Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
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3:50 » Good evening, the April 12th, 2022 board meeting is now in
3:53 order.
3:53 I’m happy to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
3:56 This is a business meeting of the board held in the public.
3:59 As such, the board is authorized to adopt rules or policies to
4:02 maintain
4:02 orderly conduct and proper decorum in a public meeting.
4:06 Please note that your presence here is subject to those rules
4:08 and policies.
4:09 Pursuant to Florida Statute 877.13, it is unlawful and
4:13 a misdemeanor of the second degree punishable by up to 60 days
4:16 in jail.
4:16 And a $50 fine for any person knowingly to disrupt or
4:20 interfere with the lawful administration or functions of any
4:23 educational
4:24 institution or school board.
4:26 Or knowingly to advise counselor instruct any school pupil or
4:29 school employee to disrupt any school or school board function
4:32 or
4:32 activity on school board property.
4:34 Facilitate board business, please be aware of the following.
4:38 If you must leave the building for any reason,
4:40 you will not be permitted to reenter.
4:42 The appropriate place for public participation in the meeting is
4:44 during
4:45 your individual public comment opportunity as identified in the
4:48 agenda.
4:49 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity,
4:51 your role in the meeting is as an observer.
4:54 I will ask persons deemed to be knowingly or
4:56 intentionally disrupting this meeting of the school board of Brevard
4:58 County or
4:59 not complying with policy to stop or leave.
5:02 If persons receiving the warning choose not to follow my
5:04 instructions,
5:05 I will instruct Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies to take any
5:08 law enforcement
5:08 action they deem appropriate, and you may be escorted, detained,
5:12 or
5:12 arrested depending on the conduct.
5:14 Persons who refuse to depart after a warning may also be
5:16 committing the crime
5:17 of trespassing in accordance with Florida Statute Section 810.05.
5:22 These statutes apply to conduct on all school board property,
5:25 which includes this boardroom, as well as the outside of this
5:28 building to the sidewalk.
5:31 If you continue to cause a disruption, you are advised that you
5:33 are in violation of
5:34 Florida State Statute 877.13, or if you fail to leave the
5:38 premises
5:39 after being warned by the sheriff’s office, you are committing
5:41 trespass and
5:42 the board has authorized the sheriff’s office to enforce these
5:45 rules.
5:45 In the event multiple individuals
5:47 fail to adhere to these expectations,
5:48 and board business cannot continue due to disruption,
5:51 I will call a recess
5:52 and request that the law enforcement officers present
5:55 clear the boardroom of attendees.
5:57 When the room is cleared,
5:58 the board will return and resume their meeting
5:59 with no public presence.
6:01 Those who are signed up to speak
6:02 will be seated under the front entry area
6:04 and called in when it is your time to speak.
6:07 Mr. Gibbs, roll call please.
6:08 - Ms. Belfer.
6:09 - Present.
6:10 - Ms. McDougall.
6:11 - Present.
6:12 - Ms. Jenkins.
6:12 - Present.
6:13 - Ms. Campbell.
6:14 - Present.
6:17 - The board will now hold a moment of silent reflection
6:19 in memory of two BPS family members,
6:23 Elizabeth Rosado and Melanie Sheffield,
6:25 who recently passed away.
6:27 Ms. Rosado was a bus driver for Mid-South Transportation,
6:30 and Ms. Sheffield was a BPK IA at Riviera Elementary.
6:45 - Please stand for the pledge of allegiance
6:48 to the flag of the United States of America
6:51 and to the republic for which it stands,
6:54 one nation under God, indivisible,
6:57 with liberty and justice for all.
7:00 - The pledge of allegiance to the flag
7:02 of the United States of America
7:04 and to the republic for which it stands,
7:07 one nation under God,
7:09 indivisible,
7:10 with liberty and justice for all.
7:13 - One nation under God, indivisible,
7:16 with liberty and justice for all.
7:22 - All right, we are at the board superintendent recognition
7:24 portion of the agenda.
7:25 Tonight, I’m going to begin with Dr. Mullins,
7:27 who has some exciting news to share.
7:29 Dr. Mullins.
7:30 - Good evening.
7:31 Thank you, Mrs. Belford, and welcome this evening.
7:34 We have a full house, and it’s an exciting evening
7:38 as we recognize some amazing, amazing scholars
7:44 and their accomplishments.
7:46 I am extremely honored and proud
7:48 to present this evening’s recognition
7:51 in honor of our Brevard Public Schools academic team,
7:56 Team Brevard.
7:58 And for those of you who are not familiar
8:00 with the academic team,
8:02 it’s actually an academic trivia competition.
8:06 It’s literally Jeopardy on steroids.
8:10 Alex Trebrek would be proud.
8:13 Our students compete against first among students in Brevard,
8:18 but then across the state,
8:20 and they buzz in their answers to questions.
8:24 So the subjects involved are English,
8:26 which include grammar and literature,
8:28 mathematics, all levels from algebra
8:30 to differential equations,
8:32 biology, chemistry, physics,
8:35 all areas and subjects of social studies,
8:38 the arts, culture, music history, music theory,
8:41 world languages, and humanities.
8:45 And as such, it is not just about academic intelligence.
8:51 It requires the students to have an extremely fast
8:56 academic recall memory,
8:58 as well as the confidence to respond quickly and accurately.
9:02 You should see them at the tables.
9:06 I pride myself as a math teacher.
9:08 I could do myself a little bit of calculus back in the day.
9:12 These kids would blow me away on my best day.
9:16 So this group of phenomenal students
9:18 that we have here this evening
9:21 were absolutely phenomenal at state competition.
9:24 They began their academic team journey
9:26 competing for first their individual schools.
9:30 Some schools even had in-house scrimmages
9:33 where the academic team of students
9:35 would compete against teachers and administration.
9:38 I heard that the students actually
9:42 were kind of shown up by the academic faculty.
9:45 Oh, no, no.
9:48 Someone at the table said usually the teachers win.
9:51 Usually, but then it happened here.
9:53 Oh, you shut them down.
9:56 [ Laughter ]
10:00 That’s right. That’s right.
10:02 Edgewood’s faculty team was called the Jedi Masters, right?
10:06 Yeah, the Padawans took the –
10:08 -Night. -Night.
10:10 Oh, okay.
10:12 Well, your JV team has a lot to aspire to, for sure.
10:18 So Brevard’s district final academic team
10:23 was absolutely amazing.
10:25 I got to see them in action
10:27 as they were competing for district recognition.
10:29 And our group of eight students earned a place on Team Brevard.
10:33 And then they progressed to the state academic tournament
10:37 where they were a force.
10:39 And I heard that you, like, competed so well
10:42 in the first round that you got to buy
10:44 for the next couple competition.
10:47 They earned their place in the semifinal match,
10:50 which led them to the final round for state competition.
10:53 So Team Brevard demonstrated intellectual precision
10:57 as well as patience as they competed against students
11:00 from across the state of Florida.
11:03 After eight practice sessions total
11:05 and seven district matches, including the final,
11:09 Team Brevard placed first in the state
11:13 with a total 262 points in front of Manatee, Polk,
11:17 Orange, Pinellas, and Seminole counties.
11:20 And these extraordinary students worked so amazingly together
11:25 as they became a family, and we got to hang out with them
11:28 for a little while before the board meeting.
11:31 And the camaraderie and the friendship
11:33 and the celebration among–
11:35 So these students represent multiple schools.
11:37 Let me introduce them.
11:39 So when I call your name, would you please stand up
11:41 so we can all recognize you?
11:43 First, Jack Baptiste from West Shore,
11:46 known for his knowledge of history and humanities.
11:49 Is Jack here?
11:52 Okay.
11:53 Jack, we hope you’re watching out there.
11:55 Congratulations.
11:56 Let’s give him a round of applause for this.
11:57 [applause]
12:02 And Phoenix Boggs from Edgewood, also Edgewood,
12:05 and known for her specialty in linguistics.
12:08 [applause]
12:13 And next we have Nakeel Iyer.
12:16 Did I get your first name right?
12:18 Okay.
12:20 From Edgewood, and he is known for his understanding in math,
12:23 science, computer science, and music theory.
12:26 And I think you’re going to UF to study computer science.
12:29 Did I get that right?
12:30 All right.
12:31 [applause]
12:35 I should have noted that Phoenix is planning to go to Yale.
12:39 Did I get that right?
12:40 Awesome.
12:41 Tommy Tibbetts from Cocoa Beach,
12:43 known for his specialty in English and literature.
12:46 Congratulations, Tommy.
12:48 [applause]
12:53 And next we have Giancarlo Valdivia.
12:58 Did I do okay?
13:00 You’re being very kind, I can tell.
13:02 From Holy Trinity, known for his knowledge in math,
13:06 music, and Spanish.
13:08 Congratulations.
13:09 [applause]
13:13 We have John Wang from Edgewood,
13:16 known for his mastery in math, art, literature, and psychology.
13:21 Congratulations.
13:22 [applause]
13:27 And Abby Shepherd.
13:29 There she is.
13:30 Team Brevard student observer manager,
13:32 also from Edgewood, who excelled in the humanities as well as
13:35 biology.
13:36 Congratulations, Abby.
13:38 [applause]
13:42 And we also have Nate Horton,
13:45 Team Brevard’s alternate,
13:47 who attended every Team Brevard practice from Cocoa Beach,
13:50 who soared in math and chemistry.
13:53 Congratulations.
13:54 [applause]
13:59 So before I introduce their amazing coaches,
14:02 I just want to put into context the accomplishment.
14:07 So if you’re having a hard time seeing me around the big trophy,
14:13 that’s because this is the trophy they brought home to Brevard
14:16 from the competition.
14:17 They received a cash award.
14:19 They also will receive state championship rings for accomplishing
14:24 it.
14:24 And you can tell that they are all well on their way
14:27 to great accomplishments after high school.
14:30 We are so very proud of you.
14:31 Thank you for representing your schools as well as our community
14:35 with the excellence that we strive for,
14:39 and we’re so very proud of you.
14:42 So now it goes without saying that these students couldn’t do
14:47 what they have done without amazing coaches who provided
14:51 guidance
14:52 and support every step of the way.
14:54 And the students from Team Brevard will tell you that this
14:57 recognition
14:57 could not be possible without their phenomenal teachers.
15:01 So would you please join me in recognizing Mr. Sean Johnston.
15:05 [applause]
15:11 Mr. Johnston is from Edgewood Junior/Senior High,
15:14 and Mr. Mike Prince from Cocoa Beach.
15:17 [applause]
15:22 And Mr. Prince confirmed that Brevard has not won
15:27 the academic team championship since 2009.
15:32 Is that right?
15:33 And were you a coach for the academic team back then?
15:35 Look at that.
15:36 We got a two-time champion in the house.
15:39 [applause]
15:41 So coaches, thank you for the extra time and effort
15:46 and your commitment to serve and support our kids
15:49 and help them find their way to this amazing place.
15:54 We appreciate you and we know that they couldn’t have gotten
15:57 to where they did without your continued support along the way.
16:01 And to all of our coaches at our other high schools
16:04 who worked with our kids along the way,
16:06 we are so grateful for all of your hard work
16:10 and investment in Brevard’s future.
16:13 So congratulations again.
16:14 I want to give a moment.
16:16 Phoenix is going to come up.
16:17 I put her on the spot.
16:18 She’s going to say a few words,
16:19 and then we’re going to have photo op.
16:22 Phoenix, it’s all yours.
16:27 You can speak right there.
16:31 Okay.
16:32 So I and the team really wanted to just say a few words
16:35 in appreciation of all of the support that we received
16:37 on behalf of the district.
16:39 I think that, and we all know that,
16:41 without the support of the district,
16:43 providing us a circuit in which to compete to hone our skills
16:45 within the Brevard system,
16:48 also providing us with space to practice,
16:50 providing us with financial support that we needed
16:52 in order to actually go to this competition,
16:55 made an absolute world of difference.
16:57 And we know that this championship
16:59 and also that all of our other individual accomplishments
17:02 that we’ve achieved throughout this academic team journey
17:05 absolutely would not have been possible
17:07 without all of your support.
17:08 So we deeply thank you guys.
17:09 And we actually put those words into a letter that we all signed,
17:12 so I don’t know where to put this,
17:14 but we just really want to express our appreciation
17:17 for all the support that we’ve received.
17:19 Well, you’re welcome.
17:20 And this is the best parts of the job, for sure.
17:23 [applause]
17:29 So before we have our winning team come up for a picture,
17:34 I also want to take this moment to recognize amazing leadership
17:38 because we know it’s leadership in our schools
17:41 that empower our teachers to do what they do,
17:43 and it sets the culture, the bar of expectation and excellence
17:48 across the entire school
17:50 to set students up for success like this.
17:52 First, Ms. Jackie Ingrata,
17:54 the principal of Edgewood Junior/Senior High.
17:56 Come on, Ms. Ingrata, you got to stand up.
17:58 [applause]
18:02 And Dr. Mark Rendell, principal of Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior
18:06 High.
18:06 [applause]
18:11 And so I invite the board to come out front for a picture
18:14 with our championship team, and then in a moment,
18:16 we’ll have parents come up and join for a photo op,
18:19 but principals, can we have you as well, please?
18:36 [laughter]
18:46 [no audio]
29:07 All right, thank you, Dr. Mullins. All kinds of great stuff
29:11 starting off our meeting this evening, I appreciate it.
29:13 And thank you, Dr. Cador and crew, and congratulations to all of
29:18 our students.
29:19 We are now going to allow my fellow board members to do their
29:23 recognitions as we traditionally do at the beginning of the
29:26 meeting.
29:27 So, who would like to start us off this evening?
29:30 [no audio]
29:34 All right, so, Mr. Gibbs, you got your lights on?
29:39 [no audio]
29:49 We got some bling this week for the 300 mile challenge that is
29:52 going on.
29:53 And I just wanted to highlight, these are some awards given by
29:57 sponsors for the 300 mile challenge for walking PQ from getting
30:02 run over at night.
30:03 But I wanted to highlight that not because of the board. I would
30:06 like for all the board to be healthy and walking 7,000-ish steps
30:10 a day.
30:11 But to emphasize, we’re really trying to shift the focus for our
30:14 district from just paying for insurance through the wellness of
30:18 our employees.
30:19 And so, I would just encourage all of our employees who are out
30:22 there who might be listening, if you didn’t get in on this
30:25 challenge,
30:26 I just saw the email today that the next challenge, the
30:29 registration opened today, and that is the fitness challenge.
30:33 So, please sign up, challenge yourself.
30:35 It’s so important with the stressful work that you all do to be
30:39 healthy and to take on the challenge.
30:42 So, now you can send my bling back down to me.
30:45 But much more fun going on with the next challenge, so I just
30:48 want to make sure everybody’s aware.
30:50 I’m not going to make the board do anything else, but I just
30:52 want to encourage all employees to take advantage of that
30:54 fitness challenge.
30:55 That’s coming up.
30:58 Thank you, Ms. Campbell. Ms. Jenkins.
31:02 All right, so I got a couple.
31:04 I’m going to need some support from the people in the back to
31:07 maybe do some Beyonce or some Spice Girls or something for me,
31:10 because I’ve got some huge shout outs for some ladies in our
31:14 district.
31:14 So, first, I want to talk about, on Saturday, I was invited to
31:18 attend Cocoa High School, their city councilman, Alex Goins, as
31:22 well as all their city council members, but he’s the one who
31:26 organized it.
31:27 He put a call out to the community and asked them to come and
31:30 rejuvenate Cocoa High School Stadium.
31:33 And so, they painted the bleachers, they pulled some weeds.
31:36 He really wanted that space to be ready for when those students
31:39 are ready to graduate.
31:40 And I got there, and all there was was ladies.
31:46 And it was our Vieira Hawks cheerleading team, and they were
31:51 absolutely fantastic.
31:52 And they were there because their coach had actually graduated
31:55 from Cocoa High School, Ms. Cheryl Dravis, and she was super
31:59 proud to go back there and give back.
32:02 And I have to give it to these ladies.
32:04 There was a four-hour time slot for people to come and volunteer.
32:08 I mean, they didn’t waste any time.
32:10 They weren’t chatting, they didn’t do a thing.
32:12 They were grabbing the paint, climbing the bleachers.
32:14 They weren’t done in an hour and 30 minutes, and they did an
32:18 amazing job.
32:19 I was super impressed with them, and so hats off to them.
32:22 They were there to work, and they were so happy to give back.
32:25 What an amazing coach and an amazing team and an amazing
32:27 experience for those girls to participate in.
32:30 Actually, when I took a photo of them, I asked them on the count
32:32 of three to say, “Where are the boys?” because they weren’t
32:35 there.
32:36 However, there were some members of the community that were
32:38 males.
32:39 I will recognize them, but it was also a really great experience
32:42 because there was, you know, I got to talking to all of them,
32:45 but there was one gentleman in particular.
32:47 He had just had knee replacement surgery, so he couldn’t really
32:49 do a whole lot, but he wanted to be there just in physical
32:52 presence to support.
32:53 And he actually had retired from working at Cocoa High School as
32:56 a maintenance worker, but he also had graduated from Cocoa High
32:59 School.
33:00 So it was really cool to see the community come out, step up,
33:03 and really support that school.
33:05 I’m going to keep going for my girls here.
33:08 Our hunch program.
33:10 BaseCoast Junior Senior is sending two teams of all girls for
33:14 STEM to present their hardware to NASA in Texas tomorrow.
33:17 They’re getting on a plane, and the competition is on Thursday.
33:20 Send it all, girls.
33:21 But I do also have to congratulate a student from Palm Bay High,
33:27 Jaden Hite.
33:28 He is going to present his invention as well to NASA in Houston.
33:34 And so I’m just super proud of these students.
33:36 I got to see that prototype.
33:38 It was really, really cool, and I’m really excited to hear how
33:41 that turns out for them.
33:42 And last but not least, this morning I had a unique opportunity
33:46 to go to O’Gally High School.
33:48 And I was participating in their supported and participatory
33:52 classes because Brevard Achievement Center is going to be having
33:56 an amazing performance that they have every year.
33:58 This year it’s going to be on May 10th, and it’s at the King
34:01 Center.
34:02 If you want to attend, you do have to RSVP, and I’ll make sure
34:06 that that information gets out to Russ so he can put it out on
34:08 our website and social media, and I’m going to do it on mine as
34:12 well.
34:13 Just a little shout out to the people who volunteer.
34:17 Ms. Joan Taddy, she’s a dear, dear, loving friend of mine.
34:20 She is a Brevard Public Schools alum, had worked for Brevard
34:24 Public Schools for 38 years.
34:26 She’s given back at 75 years old to help these students put on a
34:30 performance and be a part of something.
34:33 And it’s a really, really unique, amazing show that she actually
34:38 wrote for them.
34:39 It’s a five-minute performance.
34:41 And this morning they asked me to participate and be there and
34:43 help out with some of the wheelchairs and stuff, so I said I’ll
34:45 absolutely be there.
34:46 And so I hope to see some of you guys there as well.
34:49 Thanks.
34:50 Thanks, Ms. Jenkins. That’s actually my favorite event of the
34:54 year, so I will definitely be there.
34:56 Mr. Susan.
34:58 Well, first off, a great call on the NASA Hunch Program.
35:04 O’Gally High School is right now, not many people understand
35:07 what that is.
35:08 NASA Hunch gives an opportunity for our people to be a part of
35:11 challenges that, if they win, goes into space, whether that’s in
35:15 the Space Center and other places.
35:18 So the Space Coast has a couple of teams, and uniquely NASA Hunch
35:22 was in O’Gally when we were going through the trades tour.
35:25 And O’Gally has won the opportunity to build the tread that will
35:29 go on the Mars rover that will eventually be part of the first
35:33 landing into Mars before we bring people to it.
35:37 So to say the least about NASA Hunch and our program, thank you,
35:40 Ms. Jenkins, for pointing that out.
35:43 I mean, it’s an amazing opportunity that we have that we can do
35:46 those things.
35:47 The other thing is, I don’t know if you guys saw it, but we got
35:50 an email on the art fair.
35:51 And if you clicked on it, you got to click on the link, you get
35:53 to see all the pictures.
35:54 So just so you know, many times throughout the school district,
35:58 they used to bring all the art in here and we’d be walking
36:00 around and it kind of got to be a point where it was difficult
36:02 to do all that stuff.
36:03 So now we get pictures of everybody’s art.
36:05 And it’s been my goal from the beginning to find somebody that I
36:08 can actually paint to do a better job from the beginning since I’ve
36:12 been there.
36:13 And I have not yet, and I confirm that this year is another year
36:16 where I review all of the different pictures and find the most
36:20 amazing art that you’ve ever seen.
36:22 And again, I cannot do better than our kids.
36:24 So if you haven’t had an opportunity, take a look at that.
36:27 It’s absolutely some of the most beautiful pieces you’ll see.
36:30 Also wanted to say congratulations to Melbourne High Robotics
36:33 team.
36:34 Once again, they’re going nationals.
36:36 I mean, this is a big deal.
36:37 I mean, worlds.
36:38 I mean, for me, that’s, you know, but worlds.
36:41 And it’s phenomenal.
36:42 And one of the things I’m going to bring up in the item later on
36:45 is that sometimes when they start going like that, we assist
36:47 with funding and stuff like that.
36:49 Also wanted to say big shout out to Coco Trade Show.
36:53 The trade show went through there and I heard it was like the
36:57 biggest showing of anybody was at Coco.
37:00 So like they said, they had more people out there than they’d
37:03 ever seen before.
37:04 And that’s rightfully so because Coco is amazing.
37:07 Like they show up in numbers and the city council supports and
37:11 the mayor supports and the community supports.
37:14 It’s just a phenomenal community and we’re so lucky to have them.
37:17 And I just want to say shout out to Coco.
37:19 They did astronaut also and did a great job up there.
37:21 And then tonight on the agenda is the approval of the middle
37:25 school part of the design.
37:27 So it’s going to be we’re moving forward in that direction.
37:30 That is a long time coming.
37:32 So that’s it. Didn’t mean to you know, I kept my a little
37:35 shorter than you, Dr. Mullins.
37:37 I tried to do that every single time I have.
37:42 And that’s it, Miss Belford. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Susan.
37:47 So, Mr. Susan, you stole my thunder. Can you tell me about your
37:51 Scottish garb you have on today?
37:54 OK, I’m sorry. Anyhow, Mr. Susan is absolutely correct.
37:59 It was an amazing turnout at Coco High School.
38:02 And thank you for Miss Rutledge, who was who coordinated it and
38:08 her team and also to all the community members that showed up.
38:13 We had a couple of people that would not leave. They wanted to
38:16 stay.
38:17 We had to kind of help them to go because they were fascinated
38:20 with the auto repair and the paint body shop.
38:22 So I think we have a lot we generated a lot of interest for our
38:25 students and hopefully we’ll have some internship out of that.
38:29 So hats off to our CTE program.
38:33 Also, I want to give a big shout out to our Brevard Jazz Ensemble,
38:39 which was middle school and high school.
38:41 And Miss Campbell and I were both there. And oh, my goodness, I
38:45 felt like I was in a jazz club.
38:47 And these kids are phenomenal. How the bass player, the piano
38:53 player, the saxophone players.
38:56 I just thought and the coaches are, if I understand right, the
39:00 coaches are selected and they’re different each year.
39:02 And it’s from all kids they have to try out and it’s from all
39:05 students throughout our district. Correct.
39:09 And so we had kids from different schools and I think they had
39:13 only three rehearsals.
39:15 Is that right? Anybody has had a day and a half and you would
39:20 never have known it.
39:22 They were so professional. So that was just a fun afternoon.
39:26 So shout out to the jazz teachers and the music teachers and the
39:30 band teachers who, you know, got them to that level.
39:32 It’s just absolutely amazing. And also, since Mr. Susan brought
39:38 it up, this month is Scottish Heritage Month.
39:41 And I happen to have the name McDougal, which. So I’m wearing.
39:49 Oh, thank you. So we’re just going to play this.
39:55 So I’d like to stand up. No, I don’t. I just feel so inspired at
39:59 this moment right now.
40:01 When she wore this scarf a little bit. Thank you.
40:05 That’s better. So anyhow, this is the McDougal tartan.
40:08 I have to go crest. But anyhow, it’s Scottish Heritage Month for
40:11 the month of April.
40:12 And it is also the Arab American Heritage Month for a month of
40:17 April also.
40:18 So I try to celebrate the different months of the different
40:22 cultures because we are such a diverse district.
40:26 And I wanted to kind of highlight that. Oh, yeah, I’m Scottish.
40:30 And so I wanted to do that. And just one more.
40:33 And then I’m done is this month is also the month of the
40:37 military child.
40:39 And we have a lot of military children and parents in our
40:42 community.
40:43 So on. Let’s see if I get this right. What day? Because I got it
40:47 wrong before April 20th.
40:49 Wear purple. Wear purple to celebrate the military child. That’s
40:54 all I have.
40:56 Thank you, Miss McDougal. Dr. Mullen. Thank you, Mrs. Belford.
41:02 First, I want to do a shout out to Miss Darlene Wegner.
41:06 She’s our media specialist at Cambridge Elementary School as she
41:10 helped our first group of elementary students.
41:14 Talking about CTE earned their digital tools. It’s not
41:19 certification, but it’s like an endorsement.
41:21 But our elementary kids are participating in career technical
41:26 education related training and preparation.
41:30 So it’s our first group of elementary students. We launched that
41:33 CTE digital tools program this year.
41:35 And about 10 or 12 of our elementary schools. And we’re looking
41:39 to expand it every year.
41:40 But just a great pace that she set. Miss Wegner, the media
41:44 specialist, taking this on and helping our kids.
41:48 Then I want to got to give a shout out to our science and
41:51 engineering fair kids who went to state competition.
41:55 Our kids represented 12 percent of the students in the fair, but
42:00 we brought home over 14 percent of the total placement awards.
42:05 We had two junior best of show award recipients and one senior
42:10 award recipients.
42:12 So Brevard Public Schools continues. I like to use the word
42:15 dominate state science fair.
42:17 So we’re very proud of them. And then Mr. Susan’s already gave a
42:22 shout out to Mel High.
42:23 But I see we have the Mel High regional winning coach here in
42:29 the in the audience.
42:31 Tom Gabler. Tom, stand up. Let us recognize you.
42:38 Tom is he has been a bulldog educator for I want to ask you how
42:43 long? Long time.
42:45 He tolerated all three of my kids, got them, helped them get
42:48 them through high school.
42:50 But Tom goes above and beyond. He’s involved in so many things
42:53 across the campus, not the least of which is coaching up our
42:57 robotics team.
42:57 And they are now going on to World’s championship in, I think,
43:01 Houston.
43:02 Is that right? So we wish you well. High bar set tonight.
43:06 We got we got state champion academic team. You’re going to
43:10 bring home the world championship trophy.
43:12 You know, in a few weeks, we believe in you. But congratulations
43:17 and thank you for serving our kids.
43:20 Yeah. Oh, that’s right. When you get out there, Brevard schools,
43:27 there you go.
43:29 And then last, just to do a shout out to our Odyssey of the Mind
43:33 teams that you may remember just a couple of weeks ago,
43:36 four teams have earned a bid to advance to world finals in Iowa
43:41 State and Ames, Iowa at the end of May.
43:44 So our kids are rocking it across the state and across the
43:49 country.
43:50 So and the world. So exciting things. Miss Belford, have you
43:55 noticed Dr. Mullins?
43:56 I mean, he’s like, I mean, he’s been going. I don’t know what
44:00 you guys are drinking on that.
44:01 But this is absurd. Hey, I’m in the vitamin water club. All
44:09 right.
44:10 I have I have just a few. You all were gracious enough to listen
44:14 to me over and over and over about the prom project event
44:18 leading up to the event.
44:20 It was this past Saturday. And what a phenomenal opportunity for
44:25 our kids.
44:26 In short order, they brought together so many dresses and purses
44:30 and shoes and tuxes and dress shirts and men’s shoes and ties
44:37 and makeup.
44:39 And I mean, you name it. They had they had people there doing
44:44 hair and makeup on the kids.
44:46 They had a selfie station for them to take pictures. They even
44:50 had coupons for free corsages from a florist that reached out
44:53 and said, hey, I’d like to provide this.
44:56 So many, many sponsors that came together and supported the
44:59 program and snacks for the kids and all sorts of things.
45:02 So to everyone who made that possible. Thank you. Thank you.
45:05 Thank you.
45:06 Primarily sponsored by Space Coast Association of Realtors and
45:11 they did the humans portion of the work.
45:14 But certainly, you know, everyone, everyone coming together,
45:17 including those who donated items are the ones that made it
45:19 possible.
45:20 So, so many thanks to all of them. We did.
45:23 I got confirmation this afternoon from Miss Page that we have
45:27 moved all of their dresses over to our North Area Alternative
45:31 Learning Center for storage until next year’s event.
45:34 So if you didn’t get a chance to turn your dresses in or as proms
45:39 finish this year and you don’t want to have them hanging in your
45:42 closet,
45:42 please reach out to Scar and drop those dresses off to them so
45:46 we can expand even more for next year.
45:49 Also want to give a shout out to our supply zone. And I don’t
45:53 know if you all are aware,
45:55 but and they have started actually allowing our schools to order
46:00 online and then deliver the items to them instead of teachers
46:05 having to go and pick them up at the school or principals having
46:07 to pick them up at the school.
46:08 And I was blessed to be part of the pilot pilot program for that
46:12 too, because they need volunteer drivers.
46:15 So last week I took a load, picked up a load at supply zone and
46:19 took it to Mims Elementary and dropped it off, made their day.
46:23 And when I tell you, these are like everything is nicely
46:26 packaged with the teacher’s name on it, everything that’s in the
46:29 boxes.
46:30 It’s all kinds of supplies and backpacks and all sorts of things.
46:36 And quite honestly, for those schools that are far away from the
46:39 supply zone, it’s really difficult for them to get down there
46:42 and get their supplies.
46:43 And yet oftentimes those are some of the ones most in need. And
46:46 so kudos to them for, I guess, thinking outside the box and
46:52 figuring out a way to solve that problem.
46:54 And I encourage you all, if you have some extra time, I actually
46:56 have another load in my car tonight that I picked up on my way
46:59 in today that will be delivered to Mims Elementary tomorrow.
47:02 And I’ve got two other North Area schools that they need
47:05 transportation for, so I will be working on that.
47:08 But here’s the really cool thing. Well, it’s all really cool.
47:11 But one of the really cool things is they’re using our BLAST
47:14 students from O’Gally High.
47:17 They were there, our BLAST students were there today, and they’re
47:20 teaching them warehousing skills.
47:22 And so they get a pick list and they go and they gather all of
47:25 the things from the supply zone and they pack them up and they
47:28 label them for the teacher.
47:30 And it’s just phenomenal to see them having the opportunity to
47:34 get out and really contribute to that.
47:37 The kids were so excited when I was there today just talking
47:40 about how hard they had worked and how happy they were to be
47:43 able to be there and all of that stuff.
47:44 So just a win, win, win really all around that. We’re just super
47:51 fortunate.
47:52 And then one not so happy thing, all of you know Liz at the
47:57 supply zone. Liz has left us.
48:00 She moved on to a different position, and I don’t know what her
48:03 official title was, but she was supply zone guru.
48:07 She handled our back to school drives and everything going on at
48:09 the supply zone.
48:10 And so she is going to be sorely missed. Just huge appreciation
48:13 to Liz for all that she’s done over the years.
48:16 But she is so committed that her last day of work was on Friday,
48:19 and when I went to pick up my load today, she’s there
48:21 volunteering.
48:22 So I think we will probably still see her at the supply zone
48:25 from time to time, but she will definitely be missed.
48:28 And then the last thing that I have for tonight is you all know
48:31 Lewis, who is typically in our sign sound room in the back.
48:35 Today is Lewis’s birthday. So a big happy birthday to Lewis had
48:38 planned to call him out and make the entire audience sing him
48:41 happy birthday.
48:42 But he wasn’t feeling well until he went home. So, but yes,
48:47 happy birthday Lewis and thank you for all you do to support us.
48:53 Uh oh. Happy birthday Mrs. Jenkins. Sorry we missed it. Happy
49:00 belated.
49:01 All right. I think with that we are coming up to the adoption of
49:04 the agenda. Dr. Mullen.
49:06 Mrs. Belford and members of the board on this evening’s agenda,
49:09 we have administrative staff recommendations,
49:12 one resolution, one proclamation, one presentation, 21 consent
49:16 items, three action items, and two information items.
49:19 Changes made to the agenda since release to the public include a
49:24 revision to A7 administrative staff recommendations,
49:27 and the presentation was attached for the E10 superintendents
49:34 report with junior achievement.
49:38 All right. Do I have a motion? Move to approve. Second. Moved by
49:42 Mr. Susan. Seconded by I think I heard Miss Campbell first.
49:45 Is there any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying
49:49 aye. Aye. Any opposed? Same sign. Motion passes 5-0.
49:54 Dr. Mullens, will you please let us know about the
49:56 administrative staff recommendation?
49:58 Yes, Mrs. Belford and members of the board, there are five items
50:01 for your consideration.
50:02 What are the wishes of the board? Move to approve. Second. Moved
50:05 by Mr. Susan. Seconded by Miss McDougall. Is there any
50:07 discussion?
50:08 All in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?
50:12 Same sign. Motion passes 5-0. Begrudgingly on this one.
50:18 Dr. Mullens. Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to take this
50:24 opportunity.
50:25 Dr. Thete, did you, by chance, did you see if Mr. Novelli is
50:31 outside?
50:32 Yeah, he knew this was coming. He is not going to be happy with
50:44 me.
50:45 Mr. Novelli, I know you were going to try, and Mrs. Novelli, try
50:50 and be incognito,
50:51 but this evening the board reluctantly approved your retirement,
50:57 effective at the end of this fiscal year.
51:01 Mr. Novelli, we thank you and we have great admiration for your
51:08 service as an administrator,
51:10 as an educator in Brevard Public Schools for 36 years. Yes.
51:27 I will share a little personal note. Mr. Novelli was a high
51:32 school math teacher at Palm Bay then High School.
51:36 At the same time, I was a math teacher at Cocoa Beach High
51:40 School, and I didn’t know who Robin Novelli was,
51:44 except for this algebra supplement workbook that I found in the
51:51 teacher book room as I, as a young math teacher,
51:55 was trying to figure out how to get my kids to understand
51:59 algebra concepts.
52:00 And on the cover of that curriculum supplement was this Robin Novelli,
52:05 who I had no idea who that person was,
52:08 but I sure appreciated the resources that he helped put together.
52:13 So, Robin, on a personal level, I thank you for being a leader
52:19 among math educators,
52:21 who help us all be better than we would have or could have been
52:24 on our own,
52:25 but also your two decades plus of administrative leadership
52:31 across Palm Bay High School, Southwest Middle School,
52:35 Johnson Middle School, Bayside High School, served as director
52:40 of secondary curriculum and instruction,
52:43 and now serving as the chief operating officer for the last
52:46 couple of years.
52:47 We thank you for your selfless service to Brevard’s kids, as
52:52 well as, where did your bride go?
52:55 His wife, Terry, is also 34 years old.
53:04 She is 34 years of service to Brevard schools as well, and the
53:11 support staff ranks serving as school secretary and clerk,
53:17 and now in the maintenance department.
53:19 We are so pleased that Florida Tech threw you down, and Brevard
53:25 Public Schools was able to recruit you for your collective,
53:31 I don’t know, 70-some years of service to Brevard’s kids.
53:35 Congratulations on your very well-deserved retirement.
53:38 There’s still a lot of work to get done before you go, so we
53:40 know that you will work it well through the end.
53:45 So, congratulations to you both.
53:47 [Applause]
54:04 » All right, you got me here at the podium, Russ, so I got to
54:07 say something, right?
54:08 » Uh-oh.
54:13 » Thank you so much, Dr. Mullins.
54:17 I have a plaque that I look at quite often that a good friend of
54:22 mine gave me many, many years ago,
54:26 and it says something like, “Glory be to him whose power working
54:31 within us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”
54:37 And I am just so grateful to God for this wonderful privilege of
54:42 a meaningful career,
54:44 where I had a chance to work with some amazing people for 36
54:49 years.
54:50 Principals, assistant principals, teachers come to mind in just
54:55 hundreds of individuals, district leaders, support staff,
55:00 students, parents, community members, board members.
55:05 And these folks encouraged me and invested in me and led me,
55:14 followed me, worked side by side with me, put up with me,
55:19 and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to work with
55:23 these folks and to make a difference for kids.
55:27 It’s been an amazing career.
55:30 And as I think of all those hundreds and hundreds of individuals
55:33 that I’ve had the pleasure to work with,
55:35 and so many times together as a team, we pulled off what seemed
55:43 to be the impossible.
55:46 And there is one employee that you just mentioned that I would
55:52 like to recognize, and she’s an employee of Sue’s.
55:57 As you’ve mentioned, her name is Terry. She’s standing behind me.
56:03 When people at plant operations and maintenance find out what
56:06 her last name is, they often ask her, “Are you related to Mr. Novelli?”
56:11 And she’ll always answer, “Yes, he’s my father.”
56:18 And they believe her. Must be the gray hair, I guess.
56:24 Actually, Terry got her very first job in Brevard Public Schools
56:30 during our honeymoon.
56:32 She was hired at Central Junior High School at the time, which
56:34 is located where West Shore is now.
56:36 And so she’s been literally with me every step of the way, and I
56:41 want to thank her.
56:43 Couldn’t have done it without you.
56:46 As you pointed out, after 70 years of combined service, we are
56:52 looking forward to finding out what married life is like outside
56:56 of Brevard Public Schools.
56:58 So thank you very much. God bless you all.
57:16 All right. Dr. Mullen, will you please let us know about the
57:24 resolution and proclamation on the agenda?
57:27 Yes, thank you. The first item is a resolution to name April
57:34 2022 as Month of the Military Child.
57:38 Mr. Broon will read the resolution, and we have some of our
57:42 military partners and representatives here this evening as well.
57:47 Good evening. What a meeting, huh?
57:50 Not to put pressure on you, but Colonel Marshall is here, and if
57:53 the vote goes his way, he will say a few words.
57:58 Month of the Military Child.
58:01 Whereas thousands of brave Americans have demonstrated their
58:05 courage and commitments to freedom.
58:08 By serving the armed forces of the United States of America in
58:11 active duty posts around the world and thank you.
58:14 Whereas we recognize that the many of the Patrick Space Force
58:18 faces youth have been directly affected by the military
58:21 deployment for separation of at least one parent and the
58:25 difficult reintegration period that follows all deployments.
58:29 And whereas these children and youth are a source of pride and
58:33 honor to us all and is only fitting that we take the time to
58:36 recognize their contributions,
58:38 celebrate their spirit and let our men and women in uniform know
58:41 that while they are taking care of us, we’re taking care of
58:44 their children.
58:45 And whereas the recognition of the Month of the Military Child,
58:49 first established in 1986 by Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger,
58:54 will allow us to pay tribute to military children for their
58:57 commitment, their struggles, and their unconditional support of
59:00 our troops because when parents serve in the military, the kids
59:04 serve too.
59:05 And whereas everyone is encouraged to wear purple on Wednesday,
59:09 April 20 is a visible sign to thank military children for their
59:13 strength and sacrifice.
59:15 And whereas a month-long salute to military children and youth
59:19 will encourage local community support to provide direct support
59:23 to military children and families and reinforce the strong
59:26 partnerships that we have cultivated between Brevard Public
59:29 Schools and Patrick Space Force Base.
59:32 Now, therefore be it proclaimed that Brevard Public Schools
59:36 recognizes and celebrates April 2022 as Month of the Military
59:41 Child and as designated by the Florida Department of Education,
59:45 April 20, 2022 will be Wear Purple Day for Military Kids,
59:51 proclamation recognized on this 12th day of April 2022.
59:56 » One of the wishes of the board? » Move to approve. » Second.
1:00:02 » Mr. Gibbs, can we have a motion by four people? Moved by Mr.
1:00:08 Susan and Ms. Jenkins and seconded by Ms. Campbell and Ms. McDougall.
1:00:12 Is there any discussion?
1:00:15 All in favor, please signify by saying aye. » Aye. » Any
1:00:29 opposed? Same sign. The motion passes 5-0.
1:00:30 Congratulations.
1:00:32 » Thank you very much. On behalf of Brigadier General Purdy and
1:00:36 Team Patrick Cape, I want to thank Dr. Mullins, the board and
1:00:40 the school district for their support to our military children.
1:00:44 It is not without thought and like you mentioned earlier about
1:00:48 context, I have a son that just entered his freshman year at USF.
1:00:53 Through his time, he had seven different schools in five
1:00:57 different states.
1:00:59 So you and the board and the district’s full effort is what
1:01:03 helps make our military child’s transition to each different
1:01:08 school beneficial, seamless and supportive.
1:01:12 Thank you for that. Our continued partnership with the county
1:01:15 and the school district. And we also want to highlight the fact
1:01:20 that we do have DOD Starbase, which helps facilitate STEM
1:01:24 education throughout the county and our communities locally.
1:01:29 So again, thank you to the board, Dr. Mullins and the school
1:01:42 district and all the teachers and support staff. Thank you.
1:01:53 » All right. Mr. Broon, you’re getting your work out this
1:01:58 evening, huh? Dr. Mullins?
1:01:59 » Madam Chair and members of the board, the next item is to
1:02:02 proclaim the week of April 25th through the 29th as After School
1:02:07 Professionals Appreciation Week.
1:02:09 Mr. Broon will again read the proclamation.
1:02:13 » Whereas Brevard Public Schools Office of Elementary Leading
1:02:16 and Learning and the Brevard Before and After School Department
1:02:19 firmly believe that after school professionals or school coordinators,
1:02:23 activity leaders and group leaders have a positive effect on our
1:02:26 children, families, community and businesses.
1:02:29 Whereas after school professionals are a decisive element in
1:02:32 children’s access to high quality relationships and expanded
1:02:36 opportunities beyond what they have access to at school and home,
1:02:40 which they need to reach their full potential.
1:02:42 Whereas after school professionals deserve appreciation for all
1:02:45 that they do for children to enhance their education, promote
1:02:49 physical and emotional health, provide a safe environment and
1:02:52 expose them to new experiences.
1:02:54 Whereas Brevard Public Schools Office of Elementary Leading and
1:02:57 Learning and Brevard Before and After School Department are
1:03:00 committed to supporting the professionals who provide expanded
1:03:04 learning opportunities to help close the achievement gap and
1:03:07 prepare young people to compete in the global economy.
1:03:11 Now, therefore, the Brevard Public Schools do hereby proclaim
1:03:15 April 25th through 29th, 2022 as After School Professionals Appreciation
1:03:21 Week in Brevard Public Schools and urge the citizens of Brevard
1:03:25 County, Florida, to join us in the special observance with
1:03:29 appropriate events and displays of appreciation.
1:03:34 » Thank you, Mr. Bruhn. What are the wishes of the board? Moved
1:03:44 by Ms. Spinkin, seconded by Ms. Campbell. Is there any
1:03:44 discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying aye.
1:03:44 » Aye.
1:03:45 » Any opposed, same sign. Motion passes 5-0. All right. The
1:03:52 next item on the agenda is a superintendent report on junior
1:03:54 achievement. Dr. Mullins will lead the presentation, followed by
1:03:58 Ann Conroy, president of junior achievement of the space.
1:04:01 » Actually, as Ms. Conroy and I were meeting to put our
1:04:06 presentation together, I quickly realized I could do – I would
1:04:11 pale in comparison in presenting all of the great work that J.A.
1:04:15 does with us and our schools and ultimately our kids.
1:04:18 And so, Ann, I want to invite you to the podium. She’s going to
1:04:22 do the presentation for me, but we have had a great relationship
1:04:27 and partnership, both J.A. and the district, but also it is a
1:04:33 great honor and I’m humbled to serve as a board member of junior
1:04:37 achievement, I don’t know, now for six, seven-ish years.
1:04:42 » Nine, ten. » Really? Wow. But it’s been great. And I know
1:04:50 the board is very familiar with junior achievement, so Ann, I’m
1:04:52 going to turn it over to you.
1:04:53 » Absolutely. I’m supposed to have a PowerPoint here somewhere.
1:05:14 And I can use this magic button to go up a little too, right?
1:05:24 Yep. Good evening. I feel like I’m preaching to the choir here.
1:05:27 We have a lot of junior achievement volunteers at the podium. I’m
1:05:30 not sure what that’s called, but a dais, okay.
1:05:33 But bear with me, I’m going to give you a little 101 on J.A. and
1:05:38 a progress report and some exciting updates we’re able to share.
1:05:43 So here we go.
1:05:44 Junior achievement of the Space Coast is part of a global
1:05:47 organization which is 103 or 104 years old now, but J.A. of the
1:05:52 Space Coast was founded in 1984. And at its very essence what we
1:05:57 do is we place volunteers in K-12 classrooms to teach programs
1:06:01 in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness.
1:06:05 Our goal in ‘22, ‘22, ‘23, next year is to reach more than 20,000
1:06:14 students. And at no cost to provide schools. We’re at no cost to
1:06:18 everybody, anybody in fact.
1:06:19 And my partner in crime here, Candace Hodge, our education and
1:06:22 program manager, we’re listening to the program, the
1:06:25 presentations tonight and the recognitions, and we’re thinking,
1:06:29 oh, Michael Cador’s nonprofit, we can provide programs to them.
1:06:32 The after school program, let’s talk to them because we like to
1:06:36 reach as many students as possible. We are supported by 47 board
1:06:40 members and you kind of stole my thunder there, Dr. Mullins, but
1:06:43 I’ve been at J.A. for eight years and he preceded me, so we’re
1:06:46 talking nine or ten years, I think.
1:06:49 I also want to recognize Lori Capelli, CEO of Community Credit
1:06:53 Union, who is sitting here. She is my past board chair. And
1:06:58 Leslie Tibbetts as well, both board members of J.A. We have the
1:07:02 most mission oriented, least contentious, most student centric
1:07:05 board I’ve ever worked with.
1:07:08 I’ve worked with boards my entire career and we really enjoy
1:07:13 working within this structure, within this county, within this
1:07:18 district to reach every student we can.
1:07:22 So a little bragging on J.A., we’re currently ranked number
1:07:25 seven out of 107 area offices, and what you need to know there
1:07:29 is that we are the second smallest J.A. in the country.
1:07:32 I just had a meeting with the president of J.A. USA last week
1:07:35 and told him everything we have going on and he literally
1:07:38 stopped me and said, “Are you kidding me?”
1:07:40 Because we have a teeny tiny little staff. Right now we are two
1:07:43 and a half people, we’re going to go up to three and a half and
1:07:45 four and a half over the next couple years.
1:07:47 But what we do is we reach more students per staff member than
1:07:51 anybody else in the country.
1:07:53 In 2019, and of course the before times, we were up 22% in
1:07:58 student reach and we do that through volunteers. We recruit
1:08:02 community volunteers on an average year.
1:08:04 We recruit between four and five hundred and if you look at the
1:08:07 economic impact of that, it’s right near three million dollars
1:08:11 per year that’s going into the Space Coast economy.
1:08:14 A five year total of that is over 12 million dollars and that
1:08:17 earned us that little award there, peak performance award, only
1:08:21 given to the top ten area offices in the country.
1:08:24 So our content areas are work readiness, financial literacy, and
1:08:27 entrepreneurship, but what does that mean for the Space Coast?
1:08:31 One nice thing about J.A. is that we’re allowed to be
1:08:33 entrepreneurial. We’re allowed to tailor our programming to what
1:08:36 our students need, to what our workforce needs.
1:08:39 So under workforce readiness, that means industry driven
1:08:42 workforce. We make connections between industry and classroom.
1:08:45 Women in STEM, we are trying to close that wage gap and
1:08:48 encourage young women to go into STEM careers.
1:08:51 DEI in the workforce, we all need it. Everybody’s held
1:08:54 accountable these days and we’re really making sure that our
1:08:57 young people know that they are wanted and needed and that they
1:09:00 have the right skills to perform.
1:09:02 And then also region wide concerns like the lagoon. We started a
1:09:06 lagoon program this year because we’re trying to create the
1:09:09 future workforce.
1:09:11 It’s not a short program. It’s a long term problem for the
1:09:15 county, a challenge for the county, so we’re trying to make sure
1:09:19 we’ve got the right people in place in 10, 20 years to challenge.
1:09:23 Financial literacy, major goal, eliminate generational poverty,
1:09:27 financial life skills, return on investment on education and
1:09:31 careers. Our students are stressed out.
1:09:32 They know what’s ahead of them. They do not want to go into debt
1:09:34 and they want to have careers that they like. We’re trying to
1:09:37 guide them in the right place.
1:09:38 And entrepreneurship, we’re trying to create an entrepreneurial
1:09:41 pipeline from K all the way through adult.
1:09:43 We’re working with local incubators, groundswell and the legacy
1:09:47 angel network to make sure those things happen as well as
1:09:50 encourage entrepreneurship skills because our major workforce,
1:09:55 our major industries in this area are looking for
1:09:57 entrepreneurial skills within their companies.
1:09:59 Entrepreneurship and hands on skills development. The kids love
1:10:02 this stuff. They love learning all these things.
1:10:04 It’s life skills. And why do we do it? J alumni, they start
1:10:11 businesses at a higher rate. They earn 20 percent more. They
1:10:13 finish high school at a higher rate.
1:10:14 Alumni shift from low income areas to high income areas and one
1:10:18 in five J alumni are influenced by their volunteers in the
1:10:22 classroom.
1:10:23 Not only that, they tend to prefer, they tend to like their
1:10:26 careers more because they are influenced by an adult.
1:10:30 So impact hours, we’ve got some numbers. On an average year, you
1:10:33 can see a history between 2015 and 2019, but our impact hours
1:10:38 are around 70,000 hours recently.
1:10:42 There’s your economic impact again. And students per year. So
1:10:45 you’re going to see you’re going to see where COVID hit there.
1:10:48 So 21, 22. But look at us in 2023. We’ve really got big ideas
1:10:53 for next year.
1:10:54 We’ve been doing it through a couple of strategies. Over the
1:10:57 last eight years, we changed our strategies. When I first came
1:11:00 to J.A. eight years ago, we had a major impact in elementary,
1:11:03 but not so much in secondary.
1:11:04 Candice and I are parents. Our board members, all are parents.
1:11:08 And we know, wow, the kids need us even more as they get older.
1:11:11 So over the years, we’ve been changing that ratio. And that is
1:11:14 not through ignoring our elementary students. It’s by building
1:11:18 more numbers.
1:11:19 So the major way these days we reached elementary students are
1:11:22 through something called a J.A. in a day.
1:11:25 And that is when we place volunteers in every classroom of an
1:11:28 entire school for a day.
1:11:30 When I first started eight years ago, we are averaging about six
1:11:33 schools per year. Our goal for next year is 14 schools in the
1:11:36 year.
1:11:37 And most of those numbers are going towards Title One students.
1:11:42 There’s the ratio there between traditional delivery and I think
1:11:46 a lot of us know volunteers going to a classroom once a week
1:11:49 versus the J.A. in a day.
1:11:50 The blue numbers where we’re these are the elementary targets
1:11:55 for next year.
1:11:56 Major partners. We’re so lucky to be partnering with some of the
1:12:02 leaders in the area.
1:12:04 Top left hand corner, Brevard Public Schools. And the Community
1:12:08 Credit Union, L3Harris, Space Coast Credit Union, Wiederman Mallock.
1:12:12 We are so fortunate to have real authentic partnerships that
1:12:15 help us reach these students.
1:12:17 They care, too. Brevard’s a really weird place. Industry is as
1:12:21 concerned with our young people as we are.
1:12:23 And with that mix, it’s a perfect mix for J.A.
1:12:27 Some of the ways we’re reaching secondary schools are through
1:12:31 custom programs we’re creating on site and tailoring for our
1:12:34 students.
1:12:35 This is J.A. Money One. It’s a financial literacy program that
1:12:38 Candace created.
1:12:39 It takes students from age 16 through 21 with all the major
1:12:43 milestones, financial milestones and decisions they need to make
1:12:47 along the way.
1:12:48 Everything from reading your first paycheck and where did all my
1:12:51 money go to not going into debt for college to choosing a career
1:12:54 that’s going to have a good return on investment.
1:12:56 We’re lucky to have Community Credit Union to write that program
1:12:58 for us and we’re rolling it out even further next year.
1:13:01 Here’s the Balda Family Foundation Innovation Challenge. This
1:13:05 actually just took place a couple of weeks ago.
1:13:08 We are lucky to have Jennifer and Misty. I’m sorry.
1:13:11 You’re fine.
1:13:12 Okay, good. The miss and the misses. Yeah.
1:13:16 We had teams from around Brevard County come together to compete
1:13:20 with their entrepreneurial ideas.
1:13:23 And they they had to present their ideas in front of panels of
1:13:28 judges.
1:13:29 They had to defend their intellectual ideas and stand up and be
1:13:32 professionals to get that experience.
1:13:34 We went on for the final. We had a first round at FSC.
1:13:38 Our final round was at Florida Tech last week.
1:13:41 Just a picture of our first round. And you can see those kids
1:13:44 standing up at the front, brave as can be with these amazing
1:13:48 ideas.
1:13:49 Here’s our final round. Our winning team was from Bayside. The
1:13:53 Beta program there is amazing.
1:13:57 But if our coach is still here, Mel High was also represented
1:14:02 and it was a fantastic evening.
1:14:05 the winner was from Bayside and they will win $12,000 renewable
1:14:08 scholarships.
1:14:09 Florida Tech as well as the Balda Family Foundation open
1:14:12 scholarships available
1:14:14 to them. And then just so you know that MECP was my team, that
1:14:18 it was our number
1:14:19 one that we put forward just so you’re aware. Congratulations on
1:14:23 behalf of
1:14:23 Junior Achievement. Excuse me, we all voted on, you know,
1:14:28 putting those through.
1:14:28 That, that competition more than anything else is about optimism.
1:14:34 It’s about seeing
1:14:35 our young people. We love placing, and Matt was a judge one year,
1:14:39 we, and Katie
1:14:41 was too, weren’t you? Yeah, we love placing community and
1:14:44 business leaders in front
1:14:45 of those students because invariably they walk out of those
1:14:48 competition rooms
1:14:49 and they’re like, yeah, I wasn’t the smartest person in the room
1:14:53 for the last
1:14:54 four hours and because our students are so accomplished and they’re
1:14:58 so ambitious.
1:14:59 Last year we had, Viera is usually in this competition also, and
1:15:04 they actually
1:15:05 entered the brand-new JA USA national competition. They had, I
1:15:10 think, six teams
1:15:11 enter. The results of the 25 students who placed into the finals
1:15:15 at the national
1:15:16 level, 14 of them were from the Space Coast. Unbelievable. The
1:15:22 second one of the
1:15:26 Viera teams went on to second place, a team of three young women,
1:15:29 and they were
1:15:30 on CNBC last summer. So the, the professional development
1:15:34 opportunities
1:15:35 from this program just ripple out. We have word that Bayside
1:15:39 entered 10 teams
1:15:41 into the national competition. Fingers crossed, we’ll keep you
1:15:45 updated.
1:15:45 Another new development, Rachel Rutledge. She’s fantastic,
1:15:51 director of CTE. She’s innovative, and last year she and I wrote
1:15:55 a grant
1:15:56 together for the Department of Education, $100,000. We were
1:16:00 awarded and we started
1:16:02 this program, JA company pop-up. What that is, is there’s a
1:16:05 classic flagship
1:16:06 program of junior achievement called the company program.
1:16:09 Students come together,
1:16:10 they actually build a product, they have a board of directors,
1:16:13 they get investors,
1:16:14 they start the bank account, they make the thing, they sell it,
1:16:17 and they make a
1:16:17 profit. This pop-up program is kind of a lighter version of that
1:16:21 from more modern
1:16:22 times. It’s in the classroom, which is nice and convenient, and
1:16:25 we got the grant
1:16:26 again this year. So we are at Space Coast, junior, senior, at
1:16:29 Rockledge, and at Viera.
1:16:31 We’ve got teams under amazing mentors. We see Cordell Rolle, I
1:16:35 think a lot of
1:16:36 people know him, he’s out in the community, a board member also,
1:16:41 and
1:16:41 they’re at this moment creating their products. They’re gonna
1:16:44 start selling
1:16:44 them, and we’ll have a winner again this year. They’re getting
1:16:48 hands-on
1:16:48 entrepreneurs.
1:16:52 We also partner within the community to reach, I mentioned those
1:16:56 workforce
1:16:56 connections, so workforce development, we’re trying to create,
1:17:00 we’re trying to
1:17:00 broaden the spectrum of what kids think they can do in their
1:17:03 lives. Kids grow up
1:17:04 and they see what their parents do, and they see their teachers,
1:17:06 and they see the
1:17:07 administrators, they see doctors and nurses, and not too many
1:17:10 hopefully
1:17:10 lawyers or policemen, right? So we’re trying to bring people
1:17:14 into classrooms
1:17:15 or take kids into the workplace so that they think broader, they
1:17:20 think bigger,
1:17:20 they dream bigger, and they can get more satisfying careers. We
1:17:25 do this with
1:17:26 partnerships, too. I want to mention we’re very close partners
1:17:28 with the Economic
1:17:28 Development Commission. They have a manufacturing STEM career as
1:17:33 the
1:17:33 burgeoning knowledge that not everybody should go to college has
1:17:37 been really
1:17:37 important, and so we’re now telling kids all sorts of directions
1:17:42 they can do
1:17:43 after college to and what salary they can earn and what kind of
1:17:47 lifestyle they
1:17:47 can maintain. So the partnership with the EDC really helps us
1:17:50 get the word out
1:17:51 with that.
1:17:53 The job shadows, we’re taking kids into workplaces to see it,
1:17:57 see it, and then
1:17:58 JA speaker series is the reverse. We bring speakers into
1:18:01 classrooms and they
1:18:03 tell about their careers. We tell them I started here, I ended
1:18:06 up here, there were
1:18:06 zigs and zags along the way because nobody goes in a straight
1:18:10 line, and kids
1:18:11 are again broadened in their spectrum. When COVID hit, we took
1:18:15 that program and
1:18:16 went virtual. We asked a board member, Mark Malek of Wiederman
1:18:19 Malek, to create
1:18:20 a video. He did it by midnight that night, and the result was
1:18:24 this amazing
1:18:25 online video library that teachers are able to access, assess
1:18:31 also. They could
1:18:32 monitor if their kids were doing it. We gave them a testing of
1:18:35 incomes or
1:18:36 outcomes to do that. That also helped us because we couldn’t
1:18:41 have volunteers in
1:18:42 classrooms for a year and a half. So this allowed us to
1:18:45 virtually place
1:18:46 volunteers in classrooms to still reach those students.
1:18:50 These are one of the things, this is one of the programs we’re
1:18:53 most proud of,
1:18:54 Tied Together, Glenn Outlaw. Everybody knows that program, he’s
1:18:58 fantastic. It was
1:18:59 an elegant program. He sends volunteers into classrooms, meets
1:19:02 with all the
1:19:03 young men in the school, but as a mother of three daughters. I
1:19:06 think I sent an
1:19:08 8 a.m. message to Katie on Saturday morning and said, “Hey, what
1:19:13 are the girls
1:19:13 doing?” And she reported back that her daughter went to a school
1:19:18 that had Tied
1:19:18 Together, and they didn’t do anything. I said, “Please give me
1:19:22 one week. We’re going
1:19:23 to come back with a solution.” Dr. Rendell from Cocoa Beach let
1:19:26 us pilot this
1:19:27 program. What we’re trying to do is influence and inspire young
1:19:31 women to go
1:19:31 into STEM. We place three relatable young women on stage to talk
1:19:36 about, again,
1:19:36 their zigs and zags, their education path, and their way forward.
1:19:40 And then we do
1:19:42 something really brave. We give the students a phone number, and
1:19:46 their
1:19:46 questions can come in anonymously. But what it does is it
1:19:51 removes the layer, the
1:19:52 fear of people asking questions, and the floodgates open. How do
1:19:58 you like what you
1:19:59 do? Are you discriminated against in the workplace or education?
1:20:02 I’m a
1:20:03 woman. Will I make the same amount of money? And when we first
1:20:08 started out, you
1:20:09 know, how many people want to go into STEM? How many young women
1:20:11 want to go to
1:20:11 STEM? A couple of hands. At the end of that presentation, the
1:20:14 hands flew up. We
1:20:15 will be, I think, in front of 20,000 young women with Tied
1:20:18 Together next year. They
1:20:20 will handle the young men on all those community investment,
1:20:23 community wrap
1:20:23 around, integrity skills they’re learning with them, and with us
1:20:27 on the women in
1:20:28 STEM. This is, this was
1:20:34 Johnson Middle School. And I want to point out that photo at the
1:20:38 bottom. Look
1:20:39 at the diversity in that group. Look at the enthusiasm in that
1:20:42 group. School ended.
1:20:43 They stayed for 30 minutes after school to continue questioning
1:20:46 our panelists. It
1:20:48 was fantastic. We’ve rolled that steam model about
1:20:52 putting three young relatable people on stage into the lagoon.
1:20:55 So we are hoping
1:20:56 to roll this program out widely next year. Again, it’s an
1:21:00 assembly program. It’s
1:21:01 co-ed, so the young men participate also. We, again, Dr. Rendell,
1:21:07 let me
1:21:08 pilot it there. It was another big success, so we’ll be rolling
1:21:11 that out
1:21:12 next year also. So this is the big, the big news we’ve
1:21:17 been given permission to share. Commissioner Zonka, Brevard
1:21:21 Commissioner
1:21:22 Zonka attended our Hall of Fame last summer and came away
1:21:25 thinking this is
1:21:27 legacy level work we’re doing. We are affecting the future
1:21:31 generations. So she
1:21:32 has directed seven hundred thousand dollars towards junior
1:21:37 achievement. We’ll
1:21:38 be starting with that money this spring. Two hundred thousand
1:21:42 dollars of which is
1:21:43 passed through. That’s going to go right back to the district
1:21:46 for much needed
1:21:47 equipment in the CTE programs. The rest of the money we will be
1:21:51 doing. We are
1:21:53 going to be placing full-time JA people at two different high
1:21:56 school, Cocoa High
1:21:57 School. Only 21 high school in Brevard. Let’s wrap them around.
1:22:02 We’ll have that
1:22:03 person full-time in the school. They will liaison with the
1:22:06 teachers to make sure
1:22:08 every student receives JA. They will make the connections with
1:22:12 the footprint of
1:22:13 Cocoa High School will range for support, for sustaining the
1:22:16 program, for job
1:22:18 shadows, apprenticeships, the internships, all the magic words
1:22:21 that we are trying
1:22:22 to get our students connected with. We in the second year we
1:22:28 will be starting at
1:22:29 Heritage High as well. We just met with Heritage last week. They
1:22:33 were excited and
1:22:34 in fact they’re gonna actually jump ahead of the timeline and
1:22:38 start with
1:22:38 Junior Achievement. We now have semester-long curriculum that we
1:22:42 are able
1:22:43 to offer those schools and they want to start with that
1:22:46 financial literacy
1:22:47 credit to meet the new state mandate. So we’re gonna be piloting
1:22:51 that at Heritage
1:22:52 next year. I want to mention that Dr. Stephanie Sullivan has
1:22:57 been a partner in
1:22:58 setting all of this for enthusiasm for Junior Achievement and
1:23:02 her enthusiasm.
1:23:02 She’s here yeah? Absolute pleasure to work with and we’re so
1:23:11 excited to do
1:23:12 this program to reach those students in the schools that need us
1:23:17 most. The goal
1:23:18 let’s eliminate generational poverty in those two footprints.
1:23:21 The DOE is really
1:23:23 excited about the semester-long classes and has given us
1:23:26 approval to get them
1:23:27 going and use us as a model statewide. And JUSA is actually
1:23:31 sending in a data
1:23:32 they’re gonna start a longitudinal study to track these students
1:23:38 beyond
1:23:39 what we are doing within the schools. So that is it. I want to
1:23:45 say thank you. We
1:23:47 are so grateful for this partnership. We are able to talk with
1:23:52 other JA area
1:23:53 offices around the country and Candace was in on a national fall
1:23:58 yesterday of
1:23:59 other smaller markets and those area offices are saying things
1:24:04 like yes we
1:24:04 try to reach the students in third grade in seventh grade and
1:24:08 that’s it. Or through
1:24:09 a career fair and that’s it. So we appreciate the partnership
1:24:13 where you’re
1:24:14 letting us be the width and the depth of what we’re able to do
1:24:17 so that we can
1:24:18 reach as many students as we can. And that goes from Dr. Dr.
1:24:22 Mullins my nerds
1:24:23 are catching up with me finally. Our school board members we’re
1:24:27 so
1:24:27 appreciative the administration. We really appreciate all of you
1:24:32 and our
1:24:32 board of directors. So thank you very much.
1:24:42 Ms. Belford I think I’m exhausted after watching that
1:24:46 presentation and that is
1:24:48 the most intense and presentation I’ve seen like I was sitting
1:24:52 there I was like
1:24:52 and and I was like oh my how many slides? A staff of two and a
1:24:57 half. Yeah they are
1:24:59 they are a power woman force that never slows down and just
1:25:05 doesn’t let any
1:25:06 barrier or any lack of imagination stop them from continuing to
1:25:13 search for
1:25:14 greater and better ways of connecting with us and we’re just
1:25:18 like wow let’s do
1:25:19 this. You have the coolest job in the world. I’m not I’m not
1:25:23 lying to you
1:25:24 because all of the stuff that you do impacts those kids to that
1:25:28 next level.
1:25:29 Financial literacy, entrepreneurship, you’re in this career and
1:25:33 technical
1:25:33 trades. What you’re doing is anything short of amazing. So thank
1:25:37 you thank you
1:25:38 for letting me be a judge that day. I was like floored right?
1:25:41 But you guys are
1:25:42 amazing your programs amazing and obviously you have the full
1:25:46 force of the
1:25:47 of the district behind you but it’s all because of you and your
1:25:50 staff like this
1:25:51 hasn’t always been this way. A big pat on the back for you and
1:25:55 your staff and
1:25:55 thank you for everything you do for our kids. Thank you.
1:26:00 Absolutely I totally agree and you know it’s
1:26:01 pretty amazing the day I got to do at Discovery a couple years
1:26:06 ago and we’re
1:26:06 teaching second graders about taxes and they loved it. It’s so
1:26:13 creative and you
1:26:14 know people who aren’t trained to be in the classroom who come
1:26:17 in the classroom
1:26:18 and just of course they bring candy that helps but are able to
1:26:22 teach these
1:26:24 financial principles in an age-appropriate way the way that you
1:26:29 prepare them so they can come into the classroom and teach the
1:26:32 material in an
1:26:32 age-appropriate way. It is wonderful and I know you know those
1:26:36 students at
1:26:36 Discovery who’ve been there every year by the time they get
1:26:38 through sixth grade
1:26:39 they’ll have had seven years of experience of of that training
1:26:44 and so just
1:26:45 very much just want to add my appreciation to everyone else’s
1:26:47 for the
1:26:47 great work that you guys do and and to all of our community
1:26:50 members who are a
1:26:51 part of that whether they’re because they’re giving or because
1:26:54 they’re
1:26:54 volunteering your partnership with EFSC didn’t mention that in
1:26:57 there but no we
1:26:57 have a good partnership with EFSC where a lot of volunteers come
1:27:00 from so thank you
1:27:01 for helping us connect with the community. Can I jump there too
1:27:06 I just
1:27:06 you know when you guys are talking about your staff numbers and
1:27:10 I kept saying the
1:27:11 half part I’m thinking how do you have half I think it’s because
1:27:14 you wear them
1:27:14 down to a half but I appreciate you ladies so much ever since I
1:27:19 ever met the
1:27:20 two of you you guys are the most energetic positive live breathe
1:27:25 die love
1:27:26 your job people and you you inspire me to be an amazing person I
1:27:31 I appreciated
1:27:32 that opportunity at Eastern Florida State College it was really
1:27:36 cool was was
1:27:37 just participating with huge members of the community that
1:27:39 really were just
1:27:40 there for fun and like oh they were a little rough on those kids
1:27:44 but it was
1:27:45 great they loved it it was such a good learning opportunity for
1:27:49 them and it was
1:27:50 wonderful to see our students blossom and and present themselves
1:27:53 and so thank
1:27:54 you for that opportunity and I continue I look forward to
1:27:56 continuing to work
1:27:57 with you I will echo those sentiments I think
1:28:02 you guys know how I feel about Jay and the powerful work that
1:28:05 you guys are
1:28:06 doing with our students and I’m so excited to see that focus on
1:28:08 title one
1:28:09 students going forward and looking forward to seeing you guys up
1:28:13 on the
1:28:13 north end some more and very exciting stuff and dr. Mullins I
1:28:16 just want to tell
1:28:17 you you’re right you made the good call to have and do the
1:28:20 presentation thank you
1:28:26 guys for all you do
1:28:29 all right we are now going to be at our public comment portion
1:28:34 of the meeting on
1:28:35 agenda items we have five speakers therefore each speaker will
1:28:39 receive
1:28:40 three minutes please note the time it is per speaker and not per
1:28:44 agenda item
1:28:44 topics not specific to agenda items will be moved to the non
1:28:47 agenda item portion
1:28:49 of the meeting give a clock in front of me to help you keep
1:28:51 track of your time
1:28:52 when your time is over you will be asked to stop and allow the
1:28:54 next speaker his
1:28:55 or her turn always keep in mind that reasonable decorum is
1:28:58 expected and your
1:28:59 statement should be directed to the board chair the chair may
1:29:02 interrupt warn
1:29:03 or terminate a participant statement when time is up it’s
1:29:06 personally directed
1:29:07 abusive obscene or relevant should an individual not observe
1:29:11 proper etiquette
1:29:11 the chair may request the individual to leave the meeting I will
1:29:15 call up three
1:29:16 speakers at a time our first three speakers are Katie Delaney
1:29:19 Sarah Murphy
1:29:20 and Carrie to cap
1:29:25 I’m Katie Delaney and I’m here to speak on a couple of the
1:29:44 agenda items they
1:29:47 kind of go together a little bit so the first one is the title 9
1:29:51 coordinator
1:29:52 from what I read it looks like it may be a new position and not
1:29:58 one that’s just
1:30:00 being rehired so that’s adding another possibly six-figure job
1:30:08 to the district
1:30:09 level you know and that doesn’t count benefits or retirement any
1:30:18 of that any
1:30:19 of that other stuff I’m sure it’s close to a million dollars if
1:30:23 not more for a
1:30:24 position like that and the the next thing that I want to speak
1:30:30 on is the
1:30:30 millage I’m a hundred percent against a millage especially if we
1:30:36 do not have a
1:30:38 audit of the budget
1:30:43 I believe this state sent is sending over 600 million dollars
1:30:48 next year to
1:30:49 you guys I don’t know if that’s all state money or if that’s
1:30:52 state and
1:30:53 federal money but we should we should have enough money to be
1:30:57 able to pay our
1:30:57 teachers and our bus drivers and you know create a great
1:31:01 learning environment
1:31:02 for our kids for that money
1:31:09 the public has lost all trust and now you’re asking us for more
1:31:14 of our
1:31:15 hard-earned money when we’re spending five dollars a gallon in
1:31:19 gas and a loaf
1:31:20 of bread is five dollars and you know people can barely feed
1:31:24 their families
1:31:25 right now and now you want to tax them more it’s it’s not right
1:31:30 we have plenty
1:31:31 of money in this community that we could get that money from I’m
1:31:35 sure one of our
1:31:36 wonderful community partners you know or or we just need to
1:31:42 manage the money that
1:31:43 we have better and I’m not saying that anybody is doing anything
1:31:47 with ill
1:31:48 intent with the budget but maybe there’s a way that it could
1:31:55 that things could be
1:31:56 budgeted differently to find the funds that we need to pair
1:31:59 teachers more and
1:32:01 to pair our other staff more and to hire more support staff and
1:32:06 and all of that
1:32:07 so I just wanted to say again I’m a hundred percent against a
1:32:13 millage
1:32:13 especially if we don’t have an audit of the budget thank you
1:32:30 good evening madam chair and board my name is Sarah Murci I’m a
1:32:33 wife mother of
1:32:35 two children and BPS registered voter taxpayer constituents
1:32:39 stakeholder and I’m
1:32:40 in district 2 for school board I wish everyone a blessed Easter
1:32:44 as we enter
1:32:44 into Holy Week now I would like to address agenda items f12 f21
1:32:49 i-37 and h35
1:32:52 f12 is the board work evaluation session I attended this meeting
1:32:58 with great
1:32:59 interest and sadness it’s clear this board has its bias biases
1:33:03 against each
1:33:04 other including you madam chair I came here not to just to
1:33:07 complain about the
1:33:08 issue but to offer a solution I highly recommend John C Maxwell’s
1:33:12 book the 21
1:33:14 year irrefutable laws of leadership for all individual board
1:33:17 members as well as
1:33:18 his book the 17 irrefutable laws of teamwork for the school
1:33:22 board as a whole
1:33:23 as far as signing a code of ethics all board members should be
1:33:26 doing their due
1:33:27 diligence in signing it immediately most people who are elected
1:33:31 to boards in the
1:33:32 private sector who do not sign a code of ethics it is grounds
1:33:36 for termination or
1:33:37 removal from the board seat I expect the same standard of my
1:33:40 elected official it’s
1:33:42 time to put differences aside and represent all the people of
1:33:45 Rivard as
1:33:45 you were elected to do I 37 no taxation without representation
1:33:51 we don’t need a
1:33:51 new middle school right now DeLorean McNair’s enrollment is down
1:33:54 as well as
1:33:55 all enrollment across the district is down we need a forensic
1:33:59 audit of the
1:34:00 budget not higher taxes especially with the taxpayers facing an
1:34:04 affordable
1:34:05 housing crisis high tax prices and high food prices f12 and f21
1:34:10 I don’t know why
1:34:11 we need a title nine interim coordinator contract that is
1:34:14 essentially a blank
1:34:15 blank check for about a year that the taxpayers have to pay
1:34:19 three hundred and
1:34:19 fifty dollars in hours a really hefty price to pay when the
1:34:22 public doesn’t
1:34:22 know why we need this as well as a title nine coordinator
1:34:26 position I urge the
1:34:27 board to vote no on these agenda items until the public is aware
1:34:31 of what this
1:34:31 is and why we need this service and position we already have
1:34:36 anti
1:34:36 discrimination policies and laws on the books if one of you
1:34:39 could follow up with
1:34:40 me after the meeting tonight on this I would appreciate it thank
1:34:43 you for your
1:34:43 time as Carrie’s approaching our next two speakers will be Shawn
1:34:48 Overdorf and
1:34:49 Crystal Kay
1:34:52 Slancho to all the fellow Scots in Brevard that’s awesome I
1:34:57 wanted to take a
1:34:57 quick moment to thank you all for celebrating military children
1:35:01 I have two
1:35:01 children their military children it’s not the easiest but um it
1:35:05 means a lot to
1:35:06 them tonight I’m speaking on agenda item I 37 ad valarum millage
1:35:11 resolution we’re
1:35:12 presently experiencing record inflation at a 40-year high of
1:35:15 eight point five
1:35:16 percent paired with soaring gas prices as Brevard County’s
1:35:20 taxpayers continue
1:35:21 to struggle with the financial hardships if this has created I’m
1:35:24 asking you not
1:35:24 to adopt or approve this resolution it is not in the best
1:35:27 interest for families
1:35:29 to part with more of their money at a time where the cost of
1:35:31 living is greatly
1:35:32 outpacing wages furthermore I implore you to support an audit
1:35:36 for transparency
1:35:37 before asking a struggling community for more of their tax
1:35:40 dollars it is prudent
1:35:41 that you first reveal where the talks tax dollars are being
1:35:44 spent thank you
1:35:45 thank you
1:35:48 mr. Overdorf
1:35:52 my name is Sean Overdorf where I start I want to give a shout
1:35:56 out to the Cocoa
1:35:57 Beach girls basketball team they took home the AAU tournament
1:36:01 this weekend in
1:36:03 Daytona Beach trophy in one first place
1:36:10 I guess first off I’m gonna start I’m 100% behind teachers
1:36:13 getting a pay raise
1:36:15 they’re grossly underpaid I guess what I’m asking the board is
1:36:19 if you guys
1:36:19 could table this millage just so maybe we can do some further
1:36:23 research I’ve been
1:36:25 going door-to-door campus in neighborhoods a lot of parents are
1:36:29 kind
1:36:29 of against this and I’m not against it I’m not but I think we
1:36:35 need to look at
1:36:35 all alternate resources there’s other sources of money out there
1:36:40 that we’ve
1:36:40 lost that I think we could try to recover the math policies I
1:36:45 mean there’s
1:36:45 tens of millions dollars in students that have left the district
1:36:49 and talking
1:36:50 to parents there’s there’s probably gonna be another wave
1:36:53 leaving because of
1:36:54 this bathroom policy that’s another thing if you guys I just
1:36:58 implore you
1:36:58 just please amend it you can make it so you know that the
1:37:05 students can use the
1:37:05 nurses bath something like that I don’t want to see kids leave I
1:37:09 mean say
1:37:10 thousand dollars a kid we’re losing that’s how much money we’re
1:37:12 losing
1:37:12 that’s tens of millions of dollars tens of millions of dollars
1:37:20 we’ve already lost money for putting the math policy in place
1:37:23 from DeSantis
1:37:24 there’s millions of dollars there we’ve lost
1:37:31 that’s pretty much it like I said I just asked if you got to
1:37:35 consider table in
1:37:37 the millage don’t put that on the taxpayers backs at this time
1:37:40 even if we
1:37:41 can recover some of this money and maybe do it do half the millage
1:37:45 what I’m
1:37:45 asking I mean let’s look at other other sources of income that
1:37:49 we can bring back
1:37:50 to this district thank you thank you
1:38:01 good evening distinguished Board of Education I am also against
1:38:05 the millage
1:38:06 and ask you to also table the resolution in the words of Randy
1:38:12 fine next week
1:38:13 local education politicians are proposing to increase taxes on
1:38:17 Brevard
1:38:17 residents this is crazy I want folks to know just how much money
1:38:22 they are
1:38:22 receiving for next year despite only projecting a 1600 student
1:38:28 enrollment
1:38:28 increase or 2.2 percent the legislature increased BPS funding by
1:38:32 7.5 percent or
1:38:34 42 million dollars this 42 million is after the six million but
1:38:39 the district
1:38:40 took because of their willful violation of state law enforce
1:38:43 masking children in
1:38:45 other words the increase would have been 48 million they ain’t
1:38:49 broke and don’t
1:38:50 let them fool you here’s the real story parents are fleeing
1:38:53 their schools in
1:38:55 2017 nine percent of Brevard public school students attended
1:38:59 public charter
1:38:59 schools five thousand eight hundred and ninety six students the
1:39:04 education
1:39:04 politicians have to give the funding for those students those
1:39:08 charter schools as
1:39:09 they should every year since the percentage going to charter
1:39:13 schools has
1:39:13 gone up 1% the next year projected to be ten thousand one
1:39:18 hundred and eighty nine
1:39:18 students almost double over that same period of time the
1:39:22 government schools
1:39:24 have lost enrollment from a high of sixty six thousand five
1:39:28 hundred and
1:39:29 seventy in 2017 to sixty five thousand one hundred and sixty
1:39:34 projected for
1:39:35 next year in fact there are projected to be fewer students
1:39:39 attending a government
1:39:40 school next year than currently do 350 less despite having a
1:39:45 point five
1:39:46 percent loss in students they still will get in four point six
1:39:49 percent increase
1:39:50 over this year or twenty three million dollars to be clear
1:39:55 public charter
1:39:55 schools are public schools this is completely separate from
1:39:59 private schools
1:40:00 voucher schools the bottom line is this Brevard public schools
1:40:04 will be getting
1:40:05 record funding over six hundred million dollars for the first
1:40:09 time ever a seven
1:40:11 point five percent increase over last year but because parents
1:40:14 are abandoning
1:40:15 their government schools at increasing rates only 23 million of
1:40:19 that will go to
1:40:20 government schools the remaining 19 million will go to the
1:40:23 public charters
1:40:24 don’t let these politicians claim that they are broke the bottom
1:40:28 line is they
1:40:29 are running from a failing system don’t take my word for it look
1:40:32 at the decision
1:40:33 of four thousand three hundred families to leave their
1:40:35 government-run school for
1:40:37 a charter so as you can clearly see in the words of Randy fine
1:40:42 there are many
1:40:42 parents that are electing to move their kids from government
1:40:45 schools to charter
1:40:46 schools and so once again please don’t raise our taxes and once
1:40:52 again I’m
1:40:53 against the millage thank you thank you
1:41:02 right that is going to conclude our public comments on agenda
1:41:05 items all of
1:41:05 you signed up for non-agenda speaking will be heard at the end
1:41:07 of the meeting
1:41:08 though we thank you for your willingness to discuss to address
1:41:11 the board and that
1:41:13 will move us into the consent agenda dr. Mullins madam chair if
1:41:16 I may take just a
1:41:18 moment to acknowledge what may not be understood by our
1:41:22 community it’s been
1:41:24 suggested that the district go through a financial audit when in
1:41:28 fact we go
1:41:29 through a financial audit every year by a third party auditing
1:41:33 firm called Moore
1:41:34 Stevens Lovelace in fact they just met with the audit committee
1:41:39 at our last
1:41:40 meeting and reported out on the findings of that audit that’s
1:41:43 done every year in
1:41:44 addition we have an audit committee that meets at least
1:41:48 quarterly that oversees
1:41:50 the financial financial stability of the district in all of our
1:41:57 efforts we have
1:41:59 we are required to have an auditor do cycle audits throughout
1:42:02 the district and
1:42:03 that is done by RSM McGladry and they do regular cycle audits
1:42:09 through different
1:42:09 departments and report those findings to the audit committee as
1:42:13 well as to the
1:42:13 board and in addition the state the auditor general comes to the
1:42:18 district at
1:42:19 least every three years and does a comprehensive audit in which
1:42:23 case I
1:42:23 believe this Lasinski we just got the word that they are coming
1:42:27 this coming
1:42:27 fiscal year to do their their regular three-year cycle audit so
1:42:32 I don’t want
1:42:33 there to be any suggestion to our community that this
1:42:36 organization has
1:42:37 ever avoided or not embraced an auditing and accountability
1:42:42 process not the least
1:42:44 of which we made the decision as a school district several years
1:42:48 ago to put
1:42:48 in place the independent citizens oversight committee that over
1:42:52 has
1:42:52 overseen every expenditure related to the sales surtax that
1:42:58 initiative has
1:42:59 been audited separately by a third party twice every year since
1:43:03 its inception and
1:43:04 we have received exemplary essentially no finding audit results
1:43:09 every year so I
1:43:12 I will never shy away from any suggestion of accountability
1:43:18 either
1:43:18 fiscally or in any other aspect of this organization but I would
1:43:22 offer to this
1:43:23 community we are audited without question not only annually but
1:43:30 periodically throughout the school year by all third-party
1:43:34 individuals including
1:43:35 the state so I welcome anyone in our community to dig into our
1:43:40 budget and
1:43:41 suggest where resources are available outside of the nearly
1:43:45 thirty eight
1:43:46 million dollars that we have eliminated from the operating
1:43:50 budget to meet
1:43:50 growing expenses costs and give some have some resources
1:43:55 available for
1:43:56 compensation and suggest where there are dollars to take away
1:44:01 from our students
1:44:02 or existing employees that could be used for what has been
1:44:05 proposed in the
1:44:06 resolution for increased millage second I would suggest that
1:44:13 this board is not
1:44:14 making a decision to raise taxes this board is simply going out
1:44:18 to our
1:44:19 community if the resolution is passed to give them the decision
1:44:24 and the
1:44:24 opportunity and the choice to determine if this is an
1:44:29 opportunity to ensure the
1:44:32 resources be used in the way that they’ve been presented so it
1:44:37 is a voters
1:44:38 it is a community decision so I couldn’t let words be spoken and
1:44:45 be left out
1:44:45 there hanging without providing some very clear and explicit
1:44:51 evidence of what
1:44:53 the case is and finally I will close with I encourage everyone
1:44:58 who has heard
1:44:59 this board meeting so far go to our budget workshop of March 22nd
1:45:05 and see
1:45:06 explicitly where the state has in fact potentially that there is
1:45:10 still no state
1:45:11 budget for next year the budget has not been given to the
1:45:15 governor’s office at
1:45:16 least according to my last sources middle of last week from the
1:45:22 legislature
1:45:22 I have been told that it will not be sent to the governor’s
1:45:25 office for
1:45:26 approval at least until after special session after the Easter
1:45:30 holidays so we
1:45:32 don’t have a finalized budget from the state what has been
1:45:35 proposed by the
1:45:36 legislature does potentially increase Brevard Public Schools
1:45:42 revenue by 42
1:45:43 million dollars but that does not reflect thirty eight point
1:45:49 five million dollars of state
1:45:52 mandate expenditures and if you look at the presentation it is
1:45:56 very clearly and
1:45:58 explicitly laid out that there remains approximately three point
1:46:01 five three
1:46:02 point six million dollars of uncommitted revenue
1:46:06 to address inflation to address exorbitant rising health care
1:46:13 costs for
1:46:13 our employees even before we consider any cost of living
1:46:18 increase for our
1:46:19 employees so I want there shouldn’t I refuse to allow a
1:46:25 misrepresentation of
1:46:27 data and information to not be provided a clarification to our
1:46:33 community because
1:46:34 it is a big decision there is no doubt about it as a property
1:46:40 owner in Brevard County that has helped raise my children for
1:46:44 nearly thirty
1:46:45 years it is an absolutely big decision but it is a community
1:46:52 decision and I
1:46:56 welcome anyone from our community to take a look at our budget
1:47:01 and take a
1:47:01 look at what we have had to do to meet our growing expenses even
1:47:06 before we face
1:47:07 we all face the inflationary realities of what what is facing us
1:47:13 as an
1:47:13 organization so madam chair I appreciate the opportunity to
1:47:18 provide that
1:47:19 clarification and I thank you for providing it dr. Mullins you I
1:47:22 was going
1:47:22 to address some of those things in board discussion toward the
1:47:26 end but I am I am
1:47:26 appreciative of you addressing it now and and so since you
1:47:30 addressed a couple
1:47:32 of things I will I will also just take a moment to address the
1:47:35 title nine
1:47:36 questions that were raised because I think that is significant
1:47:40 as well
1:47:46 dr. Mullins just I think it’s important for the public to be
1:47:50 aware but if this
1:47:52 millage is approved by voters does that funding also get
1:47:55 distributed to charter
1:47:56 schools as well yes it does legislatively required thank you so
1:48:04 the
1:48:04 the questions about our title nine choices which came up first
1:48:10 of all at
1:48:11 any time you all can reach out to us prior to a meeting to to
1:48:14 ask questions
1:48:15 about those things but I don’t anticipate that there would be
1:48:20 support
1:48:20 to push an item just because someone didn’t know what it was
1:48:23 about but there
1:48:24 were there were two aspects to that so one was posting of a
1:48:29 title nine director
1:48:31 and one was a contract for title nine guidance in the interim
1:48:36 and mr. Gibbs I
1:48:37 don’t do you want me to address or do you I saw you pulling your
1:48:39 mic do you
1:48:40 want to I anticipated you would kick it to me it’s fine by
1:48:44 federal law we’re
1:48:45 required to have the title nine coordinator at the district
1:48:48 level and at
1:48:49 every school it was held by one of our directors who retired
1:48:55 last year and it
1:48:57 was picked up by assistant general counsel Valerie London oh and
1:49:01 then when
1:49:01 she resigned there was nobody left in the district pick it up
1:49:04 one of our other
1:49:05 assistant superintendents has valiantly picked it up but it is a
1:49:09 full-time job
1:49:10 on its own so she was trying to do that job on top of her
1:49:13 regular job so we have
1:49:14 to go out for emergency title nine coordinator services for the
1:49:18 district
1:49:18 level until the new coordinator position can be filled that’s
1:49:22 why we have the
1:49:23 contract for services on title nine and we have to have a
1:49:26 coordinator at the
1:49:27 district level pursuant to federal law the state also put out a
1:49:31 believe a
1:49:32 memorandum or memo reminding all districts that you have to have
1:49:36 the
1:49:36 title nine coordinator position at the district level it has to
1:49:39 be on your
1:49:39 website and you have to name who that individual is so that is
1:49:43 just to comply
1:49:43 with federal law and just one more quick question for you mr.
1:49:47 Gibbs failure to
1:49:48 comply with title nine what are the consequences you can be sued
1:49:53 with no
1:49:54 limitations whereas we have sovereign immunity for a lot of
1:49:57 state cases under
1:49:58 federal law you can be hit with no sovereign immunity protection
1:50:01 so if you
1:50:02 get hit with a five million dollar verdict you have to pay five
1:50:04 million
1:50:04 dollars it’s a high stakes game so making sure that we are
1:50:09 actually
1:50:09 following title nine requirements is pretty significant so it’s
1:50:12 deemed one of
1:50:13 the highest or fastest growing litigation areas in the legal
1:50:18 industry
1:50:19 all right I think we are moving into consent agenda madam chair
1:50:25 members of
1:50:25 the board there are 21 agenda items under this category thank
1:50:29 you dr. Mullins
1:50:30 does any board member wish to pull any item consent agenda
1:50:34 hearing none I’ll entertain a motion to approve the consent
1:50:37 agenda as presented
1:50:40 moved by miss McCougal and who was second seconded by miss
1:50:44 Campbell is
1:50:45 there any discussion mr. Susan did you have a discussion item on
1:50:51 yeah I I had
1:50:54 some members from the Melbourne high school robotics team reach
1:50:59 out and there
1:51:00 was a couple of things that I’d like to discuss with you guys
1:51:03 and apologize
1:51:03 about not sending you an email ahead of time but it’s just
1:51:05 something that just
1:51:06 came up one of the things that when some of our groups in
1:51:11 athletics if a football
1:51:13 team or a baseball team or a lacrosse team goes into the state
1:51:16 playoffs their
1:51:17 coaches are given an extra stipend so they they have it’s called
1:51:22 like playoff
1:51:22 stipend and one of the issues that we have is so we have prior
1:51:26 precedent in
1:51:27 the past also that when organizations who are trying to
1:51:31 represent our school
1:51:33 district are trying to get to the next level we have helped them
1:51:36 with funding
1:51:37 right going to a world competition for robotics requires
1:51:42 fundraising and part
1:51:45 of the issue that we have is we should be able to send our best
1:51:49 one of the
1:51:51 problems that we have is that we have Melbourne high schools
1:51:56 robotics team is
1:51:56 going to world they’re in the process of trying to raise tens of
1:52:00 thousands of
1:52:01 dollars in like a two-week period and in the past I remember
1:52:05 because I want to
1:52:06 tell you a story when I was a teacher in 2011 I won an award
1:52:10 called the Jefferson
1:52:11 Awards for Public Service it was literally the first time our
1:52:15 school
1:52:15 district had ever nationally won or been invited to the national
1:52:20 and within six
1:52:21 weeks I was supposed to come up with $16,000 for my kids and I
1:52:25 came before
1:52:26 this board and I asked I said there is no way in God’s green
1:52:30 earth that I can
1:52:31 raise $16,000 in a galley I could have a car wash every day for
1:52:35 the next six
1:52:36 weeks and I would not be able to do it superintendent Bingley at
1:52:40 the time moved
1:52:41 to take Pepsi funds that they had from the district and pay for
1:52:46 the students
1:52:47 for us to go to the Jefferson Awards and we ended up taking
1:52:49 fourth in the nation
1:52:50 we were top out of the top 50 schools we were the only public
1:52:55 school so I remember
1:52:56 past precedents there’s been times when this board has raised
1:53:00 and helped fund
1:53:01 that what I would like to put towards this board is that our
1:53:04 team’s going that
1:53:06 international and I would like to just kind of throw it out
1:53:09 there that we asked
1:53:10 dr. Mullins to get with the team and see if there’s some funding
1:53:12 that we may be
1:53:13 able to help to get them across the finish line that they could
1:53:16 go in the
1:53:16 damn thing because in my mind I’m sitting back and I’m looking
1:53:19 at it and I
1:53:20 don’t want them to go there and not have a part or be tired or
1:53:23 whatever it is
1:53:24 because they want to get there all those other school districts
1:53:27 are gonna have
1:53:27 kids that are there that are fully funded and ready to go and I
1:53:29 don’t want
1:53:30 ours limping in there so with past precedent things that I’ve
1:53:33 asked gonna
1:53:34 open it up for discussion gentlemen’s in the in the crowd you
1:53:37 got to look at him
1:53:38 face to face and if you don’t approve it and just want to throw
1:53:42 it out there you
1:53:42 guys it’s our kids they’re doing something spectacular that’s
1:53:45 all
1:53:47 yeah dr. Mullins for not giving you the heads up well no that’s
1:53:51 okay I’ve been
1:53:53 touching base with dr. Sullivan while we’ve been talking
1:53:58 she is working with team Melbourne and their team they we do
1:54:03 help supplement
1:54:04 and offset some of the costs particularly through some title for
1:54:07 funding so they’re working together to to make sure that we we
1:54:11 don’t have any
1:54:12 gaps and they’re certainly they don’t need to be distracted from
1:54:15 getting ready
1:54:16 for the competition because we do want them to come home with
1:54:18 that world title
1:54:19 so I think we you know I we echo your sentiments where I think
1:54:24 we’re on it I
1:54:25 don’t have any concerns at this point that we’re gonna get team
1:54:27 bell high
1:54:28 where they need to be to bring home that world championship
1:54:32 trophy coach no
1:54:34 pressure brother you won’t give us a figure right now so we can
1:54:38 just make
1:54:39 sure it gets approved your insurance company sponsor no it’s
1:54:50 space cuz daily
1:54:50 Park mr. Susan will make sure they’re covered you’re awesome
1:54:56 thank you all
1:54:57 right any additional discussion on the consent agenda hearing
1:55:00 none all in favor
1:55:01 please signify by saying aye aye any opposed same sign motion
1:55:05 passes 5-0 we
1:55:07 are two hours in anyone need a break or you want to push through
1:55:14 all right I have a request for a five-minute restroom break so
1:55:17 we will
1:55:17 recess briefly and we’ll be back
1:55:37 you
2:04:40 all right we are officially back in session dr. Mullins would
2:04:46 you please let
2:04:47 us know about the item under the action portion of tonight’s
2:04:49 agenda yes madam
2:04:51 chair first item is f34 procurement solicitations what are the
2:04:54 wishes of the
2:04:55 board moved to approve moved by mr. Susan seconded by Miss
2:04:58 Campbell is there any
2:04:59 discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
2:05:03 opposed same sign
2:05:04 motion passes five zero dr. Mullins next item is f35 department
2:05:11 school initiated
2:05:12 agreements what are the wishes of the board moved to approve
2:05:14 second moved by
2:05:15 mr. Susan second by Miss McDougal is there any discussion all in
2:05:19 favor please
2:05:19 signify by saying aye aye any opposed same sign motion passes 5-0
2:05:24 dr. Mullins and the last item is f36 ESSER fund under the ARP
2:05:30 Act updated
2:05:31 instructional continuity plans what are the wishes of the board
2:05:34 moved to approve
2:05:35 second second moved by mr. Susan seconded by Miss McDougal is
2:05:38 there any
2:05:38 discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye any
2:05:43 opposed same sign
2:05:44 motion passes five zero we will now move on to the information
2:05:49 agenda which
2:05:49 includes items for board review and may be brought back fraction
2:05:52 at a subsequent
2:05:52 meeting no action will be taken on these items tonight dr. Mullins
2:05:56 there are two
2:05:57 items under the information category does any board member wish
2:06:00 to discuss
2:06:00 either of the information items just really briefly first of all
2:06:04 let me go
2:06:05 ahead and get the first one out of the way it’s the Cigna I just
2:06:08 want to thank
2:06:08 dr. 30 and miss Sipio and locked in for working really hard on
2:06:14 getting a better
2:06:14 contract thank you looking everything a better contract with Cigna
2:06:18 which you
2:06:19 know saves us money that we can put into other things just on
2:06:24 the topic of the
2:06:26 millage first of all thank you dr. Mullins for sharing about the
2:06:28 audience
2:06:29 cuz audits audience audits because I haven’t had the same
2:06:32 thought I think
2:06:33 there’s a few that you left out because I know that whenever we
2:06:35 have a
2:06:35 construction project we have the audits done of the larger
2:06:40 projects I can’t
2:06:41 remember the audit company that does that one and yeah I’m sorry
2:06:45 we’re all
2:06:46 gonna draw the same blank but that one is done and also I just
2:06:50 wanted to share
2:06:51 that all of those are available because every time an audit is
2:06:54 done it comes to
2:06:54 the board for approval and so the budget one is obviously part
2:06:59 of our big budget
2:07:00 which is done in the fall and so everybody have access to those
2:07:04 if you
2:07:05 will look in do the old warming’s I would just also make this
2:07:10 point that
2:07:10 whenever if it if it should pass from us and in the community
2:07:15 the charter schools
2:07:16 would also get that funding and so I think we’re going there
2:07:19 with your
2:07:20 question and I would encourage people to reach out to their
2:07:22 local charter school
2:07:23 and ask them if they would like or need additional funding that
2:07:28 is all I had on
2:07:30 this
2:07:32 anyone else wish to discuss either of the information items
2:07:38 then that is going to move us into board member reports anybody
2:07:42 have anything on
2:07:43 those I think Miss Campbell you have a couple things from our
2:07:45 central Florida
2:07:45 school board coalition I did so Monday that was yesterday was
2:07:50 our central
2:07:51 Florida school boards coalition meeting in the morning and Jacob
2:07:54 Oliva from the
2:07:54 Department of Education came on to answer just a few questions
2:07:58 about
2:07:58 legislation and about updates with progress monitoring and for
2:08:02 the board
2:08:03 members for the central Florida school board members and superintendents
2:08:08 are
2:08:08 part of that and he shared just some state I know we’ve seen our
2:08:11 own declines
2:08:11 because of COVID in our performance in math and English language
2:08:17 arts but he
2:08:17 just shared kind of statewide the bad news first you know there
2:08:23 was across the
2:08:24 state a 3% drop in reading English language art scores from pre-pandemic
2:08:29 to
2:08:29 the numbers that we got last year on the positive side we had
2:08:32 more than 94% of
2:08:34 students across the state take the FSA including especially
2:08:37 since that was a
2:08:37 pretty good number considering how many were doing some kind of
2:08:41 e-learning or
2:08:42 virtual option but that 3% drop in English language arts is
2:08:45 failed in
2:08:46 comparison to the 10% drop across the state that we saw in math
2:08:49 numbers and so
2:08:50 I’m just kudos to our leading learning department because I know
2:08:54 they’re
2:08:54 already working on this but he addressed with all of us you know
2:08:57 for those that
2:08:57 second and third grade remediation you know that rather than
2:09:02 looking at you
2:09:02 know trying to get students to repeat a whole year’s worth of
2:09:05 curriculum just be
2:09:06 laser focused and really work on those standards that they’re
2:09:09 missing and I
2:09:09 know that our our team is already on that they’re all over that
2:09:13 and gonna do
2:09:13 a great job he did there were questions about testing and with
2:09:17 the new
2:09:17 legislation what is that gonna look like and we don’t you know
2:09:20 he had to give
2:09:21 that we don’t know exactly what’s gonna look like but some
2:09:23 things that he shared
2:09:24 with that that looks like the end of course exams like we have
2:09:26 for algebra 1
2:09:27 and civics those will remain we they may change as the standards
2:09:31 change because
2:09:31 you know we have new math standards and and new textbook
2:09:34 adoption that we’ll be
2:09:35 doing that we are in the middle of right getting ready for next
2:09:40 year but the test
2:09:42 may change but how we use it will remain the same as far as ELA
2:09:49 and math the new
2:09:50 statute allows for the third progress monitoring to count for
2:09:53 the final
2:09:54 assessment but they don’t know exactly what that’s going to look
2:09:57 like but there
2:09:59 is probably what will happen this coming school year is that
2:10:03 when we get the new
2:10:04 testing in place that there they will probably have a pause on
2:10:09 school grades
2:10:10 because that first year will then be the baseline I think they
2:10:13 did the same thing
2:10:14 the first year at the FSA came out and I had to pause in school
2:10:16 grades because we
2:10:17 have to set up that baseline for the new testing and then
2:10:19 everything will be
2:10:20 after that because part of this the school grades is how much
2:10:22 have you
2:10:23 improved from the previous year and we have new standards and
2:10:26 new tests and so
2:10:28 just something to look forward to in the coming year he did say
2:10:33 that it would be
2:10:34 a local decision level for the near future as to do we stop our
2:10:38 own current
2:10:40 progress monitoring for example in that elementary school I
2:10:44 ready because we
2:10:46 know what that data is because they didn’t choose I ready and it’s
2:10:49 going to
2:10:49 be something else do we you know if we double up it’s going to
2:10:53 be a tough
2:10:53 decision but it looks like that’s going to be a local decision
2:10:55 what we’re going
2:10:55 to do as far as progress monitoring and I know dr. Mullen’s team
2:10:58 will yes
2:10:59 recommendation
2:11:02 just one other thing this is something that we are two other
2:11:05 things actually
2:11:06 actually one is on our legislative agenda for since I’ve been on
2:11:10 the board
2:11:11 we have had their requests or including our legislative agenda
2:11:16 to reduce the
2:11:17 number of critical incident drills that we have because
2:11:20 legislation said that we
2:11:21 had to have the same number of critical incident drills as we
2:11:25 have other types
2:11:26 of bills like fire drills and so because we have to have a fire
2:11:28 drill every month
2:11:29 we had to do the other kind and it’s a lot of time spent and I
2:11:32 think sometimes
2:11:33 we lose the edge of the urgency and so the law now says that it
2:11:40 would what it
2:11:42 says is there’s no less than once per year but that it’s taking
2:11:46 it out of
2:11:46 legislation and putting it in rulemaking for the State Board of
2:11:50 Education they
2:11:51 meet more frequently and so they can make some adjustments so
2:11:53 they will be we
2:11:55 don’t know exactly what the number is it just has to be at least
2:11:56 once you’re I
2:11:57 doubt seriously it’s only going to be once a year but I think
2:12:00 that’s a win for
2:12:01 us because we have been asking for it and evidently we weren’t
2:12:04 the only ones
2:12:04 for the last couple of years and so I think that will be a good
2:12:09 move because
2:12:10 then we can you know stop having that constant interruption and
2:12:15 I know you
2:12:15 guys get the text messages how many drills are going just
2:12:18 honored just it
2:12:19 seems like every other week we’re having 50 drill notifications
2:12:25 in our tech the
2:12:26 office of say schools is also going to create our model reunification
2:12:31 plans if
2:12:32 school districts don’t have one and again kudos to Brevard for
2:12:34 already
2:12:35 having those things in place and then final thing is November 7th
2:12:39 has been
2:12:40 declared with new legislation the victims of communism day and
2:12:44 so all
2:12:44 students across the Strait of Florida who are studying civics or
2:12:49 three or
2:12:49 whatever their social studies topic will be learning about the
2:12:53 victims of
2:12:54 communism around the world and they said unless you take the
2:12:57 class it’s only in
2:12:58 the spring and then you’ll have a separate day for them but it’s
2:13:00 officially November the seventh in the state of Florida thank
2:13:03 you for that
2:13:04 update miss Campbell into on the critical incident drills the
2:13:08 other thing
2:13:09 that and and I think you explained it but I have you hadn’t
2:13:14 heard the
2:13:15 conversation I’m not sure that the audience would get it is that
2:13:17 the state
2:13:18 board is now going to go into rulemaking on the required number
2:13:22 of all of our
2:13:23 other drills well so they’re removing like right now we have to
2:13:27 do a fire
2:13:27 drill every single month that is going to be picked over to the
2:13:32 state board to
2:13:32 establish rulemaking on that as well so we can potentially see
2:13:35 decrease and not
2:13:36 only critical incident also our fire drills yeah one more that I’m
2:13:44 away from
2:13:45 well anyone else any other board members have any Dr. Mullen
2:13:55 thing you have to
2:13:56 add all right then we are going to move into our remaining
2:14:00 speakers who signed
2:14:01 up to comment on non-agenda items each speaker is limited to one
2:14:04 minute we have
2:14:05 a clock in front of me to help you keep track of your time when
2:14:07 your time is
2:14:08 over you’ll be asked to stop and allow the next speaker his or
2:14:10 her turn we’ll
2:14:11 hear from the speakers in the order in which they signed up
2:14:13 including those who
2:14:14 may be waiting outside but I don’t think we have anybody outside
2:14:17 this evening I
2:14:18 stated earlier reasonable decorum is expected at all times and
2:14:21 your statement
2:14:22 should be directed to the board chair good audience
2:14:24 participation interfere
2:14:25 with speakers being heard or hearing me I will be forced to
2:14:28 clear the room when
2:14:29 I call your name please line up on the east wall of the boardroom
2:14:31 to facilitate
2:14:32 the smooth transition of speakers our first three speakers are
2:14:35 going to be Kim
2:14:36 half Jabari Hosey and Connie rook and whenever you are ready
2:14:46 good evening I have read the current and proposed policy for
2:14:50 reviewing non-state
2:14:52 adopted materials it is being portrayed that the district has
2:14:55 forward the book
2:14:56 reports of one political group to the media specialists and Brevard
2:15:01 schools
2:15:01 that these reviews are being used to pull books off shelves
2:15:05 depending on the
2:15:06 determination of individuals at each school where they are
2:15:10 available and not
2:15:11 being informally or formally reviewed using current or proposed
2:15:16 policy policies
2:15:17 that are in place to prevent this type of censorship whether
2:15:21 that material is
2:15:22 inappropriate or against Florida statute these books need to be
2:15:29 reviewed and
2:15:30 evaluated for our public schools are not reviewing or evaluating
2:15:36 these books
2:15:36 using the state or policy in place the statute or the policy in
2:15:41 place please
2:15:41 stop allowing one political group to intimidate threaten and
2:15:45 bypass those
2:15:45 policies thanks Kim Bari
2:15:55 good evening Jabari Hosey I would like to address the board on
2:15:59 the books that
2:15:59 have been removed from the schools currently my understanding is
2:16:02 that
2:16:02 there’s an informal review by committee at the school level and
2:16:06 a formal review
2:16:07 at the district level however my understanding is not currently
2:16:10 taking
2:16:10 place it’s given to the school principal and or media specialist
2:16:15 who has been
2:16:16 given the authority to remove these books based on complaints or
2:16:20 threats or
2:16:20 pressure from small parental groups and their complaints so I
2:16:28 think we need to
2:16:30 stop this and I use the policy that’s in place this can lead to
2:16:33 some equality
2:16:34 issues some students have access to certain educational material
2:16:37 others do
2:16:38 not I would hope and that we have a future policy where we can
2:16:43 review these
2:16:44 books and we can allow this to be something that would be
2:16:47 district-wide I
2:16:48 do support that again it’s not about the interpretation of the
2:16:51 content being
2:16:52 inappropriate but it’s just about following the process thank
2:16:54 you thanks
2:16:55 Jabari as Connie’s approaching our next three speakers will be
2:16:58 Richard LeBlanc
2:16:59 Lynn Hawkins and Sarah Murski if you all would line up on the
2:17:01 East wall please
2:17:03 honey whenever you’re ready good evening I have tremendous
2:17:07 respect for our
2:17:08 librarians they are crucial a crucial profession in our schools
2:17:11 it takes about
2:17:12 six years of full-time study to become a librarian you need a
2:17:14 bachelor’s degree
2:17:15 and a master’s degree in library and information science we all
2:17:18 have to know
2:17:19 that the selection of books is not something that they take
2:17:21 lightly given
2:17:22 the limited space and funding in our school librarians consider
2:17:25 a host of
2:17:26 factors and review recommendations to include the American
2:17:29 Library Association
2:17:30 the Florida Sunshine State leaders votes of librarians statewide
2:17:33 and the American
2:17:34 Association of school librarians there’s a lot of brainpower and
2:17:36 consideration
2:17:37 that goes into picking both we respect those professionals and I
2:17:40 hope that you
2:17:41 do too when it comes to removing books from school I do not want
2:17:44 my children
2:17:45 education whitewashed by a few loud but narrow-minded minds that
2:17:49 do not
2:17:50 represent me and they do not represent the majority of Brevard
2:17:52 County thank you
2:17:53 thanks honey Richard
2:18:07 superintendent board evening my name is Rick LeBlanc I live in
2:18:12 Rockledge and
2:18:13 real quickly part of statute eight four seven point zero zero
2:18:18 one in eight four
2:18:20 seven point zero one two clearly state that materials in
2:18:23 whatever form they
2:18:24 exist that are harmful to minors as in nudity sexual conduct or
2:18:30 sexual
2:18:30 excitement or not to be knowingly distributed the miners I’m
2:18:35 asking the
2:18:36 school board and superintendent to direct the appropriate
2:18:39 district school
2:18:40 based and all other personnel to immediately stop purchasing or
2:18:44 otherwise acquiring in any manner and in in any materials if you
2:18:50 will library
2:18:51 books curriculum and all of the materials for example that fall
2:18:54 under
2:18:55 the direction of Florida statute eight four seven so that the
2:18:58 miners of all
2:18:59 ages in our schools will be kept safe which is one of the things
2:19:02 we promised
2:19:03 them on day one and not harm thank you and God bless thank you
2:19:08 should I give
2:19:09 copies of this
2:19:24 when Hawkins
2:19:33 good evening over the past year that I have been attending or
2:19:35 watching these
2:19:37 meetings I have witnessed and experienced the following school
2:19:40 board
2:19:40 member calling parents to domestic terrorists when simply
2:19:43 speaking out
2:19:43 against her or the agenda she’s pushing on our children the same
2:19:46 member has
2:19:47 refused to sign the Brevard County working guidelines which has
2:19:50 been signed
2:19:50 by all of the Ford been school board members and the
2:19:53 superintendent another
2:19:55 board members approached a group of parents after meeting one
2:19:58 night and said
2:19:58 that they were on a witch hunt simply because they had gone
2:20:00 through the
2:20:01 1,300 page agenda and found some items that they were concerned
2:20:04 with and wanted
2:20:05 further explanation on our chairperson starts every meeting
2:20:08 threatening the
2:20:09 audience with fines and/or jail time if we don’t follow her
2:20:11 rules to the team
2:20:12 she also went on national TV and said how she is blessed to be
2:20:15 serving a group
2:20:16 of 9,000 people which obviously does not include the students
2:20:19 and parents of this
2:20:20 community so I guess we truly know who she feels she works for
2:20:24 the school
2:20:24 district has a loan that totals more than five hundred and ten
2:20:26 million
2:20:27 dollars when it is all pays back with interest and now they want
2:20:30 to raise our
2:20:31 millage taxes I say it is time for a forensic audit before you
2:20:35 get one more
2:20:36 dime from the taxpayers Sarah Murski and now Sarah’s approaching
2:20:41 our next three
2:20:42 speakers will be Katie Delaney Judy Stevens and Aaron Dunn
2:20:49 good evening I want to thank the board for the clarification for
2:20:52 the title 9
2:20:53 contract and coordinator position I wanted to clarify that I
2:20:58 request a
2:20:59 forensic audit not a financial audit but I am glad this board is
2:21:06 so open to an
2:21:06 audit and welcome questions I still had questions from previous
2:21:12 contracts about
2:21:13 financing and bids and where all those things coming from and
2:21:16 the agenda just
2:21:17 doesn’t cover it and I’ve asked board members to follow up with
2:21:20 me after
2:21:20 school board meetings no one’s followed up with me I still vote
2:21:24 no on a millage
2:21:26 tax increase thank you for your time thanks Sarah 80
2:21:42 board members
2:21:47 and superintendent I understand I respect what you had to say
2:21:52 about the
2:21:54 millage but most of us in Brevard County do not make around $300,000
2:22:00 a year so our
2:22:02 property taxes going up is a pretty big deal now I’d like to
2:22:06 shift to board
2:22:07 policy five six three zero point zero one how do these changes
2:22:14 protect our
2:22:15 special needs kids there are over two pages that have been
2:22:19 crossed out the
2:22:20 current board policy has more specific protect protections in
2:22:25 regards to
2:22:26 requiring a medical physician’s recommendation parental consent
2:22:34 and
2:22:35 contraindications of IEPs those safeguards seem very important
2:22:41 who will
2:22:42 be making the decisions on these things on restraining these
2:22:45 children will the
2:22:47 chain
2:22:51 miss Stevens of course they do miscellany
2:23:03 whenever you’re ready okay with the passage of House bill 1557
2:23:12 and Oh what
2:23:14 microphone go ahead oh with the passage of House bill 1557 and
2:23:21 reviewing the
2:23:22 LGBTQ plus district guidelines we’re once it becomes law believe
2:23:31 in July
2:23:32 several of the guidelines don’t kind of fit with the bill plus
2:23:37 when you look at
2:23:39 the guidelines they’re really not tailored for as the bill is
2:23:44 for the
2:23:45 younger children and I’d like to suggest that these be reviewed
2:23:52 and also perhaps
2:23:54 guidelines for younger the elementary school children and what
2:24:01 could happen
2:24:01 there versus high school because there’s kind of a world of
2:24:06 difference until you
2:24:07 get to that middle ground when they are really beginning to
2:24:11 figure out about
2:24:12 gender but I do think everything needs to be reviewed thank you
2:24:16 Thank You Judy
2:24:18 Aaron Dunn and then our last speaker after Aaron is going to be
2:24:23 crystal K
2:24:24 thank you I’m here to speak on board policy 2521 the
2:24:29 instructional materials
2:24:30 program I appreciate the work that the school board has done to
2:24:34 work towards
2:24:35 equity and equality in our district in many different ways over
2:24:37 the last couple
2:24:38 years I would ask you to please consider that if removing books
2:24:41 from certain
2:24:42 schools and keeping them in other schools is equitable to all
2:24:45 the students
2:24:46 in our district I think that’s something important to consider I’ve
2:24:49 taught and
2:24:49 provide public schools for 11 years and I reached out to three
2:24:52 of my friends who
2:24:53 are current media specialists in our district and asked them how
2:24:56 things are
2:24:57 going with this current policy and one of the things that they
2:24:59 said to me was
2:25:00 that they would appreciate having a district list of what is
2:25:03 legally
2:25:03 appropriate and inappropriate so that they don’t have to worry
2:25:06 about making
2:25:06 decisions per book they would appreciate that from the current
2:25:11 media specialists
2:25:12 and finally please remember that the experts on this program
2:25:15 work within
2:25:15 Brevard Public Schools please ensure that employees are
2:25:18 following current
2:25:19 policies before removing books from our libraries and a shout
2:25:23 out to our media
2:25:24 specialists who do this hard work every day without media
2:25:27 assistance thanks
2:25:32 crystal
2:25:39 good evening again three years ago at New Hope Lutheran in
2:25:44 Melbourne a child
2:25:45 named Jordan a Hispanic child was assaulted by Trey a black
2:25:49 child Jordan’s
2:25:50 mom was encouraged by administration to move Jordan to a
2:25:53 different school with
2:25:54 his IEP administration explained that they couldn’t report the
2:25:58 assault due to
2:25:59 the risk ratio numbers of Brevard Public Schools please stop
2:26:03 race-based discipline
2:26:06 in Brevard Public Schools in the words of Peter Curson now a
2:26:12 member of the US Commission on civil rights if the school
2:26:15 district is in fact
2:26:16 considering a student’s race in the imposition of discipline
2:26:19 even if it’s
2:26:20 only one factor among many it would be blatantly unlawful it
2:26:24 would also be
2:26:25 racist despicable counterproductive and galactically stupid it
2:26:28 would be similar
2:26:29 to the school discipline guidance issued by the Department of
2:26:32 Education’s Office
2:26:33 of Civil Rights during the Obama administration
2:26:38 thank you thank you
2:26:44 that concludes our public comment for this evening you’re
2:26:47 willing to speak to
2:26:49 the board is appreciated anyone remember have anything prior to
2:26:54 dabbling yourself
2:26:55 I do I have a lot in the community I think it’s important to
2:27:01 clarify so mr.
2:27:03 Gibbs our current LGBTQ administrative guidelines as it stands
2:27:08 right now do
2:27:09 those guidelines follow federal yes
2:27:18 anyone
2:27:22 all right here you know for the business we are adjourned
2:27:48 you
2:28:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]