Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 Thank you.
11:29 Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
11:59 Thank you.
12:29 H2, H2, the non-student days agreement with 1010 and modify was
12:34 the Space Coast Junior Senior High School slash Palm Bay Magnet
12:37 High School final design review of the NASA HUNCH project and
12:41 removed was F10 termination of instructional employee.
12:45 Thank you.
21:44 We did not have any hurricane-related interruptions this year.
21:41 This is really the reason we’re able to do this.
21:44 No hurricane days in the first half of the year, so plenty of
21:47 instructional minutes,
21:49 more instructional minutes than are required by the state
21:52 statute.
21:53 So we looked at these last two days that are occurring, were
21:57 occurring or may not be occurring,
21:59 after Memorial Day.
22:01 We did have two days of school after Memorial Day last year.
22:04 They were not very well attended by both students and staff.
22:09 They were not high-quality instructional days.
22:12 So it might sound hypocritical for an educator to say we should
22:15 cancel the last two days of
22:16 school, but those last two days occurring after Memorial Day
22:21 were not high-quality instructional
22:23 days last year.
22:25 We needed to have them last year because we did have some
22:27 hurricane cancellations last
22:29 year.
22:30 This year we did not.
22:31 So we had more than, well more than the minimum number of
22:34 instructional minutes required.
22:37 So discuss with the board, discuss with staff what would it look
22:40 like to cancel school for
22:42 those last two days.
22:43 We don’t necessarily need to be in session those last two days.
22:47 And they were not high-quality instructional days last year.
22:50 So we made the decision to recommend that to the board and vote
22:53 on it in just a second.
22:55 Some things for everybody to be aware of.
22:57 We do know that a lot of families rely on us for supervision of
23:00 their children during the
23:02 day.
23:03 And so for those two days we will have elementary schools in
23:07 different areas of the county open
23:09 for full day before and after care.
23:12 So there will be opportunities for families to, you know, give
23:16 their kids to us for those
23:17 two days as they would have on a regular school day.
23:19 We have also alerted, as Ms. Campbell mentioned, all of the
23:23 summer camps and other daycare providers
23:26 that typically take over for us, for those students during the
23:29 summer.
23:30 They know that if this vote passes, that, you know, they’ll have
23:33 that opportunity to take
23:35 care of those kids two days earlier.
23:37 Also, somebody may say, well, what about the bus drivers and the
23:41 cafeteria workers?
23:42 If you’re not open for school, you’re not running bus routes and
23:45 you’re not serving food.
23:47 Do those people get to come to work and get paid?
23:49 Yes, they get to come to work and get paid.
23:51 We will make sure that they either go through training or some
23:54 other kind of activities during
23:55 those two days so that they will be able to be paid.
23:58 They’re not going to short anybody any money.
24:01 This was not necessarily a cost saving decision, but we should
24:05 see a little bit of cost savings
24:07 in that we’re not going to be running buses for two days so that
24:09 save us on some diesel fuel.
24:12 So that wasn’t the overriding decision.
24:14 That wasn’t the idea, hey, let’s cancel two days of school and
24:16 save money.
24:17 It was like we’ve got the ability to shorten the school year
24:19 because we didn’t have any cancellations
24:22 during hurricane days.
24:23 Those last two days after Memorial Day did not prove to be high
24:27 quality instructional days
24:28 last year.
24:29 So that’s why we’re making the recommendation of the board to
24:31 adjust the calendar.
24:33 I do want to echo the comments that were made earlier that, you
24:36 know, we moved quickly
24:37 with both bargaining units to come to an agreement on how those
24:41 days are worked.
24:43 And so those were on the agenda as well.
24:46 Thank you.
24:47 Thank you, Dr. Rendell.
24:48 Paul, roll call, please.
24:49 Ms. Campbell?
24:50 Aye.
24:51 Ms. Susan?
24:52 Aye.
24:52 Ms. Wright?
24:53 Aye.
24:54 Mr. Trent?
24:54 Aye.
24:55 Dr. Rendell, please let us know that the items under the action
24:58 portion of today’s agenda.
24:59 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
25:00 The first action item is H-1, the non-student day agreement, the
25:05 memorandum of understanding
25:06 with the BFT.
25:07 Move to approve?
25:08 Second.
25:09 Oh, wait.
25:10 Do I hear?
25:11 Well, I guess I just did it.
25:12 Second.
25:13 Is there any discussion?
25:14 Aye.
25:15 Paul, roll call, please.
25:16 Ms. Campbell?
25:17 Aye.
25:18 Mr. Susan?
25:19 Aye.
25:20 Ms. Wright?
25:21 Aye.
25:22 Mr. Trent?
25:23 Aye.
25:25 We will move on to the information agenda, which includes an
25:36 item for board review that may
25:39 be brought back for an action at a subsequent meeting.
25:42 No action will be taken at this item today.
25:44 There’s one item under this category.
25:45 Does any board member wish to discuss this item?
25:47 I just want to make a comment real fast to thank Ms. Harris and
25:50 her team, because that’s
25:51 an extreme amount of curriculum to put out there for us to be
25:54 able to review.
25:54 And the last time we went through textbook adoption, I asked her
25:57 to manually pull those textbooks
25:58 for me, which I did not realize would take over your entire
26:01 office, so I apologize for that.
26:02 But I just want to thank you for making that available for us
26:05 and having the time to really
26:06 go through it and make sure that everything is in line and up to
26:09 standards.
26:09 Yeah.
26:10 I just want – because we had Mr. Bryan ask about the amount of
26:15 money for the CTE materials
26:16 in particular, I just wanted to address that, because most of
26:20 our CTE programs, as I’ve
26:21 seen them, the book work is the least amount of time and the
26:27 least – you know, maybe it’s
26:28 how they get started to learn the regulations.
26:30 Right.
26:31 But a lot of what they’re doing is not instructional materials
26:33 in that way, but it’s like software
26:34 programs that are updated.
26:36 So the bad thing about when it comes to the world of CTE or any
26:40 kind of technology, you print
26:41 something in a book and it’s out of date by the time you get it,
26:45 you know, on the shelves
26:46 or to the school.
26:47 So a lot of what they’re using is not necessarily would fall
26:50 under this.
26:50 So the amount may seem low, but the kind of instructional
26:54 materials they’re using sometimes
26:55 falls under different labels or different categories.
26:57 Certainly we’re supporting that with funds and grants and all
27:00 kinds of things.
27:01 But these kinds of instructional materials may be – maybe not
27:04 something that we use as much
27:05 in those type of courses.
27:06 But I’m sure if you wanted to look more into finding out how we’re
27:11 funding and the CTE
27:12 budgets, we could get that for you if you would be interested in
27:15 that.
27:15 I think he had such positive things to say about Ms. Rutledge.
27:18 We could just have him go visit her and go through all the
27:21 budgets.
27:21 It’s incredible.
27:22 I don’t know if he wants that long of a day.
27:24 I would.
27:25 I would think that you would like to do that just because the
27:27 amount that goes into
27:28 that is incredible.
27:29 And I think that would help you understand the scope because
27:32 where you talked about going
27:33 and bringing Title I schools and middle schools to see what’s
27:37 available.
27:37 Those children, many of the children that are inside those areas
27:40 are not – they’ve never
27:41 even been to the beach.
27:42 They’ve never been to Kennedy Space Center.
27:44 They don’t even know what’s available outside of three miles
27:47 from their house.
27:48 They need to be able to get to that school.
27:50 You resonated with me when you said that.
27:53 So I think that if you went to meet with Ms. Rutledge and just
27:57 sat down with her over that budget,
27:57 you could see where a lot of it goes and make suggestions to us.
28:00 So thank you, Mr. Bryan.
28:01 I appreciate you.
28:02 Also, digital books are cheaper than paper books.
28:04 Yeah.
28:05 I just hate digital books.
28:06 I like paper books.
28:07 Me too.
28:08 I’m old school.
28:09 I like writing on them.
28:10 It drives Ms. Lena crazy half the stuff I write on here.
28:15 Anybody else?
28:16 All right.
28:17 We’re now at board member discussions, reports, recognitions,
28:21 all the great stuff here going
28:22 on in the county.
28:23 Does anybody want to go first?
28:25 Gene or Katie?
28:26 Okay.
28:27 Gene?
28:29 You ready?
28:30 You know what?
28:31 We’ll make it quick here.
28:34 The other night, some of us had the pleasure of going to the
28:38 honor flight at Melbourne,
28:39 Orlando International at Melbourne Airport, whatever.
28:43 But the late portion of when the veterans were coming off the
28:47 plane.
28:47 And if you have not experienced that before, please do so.
28:52 I think the next one’s coming up in May.
28:54 I didn’t have it written down, but it might be something like
28:57 May 16th or 17th or something.
28:58 But it is a celebration for these veterans, these war veterans.
29:02 The place was packed, food trucks, a band, FIT had some sport
29:09 team out there.
29:11 High lacrosse.
29:12 They were running around like they were very young and athletic.
29:15 They were just continually running the place.
29:18 But, I mean, these veterans, the show of appreciation on their
29:24 face.
29:24 They were crying.
29:25 You know, the guardians were walking.
29:26 You know, some of them were being pushed into wheelchairs.
29:28 But just to be able to, you know, show our respect for them was
29:33 amazing.
29:34 So it really was my first one that I had gone to, and it won’t
29:38 be my last one.
29:39 But if you haven’t, look that up.
29:40 It’s the honor flight.
29:41 And I’m sure somebody else will talk about maybe the genesis of
29:45 that program.
29:46 But that’s really about it.
29:48 Thank you.
29:49 All right.
29:50 Well, I actually could just walk through my calendar for the
29:54 last week and see some amazing things.
29:57 A lot going on.
29:58 Yeah, there was.
29:59 I want to thank the League of Women Voters for hosting the Millage
30:02 Forum that we spoke at last week.
30:04 Thank you, Gina.
30:05 I know that that was your brainchild predominantly.
30:08 But it actually brought – we had multiple news outlets there.
30:12 We had a good – for a terrible weather.
30:15 I mean, you know how bad the weather was last week for like four
30:18 days straight.
30:19 It was terrible weather.
30:20 But we really had a full room.
30:22 And they had it live streamed and recorded for later for people
30:26 to see.
30:26 I know some of the other outlets were recording it.
30:28 So it was a really good chance.
30:29 Of course, Dr. Rendell, as representing the district, is more
30:32 limited in what he could say.
30:33 But he did a great job presenting the facts and information,
30:37 educating.
30:37 And so the other three of us have a little more – we don’t have
30:40 the reins on us to speak, you know, to advocate, not just to
30:43 educate.
30:43 So I definitely want to thank Katherine Redloff and Vanessa Skipper,
30:47 who did a fantastic job representing the teachers’ union,
30:51 representing –
30:51 Katherine is on our – the ICMO, the Independent Citizens
30:54 Committee for Millage Oversight.
30:56 And I can’t believe I just rattled it off.
30:58 Yeah, I’m impressed.
30:59 Wow, that’s amazing.
31:00 But anyway, it’s – they just did a fantastic job.
31:05 I think we could take Katherine Redloff on the road because she
31:08 just did such a great job as a parent and a citizen, a very well-respected
31:12 member of our community for a long time.
31:14 So thank you, League Women Vote, for hosting that event.
31:17 On – also, during the terrible rain week – and this might have
31:22 been dampened just a little bit – the Bayside Feeder Chain
31:25 hosted a family literacy night.
31:27 You know, we’re getting ready for testing.
31:28 But also, just in general, we want to – we want to involve
31:32 families in educating their – you know, how do you help your
31:36 child to read and to grow in their academic skills.
31:39 And so, the elementary schools that are in that Bayside Feeder
31:43 Chain – Sunrise, Westside, Turner – actually, I’m not sure
31:47 about Turner – Columbia – there were several.
31:48 There was a handful.
31:49 They were there, and the high school students were there.
31:52 They had the color guard do the – do the – the walk-in, and we
31:55 did the pledge.
31:56 And so it was a great opportunity for the kids to see where they
32:00 might be going in just a few years.
32:02 But from kindergarten through sixth grade, they had engaging
32:06 family activities focused on literacy throughout the room.
32:09 And then they had food trucks, and so it was all – I think it
32:12 would have been much better attended if the rain weren’t so
32:14 incredibly terrible that night.
32:15 So, hopefully, they’ll get to do another one again.
32:18 And I believe it was Ms. Parks, who’s the AP at Columbia, who
32:22 was one of the people who was kind of the – the inspiration
32:25 behind that.
32:25 So, thank you all for doing that for our families.
32:28 Last week, we had a Destination Moon Awards at Kennedy Space
32:33 Center.
32:33 And you guys, I hate that you missed it, because it was such a
32:37 great day.
32:37 The kids were so engaged.
32:38 And, of course, they loved to see the video and the pictures of
32:42 themselves up on the screen.
32:43 But I also had to say really big thank yous to all our partners,
32:46 because we had such amazing representation.
32:49 And not only did we have Boeing – Boeing, who was an incredible
32:53 sponsor for this event and paid for things from beginning to end.
32:56 We had representatives from Space Florida, from Embry-Riddle.
33:00 We had representatives from both Senator Scott’s office and
33:05 Senator Moody’s office.
33:06 On the national level, Congressman Mike Herodopoulos was there
33:09 and shook every kid’s hand and gave out the awards.
33:11 He’s always such a great partner.
33:13 We had State Representative Tyler Soroy.
33:16 We had State Senator Tom Wright.
33:18 We had County Commissioner Thad Altman.
33:21 Am I missing somebody, Dr. Rendell?
33:23 You got them all.
33:24 All right.
33:25 So, it was – I mean, just all – you know, the whole row of
33:28 suits, right, to congratulate these young elementary school
33:31 students.
33:31 And so, it was a great day.
33:32 And all of our students did a great job.
33:34 I hope you didn’t get rained on.
33:35 It was a great day.
33:36 And the mission moon was definitely – or destination moon –
33:39 keep calling it the wrong thing – was a great success.
33:41 Thank you to Russell Cheatham’s team for inspiring that and
33:46 getting it going and helping our children to be inspired by
33:52 these high-tech careers.
33:53 On Saturday was the school board art show extravaganza.
33:56 I don’t know if you guys made it down there, but the O’Galley
33:59 Civic Center, it’s the first time we’ve done it there.
34:01 We had an all-day, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM – thank you, Anna Marie Zink,
34:06 who is our art content specialist, for being there and putting
34:09 it on – art show from kindergarten through 12th grade.
34:11 Kind of like the superintendents when we had in here, but it was
34:14 just a more relaxed kind of all-day event.
34:16 But it also went all the way down to kindergarten.
34:18 We had – each school was able to send four pieces.
34:20 And so it was a room full of amazing art.
34:23 I know I took my daughter with me, and she was so impressed.
34:25 And we started with the high schoolers, and I told her, “Oh, we
34:28 should have started with the kindergarteners,” because then we’d
34:30 be more impressed as we went.
34:30 But when we went over to the elementary school site, they were
34:34 just as impressive and beautiful and very, very cool.
34:37 So good job to the team and also to the students.
34:40 And then the final thing is that Saturday also was the All-County
34:43 Jazz Band concert.
34:44 The students did amazing.
34:46 We had amazing clinicians.
34:48 And it was a great end to kind of the All-County season for our
34:54 music students.
34:55 And they all did a great job, especially their first chair, Alto
35:00 Sax.
35:00 He happened to be really, really good.
35:02 Aw.
35:03 Thank you, Ms. Campbell, for all your involvement in our schools.
35:06 It’s awesome.
35:07 All right.
35:09 We are – yes, thank you.
35:10 So we are in the fun season of, I feel like, the hum stretch
35:13 towards the end of the school year.
35:13 And it’s just – the calendar is packed with events.
35:15 So, board, I thank you for covering.
35:17 Obviously, I missed the last board meeting.
35:18 I was at the National School Safety Summit, where leaders from
35:22 all school districts around the country come together and really
35:25 discuss some of the best practices,
35:26 look at how we got to where we are, how can we improve.
35:29 And good news to report back is we are doing an exceptional job
35:32 in Brevard County.
35:33 So I was very relieved when I hear some of the stories and see
35:36 some of the things that are being implemented.
35:37 I’m like, oh, check, we already have it.
35:38 We’ve already got that.
35:39 So it was a good conference all together.
35:42 Walked away with a couple ideas, a couple things to bring back
35:45 that we can implement here to help strengthen our district,
35:47 which I’ve given off to Dr. Rendell.
35:48 So thank you for covering for me on that since I was not here
35:51 for the last board meeting.
35:52 For shout outs and recognition.
35:54 So, so many fun things are happening that have happened.
35:57 We had our Take Stock and Graduation – Take Stock and Children
36:00 Graduation that just took place.
36:02 Thank you, Ms. Campbell.
36:03 And obviously, Mr. Thomas was there.
36:04 He’s not here today.
36:05 But that’s just a fun event because Take Stock and Children
36:09 provides a mentor that walks alongside a child that’s at risk
36:12 and helps them get to the finish line of graduation.
36:15 And so it’s a special moment that they walk across the stage
36:18 with their mentor.
36:18 Their mentor gets to give them a medal.
36:20 And it’s just something powerful to see, like, this is really
36:23 what it’s all about, investing in the next generation.
36:25 So, such a cool program.
36:26 If you want to get, you know, involved into something like that,
36:29 I recommend going and looking at the website for Take Stock and
36:32 Children
36:32 or the Brevard Schools Foundation.
36:34 Either one will connect you.
36:35 And giving of your time is really, honestly, one of the biggest
36:38 sacrifices that you can give.
36:39 So, very cool event altogether.
36:41 What I had the honor of attending up at Madison Middle School,
36:45 Northbrook Grumman was there.
36:47 And they were having a STEM day.
36:48 And they had all the 7th and 8th graders together, which is
36:51 always a little scary.
36:52 I’m not sure how that’s going to go when you put them all
36:54 together in the same room.
36:55 But they were doing all these amazing projects.
36:57 And Miss Denny there, which is also their Teacher of the Year,
37:00 she is absolutely exceptional.
37:01 And so it was just fun to see them.
37:03 They blew my mind on the things they were creating.
37:05 So, Northbrook Grumman brings in these kits.
37:08 It made me start thinking, oh, this would be fun if we had these.
37:11 But it probably wouldn’t be as special to these kids because
37:14 they would use them on a regular basis.
37:15 But they were able to create all kinds of crazy robotic things
37:18 in just a short amount of time.
37:20 And, you know, they volunteered their time to come and be there
37:23 with these children.
37:23 So that was a huge success.
37:25 And I appreciate them investing that way.
37:27 And shout out to Miss Denny and all of her wonderful things that
37:30 she teaches in regards to STEM.
37:31 Also had the opportunity to attend the Astronaut Career Fair.
37:34 So I know we’ve kind of taken this approach where we were trying
37:38 to regionalize career fairs and group together different schools.
37:40 Well, Astronaut, I love that school.
37:42 And I call that that’s in God’s country.
37:44 It’s the northernmost high school that we have in Brevard.
37:47 So they still hold on to doing their own career fair.
37:50 And it was an exceptional event.
37:51 They bring every one of those students through there.
37:53 And their coordinator, who really her brainchild kind of put
37:57 this together, she made a bingo card for these kids.
38:01 And so a lot of times kids will go to career fairs and they don’t
38:03 want to talk to the people at the booth and they don’t know what
38:06 to say or not really sure what they’re interested in.
38:08 So it was a really cool way because the bingo card encouraged
38:11 them to go talk to specific employers.
38:13 And then she gave them questions to ask those specific employers.
38:16 And it just really kind of cultivated the conversation to get
38:19 rolling.
38:19 So lots of great employers there.
38:21 It was a wonderful event all together.
38:24 And also we had the L3 Harris, which did you get a chance to go
38:28 to that?
38:28 Unfortunately, my calendar did not permit me, but I –
38:30 The STEM challenge?
38:31 Yes.
38:32 So I was up here.
38:34 I didn’t get to judge this year, but I was here and I dragged Mr.
38:38 Trent along with me.
38:38 So we both got to visit.
38:39 Oh, did you good.
38:40 All right.
38:41 I want to thank L3 Harris, again, another great business partner
38:43 that is investing in the next generation because they devote a
38:47 lot of resources and time and staff and volunteers and all of
38:50 that.
38:50 And so we just really appreciate them coming alongside the
38:53 school district and helping with the next generation.
38:55 Other than that, I think that is all that I have.
38:57 And that was also an educational technology program.
38:59 Yes.
39:00 So they’ve been very, very busy.
39:01 You are knocking it out of the park.
39:04 Thank you, Ms. Wright.
39:05 Great job.
39:06 Dr. Rendell, what do you have?
39:08 Actually, I don’t really have anything.
39:10 Everybody covered it.
39:11 That’s what I was saying.
39:12 Sorry.
39:13 No, no.
39:14 I think just to follow up a little bit on Mrs. Campbell’s praise
39:19 about the destination moon experience.
39:22 These are teams of fifth and sixth graders from our elementary
39:25 schools that compete in five different design challenges.
39:28 One of them is to design a habitat for humans to survive on the
39:32 moon.
39:32 And that might have seemed like something far off and just a
39:38 dream.
39:38 But with the launch of Artemis and the return of the astronauts
39:41 safe and that kind of thing, it makes you realize that a habitat
39:44 on the moon is not that far away.
39:45 Yeah.
39:46 And what’s interesting is these kids might be the ones that
39:48 actually build it.
39:48 So, you know, with the support of Boeing, they underwrite the
39:52 whole experience for all these teams and the work of the tech
39:56 integrators in the ET department and the teachers and volunteers
39:59 that make that happen.
39:59 These kids have an amazing experience, fully STEM related and
40:03 pointed towards the future of aerospace, which is right here in
40:06 Brevard County.
40:07 So thank you again to Boeing.
40:09 Thank you to everybody that worked on it.
40:10 And thank you to the Astronaut Memorial Foundation for hosting
40:14 the celebration last week.
40:15 That’s it.
40:16 Thanks.
40:17 Thank you, Dr. Rendell.
40:18 All right.
40:19 Let me see something here.
40:21 The chair recognizes the board’s attorney, Paul Gibbs.
40:26 Good morning, board members.
40:28 On behalf of attorney Diana Schumanns of Sniff and Spelman, I am
40:32 notifying you that advice is needed regarding a settlement
40:35 proposal in the Leonard Petrowski project.
40:37 I will work with the board clerk to coordinate dates for the
40:40 attorney and client session, work with the board clerk to
40:42 coordinate dates for the attorney and client session, work with
40:44 the board clerk to coordinate dates for the attorney and client
40:47 session, work with the board clerk to coordinate dates for the
40:49 attorney and client session, work with the board clerk to
40:51 coordinate dates for the attorney and client session, work with
40:54 the board clerk to coordinate dates for the attorney and client
40:56 session, work with the board clerk to coordinate dates for the
40:58 attorney and client session, work with the board clerk to
41:01 coordinate dates for the attorney and client session, work with
41:03 the board clerk to coordinate dates for the attorney and client
41:05 session.
41:07 I will be working with the board clerk to coordinate dates for
41:09 the attorney and client session, working with our counsel’s
41:10 availability and provide notice of the meeting inclusive of
41:12 scheduling a court reporter.
41:12 It is anticipated that approximately one hour will be needed for
41:16 the session.
41:16 As required by the statute, only the following individuals may
41:19 be present.
41:19 School board members, Katie Campbell, Matthew Susan, John Thomas,
41:23 Jean Trent, Megan Wright, Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell, Paul
41:27 Gibbs, General Counsel, Diana Schumanns, Sniff and Spelman via
41:31 Teams.
41:31 As required by statute, I will ask a court reporter to record
41:34 the session.
41:34 Their notes will be fully transcribed and filed with the clerk
41:37 of the school board.
41:38 Upon conclusion of any litigation and/or settlement of all
41:40 claims arising out of this case, the transcript will be made
41:44 public record.
41:44 I recommend that the board hold an attorney-client session pursuant
41:48 to section 286.011, Florida statutes to discuss strategy of a
41:53 pending litigation.
41:53 If there are no objections, I will instruct our attorney to work
41:56 with the board clerk and schedule as soon as the matter is heard.
42:00 We’re all good?
42:01 Good.
42:02 All right, let’s take a brief recess, and we’ll come back in a
42:04 second for non-agenda public comments.
42:06 All right.
42:07 How many is there?
42:08 Thank you.