001good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Orange County school board's special meeting for Tuesday November 15th 2022. the items that are on our agenda today are from the November 10th 2022 regular meeting that was canceled due to the tropical storm Nicole no no pre-agenda meeting or pre-agenda public input period were advertised or will be held because this is a special meeting all of our board members are no they're not all attending in person we have lost one board member member Lopez because she is now representative Lopez and member Felder is she going to be joining us by phone or do we know okay so we have all members but member Felder present at the time I also want to remind the public that board members will not be engaging in outside electronic or digital communication
002during the meeting so we can focus on the meeting itself and give our full attention to you and the items before us to my fellow board members District staff and members of the public when speaking please make sure your microphone is turned on and speak directly into it so that our YouTube and orange TV viewers can hear you correctly very soon we will be welcoming to a newly elected school board members in accordance with Section 100.041 sub paragraph 3 Florida Statutes States the term of office of a school board member shall begin on the second Tuesday following the general election in which such member is elected later today after our reorganization meeting we will be having a ceremonial swearing-in for our new members who will officially take office on Tuesday November 22nd 2022. after that
003date they will be joining us here on the diocese for everyone that's here this evening thank you again for participating and now we will begin the meeting with a moment of silence and I invite you to join us in the Pledge of Allegiance and now for the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all foreign just a minute if you would so now for the sad part of our meeting we will be saying goodbye to two excellent hard-working board members that I know I've been proud to serve with and I know the rest of the board has been proud to serve with and I'm blessed to call them friends members Linda
004Cobert and Joanna Lopez unfortunately representative now representative Lopez is unable to join us today so let's talk about member covert anyone who knows member covert knows how dedicated she is not only to her family but to her family here at Orange County Public Schools member covert has been representing District 3 for eight years and sometimes I'm sure it seemed like 28 years but even before that she was involved as a blankner parent a parent advocate she was also the co-founder of fund education now which led a push for increased funding something she's never stopped pushing for I will miss her passion her positive attitude and her constant search for common ground during the years on the board member covert helped make sure that Elementary School students were granted recess time that may not seem important
005to you unless of course you're an elementary school student or a parent of an elementary school student or Angie Gallo who is also pushed for this so hard she presided over an expansion in a number of K-8 schools during her time on the board member covert was instrumental in closing the technology Gap by providing all students with digital devices admittedly covet did expedite that mission just a little during that same time ocps greatly increased graduation rates member covert made it possible for students from three schools to interview a Supreme Court Justice Justice Sonia Sotomayor how cool I didn't know that wow and what a wonderful woman she is in addition to her contributions to ocps if Linda wasn't busy enough she had a Statewide influence on schools across the state as an fsba certified board
006member member covert served not only as a board member but on the advocacy committee the ad hoc committee the long-range planning committee the policy committee and as Vice chair of ssfsba legislative committee other committees outside of that she has served on is interim chair of the Central Florida public school board's Coalition equality Florida's Advisory Board Orlando Science Center and the citizens commission for children as you can see member covert has established numerous relationships in the community and many many more relationships with the administration with teachers and with students in her District so as a token of our appreciation and as a reminder of the profound impact you have had on I estimate well over 250 000 students in the eight years that you have been here and the untold number of students whose lives will
007be changed for the better forever whose futures are brighter today than they were eight years ago when you started we would like to present you with a not a plaque a crystal vase to remind you always of the impact that you have made now where is the crystal vase all right let's walk over to the podium thank you okay can we bring can we bring some notes over here because I wouldn't be able to get to it be either oh that is beautiful that is beautiful oh my gosh presented with deep appreciation to Linda Cobert for dedicated service on the school board of Orange County from 2014 to 2022. isn't that beautiful that's beautiful thank you thank you thank you I'm thinking about retiring now okay now okay all right I did write it down
008because I know it wouldn't be able to get through it otherwise my journey to today didn't start just eight years ago started over 20 years ago but eight years ago on the day that I walked into my office upstairs one thing was left behind and it was the groundbreaking shovel for blankner school and I had a little little plaque on it that said blankner K8 2001. because that was the first project that I ever advocated for in Orange County Public Schools and a couple of weeks ago fast forward to current time I did my last dedication at stonewick elementary school it was Dr vasquez's first and it was my last and chair and Maria and I cried through the whole thing and during that dedication at stonewick school I explained to the children what a
009dedication means that it is a blessing of a new building but it is also putting a lot of devoting a lot of time and energy to something that is important what I'm going to miss the most is the dedication of all of the people who work at ocps who have one agenda and that is to serve the children and the families of our community the custodians who are dedicated to make sure that school looks beautiful every day when the children walk in the bus drivers who are dedicated to making sure our children could get to school safely every single day the teachers whom we know are dedicated to our children and their future and their success the principles who do not have a schedule or a calendar and work countless hours and days outside of
010what's expected and most people don't even realize the dedication of our area superintendents our cabinet and our superintendent who also have no calendar and no time clock as they work what is needed because they're dedicated to the students of Orange County and the two boards that I had the privilege and honor of serving with that we all worked shoulder to shoulder because we are dedicated to the children that we serve so I'd like to thank the people of Orange County the community that is ocps my husband and my family for allowing me the privilege to serve and the honor to devote my time and energy to something that is important thank you foreign will take it from here I'm next all right give me just a minute well we have common yeah oh please good
011it gives it gives the chair a minute to to compose after that Linda you have been a comrade in education and in love and doing everything with Grace your stature and power and Clarity have helped guide us through many many difficult decisions you're great at bringing the plane in for a landing I don't know what we're going to do without that and it has been a pure pleasure to serve with you but it's been inspiring to see your connection with the community and your steadfast Clarity on behalf of children I will miss you greatly and deeply and I admire and love you and I really wish you weren't moving but I wish you well and it is time every every path in our life has a season and you've made the decision that you're gone
012to another season and I know wherever you go and whatever you will do you'll have the same impact and passion that you have served here these last eight years so thank you member gold thank you member Byrd Vice chair thank you several years ago when I had made the decision to run for the school board I don't even know if I filed yet but I had I was at an event and I was there with Linda and I did not know Linda at the time but I went up to her and I spoke to her as we were walking out and I told her that I you know had a lot of respect as I as I'd watched her on the board and I would love to sit down and meet with her and she
013you know of course was so gracious and met with me we had lunch and as she's done with several other people along the way over the years I think that consider running for school board she you know is very honest about the job and how hard the job is but she's so caring and compassionate and just so open to supporting other people that she gave me that confidence that final boost of what I needed to be able to Run for the school board so along the way I whenever I had questions I would I would go to her and ask her and she was always just so supportive and such a mentor to me that I don't know that I could have done this job the past four years without you I don't think you
014will ever know what an impact you have on the people around you but she is no one loves children more I always say even member covert she is such an advocate for children and just wants the best education for them and that's so apparent and everything she does and she's so modest along the way never boastful about all the things she does and she fights for and I hope you know that your impact is not I wanted you to know that your impact is not just with the students that you've enriched the lives of all these years serving on the sport but it's also with all the people that have had the opportunity and have been lucky enough to work with you was she the best remember Gallo follow that sorry thanks thanks Madam chair
015thanks Vice chair I know backwards I met Linda gosh I think 2007 2008 it was when we were told that there was this funding Cliff happening and we were projecting an Orange County Public Schools that we would lose around 200 million dollars and sports was going to be a thing of the past it was really dire it was really scary and that was about the time that she formed fun education now and my first internet interaction with Linda was with Linda Christine and Kathleen and they would go around to schools on their own time to present to ptas on the importance of advocating and going up to Tallahassee and making sure that our Voice Was Heard and because of that we didn't we didn't we never saw that funding Cliff that we thought was coming
016and Linda continued year after year to Advocate on on all of our behalfs and it was there's two people two or three people that I attribute all of my advocacy work my all my time I spent in Tallahassee and one of them is Don Stewart I tell this story all the time but the other one was Linda Linda and her group inspired me to want to be involved to be more involved to go up to Tallahassee I was just I think the sac chair back then for East Lake Elementary but just the confidence and I just remember watching the committee hearings in Tallahassee and I'd see Linda go up and speak and like oh my God I know her and she was always I mean it was like I know I know her she's on
017TV but she always spoke with such elegance and such Grace and many times as Christine and I got close you know closer and we were working on things together I was the legislative chair for PTA we would watch board meetings and I don't know if Christine ever told you this but I would call Christine and something would happen on the board meeting and I'm like everybody needs to be more like Linda be a Linda in the sea of everybody be a Linda and Christine and I still joke about that because I'll go I'll talk to her about a board meeting I'm like I wish I was sounding more like Linda I wish I was more of a Linda because we've had some rough times over the last three years and every time you get the
018mic you do handle it with Grace with dignity and most importantly with kindness you're just a kind kind individual and I know you're going to do great things you're going to go on you're going to be fabulous we will miss you we will miss you common presence because some of us are a little hyperactive up here on this board and we know that we can look to you and you're that voice of calm or after you speak sometimes I've I've clicked my button like she said that very well I'm just gonna sit here and be quiet so you will be missed but I just want you know out of everything all the accolades that we've given you today the one that I hold most dear is your friendship and your kindness and all that you
019do for children for staff for everybody out there I know you're going to go onto great things and it's truly going to be our loss up here on the board but I know we'll stay in touch so best of luck to you thank you member gallo Pastor Daniel thank you madam chair I have a similar experience to Angie with your fund education now work that's when I met you too and you were so energetic and you took that fight to Tallahassee which takes a lot of energy and you've always been you've always been a fighter for the kids and for public schools and you've had victories and I appreciate that and then on the board you have set an example for us with your thoughtful measured calm approach that people have mentioned and the word
020Grace keeps coming up you really show Grace Under Fire and like Angie I would also unpush my button to talk after you've said what you Neil Mike she wrapped it up that's that's great so you will be missed you're you've always been available to the board members whether we're new or not so new and I don't realize I don't think you realize how treasured you are and you will be missed but now we can go out to dinner and talk about all sorts of topics without worrying about violating Sunshine all right thank you thank you member Castro Dental remember Felder yeah I do I just I got ahead of it yeah remember yes well thank you chair Linda Linda being the newest member on the board it was a serious learning curve and I really
021appreciate Barbara Jenkins we had long meetings and poor Maria I would just insist that I meet with her for lunch so I could just understand some things and I remember even seeing you sometimes in the parking lot I had an issue and I was getting upset and you're you're calming spirit the Bible talks about putting families in solitary you may not be related to people may not even know them but God has a way of putting people together but like qualities and a person that can almost like you're you're you're opposite but can calm you had such a calming way and I I never felt bad about coming to your office talking about any and everything and being so bold when you were going on vacation telling you I need you to bring me this
022back but I'm really going to miss you even though I admire the courage you took to make the decision to be with your spouse that's so very important that speaks volumes but I was sort of selfish I just wanted you not to go but I did understand and Linda I want to thank you for the listening ear and the calming Factor that exuded from your conversation because I was sometimes so angry and you would tell me how to do it and how to express this way so and then I remember Landing the plane to Pam you always knew how to land the plane God I hope we can land the plane this time around so thank you for your service thank you for your friendship and I'm glad I'm like Karen we gonna have lunch
023because it's not against the Sunshine Law so we can talk but thank you so much for all that you brought to this board and all that you brought to me as a board member and you are my friend thank you so much for antenna Vasquez so much of what has been said has been repeated and what sticks out the most to me is that you have been a true example of what it means to lead with Grace and compassion thank you for all you have done for not only the students of Orange County Public Schools but all of us from the ocps family we thank you and we will miss you thank you well as I mentioned earlier member Lopez can't be with us today as I understand she's on a plane on her way
024to D.C but I did want to take a minute out to recognize member Lopez and then we'll provide her with the crystal vase at a later time School Board member Lopez was the 2017 ocps teacher of the year and a nationally recognized life changer she took her exemplary classroom skills and shared herself with our community for these past four years she was our first Latina School Board member and helped us hire our first Hispanic superintendent having her perspective on our board as both a teacher and a leader in the Hispanic Community was invaluable she extended our Outreach into the community in new ways and helped celebrate both Black History Month and hysteric Hispanic History Month and if there's anybody in the audience who missed this year's Hispanic History Month celebration see if you can find
025it online because it was absolutely incredible and hopefully we will always do it that way in the future now member Lopez is taking on all that she learned as a teacher and a board member to the State House of Representatives we all loved working with her and are thrilled to see her achieve her dreams and we look forward to seeing what this next chapter means to her and means to all of us because we know that member Lopez will never forget that the children come first foreign and now we have a number of proclamations of course I'm sorry remember gold I hope Johanna watches this I want to send a message of gratitude to Johanna she not only looked at things the last several years from the children's perspective but came at it with a
026teacher's lens and was really able to be very insightful on what the impact of some of our policies would be and that was incredibly helpful I'd also like to say Daryl Flynn has a Hispanic background and so while Johanna clearly was very in ingrained in the leadership of the Hispanic Community Daryl also represented that group well but Johanna I am so proud to have served with you I am thrilled that you are carrying the torch for this segment of our state and anything that we can do to be a resource we are happy to provide so thank you thank you member Gould member gallo thank you madam chair and as member Gould said hopefully member Lopez is listening or she'll she'll Circle back on YouTube but I just want to tell Johanna how much I've
027enjoyed working with her she's been my seat mate for for four years we've had a lot of fun together we've had a lot of discussions together we've had a lot me hitting her mic a lot especially the first year I'm like Johanna Mike's not on I would reach over and I would turn our mic on but I just wanted to say I want to thank her for her service I'm looking forward to working with her up in Tallahassee I know that she's going to do great things up in Tallahassee and I have no doubt that she will represent Orange County and Orange County Public Schools and continue to do what is in the best interest of her constituents up there like she did here on our board and I'm going to miss her I'm going
028to miss it beside her and I'm going to miss just spending time with her up to Diaz so I wish her well thank you member Gallo member Cobert thank you chair I too am very proud to call Johanna my friend I was so proud of her when she won teacher of the year she represented us so well as she traveled across the state and we couldn't be more proud of her and then when she ran for school board I was just cheering her on one of the things I admire about Johanna she is our Hispanic representative on the board but she's always been so clear about the fact that she represents everyone all of her constituents and all of the children and families in Orange County and I couldn't be more proud of her for
029that she has shown tremendous leadership skills and I know that she'll go on to do great things and now I can say I have a friend in the legislature and she'll be a resource a champion for children and for all of us as well so I wish you godspeed Johanna and I'll still see you because you are my friend thank you member cover member Felder thank you Johanna yes my partner in crime I'm going to miss you I'm going to miss your laughter and just so many things and I'll always remember the time we were in Tampa and you didn't understand the what is that thing on the car the no you know when you're trying to go somewhere the MapQuest the GPS it was in Spanish and she said to me Vicky I don't
030understand I said I know you don't think I understand I don't speak Spanish oh my God but we were lost but we found our way I'm gonna miss those fun times neither one of us do what we're doing I don't know how we got what we got when we got there but Johanna I'm gonna miss you and I have no doubt in my mind because I watch you on this board be an advocate for teachers for children for parents I know you taking fire to the state legislature you're gonna do that because we need some fire there and I appreciate your work I've been praying for you and we are going to miss you dearly but we I believe that this is just the beginning of your political career so I'm gonna miss you and
031I wish you well and take the fire baby take the fire there thank you thank you member Felder remember Castor Dental thank you madam chair I met Johanna when we were both in the leadership orange class together when she was serving as teacher of the year and even then she provided a lot of perspective to the people who are there from the teacher's perspective and I was also really proud of her when she ran for the school board because I always think you know that someone who's a parent and a teacher and they bring different perspectives and I at the time I thought we really needed that and she did such a great job and when she goes to Tallahassee she's going to be such a legitimate voice for public education and students I remember
032my time there when I was in Tallahassee as a teacher and I was able to correct so many people with on things that they may say and I was able to say that's not actually how it happens that's not actually what happens in classrooms so I trust that Johanna is also going to be able to you know speak truth and I've seen her do it here on the board and I know she will be a force in Tallahassee and I'm proud that she's there and she will be missed here but again we can go out to lunch yes we can we'll be we'll miss you Johanna thank you and to close us out superintendent Vasquez and actually she's trying to call in so we have actually given her the phone number and she should be
033joining us shortly I do want to say thank you to board member Lopez she has been an incredible role model I'm at her strength and her courage and her advocacy is one to be admired and how she has represented not only Orange County but how she has advocated for the communities within ocps and so I am very grateful and I will miss you dearly but I know that we will have you fighting for us in Tallahassee okay we will move on with proclamations until I get the word that we have representative Lopez on the line she is okay we'll start with the proclamations we are proclaiming November 14th through the 20th as National apprenticeship week in Orange County Public Schools we are also proclaiming November 14th through the 18th as National philanthropy week in Orange
034County Public Schools we are proclaiming November 16th as National Education support Professionals Day in Orange County public schools and I would ask Pollard if you would read the proclamation for the board thanks all right again put on pilot 1869 Emerald Cove Boulevard Apopka Florida before I go any further though I gotta say something to miss Colbert just to piggyback on some things they said I remember when I came in about eight years ago representing the workers of Orange County Public Schools and the union of espa I was early for a school board meeting and Miss Colbert stopped me outside we sat down and we had a conversation I won't shout a conversation but we had a conversation but what she made me understand was because it was a contentious time between the union and the
035school board and at the time she made me understand that she was a parent an advocate and that we really were in the same on the same side we didn't talk about the union she asked me what did I think about students in education but from our conversation she called over I think it was Nancy Robinson she's like come over here have you met Ron and we sat out and I think Miss Flynn and then I think it was Christine Moore but we all sat down there together and just had a conversation it changed the way I saw the school board right then on that day I changed the way I dealt with the school board as a union it wasn't a fight because our fight was bigger than this little scuffle we were doing
036with each other so that being said gonna miss you I'm going to miss you and if Miss Lopez is listening my fellow Advocates she and I have stood together in Tallahassee advocating for public schools I know I'm the union president for Alaska but I was consider myself as an advocate for public education more than anything so with that being said I want to get emotional don't you make me cry lady to tell Jacobs or the board members all of you all and superintendent Vasquez I am honored and at the same time I'm humbled to stand here and represent such an awesome support staff here in ocps they give their all every day to ensure the safety and the success of our students all of our students and it's so important for us to know that
037we are appreciated that efforts are appreciated every day even though National ESP day is celebrated tomorrow on the 16th that they are appreciated every day for the efforts I've said it before I'm a grandfather of several kids in Orange County Public School so I fight for them all day long but the fight is for them to get self-respect for them to know that they are needed want it as well as the instruction the staff so thank you for that with that with no further Ado I'm going to read this Proclamation that was given by Owens County Public Schools Proclamation National Education support Professionals Day November 16 2022 whereas public schools are the backbone of our democracy providing young people with the tools they need to maintain our nation's presence precious values of Freedom Civility and
038equality for all and whereas Orange County Public School is home to more than seven thousand three hundred education support professionals who serve more than 208 000 students across 205 School sites wow and whereas education support professionals are integral to the education process and whereas education support professionals contribute to a safe and healthy learning environment for students and whereas education support professionals work tirelessly to serve our students and communities with care and professionalism now therefore be it resolved the school board of Orange County Florida does hereby complaint com Proclaim November 16 2022 as National Education support Professionals Day in Orange County Public Schools and it is signed by Teresa Jacobs chair School Board of Orange County and Maria Vazquez superintendent of Lawrence County Public Schools how soft do you all I think thank you sir can
039I ask you to do me just a favor yes ma'am would you stand there for just a minute longer I have member Lopez on the line and I want to hear from her sure and then we have a couple of school board members that want to talk to you okay do we still have member Lopez let's hear from Amber Lopez member Lopez Mr Pollard was just singing your praise can you hear me yes perfect I have I've yet my voice up too I have like feedback I'm in an airport I don't know I don't know this is gonna work can you hear me right we can hear you very clearly perfect thank you so much thank you Ron for your words good afternoon everyone congratulations to every person who's engaged it mobilizing the voters in
040our communities it has been a fly campaign season before I complete I want to apologize for not being there to concerning the date of this event did not allow me to make changes I am currently in Washington DC advocating for our immigrant family who work hard in sales to get food in our stores and kitchen tables today is a great day not only for our students but also for our staff today you're witnessing a historical moment Again by having the first Colombian Mexican and openly gay school board members in ocps Maria Salamanca I am so proud of you and I can't wait to see what you do for the students teachers and parents of our district congratulations to miss everyone as well my trajectory as a school board is something I will never forget I
041became a school board member because a group of ocps to run a bilingual campaign that allowed us to connect with our community thank you for believing in my story and for allowing me to represent your voice I am so honored to say that I serve the ocps school board with knowledgeable professional and powerful woman thank you to share Teresa Jacob foreign board member covert more member goal or remember and board member Kessler Dental and also the great cardboard we were not in agreement all the time but we listen to each other and respected the conversations it was an honor to work with Dr Jenkins and Dr Vasquez the woman that I admire and respect people remember thank you for equalism without your presentations and training it will be impossible to understand and provide a certain
042presentation for solutions to address our challenges thank you for helping us to stay out of trouble I will never forget the part about Mass mandate after a decorate order from the governor today I want to let you know that I am leaving the boy with the confidence that you will continue to fight for every student especially those most vulnerable like our lgbtq community ESC ort and homeless students that you will continue to fight for instructional and classified employee salaries transparent selection for minority local contractors for the reductions of tests Improvement of safety in our schools and expansion of Mental Health Services You Can Count On My Own conditional support in Tallahassee United were more stronger foreign I love you I am not going anywhere I am still available and present to continue working together for
043stronger public pools gracias thank you and I'll see you soon representative Lopez thank you so much for calling in and sharing those inspiring words for all of us I know the feeling is mutual each and every one of us have enjoyed and cherished the time we had to spend with you and we know we can count on you 100 and that gives us great consolation in spite of the fact that you won't be sitting here with us we know you'll be sitting someplace else fighting for us so God bless thank you thank you bye-bye bye-bye member covert I think you had some words for Mr Pollock thank you chair thank you for sharing that wonderful story thank you for your kind words Mr Pollard and I remember that conversation and it was a light bulb
044moment that we were two people human beings sitting down to have a conversation and realizing that we are indeed on the same side and we've all been able to work together ever since and this Proclamation is important because it recognizes and we recognize that we can't teach the children if they're not driven to school safely we can't teach the children if they don't have a good meal inside their bellies we can't teach the children without the support of our parents who take up that slack and support everything else that we do we can't teach the children without the support professionals that help make it possible and I want you and all of them to understand that we recognize that and we honor them every day and I want to thank you for your steadfast kind
045intelligent leadership and member Vice chair ditto I actually was going to share a little story so last week or the week before I shop around a field trip for my daughter who's in high school her chorus a group of her chorus kids were going to listen to the bot choir rehearsal at the Dr Phillips Center so I was like sure I would love to hear the bot choir so you know it was at night it was an evening show and we had a bus driver who was just amazing he was fantastic okay so he first of all he was really fun he as soon as we got on the bus he said something to the effect of you know I hope everyone's ready for a fun night tonight and welcome aboard and you know he
046was like really entertaining and then he proceeded to encourage the kids to sing which you know you don't have to do with a group of chorus kids and it was really loud and you know but but they were having the best time and he was telling us a story he was telling us how he we were like oh we were like oh it's really loud and he's like I love it I love it and he said I've got this one student that I drive every morning and she's an ese student and she sings The Wheels On The Bus every morning the whole way to school and he said it's the sweetest sound to start my day with and he was just he had to wait extra our thing went late it was like 9 30
047and he you know we're downtown we'd drive all the way back to Apopka still the sweetest most cheerful man made that whole trip so much fun for the kids just the bus ride was fun for the kids and I was thinking you know afterwards that he's he's not a singular case I I talked to bus drivers all the time that feel like those kids are their babies and you know they treasure their job and they're so passionate about it and the same thing goes for the Paris and the our food service workers and they care so passionately and as member covert said we wouldn't be able to do what we do every day educating these kids without all those pieces that we need to make it work and I hope that our support professionals know
048that we value them so much and I hope that you will share this Proclamation with them and let them know that we value them and we treasure them thank you and you of course thank you member Felder yes thank you so much I remember the first time me meeting you the calmness of your demeanor and how you always was very inclusive in inviting me to come to some of the activities of Alaska and when I first went it took me a long time to find the building because I was looking to be past it and then when I got there everything was over you all still entertained me and asked me if I wanted to eat or whatever but I appreciate your attitude the fact that you say you had the conversation with board member
049Cobra and that we really want the same things the district is I mean the board is not the district's enemy we want the same thing so I appreciate because the camaraderie that you showed me and I experienced was very very different than what I expected because when people hear unions they automatically think there's going to be conflict but it doesn't have to be it doesn't have to be so I thank you for your demeaning the way you are leading OS but and that wonderful bridge that you maintain between oespa and the board that's so appreciated I thank you for your service thank you so much thank you thank you member Felder member Gould Mr Pollard you know you are always a voice of reason and a Voice of Truth that we deeply appreciate as we
050move forward through always tumultuous Waters I mean every year we think it's going to get better and there's always some other challenge that comes up it's not always the same challenge but there's a new challenge that we're faced with or a new obstacle or inflation or you know I mean the list goes on but your leadership your always open approach to each of the board members and your steady steady and fastidious leadership of our support folks who really make our operation run is just deeply appreciated so thank you to you and thank you to the team that you represent that makes our schools open close and clean thank you Mr Pollard thank you I think I think board members have made it clear how much we value and cherish that support professionals that we have
051working here and how indispensable they are to the education of our students I just want to Echo some of the comments about the role that you've played because it is most common to have management the board unions fighting against each other and I know why we don't need to because we are on the same side but you recognized that early on and I'm happy to hear about this initial conversation and I think your leadership is absolutely crucial to our continued success if we whether it's our teachers our bus drivers if we all feel like we're fighting each other there's no time left there's no energy left to pour into our kids when we're all fighting together fighting for more money from the legislature it's a hard fight but we have a shot at winning if
052we come together and we know one thing we're not wasting our time on is fighting each other and taking that time away from our precious children the comments about the bus drivers I've heard the same comments from our food service personnel you know about fixing a little meal and sending it home with Johnny because there's nothing at home for his little sister to eat I just I hear the stories all the time the stories of heart and soul and caring and in addition to the service they provide the heart they provide and the heart you provide is even more important so thank you we're so glad you're here today we're glad we have this Proclamation so we have a chance to celebrate you and your team and again I thank you all and remember I'm
053just the face all of them are just like me take care so with that I have a go thank you what a great face okay we have one more Proclamation and that is a proclamation that I am going to ask member Kester Dental to share with the board and the public thank you madam chair this Proclamation is for American Education week and it proclaims the value and importance of public education and I thought it was important to have it read out loud American Education week November 14th through 18th 2022 whereas November 14th through 18th 2022 is designated as American Education week and gives us an opportunity to celebrate the public schools in Orange County and recognize the hard-working education professionals who make a difference every day to ensure that all children receive a quality education
054and whereas since American Education week was first observed in 1921 schools and communities across the United States come together to bring special attention to the importance of having great public schools which are considered a pillar of our democracy and a Cornerstone of American Opportunity and whereas public education shoulders the responsibility of providing students with Avenues to explore discover and gain the Knowledge and Skills necessary to be productive and successful in life and Advance our nation's precious values of Freedom Civility and equality and whereas we are exceptionally proud of our public schools in Orange County which provide opportunities for students to excel in academics Athletics Fine Arts Career Training and extracurricular activities and serve as an integral part of our thriving community now therefore be it resolved the school board of Orange County Florida does here
055by Proclaim November 14th through 18th 2022 as American Education week in Orange County Public Schools thank you thank you member Caster Dental all right moving on to well no not exactly superintendent do you have any newly appointed administrators to introduce yes I do man which I'm going to do them before the Strategic plan yes please okay so we have several new assistant principals we have Jeremiah Carter who will be be the new assistant principal positive Pathways Courtney Frederick the new assistant principal at Roberto Clemente Middle School Carla Kelly the new assistant principal at Bay Lakes Middle Middle excuse me Bay Lakes Elementary Lee Newman the new assistant principal at Dr Phillips High School Darnell Morrell assistant principal at Wekiva High School Kristen urobario new assistant principal at Colonial High School Sandra santile the new assistant
056principal at Shingle Creek Elementary Natalie Shepherd new assistant principal at Deerwood Elementary Amy Smith the new assistant principal in alternative education Justin yacht the new assistant principal at Apopka Middle School thank you and congratulations to all of them and now superintendent Vasquez for the Strategic plan thank you madam chair Dr Kathy Schuler our chief academic officer and her team will be providing the board an update related to Esser dollars that were received in order to address the impacts of covid-19 Dr Schuler thank you good afternoon chair Jacobs board members and superintendent Vasquez we're here today to give you an update on the elementary and secondary school emergency relief funds provided to effectively address significant learning loss and mitigate the impact of covid-19 on K-12 schools when it's all said and done the district will receive
057850 million one hundred twenty four thousand six hundred forty three dollars the funds received from sr1 known as the cares Act are fully expended at 55 million 118 dollars sr2 was received for 244 million six hundred fifty one thousand eight hundred sixty five dollars and sr3 will be expended at 555 million 50 million 19 660 dollars Mrs Gilbert senior director of federal programs will provide an accounting of how funds were utilized to support our strategic plan Mrs Gilbert thank you if we look at our expenditures and tie them to our strategic plan we see that funds were utilized for dedicated high quality teams efficient operations safe working environments and high expectations for student learning which was our PR which was our priority from the onset of the pandemic this included 100 of our funding I'm
058going to provide a few examples of each Grant and as they align to the Strategic plan for sr1 high expectations for student learning we utilize funds for dual enrollment intervention materials in reading and math virtual tutoring and ese supports dedicated and high quality team staff retention substitute teachers for who were out with coven emergency FMLA sick leave positive climate and safe environment custodial contracted labor and supplies PPE nurses HVAC filters and water bottle filling stations efficient operations student devices as we pivoted towards distance learning student social emotional well-being and engage in invested community after two funds expended year-to-date are 235 million 190 778 dollars which is 96 percent of our allocation funding is available through September 30 of 2023 and will be fully expended with sr2 we saw a shift in spending to support high
059expectations for student learning which resulted in 62 percent of our spend support included purchases of i-Ready imagine learning for our ell students student devices teacher devices VPK iPads and refresh of the curriculum volunteer common planning days tier one intervention teachers intervention materials and reading and math summer Extended Learning tutoring ese interventions Staffing Specialists and school clerks for our ese supports and the elevation platform for our El students if we look at efficient operations we note it included staff at the district and the school level some are extended contract days and hot spots under dedicated and high quality team we had summer professional development for instructional and paraprofessionals additional staff positions for the Orange County Virtual School to accommodate the influx of students that we saw due to covet 19. additional assistant principles in our 20
060High need High elementary schools retention supplements for all employees under positive climate and safe environment Personnel to support after hours at our coveted testing sites summer school resource officers nurses if you'll recall the time we had two in every Clinic we now have one reimbursement to the employee benefit trust for covid claims engage in invested Community was utilized to support truancy to locate missing students who did not come back as well as Dropout prevention to support High School home visits student support of mental and emotional support was for SEL training and curriculum please note though additional support for student student mental and emotional health was also provided with many other Federal funding sources funding for sr2 as I said ends September of 2023 the remaining balance of 9 million four hundred sixty one thousand eighty
061seven dollars is four percent of our allocation the funds are allocated in support of I.T initiatives LPN nurses in all schools and additional Esser staff here today we've expended funds as noted above please note that these numbers are fluid and will look very different by the time this is finished in September of 2024 after all expenditures have occurred efficient operations currently leads to charge with 49 of our year-to-date expenditures which includes staff at the district and the school level some are extended contract days classroom audio enhancement in all schools reimbursement to the employee benefit trust GPS units on our buses I know we've seen that recently in the news student devices under high expectations for student learning we have software site licenses for students common planning days extended contract days tier one intervention teachers in
062all schools intervention materials and reading and math summer Extended Learning tutoring Staffing Specialists and school clerks for ESC supports and elevation for El students dedicated high quality team summer professional development for instructional and paraprofessional staff and the retention supplement again for all employees positive climate and safe environment custodial labor and supplies PPE signage HVAC and water bottles supportive student mental and emotional health supports include K-8 guidance counselors social workers Mental Health Counselors Behavior Specialists and program assistants with 25 percent of the allocation utilize year-to-date we are on target to expend at least 50 percent of our allocation by May of 2023. all funds will be fully expended by September of 2024. funds are being utilized for the remainder this year and moving into next year to continue to support our tier one intervention teachers intervention
063materials in reading math and science student device Replacements Staffing Specialists and clerks LPNs retention supplements for all staff professional development opportunities minivans for our hard to Route students and additional guidance counselors mental health and social workers in addition to these Esser funds the district also receives State awarded Esser funds which are distributed through the through to the district from the state's Esser funding the Esser program was implemented to address the impact that kova 19 has had and continues to have on our elementary and secondary schools in order to promote transparency and promote accountability with Esther funds yes their dashboard has been available for public View and is still available via three different ways you can access this dashboard via the Esser page at esser.ocps.net Via the OC pest main page under covid-19 information in the
064dashboard or via the Internet in the ocps department Pages updates to this dashboard are done bi-weekly the dashboard captures year-to-date expenditures across all three Esser grants so as we move forward we began to ask how are we progress monitoring our activities as required of all federal funds we progress monitoring by working with our stakeholders through bi-weekly updates to the dashboard monthly spend reports to senior leadership meeting with fund managers who are overseeing the initiatives at both the district and the school level we constantly are seeking input from our community stakeholders Provide support to school staff and we attend state and federal technical assistance meetings to remain to put forth best practices an ongoing collaboration with research accountability and grants we are analyzing projects for an external evaluation this will allow the district to look at
065the return on investment for these projects and will lead our discussions for sustainability when the funds are fully expended at this point we welcome any questions from the board or from superintendent Vasquez thank you member Gould thank you great presentation I'm very confident that you are tracking and doing everything needed with the money I just have a comment because I have a comment so School nurses this is a this is an ongoing issue for years in the State of Florida and I know it's not within the scope of this grant but we must raise the level of care within our schools to our ends and that would be one thing especially now that the state has a surplus from last year and is looking at a budget surplus going forward that we should try to
066bring back to the legislature there are just too many issues and the ongoing mental and physical health support that a nurse at that level because of their ability to triage and treat is unparalleled so I just wanted that on the record thank you member Gould member Gala thank you madam chair to piggyback off what member gold said I wasn't going to actually talk about this but she brought up a good point about the nurses and their contribution to the mental health of our students but we don't we don't have nurses under the support of student mental health and emotional health they're not included in that number is that correct they're in another one of our buckets they are under I couldn't remember if you said positive climate and safe environment they were under another bucket
067I think they're under dedicated and high quality staff I'm only mentioning that because when you look at when you look at the support of student mental emotional health until you get to us our funds and I and I understand that we got funds drawn down federally from different sources but it looks like we're not putting a lot of money into emotional health and we're hearing consistently from everybody out in the community how important it is right now in our schools that we do concentrate and prioritize the mental health of our of our students and our staff because it's needed and so I just wanted to I just want to clarify because I thought member gold made a very important point about the role that they play but yet they're not included in the mental health
068remember Gala they actually are under positive climate and safe environment okay thank you for asking okay thank you and then I just have a couple of comments no I don't know if they're really questions we see a lot of things that we expect to see in sr1 you know if people are looking at that like during the beginning of the pandemic we had to spend more money on efficient operations because we did need those herpa filters we did need to buy devices we need to do a lot of things and then we didn't the high expectations for student learning we really didn't know what we were dealing with we needed time to kind of regroup get kids back in schools and you saw us progress upward to upward with the high expectations it was 62
069percent in the sr2 funds the efficient operations dropped down we expected to see that because we our needs were less than positive and safe environment makes a lot of sense but when you get to Esther and then the mental health was still kind of kind of low so I'm glad to see that when we go to the Esser two dollars that we're really going to focus on the social and emotional well-being of our kids and that mental health because I'm telling you we've got we've got kids in crisis but I did want to touch on the efficient operations because it did jump back up to 49 for the s or three dollars and we would expect or the public might expect well why should more dollars be put towards high expectations for student learning yes
070or dollars were given to us so that we can make sure that we accelerate learning we Shore up the gaps that we see due to the pandemic so could you just elaborate a little bit about what went into the efficient operations and then I do see that only a certain percentage of our dollars have been spent and if you look at the allocated balance we will be jumping up the student learning piece and even the mental health piece which I'm personally happy to see absolutely so you are correct this is year to date so right now efficient operations is leading the charge but when we project out through September 24 it is not going to be at the top it will be high expectations and learning for students but the reason it's at the top
071right now the GPS units for buses that was a quite large expense as well as our student devices that was over 40 million for student devices for the upcoming year as well as the classroom audio enhancement is new this year so those three things alone helped raise that efficient operator operations piece up and so just and I'm positive we discussed this at the from the diocese but every secondary student got a new device this year I think the devices took a big beating during the pandemic because we allowed our students to keep them for almost two years which is why we needed to go and procure the devices again so I just I just wanted to throw that out there in case there were some questions thank you so much for this presentation this is
072great information thank you member Gallup member Felder thank you chair I so enjoyed our little meeting the WebEx and I most of the questions the concerns I had you know I talked to you all about it but I just sort of want to reiterate that I appreciate your work and I'm I guess I'm on the volition of remember Gallo about mental the concerns of mental and emotional health for our students especially those all of our students but I have a special concern for those that are in District 5. so it is my hope that we will continue to work closer together and that we will come up with solutions that are workable to do our best to make sure that our students have the resources that they need I'm thankful you have done a great
073job in managing the money because you know money is the answer to all things it's looking Ecclesiastes 12. the love of money is root of evil but money answereth all things so you need money sometimes get things done so I appreciate what you all are doing and you have my support thank you thank you member Felder I'm gonna have to Circle back with you on where that was in the Bible I missed that one okay I know it was the root of all evil but I missed the good fight okay so on the subject of mental health the Mental Health commission is going to give a report to the board and the first quarter of next year I don't know if we have a date I think it's but we'll be putting that on the
074calendar but one question I do have Miss Bridges is in the front row and she might be able to help us I think she'll know it off the top of the head top of her head we have a lot of positions that are open for mental health counselors that are not filled with Bridges you want to take the podium for just a minute I you know obviously I share everyone's concern and it's more important than it's ever been but go ahead yes we actually in in sr3 we had funded so that we could put one social worker in every school and one mental health counselor in every school but that's not showing up as what's been Al what's been spent so far because we have not been able to hire all those positions with the
075social workers we have done better with social workers we were able to hire so that we had a social worker in every middle in high school we're still shooting for having a social worker for every two elementary schools but again we are we've been advertising all year long we still have quite a few that have three schools but we're continuing to hire those with the Mental Health Counselors we have we advertised all summer and we're only able to get eight we currently have in the district total 43 but we've been advertising on indeed we just got four off of indeed that we just got through to start interviewing and so we'll continue but the entire Orange County area is having a problem so the agencies and our Senate agencies and everyone's having a problem finding
076those licensed Mental Health Counselors so we're just going to continue to hire as quickly as we can and as many as we can thank you Miss Bridges okay Dr Vasquez comment that we currently have I think 11 million dollars that were spending on Mental Health this year through another Grant so when we look at the total picture we're trying to balance the needs and where the dollars are coming from we definitely know that mental health is very important but we do have dollars in other grants that are helping us provide resources and supports in that area not just Esser good good comment and observation okay we are a wonderful presentation I think we're done but very good presentation we have no public hearings superintendent do we have any changes to the agenda yes we do
077Madam chair item 15.03 the utility easement agreement between the school board and hostime.com needs to be pulled pulled for later this afternoon a future a future agenda meeting okay thank you and before taking up the consent agenda we do have one public speaker Miss Farrell is in the audience and this pertains to I believe item 801 so now would be your time I don't think I no oh yeah would you mind coming over there I don't think I have to run through the whole right you got it memorized right thank you that cuts off five minutes good to see you thanks thanks for having me here I was actually here expecting possibly more comments so I'm here today just to express my support of the approval of our reproductive Health curriculum and just to reinforce
078the duty to uphold my right as a parent to direct the education of my child my children concerned parents that believe this curriculum is a little too much for their student can simply opt theirs out it's the least restrictive means possible to ensure as many parents in Orange County have equal access to their parental rights I'm also here to remind you that language this board will be discussing and approve in policy going forward could very well impact the future of both this program and all of the offerings available to our students most parents in this community feel it is imperative for our students when they leave ocps that they are prepared for the full reality of the world before them that means Educators leading robust discussions about sometimes hard and highly debatable topics it means
079books containing straightforward factual and relevant information they should be accessible to our students whether in the classroom and especially on Library shelves for individual supplemental learning and no student should be limited in their education here because of a single concern of one parent Community member or group the freedom to explore Concepts and challenge beliefs they are that is pivotal it is a pivotal part of our democracy and you all have been elected to defend that right for every student here in Orange County so please approve this curriculum today and thank you thank you member covert thank you member Lopez for all that you have done and I look forward to the new board thank you thank you all right do we have a motion to approve the agenda as Modified by the superintendent still moved
080motion by member Gallo is there a second I mean remember covert oh gosh what a bad day to do that seconded by member Gallo I could see her face down there about to jump one I am so sorry that was just can I just fall under the desk disappear all in favor of amending the agenda please say I opposed all right and now for the approval of the amended agenda is there a motion moved by member covert seconded by Vice chair all in favor please say aye aye aye and the motion carries again unanimously said we have no public hearings let me ask superintendent do you have a report would be very quiet it will be very brief I did want to share that we have started our community meetings both our employees and for
081our parents and community members they are posted on our website we are getting tremendous feedback from them as I Journey on my first 100 days so they've been going they've been well attended and I look forward to seeing many of our community members at those meetings as well as our employees thank you thank you general counsel do you have a report I do just two short messages last week we attended our Florida school board attorneys Association and Mr palmerini will be our vice president next year and I will be our Treasurer next year and another important thing that you'll hear about in the future but I want to go ahead and tout Mr pomerany's Praises here he was voted by our colleagues for the sea Graham Crothers Award of Excellence which means that he is
082and some of his colleagues told him he was faster than Westlaw and for those who that know that we use Westlaw so Mr palmerini always helps our fellow School Board attorneys across the state very quickly because he has that innate ability to capture a statutory language and case law quickly so we'll be hearing about that in the future thank you thank you congratulations do we have any committee reports yes Madam chair please so we did have a legislative committee today and the platforms for the federal platforms and the state platforms did get approved through the committee and will be brought forward to the board at our next board meeting in December member Gould was not allowed or was not allowed she was allowed was not able to be at the meeting due to some confusion
083and she would like to bring them some topics now regarding those approved platforms thank you thank you member Gallo so I had a great conversation with our Administrative Professionals group yesterday and we were talking about you know the challenges especially in our more complicated schools and knowing there is some money in Tallahassee I'm wondering if there could be a legislative remedy for incentivizing administrators and teachers to work in those schools and have a pot of money that comes from them that would allow us to augment salaries for for people that take those posts and I would say even support staff that serve those schools as well there's a lot more wraparound services and time that needs to be spent in our Title One in some of our schools that really struggle with with poverty and
084inequity and I would really like to be able to explore if that may be possible and maybe work with all of our associations and unions to to bring some kind of a platform like that forward if the board thought that was a good idea yes member Felder you want to comment on that yes I would and thank you so much member Gallo for opening it up so that member Gould could share that information I too am extremely concerned about what is going on in our schools was Community but it's pouring into our schools it's not our schools it's a community and from my understanding their memorable there has been quite a bit of dollars already been expended to cities for these kinds of programs that are to try to as you say augment some of
085these concerns I think the concern perhaps superintendent is that choosing the right people to run the programs and that may be something that is going to take more than this kind of discussion on this board like this because I'm so serious about doing more than just ad hoc just talking about it because this board is made up of intelligent people in this District what I've learned since the three years I've been a part of this board we have some wonderful wonderful programs going on this district and people who are in positions that know exactly what they're doing but we need to because some of the situations have become dire that's the best word I can think of dire it is gonna have it's gonna be incumbent upon us as a school board to protect our
086schools in protecting our districts because we got to get on top of what is happening and if there's monies available and the legislations pieces of legislation that goes out we need to make sure member Gallo that IT addresses what we need because I believe that the situation can be fixed it can be fixed but you can't put a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound you got to clean the wound out and then you got to put the proper bandages on it and then you got to do it get medication to make sure that it's completely sealed and it won't return so those are my concerns and I think I have a meeting a superintendent and I have our last session tomorrow so I can specifically share with her my specific concerns and some ideas that I
087have in regards to what remember ghoul was saying because I think remember Gould's District remember Birds district and mine we got some issues that need to be fixed and we are the ones that do it we have the ammunition to do it we just need to know how to navigate it superintendent in such a way in attorney involving John so we won't get into trouble but we need to really get on it and work with what we have because we have the materials we just got to be in charge of the navigation y'all understand what I'm saying we got to be in charge of that navigation so the change the change will occur I thank you for bringing that up mimical thank you Grandma remember Gala thank you madam chair I so I agree with
088member Gould if I think that's something that I think would be worthwhile to work on my question I guess would be Jason's not here is he I guess I see Scott in the back Mr Howard if we have like a current platform that would fall under or if we would need to add to our platform prior to the next board meeting people like what we can look okay we can look at it because it might fall under one of our current platforms and we could then have a conversation about how to do it elongate again yeah it just in follow-up so I don't think I clearly articulated we have people abandoning the pathway of Education and we need to look at every opportunity especially in our underscurved neighborhoods where you know it's there's there's just
089many more wraparound Services we need to provide so I wanted to make that clear in case anybody was listening to this I know we understood that but I wanted to make sure the community understood that and there was one other follow-up and that has nothing to do with the legislative Pro policy but maybe we can discuss it at another time or the superintendent can take a look at it there are some requirements to becoming a principal and even if somebody has done every job under the sun and they have the resume to back up the credentialing they have they have to go through the two years and some of that is our expectation are there some waivers that could be created and again back to the state and we may not need to put it
090on the legislative platform maybe this is a doe conversation are there some waivers for people who have that depth of experience have that Masters that maybe they could test out of the two years as long as they've had five years of experience across the board I don't know but it seems like we have a pipeline shortage and not enough time even with people who might be very qualified and very good principles to move into that principleship and I know we've been trying to do that with teachers as well clear that pathway to certification so that we can get good people in the classroom who really have a heart for education and so that is just another piece of this again not sure lands on the legislative platform maybe more policy Madam chairman absolutely so yes
091some of that we can tweak what we have found prior to covid is that starting the preparing your principles program during their first year as an assistant principal is not the best because they're learning the job and really are not able to internalize and understand all the content that goes through it so some of that we are able to adjust some of that is required by the state some possible good news is that we are working with UCF that through possibly through their master's program they would be able to graduate and then have what it takes to move into that principal pool and I know that Dr Bradshaw is engaged in that work with them and Harold border has also had conversations with them so that is one possibility of how we may be able
092to shorten the time for those that are getting their Ed leadership degrees at the University of Central Florida all right if there's no further business to come before the board then we are adjourning actually I think under Robert's rules that we need a motion and a second to adjourn I know I just yeah I was just looking that up I don't think so I moved to adjourn the meeting thank you thank goodness all in favor opposed I you know that's the only thing I was looking at and I'm like what's going to happen if it fails yeah I guess we'll keep going and the vice chair will take over all right we'll see everybody back here there's a reception at three and then we'll be back here tell me if I'm right 4 45. and
093that's for our reorganization meeting and swearing in okay okay okay my mouth just on top of this okay okay