Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
0:00 (upbeat music)
0:30 (upbeat music continues)
4:22 - Good evening.
4:23 I’m happy to welcome all of my fellow board members
4:24 and call the January 28th, 2020 school board meeting
4:27 to order.
4:28 Whether you are in attendance here
4:29 or watching from another location,
4:31 my colleagues and I are pleased
4:32 you took the time to join us.
4:34 We appreciate and applaud your commitment
4:36 to partnering with us in support of our schools,
4:38 our students, our staff, and our community.
4:41 While the board and Brevard public school staff members
4:43 are fully committed to doing our best
4:45 to ensure excellence in Brevard public schools,
4:47 we know that our success depends heavily on an engaged
4:50 and committed community to work alongside us
4:52 and help us to continually improve.
4:55 Thank you for being active participants in the process.
4:57 Pam, roll call, please.
5:02 - Mrs. Belford.
5:03 - Present.
5:04 - Ms. McDougall.
5:05 - Present.
5:06 - Mrs. Deskevich.
5:07 - Present.
5:08 - Mr. Susan.
5:08 - Present.
5:09 - And Mrs. Campbell.
5:10 - Present.
5:14 - The board will now hold a moment of silent reflection
5:16 in memory of our BPS family members
5:18 who have recently passed away.
5:20 Alina Diaz, a custodian from Quest Elementary,
5:23 and Duane Bass, a custodian from Bayside High.
5:26 We invite you to join us.
5:40 Thank you.
5:43 Matt Reed, Assistant Superintendent
5:44 of Government and Community Relations,
5:46 will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
5:50 - I pledge allegiance to the flag
5:52 of the United States of America,
5:55 and to the Republic for which it stands,
5:57 one nation under God, indivisible,
6:00 with liberty and justice for all.
6:06 - At this time, I would like to offer
6:08 my fellow board members and Dr. Mullins
6:09 the opportunity to recognize students, staff,
6:11 or members of the community.
6:15 Ms. McDougall, do you wanna start?
6:17 - Sure.
6:19 I want to give a shout out to let people know
6:23 this is mentor month, and I wanna thank everybody
6:27 who participates and takes stock in children
6:30 for their mentoring, and we always need mentors
6:34 throughout our school, so if anyone has a desire,
6:37 please see any one of us up here at the dais.
6:39 Also, I was able to visit several of my schools,
6:44 and I wanna give some shout outs to people
6:46 who I passed out some of our impact pins,
6:50 and also I was able to, I was really excited about this one,
6:54 I gave a shout out to Ted Stedman
6:57 for a bridge builder in facilities
6:58 because he does build bridges with our community
7:01 every single day, and I so appreciate Sue’s department,
7:04 Ms. Han’s department, and Ted is pretty amazing
7:08 in some of the things we ask him to do
7:10 and how he does build bridges, so shout out to Ted.
7:13 And then I was able to go to McNair,
7:15 and I wanna give a shout out to Penny Conwell,
7:18 I hope I’m saying her name well.
7:20 She’s at McNair, I gave her a big dreamer
7:22 because she is the dance teacher,
7:24 and she is trying to incorporate more young men
7:28 in this venue, and so instead of calling it dance,
7:33 she’s calling it just move.
7:36 It looks like a lot of fun, and a shout out to her.
7:39 Also, the ET person, Mr. Foster at McNair,
7:44 who goes above and beyond, he is always there
7:47 building bridges between staff, students,
7:51 and he will step in any time that he needs to,
7:54 so a shout out to Rod, Mr. Forrester
7:57 in the ET department at McNair.
8:00 Then we have, who am I forgetting?
8:05 We have two math teachers at McNair,
8:08 Ms. Kindig and Ms. Harris, who,
8:11 I can’t remember which one does the ESE,
8:13 but they both make math fun.
8:15 There is a math bingo that I thought was the coolest thing.
8:19 I thought, how come we didn’t have that when I was a kid?
8:22 So she’s making it a lot of fun.
8:23 Both those teachers are making math fun and enjoyable,
8:26 and kids are getting rewards for being on their best
8:31 and learning math.
8:33 Then I moved on to Saturn,
8:36 where I happened to substitute one day,
8:40 and I wanna give a shout out
8:41 to the whole Saturn math team.
8:42 Again, these are phenomenal teachers
8:45 who are working real hard to bring up our scores,
8:48 and also in Saturn they have an amazing third grade team
8:53 of teachers, and so thank you to my third grade team
8:55 there in Saturn and all the work you do.
8:58 One of my favorite people there at Saturn also
9:00 is, I’m a little prejudiced, but it’s Ms. Jackie,
9:05 who is the school counselor.
9:07 If you ever need a time out and you want to have
9:11 a D-STEM, she has the coolest office ever.
9:15 She’s got a zen sand table.
9:18 When I was there, she was doing a group with kids
9:20 with our students, and you could tell
9:23 that the stress level just comes down
9:24 when you walk into her office.
9:26 So it’s a very cool, that was Jackie Small,
9:28 I should get her last name, very cool.
9:31 There’s a whole bunch more people,
9:32 but I will save them for the next time.
9:34 I just wanna give a shout out to all the amazing staff
9:36 that we do have here at Brevard.
9:41 - Thank you, Ms. McDougall.
9:42 Ms. Duskovich, would you like to go next?
9:45 - Sure, I have two, ‘cause I think you all
9:48 are gonna cover some of the others from this past week.
9:52 One is a thank you to the Daughters of the American Colonists
9:57 and the United States Daughters of 1812.
10:00 They have made it a priority to help make sure
10:03 our students are fully engaged in learning
10:07 about our Constitution and founding documents.
10:10 So they invited me to spend a luncheon with them,
10:13 and the process was, maybe I’ll even share
10:16 the presentation with you all that I put together,
10:18 because I hounded poor Dr. Sullivan back there
10:21 quite a bit for stats and statistics and test scores
10:25 for our students between civics and American government,
10:27 and I was really able to lay out all that our students,
10:31 when they’re introduced to the Constitution,
10:33 when they’re, it was interesting.
10:35 And so, it also includes some ways
10:37 that maybe these groups and other organizations
10:39 can also contribute to donating pocket Constitutions,
10:42 although Dr. Sullivan says she has an app for that, so.
10:45 (laughing)
10:48 It was a good afternoon, and I think it helped
10:50 bring to the forefront some areas that we could grow,
10:53 probably, on studying our founding documents
10:55 here at the district.
10:56 And the other one I have is not so much
10:58 a thank you and shout out, but I’m gonna shamelessly plug
11:01 the Children’s Hunger Project annual fundraiser
11:04 on February 11th.
11:06 I have to fill a table of 10.
11:07 I have two more seats at my table,
11:09 if anyone would like to join me that day.
11:14 It is of no cost, but they will hound you for a donation,
11:18 just so you know.
11:19 - What time is it? - It’s 11.
11:20 - It’s February 11th, there’s a board meeting that day,
11:23 but the luncheon is over by one o’clock,
11:24 like we were out at 1.01 last year.
11:27 So, just, you can let me know offline.
11:29 And I didn’t mean just school board members,
11:30 if anyone, we have two slots at my table.
11:32 We’d love to have you.
11:35 Thanks, Ms. Belford.
11:37 - Thank you, Ms. Deskovich.
11:39 - Oh, it’s already on.
11:41 - Yeah.
11:43 - And I’ll make a donation.
11:45 - Mr. Susan, would you like to go next with recognition?
11:48 - I’m good, pass.
11:51 - What?
11:52 - He’s not done making his list yet.
11:53 - I’m gonna give a pre-K update at the end of it.
11:55 That’s more for discussion in general, not a shout out.
11:58 But there are some people involved, they’ll get that done.
12:00 - Okay, Ms. Campbell. - I’m gonna clap, guys.
12:03 (laughing)
12:04 - Ms. Campbell. - Good day, Mr. Susan.
12:06 - All right, I’ll take up your time.
12:08 No, I’m just kidding.
12:10 So, first thing I wanted to share is that back in December,
12:12 we talked about Tied Together.
12:14 And they have been doing great work with our students,
12:18 our male students.
12:19 It’s way more than just teaching them how to tie a tie.
12:21 Just the mentoring that’s happening, bringing in,
12:24 not just the leadership of Tied Together,
12:26 but the dads and the men from the community at each school.
12:31 But the question came up, what about the girls?
12:34 And in multiple places, what about the girls?
12:36 On Facebook posts, in our meeting,
12:39 in messages going back and forth.
12:40 And so, I am just so thankful for Ann Conroy-Bator
12:43 and the leadership and her team at Junior Achievement
12:46 because they personally took that on.
12:48 And she went to her board and said,
12:49 “Hey, we wanna be the people who kinda partner
12:52 “with Tied Together, so whenever they have an event
12:53 “for our young men in our schools,
12:55 “we do one for our women, and they’re not just
12:57 “sitting in class being bored.
13:00 “Or wondering why I can’t, I learned how to tie a tie.”
13:02 And by the way, sometimes the girls do come down,
13:04 they have the freedom to do that.
13:06 But Dr. Rendell at Cocoa Beach Junior Senior High said,
13:09 “Hey, we’ve got Tied Together comin’ on the 17th.”
13:12 Literally, the day after she had her board approve that,
13:14 and can you do something for the girls?
13:15 And she put together a fabulous panel
13:18 of young women who are in, not just in the STEAM field,
13:24 one of ‘em works for NASA, one of ‘em works for,
13:29 oh, right, Harris, one of ‘em worked for Rockwell Collins,
13:31 one of ‘em is a Florida Tech student,
13:33 all in the aerospace industry.
13:34 And these young women did a great job just sharing,
13:38 not just about that field, but giving our young ladies
13:40 some goals and dreams and practical tips
13:42 for navigating the process of thinking about your future,
13:46 that even if you’re not interested in going into aerospace
13:49 or engineering, just some things that would be really helpful
13:51 So I’m just really thankful that she put that together
13:52 so quickly, and I’m looking forward to continue
13:54 to see that program grow.
13:56 It doesn’t have a name yet, but real thankful
13:59 for Junior Achievement, what they do in our schools.
14:03 Last Tuesday was the first annual, or repeating,
14:07 I guess it’s been a while if they’ve had it before,
14:09 Brevard Day at the Capitol, and so we were able to go up
14:14 and Ms. Deskevich and Ms. Belfer were there,
14:17 and we, along with some of our business
14:19 and community leaders, some of our city council members
14:22 and city managers and chamber of commerce people
14:26 from end to end of our county, went up
14:29 and were able to spend some time with not just
14:32 our legislative delegation from Brevard,
14:35 but got to meet with several of our legislative leaders
14:40 from across the state, and I’m so thankful
14:42 for especially Representative Saroy and Senator Wright,
14:47 who kind of coordinated the day.
14:49 Their offices did, I’m pretty sure that a few
14:51 of their assistants did a bulk of the work,
14:53 but just thankful for them coordinating that
14:55 so that we could have a fabulous day representing Brevard.
14:58 Thank you, Matt Reed, for having a table there
15:00 representing BPS, and had lots of people come by
15:04 and hear the great things that we’re able to do.
15:07 There were other organizations from our county there
15:09 on one of the floors where people could walk around and see,
15:12 so that was a great day, and we’re able to talk about
15:16 teacher salaries, about affordable housing,
15:18 about obviously the lagoon that’s high up
15:20 on our rise party list from the chambers,
15:22 but some other things related to our school,
15:24 so that was good, and we also got to sit,
15:26 it was very educational and helpful to sit in
15:28 on a few of the committee sessions,
15:31 and two of our board members got to speak at those
15:34 and hear how things are going when it comes to security,
15:37 mental health, and–
15:41 - Term limits. - Term limits.
15:43 Insurance, things like that, so.
15:45 And then finally, one of my very favorite days
15:49 as a board member happened again last weekend,
15:51 which was All-County Day, and got to have
15:54 an afternoon and evening hearing our students
15:57 just perform so beautifully, and I just got goosebumps
16:03 several times, so, so proud of all of our students
16:06 and the hard work that our teachers do
16:08 to get them prepared, and thankful for Cindy Johnson
16:11 for coordinating it all, and they just outdid themselves
16:15 with their performances on Saturday,
16:17 so a huge shout out to all our music programs
16:20 at the secondary level for the great job
16:22 that they did this weekend.
16:26 - Thank you, Ms. Campbell, Dr. Mullins.
16:30 - Thank you, Ms. Belford.
16:32 I wanna kinda piggyback on the trip to Tallahassee.
16:36 We also had 15 of our student government leaders
16:39 go to Tallahassee, they, well, I think the earliest
16:42 I heard they got up was two in the morning,
16:44 met here at 4.30 and drove to Tallahassee,
16:48 and Mr. Reed helped coordinate our students
16:54 to meet with legislators to share their support
16:58 for the legislation around restricting vaping,
17:02 and we’ve made presentation at the board,
17:05 so we’re certainly aware of the challenges
17:07 and the negative impact that is having on our schools.
17:13 I just have to tell you, our student leaders
17:15 were absolutely phenomenal.
17:16 They owned the day.
17:19 These individuals were prepared, they were poised,
17:24 they were professional.
17:25 They walked into these ominous offices
17:29 with state legislators and just so articulately
17:34 presented their position, and other than
17:37 an occasional introduction, we never had to say anything
17:40 as the chaperones or the kinda helping them get
17:43 to one place or the next, and it was just impressive
17:45 to see our student leaders really use their voice
17:49 in such a positive and impactful way.
17:52 Saturday, in addition to the concerts,
17:54 I had the privilege of being part
17:56 of the STARBASE ribbon-cutting.
17:57 Did you mention that, Ms., no.
18:00 Ms. Deskevich was there with us.
18:02 STARBASE is a military program that sets up
18:09 a facility on their base or affiliated, in this case,
18:13 with Patrick Air Force Base that accommodates
18:16 our students to go and engage with military leaders,
18:20 engineers, technicians, and so on.
18:23 They bring the expertise and they bring the programming
18:26 to give our kids hands-on, real innovative
18:29 and creative experiences.
18:31 So our fifth grade students are gonna benefit.
18:34 The Air Force Base invested over $200,000
18:38 in renovating this space near the base,
18:42 and very excited that we’ll have four or five schools
18:44 be able to participate even before the end of the year
18:47 and looking for additional students
18:49 to participate next year.
18:50 So I just wanna do a shout-out to General Schess,
18:53 commander of the base, for making this a priority
18:56 in his really short tenure at Patrick.
18:59 When he came, first time I met him, he said,
19:01 let’s talk about STARBASE, I wanna make that happen,
19:03 and he did in virtually a year.
19:06 So just very appreciative of that partnership.
19:09 Yesterday, I had the privilege to read
19:11 with a bunch of students at Harper City Elementary
19:14 in recognition of Celebrate Literacy Week Florida.
19:18 This is the week, it says Literacy Week in Florida,
19:21 and I got to read them the book,
19:23 The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
19:26 So if you were wondering the origins
19:28 of Rock, Paper, Scissors, The Game,
19:30 you wanna take up that book, but it was a lot of fun.
19:33 And if I may take advantage of one more opportunity
19:37 to do a shout-out and share with you a community leader
19:40 who has been a phenomenal partner
19:43 with Brevard Public Schools.
19:44 Last board meeting, I shared with you
19:46 that while we were meeting at Rockage High School,
19:50 Michael Cador, and we have to include
19:54 his amazing bride, Cornelia,
19:55 ‘cause he can only do a 10th of what he can
19:59 with the support of his wife,
20:00 but he has sponsored, he has championed,
20:03 he has led what is called Infinite Scholars.
20:07 And it is an opportunity that colleges come to a community,
20:12 prepared to give students college acceptance letters
20:16 and scholarships on the spot, in the moment,
20:20 through meeting with students.
20:22 So I’m gonna do a rundown of the last four years
20:27 of what this has brought to our community.
20:30 In 2017, we had 194 students participate
20:33 and $3.3 million in scholarships awarded.
20:37 In 2018, 385 students, over $4.2 million in scholarships.
20:43 2019, 454 students, over $5.1 million
20:49 in scholarships awarded on that night.
20:51 And two weeks ago, 562 students,
20:56 over $8.2 million in scholarships awarded to our students.
21:00 (audience applauds)
21:06 So Michael called me a few days ago and he said,
21:08 “Hey, I wanna do something for students in transition.”
21:12 He said, “I’d like to make a contribution donation
21:15 “to that effort.”
21:16 And I said, “Come to the board meeting,
21:17 “‘cause I’m gonna do a shout out for you anyway.”
21:20 Michael and Cornelia, would you come on up to the podium?
21:25 He reached out, I said, “Come to the board meeting,
21:26 “I wanna highlight Infinite Scholars.”
21:29 After I got the data, almost 1,600 students impacted
21:35 over the last four years, and almost $21 million
21:40 in scholarships collectively provided.
21:42 So Michael will give you the mic for a minute,
21:44 and then I wanna present you to someone.
21:46 - Thank you.
21:47 Well, good evening, and thank you so much
21:48 for allowing us this opportunity
21:49 to be able to serve our community.
21:51 It’s truly a blessing to be here before you.
21:53 But my wife and I were just looking at being able,
21:56 how can we give back to our community?
21:57 And a lot of times we focus on our youth,
22:00 and also our seniors.
22:01 But I’d just like to be able to state that
22:03 on behalf of my wife and I, we wanted to make a donation
22:06 to the Brevard Schools Foundation,
22:09 earmarking it for our students in transition.
22:11 We’re very amazed at the number of kids who are homeless.
22:16 And we just wanted to give a donation of $250
22:19 just to help with the cause, to help with our students
22:21 who are in transition here in Brevard County.
22:25 (audience applauding)
22:28 And as always, my wife doesn’t wanna say anything,
22:30 and before she pinches me, I’m going to conclude that.
22:33 - Well, before you go anywhere, we have a practice.
22:36 And that is, we take the opportunity
22:38 to recognize individuals across our district
22:40 and in our community this year with what is an impact pin.
22:44 And I just want to, on behalf of the board
22:47 and the students that you are impacting in our community
22:53 with our impact pin, having a strong effect
22:56 on someone or something or someones,
22:59 and making an impact on our district.
23:00 Thank you for all that you do for Brevard Public Schools
23:03 on behalf of the board and our students.
23:06 - Thank you so much.
23:07 (audience applauding)
23:38 - Yeah, I’m gonna come up with a…
23:45 Michael gets a good picture.
23:46 - Yeah, he will.
24:07 (people chattering)
24:23 - Mr. Cador, thank you for doing what you do.
24:27 Misty’s told us over and over again
24:29 that that night is one of the most special nights
24:31 that we have in Brevard Public Schools.
24:34 And I really appreciate you coming here tonight
24:35 and donating $250.
24:37 I think Dr. Mullins should do a social media post
24:40 and push out and have other people match it.
24:43 Because if there’s an area inside our school system
24:45 that is truly needed as the students in transition,
24:48 and you taking a lead and just saying,
24:50 hey, this is what I want to do unselfishly
24:52 in an area that you hadn’t been championing before.
24:55 Man, I would say it now, my wife would be mad
24:58 ‘cause she watches this, that I’m gonna give 250 bucks,
25:00 but I’d go wash cars for 250 right now or something.
25:03 But no, I’m just telling you man, thank you for everything
25:05 you do, if we had 100 of you in our school system,
25:08 life would be a whole lot easier.
25:10 So thank you, sir, thank you.
25:12 (audience applauding)
25:22 - Does that conclude your recognitions
25:23 for this evening, Dr. Mullins?
25:25 - Yes, ma’am, thank you.
25:26 - All right, I will wrap up the recognitions
25:30 then this evening.
25:32 Wanted to give a huge shout out and thank you
25:35 to our friends at Who We Play For.
25:37 They asked me to attend the Heart Watch Conference
25:40 with them, I think two weekends ago.
25:44 And the Heart Watch Conference is a national conference
25:47 where people come together who have lost,
25:49 it primarily has been people who have lost children
25:51 to sudden cardiac arrest.
25:55 It has been expanding the past few years
25:57 to also include survivors.
25:59 And so Sean Sima was there, Evan Ernst was there,
26:02 Kurt was there, and they asked me to come and speak
26:07 along with Evan about how to work with school districts
26:10 in their area to address the heart screenings
26:13 and that sort of thing.
26:14 And we talked about some of the challenges in the process
26:17 and some of the things that have worked really well
26:20 and how we have managed to work together
26:21 to get all through it.
26:24 So thank you to them for including me.
26:27 But I have to share with you all,
26:28 as you walk into the conference,
26:30 as you’re walking down the halls of the hotel,
26:33 there are tripods down the hallway with pictures.
26:38 And they are, some of them are survivors
26:41 and some of them are students who have been lost
26:43 and they identify on there.
26:45 But what it did for me was absolutely reinforce
26:49 that we have done the right thing in Brevard.
26:51 We are up to, I think 11, maybe 12 now,
26:56 students that have been identified in Brevard County
26:58 with potentially fatal heart issues
27:01 that have actually gone in and had surgeries.
27:04 And that wouldn’t have happened
27:05 without obviously the support of you guys
27:07 and the hard work of Chris Moore and her team in the process
27:10 and so thank you to all of you who made that possible
27:13 ‘cause it truly is having an impact on lives.
27:17 Also wanna give a huge shout out to the Titusville Rotaries.
27:20 So we have three rotaries in Titusville.
27:22 We have the Sunrise Rotary, the Noon Rotary,
27:25 and the Evening Rotary.
27:27 The three rotaries came together with actually
27:29 my nonprofit Swim Safe Forever this past Saturday
27:33 to do a water safety day.
27:34 But the really cool thing is that they sponsored
27:36 50 students from Cocina Elementary
27:39 to come and bowl with their families during the event.
27:42 And so the assistant principal was there from Cocina
27:44 and all of the Cocina kids came and bowled
27:47 and we had Josh the otter there,
27:49 which you guys probably don’t know Josh,
27:51 but he’s a life-size baby otter.
27:55 Josh was a little boy that passed from drowning
27:57 and his parents started the Josh the baby otter movement
28:01 and they have books and all this stuff.
28:02 So Josh was there and took pictures with the kids
28:05 and we did raffles and they had pizza and drinks
28:07 and it was just really great to see the kids
28:10 and their families out having so much fun
28:11 and mingling with other families that they didn’t know
28:14 from the school and that sort of thing.
28:15 So many thanks to the Titusville Rotaries
28:21 for their efforts in putting all of that together.
28:23 and making sure that the students have that opportunity.
28:25 And then I wanna give a shout out
28:27 to a couple of my North End folks
28:28 who joined us at the meeting this evening.
28:30 I know it’s a long trek, but we appreciate you being here.
28:33 I have Randall Clay, Bill Gary, Ruth,
28:38 is your last name Gary?
28:39 I’m sorry.
28:40 Ruth is Bill’s wife, but I always hate to assume last names
28:42 ‘cause I’ve gotten pinched on that a couple times.
28:45 So Bill Gary, Ruth Gary, and also Pastor AJ Davis
28:50 from St. James AME have joined us this evening.
28:53 So we appreciate you guys making the trek
28:55 and look forward to having, hopefully,
28:58 a good meeting for you guys.
29:00 And that is all I have as far as recognition.
29:02 So I think that is bringing us
29:04 to the adoption of our agenda.
29:06 Dr. Mullins.
29:11 - Ms. Belford and members of the board,
29:13 on tonight’s agenda we have administrative
29:15 staff recommendations, 22 consent items, four action items,
29:19 two of which are public hearings and five information items.
29:23 You also have the yellow supplemental agenda,
29:25 which are changes made to the agenda
29:27 since being released to the public.
29:29 Items A7 on administrative staff recommendations,
29:32 F12 on instructional staff recommendations,
29:35 and G34 on attendance boundary proposals
29:38 for school year 2020, 2021, all received revisions.
29:43 - What are the wishes of the board?
29:45 - Move to approve.
29:45 - Second.
29:46 - Seconded by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. McDougall.
29:49 Any discussion?
29:52 Please vote.
29:58 - There’s two of them.
30:01 - The flashing one.
30:05 - I think we’re getting this.
30:07 - Hm?
30:08 - I’m getting it.
30:09 - Yeah, we’re getting it.
30:10 - I was able to vote.
30:11 - I voted.
30:13 - You did?
30:13 - I did.
30:14 - Oh, go down to the bottom over here.
30:16 You got it?
30:17 - Yeah.
30:20 - Eastside got it.
30:20 - And I’m gonna apologize ahead of time.
30:22 For those of you who don’t join us on a regular basis,
30:24 we are utilizing new technology for our agenda,
30:28 and this is only our second meeting with it,
30:31 so we’re still working out some kinks along the way.
30:34 - Let’s move it quicker.
30:35 - Is it?
30:36 - It’s Eastside.
30:37 - Eastside, you got it?
30:39 - Nice.
30:43 Do you have a count on that vote, Pam?
30:45 I’m not seeing, and the motion passes five-zero.
30:51 All right, Dr. Mullins, would you please let us know
30:53 about the administrative staff recommendations?
30:55 - Yes, Madam Chair and members of the board,
30:57 there are two persons on this agenda item
30:59 for the board to consider.
31:01 - What are the wishes of the board?
31:02 - Move to approve.
31:03 - Second.
31:04 - Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Campbell.
31:06 Any discussion?
31:08 Please vote.
31:15 - Okay.
31:33 - Ms. Oskbar, do you have a count on that vote?
31:35 - Five to zero.
31:36 - The motion passed five-zero.
31:40 We are now at public comments.
31:42 The school board policy 0169.1 limits to 30 minutes.
31:46 We actually only have two speakers this evening.
31:48 So each speaker is limited to three minutes.
31:51 We have a clock in front of me
31:52 to help you keep track of your time.
31:53 When your time is over, you’ll be asked to stop
31:55 and allow the next speaker his or her turn.
31:57 Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum
31:59 is expected at all times,
32:00 and your statement should be directed to the board chair.
32:02 The chair may interrupt, warn, or terminate
32:04 a participant’s statement when time is up,
32:06 personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant.
32:10 Should an individual not observe proper etiquette,
32:12 the chairman may request the individual leave the meeting.
32:14 Let’s all encourage an environment appropriate
32:16 for our children who may be present
32:18 or are watching from home.
32:19 Our speakers this evening are Anthony Colucci
32:23 and Vanessa Skipper.
32:40 (people chattering)
33:02 - My name is Anthony Colucci.
33:03 I’m the president of the Brevard Federation of Teachers.
33:06 As of today, there are still 60 instructional vacancies
33:10 in our district.
33:11 This means there are hundreds and potentially thousands
33:14 of students who either do not have a certified teacher
33:17 in front of them or are being taught in classrooms
33:20 that exceed class size amendment.
33:22 Across the state, 300,000 students started school
33:25 without a full-time permanent teacher.
33:28 It is abundantly clear that we have a problem in Brevard
33:31 and in the state.
33:32 Tonight, I’m here to offer a solution to this problem,
33:35 a solution that I believe will save the district money.
33:39 I wanna start off with a quote I once heard
33:42 about school reformers whose actions led
33:44 to this current teacher shortage.
33:48 That quote is, “You can’t fire your way to Finland,”
33:51 which means that you can’t keep firing bad teachers
33:55 to reach the levels of student success in Finland.
33:58 This is a flawed idea.
34:00 In a low-paid, high-stress profession
34:02 that is constantly under attack by legislators,
34:05 there aren’t scores of qualified people lining up
34:08 to fill vacant positions.
34:10 So just like public school teachers who can’t choose
34:12 the students in front of them, BPS must work
34:15 with what they have and develop employees
34:18 until they reach their potential.
34:20 The problem is BPS doesn’t have enough staff working
34:23 on developing teachers who are in need of more help.
34:26 Specifically, we only have three district peer mentor
34:29 teachers for nearly 4,900 teachers.
34:34 Our IPPS evaluation manual notes that BPS makes available
34:39 to all teachers the services
34:41 of district peer mentor teachers.
34:43 It goes on to describe peer mentor teachers
34:45 as highly trained and qualified professionals
34:48 who work with new teachers, teachers experiencing
34:50 difficulties, or any other teacher who could benefit
34:53 from a professional collegial service.
34:56 I will tell you that our district peer mentor teachers
34:58 do amazing work, and I believe most admins
35:01 in the district see their value as well.
35:03 But there are only so many teachers in schools
35:05 they can get to every day.
35:08 When I think about new teachers who left
35:09 or were terminated in only a few weeks time,
35:12 or frustrated teachers who resigned
35:14 because they couldn’t take it anymore,
35:16 I wonder if those teachers work
35:19 with a district peer mentor,
35:21 their stories would have been different.
35:23 I wonder if it would have been different
35:25 for our students who lost their teachers.
35:27 I wonder what it does to a kindergarten student
35:29 to lose their teacher after a few weeks.
35:32 Studies show that it cost districts approximately $15,000
35:37 for each new hire, including district and school expenses
35:41 related to separation, recruitment, hiring, and training.
35:44 These investments don’t pay their full dividend
35:46 when teachers leave within one or two years.
35:49 I would strongly suggest you look at a tool
35:51 called What’s the Cost of Teacher Turnover
35:54 at learningpolicyinstitute.org
35:57 that estimates a cost of 400 teachers
35:59 leaving a suburban district at $4.4 million.
36:03 With that said, I’m recommending that BPS
36:06 create at least two more district peer mentor positions
36:09 next year.
36:10 Essentially, if BPS went ahead and did that,
36:13 and between the five mentor teachers,
36:15 they prevented six teachers from resigning,
36:18 it would at the very least be a cost-neutral decision.
36:22 At the school level, the positive impact–
36:24 - Thank you, Mr. Colucci.
36:25 - Improved, come on, improved pedagogy
36:30 and classroom management, smaller classes,
36:33 and less upheaval due to turnover would certainly–
36:37 - Ms. Skipper.
36:38 - Do better.
36:40 - There’s nobody here, can you let me finish?
36:43 - There’s nobody here.
36:44 (laughing)
36:46 - You hold everybody for those three minutes.
36:49 (laughing)
36:50 - You and Ms. Skipper, Mr. Colucci?
36:52 - You can give me extra time.
36:53 No, no.
36:56 Vanessa Skipper, Vice President Brevard Federation
36:58 of Teachers, for everyone in the room
37:00 and those listening at home, I’d like to give an update
37:02 on what is happening in Tallahassee this session.
37:05 Again, we are asking everyone to do their part
37:07 in contacting our local delegation regularly
37:10 throughout the session.
37:11 Not just one phone call, not just one email,
37:14 daily contact to our legislative delegation.
37:19 An easy way to do this is to visit feaweb.org,
37:23 go to issues and actions on the left tab
37:25 and click the 2020 legislative session
37:27 to stay up to date and involved.
37:30 You will be able to enter your address
37:31 and it will take you directly to your legislators.
37:34 We encourage everyone to contact
37:36 the entire Brevard delegation,
37:39 even though you may not obviously reside
37:41 in every single district, Senators Wright and Mayfield
37:44 and Representatives Placencia, Altman, Saroy and Fine.
37:47 The decisions they make affect all of us in Brevard
37:50 regardless of whose district you might live.
37:54 Senate Bill 62 is one that we are watching.
37:57 It’s part of the salary puzzle.
37:59 An amendment to this bill was dropped yesterday
38:02 and the bill is scheduled to be heard
38:03 in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education
38:06 at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
38:08 Our objectives remain the same.
38:10 Salary increases for all, no bonuses
38:14 and salary decisions must be made at the local level.
38:17 We continue to work to influence the outcome
38:19 of any legislation dealing with pay
38:21 and encourage all those listening to do the same.
38:24 Know that the Senate plan currently
38:26 does not include bonuses
38:28 and does include all teachers including pre-K,
38:31 but it does not cover our education staff professionals.
38:34 While BFT does not negotiate
38:36 for our education staff professionals
38:38 or our school administrators,
38:39 we recognize the valuable role they all play every day
38:42 for the success of our students.
38:44 I cannot say it enough.
38:46 We cannot be the only ones advocating for this.
38:49 We must all work together.
38:51 So if you’re listening, have you emailed?
38:54 Have you called, have you tweeted a legislator?
38:57 The time is now.
38:59 The next bill we’re watching is Senate Bill 486.
39:02 Senate Bill 486 is sponsored by Rob Bradley,
39:05 would repeal the best and brightest program.
39:08 The bill passed its first committee stop
39:09 when it received unanimous support
39:12 from the Senate Education Committee.
39:14 It will be heard again tomorrow.
39:17 Best and brightest has been flawed from the very start
39:19 and has failed in its stated purpose
39:21 of recruiting and retaining teachers.
39:24 When it comes to educator compensation,
39:26 Tallahassee should restore local control
39:29 and let school districts and local unions
39:31 bargain how to best determine educator pay.
39:35 Florida’s legislators should listen to educators
39:38 and use the 300 million saved by repealing best and brightest
39:42 to increase salaries for all educators,
39:44 not just classroom teachers.
39:46 So again, have you called?
39:48 Have you emailed?
39:49 Have you tweeted?
39:50 Have you tagged a legislator on Facebook?
39:53 It’s not one and done.
39:55 There are around 50 days left in session
39:58 and everybody should be doing their part every single day.
40:02 Thank you.
40:03 - Thank you, Ms. Skipper.
40:07 The board wishes to thank this evening’s speakers.
40:09 Your willingness to speak to the board is appreciated.
40:12 That moves us into the consent agenda, Dr. Mullins.
40:20 - Ms. Belfort, if I may,
40:21 just in response to Mr. Colucci’s comments
40:25 in support of our peer mentor teachers,
40:27 thank you for supporting the work
40:29 of our peer mentor teachers.
40:30 I did want to add, we do have in our schools
40:33 mentor teachers as well that are assigned to new teachers
40:36 and they’re provided, albeit in a very small supplement,
40:39 but we do have that effort as well
40:41 and I want to give the recognition
40:43 and to our teachers in the schools as well
40:45 that are working with our new teachers also, so thank you.
40:51 - There are 22 items under the consent agenda.
40:57 - Thank you, Dr. Mullins.
40:58 Does any board member wish to pull any item
41:02 from the consent agenda?
41:04 Going once, going twice, all right.
41:07 Then I will entertain a motion
41:08 to accept the consent items as presented.
41:10 - Move to approve. - Second.
41:12 - Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Deskevich.
41:14 Any discussion?
41:16 Please vote.
41:21 - Second.
41:35 - And the motion passes five-zero.
41:37 Thank you, Ms. Escobar.
41:42 All right, we will move on to the action agenda, Dr. Mullins.
41:47 - There are a total of four action items
41:49 on this evening’s agenda.
41:51 (coughing)
41:54 The first one is on department school initiated agreements.
41:57 - What are the wishes of the board?
41:58 - Move to approve. - Second.
42:00 - Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Campbell.
42:02 Any discussion?
42:04 Please vote.
42:09 (coughing)
42:12 - I like singing.
42:15 Okay.
42:18 Oh, I thought you were cutting on my singing is what it was.
42:22 - The motion passes five-zero.
42:24 Dr. Mullins.
42:26 - Next is on procurement solicitations.
42:29 - What are the wishes of the board?
42:30 - Move to approve. - Second.
42:33 - Moved by Mr. Susan.
42:34 Who seconded? - Me.
42:35 - Ms. McDougall.
42:38 Sorry, is there any discussion?
42:41 All right, please vote.
42:48 (faintly speaking)
42:58 - The motion passes five-zero.
43:00 Dr. Mullins.
43:01 - Our next item is to hold a public hearing
43:05 and approve the Brevard Public Schools
43:07 student progression plan for the 2019-2020 school year.
43:12 - Is there anyone who has come here tonight
43:13 who wishes to publicly address the student progression plan
43:16 for the 2019-2020 school year?
43:20 Is there anyone who has come here tonight
43:22 who wishes to publicly address the student progression plan
43:25 for the 2019-2020 school year?
43:28 What are the wishes of the board?
43:30 - Move to approve. - Second.
43:31 - Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded by Ms. Campbell.
43:35 Any discussion?
43:36 Please vote.
43:46 (faintly speaking)
43:53 - The motion passes five-zero.
43:58 Our last, oh, Dr. Mullins.
44:00 I was gonna be you.
44:02 - Our last action item is to hold a public hearing
44:04 and approve the attendance boundary proposal
44:06 for the school year 2020-2021.
44:11 - Is there anyone who has come here tonight
44:13 who wishes to publicly address
44:14 the attendance boundary proposals for school year 2020-21?
44:20 Is there anyone who has come here tonight
44:21 who wishes to publicly address
44:23 the attendance boundary proposals
44:24 for the school year 2020-2021?
44:29 What are the wishes of the board?
44:31 - Move to approve. - Moved by Ms. Campbell.
44:34 - I’ll second. - Seconded by Ms. McDougall.
44:37 Any discussion?
44:40 Please vote.
44:44 (faintly speaking)
45:02 - Is it not going?
45:05 - Did everybody vote?
45:07 (faintly speaking)
45:20 - The motion passes five-zero.
45:22 Did you get it on your end?
45:23 Okay.
45:26 - Yes. - Okay.
45:28 We’re now at the information items,
45:30 which are items that may be brought back later
45:31 for board consideration.
45:32 No action will be taken on these items this evening.
45:34 Dr. Mullins.
45:36 - There are five information items on this evening’s agenda,
45:38 all of which are policy revisions.
45:40 - Does anyone want to discuss any of these items?
45:45 Okay, does any board member
45:46 have anything further to report?
45:49 Mr. Susan.
45:50 - Thank you, Madam Chair.
45:51 I wanted to first off say thank you.
45:53 I met with two pre-K teachers up in Tallahassee
45:58 that sat back and walked the halls
46:01 to find out where the pain points were
46:03 with making pre-K teachers certified
46:06 in the state of Florida.
46:07 And we immediately, once inside some of the discussions
46:11 with leadership from Representative Grall and others
46:14 who are currently working on policy bills
46:17 for pre-K in that area of early development,
46:22 it became evident that some of the things
46:24 that were being communicated to our representatives
46:26 and senators in Tallahassee
46:28 may not be statistically backed up
46:31 and may need some further discussion.
46:32 And I did want to give first off the credit
46:36 to the pre-K teachers that were involved in this process,
46:38 Ms. Webb and Ms. Hardin,
46:40 but also to the state representatives
46:42 and education policy staff in both the House and the Senate
46:45 who were willing to listen.
46:46 Because a lot of times when they’re taking on an issue,
46:48 you don’t wanna listen.
46:49 And having that open dialogue with respect on both ends
46:52 is what ended up happening.
46:53 So I wanted to go over some of those quick points.
46:56 What the first piece that was argued
46:58 is that we choose to voluntarily provide VPK, right?
47:03 And they said, well, it’s not an issue
47:05 because you choose to do VPK.
47:07 The problem with that is we don’t choose to do Head Start.
47:11 We don’t choose to do ELK.
47:13 We don’t choose to do BE.
47:15 We don’t choose to do ESC, okay?
47:18 So the majority of the services we’re providing for pre-K
47:22 are not chosen to do, it is required to do, okay?
47:26 The next step is, is that ESC in every single situation
47:31 required by the state of Florida
47:33 is required to have a certified teacher.
47:36 So if you have a VPK classroom that has an ESC student,
47:40 you should be providing those services
47:43 to that student in that classroom.
47:45 So we are talking about creating and certifying teachers
47:49 in only VPK classes that are not ESC,
47:55 because Head Start requires it,
47:57 ELK and VE requires it, ‘cause those are ESC,
48:00 and all ESC designated.
48:01 So you’re talking about a very small percentage
48:05 of classrooms that this is.
48:07 So that was the first misconception.
48:09 And if you guys need any help,
48:10 follow up on any of that, that’s great.
48:12 The next misconception that we had
48:14 was that it would decimate private providers
48:16 inside of a school district because of,
48:19 we would be, because we would be providing certified teachers
48:24 in the school district,
48:25 it would legitimately decimate the other providers.
48:28 So we looked, spent four hours last night
48:31 looking at all of the data.
48:33 And what we found was is that the actual school districts
48:36 that have certified teachers inside of them already,
48:39 like ours, across the state of Florida,
48:42 you can look back at the five years worth of data
48:44 and find that in actuality,
48:46 the growth percentages can remain consistent.
48:49 So there’s no, as we had a school district
48:51 that had certified teachers that we were providing already,
48:54 that we would then take over all of the other programs.
48:57 It just doesn’t happen.
48:58 There’s no statistical data anywhere.
49:01 And that’s backed up by three other individuals
49:03 at the state that we requested from the DOE.
49:05 So that was a misconception.
49:07 There was also a misconception that if you extend drop,
49:12 that it’s gonna increase the budget
49:13 at the state level for the DOE.
49:15 So we went back and started looking at each one
49:18 of the pre-K teachers that were inside of our system
49:22 that we knew that, and said, how’s this?
49:24 And statistically, this was difficult to find out.
49:27 But what we found inside of our district was that
49:30 if a pre-K teacher was coming to drop
49:32 and they could no longer extend,
49:35 that all they did was jump up to kindergarten,
49:37 which is our biggest fear.
49:38 Because instead of having an educated person
49:41 with all that experience,
49:43 staying in pre-K for the extended time that we need ‘em,
49:45 which we need, we know the 60 vacancies,
49:48 is that we need those people there, they’re jumping up.
49:50 So the cost to the district,
49:52 whether they’re moving to K through six,
49:54 or they’re moving to the district as directors
49:56 or anybody else, is never going to be the same.
49:58 ‘Cause if those teachers wanna continue to teach,
50:00 they’re gonna teach and find a way to do it.
50:02 So there’s no extra cost in those areas either.
50:07 The other issue that we had is that they said that
50:10 if best and brightest was going to cost,
50:13 it would cost an expansion of best and brightest.
50:15 And we know that that’s not true
50:16 because best and brightest is a set amount of money
50:18 that’s divided out among however many teachers.
50:20 So there was literally no extra cost that we could find.
50:24 The argument of making them certified teachers
50:26 would expand and hurt the private schools was not there.
50:30 So we started looking at it,
50:31 and here’s what was the aha moment
50:33 that was the most amazing thing that I had last night,
50:35 was the simple fact that our certified teachers
50:40 in pre-K school districts showed an increase
50:46 of kindergarten readiness for those school districts.
50:50 So our most needed population, which is our underserved
50:54 and our ESC populations, had higher rates of gains
50:57 in school districts that had certified teachers
51:00 as opposed to the ones who had not.
51:03 And not only did they have increase of career readiness
51:05 through our flickers testing, they also had decrease
51:10 in ESC designations from K through six.
51:12 What does that mean?
51:13 That means that our targeted populations of ESC
51:17 and our other areas are being served
51:19 before they come to school.
51:21 They’re getting the services prior to,
51:23 and we’re not spending kindergarten classrooms
51:26 that are actually being taken over
51:29 while they’re trying to apply to get these people services
51:32 for four, six, eight months.
51:34 And we all know that.
51:34 So it was a huge aha moment in the fact that, look, okay,
51:38 we can make an argument that these things are gonna cause it
51:40 but then to see the statistical data of our pre-K teachers
51:44 that they rock and that they actually are doing
51:47 an amazing job, which we know.
51:48 But the fact is is that the more of a job
51:51 that the pre-K teachers do, our kindergarten,
51:54 kindergarten readiness, K through six is ready.
51:55 And I just, I sat there and I couldn’t believe it.
51:58 So anyways, we’ve sent the information up to the state,
52:01 the staffers, everybody else from moving back and forth.
52:03 I met with Ms. Mills today who is the guru
52:06 of all of pre-K and preschool and intervention.
52:10 And I met with her and she said she’d sit down
52:12 and work with us.
52:12 But I wanted to give you guys news
52:14 that there’s nothing that’s been presented so far
52:17 that is a negative.
52:19 And we’ve actually been able to educate all of them
52:22 on what was possibly wrong.
52:25 And on top of that, we rock.
52:28 So I wanted to say that.
52:30 I mean, this is good people.
52:31 And anyways, so that was a good thing.
52:33 And I wanted to say, especially Michelle Webb,
52:36 Ms. Hardy, Michelle Gaynor, Ms. Dunwoody,
52:39 those pre-K teachers.
52:40 There’s literally 6,400 pre-K teachers
52:43 throughout the state of Florida now
52:45 that are working in the leadership committee
52:47 members districts at schools that are now prepared
52:50 once we finalize all of this to push it up to their members
52:53 so that they can then understand that their members will
52:57 be getting a phone call, not from us over in Brevard,
53:00 but their local pre-K classes inside their district.
53:02 And I’ve never seen literally an organization group of people
53:06 doing what they’re doing.
53:07 So a lot of credit go to our pre-K teachers.
53:10 And thank you to the union for working with those guys
53:12 because they help out when they needed some of the extra time
53:16 off and stuff like that.
53:17 So that was it.
53:18 So that was the first one.
53:19 Does anybody have any questions for our awesome pre-K teachers?
53:22 Because I’m officially their representative now.
53:25 Can I just say thank you to you, Mr. Susan,
53:27 for the work that you’ve been doing with those teachers?
53:30 I get like 10%.
53:31 They do all the work.
53:32 Well, I was going to say, yeah, just a little bit to you,
53:34 mostly to them, because I know that they’re awesome
53:36 and working hard every day for our kids.
53:38 That’s Michelle, Ms. Hardy, Ms. Gaynor, and Ms. Dunwoody,
53:41 just so you know.
53:42 Say those names.
53:42 OK, sorry.
53:43 Awesome.
53:43 So thank you very much for your support of them
53:46 and certainly to everyone who is helping that movement go.
53:49 I think we all understand the huge importance of early childhood
53:53 education and making sure that we do it right.
53:55 So thank you.
53:55 Beautiful.
53:56 And then I said one more thing.
53:57 Yeah.
53:58 So I met with–
53:59 we have the SIAC insurance committee meeting coming up.
54:02 And me as the former representative,
54:05 I met with Dr. Mullins.
54:06 And Dr. Mullins followed up with a follow-up email.
54:09 And he said, hey, this is what we discussed.
54:10 But I did want to put some things that the SIAC has
54:12 been concerned about on the agenda
54:14 so that we can discuss it later when it comes up.
54:17 One of them was we need education
54:19 inside of our schools and how that
54:21 would happen if we were going to do a planned design change.
54:24 And I don’t mean to steal your thunder in any way.
54:26 The other thing is we’ve had some extreme cost concerns
54:30 inside of our specialty drugs in the pharmacy
54:33 and some other areas.
54:34 So what is the solution?
54:35 Not let’s look at it, but what is the solution?
54:39 Also, how do we create a possible direct local group?
54:47 So grab the parish, the Health First,
54:48 and say, what will you offer to go direct as opposed
54:52 to going through the usual process
54:54 or steering to less cost alternative
54:57 in a narrow network plan?
54:59 And that was presented at the SIAC,
55:00 which I watched that video, which was awesome.
55:03 And then the other piece is that work with the county.
55:08 So about four months ago, I met with VSCO.
55:11 And Jerry said he would definitely
55:13 be willing to work together on our plan
55:16 as far as planned design.
55:17 So we just need to reach out to him.
55:19 And then the other piece would be
55:20 to prioritize our costs with the insurance companies
55:27 and everything else before we talk about raising
55:29 the rates to the teachers.
55:30 And I think we all agree on that.
55:32 So I just wanted to say that was the piece before we
55:34 get to the meeting.
55:35 And I wanted to just give you the heads up.
55:37 That’s all.
55:38 Thank you, Mr. Susan.
55:39 Ironically, one of our SIAC members
55:41 was in Tallahassee on–
55:44 it was Tuesday, right?
55:46 Yeah, on Brevard Day.
55:47 They were up there working on the PBM bill advocating,
55:50 which ended up not being heard in committee.
55:52 So they were a little frustrated.
55:53 But they were up there.
55:54 Actually, I think they were there Tuesday and Wednesday.
55:57 So lots of good advocacy going on there.
55:59 Any other–
56:00 Sponsored by Senator Wright.
56:02 Yes.
56:06 Any other board members have anything further to report?
56:10 Dr. Mullins, do you have anything else
56:12 you wish to add to the meeting?
56:13 All right, there being no further business,
56:15 this meeting is now adjourned.
56:17 Thank you all for joining us.
56:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]