Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
3:30 .
6:05 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
6:09 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
6:13 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
6:17 That brings us to the adoption of the agenda.
6:19 Dr. Endell.
6:23 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
6:24 On this evening’s agenda, we have six final public budget
6:27 hearing items, two proclamations,
6:29 25 consent items.
6:31 We don’t have any action items and no information items.
6:34 Changes made to the agenda since it was released to the public
6:37 include the following.
6:39 Revised were B3, fiscal year 2027 required local effort,
6:43 local discretionary additional voted in capital outlay millage
6:46 resolution,
6:47 C1, Hispanic heritage month proclamations,
6:50 C2, suicide prevention month proclamations,
6:53 F4, resignation in lieu of termination,
6:56 and F6, administrative recommendations and F14,
6:59 the final budget amendment for fiscal year 2026.
7:02 Do I hear a motion?
7:03 Move for approval.
7:04 Second.
7:05 Is there any discussion?
7:07 Paul, roll call, please.
7:08 Mr. Thomas.
7:09 Aye.
7:10 Ms. Campbell.
7:11 Aye.
7:12 Mr. Season.
7:13 Aye.
7:14 Ms. Wright.
7:15 Aye.
7:16 Mr. Trent.
7:17 Aye.
7:18 All right, here we go.
7:19 Good evening.
7:20 This is the Brevard School’s second and final public hearing
7:22 in the proposed millage rates and final budget for fiscal year
7:24 2027.
7:25 Any discussion?
7:26 Dr. Endell.
7:27 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
7:29 Florida Statute 200.065 requires each taxing authority levying
7:34 millage
7:34 to publicly state the name of the taxing authority,
7:37 the rollback rates, the millage rate to be levied
7:40 prior to the adoption of the millage levy resolution.
7:43 In compliance with those requirements,
7:45 the following needs to be stated.
7:47 The taxing authority is the school board of Brevard County.
7:52 The 2026-27 rollback rates are the required local effort rollback
7:59 rate
7:59 is 3.0184.
8:03 The local discretionary rollback rate would be 0.7373 mills.
8:09 The capital outlay rollback rate would be 1.4786.
8:15 The additional voted millage would be 0.9858 for a total rollback
8:21 rate
8:22 of 6.2201 mills.
8:25 The total 2026-27 millage rate to be levied
8:29 exceeds the total rollback rate by 1.32%.
8:34 So the proposed 2026-2027 millage rates are for the operating
8:39 fund,
8:40 the required local effort millage 3.054 mills,
8:45 local discretionary 0.748 mills,
8:49 capital outlay millage would be 1.50 mills,
8:52 and the additional voter approved millage 1.00 mills
8:57 for a total proposed millage rate of 6.302 mills.
9:04 The hearing is now open for public comments.
9:06 We will, in accordance with Florida law,
9:08 accept the speakers in the following order,
9:11 the 2026-2027 proposed millage levy followed by the 2027 budget.
9:16 Is there anybody here who wishes to address the board
9:18 on the 2026-2027 proposed millage levy?
9:22 Is there anyone here who would like to address the board
9:24 on the 2026-2027 proposed millage levy?
9:28 Okay, next up.
9:30 Is there any individual who wishes to address the board
9:32 in the 2027 final budget?
9:35 Okay, okay.
9:42 Give me a second here, Mr.–
9:44 Yes, sir.
9:45 Hang on, we’ve got to fire this thing up.
9:54 Whenever you’re ready.
9:55 Okay, thank you.
9:56 Thank you, board, and thank you, Dr. Rendell,
9:58 for allowing me to stand to ask a few questions about your
10:00 budget.
10:01 It’s very, very complicated from an outsider perspective,
10:05 so I’m not sure whether I’m going to be hitting everything
10:08 perfectly.
10:09 But just a few questions that I have.
10:12 Looking at your budget since July the 28th,
10:15 I noticed a reduction of around $22.6 million
10:19 in terms of revenue from July 28th.
10:24 Just looking at your budget sheet.
10:27 And if that’s the case, just doing the math,
10:30 that should look like a 14.5% reduction on the revenue side.
10:36 So my concern is do we know what’s driving this $22 million
10:43 reduction?
10:45 You know, from what we can see from the public side,
10:48 we don’t understand why the revenue is that much different from
10:53 July the 28th.
10:55 So that’s my first question.
10:57 And then my other question is, you know, when I look at the cuts
11:01 that are being made, especially on the decrease in instruction
11:06 in the curriculum development service, I see a $1.8 million
11:11 decrease there.
11:13 I also see a decrease in the instructional staff training.
11:18 That is a concern.
11:20 I also see a decrease in the instructional related technology.
11:24 You notice where I’m going all on the instructional side.
11:28 And my concern is, you know, I deal with a lot of Title I
11:32 schools,
11:33 whether those revenues will impact that.
11:35 I’m pretty sure you guys did a deeper analysis.
11:38 But from the public concern, we don’t see what that’s going to
11:42 hit.
11:43 So that is a question I have.
11:46 You know, I’ll go this year, hopefully,
11:49 that a lot of our C schools will become a B school.
11:52 So, you know, if I’m losing instructional support
11:56 as well as instructional staffing, I’m not sure what bucket that
12:00 will fall in.
12:02 So from what I can see from your budget, that is a concern of
12:06 myself.
12:07 And I can’t see, you know, where the decrease is going to be
12:12 coming from.
12:13 So I don’t know where the answer is based on the report that is
12:17 published to the public.
12:18 But that will be a good understanding that I’m looking for.
12:22 Number one, what’s costing the $22 million reduction?
12:27 Because I remember several months ago there was a 7% staffing
12:31 cut,
12:32 you know, because of enrollment rate.
12:36 So now I’m looking at another $22 million.
12:39 So I just can’t see it from a public perspective.
12:43 Where is that landing?
12:44 So that is my question, and I’m not sure whether I’m going to
12:46 get an answer on that.
12:48 » Thank you, Mr. Bryan.
12:49 I appreciate you coming and always sharing your concerns with us.
12:53 We appreciate that.
12:54 Thank you.
12:54 » Mr. Chair?
12:55 » Yes, sir?
12:55 » Can we ask the superintendent just to address those questions,
12:57 just because those are good questions for the public to
13:01 understand?
13:03 » Yeah, I’m not sure exactly what figures Mr. Bryan is
13:06 referring to.
13:07 So I would have to ask staff to look at that and see which
13:10 figures he’s referring to,
13:12 as for the change in revenue and so on.
13:18 » You want to go ahead?
13:19 » Yeah, I would say – because someone asked some similar
13:21 questions,
13:22 and I know when we talk about, let’s say, a $200,000 shift, you
13:28 know,
13:28 some budget got reduced by $200,000.
13:30 That could be two to three employees,
13:32 and it could be two to three employees that we actually hadn’t
13:33 hired.
13:34 They’re open positions.
13:36 And so part of the cuts that Dr. Rendell asked,
13:39 actually it was – he asked them to make it for this fiscal year.
13:43 So some of those reductions are ones that weren’t actually
13:46 realized until this fiscal year,
13:47 and it could be money that was budgeted last year,
13:49 but those positions never got hired, so they said, well, there’s
13:52 part of our 7%.
13:53 So it says instructional, but it could be people up at the
13:55 district level,
13:57 and it could be some schools that lost enrollment, and so all
14:00 those things.
14:01 But one of the things that happens between July and September is
14:04 every department
14:06 is responsible for finding everything that they can to make
14:09 everything level out,
14:11 right, to the numbers that we match based on the number of
14:13 students we have,
14:14 the money we’re actually getting, and the number of money we’re
14:16 actually going to spend.
14:17 And so if you want a line by line from a certain department as
14:21 to how they got to that number,
14:24 if you’ll – I can help you with doing a public records request,
14:26 and we can get that detailed information for you.
14:29 But I know that they were all working between July and September
14:32 to get those final numbers just right where they’re supposed to
14:36 be.
14:37 In short, the idea is to match the budget to the expected
14:40 revenue.
14:41 So I was going to talk about this later when we talk about the
14:43 actual budget figures,
14:45 but the budget that we’re proposing tonight is $79 million
14:50 lighter, skinnier, cheaper,
14:52 whatever you want to say, than the budget from last year.
14:55 So we’ve realized all of those cuts, all of those reductions.
14:59 Nope, nope, nope, nope.
15:02 Hang on, Mr. Bryan, we’ll just – we’ll get together afterwards.
15:05 I wanted to say thank you to Ms. Campbell for handling Mr. Bryan
15:08 and answering those questions.
15:09 That was really nice of you.
15:10 All right, the public comment –
15:12 Oh, somebody else, I think.
15:14 No, I –
15:15 Yep, one more.
15:22 Good evening.
15:23 My name is Ashley Stanley, and I am here as an ESC teacher for
15:26 Roosevelt Elementary School.
15:29 I recognize Mr. Trent.
15:31 I’ve seen him in my classroom.
15:32 I’ve seen Dr. Rendell also in my classroom.
15:34 And I want to speak about how some of these cuts are going to
15:37 impact our students that are in our self-contained ESC
15:41 classrooms.
15:42 We’re already seeing it right now.
15:44 I did see in the paperwork that we’re looking at over 70
15:48 instructional support paras that are being cut.
15:53 My room specifically is being impacted.
15:57 I’ve got double the students that we had last year due to the
16:00 consolidation of Roosevelt and Cape View.
16:04 And we only have one additional body in our whole department
16:08 right now, which is a teacher.
16:11 So we’re running a room with nine students, most of them nonverbal,
16:16 with myself and one aide.
16:19 This is not an acceptable cut to our budget.
16:22 We really need to think about how this is impacting the students
16:24 that can’t get up here and speak to you.
16:28 Because they’re going without services or not going out to
16:32 inclusion opportunities because there’s no hands for that.
16:36 The cuts are major in student support. They’re major in paraeducator
16:42 land.
16:42 And they’re impacting ESC as a whole for the whole district.
16:48 It’s not just a Roosevelt problem. I’ve heard it from other
16:51 teachers, too.
16:52 So before we really approve this, I think we need to take a look
16:55 at that 15% cut that you’re making to support services.
17:01 And those cuts you’re making to our paraeducators and wonder if
17:04 that’s actually going to fit the needs of our students.
17:08 Because I can tell you, I have more needs in my room than I had
17:12 last year and less hands.
17:14 It’s very serious. Thank you.
17:16 Thank you, Ms. Ashley.
17:18 Anybody else supposed to speak?
17:20 All right. Public comment portion of the hearing is now closed.
17:23 That brings us to the recommendations for the adoption of the 2026-2027
17:26 millage levy and the 2027 final budget.
17:29 Dr. Endell.
17:31 Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are a total of four separate motions.
17:34 I will read each of the recommendations into the record and then
17:36 request board action.
17:38 So the first motion is to adopt the resolution setting the
17:40 required local effort, the local discretionary,
17:43 the additional voted millage, and the capital outlay millage
17:47 rate of 6.302 mills for the 2026-2027 year.
17:53 The written resolution is incorporated into this motion by
17:56 reference.
17:57 Do I hear a motion?
17:59 So moved.
18:00 Second.
18:02 Any discussion?
18:04 Hearing none, call roll call, please.
18:06 Mr. Thomas.
18:07 Aye.
18:08 Ms. Campbell.
18:09 Aye.
18:10 Mr. Susan.
18:11 Aye.
18:12 Ms. Wright.
18:13 Aye.
18:14 Mr. Trent.
18:15 Dr. Endell.
18:16 Thank you, Mr. Chair. The second motion is to adopt the final 2027
18:18 budget in the following amounts.
18:20 The general fund amount of the budget would be $823,521,638.
18:28 The debt service fund’s amount would be $36,056,764.
18:36 The capital project fund amount would be $408,807,767.
18:43 Special revenue fund’s amount would be $149,073,659.
18:51 The internal service fund’s amount would be $129,938,265.
18:58 For a total budget of $1,547,398,093.
19:07 Do I hear a motion?
19:08 So moved.
19:09 Second.
19:10 Any discussion?
19:11 Yeah, I just want to add a comment really fast before we move on
19:13 on voting on this.
19:15 So, you know, when we look at our budgets and we’re going
19:17 through and approving budgets, a budget is just – it’s a
19:20 tentative plan,
19:21 but the budgets change every single board meeting virtually.
19:24 We’ll have amendments that come before us.
19:26 So I just want to acknowledge the last speaker and the concerns
19:28 that she has in the ESE world because I think they’re very
19:30 relevant
19:31 and they’re very important and they need to be addressed.
19:33 But I just want you to know from a district standpoint or from
19:36 the board standpoint or at least my standpoint, I should say,
19:39 when we approve this budget, this doesn’t mean that this is 100%
19:43 concrete how every single dollar is necessarily going to be
19:46 spent
19:46 because there are times that money has to move in between
19:49 certain things based on needs that we see arise within the
19:51 district.
19:52 And so just to put that out there for the public to understand
19:54 the budget is the plan, but the plan always changes,
19:58 just like anybody else that has a budget within their house.
20:01 If income changes, then you have to make adjustments and things
20:03 of that nature.
20:04 So I just wanted to make that aware for the last speaker
20:06 specifically, okay?
20:08 Thank you so much, Ms. Wright, for clarifying that for the
20:10 public. We appreciate that.
20:12 Mr. Chair?
20:13 Yes, sir.
20:14 Just to follow up on that as well, for the ESE students, for our
20:17 special needs students, there are ratios, there are quotas,
20:20 there are requirements that we have to meet to federal
20:22 legislation, federal statutes.
20:24 So we’re not going to violate any of those quotas or those
20:27 ratios.
20:28 So I will look into the situation at Roosevelt just to make sure
20:31 that we’re good there, that we’re providing the appropriate
20:35 resources.
20:35 If we’re not, we’ll make sure we do.
20:36 Yep. Sounds great. Anybody else? All right. Paul, roll call,
20:40 please.
20:41 Mr. Thomas?
20:42 Aye.
20:43 Ms. Campbell?
20:44 Aye.
20:45 Mr. Susan?
20:46 Aye.
20:47 Ms. Wright?
20:48 Aye.
20:49 Mr. Trent?
20:50 Aye.
20:51 Dr. Rendell?
20:52 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
20:53 The third motion is to authorize the superintendent to forward
20:54 the adopted millage levy resolution to the Brevard County
20:57 property appraiser
20:58 and tax collector no later than 30 days following the adjournment
21:01 of the value adjustment board.
21:03 Do I hear a motion?
21:05 So moved.
21:06 Second.
21:07 Any discussion? Paul, roll call, please.
21:10 Mr. Thomas?
21:11 Aye.
21:12 Ms. Campbell?
21:13 Aye.
21:14 Mr. Susan?
21:15 Aye.
21:16 Ms. Wright?
21:17 Aye.
21:18 Mr. Trent?
21:19 Aye.
21:20 Dr. Rendell?
21:21 Thank you, Mr. Chair. The fourth motion is to authorize the
21:22 superintendent to forward the following to the designated state
21:22 agencies.
21:23 The adopted budget millage levy resolution, certified tax roll,
21:25 rolled back rates, proposed millage, and certified copies of the
21:29 advertisements
21:30 for the proposed budget and millage rate to the State Department
21:34 of Education to send a millage levy resolution, certified tax
21:36 roll, rolled back rates, proposed millage,
21:39 and certified copies of the advertisements for the proposed
21:42 budget and millage rate to the Department of Revenue.
21:46 Do I hear a motion?
21:47 So moved.
21:48 Second.
21:49 Any discussion? Paul, roll call, please.
21:52 Mr. Thomas?
21:53 Aye.
21:54 Ms. Campbell?
21:55 Aye.
21:56 Mr. Susan?
21:57 Aye.
21:58 Ms. Wright?
21:59 Aye.
22:00 Mr. Susan, you said discussion and I didn’t say anything, but I
22:02 wanted to thank Dr. Rendell and cabinet and all the staff in
22:06 finance and accounting and budgeting
22:08 and all of that because they’ve had a lot of work to do over the
22:11 last couple of months as Sue stepped in as leader, but that’s
22:15 put extra pressure on a lot of people
22:17 and there were really difficult decisions that they had to make
22:21 to get us $20 million lower because we had to get there because
22:27 we have to match expenses
22:28 to revenue and it was a lot of hard work by every department to
22:31 figure out where they were going to get those 7% dollars back in
22:37 December,
22:37 but they’ve not stopped there, so I know it was a tough exercise
22:42 to do, but I appreciate all the work that people put in to try
22:47 to find efficiencies
22:48 and to try to cut down and I am very hopeful that you guys will
22:52 get to the end of this fiscal year and be in a much, much better
22:57 place.
22:57 And so thank you, Dr. Rendell, again, for trying to have those
23:01 cuts impact the schoolhouse as little as possible.
23:05 There’s no way to get around some kind of impact, but I think
23:07 you guys have done a great job with a really tough situation and
23:12 I appreciate all that work for everybody.
23:15 They’re not all here in the room tonight, but I just appreciate
23:18 the cabinet team and their leadership and their individual
23:21 departments to get that done.
23:23 Thank you.
23:24 Anybody else?
23:25 Mr. Chair, if I could respond.
23:27 Yeah, I was just going to say, very well said, I think everybody
23:30 here feels the exact same way.
23:33 I think by the nods of everybody here.
23:35 Dr. Rendell, you’re a lot of hard work there.
23:38 Thank you so much.
23:39 So, yes, sir.
23:40 Go ahead.
23:41 Well, I just want to say that the goal has always been to impact
23:43 the school building the least amount possible.
23:46 So this process started almost a year ago in December of last
23:50 year when we said make 7 percent cuts to the district
23:54 departments, not schools, district departments in planning for
23:59 this budget year.
24:01 So it wasn’t that we cut 7 percent then, it was fine reductions
24:05 of up to 7 percent when you’re planning your budget for this
24:09 year.
24:10 So that’s some of these reductions that you’re seeing.
24:13 The other thing is, like I mentioned earlier, this budget is $79
24:16 million lower than last year’s approved budget.
24:19 So we are, you know, right sizing to our enrollment, right
24:22 sizing to our revenue.
24:24 It’s not common for government to pass a budget that is lower.
24:29 And so we actually did that.
24:30 So I’m really proud of the staff for doing that.
24:33 I think Suhan is the name that, you know, we almost all point to,
24:37 she was kind of like the guide through all this and she’s not
24:41 here to get her recognition tonight.
24:44 She’s mountain biking somewhere in the Midwest, which is awesome.
24:47 But some of her team is here, some of the finance team is here
24:49 and, you know, they deserve a lot of credit for that, as well as
24:52 all the other departments for finding ways to be more efficient.
24:55 Most of the positions that were cut were vacant positions.
24:58 We haven’t furloughed many people, if any.
25:02 So, you know, this is stuff that we just got leaner and more
25:06 efficient.
25:07 Beautiful.
25:11 And I also want to take a second and thank Dr. Endell because in
25:13 every conversation that we’ve ever had since he’s been on the
25:15 board, he always gives the credit to the teachers and people
25:18 that are on the boots on the ground at the school.
25:21 And he also says, gives all the credit to the teachers in the
25:23 classroom.
25:24 And his main focus has always been on that classroom.
25:27 And that’s why I just want to take a second to say thank you and
25:29 it reiterates exactly what you said.
25:31 All right.
25:32 Now we get on to the fun stuff.
25:33 Sorry to make everybody wait.
25:35 Tonight we have two proclamations on the agenda.
25:37 I’d like to invite Ms. Yvette Cruz to the podium for the
25:45 Hispanic Heritage Month presentation.
25:52 And whereas Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated nationwide
25:55 from September 15th through October 15th to honor the histories,
25:59 cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors
26:02 came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and
26:07 South America.
26:08 And whereas throughout our nation’s history, Hispanic Americans
26:11 have enriched the cultural fabric of our communities,
26:14 strengthened our economy through innovation and entrepreneurship,
26:17 and served with honor in our armed forces.
26:20 And whereas in Brevard Public Schools, Hispanic students,
26:23 families, educators, and staff contribute daily to the academic,
26:27 cultural, and social success of our classrooms and schools,
26:31 modeling leadership, resilience, and creativity for future
26:34 generations.
26:35 And whereas by honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, Brevard Public
26:38 Schools reaffirms its commitment to fostering learning
26:41 environments where every student feels valued, supported, and
26:44 empowered to achieve their full potential while also
26:47 highlighting the many ways Hispanic Americans have shaped and
26:50 continue to shape our nation.
26:52 And now, therefore, be it resolved that the School Board of Brevard
26:55 County, Florida recognizes the month of September as Hispanic
26:58 Heritage Month and be it further resolved that Brevard Public
27:01 School staff will encourage all students, families, and
27:05 community members to join in celebrating the rich histories,
27:09 diverse cultures, and invaluable contributions of Hispanic
27:12 Americans through school programs, community partnerships, and
27:16 educational opportunities.
27:18 Adopted by the members of the Brevard Public School Board, Brevard
27:21 County, Florida at the regular board meeting, they’re upheld the
27:24 10th of September, 2026.
27:27 And tonight we have Javier Molinares. He’s the CEO of the
27:33 Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
27:41 Do I hear a motion?
27:52 » Move to approve.
27:53 » Second.
27:54 » Any discussion? Hearing none, Paul, roll call, please.
27:58 » Mr. Thomas.
27:59 » Aye.
28:00 » Ms. Campbell.
28:01 » Aye.
28:02 » Mr. Susan.
28:03 » Aye.
28:04 » Ms. Wright.
28:05 » Aye.
28:06 » Mr. Trent.
28:07 » Aye.
28:08 » Come on up.
28:09 » Thank you for the information. It’s been my honor to be
28:11 working with Brevard Public School for so many years, helping
28:15 the ESOL department, connecting the parent liaisons with the
28:19 community.
28:21 And this is great because we give others the opportunity, even
28:25 if they have a language barrier, to be able to work with the
28:29 system, to work with the district for the best interest of the
28:33 students.
28:34 So thank you.
28:35 Thank you so much for all your support.
28:37 Thank you.
28:38 [ Applause ]
28:39 » Javier, just hang on a second.
28:40 I just – I know everybody – you may want to say something, but
28:46 I feel compelled.
28:48 You are one of the very few people, and we have some great not-for-profits,
28:53 right?
28:54 But we have a lot of people who come up and they come and they
28:56 go.
28:57 And it’s none of their fault.
28:59 They’re passionate about something.
29:00 They come through.
29:01 You have been a shining light and steward for the Hispanic
29:05 community for so long.
29:08 And you deserve so much credit, and the work that you do is God’s
29:10 work.
29:11 I know when I sit there and I came to one of your facilities –
29:13 I don’t know, it was like 2017, man – and we were sitting there
29:17 and you were showing me some of the things you were doing.
29:20 And I just – to know that you have just kept it up this whole
29:23 time and you’ve never let off the throttle and you’re working so
29:26 hard, I just wanted to tell you thank you.
29:29 The area that you are is a significant need, and I know that you’re
29:32 doing an amazing job.
29:34 So I just wanted to take a second and say thank you to you from
29:36 a friend from a long time ago.
29:38 So thank you.
29:39 Thank you.
29:40 Appreciate it.
29:41 Mr. Chair?
29:42 Thank you so much, Matt.
29:43 So, Javier, I just wanted to tell the community there’s very few
29:46 people that do so much for so many different types of people or
29:48 groups of people.
29:50 However, you not only help the students, you help business
29:53 leaders, business people – I mean, you work 60 hours a week and
29:56 you worked on getting your Ph.D.
29:59 So I don’t know where you find the time, but you did it.
30:01 He works for Florida Tech as a professor.
30:03 You run the chamber.
30:05 You do amazing work.
30:06 And what Mr. Susan said, I cannot say any better.
30:10 You’re a phenomenal person.
30:11 You’re a gem to me.
30:12 have in this community and we just know that you’re appreciated
30:15 very much thank
30:16 you so much really appreciate all your support mr. Javier this
30:20 is the time
30:20 where you just ask for something since we’re
30:28 the needs is there we have a community that needs to integrate
30:31 into the system
30:33 what I say is that when you come to Brevard County is different
30:37 than Miami
30:37 Orlando other population here in Brevard County you need to
30:42 integrate because the
30:43 majority of the population is English speaking so we need to
30:47 find a way to
30:48 integrate those communities so we can all connect and work as a
30:52 community and
30:53 we’re doing a good job we’re doing an excellent job thank you
30:57 thank you so much
30:58 Javier we appreciate you we are now under the suicide prevention
31:07 month
31:08 proclamation miss Cruz I’m actually gonna have dr. Chana spear
31:15 come and read
31:16 this one members of the board dr. Rendell mr. Gibbs thank you so
31:24 much for
31:25 allowing this proclamation this evening whereas September is
31:29 designated as
31:30 National Suicide Prevention Month as recognized by the National
31:32 Association
31:33 of Mental Illness and whereas many health officials and
31:36 community leaders
31:37 locally state and nationally understand that mental illness is a
31:41 significant
31:42 issue of concern particularly among our youth we realize that to
31:46 address mental
31:47 health issues requires more open and honest discussions about
31:49 mental health
31:50 one major hurdle is removing the stigma attached to mental
31:54 health treatment and
31:55 discussion parents teachers administrators coaches mentors
31:59 public
32:00 officials and peer students recognize the importance of
32:03 emotional health we
32:04 all play a valuable role in assisting others who may show
32:07 symptoms of stress
32:08 depression anxiety or mental illness now therefore it be
32:12 resolved that the
32:14 Brevard Public School Board supports the education of staff
32:17 parents and students
32:18 on symptoms of and help for mental health concerns and be it
32:22 further
32:23 resolved that Brevard Public School staff will encourage a
32:26 positive safe
32:27 school environment and encourage helping others while also
32:30 promoting access to
32:32 school-based mental health supports and recognizing when young
32:35 people are at
32:35 risk for or are experiencing mental health concerns adopted by
32:39 the members
32:40 of Brevard Public School Board Brevard County Florida at the
32:43 regular board
32:43 meeting held the 10th of September 2026 and I’ll introduce miss
32:52 Chris Moore is
32:54 coming to accept this
33:02 yeah hang on just a second miss Moore do I hear a motion any
33:07 discussion need a
33:09 second okay he’s seconded it but he said it’s so low nobody
33:13 could roll call
33:15 please mr. Thomas hi mr. Campbell mr. Susan hi that’s right
33:19 hi mr. Tran all right now thank you I’m Chris Moore I’m a board
33:25 member for
33:26 Space Coast Health Foundation I want to thank the board members
33:29 and staff for
33:29 support of this proclamation your action this evening is
33:32 important because
33:33 Brevard County is the only one of Florida’s 67 counties where
33:38 all the
33:38 municipalities and governing bodies pass proclamations and
33:43 resolutions to support
33:44 the efforts to prevent suicide it’s another reason to note why
33:48 this county
33:48 is so special on the Space Coast the suicide numbers hit a
33:53 little harder
33:54 because Brevard has one of the higher suicide rates in Florida
33:58 more than 17
33:59 people annually for every 100,000 people we don’t know why it’s
34:03 higher in Brevard
34:05 but it is a situation the Space Coast Health Foundation and our
34:08 partners are
34:09 committed to reversing so what can we do if there’s one thing we
34:13 can do
34:14 individually maybe it’s just being there for someone who is
34:17 visibly in distress
34:18 in 2000 a young man named Kevin Hines jumped off the Golden Gate
34:22 Bridge in San
34:23 Francisco in an effort to take his own life he somehow survived
34:28 and is now a
34:28 leading advocate for suicide prevention and mental health prior
34:32 to jumping Kevin
34:34 said he was walking on the bridge sobbing and clearly in a poor
34:37 emotional
34:38 state no one asked him if anything was wrong and Kevin said if
34:42 someone had
34:43 stopped him anyone and asked if he was okay he probably would
34:47 not have jumped
34:48 so let’s take a lesson from that and always be the person who
34:53 asks is
34:53 everything okay to someone in need it likely will make a big
34:58 difference in
34:59 someone’s life again I want to thank you on behalf of Space
35:02 Coast Health
35:03 Foundation for your support in this and I’d like to introduce
35:06 Jenny Gleason from
35:07 you matter thank you all again for allowing us to be here today
35:13 and I want
35:14 to especially thank dr. Rendell and mr. Ramer who have been such
35:18 an inspiration
35:19 behind our organization you matter do it for hunter and before I
35:25 go on I want to
35:26 also introduce Colleen Bailey who is with give yourself a reason
35:31 she is
35:32 another wonderful organization that supports our same mission
35:36 which is to
35:37 prevent suicide and to create awareness around it but I’d also
35:41 like to invite
35:42 you all to our you matter day which is our fourth annual it’s
35:48 going to be at
35:49 Merritt Island High School and it’s going to run from 9 to 1 o’clock
35:53 we
35:54 start off with a Mustang mile run walk however you want to walk
35:59 the mile is
36:00 fine and we have a great amount of participation every single
36:06 Merritt
36:07 Island School will be there along with three high schools from
36:11 across the
36:12 county that have also chosen to come we will also have resources
36:17 there so that
36:18 families will not only have fun but they’ll be able to become
36:22 informed so I
36:23 invite you all to come and I know miss Campbell you came last
36:26 year and we truly
36:27 appreciated that September 19th September 19th what’s that
36:31 September 19th
36:32 so yes September 19th I’m sorry thank you thank you thank you
36:36 all so much and
36:37 I don’t know thank you on behalf of two one one Brevard we would
36:45 like to thank
36:45 Brevard Public Schools dr. Rendell and the entire school board
36:50 staff for your
36:51 support and this special recognition of the Suicide Prevention
36:55 Awareness Month
36:56 from our community dashboard just a few stats of our within the
37:00 last year of our
37:02 more than 4,300 contacts 5,300 of those specifically are through
37:09 our 988 suicide
37:12 24/7 crisis lifeline and that number is growing we’re averaging
37:17 400 calls that
37:18 relate to monthly that relate to mental health and crisis
37:22 support so the
37:24 partnership that we have with Brevard Public Schools Space Coast
37:28 Space Coast Health Foundation and the other partners that are
37:30 here today make
37:31 such a difference and it starts with with our youngest learners
37:36 and moves
37:37 through to our adults so on behalf of two-one-one Brevard again
37:41 thank you for
37:41 your support and we continue to look for partnership
37:44 opportunities in the coming
37:46 year thank you thank you so much for all the
37:53 hard work we’re gonna take some pictures here
38:07 you
40:51 we’re now on to the public comments portion of the meeting we
40:53 have four
40:56 number four speakers and each will receive three minutes our
41:00 attorney will
41:00 call the speakers in order in which they signed up to speak mr.
41:04 Gibbs please call
41:05 the first three of the four speakers please Sean Griffith’s
41:09 Bernard Brian
41:10 Ashley Stanley
41:20 good evening board I spent part of this week reading personnel
41:24 reports because
41:25 apparently I’ve developed some strange new hobbies and something
41:28 caught my
41:29 attention it was actually alluded to earlier that is ESE paraprofessionals
41:34 for anyone unfamiliar ESE stands for exceptional student
41:37 education these are
41:39 people working directly with students with disabilities and
41:41 others exceptional
41:42 needs helping with academics communication behavior mobility
41:46 personal
41:47 care and sometimes providing additional support for ESE students
41:50 on buses they
41:51 are important jobs and from everything I’m learning they’re not
41:53 particularly
41:54 easy ones tonight’s personnel report contains six ESE paraprofessional
41:59 resignations across five schools so I went backwards August 25th
42:03 had five more
42:04 August 11th had three July 28th had seven now that’s 21 ESE
42:10 paraprofessional
42:11 resignations presented across four consecutive personnel reports
42:14 and no
42:15 that doesn’t mean 21 people quit in six weeks their effective
42:18 dates span a
42:18 longer period so I kept digging BPS changed the titles of these
42:23 positions
42:24 but after accounting for the older terminology I found at least
42:27 31 ESE an
42:28 exceptional education paraprofessional resignations in just
42:31 eight personnel
42:32 reports between January and May of 2025 so whatever I’m looking
42:37 at here it’s not
42:38 new I’ve also spoken with people familiar with these positions
42:41 and heard
42:41 concerns about low pay difficult working conditions expanding
42:44 responsibilities
42:45 and retention but that’s where I’ve hit a wall the personnel
42:49 reports tell me
42:50 who’s leaving they don’t easily tell me how many we’re hiring
42:53 how many positions
42:54 we were supposed to have or how many are currently vacant and
42:57 without those
42:58 numbers I can’t responsibly tell this board that we have a
43:00 staffing shortage
43:01 or that turnover is accelerating so I’m filing a public records
43:05 request I want
43:06 the underlying staffing data hires departures authorized
43:09 positions filled
43:10 positions vacancies and why the people are leaving because
43:13 several recent
43:14 resignations specifically say new job opportunity maybe the
43:19 record shows we’re
43:20 replacing these people just fine I genuinely hope they do but I
43:23 think
43:24 there’s a reasonable question for this board right now and it is
43:27 do you
43:28 recognize ESE paraprofessional retention as a problem and if you
43:31 do what are you
43:32 doing to fix it because being an a district is worth celebrating
43:36 but
43:37 leadership isn’t just celebrating what’s going right it’s
43:40 identifying what’s
43:41 going wrong and fixing it that’s what I’m trying to figure out
43:44 here I noticed
43:45 six names then I kept digging and apparently I’ve reached the
43:48 part where I
43:48 start filing paperwork thank you thank you appreciate you mr. griffiths
43:55 mr.
43:56 Griffith can you go see her right there so she can get down
43:59 exactly what you
44:00 want Casey can you rip right now just go yep thank you give him
44:04 the email for the
44:05 records request so he can send it in thank you sir mr. Bryant
44:09 thank you for
44:10 clearing up some of my earlier questions I guess what I learned
44:14 tonight is that
44:15 some of the cuts were due to the 7% that was discussed last
44:21 school year and some
44:23 of those cuts are being realized this year that’s kind of what I
44:26 heard tonight
44:26 I guess my question is you know when I look at the revenue
44:32 decrease and I’m
44:34 going to assume that the revenue decreases are caused by the
44:38 enrollment
44:39 going down and that’s my assumption that could be a bad
44:44 assumption so that’s kind
44:46 of what I’m looking at what’s causing the the adjustment so if
44:50 it is going
44:51 down I guess you guys have heard me spoken in the past what can
44:56 we do to
44:56 recapture those students because what public schools is is a
45:02 what I’m going to
45:03 say the best district and and I like to see all of our parents
45:08 make the board
45:09 public schools their choice and I do respect parental choices
45:14 but when you
45:15 when you’re in a district and if we losing revenue because of
45:19 people are
45:20 looking at other options that’s what I’m hoping that you know
45:24 when we look at a
45:24 budget what is causing the decrease in revenue so that the
45:29 public can
45:29 understand and it would be nice that when about when a when a
45:34 budget come to
45:35 the public a nice executive summary because a lot of people don’t
45:41 understand
45:41 a budget and a lot of people don’t understand what buckets are
45:44 being
45:44 adjusted so if you will consider in the future you know let us
45:48 know you know
45:49 what’s causing the revenue shot to fall and why the adjustment
45:52 is being made
45:53 that will be a great help to the community so thank you so much
45:57 appreciate it great suggestion mr. Brian use Stanley or Ashley
46:03 Stanley and then
46:05 Paul route I had come up here earlier and I kind of want to piggyback
46:19 off of
46:19 the para educator retention and I really want to come up here
46:23 and talk to you
46:24 guys about how ESC paras are paid at the same exact rate as our
46:28 general education
46:28 paras and I do think this is a big reason why the retention is
46:33 not there if
46:34 you look at those job descriptions for those ESC paras and you
46:38 compare them to
46:39 the description of a gen ed para the job that is arguably much
46:43 easier much less
46:44 intensive is a general education para educator and I don’t think
46:48 we’re losing
46:49 those at the same rate as we are our ESC ones so I do think we
46:53 should really
46:54 look at that we do give stipends for our teachers that are in
46:58 ESC and I think we
47:00 should examine maybe a stipend for those ESC paras or a higher
47:04 rate - it would
47:06 really help our kids be more supported if we could keep people
47:09 in those jobs
47:10 thank you Paul round Thank You miss Ashley that’s a great
47:15 suggestion thank
47:16 you for bringing that up mr. Ralph it’s briefly on what I
47:27 believe was f18 which
47:28 was the the consulting contract extension from adding another
47:34 six months
47:34 another $48,000 and when consulting contracts and lobbyists
47:40 contracts have
47:40 been questioned before we’ve mostly gotten you know we’re
47:43 allowed to do that
47:44 there’s nothing wrong with it everybody does it and that’s
47:46 honestly I don’t
47:46 disagree with any of that but it’s you know the way the language
47:50 is written is
47:51 it’s they’re they’re heading they’re tasked with advocating for
47:57 the
47:57 district’s interests and desires at a federal level and no it’s
48:03 really unclear
48:04 to the general public very much including myself what are those
48:08 interests what is it that they’re going to advocate about nobody’s
48:11 gonna
48:11 question hey we did another contract for you know waste removal
48:15 we did another
48:15 contract for AC services we understand what those are for and
48:17 what they’re
48:18 accomplishing and that it would be bad if we didn’t have them
48:21 but you know
48:24 nature abhors a vacuum and cynics abhor a dearth of information
48:28 what is it
48:29 they’re lobbying for what have they done why are things better
48:31 because this is
48:32 happening it would be great to have a presentation something at
48:35 some point
48:36 here’s a win that we had because of the lobbying this is why
48:38 that money is well
48:39 spent here’s something that’s better because we don’t really
48:42 know what’s
48:43 being advocated ostensibly on the in in you know what should be
48:47 the students the
48:48 teachers best interest as well if it’s for the district’s best
48:51 interest you
48:51 know the the the lobbying we’ve seen or the advocates advocacy
48:55 we’ve seen in
48:55 public you know dr. Rendell going to Tallahassee to bash
48:59 teachers
49:00 organizations doesn’t feel like you know I hope we’re not
49:03 spending additional
49:04 money on that kind of thing we’re apparently we get that baked
49:08 in already
49:09 it would be great to know really like what are we getting for
49:12 the for that
49:13 money what are we how is the district benefiting what has
49:17 changed because
49:18 we’re doing this on an ongoing basis and I’ll bet there’s an
49:21 answer but we don’t
49:22 know what that answer is and that’s it just love to see some
49:24 more transparency
49:25 about that thank you yeah Thank You mr. Roberts great point
49:31 sometimes people
49:32 don’t get to see those kind of things so we’ll bring it up in
49:37 discussion but it’s
49:38 a good point I mean it you know we want to see what we do or
49:40 what they do so
49:41 thank you so much for bringing that up okay that concludes the
49:46 agenda items for
49:47 public comments we thank you for taking the time out of your
49:49 schedule to address
49:50 the board with your concerns and suggestions I would like to
49:53 remind the
49:53 public that the board is accessible for further conversations
49:56 outside of our
49:56 business meeting through scheduling a meeting we are now onto
49:59 the consent
50:00 agenda dr. indell see mr. chair there are 25 items under this
50:04 category Thank You
50:05 dr. indell does any board member wish to pull any of the items
50:08 hearing none I’ll
50:10 entertain a motion to accept the consent items on tonight’s
50:13 agenda that’s and
50:16 then I’ll do second okay any discussion I think this will be an
50:20 easy question to
50:21 answer the $48,000 for another six months for the lobby firm and
50:28 dr. Indell
50:28 would you remind me how much the federal appropriation for the
50:31 aviation Academy
50:32 it’s 2.2 million dollars that’s pretty good that’s to provide
50:40 aviation program
50:41 at Space Coast junior senior high school to replicate this very
50:44 successful program
50:45 that is at O’Gally high school so students in our north end of
50:47 the county
50:48 will now be able to access that cutting-edge CTE education it’s
50:54 awesome
50:54 so thank you so much but great great point mr. Ralph thank you
50:57 so much for
50:58 bringing that up appreciate you okay Paul roll call please mr.
51:02 Thomas hi miss
51:03 Campbell mr. Susan all right miss right mr. Trent we are now on
51:08 to board member
51:10 reports any board members to discuss any items I’m good you go
51:16 down here so I was
51:19 I was excited to hear so and the day after our last meeting dr.
51:25 indell and I
51:25 got to go to the exemplary science teacher awards I hope I’m not
51:28 stealing
51:29 one of yours dr. Indell but every year this group of educators
51:33 and retired
51:34 educators and community members recognizes a few teachers in our
51:39 in our
51:40 district as exemplary science teachers of the year and they were
51:43 for this year
51:44 Aaron rice from tropical elementary Katie Mcatee from Suntree
51:47 elementary and
51:48 Brittany Meeks from Palm Bay magnet high school so
51:51 congratulations to those three
51:53 who are recognized with these amazing trophies it was it was a
51:58 great night to
51:59 be in Brevard and later on that week we had our pie kick-off
52:05 fair with all our
52:06 pie coordinators from every school over in the room next door
52:09 getting their
52:10 training some of them have been doing this since pie existed our
52:13 partners in
52:14 education program some of them brand-new rookies to pie and so
52:18 it was really
52:19 great to have them but while they were in there doing their
52:22 training here in
52:23 the boardroom it was full of tables and partners showing up I
52:28 can’t remember I
52:28 meant to ask you about but do you remember how many vendors we
52:30 had in the
52:31 room that day partners how many 65 with 65 partners in the boardroom
52:37 it was
52:37 quite crowded but they were here ready to make connections with
52:42 every school
52:42 and had things to hand out and get them excited and there that
52:46 was just a taste
52:47 of what they’re offering our schools every year and so just I’m
52:50 so thankful
52:50 for one the pie coordinators who do such a great job building
52:54 those relationships
52:55 with our partners and for the many many partners that we
52:58 continue to add to
52:59 every year who are loving our schools providing financial
53:03 support providing
53:04 volunteers providing just you know food for our staff they do so
53:09 many things
53:09 through the year so that was a great day to kick that off last
53:13 week I got to
53:14 participate in a panel for the Space Coast Chamber of Commerce
53:18 they had their
53:18 monthly Good Morning Space Coast which is their monthly event
53:21 they held at Mill
53:22 High Mill High and Dr. Kirk and his staff and students
53:25 especially the IB
53:26 students and the CTE students did a fantastic job showing off
53:29 the school the
53:30 guests even got to go through open gate so they got to
53:32 experience security the
53:34 way that we do it but that is such a great job showing off our
53:37 programs and
53:37 of course we had a discussion about the millage and the surtax
53:40 and it what how
53:40 they impact our schools and so I’m very thankful to the Space
53:44 Coast Chamber for
53:45 allowing us to show off Mill High one of our amazing high
53:49 schools and also to
53:50 hear about how the impact of the millage and the surtax what
53:54 what great impact
53:55 has had over the last several years and then finally I just
53:58 wanted to point out
53:59 as we started the school year we have our take stock and
54:02 children program
54:03 which is a program where students who come from low-income
54:06 families can
54:07 receive mentoring throughout you know sometimes they start in
54:12 eighth grade
54:12 ninth grade tenth grade but throughout those three to five years
54:15 they get they
54:16 get matched with a mentor and if they go through the program
54:19 then when they
54:19 graduate they get a scholarship that will cover two years of
54:24 tuition in in
54:26 the state school system so I it’s such a great program and I don’t
54:30 know what our
54:31 numbers are now but I can tell you they’re always looking for
54:33 mentors so if
54:34 there’s someone who is out in the community and you really want
54:37 to invest
54:37 in the life of a student you you have 15 I think it’s a
54:40 mandatory number is 15
54:42 meetings with your mentee throughout the year but really that’s
54:44 not even every
54:45 week right and I will can tell you that my sweet mentee is
54:50 graduating this year
54:51 we’ve been meeting for the last four years it’s so rewarding I
54:54 mean she she
54:54 gets something out of it but I get something out of it just
54:57 heartwarming
54:58 having that person that I get to pour into so I encourage
55:00 anybody who’s think
55:01 looking for an opportunity to invest in a student to go to the
55:04 Brevard schools
55:06 foundation page and click on take stock and children and find
55:09 out what it takes
55:10 to be a mentor and I will tell you that even though I’d been on
55:13 the board for a
55:13 few years the reason why I got started as a mentor was because I
55:16 went to an
55:17 event as a board member you know we can invite to these events
55:19 and I heard one
55:20 of our staff members who is a single mom I know I’ve told the
55:23 story before but
55:25 she’s a single mom with three kids and she’s working at a school
55:27 and she
55:28 decided to be a mentor to a student another another school and I
55:31 thought man
55:32 if she can do it what’s my excuse so and you can you can mentor
55:36 more than one
55:37 student but I’m just gonna bet that take stock is looking for
55:40 more mentor so I
55:41 encourage the people in the community to get in there and and to
55:45 be involved and
55:46 to encourage a student and you don’t really have to know a whole
55:50 lot it just
55:51 to really just keep them going and cheer them on and tell them
55:54 just you know stay
55:55 on the path towards getting their their high school diploma
55:59 encouraging them
56:00 there’s someone else who’s guiding through the college entrance
56:03 process or
56:04 the career entrance process or if they’re going into military
56:06 whatever it
56:07 is but just to be there as someone who is investing in their
56:11 life and and
56:11 showing and giving a pat on the back and saying attaboy I just
56:14 always want to
56:15 plug that when I can so that’s what I have mr. chair okay I just
56:25 I just had
56:26 one thing many of you guys we’re gonna get a little update at
56:29 the off-site on
56:30 the health care but I wanted to tell you that Ryan Dufresne has
56:34 been battling in
56:35 that area so well and I just want to take a second and thank him
56:38 for all his
56:39 hard work he it’s a massive it’s our second largest budget and
56:43 he has been
56:45 holding these people accountable doing the right thing and and I
56:48 just want to
56:49 take a second because on top of his all of his HR duties on top
56:52 of everything
56:52 else Ryan took this on I think it’s been about a year and a half
56:56 ago and he’s
56:57 been doing a phenomenal job so I guess you guys will hear some
56:59 of the updates
57:00 on next Tuesday but I want to say thank you Ryan for everything
57:03 that you did
57:04 dr. endo yeah a couple things I want to follow up on so mr.
57:07 Brian asked for some
57:09 kind of summary we actually produced that we produced two
57:12 different reports
57:13 so I can get you the latest ones one is called the popular
57:17 annual financial
57:18 report we call it the paffer because we like acronyms and so
57:22 that’s only about
57:23 three or four or five six pages it’s an overview of the budget
57:27 and where all the
57:28 different buckets of the money go and then we also produce the
57:33 comprehensive
57:33 annual financial report we refer to that as the caffer again
57:37 because we like the
57:38 acronyms and that is a much longer document many pages but it
57:42 goes into
57:43 detail about where all the different buckets of money go that
57:46 kind of thing
57:47 so we can provide those to you I need you the last two copies
57:51 Richard Miller
57:52 and Diane were in here a minute ago and they’re responsible for
57:56 producing all
57:57 that they’ve probably hopefully gone and turned off their lights
58:00 and gone home
58:01 that they were here a minute ago but so we have those things and
58:05 so we can get
58:06 those to you to mr. Rob I think thank you for asking the
58:10 question you know
58:11 that’s the thing maybe we get so busy doing the work that we don’t
58:14 explain the
58:15 work maybe we don’t share enough information so the result of
58:19 having
58:20 those people lobbying on our behalf is most recently was 2.2
58:25 million dollars
58:26 from the federal government to replicate the aviation program at
58:29 another high
58:29 school we also got $600,000 grant from the state legislature an
58:34 appropriation
58:35 straight from the study legislator to replicate the firefighting
58:39 program that
58:39 is at Palm Bay High School at Coco High School so those are real
58:44 results that
58:45 are coming from those efforts and so maybe we just need to do a
58:48 better job of
58:49 explaining even though we have celebrated those at board
58:52 workshops
58:53 meetings and press releases and things like that but maybe we’ll
58:56 just have to
58:57 do a better job but well and I those are the returns on those
59:01 investments since
59:02 2016 I was always advocating that we needed somebody at the
59:04 federal level and
59:05 we went ahead and made that decision you made that decision and
59:08 we supported it
59:09 and it’s really showing very good returns so thank you
59:12 appreciate that so
59:13 we’re good yep all right we’re gonna take a short um short
59:18 recess ahead of
59:20 the next step
59:50 you