Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
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7:56 - Good evening.
7:57 I’m happy to welcome all of my fellow board members
7:59 and call the May 14th, 2019 school board meeting
8:02 to order whether you are in attendance here
8:05 or watching from another location.
8:06 My colleagues and I are pleased you took time to join us.
8:09 We appreciate and applaud your commitment
8:11 to partnering with us in support of our schools,
8:13 our students, our staff, and our community.
8:16 While the board and Brevard public school staff members
8:18 are fully committed to doing our best
8:19 to ensure excellence in Brevard public schools,
8:22 we know that our success depends heavily on an engaged
8:25 and committed community to work alongside us
8:27 and help us to continually improve.
8:29 Thank you for being active participants in the process.
8:33 Pam, roll call, please.
8:36 - Mrs. Belford. - Present.
8:38 - Mrs. Campbell. - Present.
8:39 - Mrs. Deskevich. - Present.
8:42 - Mrs. McDougall. - Present.
8:43 - And Mr. Susan. - Present.
8:48 - Please join us in a moment of silence
8:49 as we mourn the loss of Bradley Hardin,
8:52 a student from Pineapple Cove Classical Academy.
8:59 (coughing)
9:12 - Thank you.
9:14 Matt Reed, assistant superintendent
9:15 of government and community relations
9:17 will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
9:24 - I pledge allegiance to the flag
9:26 of the United States of America
9:29 and to the Republic for which it stands,
9:32 one nation under God, indivisible,
9:35 with liberty and justice for all.
9:43 - At this time, I’d like to offer my fellow board members
9:46 and Dr. Mullins the opportunity to recognize students,
9:48 staff, or members of the community.
9:50 Mr. Susan, do you wanna start?
9:52 (laughing)
9:52 I’m kidding, no, no, no.
9:54 Ms. Campbell. - I’ll start.
9:57 The last three weeks have been super busy
9:59 and lots of awesome things going on
10:00 as the end of the year often is.
10:03 On April 24th, we had the school board art show here at ESF
10:08 and the students’ artwork from kindergarten
10:11 all the way up through 12th grade was truly amazing
10:13 and we have some amazing students
10:16 taught by some amazing teachers.
10:18 And if you look around the building,
10:20 I think some of the new winners’ artwork has been,
10:24 is right outside, so take a look.
10:27 That Friday on the 26th, I got the chance,
10:30 along with Ms. Belford
10:31 and some of our other assistant superintendents,
10:33 to be a part of Edgewood Junior Senior High’s
10:36 Senior Presentation Day.
10:38 And I know the seniors that presented in my room
10:40 did some really amazing work, really impressive work,
10:43 and you can go see some of that on my Facebook page.
10:47 That night, I got to go to Satellite High School’s
10:50 production of Phantom of the Opera,
10:51 which I found out was the Brevard County premiere
10:55 of that musical, Phantom of the Opera,
10:57 has never been done in Brevard before then
10:58 and they did a fantastic job.
11:00 The costumes and the sets
11:02 may have been my favorite thing ever,
11:04 so it was really great.
11:10 - No, go ahead. - Okay.
11:11 The next Wednesday, our Brevard Schools Foundation
11:15 did the Take Stock and Children graduation
11:17 and induction ceremony and we had 40, 50, somewhere,
11:21 seniors who had graduated and their mentors
11:23 got to walk across the stage with them
11:25 and what an impressive group they were.
11:27 And then we also got to have the induction
11:29 for the very nervous seventh, eighth, and ninth graders
11:33 who were waiting to be matched up with their mentors.
11:35 And I don’t think it’s too late because we are there,
11:39 Brevard Schools Foundation is always looking for mentors,
11:41 several of our mentors mentor two and three
11:44 and more students, but if you’re interested in that,
11:46 it is a long commitment, but man,
11:48 the changes in these students’ lives was real exciting,
11:51 so I encourage people to take a look at that.
11:55 (man speaking off mic)
11:56 Yes, and 100% of that class graduated.
12:00 They started in the program as eighth or ninth graders,
12:03 10th graders, and then 100% of them graduated.
12:05 I think that deserves some applause
12:06 for our program. (audience applauding)
12:12 That Friday was, or excuse me,
12:13 Thursday afternoon was the PIE Awards,
12:15 our Partners in Education.
12:17 Congratulations to Northrop Grumman
12:18 for being our Brevard and our partner of the year,
12:21 but some of the ones that were most touching to me,
12:24 Palm Bay High School, one of our high schools
12:26 was recognized as a partner of the year
12:28 because of the work they do in Palm Bay Elementary School,
12:32 and that’s the coolest, so excited for our students
12:36 and teachers giving back to another school.
12:39 So many churches, Kona Ice was a highlight,
12:41 even Erna Nixon Park, we looked at each other and said,
12:44 can a park be a partner?
12:45 They absolutely are, and do so many great things.
12:49 Retiree Day was awesome last Saturday,
12:51 recognizing all of our people,
12:53 I don’t know why still anybody else’s thunder,
12:55 so I’ll stop right there.
12:59 - Thanks, Ms. Campbell, Mr. Susan.
13:03 - So I had the honor of attending the retiree,
13:08 what was it, what’d you call it, a luncheon?
13:09 Luncheon here at ESF, and I would say,
13:12 being a former teacher, when we used to see
13:14 a lot of the teachers that retire and individuals retired,
13:17 it was usually a small group of teachers
13:20 that met down at the local place
13:23 to grab a couple of beers and some food,
13:25 and then that was it,
13:26 and that’s like 40 years worth of their service.
13:27 So being able to attend this event
13:29 and showing how much we truly care about our retirees,
13:33 and then truly seeing some of the individuals
13:35 that not only were a big part of my life years ago,
13:38 but have been a big part of this district,
13:39 it was just truly an honor to be a part of that luncheon,
13:43 and seeing the old guard, I would call it,
13:46 retiring off and what they’ve done for this district
13:48 and some of the old stories that they shared with us.
13:51 I also wanted to say thank you to,
13:53 or congratulations to Tim Thomas and Derek Coach Smith.
13:57 They were honored over at the County Commission
13:59 for resuscitating and saving an individual’s life.
14:03 Many people don’t know, but they were,
14:05 they in the process performed CPR
14:08 for close to nine minutes on an individual
14:10 who then, later that night, died four times at Nemours
14:14 and was able to be resuscitated and come back,
14:17 and then because of their efforts and what they did,
14:19 he still, he just came back to classes.
14:22 I think it was last week, and he’s now attending school.
14:25 So a phenomenal shout-out to Colonel,
14:31 retired Lieutenant Colonel Tim Thomas and Coach Derek Smith
14:34 for what they did over at Viera High School.
14:36 I also wanted to say, and I won’t take your thunder
14:38 because your kid was nominated for it,
14:40 but I went to the BASA awards,
14:43 and that’s our Administrative Union, if you can call it that,
14:46 but what they end up doing is the BASA provides scholarships
14:50 for a lot of the students whose parents
14:53 are also administrators inside the community,
14:55 and they also are just kind of a way
14:56 for a lot of the administrators to get together
14:58 and talk about some of the issues that they have
15:00 and some of the things and directions that they’re going up,
15:02 and that was a great event.
15:04 I also attended the Space Coast League of Cities last night,
15:07 and they laid out our lagoon issues,
15:11 and if anybody in the audience does not know,
15:17 it’s a lot worse than what we actually think it is,
15:20 and that is a huge part of, our school system
15:23 doesn’t have a direct tie to it,
15:25 but it was an alarming experience to see
15:30 what work we have to do as a community.
15:32 I do wanna say there’s a special guest
15:34 that’s getting moved up tonight.
15:37 Ms. Rodriguez from Viera High School’s gonna get an award,
15:40 but I did wanna take a second while
15:42 I had this opportunity to say I have never,
15:45 and I will say this, heard more positive things
15:48 about a principal, and she wasn’t even the principal yet.
15:51 I mean, I had people calling me saying
15:53 that she is doing such an amazing job,
15:56 she’s like one of us, she understands us,
15:58 she does the, and my usual suspects
16:00 that drive me crazy in Viera were praising her,
16:02 so that was a definite positive.
16:05 On top of the staff that was congratulatory
16:08 when she got appointed, and I also wanna say
16:12 that part of her success is also the individuals
16:15 that are right beneath her at that school.
16:19 When I say Rodriguez?
16:20 I’m sorry, Robinson, I apologize, I said it wrong.
16:23 But anyways, Tim Rooney has been there
16:26 since the school opened.
16:28 You have a couple other, Ms. Palermo,
16:30 other teachers there, or administrators that are there
16:32 that are just amazing, so you have a great staff,
16:33 I look forward to great things.
16:35 Ms. Robinson, sorry I said Rodriguez.
16:37 And then the next thing is is I had this great thing.
16:40 Okay, so Penny, you can’t have this check,
16:44 but this is a $25,000 check that we obtained
16:49 for Eat My Crust 5K over the two weekends ago
16:53 that’s gonna go towards rubberizing the track
16:56 at Viera High School to do what Satellite did.
16:58 This is the second fundraiser that they did,
17:01 and I wanna give a shout out to Viera Pizza.
17:06 They have raised literally $50,000 on their own
17:11 to rubberize a track and create a community track
17:13 within Viera.
17:15 That alone is an amazing accomplishment,
17:17 and a big shout out goes to them.
17:20 I will say that anybody who hasn’t
17:22 and is looking forward to it on May 21st
17:24 is going to be the meeting over at Viera,
17:27 for the new Viera Elementary School
17:29 that’s gonna be at Quest at six o’clock,
17:32 and that’s gonna be the discussion
17:33 over what possible boundary changes.
17:36 No middle school discussion,
17:38 possible boundary changes
17:39 for the new upcoming elementary school
17:40 and some of the key components of it,
17:43 and then I wanted to say one last thing,
17:44 and I’m sorry to take up all the time.
17:46 We officially have the largest jobs program now
17:49 in the state of Florida,
17:51 where kids, as a part of our jobs program
17:53 that we have here, are working inside trades,
17:56 inside municipalities, at the zoo,
17:59 and it’s officially now, has more kids a part of it
18:02 than the entire rest of the state combined.
18:05 So when other people say,
18:07 “What are you guys doing for jobs?
18:09 “What are you guys doing for career and technical?”
18:11 You have a huge, huge plus with that program,
18:14 and we have kids that work inside of our maintenance.
18:16 They work in a bunch of other places inside of our schools,
18:19 and so we have the largest jobs program in the state,
18:21 and Voc Rehab just let us know that.
18:22 So with that, I’m done.
18:24 Thank you very much.
18:25 - Thanks, Mr. Susan.
18:26 Ms. Belford.
18:29 - Thank you, Ms. Duskovich.
18:31 Tagging on to the discussion of jobs,
18:35 I didn’t get an opportunity to share
18:37 with my fellow board members,
18:39 ‘cause I didn’t wanna get ahead
18:40 of another elected body’s vote on an issue,
18:45 but our port commissioner, Commissioner Robin Hadaway,
18:49 has been working on a concept
18:52 that would create a junior port ambassador program,
18:56 and she kind of pitched it to the commission in January,
18:59 and it didn’t go very far, and so we brainstormed.
19:03 She pulled together a committee of folks,
19:05 myself, Charles Parker, a couple of students,
19:09 some other folks from the community,
19:12 and really brainstormed how we could make this work.
19:16 We presented to the Port Authority last month,
19:21 and I’m proud to say
19:22 that not only did they approve the program,
19:26 but they actually wanted it to be larger
19:29 than what we were proposing,
19:30 ‘cause we were trying to keep costs down on it,
19:32 and the reason that this is significant,
19:34 the junior port ambassador program
19:36 is basically going to take multiple students
19:38 from each of our high schools within the port district,
19:41 take them out to the port,
19:44 and they’ll be out there for about a day at a time.
19:47 They’ve kind of broken it down into their business lines,
19:50 and these students will be exposed
19:51 to all of the different job opportunities
19:54 that exist at the port.
19:55 They will then be tasked with working
19:59 on kind of a PR campaign for job opportunities at the port,
20:02 and so the hope is that they can go back to their school,
20:06 share this information with their peers,
20:07 and we can begin to align
20:09 our career and technical education opportunities
20:12 with job opportunities out at the port,
20:14 so that both the port knows what we offer.
20:17 I did, when I spoke with the port commissioners,
20:20 I did share our career and technical education programs
20:24 and the programs that we’re doing
20:25 through Berard Achievement Center and EmployU,
20:29 shared that information with them,
20:31 and really encouraged them that this be the first step
20:33 in our conversation,
20:35 that I think the junior port ambassador program
20:37 is a good first start, but we gotta keep it going.
20:40 We gotta really make sure that we are aligning
20:43 those opportunities with our students’ needs
20:45 and qualifications, so I’m hopeful
20:47 that that’s gonna continue to grow
20:48 our awesome pipeline of job opportunities
20:51 that we’re creating in Berard,
20:52 and thank you, Mr. Susan, for all of your work in that area,
20:54 and certainly your support of me going out
20:58 and sharing that information too.
21:00 - I think most of the credit goes to Janice Schultz,
21:02 career and technical team,
21:04 and also our vocational rehab group that’s back there.
21:08 I mean, I just get to cheerlead for it.
21:10 - Yes, thank you for your cheerleading for it.
21:14 Also had the opportunity to attend the elementary.
21:17 I see some of my folks here from Cocina,
21:21 Kim Harris is here,
21:23 and so we had what we call in the North End
21:27 the elementary tri-school concert,
21:30 and I just have to tell you,
21:32 they take three schools of students.
21:34 It is Cocina, Apollo, and Imperial Estates,
21:37 and these students practice completely separate
21:40 throughout the school year.
21:41 They work on their strings and their choral skills,
21:44 and they come together on this one night
21:46 with very little collaborative practice
21:50 and perform phenomenally well.
21:53 They all gather at the Titusville High School Auditorium
21:56 and put on a great show.
21:58 I was incredibly proud of the students.
21:59 They all looked amazing.
22:00 They played beautifully.
22:02 So many thanks to not only those students
22:04 and their parents for supporting them in those efforts,
22:06 but also to all of the teachers
22:08 who have worked to get them to the point
22:10 that they were prepared for that effort
22:12 because it certainly was impressive,
22:14 and we appreciate them.
22:16 Also, every year the city of Titusville,
22:20 and I think it’s the only municipality that does it,
22:23 but city of Titusville does an award ceremony
22:25 for our students in the North End,
22:27 and Dr. Sullivan and Ms. Klein were there with me,
22:31 and I’m trying to think if there was anyone else
22:34 from the district there,
22:35 but the city does this awards recognition ceremony
22:38 every single year, and they recognize students
22:40 from private schools, charter schools,
22:42 and of course all of our area schools,
22:44 and the really neat thing
22:45 about this particular awards program
22:47 is you tend to see students getting recognized
22:50 that may not be recognized
22:52 for some of the traditional awards.
22:54 They may not be the honor roll kids.
22:56 They may not be the kids that are getting
22:59 all of the recognition at their schools,
23:01 but they get the opportunity to get up on stage
23:04 and be recognized as scholars.
23:05 So congratulations to all of them,
23:07 to all of the school teams that got them there
23:09 and supported them, and obviously to the students
23:12 for making great choices, and I’m almost done, I promise.
23:16 Dr. Mullins and I had the opportunity today
23:19 to attend the Space Coast Junior Senior
23:22 Hunch Recognition Ceremony,
23:24 and if you all are not familiar with the Hunch Program,
23:27 it is phenomenal.
23:28 It stands for, I lost my cheat sheet,
23:32 high school students uniting with NASA
23:37 to create hardware.
23:39 Did I get that right?
23:39 - Yep. - Woo-hoo, okay.
23:41 So if you have not seen that program,
23:44 these students come together.
23:45 They work, the students that participated
23:47 were a part of the STEAM Academy at Space Coast,
23:50 and they work with various mentors in the community,
23:54 and they develop some phenomenal projects.
23:57 So what happens is NASA basically says,
23:59 we have these challenges that we need to address
24:02 on the space station, and we want you all
24:04 to figure out how to do it.
24:05 So just to give you some examples of some of the things,
24:10 they were asked to develop a spare tool pouch
24:12 for the space station, collapsible sleeping quarters,
24:17 food packaging, a radiation protection jacket,
24:22 a washing machine, because they have learned
24:24 that while they can send clean clothes
24:26 to the space station right now,
24:28 when we start looking at Mars or the moon,
24:31 that’s not gonna be a feasible thing,
24:33 so they have to figure out some way to clean clothes
24:35 in space, and then this one I’m gonna read right
24:38 from the sign because I’m never gonna get it right otherwise.
24:41 Augmented reality object identification annotation tools.
24:46 And that particular group of students,
24:49 turns out there was no one locally that could support them
24:52 in their effort because it dealt with software,
24:55 and so they actually had to have NASA team members
24:59 from across the country remote in with them
25:01 to support them in development of their project,
25:03 if that’s not mind-blowing.
25:05 So huge congratulations to the students at Space Coast
25:08 that have been working on this project.
25:09 They were incredibly impressive.
25:10 And obviously, a huge thanks to the business partners
25:14 that make it possible.
25:15 Art was there from Knights Armament.
25:17 He is, you can tell that he loves supporting those students,
25:21 and we appreciate that as well as all the work with NASA.
25:25 So that’s it. - Can I say something?
25:26 - Thank you, Ms. Belford.
25:27 Sure, Mr. Susan.
25:28 - I just wanted to say that NASA Hunch Program,
25:30 it’s not just NASA, but it’s our actual astronauts
25:33 at the International Space Center
25:35 who have issues with something,
25:37 and they ask these kids to brainstorm it, produce it,
25:41 and then they actually make it, and it goes back up.
25:43 For instance, last year, they needed a locker
25:46 to put a lot of their stuff inside while they were up there,
25:49 so they literally had a team develop that,
25:52 and instead of paying Northrop Grumman $60,000
25:54 to machine it and do all that stuff,
25:56 they did it inside the NASA Hunch,
25:58 and then they sent it up with their signatures all over it.
26:00 So each one of those things that she said
26:02 is identifying an issue that those astronauts
26:04 are having problems with
26:05 up at the International Space Station.
26:07 So just some phenomenal stuff
26:09 that we never had an opportunity to do when we were kids.
26:11 That’s for sure.
26:12 - Thank you, Mr. Susan.
26:13 Ms. McDougall.
26:16 - Thank you, Ms. Decevich.
26:19 I was lucky on May 3rd to attend
26:21 at Freedom 7 Patriot Day,
26:23 which is something they used to do a long time ago
26:25 and they just brought back.
26:27 And it’s a celebration of community leaders,
26:30 and there were seven leaders that were celebrated,
26:33 and one of them happened to be Dr. Mullins at the time,
26:36 so he was also given a special Pennine Award,
26:40 and they had a wonderful choir singing.
26:42 It was just a lovely presentation,
26:44 and I think what was most outstanding for me
26:46 is each student had people that they were honoring,
26:51 and they wrote them all themselves.
26:52 So we had these little kindergartners up there,
26:56 very articulate, I was very impressed,
26:58 and it was really wonderful.
26:59 And one of the things that came out of this meeting
27:01 is Freedom 7 is an IB school,
27:05 and they didn’t have a mascot.
27:07 So the kids all voted on a mascot,
27:09 and they now have an eagle as the mascot for their school.
27:13 I also went, during Teacher Appreciation Week,
27:17 I wanted to visit some of my schools,
27:20 and I went to Saturn Elementary
27:23 and helped pass out goodie bags
27:24 during the middle of the day to our teachers,
27:27 and I didn’t realize how many teachers there were there.
27:30 It was fun, it was great to see everybody.
27:32 I had a chance to talk with them.
27:33 That was a lot of fun also.
27:36 The next day, I went to McNair Middle School.
27:40 They had an awards ceremony.
27:42 I went with Dr. Novelli.
27:44 He and I shook a whole bunch of wonderful students’ hands
27:47 for the awards they got for that year of different grades.
27:52 Also, I went to Cape View,
27:55 and I wanna give a shout-out
27:56 to the Rising Tide restaurant there at the port.
28:00 They catered lunch for the teachers at Cape View,
28:03 which was phenomenal lunch,
28:05 and thank you very much to the Rising Tide
28:07 for supporting our teachers there at Cape View.
28:10 I want to let people know that it is a little bit far off,
28:14 but think about it.
28:15 If you’re a golfer, the Brevard School Foundation
28:20 is having their golf tournament, it’s a fundraiser,
28:23 and you can putt a contest
28:27 with one of their school board people who shows up,
28:30 so I know Mr. You’re not going,
28:33 but I think if this doesn’t– - No, I’m gonna be there.
28:35 I’m just not any good.
28:36 - Gary Shiffrin in the audience?
28:37 - Yes, so I know that several of us will be there,
28:42 and that’s another fundraiser that’s really–
28:45 - I use a sledgehammer, and I’m at 40 feet away,
28:48 and anybody that can beat me wins an award,
28:50 and Gary Shiffrin went down last year,
28:52 so those of you guys that know Gary in the back,
28:54 I beat him, and I made it posted inside my local,
28:57 where we live at together in the thing, so.
28:59 - I also wanted to go ahead and talk about
29:03 the fundraising abilities
29:05 that are happening at Cocoa High School
29:07 for their course to go to Carnegie Hall in October.
29:11 So far, they have raised $30,000.
29:13 It’s a good start.
29:14 They have a long ways to go,
29:16 so we are certainly looking for donations,
29:20 and if you want to make a donation
29:21 to help the choir get there,
29:23 yeah, you can make ‘em to Cocoa,
29:25 and put in the memo part for the Carnegie Hall
29:27 in New York City in October.
29:29 Also, keep your eyes posted.
29:31 Another fundraiser that is in the works
29:32 is at Cocoa Playhouse.
29:34 They’re gonna have a performance going on there,
29:36 so keep your eyes open.
29:38 I think that’s gonna be coming up soon,
29:40 but that’s kind of what’s happening
29:42 to help raise funds for our Cocoa students
29:45 to go to New York City,
29:47 and I think that’s it for me.
29:50 - Thank you, Ms. McDougall.
29:51 Dr. Mullins.
29:55 - Thank you.
29:56 I’d like to start by celebrating really
30:00 Brevard Public Schools as an organization.
30:02 I had the opportunity to attend
30:04 the United Way Awards Ceremony a couple weeks ago,
30:07 and Brevard Public Schools continues to be
30:10 the third largest organization raising money
30:14 for our local United Way campaign,
30:17 only behind Publix and Harris.
30:20 In addition to that,
30:21 Brevard Public Schools,
30:22 we’re the 10th or 11th largest district
30:24 in the state of Florida,
30:26 but we’re the second largest fundraising campaign
30:30 in the state for United Way,
30:32 so we just have a tremendously generous
30:34 and gracious staff across our organization
30:38 that continue to invest in our local United Way.
30:43 Wanna say a thank you to Florida Today.
30:44 They hosted our Top Scholars Breakfast a couple weeks ago.
30:49 It was a beautiful morning,
30:50 a wonderful event celebrating our seniors.
30:53 I tell ya, I felt like a slacker in the room.
30:58 Our kids across our district are so impressive,
31:02 and our future is in good hands.
31:05 We celebrated some amazing kids,
31:07 just a snapshot of our great kids across the district.
31:12 I had the opportunity to run a 5K
31:14 with the Kiwanis of Cocoa Beach,
31:17 and I wanted to do that because they actually
31:19 did that event to raise money
31:21 for our local schools in Cocoa Beach.
31:24 I will let you know I did not break any records,
31:27 but I did finish, and I did finish running,
31:30 so it was great to be a part of our Cocoa Beach community
31:33 and raise funds for our schools.
31:38 Last week, Titusville recognizes students.
31:43 I attended the Palm Bay Rotary Student Award Ceremony.
31:49 Our Rotary of Palm Bay has been hosting that event,
31:53 celebrating all students across the entire Palm Bay area
31:57 for over 40 years.
31:59 They’ve been hosting that luncheon
32:01 and recognizing our students.
32:02 The neat thing about that event is
32:04 the student gets to select a teacher to bring with them,
32:07 to be recognized as part of the reason
32:10 why they are the student that they are.
32:11 So it was a wonderful celebration of not only our students,
32:15 but also the teachers that have made
32:16 an amazing impact on their lives.
32:18 So thank you to our Palm Bay Rotary.
32:22 I wanted to tag on to the Hunch Program this morning
32:26 and also let our community know Merritt Island High School,
32:31 and I’m not gonna get this right,
32:32 it’s either Stangbot or StangSat or, anyway,
32:36 our kids have, they have created a satellite
32:39 that is gonna be launched here in the next few weeks.
32:42 So I don’t know when, it’s top secret,
32:44 I think we get like 24 hour notice,
32:46 but our kids, again, designed a satellite
32:50 that will be launched with our,
32:53 so NASA is an amazing partner across our schools,
32:57 along with our other technology industries.
32:59 So that’s exciting that we’re going,
33:02 one of our public schools is going into space.
33:04 - The only one ever in the country to launch a satellite.
33:06 - That’s right.
33:07 - Merritt Island.
33:10 - I’m just checking my notes.
33:16 I wanna close with just a huge recognition
33:20 and acknowledgement of our business partners
33:23 across our community.
33:25 They help, they come alongside and do amazing things for us.
33:28 Over a million dollars in dollars and in-kind services
33:32 for our schools across our district.
33:34 But last week, particularly, business partners
33:37 across our district helped us celebrate
33:39 the tremendous assets we have in our teachers
33:42 through Teacher Appreciation Week.
33:44 So first, I wanna thank our business partners.
33:49 Edible Arrangements has helped us particularly celebrate
33:52 teachers across the district
33:54 with the shout outs through Facebook.
33:57 We had hundreds of shout outs to teachers
33:59 across our district and we’ve been pulling names
34:02 to award different teachers with an edible arrangement.
34:04 So thank you to that business partner.
34:07 But just a huge thank you for the teachers
34:09 across our great district.
34:11 And I think if all of us took a moment
34:13 and reflect on the teachers in our own lives
34:16 who have helped shape and frame and make us
34:19 into the individuals we are today.
34:20 So I gotta do a shout out to Ms. Ferguson,
34:23 one of my high school teachers who I cherish.
34:27 Don’t know where she is today,
34:28 but if you’re out there, Ms. Ferguson,
34:30 I appreciate your contribution
34:32 to make me the person I am today.
34:35 - Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
34:36 Ms. McDougall has one more she’d like to share.
34:38 I’m so sorry, thank you.
34:40 I wanted to remind people about Tropical Elementary’s,
34:43 a kindergarten class that has the kindness symbol.
34:46 They are trying to reach 10,000 signatures.
34:49 They have 3,500 and so many.
34:53 All across, they have every single continent,
34:56 somebody from every single continent except Antarctica.
34:59 So they are counting on our public to please go
35:03 to their website and sign on the kindness petition
35:06 because they would like it to be a national,
35:09 bring it before our Congress to have a kindness.
35:12 It’s a great symbol if you haven’t seen it.
35:14 Next time I’m gonna have a t-shirt and I’ll wear that.
35:16 But it’s a wonderful symbol.
35:18 And please, if you haven’t signed, think about signing.
35:26 - Thank you.
35:28 Thank you, Ms. McDougall.
35:29 Microphone trying to turn off on me.
35:32 I will take Dr. Mullins’ lead
35:34 and go ahead and give a shout out to my teacher.
35:38 And that’s Ms. Evelyn Scametta,
35:39 who worked for our district for 40 something years,
35:43 I believe.
35:44 She was my middle school history teacher two years in a row.
35:49 Huge impact on my life.
35:51 She was a mentor to me through some very difficult years
35:54 in my youth and she stepped in and filled a great role.
35:58 I kept in touch with her all these years, moved away,
36:00 got married, took jobs in other states
36:02 and wrote back to her probably 30 years ago
36:05 and told her what a role she played in my life.
36:07 And then when I moved back here in 2002, I think,
36:12 I looked her up.
36:13 She lives a mile from my house
36:14 and we’ve had a great relationship since I’ve been back
36:17 and it’s been fun to be colleagues now in a certain sense.
36:23 So Evelyn Scametta to me is a hero.
36:27 From there, I’m gonna play now off of your running
36:30 that you just did and I’m going to challenge the entire board
36:33 to mark your calendars right now, May 2nd, 2020.
36:39 It’s not a 5K, we can do it guys, we can do it.
36:43 Your phone does go that far up, Mr. Susan.
36:46 Running Zone, this will be the fourth year, I think.
36:50 They do a full marathon for our students.
36:56 Wait, wait, wait, we’re not doing the full marathon.
36:59 Listen to me, we have three.
37:01 Listen to me, you guys, don’t jump the gun.
37:03 We’ll get into the good part, listen to me.
37:05 It’s over 10 weeks, our students,
37:08 they had 3,000 students participate this year.
37:10 They run 26.2 miles over 10 weeks
37:13 and then we all meet on May 2nd,
37:15 which we met this past weekend
37:17 and this is the second year I’ve joined them
37:19 and it is so fun and you run the last mile together.
37:23 36 of our schools were represented this past week
37:26 and they show up as teams with their shirts
37:29 from their school and they run as a team.
37:32 They run that final mile, it ends right around the track,
37:34 they get popsicles and I just stand at the end
37:36 and just, I mean, these little kids,
37:38 they are dying coming around that corner.
37:40 The sun’s beating down on them and I’m like, you can do it
37:43 and they’re like, I can and they just take off and run.
37:46 It is, it’s wonderful and so I want to thank Running Zone
37:50 for putting this on at their own cost.
37:52 There is free to every single student and participant.
37:55 It’s costing them upwards of $25,000, she said
37:58 when I was speaking to her about it,
37:59 to put this on for our community and for our students
38:01 and they’re doing it just as a service
38:03 for good health within our community.
38:05 So May 2nd, 2020, I told her I was going to challenge
38:08 our entire board to be there and do that one mile
38:10 with our students as, and honestly,
38:13 we should do the 26.2 miles and they said
38:16 you can track it walking or whatever over the 10 weeks
38:19 and we can report that we did a marathon
38:22 as a school board and superintendent.
38:23 I’m challenging you too, sir, don’t look like you’re not,
38:26 you’re not part of that.
38:29 Okay, you got 10 weeks to do it.
38:33 Okay, next, I mean, satellites, we’ve got kids
38:38 putting satellites in space.
38:39 We have three students from West Shore
38:42 that have made it to the final round
38:44 of the Mouse Trap Car Grand Prix,
38:47 which may sound like nothing to you all,
38:49 but they are going to Monaco, the city state,
38:53 it’s not a country, it’s a city state of Monaco
38:56 being paid for by FIT to complete in the finale.
39:00 That’s Matt Kish, Aubrey Tegeland, and Abigail Watson.
39:03 They have created some amazing Mouse Trap Car
39:06 that is so amazing that it’s made it
39:09 to the final finals in Monaco.
39:11 They’re getting a tour of the palace.
39:12 I mean, this is like stuff movies is made of.
39:15 So congratulations to those three students from West Shore.
39:19 - Ms. Duskovich, I think if I recall,
39:21 they actually get a VIP–
39:23 - Like tea with the prince or something?
39:25 - Friends, yeah, they’re actually meeting
39:27 with the prince of Monaco.
39:28 - We’ve got some amazing things going on in our district.
39:31 That is for sure.
39:32 A shout out to the group that puts together
39:35 the Space Coast Prayer Breakfast every year.
39:37 It’s on the National Annual, or the National Day of Prayer.
39:42 I know Carol Wheatley heads that up,
39:44 so I wanna give her a thank you,
39:45 and I think she has a team,
39:46 but I’m not sure who the other people are
39:48 that put it together.
39:49 But this year specifically, I attended it,
39:52 a few others on our board, and Dr. Mullins did.
39:54 And Loretta Dozier gave a prayer that was specific
39:59 for our students, our teachers, our employees,
40:02 and each of our school board members by name,
40:04 and it was very moving.
40:06 And so I just wanted to say thank you to her,
40:08 and for that whole group for praying
40:11 for our school district,
40:12 because we need all the prayers we can get.
40:16 Last, yep, last, I’m not gonna hold you hostage forever.
40:21 I did Deskovich Duty Day last Friday at the Hoover cafeteria.
40:25 I was a cafeteria worker, hair net and all,
40:27 and it was fabulous.
40:29 So a huge shout out to Lori Hammer.
40:32 She is the cafeteria manager there at Hoover,
40:34 and her staff, Tresha, Maria, Tracey, Bernice,
40:39 Ruth Ellen, and Pandora.
40:41 Each one of those ladies is from a different country,
40:43 and each one of those ladies loves their job.
40:46 I have never seen, I have worked through high school
40:50 and college in restaurants.
40:51 I was a waitress and a cashier at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
40:54 I have seen some dirty kitchens.
40:56 Our kitchen at Hoover was spotless, immaculate.
41:00 I thought I would leave there feeling dirty,
41:01 like I’d been around food, washing dishes, but I didn’t.
41:03 It was so clean back there, and those ladies are meticulous
41:07 with the food that they prepare, and the food was good.
41:11 You’re allowed to take a break, and you can make a meal
41:13 and go back to the break room, which I did.
41:15 I ate the school food, and it was fabulous.
41:17 So great job to our cafeteria staff,
41:20 and that is it.
41:22 We will get on with our meeting.
41:26 Okay, brings us to the adoption of the agenda.
41:30 Dr. Mullins.
41:31 - Ms. Deskevich and members of the board,
41:33 on this evening’s agenda,
41:34 we have administrative staff recommendations,
41:37 one recognition, 32 consent items,
41:40 two action items, and four information items.
41:43 You also have the yellow supplemental agenda,
41:45 which are changes made to the agenda
41:46 since being released to the public
41:48 on Tuesday, May 7th, 2019.
41:51 Items A7 on administrative staff recommendations,
41:55 F19 on reappointment nominations of support personnel,
41:59 and school safety security specialists
42:01 for the ‘19-‘20 school year.
42:03 And item G43 on purchasing solicitations,
42:06 received revisions.
42:08 An information item for the code of student conduct
42:11 was added and subsequently deleted.
42:15 - What are the wishes of the board?
42:17 - Move to approve. - Second.
42:19 - Motion by Ms. Belford, second by Ms. McDougall.
42:21 Is there any discussion?
42:24 Please vote.
42:33 Motion passes five-zero.
42:34 Dr. Mullins, will you please let us know
42:35 about the administrative staff recommendations?
42:38 - There are 11 persons on this agenda item
42:40 for the board to consider.
42:42 - What are the wishes of the board?
42:44 - Move to approve. - Second.
42:47 - Motion by Mr. Susan, second by Ms. Belford.
42:49 Any discussion?
42:51 Please vote.
43:01 Motion passes five-zero.
43:06 Dr. Mullins.
43:09 - First, I’d like to welcome and congratulate
43:12 Ms. Tiffany Pflieger on her reclassification
43:15 and transfer from the position of assistant principal
43:18 at Holland Elementary to the position of principal
43:23 at Stevenson Elementary School.
43:25 Congratulations, Ms. Pflieger.
43:27 (audience applauding)
43:36 - Thank you, Mrs. Klein, Dr. Mullins, board.
43:40 Thank you so much for recognizing
43:41 and believing in my leadership.
43:43 This evening, I have with me my family.
43:46 They have always been my number one supporters,
43:49 and to that, I am so thankful.
43:52 It means more to me than they even know.
43:55 I’ve been blessed throughout my career in Brevard
43:58 to have been supported by many, many individuals,
44:01 too many that I can’t even mention them tonight.
44:06 I’d also like to thank Mrs. Allison
44:09 and the faculty and staff at Holland
44:12 for supporting me through my leadership journey
44:15 and for always finding the opportunity
44:18 to make a positive impact
44:20 in the lives of our students, always.
44:23 As I move into the principal position
44:25 at Stevenson Elementary, I pledge my commitment,
44:28 my continued commitment to excellence,
44:31 our community, and growth.
44:34 Thank you.
44:35 (audience applauding)
44:41 Next, we congratulate and recognize Ms. Kimberly Harris
44:44 on her reclassification and transfer
44:46 from the position of assistant principal
44:49 at Kokina Elementary to the position of principal
44:53 at Anderson Elementary.
44:54 Congratulations, Ms. Harris.
44:56 (audience applauding)
45:00 - Thank you, Dr. Mullins and the board.
45:03 I brought with me tonight my cheerleaders, my family,
45:06 my in-laws, Joan and Charlie Harris, my husband, James,
45:10 two of my three boys, Matthew and Steven,
45:13 my other son, Andrew, and my parents
45:16 are watching online tonight.
45:18 So I have also, I have a lot of people that I wanna thank
45:22 for getting me to this point and supporting me,
45:25 Jennifer Brockwell, Jennifer Clark, Susan Mulcrown,
45:28 Blair Lovelace, Marilyn Sylvester, and Mrs. Klein.
45:32 Thank you for your support and guidance.
45:35 I am honored to be part of the Anderson community.
45:40 I look forward to working with the faculty, staff,
45:44 William, and the students and families at Anderson.
45:49 Thank you very much.
45:50 (audience applauding)
45:55 - Next, congratulations also goes out to Ms. Janine Jost
45:59 on her reclassification and transfer
46:01 from the position of assistant principal
46:03 at Palm Bay Elementary to the position of principal
46:07 at Sunrise Elementary.
46:09 (audience applauding)
46:11 Congratulations.
46:16 - Thank you, Dr. Mullins and school board members.
46:19 For me, tonight is a night of gratitude.
46:21 There are so many people that I need to express
46:24 my thanks to as well.
46:26 First of all, to the Sunrise community and to Mr. Pitcherd
46:30 and to Ms. Campione and the teachers and staff there,
46:33 they have just inundated me with emails of thanks
46:36 and welcome and I’m just so appreciative.
46:39 To my parents, I have my dad here with me tonight.
46:43 They instilled the values in me that allowed me to do
46:45 the work that I do every single day.
46:47 So I’m very thankful to the way that they raised me
46:49 and for always being there for me.
46:52 To my husband, Scott, and my three boys,
46:54 they can’t be here tonight because he’s out running around
46:57 doing Brevard Public Schools activities for the boys.
47:01 But thank you to them for sharing their time with me
47:06 to the community to allow me to do the work of service
47:09 that I love to do.
47:11 And last but not least, too, this is the hard part.
47:14 To my Palm Bay Elementary School family,
47:16 I have so many people here supporting me tonight.
47:18 They were by my side for the past three years.
47:21 To my mentors, I have Mrs. Passanisi and Ms. Glover,
47:26 Mr. Mull, and my PMPT, you know who you are.
47:30 Dr. Wright, I know she’s enjoying retirement
47:32 and she’s off on her trips right now,
47:33 but you all mean the world to me.
47:35 Mrs. Woodbury, I don’t know what I’ll do without you,
47:38 but we’ll be in touch, so thank you all very much.
47:41 I know it’s gonna be a great joy ride at sunrise
47:44 and I’m very, very honored, thank you.
47:46 (audience applauds)
47:52 - Next, congratulations to Ms. Holly Zander
47:55 on her reclassification and transfer
47:57 from the position of assistant principal
47:59 at Palm Bay Magnet High to the position of principal
48:02 at Bayside High School.
48:04 Congratulations. (audience applauds)
48:09 - Thank you, I just wanted to take a moment
48:11 to thank everyone at Palm Bay Magnet High School.
48:13 I know they’re not here today.
48:15 But it’s really been a privilege to work
48:17 with some of the hardest working dedicated people
48:19 I’ve had the privilege to work with.
48:21 I wanted to thank the board and Dr. Mullins and Dr. Sullivan
48:24 for giving me this opportunity to go back to Bayside.
48:27 I have been there, I was there for 11 years
48:29 when I first moved to Brevard County.
48:31 So it’ll be nice to go back to some people I know
48:33 and to meet some that I don’t know yet.
48:36 I wanna thank my family and friends that are here today,
48:39 especially my son who’s going to be a ninth grader
48:42 at Bayside, so this is gonna be exciting for all of us.
48:46 Thank you.
48:48 (audience applauds)
48:54 - Now we wanna congratulate Ms. Heather Smith
48:57 on her reclassification from the position
48:59 of 10 month assistant principal at Vieira High School
49:02 to the position of 12 month assistant principal
49:05 at Vieira High School.
49:07 Congratulations.
49:09 (audience applauds)
49:12 - Thank you Dr. Mullins and to the board.
49:14 I have my husband here with me,
49:16 so thank you for all the craziness
49:18 that has been the last few years
49:19 and sharing me with all of BPS and all our students.
49:24 I would like to thank Sarah Robinson
49:25 for giving me this opportunity.
49:28 I am looking forward to working with you.
49:29 You’re an amazing leader
49:31 and I know you’re gonna do great things.
49:33 I would like to thank Mr. Alba, there you are,
49:36 for bringing me to Vieira in the first place
49:39 and giving me this opportunity and continuing to support me
49:41 even though you’re in a new position.
49:44 I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me
49:45 and for Vieira.
49:48 I would like to thank Mr. Novelli.
49:49 Thank you for your support in this journey
49:53 that we’ve had this year at Vieira
49:54 and you’ve made so much of an impact
49:58 on everything that has happened this year at our school
50:01 and I thank you for that.
50:03 And that’s all, thank you.
50:05 (audience applauds)
50:11 Next, we congratulate and recognize Dr. Nellefra Marshall
50:17 on her transfer from the position of principal
50:20 at West Melbourne Elementary School for Science
50:22 to the position of principal at Tropical Elementary.
50:26 Congratulations.
50:27 (audience applauds)
50:31 - Thank you.
50:32 I wanna thank Dr. Mullins, Mrs. Klein, and Tara Harris
50:37 and the board for giving me this opportunity.
50:40 I am going to miss my family at WMSS.
50:43 I will always be a shooting star,
50:45 but now I’m gonna be a trailblazer
50:47 and I brought them with me
50:49 along with the special man in my life.
50:51 So I’m ready to get going with Ms. Worley.
50:53 We’re gonna be a dynamic team.
50:56 (audience applauds)
51:02 - Next, congratulations also to Dr. Donna O’Brien
51:06 on her transfer from the position
51:07 of director of ESC program support
51:10 to the position of principal at Mila Elementary.
51:13 (audience applauds)
51:18 - Thank you so much, Dr. Mullins and the board
51:20 for this opportunity.
51:21 It’s time for me to get back to my roots
51:22 with kids and students, kids and students, same thing,
51:26 and teachers very excited to take this opportunity
51:30 and be a Mila manatee.
51:32 I would like to have a big shout out to Jane Klein
51:34 for believing in my leadership.
51:36 I’m excited to work with her
51:37 and her leading and learning team.
51:39 I have to give a big shout out
51:41 to my ESC program support family.
51:44 It’s been an amazing six years.
51:46 They’re an amazing group of experts
51:47 and I will miss all of them dearly.
51:49 To my new Mila family,
51:52 very excited to get to know them, to work with them,
51:54 get to know the community
51:55 and be a part of the Merritt Island launch area
51:58 and the manatees that surround it.
52:01 And last but not least,
52:02 I have my best friend and husband, David here,
52:04 who’s happy to support this new adventure.
52:06 So thank you so much in this opportunity.
52:09 (audience applauding)
52:14 - All right, we thought our announcements were long.
52:16 We’ve got one more.
52:18 Congratulations to Miss Sarah Robinson
52:21 and her position changed from the position
52:24 of acting principal at Viera High School
52:26 to now the official role of principal of Viera High School.
52:30 Congratulations, Miss Robinson.
52:32 (audience applauding)
52:37 - Good evening, Dr. Mullins and school board members.
52:39 Thank you so much for this opportunity
52:41 to allow me to continue to serve the Viera community.
52:44 It has been my privilege to work there
52:46 for the past three years
52:47 as assistant principal for curriculum
52:48 and acting principal for the past six months.
52:51 And I’ve had the opportunity to work
52:52 with some of the best staff, parents, community
52:56 that I could even imagine.
52:57 And I’m so excited to continue to work with them
53:00 and continue the tradition of excellence
53:01 that Viera is known for.
53:03 I do have to thank the leaders in the room
53:05 who have helped me grow and have mentored me,
53:08 especially Mr. Alba,
53:10 who is the reason I even became an administrator
53:12 to begin with and is the way he’s coached me
53:14 and helped grow me into the leader that I am.
53:17 I also specifically wanna thank Mr. Novelli,
53:19 Miss Bowman and Dr. Sullivan,
53:21 who helped us through this process
53:22 as acting principal this year,
53:24 and were constantly there to guide me and advise me
53:27 and truly mentor me through this time.
53:29 I can’t say enough about the wonderful staff
53:31 that I work with, from the teachers to the support staff
53:35 to the leadership, to the admin team there,
53:38 and I’m so excited to continue to work there
53:41 and to see what the future holds for Viera High School.
53:44 Thank you.
53:45 (audience applauding)
53:58 - It’s time to move on to our presentation.
54:01 Dr. Mullins.
54:04 - We’ve talked about our kids launching things
54:06 into outer space.
54:07 I heard a reference to, I think,
54:08 a shining star of one of our schools,
54:11 but next, now we have the opportunity
54:14 to recognize truly a shining star among our staff,
54:19 and I’m privileged to have Miss Suhan
54:22 as part of our senior cabinet.
54:24 Tonight, we wanna recognize our assistant superintendent
54:27 of facility services, Miss Suhan,
54:29 for being named one of the top 10 leaders of the year
54:34 for 2019 by the American Public Works Association
54:38 across the United States.
54:40 (audience applauding)
54:49 These leaders are recognized for outstanding
54:51 career service achievements in public works.
54:54 Miss Han was nominated by the Florida chapter.
54:57 Presenting tonight’s award is Mr. Jim Prochy,
55:00 city manager of Anna, Texas.
55:03 Mr. Prochy.
55:11 - Thank you, superintendent and board.
55:13 It’s a tough act to follow.
55:16 I just love the energy in this room tonight.
55:20 It’s been fantastic.
55:23 My children are a product of your school system,
55:26 and one of them is a civil engineer today
55:29 in the Dallas area, and my son
55:32 is a senior at the University of North Texas.
55:36 He’s an honor student there in computer science.
55:40 But I’m thankful of these folks who planted that seed
55:44 many years ago before I–
55:46 - We got lots of civil engineering
55:48 and computer science job opportunities here in Brevard.
55:51 (audience laughing)
55:53 - I’ll let them know.
55:55 But tonight, I’m here representing
55:57 the American Public Works Association.
56:00 You’ve set the table for me quite well,
56:03 so I appreciate that.
56:04 I’ll get to the point here.
56:06 I’m honored to be here to present this
56:08 because just to give you some of the history,
56:11 the American Public Works Association
56:12 started in the year 1960.
56:15 And today, there were an association
56:18 of 30,000 members across North America.
56:24 These are the people that build all the infrastructure,
56:27 all the things that you do every day,
56:30 the roads, the drainage, the utilities,
56:33 the schools, the buildings.
56:35 And this top 10 award is the most coveted award
56:38 of all the awards.
56:39 It’s something that many are nominated, but few receive.
56:43 And in the history of our association,
56:45 this year marks 600 people since 1960
56:49 that have been awarded with this.
56:51 I personally sit on the selection committee,
56:54 and I have to tell you, that’s a lot of hard work
56:56 because there’s a lot of deserving people out here
56:58 that step to the plate and get this opportunity
57:01 to be considered for it as an honor in and of itself.
57:05 But one of the things I wanted to recognize
57:07 before we get to the point here
57:09 is the folks that are here tonight
57:12 that have come to support Sue,
57:14 I just wanted to do this,
57:17 I think just kind of the energy of the group here.
57:21 If Sue was your mentor, raise your hand.
57:24 - Wow. - Oh.
57:25 If Sue was your teacher, raise your hand.
57:29 If Sue was somebody that you worked for or with,
57:32 raise your hand.
57:33 - Work with. - Right?
57:34 If Sue was your friend, raise your hand.
57:38 Is Sue your family?
57:40 Raise your hand. (audience laughs)
57:42 This is a testament of who Sue is
57:45 and how blessed you are to have her amongst you.
57:49 She is a friend to me, to my family.
57:51 She’s the reason my daughter actually is a civil engineer.
57:55 When my daughter was nine years old,
57:56 she goes, “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”
57:58 She goes, “I wanna be an engineer.”
57:59 I said, “Oh, so you’re gonna follow in the footsteps
58:02 “of what I do, ‘cause I built bridges and roads and stuff.
58:05 “I worked for Sue for a very long time.”
58:07 No, no, no, no, I don’t wanna be like you.
58:08 I wanna be like her. (audience laughs)
58:12 And she’s quite successful doing that,
58:15 and I’m very proud of her.
58:16 But Sue was her inspiration and her mentor as well.
58:20 We originally met in 1997,
58:23 and I think the first time I met her
58:24 is I actually ran into her.
58:26 I was on a basketball court,
58:27 and she was coming from the racquetball court,
58:28 and I think I about tackled her
58:30 trying to save a loose ball back in the day
58:32 when we were both a lot younger,
58:34 can run a lot faster and jump higher,
58:35 but not so much anymore.
58:38 But in 1997, she came to work where I was working.
58:41 I’m a former resident of Brevard County
58:44 for about 30 years before I went venturing
58:48 around the country, and she is the reason I’m here today.
58:53 And I attribute my successes to her as well.
58:57 I’m a city manager in one of the highest growth areas
58:59 in the country, in North Texas,
59:01 and everything I know about our business
59:04 I learned from this woman, and I appreciate her.
59:06 And she’s a good friend, and she’s touched many,
59:09 not just the folks here in the room,
59:10 but the hundreds that she has taught through the programs.
59:13 And if you haven’t read the application,
59:17 I’ll see that you get a copy of it
59:18 because it’s well worth the read
59:20 just to see how blessed you are to have her amongst you.
59:23 I wanna recognize the Florida chapter president, J.D. Dunton.
59:29 He is here to represent the state of Florida,
59:32 and I appreciate him coming here.
59:34 There’s people from all over the place,
59:36 some of our former workers.
59:37 And John Mongeau and his wife are citizens
59:41 that we served when we worked in another agency.
59:45 So thank you for coming out,
59:46 and the rest of the friends and family.
59:49 I so do appreciate, this is a homecoming for me,
59:52 so I’m having a great time here.
59:55 But with that, I just wanted to say one more thing,
59:58 and then we’ll get to the point.
1:00:00 Sue has touched so many lives in cities, in counties,
1:00:03 and now on the school board,
1:00:05 and I think she’s found her purpose here amongst you
1:00:08 because this couldn’t be more rewarding for me to see this
1:00:13 and to be asked to come here
1:00:15 to present this award here tonight to her.
1:00:18 She is the definition of a servant leader,
1:00:20 always putting herself before everybody else,
1:00:24 and there’s one thing I’m not supposed to say,
1:00:28 but I’m gonna say it ever.
1:00:30 Of all the people that have ever received this award,
1:00:32 she was the only one who had gotten the perfect score.
1:00:36 - Yeah. - Wow.
1:00:37 - That’s why I told you, the highest ever.
1:00:39 - Highest ever.
1:00:39 (audience applauding)
1:00:42 - Yes.
1:00:44 - In 60 years, right?
1:00:45 - In 60 years.
1:00:46 - 600 applications, 30,000 members a year?
1:00:49 - 600 people have received the award, highest ever.
1:00:53 - Perfect.
1:00:55 Caroline, did you get all that?
1:00:56 - No, I’ll probably get thrown off the board for that, so.
1:00:59 (audience laughing)
1:01:01 - We’re not televised or anything.
1:01:02 - Just want the secrecy, please.
1:01:03 So, and as the chair mentioned about her hero,
1:01:09 Sue is our hero, and with that, I asked Sue to come up,
1:01:15 and this is, wow, quite the plaque, it’s very heavy.
1:01:23 To issue you the top 10 APWA Public Works
1:01:26 Leader of the Year for noteworthy achievement
1:01:28 in the field of public works and adherence
1:01:31 to the highest standards of professional conduct,
1:01:33 Sue Provost-Hann, Assistant Superintendent
1:01:35 of Facilities Services, Brevard Public Schools,
1:01:38 has been selected Top 10 Public Works Leader of the Year
1:01:41 awarded by the American Public Works Association
1:01:44 May 2019.
1:01:47 (audience applauding)
1:02:05 - Thank you so much.
1:02:07 Thanks to everybody.
1:02:10 I’m rarely at a loss for words,
1:02:12 but I’m struggling a little bit here.
1:02:14 I wanna thank my friend Jim for coming all the way
1:02:17 from Texas to present this for me.
1:02:19 Jim and I have worked together for many years.
1:02:21 We’ve known each other a couple of decades
1:02:23 and have just traveled the life of public service together,
1:02:27 and I’ve learned so much from Jim,
1:02:28 and I’ve learned so much from my public works family.
1:02:31 Many of the folks here have supported me
1:02:34 in various endeavors throughout the years,
1:02:36 and my new BPS family, everyone has just been tremendous,
1:02:40 and I wanna tell the board and the superintendent
1:02:44 and my folks here at Brevard Public Schools
1:02:47 what an honor and a privilege it is
1:02:49 to be part of this family.
1:02:52 Came to you four and a half years ago,
1:02:54 newbie to facilities, newbie to the school system,
1:02:57 and everyone just has been so kind and caring
1:03:00 and just tremendous to work with,
1:03:02 and we really just do good work here
1:03:05 like we do in public works in the cities and the counties.
1:03:09 It’s a life of public service,
1:03:11 and Jim read my name on the plaque is Susan Provost-Han,
1:03:17 and Provost is my family name,
1:03:19 and I wanted to, sorry, honor my dad,
1:03:24 who really showed me the value of being a public servant
1:03:28 at a very young age and just has always demonstrated
1:03:33 good ethical leadership and the idea of public service,
1:03:36 and I’m a product of my family
1:03:39 and a product of our teachers.
1:03:41 I grew up in New York State,
1:03:42 and I can still tell Miss Nancy Prather,
1:03:45 my English teacher, was my hero then and so impactful,
1:03:48 so I’m honored to kinda come full circle
1:03:51 and back to the school district
1:03:53 and serve the community in that way,
1:03:55 and the last thing I wanna do
1:03:57 before I relinquish the microphone
1:04:00 is to thank my husband, Murray.
1:04:02 Most folks aren’t sure that Murray exists.
1:04:05 (audience laughing)
1:04:07 - Thank you.
1:04:08 - But he does, and we’ve been married 26 years,
1:04:11 and he has been there all the way for me.
1:04:14 He’s been dressed in a dog suit.
1:04:16 He’s been out during hurricanes,
1:04:19 and I’m sure you’ll see him at some point,
1:04:22 ‘cause he’s always been so supportive of me,
1:04:24 and so thank you to my APWA friends, my family,
1:04:28 folks that I’ve worked with over the years.
1:04:30 Just, it’s an honor to be here, and thank you very much.
1:04:33 (audience applauding)
1:04:39 - Would it be appropriate to invite the chair
1:04:42 and the superintendent down for,
1:04:44 or all of you down for a photo?
1:04:47 - Yeah.
1:04:48 You’re all going.
1:04:50 Amy, that’s you, too.
1:04:52 - Matt has spoken.
1:04:53 Come on, Amy.
1:04:54 - Pam?
1:04:55 - I need more people in the picture.
1:05:08 (audience chattering)
1:06:06 - Hey, Mr. Jim.
1:06:07 I had a quick question for you.
1:06:08 I was looking at this name,
1:06:09 and it says the top 10 public works leaders of the year.
1:06:12 You could change that,
1:06:13 because she got a perfect score to the Sue Han,
1:06:18 Sue Provost Han Public Works Leader of the Year Award.
1:06:22 Just a suggestion.
1:06:23 You got your guy?
1:06:24 Do we have enough for a forum?
1:06:26 Can you guys make that motion and do it?
1:06:28 - I’m on the national committee,
1:06:30 and we are reviewing the standards this year,
1:06:33 so she set the new standard.
1:06:34 - There it is.
1:06:35 (audience laughing)
1:06:37 Congratulations, Sue.
1:06:38 (audience applauding)
1:06:39 - Thank you.
1:06:42 I do have one question, sir.
1:06:43 Do you have Jon Bon Jovi working for you?
1:06:45 Is that what you said?
1:06:46 - It’s just Mon Jovi.
1:06:47 - Mon Jovi.
1:06:49 (audience laughing)
1:06:50 - It’s Jon Bon Jovi.
1:06:51 (audience laughing)
1:06:53 - I’d like to miss you.
1:06:54 You’re like, “Did he say Jon Bon Jovi?”
1:06:55 - It might be Jon Bon Jovi just trying to cover up.
1:06:58 - Undercover.
1:07:00 Okay, let’s see.
1:07:05 We are now to the public comments portion of our meeting.
1:07:09 The school board policy 0169.1 limits to 30 minutes
1:07:13 the portion of the meeting
1:07:14 during which the public is invited to participate
1:07:18 and provide public comment.
1:07:19 The policy further provides that this time limit
1:07:21 may be extended by a vote of the board.
1:07:23 We have five public comments.
1:07:30 Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
1:07:32 We have a clock in front of me
1:07:34 to help you keep track of your time.
1:07:36 When your time is over, you’ll be asked to stop
1:07:38 and allow the next speaker his or her turn.
1:07:41 Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum
1:07:42 is expected at all times
1:07:44 and your statement should be directed to the board chairman.
1:07:47 The chairman may interrupt, warn,
1:07:49 or terminate a participant statement when time is up,
1:07:52 personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant.
1:07:55 Should an individual not observe proper etiquette,
1:07:57 the chairman may request the individual leave the meeting.
1:08:00 Let’s all encourage an environment appropriate
1:08:02 for our children who may be present or watching from home.
1:08:05 Let’s begin with our first three speakers.
1:08:09 Carly Hudson, Anna Wilder, and Anthony Colucci.
1:08:16 - Am I good?
1:08:17 Okay, hey, as you all know, my name is Carly Hudson.
1:08:21 I’m a senior at Melburg High School.
1:08:22 It is the end of the year,
1:08:23 it’s the last board meeting before graduation.
1:08:26 So I kinda just wanted to go over my high school experience
1:08:29 with Brevard Public Schools
1:08:30 as I have been here since kindergarten.
1:08:33 The first thing I wanted to bring up was,
1:08:34 did you all know that Melbourne High School
1:08:36 has a one to two week waiting period
1:08:38 to have a meeting with a guidance counselor?
1:08:41 And when you do sign up to speak with one,
1:08:43 you’re turned away at the desk
1:08:44 if it’s anything but about stuff for a class.
1:08:48 If you have a mental health issue,
1:08:51 issues with your college application,
1:08:53 anything, questions about your major,
1:08:55 possible career, technical education, anything like that,
1:08:58 you’re turned away at the door.
1:09:00 We really are only allowed to have meetings
1:09:02 if it is something pertinent to our classes,
1:09:05 and I think that that should be touched upon
1:09:07 in future years.
1:09:10 I was thankful to have had built great relationship
1:09:12 with all my guidance counselors.
1:09:14 I was able to stop in during lunch periods,
1:09:16 but I’m not sure that’s the case for all of the students.
1:09:20 So just something to look into.
1:09:22 I’d also like you guys to reevaluate
1:09:24 the career education classes that is required
1:09:26 for each Brevard public high schooler to take.
1:09:30 It’s usually given during freshman year,
1:09:33 which I think it should end up being given
1:09:35 during junior year, because freshman year
1:09:37 I wanted to be an interior designer,
1:09:39 and let me tell you, that is not anything
1:09:41 what I wanna do now.
1:09:42 I’m looking at going into the medical field,
1:09:45 so that just might be more helpful for all of our students.
1:09:49 Instructional delivery was also a really big issue for me
1:09:52 in all of my schooling here.
1:09:54 In elementary school, I was a very gifted child
1:09:57 where I was given worksheets to keep me busy.
1:09:59 Middle school, the same thing, worksheets,
1:10:00 worksheets, worksheets, and now I’m here in high school
1:10:03 thinking it would be different,
1:10:04 and I was brought with more busy work.
1:10:06 If you guys saw the literal stack of busy work
1:10:09 I had this semester, it would make anybody puke.
1:10:11 I just am brought home with just copious amounts
1:10:15 of worksheets that don’t really engage my learning
1:10:18 where it should be on the high school level.
1:10:20 We have a lot of teachers that resort to that
1:10:23 because they are filled with so many other paperwork issues.
1:10:26 They have to do PGP, all the different things like that,
1:10:29 where if they had that second planning period
1:10:31 where they had originally, maybe we could have
1:10:33 some different lesson plans other than worksheets.
1:10:40 Try and just go through this quickly.
1:10:44 Oh, and science classes was a big deal for me.
1:10:46 I love science, and we never get the chance
1:10:49 to have in-depth, hands-on labs at the expense
1:10:53 of the schools, but at the expense of the teachers.
1:10:56 A lot of our teachers have to pay out of pocket
1:10:58 for every labs that we have to do,
1:11:00 and their budgets can hardly ever cover
1:11:04 120 students’ worth of materials.
1:11:08 So I just think that’s kind of crazy
1:11:10 that we’re losing the chances to have
1:11:14 really fun, engaging science labs because of costs.
1:11:19 And then the last thing I wanted to touch on,
1:11:21 I know I’m out of time.
1:11:22 Melbourne High School still wears different colors
1:11:25 to graduation, male versus female.
1:11:27 Males are forced to wear green.
1:11:29 Females are forced to wear white.
1:11:30 I don’t think that is any, the least bit accommodating,
1:11:35 especially when you have students that are in between
1:11:37 or wanting to be a different color,
1:11:41 and they aren’t able to wear what they can express.
1:11:44 And the expression also goes along with our decoration
1:11:47 of our graduation caps.
1:11:49 We are one of the only schools that does not allow
1:11:53 decorations of graduation caps.
1:11:55 I think that that’s one of the most simple things
1:11:57 that you could give your seniors,
1:11:58 just to put USF on the top of your cap for graduation,
1:12:02 and Melbourne High School consistently,
1:12:04 even with a 1,500-word proposal with reasons and et cetera
1:12:10 to go through, still is not allowed.
1:12:13 Just certain things like that would really enhance
1:12:15 our high school experience, especially with graduation
1:12:18 in the end, and for that still not to be passed.
1:12:21 I feel like that’s something that the board could step up
1:12:23 and fight for for our seniors at Mel.
1:12:25 But besides that, I really enjoyed my time in the schooling.
1:12:28 I’m going to miss it, and hopefully I’ll be sitting up there
1:12:30 one day with you guys, so thank you.
1:12:32 - Thank you, Ms. Hudson.
1:12:37 We appreciate your continued involvement
1:12:42 in the educational process in Brevard.
1:12:46 Anna Wilder.
1:12:51 - Hello, good evening.
1:12:53 My name is Anna Wilder, and I am currently a senior
1:12:55 at West Shore Junior Senior High School.
1:12:57 Just to let you know a little bit about me,
1:12:59 I was this year’s editor-in-chief
1:13:00 of my high school yearbook.
1:13:01 I was also the vice president
1:13:02 of my student government association,
1:13:04 and I ran the Florida Scholastic Press Association
1:13:06 Spring Convention as the state chairwoman.
1:13:10 I take pride in my accomplishments,
1:13:11 as a lot of what I do is because of the success
1:13:15 that I’ve had in school.
1:13:16 I would not be standing here today with the confidence
1:13:19 to stand up and talk about one of the most pressing
1:13:21 and easily fixable issues if I were not encouraged
1:13:24 by mentors and teachers who encouraged me to take my spills
1:13:28 and expand my knowledge to accomplish great things.
1:13:31 I cannot even begin to describe
1:13:33 everything that needs to change,
1:13:34 yet instead I’m going to focus on this main issue
1:13:38 and how its solution could create multiple opportunities
1:13:40 for a better world tomorrow.
1:13:42 To get right to the point, there’s a general understanding
1:13:45 that the respect and pay of teachers in the United States
1:13:47 is at an all-time low.
1:13:49 Spanning from a national view,
1:13:50 when narrowing down to Florida and then Brevard County,
1:13:53 I’m surprised to say that it gets even worse.
1:13:56 The average pay for teachers is $39,000 to $53,000,
1:13:59 and yet Brevard’s average is $43,000.
1:14:03 I ask you, how do you expect these individuals
1:14:05 who have gone to college, gotten a degree,
1:14:07 and worked to attain a admirable profession
1:14:10 to then make barely $7,000 more
1:14:12 than the average United States garbage collector?
1:14:15 Proper education is needed to fix this world’s problems
1:14:19 that we face in the world today,
1:14:20 and we are asking these teachers to inspire and educate
1:14:23 the next generation with this little pay?
1:14:26 For single mothers, it’s almost unattainable,
1:14:28 and what about people with college debt?
1:14:30 I mean, I know I’m worried about it.
1:14:32 The ones who are working more than just one job
1:14:34 to pay the bills and barely getting by with what they have
1:14:37 is almost embarrassing.
1:14:39 If teachers have one of the most important jobs in society,
1:14:42 then why aren’t we giving them the respect and the attention
1:14:44 that this job demands?
1:14:46 They’re the ones who are going to raise and encourage
1:14:47 our generation to change the world,
1:14:50 and yet we’re asking them to do all this,
1:14:51 take care of their family and themselves
1:14:53 while teaching curriculum that they may not agree with,
1:14:56 which is a whole ‘nother topic.
1:14:58 I can safely say that the footsteps I plan to follow
1:15:00 to my mother and becoming a teacher have slowly
1:15:03 and unfortunately been washed away
1:15:05 because of these unfortunate circumstances.
1:15:08 It is sad to see the decrease in students
1:15:10 who want to go into teaching but simply can’t afford it.
1:15:14 There comes a point when we have to ask ourselves
1:15:17 why this hasn’t been neglected so long.
1:15:20 Today I ask you, with all due respect,
1:15:22 as a student and a daughter of a teacher
1:15:25 and someone who wants to go out
1:15:26 and change the world for a better tomorrow,
1:15:28 to give the people who have given me the power
1:15:30 and the knowledge some respect and a better salary.
1:15:33 I know my three minutes isn’t going to change everything,
1:15:36 but maybe it’ll spark something,
1:15:38 and I know this issue is not going away any time soon.
1:15:41 It’s time for us to take a step in the right direction
1:15:43 and look at our teachers for what they truly are,
1:15:46 and for the sake of our future,
1:15:47 give them a respect and salary that they deserve.
1:15:50 I look at my accomplishments today,
1:15:52 and I’m proud because I know one day,
1:15:54 the people who helped me achieve them will truly be repaid.
1:15:57 I just really hope it’s sooner than later.
1:15:59 Thank you so much for your time, and please consider.
1:16:02 - Thank you, Ms. Wilder.
1:16:04 (audience applauding)
1:16:07 Anthony Colucci, and after that,
1:16:09 it’ll be Vanessa Skipper and Gene Collins.
1:16:17 - Well, I guess I don’t need to say anything
1:16:19 after that speech.
1:16:21 My name is Anthony Colucci.
1:16:22 I’m the president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers.
1:16:25 Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week.
1:16:28 Unfortunately, our teachers in Brevard started the week
1:16:31 by reading an article in the USA Today
1:16:33 that put them as the fourth most underpaid teachers
1:16:37 in the nation.
1:16:39 This is consistent with what I’ve been arguing
1:16:42 all year long.
1:16:44 Our pay is a blight on Brevard County.
1:16:47 I think it’s well past time you stop trying
1:16:50 to rationalize this crisis as a cost of living issue.
1:16:55 That is inaccurate, and that is not the first study
1:16:57 that illustrated our poor pay after adjusting
1:17:01 for the cost of living.
1:17:02 Furthermore, go to the Economic Policy Institute’s
1:17:06 Family Budget Calculator, and you’ll see
1:17:08 that our cost of living is actually higher
1:17:11 than Indian River and Volusia Counties.
1:17:14 Then note that Indian River County teachers
1:17:16 have a higher average pay, even though their teachers
1:17:19 have four years less experience than ours do,
1:17:23 and that Volusia teachers will see a 7.5% pay increase
1:17:27 over the next three years.
1:17:29 Regardless of the rolling that the special magistrate makes,
1:17:33 understand it’s past time to fix this shameful
1:17:36 pay issue in Brevard County.
1:17:39 On another note, I’ve emailed all of you concerns
1:17:42 I have about teachers who retire, resign,
1:17:45 or are not reappointed, missing out on a raise
1:17:48 that was due to them this year.
1:17:50 First off, I want to note that on my last proposal,
1:17:53 I specifically introduced language that said
1:17:56 all employees who are eligible for the raise
1:17:59 based on their ‘17-‘18 evaluation will receive the raise
1:18:02 regardless of employment status for the ‘19-‘20 school year.
1:18:07 Also, I need to state that this union asked for the hearing
1:18:10 to be February 11th, 14th, 19th, or March 5th,
1:18:15 or 4th or 5th.
1:18:17 When those dates couldn’t be accommodated by your council,
1:18:21 I even asked for April 3rd, 4th, 5th, 15th, 17th, or 18th.
1:18:26 Your higher council offered one date, April 23rd.
1:18:30 It would be an injustice to punish our teachers
1:18:32 because of your council’s busy schedule.
1:18:35 Speaking of your outside council,
1:18:37 I hope you’re well aware of the fact that this union
1:18:39 just won our third straight arbitration.
1:18:43 We will have a teacher return to a position
1:18:46 he should have never been removed from,
1:18:49 and you will have to pay monetary damages to him.
1:18:52 In your budget talks, does anyone tell you
1:18:55 that you pay approximately $30,000
1:18:58 to fight these arbitration cases?
1:19:00 Perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick to go
1:19:02 to arbitration against us.
1:19:04 In these situations and many others,
1:19:06 it pays, sometimes literally, to hear us out,
1:19:10 to treat us as a partner rather than a nuisance.
1:19:13 And because we are processing an inordinate amount
1:19:16 of grievances under the leadership
1:19:18 of the current superintendent, we’re likely
1:19:21 to be at arbitration again before you know it,
1:19:24 unless there’s a change in the prevailing attitude
1:19:27 of backing administrators no matter what
1:19:29 while harshly dealing with teachers.
1:19:32 Although I’m in regular communication
1:19:33 with a few of you on this board,
1:19:35 there are a couple of you who never contact me.
1:19:38 If you don’t want my insight, that’s not my fault.
1:19:42 But with that said, we’ll soon have a magistrate’s ruling,
1:19:46 perhaps Thursday, and we won’t be able to discuss
1:19:49 our argument because of state statute.
1:19:52 So please pick up the phone and give me a call
1:19:54 if you have any questions about our presentation.
1:19:57 - Thank you, Mr. Colucci.
1:19:59 Ms. Skipper.
1:20:01 (audience applauds)
1:20:06 - Good evening, Vanessa Skipper, Vice President of BFT.
1:20:09 As I mentioned a couple of meetings ago,
1:20:12 I wasn’t prepared for the State Board of Education
1:20:14 to ask me to remain at the mic so that they could respond
1:20:17 to me and also ask me questions,
1:20:20 since I’ve been speaking here for six years
1:20:22 and that’s never happened at public comment.
1:20:26 I appreciate the new back and forth response,
1:20:29 even though it has been said that obviously
1:20:33 we don’t get a chance to respond until a few weeks later,
1:20:37 but I think that’s a good thing
1:20:38 because it actually gives me time
1:20:39 to reflect upon my response.
1:20:42 In addition, I never mind not having the last word
1:20:45 if I feel as though my voice is being heard
1:20:48 and my concerns are being valued.
1:20:50 I did want to address the analogy
1:20:52 of whether I’d want disruptive students
1:20:54 marching into a class that had already started.
1:20:56 If I had a large group of students
1:20:58 who day after day came in together
1:20:59 protesting something I was doing
1:21:01 that they thought was unjust,
1:21:03 I would, as a professional, address it as soon as possible
1:21:06 because until I did, learning would certainly not take place.
1:21:09 I have many times in my own career stopped a lesson
1:21:12 and had what I called class meetings
1:21:14 because there were just some times
1:21:15 that my students needed to feel heard.
1:21:18 It’s not always easy to hear what they don’t like
1:21:21 or what they think should be done differently,
1:21:23 but boy did I learn that when I listened,
1:21:25 truly listened and adjusted based on their needs,
1:21:27 behavior changed.
1:21:29 In addition, it was said that our rallies
1:21:31 did not help get agreement on contract language
1:21:33 that we requested, but that is hard to see
1:21:35 when the contract language was passed
1:21:37 across the table last August
1:21:39 and in each subsequent session until impasse
1:21:42 was declared December 17th.
1:21:44 It wasn’t until we began rallying in January
1:21:46 and had four rallies in a row
1:21:48 that we were called back to the table
1:21:50 and negotiated seven pieces of outstanding language.
1:21:53 That did not go unnoticed by teachers,
1:21:55 the community, and the media.
1:21:57 Furthermore, it was said that people needed the time
1:21:59 to learn their positions before action could be taken.
1:22:02 I want us all to reflect on what happens
1:22:04 when someone is hired to teach in Brevard.
1:22:07 If the person is lucky, they have one week
1:22:09 from the minute they’re given the keys to their classrooms
1:22:11 to the minute students show up.
1:22:13 They are expected to be ready.
1:22:15 If they screw up, they’re given a reprimand
1:22:17 or it is noted in their evaluation
1:22:19 or if they’re within their first year
1:22:20 teaching in Brevard, they’re dismissed.
1:22:23 Do we have the same expectations
1:22:25 for all positions in the district?
1:22:27 Five days, turnkey ready.
1:22:29 Again, we were ready the first session in August of 2018
1:22:34 with all of our proposals.
1:22:35 You all know the rest of the story.
1:22:38 If you want teachers to stop being angry
1:22:39 and instead feel valued, heard, and supported,
1:22:42 then please change your approach.
1:22:44 I think that’s already happening
1:22:45 simply with our ability to have this public dialogue,
1:22:48 but there’s still some concerns.
1:22:50 Please know that if I reach out to any one of you,
1:22:52 it’s because I have already notified
1:22:53 appropriate district personnel
1:22:55 and it’s because I believe, as an elected official,
1:22:58 you should know what I know and once you know, help fix it.
1:23:02 It is frustrating to me and to teachers
1:23:04 to hear district talking points repeated back to us
1:23:06 when we bring up concerns.
1:23:09 You all have the power within you to make change.
1:23:12 Please do so.
1:23:13 Thanks.
1:23:15 - Thank you, Ms. Skipper.
1:23:17 (audience applauding)
1:23:19 Mr. Collins.
1:23:24 - Good evening, my name is Gene Collins.
1:23:26 I wanted to talk for a few minutes
1:23:27 about the cooperative organizations and booster clubs.
1:23:30 I’ve had some emails going back and forth
1:23:32 to two or three or four of you on the board there
1:23:34 and I’ve had some concerns
1:23:35 about how booster clubs are organized.
1:23:38 If you read your rules and regulations,
1:23:40 they’re very contradictory.
1:23:41 When I first started looking into the transgressions
1:23:44 of one booster club,
1:23:45 I wasn’t really familiar with all of the rules,
1:23:47 so I contacted Bill Maheus and he was kind enough
1:23:50 to put me in the right direction.
1:23:52 If you look at your rules and regulations,
1:23:54 you’ll see things on there like year 9211
1:23:58 where it says that district employees
1:24:00 are prohibited from signing a group’s checking accounts.
1:24:03 So that would mean that coaches
1:24:04 would not be able to uncheck their accounts.
1:24:06 This is happening in schools around Brevard County.
1:24:10 I was talking casually to a couple board members
1:24:13 and even they who are very knowledgeable
1:24:15 about how the system works.
1:24:16 In one set of rules, it says all money must be deposited
1:24:19 in the school accounts,
1:24:21 which seems to make a lot of sense to me.
1:24:22 You have professional bookkeepers,
1:24:23 you have auditors.
1:24:25 You can take care of that money and know how it’s run.
1:24:28 But in most cases, these booster clubs
1:24:30 are depositing the money in their own account
1:24:32 and they are spending it as they wish.
1:24:35 I was happy to see that the check that Matt showed today
1:24:37 was made out to the Brevard County School Board
1:24:39 and not to a particular booster club.
1:24:41 Well, what happens is your rules and regulations
1:24:44 say that you can’t sign a checking account,
1:24:47 but these need to be updated.
1:24:48 There’s nothing in there but debit cards.
1:24:50 So here you have coaches or administrative people
1:24:53 who were at the booster clubs that have debit cards.
1:24:55 There’s no rhyme or reason to why.
1:24:57 You don’t want them to sign checks,
1:24:58 but you allow them to have debit cards.
1:25:01 Money should be deposited, all money as far as I’m concerned
1:25:03 should be put into the school accounts
1:25:05 and passed back out to the booster clubs.
1:25:07 One thing that Bill told me was that we subscribed
1:25:09 to the Florida High School Athletic Association.
1:25:13 Their rules and regulations should match ours.
1:25:16 But if you read the parent organization rules
1:25:19 that we have for internal fundraising and you check these,
1:25:22 it’s completely different.
1:25:23 I just wanna quote this ‘cause I think
1:25:25 this would clear something up.
1:25:26 In addition, all monies collected, this is for fundraising,
1:25:30 by athletic teams should be deposited
1:25:32 with the bookkeeper daily throughout the fundraiser.
1:25:36 Any fundraiser involving student athletes
1:25:38 must be deposited in their school club internal account
1:25:41 according to BPS policy.
1:25:43 Under no circumstances should money be raised
1:25:46 by student athletes be deposited
1:25:48 inside a booster club account.
1:25:51 So when we have our student athletes out there
1:25:53 soliciting money, my son, his satellite,
1:25:56 he was out there at the restaurants going table to table,
1:25:58 asking people to sign their receipts over and bring money,
1:26:01 that check was given to a booster club,
1:26:04 made out to the booster club,
1:26:06 and then Lord knows what happens to it.
1:26:08 I’ve sent your learned counsel some information.
1:26:11 I’ve sent your CFO some information.
1:26:12 I’m hoping to have a meeting with Dr. Mullins
1:26:14 to show some of the specifics.
1:26:16 But this is an area that I think
1:26:18 you all need to get involved in
1:26:19 because you had a transgression and two bookkeepers
1:26:22 that you found out over the years had taken 260, $270,000,
1:26:27 and your solution was to provide armored cars.
1:26:30 Well, this is a problem.
1:26:33 You may think it’s 20, $30 here and there.
1:26:35 The booster club for the football association
1:26:38 raised almost $100,000 this year,
1:26:40 spent $48,000 in expenses, and thank goodness,
1:26:44 they retained over 50 grand.
1:26:45 So this is big money.
1:26:47 And trying to find a list of all the booster clubs
1:26:50 in Brevard County is difficult to do.
1:26:53 They are soliciting money in the name of
1:26:55 Brevard County football, or basketball,
1:26:58 or in our case, wrestling.
1:27:00 The public thinks that you all are controlling that money.
1:27:03 Hopefully, like everything else, it’s 80/20 rule.
1:27:06 80 or 90% of them are doing it wonderful and perfect
1:27:08 and filing their 501(3) paperwork
1:27:10 and their 99 EZ form with the IRS,
1:27:14 and I know that I found some that aren’t.
1:27:16 So I think it should be something that you guys look into.
1:27:19 - Can you just tell me really quick,
1:27:20 you referenced the policy in the beginning.
1:27:22 I thought you said 9211.
1:27:24 - 9211, yeah.
1:27:25 The district employees are prohibited
1:27:27 from signing any group’s checking account.
1:27:29 However, they may serve on the board’s board of directors.
1:27:32 So I know of a corporation where the coach
1:27:34 is the only person on the checking account.
1:27:37 - Where did you, I don’t know of that policy,
1:27:39 so I’m trying, where did you find that?
1:27:41 - On your website.
1:27:43 - Do we have a 9211 in the center?
1:27:44 - I don’t know, I have a book.
1:27:46 I don’t know all the numbers off the top of my head.
1:27:47 - Okay, we’ve written that down.
1:27:49 We’re gonna look into it.
1:27:50 If you want to head to the back,
1:27:52 have you met Ms. Serker, our CFO, before?
1:27:55 - I have, and I have given you some information already.
1:27:56 - Okay, thank you, Mr. Collins.
1:27:58 We appreciate it. - Thank you.
1:27:59 Appreciate your time.
1:28:03 - Does any board member wish to address
1:28:05 any of the speakers this evening?
1:28:10 No?
1:28:13 I just want to, oh, thank the girls.
1:28:15 Ms. Wilder and Ms. Hudson, thank you.
1:28:17 We appreciate you coming to speak
1:28:19 and being active student participants.
1:28:21 Congratulations on your graduation.
1:28:23 - Thank you. - You’re welcome.
1:28:25 And Ms. Skipper, I appreciated your comments tonight greatly.
1:28:29 I think the tone was different than usual,
1:28:33 and I heard everything that you said,
1:28:35 although I think you’re talking to the girls.
1:28:37 I was just saying I appreciated your comments, Ms. Skipper.
1:28:39 They were, it was a whole different tone to me,
1:28:42 and I heard what you said, and I appreciate it very much.
1:28:45 - Thank you.
1:28:46 - Ms. Deskevich, I would like to just,
1:28:48 in response to Mr. Collins, just verify
1:28:51 that leading and learning, our staff has been
1:28:53 following up with his concerns.
1:28:55 So he has made them aware, and they are addressing those.
1:28:58 And Ms. Serker.
1:28:59 - Great, thank you so much, sir.
1:29:01 - And Chairman, we do have 9211 is the correct number.
1:29:04 We do have a 9211. - 9211?
1:29:06 - And we are currently working with Ms. Serker right now.
1:29:08 We’re working on those financial policies.
1:29:10 - Okay.
1:29:11 Thank you, Mr. Collins.
1:29:13 - Thank you.
1:29:15 - Okay.
1:29:19 Moves us on to the consent agenda.
1:29:20 Dr. Mullins.
1:29:22 - There are 32 agenda items under this category,
1:29:24 one with prior information.
1:29:27 - What are the wishes of the board?
1:29:30 Does any member wish to pull any of these items?
1:29:33 Okay.
1:29:36 What are the wishes of the board?
1:29:37 - Move to approve. - Second.
1:29:38 - Oh, I don’t know what to do with them.
1:29:40 - I’m fine.
1:29:42 - Ms. Campbell, motion by Ms. Campbell,
1:29:43 second by Ms. Belfort.
1:29:46 Ms. McDougall, second by Ms. McDougall.
1:29:49 Is there any discussion?
1:29:51 Please vote.
1:29:59 Motion passes five, zero.
1:30:03 We’ll move on to the action agenda.
1:30:05 Dr. Mullins.
1:30:07 - Ms. Deskevich, the first item is G42
1:30:09 on department school initiated agreements.
1:30:11 - What are the wishes of the board?
1:30:13 - Move to approve.
1:30:15 - Second.
1:30:16 - Motion by Ms. Belfort, second by Ms. McDougall.
1:30:19 Any discussion?
1:30:20 Please vote.
1:30:26 Motion passes five, zero.
1:30:28 Dr. Mullins.
1:30:29 - Item G43 is on purchasing solicitations.
1:30:33 - Wishes of the board?
1:30:35 - Move to approve. - Second.
1:30:38 - Motion by Ms. Belfort, second by Mr. Sousa.
1:30:42 Any discussion?
1:30:44 Please vote.
1:31:01 Motion passes five, zero.
1:31:06 - Is that the last action item?
1:31:08 Sure is.
1:31:10 Okay, we’ll move on to the information agenda,
1:31:12 which includes items for board review
1:31:13 and will be brought back for action at a subsequent meeting.
1:31:16 No action will be taken on these items tonight, Dr. Mullins.
1:31:20 - There are four items under the information category.
1:31:25 - Would any board member like to discuss one of those items?
1:31:30 We’re now on board member reports.
1:31:32 Does anyone have anything to add
1:31:34 under board member reports?
1:31:36 (faintly speaking)
1:31:41 - You can ask in the microphone.
1:31:43 No?
1:31:43 You don’t have to.
1:31:44 - I know, I hate the microphone.
1:31:46 (laughing)
1:31:48 I was just wondering if, you know,
1:31:50 we’re all different champions for different departments.
1:31:53 Is this–
1:31:54 - This is the correct time to report
1:31:55 on your department, for sure.
1:31:57 - All right.
1:31:58 Well, I’ll go first.
1:31:59 - Okay.
1:32:00 - I am the champion for my favorite department,
1:32:02 but not that I don’t like the other departments.
1:32:04 (laughing)
1:32:05 But I am the champion for HR,
1:32:09 and Dr. Setti and I meet on a regular basis,
1:32:12 and there’s a lot of, I guess, cool and new,
1:32:17 interesting things that are going on in the department,
1:32:19 and Dr. Setti has jumped in full force,
1:32:21 and I so appreciate all she’s doing
1:32:24 in that department for us.
1:32:26 One thing that’s new is the,
1:32:29 they’re starting, I hope I’m not giving this away,
1:32:31 the Rookie of the Year that we’re looking at.
1:32:36 Who’s the new Rookie of the Year?
1:32:37 The schools are nominating,
1:32:38 and we’re going to celebrate the Rookie of the Year,
1:32:40 which I think is a great idea to help our new teachers
1:32:44 because being a new teacher can be very difficult
1:32:47 in our system.
1:32:49 Also, they’ve done a lot of reaching out different ways
1:32:54 to recruit people with videos.
1:32:56 They’re having a, I think, if I’m not wrong, Dr. Setti,
1:33:00 you’re developing a video for new teachers
1:33:02 as they come on board, am I?
1:33:04 Nope.
1:33:06 (muffled speaking)
1:33:09 Okay, I was close.
1:33:11 Anyhow, I need to take better notes.
1:33:15 But some of the things she’s working on,
1:33:17 and what they’re working on,
1:33:19 I hope this is okay too, I’m telling all this stuff.
1:33:21 They’re working with the university
1:33:23 to redo a contract to see if it’s possible
1:33:27 that we could pay interns,
1:33:31 to be an intern and pay with the thought
1:33:34 that they would want to come to Brevard
1:33:36 to be one of our teachers when they are done.
1:33:39 So these are just some of the fun things
1:33:40 that’s going on in HR.
1:33:43 She’s very busy, and I appreciate everything
1:33:46 that she and her department do all the time.
1:33:49 So thank you, Dr. Setti.
1:33:52 - Thank you for that update, Ms. McDougall.
1:33:54 Every school board meeting, or once a month,
1:33:55 if you want to give a report from HR,
1:33:57 we would love to hear it.
1:33:58 And as a reminder to the rest of my board members,
1:34:00 we should be doing the same with our departments
1:34:03 that we’re– - Dr. Mullins,
1:34:04 sorry to talk about mine.
1:34:06 - So Dr. Mullins, do you have anything to report
1:34:08 under superintendent reports?
1:34:09 - If I may, just to add a couple neat accolades.
1:34:14 One, we have our students at the ISEF Science Fair,
1:34:18 International Science and Engineering Fair right now.
1:34:21 Do you remember, Dr. Sullivan,
1:34:22 how many do we have going to ISEF right now?
1:34:26 - 11. - 11 students.
1:34:29 If you remember, I bragged on our kids
1:34:32 a meeting or two ago, we, I’ll use the word dominate.
1:34:37 - Dominate. - The State Science Fair,
1:34:39 we bring home 20 to 30% of the awards
1:34:41 and represent less than 3% of the students in the state.
1:34:45 We also had, I’m not sure if you got this email,
1:34:49 we have three students who were recognized
1:34:52 in the Chinese World Journal article.
1:34:56 So I literally have the article, I’ll pass it down,
1:34:59 if any of you read Chinese.
1:35:01 (laughing)
1:35:02 - Right to left, is that what it is?
1:35:03 - But I’m not sure, the pictures are nice.
1:35:07 But they are celebrating three of our high school students
1:35:11 who were Ying finalists.
1:35:14 The overall winner was Pooja Shah from West Shore.
1:35:17 The other two finalists were Kishan Mitra from West Shore
1:35:20 and Kyle Bramlett from Titusville High.
1:35:23 So Pooja’s teacher, Paula Ladd,
1:35:26 is also featured in the article
1:35:28 and we had three of the five finalists this year.
1:35:33 So our kids are going to space,
1:35:34 our kids are going to Morocco,
1:35:35 and our kids are being recognized in China.
1:35:37 I don’t know if it gets any better than that.
1:35:39 - Fantastic. - I can actually translate.
1:35:42 - Thank you.
1:35:42 I mean, this, to me, the tone of the whole meeting tonight
1:35:45 was just fabulous, celebrating really a lot of success.
1:35:48 So I’m just thrilled, thrilled with that.
1:35:52 And I’m just gonna end on,
1:35:54 I think we’re going to win ISIF this year.
1:35:56 That means we would win the international competition
1:35:58 with a student from satellite.
1:35:59 That’s my prediction.
1:36:02 So I’m gonna go with that.
1:36:04 If there’s not any more business, we are adjourned.
1:36:06 (gavel banging)
1:36:09 (upbeat music)