
43:00 and 89 days in second semester.
43:01 So, we have the minutes to spare.
43:04 Now, it seems hypocritical that an educator would say,
43:10 “Hey, let’s cancel two days of school.”
43:11 But those last two days after Memorial Day are not prime
43:16 educational opportunities.
43:17 We checked – we had some days after Memorial Day last year in
43:22 the calendar,
43:22 and our attendance was more than 10 percent lower than on a
43:25 regular school day.
43:26 So, you know, I asked the board at the off-site if they, you
43:30 know,
43:31 would be interested in us pursuing eliminating those last two
43:34 days of instruction.
43:35 The board at the off-site said yes, but I just want to make sure,
43:39 you know,
43:40 live and on television that we still have that direction.
43:44 A couple of things to consider – we do have a lot of employees
43:48 that only come
43:49 to work when we have school, for example, bus drivers and
43:52 cafeteria workers.
43:53 We would still have them come to work those days.
43:56 They wouldn’t drive the routes.
43:57 They wouldn’t serve food.
43:58 But we do training or some other activities with them on those
44:01 days.
44:01 So, they would still be employed on those days.
44:04 They’d still get paid on those days.
44:05 So, we’re not going to not – we’re not going to short anybody
44:10 work or pay.
44:10 Some of the challenges we do have to overcome, though, is some
44:15 of our employees
44:17 and our community members rely on our schools as places to house
44:21 their children during the day.
44:22 So, we might have to open up some before and after care sites so
44:27 that, you know, employees
44:29 and community members who kind of rely on us for part of the day
44:33 to supervise their children
44:34 that we offer those opportunities.
44:36 And we can do that, you know.
44:38 And so, we just want to make sure that the board gives us that
44:41 direction.
44:41 We will come up with a formal proposal to do that.
44:45 It will require the board adjusting the current instructional
44:48 calendar.
44:48 So, we would have to bring in a modified calendar to you for
44:51 approval probably
44:52 at the next business meeting.
44:53 So, I just want to make sure that the board is still interested
44:57 in that if they have any concerns.
44:59 I am – you still have a thumbs up from me.
45:02 I would like for us to vote on it as soon as possible.
45:05 And I think even if we can get it worked out and it’s past our
45:08 seven-day deadline,
45:09 I would say just do whatever we can to get it on the 14th.
45:11 And I do – you’ve – because the salary pay is – would be
45:17 taken care of, to me,
45:19 that after care or the child care piece is the one that I’m the
45:22 most concerned about.
45:22 If we could do some kind of survey to say who’s going to need it.
45:25 Right.
45:26 Of – especially of our staff, who usually would not pay for
45:30 child care
45:30 because their kids are in school, including teachers, IAs,
45:33 whatever.
45:34 But then also, as soon as we get this finalized,
45:38 that we get the word out to our local child care centers
45:42 because some of them don’t start their summer camps until the
45:45 day after we’re done.
45:46 So, we get – so they can prepare.
45:47 They should give them enough time with a month and a half to
45:50 prepare.
45:50 But we get the word out as quickly as possible so everybody can
45:53 make that adjustment.
45:54 But I still think it would be a good idea.
45:56 It also will require an MOU with the unions
46:02 because we’re changing the work schedule.
46:04 So, all that to be worked out.
46:08 All right, sounds good. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
46:09 Thank you, sir. Thank you.
46:11 Next up, we have the School Choice Scholarship Update.
46:16 Ms. Harris and Dr. Mayer will present.
46:17 Good afternoon. We have – before Dr. Mayer starts to talk, I
46:28 just have to take a moment because initially,
46:33 when the state offered a new scholarship program, it was new for
46:35 all and, you know, a lot of uncertainty.
46:47 And I just want to recognize Dr. Mayer, with some help from
46:50 Heather Price at our Brevard Virtual, they kind of talked
46:59 through what billing families could look like and scholarship
47:00 opportunities.
47:00 But Dr. Mayer quickly built a very small team with the two
47:04 ladies back there, and I just wanted to publicly recognize her
47:06 for the efforts in making sure that we were doing everything
47:06 right, following the statutory language.
47:07 But also a model for other districts. So, other districts
47:09 routinely reach out to Dr. Mayer, and I just wanted to – before
47:14 I turn it over to her – just publicly recognize the efforts.
47:19 Okay, in school choice, we’re always looking at ways to serve
47:23 our community in any way we can.
47:26 So, this was an opportunity for parents who choose scholarships
47:30 to provide courses, whether through broad virtual or through our
47:32 brick-and-mortar schools.
47:32 So, other districts routinely reach out to Dr. Mayer, and I just
47:34 wanted to – before I turn it over to her, just publicly
47:36 recognize the efforts.
47:38 Okay, in school choice, we’re always looking at ways to serve
47:40 our community in any way we can.
47:42 So, this was an opportunity for parents who choose scholarships
47:45 to provide courses, whether through broad virtual or through our
47:48 brick-and-mortar schools.
47:49 So, we’re looking at advancing those things this year and then
47:52 coming up next year.
47:54 So, the purpose of this is to show you the process we put in
47:58 place to set this system up, go over what we offer, go over our
48:03 successes this year, and go over what we’re looking forward to
48:08 next year.
48:10 So, to get this off the ground, Ms. Price with Brevard Virtual
48:14 set us up as a vendor through StepUp.
48:17 So, that was our initial in, and then we, as a group, created
48:22 our course catalog and a contract with Mr. Gibbs that was
48:27 legally sound, that we actually relied on this year, that helped
48:32 us in many ways.
48:34 Then we built a website to inform the parents.
48:37 We have attended home school events to try and spread the word.
48:43 And then we created a focus application that helps parents
48:47 choose the programs they want to be involved in and the schools
48:51 they want to go to.
48:53 So, we offer elementary courses, secondary courses, AP courses,
48:58 ACE courses, IB courses.
49:01 So, we offer a lot, and they’re both virtual and in-person.
49:06 So, our success this year is we served 78 students.
49:10 At the time of making this PowerPoint, it was around February 13th,
49:15 and we had accumulated 122,000, which that is already creating a
49:19 profit for us.
49:21 But I checked with Ms. Kohler, and we’re up to 149,000 as today.
49:27 So, I definitely want to highlight Ms. Kohler and Ms. Rodriguez
49:30 here, because they are the backbone of this implementation, and
49:34 it is running very smoothly.
49:39 So, I just wanted to give you a little quantitative data on how
49:43 many scholarships we have in Brevard County.
49:46 So, we have a total of close to 16,000, and it is split up with
49:50 two FES scholarships, UA, Unique Abilities, and EO.
49:54 EO is used for families to take that money and attend private
49:58 school.
49:59 And then we have FTC is Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, which is
50:02 our PEP students.
50:04 So, the breakdown is there, but a total of close to 16,000
50:08 opportunities in this county.
50:10 So, our strategic next steps is to look to the board to approve
50:15 the new course catalog, which includes a transportation piece
50:19 and interventions.
50:21 We also want to update the student registration form on focus.
50:26 We also are looking for you to approve the new contract, which
50:29 has a piece about transportation.
50:32 And then we’re looking to promote this program.
50:35 We have a homeschool event on April 25th in the community, but
50:39 we also want to publicize it in any way we possibly can.
50:43 Here is a little clip of our course catalog, but it is extensive
50:48 and many pages.
50:50 You do have it in your folder.
50:51 And again, we added a transportation piece and interventions.
50:55 That’s about the only changes from last year to the next year.
50:58 The next piece up for a proposal is Senate Bill 538 has went
51:06 through the Senate right now.
51:10 And it provides guidance for districts to charge for extracurricular.
51:16 So, there was a group of us that met and we are proposing to
51:20 charge 250 for high school sports per sport per year, 125 per
51:26 sport per year for middle school.
51:28 This would only apply for three categories of students.
51:31 The first one is our Florida tax credit scholarship students,
51:34 which we call PEP.
51:35 The second one would be FESEO, the ones that receive the
51:39 scholarship to attend private and also private school students.
51:48 Do you have any questions on what I presented?
51:54 Thank you so much for that.
51:56 Anybody want to go first?
51:58 Mr. Thomas?
51:59 Quick question on the $140,000 that you cited.
52:02 Was that net profit or is that what the total income for the
52:06 program was?
52:07 So, that is the money we accumulated from all of our scholarship
52:11 students attending our classes.
52:13 And looking at the person that runs its salary, we’re making a
52:18 profit already in the first year.
52:20 But that salary, part of that is coming out of the $140,000?
52:23 Yes.
52:24 Yes, sir.
52:25 Well, I mean, we call it a profit, but basically it’s going into
52:27 the general fund to help pay for those teachers who are teaching
52:29 the students.
52:30 So, it’s not like profit, profit.
52:32 Yes.
52:33 It’s just money that’s helping to pay for the program and
52:35 generate funds to pay for teachers and other things that we’re
52:38 using for the general funds.
52:39 I think it’s a great idea.
52:40 First of all, if I recall, and remind me if I’ve got the right
52:44 number, but I believe at the beginning of the school year when I
52:46 asked Ms. Lysinski how many, I think she told us at the
52:49 beginning of the year we only had like 21 students who were
52:51 taking advantage of this opportunity.
52:53 So, that we’re sitting here mid-second semester and we’re at 78
52:57 without really having gone out and advertised it.
53:00 And I know we’re going to advertise the heck out of it moving
53:01 forward, but it was a good baby steps start.
53:06 Just kudos to all of you for growing that because if we weren’t
53:09 doing it successfully, we wouldn’t have grown that much in just
53:13 since the beginning of the school year.
53:15 So, I think that shows a lot.
53:17 I was surprised to learn yesterday in our conversation with you
53:21 guys how many families are actually using their scholarship to
53:26 pay for an entire day, which to me doesn’t make sense because I’m
53:30 like just come.
53:31 But there is the way the scholarships are making, they still
53:34 have money left over, you know, in most cases and they can use
53:39 that for other, it has to be for educational purposes, can’t be
53:41 for trips to Disney World anymore.
53:44 But, you know, they still have funds that they could use for
53:47 other educational purposes.
53:49 But I think this is great.
53:51 I think the transportation, as long as it fits within our
53:54 parameters like we do, you know, if we have space, if it’s a
53:58 space where we’re already stopping, I think that’s a great idea.
54:01 And offering interventions as we are able to.
54:04 We don’t obviously want to take people off task if we’re having
54:07 a hard time providing minutes to students who are BPS students
54:11 that we’re required to do that for.
54:13 But if we have space, I’m assuming that the interventions piece
54:16 will be like the transportation piece.
54:18 And I can speak to the intervention.
54:21 That was a request because there is legislation for students
54:24 that are working below grade level in the elementary setting
54:27 that we provide intervention minutes.
54:30 And so we did have requests from families saying, well, my child
54:33 just goes there for reading per se.
54:36 And what we started realizing is Brevard Public Schools invest
54:40 quite significantly in intervention resources.
54:43 And really, if they’re choosing not to be a full time student,
54:47 that we need to have an avenue that if they, if we had space
54:51 available, but if they were going to be using our resources,
54:54 personnel and instructional materials, that we wanted to ensure
54:58 that we were looking out for Brevard Public Schools investment
55:02 that they had made.
55:03 And so that’s why those items were included so that if a student
55:06 is staying for intervention that they are appropriately paying
55:09 for those minutes and those resources.
55:12 Right. I think that’s a fantastic idea.
55:14 And I actually really like the idea of doing this for the extracurriculars
55:17 for the athletics.
55:19 I think because we use general fund to pay for the coaches and
55:26 for the officials, you know, and if they’re, if it’s an
55:31 expensive sport, they’re going to be required to do fundraising
55:33 anyway.
55:34 But to for the things that come out of general fund, like all
55:36 the coaching fees that comes out of general fund for right now,
55:39 at least depending on what this bill does.
55:41 But I think that’s a great idea. So kudos to everyone. And I’m
55:45 really pleased with, and I’m excited about us advertising this
55:48 and hopefully seeing even more parents taking advantage of the
55:51 things that we do best at VPS.
55:53 And we already have over 40 people on the wait list for next
55:55 year, not like wait list, but waiting to get, waiting for us to
55:59 open the window above the kids we already have.
56:01 Yeah, that’s fantastic.
56:03 I think that’s going to grow.
56:04 Yes.
56:05 I truly believe it.
56:06 Yes.
56:07 Go ahead.
56:08 That’s exactly where I was going to pick up is just be ready for
56:10 the exponential growth, right?
56:13 I mean, you know, it went from 20 something at the beginning to
56:15 78.
56:16 Those 78 are going to be your biggest cheerleaders because they’re
56:18 going to see the, you know, what we provide is excellent service.
56:22 So, you know, and you answered all of my questions yesterday in
56:26 our one on ones, which is great.
56:28 Also, we talked about the athletics and paying for that and
56:31 being able to participate, which is wonderful.
56:34 But this is a big, I don’t know if many people out there realize
56:38 what such a big deal this is, you know, or other parts of the
56:42 country where they’re saying they’re losing kids.
56:44 And we’re just making, you know, lemonade whenever other places
56:48 are getting lemons out of this.
56:50 So, it is extremely exciting that you guys take advantage of
56:54 this opportunity in providing service for our citizens out there.
56:58 So, I appreciate it.
56:59 Thank you.
57:00 Matt.
57:01 So, thank you very much.
57:03 I just wanted to reiterate a lot of what my colleagues are
57:07 saying in that you guys have been doing a phenomenal job.
57:10 We talked about this last year, putting it all together.
57:12 I’m glad that it’s moving.
57:13 It’s going to grow.
57:14 I feel the more, when I met with, because I do a lot of meetings
57:17 with homeschool families, and one of the things that we found is
57:21 that they want to be a part of the schools.
57:24 They want, but they also want that freedom of having their
57:26 children back.
57:27 And what we’re seeing is, is that as we open up more
57:29 opportunities, more extracurriculars, more sports, more
57:33 everything, that drive to have them be a part of us in one way
57:37 or another becomes more driven inside of them to do that.
57:41 And it’s all because of your guys’ leadership and everything
57:43 else, not only with the transition of allowing them to do it,
57:46 but then Dr. Rendell’s about offering the opportunities for
57:48 sports and everything else.
57:50 So, thank you very much.
57:51 I think, are you guys looking for any direction in here besides?
57:54 Because you’ve got a majority for the cost of the charges for
57:57 the athletics.
57:58 Is there anything else that you needed?
57:59 The next thing, we’ll be recommending the updates in the catalog
58:02 that will go before for board approval.
58:05 Okay.
58:06 Is there anything else that you needed right now?
58:07 I just want to make sure you’re covered.
58:08 So, thank you so much.
58:09 So, I just have a couple of things to follow up on.
58:11 I just want to make sure, members of the audience and people
58:13 watching, when they saw the fees for athletics, that is for
58:16 students who are on scholarship or, you know, have,
58:20 have access to the vouchers.
58:23 Our regular students will not be paying those fees.
58:25 Yes.
58:26 So, I just want to make sure everybody, when they saw that, they
58:27 don’t think, oh, now we’re going to start charging for sports.
58:29 The students who aren’t enrolled in our schools full-time that
58:32 have access to the scholarship, the vouchers, yes, if they want
58:35 to participate in extracurricular activities, they would be,
58:38 have to pay that fee.
58:38 And we come out of their voucher or their scholarship, so.
58:41 And that’s consistent with all the other activities that we have
58:43 available for them, and it’s consistent with them receiving
58:46 revenue for these type of activities.
58:48 Correct.
58:49 There are some other districts around the state that already do
58:50 it.
58:51 Yep.
58:52 Absolutely.
58:53 It’s not anything that we’re.
58:54 No.
58:55 You know.
58:56 All right.
58:57 You guys ready to do the aftercare?
58:58 Yes.
58:59 All right.
59:00 I couldn’t put, I’m just saying, I am your, your, I, that’s it.
59:13 When you leave, I’m going to send you every month a package of .
59:21 I just got your phone number, so eventually I’ll find out.
59:25 Okay.
59:26 Before I get started, I definitely want to highlight Ms. Boletti
59:28 and Ms. Hazelgrove here from before and aftercare.
59:31 They are my coordinator, my assistant coordinator.
59:33 They do a wonderful job providing support, leadership to our 57
59:38 sites that provide before and aftercare.
59:42 So, we’re here today to ensure that we maintain our quality care
59:48 for before and aftercare.
59:51 So, the first thing we’re going to do is review our current
59:55 offerings.
59:56 Then highlight areas of success.
59:58 Then show how we help the community and our employees, because
1:00:03 it is a wonderful benefit for them.
1:00:05 And then explain the need for a fee adjustment.
1:00:08 So, the things that we offer through Brevard before and aftercare
1:00:12 are before and aftercare, grant programs where students attend
1:00:17 and they get academic support, and summer camps.
1:00:21 We also have enrichments for the year-round school, Challenger 7.
1:00:25 So, last year, we don’t have final data for this year, so the
1:00:29 data is based on last year.
1:00:32 We served over 5,600 students in our general before and aftercare
1:00:35 program.
1:00:36 Just under 1,000 during our summer program.
1:00:39 Just above 900 in our grant program.
1:00:42 So, we’re serving quite a bit.
1:00:45 We also offer paid enrichment activities where they play chess
1:00:49 or they come for arts and crafts or they have karate classes.
1:00:53 With that, BAS takes 18% as the revenue from those activities.
1:01:00 We also have a gold key program.
1:01:02 This is our safety program.
1:01:04 We go out to each school site twice a year and ensure that they
1:01:08 are safe.
1:01:09 So, when we go out and check, last year we had six schools that
1:01:13 scored superior and 39 schools that maintain gold key.
1:01:19 So, we have – these are great benefits for our families and
1:01:22 community and our employees.
1:01:25 We offer them beforecare, aftercare, or both.
1:01:28 We also offer summer programs, paid enrichment, an annual
1:01:32 program where they can – annual pass where they can buy 15 days
1:01:38 and spread them throughout the year.
1:01:40 We also offer for our employees the employee limited use where
1:01:45 they can put their student there for eight to nine hours per
1:01:50 week.
1:01:51 We are guaranteed a 1:25 ratio to ensure that there’s safety
1:01:55 throughout our program.
1:01:57 So, we are coming today to provide or ask for – propose a fee
1:02:05 increase.
1:02:06 But what we did before that was we polled 11 sites around the
1:02:10 county that provide before and aftercare.
1:02:13 So, looking across this chart, the average registration fee at
1:02:19 these 11 is $110.
1:02:23 We, right now, only charge 25 and we’re proposing the increase
1:02:27 for $5.
1:02:28 So, $30 registration fee.
1:02:29 That’s not even one-third the price of everyone else on average.
1:02:34 If you looked at before and aftercare combined, their average
1:02:38 across the 11 is $11.
1:02:40 We charge right now $70.
1:02:42 So, we’re asking for an increase of $5 to be $75.
1:02:46 And then the average summer program is $211 across these 11
1:02:50 sites.
1:02:51 And we charge right now $113 and we’re proposing for $118.
1:02:55 Here is the breakdown of the fee increase.
1:02:59 The second-to-last column shows the $5 increase across the board
1:03:04 on every fee other than the annual pass.
1:03:06 And again, let me reiterate that annual pass is 15 days and you
1:03:10 can spread them throughout the year.
1:03:11 So, they are going up $5 per day.
1:03:14 But if you still divided that $325 price by the 15, you’re
1:03:18 looking at $21.67, which is much lower than our drop-in rate of
1:03:26 $40.
1:03:28 So, the reason we’re proposing this fee increase is there are
1:03:32 rising costs with the snacks that we provide.
1:03:36 We want to retain and recruit more staff so we can take more
1:03:40 students off the waitlists at schools that do have a waitlist.
1:03:44 And we also have rising costs of any material that we use,
1:03:47 whether they’re games that we provide, paper, coloring books for
1:03:51 the kids, crayons.
1:03:52 All of that has rising costs in today’s economy.
1:03:54 so our five-year goal is to increase the number of schools that
1:04:00 offer our summer
1:04:00 program going into this summer here in 2026 we have seven
1:04:05 schools and we would
1:04:06 like to increase that in years to come we also want to increase
1:04:10 our paid
1:04:11 enrichment activities so the kids have more fun activities
1:04:13 during the bass
1:04:15 program and we also want to decrease that number on the wait
1:04:18 list because some
1:04:19 schools fill up within the first 15 minutes that we open so does
1:04:25 anyone have
1:04:26 any questions thank you many questions for yeah I think this is
1:04:34 a good
1:04:35 proposal I know I was just visiting a school this morning and
1:04:37 she’s not 15
1:04:38 minutes but she said there’s fills up within three hours so I
1:04:41 know the limit is
1:04:43 usually not space I asked her is it space she said no we could
1:04:45 probably take
1:04:46 another 25 students its employees and so whatever we can do
1:04:51 because the families
1:04:53 really want to use this service whatever we can do to expand it’s
1:04:57 it helps the
1:04:58 budget but also it’s really providing a great service to our
1:05:01 families so I am for
1:05:03 all the increases and the opportunities the summer camps we’re
1:05:07 providing the
1:05:07 millage paid ones that are like part day but it’s only just like
1:05:11 one week I think
1:05:13 the interest is the comments from what I’ve seen the families
1:05:16 really are
1:05:16 interested in having things that they could send their kids to
1:05:19 at a place that
1:05:19 they already trust for the summer so whatever we can do to
1:05:22 expand that I think
1:05:22 is great anybody else good thank you so much for putting this
1:05:29 together I truly
1:05:30 appreciate you guys taking the time the spreadsheet is pretty
1:05:33 incredible and to
1:05:34 itself one of the things that I was part of the team that
1:05:37 actually blocked the
1:05:39 increase in and charges to for aftercare years ago I felt like
1:05:43 it was after we have
1:05:46 a problem though in that we don’t come back to it for years so
1:05:51 what ends up
1:05:51 happening is is that we have a system where we’re like saying no
1:05:54 we don’t we’re not
1:05:55 comfortable right now because families are dealing with a lot to
1:05:58 increase it but
1:05:59 then it doesn’t come back for years when it comes back it’s at a
1:06:01 critical stage I was
1:06:04 going to ask the board in general there’s a couple of things
1:06:07 there’s Brevard
1:06:08 aftercare there’s food services there’s other things that we are
1:06:11 way behind the
1:06:13 averages of other areas like we are lower than many of the
1:06:17 competitors inside the
1:06:18 district it’s going to ask the board if they would what they
1:06:21 feel about not that
1:06:22 we have to do it here this is not the area to do it but feel
1:06:25 like a
1:06:26 incremental raise kind of like we do for the teachers where
1:06:29 every year instead of
1:06:30 them instead of the aftercare program coming back in five to ten
1:06:34 years and
1:06:34 saying hey we need a we need a raise because we like don’t even
1:06:37 have enough
1:06:37 money for snacks there’s an incremental raise that they can
1:06:40 build their budgets on
1:06:41 that they can use for retention and recruitment that they can do
1:06:43 it so see you
1:06:45 know you can do it from you know however we want to but is there
1:06:49 an interest in the
1:06:50 board of them bringing back another recommendation for an
1:06:53 incremental
1:06:53 raise to get us to a certain place to be competitive with them
1:06:58 what do you guys
1:06:59 think you know I think it would be based on needs I mean this is
1:07:04 the enterprise
1:07:05 fund source of income we can make it as much as we want we could
1:07:10 go up to the
1:07:10 average rate if we wanted to I think it makes sense to come like
1:07:14 a dollar or two a
1:07:15 year like yeah or even or even next year come back and do
1:07:18 another five and then
1:07:19 and reevaluate I mean it’s always I always appreciate the way
1:07:21 the district whether it’s
1:07:22 food nutrition services or aftercare that we we we try not to do
1:07:26 too much too quickly because
1:07:28 families even if it’s just five dollars a week five dollars a
1:07:30 month it’s still you
1:07:31 know some families it can be significant costs of course our
1:07:34 lowest income schools that 20th
1:07:36 century program is free to them with tutoring and and things
1:07:41 provided so those those people
1:07:42 are still taken care of but yeah I think it makes sense to just
1:07:46 plan on like food nutrition services has done before
1:07:49 why don’t we why don’t we plan on next year going up another
1:07:51 five unless you guys come
1:07:52 back to the board and say hey we’re good we don’t need it you
1:07:55 know but I think it
1:07:56 makes sense to plan ahead and then the most advanced warning we
1:08:00 can give our
1:08:01 families hey we’re going to go five dollars this year next year
1:08:03 it’s going to be
1:08:03 another five they can kind of plan for that if you could put
1:08:07 together some kind of
1:08:08 a oh mr. Thomas did you have something to say my only comment is
1:08:11 if we’re if it’s at a
1:08:12 level right now that’s comfortable and we’re not making a huge
1:08:16 profit but it’s
1:08:16 sustaining the program that we don’t you know keep it relevant
1:08:20 if we’re going to
1:08:20 raise it do it to the based on the cost of living yeah no I don’t
1:08:24 randomly just
1:08:24 throw out numbers just because it seems like we can get away
1:08:26 with it and I and I
1:08:27 was what I was looking at is when did we say that the last time
1:08:30 the increase was
1:08:31 many years ago ma’am
1:08:34 no how many years ago how many years ago
1:08:39 that’s it
1:08:43 2018
1:08:45 Stephanie Archer’s been gone I believe around yeah it was I
1:08:48 remember it being 2018
1:08:50 so if you look at it say we just said we wanted to increase it
1:08:56 at the cost of living whatever that
1:08:58 it’s two dollars every year or like you said a five dollar bump
1:09:02 next year and then
1:09:02 two dollars after that if you did that it would be about right
1:09:07 about where it’s
1:09:08 needed to be from 2018 but when they come to us they’re like
1:09:12 needing this money and
1:09:14 it’s like we I hate doing budgets that way and they can’t
1:09:19 project their stuff that
1:09:20 way so if they know that there’s a percentage coming every year
1:09:23 I would I would like to see
1:09:24 something like that if that’s okay well not to mention think
1:09:26 about all the big raises
1:09:27 we’ve given since 2018 I know and that has had to come out of
1:09:32 their money comes out of
1:09:33 this program so if we didn’t increase it but they definitely had
1:09:37 huge increases in
1:09:38 costs because they had to pay other people so we want to make
1:09:41 sure that you’re
1:09:41 generating enough revenue to cover the races we know it’s gonna
1:09:44 be two percent
1:09:45 every year for the next couple years we definitely want to make
1:09:48 sure that we get
1:09:49 that covered and that’s we can kind of project but I think that’s
1:09:53 a good idea to
1:09:55 at least consider doing at least a two-year incremental so we
1:09:59 can kind of get up to a
1:10:00 safe a safe place get us bumped and then a percentage after that
1:10:05 and everything else
1:10:05 they’re paying for the district is also there the program’s not
1:10:08 even the district
1:10:09 eats the electricity that’s used and the water that’s used and
1:10:12 the security factors
1:10:14 that are used that comes out of the general fund so when we talk
1:10:16 about this
1:10:17 program generating a profit and it goes back into the general
1:10:19 fund well it’s
1:10:21 kind of like the profit conversation we had earlier it’s profit
1:10:23 but really it’s
1:10:24 supporting the general fund that we’re paying for all those
1:10:28 extra expenses out of
1:10:29 not just paying for the supplies and the employees so it makes
1:10:33 total sense for us
1:10:34 to have an increase and make sure that we’re that we’re healthy
1:10:37 here and and have
1:10:39 room for growth yep and I think I also just in general board
1:10:43 what I’d like to do
1:10:43 is kind of apply this to a couple other areas as we go through
1:10:47 these presentations
1:10:48 because every year a group comes forward right so food services
1:10:51 is going to be in
1:10:52 front of us within the next two months say for instance we give
1:10:55 him the
1:10:56 opportunity to do an incremental increase we should go to that
1:10:58 model is a lot
1:10:59 better for our people for budgeting for a lot of other things so
1:11:02 they’re not
1:11:03 coming back bleeding saying please you know so I think you guys
1:11:07 have done a great job
1:11:07 aftercare program like our only problem is we can’t find enough
1:11:11 people we have more kids than
1:11:12 we have and that’s what’s sad so I’m hoping that this will help
1:11:15 with retention and recruitment
1:11:16 and if there’s anything I can do to help you guys out go knock
1:11:19 on some doors of some people that are
1:11:21 sitting around how about those people that are in the parking
1:11:23 lot that park in our schools
1:11:24 that are out there like two hours ahead of time they’ve got some
1:11:27 time come on help us out you know what I mean
1:11:30 I’ll hand out I’ll hand out applications man you guys can come
1:11:34 into the school and
1:11:35 stop blocking our roads you know what I mean so but I appreciate
1:11:38 you guys thank you
1:11:39 very much do you have that direction so increase yes we’re gonna
1:11:42 I just want to
1:11:44 be sure that we have this clear we’re going to increase for next
1:11:48 school year by the
1:11:49 five are we then saying for the following is that increasing
1:11:54 next year and then
1:11:56 we’re gonna put together a CPI yeah I think I think it’s a two-step
1:11:59 process when
1:11:59 we’re gonna you’ve got direction to put this on a board agenda
1:12:03 for this price
1:12:03 increase for next year and then come up with a proposal like for
1:12:07 next for the
1:12:08 following year and then maybe down the road is it a percentage
1:12:10 increase every
1:12:11 year it’s at five dollars then to be revisited but that’s a it’s
1:12:15 a two-step
1:12:15 thing all right thank you great so mr. Susan we have one more
1:12:23 presentation and I
1:12:24 don’t know if everybody needs a break or not you guys all good
1:12:27 yep let’s take a five
1:12:28 minute break
1:12:58 Thank you.
1:18:30 Welcome back.
1:18:31 We now have a presentation on K-8 concept exploration process
1:18:34 and will be presented by Sue Hand, the Deputy Superintendent.
1:18:39 Thank you.
1:19:47 - Oh, it’s pretty amazing. - Pretty good, okay.
1:19:49 All right.
1:19:51 And so the bulk of the presentation today
1:19:53 will be about the services that they’re proposing to provide.
1:19:56 We’re looking at a two-phased process.
1:19:59 The first phase is what we’re calling
1:20:01 really a pre-scoping analysis,
1:20:03 ‘cause it’s really hard to look at these schools the same way.
1:20:07 They all have unique needs, they all have unique situations,
1:20:10 they all have unique communities,
1:20:11 so as we look at the K-8 conversion possibilities,
1:20:14 we really need to talk to the stakeholders
1:20:17 that are engaged in that particular school
1:20:19 and that particular community.
1:20:20 So some of the strategies that we’ll use
1:20:22 are going to be completely different.
1:20:24 And so we really need to kind of get a sense
1:20:26 of what’s the foundational concepts that we wanna look at,
1:20:29 and that’s what’s on deck right now.
1:20:32 And so with that, I’m going to turn the presentation
1:20:35 over to Mr. Davis and Mr. Wieberdink
1:20:37 to kind of give you a little sense
1:20:40 of where we’d like to go with our next set of work.
1:20:43 I think I’ve gotten through that, so okay.
1:20:46 Okay, well, thank you.
1:20:47 Thank you for having us, and thank you for the opportunity
1:20:50 to bring a little bit of color to the proposal
1:20:54 that we shared.
1:20:55 As a big team, I’m Dawa Wieberdink,
1:20:59 as Sue very exactly shared, and I’m a planning lead.
1:21:04 I’m very much focused on analytics.
1:21:07 I would be the day-to-day communication person
1:21:10 with the team.
1:21:12 All right, can you hear me okay?
1:21:16 Okay, and I’m Patrick Davis.
1:21:18 I’m a principal with the firm.
1:21:20 So I lead our K-12 strategic planning practice
1:21:22 across the country.
1:21:24 My background’s a little bit different.
1:21:25 I actually used to work for a school district.
1:21:27 I was a COO for a large school district,
1:21:29 so certainly can understand the complexities
1:21:31 of decisions like this, so able to bring that perspective.
1:21:34 But as Dawa mentioned, we’re joined by a really large team.
1:21:37 Obviously, projects like this can go
1:21:39 a lot of different directions.
1:21:40 So while we’re showing a few faces here on the slide,
1:21:43 we’ve got resources across the firm that we can pull in
1:21:46 to support any direction that the projects may go,
1:21:49 and we’re also potentially supported,
1:21:50 probably more so in phase two and subsequent work,
1:21:53 with additional consultants that might be helping
1:21:55 with engagement strategies,
1:21:56 if there’s any sort of financial analysis we want to do
1:21:58 as part of the work.
1:22:00 We’ve got a deep bunch of team members to participate.
1:22:03 Yeah.
1:22:04 So the project overview,
1:22:07 that’s really the three middle schools
1:22:08 that we would be looking at.
1:22:11 And could we expand them in K-8 schools?
1:22:13 We actually, Dave and Karen actually shared,
1:22:17 like we walked the middle schools yesterday.
1:22:19 It’s actually quite different when you look at them.
1:22:22 So each school,
1:22:23 even though the chart is kind of like the same,
1:22:26 they will probably have very different approaches.
1:22:29 I might, because of the differences,
1:22:31 because of the differences in the school,
1:22:33 but also the feed-up patterns.
1:22:35 But within this project,
1:22:37 we are really looking at the district’s strategic priorities
1:22:41 to focus on this enrollment stability
1:22:44 between the various grades,
1:22:46 and to improve, enhance the student experiences.
1:22:50 We want to encourage student retention
1:22:54 within, you know, within Brevard County,
1:22:57 but specifically within these three middle schools.
1:23:01 And as I mentioned,
1:23:03 they really have different approaches.
1:23:05 They have the same approach,
1:23:06 but might have different ways of looking at them.
1:23:11 So the pre-scoping study,
1:23:14 we are envisioning a kind of 10-week time period.
1:23:18 It could be a little bit accelerated,
1:23:20 if you would like,
1:23:22 with initially really listening to the stakeholders,
1:23:26 listening to all of you,
1:23:28 listening to the superintendent and his cabinet,
1:23:31 and municipal leadership,
1:23:32 really trying to understand.
1:23:33 We can collect all the data that we want,
1:23:36 but without that color,
1:23:37 without the discussions around them,
1:23:41 we will not really fully get a full picture
1:23:44 of what we could do in the subsequent phases.
1:23:47 Once we have that understanding,
1:23:50 we’ll look at enrollment analysis,
1:23:52 and it’s not just like each individual school.
1:23:55 It will also be the combination.
1:23:57 Some of the schools, when you looked at it,
1:23:59 they might become very big.
1:24:02 We don’t know.
1:24:03 We would really have to look at it.
1:24:05 And within each of them,
1:24:08 we will look at the challenges.
1:24:10 What are we running into?
1:24:11 Are there any red flags?
1:24:13 Maybe within the pre-scoping studies,
1:24:15 we are running into certain challenges
1:24:17 that kind of like say, okay,
1:24:19 maybe this is not the right moment for right now.
1:24:22 We look at opportunities.
1:24:24 What are the opportunities around the schools?
1:24:27 And then we will probably come based on,
1:24:31 we will probably come up with some kind
1:24:33 of sample education space program
1:24:35 within a month, month and a half in of the project.
1:24:40 We’ll put that all in a report,
1:24:43 bring it to you for further recommendations.
1:24:46 But the idea is eventually to maybe have a look
1:24:49 at one or two or three of those schools
1:24:52 and say, well, how can we really explore this?
1:24:54 Is this really feasible?
1:24:57 And again, there’s the numbers,
1:24:58 but that’s really the important part
1:24:59 where we really want to understand
1:25:02 from the stakeholders what those opportunities are
1:25:05 and what the challenges are going to be.
1:25:08 Yeah, I would just sort of build
1:25:08 on a little bit for that.
1:25:10 You know, phase one, I think,
1:25:11 is really sort of building that foundation
1:25:13 of understanding from an internal perspective.
1:25:15 As we think about potentially the phase two,
1:25:18 understanding what are the guardrails,
1:25:19 what are the challenges, what are the opportunities?
1:25:21 How do we effectively engage each school community
1:25:23 so that their voice is really sort of baked
1:25:25 into the sort of strategy development?
1:25:27 So early phase, sort of phase one,
1:25:30 is that sort of just building, you know,
1:25:32 from district perspective,
1:25:33 what are the range of opportunities that exist?
1:25:35 Then we go to the broader community
1:25:36 and sort of bring their voice into the process.
1:25:39 So a lot of that would happen in phase two.
1:25:42 And as I’ll show here just in a second,
1:25:44 we don’t know what engagement looks like.
1:25:45 I think one thing is we’ll sort of talk
1:25:47 about over the next few slides,
1:25:49 engagement looks very different from community to community.
1:25:52 We want to work with you, we want to work with the leaders
1:25:54 of the district, of the schools,
1:25:55 to really understand what’s the right approach
1:25:58 for each school community.
1:25:59 So we don’t have a predefined idea
1:26:01 of what engagement looks like.
1:26:02 I think part of phase one is starting to map out
1:26:04 what would an engagement strategy look like.
1:26:06 So we are, you know, really tailoring it
1:26:08 to those school needs.
1:26:11 So we’ve got a few more just quick slides
1:26:12 and obviously want to open up for questions.
1:26:15 We just want to take this as an opportunity.
1:26:16 It’s our first time getting a chance
1:26:18 to work with you all, so just quickly introduce the firm.
1:26:21 So Perkins Eastman is a large planning architecture firm.
1:26:24 K-12 is actually our biggest what we call practice area,
1:26:27 the building type that we work with.
1:26:29 Dow and I almost exclusively,
1:26:30 I work exclusively in K-12 around the country.
1:26:33 We’ve been lucky enough to work with over 600 districts
1:26:35 around the country and doing projects like this,
1:26:38 over 50 districts.
1:26:39 So as I mentioned, I have the privilege
1:26:41 of running our planning practice for K-12.
1:26:44 We, you know, I think we actually probably specialize
1:26:47 in larger complex districts.
1:26:50 So we’ve worked all over the country,
1:26:52 typically with larger districts, you know,
1:26:55 with a range of projects that go from capital planning
1:26:57 to school consolidation studies to boundary studies,
1:27:00 anything that can do with the built environment,
1:27:02 how it’s supporting the broader vision of the district.
1:27:05 We’ve been lucky enough to support a lot of districts
1:27:07 around the country.
1:27:09 And again, typically specializing in the larger district,
1:27:13 typically with a little more complexity to it
1:27:14 than some of the more traditional districts
1:27:16 you might find across the country.
1:27:18 So I’m just gonna go through,
1:27:20 this is not meant to be a sort of marketing thing.
1:27:22 It was really meant to sort of tee up,
1:27:24 sort of just a range of things we’ve done in terms of,
1:27:26 and focusing specifically on engagement.
1:27:29 ‘Cause again, engagement has varied dramatically
1:27:31 from project to project and even within the community,
1:27:34 as you’ll see here just in a second.
1:27:36 But just sort of a starting point to introduce one
1:27:39 project which is Anne Arundel County, Maryland,
1:27:41 which is essentially Annapolis, Maryland,
1:27:43 if you know the capital of Maryland.
1:27:44 But we helped them develop a long-range facility plan,
1:27:47 helped them develop a long-term capital plan
1:27:49 and sort of replacement cycle for their buildings,
1:27:52 a lot of financial analysis,
1:27:53 building condition analysis.
1:27:55 But from an engagement standpoint,
1:27:57 I would say this was actually a district that they’ve,
1:27:59 the community is very sort of versed in digital tools
1:28:02 and surveys and they really sort of wanted to lean more
1:28:05 on the digital side.
1:28:06 And actually we didn’t do a ton of in-person engagement.
1:28:09 So this is sort of the polar,
1:28:10 you know, one side of the engagement spectrum,
1:28:13 which was let’s rely on digital tools
1:28:15 that families are familiar with.
1:28:16 We created an interactive website,
1:28:18 interactive tools where they could,
1:28:19 you know, go through a condition report,
1:28:21 support, you know, do surveys and leave comments.
1:28:24 But this was a sort of,
1:28:25 I would say on one range,
1:28:27 the most sort of digital side of the spectrum.
1:28:31 And again, there’s no right or wrong answer.
1:28:32 It’s sort of working with you to figure out the right mix,
1:28:34 even within the district.
1:28:37 Another one we’ve worked with is in Wisconsin,
1:28:39 which is Milwaukee Public Schools.
1:28:42 This I would say took a sort of a varied approach
1:28:44 where we had, as you’ll see here in a second,
1:28:46 a series of tools and digital tools to inform people.
1:28:50 But then also a lot of face-to-face conversations,
1:28:53 small group meetings, workshops,
1:28:55 things like that with the community.
1:28:56 So we sort of spanned the range of engagement types.
1:29:00 This was a district that like a lot of places
1:29:02 around the country as you actually pointed to earlier,
1:29:04 dealing with declining enrollment,
1:29:05 they were thinking about school consolidation.
1:29:07 So very difficult, you know, conversations.
1:29:10 But one of the things we did,
1:29:12 which I thought was, you know, quite effective,
1:29:14 was we created some interactive tools for people to,
1:29:18 this is embedded in a public website
1:29:20 where people could answer questions.
1:29:22 This is going through pretty quickly,
1:29:23 but you know, these were sort of areas of the city
1:29:25 that were considering a potential consolidation scenario.
1:29:28 So you can click on a school,
1:29:29 learn about the conditions on that school, you know,
1:29:32 enrollment, building utilization, building condition,
1:29:34 a lot of different metrics.
1:29:36 But I think the really interesting thing was,
1:29:38 you know, people understand their communities
1:29:39 a lot better than we do.
1:29:40 They understand the very local,
1:29:42 sort of hyper-local context
1:29:43 that we may not always get.
1:29:44 So users could go in and leave
1:29:46 very specific geo-tagged comments.
1:29:48 So for example, in this consolidation scenario,
1:29:51 they wanted to say,
1:29:52 hey, I’m really concerned about the safety
1:29:53 of kids crossing the street
1:29:55 if we’re going to walk from this neighborhood
1:29:57 to that neighborhood.
1:29:57 So they could leave very specific comments
1:29:59 that are tagged to a location.
1:30:02 And then on the back end, you know,
1:30:03 we get all of the sort of where they’re leaving comments,
1:30:06 what the comments are.
1:30:07 But then also as we think about
1:30:08 a broader engagement strategy,
1:30:11 we’re actually able to track, you know,
1:30:12 where people are clicking on a map.
1:30:13 We can see, like,
1:30:14 who’s actually engaging with information.
1:30:16 And what we found was,
1:30:18 there was actually parts of the city
1:30:19 that were not engaging with these digital tools, right?
1:30:21 So not everyone has the same digital literacy access
1:30:24 to, you know, materials and resources.
1:30:26 So we found was in the northern part of the district,
1:30:29 actually people were barely engaging
1:30:31 with information at all.
1:30:32 So we actually differentiated our approach to engagement,
1:30:34 had more face-to-face conversations
1:30:36 in the north part of the city.
1:30:37 So the digital tools not only help us get information out,
1:30:41 but we can actually track who’s potentially using them
1:30:42 and really tailor our approach to support broad
1:30:46 and sort of robust engagement as part of that process.
1:30:49 Another one, another example, Washington DC,
1:30:52 we led a boundary study sort of redrawing
1:30:54 and policy initiative.
1:30:56 This was a different approach where through the city,
1:30:58 we actually stood up a steering committee.
1:31:00 So we had a set group of people that met with us
1:31:02 on a monthly basis from a district-wide representation.
1:31:06 And we had really sort of detailed conversations with them.
1:31:10 But this was more of a committee-based engagement approach
1:31:12 where different parts of the district represented,
1:31:16 were represented in the committee,
1:31:17 and we had sort of roll up our sleeve workshops
1:31:19 in our style, we met with them every month
1:31:21 for about a year, going through a long sort of process
1:31:25 from a policy and boundary perspective.
1:31:27 So that’s another sort of thing that we’ve done.
1:31:29 And then I think the other thing that, you know, often,
1:31:32 we had a privilege, as now I mentioned,
1:31:34 of walking the schools today.
1:31:37 And I think often the school voices
1:31:40 is maybe not always felt in a broad district-wide strategy.
1:31:45 And obviously, we’re talking about very specific K-8
1:31:48 potential opportunities here.
1:31:49 So a little bit different.
1:31:50 But one of the things we did in Jefferson County, Colorado,
1:31:52 which is a large district, which is basically the western side
1:31:55 of Denver all the way into the Rocky Mountains,
1:31:58 we wanted to make sure the principal voice came into the process
1:32:02 and the school operator perspective.
1:32:03 So again, we actually built, it’s about a large district,
1:32:07 146 schools, built some tools where they could actually give us
1:32:10 their perspective on building conditions in this example.
1:32:14 These are custom questions and tools and resources.
1:32:17 But this one is very specifically,
1:32:18 they can go in and tell us, you know,
1:32:20 where are they having issues with their buildings.
1:32:21 So for example, if they have a roof leak,
1:32:23 they can tell us very specifically where those roof leaks are.
1:32:28 And all sorts of questions that they can help give us
1:32:31 before we go out and assess the buildings and whatnot.
1:32:33 We have this, we’re armed with this information pre-assessments
1:32:38 and pre-visits so that their voices is already factored
1:32:41 into our thinking, we’re aware of where the concern points are.
1:32:44 And then we get interesting sort of outputs like this
1:32:46 so we can start to see from their perspective, where are those.
1:32:49 So I show these to sort of just give you a range of things
1:32:52 that might be an opportunity.
1:32:54 I want to really make it clear, we don’t have a product.
1:32:57 We’re not a technology company.
1:32:59 We actually build these from scratch.
1:33:00 We build these tools to really sort of extend the work
1:33:03 that we’re able to do, extend our reach.
1:33:05 But each one is that you can hopefully see is very different
1:33:07 in terms of approach.
1:33:09 If we’re to sort of lean and do some sort of digital component,
1:33:12 we would work with you, we’d work with the leadership
1:33:13 to figure out in the school communities to figure out
1:33:16 what is the right sort of mix of digital tools
1:33:19 to get information out, but also collect information.
1:33:21 But then also potentially have balance that
1:33:23 with more traditional engagement opportunities
1:33:26 with in-person conversations.
1:33:28 So this is really, you know, almost more of that sort of just a
1:33:30 teaser
1:33:31 for what could be possible as we go through.
1:33:33 I mean, if phase two becomes a reality.
1:33:35 But again, I just want to sort of give you a range of things
1:33:38 to get your brain moving a little bit in terms of what might be
1:33:40 possible for here in Brevard.
1:33:42 So again, these are not meant to say these are what we would do
1:33:44 here.
1:33:45 Just, you know, examples of what we’ve done for other districts.
1:33:48 So I’ll turn it back to Sue.
1:33:50 Thank you.
1:33:52 So where we are today is we would like to proceed with the phase
1:33:55 one part of the study.
1:33:56 The price for that scope of work is $45,500.
1:34:00 We do have funds budgeted for this type of work that will be
1:34:04 able to cover this piece.
1:34:06 And so we think it’s important to move forward with all three of
1:34:09 them,
1:34:09 just to kind of give us a range of possibilities because they
1:34:13 are so different.
1:34:14 And I think they all would be good pilot projects for this type
1:34:18 of analysis.
1:34:19 And so we’d like to move forward with that.
1:34:21 And so that’s our, that’s our, where we are today.
1:34:24 And I wanted to just get some feedback from all of you before we
1:34:27 proceeded.
1:34:28 Ms. Hand, before we get into the engagement, you had mentioned
1:34:32 that phase one is this.
1:34:34 Phase two is something that would come back after.
1:34:37 And then you said there’s a phase three.
1:34:39 Ms. So phase, the next phase, for example, if we went through
1:34:43 this process,
1:34:44 the 10-week process, and we come back with, we’ve met with the
1:34:48 stone community,
1:34:49 and we think that there’s an opportunity to rebuild stone,
1:34:53 and it’s going to be approximately this big and located
1:34:56 approximately here.
1:34:58 These are some of the main concepts that came out of the initial
1:35:01 stakeholder engagement.
1:35:02 We would then build a phase two scope of work that includes some
1:35:06 of the tools
1:35:06 that you saw today to bring in the larger community,
1:35:10 and then start to actually lay out the building design.
1:35:14 So we’ll need to make decisions like, how big is the school?
1:35:17 If we took all the feeder chains that came into stone, that
1:35:21 school is huge.
1:35:22 So we may have to make some adjustments as to, well,
1:35:25 we might include parts of some of the elementary feeder chains,
1:35:29 but then that has effects down the line on the elementary
1:35:32 schools.
1:35:33 So that’s a much more detailed analysis.
1:35:35 We’ll take much more time, and we’ll require much more community
1:35:39 engagement.
1:35:39 That’s much broader than just the small sites that we’ll be
1:35:42 looking at in the initial step.
1:35:45 Thank you.
1:35:45 All right, Mr. Thomas.
1:35:47 Well, I’d just like to say, I think all three are incredibly
1:35:49 important.
1:35:50 I know, obviously, stone is close to my heart, being in my
1:35:52 district.
1:35:53 I appreciate the fact that you guys have gone out there, and I
1:35:56 think that, you know,
1:35:58 having that hands-on community engagement and really getting a
1:36:01 feel for the community is huge for this project,
1:36:04 as it pertains to all of them, really.
1:36:05 And I’m just looking forward to seeing the results as this
1:36:09 progresses, because I think it’s incredibly important.
1:36:11 Yeah, I just want to, you know, really appreciate Dave and Karen
1:36:14 for taking us around.
1:36:15 It was really great to see the buildings actually in action with
1:36:18 kids on it.
1:36:19 You know, often we walk buildings in the summer where there’s
1:36:21 nobody in there.
1:36:22 There’s some great things happening at every single one of the
1:36:24 schools, and it was just fantastic to see.
1:36:25 As Dahl mentioned, the building conditions, the building types
1:36:29 are very different from school to school.
1:36:30 So it’ll be interesting to go through this process, both from an
1:36:33 engagement perspective, you know,
1:36:35 as we think about that, but also the solution set might be very
1:36:37 different as we think about, you know,
1:36:39 what is that right mix for each individual school community to
1:36:42 really sort of enhance that experiential aspect for students.
1:36:45 So it’ll be interesting to see.
1:36:46 I actually kind of appreciate when things aren’t as uniform and
1:36:49 just you do the same thing, copy and paste.
1:36:51 So it’ll be, it’ll be great to sort of see the variation of
1:36:54 opportunities that exist.
1:36:54 So just a question.
1:36:58 So the 10 weeks ish time frame would mean you guys are coming
1:37:01 back to us maybe June time frame with the initial reports?
1:37:05 Yeah, I was gonna say up to, I mean, that’s sort of what we
1:37:09 planned.
1:37:09 But as we shared, I think with Sue and Dave, if there’s a desire
1:37:12 to accelerate that, we can certainly work that in.
1:37:14 But that’s the base and sort of initial schedule.
1:37:16 Yeah, no, I want you guys to take your time.
1:37:19 I originally, when we presented the three, I know several of us
1:37:22 were like, yes, Stone, yes, McNair Johnson, maybe not so much.
1:37:25 But actually thinking about it today, we talked about different
1:37:28 buildings.
1:37:28 Stone is a unique building in our county.
1:37:30 McNair, I believe, is a unique building in our county.
1:37:32 Johnson is not.
1:37:34 Yeah.
1:37:34 So, and even though every community is different, if we were to
1:37:37 look at this, because it’s one of the presidential schools,
1:37:39 if we kind of come up with a building plus or minus, we know,
1:37:44 okay, well, if a presidential school is not a good idea for a K-8,
1:37:47 then we know that all the presidential schools, we could kind of
1:37:49 answer that.
1:37:50 So, I actually am really excited now that we’re able, under the
1:37:52 budget amount, to go ahead and do all three.
1:37:54 I think that’s probably a good idea to get that question
1:37:57 answered.
1:37:57 Is it even a possibility at a presidential school?
1:37:59 So, I think this is going to look forward to the updates.
1:38:04 So, community feedback, that would be in phase two, right?
1:38:08 Yeah, broader, you know, large group.
1:38:10 Outside BPS, okay, good.
1:38:12 All right, yeah.
1:38:13 And, Ms. Campbell, frankly, part of phase one is going to be
1:38:16 trying to figure out who is the community for phase two, right?
1:38:20 So, that’ll be part of the conversation, like, who do we need to
1:38:22 reach out to to make sure that we are getting that larger
1:38:25 community perspective?
1:38:26 Yeah, no, I appreciate that.
1:38:27 I’m excited to see what you guys bring back.
1:38:29 Yeah, I’m excited to see the results.
1:38:34 And, again, Sue, if you have your thumbs up, you know, and we do,
1:38:37 too.
1:38:38 So, that’s how much confidence we have in you.
1:38:40 Thank you.
1:38:41 So, you’re working with a great team here, guys.
1:38:43 Oh, we know that already.
1:38:44 Yeah.
1:38:45 Yeah, it’s been very evident very quickly.
1:38:47 So, we look forward to the results.
1:38:49 Thank you.
1:38:50 Just had a couple of quick questions.
1:38:53 So, definitely on Johnson, no question.
1:38:56 One of the things I was going to ask is, is you guys had a
1:39:01 really cool tool.
1:39:03 Like, that was really cool what you guys were showing me.
1:39:05 And I was wondering if part of the conversation is we’re looking
1:39:11 at stakeholders
1:39:13 in the area and we’re looking at municipal leaders, faith-based
1:39:16 groups, like, you know, the usuals.
1:39:19 Is there an opportunity to use that tool for our possibly
1:39:22 scholarship students that are on home school
1:39:25 and private school and stuff like that to see what it would take
1:39:29 to bring them into our conversation?
1:39:31 Does that make sense, Ms. Moore?
1:39:33 So, just if they come into the system, because this is going to
1:39:37 be a broad-based thing.
1:39:39 I’d like to try, this is just a thought, can shoot me down for
1:39:42 whatever.
1:39:43 The idea is, is that in the competitive market, that’s a whole
1:39:46 subsect that we are trying to attract
1:39:48 through scholarships and stuff that we just had a presentation
1:39:50 on.
1:39:51 It’d be nice to try to get some feedback from them.
1:39:53 So, if you guys would be willing to, I work with my homeschool
1:39:56 families and stuff like that.
1:39:57 We might be able to get some of their leaders to be a part of
1:39:59 that group that talks about what
1:40:01 would they need inside of our school to be able to be
1:40:05 participating in some of it.
1:40:07 If that’s okay, I think that tool would be able to be used for
1:40:10 that.
1:40:10 Yeah.
1:40:11 So, yes, Perkins Eastman is our general planning consultant so
1:40:17 we can use those tools for different
1:40:20 scopes.
1:40:21 I’m wearing my facilities hat, but I think in terms of market
1:40:25 research and things like that,
1:40:26 there are other opportunities as well that we could stand up for
1:40:29 sure.
1:40:30 I do feel in the Johnson area, there’s a significant amount of
1:40:34 opportunity to attract those individuals
1:40:37 into our schools.
1:40:38 And I think that with a new opportunity like a possible new
1:40:41 build or anything like that,
1:40:43 we might be able to attract them back.
1:40:44 When you look at some of our schools that are in that area,
1:40:48 there are some that are not
1:40:49 performing at the rate competitively with the community.
1:40:53 So, I think it’s an opportunity.
1:40:54 I would just ask if that’s possible.
1:40:57 When you talk about the municipal leadership, you’re talking
1:40:59 about city managers, city council
1:41:00 members, stuff like that, right?
1:41:02 That’s what we’re talking about?
1:41:03 Yeah.
1:41:04 I think we’ll have to find the right mix with Sue and who the
1:41:06 right people are for those
1:41:07 conversations.
1:41:08 I’m tired of you guys going to engage with those.
1:41:12 It said up there you’re going to meet with the school board
1:41:13 members.
1:41:14 Ms. Campbell knows all of her community leaders that she would
1:41:17 like to be a part of it.
1:41:18 I think Mr. Thomas is too, Mr. Jean would, Mr. Trent would too.
1:41:22 If you could meet with us and we can kind of lay out, these are
1:41:24 our people.
1:41:25 I know that Sue and Dr. Rindell already meet with a lot of them,
1:41:28 but just to make sure
1:41:28 that none of them get cut out, that would be great.
1:41:30 For sure.
1:41:31 So, my other, and it might wait for a second, but we had talked
1:41:36 and it kind of sends staff
1:41:37 a little bit out there, but Vieira has a high school or a middle
1:41:42 school that is almost
1:41:43 at max capacity, right?
1:41:45 It’ll hover okay for a while and there’s things we can do to
1:41:48 minimize it, but we do have some
1:41:49 elementary schools in Vieira that are not at max capacity.
1:41:53 There might be an opportunity, and we’ve spoken about that in
1:41:56 the past, to look at a K through
1:41:57 eight in the Vieira area, whether that’s, you know, Suntree,
1:42:01 Ralph Williams, or Quest, because
1:42:04 of the way that they’re built and stuff like that might make it.
1:42:06 Now, I know there’s cost to that and stuff like that, but as we’re
1:42:08 moving forward, it’s
1:42:09 a whole lot easier to put a gym at an elementary school and call
1:42:12 it a K-8 than building an
1:42:13 entire middle school.
1:42:14 You know what I mean?
1:42:15 Something that we may want to look at as part of this package,
1:42:20 maybe.
1:42:20 Just a 30,000 foot view.
1:42:22 That’s all.
1:42:23 Okay.
1:42:24 With this, Vieira, I don’t know too much to accept.
1:42:27 Try to go over to, so Vieira was built with, like, large rooms
1:42:31 that could match it.
1:42:32 They just don’t have the capacity to build a gym on that
1:42:35 property.
1:42:35 But if you looked at Quest, looked at Suntree, we have the gym,
1:42:38 the whole park next door, you
1:42:40 look at Ralph Williams, there’s enough there opportunities to do
1:42:44 stuff like that.
1:42:45 You know what I mean?
1:42:46 I don’t know.
1:42:46 I’m just talking.
1:42:47 And then the last piece is phase one, two, and three.
1:42:52 You’re looking today for us to approve the allocation for phase
1:42:55 one?
1:42:55 Or do you need us to allocate–
1:42:56 Basically, the phase one project is within my procurement
1:43:00 authority, so we can proceed
1:43:02 if you all are pleased with the scope of work and the pricing.
1:43:05 Would it slow this– look, the process is we want to get this
1:43:08 done, right?
1:43:09 Like, there’s no– like, you hear Ms. Campbell, she’s like, we
1:43:11 don’t want to hurry it in any
1:43:12 way.
1:43:13 But I didn’t want you guys to be slowed down because you’re like,
1:43:15 OK, now we have to have
1:43:16 another meeting and come back.
1:43:17 And if your idea is that’s the process you want, if you’re
1:43:20 looking for any more direction
1:43:22 to say we’ll approve phase two or whatever, but you’re saying
1:43:24 just phase one today.
1:43:25 Just phase one.
1:43:26 If we’re going back with phase two, that’s going to be well
1:43:28 beyond my procurement authority.
1:43:29 OK.
1:43:31 So we’ll need to come back for that.
1:43:32 All right.
1:43:33 I appreciate you guys for coming.
1:43:35 I really do.
1:43:36 Anytime we get to see Mr. Lindeman at a podium here, we really
1:43:40 get excited.
1:43:40 But I did want to say– and Karen, well, she’s the– yeah, she
1:43:46 has a high standard with me.
1:43:47 She went through those re-zones with me, and she came out really
1:43:51 strong.
1:43:51 But I did just want to say thank you to all you guys.
1:43:53 Does any other board member have anything they want to mention?
1:43:55 No.
1:43:56 Dr. Rindell?
1:43:57 We do have a surprise presentation if we can wrap this one’s
1:44:02 done.
1:44:02 Are you serious?
1:44:03 I am 100% serious.
1:44:04 This is the most outside the box thing.
1:44:07 I’m kind of excited here.
1:44:10 I’m really glad about this, Dr. Rindell.
1:44:12 You’re actually going outside of a regular scheduled event, kind
1:44:15 of like–
1:44:15 Absolutely.
1:44:16 I met when Matt Susan does.
1:44:17 Of course.
1:44:18 Can we ask that Lindeman’s a part of the presentation in some
1:44:21 way?
1:44:21 He can sit there.
1:44:22 I don’t know if he’s going to be able to add anything.
1:44:24 All right, thank you.
1:44:25 Would you like me to gavel this or wait for the presentation?
1:44:27 No, no, this is great.
1:44:28 We’ll just swap out.
1:44:29 We have– we’re very fortunate to have two surprise guests with
1:44:33 us here today,
1:44:33 although it’s not 100% surprise.
1:44:35 They told me they were going to come and check out the lay of
1:44:38 the land,
1:44:38 because they’re going to come back at our second workshop in
1:44:42 April to do a full presentation.
1:44:44 So we’re very fortunate to have two of our leaders from two of
1:44:48 our robotics teams here today.
1:44:49 Kirsten from Wingspan, which is Vieira,
1:44:53 and then Daniella from Voltage, which I believe is based out of
1:44:58 Mel High.
1:44:58 I had the honor and privilege to attend the regional robotics
1:45:03 competition in Orlando two weeks ago.
1:45:05 We had several teams from our schools.
1:45:08 They’re competing, and they did very well.
1:45:11 I kind of thought I knew what robotics was and kind of thought I
1:45:15 knew– I was introduced to it over 20 years ago.
1:45:17 It is much different now.
1:45:20 It’s much more intense, much more technologically advanced.
1:45:24 And these two ladies lead their teams.
1:45:27 So they wanted to share a little bit of information with you
1:45:30 today.
1:45:30 But we are going to do a full presentation with reps from some
1:45:34 of the other teams in about a month.
1:45:37 But the teams that we had competing in the Orlando regional were
1:45:40 Wingspan and Voltage, the Pink Team, which is one of the ones
1:45:45 that’s been around for a while, the Bionic Tigers, right, and
1:45:49 Horsepower.
1:45:49 Did I miss anybody?
1:45:50 Oh, Combat, of course.
1:45:52 Combat, of course, yeah.
1:45:53 So they’re just going to chat with you for a few minutes.
1:45:56 But since they were here, I thought I’d give them the
1:45:59 opportunity.
1:45:59 And again, we’re going to have a full presentation next month.
1:46:02 All right.
1:46:07 So there’s a little button on the top.
1:46:09 Pull it towards you.
1:46:13 Yeah, so we’ll slide.
1:46:14 She got it.
1:46:15 There you go.
1:46:17 Okay.
1:46:18 Just to start off, my name’s Kirsten.
1:46:20 Like you said, I’m Wingspan.
1:46:22 I’ve been on the team.
1:46:23 I’m a junior right now at Vieira.
1:46:25 So I’ve been on the team since my freshman year.
1:46:27 Hi.
1:46:28 I’m Daniella.
1:46:29 I’m a junior at Westwood Community Senior High School.
1:46:32 And I’m captain of Team Voltage, grade six.
1:46:35 I started robotics when I was at West Midler Elementary School
1:46:39 for Science in fifth grade.
1:46:40 And I’ve continued my journey with robotics since then.
1:46:43 So this is now my sixth year behalf involved with robotics teams.
1:46:49 Okay.
1:46:50 Just to start off, I would like to ask you guys if you know what
1:46:54 FIRST is.
1:46:54 I used to go to a lot of the competitions.
1:46:57 I love it.
1:46:58 In Orlando and stuff like that.
1:46:59 Yes.
1:47:00 Okay.
1:47:01 Are you guys familiar with it?
1:47:03 Okay.
1:47:04 So FIRST stands for inspiration and recognition of science and
1:47:08 technology.
1:47:09 Basically how it goes is there’s a few different levels.
1:47:14 It starts off really young.
1:47:15 They have like a kindergarten level now.
1:47:17 And like elementary.
1:47:19 So that’s like FLL, FIRST LEGO League.
1:47:21 Basically kids, they build like little LEGO robots and they
1:47:25 compete.
1:47:25 And they get a lot of like really good like basic skills and
1:47:30 stuff.
1:47:30 And then you have level, which is FTC, which stands for FIRST
1:47:34 Tech Challenge.
1:47:35 And that’s just a little bit more advanced.
1:47:37 Just a little bit bigger robot.
1:47:39 And then you have FRC, which is what we are in, FIRST Robotics
1:47:43 Competition.
1:47:44 And that’s building pretty big like 20, like 2 foot by 2 foot,
1:47:49 100, 150 pound robots that go and compete on like in arenas.
1:47:55 So we were at the UCF edition arena two weeks ago.
1:48:00 Yeah.
1:48:01 So with that, that was an international regional.
1:48:04 So we were competing against teams from Sweden, the Dominican
1:48:07 Republic, Panama, and all across Florida.
1:48:10 And we had huge success at the oil inter-regional.
1:48:14 He was four of the regard teams.
1:48:16 Went into the final brackets, which aren’t the most competitive
1:48:20 brackets of those competitions.
1:48:22 Voltage was in the top three alliances.
1:48:27 We were the third highest alliance competition.
1:48:30 And 15 was one of the higher ones as well.
1:48:34 And so we were talking about flying tigers and combat, right?
1:48:40 And combat.
1:48:41 Yeah.
1:48:42 So we’re showcasing from our excellent set of lander regional.
1:48:45 We are, these teams are looked at very highly among Florida
1:48:51 teams and among international teams.
1:48:52 And we’re just looking to expand the support that goes towards
1:48:56 these robotics programs.
1:48:57 Thank you.
1:48:58 Also, just like to let you know, first, we live on the Space
1:49:06 Coast.
1:49:07 First, robotics.
1:49:08 It’s building the future engineers.
1:49:11 Building, it’s so much more than just engineering.
1:49:13 Like both of us run the business team, like operations.
1:49:16 So we kind of do a lot more than just robots.
1:49:19 We do business, branding, finance, all of that.
1:49:22 So having support for first and having more recognition and just
1:49:27 like overall support for
1:49:28 the teams is literally like building the future students so they
1:49:34 can go succeed and build more.
1:49:37 Yeah.
1:49:38 And something that’s highlighted in the article that I wrote for
1:49:42 The Roar, 80% of students who
1:49:44 go through STEM programs in high school eventually will go on to
1:49:50 work in the engineering or defense
1:49:51 industries that we so highly seek on the Space Coast.
1:49:55 And that’s where a lot of our career opportunities are coming
1:49:58 from.
1:49:58 So in the next five to 10 years, we’re all going to be looking
1:50:02 for jobs, hopefully on the Space Coast,
1:50:04 the defense industries, Norfolk, Collins, Lockheed, all these
1:50:08 big companies that you hear about.
1:50:09 So investing in teams like Voltage Wingspan is definitely going
1:50:14 to help with that retainment
1:50:16 of students on the Space Coast who want to eventually go into
1:50:19 these companies.
1:50:20 And something I’d like to mention is that both me and Kirsten
1:50:24 are first leadership finalists.
1:50:26 So that is representing students who excel in the first program
1:50:32 and in robotics.
1:50:32 So Kirsten was actually a winner at Orlando Regional.
1:50:34 Yay!
1:50:35 Thank you.
1:50:36 This is the part where you say thank you.
1:50:37 I beat everybody.
1:50:38 I was the greatest.
1:50:39 That’s where you, that’s where you, you guys are too modest.
1:50:40 It was definitely an honor.
1:50:41 So now I get to go to Worlds in Houston.
1:50:42 When is that?
1:50:43 It’s the end of, end of April.
1:50:44 Yeah.
1:50:45 So I’ll be there on behalf of Brevard.
1:50:46 Wow.
1:50:47 The end of April?
1:50:48 Yeah, in April.
1:50:49 In Houston?
1:50:50 Yeah, it’s in Houston.
1:50:51 Are they doing it at the Space Center or no?
1:50:52 No, it’s, you’ve been there.
1:50:53 Yeah, the George Brown Convention Center.
1:50:54 So I represented Brevard last year.
1:50:56 Yeah.
1:50:57 And then, I’m going to go to Worlds.
1:50:58 I’m going to go to Worlds.
1:50:59 I’m going to go to Worlds in Houston.
1:51:03 Are they doing it at the Space Center or no?
1:51:05 No.
1:51:06 It’s, they’ve been there.
1:51:07 Yeah, the George Brown Convention Center.
1:51:09 I know.
1:51:10 So I represented Brevard last year as a first leadership finalist.
1:51:14 And I got to meet some, I got to meet students from all across
1:51:18 the globe who are representing
1:51:19 their respective districts, countries, and other areas of the
1:51:25 world.
1:51:25 And it was just an honor to be able to say that I was part of a
1:51:28 Brevard team.
1:51:29 And this is like what Brevard stands for.
1:51:31 So I got to go to a banquet actually where I got to meet Chris
1:51:36 Moore, the CEO of First,
1:51:37 and other members of those boards and chairs that go into the
1:51:41 robotics programs across the
1:51:43 world.
1:51:44 And it, I can see the difference that being in these programs
1:51:49 like First has had on students.
1:51:51 I personally started in First, like a league in fifth grade at WMSS,
1:51:55 where, and it’s really
1:51:56 cool with First is that it starts with the software, the
1:52:00 electrical, the mechanical, the business
1:52:02 and entrepreneurship parts.
1:52:04 And it continues into programs like First Tech Challenge and
1:52:08 First Robotics Competition, where
1:52:09 you build the concepts from playing with Legos and building a
1:52:12 Lego robot that glides across
1:52:13 the board.
1:52:14 And now we’re building 115 pound robots that are able to shoot
1:52:19 these foam balls six feet
1:52:20 in the air now into a hub that’s kind of like slanted up.
1:52:24 I think we could probably like show them.
1:52:27 Could you drop that off?
1:52:28 Yeah.
1:52:29 So that is actually –
1:52:30 I could use that during public comment.
1:52:31 We actually are hoping to have a demonstration when they come
1:52:37 back at the April workshop.
1:52:37 That’s fantastic.
1:52:38 Can you just – we all have – where’s – so I know Vieira, West
1:52:43 Shore.
1:52:43 Where are the other schools at?
1:52:45 So we have Pink Team.
1:52:47 They – they’re out of Rockledge, but they actually work at
1:52:51 Kennedy Space Center.
1:52:52 That’s where they’re – so they have two teams at Pink.
1:52:55 They have Pinkzilla.
1:52:56 Pinkzilla works at Rockledge.
1:52:57 So it’s like they’re smaller.
1:52:58 So a lot of these teams are based out of one school, so to speak.
1:53:04 Maybe that’s where the sponsor is.
1:53:06 But so, for example, the Pink Team has students from Rockledge,
1:53:09 Merritt Island, and Cocoa Beach.
1:53:12 Mel High has participants in Voltage as well as West Shore.
1:53:17 Correct?
1:53:18 Yeah.
1:53:19 So we actually have seven high schools and homeschoolers now.
1:53:22 So we have Holy Trinity, Odyssey Charter, Heritage, Palm Bay
1:53:28 Magnet, West Shore, Mel High, Homeschool.
1:53:30 And I’m sure there’s a couple others I’m forgetting.
1:53:32 The reason I was asking is –
1:53:33 Yeah.
1:53:34 – is that it would be really cool if you just let us play with
1:53:36 the robots.
1:53:36 You guys all brought them, and we represent each one of them.
1:53:39 So I could –
1:53:40 Vieira, maybe you can go to here and practice a little bit
1:53:43 before the demonstration.
1:53:44 Listen, just let me have it.
1:53:45 I’ll –
1:53:46 Right next door.
1:53:47 Well, I know.
1:53:48 I wanted to say – I don’t – Kirsten, I don’t know if it was
1:53:50 you, but there was a student from –
1:53:51 Vieira who invited us to come.
1:53:52 Yeah.
1:53:53 And I was unfortunately not able to attend that weekend.
1:53:56 But I thank you for the invitation because just letting us be
1:54:00 aware.
1:54:00 And I’m glad Dr. Rendell was able to go and represent because it’s
1:54:04 really exciting.
1:54:04 I haven’t been to a competition, but I know one of the years
1:54:07 that Mel High was going, I got to see their robot.
1:54:09 And they were talking about – it’s been two or three years ago
1:54:13 that year.
1:54:13 The job of the robot that they had to build was to – it was
1:54:18 something similar, shooting baskets with the balls.
1:54:20 But the robot actually had to distinguish, like, their color of
1:54:24 ball.
1:54:24 They didn’t get points if they got the wrong color.
1:54:26 So they had to get the ball.
1:54:27 There’s some basketball players that can’t do that.
1:54:28 See if it was their –
1:54:29 Right.
1:54:30 And then shoot it.
1:54:31 I mean, so it’s really complicated things for us to do.
1:54:33 I’m super excited.
1:54:34 First of all, we never have students on workshops.
1:54:36 Ever.
1:54:37 Not like it.
1:54:38 That I can think of.
1:54:39 So I’m super excited about you guys being here and coming back.
1:54:41 I just feel glad Rendell let them come up.
1:54:43 I mean, that’s really cool.
1:54:44 Yeah.
1:54:45 Well, and I think part of what this is –
1:54:46 You can’t say no to them.
1:54:47 They’re leaders.
1:54:48 Because I think there’s an ask.
1:54:50 There has been an ask.
1:54:51 There was an ask in the email that we all got.
1:54:53 And I think there’s going to be ask in the future because it
1:54:56 takes a lot of funding.
1:54:56 It’s mostly done by volunteer coaches and sponsors and things
1:55:00 like that.
1:55:00 We do have multi-schools.
1:55:02 I know Dr. Rendell and I talked about it when there was a
1:55:05 community member who was a volunteer
1:55:06 coach asked about space.
1:55:07 Correct.
1:55:08 And I think we have some places in the county where we could
1:55:11 potentially in the future set
1:55:12 up like places, your practice runs that could stay there.
1:55:17 So there are some things that we can do to help support you
1:55:22 better.
1:55:23 Some of it might be funding.
1:55:24 Some of it might just be space.
1:55:25 And clearly we have lots of schools involved and students
1:55:29 involved and a pathway to a future
1:55:31 career.
1:55:32 So, you know, I’m sure when you guys come back, you’re going to
1:55:35 have your ask.
1:55:35 Yes.
1:55:36 So that’s actually kind of like why we came here in the first
1:55:40 place was obviously recognition
1:55:41 and support is something we love.
1:55:44 Like the students on the team, like on all the teams, we love
1:55:48 being at the school and everything.
1:55:50 But especially like in the past few years, it’s become really,
1:55:54 really difficult to be a school
1:55:55 team because I understand there’s regulations and there’s rules
1:55:59 that we have to follow.
1:56:00 But so many of them have set us behind and set us not in the
1:56:04 ideal position where it’s made it a challenge
1:56:08 where we’ve thought about should we pull away from the school,
1:56:11 which that would suck because then we don’t have the student.
1:56:14 Talk about these regulations.
1:56:15 So one of them.
1:56:17 For example, you have to have a teacher sponsor usually.
1:56:22 And so if there’s no teacher sponsor, if you can get a volunteer,
1:56:26 but then we have to go through all the paperwork to get them
1:56:29 cleared and that kind of thing.
1:56:29 So, you know, you know, Wingspan lost their sponsor earlier this
1:56:35 year.
1:56:35 And so one of the parents stepped up to be the sponsor, you know,
1:56:39 but a volunteer.
1:56:39 And so we had to go through paperwork and all that to get that
1:56:42 cleared.
1:56:42 So the idea is, you know, there’s many, many different ways we
1:56:45 can support this.
1:56:46 Number one is financially.
1:56:47 Maybe we can, you know, set aside some funds to support each of
1:56:50 these teams.
1:56:50 But also to make sure that we can clear any pathways, you know,
1:56:53 any obstacles to the pathways that they’re trying to achieve.
1:56:58 Maybe set up spaces, you know, for them to meet and practice and
1:57:02 equipment and that kind of thing.
1:57:03 So, you know, I think they’re asking for some support, but also
1:57:08 recognition again.
1:57:09 You know, we just talked about extracurriculars a little while
1:57:13 ago and we were thinking mostly of sports.
1:57:15 You know, but this is an extracurricular club that requires a
1:57:20 lot of time and energy and devotion.
1:57:22 And, you know, we probably need to start treating it just like
1:57:25 any of the other extracurriculars, you know.
1:57:27 And just to give you guys a little background, I know it’s
1:57:31 different a little bit for every team, Wingspan at least.
1:57:33 We meet five days a week until usually like until the last one’s
1:57:39 there.
1:57:39 But often it’ll go to like 9, 9:30, especially during build
1:57:43 season.
1:57:43 And that’s a lot.
1:57:44 And we also meet weekends.
1:57:46 We have to go all the way to Voltage because luckily they have
1:57:50 – they can set up a field in their cafeteria.
1:57:52 We can’t.
1:57:53 We’ve been told like we don’t have – we’re not allowed to set
1:57:57 up in the cafeteria because like it was renovated.
1:58:00 Yeah, it’s new, which makes sense.
1:58:02 But also like another thing, we first hosted it back –
1:58:06 How long does it take you to set one up and break it down?
1:58:09 So it takes us an hour to set it up and then about 45, 50
1:58:13 minutes to break it down.
1:58:14 So you’d look to do it at night like you – this is what you’re
1:58:17 saying?
1:58:17 Like you would break it up, set it up?
1:58:19 Yeah, it’s like a weekend thing.
1:58:20 So like if we could like have to do like Friday, Saturday,
1:58:23 Sunday, or even on a nightly.
1:58:25 But some of the times they do the practices together because
1:58:29 they can learn from each other and stuff like that.
1:58:30 So it’s not necessarily that every site needs to have a practice
1:58:34 facility.
1:58:34 We just need to make it so that they have access to a practice
1:58:37 facility.
1:58:37 Exactly.
1:58:38 You know, it doesn’t have to be at every school.
1:58:40 It’s also hard for them to travel.
1:58:41 So her to pack up.
1:58:42 I’ve seen their –
1:58:43 Yeah, yeah.
1:58:44 I used to go a lot with the first robotics past, right?
1:58:47 And I used to go to the competitions and I used to see the way
1:58:50 that you guys –
1:58:50 I mean, those gears and tools –
1:58:52 It’s a lot.
1:58:53 I mean, it’s a lot to go to another – another area.
1:58:57 Sure.
1:58:58 And if they needed access to get it okayed in a school for the
1:59:01 –
1:59:01 get the cafeteria for a weekend, I think we could do that kind
1:59:05 of stuff.
1:59:05 Mr. Chair?
1:59:06 Yeah, go ahead, sir.
1:59:07 I just wanted to say you guys are phenomenal.
1:59:10 Not only are you guys great representatives of the robotics
1:59:13 program,
1:59:13 but you represent Brevard Public Schools better than anybody.
1:59:16 I mean, you guys are awesome.
1:59:18 You walk in here – you walk in here with confidence.
1:59:20 And speaking to the school board, I mean, just – you didn’t
1:59:23 skip a beat.
1:59:23 You guys are amazing representatives.
1:59:25 And I just want to congratulate you guys.
1:59:27 We appreciate it.
1:59:28 Thank you.
1:59:30 Something I would like to talk about, actually, is –
1:59:34 and this is more of a radical idea, but I’ve seen school –
1:59:37 We like radical.
1:59:38 Districts implement it, and it’s recognizing robotics as a kind
1:59:44 of varsity sport.
1:59:44 Obviously, varsity sports are very physical, but in terms of
1:59:49 recognition,
1:59:50 you see that there’s lots of levels of recognition for those
1:59:55 varsity sports.
1:59:55 You see constant Instagram posts about them from these schools.
2:00:00 They’re a highlight of the school’s pride, and that’s something
2:00:03 that I think robotics
2:00:04 lacks right now is that most schools – robotics is kind of an
2:00:08 underground thing.
2:00:08 I know for Voltage, Mr. Tom Gabler, who was the teacher’s
2:00:12 sponsor for a very,
2:00:13 very long time for that team, would recruit students into the
2:00:17 team through his engineering program.
2:00:18 And unless you were in the engineering program, you didn’t
2:00:21 really know about it
2:00:22 because it wasn’t a huge talk of the town kind of team.
2:00:25 Now that we’ve expanded in the past three to four years with
2:00:30 getting students from West Shore
2:00:31 and all these other high schools, we’re seeing so many students
2:00:35 who are coming onto these teams,
2:00:37 and they want to be part of FIRST Robotics, the problem is
2:00:40 getting the word out.
2:00:41 And I think part of that can be solved with that recognition,
2:00:44 right?
2:00:44 And with being a varsity sport, the idea would be that right now,
2:00:49 how we have it is that there has to be a teacher sponsor for the
2:00:53 team
2:00:53 in order for us to even be in the building to meet.
2:00:56 And that’s caused us a lot of issues every year since Mr. Gabler
2:01:02 left with having to get a teacher
2:01:04 who’s just available to be there, and it has to be a teacher
2:01:07 from the engineering building specifically.
2:01:09 So we’ve had Mr. Johnson for the past two years and Dr. Wells at
2:01:14 Mount High
2:01:14 who have been these teacher sponsors who are sacrificing their
2:01:18 time.
2:01:18 But we have 20 mentors on our team, and these are all volunteers.
2:01:21 None of them are getting paid to do any of this.
2:01:23 They want to be there.
2:01:24 And the idea would be that as a sport designates a coach every
2:01:29 season,
2:01:30 and they are dedicated keys to the facilities that they need,
2:01:34 we as robotics teams could have something similar.
2:01:37 A coach or a volunteer who is already there, who wants to be
2:01:42 there,
2:01:42 who’s passionate about this program, and they have access to the
2:01:46 facilities that we need,
2:01:46 such as the machine shop at Mel High and the cafeteria to set up
2:01:50 our field.
2:01:50 So when does the season start?
2:01:52 When does it end?
2:01:53 When is the championships?
2:01:54 Bring me up to speed on that.
2:01:55 Okay.
2:01:56 So we have two seasons, off season and build season.
2:02:00 Off season lasts from August to December, which is where we’re
2:02:03 doing a majority of our outreach events,
2:02:05 business endeavors, engineering workshops.
2:02:07 And so we meet Mondays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and then we do
2:02:12 occasional Saturdays every month.
2:02:15 Now, build season is January up until the championship, which is
2:02:19 normally mid-April, first week of May.
2:02:22 And this year it falls like the last weekend of April leading
2:02:27 into May.
2:02:27 Right.
2:02:28 No, but there’s seasons to it.
2:02:29 Two seasons.
2:02:30 She’s raising money in the fall, and then they’re going to work
2:02:33 in the spring.
2:02:33 Yeah.
2:02:34 We also run through summer.
2:02:37 I know not every team does it.
2:02:38 Wingspan, at least, we do outreach events during the summer.
2:02:41 Yeah.
2:02:42 We go to the Woodward Zoo.
2:02:43 We go to summer camps and that sort of stuff.
2:02:45 When I was involved the last time, we were able to allocate, I
2:02:49 think it was a certain amount of money for each program,
2:02:51 based upon how far they went into the playoffs, just to offset
2:02:54 some of the costs.
2:02:55 What is your total cost per build so that when you guys are out
2:02:59 there?
2:02:59 So how much does it cost to run your team, and how much is it
2:03:02 for your team?
2:03:03 So we have a budget of $100,000, and I want to explain what goes
2:03:08 into those costs,
2:03:08 because I know that’s a huge number to put up front.
2:03:11 It’s not.
2:03:12 It’s what you guys cost.
2:03:13 And so it’s about roughly that for each program.
2:03:15 Yeah.
2:03:16 So a lot of that is fundraising and sponsorships.
2:03:18 Yep.
2:03:20 They work hard for it.
2:03:21 And I appreciate that.
2:03:22 Go ahead.
2:03:23 I’m sorry.
2:03:24 For Wingspan, it’s always been – so if we had the money, $100,000
2:03:29 would be what we could have.
2:03:31 I believe right now we have around 20,000 finances.
2:03:36 Very difficult for us, at least, because especially in the past
2:03:41 few months, we have been locked out of our school money.
2:03:45 So we have like $6,000 right now that we still don’t have access
2:03:49 to.
2:03:49 But hopefully –
2:03:51 I understand you’re trying to be the in-between.
2:03:54 It’s okay.
2:03:55 Not to cut you off, Mr. Susan, but I think we’re going to come
2:03:59 back with a full presentation and a demonstration at the next
2:04:03 workshop.
2:04:03 If you can bring forward your costs, if you can bring forward
2:04:07 your idea of making it a sport.
2:04:09 And then I had an in-depth conversation, but I’m getting a hook
2:04:12 to move.
2:04:12 Yeah.
2:04:13 Correct.
2:04:14 I’d like to talk about elementary, middle, and high school.
2:04:16 We’re bringing the Innovation Games to be an international event
2:04:20 next year.
2:04:20 And so in doing so, we’ve always wanted, since the inception of
2:04:24 Innovation Games, to have some sort of a demonstration of
2:04:27 robotics inside of it.
2:04:28 And so if we’re going to move to that, I would like to see how
2:04:32 that fits.
2:04:32 And if it is that we can create the sports and we can start it
2:04:36 in elementary school, middle, and high, then you can build it to
2:04:39 where, when you get there, you have the volunteers, you have the
2:04:43 money, you have the resources, you have the kids.
2:04:44 Because you’re building the feeder patterns, the vertical
2:04:47 integration.
2:04:47 So I’d love to learn more about what you want to do to make it a
2:04:50 sport.
2:04:50 So I’ll be quiet.
2:04:51 Gene, you got something to say?
2:04:52 We already have the vertical integration.
2:04:53 It starts in elementary school and so on.
2:04:55 Yeah.
2:04:57 So –
2:04:58 How we can expand.
2:04:59 Actually, the Innovation Games would be a good time to showcase
2:05:03 it because next year, the Innovation Games is going to be in the
2:05:05 spring.
2:05:05 Yep.
2:05:06 In April, I believe, which would be – you guys would be
2:05:09 building and being ready to compete.
2:05:11 So it actually would line up pretty well.
2:05:13 You guys had – Vieira was working with Brazil.
2:05:16 And the Brazilian team had mentioned that they would love to
2:05:20 come next year.
2:05:21 So the idea would be to have them come up.
2:05:23 There’s an Italian team.
2:05:24 There’s some other teams that want to come.
2:05:26 So it would be nice.
2:05:27 That’s great.
2:05:28 And I’d also like to know every team that you beat.
2:05:31 So that when you guys have those competitions, I want to know
2:05:34 all of them so I can call those school boards and those
2:05:36 organizations.
2:05:36 Well, they work as a team with other teams.
2:05:39 No, I’m not talking about each other.
2:05:40 But you guys – I want to hear if you guys beat Citrus County.
2:05:42 Citrus County is one that I’d like to –
2:05:43 We’ll explain it to you.
2:05:44 Yes.
2:05:45 Okay.
2:05:46 Because they explained it to me.
2:05:47 Oh, good.
2:05:48 So –
2:05:49 All right.
2:05:50 You guys good?
2:05:51 Yep.
2:05:52 All right.
2:05:53 Thank you so much for coming out.
2:05:54 Dr. Rendell, anything else?
2:05:55 All of our students that were participating over in Orlando.
2:05:58 So when Kirsten reached out to see if they could come and speak
2:06:02 at a workshop, I said, yeah.
2:06:03 It was supposed to be the next in April.
2:06:06 They were supposed to come today to just get the lay of the land.
2:06:09 But I’m glad you got introduced to them.
2:06:11 I’m glad they got to share.
2:06:12 And we’ll have a more formal presentation at the future workshop.
2:06:15 All right.
2:06:16 Thank you, guys.
2:06:17 Looking forward to it.
2:06:18 Yeah, I know.
2:06:19 Yep.
2:06:24 I’m not sure they’ll let you drive the robot though, Mr. Susan.
2:06:29 No.
2:06:30 Because –
2:06:31 No.
2:06:32 What if I –
2:06:33 It’s a very expensive robot.
2:06:34 Thank you very much.
2:06:35 Appreciate it.
2:06:36 Thank you.
2:06:37 Thank you for having us.
2:06:38 Thank you.