001good evening everyone and welcome to the orange county school board's regularly scheduled meeting this tuesday february 8 2022 thanks so much for joining us tonight board members are all attending in person member lopez is not at the dais but she's in the building so we will go ahead and start because we have a quorum and i'm sure she will be joining us very shortly As a reminder, adults are required to wear a face mask while indoors and on all school property, which includes the chambers and the lobby. And I want to thank everybody in the room for having their mask on with us today. Also want to remind the public that board members will not be engaging in outside electronic or digital communication during the meeting so that they can focus so that we all
002focus our full attention on the meeting and those of you that are here. To my fellow board members and staff members and anyone who may be speaking publicly, please remember to speak directly into your mic and make sure it is turned on before speaking so that our YouTube and Orange TV viewers can hear you clearly. again thank you so much for participating in tonight's meeting we're going to begin with a moment of silence and then i invite you to join us in the pledge of allegiance and now for the pledge of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right before we go to the business portion of our meeting we do have some acknowledgements to recognize On
003Thursday, December 2nd, Olympia High School hosted its freshman-sophomore orchestra holiday concert. While attended by parents and community meeting members alike, the annual event provided an opportunity to showcase the talents of Titans participating in the performing arts. Among them is Anthony Matthew, a junior, award-winning upright string bass player, National Honor Society member, and orchestra volunteer known for helping out wherever he can. Just moments before the concert was about to commence, orchestra instructor-conductor Brandon Bangle became very ill. Adopting a show-must-go-on mindset, Mr. Bangle asked Anthony to conduct the orchestra as he was rushed to the hospital. Although shocked by his teacher's request, Anthony stepped up without any preparation and agreed to conduct not just the orchestra, but the entire concert. And he did not miss a beat. And yes, I'm... Pun intended. Mr. Bangle's trust and confidence
004appointing Anthony as emergency conductor is an example of the positive teacher-student relationships that exist in our school campuses. And we applaud the heroic efforts of Anthony in the time of crisis. Anthony, you have proven to be a true leader among your peers and the entire school community. You're a student who others look up to as a role model. and you're a student that we all look up to as a role model thank you for being a shining example to your peers to mr bengal to the entire school and to i can tell you the nine of us the ten of us are sitting here at the dais are all just in awe and wish that we could emulate your leadership and your efforts to just step up and be where you needed to be right
005when you were there. So God bless you. Thank you. And now, can we just ask you to rise so we can recognize you for just a minute? And we have a few comments. So thinking about maybe changing career paths or anything? Eh, it had to be fun, though. Yeah, yeah. Let me call on Member Gold. So, Anthony, you are in my school and I heard about your story and I had requested that you get recognized here today because that would have been so disappointing, not only for your fellow musicians, but for the entire audience that gets to show up on those rare moments to hear that wonderful orchestra. By the way, my son was violin there. So I am. I am. Not partial, but it is an alma mater. So, you know, very proud of
006the music program at Olympia. And thank you for continuing the Titan tradition and really making it go forward. I just thought this was an excellent example of the kind of leadership and flexibility and nimbleness that our students all portray all the time. Thank you for being a great leader and an example of. a wonderful OCPS student and best of luck. I know that you're going to take on whatever comes your way and just overcome it because you do it very fluidly from what I hear. So thank you for that and don't ever lose that quality. Thank you. I was just going to ask and then I'm going to call on Member Gallo, but you're joined by, are your parents here? Who's with you today? Yes. And who else do you have with you? I was
007wondering if Mr. Bangle was here. Mr. Bangle, how are you? It's so good to have you with us. All right, y'all stand so we can recognize all of you. Great call, Mr. Bangle. Yeah, the 911 and Anthony, but let me call now on Member Gallo. Y'all can sit back down. thank you madam chair so anthony you don't know me but i i knew you when you were tolling around with your mom when ellen worked at east lake elementary and i know your stepdad neil too he was ap at east lake elementary um so i'm so proud of you like i'm not shocked because i know your mom and she's the bomb.com so um i'm not at all shocked that you would step up and do that i just want to personally say that i'm so
008proud of you and it's so good to see i haven't seen ellen forever so hugs um so just congratulations and keep it up thank you awesome thank you all right um we also want to recognize a few special a few additional recognitions in january the baldridge foundation announced its class of 2022 recipients of its annual leadership awards among this year's recipients was our very own dr barbara jenkins who received the foundation's award for leadership excellence this award was created to celebrate leaders in business healthcare, education, nonprofit, cybersecurity, and government, which provide exceptional support to Baldrige and the foundation's mission. In addition to this award on Friday, February 3rd, Dr. Jenkins was also recognized by Cognia with the Values Driven Award during its 2022 Florida State Conference in Palm Harbor. This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate
009outstanding work on behalf of its learners to advance and enable pathways for success. Senior Director of Cognia, Florida said Dr. Barbara Jenkins' commitment to high expectations for students is driven by a dedication to shared leadership and the development of a dedicated and highly high quality team. Orange County Public Schools exemplifies what tenacious commitment to continuous improvements can achieve and should be commended for their commitment and dedication to achieve the next level of excellence on behalf of the learners they educate and as all of you know our vision here at OCPS is to ensure that every student has a promising and successful future it's because of this visionary leadership that Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins that we're able to recognize her today for those two very recent accomplishments Dr. Jenkins you're recognized thank you
010and congratulations any comments So both of those awards, Madam Chair, members of the board, are actually commendations to this board and to my incredible leadership team and to the phenomenal teachers and principals and support staff that work on behalf of our children. So on behalf of all of you, I am certainly humbly accepting those awards. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. all right we have several proclamations we're also celebrating tonight we're proclaiming february 17th as national pta founders day in orange county public schools and is melanie williams president of occ pta here wonderful thank you melanie you want to come up i'm hoping you're going to read the proclamation Good to have you with us, Melanie. Good to be here. Thank you, Madam Chair, Board Members, Superintendent. Thank you. Founders Day is our national PTA
011Founders Day. And I just want to say this before I read the proclamation. We celebrate our leaders. And here in Orange County, we are Orange County because of our local leaders. So I just want to give a shout out to all our local unit PTA presidents and PTSA presidents. They have done tremendous. the last couple years leading up to today and they kind of epitomize the quote that says life is a gift and it offers us the privilege, opportunity and responsibility to give something back by becoming more and that's what we do in PTA World. Now for the proclamation, thank you. There's a proclamation for the National Parent Teacher Association Founders Day. Whereas the first chartered association of the National Parent Teacher Association was established in New York in 1897. And whereas for 125 years,
012the PTA has celebrated the legacy and work of its founders, Alice McLennan Burney, Phoebe Apperson Hurst, and Selina Sloan Butler on February 17th. And whereas the original mission of National PTA was to better the lives of every child in education, health and safety. And whereas Florida chartered its Parent Teacher Association on April 14th, 1923. And whereas the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers founded by Butler united with the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, predecessor of the National PTA, to become one organization in 1970. And whereas today the National PTA is chartered in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Europe. And whereas Orange County students are represented by 140 local PTA units and countywide by the Orange County Council of PTA-PTSA. And whereas PTAs are committed to
013furthering its mission of making every child's potential a reality through family school partnerships, community outreach, and advocacy. along with continuing to serve as a powerful voice for all children, be a relevant resource for parents, and be a strong supporter of public education. whereas through advocacy and family and community education the National PTA has established programs and called for legislation that improves our children's lives through the creation of kindergarten classes, child labor laws, public health service, hot and healthy lunch programs, juvenile justice system, mandatory immunization, arts in education and school safety. And whereas OCPS, Parent and Family Engagement Department, supports the mission of the National PTA through its Parent Academy, which empowers, engages, and educates families and caregivers by providing high quality training sessions, resources, and access to skills and services. Now therefore be it resolved
014that the School Board of Orange County, Florida does hereby proclaim February 17, 2022 as National Parent Teacher Association Founders Day in Orange County Public Schools. Thank you. Yes, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Melanie. Those of you know me a note that I have a huge involvement in PTA through my children's school all the way to the County Council to the Florida PTA and to say that PTA is kind of interwoven into so many of the advocacy efforts that have helped make children's lives better in Florida and across the nation is an understatement. The value of this group of parents and how they contribute to the education of students and the advocacy of students just. can't be said often enough and so I just want to thank Melanie for all her hard work she was
015up in Tallahassee with us last week I'll give a report a little later on but they were there you know standing alongside school board members advocating for students and for public education so I just want to say we appreciate you we appreciate all that you do all the county council presidents every single member that gives their time their money their treasure their talent we appreciate you so much thank you you thank you thank you melanie for being here and member gallo thank you for your years of leadership and your involvement and commitment but long before she was member gallo was serving on this board she was serving as a legislative what's the term the the chair of the legislation of the legislature and spent a lot of time in tallahassee doing what she does every
016day here and that is championing for public education so and i think ptsa pta is such a great organization to carry that message because how do you ignore the voices of parents teachers students just It's a powerful organization. I think any politician would be crazy to ignore. That's my little message to anybody who could possibly be listening in Tallahassee. Anyway, let's move on to our next proclamation, which is the National FFA Week here in Orange County Public Schools. We'll be proclaiming February 19th through the 26th as National FFA Week. And we are also proclaiming February 21st through the 25th as Public Schools Week here in Orange County Public Schools. And the only thing I would say on that proclamation, there's so much to say, but I would say that every single week is Public Schools
017Week here in Orange County Public Schools. But whether you're talking about even summers, every week is Public Schools Week. And we commend all of our... educators and all those who work in the public school system as well as all of our parents that are involved in all that you do to make sure that our future is bright and that our children's lives are rich and full of opportunities now we're going to move on to our strategic plan no we do not have a strategic plan update do we have any administrators to be recognized no newly appointed administrators we're going to move on to the adoption of the agenda dr james dr jenkins any changes to the agenda no changes madam chair all right with no changes to the agenda i uh would ask for a
018motion to accept the agenda as advertised so moved covert motion by covert is there a second second second by second by vice chair motion seconded by vice chair all in favor please say aye aye opposed motion carries unanimously we have um before we we'll move on to the approval of the consent agenda and then we do have one item removed from the consent agenda that we'll take up separately is there a motion to approve the consent i'm sorry so we thought something had been moved give us just a moment So 17, 501 was moved to 1701, but I thought perhaps Dr. Jenkins said it happened before the agenda was published. Yeah, there was an oversight. I apologize. That's all right. Can we move to, what do we need to do? Resend the vote? recall the
019vote i'm sorry it was did you already i'm sorry we were trying to figure that out did you already vote to approve them uh if you would rescind the vote or send the motion okay can i have a motion to rescind the vote motion by member gould is there a second to rescind the vote second SECOND BY MEMBER COBERT ALL IN FAVOR PLEASE SAY AYE AYE OPPOSED MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY LET'S TRY AGAIN DR JENKINS IS THERE ARE THERE ANY CHANGES TO THE AGENDA MADAM CHAIR THERE IS ONE CHANGE TO THE AGENDA FROM OUR PERSONNEL AGENDA ITEM 3.01 IT NEEDS TO BE MOVED FOR EMPLOYEE WITH INITIALS AT MOVED TO NON-CONSENT ITEM 1701 ACTUALLY IF WE CAN AMEND THAT IT'S ITEM 5.01 all right so um do we have a motion to amend the we're going
020back to i'm sorry we are going back to the agenda as advertised member lopez you recognize and i i just i just want to recognize our um colonial high school sga students that are here before you tell them to leave oh my gosh thank you so they are there with miss um torres i i just want to acknowledge that they are here thank you for coming Stand up, y'all. This is a civic engagement requirement for our council's award application. So they're here, okay? Awesome. Doing their job. Thank you so much for coming. Well, I am so glad you pointed that out. So I'm wanting, I get a chance to check on something. We sent a letter to the legislature. um just this past week and we want to make sure you got it because i
021wanted to get it in your hands not just in parents hands so did your sga did you get a copy i see one thumbs up i don't see everybody else okay i want to make sure all of you all have a copy okay because this is about you and and we want to fight for you we want to fight with you and so let's make sure i know it was going out sometime this week it went out by a phone message but we also wanted to get it in the hands of all of our gsa clubs so this is just i couldn't help it and i also want to congratulate miss torres she's an amazing teacher she used to be my colleague when i was at colonial high school she's there she she looks pretty
022young so mr thank you for all you do thank you miss torres okay All right, I'm so thrilled to have you all here. Well, I'm not gonna let you go so Should be a short meeting hopefully anyway, but okay, let's move on you really can go if you want to So dr. Jenkins, let's start over with you already did me you gave me the changes to the consent agenda to their consent agenda. So now i need a motion to accept the agenda not the consent agenda is there a motion to accept the agenda as amended motion by member gallo is there a second second by member lopez all in favor of amending the agenda please say aye aye opposed okay is there a motion to approve the consent agenda motion by member cobert is there
023a second Second by Vice Chair. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Now let's move on to item 1701 on moved to non, then item that was on the personnel agenda. Dr. Jenkins, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. You are pending before you as an actual termination recommendation for employee initials AJ, AG, AT. I'm sorry. AT. and um mr palmerini is going to walk us through that thank you and we do have um one speaker here for public comment we'll hear from the superintendent let me first i want to apologize to the board for how difficult this was i um sometimes i don't know the right answer i'm sorry madam chair did you call on me i did remember gold um this was particularly difficult and the right answer is there's no
024right answer here so and i absolutely agree with you chair um you know that i've worked in mental health i know your personal circumstances in this and um our challenge is um prioritizing caring for everybody and that I think made this so difficult. So I just want to say I appreciate the board for their thoughtful diligence in this. And while we didn't all come to the exact same conclusion, I think that we did everything that we could to have Mr. Torres felt heard. Well said, Member Gould. What I think I was trying to say is... and certainly i appreciate the difficult decision that the board has to make as well i can assure you we have contemplated this diligently they're tough decisions anytime we have to deal with the termination but the the body of
025the whole the picture of the whole certainly indicate it's the right thing to do. I want to reassure you again, we'll make sure he has some opportunity to understand the appeal process, as well as some opportunity to understand, even if it's through his wife, for insurance, as well as any mental health needs that he might have and resources that are in our community for him as well. All right, so my report, I have four items. Let me start first. Dealing with allergies. Please don't think it's COVID, Karen. Karen getting nervous every time I cough. I have a post-nasal drip. Yes, it's allergies. We're working on it. All right. Four items that I want to cover. They include the teacher valuation information, the state budget, the extension of drop, and one last surprise item. Let me
026say something first about the teacher evaluation, HB 1203 and HB 1386, just for background, certainly for anyone who might be listening. This is not new on our radar. State statute 1012.34 says, For the purpose of increasing student academic performance by improving the quality of instructional, administrative, and supervisory services in the public schools of the state, the district school superintendent shall establish procedures for evaluating the performance of the duties and responsibilities of all instructional, administrative, and supervisory personnel employed by the school district. Further, the Department of Education must approve each school district's instructional personnel and school administrator evaluation system. The department shall monitor each district's implementation of its instructional personnel and school administrator evaluation systems for compliance with the requirements of this section. I just read that background so folks understand this is nothing new to
027Orange County Public Schools, but I also want to clarify. The actual selection of the evaluation instrument is what we believe is under the superintendent's purview. We do bargain and have bargained all of these items, categories of teachers. Category 1, 2, 3, 1, 2A, and 2B, we bargain the types of observations, short and formal, versus the longer formal observations. We provide notification, I'm sorry, we bargain notification details, the number of observations based upon category, the dates or windows for the observations, the deliberate practice cut scores, the student learning growth cut score. the evaluation rating ranges and the appeals procedure for any violations concerning it so we do have collective bargaining what has not been bargained is the actual selection of the instrument i also want to make sure the board understands when we bargain those particular
028items We have not been at all concerned about being generous to our teachers. They work hard every day. 88% are highly effective under the current, and 8% are effective. 3% can't be evaluated for various reasons. 1% is in the needs improvement category. I'm sorry, less than 1%. So we've gone through disagreement with the union over whether or not it ought to be bargained. First we prevail, then they prevail. When PERC gave their ruling, we believe they misinterpreted the statute. There are various opinions the same, that they overstepped and misinterpreted the statutes about what was to be. bargain but this has been going on since 2018. it's been going on for a while our latest appeal certainly has to be dealt with in the court system not new is number one background 96 of our teachers
029are either 88 are highly effective under the current system eight percent are effective and so i i think this administration is committed to being generous in providing for our teachers. I think the other point to note is what was done by the legislature, or at least proposed by the legislature, is for clarification to reinforce what we believe was already clear in statute. Other superintendents were alarmed when PERC's ruling came through. They saw it as an immediate breach of statute. FADS was concerned. DOE was concerned. Someone will determine whether or not PERC indeed got it wrong or right. That is left up to the legislature. But I want to reassure you. This is not a new issue for us that we believe the actual selection of the instrument is not what is bargainable. I wanted to
030make sure you understood that. But more importantly, I wanted to share with you where we go from here, because whether the legislature has something passed or the courts decide one way or the other, I still think it is time. We've been with Marzano now for 11 years. I think it's time for a very comprehensive review, and I think it's critical that our teachers be involved in that review. If you recall, back when Marzano was selected, some of you may recall, the state said you can pick Danielson or Marzano because they meet all of these criteria, or if you dare, you can try to come up with your own or a hybrid, and then the state board decides whether or not, Department of Education decides whether or not it will be accepted. I think after 11
031years, it's a good time for a comprehensive review and recommendations from the vast teaching base that we have on whether or not we stay with Marzano or go with something else. But again, it's input, it's assessment, it's collaboration, but it is not. in our opinion, something to be bargained for the actual selection. Hence, you could also end up in an impasse hearing over the actual instrument. All of the other items that are bargainable, we are absolutely in agreement with. So here's how we're going to move forward. I've instructed Dr. Vasquez to begin this process. In fact, it was her idea a couple of years ago to start looking at this, and then we got mired in the ULP and... and PERC ruling and so forth. So we've not moved forward on it. But I think
032we have to, regardless of those outcomes, it's time to move forward on it anyway. So she will be convening. large groups of teachers beginning in march to begin discussions around the evaluation instruments so administrators as well can be involved to provide some recommendations that includes our teachers union it includes some selections from our teachers of the year teachers that are high performing in that highly effective category can be included as well but a discussion around what still based on what the state requires because you don't just get to choose your own the state has to approve it but looking at the criteria and what is available and what research has been done since then 11 years ago to look at what we might recommend going forward so staff will be gathering the data and the
033information for discussion with the groups we will certainly as i mentioned invite union participation lots of teachers from across the district For a lengthy process that will start in March because it's time for Marzano to be reviewed. Now, I don't promise that there's something better available or that we can create something better, but it's time for that comprehensive look by our teachers. And that's where we'll be heading. And I will keep you posted. Number two, I want to talk about the financing that has come to our attention. We were initially encouraged, the Senate version added 250 to the base student allocation. The House version added 150 to the student base allocation. That was positive. We were pleased with that. Representative Fine has put forth a putting parents first proposal. It essentially says in order to
034put parents first, he needs to have repercussions for the 12 districts that had mask mandates for children last fall and reward the 55 districts that did not have mask mandates. His proposal takes $200 million from those 12 districts and then offers to spread it among the 55 other districts. And essentially, and he bases it on statewide, any of those 12 districts who have administrative salaries that exceed $100,000. When you calculate that together, he's not saying take away salaries. He's saying take away that amount of money, much like they were doing before on school board salaries. Take away that amount of money and make sure you don't hurt the educational programs at the same time. Orange County, that hit would be $16.5 million. at latest calculation that is more than a one percent raise for our
035employees just for comparison we are drafting opposition in fact at your places today as you came in was a draft a rather lengthy draft staff are already trying to make some intervening appointments and meetings we believe this is going to face legal issues should it move forward We're on top of it, and the letter before you is a potential for the chair and myself to sign or whatever your pleasure is if you have had a chance to look at it. Disturbing information. Wanted to make sure you were aware of it. Number three. I want to talk about the drop, deferred retirement option program in the state. Some of you had asked me about whether or not there could be some provisions for extending drop for our teachers. It is not accurate that Seminole extends for
036three years for all of their teachers. We had staff look into it. I have directed staff to do some investigation, some calculating on what the cost might be. Should we look to do something more similar to a neighboring district where you look at critical need areas, performance levels, as well as principal recommendation? That's what the neighboring district does for one-year extensions of drop. We should be able to calculate that or at least estimate the calculation for that. And based on... those criteria and certainly during these critical times we want to look at every possible opportunity for keeping some of our teachers the cost on top of what the board has agreed to do for our teachers is just not immediately available but if you narrow the focus to a much smaller number then it may
037be something that we would be interested in we'll keep you posted on that as well And then lastly, speaking of drop, the board is well aware, they've been aware for some time, but it's time to make our official announcement to the community because this board needs to have time to prepare their plans going forward. So I am officially announcing that my drop. Comes to conclusion in December of this year. That means I made the decision in 2018. Board is well aware of it. I don't want anybody to think, Karen thinks this is funny, I don't want anybody to think that I am just now deciding to retire because of various things that are going on. I love this district. All that you have done on behalf of children, I am so proud of. It's just...
038that the date was set in 2018. It's a five-year mark for drop. And so, but please don't think I'm just running out on you. I'll be here until December. And had I known, perhaps, if there were some measure of adjusting that because of all the controversy that the district would be facing, I might have reconsidered, Karen. But the truth is, it was set five years ago and things were very bright and sunny and cheerful five years ago when I agreed to it. So December is the end of my drop period. I want to say up front how confident I am that this stellar school board and phenomenal staff will continue to do great things on behalf of the youth in this community. I'm very proud to have been a part of you. And when I
039say things like that, people think I'm about to turn the lights off. I am committed to being here through the search process, certainly through fall when we have a transition period. Tentative timelines are certainly in the mix now, as Member Gould will attest to, I'm sure, from her committee meeting. But out of all of the hype that comes out sometimes around retirement, my staff knows I don't want a big bank, but I don't like a lot of public recognition. What I want is a scholarship fund. And so folks that might have considered coming to a banquet, I want them to consider contributing to a scholarship fund because I want to have established a superintendent's teacher scholarship. Don't want it named after me. I want it just to be called superintendents because whoever sits in this
040chair needs to keep pursuing that. I want us, I want this district to be behind moving more young people from high school graduation into the teaching profession. I think we've got some partnerships that will help us to that end. Won't speak to them just yet. I am extremely excited about that. That makes me smile. That makes it more palatable to be leaving you at such a time as this. But I can promise you I will do all I can to support it. And the scholarship fund is going to be very exciting for our young people. I hope it entices more people to come into the profession out of our own high schools. And I'm very excited about the potential assistance we're going to get. for from others as well that madam chair is my report
041well that was that was a report like none other you sure there's anything else that you want to add to that boy okay um member gould she recognized well you know we did know this was coming this date with um with the superintendent and as in everything she does she's putting students first and is even exiting with grace with this idea of a scholarship which is very very exciting we did have a communications committee meeting and i'm going to recap that a little bit right now since it follows right on the heels of her of her announcement we have discussed really trying to deliberately formulate the process to be able to fill the the very big shoes that the superintendent will be leaving behind the one thing that we are deep in is talent in
042ocps so i am not worried about us faltering in that next Week on the 15th. We will be having a work session that will Review so that the public can hear the conversation about the recruitment process As well as some options out there in the community and we we Shared at the communication committee just some of the other what some other school districts have done so that we can be looking at that but again we're not surprised by this um saddened wish we could move dates around but not surprised and i am confident that this very not only capable but passionate and um uber responsible board will ultimately make the best decision possible for orange county public schools to carry on i'm going to steal the word stellar again pathway that ocps has been on
043in Over the last more than 10 years, but that trajectory definitely accelerated in the last 10 years of seeing you know graduation rates certifications more magnets, more real life experiences for our kids within the confines of the challenges we have with budget. Just every way that we can to give our students every single opportunity to have successful, prosperous lives. So thank you, Superintendent and community. Do not worry. We will have a plan that we will share. very good well said member castro dental oh i did i'm sorry i didn't geez that is so weird i did not see angie up there angie member gallo you recognized thank you thank you madam chair um so i do i do have a report just from um fsba time in in tallahassee that i'll circle back because i
044think now is the time that we want to address uh dr jenkins report um i just want to say or echo what member gould said that It's been it's been an honor to work for you for the last the last four years I'm not gonna lie before before and there'll be plenty of time for speeches. But before I came on the board Dr. Jenkins can be a little intimidating She can be a little scary, I'm not going to lie. And then you get to know her and you realize the heart that she has for children and her humor. She's very funny. Those of you who know her well know that she's very funny. And she's very particular about what sweets she will eat or not eat. But I've learned just a lot and just I
045can't really send enough accolades your way because I know where your heart is and I appreciate all that you've done for OCPS and while we did know this was coming, I found out about two that it was happening tonight. I thought this was going to be easy board meeting. Well, not that easy, but. I'm just, I'm excited for OCPS because you put us in a position where we can only go up from here. And I know we're going to do great things. And I do have faith that this board is going to pick an outstanding candidate that will move OCPS even further than we are now. So thank you. Thank you, Member Gallo. Member Castrodentil. Thank you, Madam Chair. And Dr. Jenkins, I want to. Thank you for your commitment to OCPS. I taught under
046your leadership. I always thought it was kind of fun being a teacher and you're my boss and now I'm your boss. But anyway, I love the idea of the scholarship for. students who want to become teachers. I think that's a great legacy and it comes at a perfect time and I will gladly contribute to that fund. And I appreciate that you're giving us such time to transition, to plan, and to really do our best in seeking someone who could replace what you've gotten us to this level. the as they've mentioned over as member gould mentioned um ocps has has changed so much and grown um and over the the years that you've been here and um there are so many great things that we can point to you for um have being led and contributed
047and we thank you for that i have two comments about some of the other things in your report The evaluation system, change is going to be, changing the evaluation system once teachers have figured out that they've mastered the Marzano is going to be difficult. Not that they don't want to get rid of it, but giving some time to make that transition so it's not breakneck or... I think is very important. And also allowing teachers their voice and just watching our CTA representatives in the audience as you were giving this report, I could see that they were not aware of the thought of reviewing the evaluation system. And even though you said that you would like to involve them, I think it would be critical to involve them from the beginning in the plan, right? So
048not just allow their participation, but help devise what that process looks like. And as for extending drop to teachers. You mentioned looking at critical areas. I would say that the state we're in right now, every area is critical. So the teacher shortages that we're facing, we're not gonna necessarily be able to replace with new teachers. So I think it's a worthy investment to extend. drop to all those who want it. I don't think it's going to break the bank because we're not going to have everybody who wants it. So for those who do want it, I think that they would be valuable, especially if we're able to keep those veteran teachers who have so much expertise and experience and wisdom. I think it would serve the district well to allow those who would like to
049to extend the drop. for three years thank you member lopez thank you madam chair i i wanted to um echo um board member caster dental um because i think that is a great idea about the scholarship um dr jenkins um recommended recommendation um It's like being part of a historical moment that everybody can be part of it. And instead of, you know, feel sad, we can feel proud and happy that you are living that tradition and we can be part of it. So I really like that idea. I also have a few questions, for example, in the process of selection. for the next superintendent. All of us are going to be part of it. Is it something that is going to finish before November? So we're going to have a work session to discuss that
050until it's perfect. Yay! Okay. Don't feel the pressure. Okay, I also have a question about the evaluation. I'm glad that the district and the superintendent realized that the evaluation needs to be changed at least to be considered to. to see input from the teachers and analyze. I believe in my personal opinion, I believe that the evaluation system needs more flexibility. I think that the pandemic shows that we have to be focused in teaching instead of evaluation or in teaching instead of standardized testing in teaching in the student, on the students. on the teacher's performance. We want to retain our good teachers. Our teachers are leaving the profession. They don't need more pressure with high expectations on evaluation when we know that it is very hard for our teachers when we have a lot of absences,
051not only on the teaching profession, but also from our students. It's really, really hard. And I love the fact that you realize that needs to be analyzed. But I have a question. You said that we have collecting bargaining. What that means? concerning the evaluation system, we have to deal with the union to come to agreement around categories of the teachers. So if Marzano is selected, all of the details of how you implement it are bargained at the table with the union. Categories of the teachers, the types of observations, notification, number of observations based on the category that they're in, the window within which observations can take place. deliberate practice cut scores student learning growth cut scores evaluating evaluation rating ranges and the appeals procedure those are all bargained at the table perfect i understand and
052also um with the comprehension um review um that um you were saying about the the teachers that will be selected um i don't know i was thinking about being more diverse in terms of only having the high performance teachers, you know, teachers of the year. Sometimes, you know, I'm just thinking about, you know, me as a former teacher. Not all, not 100% of our teachers feel that they deserve, and I know that we have a great percentage. But I remember so many experiences when I have evaluations on why I have that and why that person has the other thing. And, you know, comparing ourselves and looking at the fairness of the evaluation system outcomes, I think that diversity in terms of, you know, high performance and effective, you know, is always good because, you know,
053different ideas is also... something that make us speak about it and have controversial conversations that are healthy to have better outcomes in terms of evaluations but it's just a recommendation member felder yes thank you so much chair um i uh i am i'm excited about the looking at the uh evaluation process having taught and I'm sharing in some of the same concerns that member Lopez had and I talked with the superintendent and our little weekly meetings about the inclusiveness of all teachers and so forth so I'm excited about that but I just wanted to say this when I was still teaching and Ron Blocker was still the superintendent. I remember that there was, I guess, a time when they needed to look at a superintendent to follow, and they gave information and background, and I
054remember seeing this black woman that they were talking about, and I said, Barbara Jenkins, and I remember getting some information, and when I heard she, had gone to Eccleston Elementary and Ms. Ginyard was a first grade teacher who was my first grade teacher which was years before Barbara was in first grade. Yeah, years. And I remember how excited I got and I don't know if she remembers but I sent, I was teaching Angela, I sent her an email telling her how excited I was that a woman would be considered a woman who grew up. in orange county who went to school in orange county and went to my elementary school equestrian and she wrote me back i said oh she wrote me back she wrote me back and then of course as karen was saying
055that she was of course my boss interestingly enough a year ago i decided to run and i'm her boss but listen um i want to say that um It's so, you know, life is full of swift transitions. And I... This, you know, when I got on the board, I was so excited. This is an all-women's board, and I said, well, nobody should leave. We all should stay forever, you know. But, of course, that does not happen. You know, we have four years, and then we have an opportunity to run again or retire. But, Barbara, I do want to say that I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have worked. with you and the fact that you want to do a scholarship, it shows your dedication to children and education and the need for teachers because
056I know you all see it all the time and I'm gonna reiterate it. There's no profession possible without a teacher. There is no profession possible without a teacher. And I'm so grateful that we're still in the business of encouraging children to want to go into the profession of teaching. And it probably will, as Juliet said to Romeo, parting is of such sweet sorrow. Well, she's getting ready to go. So I'm getting ready. But I know I have to be dramatic. That's who I am. So I tell you, it's been great, and I know that we're going to have many moments of deliberation to look and to see. I'm excited that we'll be able to look at candidates and so forth. But I'm so happy that I had the opportunity, and I'm having the opportunity to
057work with such intelligent women. and loving women on this board so uh i'm hoping that we can put together a good evaluation for teachers because they work hard they work very hard and uh i'm looking forward to that also so i just wanted to say that uh chair thank you thank you member felder remember gala thank you thank you madam chair so i i don't want to divert but i want to just give a brief um overview of so last week was uh florida school boards association's day in tallahassee which consisted of several days um it was also pta days in tallahassee as i mentioned earlier so we were up there with um with pta advocating for our um our teachers and our students they um i want to give a shout out to member
058bird because she helped like 30 or 40 ocoee students get up to tallahassee and advocate on their behalf and it was so cool to see the kids in action to see them up there to be excited to visit their legislators and to really look to do their civic duty to know what's going on and how to advocate and and help themselves so it was really cool it was also children's week which is one of my favorite weeks up in Tallahassee um so just a few things to note that that's going on in Tallahassee one of course is what Dr Jenkins mentioned in her summary or her report which is the put parents first bill which takes money from the 12 school districts they're calling them the dirty dozen up in Tallahassee the dirty dozen that's
059what they're referring to yeah um and and they've called it the parents first i would argue that putting parents first we did we did we did what most parents wanted us to do here in orange county is to keep our staff and our students safe so when they say put parents first i said we did um so i would argue there wasn't it wasn't a lot at the time as soon as the law came into place we we made mask optional so i think that it's important to note um But I do think that taking over, what, $11 million away from Orange County, and it'll be more for the larger counties, it's going to impact teachers and it's going to impact students. So it really, it's a put students and teachers last bill is what
060it is. That's a line item. So it was a little discouraging. To be in that committee and to witness that There's also a bill up there that was kind of alluded to in one of our speakers and pre-agenda and that is what they're calling They don't say gay bill which limits communication in our K through five classrooms Some will argue that it doesn't do what? what people believe the bill will do. But when you have someone come up to a mic and pretty much say that's exactly what it will do and support it, then as I think the chair mentioned in our communications meeting, it doesn't matter what reality is. All it matters is what perception is. And the perception is that this bill will squander communication and hurt children in our K-5. So I
061just want to state that because he stated it and he's like all excited about it. And Tallahassee is like, that's not what it means. I'm like, yeah, that's the perception of what it means. And that's what's important is that we're trying to silence the voice of our students and our children. And we should never do that. I also want to, wait, I made a list. I also want to comment about the diversity within our community. I'm so happy to be a board member in a community that is so diverse, in a school district that is so diverse, and a district that we have publicly stated many times that we support all our students. We sent a letter to the legislators just last week reinforcing the fact that all students, regardless... of race or gender identity
062or lgbtq are all accepted and are all welcome into orange county and i know that for some that may make them uncomfortable that's why we do have choice programs that's why there are scholarships that's why there is the mckay well not the mckay scholarship but the family empowerment scholarship because if you don't like what we represent here in orange county then as a parent and we support parental choice you have the choice to put your child into a school that best represents your family and your values and and we respect that But as a parent and there's a lot and we'll be having more conversations about the books and the policies as a parent I would argue that I am the most influential person in my child's life. I always have been. I pray that
063I always will be. I had an open conversation with my parents. And I think there's research out there that shows as a parent, you're the most influential person in your child's life. So if you're just talking to your child, if you're checking your child's backpack, if you know what's going on in your child's life, you don't have to worry about what we have in our libraries. You don't have to worry about what they're getting on the Internet because you're the most influential person in your child's life. That's been bothering me. So I just really want to say that in a public platform that, you know, we don't have to agree with everybody, but we should expect respect others and we should respect our students and families who may look differently than ours or choose differently
064than we do. And it upsets me when I see people that just. I don't know. That's all I'm going to say about that. And then finally, I'm excited about the valuation system. I think I've heard about Marzano when I was substitute teaching way back in the day. So I'm glad that we're going to be making some changes to that. I do the 1203. I know it's been brought up. I know Wendy wants to talk to me about it and I will follow up with you, Wendy. And I have spoken to the FAA about it. There is some confusion with the bill because some are saying that that what the bill might do is Not allow us to do what we currently do. There's some there's some Fear that like the Miami-dade does bargain their evaluation
065system that this bill will no longer allow Miami-dade To do that evaluation that this bill could prevent us from doing the work that we are doing With the CTA as far as the committee's and and that type of stuff with evaluations So I just want to make sure that and I spoken to Scott about this so he knows my feelings on it And I've spoken to dr. Jenkins about it and was I meant to circle back but I we just want to make sure that that a bill that we're supporting isn't going to have unintended consequences. And then I had this conversation with Dr. Jenkins as well. And I'm hoping that it'll change we made, but. as a board we should be aware of every bill that's being supported up in tallahassee i mean it
066should be in the report that we're supporting this bill so that we all know what bills we're supporting so that when we get questions we can go back to because we do get weekly reports um so that we're kind of not caught off guard and that we can have a conversation so that is oh i have to say thank you yes thank you madam chair i i would also um like to share um about uh share my my opinion on behalf of the um the budget um allocation you know we were there um advocating for more discretional um allocations to to provide the the the salaries that our veteran teachers deserve and our classify employees deserve and you know just um because we were there um listening to the uh summary or listening to the
067committee about taking away the money from the district who support the mask mandate. For me, I agree with you. It's a lack of respect to our students, but it's also a lack of respect for our teachers, a lack of respect to our classified employees. I think that is just a way to punish the school board and the district. that did their job when they have to do it because they having numbers that deserve to to have an action and It wasn't you know our decision. It was also we have experts. I'm talking about this topic and just having that type of recommendation to take away money instead of support and and praise what we did to save our children's lives and to save our staff members' well-being and safety. For me, it was very disappointing.
068Very disappointing. It was, I think that... I believe and I have hope that they will consider this and our legislators consider this recommendation because I don't think it's fair. And, you know, I just want to communicate the way I felt in Tallahassee about that bill. Thank you. Thank you, Member Lopez. Member Castrodano. And I will get to you, Ms. Anvold, for your report. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I would like to thank my colleagues, Member Gallo, Member Lopez, Member Byrd, and Member Jacobs. I think you were the four who trekked up to Tallahassee for last week and spent so many days there. It is not a... welcoming place right now for people who support public education. There are so many bills that attack our students, that attack our ability to teach history. things that attack
069teachers school boards the public who elects the school board people who want to run for school board are Funding there are just so many bad bills that are aimed at Dismantling public education it will have I have never seen a session that is so anti school public schools and the fact that our own legislature legislature not every legislator but the ones in charge are using their power to further debilitate our ability to educate our kids is a crime it is i as much as i would love to have joined you all in fighting and advocating and meeting, I couldn't bring myself to go. It is so disheartening. I thank you all for your efforts to communicate the severity of what is happening. And I'm sorry that so many legislators still don't care what you had
070to say. This, we are at such a critical time when we're looking at budget cuts where they want to punish, not just us, they want to punish our students and our teachers with this cut. Because like you all said, we were trying to save lives by having them wear a mask, an imposition to save a life. It's beyond me. This is a time when we desperately need the public. Our teachers are tired. They can't call their legislators. Our staff, they're tired. They're here. They also work late. We're doing what we can. We need the public to truly understand what is at stake. And for anyone who is listening, you have got to call your legislators, email them, just write them letters, show up, tell your neighbors what is happening. Or come fall, we're going to
071be in a worse place, regardless of where the pandemic is. We are stretched. We are tired. and it's not getting better people in tallahassee are piling on and you will see it in the breaking point in the fall after this legislature has met and declared victory and it is a criminal that they are allowed to go on and continue without any opposition really and public notice so If you are listening to this meeting at home, open up your computer, write your legislator, call them, let them know you won't stand for it. We need the public. That's all, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Member Castrodent. Member Gould. What I'd like to kind of bring to light here is what's not getting done. for because we're spending a lot of time on what i'll call kind
072of nonsense bills what's not getting done is investment in our um certification programs and getting kids career ready what's not getting done is trying to create an environment where we can attract the best of the best in all walks whether it is the the teacher at the front of the classroom or the bus driver at the front of the bus what is not getting done is an investment in 22nd century forecasting and planning for kids to have flexible adaptive behaviors to come no matter what happens whether it's a pandemic or manufacturing goes away completely in this country i'd love to see it resurge but what's next for the united states we're not focused on that we're focused on things that at the end of the day do not enhance our state, do not enhance our
073local community, and certainly do not enhance the position of our country as a leading nation of the brightest minds, which we do have, but they're not investing. in creating a culture that takes those kids by the bootstraps and helps them get prepared for the future. So while I would love to continue to kind of focus on where they are, I think what we're not telling them is what they're not doing. And it's their job to do that so that we can create the right environment in our community to attract the best of the best, support the staff that's here with the right policies and procedures, create the partnerships with our community to have great pathways for education, apprenticeship, mentorship. We're not focused on any of that because we talk about nonsense. It's absolute nonsense. to
074be talking about doing this in a punitive manner or keep redirecting things that people come and talk to us about every week and then leave and don't even hear the business of the board and the business of our work of supporting our students and our families it that's the tiring part of this it's not just this one bill or one discussion that's going through committee and appropriations. It's the overall focus on things that are not helping our future, our economy, or our workforce, which is pretty darn desperate right now. Ms. Ember, do you have a report for us? I do. I'm switching gears completely. I am in need of, it is that time again for the Orange County Value Adjustment Board. I sent you all an email. It's time to elect two school board members
075and a primary and an alternate and also two citizen members, a primary and alternate. the requirements are that you be available for the june 14 2022 vab meeting because that is they have strict quorum requirements and then there's certain things in the statutes that i emailed you with respect to your citizen members they have to own a business and occupy a commercial space within orange county and plan to remain in that space and owner as a business for the duration of the upcoming vab cycle which is the next year and that they cannot be a member of a taxing authority they can't represent property owners appraisers tax collectors or those and that they don't have a conflict of interest so i have not reached out to mr daniels who was our primary last year or
076miss fottney hall who is our alternate so i don't know if they still want to um serve but i wanted to get that on your radars member castrodent has already volunteered to continue to serve as the alternate i have not yet talked to member felder to see if she would like to continue to be the primary but i want you to at least think about those things because we are going to have to you're going to have to elect your school board member appointees and then also appoint your citizen members so that's all i have all right thank you well i think we've had all the reports And I think we've had all the comments. And now we have the email in front of us. And you're looking for feedback on the email. correct yeah
077i was i was actually hopeful that they would leave it to the chair and myself to edit it if they agree with the concept our local delegation madam chair everyone knows is always supportive of us addressing it to them might be short-sighted on our part but i don't know who else to address it to it gives them i will tell you the feedback that we got from being up there last week was that providing them with information to help them make cohesive arguments not you know what i'm saying not that they wouldn't but we sometimes have more data and more information was extremely helpful and they were very grateful and as much as i agree with everything that member castro dental said about how unpleasant it can be the overall environment i just can't say
078enough about how support of our own delegation is and um so i think we absolutely need to send this i i um I do have one comment towards the end, and I don't want to get into completely wordsmithing. I'll read it tomorrow and probably have a few more, but it mentions here that we made an adjustment that their adjustment does not recognize the importance of putting all parents first. Many of whom supported the actions. So when they talk about putting parents first, the actions that we took were in line with 88% of our parents. And so I actually wondered if we might actually want to say many more of whom were in support and maybe an asterisk that only 12% of our students, our parents opted their students out of wearing a mask. And there's
079so much more that could be said that would probably be inflammatory, but for the benefit of the board and anyone who might. Just be tuning in. It's not lost on me that we filed a lawsuit because they didn't have the statutory authority to do what they did. We lost them round one. We would have gone through the appeal process, except for they fixed the problem we identified. They didn't have the legislative authority. So therefore, to penalize us for doing something that they didn't have the legislative authority to do, that by coming back and fixing it, was an acknowledgement they didn't have the legislative authority, I find kind of frankly reprehensible to punish the ultimately the school children of Orange County Public Schools to the tune of $16 million for something this board did in good
080conscience with the support of 88% of our parents. I think when you look at it on those facts, it's pretty amazing. I don't think it passes, but... There's a lot of things I don't think you're gonna have I didn't think what happened and happened So we'll just see what happens, but I think we should definitely send the letter For the email whichever format you want to send. I'm sorry member Gold you recognized I absolutely agree. I don't I do think we need to present the facts since the position is about parental rights and since they're supposed to be working for the majority of the constituent base those facts are good but I also think the tit-for-tat approach is not good enough. I think we have to send up Start focusing on these other things start
081focusing on the environment of creating our workforce and not not only our teaching workforce, but our future workforce What can we do to repeal some of the junk that's clogging up our day because there's not enough hours to really Give the students what they need and everything or fund more hours. How do we recruit? I mean, I don't know if it's an addendum to this and maybe we can't hold it up for that but I think I You know, I agree we need to respond but I think this doesn't really get us anywhere honestly it gives our Our delegate delegation some talking points. I hear what you're saying. I Stop being on the defense. Let's go on the offense. Offense being what do we need? Well, and not, I mean, not an attack, but what
082do we need and how can we proactively work together to focus the attention on what would improve the outcomes for our students? And that's not just about what we can do to improve the outcomes from K through 12. It's what happens after those years as well. So I agree with you. We need to be focused on both, at both avenues. All right. No further comments. I don't hear any objections. So I think we move forward, Dr. Jenkins. Okay. and i'll save your eulogy until until later just for the record for those people who occasionally write to me and say something about being the superintendent's boss just for the record i'm not the superintendent's boss none of us individually are the board as a whole the superintendent reports too but not to us individually what else
083did i hear oh and now one other just for the record um i did not actually say that perception what did you say i didn't say perception was impossible i figured what you said you I was saying that perception is reality. You had made a comment in the communications committee that, and it was brilliant. I couldn't remember it. That's the only part that I remembered. Let me clarify it slightly. The only thing harder to change than perception is, than reality is perception. Yes. And I do believe that. I mean, you can fix reality faster than you can fix perception, especially in the public sector arena and especially now with social media. But anyway. yeah i know i know i just when i heard it i was like this because i all the time read things
084that i i i said a lot of times is what i really said it's bad enough so i thought i would clarify that one that was good that was close and whoever told me that one i don't know somebody somewhere very brilliant once said it so good for them i just repeat the stuff all right guys Hard work tonight. Thank you all for your integrity and your dedication. And I thank you all that we can see things differently, but still have enormous respect for each other. So God bless. We'll see you back here next week for our work session, I believe, right? Super. Thank you.