Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
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0:35 Good evening. The February 8, 2022 board meeting is now in order.
0:39 I’m happy to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
0:42 This is a business meeting of the board held in the public.
0:44 As such, the board is authorized to adopt rules or policies
0:47 to maintain orderly conduct and proper decorum in a public
0:50 meeting.
0:51 Please note that your presence here is subject to those rules
0:53 and policies.
0:55 Pursuant to Florida Statute 877.13, it is unlawful, in the
0:59 misdemeanor of the second degree,
1:00 punishable by up to 60 days in jail, and a $500 fine for any
1:04 person,
1:05 knowingly to disrupt or interfere with the lawful administration
1:08 or functions
1:09 of any educational institution or school board, or knowingly to
1:12 advise,
1:13 counsel or instruct any school pupil or school employee to
1:16 disrupt any school
1:17 or school board function or activity on school board property.
1:21 To facilitate board business, please be aware of the following.
1:24 If you must leave the building for any reason, you will not be
1:26 permitted to reenter.
1:28 The appropriate place for public participation in the meeting is
1:31 during
1:31 your individual public comment opportunity as identified in the
1:34 agenda.
1:35 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity, your role
1:38 in the meeting is as an observer.
1:40 Alas, persons deemed to be knowingly or intentionally disrupting
1:43 this meeting
1:44 of the school board of Brevard County are not complying with
1:46 this policy to stop or leave.
1:49 If persons receiving the warning choose not to follow my
1:51 instructions,
1:52 I will instruct Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies to take any
1:54 law enforcement action
1:56 they deem appropriate, and you may be escorted, detained, or
1:59 arrested depending on the conduct.
2:02 Persons who refuse to depart after a warning may also be
2:04 committing the crime of trespassing.
2:07 In accordance with Florida Statute Section 810.05.
2:11 These statutes apply to conduct on all school board property,
2:14 which includes this board room,
2:15 as well as the outside of this building to the sidewalk.
2:19 If you continue to cause a disruption, you are advised that you
2:21 are in violation of Florida Statute 877.13,
2:24 or if you fail to leave the premises after being warned by the
2:26 sheriff’s office,
2:27 you are committing trespass, and the board has authorized the
2:30 sheriff’s office to enforce these rules.
2:33 In the event multiple individuals fail to adhere to these
2:36 expectations,
2:37 and board business cannot continue due to disruption,
2:40 I’ll call a recess and request that the law enforcement officers
2:42 present
2:43 clear the board room of attendees.
2:47 When the room is cleared, the board will return and resume their
2:49 meeting with no public present.
2:51 Those who are signed up to speak will be seated under the front
2:53 entry area
2:54 and called in when it’s your time to speak.
2:58 Call. Roll call, please.
3:02 Ms. Belford.
3:05 Present.
3:06 Ms. McDougall.
3:07 Present.
3:08 Mr. Susan.
3:09 Present.
3:10 Ms. Jenkins.
3:11 Present.
3:12 Ms. Campbell.
3:13 Present.
3:14 The board will now hold a moment of silent reflection in memory
3:15 of a BPS family member,
3:16 Jenny Toran, who recently passed away.
3:19 Ms. Toran was the certified school counselor at Oak Park
3:21 Elementary.
3:32 Thank you.
3:41 Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
3:45 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
3:52 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
3:57 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
4:01 At this time, I would like to offer my fellow board members and
4:05 Dr. Mullins an opportunity to recognize students,
4:08 staff or members of the community who’d like to start us off
4:11 this evening.
4:13 Ms. Jenkins.
4:16 I’m in a weird spot here today.
4:19 I’m probably stealing the thunder from some other people.
4:21 I apologize, but I just want to say congratulations to our
4:23 employee of the year from Ocean Breeze Elementary,
4:26 Officer Jen, and of course, our Teacher of the Year from Andrew
4:29 Jackson Middle and Alexandria Wicker.
4:32 And I had written down.
4:36 Hold on one second.
4:40 You had a quote that I really, really like.
4:44 And now I can’t find it.
4:48 Well.
4:51 There we go.
4:54 I wasn’t born to just teach, I was born to inspire, inspire
4:57 others to do what’s impossible.
5:00 I really, really appreciated her speech when she was accepting
5:03 her award.
5:04 She’s an amazing, amazing teacher, and I’m really, really happy
5:06 for her.
5:07 And I’m excited to see how far she goes to support Brevard at
5:10 the state level.
5:12 I also just want to do a shout out to Melbourne High School’s
5:15 Chamber Choir.
5:16 They were also at the ABC Awards, and not only did they have an
5:21 amazing performance, but I felt like the song that they chose
5:24 was just kind of spoke to me.
5:27 And I feel like it spoke to everybody in the room. The room was
5:29 dead silent for the entire performance.
5:31 And so I just kind of want to quote one of the parts of the
5:33 lyrics.
5:34 And it said, We shall love one another with all of our hearts
5:36 and we shall care for each other with all of our soul and might.
5:40 When we stand, when we fall, when we rise, we are one.
5:45 And it just had a special place for me. And I feel like it spoke
5:48 to everybody in that room that night.
5:50 So thank you so much for that beautiful performance. And I hope
5:54 to hear you guys again soon.
5:57 Thank you, Ms. Jenkins. Ms. Campbell, looks like you’re ready.
6:02 On the topic of music, we had our all county concerts the
6:04 weekends ago and they were fabulous.
6:07 So good to have everybody. I think everybody was in agreement
6:09 that it was good to be back together for me in front of a live
6:12 audience.
6:14 And I’m very proud of all of our students for the great work
6:16 they did. Saturday was the Space Coast Odyssey of the Mind
6:20 tournament.
6:21 And we have. Am I stealing? All right. All right. I got to go to
6:25 the just the awards part.
6:26 I did miss all the fun of the day, but people stuck around for
6:30 the cold awards ceremony.
6:32 And we have just a bunch of teams like going to state.
6:37 So we’re really proud of them. Twenty five teams going to the
6:39 state tournament.
6:41 So that’s really, really exciting. And if you’ve got more
6:43 details, Dr. Mullins, please fill us in.
6:46 I wanted to thank the members of our legislative delegation who
6:50 met with me for FSBA Day in the legislature when I went to
6:52 represent us.
6:53 I had I met with Senator Mayfield, Representative Soroy,
6:56 Representative Altman, and then Senator Wright had one of his
6:59 aides who had time to meet with me.
7:01 So I just want to thank them for that last Thursday. And then I
7:06 wanted to recognize our new.
7:09 Still new because less than a year director of employee benefits
7:11 and risk management, Antonia Scipio, because of the great work
7:15 that I have observed, observed her doing.
7:18 I get to see it more closely on SIAC, but you guys get the e-mails.
7:21 She’s doing such a fantastic job as we’re trying to shift the
7:25 mindset of our benefits to not just health care, but wellness.
7:30 And I’m really excited about that. The new initiatives that are
7:34 coming up, including the 300 mile challenge, which I believe
7:38 everybody but Mr. Susan officially has agreed to do.
7:42 Started last Friday. Count your steps. And I think the next
7:45 board meeting, I’m going to have Tammy help me make a leaderboard.
7:48 So we know which school board member and Dr. Mullins and Paul,
7:52 you’re welcome to join us, have walked the most miles over the
7:55 12 weeks.
7:56 So we want all of our employees to jump in. It’s not too late to
7:58 jump in. You can officially sign up, but we want to set the good
8:01 example in our wellness initiatives of being a board that will
8:05 get out and walk and get those.
8:07 And I found that other exercise. So new that that is one thing I
8:12 just want to shout out to Antonia, because she’s just doing such
8:15 a great job of communicating with everyone and really leading us
8:18 into these changes.
8:19 And I’ll share some more with you guys during our board reports
8:22 at the end about some other things that was talking about. So
8:26 exciting. Thank you, Antonia.
8:29 » Thank you, Ms. Campbell. And could you assist with getting me
8:47 my step counter? Because I haven’t been counting my steps. If
8:52 one of you want to figure out how to set it up, you are welcome
8:52 to. I don’t have the patience to fight with it. All right, Ray.
8:52 Who’s next?
8:52 So we’re wearing like wristbands and stuff like that. And they
9:02 count our steps. Can you explain this process?
9:04 » If you don’t have like a smartwatch or a phone that has a pedometer,
9:07 then it will count your steps for you. All you have to do is
9:09 record it in a spreadsheet.
9:11 » But if I don’t have that, I can order something?
9:14 » They’re providing pedometers for everyone who joins the
9:16 challenge.
9:17 » I’d like to order five of them. Strap them to them. And then
9:22 I can get my 300 miles.
9:23 » That is cheating. And I’m pretty sure you’d get more than 300
9:25 miles.
9:26 » I’ve seen people attach them to animals and get some stuff.
9:29 All right? So I’m telling you.
9:30 » It’s on the record, Mr. Susan.
9:34 » Anyways, thank you for that. I’ll join the challenge. Love it.
9:38 And I promise my children not to put them into forced labor and
9:41 do that. So thank you.
9:43 Gibbs, I swear. The attorney is giving me a look down there like
9:47 you’re not supposed to talk. Come on, Gibbs.
9:49 All right. So first off, before we get started on all the things
9:51 that we do great in Brevard, I have a special thank you to an
9:54 individual that’s out in the audience.
9:57 She took over the teaching academy at Bayside High School a
10:00 couple years ago.
10:02 And that is near and dear to my heart because I started the
10:07 teaching academy at Space Coast High School.
10:10 And the transition and what that means for our school district
10:12 is amazing.
10:13 But the one thing that’s amazing about this individual is that
10:16 Jennifer actually was went to middle school and high school with
10:19 me and we were very close friends.
10:21 And so I usually you know, I just want to say we have a heck of
10:24 an employee in the fact that she’s being pinned tonight.
10:29 But then on top of that, I’ve known her for a very long time and
10:31 she has been nothing but extraordinary throughout our entire
10:34 lives.
10:35 So, Jennifer, thank you for being a part of it. Thank you for
10:39 being here tonight. Sorry about everybody else that’s here
10:41 getting pinned, but she’s kind of special right now.
10:42 So thank you. Yeah. Thank you. All right.
10:47 So the coolest stuff’s been happening. We went out on a trade
10:50 score. Right.
10:52 And Dr. Mullen said, all right, let’s go. And Dr. Mullen’s, as
10:56 you know, Dr. Mullen’s and our staff and our school board have
10:58 put in more emphasis on CTE and trades than any other school
11:02 district that I know of.
11:04 And we have the best trades programs in the state of Florida.
11:08 And I’m not lying to you. We are the only.
11:11 School district with an aviation program that has its own hangar.
11:15 We have our own water development program. We have all kinds of
11:18 stuff. So literally, we are the best. And it was time to start
11:21 showing it off. So we started going down there.
11:23 So we went and showed off a galley and things started to happen
11:25 after we showed it off to a galley that people started watching.
11:29 So we went to all of a sudden I got a call from a Rolex 24 hour
11:34 race team and they said, we want to sponsor the high school that
11:38 we just saw on Space Coast Daily.
11:41 So there’s a company called Fast MD that has literally the
11:43 coolest race car.
11:45 If you guys get an opportunity to go to Space Coast Daily and
11:48 take a look at it, it is an amazing opportunity.
11:50 And what they’re going to do is adopt a galley’s automotive
11:53 program and they’re going to have the kids working on the
11:56 engines on the car at the Sebring 12 hour that’s coming up.
12:01 On top of that, they’re creating an online portal for not only a
12:05 galley and provide people, but the entire state of Florida to
12:08 look at thermodynamics on a race car.
12:11 Hydrodynamic, you know, everything aerodynamic. They’re going to
12:15 work on side the tires. We were looking at the tire. I was an
12:19 idiot. This was yesterday. I was at Sebring and they were doing
12:20 testing and they pulled that car off.
12:22 They stopped the car and then literally pulled it up on jacks.
12:25 Guy got out. They carried it over, put it up on another one.
12:28 I touched the tire like 20 minutes later and I burned my finger.
12:31 It was still that hot. Right. They pick up so much traction
12:33 anyway.
12:34 So it’s a group of doctors, if you can believe this, that have
12:37 formed a race team and they’re not your normal race team.
12:40 So what they did was we said, we’re not your normal race team. I
12:42 mean, they’re in between Ferrari, Audi, Porsche, like and then
12:46 these guys.
12:47 Right. And they’re in there and they’re just crazy. A lot of fun.
12:50 We have a lot of collaboration. And I just want to say that we
12:52 also went after that to Vieira High School last week on a trade
12:57 store and they showed off the trades from there.
13:00 And that’s getting ready to hit the I think we’re putting out a
13:03 piece on that. And because of that trades tour and what they saw
13:07 inside of Vieira High School, Health First decided they’re going
13:10 to push out an initiative to offer 100 pharmacy tech programs to
13:15 Vieira and other schools throughout the state and throughout our
13:17 county.
13:18 So what we’re doing is, is it’s starting to boil over. I’ve had
13:21 people come in from soccer games and the community and talk to
13:25 me, hey, what’s going on? And all it is, is that we’re able to
13:29 go to every one of our schools, show off what great things our
13:33 staff and our school board and superintendent have created.
13:36 And the community is starting to come because we’ve been in COVID
13:39 heck for the last two years, not noticing what to do and couldn’t
13:43 see anything. And now we’re trying to do that. So I want to say
13:46 thank you to Dr. Mones. He actually opened it up for the rest of
13:49 the county.
13:50 So they’re going to go for the next couple of months to every
13:52 single high school is going to show off all of their trade. And
13:55 that’s going to be absolutely amazing.
13:58 So I’m looking forward to I mean, I don’t even know what’s going
14:00 to happen next. Got a race car team. We got all this stuff
14:03 happening next thing. I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s
14:06 going to be neat. Oh, they’re bringing the race car to a galley
14:07 high school.
14:08 Problem is they put the one race car into the wall yesterday
14:11 after we left. So they’ve got to take that back and fix it. But
14:13 they’re taking a couple of race cars that they have. It’s going
14:15 to be a fun thing.
14:16 So anyways, and then we have some of our transportation and bus
14:19 drivers here tonight. Thank you for coming. I put on what we had
14:24 discussed earlier. I put on the agenda to discuss later. It’s
14:28 part of our board discussion.
14:28 So thank you for coming. And thank you for everybody else that’s
14:32 here tonight for what you guys do and what you’re about to do
14:35 with Ms. Perchon. Thank you.
14:37 I want to give a shout out to the provides symphony orchestra
14:42 who hosted the fifth graders in our district. And what a
14:47 wonderful program they provided for for our students.
14:52 I think we’ve been there before. It’s always wonderful. They and
14:55 the students are so wonderful.
14:58 They there was a part where they could shout out. I think La Bamba
15:04 and they did a great job.
15:07 So that was thank you again to provide symphony orchestra for
15:10 hosting our fifth graders.
15:12 Also, I want to give a shout out to our science teachers and our
15:17 students who I was able to go to Merritt Island Mall.
15:21 And I hope some of you were able to pop in there over the
15:24 weekend and see some of our students and their science projects.
15:29 They were phenomenal. I just I talked to kids from Delora
15:34 Satellite, Hoover, Edgewood and Heritage.
15:38 Those are some of the students I talked to. They are all
15:40 different schools. They were all very professional.
15:42 And can I tell you that I think we’re going to be in good hands.
15:45 There was one student who he’s a senior and I can’t remember
15:50 what school, but he decided that he wanted to find a way.
15:55 To. To find to discover ovarian cancer before it gets to stage
16:02 four.
16:03 I mean, he really it was pretty amazing what he did.
16:06 And another one, another young lady talked about the red tide
16:10 and how she wanted to develop something that she was working on
16:15 to reduce red tide when it happens.
16:18 So we have some amazing students and amazing science teachers.
16:22 So I want to give a shout out to those students and teachers.
16:28 I also want to give a shout out to a group of people who are oftentimes
16:33 overlooked and are very important to our custodial service team.
16:39 This has been a couple of years of intense cleaning. And
16:45 sometimes we have had challenges to fill our positions.
16:48 They we have custodians working at two schools. We have excuse
16:52 me, managers and supervisors and specialists filling in at
16:55 different schools.
16:57 We have ground technicians helping with custodial duties at our
17:01 school, our high schools who may have more than one custodian.
17:05 They go to another school. So I just want to talk about the
17:07 flexibility and not only of our custodial staff,
17:11 but some of our teachers and administrators who have stepped up
17:15 to the plate to help keep our schools and our students safe and
17:19 clean.
17:20 I also wanted to give a shout out to Miss Clark at McNair, who
17:24 was it was the lead in along with some of her other teachers on
17:29 pioneer days.
17:31 I don’t know if anybody’s ever been to pioneer days, but it’s
17:34 pretty phenomenal.
17:36 It’s really like you’re back in time going out west in a covered
17:39 wagon and the different activities that the students do.
17:43 And what you know, we had a cholera area. We had making bread.
17:48 We had making butter.
17:51 We had people that had babies. And what did they do when the
17:54 baby is really a five pound sack of flour?
17:56 And what do they do when they’re in the wagon train? This is
17:58 little thing. It was very well done and very well put together.
18:02 And I thought, man, you had to be really had some grit. And last
18:05 but not least is I want to give a shout out to.
18:09 Edgewood students who I never heard of this before, but it’s the
18:12 future health professional regional competition.
18:16 And this team and students brought home for first place and
18:20 three second places trophies in both individual and team events.
18:25 And you’ll say, OK, what is this organization? It is a
18:28 international career and technical organization that has future
18:34 health professionals.
18:36 And it’s throughout the United States and they have it over in
18:38 Europe and in Asia also.
18:40 So a shout out to the science teachers and to the students at Edgewood
18:43 for bringing home some first and second place.
18:46 And I think that’s all I have.
18:53 Thank you. Just to piggyback on the science research, the shout
18:59 outs and thank yous. It was a great award ceremony Saturday
19:05 night, like Miss McDougal shared.
19:07 I do also want to the projects are phenomenal. I can’t even
19:12 pronounce half the words that are on the science fair boards.
19:16 But there’s a there’s a part of our community I want to
19:19 acknowledge along with you, Miss McDougal, and that is our
19:22 community partners, our business partners across this great
19:26 community.
19:27 Absolutely rally from L3 Harris to Northrop Grumman, but also
19:32 individuals across the health arena, health first and all of our
19:37 partners.
19:38 It is amazing that our students have the mentorship and the
19:41 partners to help them see those projects to fruition and and
19:45 have that experience.
19:47 So thank you to our amazing community for filling a gap for our
19:51 kids that helps them absolutely receive an exceptional science
19:55 research experience.
19:57 We talk about annually the infinite scholars program.
20:01 Mrs. Belford, you may have been wanting to highlight that. I
20:06 leave it for you. No, go ahead. Again, our what a shout out to
20:10 Dr. Michael Cador, assistant provost, Eastern Florida State
20:14 College, Rockledge City Council member.
20:17 But most closely, an absolute champion for kids and education
20:22 and public schools.
20:25 He he helped launch the Infinite Scholars Program about five or
20:28 six years ago.
20:30 And every year it has grown. This year we had over 700 students
20:33 registered to attend in person at Rockledge High School.
20:37 Over a thousand scholarships were awarded totaling over eighteen
20:42 point five million dollars.
20:45 Our kids walked away with scholarships that night.
20:51 So just another exemplary testimonial of our community providing
20:56 exceptional opportunities for our kids.
21:00 So thank you, Mike, if you’re out there listening. But
21:02 congratulations to our kids who walked away with not only hopes
21:06 of college, but realities of college.
21:10 Amazing. And then I also want to highlight our six students.
21:15 That’s the most we’ve ever said in some time to the Orlando
21:19 Regional Spelling Bee.
21:22 And they will be competing among the top 50 students from across
21:25 central Florida.
21:27 So Brevard is sending five of our kiddos and they are Misery
21:32 Shah from Imperial Estates to Shua Bhattacharya from Edgewood
21:37 Junior Senior High.
21:40 I’m sorry if I didn’t get your name right. Kalia Fox from
21:45 Challenger Seven Elementary.
21:47 Addison Jones from Lewis Lewis Carroll Elementary. Gabriel Ponton
21:52 from Quest and Jasmine Harris from University Park Elementary
21:56 schools.
21:57 We wish you well. Spell on and bring home the trophy to Brevard.
22:04 Thank you, Dr. Mullen. I have a few as well.
22:09 It seems like it’s been a really busy what has been three weeks
22:12 since our last meeting, I think. But tons of stuff going on.
22:16 So one, I want to thank Representative Soroy, who every day or
22:21 every year puts together Brevard Day in Tallahassee.
22:25 Mr. Broon and I were able to go out for Brevard Day. I think it’s
22:27 been two weeks ago now and participate.
22:31 And several of our chamber people were up there as well on that
22:34 day.
22:35 Great programming and good camaraderie and just being able to be
22:40 in the Capitol and talk and share Brevard stories.
22:44 Mr. Broon did a great job. How to have a table set up with lots
22:46 of good information. And I don’t know.
22:50 The shout out is kind of for him, too, because we know that Mr.
22:53 Broon has been a rock star for us.
22:56 I don’t know if you all are aware, but the school profiles that
22:59 all of our schools put together.
23:01 Mr. Broon has put together a book of every one of our schools
23:05 profiles, and it is the coolest thing ever to look through it.
23:08 So I’m sorry, Mr. Broon, if I’m getting ahead of you, but I just
23:11 couldn’t couldn’t hold back my excitement on that one,
23:14 because I think it’s so awesome to look through and see all the
23:15 great things going on at our schools.
23:17 So I’m sure you guys will be getting copies of those soon as
23:22 well.
23:23 Also, I’m pretty sure it was been since the last meeting, Dr.
23:26 Mullins and I had the opportunity to attend the space.
23:31 So junior senior space force transition ceremony where their ROTC
23:37 program is transitioning from an Air Force ROTC to one of 10
23:42 Space Force unit.
23:45 And the entire country and was so incredibly cool, so well put
23:49 together.
23:50 Our kids just have an incredible opportunity in front of them.
23:54 And to top it off, we had a rocket launch right at the end of
23:57 the ceremony.
23:58 So it was like just perfection. So congratulations to them and
24:03 thank thanks to the Space Force for the opportunities for our kiddos.
24:08 Also had the opportunity to attend the employee of the year
24:12 ceremony last week, I think it was,
24:16 which was a great recognition of our employees of the year
24:17 throughout the district. And so many congratulations to them.
24:22 And also thanks to the foundation for putting together the
24:25 opportunity for the recognition and and all the folks that made
24:28 that possible.
24:30 And then the very next day, I got to attend the Teacher of the
24:33 Year Summit, which is put on by our TLC, which was phenomenal.
24:37 So they brought together all of our teachers of the year from
24:39 the entire district and they spent a day together.
24:41 And I have to tell you, the energy in that room was absolutely
24:45 amazing.
24:46 The state teacher of the year from last year came and spoke.
24:49 They had lots of activities going on. It was just it was awesome
24:53 collaboration.
24:54 And just, I guess, re-energizing each other and just really a
24:58 phenomenal experience.
25:00 So thank you for all of your work and making that possible.
25:05 And then, of course, we had the ABC Awards the night after that,
25:09 which Miss.
25:10 Jenkins mentioned with this wonderful recognition of our our
25:12 teachers of the year. So been really an exciting few weeks.
25:16 And all of the great stuff. You have one more or you want Dr.
25:20 Mullins has one more instance?
25:22 Well, I was reminded we can’t pass up the opportunity to
25:25 recognize and a group that goes to compete nationally and brings
25:30 home the second place trophy.
25:32 And that was our Marine Corps Junior ROTC from Palm Bay Magnet
25:37 Senior High School.
25:40 The rifle team went and competed nationally and came home runner
25:45 up in that competition in the country.
25:49 Thank you, Mrs. Belford. Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Mullins, for
25:52 making sure we cover that.
25:53 And thanks to all that have created all the great opportunities
25:56 to really showcase the amazingness in Brevard.
25:59 It’s been a great couple of weeks. All right, we are now going
26:03 to move into our adoption of the agenda.
26:06 Dr. Mullins, Mrs. Belford and members of the board on this
26:08 evening’s agenda.
26:10 We have administrative staff recommendations, one presentation,
26:13 19 consent items and 21 action items.
26:16 Changes made to the agenda since it was released to the public
26:19 are as follows.
26:20 Revisions were made to items F7 administrative staff
26:23 recommendations, F11 student expulsions, F13 instructional staff
26:27 recommendations,
26:30 F14 support staff recommendations, F20 Jupiter Elementary School
26:35 construction management services,
26:37 F22 Riviera Elementary School construction management services
26:42 and G31 procurement solicitations.
26:45 There were also two board member discussion points added items J52
26:48 Melbourne High School renaming update and J53 transportation and
26:53 bus driver collaboration.
26:55 I’ll entertain a motion to approve. Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded
26:59 by Ms. McDougall. Is there any discussion?
27:02 We are voice voting. All in favor, please indicate by saying aye.
27:06 Aye. Any opposed?
27:07 Same sign. Motion passes 5-0. Dr. Mullins, will you please let
27:11 us know about the administrative staff recommendation?
27:15 Madam Chair, members of the board, there are six items for your
27:17 consideration, which includes one resignation, one retirement
27:21 and four transfers.
27:23 Do I hear a motion? Move to approve. Moved by Mr. Susan, seconded
27:26 by Ms. Campbell. Is there any discussion?
27:29 Hearing none, please vote. All in favor, please signify by
27:31 saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Same sign. Motion passes 5-0.
27:36 Dr. Mullins. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize
27:41 a wonderful former colleague and wonderful administrator
27:47 dedicated to our kids, Ms. Lena Cook.
27:50 I’m not sure if she is here this evening. Lena, are you here? No.
27:56 She is retiring from the position of assistant principal at
27:59 Jefferson Middle School.
28:01 Lena, if you’re out there in TV land, congratulations on your
28:05 retirement. We truly and sincerely appreciate your many, many
28:09 years of service to the students of Brevard.
28:12 And then also mentoring up teachers and mentoring up other
28:14 administrators. You have served so valiantly across our district.
28:19 So congratulations. Thank you, Dr. Mullins. And congratulations,
28:23 Lena. Dr. Mullins, if you will please let us know about the
28:27 presentation on tonight’s agenda.
28:28 Although I have to say that I got a preview the other day when I
28:30 was at the summit and I am so excited about this presentation.
28:34 I think you guys will be too. So, Dr. Mullins. Yes, very
28:37 exciting to share Ms. Janice Kershaw, president and CEO of our
28:40 Brevard Schools Foundation.
28:43 We’ll lead tonight’s presentation on the new Teacher Leadership
28:48 Council Fellowship Program in year two.
28:52 You’re probably going to cover this year. It’s our first year.
28:57 So this is a Kershaw team.
28:59 Well, good evening, board members and Dr. Mullins. We’re just
29:02 here to give you something else to brag about.
29:05 We’re here tonight to introduce to you the new TLC fellowship
29:09 program, an initiative of Brevard Schools Foundation and our
29:13 initial cohort of fellows who will introduce to you in a few
29:17 minutes.
29:18 First, you may be wondering why Brevard Schools Foundation would
29:21 initiate such a program.
29:23 Well, education foundations are not only known for helping fill
29:27 educational funding gaps, but for serving as a proving ground
29:31 for innovative programs.
29:33 In fact, in Florida, our education foundations receive
29:36 encouragement from the school district Education Foundation
29:40 matching grant program that allows us to use the power of public
29:44 private investment to shape and address issues around priority
29:49 areas.
29:50 One of them being teaching quality and our private partner in
29:55 this particular project is through us. So this pilot program
29:59 started with a question or a wondering.
30:03 I wondered how Brevard Schools Foundation could better support
30:06 the development of teacher leaders that ultimately leads to
30:09 better results in teaching and learning.
30:12 And what I learned in my exploration was that action research
30:16 could bring respect, motivation and improved academic results to
30:20 those who practice it, providing a lever for teacher leadership.
30:25 What’s more, it could serve as a strong retention tool as well.
30:30 So when I first brought this idea to Dr. Mullins last year, it
30:33 was under a working title sharing the art of teaching action
30:37 research by teachers.
30:39 Now, while the concept is the same, after some collaboration
30:42 with my peers at the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, we
30:46 decided that the word fellowship would be more recognizable as a
30:50 prestigious opportunity, commonly referred to as a monetary
30:54 award given to a scholar to pay for his or her academic pursuit.
30:58 And all the teachers in our program are receiving an honorarium
31:02 as well as the group leads.
31:04 The Teacher Leadership Council would help develop and house the
31:09 fellowship program, thus the name TLC Fellowship Program.
31:13 One of Brevard Public Schools unique attributes is its Teacher
31:17 Leadership Council, which has gained recognition around our
31:21 state.
31:22 Seven years ago, former Teachers of the Year, Christina Donahue
31:26 and Dr. Lucy Haddock, who are here tonight, gave birth to the
31:30 council and the fellowship program provided a logical next step
31:34 in its growth.
31:36 In practice, the TLC not only concerns itself with developing
31:39 high performing teacher leaders, but in making the retention of
31:43 high performing teachers a priority.
31:46 Research has shown that for one high performing teacher that
31:50 leaves, it takes 11 new hires to replace them.
31:54 Giving teachers something important to do, like academic
32:06 research, is one low cost retention strategy. In the past, TLC
32:17 has participated in facilitating new teacher meetups, wellness
32:17 programs, and peers in public practice professional development,
32:17 not to mention the teacher led summits and roundtables, to name
32:17 just a few examples of its work.
32:18 We’re hoping one day that funding will allow us to develop a
32:20 teacher leadership center here in Brevard.
32:23 Now I’m proud to introduce the TLC group leads, Danielle Lavelle
32:28 and Dottie Arie to take you through the next step in the
32:32 development of this program, which also happens to be the next
32:37 step in the inquiry process.
32:40 Thank you so much, Ms. Kershaw. Before we really dive into it,
32:44 on behalf of the TLC fellowship, we would just like to thank the
32:49 TLC and Ms. Vanis Kershaw for really putting together this
32:53 unique opportunity, not only for myself and Ms. Dottie, but for
32:58 also the teachers within BPS.
33:00 So my name is Danielle Lavelle. I am currently the TOA at
33:03 University Park Elementary School, and I have with me Ms. Dottie
33:07 Arieau, who is the GSP teacher at John F. Kennedy.
33:11 When this idea was presented to us, we were chomping at the bits
33:15 to get it started, and one of the reasons being is as a teacher
33:20 leader, you’re always wanting something more, not just another
33:25 task that you have to check off, but another way to reach out to
33:30 effect and to collaborate with peers.
33:34 So once the teacher fellowship kind of came together, and as you
33:37 know, this is our pilot year, so we are very much learning about
33:40 the inquiry process, which I’ve been told, Dr. Mullen, so are
33:44 you. Am I correct in this?
33:47 So we began with seeing really what type of group of teachers we
33:52 needed to pull in, and our initial thought was the Teacher of
33:56 the Year cohort.
33:58 We’ve already been elected and selected by their peers as being
34:02 teacher leaders, so they were our obvious initial choice to kind
34:06 of bring in and send applications to.
34:09 So now that we’ve kind of gotten the logistics and terms, we’re
34:13 going to move on to explain what the inquiry process is and how
34:18 it ties into the fellowship program.
34:21 So our fellows are to complete an inquiry. The current inquiries
34:24 that we are doing are based on a collaborative effort, as this
34:28 is our pilot program, so we’re very much learning about action
34:31 research as we’re continuing on.
34:34 I’m going to pass it to Ms. Dottie so that she can explain to
34:37 you more further in detail the different components of action
34:40 research and how it ties into the inquiry process.
34:44 So as Ms. Janice Kershaw said, her whole thought started with
34:49 this wondering, and as you see, that is the initial step to
34:54 inquiry.
34:56 So we begin the whole process with the wondering. As teachers,
35:03 you’re always wondering what would be better to provide more for
35:10 our students to make our teaching and our practice even better.
35:18 So we established our group, secondary and elementary, and we
35:18 collaborated to figure out what our wonderings were, which moves
35:18 into our collaboration and exploration.
35:22 That’s the research. That’s us as leads preparing whatever we
35:26 need to for our fellows and providing them with the adequate
35:30 amounts of research that will support their wonderings, which
35:34 then will lead us into that data.
35:37 As teachers, we love looking at data. That is something that I,
35:42 as a teacher, pride myself on because we always want to grow
35:48 professionally and within our practice.
35:52 So when we’re collaborating and looking for more resources, we’re
35:57 also looking at how it’s going to impact our practice.
36:01 At the end, we’re reflecting and continuing. So our wonderings
36:05 at first may start with one simple wondering, but through this
36:09 process of inquiry, it’s actually going to grow into new wonderings.
36:14 So it’s a continuous cycle that we can learn and grow more from
36:20 and broaden our professional practice.
36:25 Thank you so much. So as stated, we have two separate groups
36:29 that have initiated this pilot program.
36:32 We decided to separate the fellows into a primary or elementary,
36:36 I should say, and a secondary group. The reason being is because
36:40 we really wanted to ensure and hone in on the populations of
36:45 those schools and recognize that even though we are serving in a
36:48 whole county,
36:50 the needs of elementary are going to differ greatly for the
36:53 needs of secondary.
36:55 So in terms of leading the process, we thought, OK, what are
36:58 current things, current events, current ideas, current keywords
37:04 that we’ve been hearing over the last couple of years to help
37:07 drive that initial wondering?
37:09 So we took a survey and one of the different topics was trauma
37:12 informed teaching, which does that sound familiar to you, Dr.
37:16 Mullins?
37:17 Yes. So trauma informed teaching was the concept that we had
37:20 originally selected.
37:22 Some of the other ones were social emotional learning, just to
37:26 kind of name a couple. And within trauma informed, we began
37:29 thinking, OK, with trauma informed teaching, what type of
37:33 strategies, what type of skill sets could we then put into play
37:39 that could benefit not only the academic side, but also the
37:42 behavior side?
37:43 Because as educators, we know that if we do not have solidified
37:48 social emotional learning, we have no academics that are going
37:52 to be able to take place.
37:54 So the elementary group decided on the effects of small group
37:57 lesson introduction based on student trauma index and risk
38:01 factors. The elementary team created a ACEs, which for those of
38:05 you who are not familiar, ACEs is basically a trauma index that
38:09 we provide to get an understanding of how much trauma an
38:13 individual has experienced within their lifetime.
38:17 And it’s geared towards childhood. So we created our own trauma
38:22 index that also included specifics on risk factors for academics.
38:27 This includes behavior such as discipline referrals, how many
38:30 times a child is called for assistance, parties and attendance.
38:35 So based on their trauma index on what we had created, we have
38:40 populated a group of students who have a higher level of trauma
38:44 in compared to their peers. This group of small group of
38:48 students will then be given a small group lesson prior to an
38:52 introductory whole group.
38:55 The reason why we’re doing this is because as educators, when
38:58 you think of small group, it’s always done as a remedial factor.
39:02 You put small group to fill in the gap. However, what we’ve
39:05 learned through our research with trauma informed teaching is
39:08 that students who have higher levels of trauma do not transition
39:13 well.
39:14 And we think of transitions just being scheduling, oh, going
39:19 from one activity to the next, whether it be lunch or PE, recess,
39:23 or even just arrival and dismissal. But what we’re wanting to
39:28 find is that when we think of students making those transitions,
39:32 that very much ties into when we’re transferring from one key
39:36 concept to another.
39:38 And how much emphasis do we really give on providing those
39:41 students with not only the additional background knowledge, but
39:45 a sense of awareness so that they feel confident and comfortable
39:49 to dive into a new standard.
39:51 So the small group lesson introduction to those students who
39:55 have a higher level of trauma, to ease them into the skill set,
39:59 let them collaborate in a small group level, and then we’re also
40:03 including a restorative practice within that small group. Our
40:08 focus is only on ELA.
40:09 Reason being is just because time. We’re always trying to find
40:13 enough time in the day. But what we’re really looking at is
40:17 finding how this will build their confidence, how it will let
40:21 them see that, you know, it’s not just about filling those gaps,
40:25 but it’s also about getting them prepared.
40:27 I’m going to go ahead and pass it back to Miss Dottie so that
40:32 she can explain the secondary inquiry.
40:36 For the secondary, you know, we’re a different school setting
40:41 with class changes and periods throughout the day and my fellows
40:44 are all different subject teachers so we kind of wanted to do a
40:48 more broader base, especially with the age group that we’re
40:52 working with.
40:53 So our project is the impact of relationship building on
40:56 engagement within a trauma informed classroom. So we’re still
41:00 having those factors of making the students feel comfortable and
41:05 building those relationships in order for the engagement and the
41:09 academics to occur.
41:11 So we’re realizing the trauma is playing in all kids lives in
41:15 very different ways. When you hear where my fellows are working
41:20 at their schools very just just by saying that their schools are
41:24 very different and their students experience different dramas.
41:29 So therefore we wanted to make sure that we could do this
41:32 collaboratively, but we obviously recognize the differences that
41:35 they might be facing. So we wanted to make sure that we focus on
41:39 just good relationship building strategies and how those impact
41:43 the academic.
41:46 Thank you so much. And before we really begin off, I just wanted
41:50 to also point out that even though we’ve come from varying
41:53 schools trauma has affected everybody, and due to the pandemic
41:57 we no longer get to sit back and and deal with that reality that
42:01 trauma is just
42:02 affecting certain pockets or populations within Brevard trauma
42:06 has affected everyone during our research that we conducted
42:10 something that really stuck out to me was that two thirds of
42:14 children will experience trauma by the age of 16.
42:19 Two thirds. And when you think of that it’s it’s very it’s
42:27 pointing out that we need to be doing something. And that’s what
42:35 that action research is saying I’m taking action I’m doing the
42:35 research, and it’s that ownership piece that I feel as educators
42:35 we really strive for.
42:37 So, now we get to the fun part, we’re going to go ahead and
42:40 introduce to you all the 2021 to 2022 fellowship cohort. Prior
42:45 to beginning our pinning, I’m going to ask that the principles
42:49 and our TLC Council who is representing us today.
42:53 Please step forward.
43:07 And I have our fellowship stand up as well.
43:22 Our first fellowship is Alexandra Stewart. She is a current
43:35 Spanish AP teacher at West shore junior and senior high school.
43:49 Our next fellowship member is Jennifer Loham. She’s the teacher
43:58 Academy coordinator at Bayside High School.
44:13 Next, we have Alex Wicker, our seventh grade science teacher at
44:23 Jackson Middle School and our BPS Teacher of the Year as well.
44:33 And last we have Mickey Corvo, literacy coach at Endeavor
44:47 Elementary.
44:51 Thank you. I would also like to just thank our principals and
45:06 administration who have not only recommended the fellows that
45:06 are part of this year’s cohort, but also for just lending your
45:06 classrooms, and for granting these teachers.
45:07 The initiative to become teacher leaders and develop their
45:12 practice and skills so thank you and I would just like to take
45:17 that moment to recognize the administrators present this evening
45:23 as well.
45:25 All right, so that wraps us up. We are just wanted to let the
45:28 board know continuing on with our second year. We have
45:32 applications that are going to be sent out not only to the
45:36 current Teacher of the Year cohort but we’re also looking to
45:39 expand and reach out to the teacher leadership Academy that is
45:42 also taking place.
45:44 Our hope is that the fellows that you see here that are being
45:47 penned will go on next year to become fellowship leads like
45:51 myself and Miss Dottie, and so that we can not only courage
45:55 teacher leadership, encourage collaboration, but also assist
46:00 educators and taking on that ownership of their professional
46:04 development.
46:05 So I thank you all for your time, and I think the TLC and the
46:10 Brevard Federation for granting us this opportunity tonight.
46:16 And I just have one more thing.
46:19 These teachers will also have a chance to present their findings
46:24 at the teacher conference that is held in June, April, April
46:28 this year.
46:30 So this is Dr. Lucy Haddock and Christian Donahue who started
46:34 the TLC, and they’re integral in planning that and and owning
46:38 this fellowship program in the future. So, thanks again.
46:59 All right.
47:02 Thank you so much to all of you for your commitment to the
47:07 fellowship program and
47:08 I can just tell you based off what I saw when I was with you I’m
47:11 expecting phenomenal things so not that we want to set the bar
47:15 too high but just know that, you know, it’s, it’s very obvious
47:19 that you all are dedicated and committed and energized and it’s
47:23 just super exciting so thank you.
47:25 We appreciate it.
47:27 All right, we are now going to be moving into our public comment
47:30 portion of the meeting on our agenda item specifically.
47:34 We actually have eight people signed up for agenda items but
47:38 four of them are on discussion items so those four will be taken
47:42 on the non agenda items, which leaves us with four speakers on
47:48 agenda items.
47:57 Oh, for the TLC.
48:03 We have four.
48:07 Yeah, I mean, y’all are welcome to leave if you don’t want to
48:09 stay for the entire meeting. Don’t, don’t feel like we’re
48:12 kicking you out though we love to see your smiling faces but,
48:16 but you are welcome to go if you’d like, don’t feel like you
48:20 have to stay.
48:22 Okay, so we have four speakers on the agenda.
48:28 As such, all speakers will receive three minutes.
48:32 Please note that the time is per speaker not per agenda item
48:35 topics not specific to agenda items will be moved to the non
48:38 agenda portion of the meeting. We have a clock in front of me to
48:41 help you keep track of your time.
48:43 When your time is over you will be asked to stop and allow the
48:46 next speaker his or her turn.
48:48 Always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is expected and your
48:50 statement should be directed to the board chair. The chair may
48:53 interrupt warn or terminate a participant statement when time is
48:58 up, it’s personally directed abusive obscene or relevant.
49:02 But an individual not observe proper etiquette the chair may
49:10 request the individual to leave the meeting. I’ll call up. I’m
49:18 just going to call the first four speakers and if you all would
49:18 gather on the East wall so that we can move through everyone
49:18 quickly.
49:18 So we have Katie Delaney followed by Anthony Colucci, then Sarah
49:22 Murphy and carry the cup.
49:24 Katie.
49:30 Thank you.
49:32 Tonight I am here to speak on agenda items of 28 and 31. But
49:38 before I do that, I wanted to thank the member of the board and
49:44 Dr. Mullen staff for getting back to me with some questions that
49:50 we had regarding this agenda so I just wanted to thank you for
49:56 that.
49:57 To start off with the 31. It’s about the procurement of for
50:04 motor vehicles.
50:07 Based on the answers that we got back today from Miss Moore.
50:12 A lot of our questions got got answered but what I would ask the
50:17 board is that in, in the future, if we could possibly have a
50:21 little bit more transparency in, in the specifics of where the
50:25 funds are going, how much money is being spent.
50:30 And, like what positions require a district vehicle and just be
50:35 just to have some more transparency and accountability as you
50:40 know you all spend our, our money.
50:44 The second item is f 28, which is the large contract for outside
50:51 counsel, which we already pay for two wonderful lawyers that the
50:59 board uses.
51:01 I am wondering why we need a contract for three years with Tallahassee
51:07 lawyers that cost $250 an hour for attorney, excluding travel.
51:15 So they get paid $250 an hour for their travel here and then
51:20 they get $250 an hour to advise you all when we’re already
51:26 paying for two lawyers.
51:28 And then I believe, if I’m remembering correctly, the paralegals
51:32 are getting paid $200 an hour, and the assistants are getting
51:37 paid.
51:38 If I might, this number I can’t remember exactly it’s either at
51:42 or $100 an hour for this for the support staff.
51:47 So, basically I’m asking why we need these people. And how is
51:52 this, you know, taking care of our, our funds, where we could be
51:57 spending the money on hiring more, you know, bus drivers I bet a
52:03 bunch of bus drivers are in here wondering why we have expensive
52:09 Tallahassee lawyers.
52:11 When, when we can’t give them raises.
52:16 So, thank you.
52:22 Anthony Clucci.
52:28 My name is Anthony Clucci I’m the president of the Brevard
52:31 Federation of teachers on tonight’s agenda there are a total of
52:34 44 resignations or retirements.
52:37 There are 32 appointments that is a net loss of 12 teachers,
52:40 while it’s important to take the 30,000 foot view, sometimes it’s
52:45 important to take the ground level view.
52:48 For instance, I want to point out that if these 12 teachers were
52:51 at a small elementary school that would be like losing every
52:55 first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade teacher at
52:59 the school.
53:00 Please let that sink in for a moment, this is a real issue and
53:03 one that snowballs, because we were losing teachers, other
53:07 teachers are required to provide coverage, or have ballooning
53:10 class sizes.
53:12 Without a doubt this intensifies the stress of an already
53:15 difficult job. And some of these overworked teachers will leave
53:19 causing this snowball to grow larger.
53:23 Now, before I hear that this is not only a Brevard problem but
53:26 an everywhere problem. I will remind you that you are the Brevard
53:31 public schools board and you have the authority to make changes
53:35 here.
53:36 I strongly suggest that you survey your teachers and find out
53:39 their opinions on what’s going on. This is especially true of
53:43 our teachers who are leaving the district needs to know more
53:47 than is currently, then it’s currently gathering as to why
53:51 teachers are leaving, then is listed on the agenda, do the classifications
53:55 personal other employment and relocation really help BPS chart a
53:59 course to improve retention.
54:01 Based on other surveys we can make some assumptions about our
54:05 teachers. The National Education Association recently surveyed
54:09 members and found that 90% of members stated that burnout is a
54:12 very serious or somewhat serious issue.
54:15 They found that 55% of members stated they were more likely to
54:19 leave or retire sooner than planned because of the pandemic. 74%
54:23 of members had to fill in for colleagues or take other duties at
54:27 their school.
54:28 The top three ways members suggested to address educator burnout
54:31 were raise salaries, hire more teachers and hire more support
54:35 staff. Let that sink in as well because we all know that Brevard
54:38 is going in the wrong direction on all three of those
54:41 suggestions.
54:42 Recently, it’s become extremely clear to me as why our teachers
54:45 are leaving. They get into education to make a difference. Their
54:50 goal is to positively impact children.
54:52 But that each day as they struggle with a lack of staff unrelenting
54:55 and ever growing expectations and the most challenging behaviors
54:59 we’ve ever seen. They’re going home at night feeling
55:02 unsuccessful and defeated.
55:04 They’re leaving because they do not believe they’re making a
55:08 positive difference.
55:10 This is what these teachers need to be told and I wish you’d all
55:13 join me in this. Teachers, your best is good enough. You’ve been
55:18 face to face with students throughout this pandemic. We
55:22 appreciate you and you should go home proud each night of the
55:23 work you’re doing with your students.
55:25 Your service to our community is honorable and valued. Thank you
55:28 for sticking with DPS.
55:31 Thank you, Mr. Colucci.
55:35 Sarah Merski.
55:41 Good evening, Madam Chair and Board. I am Sarah Merski,
55:44 constituent of District 2 for School Board, registered voter,
55:47 taxpayer and mom of two.
55:49 I came away from the last school board meeting agenda items with
55:52 more questions than answers and that theme continues into this
55:55 school board meeting and agenda items.
55:58 As I talk about the agenda items that I’m concerned about, I
56:01 want to say that I do not want the schools or students to lose
56:04 funding at the federal or state level.
56:07 I understand that the federal administration and the state
56:09 administration are polar opposites of the political spectrum and
56:13 there seems to be some confusion.
56:16 I’m going to refer to G 32 and G 34 on the agenda item. Every BPS
56:21 board member is to make decisions for BPS as an independent
56:25 member and make nonpartisan choices as a board members and
56:31 listen to what their constituents want.
56:34 As there seems to be gray area and what laws to craft school
56:37 board policy around, I certainly hope that BPS, the board, isn’t
56:41 trying to work around current state legislation as particular
56:46 political opponents have said that they are trying to do.
56:50 To also make sure the board is adhering to Florida State Statute
57:02 1001.41. I have mentioned in previous meetings that each school
57:08 board member is a fiduciary and it’s about time board members
57:08 take that role seriously by being more transparent with their
57:08 constituents.
57:08 The taxpayers need a lot more transparency and where our money
57:11 is going. As I said before, I as well as many others feel you
57:14 have broken your corporate fiduciary responsibility by going
57:18 against state law and being found being out of compliance with
57:21 the Florida Department of Education.
57:24 The trust between half of your constituents and the board has
57:35 been broken. Why do you need, this is on F28 agenda item, why do
57:39 you need more taxpayer money to hire outside legal counsel when
57:39 we already have two in house attorneys is what I’m wondering.
57:39 I highly recommend doing things to repair the trust. Listen to
57:42 your attorney when he says something is illegal and take
57:45 directives from the Florida Department of Education to not lose
57:48 funding or have it suspended.
57:50 Taxpayers of Brevard County need more transparency starting with
57:54 not pushing political agendas that the board doesn’t have to. On
57:58 to item G41.
58:00 I appreciate BPS bringing the wording up to current law. Thank
58:03 you for revising it before you voted in.
58:06 I’m very glad that BPS has a process in place to help a student
58:09 who is in a mental health crisis. Parents were concerned that a
58:13 principal would have the authority to not tell the parents for
58:16 24 hours if their child has been Baker acted.
58:19 My current understanding is that this is only when DCF would be
58:22 involved. Thank you for having it reflect the state statute.
58:26 When a child is in a healthy situation at home, it’s always best
58:28 to involve the parents. Thank you.
58:31 Thank you, Sarah. Carrie.
58:38 Carrie to catch. I’m here to speak on agenda item G32 board
58:52 policy 2260 non discrimination and access to equal education
58:52 opportunity concerns have arise with the board’s decision to
58:54 strike out C2 in accordance with Florida statue the board may
58:58 establish and maintain a single gender non vocational class extracurricular
59:03 activity for school for elementary middle or high school
59:06 students from policy 2260.
59:07 Could the board offer clarification to constituents before
59:12 approving? Thank you. Thank you.
59:27 All right, that is going to move us into our consent agenda.
59:35 We thank you for your willingness to address us in the public
59:39 comment.
59:40 Dr. Mullen.
59:45 There are 19 agenda items under this category.
59:48 Thank you, Dr. Mullen. Does any board member wish to pull any
59:51 consent agenda item?
59:53 Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion to approve the consent
59:57 agenda as presented.
59:59 Moved by Mr. Susan seconded by Miss Campbell’s or any discussion.
1:00:05 All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed same sign motion
1:00:12 passes five zero.
1:00:15 All right, Dr. Mullen, please let us know about the items under
1:00:18 the action portion of tonight’s agenda.
1:00:21 For the first item is to hold a public hearing and approve the
1:00:24 revisions to board policy 5780 student rights parents rights.
1:00:29 Is there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 5780
1:00:34 student rights parents right.
1:00:36 Anyone present who wishes to address board policy 5780 students
1:00:41 rights parents right.
1:00:42 Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion to approve moved by Mr.
1:00:47 Susan seconded by Miss Campbell’s or any discussion.
1:00:51 What did I say? Miss Campbell. Sorry.
1:00:56 All right. Moved by Mr. Susan seconded by Miss McDougal. Is
1:00:59 there any discussion.
1:01:01 All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed.
1:01:05 Same sign motion passes five zero.
1:01:08 Our next item is on procurement solicitations. I’ll entertain a
1:01:13 motion.
1:01:14 Moved by Miss Campbell’s seconded by Miss McDougal. Is there any
1:01:16 discussion.
1:01:18 All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed.
1:01:22 Same sign motion passes five zero.
1:01:27 Dr. Mullen. Next is hold a public hearing and approve the
1:01:30 revisions to board policy 2260 non-discrimination and access to
1:01:35 equal educational opportunity.
1:01:37 Is there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 2260
1:01:40 non-discrimination and access to equal educational opportunity.
1:01:44 Anyone present who wishes to address board policy 2260 non-discrimination
1:01:48 and access to equal educational opportunity.
1:01:51 Do I hear a motion. Moved by Miss McDougal seconded by Miss
1:01:56 Jenkins. Is there any discussion. Miss Campbell.
1:02:05 So this policy and the next one are a couple that I have wrestled
1:02:09 with over the last couple of months and had several discussions
1:02:11 with Dr. Mullen’s with Miss Londano.
1:02:16 I think that’s done with Mr. Gibbs as well. As far as what these
1:02:21 policies mean.
1:02:22 And I wish I’d been able to wrap my brain around and be able to
1:02:27 focus it all into one thought before this week,
1:02:29 because it would be something that I could have shared if I’d
1:02:32 had it coherently at our December workshop work session or
1:02:37 January workshop.
1:02:42 I 2260 in particular reflects the non-discrimination statement
1:02:49 that this board,
1:02:51 a previous board, including one member of the current board,
1:02:54 adopted back in 2016.
1:02:56 And for whatever reason, the policy that matches it, that marries
1:03:00 with it, was not changed at the time, hasn’t been revised since
1:03:05 2014.
1:03:08 When I got down to the crux of what was bothering me,
1:03:10 I think what it was is that if I had been on the board in 2016
1:03:13 and I wasn’t, but if I had been, I would have voted no for the
1:03:16 change in the statement.
1:03:17 I believe that similar to other school districts, and I haven’t
1:03:21 pulled all of them, but just doing a quick search, Marion, Escambia,
1:03:26 Suwanee,
1:03:26 Okaloosa, Pinellas are a few counties that didn’t add the
1:03:28 language that was added back in 2014 or 2016.
1:03:32 And my concern, if there’s a policy that I’m going to vote for,
1:03:40 words are so important.
1:03:41 And they’re particularly for me, I just I have to be able to own
1:03:44 the policy that I’m voting for.
1:03:47 And there is the section that bothers me the most.
1:03:50 It’s a preamble or the first sections that describe the purpose
1:03:54 of the policy.
1:03:56 I want to be clear because I know that my words tonight and my
1:04:02 vote tonight can be misconstrued.
1:04:07 And I know this board knows me and I shared my heart with you a
1:04:09 couple of weeks ago when I brought up the locker room issue, but
1:04:13 I still feel that way.
1:04:14 It’s still my conviction. I still want to think what’s best for
1:04:17 students, including our transgender students in particular,
1:04:21 is to not open wide the doors when it comes to restrooms and
1:04:24 locker rooms.
1:04:26 And I shared those with you guys a couple of weeks ago. All this
1:04:29 policy doesn’t talk about restrooms and locker rooms.
1:04:31 I feel like the way that it’s worded at the beginning opens the
1:04:34 door so that even if, for example, the 11th Circuit case,
1:04:38 Adams versus St. John’s County case, it’s going to be re-heard
1:04:41 by the full 11th Circuit this month.
1:04:43 And I told you there’s no no statute right now that requires
1:04:46 locker rooms except for not statute,
1:04:49 but the current presidential administration’s interpretation of
1:04:54 Title nine that requires us to allow transgender students to use
1:04:58 locker rooms and restrooms of their choice.
1:05:00 I just feel like by having this in policy, then we’re locking it
1:05:04 in one of the things that’s been consistent in our guidance,
1:05:09 our guidelines and this for all those things is our policy, our
1:05:14 national non-discrimination statement,
1:05:16 which again now is going to be solidified into policy. But I
1:05:21 want it to be clear.
1:05:23 I agree with the statements that discrimination is harmful. That’s
1:05:26 one of the things that’s in there.
1:05:28 I actually don’t mind the wording of 2266, which is why I will
1:05:33 be voting for that one tonight.
1:05:36 But I just today just had one more time just to read through all
1:05:40 those and just see, can I, can I put my full weight behind it?
1:05:44 And the truth is, I, I cannot behind 2260 and behind 2260.01, so
1:05:50 I’ll just do all the discussion on that for myself, for my point
1:05:53 of view.
1:05:55 I actually had a conversation. I called one of our NAACP leaders
1:05:58 yesterday because I want to make sure that there was not a miscommunication
1:06:02 that, you know, oh, Katie believes that discrimination is OK.
1:06:05 That’s not true. So I want to talk about what I’m for. I am for
1:06:11 all our students having whatever opportunities.
1:06:16 Education wise and for there to be no discrimination or
1:06:19 discrimination when it comes to the kind of classes that they
1:06:24 can take, the kind of.
1:06:26 Clubs that can be involved in and the way that we are treated,
1:06:30 this is separate from harassment.
1:06:31 I mean, all harassment policies are spot on and I, you know, don’t
1:06:35 have a problem and no one else that tonight has spoken against
1:06:38 those either.
1:06:40 But I just like I said, I share with you guys my heart a couple
1:06:45 of weeks ago and I just really feel like.
1:06:50 It is important. For the protection of our transgender students
1:06:56 who I am continuing to hear issues around the locker room issue
1:07:00 in particular with how that’s being handled,
1:07:02 how staff is handling their handling the best they can. Some of
1:07:05 them feel very uncomfortable with how what they’re having to do.
1:07:08 And with students, I’m hearing more stories of students who are
1:07:12 not comfortable changing.
1:07:13 And we, even though Mr. Susan mentioned a couple of weeks ago
1:07:15 that we could allow, you know, make sure parents know that their
1:07:18 student, if they want to, can have an alternative place to
1:07:20 change.
1:07:21 The truth is, we don’t have the facilities to do that. We have
1:07:24 an entire locker room of boys who don’t feel comfortable.
1:07:28 They don’t want to dress out because there’s someone who is a
1:07:30 biological girl now in their locker room.
1:07:33 We don’t have the facilities for all those boys to go somewhere
1:07:36 else, not in a timely manner at all.
1:07:39 And so those kinds of things that that is a choice by this board.
1:07:45 It is a choice that other boards have chosen differently. And I’m
1:07:49 not going to I’m not bringing that back up because I want us to
1:07:50 change it.
1:07:51 But I’m just saying this policy is the is the thing behind those
1:07:55 actions and and what we might do with those in the future.
1:07:59 And so for that reason and for that reason alone, I’m going to
1:08:03 be voting no on this policy as well as 2260.01.
1:08:06 And again, it’s mainly because of those preambles, those first
1:08:09 parts of the policy.
1:08:11 But all of the rest of them, I will be yes.
1:08:16 Thank you, Ms. Campbell. Any additional discussion? All right.
1:08:22 I have a motion. So all in favor, please indicate by saying aye.
1:08:26 Aye. I mean, let’s do that one more time just so it’s clean.
1:08:31 All in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed.
1:08:36 And the motion passes three to two.
1:08:39 Next is Dr. Mullins. Next is to hold a public hearing and
1:08:42 approve the revisions to board policy 2260.01 anti-harassment
1:08:47 and non-discrimination appeal procedures.
1:08:49 Is there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 2260.01
1:08:53 anti-harassment and non-discrimination appeal procedures?
1:08:57 Is there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 2260.01
1:09:02 anti-harassment and non-discrimination appeal procedures?
1:09:06 Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion. Oh, go ahead.
1:09:18 I did just want to chime in and mention that I I spoke with
1:09:21 someone just today who was considering moving to the area.
1:09:25 And one of the questions that they asked me was, what is the
1:09:30 policy in your schools on on the things that Ms. Campbell was
1:09:34 talking about? And I told them.
1:09:36 And they said, wow, that really makes me reconsider. And so I
1:09:40 just would hope that this board would understand that this this
1:09:46 topic.
1:09:48 Is. It’s very difficult and, you know, I just wanted to throw
1:09:55 that out there because I don’t know if you guys have, you know,
1:09:58 heard any of that yourself, but that’s something that I
1:10:01 experienced today.
1:10:03 So thank you. Thank you, Ms. Delaney. All right. Anyone else who
1:10:08 wishes to address board policy 2260 Ms. Marski?
1:10:18 Good evening again, board. I just wonder and I know this isn’t a
1:10:21 question answer session, but why this issue right now when other
1:10:26 counties and other school boards in the area are not bringing
1:10:30 this their boards and changing the policy in that way?
1:10:33 I want to know why Brevard County and why half of the
1:10:38 constituents in this room and throughout Brevard County aren’t
1:10:41 being represented in this policy.
1:10:43 Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Marski. Yes, ma’am.
1:10:54 I honestly have a proposition regarding this.
1:10:59 If you guys are comfortable changing into gym clothes in front
1:11:02 of everyone here, then I invite you to do so if you’re not
1:11:05 comfortable, you have no right to do that to our children.
1:11:09 All of the children deserve a safe place and making you’re
1:11:15 concentrating on one half of the children, not the other.
1:11:20 They all deserve a safe place, private place. And I just I can’t
1:11:24 even believe it’s the discussion.
1:11:27 Thank you, ma’am. Anyone else who wishes to speak to the policy?
1:11:32 Audience, if you would please hold your applause.
1:11:35 Anyone else that wishes to speak to the policy? OK, then I will
1:11:40 entertain a motion.
1:11:42 Moved by Ms. Duggal, seconded by Ms. Jenkins. Is there any
1:11:47 additional any is there any discussion?
1:11:50 Ms. Jenkins? Man, I just it’s alarming to me that we’re still
1:11:59 here today having these conversations.
1:12:03 Ms. Campbell, I I respect your conviction because you stand by
1:12:07 what you what you say and what you believe, and I believe that
1:12:10 that’s in your heart.
1:12:12 And I’ve said this I said this when we had our. Board meet up,
1:12:17 whatever we called it that day.
1:12:19 But one of the things that you said that and you said again
1:12:21 today that just I have to be clear about is about it being for
1:12:25 the protection of our trans students.
1:12:27 And I want to make it clear. I think that’s something we should
1:12:30 be asking our trans students if the things that you’re saying
1:12:34 make them feel protected.
1:12:36 I just don’t believe that they would agree with that. And, you
1:12:40 know. This topic, this issue, why now?
1:12:45 And it’s because our trans and LGBTQ students always existed.
1:12:51 They will continue to exist.
1:12:53 exist. They have a right to exist. And that is why. That is why.
1:12:57 now because we are a public education system and we serve every
1:13:02 student
1:13:03 regardless of your beliefs and I brought this up at our meeting
1:13:11 that wasn’t
1:13:12 streamed but I’m gonna bring it up again
1:13:16 we had students displaying hate against their LGBTQ peers in the
1:13:22 hallways of our
1:13:23 schools just two weeks ago and we are adults sitting on a dais
1:13:30 supporting that
1:13:31 by the things that we say and by clapping in this room today
1:13:37 it’s a disc
1:13:43 miss Jenkins I absolutely agree with you that we are to serve
1:13:46 every student every
1:13:48 student with excellence as standard I do believe that we can
1:13:52 serve our
1:13:52 transgender students in a positive way and by the way I don’t
1:13:56 believe at all
1:13:57 that the comments I’m not gonna speak for people you know
1:14:02 sometimes people get
1:14:03 ugly and don’t say it the way I would have said it but the
1:14:05 conversation as far
1:14:06 as from my perspective that even my vote on this in any way
1:14:13 supports students
1:14:15 mistreating their peers and and when okay I know but I’m just
1:14:19 saying the pot
1:14:19 this policy because we have specific that we have in the
1:14:22 policies that ring
1:14:23 we voting on down the line in just a minute anti harassment
1:14:26 bullying we have
1:14:27 those set up and I believe I can wholeheartedly with whatever
1:14:30 language
1:14:31 that’s in there support these policies because our students all
1:14:35 no matter what
1:14:36 their differences are whether they agree with them whether they
1:14:38 think that they
1:14:38 should be out have access to whatever space of the school they
1:14:42 they want or
1:14:43 not that they should be treating one another with respect and
1:14:46 and that
1:14:46 absolutely I can come I am full agreement with you I so I don’t
1:14:51 the
1:14:52 things that you stay the way you say that I don’t necessarily
1:14:53 agree with all
1:14:54 of it but I agree that we need to make sure that’s a priority
1:14:58 and I think that
1:14:58 this board regardless of this particular vote can can support
1:15:03 that and there’s
1:15:04 not a person on this dais I don’t believe or in this room who
1:15:07 thinks that
1:15:08 whatever behavior has been happening to our trans if they are
1:15:11 being bullied if
1:15:12 they’re being named called they’re being shut I had an email of
1:15:15 someone who was
1:15:16 who was shoved or somebody saying something to him and they
1:15:20 never could
1:15:21 find out who it was that wasn’t one of my schools you know those
1:15:24 kinds of
1:15:25 things our administrators need to handle and they are handling
1:15:29 and they need to
1:15:30 come forward people who have those things happening to come
1:15:32 forward but
1:15:33 again I thank you for the the acknowledgement I appreciate that
1:15:39 but I
1:15:40 do I do think that this particular policy whether it’s voted or
1:15:45 not voted
1:15:46 does not none of that would condone or any action by this board
1:15:49 condone
1:15:50 behavior like that thank you mr. Campbell mr. Gibbs can ask you
1:15:56 a couple
1:15:56 of questions just to kind of clarify some of the understanding
1:15:59 by the
1:15:59 audience so it was it was mentioned why are we changing this
1:16:03 language at this
1:16:04 point in time are we are we changing any language in this policy
1:16:08 with regard to
1:16:09 the section that miss Campbell expressed concern the first
1:16:13 paragraph with regard
1:16:15 to clarifying those types of discrimination that are prohibited
1:16:27 the first section does not have many changes it looks like they
1:16:31 added a few
1:16:31 notes as far as so we’re not changing the definition of sex
1:16:41 discrimination in
1:16:43 this policy right
1:16:47 okay and the other question that I have for you does this policy
1:16:53 guide
1:16:55 the areas that miss Campbell expressed concern about or is our
1:17:00 handling of
1:17:01 those situations guided by something more powerful than this
1:17:05 policy so miss
1:17:08 Campbell has expressed concern about locker rooms and restrooms
1:17:10 but does this
1:17:12 policy address restrooms or locker rooms or is the way that the
1:17:17 district handles
1:17:18 restrooms and locker rooms guided by title 9 interpretation DOJ
1:17:24 all of those
1:17:25 things
1:17:31 Oh
1:17:34 there and applying to that so you know DOJ guidance and OCR
1:17:38 guidance because
1:17:39 the OCR and the DOJ are going to come in and enforce federal law
1:17:42 and regulations
1:17:43 against the district so all of the policy changes and the policy
1:17:47 changes
1:17:47 neola makes and recommends you expect you adopt are based on the
1:17:51 federal
1:17:52 guidance
1:17:58 so miss Campbell mentioned that the Adams case is being re-heard
1:18:05 by the 11th
1:18:06 Circuit right if that if the decision on that case changes are
1:18:11 we required to
1:18:12 change our policy yes I would recommend that we change policy to
1:18:15 comply with
1:18:16 where the law is in Florida and the 11th Circuit will be binding
1:18:19 on Florida
1:18:20 unless the Supreme Court changes it so whatever the outcome of
1:18:23 that and I hope
1:18:24 it would have been out already and we’ve already had two
1:18:26 opinions from them that
1:18:27 have been pulled back so we are where we are right now with the
1:18:31 courts and when
1:18:32 that changes this may very well be coming back to the district
1:18:36 so this is I
1:18:38 guess the point that I’m trying to get to is our our policy has
1:18:42 to be
1:18:42 reflective of the legal guidance not your legal guidance right I
1:18:47 mean although
1:18:48 you give us opinion and we listen to you it’s based on existing
1:18:52 legal guidance
1:18:53 out there that’s available and when it changes like from court
1:18:56 cases and the
1:18:57 11th Circuit court case comes down if it requires amendment we’ll
1:19:00 bring it back
1:19:01 to the board as an amendment okay thank you and miss Campbell I
1:19:04 was asking those
1:19:05 questions to like disagree with you I just want for our audience
1:19:09 to understand
1:19:10 what the actual changes are that we’re making and what the
1:19:12 impact it has
1:19:13 because I’ve heard numerous times that you know this policy is
1:19:18 what is causing
1:19:19 the decisions the accommodations that we’re putting in place and
1:19:22 I just I just
1:19:23 think it’s important to understand that while this policy guides
1:19:26 us it really is
1:19:27 that that legal guidance out there so I apologize board for
1:19:30 getting us down that
1:19:31 tangent I just think it’s important to understand the nuances
1:19:34 all right I have
1:19:36 a motion in a second if there isn’t any further discussion all
1:19:39 in favor please
1:19:40 signify by saying aye aye all opposed same sign motion passes
1:19:46 three to two
1:19:48 all right dr. Mullen’s next is all the public hearing and
1:19:51 approve the revisions
1:19:52 to board policy 2266 nondiscrimination on the basis of sex is
1:19:57 there anyone
1:19:58 present who wishes to address board policy 2266 nondiscrimination
1:20:01 on the
1:20:02 basis of sex is there anyone present who wishes to address board
1:20:06 policy 2266
1:20:07 nondiscrimination on the basis of sex miss Marski
1:20:19 good evening board my point with the nondiscrimination on the
1:20:23 basis of sex is
1:20:25 that my point is that discrimination goes both ways my children
1:20:29 have been
1:20:30 bullied on public on school property for their faith and their
1:20:34 political points
1:20:35 of views just as other people who have different faiths and
1:20:39 different points of
1:20:41 view it has to stop on both sides I agree both sides thank you
1:20:41 thank you
1:20:47 miss Marski anyone else that wishes to speak to that policy all
1:20:52 right then I
1:20:53 will entertain a motion move by miss McDougal seconded by Miss
1:20:59 Jenkins is
1:21:00 there any discussion miss Campbell we’ve had some I think
1:21:05 misunderstandings and
1:21:05 communications on this policy bring it up I think there were
1:21:09 some questions
1:21:10 about athletics and I think that was settled by staff but I
1:21:13 think that
1:21:14 settled through email instead of through
1:21:19 public through our what we’ve said in the board meeting but our
1:21:23 district will
1:21:24 abides and will continue to buy by FHS a guidelines because that
1:21:27 those guidelines
1:21:28 which follow Florida statute including the one that was passed
1:21:32 last session
1:21:33 about fairness women’s sports we follow those guidelines because
1:21:38 that’s what’s
1:21:38 required to participate in FHS a and we will continue to do that
1:21:42 actually don’t
1:21:43 see this policy as being about that and honestly the part in
1:21:45 here and though
1:21:46 includes some the language that I’m sure we do have a problem
1:21:49 with that makes for
1:21:50 me personally again this is just my conscious and what I can
1:21:52 vote for is the
1:21:53 statement in number one a one that says the requirement not to
1:21:56 discriminate in
1:21:57 its education program or activity extends to admission
1:22:01 enrollment and
1:22:02 employment so I’m yes on this one thank you miss Campbell any
1:22:07 additional
1:22:07 discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
1:22:11 opposed same signs
1:22:12 motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullen next is all the public hearing and
1:22:20 approve the
1:22:20 revisions to board policy 31 21 conditions for employment and
1:22:24 re-employment of staff is there anyone present who wishes to
1:22:27 address board
1:22:28 policy 3 1 2 1 conditions for employment and re-employment of
1:22:32 staff
1:22:33 is anyone present who wishes to address board policy 3 1 2 1
1:22:37 conditions for
1:22:37 employment and re-employment of staff during not all entertain a
1:22:42 motion moved
1:22:44 by miss Campbell seconded by miss McDougal is there any
1:22:46 discussion all in
1:22:49 favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed same sign
1:22:53 motion passes 5-0
1:22:54 dr. Mullen next is all the public hearing and approve the
1:22:58 revisions to
1:22:59 board policy 31 21 dot 0 1 criminal background and employment
1:23:03 history checks
1:23:03 is there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 3 1 2
1:23:07 1 point 0 1
1:23:08 criminal background and employment history checks is there
1:23:10 anyone present
1:23:11 who wishes to address board policy 3 1 2 1 point 0 1 criminal
1:23:15 background and
1:23:16 employment history checks hearing none I’ll entertain a motion
1:23:22 moved by miss
1:23:23 Campbell seconded by miss McDougal is there any discussion all
1:23:26 in favor please
1:23:27 signify by saying aye aye any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0
1:23:32 dr. Mullen
1:23:33 next is hold the public hearing and approve the revisions the
1:23:35 board policy
1:23:36 35 90 personnel file is there anyone present who wishes to
1:23:39 address board
1:23:40 policy 3 5 9 0 personnel file is there anyone present who wishes
1:23:44 to address
1:23:45 board policy 3 5 9 0 personnel file hearing none I’ll entertain
1:23:51 a motion
1:23:51 moved by miss McDougal seconded by miss Campbell is there any
1:23:55 discussion
1:23:56 hearing none all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
1:24:00 opposed same sign
1:24:01 motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullen next is all the public hearing and
1:24:07 approve the
1:24:08 revisions to pop a board policy 55 17 anti harassment for anyone
1:24:12 present who
1:24:12 wishes to address board policy 5 5 1 7 anti harassment there
1:24:17 anyone present who
1:24:18 wishes to address board policy 5 5 1 7 anti harassment hearing
1:24:23 none I’ll
1:24:23 entertain a motion moved by miss Campbell seconded by miss McDougal
1:24:29 is
1:24:29 there any discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye
1:24:34 any opposed
1:24:35 same sign motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullens next is hold the public
1:24:40 hearing and
1:24:41 approve the revisions to board policy 55 17 dot 0 1 bullying and/or
1:24:45 harassment is
1:24:46 there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 5 5 1 7
1:24:49 point 0 1
1:24:50 bullying and/or harassment for anyone present who wishes to
1:24:54 address board
1:24:55 policy 5 5 1 7 as mercy
1:25:06 good evening I appreciate policies like this just want to make
1:25:10 it very clear to
1:25:11 the board I don’t discriminate against anybody neither do my
1:25:14 children and the
1:25:16 fact that a board member would say that because somebody clapped
1:25:19 I find highly
1:25:20 disrespectful and inappropriate thank you all right is there
1:25:27 anyone else
1:25:27 present who wishes to address board policy 5 5 1 7 point 0 1 I’ll
1:25:33 entertain
1:25:34 a motion moved by miss Campbell seconded by miss McDougal is
1:25:38 there any
1:25:38 discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
1:25:43 opposed same sign
1:25:44 motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullens next is to hold a public hearing
1:25:51 and approve the
1:25:52 revisions to board policy 55 17 dot 0 3 dating violence and
1:25:56 abuse is there anyone
1:25:57 present who wishes to address board policy 5 5 1 7 point 0 3
1:26:01 dating violence
1:26:02 and abuse is there anyone present who wishes to address board
1:26:05 policy 5 5 1 7
1:26:07 point 0 3 dating violence and abuse I’ll entertain a motion move
1:26:13 by miss
1:26:13 McDougal seconded was that miss Jenkins seconded by miss Jenkins
1:26:17 is there any
1:26:17 discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
1:26:22 opposed same sign
1:26:23 motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullens next is all the public hearing and
1:26:27 approve the
1:26:28 revisions to board policy 24 10 school health services special
1:26:32 services is
1:26:34 there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 2 4 1 0
1:26:37 school
1:26:37 health services special services for anyone present who wishes
1:26:41 to address
1:26:42 board policy 2 4 1 0 school health services special services I’ll
1:26:47 entertain a motion moved by miss Campbell seconded by miss McDougal
1:26:52 is
1:26:52 there any discussion miss Campbell I think there was a concern
1:26:57 brought up
1:26:57 tonight about the fact should I think that was all clarified
1:27:01 thank you miss
1:27:02 Moore for clarifying our procedures for how we handle the Baker
1:27:07 acts and the
1:27:07 parental notification is all in compliance with the law and just
1:27:11 want to
1:27:12 be crystal clear anybody walk out of this room we’re watching
1:27:14 online thinking
1:27:15 that we’re not we are we are doing that we have been doing it
1:27:18 already we’re
1:27:19 going to continue to do it and one of the things that I
1:27:21 encourage people when
1:27:22 they look at the policies is make sure to see I know for us we
1:27:26 see these all
1:27:26 the time there there are things that will say things like
1:27:30 including and
1:27:31 subject to the requirements and exceptions established under and
1:27:33 it’ll
1:27:33 have Florida statute and people don’t like to follow those all
1:27:36 the time but if
1:27:36 if our policies have the under hot links so you can get to them
1:27:41 easily it have
1:27:43 the statutes referenced then that means as those statutes
1:27:47 correct me if I’m
1:27:48 wrong mr. Gibbs if the statutes change but we’re referencing
1:27:52 those statues that
1:27:53 statutes that we’re going to you know abide by whatever then as
1:27:57 a statutes
1:27:57 change we don’t have to update our policy it gives us some
1:28:00 flexibility so
1:28:00 that as those statutes change we’re still in compliance right
1:28:03 yes it’s a way
1:28:04 of getting around having to revise if you cite specific language
1:28:07 if that
1:28:07 language changes then we have to do three months of revisions to
1:28:10 get it
1:28:11 readopted and in compliance if you just reference the statute
1:28:14 and we’re
1:28:14 complying with the statute allows the district to internally
1:28:17 make those
1:28:17 changes without having to go through revision and some of that
1:28:21 we handle by
1:28:21 procedure which can be changed as necessary and I know that
1:28:25 every time we
1:28:25 have significant changes that need to happen in our procedures
1:28:29 notice goes out
1:28:30 in the leadership team packet and retraining it happens as
1:28:33 necessary hey
1:28:34 the law just changed and so now we need to do XYZ and if it
1:28:37 requires training
1:28:38 we’re gonna have this training at such and such a time sign up
1:28:41 so I just want
1:28:42 to be clear those kinds of things are ways that we build that
1:28:45 into our policy
1:28:46 to make sure that we’re in compliance even if the laws change
1:28:49 unless they
1:28:50 change significantly in which we we have to do some of the stuff
1:28:52 like we’re going
1:28:53 to thank you that was good clarification miss Campbell thank you
1:28:57 any additional
1:28:59 discussion I have a motion all in favor please indicate by
1:29:03 saying aye aye any
1:29:05 opposed same sign motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullins next is to hold
1:29:10 public hearing
1:29:11 and approve the revisions to board policy 24 31.03 concussion
1:29:15 and head
1:29:15 injuries for anyone present who wishes to address board policy
1:29:18 two four three
1:29:19 one point zero three concussion and head injuries is there
1:29:22 anyone present who
1:29:23 wishes to address board policy two four three one point zero
1:29:26 three concussion
1:29:27 and head injuries will entertain a motion move by Miss Jenkins
1:29:33 second and
1:29:33 by Miss Campbell’s or any discussion all in favor please signify
1:29:37 by saying aye aye
1:29:38 any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullins next is to
1:29:44 hold the public
1:29:44 hearing and approve the revisions to board policy 2800
1:29:48 educational services
1:29:49 for students and Department of Juvenile Justice educational
1:29:52 programs for anyone
1:29:53 present who wishes to address board policy two eight zero zero
1:29:56 educational services
1:29:57 for students and Department of Juvenile Justice educational
1:30:00 programs for anyone
1:30:02 present who wishes to address board policy two eight zero zero
1:30:05 educational
1:30:06 services for students and Department of Juvenile Justice
1:30:09 educational programs
1:30:10 so I hear a motion moved by Miss Campbell second by Miss McDougal
1:30:16 is
1:30:16 there any discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye
1:30:21 any opposed
1:30:21 same sign motion passes 5-0 dr. Mullins next is a hold the
1:30:27 public hearing and
1:30:28 approve the revisions to board policy 32 15 smoking and tobacco
1:30:32 free environment
1:30:33 there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 32 15
1:30:37 smoking and
1:30:37 tobacco free environment there anyone present who wishes to
1:30:40 address board
1:30:41 policy 32 15 smoking and tobacco free environment do I have a
1:30:46 motion move by
1:30:48 Miss Campbell second by Miss McDougal will there any discussion
1:30:51 all in favor
1:30:52 please signify by saying aye aye any opposed motion passes 5-0
1:30:58 dr. Mullins
1:30:59 next is hold the public hearing and approve the revisions to
1:31:02 board policy
1:31:03 5500 student conduct is there anyone present who wishes to
1:31:07 address board
1:31:07 policy 5500 student conduct there anyone present who wishes to
1:31:11 address board
1:31:12 policy 5500 student conduct you’ll have a motion
1:31:18 second move by Miss McDougal second by Miss Campbell’s or any
1:31:21 discussion all in
1:31:23 favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed same sign
1:31:27 motion passes 5-0
1:31:31 the next item is to hold the public hearing and approve the
1:31:34 revisions to
1:31:35 board policy 56 10.05 participation and extracurricular
1:31:40 activities there anyone
1:31:41 present who wishes to address board policy five six one zero
1:31:44 point zero five
1:31:45 participation and extracurricular activities there anyone
1:31:48 present who
1:31:49 wishes to address board policy five six one zero point zero five
1:31:53 participation
1:31:53 and extracurricular activities to have a motion move by Miss
1:31:59 Campbell second by
1:32:00 Miss McDougal is there any discussion all in favor please
1:32:03 signify by saying aye
1:32:05 aye any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0
1:32:10 Dr. Mullins and next is to hold the public hearing and approve
1:32:14 the revisions
1:32:14 to board policy 8 3 3 0 student records is there anyone present
1:32:19 who wishes to
1:32:20 address policy board policy 8 3 3 0 student records is there
1:32:25 anyone present
1:32:25 who wishes to address board policy 8 3 3 0 student records I’ll
1:32:30 entertain a
1:32:31 motion moved by Miss Jenkins seconded by Miss McDougal is there
1:32:36 any discussion
1:32:37 all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed same
1:32:41 sign motion
1:32:43 passes 5-0 Dr. Mullins next is I’ll hold the public hearing and
1:32:47 approve the
1:32:47 revisions to board policy 8452 automated external defibrillators
1:32:52 anyone present
1:32:54 who wishes to address board policy 8 4 5 2 automated external
1:32:57 defibrillators
1:32:58 anyone present who wishes to address board policy 8 4 5 2
1:33:02 automated external
1:33:03 defibrillators hearing none I’ll entertain a motion move by Miss
1:33:11 Jenkins
1:33:11 seconded by Miss McDougal is there any discussion all in favor
1:33:15 please signify
1:33:16 by saying aye aye any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0 Dr.
1:33:21 Mullins next is
1:33:23 hold the public hearing and approve the revisions to board
1:33:26 policy 8405 school
1:33:27 safety and security threat assessment teams is there anyone
1:33:31 present who wishes
1:33:31 to address board policy 8 4 0 5 school safety and security
1:33:35 threat assessment
1:33:36 teams is there anyone present who wishes to address board policy
1:33:40 8 4 0 5 school
1:33:41 safety and security threat assessment teams I’ll entertain a
1:33:45 motion move by
1:33:48 Miss McDougal seconded by Miss Campbell’s are any discussion oh
1:33:53 you
1:33:54 didn’t get it out all in favor please signify by saying aye aye
1:34:02 any opposed
1:34:03 same sign motion passes 5-0 Dr. Mullins the last item is told
1:34:08 the public hearing
1:34:09 and approve the revisions to board policy 8 4 0 7 safe school
1:34:13 officers is
1:34:14 there anyone present who wishes to address board policy 8 4 0 7
1:34:17 safe school
1:34:18 officers is there anyone present who wishes to address board
1:34:21 policy 8 4 0 7
1:34:23 safe school officers do I have a motion move by Miss McDougal
1:34:30 seconded by Miss
1:34:31 Campbell is there any discussion all in favor please signify by
1:34:34 saying aye aye
1:34:35 any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0
1:34:41 all right huh I know right that was a lot can I thank the staff
1:34:54 for giving us
1:34:54 the day off today yeah please to please do not have the workshop
1:35:03 all right we
1:35:04 are
1:35:09 okay
1:35:13 okay we are now at board member reports and discussion points mr.
1:35:16 Susan you ask
1:35:17 to add Melbourne High School renaming update and transportation
1:35:19 and bus
1:35:20 driver collaboration yeah thank you so Melbourne High School
1:35:26 update so we were
1:35:27 talking about this in the board workshop many of you know that
1:35:31 there was an
1:35:32 application about 17 months ago to rename Melbourne High School
1:35:36 after an
1:35:37 amazing individual named Joseph Acaba who used to be a teacher
1:35:40 there and he’s
1:35:42 now currently an astronaut and he’s part of the pool not on the
1:35:45 launch team but
1:35:46 on the pool of astronauts they will pull for the next Artemis
1:35:50 program so it made
1:35:53 sense to many and so the Miss Lopez made the application lo and
1:35:57 behold the
1:35:58 process showed that we didn’t have much support for it
1:36:01 overwhelming support
1:36:02 against it so I reached out to Miss Lopez and said hey Miss
1:36:06 Lopez to avoid a
1:36:09 March meeting is there any way that you’d like to pull this and
1:36:13 she said at
1:36:13 this time you know I’m not gonna do that and I’ll tell you the
1:36:16 reason why she’s
1:36:17 been making a pusher is that she really would like us to make an
1:36:22 effort to
1:36:23 support the Hispanic Latino culture down in the Palm Bay
1:36:27 Melbourne area and across
1:36:29 this in the county and this was her way of saying you know what
1:36:32 we’re gonna try
1:36:32 it and many don’t understand what Miss Lopez was pushing for was
1:36:36 because back
1:36:37 when I was a teacher I remember the meeting was one of the very
1:36:39 ones that I
1:36:40 actually came one of the very few ones they were renaming they
1:36:42 were trying to
1:36:43 name heritage high school and they were upset because they
1:36:46 thought that they
1:36:47 were gonna rename it after Roberto Clemente and so as you know
1:36:51 there’s no
1:36:52 high schools that are named after individuals right now so the
1:36:55 issue that
1:36:56 we had was well presidents of course but local people so they
1:36:59 named the athletic
1:37:00 facility after Roberto Clemente which is appropriate he was a
1:37:03 great baseball
1:37:03 player but she felt like look let’s make this that’s where a lot
1:37:07 of this angst
1:37:07 comes from where we’re saying like look there’s no support we’re
1:37:11 gonna create
1:37:11 this meeting everybody’s gonna come from around the area let’s
1:37:13 avoid it so
1:37:15 recently I reached out and finally got a hold of mr. Acaba and
1:37:19 talked to him as I
1:37:19 stated before and today mr. Acaba would you like to you know
1:37:23 what I mean you
1:37:24 know talk about this and everything else and he said hey nobody
1:37:26 reached out to me
1:37:27 but I’ll tell you right now I want to do what’s right for the
1:37:30 kids so count me in
1:37:31 on a stem project but I’m not interested in having this named
1:37:35 after me so with
1:37:36 the facts of him not being reached out not wanting to be the one
1:37:40 that is on
1:37:41 there and then also the fact that the overwhelming support I
1:37:44 called miss Lopez
1:37:45 again per your discussion mr. Dr. Mullins and the staff you guys
1:37:49 said last week
1:37:49 give her a call let her talk to her so tonight she pulled it she
1:37:53 officially
1:37:54 sent a text Mullins was on it I was on it she said please I will
1:37:57 remove it and
1:37:59 I want to look forward to trying to do something for the
1:38:02 Hispanic Latino
1:38:03 culture in Palm Bay and Melbourne so I wanted to let you guys
1:38:07 know my
1:38:08 dedication I’m working in that area and part of it is because
1:38:12 there’s a
1:38:13 gentleman in the back that worked during the feed programs that
1:38:16 we had during
1:38:17 COVID we have a large Hispanic Latino population that’s moved
1:38:21 into my district
1:38:22 so I’m trying to address and just make sure they’re all
1:38:25 connected I work with
1:38:26 them in temple Terrace boys clubs and some other areas and boys
1:38:30 and girls club
1:38:31 and I think there’s a need there right so my commitment to miss
1:38:34 Lopez in the
1:38:35 Hispanic Latino community is to connect many of those areas and
1:38:39 resources in my
1:38:40 district also push to work with renaming of buildings or
1:38:46 facilities in the future
1:38:48 if that that I find in my world that when you have a stem
1:38:51 program with a
1:38:53 astronaut we’ll do a whole lot more than naming a building after
1:38:56 somebody it’s
1:38:57 just my personal thing and that look that may be a little bit
1:39:00 different
1:39:00 everybody’s different but applying to the kids something that
1:39:03 would carry them
1:39:04 for generations is something that I think is much more so I’m
1:39:08 gonna focus my
1:39:09 energy there but I did tell her that thank you for pulling it I
1:39:13 understand
1:39:13 where you’re coming from and if there’s an opportunity it’s a
1:39:16 committee not us
1:39:17 that names to keep them and she had recognized that so it’s not
1:39:20 like we can
1:39:21 say we want it to be named a new school and we can’t as a board
1:39:25 we only approve
1:39:25 with the committee we’ve never really gone against it but I said
1:39:28 you can work
1:39:28 with that committee of a new school when it gets built down
1:39:31 south and she said
1:39:32 great so I just wanted to kind of give you guys an update on
1:39:35 that that’s it and
1:39:36 I put she texted back and she has her email in there so staffs
1:39:39 gonna reach out
1:39:40 and take care of whatever it needs to be I didn’t know if you
1:39:43 guys had any
1:39:43 questions on that thank you mr. Susan yep okay there is one
1:39:50 before I got to
1:39:51 the transportation issue I just want to say I met with a elevate
1:39:55 Brevard today
1:39:56 real quick and it is focused on Coco right now and I would love
1:40:02 to just hand
1:40:04 that to you they asked me to talk about the career and technical
1:40:08 stuff that
1:40:08 they’ve been seeing on on the space goes daily but the thing is
1:40:11 is that elevate
1:40:13 Brevard it’s like it is made up of all the people it was so
1:40:16 crazy like so
1:40:17 elevate Brevard is an organization that is trying to work on pipelining
1:40:23 students
1:40:23 in the Coco area into college career and technical programs and
1:40:28 all of the
1:40:29 barriers that exist in between right so look I’m in I’m just
1:40:32 gonna talk about
1:40:33 the trades and everything else then I saw the lineup of
1:40:35 individuals that are
1:40:37 actually there Bob Barnes who started the children’s hunger
1:40:41 project a good
1:40:42 friend from back in the day that when he was when that was
1:40:46 happening I was in
1:40:47 support of them Harry Jones who I worked on the CPT program with
1:40:51 at the Economic
1:40:52 Development Council there was just and then and then mr. Maggiano
1:40:56 from the CTE
1:40:56 program at Eastern Florida State he runs the trades program
1:41:01 spell state so they
1:41:02 have put together like an amazing group of people and I’ll pass
1:41:06 it off to you
1:41:07 because that’s your district that’s respectful and if you need
1:41:09 my help in
1:41:09 any way please do but literally I’ve never seen a dream team put
1:41:13 together to
1:41:13 support Coco schools like that in my life like they’re going to
1:41:16 do something
1:41:17 there that is I just want to kind of give you an update they
1:41:20 brought up one
1:41:20 thing that really caught me was is um the FAFSA that you guys
1:41:25 that the kids
1:41:25 FAFSA that the kids have to fill out right I had to go through
1:41:28 that I had to
1:41:28 provide tax information for my daughter and all this stuff they
1:41:32 want there’s a
1:41:32 bill in the legislature right now to make that a requirement for
1:41:36 schools to
1:41:36 have to do okay that would be a freaking nightmare because I’ll
1:41:40 tell you this
1:41:41 much if you tie a kid’s graduation to having to fill out an
1:41:44 application and
1:41:45 they have difficulty getting a hold of their parents it’s one
1:41:48 more barrier
1:41:48 that’s going to cause work for us but it’s a good idea just not
1:41:52 that route so
1:41:53 they’re working with community groups to get the FAFSA’s filled
1:41:58 out and
1:41:59 coordinating with the schools so for us if we hear that resoundingly
1:42:03 needs to
1:42:04 be from my opinion and you guys can take what you want our
1:42:07 schools can’t take
1:42:08 any more but we would love to work with community partners to
1:42:12 accomplish those
1:42:13 goals does that make sense okay sorry about the side miss miss
1:42:18 Belford did
1:42:20 more people sign up to such to talk we have not done our non-agenda
1:42:24 okay so
1:42:26 were they talking about the transportation issue yeah I have
1:42:29 four
1:42:29 that are talking about it’s not an agenda item if I put it on a
1:42:34 board
1:42:34 discussion it’s only the agenda items are the ones we’re taking
1:42:38 action on okay
1:42:39 all right so I want to I sat at Manatee and met with many of the
1:42:45 individuals
1:42:45 that you’re sitting inside this room and you guys are absolutely
1:42:50 amazing you are
1:42:52 our champions and you are the first and last thing in Brevard
1:42:56 Public Schools
1:42:57 that our children see you have over they have over 150
1:43:01 individuals that are
1:43:03 transported every day on their buses many of you guys are
1:43:07 entrusted with our
1:43:09 children on your buses and my wife doesn’t even entrust me with
1:43:13 the five
1:43:13 children in our SUV so I wanted to say you are absolutely
1:43:18 amazing dr. Mullins
1:43:19 and I sat down today for close to two hours and all of the
1:43:24 issues that you
1:43:24 guys had brought up we worked through and he has staff working
1:43:28 on each one of
1:43:28 them to give back an answer as to is there a possibility of
1:43:31 working on them
1:43:32 or not and I want to tell you dr. Mullins is commitment to you
1:43:38 was
1:43:38 absolutely amazing and our school board will tell you that the
1:43:42 commitment to you
1:43:43 is is they care about you guys also I wanted to say that there’s
1:43:49 an individual
1:43:50 back there I wanted to give him credit and I’m sorry about
1:43:52 taking up this for a
1:43:53 second but we had a feed program for the COVID and we had a
1:43:59 bunch of students
1:44:00 that wouldn’t come out of the houses in my old alley area
1:44:03 because they didn’t
1:44:04 speak English and I am a large white man knocking on doors okay
1:44:10 and it just was
1:44:10 not getting the people to come out and I called up our our food
1:44:15 nutrition guys
1:44:16 and I said guys it’s just not working I know the kids are in
1:44:18 there we have their
1:44:19 addresses but they’re not coming out and this gentleman and his
1:44:23 wife volunteered
1:44:24 their time to come down run the food and to get out and speak
1:44:28 Spanish to all of
1:44:29 the children so they’d start coming out we literally went from
1:44:32 one location
1:44:33 having 20 to 190 the next day because they knew that and there’s
1:44:44 stories like
1:44:44 that that are coming out there was another bus driver that we
1:44:48 were speaking
1:44:49 to and he was talking about how this parent came running up now
1:44:54 listen to me
1:44:54 our parents and our kids are absolutely crazy sometimes right we
1:44:58 all know that
1:44:59 my kids are crazy the kids you have on your bus I couldn’t even
1:45:03 imagine right
1:45:04 this driver was driving and all of a sudden a parent swung the
1:45:08 door open and
1:45:09 said get that kid off the bus he said no ma’am no ma’am and said
1:45:14 and forced the
1:45:15 person off the bus and said if you want this child the kid was
1:45:19 like hiding in
1:45:20 the back we got to drive back to the school so they drove all
1:45:22 the way back to
1:45:23 the school and that bus driver refused at that point to let that
1:45:26 child go and
1:45:27 brought him back and drop them off to school and that’s a huge
1:45:30 deal because
1:45:31 what you face every day not many people understand or see so I
1:45:36 know you guys are
1:45:37 going to be coming up and speaking I’m gonna wait afterwards and
1:45:42 sit with you
1:45:42 guys and tell you everything that dr. Mullins and I worked out
1:45:46 there’s also
1:45:47 some of the items that we can’t speak on we can’t speak on
1:45:50 raises because it’s
1:45:51 not in front of us on an agenda item there’s a couple other
1:45:53 things but I will
1:45:54 sit with you afterwards and I wanted to say from the bottom of
1:45:58 my heart thank
1:45:59 you for everything that you’re doing and we want to listen to
1:46:02 you and maybe
1:46:02 there’ll be some discussion after you guys speak yeah mr. Gibbs
1:46:11 will join you
1:46:11 mr. Susan I followed the law yeah we’re not supposed to talk
1:46:15 about so far
1:46:16 absolutely I just want to make sure that we’re covered and for
1:46:19 those of you who
1:46:20 are unaware it’s because we are in the midst of bargaining and
1:46:24 so there are
1:46:25 things that the board should not be discussing that could could
1:46:30 create some
1:46:30 issues so we just want to make sure that mr. Susan has good
1:46:34 clear guidance on on
1:46:36 what can and cannot be discussed there miss Campbell I think you
1:46:42 said you had a
1:46:42 few things and then I’ve got three quick reports back I don’t
1:46:48 often report on
1:46:49 SIAC but we have some really exciting things going on I wanted
1:46:51 to share with
1:46:52 you that some you may have seen in the emails but some you may
1:46:55 have not the
1:46:57 over the last Campbell can I interrupt you can you explain to
1:47:01 the viewing
1:47:02 public in the audience what SIAC you know what we get all our
1:47:05 our initials
1:47:06 it’s like the army you know it’s the superintendent’s insurance
1:47:10 advisory
1:47:10 committee and it is made up of employees all employees now from
1:47:16 all the different
1:47:17 employee groups we’ve got teachers we have our support staff we
1:47:22 have our non
1:47:25 bargaining or ministration we have somebody from the benefits
1:47:27 department
1:47:28 and these are all the voting members and we have some of us who
1:47:30 are joining us
1:47:31 who are considered staff we also have a retiree representative
1:47:35 on there because
1:47:35 many of them are also on our insurance plan and so they all get
1:47:38 a say and over
1:47:39 the last couple of years one of the things that are this
1:47:43 employee group who
1:47:44 is on that you know it’s chosen to be on this advisory committee
1:47:46 has really pushed
1:47:47 is we really want to see you know what can we do to encourage
1:47:52 our employees to
1:47:53 be healthy to encourage them to make that take the next step and
1:47:57 this before
1:47:57 I got on SIAC it was decided a few years several years ago to
1:48:01 make the biometric
1:48:04 screening and the health questionnaire that you do online kind
1:48:08 of the gateway
1:48:10 to lower deductibles and so but this committee says it’s time to
1:48:14 push it to
1:48:15 the next level and say okay if you want whatever that’s going to
1:48:18 be in the
1:48:19 future we really want to see it be it’s got to be more than just
1:48:22 the bare minimum
1:48:22 we want people to go to that annual checkup because that’s where
1:48:26 a lot of
1:48:27 these things are caught you have those conversations with your
1:48:29 doctor and maybe
1:48:30 we can avoid some of those high-cost issues by catching them
1:48:33 earlier getting
1:48:34 some just making that contact with the doctor and so it’s just
1:48:38 some really good
1:48:38 conversations that are going on and so some of that you know we’ll
1:48:42 have to go
1:48:43 to bargaining and it was a good to the future but I’m really
1:48:45 excited about the
1:48:46 way SIAC is going in that direction and you know tba what it’s
1:48:50 all going to look
1:48:50 like but another thing that we have had several conversations
1:48:55 about in the last
1:48:55 few meetings is a program called motivate me it is Cygnus
1:48:58 program but
1:49:00 they’re working with us and especially SIAC had was able to have
1:49:03 input on
1:49:04 providing opportunities for employees to earn gift card
1:49:08 incentives for doing
1:49:10 things like participating in health coaching for things like
1:49:15 getting your
1:49:15 preventive care screenings like colonoscopies and things if you’re
1:49:19 of
1:49:19 the right age and they also had we had to remind hey we have
1:49:22 some employees
1:49:23 that aren’t old enough to do those things yet so they had you
1:49:29 know some
1:49:29 other opportunities and so that’s something that’s going to be
1:49:32 rolling out
1:49:32 starting on Monday I believe and so for all our employees you
1:49:35 can actually go to
1:49:36 your Cigna page and if you’re a female there’s one right now but
1:49:40 the only thing
1:49:41 that we’ve had on in it so far is if you get pregnant and you go
1:49:43 through the
1:49:44 program you can get $150 but not all of us are up for that so
1:49:48 now there will be
1:49:50 more and all the details of it will be on the Cigna web my
1:49:53 signal page for all
1:49:54 our employees who participate in in the insurance program so go
1:49:57 check it out we
1:49:58 just really want to focus on what we can do to get our employees
1:50:01 healthy and get
1:50:02 them making some right decisions it’s good for them it’s good
1:50:05 for the plan the
1:50:06 plan that they pay into so it’s good for them doubly and then
1:50:09 also communications
1:50:11 in addition to the things that have been going out
1:50:13 communications from
1:50:14 Mississippi that I mentioned earlier one of the things that we
1:50:17 have access to now
1:50:18 all our employees have access to is the call center and it was
1:50:22 set up we’ve had
1:50:23 things like this before during open enrollment period but now
1:50:27 continuing
1:50:28 throughout the year from 9 a.m. in the morning till 9 p.m. at
1:50:31 night our place
1:50:32 have access to the call center where they can get their
1:50:35 questions answered
1:50:36 regarding all the different benefit programs and dr. 30 if I’m
1:50:40 correct it’s
1:50:40 not just the health insurance it’s all of our benefits package
1:50:44 correct and so
1:50:45 it’s just really great to have that resource because sometimes
1:50:48 you have a
1:50:48 question and it’s during the school day and you’re in the middle
1:50:50 of a class or
1:50:51 whatever but sometimes you have a question at 730 at night like
1:50:54 oh I can’t
1:50:55 wait till the morning you got it right email no you have access
1:50:57 until 9 o’clock
1:50:58 at night to get those questions answered and they’ll steer you
1:51:00 in the right
1:51:00 direction so that’s been a really good benefit that is
1:51:04 continuing just make
1:51:05 sure that you guys are aware that our employees are aware is and
1:51:09 that number
1:51:10 will be I think you can find it on the benefits page of our
1:51:13 district website
1:51:15 want to give an update on FSBA day in the legislature session
1:51:20 legislative
1:51:21 session is moving quickly and Danielle Thomas is sending us
1:51:25 updates regularly
1:51:26 so make sure you’re following those a couple of I was just going
1:51:31 back and
1:51:31 looking at our legislative agenda that we we decided on it seems
1:51:35 like it was
1:51:35 forever ago when I say with August or September maybe it wasn’t
1:51:39 that late but
1:51:40 it seems like it was forever and I heard a couple of you know
1:51:43 things moving
1:51:44 around about some of these things but a couple of just just for
1:51:47 your your
1:51:47 awareness that are moving first of all it’s yet to be seen
1:51:50 exactly what the
1:51:51 budget will look like you know in the coming weeks but it looks
1:51:54 like from the
1:51:55 governor’s proposed budget the Senate and the house side there’s
1:51:58 going to be
1:51:58 an increase for health mental health funding again and so that’s
1:52:02 looking
1:52:02 positive and that goes along with our number five needing more
1:52:05 mental health
1:52:05 experts and social workers in school so that is a positive that
1:52:08 we’re making
1:52:08 another increase to that funding looks like that’s going to go
1:52:13 through I would
1:52:16 just encourage your support one of the things that I we I was
1:52:19 able to talk
1:52:20 about with a few of our representatives and senators was the
1:52:23 firefighter Academy
1:52:24 at Palm Bay magnet high school it’s an amazing program I know we’re
1:52:28 already
1:52:29 moving on it in one side but we really need this appropriation
1:52:31 to get the
1:52:32 funding that we need to fill out the program and get it started
1:52:35 so if you
1:52:36 guys would just send a little something I think that would be
1:52:40 that would be
1:52:40 helpful for any of our public who are listening if you think
1:52:43 that this
1:52:43 firefighter program and by the way I just saw not very long ago
1:52:48 someone in
1:52:49 the community from the firefighter community talking about the
1:52:51 great need
1:52:51 and all the holes that they have this is a job that our students
1:52:56 can walk into
1:52:57 and be just so much more prepared to be ready to go into the
1:52:59 workforce so anybody
1:53:00 in community wants to shoot a little email to your
1:53:02 representative and say hey
1:53:03 would you please support the appropriation for the firefighter
1:53:07 fire
1:53:08 can’t say that word firefighter Academy at Palm Bay magnet high
1:53:12 school we really
1:53:13 want to see that go through so that we can start that program
1:53:17 and dr. Mullins
1:53:18 will it be next school year will be the following I know it
1:53:21 takes some time to
1:53:22 get everything up and running you know it’ll launch this coming
1:53:26 school year
1:53:27 okay this coming this coming school year correct dr. Sullivan yep
1:53:34 so all right so
1:53:38 everybody get to your emails please and ask for the legislators
1:53:41 support on for
1:53:42 that appropriation that’ll help us then as far as wage
1:53:47 compression that was one
1:53:47 things we had I don’t know how much you guys have been paying
1:53:50 attention but the
1:53:51 Senate President Wilson Simpson made it a part of his his
1:53:55 challenge on the first
1:53:56 day of session and the Senate budget since come out supporting
1:53:59 that looks
1:54:00 like the Senate side of the budget is giving a set amount of
1:54:03 money or
1:54:04 proposing a set amount of money to raise along with all the
1:54:07 other state employees
1:54:08 all school district employees go ahead and raise them to $15 an
1:54:13 hour ahead of
1:54:15 you know our minimum wage is going up a dollar a year until we
1:54:18 get to 15 and but
1:54:20 he’s saying let’s go ahead and do that now and so that’s that
1:54:25 would be really
1:54:26 awesome and Chris we’re creating some wage compression with this
1:54:28 will create
1:54:29 some issues but we when we talk about how many employees over
1:54:31 the next few
1:54:32 years are going to be happy we’re gonna have to have that
1:54:35 increase to get them
1:54:36 to the new minimum wage right now this year we only had to do it
1:54:40 for some
1:54:40 substitutes and you know but the next year as it goes to $11 an
1:54:44 hour and $12
1:54:44 an hour 13 the funding is going to be that’s gonna be a
1:54:47 challenge but to be
1:54:49 able to go ahead and do that now and get everybody up to 15 to
1:54:52 start is kind of
1:54:53 exciting so I’m gonna look at the positive side of that only for
1:54:57 right now
1:54:58 so that looks exciting and at the house I have to jump in this
1:55:06 camp there is no
1:55:08 state approved budget as of yet there are only proposals and
1:55:12 committees have
1:55:13 not resumed I love your optimism and I share it but I just you’re
1:55:20 bursting my
1:55:20 bubble I’m channeling my rust-brun friend over here like I know
1:55:28 so and I
1:55:29 know there’s some bargaining tips that kind of go along with
1:55:31 this I you know
1:55:32 we got a little bit more of an education last week as I got to
1:55:34 sit on some things
1:55:35 one of this one of the things I got to sit in and I’m not gonna
1:55:38 get too excited
1:55:39 about this one either but I was in the house 3k through 12
1:55:45 education
1:55:46 subcommittee Appropriations subcommittee last week when the
1:55:49 budget dropped and
1:55:50 just you know when we get to the real budget it’s probably not
1:55:55 going to look
1:55:55 like either one it’s not it never is gonna look like either the
1:55:58 Senate side
1:55:58 of the house side but there’s some really good pieces in there
1:56:01 and I again
1:56:03 in pulling the positive out it the house budget proposes you
1:56:06 know the governor
1:56:07 initiated in the legislature approved a couple years ago the 500
1:56:10 million dollars
1:56:11 for the teacher salary allocation to try to get school districts
1:56:14 to raise a
1:56:14 minimum teacher paid to 47 5 and we were able to get in Brevard
1:56:18 up to 46 550 last
1:56:21 year this year I think we got up to 46 800 ish entities
1:56:28 somewhere in there 800
1:56:29 okay we still have a long ways to go to get 47 5 because last
1:56:34 year they rate we
1:56:34 were able to do that because they gave an extra 50 the governor
1:56:37 proposed 50 the
1:56:38 Senate saying 50 the house budget actually saying 250 million
1:56:42 dollars
1:56:43 additional which could get us I don’t know if they could get us
1:56:47 there they
1:56:48 could get us close not 250 million dollars for Brevard don’t
1:56:51 anybody get
1:56:52 too excited but to share across the state that would get the
1:56:55 total for the
1:56:55 state up to 800 million dollars but here is the part that I was
1:56:59 really and I
1:57:00 don’t think I don’t know because they you know the sin is still
1:57:02 saying 50 on
1:57:02 that so there’s gonna meet that’s some of the bargaining in the
1:57:05 middle but one
1:57:06 of the things that was optimistic for me that I was optimistic
1:57:11 about is in that
1:57:12 250 million dollars additional it actually said 50 percent of
1:57:17 that to go
1:57:18 towards getting people to the 47 5 and the other 50% to be used
1:57:23 for veteran
1:57:23 teachers and that’s one of things we struggled with in last
1:57:25 couple years
1:57:26 because it was 80 20 and so then we end up with situations like
1:57:29 we had this year
1:57:30 where we own had very little to give to our teachers that were
1:57:32 over the 46 800
1:57:34 and so moving forward if we can if we you know we get the
1:57:37 funding like that up
1:57:39 until it once we get to 47 5 we can you know we can we can
1:57:43 really start moving
1:57:44 but in the meantime I just thought that was a positive direction
1:57:48 to get it to
1:57:49 50/50 we didn’t have it in our platform but it was an FSPA
1:57:54 platform to give us
1:57:55 more flexibility
1:58:05 I’m not promising anything I’m not the legislature when you’re
1:58:10 finished the
1:58:10 problem the problem is what I’ve been screaming is we’re gonna
1:58:14 make $15 an hour
1:58:16 as the beginning wage and they haven’t even fixed our true which
1:58:22 you touched on
1:58:22 teacher veterans which we were promised we would deal with so I’m
1:58:27 all about hey
1:58:28 let’s do great things but when you’ve got people in the audience
1:58:32 that are
1:58:32 making less than $15 an hour as a bus driver and they’re they’re
1:58:35 about to find
1:58:36 out that this guy’s gonna pass it and they’re gonna make 15 but
1:58:39 then they’ve
1:58:40 been working for us for 15 years Mullins and I went back and
1:58:43 forth about this for
1:58:44 20 minutes and it’s it’s absurd like they need to be able to
1:58:48 give us the
1:58:49 flexibility to get there give us the funding but get there
1:58:51 together so that
1:58:52 we’re all rising all boats together and I think that’s it’s just
1:58:55 sad because
1:58:56 it’s it’s like where does that reasoning come from yeah I get it
1:59:01 and I think the
1:59:02 compression is going to be an issue for a while because they
1:59:06 hand it to them they
1:59:07 say here you go look what we did they get press releases and
1:59:09 then individuals
1:59:11 come to us and they’re like wait a minute what about us and they
1:59:14 don’t have
1:59:14 to deal that because they don’t have an avenue to the state
1:59:17 legislators like we
1:59:18 like they do to us so and it’s unfair and it’s just one of those
1:59:22 things that
1:59:22 I’ve been messaging up there but that things running so it’s it’s
1:59:26 not gonna be
1:59:27 another record year for education funding hopefully we’ll get as
1:59:30 much
1:59:30 flexibility as possible so we can take care of the needs that we
1:59:33 have and then
1:59:34 I was gonna say one other thing that you talked about SIAC I
1:59:37 really appreciate
1:59:38 and I’m sorry guys I know I’m talking forever you guys came to
1:59:41 talk yes but one
1:59:43 of the reasons I was kind of hesitant with the 300 steps or
1:59:45 miles I’ll just be
1:59:46 honest with you guys is that one of the things we could really
1:59:50 do is drive our
1:59:51 wellness initiatives where not just us but our staff so we have
1:59:56 staff members
1:59:57 that don’t get colonoscopies we have a majority of our staff or
2:00:01 many of our
2:00:02 staff that don’t go get their biometrics that don’t you know
2:00:04 what I mean and that
2:00:06 so I’m presenting to the top 60 corporations in the United
2:00:10 States in two
2:00:11 weeks and the reason that I am is because that is the number one
2:00:16 goal is
2:00:17 to set a schedule in the private sector they’re forcing two
2:00:20 types so the first
2:00:21 type is you meet all these goals you go talk to all these people
2:00:24 get all these
2:00:25 checkups you get this deductible you go over here and you pay
2:00:28 more because
2:00:29 ultimately getting biometrics is one thing I did that and my
2:00:32 numbers were off
2:00:33 the charts I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to like eat right
2:00:35 before I did
2:00:36 it so the thing is is that sorry anyways my wife freaked out
2:00:40 about it but the
2:00:41 thing is is that there’s a lot to that and it identifies your
2:00:46 problems and then
2:00:46 we can fix that prior to it becoming a thing so I would love to
2:00:49 I’ll look I’ll
2:00:50 run a 300 miles in a month if you want me to okay but what I
2:00:53 would really love
2:00:54 to do is engage with the board on engaging our our members and
2:00:58 best
2:00:58 practices and look at some of those things that we can set
2:01:01 metrics for them
2:01:02 in the future the savings on identifying issues prior is
2:01:06 astronomical so that’s
2:01:09 all I just want to let you guys know thank you and the final
2:01:14 report is on Friday last
2:01:16 week we had our board of directors meeting for the Florida
2:01:19 School Board
2:01:19 Association that I serve are you guys on and one of the things
2:01:25 that we you know
2:01:26 we talked about our last meeting we voted to withdraw from the
2:01:29 National
2:01:30 School Board Association because of just the rigmarole they’ve
2:01:33 been putting
2:01:33 everybody through and not running very well we voted on Friday
2:01:38 to become a
2:01:39 founding member of the new of a new national organization which
2:01:43 will be
2:01:44 called cospa it stands for I have to look it up because I forgot
2:01:48 the first
2:01:48 word consortium of state school boards associations there are
2:01:52 already 17 I
2:01:54 believe states that have voted to be a part or intended to be a
2:01:59 part they were
2:02:00 on this call and of course now everybody has to go and vote we
2:02:03 have a name and
2:02:03 submit funding commit funding to this organization we also chose
2:02:09 bev slough
2:02:10 who is the who’s from st. John’s County as our representative to
2:02:15 the transition
2:02:15 steering committee which is going to kind of serve as the
2:02:19 temporary board of
2:02:20 directors kind of get everything set up at least until June 23
2:02:24 2023 and she was
2:02:26 the one who was serving on our behalf or NSVA and so since she
2:02:29 had that
2:02:29 experience the board of directors voted to have her represent us
2:02:33 on that so we
2:02:34 will be a part of cospa websites not up and running because last
2:02:38 time I checked
2:02:39 if I was typing it in correctly it was still on GoDaddy so but
2:02:44 anyway but they
2:02:45 didn’t have any money to start it yet so maybe they’ve they’re
2:02:48 holding it for
2:02:49 them but anyway so we are we are now going to be a part of this
2:02:52 new
2:02:53 organization and all the bylaws and all that has to be fleshed
2:02:57 out but it’s
2:02:58 exciting to kind of see the goal is to get all the states back
2:03:02 together again
2:03:03 and hopefully in a way that can really stick to our goal which
2:03:07 is not being
2:03:08 partisan but just getting some work done and by the way just one
2:03:12 of the things
2:03:12 that doesn’t necessarily apply to Brevard as much but one of the
2:03:15 things
2:03:15 that some of our our boards in the state were a part of the cube
2:03:19 dr. gallon from
2:03:20 Miami Dade who’s fantastic dude amazing vocabulary anyway he is
2:03:29 gonna lead an
2:03:30 initiative for this new organization to reach out to not so that
2:03:34 we have that
2:03:34 urban school districts but also we’re gonna have a rural
2:03:40 coalition to really
2:03:42 the needs we kind of fall in between that so I don’t know that
2:03:44 will benefit
2:03:45 from either one because we’re kind of one of those in the middle
2:03:47 but anyway
2:03:48 it’s exciting so just want to live give you guys that up well it’s
2:03:52 a great
2:03:52 infamous Campbell thank you this thing Google I am very remiss
2:03:58 not to have
2:03:59 mentioned this in the beginning but this week is national school
2:04:03 counselors we
2:04:05 and I want to give a shout out to all of our school counselors
2:04:10 they have a very
2:04:11 tough job and I want to make sure we appreciate them so I’m
2:04:14 sorry I didn’t do
2:04:15 it in the beginning of the day thank you miss McDougal for
2:04:20 reminding us all about
2:04:21 that I know it’s been out on our social media and all of that
2:04:23 but we definitely
2:04:24 want to express our sincere appreciation to those folks that are
2:04:31 I think they’ve they’ve had well everybody’s had a rough couple
2:04:35 years but
2:04:35 but their plates have certainly been full so all right any other
2:04:40 board member
2:04:40 reports or discussion dr. Mullins do you have anything more to
2:04:45 add I do I I can’t
2:04:47 pass up the opportunity just miss Campbell that was an
2:04:51 outstanding summary
2:04:52 of what’s going on in Tallahassee albeit at 98 miles an hour
2:04:58 that was pretty
2:04:59 impressive but I have to I just want to echo I optimism but also
2:05:05 caution number
2:05:07 one the the House of Representatives have released their
2:05:11 proposed budget the
2:05:13 Senate has done the same there are almost four weeks of session
2:05:18 left a lot
2:05:19 of negotiating back and forth has to happen
2:05:24 absolutely the houses proposal to add dollars to address the
2:05:30 minimum wage
2:05:30 let’s not forget that is a voter required obligation for the
2:05:36 entire state
2:05:37 of Florida our legislators should be planning to increase
2:05:44 funding to address
2:05:45 what our voters have said is a priority for the state of Florida
2:05:49 so that should
2:05:50 be coming forward what has not been addressed other than the
2:05:55 potential
2:05:56 teacher salary increase allocation is the reality of wage
2:06:01 compression and you
2:06:03 mr. Susan certainly eloquently also reiterated the realities of
2:06:10 wage
2:06:10 compression for we have three employee groups our employ our
2:06:17 employees in the
2:06:19 Brevard Federation of teachers collective bargaining unit our
2:06:21 employees in the 1010 IUP AT I got it collective bargaining unit
2:06:29 and we also
2:06:30 have nearly a thousand employees in the non bargaining category
2:06:36 which do not
2:06:37 have a collective bargaining organization and I have said since
2:06:43 the
2:06:43 moment the minimum teacher salary was established which is
2:06:47 amazing but it
2:06:49 created overnight wage compression for our teachers as soon as
2:06:55 one employee
2:06:55 group that makes up a little over half of the employees in the
2:06:59 organization
2:07:00 create wage compression there is almost well immediately a wage
2:07:06 compression
2:07:07 challenge with all other employee groups that was solidified
2:07:12 with the minimum
2:07:13 hourly rate increase which is great but I’m I’m also going to
2:07:23 remind and
2:07:24 acknowledge that we have nearly a thousand employees who are in
2:07:28 the non
2:07:29 bargaining category and if we have wage compression problems
2:07:34 with 55 60% of our
2:07:36 employees and then another 30% of our employees the remaining 10%
2:07:42 of employees
2:07:43 are inherently wage compressed as well so there is the challenge
2:07:50 ahead to work
2:07:51 through these these issues and these difficulties so as
2:07:55 optimistic as I want
2:07:56 to be as well I’m not going to put us back to the reality of the
2:08:01 challenges we
2:08:02 have before us which is one we do not have a budget and number
2:08:06 two there are
2:08:07 some challenges ahead of us to ensure we are caring for every
2:08:13 one of our
2:08:14 employees the men and women who have devoted themselves our most
2:08:19 senior
2:08:19 employees through the toughest years that our generation has
2:08:25 faced in our
2:08:26 profession and to ensure that they are acknowledged in a and
2:08:33 recognized not
2:08:35 only with words but also with compensation I would remind our
2:08:41 citizens
2:08:42 of our great district that you have representatives and you have
2:08:45 senators in
2:08:46 Tallahassee right now that answer to you and the more you become
2:08:51 active in and
2:08:53 engaging with our delegates in Tallahassee and letting them know
2:08:59 you
2:08:59 understand the work they have before them as well as the impacts
2:09:04 it has on us
2:09:05 here at home
2:09:07 the more you are assured that they are going to work on all of
2:09:12 our behalf so do
2:09:14 not miss the opportunity to write a hand-written letter to your
2:09:21 delegates
2:09:22 right now and express your
2:09:28 position your perspective on the decisions that they have ahead
2:09:32 of them
2:09:33 in these final weeks of session because it will be a giant
2:09:39 education year
2:09:42 good bad or otherwise they will decide and we will have the
2:09:49 responsibility to
2:09:50 take it from there so sorry but I had to bring us I had to
2:09:57 challenge and charge
2:09:58 all of us we have the responsibility to ensure that we’re doing
2:10:04 our part to
2:10:05 ensure that our representation in our government is answering to
2:10:11 the people
2:10:13 second I would I have to echo your acknowledgement of our
2:10:19 superintendent’s
2:10:20 insurance advisory committee and I was going to do a
2:10:23 superintendent’s report on
2:10:24 this but you you open the door miss Campbell so I’m gonna I can’t
2:10:28 we can’t
2:10:29 undervalue the work of SIAC and the men and women who manage and
2:10:35 work in our
2:10:36 health insurance plan it is the second largest expenditure of
2:10:41 this district this
2:10:43 district has approximately 70 million dollars of health care
2:10:50 expenditures a
2:10:51 year that’s the second largest expenditure only to salaries
2:10:58 the work of SIAC over the last many years to be able to provide
2:11:04 at least
2:11:05 employees by choice a no premium increase for going on eight
2:11:12 years is
2:11:14 nothing short of remarkable that is blood sweat and tears kind
2:11:21 of hard work
2:11:22 because you go ask any other folks out there if they’ve
2:11:26 experienced health
2:11:28 print premiums a health plan premium stable option for that long
2:11:35 a time but I
2:11:36 also got to do a shout out to this board because you’ve made the
2:11:40 hard and
2:11:41 difficult and responsible decisions to invest in our health care
2:11:46 plan our
2:11:47 self-insured health care plan this board has contributed over a
2:11:51 10 million
2:11:51 recurring dollars in the last two years to increase revenue to
2:11:56 offset increased
2:11:57 expenses in addition this board has contributed over 12 million
2:12:04 one-time
2:12:05 dollars to the health plan to address fund balance issues so
2:12:10 well over 20 to
2:12:12 23 million dollars just in the last two years to provide a
2:12:17 health care plan for
2:12:19 our employees that we all share we all pay in we all utilize and
2:12:26 the choices we
2:12:28 make to manage our health and take make proactive choices
2:12:32 contributes to not
2:12:33 only our personal health but the fiscal health of our plan over
2:12:39 the long term
2:12:39 so thanks for that opportunity and the last thing I just feel
2:12:45 compelled to
2:12:46 clarify there was a comment earlier this evening that referenced
2:12:50 the state’s
2:12:51 withholding 1/12 of board members salaries due to last semester’s
2:13:00 mass
2:13:02 conflict I’ll say that has since been restored to our budget it
2:13:08 was withheld
2:13:09 once for one month and it was restored the conclude the
2:13:12 following month so I
2:13:14 just want to clarify that for the community for our viewing
2:13:17 public that
2:13:17 the DOE did restore that funding not only for Brevard but for
2:13:21 all districts
2:13:22 that were in that situation thank you madam chair for indulging
2:13:26 my
2:13:37 Katie left out all of the bad things and yeah so thank you both
2:13:45 for those those
2:13:46 updates thank you all for those updates we appreciate it
2:13:49 all right we are now going to hear our remaining speakers who
2:13:52 have been
2:13:53 incredibly patient but have signed up to comment on our non-agenda
2:13:58 items each
2:13:59 speaker is limited to one minute we have a clock in front of me
2:14:01 to help you keep
2:14:02 track of your time when your time is over you will be asked to
2:14:05 stop and allow
2:14:06 the next speaker his or her turn we’ll hear from the speakers in
2:14:09 the order in
2:14:09 which they signed up including those who may be waiting outside
2:14:12 but I’m pretty
2:14:13 sure we don’t have anyone outside this evening as stated earlier
2:14:17 reasonable
2:14:18 decorum is expected at all times and your statements should be
2:14:20 directed to
2:14:21 the board chair should audience participation interfere with
2:14:24 speakers
2:14:24 being heard or hearing me I’ll be forced to clear the room when
2:14:27 I call your name
2:14:28 please line up along the east wall of the boardroom to
2:14:31 facilitate the smooth
2:14:31 transition of speakers we’ll begin with our first three speakers
2:14:35 that were
2:14:36 originally on our agenda list Deborah Schmidt Teresa Thompson
2:14:41 and then Mark
2:14:42 Rainey Deborah if you could approach the microphone and Teresa
2:14:48 and Mark if you
2:14:49 all could be on the wall for me that would be great
2:14:55 thank you Deborah Schmidt I happen to be one of our bus drivers
2:15:01 been driving for
2:15:02 I’m in my 15th year of bus driving now and I do happen to say
2:15:07 that I do love
2:15:09 the kids that I drive in my bus and I have a good relationship
2:15:13 with them I
2:15:14 would hope that you would take that into consideration I know we’re
2:15:18 not talking
2:15:18 money right now you can but we can but I just want to say that
2:15:25 we because of the
2:15:27 type of things that we do we carry those kids around we go to
2:15:30 the different
2:15:31 places we build relationships with them we love them and take
2:15:36 care of them and
2:15:38 the way that we take care of them greeting them the first thing
2:15:41 in the
2:15:41 morning making sure that their day is starting on a good note
2:15:45 that they get to
2:15:47 school and they have a good day we we usher them off the buses
2:15:51 lovingly and
2:15:53 wish them well every day so that they have the best start
2:15:57 possible at our end
2:15:58 thank you Deborah we appreciate you joining us this evening as
2:16:02 well as your
2:16:03 service to our kiddos Teresa
2:16:13 hi I’ve been driving a bus for 23 years for Brevard County and I
2:16:19 get the feeling
2:16:21 you guys because you decide our fate really don’t have an idea
2:16:27 of what’s
2:16:28 involved when we drive these kids I just want to give you a
2:16:32 brief overview you
2:16:34 all drive cars you’re out on the traffic you’re in the roads
2:16:37 every day so you see
2:16:38 how bad traffic is imagine having 50 or 60 kids with you 50 60
2:16:45 kids come through
2:16:46 and are in this room you got to corral them all on a vehicle
2:16:50 that’s 40 feet
2:16:52 long 10 feet wide mirror to mirror and try to keep some sort of
2:16:56 order while
2:16:57 you’re looking at the road you also have to be see what’s going
2:17:01 on behind you
2:17:02 with the kids and you have to deal with not only traffic but you
2:17:06 got parents
2:17:07 teachers school administrators trash trucks golf carts people
2:17:12 walking jogging
2:17:13 dogs and you’ve got to juggle all that in addition to keeping
2:17:16 these kids safe
2:17:18 thank you Teresa we appreciate you joining us and appreciate
2:17:22 your service
2:17:24 as mark is approaching the next speaker will be Tommy it’s
2:17:28 followed by Katie
2:17:29 Delaney Sarah Marski
2:17:34 before my minute start should have been free but before the
2:17:38 minutes for the
2:17:39 minute starts gonna bus drivers will raise your hand this is a
2:17:42 representative
2:17:43 sample there was a couple of hundred that wanted to come but
2:17:45 they’re still
2:17:45 driving when when your boards meeting so please this is a
2:17:50 representation it’s not
2:17:53 the only ones that have an interest in it one minute timing at
2:17:59 the last board
2:17:59 meeting I urge the board to impress on the administrative
2:18:02 negotiating team to
2:18:03 do so with the root cause in mind the that being this is
2:18:08 starting pay is not
2:18:09 attracting the candidates now you can have compression problems
2:18:12 all you want
2:18:13 you know you’re only going to be dealing with with starting pay
2:18:16 if you keep this
2:18:17 up okay because there isn’t going to be any compression problem
2:18:21 many of the
2:18:22 drivers have stepped up to help during the trying times they’re
2:18:25 covering extra
2:18:25 routes they’re doing all the things that you’ve asked for them
2:18:28 however no do new
2:18:29 drivers that fill the positions they’ve lost their faith they’re
2:18:34 they’re
2:18:34 completely exhausted now after three or four months of hard work
2:18:39 in this so you
2:18:41 have an opportunity the board the drivers are going to reject
2:18:45 the 10-10
2:18:45 contract it may still pass because of the other members but the
2:18:49 drivers are
2:18:50 voting no on the 10-10 contract along with the IAS we’re asking
2:18:55 the board to
2:18:56 reject the contract send it back for negotiations on reoccurring
2:18:59 pay and I
2:19:00 know you started the negotiations with we have no money and
2:19:04 there is no
2:19:04 reoccurring pay thank you that’s a rainy we appreciate you
2:19:08 joining us this evening
2:19:09 Tom yay
2:19:15 thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to speak talking
2:19:20 about the
2:19:21 TLC program and the stress and all the people face these bus
2:19:26 drivers face a lot
2:19:27 of stress every day I tell you what today is the first day in
2:19:31 about two and
2:19:32 a half weeks I haven’t had to make extra runs and when I’m
2:19:36 transporting almost
2:19:37 200 students a day I have to make sure the bus is correct
2:19:41 everything is safe
2:19:42 and everything is operational and have to maintain the
2:19:47 discipline of the kids
2:19:48 within the bus but I can tell you right now I take on all of
2:19:53 that responsibility
2:19:54 all of that pressure is on me to make sure that I do my job I
2:19:59 can go to
2:20:00 McDonald’s and all I have to worry about is the french fries if
2:20:03 I cook them too
2:20:04 long or not long enough and make over $14 an hour I can go to Wawa
2:20:10 and dump
2:20:10 trash not worry about anything and make $15 an hour so I hope
2:20:15 you guys will
2:20:16 reconsider I just want to say this is why your public policy
2:20:29 change is so
2:20:31 wrong miss Belford each meeting you start by
2:20:35 warning the audience of the consequences of breaking the decorum
2:20:38 rules of this
2:20:39 meeting then certain then a certain board member is continuously
2:20:43 allowed to
2:20:44 defame parents and stakeholders who have differing views on
2:20:47 various topics the
2:20:49 public is expected to keep a level of decorum I would request
2:20:53 that the board
2:20:53 would also abide abide by those same rules of decorum
2:20:57 discrimination for any
2:20:59 reason is abhorrent and no child should feel unsafe in school in
2:21:04 response to Dr.
2:21:05 Mullins challenge there is a large group of parents who are
2:21:08 heading to the
2:21:09 Capitol shortly unfortunately if things go the way it is rumored
2:21:14 Brevard will
2:21:14 not benefit from those extra funds because of some of the
2:21:18 members on this
2:21:19 board who decided to vote in opposition of the governor’s
2:21:21 executive order which
2:21:22 is now state law thank you thank you Miss Marski
2:21:29 after Miss Marski is Karen Colby and then Christopher Macklin
2:21:37 good evening I will actually be one of the members going to Tallahassee
2:21:42 and
2:21:42 speaking specifically to my legislators about this specific
2:21:47 school board and my
2:21:48 issues with them I want to address the youth through survey my
2:21:52 understanding is
2:21:53 that it’s an anonymous survey however my husband I were offended
2:21:57 that questions
2:21:58 of a sexual nature were asked to our minor child our child felt
2:22:05 really
2:22:05 uncomfortable and my husband and I were completely unaware that
2:22:08 this type of
2:22:09 survey was being taken and the nature of the questions were
2:22:12 highly inappropriate
2:22:12 to our families morals values and faith I asked that parents be
2:22:16 made aware of
2:22:17 the survey that that nature or the questions and parents are
2:22:22 able to opt
2:22:23 out of this survey my husband and I are highly offended over the
2:22:27 inappropriateness of this search survey the medical form that
2:22:31 has gone out
2:22:32 district-wide is very confusing it’s been very confusing to
2:22:36 parents thank you
2:22:39 Karen Colby here tonight Miss Marski if you would please send me
2:22:43 the specific
2:22:44 questions that you’re concerned about on that survey you wouldn’t
2:22:46 mind so we can
2:22:47 look into it dr. Sullivan miss Marski if you would get with dr.
2:22:53 Sullivan that
2:22:53 would be great mr. Macklin
2:23:01 Chris Mack we all believe in this the mission for the the
2:23:10 driving school bus
2:23:11 we’re all loyal and dedicated since the lack of drivers were
2:23:16 they’re all
2:23:17 overloaded doing two and three routes we all chip in our own way
2:23:23 I do my route
2:23:24 fuel bus at lunch and do every field trip I can and what I end
2:23:31 up with is
2:23:32 $21,000 a year on my w-2 that’s doing almost nine hours a day
2:23:39 that’s shameful
2:23:40 embarrassing we’re third lowest from the bottom in state and pay
2:23:48 there’s no
2:23:48 reason for that it’s one of the richer counties worth three
2:23:54 dollars below the
2:23:57 average Florida bus driver across the board it’s something has
2:24:05 to be done
2:24:06 we’re running skeleton crew our bosses are driving buses thank
2:24:10 you mr. Macklin
2:24:11 we appreciate you and your service
2:24:15 all right the board wishes to thank this evening speakers your
2:24:22 willingness to
2:24:22 speak with the board is appreciated and certainly we appreciate
2:24:25 the service of
2:24:26 all of our bus drivers before you gavel yeah I just I’m gonna
2:24:32 take whatever they
2:24:33 wanted to say at the end and email it to you guys and issues
2:24:38 that that would be
2:24:39 appropriate and then I would love to put on the for the next
2:24:42 meeting discussion
2:24:43 around if a board member puts a board an agenda item on letting
2:24:46 the individuals
2:24:47 that speak on to that agenda item get their three minutes and I’ll
2:24:50 just be
2:24:50 honest with you part of that reason is is because you know these
2:24:54 are our
2:24:54 employees and I really wanted to hear the three minutes from
2:24:57 them I didn’t
2:24:58 know that rule so I’ll just like to talk to you guys about it
2:25:01 the next point
2:25:02 thank you okay anyone have anything else all right hearing no
2:25:06 further business
2:25:07 this meeting is now adjourned have a great night
2:25:13 you