001Good morning and welcome to the Penllis County School Board meeting, Tuesday, August 19th, 2025. I call this meeting to order. This is our first school board meeting of the new academic year. And I don't know about you all, but I'm quite pleased to have my kids back in school. And more than that, I know we've had a great first week and I look forward to I'm sure you'll share about some of that, m Mr. Hendrick. But welcome to a new school year. It's going to be a great one. The first item on our agenda today is we'll have an invocation by Pastor Tyson Crossen with Bridgeoint Church followed by the pledge of allegiance and then our national anthem. Would you please rise and remain standing until the completion of the national anthem? Pastor Crossson, good
002morning. Morning. Thank you. Let's pray. God, thank you for this board and the many many w many men and women they represent investing themselves in the next generation. God, that is a noble task. And because we have seen the visible image of an invisible God, may their direction and their decision and their leadership and their efforts be rooted in love and grace and mercy that builds up a next generation on values that make Penllis County and the ends of the earth better. rooted in the truth of who you are and how you're working in this world. So God, give them stamina and wisdom and energy and efforts and courage for the decisions and the direction ahead that at the end of this school year, we look back and say thank you for an incredible year.
003God, could I even pray for the best one yet in a series of of great ones. So God, to you be the glory. good things you have done. We pray it in your name. Amen. United States of America. By the dawn's early light, what so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming, whose bright stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watch were so and the rockets The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh day does that star spangled banner yet wave for the land of the free and the home of the brave. Please be seated. Speaking of it being a new year, we're letting the students and schools get back in session, but I think we all probably look forward
004to the live performances, which hopefully the next school board meeting we can get back to. so our video this morning, item 1.5 is for Welcome back to School. Let's take a look. It's been a long summer. It's been hot. So, air is working. We're excited to start school. Welcome back, guys. Yes, sir. How we doing, man? It's going to be a good year. You are walking on the campus of an A school. Morning. Good morning everybody. Good morning. Good morning. Morning. What's up, dude? How are you, man? You grew like three inches. Guys, welcome back. Good morning. Hello. Oh my goodness. You're not nervous if you can dance like that. It really is such a joy and thank you to everyone who was supportive of the first days of school. I know there were a
005lot of breakfasts and welcome backs and it really is a great joy and a pleasure to be out there. introduction of our professional and community organization representatives is Isabelle Mascarenus. Good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board, Mr. Hendrik and staff. It is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives of community and professional organizations. Representing the North Panelis League of Women Voters, Martha Fwell and Gan Reynolds from the Penelis Arts for a Complete Education Coalition, Maria Cantonis, and members of the media in attendance. Representing the Tampa Bay Times, Jeff Solichek. Thank you, and thank you for being here. Amendments to the agenda. Mr. Hendrick, are there any amendments to the agenda? There are no amendments, Madam Chair. Thank you, board members. Madame Chair, I'd like to pull agenda item 7.8 for discussion. 7.8. Thank you.
006Any other amendments to the agenda? As board chair, I find good cause to amend the agenda as suggested by Miss Edmond. May I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as amended? Second. A motion by Mrs. Kaine and a second by Mrs. Long. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. We don't have any items on our special order agenda today. The next item is public comments on agenda items. Mrs. H, do we have any speakers today? Madam Chair, there are no speakers for agenda items. Thank you. We don't have any unfinished business. Item seven, the consent agenda. We'll go ahead and vote on the balance of the consent agenda and then go to item 7.8. So for the consent agenda as amended, may I have a
007motion and a second to approve? Motion second. Motion from Mrs. Long and a second from Miss Edmond. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. Consent agenda item 7.8. We'll take a motion and a second first and then discuss. May I have a motion and a second to approve item 7.8. Motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from Mrs. Peters. Miss Edmond. Thank you. I just would like to share the great value that the Council of Great Cities Schools has provided Penllis County School Board. They bring together 81 of the nation's largest urban public school systems in a coalition dedicated to improving education for children in the inner cities. One of the benefits that I saw when I attended previously was the ability to learn from other districts, other states, what's
008occurring, what best practice is. And I would hope that those attending are able to share that information upon their return. That's all. Thank you. Any other discussion? Then with that, we have a motion and a second to approve item 7.8. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. The first item on our non-consent agenda today, item 8.1, request approval of the Penllis County Schools approved field trip list for the 2025 2026 school year. May I have a motion and second to approve this item? A motion by Mrs. Peters and a second by Mrs. Meyers. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce this item? Absolutely. Thank you, Madam Chair. We're excited to share this year's field trip list. Very similar to prior years, but I wanted to have an opportunity to highlight some
009of the great experiences our students had last year and look forward to having again this year. So, I'm calling up our chief academic officer, Denica Jones, to share a little bit more about the field trips. So, great morning, Madame Chair, members of the board, Mr. Hendrick and staff. Today, we are thrilled to share the incredible impact of our field trip programming during the 2425 school year. Thanks to the continued support of our school board community and the generosity of our voters through the referendum, Penllis County Schools proudly funded 287 enriching field trip experiencing reaching an outstanding 22,770 students across our district. These opportunities extended beyond the classroom and sparked curiosity, creativity, and connection. In addition, our visual arts department championed 152 art focused field trips, engaging an additional 8,819 scholars in hands-on experiences that deepened
010their appreciation for the arts and inspired self-expression. These numbers reflect more than just participation. They represent moments of wonder, discovery, and growth for thousands of our young learners. We are deeply grateful to our voters for making these experiences possible, for believing in the power of realworld learning. I could list for you a million opportunities that our scholars have had over the last several years. including museum trips and ways of engaging learning through SI STEM and our science education, whether they were on-site field trips or or location field trips all over the community and sometimes even beyond. As we look be as we look ahead of the 25 through the 2526 school year, we respectfully respect and appreciate the approval of the proposed field trip list so that we may continue to expand the access to
011meaningful curriculum aligned experiences for all students. With your support, we can ensure that every student in Penllis County Schools has the opportunity to learn, explore, and thrive beyond the classroom walls. Thank you again for your consideration and partnership and your commitment to excellence in education. Thank you board members. Is there any discussion on this item? It takes a lot of effort to make these field trips happen. I mean the teachers have to want to do it and there's paperwork and it does it takes a lot of effort. So it's one thing to have a list. I'm glad we have the list, but thank you to all of the teachers who take the time to know what's right for their students at this time of year and take that extra effort to do the paperwork. Maybe
012you have to raise funds, all those kinds of things. But it definitely it definitely makes a difference. And then also PTAs and parents who get involved and help and maybe even help make those phone calls and figure out how to make it happen. It makes a big difference. So, thank you. We have a motion and a second to approve item 8.1. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. Item 8.2, request adoption of the proposed Penllis County School Board's 2026 legislative platform. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? Motion. Second. Motion from Mrs. Long and a second from Miss Blackburg. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce this item? I'd be happy to. the board has worked hard to work on this legislative platform and I'm going
013to pass it actually to Miss Blackburg, the chair of the legislative committee who's worked with other members of the board and lots of opportunities for input. Miss Blackburg. Thank you. so I'd like to thank my other committee members, Miss Edmund, Miss Meyers, as well as Miss Hal, and Miss for your help. as you may recall, the legislative committee was formed at our June 10th board meeting. the committee met shortly after to discuss platform ideas and review input from Mr. Hendrik and staff, ensuring that the platform aligns with our goals as a district as well as our strategic plan. The first draft of the platform was provided at our June 24th workshop and via email with the request for input from the board and I'd like to thank those members who provided feedback. I would also
014like to note that Miss Eison also met with our lobbyists from Capitol City and was provided feedback as well. After our July 29th meeting, the decision was made to present this draft to the board for a vote so that we as a board and our staff could prepare for our legislative gathering. It to present our platform to the legislative delegation. You all should have received the save the date for that event which is October 1st at Penllis Technical College, the Clearwater campus. and with that, I think you all have had a chance to review it. So, I'll open it for discussion. Mrs. Long. Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Blackburg. You've done a wonderful job. You know, we have to watch very closely this year and not just the federal but the state and we need voices.
015We need support. We can't wait till crisis. So, I am encouraging everyone to this year be very active in going to your legislators, calling, sending emails. If you get the opportunity to go to Tallahassee, they need to hear from us. They need to hear what Penllis County and as well as other districts, but I'm worried about Penllis County. So, get out there. Anyone that's listening, please be a part of this. This is all of us. It's not just the seven of us. So, make your voices heard. We need the advocates. We need your support. And I know the public is really supportive of us. Now we need to just show Tallahassee how supportive and what it means for our children. Thank you, Miss Edmond. Thank you. the platform was created in collaboration as Miss Blackburg
016mentioned with Capitol City Consultants hearing from district staff as what best would be ideal for our platform and some of the items that we have are carry forward from the previous years such as investment in VPK which we know is a foundational foundational block to learning and we know that our district was impacted significantly due to the hurricane. So this platform also has an item related to natural disasters and providing some relief to the district. I would en encourage everyone to review the legislative platform once it's available on our website and help us spread the word regarding our collective priorities as a district to ensure that we are continuing on a path to 100% student success. the platform will also be shared with other groups that we are a part of for stronger and strengthening
017our advocacy. Thank you. Oh, Miss Edmond, I forgot to mention you shared this with the consortium also, correct? I forgot to mention that or you got feedback. Yes. So the platform has been shared with the consortium. Miss Een, thank you very much for your work and your partnership with creating the talking points around this and I'll speak more regarding the consortium during board leadership, but thank you. Yes, Mrs. Kane. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the group putting this together and working so hard with so many other organizations to align not only you know our strategic initiatives but those of the state and some other ones. But I really appreciate there's two really important items on here at least in to me. The first being aligning guidelines for the state with our virtual programs
018to report FTE for all that we offer in Penelis County. I think that is so important as we continue to diversify and provide more opportunities for students in our district. And also there is a part under workforce development for industry certifications to serve as concordance for high school graduation assessments. I feel that as we move forward, I think that is so important and I really, you know, advocate strongly for that not only in our community and beyond. And I think those who really believe in providing opportunity for students in Panelis, this is so important on our state level to make sure that you know students have a variety of paths that they can take and a variety of career opportunities in front of them. So thank you so much for putting this together. Thank you.
019I thought I would just highlight a couple numbers. the item first item under safe and welcoming schools to allocate funding streams that accurately reflect the cost associated with delivering highquality school safety and mental health services. So, I think I mentioned this at a school board meeting recently, but just as a reminder, when it comes to school safety, we are allocated $10 million from the state of Florida, but Penelis County Schools spends about $24 million. So, two and a half times that amount. When it comes to mental health, we are allocated $5.2 million from the state of Florida and Palance County Schools spends $28 million. So, five times the amount allocated. And we know how important these services are to our students and our schools and to their academic success as well as their personal health
020and safety. for just so just when we say when we ask for funding that meets the mandates, those are those are some examples of of just two areas that fall short. any other discussion on the legislative platform? Miss Blackburg, thank you for your work on this platform and I look forward to the future meetings and discussions and just any way any way we can all help and as Miss Long said, continuing to advocate for our community to communicate. I mean, the way they showed up, as we all remember, from the federal funding freeze and hearing them say, "These are our tax dollars. We support our schools and we want them funded." And so, the more the more they can help us spread that message, the better. But thank you for the work you and the
021committee have done on this platform. With that, we have a motion and a second to approve item 8.2. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. New business items introduced by the superintendent, Mr. Hendrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. We did indeed have a great opening of schools last week. You got to see the video there. several board members, most board members out and about opening day visiting schools. It was fantastic. Also want to thank our other partners in the community who supported back to schools from our fire departments to the police. We had mayors, local representatives, all out visiting schools. It was a really great community outpouring. I want to congratulate our schools in particular on successful openings. It takes a lot of work to have all of that work
022well from food service to transportation and everything in between. My favorite back to school story though from last week was from our transportation department which shared that they normally have a call center on retainer to handle the overflow of calls that we received from parents the first week in transportation. And this year they did not have to use that call center because we were able to handle the calls on our own. So they saved money, but more importantly there were fewer calls from parents coming in because buses were running. They were on time and that's just fantastic. I want to thank all of our staff members for their hard work to make it a great first week. And we're into week two, day seven and back to school nights. Some middle schools have back to
023school nights tonight. High schools next week. Elementaryaries have them spread out across the next couple of weeks. So parents, please check your school website for the back to school night to meet your teachers and hear information about your schools. Just before the start of school, we celebrated two ribbon cutings. The first was at Wingingham Oaks K8 School. I want to thank board members for coming out and celebrating that day. The new K8, the Wolves, with a nice deep purple, if you haven't seen their logo. And the next following morning last Saturday, we celebrated the reopening of Golf Beaches Elementary School. it was a great campus environment there. I want to also thank the city of St. Petersburg Beach that came out, their fire department, mayor, lots of representatives to celebrate the reopening. Both campuses look
024great. And I want to thank Principal Lyman and Principal KO for their efforts to get everything up and running. Again, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to have it ready for students on the first day. Last week, we also had the listen and learn session at Ridgerest Elementary School focused on the bridging the gap plan. For those who were not able to attend, you can view it on our YouTube channel. It is there. But we thank the community for coming out and giving us feedback on a bridging the gap plan and next steps to take there. Our next scheduled listen and learn meeting is October 21st. It'll be at Palm Harbor University High School and it's focused on athletics. And speaking of athletics, our students are back in school and so that
025means we're playing sports. high school athletics kicked off last Friday with preseason football games. This week we have swimming, cross country, varsity football all officially start. JV football and golf in a few weeks. Our marching bands are out there with the football teams as well, back in full swing. And speaking of being in full swing, we're looking forward to having more volunteers on our campuses. Last year, we had 25,000 dedicated individuals which contributed hundreds of thousands of hours of service to our students and our schools. There's many opportunities for members of the community to support our schools from tutoring to mentoring and everything in between. So, please visit our website for more information. And finally, today's superintendent standout is Amber Hackett, a school social worker on the school climate and behavior team. She's worked for
026Penelis County Schools for 10 years, and recently one of her colleagues noted that she's had the privilege of working with Amber in her role for the last three years. And in that time, she's been nothing short of amazing. She's always quick to step in and problem solve, no matter how big or small the challenge, going above and beyond for her students and staff. and her deep knowledge makes her an invaluable asset to our team and improving behavior of students. Thank you for what you do every single day. Thank you, Mrs. Tacket, and all of our employees for a great start to the school year. Thank you, Mr. Hendrich. Items introduced by the school board attorney. Mr. Kaperski, I have no report this morning. Thank you. Thank you. Items introduced by the board. Board members. Mrs.
027along. I'm just going to put out a little advertisement this week. I got my mentor reestablishment where you have to make sure you fill out the forms and all. It is a joy, a real joy to mentor. And this is something this is my third year now and I've added some more kids and it's incredible. You know, I'm I'm gonna admit I'm old, okay, compared to the rest of these people. They're young and but I'm thinking about retirement and what what it's going to look like. And there is no no better joy than to see and work with a child who's learning. It will give you all such pleasure. So please, if you've thought about it even a little bit, think more and join because it takes all of us to raise these kids and
028make them strong and successful in school. And I promise you, you won't regret it. You can hold me to it, Miss Peters. Can't remember where all the buttons are. Thank you. I want to first I want to echo what Miss Long just brought up as far as mentoring. I mentored for years before I became a school board member and in talking to other mentors and being a mentor myself. You get so much more out of it than you can imagine and our kids get even more out of it and it's a really small percentage of your time. Mentor one child at a school closest to you or closest to where you work. I promise you it is amazing experience but it benefits them so much. two things I wanted to bring up were opening day
029of our schools. I got to visit five schools, I think, with Dr. Hines. I got to go on the Dr. Hines school tour. but, two two of our schools, Madiraa Beach, Fundamental, and G Beaches. MadiRaa Beach was mostly open, but this was their first year being all back open, back to normal, no more portables. So, it was a wonderful day and it was fantastic energy at MadiRaa Beach and Gulf Beaches. now, this is their first year being open since since the storm. So, thank you so much to our principles, staff, and parents at those schools. It was a it was a big push up to the very last second, but they did it and it was absolutely incredible and everybody was so excited. It was wonderful. And then I would also like to mention to
030the we were discussing the legislative platform. one opportunity for the public to speak to the Panelis legislative delegation is at one of their regularly scheduled upcoming meetings here in Penllis County which is on September 24th at 9:00 a.m. at St. Pete College Clearwater campus. And there is a speaker registration form online and it the deadline for that is September 17th. I strongly recommend if you want to speak to the delegation that you register online ahead of time because they have people speak in the order in which they register. So you can sign up that day, but I don't recommend that if if you can register ahead of time. So again it's online at the penlliscount.gov website. the Penllis legislative delegation Wednesday, September 24th and that's an opportunity to advocate for for our schools and anything
031that you feel is important here in Penllis County. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Edmond. Thank you. Wow. it has been great just to see all of the pictures, visit schools, and even see those morning routines occurring. high expectations is clearly visible throughout the county. So, welcome back. I do have a few things just to mention and one some of it was mentioned already, but I do want to thank the people who were able to attend the listen and learn BTG conversation that was held at Ridgerest. This was the first time that we had the conversation north county or midcount and it was well attended. I appreciate the conversation and I know that it will be very much continued as we move forward with trying to close the achievement gap. Earlier I mentioned the Greater Florida
032Consortium of School Boards and our legislative platform. six of our priority items that was discussed as a group were sent to the consortium for inclusion in the platform. As board members are aware, we'll be meeting next week at the St. Petersburg Hilton to collaborate on what our consortium platform will be which includes 10 other districts and there's also a new component to our work and that is the AI and technology aspect and that meeting will occur on Wednesday and we will have a federal platform as well as a natural disaster hurricane platform under my leadership. So throughout this process, we've known that we are stronger together and the better we are able to collaborate with other districts, the more our advocacy will be heard and seen. So that's just a little bit about the consortium
033meeting that will occur next week. And then Miss Peter, she mentioned the delegation meeting September 24th at 9:00 a.m. I know we haven't had a opportunity to kind of finalize our plans, but I do think when we spoke to our delegation last year at the delegation meeting that was very effective. So I would hope that we're on board with doing that again this year. Okay. And that concludes my comments. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you. Any other board member comments? Okay. Thank you. the next item on our agenda, review of board requests. No requests noted. Thank you, Mrs. Woodford. We will adjourn this meeting and move to public comment. Mrs. Hal, do we have any speakers for public comment? Yes, Madam Chair. There's one speaker. Thank you. Please go ahead. Nicole St. Ledger.
034Good morning. Penelis County has many book deserts where access to books is limited to non-existent. Books and hands impacts children achieving academic success and school is one of the only places books can be accessed for some families. Same families do not have transportation to get to the library or the ability to go during library hours. There are many families that are still dealing with the emotional and financial impacts of last year's hurricanes. These families have spent a year paying mortgages and rents while facing burdensome costs to be able to return to rebuilt homes. And they are not close to this goal. Access to books and schools fills these gaps, allowing the children of Penllis County to achieve academic excellence, which allows the district to continue to be an A district. Books and hands equal higher
035literacy rates. Higher literacy rates equals better academic achievement. Looking at Florida statutes regarding early learning through 20, specifically at section 1000.02, 02 the policy and guiding principles. It is very clear that the expectations in Florida schools are for championing championing students. It discusses a system that is student centered that maximizes academic access and safeguards equality. I question if the district's actions regarding book removals meet these standards. last week's ruling by Judge Mendoza in the case of House Bill 1069 with the plaintiffs made up by book publishers, authors, and Florida parents versus the Florida Department of Education requires an reassessment of what our district is doing regarding book removals. In his ruling, Judge Mendoza listed a whole list of books that did not meet standards to be removed from shelves. And so I ask that any
036book that he lists that has been removed be put back on shelves immediately. I understand the district has decided to wait for the appeals process before allowing the books removed to be returned. Unfortunately, that will take months, if not longer. The state has not even announced as of me driving here this morning that they are starting the appeal. And while you wait, the children in our district lose as access access to academic materials. It also sets up the district for potential lawsuits. By removing books without parent complaint, the district is violating Penllis County famil family's First Amendment rights and is imposing government censorship. By withdrawing books and keeping them off the shelves, possibly for up to a year, it hinders the academic excellence of all of our students in this district. Please bring the books
037back. Thank you. Thank you. One thing I do need to mention is we do have a workshop following this meeting. Mr. Hendrick, but does 11:45 make sense for you and your staff? That's great. Any other suggestion? Fantastic. Board members, 11:45. Okay. So, we'll start the school board workshop up in the conference room at 11:45. Thank you. Thank you for being here today.