Updates on the Fight for Quality Public Education in Brevard County, FL
10:25 ♪♪
11:07 Good morning, this September 22nd, 2026 board meeting is now in
11:11 order.
11:11 I’m happy to welcome my fellow board members and the public.
11:13 I’d like to take this opportunity to remind the public that the
11:16 appropriate place
11:16 for public participation in the meeting is during your
11:18 individual public comment opportunity
11:20 as defined on the agenda.
11:21 Outside of your individual public comment opportunity,
11:23 your role in the meeting is as an observer.
11:25 Paul, roll call, please.
11:26 Mr. Susan?
11:27 Here.
11:28 Ms. Wright?
11:29 Here.
11:30 Mr. Thomas?
11:31 Here.
11:32 Ms. Campbell?
11:33 Here.
11:34 Mr. Trent?
11:35 Here.
11:36 At this time, I would like the board to hold a moment of silence.
11:37 Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
12:05 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
12:13 and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
12:17 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
12:27 That brings us to the adoption of the agenda, Dr. Endo.
12:30 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
12:31 On this morning’s agenda, we have two presentations,
12:33 28 consent items, one action item, and one information item.
12:38 Changes made to the agenda since it was released to the public
12:41 include the following.
12:42 Added was C1 presentation, 2526 annual school safety compliance
12:47 inspection,
12:48 added was C2 presentation, parish healthcare community impact,
12:52 revised item F6, administrative recommendations,
12:55 and F16, Creole Elementary School pool decommissioning.
12:59 Moved to another agenda item was D1, procurement recognition.
13:04 Do I hear a motion?
13:09 Any discussion?
13:11 Call roll call, please.
13:12 Mr. Trent?
13:13 Aye.
13:14 Ms. Wright?
13:15 Aye.
13:16 Mr. Susan?
13:17 Aye.
13:18 Ms. Campbell?
13:19 Aye.
13:20 Mr. Thomas?
13:21 Aye.
13:22 I’d like to introduce Mr. Scott Rosenfeld, district school
13:24 safety coordinator,
13:25 to the podium for a brief presentation on the 2526 annual school
13:29 safety compliance inspections.
13:32 Mr. Rosenfeld?
13:33 Good morning.
13:35 Scott Rosenfeld, district school safety coordinator.
13:38 I have a very short presentation, but one that is required by
13:42 state statute.
13:44 Let me make sure the podium is in Munchkin land here.
14:02 Okay, per Florida statute, annually during the first quarter of
14:05 every school year,
14:06 the district school safety specialist shall report to the
14:09 district school board in a public meeting
14:12 the number of schools inspected during the preceding calendar
14:15 year,
14:15 and the number and percentage of schools in compliance during
14:18 the initial inspection and re-inspection.
14:22 And I’ll start with the Office of Safe Schools inspection.
14:25 They have three years to get to every school, whereas the
14:28 district has to inspect every school every year.
14:32 So the Office of Safe Schools shall conduct unannounced
14:34 inspections of all public schools,
14:37 including charter schools, while school is in session triennially
14:41 and investigate reports of noncompliance with school safety
14:44 requirements.
14:45 The number of schools inspected during last school year was 34.
14:49 Number of schools with no safety requirement deficiencies, 30.
14:54 Percentage of schools with no safety requirement deficiencies,
14:58 88%.
14:59 And the number of schools with safety requirement deficiencies,
15:02 that’s four.
15:04 And a little footnote at the bottom, those four were unlocked in
15:08 prop doors, which is very common.
15:10 And the number of schools with no safety requirement
15:13 deficiencies after re-inspection is all of them, that’s 34.
15:19 And the district, remember I started this position July 1, so
15:23 these numbers are from Mr. Timpson from last school year.
15:28 The district conduct annual unannounced inspections using the
15:31 form adopted by the Office of Safe Schools pursuant to Florida
15:35 statute of all public schools.
15:36 Including charter schools while school is in session and
15:39 investigate reports of noncompliance with school safety
15:41 requirements.
15:42 The number of schools, all of them 102.
15:45 The number of schools with no safety requirement deficiencies,
15:48 88.
15:49 Percentage of schools with no safety requirement deficiencies,
15:53 that’s 86%.
15:54 And I noted that’s a 20% improvement from the school year prior.
15:59 Number of schools with safety requirement deficiencies, that’s
16:03 14.
16:03 And the footnote at the bottom, of those 14, 11 were unlocked in
16:08 prop doors.
16:09 One safe area or hard corner, not identified.
16:15 And one school-based threat management team member not trained
16:19 within 60 days.
16:20 And one threat team management member not re-certified.
16:26 And the percentage of schools with safety requirement
16:30 deficiencies, 14%.
16:32 And I believe that’s it, that’s my last slide. Any questions?
16:36 Thank you so much. Fellow board members, do you have anything to
16:40 say?
16:40 No, I’ll just really fast say thank you so much for going to the
16:43 schools and making sure that they are all secure and safe.
16:45 It’s everyone’s job on every campus, which is one of the things
16:50 that I do when I’m walking schools,
16:51 is check doors and gates and things like that.
16:53 It would be helpful to the board to recognize which ones are
16:55 charter schools versus which ones are traditional schools,
16:59 just so that we know that, because there’s a difference in the
17:01 oversight for our traditional schools versus our charter schools.
17:03 Would that be fair to say?
17:04 Sure, I can do that going forward.
17:06 Okay, that would be great.
17:07 So next month I’ll be back to present the first quarter, and
17:10 those will be my inspections.
17:11 But I can, without actually telling you which one, from last
17:15 school year, the state inspection, a violation,
17:20 there was one prep school, that was on the states, and I don’t
17:27 see any out of those 14 from Mr. Timpson’s inspection.
17:33 Yes, Palm Bay, I’m sorry. Yes, there’s one. But there’s quite a
17:37 few in Palm Bay, so I didn’t give it up.
17:39 Okay, all right, fair. It just would help us to know that, so
17:42 thank you.
17:42 I appreciate the work that you’re doing, and I thank the team as
17:44 well.
17:44 We’ve heard great reviews over things that you have done at the
17:46 school site, so I appreciate you.
17:48 Mr. Trent, you have anything?
17:49 No, I’m good. You’re doing a great job. Thank you, Scott.
17:51 Thank you.
17:52 I just want to say thank you so much for everything that you’re
17:55 doing.
17:55 This is one of the biggest components, if not the biggest, for
17:58 us, is to keep our students safe.
18:00 So I wanted to say thank you for your dedication.
18:02 And on a lighter note, I know that you do such a due-diligent
18:05 job because you and your brother used to wrestle,
18:07 and since he’s a state championship wrestler and brags about
18:10 beating you up all the time,
18:11 then we were able to know that you’re going to do your due
18:14 diligence because he gave you that hard time.
18:15 So thank you so much. I appreciate it.
18:17 All right.
18:18 We’re good?
18:19 Yeah.
18:20 All right.
18:21 I would like now to introduce Mr. Chris McAlpin with Parrish
18:24 Health Care to the podium for a brief presentation on the Parrish
18:27 Health Care community impact with Brevard Public Schools.
18:28 Wanted to, before Mr. McAlpin gets up there, board, apologize
18:32 about putting this on the agenda at the last minute.
18:34 Wanted to kind of give you guys an explanation of what happened
18:36 at the last time when we had the HEART organization come up.
18:41 We talked very highly of Health First because they’re there, and
18:44 we know that Parrish is our other community partner.
18:46 And during the picture, she came up to me and she said, “Hey, we
18:49 do a lot too,” and I said, “Absolutely.”
18:52 So we were coordinating.
18:53 Mr. McAlpin had some scheduling conflicts, and so we did not
18:57 find 100 percent that they were coming until –
19:00 and this was the date we were supposed to, but until about
19:02 Wednesday.
19:02 So I apologize about it taking a minute, but I truly thought
19:05 that having you guys here would be a really good thing.
19:07 So I’m really excited to show people what you guys do in the
19:11 North for all of our kids in some of the other areas throughout
19:12 our school districts.
19:13 Thank you, Mr. McAlpin.
19:14 Thank you for the opportunity.
19:16 Good morning, and thank you for having us.
19:19 I want to start with something simple.
19:21 When you drive through North Brevard, you pass our schools, and
19:25 our hospitals have been a few miles of each other.
19:28 Same neighborhoods, same families, same kids.
19:33 That closeness is really the whole – is what the whole
19:36 conversation is about.
19:38 Parrish Healthcare and Brevard Public Schools have grown up side
19:41 by side.
19:42 So today I want to tell you a story of what happens when a
19:45 hospital decides that the schools down the road are part of its
19:49 mission and vision,
19:50 healing families, healing communities.
19:55 In the next few minutes, we’ll highlight just a few of the many
19:59 ways we serve to help keep Brevard students,
20:02 athletes, and faculty prepared, safe, and healthy, because we
20:08 believe when we put kids on a strong footing,
20:10 it leads to healthy families and healthy communities.
20:16 Now, picture a gym on Tuesday afternoon.
20:20 Someone collapses.
20:22 What happens in the next three minutes decides everything.
20:26 And it almost never involves a hospital or even first responders,
20:31 because we’re not there yet.
20:34 So we made sure the people who are there have both the equipment
20:39 and the training they need.
20:42 Every middle and high school in North Brevard now has CPR
20:46 training,
20:47 and we put AEDs in every North Brevard school and youth sports
20:53 league.
20:54 Then we went further upstream, providing pre-sports and school
21:00 physicals.
21:01 And since 2019, we’ve partnered with Who We Play For to screen
21:07 young athletes and catch the heart conditions nobody knows about.
21:12 Put those together, and you’ve got a chain of survival.
21:16 Find it early, catch it fast, respond right.
21:21 That chain only works if every link is in place, and now it is.
21:30 Every parent in the stands has the same thought when watching a
21:35 big hit take place on the field.
21:37 Was that the one?
21:40 We couldn’t answer that question, so we tried to change the odds.
21:45 We outfitted the Titusville High School and Space Coast High
21:49 School football teams with guardian caps.
21:53 $14,000 investment, and honestly, one of the easiest decisions
21:58 we ever made.
21:59 The NFL’s own data says practices with mandated guardian caps
22:05 see about a 52% reduction in concussions.
22:13 This next one is about a place to run, train, and compete.
22:18 We invested in new track and field facilities for the Titusville
22:22 Terriers and the Space Coast Vipers.
22:25 Not a medical program, not a screening, just good, safe services
22:30 so our kids can train and compete on first-class fields.
22:37 And those tracks don’t only serve the varsity teams.
22:40 They serve PE classes, marching bands, and other school
22:46 activities.
22:47 That’s the kind of investment that keeps paying out long after
22:53 the ribbon cutting.
22:55 Our sports medicine physician, Dr. Anthony Allotta, is on the
23:00 fields serving as team doctor.
23:02 And for years, we provided athletic trainers for four high
23:06 schools.
23:07 Now, athletic trainers are the people who tape ankles, spot the
23:12 concussion, and work with coaches to help prevent injuries.
23:19 Now, let’s rewind a decade or so in a student’s life because our
23:25 commitment starts well before anyone puts on a helmet or suits
23:30 up.
23:31 We were proud to be a Thrive by Five partner with Brevard Public
23:36 Schools, and that is a $50,000 investment over a five-year
23:41 period of time.
23:42 Why would a hospital care about a four-year-old’s reading
23:46 readiness?
23:47 Because research shows a child who starts behind tends to stay
23:52 behind, and that shows up in healthcare outcomes 30 years later.
23:59 This is preventive medicine.
24:05 Then there’s the everyday stuff, the presence you feel more than
24:09 you measure.
24:10 Through Partners in Education, we’re in schools all year,
24:15 showing up in every season of the school year.
24:18 This is not an exhaustive list, but meant to demonstrate our
24:24 commitment is about helping to build strong, healthy communities
24:31 through a strong partnership with our public schools.
24:37 Then many of the students turn around and say, “I want to do
24:43 what you do.”
24:44 That’s where the Jesh Parish Medical Foundation comes in.
24:48 Since 1990, we’ve awarded nearly $570,000 in scholarships to
24:55 students interested in careers in medicine and healthcare.
25:00 We partner with the schools and their certified nursing
25:04 assistant programs, other allied health programs, and other
25:09 vocational programs.
25:11 We host students for hands-on learning and show students there’s
25:16 a wide array of career options in healthcare,
25:19 and you don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse to find a
25:22 fulfilling career in healthcare.
25:25 We back that up as a work-based Learning Gold sponsor.
25:31 To ensure graduating seniors have a safe way to celebrate this
25:35 important milestone,
25:36 we support project graduations at all three of our North Brevard
25:42 high schools.
25:43 This isn’t charity. It’s about our workforce future.
25:47 Today’s students are tomorrow’s potential clinicians, first
25:52 responders, healthcare professionals, and we’d love to hire them.
26:01 What we’ve shared today equals more than a $300,000 in named
26:07 investment in our students, teachers, and community.
26:12 But the number isn’t the story.
26:14 The story is that we’re proud to be long-standing partners in
26:18 education to support Brevard Public Schools’ mission to inspire,
26:23 empower, and educate students to reach their fullest potential
26:28 while fostering holistic development, ethical values, and
26:32 societal contribution.
26:35 Thank you.
26:39 » Mr. Chair, I’d just like to thank Parrish for all you do for
26:43 our community.
26:44 You’ve been a longtime partner.
26:46 I’m in South Brevard, but I hear all the time of all the good
26:50 things that you guys do,
26:51 and we just appreciate your commitment across the board.
26:53 You can see how diverse you guys are and how all the assistance
26:56 you provide the community and all the assistance you provide Brevard
26:59 Public Schools.
27:00 So I just want to say thank you.
27:02 » Thank you. We appreciate the opportunity.
27:05 » Well, I’m glad to go after you, Mr. Thomas.
27:08 Mr. Thomas said everything I was going to say.
27:10 » Wait, what?
27:13 » No, I appreciate not only what Parrish has done, but you as
27:18 an individual, Mr. McTarian, all your staff.
27:22 Your organization makes investments into our public schools, but
27:26 also your individual employees do, and involvement as volunteers
27:30 and different things.
27:31 So the impact is, I think, even goes beyond.
27:35 When you start calculating that, you really can’t because of the
27:39 investment and really belonging in the community.
27:42 I’m also a South Brevard person.
27:44 I’ve seen over my time in the last eight years what impact you
27:48 guys have had as an organization, and I appreciate you.
27:52 » Yes, we can echo all the way down.
27:54 So again, I think Megan’s going to do the best job of thanking
27:58 you and recognizing your commitment to the community, but we see
28:02 it.
28:02 We see it wherever we’re at.
28:04 So thank you so much.
28:05 I know you put dollar signs on there, but it’s not needed for us
28:09 in the community, too.
28:10 They just see that you’re doing what you know is right, and that’s
28:15 what’s important.
28:16 So it is felt throughout all of Brevard, so thank you.
28:21 » Yes, well, Mr. McAlpin, I do not have to imagine what it’s
28:24 like to be at a gym on a Tuesday evening because that’s my life.
28:26 I have a student athlete, and I am very frequently at a gym on
28:29 an evening, and I will tell you there’s never a day that I don’t
28:33 see Parrish’s direct touch,
28:34 whether it be with our athletic trainers that are there that are
28:38 there to help, Dr. Alata, what a huge resource that is.
28:41 I have to tell you the sports physicals is probably one of the
28:44 most amazing things that I have ever witnessed from where I’m
28:46 sitting.
28:47 I try to go every year.
28:49 This last year I did not get to make it out there, but the years
28:51 prior I would go and watch what happens because you make
28:55 available a sports physical to a family at a reasonable cost,
28:58 and sometimes that’s a barrier that would eliminate a child from
29:01 playing in athletics.
29:02 So to see the hundreds and hundreds of children and your staff
29:06 there that’s there to welcome them, smiling, happy, you know,
29:09 they’re always upbeat.
29:10 I just cannot thank you guys enough because the dollar amount is
29:12 tremendous, but the relationships that I see your staff building
29:15 with all of our students and our coaches,
29:17 that really is invaluable, and so thank you for investing
29:19 because it truly is making such a huge difference in the North
29:22 End, so we appreciate you.
29:23 » Thank you.
29:26 » So Mr. McAlpin, I - wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, man.
29:31 Hey, I just wanted to say thank you.
29:34 Our relationship goes back further than just me being on the
29:37 board.
29:37 We were on the insurance advisory committee together years ago,
29:40 and your guidance is what I learned a lot of what I do now for a
29:45 living was under you and what you presented inside of those
29:48 meetings.
29:49 So not only was it that you were steering some of the low-cost
29:52 options for us that we take advantage of every day on the Silver
29:55 Plan,
29:55 but also you were able to guide me into my career and everything
29:59 else, so I wanted to say thank you to that.
30:00 I also wanted to say when I was looking at that picture, Coach
30:03 Alata is in the middle of one of those pictures,
30:06 and he is a - when I coached at Space Coast, he had just come on,
30:10 and that was in, I think it was like 2005, ‘06,
30:14 somewhere in there when you guys had just built that new
30:16 facility over there off Port St. John Parkway,
30:18 and it was just incredible the impact that he had with our
30:23 students in both the physical - because our athletic trainers at
30:27 the time,
30:28 and many other - and even today, lack some of the resources that
30:32 are needed inside of those game time decisions that are being
30:35 made,
30:35 and he’s been a great asset to that and part of your
30:38 organization.
30:39 AED, CPR, everything else, but one thing that I wanted to say,
30:43 and I think this is what you see and what you do,
30:47 many of the rural hospitals across the state of Florida are
30:51 dying.
30:51 Many of them are getting bought up by major hospitals and
30:54 everything else. I see it across in different counties.
30:56 You guys have not only held the line, you guys have done an
31:00 amazing job of keeping your prices low in competitiveness with
31:02 the other hospitals,
31:04 but when you come in and you do targeted investments, that’s the
31:08 thing that’s the difference between you and some of the other
31:10 people.
31:10 Not Health First is targeted and everything else, but you see
31:12 people that are willing to just come and say,
31:14 “I’ll just give you guys $25,000,” but you target each one of
31:18 your investments,
31:19 and that’s - the reason for that is that you care enough to know
31:22 that you want the money to go where it needs to be,
31:25 not where it’s just a, “Here you go. This is great. Go ahead and
31:28 invest that money,” but here’s where we need it.
31:30 It’s in the kids’ helmets. It’s in the AEDs. It’s in all those
31:33 things to make sure it’s protected,
31:34 and I just wanted to take a second and say thank you so much for
31:37 having targeted and caring for our students in our schools,
31:41 so it’s much appreciated, so thank you.
31:43 You’re welcome.
31:44 Thank you.
31:45 You guys good?
31:46 Yeah.
31:47 All right.
31:48 Mr. Chair, did you want to take a break and take a picture?
31:50 Yeah, let’s do that. Thank you.
31:53 Mr. Morak is going to kill me. I should have mentioned that.
31:59 No, you can’t. You’re still coming.
32:23 Mr. Morak.
32:25 You’re still coming?
32:26 Yeah.
32:27 Mr. Morak.
32:28 Yeah.
32:29 Mr. Morak.
33:56 Okay. Everybody good? We’re good? You want mine?
34:02 No, I’m just going to sign it on.
34:05 Okay. All right. We’re now on to the public comments portion of
34:08 the meeting.
34:09 We have, I think, three speakers, and each will receive three
34:13 minutes to speak on the agenda items only.
34:15 Our attorney will call the first three speakers in order, which
34:17 they are signed up to speak.
34:18 Mr. Gibbs, can you call the first three speakers?
34:21 Karen Fulton. Bernard Bryan. Sean Griffiths.
34:25 Good morning.
34:35 I just wanted to address item F12 about the Gale Resource
34:41 Library.
34:42 I just had some concerns about that, and I just wanted to make
34:47 that known.
34:48 I’d like to know how we’re going to ensure compliance with state
34:53 law regarding access to digital materials that are always
34:57 changing or being adapted or updated.
35:01 And then I had some questions that I just wanted to throw out
35:05 there for, you know, whenever you can answer that.
35:08 That’d be great.
35:09 The first one is which Gale databases or products will BPS
35:13 students receive, which grade levels can access each product,
35:18 how that’ll be broken down.
35:20 Is access filtered by age or grade level?
35:24 Can students reach content outside their grade level collection
35:28 through searches or across database links?
35:31 What parental controls or restricted access options exist?
35:37 Does Gale collect students’ search activity data?
35:42 And if so, what is retained and shared?
35:46 And has BPS reviewed the actual database content for compliance
35:50 with Florida law and district instructional material policies?
35:55 And the last one that we’re curious about is who performed the BPS’s
36:00 content privacy review and what documentation exists that we
36:04 could go and find out more about that.
36:07 So I’d appreciate if you can let us know about those things.
36:11 And we appreciate the work that you do.
36:13 Are you getting ready to say something?
36:15 No, I was going to wait.
36:16 Oh, okay. I’m done. Thanks.
36:17 No, no, okay.
36:18 What I would suggest is I think I was writing down cheat ‘em,
36:21 cheat ‘em, cheat ‘em, cheat ‘em, cheat ‘em on there.
36:24 So Mr. Cheatham’s in the back and Miss Harris are in the back.
36:30 If we could go meet with them and provide that list.
36:33 I was trying to write as fast as I could.
36:35 I know, I know, but I didn’t know if you had any additions, but
36:38 if you’ll go back there with them, that would be good.
36:40 All right, thank you.
36:43 Bernard Bryan.
36:45 Mr. Bryan, you noted you were talking about F2 budget, which is
36:49 the minutes.
36:50 The minutes are ministerial under Policy 0169.1 and not subject
36:54 to agenda comment.
36:55 You’re free to talk about any other agenda item if you want.
36:58 Would you like to be moved to non-agenda?
37:03 Thank you, Mr. Bryan.
37:04 All right, Sean Griffiths.
37:19 Good morning.
37:20 Last time I was here, I told you about something I stumbled
37:23 across while participating in my increasingly questionable hobby
37:26 of reading school board personnel reports.
37:29 ESE paraprofessional resignations, a lot of them.
37:33 I also told you I wasn’t going to stand here and declare a
37:35 staffing crisis based on a resignation list.
37:37 I didn’t have enough information.
37:39 So I did what apparently passes for excitement in my life these
37:42 days.
37:42 I filed a public records request and BPS answered it.
37:46 In the year ending 2025, BPS had 347 allocated ESE parapositions
37:52 with almost 79 vacant.
37:54 Last year, there was 39 and a half positions with almost 82
37:58 vacant.
37:58 That’s roughly one out of every five positions filled for the
38:02 two years in a row.
38:03 And then something happened that I wasn’t really expecting.
38:06 People started finding me.
38:07 Former BPS employees reached out.
38:09 They told me about low pay, burnout, difficult working
38:12 conditions, extra responsibilities and feeling like nobody was
38:15 listening.
38:16 Now, those are individual experiences.
38:20 wide statistics, and I’m not gonna pretend they are,
38:22 but they’re also coming from people
38:24 who actually did the work, so I am listening.
38:26 And since you folks are probably going to be seeing
38:28 a lot of me, you might as well know
38:31 who’s standing over here.
38:32 I’m a working single dad, my daughter attends a BPS school,
38:36 so when the people we trust to spend their days
38:38 caring for kids in this district tell me
38:39 they’re exhausted and feel unheard,
38:42 yeah, I’m probably gonna hear them out.
38:44 Now here’s the part where I say something nice.
38:47 Everybody, enjoy this.
38:49 The current ESC pair vacancy rate has fallen to about 13%,
38:53 and today’s personnel report contains 15 new
38:56 ESC pair hires and four resignations.
38:59 That’s actually encouraging.
39:00 I said I’d follow the evidence wherever it went,
39:02 so credit where credit’s due,
39:04 but please do not get accustomed to this,
39:06 I have a reputation to uphold.
39:08 But now I have another question.
39:10 How are you gonna keep these people?
39:12 Because I really don’t want to be standing here
39:13 six months from now, recognizing some of those names
39:16 under resignations again.
39:18 Hiring someone is great, but if people who’ve done this work
39:21 are telling us about burnout, low pay,
39:22 overwhelming workloads, and insufficient support,
39:25 getting someone through the door isn’t the finish line.
39:27 Keeping them there matters too.
39:29 And then there’s this.
39:31 Last year, BPS allocated 392 and a half ESC pair positions.
39:37 This year, 341.7, about 51 fewer positions,
39:42 and maybe there’s a completely reasonable explanation
39:45 for that, I don’t know.
39:46 I’ve developed this annoying habit of wanting to know things
39:49 before I form an opinion about them,
39:50 so I filed another public records request
39:52 that I haven’t received yet.
39:54 Apparently paperwork is just part of my personality now.
39:57 That’s really what this whole thing has been about.
39:59 I started with six names on a resignation list,
40:01 I asked questions, I got records,
40:03 some of the answers concerned me,
40:04 some were generally encouraging,
40:06 and some just gave me better questions.
40:09 I follow the evidence wherever it goes,
40:11 so I’m gonna keep digging,
40:12 and when those next records arrive, I will see you again.
40:15 Thank you.
40:17 - Thank you sir.
40:19 That’s it.
40:20 That concludes our agenda items, only for public comments.
40:23 Thank you for taking the time of your schedule
40:24 to address the board and your concerns and suggestions.
40:26 I’d like to remind the public that the board is accessible
40:29 for further conversations outside of our business meeting
40:31 through scheduled meeting.
40:33 We’re now on the consent agenda, Dr. Rendell.
40:36 - Thank you, Mr. Chair.
40:37 There are 28 items on the agenda under this category.
40:40 - Thank you, Dr. Rendell.
40:40 Does any board member wish to pull any of the items?
40:42 - I do, I wish to pull F4 and F12.
40:46 F12.
40:51 Do we need to second that, or are we good on pulling it?
40:53 - She can pull on me.
40:54 - Yeah, okay, good.
40:56 Okay, we’re gonna pull F4 and F12.
40:59 - Mr. Chair? - Yes, sir?
41:00 - Move for approval of the consent agenda
41:01 minus F4 and F12.
41:03 - Second.
41:05 All right, Paul, roll call, please.
41:07 - Mr. Trent? - Aye.
41:08 - Ms. Wright? - Aye.
41:09 - Mr. Susan? - Aye.
41:10 - Ms. Campbell? - Aye.
41:11 - Mr. Thomas? - Aye.
41:13 - Okay, Ms. Wright,
41:15 the floor is yours for F4 and F12.
41:18 - Yeah, we need a motion.
41:19 - All right, I move to approve F4 for approval.
41:25 - Are you asking for a motion, or are you making a motion?
41:27 - I’m making a motion.
41:28 - Okay, I second. - All right?
41:30 All right, you got your discussion?
41:31 - Yeah, I do.
41:32 I just wanted to pull this one to discuss this
41:34 because we talked about this at the offsite,
41:36 and there was a lot of communication in the community
41:39 and concerns over this,
41:40 and so I was vocal about this before,
41:42 and I’m just gonna go ahead and say I,
41:44 from day one, since I’ve stepped on this board,
41:45 I have never been a proponent of debt whatsoever,
41:48 so much so that I wanted to always build
41:50 every single school debt-free,
41:51 otherwise didn’t wanna pull the trigger
41:52 on actually moving forward with construction,
41:54 so I’m just gonna make that my statement on this.
41:58 I don’t agree with our district taking on debt.
42:00 It’s not something I want under my tenure,
42:02 so for that reason, I am going to be voting no on this.
42:06 I understand the need for this
42:07 based on how revenue comes through our district
42:10 and the nuances of receiving half of our funding
42:13 through tax dollars that we don’t get until December,
42:16 which makes budgeting very, very difficult
42:18 when you still have to pay your employees
42:19 and turn your lights on and all of those things.
42:21 To me, I want to find another revenue or avenue,
42:24 sorry, to get there rather than taking on this note,
42:29 so that’s why I will be voting no.
42:30 I just wanted to make that statement.
42:31 - Understood 100%.
42:32 Does anybody else wish to speak?
42:34 - Yes. - Okay.
42:34 - Yes, yes.
42:36 I have actually seen a few things going around the public
42:42 with concerns that are legitimate concerns.
42:43 Why are we doing this thing that we’ve not done before?
42:45 And I don’t know if the provider’s ever done it,
42:47 but it’s certainly been a long time if they haven’t.
42:50 But a TAN, the tax anticipation note,
42:52 it’s been something that has been talked about
42:55 multiple times, the previous superintendent said,
42:59 “Hey, we might consider that.”
43:00 I remember when we had our,
43:01 I don’t know if you remember this, Mr. Susan,
43:03 but when we had the, oh my gosh, impasse hearing,
43:09 my very first year, we even talked about,
43:11 we don’t have a TAN, and that’s not been our practice.
43:15 So I just wanted to make sure,
43:16 because people actually compare it to a payday loan,
43:19 which to me tells that we haven’t done a good enough job
43:22 explaining what this is,
43:23 but also they maybe don’t understand
43:25 the nature of a payday loan, which is highly predatory,
43:27 and you always lose money, a significant amount of money.
43:30 That is not what this is.
43:32 And $100 million is a large amount of money,
43:35 but as a percentage of our total budget,
43:38 we’re actually talking about about 7%.
43:40 7%, we’re borrowing 7% of our budget,
43:44 that then we’re going to invest that,
43:46 and even though there, I thank you for the note
43:49 Sue sent us from Mr. Ford
43:52 about what it will actually look like,
43:53 ‘cause people had concerns, the interest rates are going up
43:55 with everything that’s going on in the world,
43:57 but actually because of that,
43:58 we’re actually seeing an increase in the market activity,
44:01 so we actually stand to make more on our investments,
44:04 which will actually still put us in a good place.
44:06 So we’re actually coming out to the positive,
44:08 not to the negative.
44:09 So although this is not the ideal situation,
44:12 I did a little crowdsourcing,
44:13 I have a group of school board member friends
44:15 across the state, and just said hey, who’s using a TAN?
44:18 And for the people who paid attention to my text,
44:20 and this very large group text that I have,
44:22 a couple of highly rated districts
44:24 are used to using this on a regular basis.
44:26 One of them is Martin County, very conservative district,
44:30 high rated district, they’ve been A’s for years,
44:35 have dropped their tax rates and things like that,
44:37 but they use it on a regular basis, they, I think,
44:40 I wanna say the amount was about 34 million,
44:42 which their size compared to our size
44:44 is a comparable amount, they get the TAN,
44:46 they pay it off when the tax revenue comes in,
44:49 and that is their practice every year.
44:50 Walton County is another county that used to do it,
44:53 and a very highly rated district,
44:56 very academic and fiscally,
45:02 they are high levels of performance,
45:05 and they’ve also used it before in the past,
45:08 and are looking at doing it again.
45:10 So, and I know there was some other districts
45:12 that said they were considering it this year,
45:13 because they, you know, sorry.
45:17 They’ve been in a similar situation
45:18 that we are in this year with cash flow difference.
45:21 Here’s the thing, we have in the past,
45:24 ‘cause I wanna explain this for the public,
45:25 we talked about this at the board meeting on Tuesday,
45:28 but not everybody caught all of the details.
45:32 We have, in the past, basically financed our own TAN.
45:37 We have done, because the tax money doesn’t come in
45:39 ‘til the end of December, if you pay your taxes early,
45:43 most of it comes in December,
45:45 and then the rest of it January, February,
45:46 I think March is our deadline, right, to pay taxes.
45:50 But we have to start paying people in August,
45:53 and some of them in July, if they’re year round,
45:55 July, August, September, October.
45:57 We still have to pay people.
45:59 We’re not gonna not pay people,
46:00 because we don’t have that general fund.
46:01 So in the past, we’ve kinda done our own TAN
46:03 by taking that money either out of reserves
46:05 or out of capital just for cash flow,
46:08 and so we’ve basically dipped into our own funding stream
46:12 to source that until we do what every district
46:14 and every government entity,
46:16 every property tax-funded organization
46:20 in the state has to do.
46:22 So this is not an edgy thing that we’re doing.
46:26 It is a long-standing practice that many organizations do,
46:28 not just school boards.
46:30 I think because of the investment strategy
46:33 that the Ford Associates has put out
46:35 that we’ll be able to invest enough of it
46:37 to make the money back that we’re gonna have to pay
46:40 in interest and financing costs.
46:41 This is a wise thing for us to do
46:43 so that the facilities does not have to slow down
46:46 on the many projects we have in the hopper for capital
46:50 and that we’re able to fulfill all our obligations,
46:53 and then immediately pay it back as soon as we can
46:55 and get that off of our books.
46:57 So I don’t, I am with you with the debt.
47:00 I am proud to say that even before you got on the board,
47:02 that was our plan.
47:03 We have not taken on any additional debt.
47:04 We had a line of credit that we didn’t end up using.
47:08 And so we’ve been able to do that,
47:09 but this is not the same kind of debt,
47:11 and this is just a good financial practice, I believe,
47:14 and so I definitely will be voting yes.
47:16 - Mr. Chair? - Yes, sir.
47:17 - That’s hard to go behind Ms. Campbell
47:19 ‘cause she says it all, but–
47:21 - She didn’t keep anything.
47:23 - She jumped out in front.
47:24 - There’s no meat on the bone left,
47:25 but I would just say that a better analogy
47:27 is than a paycheck loan is more like a business loan.
47:30 You know, we have guaranteed income.
47:32 We know we have coming.
47:32 This is just a temporary debt
47:35 that we’ll actually make money on.
47:37 So I agree with Ms. Wright.
47:40 I’m not a proponent of taking on debt,
47:41 but in this case, I think it’s wise for us to do this.
47:44 - Yeah.
47:45 Sir?
47:46 - Agreed, agreed, and agreed, agreed.
47:49 Yeah, of course, nobody wants to take on unnecessary debt,
47:52 so I don’t consider this a debt.
47:53 That’s why they call it just a note.
47:55 But it’s a tool in our toolbox that we’re utilizing,
48:00 and Ms. Campbell, you did your research.
48:02 Thank you so much that it’s used throughout the states.
48:05 It’s used not only in school districts,
48:06 but the same kind of like you said, John, a business loan.
48:09 Many businesses know when their accounts receivables
48:12 are coming due, they have to take a short-term loan
48:15 to pay salaries and continue with business practices,
48:19 and then it’s paid right back, so.
48:22 And that also helps us having the confidence
48:25 we have in the forward and associates
48:27 to make this thing work on our end.
48:30 So I’ve weighed out the positives and negatives,
48:33 and the positives certainly outweigh itself.
48:36 We don’t want to slow down Sue and her big priority list,
48:39 so yeah, that’s where I stand on that as well.
48:42 Thank you.
48:43 - Ms. Wright, you want to follow up?
48:44 - Yeah, no, and I’ll just say this.
48:45 I understand the nuance of it,
48:47 and I think for the general public
48:48 that’s looking at this, understanding the fact
48:49 that we are still paying out the charter’s proportion
48:53 of the tax revenue that comes in.
48:54 We’re paying that out on a regular basis
48:56 instead of waiting until December when that’s being paid.
48:59 The same is true for any revenue source
49:01 that comes through property tax, any of them.
49:04 So that is the struggle that we have,
49:07 and I’m just, to me, I would like our district
49:10 to take a stance on resolving that issue,
49:13 and whether that be to figure out the way
49:15 that we disperse money or timing of disbursements of money,
49:18 because I don’t see a solution right now,
49:20 and I feel like this is going to continually happen
49:22 every year if we don’t, as a board,
49:24 come up with something that works on an ongoing basis.
49:27 So, and again, this is probably,
49:30 that’s definitely a personal conviction of me.
49:32 I will not agree to taking on debt.
49:34 I understand the reason of the why,
49:35 and the other part of this is, hey,
49:39 when it sounds too good to be true,
49:40 my grandfather used to always tell me
49:42 it’s too good to be true,
49:43 and if we’re taking $100 million,
49:44 we’re not taking $100 billion
49:46 if we’re gonna make all this money off of it.
49:47 So, and I know that that, but listen,
49:49 I mean, if it’s being sold in a way like that–
49:51 - Seriously, we don’t have $100 billion?
49:54 I mean, I know you’re just speaking–
49:55 - I’m being facetious with what I’m saying.
49:57 I’m just saying, like, okay, yes,
49:59 but I’m just saying, like,
50:00 when that’s the way that it’s presented,
50:02 I’m like, hey, like, we still need to acknowledge
50:03 the fact that this is, it is a loan, it is a note,
50:06 it is a repayment that we will make
50:08 due to the way our finances come into our district,
50:11 and so that’s all that I’m saying about that.
50:13 I understand why the board feels differently than I do.
50:15 I just feel very strongly about it.
50:17 I will not agree to taking on debt,
50:19 but I understand if the board’s will is to do so.
50:21 - Mr. Chair, I do have one other comment.
50:22 - Yeah.
50:23 - I’m not sure I’m gonna turn this into a lengthy discussion,
50:25 but I do think that it would be wise for us to,
50:29 I agree with you as far as the system is not as broken,
50:33 and that’s why we have to do, we have to do this,
50:35 or have to consider doing this,
50:37 but we should get with the FSBA
50:39 and see if, collectively, of all the school boards,
50:41 everybody’s in the same position we are,
50:43 or most of us are in the same position.
50:45 We should talk to the state
50:46 about changing how they do things
50:48 so we get our money before we have to pay it, you know?
50:52 So if the state gives us our money earlier,
50:54 then we’re in a position to pay it.
50:56 So if they were to revise how they collect their money
51:00 or disperse their money,
51:01 maybe just taking some of the extra revenue
51:04 that the state brings in every year
51:05 and they put it aside so they can cover the gap
51:08 until we have to, so we don’t have to,
51:11 maybe that would be something
51:12 that all the state’s school boards would wanna consider.
51:16 - That’s the issue.
51:17 All right, hearing of you guys, my opinion is,
51:19 I agree with you, Mr. Thomas.
51:20 The fact that we’re not getting our revenue for so long
51:23 and coupling us and hindering us from doing things
51:26 is something that this alleviates,
51:28 and asking the state to help support that
51:31 would be a definite positive thing.
51:34 Also, just wanted to tell you
51:36 that I also called some of my other districts
51:37 that utilize it, and I asked them one thing.
51:39 I said, “I’m being told that we are going to be
51:43 “either ahead or even at the end,” right?
51:47 And they all said that they have
51:49 over the last two years that they know of, okay?
51:52 So I feel confident in that statement,
51:54 not only because Sue Han told us
51:56 and she is like the guru of the world,
51:59 and then also because these are some of my closest friends.
52:03 But the other thing that I would say
52:04 is that you’re 100% Ms. Wright.
52:06 What I would entertain is that at the end of this tan,
52:10 if there is any opportunity that we end up owing anything,
52:15 that we work together to cut
52:16 so that it’s not a debt that we’re rolling.
52:18 Does that make sense to you?
52:20 That we will not take on any debt after the first year,
52:22 and we’ll go to cut just to make sure that it doesn’t roll.
52:24 That’s it.
52:25 Sound good?
52:27 - Let’s just vote on what we have in front of us.
52:29 - Yeah, I think it’s probably a conversation
52:31 that needs to continue with the board,
52:32 and we need to figure out moving forward
52:33 how we’re going to avoid it, so.
52:35 - Yep, but that’s how I feel.
52:37 So with that, Paul, roll call, please.
52:40 - Mr. Trent?
52:41 - Aye.
52:41 - Ms. Wright?
52:42 - No.
52:43 - Mr. Sheehan?
52:44 - Here, or yes.
52:46 - Ms. Campbell?
52:46 - Aye.
52:47 - Mr. Thomas?
52:48 - Aye.
52:50 - All right.
52:52 I’ll entertain a motion for F12.
52:54 - Move to approve item F12, sorry.
52:58 - I’ll second that.
53:00 Discussion, Ms. Wright?
53:01 - I guess, sorry, I pulled this one as well.
53:02 I had some questions on this Gale Resource Library
53:06 because it was brought to my attention,
53:07 not by the speaker today,
53:09 but by another individual in the community,
53:11 and I think you do have some valid questions.
53:12 I don’t know if your questions were answered
53:13 in the back of the room or not,
53:15 but I do, she actually posed additional questions
53:18 that I hadn’t really even considered,
53:19 which, you know, as far as the collection of the data,
53:22 are we, is Gale Resource Library collecting that?
53:25 What are they doing with it?
53:26 I think that that’s probably something
53:27 that the public needs to know.
53:28 From what I’ve been told, and I’m sure that the speaker
53:31 that spoke to our staff in the back,
53:33 this is a resource that’s been available.
53:34 It’s been vetted through the state,
53:36 and it’s used in our high schools specifically,
53:39 but I do have some concerns based on what she had said
53:42 with the data collection and what they’re doing
53:43 with that data, and is that covered?
53:45 So I don’t know if we can get an answer on that.
53:48 That would maybe reassure me before we voted
53:49 on whether or not we move forward with that resource.
53:52 Dr. Rendell?
53:55 - I would just reiterate
53:56 that this is a state-approved resource.
53:58 It’s a state-provided resource.
54:00 You know, they vet all the materials as well.
54:03 So I don’t know if Mrs. Harris has any other comments.
54:06 I don’t know if she’s willing to come to the podium,
54:07 but, you know, this is state-approved resource, and–
54:12 - Yeah, sorry, sorry to put you on the spot, Ms. Harris.
54:14 I just, I would like to know the answer to that
54:15 before we vote on approving it or not, so.
54:22 Sorry, guys, I’m a problem child today.
54:24 - No, you’re not a problem child at all.
54:26 This is good for discussion.
54:27 We should always have it.
54:29 - Good morning.
54:30 So it is a state-approved resource with coming down.
54:34 What I cannot answer right now,
54:35 and I want to get more information on,
54:37 is one of the questions we discussed was,
54:40 do students have access to materials
54:44 outside of maybe the grade band or course
54:46 in which they are currently taking?
54:49 So the state website is the Florida Library website.
54:53 It has an elementary, middle, and high portal.
54:56 And so the elementary and middle and high portals,
55:00 those are all free resources.
55:01 So any family, any stakeholder can go on at home.
55:05 Some of the questions that they asked
55:07 were specifically the units at which we purchase.
55:11 Do students outside of the students using it in class
55:15 have access outside of the home or outside of school
55:19 to those resources?
55:20 And I need to find out more information.
55:21 So I will find out that information and share with you
55:25 my findings.
55:26 They’re going to share all the questions with me
55:28 so that I can do a little more research
55:30 on access specifically through LaunchPad
55:34 and outside of the school day, what they could access.
55:37 Because our families can access LaunchPad resources,
55:41 and I just don’t know how is it limited exactly
55:44 by grade level once they’re not on school property
55:47 with a teacher observing what they’re doing.
55:50 - If the board doesn’t approve this
55:51 or we delay it to the next board meeting,
55:53 is that going to hinder what we currently
55:54 already use that’s state approved?
55:58 - I don’t believe that it will,
55:59 because again, I know for a fact that it won’t,
56:02 because a lot of these are free resources
56:04 that any stakeholder has.
56:06 So outside of the purchased units,
56:09 so what was before you today was the purchased portions,
56:13 and so the free access we would have regardless
56:16 of these additional four units for high school.
56:21 - Even the purchased, Ms. Harris,
56:23 is that a contract that would be,
56:24 I think that’s where Mrs. Wright was going,
56:27 that if the contract is the purchased contract,
56:29 is it that it’s up before our next board meeting,
56:32 or is it that if we delayed it, we wouldn’t inhibit that?
56:35 - I don’t wanna belabor this,
56:36 but I’m gonna look back to Mr. Cheatham,
56:38 ‘cause it is actually a tech tool
56:39 that we just utilize in the media center.
56:41 Do you know if student access, when it exactly expires?
56:52 - So that it would commence.
56:53 On here, the contract term says that the initial contract
56:55 will come in from September 24th
56:57 and continue through September–
56:58 - Right, I saw that, I just don’t know if we–
57:02 - I’m not sure, but typically we get flexibility
57:04 if it’s a tool we’ve been using.
57:06 If we’re still working through the contract,
57:08 they’ll give us some flexibility there,
57:10 but we’ll probably take away the access to it
57:13 until we get the answers to the questions.
57:15 - Real quick question, so kids are already accessing this,
57:18 they’re utilizing this right now.
57:20 All of a sudden, they’re no longer gonna be able
57:21 to access this, and we would wait until the next board
57:24 meeting to actually give them approval to do so?
57:26 Is that what I’m hearing?
57:27 - They’re definitely accessing the free aspects of it
57:29 from the state.
57:31 We’ll double check to see if, it depends on what lessons
57:33 they’re working on, whether they’ve gotten
57:35 into the other portions or not.
57:37 - And you understand my fear is that we have students
57:40 that are like literally in the middle of a lesson,
57:42 and all of a sudden they’re told that they can no longer
57:44 use it because we’re waiting to approve it.
57:46 Is that what’s happening, or is?
57:51 - We’re gonna find out right now.
57:53 We’re working on this right now, just based on the question,
57:55 so we’re working on this, ‘cause I think what your question
57:57 is is if tomorrow a teacher were to show up
58:01 and be working in these lessons, is the resource gone?
58:05 So we are working right now to try and find that answer
58:10 on both of our ends so that we can give you
58:12 the most accurate information, and I just don’t want
58:14 to misspeak right now and give you inaccurate information.
58:17 - Do you guys wanna table this until she can find it?
58:19 - Yeah, I’ve got just a quick question
58:21 that I think she’ll be able to answer.
58:22 So currently, and in previous years,
58:26 our students and teachers have had access
58:28 to this material, correct?
58:29 - Correct.
58:30 - Okay, and have we received any complaints
58:34 about the access to this material?
58:37 - Up until today, or the last couple days now.
58:41 - Okay, and those weren’t complaints, they were questions.
58:42 - Right, correct.
58:43 - As proposed, out of concern, because it’s tech,
58:46 and all of that kind of stuff.
58:47 - And good questions, because this elicited all of us
58:51 to be, if this were ongoing or things that we knew
58:55 for a fact, we’d be able to respond right now
58:58 to these things, so these were good questions
58:59 that we need to get more information on.
59:02 - Can I ask Paul a question?
59:03 - Yeah.
59:04 - Do we have the ability to approve the contract
59:10 through the next board meeting?
59:13 - It would be amendment.
59:14 - Yeah, you would have to amend the entire agreement,
59:15 ‘cause they would have to agree, the vendor would have
59:19 to agree to just that window.
59:21 - Okay, because what I don’t want to do is what,
59:24 because it’s already material that we’ve already been using
59:26 for years, and that students are literally learning out of,
59:31 as we speak, potentially across the district,
59:33 wasn’t this all high schoolers, to Mr. Susan’s point,
59:36 I don’t want to shut that down, and you flip whatever switch
59:40 you’ve gotta flip, I’m sure it’s more than just flipping
59:42 a switch, to take all that away without explanation,
59:45 and all of that, but I also want us to take a look,
59:48 and see if there’s any adjustments that need to be made.
59:51 I mean, it is a state-approved curriculum,
59:53 but we can’t assume the state always does everything right.
59:56 So, I think, but I don’t want, I’m not willing
1:00:00 to shut us all down.
1:00:01 - Right, so Paul, can I ask this question for just
1:00:03 the format of this, if we pulled it right now,
1:00:05 could we move it to a standalone action item
1:00:07 at the end of the meeting, and hopefully it would give them
1:00:09 some time to gather information?
1:00:12 - We’re so close to the end of the meeting.
1:00:13 - I don’t know, we’re close to the end of the meeting.
1:00:15 - You can move it to the end, and vote at the end
1:00:18 of the meeting, that’s fine, we have one more vote
1:00:21 after this, so I mean, it’s gonna literally
1:00:23 be like two minutes.
1:00:25 - I also just want to add, I mean, typically,
1:00:28 we don’t run contracts right up to board meetings,
1:00:31 so I can’t say for certainty, but I just know,
1:00:36 based on practice, I cannot imagine that this contract
1:00:41 would be tomorrow, so I feel like our practice
1:00:46 has not been that, like, effective tomorrow,
1:00:49 anything happens, so I feel like that buys us
1:00:52 some time to get these answers to know,
1:00:55 do we want to have this product moving forward,
1:00:57 which buys–
1:00:58 - I think we have an expert in the field.
1:01:08 - So, our expert Sean has shared with us,
1:01:10 it’s that the pricing is guaranteed through the 24th,
1:01:13 so the pricing could change, the access.
1:01:17 - I just asked Mr. Gibbs, if we were to approve it today,
1:01:20 what is our, is there an out clause, I didn’t see one
1:01:23 in there as far as what our, how easy it would be
1:01:26 to unwind it if we were to approve it today.
1:01:29 - There’s generally an out clause for at least–
1:01:33 - We always have a 60-day here, but.
1:01:35 - Non-appropriation, if it’s a multi-year agreement.
1:01:39 - I’ll be, if I could weigh in while he’s doing that,
1:01:42 I feel pretty confident that they’re not gonna
1:01:44 jack our rates up and go crazy on us in two weeks.
1:01:48 - So you recommend that we postpone the vote
1:01:50 until the October the sixth meeting?
1:01:53 - I think, and first off, but before I get that,
1:01:55 I wanted to apologize to you guys about not bringing this
1:01:58 to you until right now, that’s not fair to you.
1:02:01 I apologize about not having that to you guys,
1:02:04 that this was a concern, so I appreciate your due diligence
1:02:06 in trying to figure that out.
1:02:09 As usual, I appreciate our procurement director
1:02:13 and all his hard work and diligence to come up.
1:02:15 I’ll be honest with you guys, I feel very confident
1:02:18 that the company’s not gonna, after years of doing business
1:02:21 with us, just give us two weeks to try to figure out
1:02:23 some of the questions.
1:02:25 If you guys are okay with that, I’d.
1:02:27 - We have a motion and a second, so what do we need to do
1:02:29 now to postpone it?
1:02:30 - A motion to postpone until October sixth can be made if–
1:02:33 - I wanna feel you guys out for that before I do it.
1:02:36 Are you guys okay with that?
1:02:37 - Yeah, I’m fine with that.
1:02:38 I think it’ll give more time to, and sorry,
1:02:40 ‘cause some of the questions that the speaker asked
1:02:42 were valid questions that need to be answered
1:02:44 before we move forward.
1:02:45 - And what we’re also going to provide
1:02:47 that was not one of the questions,
1:02:48 but just because in the last 24 hours,
1:02:50 we’ve been learning more and more,
1:02:53 we’re gonna also be able to bring some analytics too.
1:02:56 We’ve requested some analytics on use.
1:02:58 - Okay, thank you.
1:02:59 - Because what we’re going off right now
1:03:01 is media specialists and teachers saying they use it a lot,
1:03:04 but we would like to have numbers.
1:03:07 - Okay, as long as it’s not gonna inhibit,
1:03:09 which we found out they will not lose access to it,
1:03:11 that somehow the only possible negative
1:03:13 is that they’re all of a sudden gonna increase the cost,
1:03:15 which if I know business, they’re not gonna do that
1:03:18 if they’ve been a partner for us for a while,
1:03:19 while we just answer some questions and we table it to,
1:03:21 I think you said the sixth?
1:03:22 - Yeah, so I move that we table this vote, not table.
1:03:26 - Postpone.
1:03:27 - Postpone the vote until the October sixth meeting.
1:03:29 - Second.
1:03:31 - Paul, roll call, please.
1:03:32 - Mr. Trent?
1:03:33 - Aye.
1:03:34 - Ms. Wright?
1:03:35 - Aye.
1:03:36 - Mr. Susan?
1:03:37 - Aye.
1:03:37 - Mr. Thomas?
1:03:38 - Aye.
1:03:39 - Thank you, team.
1:03:40 - Good job, Ms. Wright.
1:03:41 All right, so that takes care of our consent agenda.
1:03:47 Now we’re onto the action agenda.
1:03:48 Dr. Rendell, would you please let us know about the item
1:03:50 under the action portion of today’s agenda?
1:03:52 - Thank you, Mr. Chair.
1:03:53 The action item is H1, code of student conduct for 2627.
1:03:57 - Do I hear a motion?
1:03:59 - Move to approve.
1:04:00 - Second.
1:04:01 - Any discussion?
1:04:03 Hearing none, Paul, roll call, please.
1:04:05 - Mr. Trent?
1:04:06 - Aye.
1:04:06 - Mr.
1:04:18 - Aye.
1:04:18 - Ms. Campbell?
1:04:19 - Aye.
1:04:20 - Mr. Thomas?
1:04:21 - Aye.
1:04:22 - We’ll move to the information agenda,
1:04:23 which includes an item for board review that may be brought
1:04:23 back for action in subsequent meeting.
1:04:24 No action will be taken on this item today.
1:04:25 There’s one item under this category.
1:04:26 Does any board member wish to discuss this item?
1:04:27 Hearing now, we’re onto board member recognitions,
1:04:28 reports, discussion points.
1:04:28 - Oh, man.
1:04:30 - The hoorahs.
1:04:32 - All the hoorahs.
1:04:34 - Wait, wait.
1:04:35 ‘Cause I always turn to you and put you right on the spot,
1:04:37 man.
1:04:38 Mr. Trent, would you like to go first?
1:04:40 - I am good.
1:04:41 - Okay, all right.
1:04:43 Then I’ll come over to, wait, I’m gonna change it up.
1:04:45 - Change it up?
1:04:46 - Go ahead, Ms. Campbell.
1:04:47 - All right.
1:04:48 - Give Mr. Thomas a break.
1:04:49 - It’s been the shortest term that we ever have
1:04:52 between meetings, so I don’t have a whole lot,
1:04:53 but I do wanna mention 9/11,
1:04:56 there were some several great ceremonies around the county
1:04:59 and in our schools.
1:05:00 I appreciate our schools putting the effort in
1:05:02 to remember an event that nobody at the employees,
1:05:06 and even some of the employees, were not even born, right?
1:05:10 But the opportunity that we had to recognize history.
1:05:13 I was able to participate in the early morning
1:05:17 with the city of Palm Bay, they had a beautiful ceremony
1:05:19 with the ringing of the bell, the four fives,
1:05:22 I learned something about the practice of our firefighters.
1:05:28 But then also, then jumped over to Discovery Elementary,
1:05:30 they do one every year, recognizing the bring in
1:05:32 our first responder family members,
1:05:34 and the part of the Palm Bay Fire Department was there,
1:05:37 and so they did a great job.
1:05:39 And then Saturday was U Saturday,
1:05:41 I know Dr. Rendell may mention that too.
1:05:43 I heard you ran a mile, Dr. Rendell, I missed it.
1:05:47 Just one mile while I missed it.
1:05:49 But I wanna thank all our partners,
1:05:50 they were here in the board meeting the last time,
1:05:52 but I wanna thank all our partners for putting on that day
1:05:54 for Merritt Island High School for hosting.
1:05:56 There were more tents, I feel like, than the year before,
1:05:59 and it was such a great, all of our Merritt Island schools
1:06:03 and some of our Tiger School schools represented,
1:06:05 and they did a great job just making
1:06:07 the community feel special.
1:06:09 I dragged my son along with me,
1:06:10 ‘cause we were coming from Allstate Auditions at Jefferson,
1:06:12 I’m like, we’re right here, come with me.
1:06:14 But he had a good time, and I just appreciate our community
1:06:18 for coming around our students, and it’s not just students.
1:06:21 When we talk about suicide prevention,
1:06:23 it’s everybody from the young to the old,
1:06:26 and so it was a great day, and I appreciate all the work.
1:06:29 (faint speaking)
1:06:34 - All right, man, we’ll start different order.
1:06:35 - I just have one, and that is,
1:06:36 I just wanna make you guys aware,
1:06:37 I mentioned this a while back,
1:06:38 but I wanna make you aware of some progress.
1:06:42 Palm Bay High School, Palm Bay Magnet High School,
1:06:44 hopefully we can change that name sometime soon, Dr. Rendell.
1:06:47 But Palm Bay High School, we have,
1:06:50 the principal, Judd Kaminski, is moving forward
1:06:53 with starting a media production class,
1:06:56 and they have a phenomenal facility there
1:06:58 that’s been kind of mothballed for the last several years,
1:07:01 and he’s dusting it off, and one of his instructors,
1:07:04 Bada Svetkovic, Bada Svetkovic, is–
1:07:08 - Minsky and, what is it? - Bada Svetkovic.
1:07:11 - Them two getting together?
1:07:12 These reporters are gonna have a hard time.
1:07:14 - He’s a math teacher there,
1:07:15 and he’s a phenomenal guy, football coach,
1:07:17 but he also has experience in video production,
1:07:19 so he is going to be leading the charge there.
1:07:22 Javier Malernes from FIT and the Hispanic Chamber
1:07:26 who was here last meeting,
1:07:28 he’s gonna be helping as well.
1:07:29 So anyways, student-driven should be a good way
1:07:34 for Palm Bay to be able to showcase
1:07:35 what they do at their school for free,
1:07:38 using their students to highlight,
1:07:40 using video production to do so.
1:07:42 So I think it’s gonna be an awesome thing for the school,
1:07:45 and hopefully something that we can grow down the pike
1:07:49 into Stone Middle School as well.
1:07:50 - Love it, love it.
1:07:52 I think, you’re up.
1:07:54 - Okay, all right, got a couple of them.
1:07:57 So I want to thank all my secondary schools.
1:07:59 I have taken the time to go and meet with them
1:08:00 and discuss some possible policy changes
1:08:02 that are gonna come before the board,
1:08:03 and just thank them for their insight and their knowledge
1:08:06 and their advocacy on how they feel very passionately
1:08:10 about certain things that the board is going to do
1:08:12 or not do, and so I’ll leave that there.
1:08:14 Also wanted to say we have the Take Sock and Children Gala
1:08:17 this Saturday, and that was a really exceptionally fun event
1:08:22 to fundraise and really create more opportunities,
1:08:26 scholarship opportunities for students
1:08:27 that have difficult challenges that they start off with,
1:08:31 and that is always a moving moment
1:08:33 ‘cause they have a student testimony,
1:08:35 and I know Ms. Campbell and Mr. Thomas,
1:08:37 obviously you were there as well,
1:08:40 but the student testimony is probably my favorite part
1:08:42 ‘cause nobody in that room,
1:08:44 there’s no way that you don’t cry.
1:08:45 It’s so powerful.
1:08:46 It moves the room to like, hey, we are all responsible
1:08:49 when we see something, we have to do our part,
1:08:51 and so thank you for the students for being vulnerable
1:08:54 because that takes a lot of courage to stand in front
1:08:56 of a room and talk about some challenges that you faced
1:08:58 and how you’ve overcome them,
1:09:00 but everyone leaves that room feeling extremely inspired
1:09:02 on how they’re gonna make their community better,
1:09:03 so that was an exceptional event.
1:09:06 I too went by the U Matter Day on Saturday,
1:09:09 Saturday afternoon, I got there a little later
1:09:10 than I anticipated on being there,
1:09:11 but I was floored on how many tents were there,
1:09:13 so that was very encouraging to see that.
1:09:16 There were so many people that were participating.
1:09:18 Good stuff there.
1:09:19 Board, wanna make you aware that we have coming up,
1:09:21 there are FP&L STEM Lab reveals for classrooms coming,
1:09:25 so hopefully you guys will join on those.
1:09:27 That’s always a really fun event.
1:09:28 The media comes out, and thank you to FP&L
1:09:30 for being a partner and investing significant amounts
1:09:33 of money into certain classrooms
1:09:34 so that they can create these STEM Labs.
1:09:36 That will be coming up on the 24th and the 29th.
1:09:38 You should have all gotten calendar invites.
1:09:40 Hopefully you’ll be there,
1:09:41 and I think that is all that I have.
1:09:44 - Thank you so much, you guys.
1:09:46 So involved in the schools.
1:09:47 I did wanna take a second and talk about Mr. Kaminsky
1:09:50 because when I was teaching at O’Gally High School,
1:09:54 he was one of my assistant principals,
1:09:56 and he was just phenomenal in what he did,
1:09:59 and I really appreciate his dedication to that school
1:10:02 and some of the things that he’s been doing over there,
1:10:03 and this is gonna be really cool
1:10:05 because there’s a lot of things that go on
1:10:06 inside of our schools that we should be talking about,
1:10:09 and there’s an angle, so kahoots to you
1:10:11 for working with them.
1:10:12 Anything we can do from our perspective,
1:10:14 but I did wanna give a shout out to him
1:10:15 ‘cause I appreciate him, and it’s hard work.
1:10:17 I also wanted to let you guys know a couple of fun things.
1:10:20 First off, I got a call from the sheriff
1:10:22 about the mascot Olympics, and he was all excited.
1:10:27 He said, “Hey, can’t wait.”
1:10:29 I said, “Sheriff, come on, man.
1:10:30 “Your mascot was the most embarrassing of all of them,”
1:10:33 and that he needed to, and he agreed,
1:10:37 and he said he’s fired him and that he no longer,
1:10:39 that has been sent out to the pastor.
1:10:40 He’s going out to NIL to recruit somebody,
1:10:44 that he’s gonna be a phenomenal competitor,
1:10:47 and he’s looking forward to the competition.
1:10:50 It’ll be the, I think it’s the first Saturday
1:10:53 after the first week of January.
1:10:55 I think it’s somewhere in like January 10th,
1:10:58 I think it is, right in there, but it’s gonna be fun,
1:11:01 and he had a whole lot of trash talking
1:11:03 going on on the phone, so I wish we could’ve recorded it
1:11:05 because it was a lot of fun, but we’re gearing up for it,
1:11:08 so something to keep in the back of your mind
1:11:10 as we start going because I’m sure
1:11:11 we’re gonna start seeing some stuff coming out,
1:11:14 but that’s one thing.
1:11:15 The next thing is is that we’re turning on the lights
1:11:19 at some of the schools for people to walk over December,
1:11:23 so we did it last year at Satellite and Viera.
1:11:26 If you guys are interested in doing it
1:11:27 inside of your schools, let Ms. Suhan know
1:11:29 because we have to find a funding source,
1:11:31 but I think I have a couple of donors
1:11:33 that are willing to cover it for your schools
1:11:34 if you guys wanna do it, but that’s gonna be
1:11:36 a great opportunity over the Christmas break
1:11:39 to allow families to come together
1:11:41 and start working off some of those Thanksgiving meals
1:11:44 and Christmas meals, and then elementary school sports,
1:11:50 so met with the team as far as what we had last year,
1:11:54 so just to give you guys an overview,
1:11:56 City of Melbourne hosts an elementary school track meet
1:12:00 every year, and they’ve invited everybody,
1:12:02 but not everybody’s always come,
1:12:04 and it’s been kind of this halfway communicated great event,
1:12:07 so City of Melbourne’s gonna host
1:12:09 the elementary school track meet,
1:12:11 so all the kids will be able to compete.
1:12:13 Now, many schools have like Morning Mile
1:12:15 and they do all these other things,
1:12:16 but that’ll be kind of the area that they can come
1:12:18 once a year and kind of compete.
1:12:21 We also have wrestling that’s gonna be on,
1:12:24 you have golf, you have a basketball,
1:12:28 we have a lassie league that came up
1:12:30 that’s in Merritt Island of little girls
1:12:32 that play softball, and Jean was working with them
1:12:36 on some stuff, and the last one is
1:12:38 is that I’m talking to, and it’s not official yet,
1:12:40 but I’m talking to Dr. Rendell, and Mr. Robinson,
1:12:43 I had to put that in there because every time I say it,
1:12:45 like it’s happening, John calls out and says,
1:12:47 Dr. Rendell, did you actually approve that?
1:12:49 But we were talking about bringing rugby into the schools,
1:12:53 so just so you know, two-hand touch
1:12:56 for elementary and middle school,
1:12:58 and the high school team’s been there for a while,
1:13:00 so it’s not like, and it’s done outside the school,
1:13:02 so we’re not promoting it, we’re just gonna allow
1:13:05 the students to know it’s happening,
1:13:06 but just something that may come up.
1:13:08 I wanted to give you guys an update on that.
1:13:10 Also, last year, we successfully tested all the kids
1:13:13 for Presidential Youth Physical Fitness as a baseline.
1:13:16 We’re getting ready to start that process again,
1:13:18 so we’re gonna have Ms. Herodopoulos,
1:13:21 who has been communicating back and forth
1:13:23 to possibly come and do a presser with us
1:13:26 over us doing the first Presidential Youth Physical Fitness
1:13:28 in the state of Florida, and promoting it throughout,
1:13:31 because what we can do with that
1:13:34 in promoting student health is gonna be
1:13:36 much needed in the future.
1:13:38 And then, last one, Ms. Higginbotham, the astronaut,
1:13:42 who has agreed to work with us, is officially engaged,
1:13:45 so now, if anybody wants to start naming
1:13:47 their STEM classrooms after an astronaut,
1:13:51 she’s gonna be the one that, once we get a list
1:13:53 of all of them, we’ll reach out to them,
1:13:54 ‘cause she’s friends with all of them,
1:13:55 she’s kinda like the cool astronaut that everybody likes,
1:13:59 so she’s agreed to do that, we’re full stretch,
1:14:01 so you guys will start to see that coming up.
1:14:02 - Are you still seeing us as an uncool astronaut?
1:14:03 - No. (laughs)
1:14:04 - I haven’t met one.
1:14:05 - Well.
1:14:06 - Maybe the guy that’s doing the mechanical
1:14:08 in the back or something, doing the math, I don’t know.
1:14:10 I’ve never met one either, but anyways,
1:14:12 just wanted to let you guys know
1:14:13 a quick update on that stuff.
1:14:14 Anybody else have anything to say?
1:14:17 Hearing none, we’ll take a, oh, oh, Dr. Ezra’s gonna say,
1:14:21 hearing none, I was gonna go to Dr. Dunn.
1:14:22 - I did wanna jump back in, because Ms. Wright mentioned
1:14:25 the Take Stock in Children, the speaker,
1:14:29 and I had just pulled it up, are the students,
1:14:31 she’s actually just a couple years,
1:14:33 I found that she graduated with my daughter from the high,
1:14:35 well, my husband said, I know she looked familiar,
1:14:36 her name was Emily Batiste, and I just have to thank
1:14:39 a couple, Brevard Schools Foundation always does
1:14:42 a great job recruiting these people.
1:14:44 So well-spoken every year, but I wanted to give
1:14:47 big props to Susan Knowles and Del Jordan,
1:14:50 they are the college readiness coaches,
1:14:52 and even though we as mentors come in and do the mentoring,
1:14:54 they’re the ones who are really holding their hand
1:14:56 through the application process, through the FAFSA process,
1:14:58 making sure they get across the finish line,
1:15:00 and to be honest, I think they’re some of the primary ones
1:15:02 who are following up and finding these great success stories
1:15:05 to come back and share, and so I know we talked about
1:15:08 recruiting mentors last time, but I wanted to give props
1:15:10 to Susan and to Del for the great work that they’re in,
1:15:14 Del does the South Area Schools,
1:15:15 and Susan does the North Area Schools,
1:15:16 and they have such great teamwork,
1:15:18 and they do such great things for our students
1:15:20 who are in the program, so I wanted to give a shout out
1:15:22 to them, thank you, Mr. Chair.
1:15:23 - All right, with that, I’m gonna take a break,
1:15:27 and we’ll be back.
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