OCPS | 2026-05-12 School Board Meeting

001It's not too bad. I mean, it's just people yelling at us all the time. We are going to get started in two minutes. So board members that are out there, start heading up. 30 seconds for folks in the back. Okay, good evening everyone and welcome to the Orange County School Board's regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, 2026. Thank you so much for joining us today. Board Member Ferron, Douglas, Byrd, Vanos, Gallo, and Felder are present today. They'll be right here. We were just, we had a very long public comment so folks are going to be trickling in. And Chair Jacobs is absent today so you're stuck with me. But as a reminder, board members will not engage in any outside electronic or digital communication during the meeting so we may focus on the matters

002immediately before us. 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 our youtube and orange tv viewers can hear you clearly again thank you so much for participating tonight's meeting at this time i would like to recognize member gallo who has requested a personal point of privilege thank you madam chair um it is actually with great sadness that I asked for this, this personal point of privilege. Last week we lost one of our own at Riverdale Elementary. Naomi Montilla was just, you could see by her smile, she was just a ray of sunshine. She started at Riverdale when she was just 18 years old. She was a graduate from University High School. Sylvia Boyd who was the principal

003that opened up Riverdale saw something special in her and immediately hired her to be a PE para at the school. Since that time, my daughter, a couple years later, my oldest went to Riverdale for her kindergarten and first grade year. That's how I got to know Naomi. But during her time at Riverdale, which she's been there since it started, she was a paraprofessional, and then she got her teaching certificate, and she taught, and then she went back, and she got her master's degree, and she was an art teacher at Riverdale. She was... a beloved member of the Riverdale community and to say that they are heartbroken and shocked would be an absolute understatement. Nobody expects to lose somebody as vibrant as Naomi at such a young age. So I'm just asking as we stand and

004I do have a resolution that I'm gonna read but I'm asking as we stand for a moment of silence that you keep her in your thoughts and your prayers. Her dedication and commitment to the students and staff were unwavering at Riverdale. She will be a forever Royal and the kids absolutely adored her. So the impact that it's had on the Riverdale community and on the students. Has been unfathomable and I'm still in shock that the next time I walk through the doors of Riverdale that she won't be there and um and so I just please keep her family and And the Riverdale family and your thoughts and prayers because they're going through a really really hard time And so with that I'm just gonna read the resolution if I can get through it. Thank you.

005Um Whereas Orange County Public Schools mourns the passing of a dedicated former art teacher who served Riverdale School with distinction and commitment, Naomi Montilla, who departed this life on May 6, 2026. And whereas Naomi faithfully served Orange County Public Schools for 20 years, demonstrating professionalism, integrity, and a deep commitment to the mission of our organization. And whereas... During her tenure, she made significant contributions to Orange County Public Schools, leaving a lasting impact on students, colleagues, and the community. And whereas she will be remembered not only for her professional achievements, but also for her kindness, generosity, and dedication to her students. And whereas Orange County Public Schools extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Naomi, now therefore the School Board of Orange County hereby honors the memory of Naomi Matila. and

006expresses its sincere appreciation for her years of service and contributions to the students of Riverdale Elementary School. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution will be presented to the family of Naomi as a token of respect and gratitude. Thank you. Member Valle. I will have a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And now for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and into the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Dr. Williams, were there any changes to the agenda? Vice Chair Salamanca, yes. 8.08 is being pulled because there was an error in the language. Valencia is requesting to correct the error, and we will bring it back at the next board

007meeting. That's 8.08, dual enrollment articulation agreement with Valencia College. Okay. So I find cause to amend the agenda as requested for 8.08. I will entertain a motion to amend the agenda. So moved by Member Ferrant, seconded by Member Douglas. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries in intimacy. If there are no other changes to the agenda, then I will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda as posted. Moved by Member Ferrant. Adopted as amended. Sorry? Adopted as amended. Oh, sorry, as amended. Motion by Member Ferrant. Second. Second by Member Burke. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. anyone to post motion carries all right this is a time in our meeting where we highlight students staff members and community leaders who have contributed to the ongoing success and excellence of

008our district it's always inspiring we love this part of the board meeting and i think we started off with someone that exemplified that in district one our first recognition honors the hidden genius behind the official ocps social media accounts Samantha Wise is the force who has changed your digital presence from a place for simple announcements to an interactive hub of OCPS joy. Mrs. Wise, please come forward so we can recognize your achievements. we're so proud to celebrate you today the first ever national winner of the pr news best event content marketing strategy category for your work on the stellar awards while she shares credit with the communications team it is her with the specific vision that earned this national recognition for all of us that have been to the stellar awards it truly is an

009incredible event and your vision has fully come through Ms. Wise elevated social media experience by building excitement around the surprise squad notifications of stellar finalists and amplified local school celebrations. Because of her work, video views doubled and she's helped our honorees truly feel like loyalty in OCPS. During her three years here, Ms. Wise has delivered huge results. Her social media followers have grown from 78,000 to more than 220,000, which that is a lot on social media. She brings a sharp analytical eye to everything she does, finding new ways to engage our families and students and community. Ms. Weiss also received a lovely plaque to commemorate this award. Thank you for sharing the heart of our district with the rest of the world and our community. We could have done it without you. And before we

010get together for photos, we want to acknowledge a few other key contributors to this effort. They're members of the public relations team who were involved in the strategy of the stellar social media campaign, event senior manager, Catherine Lentini, manager of photography, Frank Weber. Frank, I didn't know that was your official title. There we go. I know who Frank, but okay, now I know your fancy title, manager of photography. But you're the manager of that one. Public Relations Assistant Director Lauren Roth and Sales and Marketing Assistant Director Adrienne Newell. Thank you for all your efforts to help celebrate all the stellar honorees in our district. Come on up so we can get a picture together. Frank you have to get into it. You have to get in. Come on in Frank as the manager of photography.

011That's really brave. If you can't see the lens he can't see you. There you go. Act happy Frank, act happy. And shingle, shingle fish. Hold on, hold on. We'll save her. She loves this. You've definitely felt the social media presence. Thank you so much. Our next recognition is a special surprise for a true community legend. We are honoring a man who has spent decades fighting for children of Orange County. As a proud product of our schools, Jake Batchelor has never wavered in his commitment to public education. Mr. Batchelor, please come forward so we can celebrate your incredible legacy. While many know Mr. Batchelor as a respected legislator, his work for OCPS has changed our landscape. In 2002, he lent his credibility to the initial half-cent sales tax campaign. He's helped turn the tide of public

012opinion in favor of our schools. He never backed down. He also co-chaired the Change for Kids campaign to renew the tax in 2014 and again in 2024. It is no overstatement to say that Mr. Batchelor played a pivotal role in a way our district serves our students. His efforts are directly tied to maintenance and upgrades that have touched every school in our district and that we all see when we drive by. Beyond the brick and mortar, Mr. Batchelor is a fierce defender of public education in an era where schools feel under assault. He's a powerful voice. He reminds us all that public education is the backbone of our democracy. Mr. Batchelor, your dedication has built the foundation for our students. And at this time, our Chief Communications Officer, Skyle Howitt, will come forward to present

013you with a plaque for our deepest appreciation. It includes a copy of an op-ed that you wrote defending public schools at the start of the legislative session. I think we all probably emailed you about it individually. Fairly sure. But thank you for being one of our greatest champions, and I believe that you also have a few words. Come on up. But I'll be brief. In conclusion... Just two or three quick points if I might. Thanks for sending me an extra Mr. Pencil over there because you can decide which one is the character and which one is the caricature. So thank you. Very quickly, I grew up in North Carolina but moved to Orlando when I was 10 years old. I lived in Reeves Terrace on South Street, which is still their public housing. I went

014to Reitner Elementary School. Then as I tell people, my father got rich, we moved to Orla Vista. And then I went to Orla Vista Elementary School. And then back in the day, Evans was a junior and senior high school. So I went there, graduated from there. And parenthetically, I will tell you that one of my teachers, team teaching was big back then. One of the team teachers was Don Shaw, who taught me English. He taught me the Scarlet Letter, which may or may not be on the banned book list. I don't know. But he taught me the Scarlet Letter. He went on to become the superintendent of public schools. But let me say something about the campaign. The most important thing about this campaign is I say as a child advocate, you have to put

015a face on it. And it's all about the children in the end. And so the community really, really came together. When they first approached me and said, would you mind raising a half a million dollars and launch a campaign to half a penny sales tax, they told me they tried six times in 20 years and they failed every time. So that was encouraging, to say the least. But the community came together, and we talked about the needs of these children. Originally, there was 138 schools on the list that need to be replaced or repaired, 138. Now, the half a penny of sales tax is raised, I think, in excess of $4 billion. And it's a testimony to the community and salute to the school board that you did what you said you were going to

016do. We're going to spend this half a... penny sales tax and build these new schools in these communities that need them and rebuild the schools and the communities that had been had been neglected for years. And my last thing I want to point out is the community came together in support of the children in the school board and because of the leadership of the school board you're doing what you said you would do. But also we had it was a very interesting group because the Chamber of Commerce really kind of helped lead the effort. the realtors came together. The Classroom Teachers Association were in the trenches with us. The PTA was in the trenches with us. So I had broad-based appeal. And again, when it passed a second, third time, I think, frankly, I think,

017Scott, I think the last time it passed by 60-plus in the vote. And also I know that you've got the ad valorem on the agenda which is another tribute to the school system and the support it has from the teachers and the students at large. But thank you for all that you do. I mean raising the money was, you know, the campaign was one effort, but also it... puts it in your hands to do the right thing and what you've done is really emblematic of what your commitment is to public education schools. I'm a big advocate for public education. I have some other thoughts which I won't share with you today about public education in the cuts in Tallahassee, but we can talk about that later. But I'm a big supporter of public education. It

018is the backbone of democracy. It is extraordinarily important, public education. So thank you for the recognition, but really I want to publicly thank the public, and I want to thank you for your leadership in doing what's right by these children. Thank you. Thank you so much. he's coming up for a photo board real quick yes of course 72.06 percent highest in the state on a on a renewal of a half cent sales tax so we appreciate you for that and this is also a copy of the op-ed that he put in the Tallahassee democrats so we framed it has a picture of him and of course Dick Batchelor is a OCPS hall of famer so it's great And we have member Felder that has a few words. Member Felder. Thank you so much, Chair. I

019just could not let this moment pass without saying something about the Honorable Dick Batchelor. Even when he was in the state legislature, I remember what an advocate he was for the people. In my first year running and after winning in 2020, he came to my aid and explained a lot of things to me and said he would be there to help and assist, and he is still. doing some of those wonderful things. There are young people that he helped because they were in abusive situations. And some of those people right now, they now have homes or they work with children who are in abusive situations. His work has not stopped them. When we were in front of Howard, just before that renovation, how he stood and helped us with the taxes. So Dick, I just

020want to let you know that we appreciate you. I remember. as a student and now as a young adult and now a member of the board i always remember you and i remember the work the name dick bachelor was through my home and my household and i want to let you know i thank you for your advocacy it's real and it's on purpose and it's intentional and i thank you so very much thank you member vanos Thank you so much as usual Vicki speaks before me and then it just ruins it for me, but Want to also thank you so much for the work that you've done You know, I were at a time right now, especially especially if you were here since for where There are a lot of people who are concerned about

021decisions that are being made right now at the school board level. And what I really appreciate about your work is that you keep the big picture in mind. That the problem isn't this decision or that decision. The problem is we are not getting the funding that we need. and your advocacy has always been on the front lines making sure that we have the funds you know get as much funds as we can to support our students to support our schools to support our educators so thank you so much for always keeping that big picture in mind it all comes back to funding and i appreciate the the work that you've done in that area so thank you yes we recently had a facilities workshop where we kind of go through what is being done with

022this money and report back and also do some strategic talking about it and we don't expect people to read it's one of our longest longest work sessions but a few numbers that I pulled from it that really speak to how impactful your work has been since 2011 nearly three of every ten new K through 12 public schools in the state of Florida were built in Orange County and at least 136 schools will have been renovated or replaced since the voters approved the sales tax in 2002. and so orange county truly is a leader and unique in how our facilities have been kept and upgraded i tell this to parents all the time because of your work and our ability to be able to rebuild facilities and renovate and the comprehensives that we do, our schools

023are probably some of the safest in the state because we are always up to the best and latest standards. It's something that I think we always are trying to do a better job of communicating, but none of that would be possible without your work, your advocacy, your... large um vision and and long-term thinking so thank you uh truly we need so many more leaders like you but we appreciate the champion you've been for for orange county public school so thank you for that that's usually how it goes we won't ask it's usually how it goes um but thank you mr bachelor for all the ways you have contributed to the district Moving on, in our community we know that many students struggle to afford even the most basic school supplies. For years our teachers stepped

024up to help purchase these necessities out of their own pockets. A Gift for Teaching was founded in 1998 to help solve that problem. Its mission is simple but essential, which is to bridge the gap by providing free backpack basics, plus musical education and art supplies to the students who need them most. I'd like to invite the leaders here representing that mission to join me up front including Jane Thompson the president and CEO of the organization. Since its humble beginnings in a small storefront this organization has grown to serve every corner of our district. By rallying local donors and volunteers it has turned a scarcity of resources into a steady stream of support. whether it's through storefronts or the pencil boy express mobile units which we see Mr. pencil boy here today A gift for teaching

025has become a dependable partner for our educators. It ensures a student's zip code never determines access to the tools of learning. It is my honor to announce tonight that a gift for teaching has reached a monumental milestone. $200 million in school supplies distributed to our teachers and students, or an average of $82,000 worth of supplies every single year. Woo, let's give a hand and applause for that. This achievement is a testament to the hard work of its entire staff the board of directors and thousands of volunteers and donors This work ensures that our students walk into classrooms prepared confident and ready to learn Please join me in congratulating the entire team on reaching this huge milestone and let's get some pictures to celebrate Thank you so much for everything and now we have pencil boy.

026That's that's Member Felder, that's a boy. I'm professor was trying to remember the name do we come back do we want us to go back down there is that easier okay we're good all right with each of us yeah right here right here oh thank you thank you guys i got a pencil see there's perks there's some parts to the job thank you pencil boy You will do. We got the B team today. It's fine. Absolutely. Your whole team and organization, please come on up. That's wonderful. This is probably one of the coolest kids. You have a really big head and you're blocking school board. You don't have to knock, that's fine. Good, happy on three. Good, one, two, and three. Let's do that again. Hold on, have some boys blink. Thank you so much.

027This is so cool. I'm keeping this. I'm not giving it to Jacobs. Absolutely not. I think it should go right back there. That's a good spot for it. Oh, that's cute. We won't be telling Jacobs and Dr. Vasquez about those cool pencils. But thank you so much to the team of A Gift for Teaching. Your incredible support for teachers and students really make a difference every single day. Building on that spirit of community partnership, we now want to recognize a special group of leaders. These individuals have spent months of diving deep into our district through our Leadership Orange experience. Today, Class 15 is ready to serve as informed advocates for our schools, and we're excited to celebrate their commitment. To share more about their journey and introduce the group, I invite our Director of Public

028Relations, Jason Smith, to the podium. Thank you, Vice Chair Salamanca. It has been a privilege to work with this group and see their passion for our district this year firsthand. Our program takes leaders behind the scenes to show exactly how we support 201,000 students every day. Since September, this class has dedicated one Friday each month to exploring campuses, engaging with staff, learning the inner workings of our district, and also the perennial favorite of driving a school bus, which we will not show you this year because Frank was not there this year. Can't take bus driving day off next year. This year we also expanded the program for the first time by welcoming five OCPS employees who have completed the Management Leadership Academy as another professional development opportunity. So our class includes an additional employees this

029year. The class invested their time learning alongside our community members through candid discussions with division chiefs and deep dives into departments like multilingual services, athletics, and homeless education. So before I introduce the graduates, we have a special recognition. Starting last year, this is our second year, we have featured student artwork on our diplomas. That's right. This year's artwork... is a photograph titled A Silent Ballet of Wings and Water and the artist Riley Porter is a 10th grade visual and performing arts magnet student at Dr. Phillips High School Riley will you join us up front Riley's work has earned national and local honors including the Weiland National Arts Challenge and first place awards at the Central Florida Fair. So Riley thank you for sharing your talent and providing the artwork for this year's Leadership Orange. I

030will join, I have a photo with, I'll join you for a photo I guess. All right so let's uh if folks could join. Now before I introduce the class I do have one more special point as many of you may and some may not know board member Angie Gallo was in our original class one of Leadership Orange every year we stand up here and she comments on how the diplomas are better now than they were before so we did take the liberty this year of Thank you. Thank you. So with that, it's my honor to recognize the graduates of Leadership Orange class 15. As I call your names, you can come up and Catherine will present your diploma certificate. You can gather up front and then we'll take a group photo at the end. Just

031a quick note there. You know, remember, Gal is not the only one on the board that has gone through the program. She's just the one that mentions it every year. Correct. But there's multiple people here that could get. some gif, but it's okay, we moved past that. I just wanted a clarification. So first up is Adam Tross, Amy Bogert, Annie Myers, Aldra Fern, Boris Onate, Candice Delancey, Cherise Fustner, Courtney Hoffman, Daisy Franklin, Gloria O'Neill, Julia Alcero, Juliana Marquez, Justin Offit, Kaylee Moore, Kim Wahagen, Lauren Graham, Luba Vasileva, Marcie Hoppe-Mollenberg, Margarita Asbell, Marta Perez, Michelle Sanchez, and Tij Braun. So are we ready with picture? Okay. Photo with the board. Did you guys have a class with the manager of photography? Because that should be a class. Good. Look up. Look happy on three. Good. One,

032two, and three. Stay there. One more. And then artwork over your head if you're excited. Yay! That's good. That's fine. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Smith. It is a pleasure to see the new class of Leadership Orange grads take their knowledge of OCPS through Central Florida and beyond. And as shown by our great record of school board members, perhaps one or many of you will be joining this board in the future. Continuing with our recognitions, I would like to ask Deputy Superintendent Martinez to tell us about a few honorees this evening. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair Salamanca. Good evening, everyone. It is such a joy to recognize a vital member of cabinet who truly lives by her favorite motto, to do everything in the spirit of excellence. Dr. Tashonda Brown Cannon, please come forward

033to be recognized. We are here to celebrate Dr. Brown Cannon. for receiving the Outstanding Leadership Award from the local Beta Xi chapter of the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa. This is such a prestigious recognition. For over a century, this sorority has been a premier organization for professional educators dedicated to the gift of teaching. This award is reserved for leaders who work tirelessly and effectively to prepare our youth for the future. Dr. Brown Cannon, this honor reflects your 25-year journey with OCPS. We saw your heart for this work when you led Tangelo Park Elementary to five straight A ratings, and we see it today in your role as our Chief Academic Officer. You are a fierce advocate for student achievement. You ensure our high-need schools have resources that our teachers have a leader who truly

034understands the classroom. You don't just manage, you mentor, uplift, and inspire everyone around you, including me. It is wonderful to see your dedication recognized by such a respected group of fellow educators. Dr. Brown Cannon, thank you for your leadership and for everything you do for the children of Orange County Public Schools. Let's get a photo with the board. I'm also proud to recognize two other cabinet members marking significant milestones with their years of service pins tonight. First, we celebrate Doreen Concolino, our Chief Financial Officer. I know how much she loves surprises. I know, I know. We are celebrating Doreen for an incredible 31 years of service. We value her fiscal leadership, meticulous accuracy, and devotion to Orange County Public Schools. Next, we'd also like to take the opportunity to recognize Roberto Pacheco, our Chief Operations

035Officer, who is celebrating 20 years of service. Roberto? Roberto, thank you for ensuring our district operations run seamlessly every day and for bringing new perspectives to Cabinet. Once again, thank you for joining me in honoring Mrs. Concolino and Mr. Pacheco for their decades of distinguished service. All right, photos. Congratulations. Thank you and congratulations again, Dr. Brancannon, Ms. Congolino, and Mr. Pacheco. We are so fortunate to have your talent and dedication serving our students at the district. Deputy Superintendent Martinez, can you please tell us about a special investment in one of our innovative school concepts? Absolutely. I'm grateful to serve on the board of the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. It is a privilege to stand before you tonight as we recognize a truly transformational investment in the Cherokee School. As you heard during the

036November 6th work session, this school represents a bold vision for Orlando's future and a model that does not exist anywhere else in public education. What makes this school the first of its kind is the way its elements work together as one integrated system. It is a contemporary arts and technology school with extended studio blocks supported by virtual academics, giving students the flexibility to pursue personalized pathways. Admissions are district-wide and portfolio-based, opening access to talent across our community. The three areas of specialization, digital media and design, sound production, and cinematic arts are intentionally interconnected so students learn to create across all disciplines, the way local industry workplaces function. Instruction is strengthened by visiting professionals and higher education partners, all housed in a restored 100-year-old landmark designed for this unique program. Together, these elements create a school

037that is not only innovative for OCPS, but a regional asset that strengthens the local labor pool and ensures our region's employers have access to graduates who are ready to contribute from day one. It is a model that prepares students to successfully navigate into and within the creative innovation economy, and one that has already earned the confidence of community partners who see its value in the Central Florida's future. Tonight, we have the honor of recognizing one such partner whose philanthropic leadership helps make this vision possible. Dr. Phillips Charities has shaped Orlando's cultural identity for generations, and its investment in this project continues that legacy in a profound way. This is more than a contribution to a building. It is an investment in young people, in their passion, their potential, and their place in the future of

038Orlando's innovation economy. At this time, it is with great honor to introduce Mr. Ken Robinson, President and CEO of Dr. Phillips Charities and Terry Prather, Chairman and Director. Interesting enough, that was the speech I was about to give. Different Jose. I think the better looking one gave the speech. So, you know, but but no, I I want to just to if I could come off the speech so I don't have to repeat it. But I'm Jose Fernandez. I'm a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. as many of you know from our november meeting i've been asked by superintendent to lead the effort to raise the the capital uh campaign for for the project and it truly is my honor to um introduce the two gentlemen behind me

039who are going to be making a very special announcement so with that with that said i'd like to introduce dr phillips charities president and ceo ken robinson and chairman of the board of directors terry prather thank you Thank you, Jose and Vice Chair Salamanca, board members, Deputy Superintendents Williams and Martinez, thank you for having us here. We're excited to be here. Dick Batchelor, I think we've crossed the same path. I think it was close to a Star Wars kind of event. My mother grew up in Reeves Terrace, the original public housing. I went to Orla Vista, then to Evans High School. Like Dick, I lived on the left-hand side of the bell curve. for grades somewhere on the left hand side of the bell curve but somehow managed to make it through so thank you

040for what you've done to make the money that you've raised help goes into cherokee just like what we're thinking we're looking to do here we're excited about this uh cherokee is just a few blocks from where the dr phillips families lived on lake lucerne there and arts were exceptionally important to them and bringing arts all of the arts together so that they can cultivate, grow together, learn together in this Central Florida environment is so critical and important to us. Terry? So on behalf of the Board of Directors at Dr. Phillips Charities, it's really an honor to be able to invest with you in the vision that this board has shown to lead our children to the next generation, to the next century. I mean, this is important. We're in a very competitive society, and what

041you guys do every day. is prepare our kids for the future and we're honored to be able to invest alongside with you to make this a little bit better so on our behalf we'd like to present to orange county public schools two and a half million dollars towards the work of cherokee high school um deputy superintendent williams also has a few words so hang tight for her to find her seat again Before we move to the next agenda item, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what this gift means for our students and families, and especially the community. What we witness just represents more than just a ceremonial moment. It reflects a partnership rooted in history. community and in a shared belief in what our young people can achieve. At the heart

042of the school is the historic the historic Cherokee School Theater. For generations has been a gathering place for students, families, and for this community which raised me. I am I was born and raised in this community. Restoring it will allow the theaters to once again serve as a space where young people can find their voice. Let me say that again, find their voice. Develop their ideas and showcase their achievements to the community. It will be a place where students learn to communicate, collaborate, to think. with your powerful skills that will serve them in any pathway that they choose. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Phillips Charities for making this restoration possible. Its impact on education in Orange County spans decades, decades. And their legacy is already reflected in our district, including Dr. Phillips High and

043Dr. Phillips Elementary School. Their long-standing commitment to helping others to help themselves continues through their investment in a space that will prepare and inspire students for generations to come. On behalf of Orange County Public Schools, I want to express our sincere appreciation for your leadership, the partnership, and your belief in the potential of every student in Orange County Public Schools. Thank you. Thank you again, Mr. Robinson, and to your Board of Trustees for your continued commitment to this community and for supporting the future of the Cherokee School. Thank you. Thank you so much. And this is a good moment for a break. Once again, thank you to all of you, and our honorees. You're welcome to stay for the remainder of the meeting if you want, but this is kind of a good breaking point.

044For those of you that need to leave, you may do so at this time. We will continue with the next segment in a second. Just give it a few. All right, thank you. Dr. Williams, do we have any newly appointed administrators to present this evening? Yes, we do. And they're sitting to my right. Good afternoon and good evening. First, are you ready? Okay, I'll talk with you guys earlier. Are you ready? This board is very excited for our new administrators. Maria Gasper, I've known her for years. She's the acting principal at Thornbrook Elementary and is headed to, and will be the principal of Thornbrook Elementary School. Welcome. Thank you. good evening thank you school board members superintendent Vasquez and staff for this opportunity to serve as the principal of thornbrook elementary I'd like to recognize

045the principals that I've had the privilege of learning under as an AP Stacy price Jereme's and Malik Brown thank you for your mentorship and for giving me the space to grow under your leadership Joining a school community means gaining another family. So thank you to all the amazing people at Gotham Middle, Pine Lock Elementary, and Union Park Middle for shaping me into who I am today. In the words of Elphaba, because I knew you, I'm changed for the better. I'd also like to introduce and thank the people who are my foundation. Joining me this evening are my wife Liza and my daughters Willow and Hazel. Without your unwavering love and support, none of this would be possible. And finally, thank you to the incredible Thornbrook community and Principal Leader Hankerson for your warm acceptance and

046the support during this transition. I'm so excited about what we've already accomplished together and I'm thrilled for the journey ahead. Proud to be a Barracuda. Thank you. Steve? Okay, I'm going to try this again. You ready? Steve? Grania Grania Grania acting assistant principal Dover Shores Elementary will be the assistant principal at Dover Shores Elementary Thank You school board members superintendent Vasquez and staff for this opportunity to serve at Dover Shores Elementary I'd like to recognize my professional mentors Michelle Thomas Andrew Agudo and Don Vega I'd also like to thank and introduce my family members that are with me this evening. My parents, Lillian and Steve, my wife Tara, and my kids Ethan and Isabel. Finally, thank you to the Dover Shorts team members and Principal Osmond who came out to welcome me this evening. Thank

047you. Tammy. Tammy Hinton is the acting principal at Apopka Elementary School. and will be the principal at Apopka Elementary School. Congratulations. Thank you. I lost my voice on the most important day, but we're going to power through. So thank you, school board members and Superintendent Vasquez and staff for this opportunity to serve at Apopka Elementary School. I'd like to recognize my professional mentors, Jerea Mays, Tony Duke. Dr. Meredith Flatekis, thank you for challenging me and pushing me to be a better version of myself every day through your guidance and support. Also, Dr. Raheem Jones for believing in me and just for being an inspirational leader. I'd like to thank my village over there, my family, my sister Denise, my best friend Adrian, my mom, my best friend Kato, my husband James, and the kids at

048home that are watching. They're too wild to be here. So thank you to Apopka Elementary School and go Dolphins! Lisa, Lisa Levinson is the acting assistant principal at Laurier Park Elementary and will be the assistant principal at Laurier Park Elementary. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you to the school board members, Superintendent Vasquez and the staff for this opportunity to serve at Laurier Park Elementary. I'd like to recognize my professional mentors, Ms. Werka, Ms. Ramsey, Ms. Muse, Ms. Malatesta, Ms. Nelson and Mr. Perez. I've learned so much from each of every one of you. I'd also like to thank my family, including my daughter, Cadence, who is here with me tonight. And finally, thank you to the amazing Laureate Park Elementary team members and Principal Perez, who have come out to welcome me this evening. Winisha Odom,

049Acting Principal, Hunters Creek Middle, and will be the Assistant Principal to Hunters Creek Middle School. Congratulations. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Martinez. Dr. Bailey, Principal McCottam. for this opportunity to serve as the assistant principal at Hunters Creek Middle School. I also want to thank the evaluation systems for trusting and motivating me and pushing me to keep going. Also my family as well. I am really honored to join this community and I really look forward to really supporting our students, staff, and families as we continue to work to ensure success for all students. Thank you all. Thank you. Congratulations. Tamara Preston. All right, Tamara, let's go. The acting assistant principal at Apopka Elementary School. She will become the assistant principal at Apopka Elementary School. Congratulations. Thank you.

050Good evening, everyone. Thank you, school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, and staff for this opportunity to serve at Apopka Elementary. I'd like to recognize my professional mentors and previous principals, Dr. Frederick Brooks, Aaron Albert, and Danielle Spoonie. Thank you for believing in me and guiding me throughout this journey. I'd also like to thank and introduce my mom Sandra Taylor who's here with me tonight. Thank you for continuing to encourage me and pushing me to pursue my dreams and your endless support. Finally thank you to the Apopka Elementary team members and Principal Hinton. It's such an honor to celebrate this night with you. I'm so blessed to be able to work alongside all the staff and look forward to the greatness that is ahead for us. Congratulations. Rebecca Young. Where's Rebecca? Acting Principal Castleview Elementary? and become

051the principal at Castle View Elementary. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, and staff for the opportunity to serve at Castle View Elementary. I'd like to recognize several professional mentors that have had a tremendous impact on my leadership journey and advised me and given me experiences I needed at just the right time. Thank you, Dr. Brown Cannon, Dr. Jones, Dr. Leftakis, Ms. Miller. Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Linlaw, the late Dr. Ellis, and Mr. Diaz for your mentorship. I would also like to recognize the staff and students at both Rosemont Elementary and Metro West Elementary who have grown me as a school administrator. I look back on our times together in celebrations of hard work and dedication that impacted student outcomes. I'd also like to thank and introduce my family members who are

052here this evening, my husband Jeff, my mom Timon. Rhonda, my daughter Amelia, and my son Cooper in the back. I'd also like to recognize several family friends that have become family members to me that are also here tonight. Thank you to the wonderful Castleview Dragon School family who have been so welcoming to me already. I feel honored and energized to be your principal and work alongside to achieve all of our goals. Thank you. Thank you. And we have a... I just wanted to say she's also the Assistant Principal of the Year. Thank you. And that is it. Thank you, Vice Chair. Thank you to our newly appointed administrators. You're welcome to stay for the remainder, but if you wish to leave to go celebrate as well. But we will be taking a photo first. Don't

053leave yet, but just letting you know, after photo, welcome to stay, but if you have a lot to celebrate with the family, please do. Congratulations, Rebecca. Congratulations, y'all. Friends and family, go find your parents. You can't wait to give them a hug. Look at her, so cute. Oh my goodness. So cute. Let me see their mom. I love those faces. Oh, I know. It's the best. I get rolled eyes now. Look at her with that face too. I'm like 28, 29. Good, good, good. We're good, right? Final choice? Good. Look happy on three. Good. One, two, and three. Stay there. Look happy. Excellent. Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. All right. Give folks a few seconds to. Thank you. At this time, I would like to acknowledge Amy McHale, president of the Orange County Association of

054School Administrators, and Dr. Karina Trudeau, president elect of the Orange County Association of School Administrators. Hello. Thanks. Good evening. Good evening, board members, deputy superintendents, and our esteemed colleagues. It's truly a privilege to stand before you today as president of OCASA. As I close out my final year in this role after two incredible years of service, I do so with a deep sense of pride, gratitude, and celebration for all that we've accomplished together. As an organization, we've continued to grow stronger, more connected, and more impactful. We've expanded our reach, strengthened our partnerships, and created meaningful opportunities for our members. Every initiative, every event, and every success reflects the collective dedication and passion of our incredible school-based administrators. Under this collective leadership and commitment, OCASA crossed the 400-member threshold, a milestone that we've been working toward.

055That achievement reflects not just growth in numbers, but growth in influence, collaboration, and a shared purpose. We also expanded how we give back and support those that we serve. Together, we hosted our first ever golf scholarship scramble, raising funds to directly support our students. That event was more than a success. It was a reflection of our dedication to making a meaningful difference to the lives of others. As we demonstrated the heart of this organization in powerful ways, coming together to walk in solidarity against human trafficking and using our collective voice to stand for something bigger than ourselves. Through it all, we remain present, engaged, by building strong connections with local leaders, state legislators, and national partners, ensuring that the voices of our school administrators were heard where decisions are made. That advocacy and visibility have

056strengthened not only OCASA, but the profession as a whole. What makes OCASA so special is not just what we accomplish, but how we accomplish it. We lead with purpose, we support one another, and time and time again, we show that when we work together, there's truly no limit to what we can achieve. While this marks the end of my term as president, it is my honor to pass the presidency to Dr. Karina Chenoux. Dr. Chenoux is an outstanding leader who brings vision, commitment, and energy to this role. I have every confidence that under her leadership, OCASA will continue to grow, evolve, and reach even greater heights. OCASA members would like to thank the board for your dedication, your passion, and your collaboration with our principals and assistant principals. As we celebrate all that we've accomplished,

057let us look ahead with excitement and optimism. The future of OCASA is incredibly bright and the best is yet to come. Thank you. Thank you so much and congratulations to the president-elect. We're excited to have you up here with us. Next, I would like to acknowledge Clinton McCracken, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. Before he begins, I don't want to optimize his time. I'm here in solidarity with my teachers, with the support staff, and with Clinton McCracken. So go ahead, Clinton. Thanks, Ron. Good evening, members of the board. I'd like to read some portions of the guest column that I wrote for the Sentinel for Teacher Appreciation Week last week. Public education is a foundation of our community. It's what gives every child a fair shot. And it works because of the educators

058who show up every day to make that opportunity real. As Teacher Appreciation Week comes to a close, it matters that educators hear words of gratitude. They deserve to hear that they're valued and that their work matters. Those messages mean something, but appreciation is not only what we say, it's also what we do. True appreciation is reflected in how we treat our teachers and in the decisions that we make that impact their lives and their classrooms. It's seen in whether educators can afford to stay in the profession they love and continue serving our students. Right now, the foundation of public education is under enormous strain. Our teachers are making an impact every day. while working with increasing local demands, rising expectations, and with less state funding. Just last week, new national data confirmed Florida ranks 50th

059in the nation in average teacher pay for the third year in a row. Budgets are choices. There are many factors contributing to the financial challenges that we face. Tallahassee continues to underfund public education. The expansion of vouchers is diverting resources away from neighborhood schools. The $119 million Disney lawsuit enrollment shifts, including the loss of immigrant families, also impact funding. Those are real challenges, but they're not the only explanation. Local decisions about how resources are prioritized matter just as much. CTA has been working alongside Unite Here 362 and 737 to educate the community about the impact of the Disney lawsuit. Over the past few months, we've knocked on more than 27,000 doors across Orange County. After canvassing a neighborhood for several weeks, we hold a community town hall to share information and hear directly from residents.

060We've also been letting the community know about the referendum decision before you today and that other districts in Florida use a portion of their one-mill referendum. to directly increase pay for teachers and classified employees. Orange County should do the same. This conversation has moved beyond educators asking for more support. We're standing alongside parents, labor partners, and community allies who believe Orange County should be doing more to invest in the people who make our schools run. So say thank you and share your appreciation. Recognize the incredible difference teachers make every day. Then show it by ensuring educators can pay their bills. Because appreciation is strongest when our actions match our words. thank you thank you thank you mr mccracken and um mr baller to have you next if you're going to have some words as well

061or no uh the words you said i agree with him 100 thank you we appreciate you both being here together thank you thank you Okay, so that moves us to our proclamations. All 2025 and 2026 proclamations were adopted by vote of the board during our August 12, 2025 board meeting as designated celebrations and observations. The list will remain on the agenda for the entire school year for those that want to access it. Next is the strategic plan update. Dr. Williams, are you recognized? Thank you, Vice Chair. Next is the strategic plan update. Dr. Kathy Shuler, Karen Ferno represent Positive School Culture and Vape Prevention Initiative. Dr. Shuler. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Williams, school board. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you our Senior Executive Director of Access and Opportunity, Ms. Karen Furneaux.

062She's going to talk to you all this evening about all of the great things that have been occurring to support our teachers, students, and staff in Access and Opportunity. Ms. Furneaux. There we go. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Deputy Superintendent Williams, Deputy Superintendent Martinez. Vice Chair Salamanca and members of the board, I am Karen Furneaux, Senior Executive Director of Access and Opportunity. In addition to overseeing student discipline, I have the privilege of leading a dedicated team that partners closely with teachers and school leaders to strengthen school climate and foster positive, welcoming learning environments. Thank you for the opportunity to share the impactful work taking place within Access and Opportunity. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the amazing team of educators who worked tirelessly to help schools create positive learning environments that students

063want to be part of. Thank you. Our goal is to help schools build environments where students feel connected and educators feel supported. No simple task, but one we are passionate about. I have a little technical difficulty. We have it printed out for us. We're going to wait for the tech. This is really good, and we want you to see it. We have it printed out for us as well, but we definitely want to make sure the public has it. Apologize for that. One of my earliest aha moments as an administrator came during my first year. As I visited classrooms, I had a humbling realization. I was not a very good teacher. I knew this because I stepped into classrooms and witnessed truly exceptional teaching. Teaching that was not just good, but outstanding, inspiring, and transformational.

064That humbling experience reshaped how I understood my role as an administrator. Administrators really hold two jobs. One is operational, which is managing the daily demands of running a school. The second, and by far the most impactful, is serving as an instructional leader. Great instructional leaders learn from outstanding educators. At Access and Opportunity, we gather authentic examples of what exceptional teachers do in their classrooms every day to build effective learning environments for their students. From those examples, we've built a collection of high-impact engagement strategies that we now share through professional learning for teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators. In short, We study excellence, we capture it, and we share it to build environments where students feel connected and educators feel supported. This evening we will highlight key aspects of our work centered on strengthening school climate and

065culture. We partner closely with school leadership teams, instructional coaches, and teachers through access and opportunity, delivering high quality professional learning for leadership teams on thriving school culture, for teachers on proactive classroom management, fostering a sense of belonging, and for all staff on restorative practices, and for students, we are leading a vape prevention initiative. We begin with thriving school culture as the foundation of our work, driving student success through strong relationships, clear expectations, and a genuine sense of belonging. This professional learning supports school leadership teams in building a positive, sustainable climate by strengthening school-wide systems, fostering effective collaborative teams, and empowering teachers. In the first year we offered this training, nine schools representing 5% of our elementary, K-8, and middle schools participated in Thriving School Culture. Interest quickly grew through A&O communications and word of mouth.

066By the second year, 85 schools expressed interest. In partnership with principal leaders, we prioritized and supported 51 schools representing 28% of our elementary, K-8, and middle schools, with a notable 98% of respondents rating this professional learning as highly effective. A thriving school culture relies daily on effective, proactive classroom management, which is essential for meaningful student engagement and learning. The professional learning, proactive classroom management, fostering a sense of belonging, provide educators with strategies for creating welcoming, engaging classrooms. When students are motivated, engaged, and on task, meaningful learning occurs. To build lasting capacity, we train both teachers and instructional coaches, empowering coaches to reinforce effective practices and support consistent implementation. This voluntary professional learning continues to see growing demand, increasing from 354 participants in the first year to over 1,000 this year, with additional sessions planned. This

067growth is driven by collaboration, word of mouth, and consistently positive feedback. Restorative practices is another access and opportunity initiative focusing on strengthening relationships and community connections which improves student behavior and school climate. These practices foster a sense of belonging, reduce harm, and teach students conflict resolution and responsible decision making by addressing the root causes of conflict and repairing relationships. Because restorative practices are outlined in the Code of Student Conduct as a response to discipline, each school is required to have at least one trained staff member who is recertified every three years. This year, Access and Opportunity transitioned from a Canvas-based course to in-person sessions open to all staff. This change has encouraged schools to send teams instead of single representatives, strengthening implementation and consistency across campuses. Feedback shows that these practices are effective and transformative,

068helping students feel heard, valued, and connected while empowering staff to support positive behavior. We deliver high-quality professional learning educators choose. Timely, relevant, and useful. Reflected in full sessions and strong feedback. Aligned to OCPS vision to prepare and inspire students for a thriving future. A dean shared, thriving school culture was very informative and timely. I appreciate how the team demonstrated the importance of continuous learning of leadership ideas and best practices. Great job. A middle school teacher shared the following about proactive classroom management professional learning. This is an excellent training that should be presented to every new classroom teacher. It would also be beneficial for every instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. An elementary school teacher shared that the restorative practices professional learning was an exceptionally personal, engaging, and informative experience, providing us with valuable strategies we

069can directly apply in our classrooms. To this point, we have highlighted how we support administrators, instructional coaches, and teachers in building positive school climates and cultures. Our work equips educators by preparing, inspiring, and empowering them to lead students to success. One of the most pressing concerns currently impacting our students is the rise in vaping. As this data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey shows, across the United States and in Florida, vaping has become a pervasive concern in our middle and high schools. The data indicates that 4.8% of middle school students and 10.4% of high school students in Florida reported vaping within the past 30 days. The use of THC or nicotine products can lead to addiction, often resulting in students becoming distracted, disengaged, or leaving class to vape. Behaviors that significantly impact focus, learning, and

070overall academic performance. Vaping is a predominant issue in OCPS middle and high schools. So far this year, 473, or 1.3% of our middle school students, and 1,792, or 3.5% of our high school students have been caught vaping. Data from the OCPS vape report shows a concerning rise among younger students. Of all students caught vaping this year, more than 13% are in elementary and middle school, up from 2.5% three years ago. By addressing vaping, we are not simply removing a substance. We are removing a significant barrier to student success. The health risks associated with vaping are serious and in some cases can be life-threatening. This is a sobering reality experienced by one of our former Winter Park High School families. We are deeply grateful to parent Candice McKnight for her courage and willingness to share her

071son Walker's story. A Fox 35 exclusive. An Orlando man has died at just 25. And his doctor says his death is tied to vaping. Walker McKnight was a healthy college cheerleader when he got sick. He was diagnosed with EVALI, a condition caused by vaping. Fox 35 Stephanie Buffamonte sat down with his grieving mother, who says she lost her son too soon. Candace McKnight wearing her son's favorite color, green, the son she only had 25 years with. Walker would say to me the last few weeks, he goes, Mom, you know. I'm dying. This is happening. But that harsh reality came true on New Year's Eve 2024. Walker McKnight died after his body rejected a double lung and kidney transplant. Why he needed the procedure? Vaping is what brought Walker to the hospital to begin with. Walker

072was a Winter Park High School graduate before attending Florida Atlantic University. He was a talented cellist and cheerleader. But he came home from college sick in 2019. He ended up getting pneumonia in both lungs and was put on life support. Doctors blamed the e-cigarettes he was vaping. That is why someone that was in the shape Walker was in at 6'2 and 200 pounds, prepping for cheerleading tryouts, succumbed to this kind of damage to his lungs. From there, it was a six-year battle that Walker bravely fought. He never complained. And he lived a very up and down life, battling infection, battling another procedure. He was like a medical war, his body was, having a double lung and kidney transplant and then eventually succumbing to rejection. He passed away just two and a half years after the

073organ transplants. It's hard. He's everywhere. He was my son. Mrs. McKnight's courage in sharing her son Walker's story brings a profound level of awareness and urgency that data alone can never capture. It is a powerful and sobering reminder that this work extends far beyond prevention. It is about safeguarding the lives of our students so other families never have to face this unimaginable loss. We invite you to view the entire interview and have included a QR code in your materials. Please join me in welcoming Mrs. McKnight, who has turned her family's profound loss into a powerful mission to educate and protect others by raising awareness of the warning signs and serious consequences of vaping. Thank you, Mrs. Knight, for being here with us today. The warning signs of teen smoking have evolved significantly in today's high-end,

074high-tech environment. We are no longer looking for traditional indicators such as matches or the smell of smoke. Modern vaping devices are intentionally designed to blend in. For families, awareness is a critical first line of defense against a habit engineered to be discreet. To better understand the scope of this challenge, the following video illustrates how vaping devices are designed to remain hidden in plain sight. Several years ago OCPS joined a class action lawsuit against the jewel company for marketing its products to children The plaintiffs were successful and as a result the district was awarded more than four million dollars Superintendent Vasquez has allocated dollars from this settlement to directly address the vaping epidemic impacting our students. To lead this critical work, we have brought on two dedicated educators funded through the settlement who are deeply committed

075to making a meaningful difference in the lives of our students. We empowered student voices to lead our vape prevention effort by launching a district-wide slogan contest for secondary students. We received over 6,500 submissions. After narrowing it down to a top 10, more than 11,000 students voted on the winning message. The winning slogan is, Vaping Clouds Your Future, Choose Clear Skies. Created by Mia Rodriguez from Liberty Middle School. I would like to recognize Mia, who is here with her family this evening, along with John Drell Jones, Principal of Liberty Middle School. Please join me in congratulating. Thank you, Mia. To address this epidemic, we are taking a comprehensive, multifaceted approach grounded in awareness, education, and prevention. Together, these three pillars support a proactive, student-centered strategy that not only responds to the issue, but works to prevent

076it. Our first pillar is awareness, which begins with educating not only students, but also families and the community. To support this effort, we actively participate in parent academies, both in-person and virtual, as well as OCPS college and career events and community outreach opportunities, such as Live Fest at Lake Eola. These efforts ensure that all families have access to critical information about vaping and its impact on students. Our second pillar is education, focusing on equipping students and families with accurate information and meaningful learning experiences that promote healthy decision-making. To support this effort, we have developed an interactive Canvas course that utilizes engaging videos, consistent and clear messaging about the risks of vaping, and the importance of making healthy choices. For students who have been caught vaping, completion of this course will be required beginning in the

0772026-2027 school year, reinforcing our commitment to education and behavioral support. Here is an example of one of the videos included in the course. Try this. Our third pillar is prevention, which focuses on creating supportive school environments, reinforcing positive behaviors, and intervening early when... when concerns arise. Students are actively engaged through school-based initiatives including high school campaigns featuring campus banners where students from 22 of our 23 high schools have signed a pledge committing to remain vape-free with the final high school scheduled to participate this week. In addition, Dr. Lana Gordon, Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Nemours Children's Hospital, has been instrumental in providing trusted resources and expert guidance, ensuring our schools and families are well supported as we continue this important work. This work is about people, our students, educators, and families. Tonight we highlighted Access

078and Opportunity's focused efforts to strengthen school climate and culture, creating environments where students feel valued, engaged, and able to thrive to reach their full potential. We remain committed to this work and are grateful for your continued support as we strive to make a meaningful difference for every student that we serve. At this time, I will turn it over to Deputy Superintendent Williams, Deputy Superintendent Martinez, and members of the board for any comments or questions. Dr. Shuler, Karen Ferno, job well done. The message, the presentation, simply outstanding. And thank you for being here with us today. Thank you. And now, if the board has any questions. Absolutely. Member Gallo, you're up first. Thank you. I just want to say great job. That was awesome. I love that we're putting the money to good use. I love

079that we're taking the money that we got from the settlement from Jewel to really educate and to highlight the dangers of vaping in our schools. I think it's money well spent, and if we can save one more child's life by showcasing the hazards of vaping, I think it is worth it because it is. IT IS DIFFICULT TO TELL WHEN A CHILD IS VAPING. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR TEACHERS. IT IS DIFFICULT IN THE CLASSROOMS. I KNOW THAT WE HAVE TALKED AT THE FACILITIES MEETING ABOUT VAPE DETECTORS WHICH ARE SO NEEDED. BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT YOU ARE DOING ON THIS. IT IS IMPORTANT WORK. SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THIS PRESENTATION. I LOVE THE SLOGAN. I LOVE THE BANNERS. I THINK IT IS ALL JUST A GREAT WAY TO PROMOTE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE AND

080SAVE LIVES ALONG THE WAY. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MEMBER GALLAGHER. MEMBER FELDER. Thank you, Chair. Yes, when Ms. Ferner said that I want this thing to work, the presentation will be very beautiful. It was very colorful. I'm a visual learner. I'm so appreciative. I've known Janelle for a while, the principal at Liberty Middle, and the children with all of the work, the slogan that you came in with, and the parent. I know this is very difficult for you. to come because you have to relive all of that again. But let me tell you something, we appreciate your tenacity to come anyway and those of you that support, listen here, years ago when Dr. Phillips opened in 1987, my duty period was to work with students who were addicted to nicotine. And vaping, in my

081opinion, is more dangerous, more addictive than cigarette smoking because at least you can get it out. But vaping, everything comes in. And so I had an anatomy and physiology teacher, Mrs. Phyllis Robitaille, come in my classroom and share with the students what lungs look like if you started smoking at 13 and a 41- to 42-year-old person with a lung. It was blackestest thing. You understand me? And the children were, you know, of course they were shocked and afraid, but I learned in teaching and working with that group of students that addiction is real. It doesn't have an age. Adults, just like we are addicted and it's a problem and it's a struggle, so are the children that we teach and we work with addiction. is addiction have an age on it and the fact that

082you've come up with all of this presentation it's my hope that this presentation should be sent around to all of the schools and we need to and i'm glad that jewel gave us we got the one the lawsuit that they're using them taking it make it into good use but it's my hope that students across this district we'll have an opportunity to see the seriousness of this i just heard on the news yesterday i was sharing with um board member gallo that now the vaping is in fruit colors anything to try to make you think somebody's gonna think in a mile well it's fruit it's gonna be that dangerous because it's fruit it's smoke it's dangerous i don't know what kind of flavor to put it in so i'm grateful that you first of all

083showed us the example of what it looks like. And then look, the vaping pens look very, very different now. And then the videos, those videos need to be shown. I don't know how we can work it out. Every school in this district needs to see this, needs to see the videos and have somebody come in, have students maybe come in and share and talk and like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Mothers against all these mothers groups. Mrs. Walker, this thing about losing a son at that young age, that is just beyond anybody's imagination. Because parents live intending that their children should bury them, not they bury their children. That's not what we do when we're parents. So I'm so grateful. for this opportunity to share this presentation, to have the students involved, have the parents and

084community and teachers come and be involved, because this thing, I know Nate, I've been knowing him for some years, the fact that you all have this big banner. I hope it's everywhere, because it's now news out, media out, is to try to encourage more students to do it. talking about its fruit flavor. They don't talk about the dangers of it. So thank you. I know we don't have the money to try to do what I did back in the 80s and the 90s, but we had a group, and that was part of our duty as a teacher to work with students who were addicted to nicotine. And it was a big, big help. And they got a six-weeks program, and they got a certificate as they survived that. I thank you that OCPS is perhaps

085taking the lead on this and encouraging our... school families to see the seriousness of this and not just pass it on as something that we're doing but this thing is very smoking is bad but this thing is more dangerous than smoking it is very very dangerous so uh thank you so much and I enjoyed the presentation thoroughly you put a lot of time and all of you did I mean the pictures and the posters I hope that this is going across the district not just on the website but they need to presently going to school have a day have an assembly and let the children see this they need to see it thank you so very very much thank you so much my member falder member vanoss Thank you madam chair. Thank you. Mrs. McKnight

086for being here for sharing your story and for your advocacy and this really important issue I'm really grateful for you grateful to the district for For joining this lawsuit. I'm grateful for the award, you know the settlement award that we were able to get and I'm grateful that that was put directly back into Helping our students and our schools. So thank you. Thank you for that Also, I love that students are involved in this process because the best way to convince students not to partake in anything is to have their peers tell them because what we said literally doesn't matter at all. So smart idea. I love the banner. It reminds me of the Central Florida Pledge and people signing on to that. So I think that's a really great idea and a great way

087to encourage your peers to do that. I think there's there's healthy behaviors that all fit together and whatever we can do to encourage our students to engage in healthy behaviors. We should do that. And this is part of it. So thank you. I did have one question about the restorative practices piece of the presentation. I loved loved loved loved seeing that the training has moved from a Canvas based course to in-person sessions because I know that that restorative practices that training is really important and that if it's not done right it's it's really not done so I am so glad to see that that has moved to an in-person training so thank you for that and I guess one question I had relating to that was are we tracking the outcomes of students who participate

088in in that type of program. It's very difficult to track, but we do, like as I said, we have it as a response to infractions of the code of conduct. So we are requiring schools and students to participate, try and get the word out. So I don't have hard data to say how many students who participated, if their behaviors has changed. We go by what the schools tell us. And the fact that they're sending more and more people to the training, they feel that it's working and they encourage more of their staff to come. and that shows the increase in the numbers okay that's great i'm really happy to hear that thank you for focusing on that area that's it thank you member vono's member bird Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Sferno, for the presentation.

089I've been looking forward to it ever since I met some of your staff at, yes, at Wekiva High School for our community celebration day. They had a table there with their anti-vaping materials, and it was really engaging. i was really excited to see what's what's happening here because um as has already been said it is such a problem i just have a couple of questions um with the jewel settlement money um the positions for this um in this whole program i know are part of it i also believe that um i just want to get some clarity and make sure that This was also from that settlement money, the detection, the vape detection devices, as well as we had, I had talked with the superintendent about providing cessation device. products for families offering it to

090families that might be interested if their child gets caught vaping because it is so addictive and like medically it can be super super challenging to kick this addiction and You know, that's why the education and the prevention is so important. And I'm so glad we've got that piece in place because it's really all about teaching them that it only takes like one time and they can get hooked that hard. And it's extremely hard to just like that, just like that ad. That's why I love that ad with her dragging the vaping person around. And that's how if you talk to kids who vape, that's what they'll tell you, that they feel like they're trapped. They can't. put it down and that's why they're doing it at school they can't go eight hours without the nicotine

091it's it's that addictive and it's in your right member Felder it's so much worse than the cigarettes because of the amount of nicotine that are in these devices so my question comes back to you and I don't know if you can answer this and I know The superintendent is not here tonight, but I'm assuming that we are. We did try to find those those resources to offer families that are interested in helping kids get through their addiction. Yes, I believe the first question was in reference to the positions. Those were paid for out of the settlement. And I will verify your second question. BUT KNOWING DR. VASQUEZ, YES, WE ARE LOOKING INTO THAT. YEAH. I FIGURED AS MUCH. THEY WERE LOOKING INTO, THEY WERE TRYING TO CONTACT MEDICAL GROUPS THAT THEY COULD GET THE DONATED

092PRODUCTS FROM TO HELP THE, TO OFFER THEM TO FAMILIES TO HELP. AND I THINK THAT THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO SHARE WITH FAMILIES TOO. THIS IS NOT JUST A DISCIPLINE THING. THIS IS REALLY A a serious addiction that takes Work to get through so I love it. I love the education prevention. I would love to see it I don't know how much you guys are doing in the elementary level But that's the stick showing that elementary and middle school has gone up to 13% of the vaping cases is extremely disturbing but I and I would think that you know thinking back to like the dare days when you talk to the kids about the drugs and the dare it was like they were it and they were coming home and telling their parents to quit smoking

093and throwing out their parents cigarettes and you know so if we can get kids the elementary kids on board with how bad this vaping is then maybe we can help prevent some of this later on when they get a little bit older And then the restorative practice, I did just want to say I love it as well. We had great experience with it a couple years ago at Piedmont Lakes. Fred Ray, when he was the principal there, he implemented real strong restorative practices there where it was just like his staff dropped everything and... Sat in a room with a group of kids every time there was conflict there was a lot of conflict in neighborhoods outside of school going on at the time and they were really talking through all those problems and He saw

094when they started doing that he was seen significant decrease in behaviors at his school and discipline problems, so I would I would love to see principals that are actively using it sharing what they're seeing with other schools and hopefully spreading this throughout even more thank you for all of your work on this miss mcknight thank you so much for being here um we appreciate you and your advocacy and um thank you to the team for spreading the word and i love the shirts thank you member verdant member for all Well, thank you so much. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, for sharing what you're doing, Ms. McKnight, for being here and using your story of tragedy and using it for good. Sometimes what the enemy means for evil, God will turn around for

095good. And so I really pray that this push will help. rescue and save kids who can take a different path and save them from that. So thank you for. jumping on board with this and really being a champion of this in Orange County. So I appreciate you. I love the idea as well of really being in our elementary and middle. I don't know if you did you. I didn't hear a response. If we are, are we going into our elementary right now and middle and actually I mean, assuming middle, but maybe elementary as well and really doing that kind of dare type. information advocacy yes so that is in our plan we started with high school because by the data you can see that that is our our biggest group next year we're going to

096do the same thing with the banner starting with our middle schools and working on the education with the elementary schools age appropriateness and what we can do there so that's kind of what they're doing as well as not only these initiatives but educating themselves on how do we get this word out and what's the most effective way and working like i said with dr lona gordon at namores has been invaluable um and the other medical professionals that we've been in contact with to for the sensation things as well as education that's awesome i i really you know even looking back at myself in elementary school those dare days like i just would always think like who would ever want to smoke it's so gross like just because of what I had seen on the video

097and what you what they talked about and how you felt and how what your lungs look like and you know, they really went through that just facts and science-based, you know, really just showing you the the raw reality in an age-appropriate way, I think that was fifth grade for me and I think you know when I would say The majority of our high schoolers would probably say smoking is bad. And then they go, well, but vaping isn't so bad, right? Because it doesn't seem, doesn't smell. It doesn't. And if it does smell, it has a sweet smell. And so it just doesn't seem bad. But I think we can also throw in there the gummies and the chewables and all the things that don't seem that bad and really educate our kids. I love the

098banners. I love the slogan. Great job on that, honey. Really, really thoughtful. And I think just even the videos. I hope we can share those in our schools and really have kids have to. That's, you know, on one of our maybe like the mental health days. Those are videos that I think we should be showing and having even school assemblies where people can come in and share their story of deciding to, you know what, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. I quit. Quit with me, you know, and what it can do to change your life. So thank you again for spearheading this. I appreciate each one of you for being here. Thank you member for aunt I'm up next I Wanted to say thank you so much. Mrs. McKnight for coming for being part

099of this big push for doing on our schools It really will save lives of students if we built the awareness and the three pillars. So You're your story and and what you had to go through on really great hands with miss fur now Who truly has been doing such a thoughtful job with her team on how to make it? engaging for our students actually something that students will listen to i think as remember ronald said it's really hard telling students what to do because they'll just don't listen um it has to be their peers it has to be something that resonates and so a lot of what we're seeing today in this campaign kind of hits all those chords and so uh mia as a proud district two student to liberty middle um vaping clouds

100your future and choose clear skies is beautiful it is so powerful i like we are so lucky that you uh gave us your best with that you know we fight up here with our slogans you know district two is where your dreams come true nobody else has to share theirs you just need to know mine but um i'm so excited that that's going to be part of t-shirts and and all of those banners um so just know that your work really matters and seeing the two of you come together and have the same t-shirts is so powerful One of the questions I had, Ms. Sferno, for this was ZEN pouches. So, Kyle, the latest iteration of vapes is you don't even have a device anymore. We just have these little pouches of nicotine that's, like,

101concentrated that goes under your gums. Definitely you can't see it. Nobody knows that you have it. I could have it right now and be speaking and be normal and just have, like, nicotine straight to the system. Like, how... It's so hard, obviously, to do that. But like, are we seeing that become a problem in our schools yet? Do we feel like it's I know it's huge in college. Is there anything at all that we're doing on awareness for the Zen pouches? Call it. So the answer is yes. So interestingly enough, it was actually a conversation I had with you. We were going over code of conduct that brought this to my attention. I had never heard of it. And you said it's big in colleges and it's coming. And I was hoping it wasn't, but

102you were correct. It is. And we are seeing it in our high schools, actually working with Mr. Flores in the athletic department because we're seeing it sometimes on the athletic fields at the end of events, these empty pouches. So not that necessarily our athletes are doing it, but it's... we have so many people in these places and so we are seeing these empty pouches so for those who are not aware of what this is it's like a dissolving patch it's just an infusion of nicotine correct and so that is going to be part of our campaigns as well so we've started with vaping and we have these other things that are now coming to our students so we are going to be addressing all of these things as they come to our attention yes yeah

103it just keeps getting more intense and nicotine and a lot harder to find so it's very easy to obtain Right. Well, no, no vape detector will catch a nicotine patch in your mouth. There's not even any smoke. So and the other thing that I've read and kind of have been following is you mentioned athletics. Nicotine is obviously a big boost of energy. It's like an energy drink. It feels like that to students. And so it is a lot actually more. pervasive in the athletic community is my understanding. And so whatever we can do to talk to our athletes and sports, because it seems to be a really, I don't know, like an entry point because it's like, let's work out and I don't know, do energy drinks and whatever it is. So, but thank you

104for this. I know that you're keeping an eye on it. And I think it's ever, ever so evolving on what's the latest thing. But it is, I mean, it is truly, I was of the DARE generation. I'm happy to say I've never touched a cigarette because I was so traumatized by the DARE videos, by the DARE images of like the lungs of the break. I got to college and I was so scared, like truly, and have continued to be scared. And I did grow up in my family. My father was a big smoker, like Marlboro man. He's like Latino back from the 60s and 70s. So I grew up around it and I was one of those kids that would go home and throw it into and flush it down the toilet. Literally was that

105kid. I got into so many fights with my dad in elementary, middle school because I was traumatized by dare. I was like, you're going to die. And he would get so mad. These things were super expensive. But he was like, I'll grab his pipe and just throw it out. So I, whatever it was, I know that the research on the effectiveness of it is so, so undare. I found it incredibly impactful to me and very scary. I think videos are incredibly memorable and powerful. And so the stories for all of this is important. So I also would be excited to see it in our schools, obviously age appropriate by our high school, middle school students. You're that age you just don't quite connect the consequences of something that's fun. You just you don't have a

106prefrontal cortex quite yet there So it's our job as adults to really bring that message forward. And so thank you for the work you're doing Thank you for everyone here who's helping us Get and reach our students. It's really really important work and for all the work you're doing thinking about this it's not just about discipline it's about thinking about the other side which like you said it's prevention and and education of our students because once you get to discipline of you're caught with vapes or distributing vapes it's a little late um and it's much harder for us and so i know we spent a lot of time talking about the code of conduct but once a student is hooked on this stuff and we're talking about discipline it's we could have done so much

107more before to catch it so thank you for for that work um member douglas Thank you, Miss Fernau for your presentation. It's really enlightening, eye-opening. Thank you, thank you. And thank you for tackling this issue of vaping. I just want to say a particular thank you to Mia for a great slogan and congratulations for... Congratulations, Mia. I love the video and mostly and most of all miss McKnight really your video is very touching and eye-opening to I hope that you showing that to our youth and they can see the impact sorry for your loss and thank you so much for making it a mission to fight against vaping yeah really thank you appreciate My question is, do you have any plans? We can see a lot of smoke shops just appearing all over the place

108and right next to our schools. right next to our schools. And it's really scary. And do you have any plan to work with the city or anything? I know that Commissioner Nicole Wilson is really into that right now, trying to prevent those smoke shops to be close to our school. Yes, I know this is a word, so I'm going to turn that over to Mr. Pomerini. Yes. thank you madam chair uh member douglas we are working with all the government entities when they bring up ordinances that say we're to prevent these from at least a thousand feet from a school we are speaking out in support of all of those ordinances and and lending our support to that so we are most certainly working with our local government partners who are passing these ordinances to

109ensure that they're not going within a thousand feet of our school wonderful i also want to say you know what i think it would be an idea to go into the small shops and show them the impact of what's what they're selling no truly they need to be aware of what they're selling to our kids to their own kids as well OK, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVOCACY. I APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I THINK WE DON'T HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, BUT, YOU KNOW, TAKE MEMBER DOUGLAS WITH YOU TO THE SMOKE SHOPS. AND MEMBER FELDER. AND DR. ROOMS WILL MAKE SURE TO BE THERE. THANK YOU. So we'd like to get a picture with Miss McKnight and the board. Mia had to leave, unfortunately. But we're glad you like the shirts because

110we have one for each of you. Yay! I was hoping. I'm going to wear this to school visits. Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. This is wonderful. Thank you so much. I haven't gone online yet. It's fine. We're going to be taking a picture with the banners, the t-shirts. Miss McKnight. Orlando Sentinel. Douglas and Felder. That's why you have to go so I know. We have to make sure we have John's number because we're going to get in trouble. Oh, Lord have mercy. I support this. That's true. Thank you. Thank you guys so much. Thank you so much. We're moving forward. Thank you so much, Mrs. Furneaux and Dr. Williams for presenting the strategic plan. I did know that. I did know that. In order to provide governmental transparency as well as

111reasonable opportunities for the public to access and participate in the decision-making process, there are various methods by which the public can provide input to the school board on any agenda item. Those include coming to speak to the school board in person or via email in advance of the meeting. These messages are all published on our district website and in board docs. Mr. Pomerini, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on any of the items under public hearing on the agenda? No speakers on the public agenda or public comment or the public hearing. Thank you. Sorry. It's okay. It's a long day. We've been here for a long time. Seeing that there is no member of the public who wishes to provide public comment on the public hearing, we'll move

112on to 3.01. Sorry. Dr. Williams, is there anyone who has come to the meeting to address the school board on this item? Vice Chair, no, but I will turn 3.01 over to General Counsel, OCPS alumni, John Pomerini. There's a reason for that. We won't go into it. Members of the board, as you know, this policy, we had a work session on it. This is our threat policy. As you are aware, the state has made changes to Florida Administrative Code Rule 6A-1. 0019 for those who want to look it up. Our policy is aligning to those changes in the State Board of Education rule. And we also had some suggestions with respect to training of our staff to recognize threats and whether or not folks who are not trained should serve on school-based threat management teams

113and district-based threat management teams. They will not serve on those teams until they get trained. And the rest and... we will give training to our staff to ensure they recognize the signs of threat and threatening behavior but otherwise the policies uh change to align with the florida administrative code change rules understood um i don't have any um board member with any comments to that so uh there's no hearing and with that explanation i will entertain a motion on item 3.01 so move my member bird is there a second Second, my member Felder. All those in favor, please say aye. All those opposed, please say nay. Motion carries unanimously. Now moving on to 3.02, public hearing on the request of approval for the recommended attendance zones for Wolf Lake Middle School, Wolf Lake Elementary School, Kelly

114Park School, and Zellwood Elementary School to commence the school year of 2026 and 2027. Dr. Williams. I will turn 3.02. And since this is the Greg Moody show, he also has 3.03. So I will turn it over to Greg Moody, Stacey Neal. Thank you, ma'am. Members of the board, we have two rezonans for you this evening, public hearing. Stacey Neal and her staff will walk us through them individually. We'll do 3.02 first. Stacey? Good evening, board members, vice chair, Salamanca, deputy superintendents. Martinez and Williams and all other OCPS staff that's in the building or listening. I was hoping to have a picture after this. So we're here for the public hearing to present the advertised rezoning options for Wolf Lake Elementary School, Wolf Lake Middle School, Zellwood Elementary School, and Kelly Park School. We're also

115here to discuss or present the redistribution of the Orange Center Elementary School's attendance zone. Here's a review of the rezoning timeline. A community meeting was held on March 23rd. A school board work session took place on March 31st. A rural development workshop occurred on April 28th. And we're here today for the public hearing. Mrs. Neal, so for just the board, we've kind of gone through the maps several times leading up to this. I think the board is okay with just kind of showing the maps, giving the public. visibility and transparency into the maps that we will be voting on without having to go through the whole process for today. Okay. Okay. With my fellow board members. Okay. Okay. So the slide that's here, just to orient you real quick is the Rezoned or the targeted

116area to be rezoned from Wolf Lake Middle School to Cali Park. The green lines show the current middle school boundary. The green area represents the proposed Cali Park school zone. Purple area represents proposed Wolf Lake Middle School and the hashed area is the area to be moved. Along with This we have the elementary portion of winding Meadows neighborhood which moves Wolf Lake Elementary School into Kelly Park also in addition we are proposing West Ridge Park subdivision from Zellwood into Wolf Lake Elementary and this is the elementary school map red lines are your current elementary school boundary the green area represents the current i'm sorry the proposed kelly park zone the purple represents the proposed wolf lake brown is zelwood and the hash area is the area to be moved this slide is your demographic breakdown

117for each school both before and after the rezoning i'll give you a moment to review okay and as a result We have received input from 7 families 3 family supporting 4 families opposing if approved this rezoning will commence August of 2026. Doctor Williams. I sure so the market. That's right so every is orange center separate so the next item is correct. Well then I will entertain a motion item 3.02. So move remember bird is there a second. So I'm going to have a member of her bonos. All those in favor say aye. Aye. No opposing. So motion carries unanimously. 3.03, public clearing requests approval of the redistribution of Orange Center Elementary School to the recommended attendance zones for Catalina Elementary, Rock Lake Elementary, and Washington Shores Elementary to commence the year 2026 and 2027. Dr.

118Williams. Board members, I truly believe that we are fine with this proposal. Stace Neal, would you quickly run through the presentation? Yes. So the green is the proposed zone for Rock Lake Elementary School. The purple would be the new Washington Shores. I just wanted to note that the Washington Shores area. presented here represents the 2026 27 school zone um and then the catalina is an orange the data table give you a second we have received we haven't received any input from any family supporting or opposing so if approved this rezoning will commence august 2026 dr williams Thank you, Stacy Neal. Thank you, Greg Moody. And thank you for this great presentation. Vice Chair, we're ready for the next. Absolutely. So that was item 3.03. Overall motion made. Do we have a motion? No? Okay. I

119will entertain a motion at this time. So moved. So moved. My member Gallo. Seconded my member Felder. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Now on to the 4.0, the consent agenda. Mr. Pomeroy, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on any item on the consent agenda? Yes, Madam Chair. We have one speaker on the consent agenda. The speaker is Vivian Felizor. Vivian Felizor. It appears we have no speakers on the consent agenda then. Okay. Been a long night, so. understandable seeing that there's no member of the public wishes to provide a public comment we will move on to the consent agenda I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved by member Gallo is there a second member Douglas has seconded

120all those in favor please say aye all those opposed say nay motion carries unanimously Moving on to 17.0, non-consent. 17.01, the request for approval to nominate and appoint the Florida School Board Association Advocacy Committee representative and alternate for the 2026-2027 term. The FSBA Advocacy Committee represents the school boards across the state on legislative and policy matters, and it is important that we appoint a board member to serve in these roles for the upcoming term. Mr. Department, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on item 17.01? No, Madam Chair. Seeing that there is no member of the public who wishes to provide public comment, we will consider this item. So at this time, I will open the floor for nominations for the FSBA Advocacy Committee Representative for 2026-2027. I will

121now pause for nominations. I, Qden. Yes, Member Gallo. I nominate Stephanie Vanos. I second that. okay are there any additional nominations aside from member vanos here none i will close nominations for the representative position of member vanos you are going to be representing us up there godspeed do you accept actually it's yeah yeah it doesn't matter you accept you are nominated there isn't a counter it is you uh nominations are closed uh godspeed and tallahassee Okay, and then we have to nominate a alternative. That's correct. So I will now open the floor for nominations. Oh, okay. We have a self-nomination. I don't know. I'm trying to be... Okay, Member Douglas would like to volunteer. Do we have any other nominations? I second Ann Douglas' nomination for... Whatever the alternate on advocacy. She'll do a great

122job. I think everyone's very excited. All right. Member Douglas. So now we will move to confirm the nominees as follows. Our FSBA advocacy committee representative is Member Vanos. FSPA Advocacy Committee alternate is Member Douglas. I will entertain a motion to approve the nomination and appointment of these members to serve as the FSBA Advocacy Committee representatives and alternative for the 2026-2027 term. Motion made by myself. Do we all have a second? Second. Second by Member Byrd. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. All those opposed, please say nay. Okay, motion carries unanimously. Member Vanos and Member Douglas have been appointed. I'm not going to read this whole thing. It just keeps saying the same thing over and over again. Thank you, and we appreciate your willingness to serve and represent OCPS at the state level.

123We will now move on to the next agenda item, 17.02. This is the request for approval of a five-year charter contract for UCP Immersive Learning Academy K-8. Mr. Pomerini, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on item 17.02? No, Madam Chair. Okay. Seeing that there's no vote, do we have, do we pass it on to you guys right now? Greg Moody. Yes. Okay. Dr. Moody. Yes. All right. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I turn it over to Dr. Kia Scott, Senior Director of School Choice Services. Good evening school board chair, board members and Dr. Williams. Before you today is item 17.02 for UCP Immersive Learning Academy. The virtual charter school application for UCP Immersive Learning Academy to be governed by UCP of Central Florida was submitted to the Florida

124Charter School Review Commission on November 11th, 2025. The Charter School Review Commission is an alternate authorizer in the state of Florida. Under Section 1002.3301 Florida Statutes, the Charter School Review Commission housed within the Florida Department of Education is responsible for reviewing and approving charter school applications that are submitted to them instead of to the school district. Following multiple reviews conducted by the Florida Charter Institute at Miami Dade College, the Commission unanimously approved the application on February 11, 2026. The Department of Education notified Orange County Public Schools of approval on February 20, 2026. Although the Charter School Review Commission approved the application, Orange County Public Schools will be required to serve as the school sponsor. In accordance with the section 1002.337B Florida Statute and Rule 6A.60792.8B Florida Administrative Code, Orange County School District was required to

125provide an initial proposed charter contract to the school within 30 days. The draft contract was provided to UCP of Central Florida on March 20th, 2026. Before you today is the contract between UCP of Central Florida and Orange County Public Schools with the recommendation for approval. Thank you. I have Member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you. Thank you, Dr. Scott and Mr. Moody for. This information I know that we've had conversations before I love UCP. I think they do a fabulous job I think they're a great charter. However, I do have concerns about a virtual school Handling ESC students have they demonstrated or communicated how they're going to offer services to our ESC students how they're going to How do you teach ESC students online with all the services that they require without that

126one-to-one intervention? So as because the application was not submitted to us as a school district We were able to provide feedback for the people who were reviewing the application and those were our concerns also From the feedback we got back from the Florida Charter Institute on behalf of the Charter Review Commission They did speak to having multiple assistants online in the courses they did mention that they will have ability to have students to come in to the school who needed specific services our initial concern was that the virtual provider that they selected did not have access courses for students who needed them in turn what has happened is ucp has become their own virtual provider and has been approved by the state by doe um So quickly, because I don't want to take up too

127much time, because I understand that this is really out of our authority to really do anything about other than oversight. In a situation like this where we do have concerns and we're not real clear on how it will play out, what does the accountability piece look like? Like how do we monitor, ensure that the kids are learning, that the kids are receiving services, that what is happening with ESE students is in fact happening and that they're not having to provide a lot of compulsory education or services? So as it stands now with the regular standalone UCP schools, we do have our ESE team that does support those schools. They are their own LEA, so they are responsible for their own ESE. However, our team does monitor the workings of the school. So we're just going

128to have to find ways to get into those classrooms virtually to see that services are being provided. I would imagine that might be a difficult thing to do. to actually get into the virtual classes. Do we monitor the data generated from those students? Do we look at their learning gains? Do we look at growth? Do we monitor any of those type of data points to ensure that students are thriving and learning? That is the intent for us to do that as well as we do look at data when we do our site visits at the school. So we will just be more than likely just meeting at their main headquarters when it's time to do our site visits and review the data that they've gained so far. Okay. And I appreciate that. And I think

129that UCP is a wonderful school. I'm not trying to discount that. I would have these same questions if Orange County Public Schools was doing an ESE virtual. setting without Sandy's like we do but we do it well and so it's not the same and it there's a lot of oversight because we have the oversight over it and we do have a building that they can go to to get services so I understand how our ESC services work online so it's just unfortunate that we didn't really Have the opportunity to speak to them. I was hoping that we would have it the opportunity to speak with them and ask them these questions But I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you Thank you member Gallows are all great questions. It is a little different than

130our own schools member Felder Thank you so much. And I thank you Greg and dr. Kia And board member Gallo have some of the same concerns that I have It's just unfortunate that We don't have any more jurisdiction over them than we do. And for those persons who are listening, who are parents and parent children with varying abilities, I hope that they are listening to what is happening. And that, again, the fight needs to be with the legislators in Tallahassee that you would approve this kind of scholastic endeavor and the check and balance. Not saying anything about UCP, but the fact that you're having virtual, it's a lot when there are not that many varying abilities to work with virtual, but when there are. And the check and balance are... Can we look at data

131to say that you've done thus and thus and thus and this has happened? And I just think that as an educational board, it's a disservice to not offer children, no matter what their varying abilities are, the best educational experience that they can have. And I just see so many problematic things with this particular situation. The only thing I see that we can do is to appeal to the guardians and the parents of these children to make sure because they deserve, they deserve to have the best educational experience. And again. Our hands are tied to certain things because something is coming down legislatively and statutes and so forth. But I'm hoping that there's some parent or parents who are listening and see what is about to go down and that you really take control. of the

132learning experiences of your children. That's your responsibility to do that, to make sure that we're doing what we can do to maintain the proper environment for learning. For learning. For learning. So I appreciate you all giving us the information. We talked about it when they were here, and most of us expressed some of our concerns. But I want to reiterate again, it's problematic for me as this board member that this is going down in this way. So thank you so much. THANK YOU. MEMBER FELDER. MEMBER VONNOS. THANK YOU. I'LL BE QUICK. LIKE MEMBER GALLOW, I'VE BEEN TO THE UCP BREAKFAST. I KNOW THEY DO GREAT WORK FOR SOME OF OUR STUDENTS WHO ARE ABLE TO GET GOOD SERVICES THERE. IF I RECALL CORRECTLY, UCP came before us not long ago, a couple of months ago

133for a renewal, right? Correct. Okay. So it's just, it's interesting that, you know, we have renewed, we have a good relationship with them. It's interesting that they wouldn't come to us for this approval and instead go to a different authorizer. Do you, you mentioned that the way to, I guess, kind of see what they're doing is through attending virtual classes, sending in our virtual classes. Have we been guaranteed access to the virtual classes through the contract? It is not addressed in the contract. It's a standard state template, and I will say legal has done, I think, just about everything they can. I think Paul Marini can speak to the back and forth we've had with using that standard contract. So, members of the board, I know you all know this, but for awareness, for people

134listening, there is a standard charter contract we shall use. And if we make changes to the standard charter contract, it is presumed by statute to violate the flexibility intended for charter schools. So we do not, if a charter entity says we don't want to make a change. then we don't get to make a change because we don't get to violate the flexibility of the intended to charter schools and we don't get to deviate from those provisions now I will Sarah Kapesky in my office has been doing yeoman's work Negotiating with UCP we had some issues that we were able to bring in for a landing that were very difficult with surrounding funding and that type of deal, but We do not get to deviate from this model contract and and one of the things we

135did here during the negotiations and i understand why is hey when we would propose changes that's deviating from the model contract and you guys know that that's a problem yeah different rules for publicly funded schools sounds like um one question so i understand it was not part of the contract but did the authorizer even ask the question of how the sponsor would be able to monitor the school That was not one of the questions posed during the interview, and we're not privy to that interview. All we are allowed to do is we have 30 days to provide feedback regarding the application. We do believe some of that information was taken into consideration, but when we do interviews, we develop our own questions, so we don't have any part in the review process or interview process

136with the school when it goes through the Charter School Review Commission. thank you and i'll just end by saying i think this is why it's so important that the authorizer should not be different from the sponsor because it gives us no ability to ask basic questions that if anyone was paying attention or cared about students they would ask these questions so i understand the legal position that we're in but thank you for the work that you've done and thank you for trying Yes, Mr. Moody. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. So I think, so this is the first for us, right? A virtual charter. We're used to charter schools. We have an outstanding, the best virtual school with Orange County Virtual within the state of Florida. And we service ESE students within that, right? So during

137COVID, two seconds history. During COVID, we... try to broaden that to severe needs right with access points and all and it was a challenge right so With any good choice option, it's not for every kid, right? It's not for every student. So we found some kids really flourish within the, some ESE kids flourish in virtual, right? Because it's mastery learning at its finest, right? You can go back and revisit the module that you didn't quite understand with a lot of support, obviously, and Orange County Virtual does that. But I think it affords this office an opportunity to kind of redefine how we monitor, how we assess, how we how schools demonstrate success to this board and in the ESC and the virtual because it won't be the only virtual that's coming right so we have

138another one that's coming up soon so you know how I think it affords this this office an opportunity and we're excited about that is as a leader within the state of Florida, as authorizers, as sponsors, Kia and her team. We've kind of set the standard with this contract. People have taken notice of how we have developed this contract with the help of our legal team. Other districts have taken notice to that because we're the first. I think we'll be the first to set guidelines and kind of push the envelope, if you will, on monitoring virtual and monitoring ESE services virtually and how that's gone. So in a sense, we're kind of excited about that opportunity, but our commitment to this board is always quality choice and our office will uphold that. Thank you. Thank you,

139Mr. Moody. Member Ferrant. Just a couple clarifying questions with. With this virtual model are the students receiving a hundred percent of their education virtually or is this just an option for a student to be able to receive maybe a class virtually or Once a week or we don't really know any of that information Based on our review of the application. It will be full-time virtual with supports at the site if needed Okay, interesting And not every child who attends UCP has special, like they're not ESE students, correct? Correct. Yes, okay. Are we also able to check with parents? Maybe is that a way that we could, you know, if we can't actually access the class itself, could we be checking with parents and just saying, hey, just wanted to check in with you, how are

140things going? Or is that kind of an overstep on our part? it might be an overstep but we do have the ability and i just wanted to follow up on miss vanos's question um about whether we could go be entered into the virtual settings when we go we we have it so that we can walk into any school at any time which we can walk into a classroom so i don't see any pushback on allowing us into a virtual classroom at least we don't hope we hope that that's not the issue okay well thank you and i i do think schools are trying to be creative and maybe there was maybe they have a few students who really are needing this or wanting this and parents and so you know i wish them the best

141of luck but i appreciate your team and always the the thoughtful comments and i know you guys ask a lot of questions behind the scenes so i appreciate it thank you yeah this board echoes that thank you um to both of you um i think that's it from the board and questions for this item Okay, so we'll move to entertain a motion on item 17.02. So I move by Member Ferrant. Is there a second? Second by Member Byrd. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye with Member Felder absent, but when she comes back we can get that from her. Any opposed? motion carries unanimously on to 17.03 request approval of the recommendation to modify the charter school contract with renaissance charter school at chickasaw trail to include grades 9th through 12th mr palmer

142do we have anyone who's come to speak to the school board on item 17.03 no madam chair okay thank you um We'll pass it on to you Mr. Moody and Dr. Scott. Madam Vice Chair would you like the condensed version or would you? Condensed version is always appreciated after 7 p.m. So Renaissance and Chickasaw is asking to add additional grade levels that is within their statutory right and we after a review of the capacity we Dr. Scott's team would concur and would make this recommendation that this is approved for renaissance of chickasaw to add grades 9 through 12. thank you um this is in my district so quick question um currently for this renaissance charter what are the schools that it pulls from the most in terms of enrollment i'm telling you i know there's

143district two but i just saw elementary yep which we just consolidated Some come three points three points between Chickasaw Renaissance at Chickasaw and goldenrod Yeah, this is Chickasaw. Yes three points Chickasaw Elementary Maybe Deerwood and it's what the what's on Forsyth Chickasaw Deerwood Anglewood It's too far For CITH, Hidden Oaks. Okay, we can figure it out. It would be great to have those numbers. I think for my district, this is going into 9 to 12, so that's likely going to impact Roberto Comente, Liberty, Colonial High School. So, yeah, just if you could send that over. Sure, no problem. I think I'd want us to all be very proactive when we have these types of... extensions and growth and there's definitely some important work that i'm trying to do at colonial high school to make sure

144that enrollment stays steady but yeah okay anyone else on this one okay so seeing that there is no member of the public who wishes to provide public comment and the board has had all their questions um i will make a motion uh to approve this myself some district twos they're a second member of honest we can be in this one together all those in favor Anyone opposed? We have Member Felder as well. So we'll just note that the record share of Member Felder will come back and have a vote. Motion carries unanimously. Missing Member Felder. Moving on to 17.05, request for approval to nominate and approve primary and alternative school board members and citizens to serve on the 2026. 17.04. Sorry, I skipped. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Okay, 17.04. Apologies, these all have... Condensed version is

145Renaissance at Goldenrod would like to add grades 9th through 12th. There you go, yes. So it's the same. Renaissance Charter School at Goldenrod. The last one was at Chickasaw. So it's two different Renaissance Charter Schools, both in my district, both expanding grades 9th to 12th. Yes. Okay. after uh the the review and um this department is recommending approval for that that meets within the statutory guidelines okay mr pomeroy do we have anyone that's come to speak to the board on 17. no madam chair okay saying that there's no member of the public who wishes to provide public comment you can copy and paste my exact same comments around renaissance chickasaw to renaissance I do have a clarifying question. Would you like me to pull where they're coming from currently or just all zones or both?

146I would love the numbers of the current schools of students that reside in that area who are attending. Okay, the Renaissance charters right now and then those schools zone wise that will be impacted by them expanding 9 to 12 just helpful I'd love to work with my principals on thinking ahead for this already Okay, so I will motion Make a motion for item 17.04. Is there a second? member Gallo seconds all those in favor say aye All those opposed nay Motion carries. Missing member folder. All right. Thank you, Dr. Stott and Mr. Moody. Appreciate it. Okay. So now 17.05, the request approval to nominate and approve primary and alternative school board members and citizens to serve on the 2026 value adjustment board. Myself and member Bonos have served on this. Pretty straightforward. The Value Adjustment

147Board here is appeals related to property tax assessments and state statute requirement requires the appointment of both school board members and citizen members to serve in primary and alternate capacity. Mr. Palmerini, do we have anyone who's come to speak to the school board on 17.05? No, Madam Chair. Okay, seeing that there's no member of the public who wishes to provide public comment, we will consider this item. At this time, I will open the floor for nominations for the primary school board member to serve on the 2026 Value Adjustment Board. I would like to nominate Ann Douglas. Ah, Douglas. It's very interesting. You'll enjoy it. are there any additional nominations hearing none nominations for the primary school board member are closed and member douglas will be representing us now i will make a open the floor

148for we reviewed this we don't need approval i will now open the floor for nominations for alternate school board member to serve on the 2026 value adjustment board i will nominate a member for aunt Are there any additional nominations? Okay. So hearing none, nominations for the alternate school board member are closed. So let's see. Is there anything else? Okay. I will now open the floor for nominations for the primary citizen member and alternate citizen member to serve on the 2026 value adjustment board. Mr. Pomerini, please share the names of the nominees provided by the board earlier. So we had two nominations. It is a i believe it's a spouse team uh chelsea cantilly as the primary citizen member and octavian cantilly as the alternate citizen member okay so that that yes member ferrant any other

149can we they came from my district can we flip it because i think the husband I think is more interested. I mean, the wife can do it, but I think the husband is it. He, do you think it was a miss? I think it, yeah. Can we flip that? We have no problem flipping that. That is up to you all. Thank you. I'd like to flip that. We will take your word on that member for once. Is there in your district that they would like that flipped? So. Okay, so to summarize the nominees for the 2026 Value Adjustment Board, primary school board members, member Douglas, alternate school board members, member Ferrant, the primary citizen member is, remind me again, Mr. Palmarini? Octavian Cantilli. Octavian, and then alternate citizen member is? Chelsea Cantilli. Okay, is there

150a motion to approve the nomination and appointment of these individuals? Moved by member Gallo. Is there a second? Second by Member Vannos. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Motion carries with all those present. The nominations and appointment to the 2026 file adjustments are approved. Thank you to those who have agreed to serve. So bravely, we will now proceed to the next agenda item. 17.06 so this is the request approval to delegate naming rights decisions for spaces within the cherokee school to ocps superintendent mr pomerini do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on item 17.06 no madam chair okay seeing that there's no member who wishes to provide public comment uh we will now consider this item uh dr williams uh dr border Good evening, Vice Chair Salamanca,

151members of the board. According to School Board Policy FF, naming rights for stadiums, gymnasiums, and performing arts centers are subject to board approval. The Cherokee School is currently undergoing a multi-phase renovation and modernization effort. This project was presented to the board on November 6, 2025. The project includes significant upgrades to instructional, creative, performance and student support environments and represents a signature initiative for the district the campaign seeks the capital campaign seeks philanthropic investment to enhance high impact learning spaces and expand opportunities for students across orange county public schools as part of this effort several interior and exterior spaces within the cherokee school have been identified as eligible for philanthropic naming opportunities. These include multiple theaters, courtyards, lobby, atrium, gallery, fabrication labs, production studios, etc. Given the number and variety of these spaces this resolution seeks

152exception to school board policy FF to delegate naming authority for these spaces to the superintendent for projects related to the Cherokee school. This delegation will streamline the capital campaign, reduce administrative burden on the board, and ensure timely alignment between donor intent and project implementation. campus naming rights for the school itself would remain reserved for board decision in the event that a philanthropic partner makes a transformational leadership investment the donor may propose a school name again subject to superintendent approval and board confirmation i'll turn back to you deputy superintendent williams thank you dr border IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE HAVE THE EXPERT, DR. BORDER HERE. CHAIR SALAMANKA. I'M SORRY, THANK YOU, DR. RAMS AND DR. RONBEL. DO WE HAVE MEMBER VONNES WHO CURED UP NEXT? GO AHEAD. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. I MOVE TO DELEGATE

153NAMING RIGHTS DECISIONS FOR SPACES WITHIN THE CHEROKEE SCHOOL TO SUPERINTENDENT. SO WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY MEMBER VONNES. I WILL SECOND THAT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE. Those opposed, we say nay. Motion carries unanimously, but all those present. We move on to 17.07, request to approve resolution ordering and providing for the holding of a referendum election to determine if the electors of the School District of Orange County, Florida, authorize the school board to extend the one mill special millage for four years for essential operating expenses. to preserve essential academic programs, compensate teachers, and support staff, protect the arts, athletics, and student activities. Mr. Pomeroy, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on item 17.07? Yes, Madam Chair. We have four speakers. Okay. We have four speakers.

154If we'll start calling them up, please state your name and zip code for the record. First speaker is Sandy Thuringer. And you will have three minutes. Is that correct? Okay. Three minutes to address the school board. Hi, Sandy Thuringer again, 34787. I just wanted to say, I know I sent you guys an email already letting you know that I believe that we should actually try to increase the millage to 1.25. I think Orange County voters have clearly always stated that they want to ensure that our public schools have funding. So I think increasing it is going to get you the vote and you and more money for your budget so that we can you know pay teachers better and staff all staff so that's all I wanted to say thank you very much thank you

155for staying all the way to the last item we appreciate it next speaker is Greta McMillan Hi, I'm Greta McMillan, 32826. And I wanted to first thank Board Member Gallo for remembering Naomi. I teach at Riverdale Elementary. It's been a rough week. We are all devastated and heartbroken and just don't know what to do. And there is a funeral this week we would all like to attend to at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. If any of you could come and help cover the school so that people could go. No, the funeral. Not that, but the funeral. Yeah, so, you know, just in case any principal leaders or district coaches or anybody's around and want to come check out a classroom, that'd be great. I have taught in Orange County for 17 years, and I have

156a master's degree in elementary ed. I'm a single mom of two boys, 21 and 19, who have both graduated from Orange County Public Schools, and they still live at home with me. In December, we had to move from a house we rented for six years. The owner was selling it, and we paid rent of $1,400. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a three-bedroom house that we could afford and live together. My boys live in a two-bedroom, one-bath house on one side of the road, and I live with my friend across the street in a spare bedroom that she had. I'm embarrassed to say that my boys have to help pay rent because my salary is not enough. While I am proud that my boys want to contribute, I'm ashamed that I can't support my family.

157I am a single mom. Next year, I will bring home $250 less per paycheck. If I choose the hybrid plan, which is the one that our doctors are on and we would choose to stay with. If I choose SureFit, which is a less than adequate plan, I'd have $91 less for paycheck. I have to ask every year if I can afford to stay as a teacher. I love teaching. I love my kindergartners. I love my school. I love my families. But every year it comes down to a choice of can I afford to continue teaching or am I going to have to leave this profession? I'm asking you as school board members to propose a portion of or all of a one meal referendum be used to fund teacher salary. Which one of you have

158the guts to make that proposal? Which one of you is willing to put the money where your mouth is and show the teachers of OCPS that you truly do care and support us? Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker is Clinton McCracken. Good evening, members of the board. We support the renewal of the one-mill referendum, and we all know that our community supports investing in public education. But this is also a moment to ask a very important question. Why can't Orange County do what so many other Florida districts have already figured out? Districts like Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Hillsboro, and Brevard, and now Lake County, which is placing language on their ballot, that includes increasing teacher pay. Meanwhile, Orange County uses this funding to prop up a large portion of the budget. Every time we raise

159concerns about this, we hear the same response. If we changed it, we'd have to cut positions. Our question is why? When other districts have been using their one mill in this way for years. These other districts are funded under the same state system. They face the same challenges from Tallahassee. They deal with inflation, insurance costs, staffing shortages, and rising operational expenses. And yet somehow they've figured out how to build budgets where 70%, 80 or 90% of their referendum dollars go directly into increasing teacher and classified pay. Why not in Orange County? Florida ranks 50th in the nation in average teacher pay. Our educators are struggling. Many are leaving the profession. They can't afford rising housing and insurance costs. Morale is declining because educators feel like they are constantly being told why something can't be done

160instead of hearing solutions for how it can. At some point, this stops sounding like financial impossibility and starts sounding like institutional stubbornness. Respectfully, members of this board, you are not here to simply rubber stamp every explanation the district gives you. You were elected to question, to challenge, and to demand answers on behalf of this community. So far the district has not adequately answered this question. Why have so many other Florida districts figured out how to use referendum funding to directly increase educator pay while Orange County says it can't? Please ask that question. Push for an answer. Demand a change to the language today. Mirror the language used in places like Brevard and Lake Counties. I have a copy of their language right here. Include the word increase so that the public clearly understands that part

161of this referendum should directly increase teacher and classified employee pay. Our educators deserve more than gratitude. They deserve action. This is your chance to fix it. please do so tonight thank you mr mccracken last speaker is yvette torres good evening my name is yvette torres zip code 32808 this is my 23rd year as an ocps teacher tonight the district is the district was celebrating people from the district for their years of service sad to say i didn't hear any teachers i got a pin for 20 years After 23 years, my salary is less than $65,000. This coming year, I may bring home less due to the increase of health insurance and 1% pay increase. I am a reading comprehension teacher. I am your teacher today. I am Ms. Torres. I have a couple rhetorical questions

162for you. The following. Number one, would you be happy with your employer for reducing your take-home pay? Number two, Ms. Salamanca, you stated, quote-unquote, OCPS schools are the best and safest, but the board is pushing teachers away. Do the board members want less than an A? Then make the right decision to keep its teachers. How can teachers be exceptional when they need a second job? Next question. How can teachers feel supported when they cannot pay bills? Number five. How can teachers feel confident and keep their jobs when they are underpaid and overworked? The answer to these questions is to increase people. to increase pay. Show your appreciation in a way that counts. Please consider using funding from the $1 million it gives teachers and give teachers a raise that matters. Teachers made OCPS and a

163district pay teachers accordingly. Class is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Torres. that was our last speaker mr pomerani okay i have a couple board members um queued up starting with member vanos thank you madam chair i'm just going to attempt to answer some of the questions and so if if i'm getting something wrong please uh please jump in but i'm just looking at the um information from um our our finance office about the the revenue from the one mill so it was um APPROXIMATELY $242 MILLION THIS YEAR FROM THE ADDITIONAL VOTED MILLAGE. CHARTER SCHOOLS GOT 20 MILLION OF THAT AMOUNT. 3 MILLION WENT TO FIELD TRIPS. ABOUT 42 MILLION WENT TO paying for the salary increases from that were passed in 2023 2024 supplements for uh seven million was for supplements for arts and

164athletics which left 170 million for positions um 101 am i saying yeah 100 sorry check my math and my reading of numbers um almost 102 million dollars went to pay highly qualified teachers um THAT WAS FOR 1187 POSITIONS. 64 MILLION WENT TO ARTS, DANCE, DRAMA AND MUSIC TEACHERS FOR 741 POSITIONS. AND THEN ABOUT 4.5 MILLION WENT TO ATHLETIC COACHES AND TRAINERS FOR 50 POSITIONS. SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT INFORMATION OUT THERE. AND THEN ALSO TO SHARE MY UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THIS STARTED, THAT WAS A QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED, WAS THAT WHEN THE MILLAGE WAS ORIGINALLY PASSED, our arts and music and elective and athletic programs were on the line for being cut and our community did not want to see that happen and so that was why the millage was passed was to

165support those programs and so it was passed to support those programs and so that's what it has funded and that's where the approximately 2 000 positions like that's why it came to be that way um however i do believe that we are already using the millage to pay for some of our our increases in our salaries and so i would support adding language to the um to the referendum including because we're already paying for increased compensation through that so i i i would advocate for putting adding increasing before compensation in the language of the resolution Thank You member of on us member Gallo Thank You madam chair I Agree with member of anos. I think I have a different just the wording that I used was a little different than what member of anos came

166up with because I just Thought we could put including increasing teacher and educational support compensation That doesn't increase any of the words within the referendum because I know that word language is tight. But I do want to address just a few things because I want to set the expectations. This when we when we and member Vianos is correct when this was all done before any of us were on the board and it was done because back in 2007 2008 the sky was falling and I remember because my kids were in elementary school at the time and We weren't going to have athletics in middle schools. We were going to have to cut art We were going to have to cut all these really important Programs that our kids value and so at that time the

167board that that was up here did the right they did the right thing. They said we can no longer count on Tallahassee. We need to create a revenue stream so that we can make sure that the arts and music and athletics are not codified, but they're protected so that we can ensure that our students have access. to those programs and I commend them for what they they did we were one of the first to go out for the one mill since then subsequently many of the districts have gone out for an extra one mill and they all worded it differently they all worded it so that instead of protecting you know arts and athletics and whatnot they did it just to support teacher pay I did initially support the 1.25. I'm hoping that we can

168still bring back the 2.5 in 2028 as a separate ballot initiative. It was just this year risking that one mill would be almost foolhardy because it's so much a piece of our budget and it really would force us to let go of about 1,900 employees and these are the livelihoods of those employees. AND IF THIS PASSES TONIGHT AND WE DO ADD THE WORD INCREASING, I JUST WANT TO SET THE EXPECTATIONS THAT THIS REFERENDUM, LIKE THE MONEY FOR THE NEW MILL, AND JOHN CAN CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, WE WON'T SEE THAT UNTIL 2027. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS ISN'T SOMETHING THAT WILL BE FIXED RIGHT NOW. IT WOULD BE FIXED AFTER THIS MILL PASSAGE FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR. IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BUCKET OF

169MONEY ALL OF A SUDDEN THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO PAY TEACHERS. SO WE DO NEED TO STILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THE HEALTH CARE PACKAGE WITH THE UNION AND CONTINUE THOSE NEGOTIATIONS. BUT I DO SUPPORT ADDING INCREASE INTO THE BALLOT LANGUAGE SO THAT WE CAN So that it's locked into the referendum so that we can support increasing Teacher pay because I do I get it. I did three town halls where we discussed health care I've heard the stories. I understand that health care is not affordable for teachers and So whatever I can do to help mitigate That issue I'm willing to have that conversation and and make that recommendation. Thank you Thank You member Gallo I guess just a point of clarification. I mean, so we've had two or three meetings on communication meetings on

170the wording of this. Sounds like what's being proposed is adding the word increase compensation teachers. is that kind of what we're i think member vaness and i have something i'll read what i wrote down and then she can read what she wrote down i just all i did was change the word it says one mil advert ad vorlorium millage for essential operating expenses including increasing teacher and educational support compensation and then it just goes on to preserving academic programs as as written so i'm just adding two words got it okay so um i just i took i guess question here uh john on on the increase so there's two buckets that i see right we can change the word and it's increased but i mean as long as we keep compensate teachers compensate support staff

171protect the arts athletics and student activities on it just kind of the existing language It's still the same bucket of money the majority of that money goes to teacher compensation is It gives the purpose of increase meaning we want to increase student compensation at the expense of our arts and athletics Or if not, what's the purpose of putting increase there? Like it's already the current budget as you read the percentage of what goes out of the 242 million goes to teacher compensation as is that's with keeping the exact same language so i i think i'm missing the point if we add the word increase are we saying we want to increase the percentage of teacher compensation compared to what we are already giving our arts athletics and student because in that case then it does

172impact them we will lose positions in the arts no i understand athletics i understand what you're saying and i think the purpose of adding the word increase into the referendum is twofold number one it shows our teachers that the money from this millage Will directly go to increase their pay. I think that's the first one number two I think it gives more legs to this referendum because I do believe that more people Will vote for this by putting in the words increasing teacher pay and I believe that the only way her teachers are going to survive is if we prioritize them teachers and paraprofessionals and classified that we have to prioritize those two units and by putting the word increasing in that helps accomplish that and yes at the end of the day we may

173have to make some hard decisions about Where we go, my hope is once we get the insurance figured out and stabilized. we won't be spending 86 million dollars to put it in the trust that would alleviate some of those dollars hopefully the lawsuit with the property appraisal will settle and we'll we'll get that off of our hands and won't have to keep saving that money so my hope is is that we'll all level out but i understand that adding the word increasing into the millage language at the end of the day at the end of 2027 or whenever the money kicks in we may have to make some decisions i mean we may have to make some hard decisions and that doesn't mean getting rid of arts or getting rid of music or anything like

174that but it may mean that we have to shift around how we fund it does that so remember it's my turn here um well you asked me a question so i was answering that was a speech not an answer um i mean it's i hear you um i think ultimately adding the language i can be supportive and add increasing the the debate is not on adding the language it can be symbolic saying increasing can actually i absolutely think our voters support our teachers and want to increase the size of our teachers and we they want to support that but if it is a question of strategically how we're going to allocate capital if we're saying adding the word increasing means that we're going to cut the arts the support staff the athletics and the student

175activities because we're choosing that language i think that's a much larger conversation that i don't i don't know that we can have right now uh at 8 p.m without our superintendent our chair and so i mean we've had three meetings about the language of this so that's the hard time but i will defer to other school board the rest of the members to talk about this um member douglas i just wanted to say that um I'm a teacher and I definitely would like an increase for teachers pay for sure. But I also would like to have arts and music and athletics and all the good stuff. So my, this is about the budget, okay? And the budget come from the state. And what they're doing to us is that they're cutting and cutting and cutting

176and cutting. And we, with our little pot, we'll try to please all our teachers. I just, more than anything, would like teachers paid. Because that's why I ran. Okay, but we are in a situation right now with the, you know, the legislature, that they keep cutting and cutting the funds for us. Now, if we do teachers pay and we do not have arts and music and athletics, so yes, so now we need discussion, okay, to figure this out because it's not something we can talk about at 8 o'clock at night. You know, I mean, we really have to be... Yeah, with our superintendent, the chair, and discuss this thoroughly because it's not something that we can do in passing. So I really believe that we need to look at the numbers, look at everything, and

177make a decision because I just would like, because art teachers and music teachers are also teachers. They're all teachers and we want a raise for all teachers without without cutting, you know positions for other teachers Thank You member Douglas member Farand Thank You. I'm vice chair So I am, we really have had three communications meetings on this. We have thoroughly looked over the language. We have discussed everything and I am in favor of keeping the language as is. I believe that by adding the word increase, I think it will. Although it looks nice on paper. I think it will make it look like and make our current teachers believe that they would have a crazy increase next year because of the referendum going through and I don't think we need to have language in there

178just to make it look cool. I think I would rather have it including the compensation of teachers, educational support employees, like everything we have in there right now is what we are doing and we want to continue that. We want to continue to support our teachers, our support staff, the arts, our athletics, and that is what this referendum does. While the 1.25 Sounds awesome in theory what happens if in this climate when people are struggling to make ends meet and They're saying why would I want to pay more taxes? and Please The discussion is not unfortunately with public input. We've had the opportunity for public input. We're just trying to sort this out Thank you. So for those in attendance, but also those watching online, this is not just for our employees. Although it is,

179we love our employees. We want to make sure that they have what they can get. There's 14,000 of our, we have teachers and then there's support staff and whatnot. We have 1.5 million taxpayers in Orange County. And so we also have to think of when if you if I go out and I'm talking to constituents and they say, wow, you want to increase my taxes? They could say, nope, I don't want any. And now you don't have any increase. And now we're back here next year and you're frustrated because now there's even less money. So for us, for me personally, I would just keep the same because I want to make sure that we have, we continue to have what we've already budgeted for. Whether you like that or not, that's what I will be

180choosing and I will be in approval of the way it looks as is. Thank you, Member Frantz. So just to be clear, two questions are on the board. One. there is the question of changing the language as a member gallo member vannes mentioned and two there's the question of do we vote on this today or do we if we do want to have this increased conversation on the language um do we have to push this forward to another meeting which is okay as well i know timing is of the essence but i think if we're going to cut salaries of our support staff arts athletics and student activities i think there needs to be a much longer conversation and so those are the two questions I had for would be great to hear from every

181board member on that member bird thank you and I think there's there's still I think there has to be a little bit of clarity around that the reason you're saying that I know that no one out there no one is saying we're talking about cutting but the reason you're saying that is because if we change the language to increasing and then Tallahassee next year and their budget does not increase The allocation for teachers because they very well could do that. I mean this year. They're only saying 0.65 supposed to maybe Teacher salary increase so if Tallahassee comes back next year and doesn't give us any increase in our funding Then we have now promised an increase and we won't be able to make an increase Right expensive. So then it has to write it has

182to come at the expense of something else So then we do have to make cuts. So I think that's why member Salamanca is referring to the cuts even though nobody is specifically saying that and I'm gonna reiterate what was already said that we have had three three in-depth conversations around this where we went over we did intensive polling for this topic asking if you they would recommend if they would want the 1.25 if they would vote for that if it went to teacher size at the the polling that was done was extensive by an outside organization and we discussed the results of that polling in in the communication meeting three separate times and even though You know some of us were we were on the fence about it. We came to the conclusion that If

183we pushed right now with the environment, our environment now is much different than it was four years ago. We just had an entire legislative session that was focused on cutting property taxes. And our economy is not great right now, and people are broke, and gas prices are through the roof. So then we're going to go to them with who knows what it will look like in November, and then they're going to get a ballot that says increase your property tax to... Not the one mil, the 1.25. And they might be walking to that ballot box already upset and frustrated with where everything is. And then they vote no, and then we lose it. And then what happens if we lose it? Has anybody thought about that? If we lose that one mil and we lose

184$250 million out of our budget every year, then we're going to be in a lot of trouble. So that is where our discussions led us back to we cannot risk that one mill, but there are other possibilities which we explored going after the 0.25. Right, we've already put it on the agenda. Going after the 0.25 two years later, which you can do. We did all that research. So we've already had extensive conversations about this. We were bringing this tonight because this is where we settled. AND SO I'M IN FAVOR OF KEEPING IT WHERE IT'S AT. I DON'T FEEL THE NEED TO CHANGE THE LANGUAGE. SO IF THERE ARE, IF WE HAVE ENOUGH BOARD MEMBERS THAT FEEL THAT YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE LANGUAGE, THEN I'M DEFINITELY NOT IN FAVOR OF DOING THAT TONIGHT WITHOUT THE

185SUPERINTENDENT OR THE CHAIR HERE. okay so so far we have four one two three four more members of not changing it or pushing to talk if we want to change it to push it where the superintendent and just one more discussion yeah more discussion yeah yeah so four to not change tonight is the thing uh member falder i don't have you cute of the member gallery you're up next and then you're just not cute but we want to make sure we get everybody's I'm in favor with what Member Byrd said because we've gone through this three times. We've dug everything that we could possibly do to try to figure out how to do that. I'm a teacher also, and I understand the frustration of working 20 years or more and still getting $60,000. That's something.

186It's just mesmerizing that that sort of thing happens. But if we take the risk, this is my thought. If we take the risk of increasing it and then the state will not give us, we're not even getting what we want it to have, and then we're losing, what, $250 million, and then somebody will lose their job. Several people are going to lose their jobs. So I think with the condition of where we are right now, as Member Byrd has talked about, gas, grocery, rent, all these kinds of things that are happening. It's unfortunate that a teacher has to live in one house while her children live in another house because he or she cannot afford them to stay the same way. That's an unfortunate situation in 2025. It's unfortunate. You hold two degrees, three degrees,

187and your salary is not even at $80,000. This is where we are. That's the reality of where we are. So I believe that when we went through this, the three times we went, we had intense, in-depth discussion about this in work sessions. And I understand that we need to do what we can to increase teachers' salary by any means necessary. But because of the climate that we're living in, the state of Florida and the legislators, I'm afraid if we bounce out there. We may not get anything, and then now we still got to pay teachers. We got to turn to some schools. We have to pay teachers. So, no, I'm in favor of keeping it the way it is. And let's not vote. Excuse me. Sorry. Not try to make any changes tonight with the

188absence of the superintendent and the chair. All right. Thank you. thank you with all due respect we're not talking about raising the millage we're just talking about changing some of the language within the millage and I understand the concerns about cutting other programs but those programs will still be within the millage language so we can't cut out what we've promised the voters that we will do So saying that we're going to cut art, saying we're going to cut music, saying that we're going to do all those things, we can't because the millage won't allow us to do that. Now, will we have to shift and look at different things that we may need to do? yeah maybe but we're going to have to do that anyways our enrollment's declining it we're projected that it's going

189to decline again next year so we're already making hard decisions we've already cut five percent from the district level over the last two years we've continued to make hard decisions we have other districts that are you know we're well i think they tried to eliminate field trips i think they brought it back because of the outcry of the community but we are we are no longer in a position where we are saying Well, we can't make those hard decisions. We have to make those hard decisions and right now we are going to have teachers and classified personnel that are gonna choose Mental therapy health care or putting food on their table and paying rent because they're not going to be able to for the health care That's just the real issue That is before us

190and and I get That this is this is hard and and this is difficult and I don't want to cut any of these positions either either I also don't want our employees not to get the health care of the therapy that they deserve and that they need and I'm the only one here who had three town halls that had these discussions with teachers that understand how bad It's gonna be for them So yeah, I'm a little passionate about this and I'm a little concerned for our teachers and my heart is literally breaking for them because i don't know how they're going to afford it and i don't know what the timeline is and i've had a conversation with the superintendent so i want everybody to know that she knew that i was going to bring

191this up tonight this is not a surprise for the superintendent and as for the chair i don't know why she's not here this evening that's none of my business but she knew it was on the agenda so i you know i'm not i I just I think that we have a timeline I'm not certain what that timeline is maybe Mr. Pomerini could let us in on the timeline but either we say we're prioritizing teacher and classified staff or we're not it's that simple Mr. Pomerini and then Member Vanos so timeline that as I understand it is the supervisor of elections wants our language by the middle of June for the purpose of putting it on the November ballot. As you will remember, the board's vote is the first step of a two-step process. We also

192have to bring it in front of the county commission. And the county commission shall place it on the ballot. I'm not worried about... That but we have to get it in front of the County Commission. I've talked with mr Howitt that looks like if we were to move it beyond let me step back currently The board's vote if it goes through tonight, we will be in front of the County Commission next Tuesday May 19th, right? If the board does not vote tonight. What we're most likely gonna have to do is call a special meeting at some point in may because then we will have to have a meeting we will have to go in front of county commission by june 2nd so if the board decides they're not they're not comfortable voting on this tonight

193we're going to have to call a special meeting in order to have enough time to get to the county commission on june 2nd um okay thank you mr palmer any uh member vanos thank you madam chair i i mean in having this discussion i yes we did have three meetings and the majority of the conversation in those three meetings was about whether we go out for the one mill or whether we go up for the 1.25 mill that we talked about polling we talked about all that like so i it we were not sitting down with this language and going piece by piece through the language in the meeting we were primarily talking about whether to change to the 1.25 um i will also say this we are using the money for increased compensation already

194and so adding it in ensures that it remains used for that purpose regardless of who's sitting on the board in the future so i don't again we're using it for it i want to make sure it is in the language to ensure that it is always used for that okay that's it um So, I don't have anyone else. My concern is still, and I don't know if this is in the semantics of it, talk to legal, we can talk to whatever it is on the actual, it feels like if we add increasing, which we already use it for increasing, as Member Vano said, in the case where we cannot increase salaries in the future. and we want to increase salaries, it will come at the expense of our support staff, arts, athletics, and student activities.

195And my biggest concern to member Gallo's point is we're already cutting everywhere we can when it comes to this. Enrollment is suffering constantly. One thing is absolutely clear on enrollment of why do parents send students to Orange County Public Schools over charters and consistently on the top reasons. It's arts, athletics, and activities, and the fact that Orange County is a very competitive school district. They our community absolutely loves our teachers and supports our teachers and that money is the majority of the millage is used to compensate teachers We're not going to not compensate our teachers or use the majority of it for compensate. It's already in the language That is that's so like that's the I'm really the semantics can go both ways if you add Increasing then you are adding in the absence of

196an increase decreasing everybody else Like that's the given of the language you're saying you're increasing teacher compensation But in the world where we don't get money to increase teacher compensation The bucket is still the same which means we will have to cut support staff arts athletics and student activities That's that's the that's kind of how the math works And I mean we've we've heard from our support staff as well like our support staff make a fraction of what our teachers make But we're not saying increasing support It's just a long is quite clear. It's quite clear that additional conversations needed but what we can do that with the chair being here and the superintendent which should be at the table while we have in this conversation because she's correct we've had communications meeting we talked

197about this and if there is going to be a change the chair and the superintendent should be sitting at the table. And if that's the case, and if you all agree to that, we will call a special session. We already have a planning session and a work session scheduled for May 19th. We can add it to that. And at that point, additional conversation can and will be made in reference to this. But I truly believe that the chair and the superintendent should be sitting at the table if we're going to change anything today. Thank you. I and that's the case we can advertise it tonight and that meeting will be held May 19th right after the work session and at that point everybody will be sitting at the table additional conversation can be made that

198will give us enough time to get that to the county and we will still be on track so that's not an issue but that is my opinion everybody should be sitting at the table. Yeah I mean we got. question number one is do we want to push off to potential change of the language so do we have we have member vano's member gallo want to potentially change the language so delay anyone else want to delay this vote tonight okay so you're good with delaying to potentially change the language Tonight we just have the item at hand was to make a motion to approve the language that we had currently discussed. So we were going to make a motion to approve that language. We now have a suggestion to change the language that we had prepared.

199So that means we're no longer making a motion on that piece. We're going to not pass that tonight. We're just going to take it to discussion to potentially amend that. So, Member Douglas. Yes. same to table okay so majority of the board is an agreement to table it for now and whenever we have the we'll advertise it so the public knows folks can send us more comments we'd love to hear from the public have folks email us on the language and then the superintendent and the chair can be present mr pomer anything else i am missing on this I just wanted to make sure that I'm just looking at the statute to make sure we have enough time to advertise a special meeting. It says at least two days for advertising a special meeting. So

200if we advertise it tonight, tomorrow morning, we can advertise it for May 19th if we want to do that. I just I just want to make sure that we had enough time. So then that is a do we need to make an amendment to change the agenda to remove? So I would move to table this for tonight. And I would also have a motion to authorize the noticing of a special meeting May 19th in order to do it. Okay. So do we have a motion to table this? So I move by Member Gallo, seconded by Member Douglas. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All those against? All those in favor, except for maybe member Front. Okay motion carries we will come back to this and we will advertise so then we'll we're going to

201motion to advertise you have to make a motion for that or just for agreement by the board that we will advertise. No I've read your motion is encompassing the noticing of a special meeting for May 19th. Okay thank you very much. Okay so next we will be moving to 18.01. We actually have two presentations, but it's 830. Two presentations. Dr. Tashana Brown-Cannon, is it okay if we move both to June? We actually had a speech and debate league and a special presentation to District 4, so we'll move that to June. And the Let's Read OCPS, we'll move that to June. Wendy Ivory, is it okay to, would you like to show the video today? Okay, it's a quick video. Okay, let's don't mind Wendy would like to show or present a video to you in

202reference to ESC and the advertising that they're doing to the community Victor, please Move forward with playing the video, please From the very beginning you hold on a little tighter Because letting go is just never routine it matters You hope someone will take the time, connect and understand. To help each other. Here, every student is understood. And meet them where they are. And little by little, you start to see it everywhere. They start to connect and belong. This is where they learn to navigate the world. This is where they prepare for what's next. To move forward in their own way. you start to see it. This isn't just one classroom, it's a system built to support them. What we focus on here is making sure every student has the support they need to grow. And

203that looks different for every child, which is why we build programs around who they are. And as a parent, you start to feel it. And somewhere along the way, you realize they're exactly where they need to be. And you know you made the right choice. For more information or questions about exceptional student education, email bsb at ocps.net. Let us show you the power of public education in Orange County Public Schools. That was great. just real quickly dr vasquez wanted you all to see that we're putting that out there on every social media website we can possibly think of to get some of our esc well as many as we could get back esc students that have gone private charter and or homeschooled so that's what that is blue is your color blue is your color

204for sure um member ferrant have you on our queue Hey, I just wanted to say great job, Wendy. That was amazing. Oh, my goodness. How inspiring. So those I feel like they were both at Blankner and Boone, but they might have been other schools, but I could spot some of those. But man, to see the work that goes in to really helping these students succeed and really feel seen and heard, like was stated, every kid. They're they can they're a part of the conversation. They they can they're heard and they're Understood we have our the hard of hearing, the vision impaired units. It's just incredible to see the work that our staff does. And honestly, under your leadership, it has exponentially changed. So I really thank you for that. This is so phenomenal. I can't

205wait for this to drop. I want to share this. This will be on social media or? everything please email it to us as well so amazing yes could you email that to us because i really i would love to share that and get that out there it's phenomenal great job i'd love to see more of this uh in all different areas so thank you again um all right dr williams anything else on your side if one last thing we have a brag and a boast for district four would you like to present board member douglas with a nice trophy i feel like it's enough winning for district four This is the last one. Dr. Tashonda Brown. Can and make right quick. They do a lot of reading in District 4, isn't it? Right quick, Dr.

206Tashonda. 1,540,000. Oh, this is for something else. This is for something else. Oh. Yeah, this is the chess tournament. Good evening, chair, board. right quick right quick right quick yes on April 25th we held our speech and debate championship at Boone High School and so we would like to present District 4 board member Douglas with the championship trophy for participation and performance that's a big deal I'm jealous of that my son was in debate too yes yeah Thank you so much. Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

207Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you frank is long gone he's in his pajamas already thank you okay hang on and so our let's read ocps campaign was held from january 27th to april 30th congratulations again to board member douglas district four they were our let's read ocps champions for 2026. all right

208District 4, the West is the best. And we have a certificate framed for all of our board members. Thank you so much for supporting literacy. Participation? At high levels, remember Salamon, it's like the YMCA. Thank you, Tashaun. It's like the YMCA. Everybody gets something. I don't know how I feel about participation, but it's fine. You know we know. yeah what the heck i think she has more students or something yeah there's something going on that's whatever funky okay dr williams anything else if not no thank you and congratulations district four the west west is the best yes general counsel mr pomerini any update for the school board i've got nothing wait wait wait i gotta keep going through this um committee reports do we have any committee reports uh communications legislative anything else no no

209okay so no reports uh on to school board members any uh policy level issues you'd like to consider or bring up or anything else I'm member front awesome. I wanted to make a proposal to Have a proclamation to celebrate and recognize July 4th 2026 as America 250 as we bring in the 250th YEAR, OUR SEMI CONSTANTINUAL. I HAVE A LITTLE PROCLAMATION THAT I'VE CREATED AND I'VE SENT IT TO MR. PALMERANY AND HE SAID IT SOUNDS GREAT BUT I CAN SEND IT TO THE REST OF THE BOARD AND IT WOULD COME BACK AT THE JUNE MEETING. THAT'S RIGHT. AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY. I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. THANK YOU. OKAY. WONDERFUL. ANY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS? YEAH, WE DO. MEMBER BIRD. There is a policy that I think we need to update policy FBA is It is on

210the MEETINGS THAT WE HAVE COMMUNITY MEETINGS AROUND CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATIONS OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS. YEAH, WE'VE GOT LIKE NOW THAT MOST OF OUR NOW WE'RE NOT BUILDING SO MANY NEW SCHOOLS BUT WE'RE DOING SO MANY RENOVATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVES THAT THE AMOUNT OF COMMUNITY MEETINGS FOR THE STAFF IS JUST A LOT. SO AND THAT POLICY HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE I BELIEVE 2011 SO IT'S TIME PROBABLY TO LOOK AT THAT ONE AGAIN ANYWAY. uh support from other members i think we have plenty of support to bring that back up yes uh member vanos thank you um couple things just wanted to let the board know that at the next planning session We will hear from Habitat for Humanity the various groups within the county about some of the great work that that they're doing and some of the

211potential partnerships with OCPS Second wanted to think member Felder for for collaborating on a town hall a couple of weeks ago I guess gosh, maybe it was last week. I don't even know the days all go together. It was last week so thank you and i think it's i'm looking forward to doing many more with you and hopefully yeah we can um share more of that information and then the third thing which is the last thing is i did want to bring back um we had talked about this and then i feel like it sort of got lost through the cracks but the conversation about having some student representation on the board um i feel like it's kind of been pushed down but it would be nice to talk about that so that we could

212have that in place for the next school year so just gauging interest in that. Thank you. I have one thing and I think we could I know this is already kind of going in the background but I wanted also kind of felt through the cracks which was a superintendent evaluation. So a while back member Vanos and I worked on a kind of a new format for it. I think it seems that we'll be using the existing old format just because we didn't get off enough feedback but still highly recommend that the board members spend time with the proposed format and that we spend time at some planning session talking about it because i think that we do want to change it we just actually need to spend time on it and so just bringing that

213up if you all could spend some time thinking about that and talking to bridget or the superintendent about what the board wants on that i think we just need to have a conversation maybe a planning session um so even if we just add it to the agenda for five ten minutes for us to talk about it um i think the board did want to change the instrument we just had to spend time on it yeah can we have the old instrument recent yeah the proposed one that's right um that was that was my bit anything else from folks okay so with that i believe we conclude the business of the school board um i find out for the business this meeting is adjourned because we don't do anything