OCPS | 2020-07-14 School Board Meeting

001folks we are starting a few minutes late we did want to make sure that we addressed concerns that we're hearing from board members Lopez Dr. Gordon and several other board members have indicated that some people have had a difficult time calling in so I will take that up as soon as we get started let me let our AV team know that we are going to start in about 20 seconds Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Orange County School Board's regularly scheduled July 14th meeting. As many of you know, because of these times we're in, we have several board members that are not able to sit at the dais with us. So let me do a roll call to make sure who is on the line with us. Let's start with Member Gallo, who's present. Member

002Gallo? I'm here, Madam Chair. Member Lopez? I'm here, Madam Chair. Thank you. Member Colbert? Good afternoon, Chair. Thank you. Vice Chair Gould? Good afternoon. Thank you, Dr. Gordon. I'm alive and well. Thank you, Dr. Castrodano. Present. And Member Byrd? Present. Thank you. All board members are in attendance at this meeting. Due to Phase 2 of the Governor's Plan, we're now able to gather in groups of 50 or less. So today we have several board members that are in the room, as you see, and staff who are also with us. We wanted to make sure that we were following the CDC guidelines. I know that there are a lot of concerns about how those guidelines will apply to our schools, and we will be taking that up and addressing those issues as we move forward. Let

003me also mention that we have quite a few, actually, maybe less than I thought, I think we have 10 members of the public that are present, either in the chambers or in the building, that are waiting to be recognized when we discuss school reopening. And we also have several callers on the line. I'm going to begin this meeting by asking that we... start with a moment of silence. I think this is a good opportunity for all of us, myself included, to just make sure that we are aligned with the needs of our teachers and our students and that we are tolerant and mindful of the difficult situation we're in. So let's take a moment of silence and then we'll go with the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you in a moment. I'm going to take care

004of some housekeeping items, but let me first Acknowledge what we heard that some members of the public that were trying to call us to get into the queue between 1215 and 1230 were unable to. I do not know what the cause of that is. We have looked into it on our end. It doesn't appear to be technical. It could be the timing of when those calls came in, or it could be that people are not calling the right number. Normally, the call-in period is during that defined frame, and people need to be on the phone. 1230 but I know that all of our board members share the same concern about making sure that we are available to take input from the public we've received thousands of communications through the think tank and through surveys and

005probably more more than thousands of emails but still this time is important and hearing from you is extremely important to us for that reason we are going to extend the time frame for hearing for people to get in the the calling queue line for an additional 15 minutes starting now. And I have that it is. approximately 1240 so from 1240 to 1255 let me give the number for anyone who is on the line with us 407 250 62 70 again that phone number is 407 250 62 70 if you are attempting to call to provide your three minutes of input during our meeting please call that number now. And as I said, we will keep that line open for 15 minutes. Thank you very much. Now, before we begin the meeting. Vice chair Gould during

006our pre agenda meeting raised the concern that we've had in the past that when we are having a meeting and the vice chair is not present in the room it is much more difficult for the vice chair to conduct the meeting so with that I am going to ask if there is a motion to continue with the vice chair that we elected at our last meeting member Cobert who is present is there a motion So chair I move that that that member Coburg is acting vice chair for this meeting and we extend that last Thank you so much. I did not care Thank you very much vice chair Gould. Dr. Gordon. I second. Okay. We have a second from dr. Gordon our immediate Past vice chair and so let me call the question. Let me

007begin with member gallo. Hi member I'm sorry Lopez I remember Coburn I remember our vice chair Gould hi dr. Gordon hi dr. Kester dental I remember bird I and I likewise vote in the affirmative Member Cobert vice chair Cobert acting. Thank you very much for accepting this responsibility Thank you chair if I could indulge in one housekeeping item in the interest of time as we went 11 hours last week and we have so many people lined up to speak and I really I know all of us are most interested in hearing from the public I Would like to make a motion that we use the five-minute timer on ourselves when we queue up to speak tonight Okay, we have a motion to utilize five minute timer for all school board members when they are speaking

008tonight I'll second that chair. I second that I'm sorry. Who is that on the phone? Dr. Gordon? Madam Chair, this is a different kind of meeting and most of you on that bench have never experienced it You cannot just sit up and time a board member when we have only eight people that is going to vote on something so very important. This is not a meeting that you come in and try real, because you could, we'll do a full of us in here. We are here to hear. Some of you may already have your minds made up. I don't have my mind up yet. And nobody's going to tell me how long I can speak when I have information to give the parents that they have been on the phone with me all night, all

009day. Business people have been on the phone with me, medical people, and you're going to tell me about five minutes? Now, I can either make it easy. I'm going to need more than five. If you want me to continue to get back on the agenda, but you are not going to limit me on something about opening up our school. All right. Thank you for your input, Dr. Gordon. We have a motion by Acting Vice Chair Cobert. We have a second by Member Byrd. Let me do a roll call vote. Member Gallo? Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Cobert? Aye. Vice Chair Gould? Aye. Dr. Gordon? I will continue to go back on for five minutes, so it will more than likely be longer. I have my presentation. Okay, just add up. So continue to have John

010put me back on the minute I get the receipt. Let me confirm with the maker of the motion. Was your motion that you could talk for five minutes and then talk for consecutively another five minutes indefinitely? You can't stop it. I'm recognized. Member Cobert, you're out of order. I'm sorry, Dr. Gordon, but we have to abide by protocol. Member Cobert. Our past practice, Chair, has been when we use the timer, queue up, speak for five minutes. When your time is up, you stop. If you have more to say, you may get back in the queue to speak. Okay. So it's five minutes at a consecutive time. And if there's more debate and dialogue, you can re-queue. Thank you. That's been our protocol in the past. That was my understanding. So we have so far. Excuse

011me, Chair. It wasn't consecutive. It was queued. No, I thank you member Gould that is that's exactly remember Coburn said you have five minutes at any single point in time When your time is up you do not immediately recoup You can get back in the queue if there are other board members that are speaking in between but it is not five minutes consecutively So so far to clear it just to make sure that we're all on the same page on that vote Do we still remember gallo? Are you in concurrence? Yes member Lopez Yes, ma'am chair member Coburn. I Vice chair Gould. All right, dr. Gordon. I need an yes or no on this vote No, okay. That's like I understood that to be and no doctor can I need to speak and I need

012to speak to my no, oh I will come back to you. Hi and Member I'm sorry the time to speak was before we started casting the vote. That's how that's the protocol. That's the Roberts rules of order We're in the middle of a vote. You've already spoken on this issue. You've expressed your disagreement with it. Member Byrd? Aye. And I likewise vote in the affirmative. All right. A couple of other housekeeping issues that board members have asked about. Break time. My suggestion is two-hour break, but I am taking feedback at this time. No, I'm sorry. Oh my god. Thank you for clarifying No, we are not taking a two-hour break. No that we break at two hour increments Okay, and I will pull the board at that time in terms of whether we need a

013five minute ten minute or longer break But so the hour is now 1246 so are we in agreement that our first break would be at? 246 all right board members I think my sense is we'll break it to 45. All right. And if there are any other issues regarding how we are going to operate this meeting, this would be the time to interject. And again, I do want to remind everybody we have a very full meeting. And I see that I have the order, I believe, Member Gould, I have called on you. But if you are queued up to speak now, please let me know. I had another two topics actually to talk on this. Okay, go ahead. Member Gould, do you recognize? I would also suggest that we utilize our public email line for

014those who are hearing speakers in agreement because some people may not be able to stay on the phone the whole time or their batteries might go dead in their devices. And if they are in agreement with a previous speaker, we at least know that we had X number. And that email goes directly to Ms. McGill, and we can get that quantified throughout the meeting this evening and make sure everybody's voice is heard in affirmation or in disagreement of particular points if they can't get in the queue or stay on the queue. Member Gould, I'm so sorry. We have somebody in the audience that is holding up a sign, and I know it's well-intentioned. I'm not sure what the – Mr. Howard, can you help me with the gentleman that is holding up the sign? I

015can't read it to understand what he's asking us. I think he's saying I need a mask on. All right. Sir, I am so sorry, but you are also out of order. Sir you're out of order. I will address that when we get to that The reason that board members up here do not all have masks on is twofold to make sure that you can understand us Yes, I know that's a problem for teachers as well and two because of social distancing as long as we are six feet apart We are abiding by social distancing Let me go back member Gould your suggestion is your suggestion was That as people are in the queue If they hear a speaker that they agree with, they may use the public email, which goes directly to Ms. McGill, to

016affirm that same message so that maybe we can... possibly shorten up the repeats but also make sure everybody feels heard that is in agreement with that in case their phone drops or for whatever reason their device fails later in the evening or in the afternoon and they can't get on to speak thank you member thank you so um i will i will do my best um and you you help by jumping in if need be when we get to the large volume of public comments to announce and make that clear to people that that's a way that they can concur without needing to stay on the line. Let me recognize Member Byrd. I was just going to ask our council if he could clarify our policy on the timing of board members. Because I think

017we have policy on that. Do we not? Am I on? Yes. Madam or member Byrd, we have policies with regard to school board meetings and the role of the chair and the role of the chair essentially says that the chair will control the meeting and make sure it runs in an orderly fashion. I'm looking through, I don't see the five minute time period, but I know this board in the past has had a practice of doing that. And in the past, what the practice has also been is everybody on the board who wants to speak to it. So if all eight members want to speak to an issue, they would run through, get five minutes. And then after that, if somebody wanted to be recognized again, they would run through, they would put themselves back

018in the speaking order and they could go ahead and speak on it again. That has been the past practice of the board when they have done that. Dr. Gordon. thank you madam chair i think i'm the only one that knows the past practice other than john he did not shed any norms for this meeting i need you to go through your order of public comment i've been under many chairs on this board elected and to to elected by the county new and bill sublack but all those other years which is a lot has been school board care Getting with Susan Arkin all the way up to where we are today. It's mighty funny that we have information that is very important that parents have given us. There's no way we are going to get to

019everybody. I need you to give us the order that you have decided, Madam Chair, since you didn't bring it to the board, the order of public comment. Are you going to be speaking after every comment? Will every board member get to say something after every comment? Are we going to do a Chairman Joey Cano, where Joey Cano asked everybody to be quiet until the public got through? So are you going to do, when I had to be in the chair for Mr. Sublette on many occasions, where we didn't make any comment, When we were able to share our thoughts without people putting a muzzle on us, which I think that is just unbelievable. So that troubles me, and I wish you all well. So I need to know your order of public comment. Are you

020going to be speaking after everyone and adding something? Are we all going to speak after everyone? If there's something, are we going to let the public speak and the names be called? Now, Joey did that, but she set a record. She did it three days in a row. And by the time we got to the third day, the media had us all over the news because everybody on the boat exploded because none of us were allowed to talk. And when they put the five minutes in, which you have not used hardly at all this year. But so fit to use it tonight. I need to know, are we going to be commenting after every parent? Will we be courteous enough tonight to let the parents all talk? We take copious notes, and then we all

021get to do our comment with our little five minutes and back on whatever. I need to hear your order of how you are going to deal with the public comment tonight. because I don't want to hear every board member. I don't want to hear myself talk after every parent. I would like to hear the parents. I would like to hear the medical doctors that were out there waiting and they've probably gone back to the hospital. I would like to hear the business partners, and I definitely would like to hear our paraprofessionals that called me all this week and our teachers. So I would like to know what is your procedure and do you intend to comment after everyone? All right, here's how I intend to handle public comment. Similar to how I handled the pre-agenda

022comment. As the board knows, there are times when people are bringing up an issue that is not appropriate at that time. If I believe that people are bringing up subjects that are not related to the item that we're voting for, I will probably correct them. as politely as possible. I will use my time to make sure, as I'm supposed to, that people do not exceed their time. And then lastly, sometimes when we have the time and people are calling in at pre-agenda, I do offer a word of support or understanding. I think that is helpful. The feedback that I've received from most board members is they find it helpful as well. I do not speak after every person. And I will not. You're out of order again, Dr. Gordon. You need to work on this

023today. Go ahead and finish because I'm not. You're out of order. So what I will not do is speak in between each person. We would be here forever. So while it might seem. I did address this, by the way, a few minutes ago. While it might seem a little insensitive, I am going to try to just acknowledge the next speaker because I think the most important thing is for us to hear from the public. and not from each of us. Is everyone in a concurrence? Do we need to take a vote on that? By the way, the board is empowered to take a vote on limiting our time, and they have done that. That is not my decision. We've already voted. Move on, Madam Chair. Move on. We've already done that. You're still insulting people,

024but go ahead. I'm not insulting anyone. I'm just reminding everybody this is not the chair's decision. Let's move on. The next speaker that we have is Dr. Jenkins. We are going to recognize some important people tonight. And I was regretful that under the circumstances, we are not able to have a retirement party or any way of recognizing the employees that have left. So I wanted to take a couple of minutes to talk about two very important members of our team. that have left us if the board will um indulge that recognition so let me begin with dr james lawson minority achievement officer i think all of us know him i don't know that anybody can know dr lawson and not love him he started his career as an english teacher in south carolina texas and

025florida dr lawson then moved to orlando in 1986 with his family and began working for ocps at oak ridge high school where he taught honors gifted in ap english He also became a dean and a program coordinator there. While he was at Oak Ridge, he, I'm sorry, while he was there, he became a dean and a coordinator. He transferred to Jones High School where he served as dean and coordinator, program coordinator as well. Next, he was promoted to the senior assistant principal position at West Orange High School. Then he moved to Howard Middle School where he was principal. He was also principal at Evans High School. He served as the senior director of Orange County Virtual briefly before being promoted to associate superintendent, overseeing curriculum, ESC, and multilingual services. He was then named to area

026superintendent position serving the central and southeast learning communities in 19, oh God, 2013, I apologize. In 2013, Dr. Jenkins asked Dr. Lawson to develop and lead the Minority Achievement Office where he has spent the remainder of his career. Under his guidance, the Minority Achievement Office has been committed to student improvement efforts like laser-like focus on equity and access for all students. He developed or introduced 12 initiatives focused on supporting students academically, socially, and emotionally. These accelerate student learning and ensure that minority students along with their counterparts graduate ready to succeed. I could go on and on. The list goes on of all that he has done. I do want to include just a personal comment. If you ask him his greatest accomplishment, he will be heard to say that he is a grandfather of three

027wonderful grandchildren, and he happens to have three sons. I can only just add to that that I've known Dr. Lawson for so many years in the community, but it has only been the last year and a half here that I have really had an opportunity to just be enriched and blessed by my time with him. And so I do not, I want to wish him. well in all that he does in his future and I didn't want this opportunity to go without us recognizing him and with that I'm going to move on to Dr. Armbruster and then see if we have any board member comments Michael Armbruster Another person that I don't think anybody here in Orange County Public Schools, certainly board members haven't come in contact with and relied so heavily on. He joined

028OCPS in 1987 as a teacher at Westside Vocational Center. He became program coordinator at Westside Vocational Center. He was named assistant principal at West Orange High School. That's where I first met him with my students. He was promoted to principal at West Orange High School. He then moved to Coey High School. He moved as principal of University High School and was promoted to director of career and technical education. He has done so much in that role as he has in all of his other roles. He's unified multiple technical college campuses under a single moniker and created the Green Button Career Brand. He's implemented new programs in all of our high schools to reinvigorate and educate students to the potential of career and technical education. He initiated the Orange County Public Schools Technical Express Partnership with

029Valencia, Revitalize Skills USA across Orange County Technical, and he's created the first-of-its-kind curriculum in modeling, simulation, practical nursing, agricultural construction, and the list goes on. He resided over the continued growth of the Project Lead the Way and NAF program. Again, the list goes on and on. And Dr. Armbruster. His wife retired after more than 30 years. They have two adult children, a son and a daughter. He has earned and deserves this retirement, but I can tell you personally I will miss him dearly. He's got very big shoes to fill, and I know that the board shares those feelings about both of these incredibly distinguished, caring, compassionate, and dedicated human beings who have changed the world one student at a time. Let me call on Vice Chair Gould and then Member Gallo. uh thank you um

030it has been an honor and a pleasure to get to know dr lawson through my tenure on the board and i have seen the not only the impact but the imprint of his work on our students and our staff and i want to just express my appreciation for all it has been a wonderful journey knowing Dr. Armbruster since I moved to West Orange County over 20 years ago. He and I worked together when he was at West Orange High, and in fact, he was on the board of the organization I was president of, Health Central Foundation, when I was working at Health Central Hospital. Mike has been nothing but a champion for our community and that inside school and outside school. He is beloved and respected and has inspired many students and many community members

031to not only do the right thing but move forward our education system. He was the right person at the right time to come into the technical role and really fulfill a dream of increasing 200-plus-fold our certification programs and our career passing. And we owe him a debt of gratitude for how fast that program forward. Thank you to both of you for all your years of service and dedication to our community and most of all our students. Thank you, Member Gould. I am Gould. I love the meeting. Let me remind staff to please keep the timer running for each of us because I'm relying on that timer to make sure that we all, including myself, stay on time. Thank you. Member Gallo. Thank you madam chair I'll be very brief because I know most watching or

032do want to discuss the school opening But I couldn't not say something about these fine men. I'm my my only Saddest part is that they weren't here longer for my term as a school board member, but they're both very honorable men They did great work. They were a service to Orange County Public Schools, and they will be missed. Thank you Thank You member Gordon Thank You madam chair. What can I say about Michael on Bruce? There's none like him. There will never be anybody else like him because before he decided to retire, he left a wonderful legacy for us. We will always remember the Green Button. Now, Dr. James Lawson, there are so many of us here and would not have our doctor's degree if it was not for the great Dr. James Lawson. Not

033only was he a teacher at Oakland, but he worked Evans, Jones, principalship, anything that you could imagine. And my whole life has been centered around the Minority Achievement Program and the things that he accomplished for the young people in Orange County. His legacy will live on and on. And OCDS and other administrators can learn a lot from him. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Dr. Gordon. All right. Dr. Jenkins, do we have any administrators, newly appointed administrators to recognize today? We do, Madam Chair and members of the board. We have Christopher Burley, who was Instructional Dean at Colonial High School. He will be the new Assistant Principal at Legacy Middle School. Karen Darr was Assistant Principal at Riverside, will be the new Principal at Rock Springs Elementary. Douglas Farley, Assistant Principal at Freedom High School,

034will be the new Principal at Sunridge Elementary School. Jacqueline Enfield, Acting Assistant Principal at Legacy Middle School, will be the Assistant Principal. at Legacy Middle School. Derek Napkins, assistant principal at Shingle Creek, will be the new principal at Endeavor. Orlando Norwood, assistant principal at Oak Ridge, will be the new principal at South Creek Middle School. And Latanya Smothers, assistant principal at Pine Hills, will be the new principal at Pine Hills Elementary School. Thank you, Dr. Jenkins. Dr. Jenkins, are there any changes to the agenda? I know there are, but could you please announce those for the board? Yes, Madam Chair, members of the board, there are three changes to the agenda. Number one, at Dr. Gordon's request, we are moving to non-consent, item 1201. Number two at dr. Gordon's request. I have removed item 1401

035for future consideration Number three, we will add to the non-consent agenda item 1704 Request approval of the revised Orange County Public Schools 21 2020 I'm sorry. Let's say it this way 2020 2021 calendar Thank you, Dr. Jenkins. The chair finds cause to amend the agenda as requested. Is there a motion to amend the agenda? Chair, I also have an agenda correction. Okay. I have a motion by Member Kester-Denham. Let's pause on a second on that and find out what the additional changes are. Vice Chair Gould, are you recognized? I was re-reviewing the minutes and I noticed two items were not included in the minutes that I had requested, although they were followed up by the staff. One was regarding unemployment or some kind of... furlough compensation if we delayed school and I did receive the

036answer on that and the other was on our school nurses and their availability to help with managing COVID. It wasn't reflected in the minutes and I think it's important that it's in there because I did get a lot of community input on both of those items. Thank you, Vice Chair Gould. So let me recommend that we pull the minutes from the agenda so that they can come back to us corrected. So with that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Jenkins, are you in concurrence? Okay. So with that. I pull my motion. Thank you. So we have withdrawn the motion. Do we have a motion to approve the agenda as amended, including the removal of the minutes? Okay. We have a motion by Dr. Kester Dental. Do we have a second? I'll second that. Second by

037Member Byrd. I do a roll call vote. Let me begin with Member Gallo. Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Cobert? Aye. Member Casper Dental? Aye. Vice Chair Gould? Aye. Dr. Gordon? Aye. Member Gallo? Aye. I'm sorry. All right. And I likewise vote in the affirmative. Dr. Jenkins, let me catch up, please. If you'll hold just a second, Dr. Jenkins. we have um i'm sorry we've amended the agenda but we haven't adopted the agenda so i now need a motion to adopt the agenda as amended is there a motion so moved motion by vice chair dr i'm sorry dr caster dental do we have a second a second second by member gallo yes awesome thank you remember gallery in the affirmative aye member lopez aye member cobert aye by sure gold all right dr gordon Dr. Kester-Denton?

038Aye. Amber Bird? Aye. And I'm in agreement as well. The motion carries unanimously. Okay. Dr. Jenkins, I believe we're on item 1701, resolution condemning racism and affirming the district's commitment to inclusive education environment for all. Dr. Jenkins, you're recognized. Thank you Madam Chair and members of the board. You have before you for approval an actual resolution on behalf of the board condemning racism and affirming that OCPS has a commitment to an inclusive school environment. This discussion came about after the terrible tragedy that happened that rocked our nation with George Floyd's untimely death and criminal death and so the board actually looked over a draft i took your feedback and have provided for you here the resolution which will join you not only with the florida school boards association but districts across this nation adopting similar

039resolutions it is before you for consideration at this time thank you dr jenkins and i am checking to make sure i believe all the public comments that we have today are on 1702 so i believe we have no public comment i am looking to the board for a motion i think that this is extremely important at least first step i know how much we all care about the issue of equity inclusion and fairness in our schools and i think this is a way of indicating that is their emotion yes chair i'd like to move that we adopt the resolution consent condemning racism and affirming the district's commitment to an inclusive school environment for all Thank you. We have a motion from motion. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Member Lopez. Thank you. Let

040me do a roll call vote. Member Gallo? Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Coburn? Aye. Vice Chair Gould? Aye. Dr. Gordon? Aye. Dr. Kestredano? Aye. Member Byrd? Aye. And I likewise vote in the affirmative. Dr. Jenkins, you're recognized. Thank you madam chair members of the board it is time for item 1702 discussion around reopening our schools So I have some comments to share with you and then some reference to the actual Document for Florida's optional innovative reopening plan for the state that we have to submit and then we will walk you through I promise what is a much shorter PowerPoint presentation that delineates where the district could possibly stand at this point Let me just say I have to acknowledge we are at a difficult time in all of Orange County In this nation as well.

041It's a stressful time. It's very emotional I've talked with union leadership. I know how incredibly important this matter is. It is an unprecedented time for our country and certainly for Orange County Public Schools. And I have to say on a personal note, I certainly pray for wisdom around the decisions and plans that have to be made and certainly for the local level as well as the state and national level. I want to thank our board for your patience and tireless efforts to help us come to some solutions, some conclusions. I also appreciate our employees and parents for sharing their feedback and ideas. We will endeavor to provide safe options, choices for both parents and employees. What we will discuss today will serve as a foundation for reopening our schools. Information was sent out both to

042parents and to our employees. Local media received it as well. Wanted to clarify some important points in our discussion. It is incredibly important that everyone understand, acknowledge that whatever plans we come up with, they must remain fluid. In fact, anyone who proposes that we have a concrete plan today will be surprised in the coming days as it is sure to be amended. Here are some clarifications we distributed earlier. First, the emergency order from the Commission of Education provides as follows. It is subject to advice and orders of the Florida Department of Health, local departments of health, executive order 20-149, and subsequent executive orders. So absent any such advice or order, the face-to-face option is required. An extensive discussion with the health officer for the Department of Health in Orange County regarding COVID-19 data took place

043during a work session on July 7th. I have spoken at length with Dr. Pino and Mayor Demings on yesterday. The chair also asked me to invite Dr. Pino to the meeting if he would. He will not be present. And at this point, I have to keep stressing, at this point, no additional advisement is being provided. We are assured, however, that intense monitoring of local data will continue during the coming days. Should there be trends that are noteworthy, we can expect further communication. For this option, I remind everyone again, no school board approval is needed for the face-to-face option. It is mandated. I would also note... that Orange County has a second option that requires no approval. That is the Orange County Virtual School option. It is a franchise of Florida Virtual School and it provides

044the maximum flexibility to teachers and students because funding is based upon course completion rather than actual seat time. This option does not require school board approval. It's been in place for several years. We have lots of parents and families who take advantage of OCVS. The growing enrollment in OCVS will also provide opportunities for additional teachers to work in this environment. Number three, the school board will discuss the innovative plan that provides a third option for parents and teachers for the reopening of schools. This option requires that students receive curriculum and seat time similar to what students in the face-to-face model receive. Absent an approved innovative model, the district would only be able to offer face-to-face and Orange County virtual slash Florida virtual to our families. Two changes we provided since our work session based on

045your feedback and on feedback from employees and parents. A, parents will be able to choose, the letter A is how I'm outlining this, parents will be able to choose to keep their children at home for the entire time or select a combination of in-school and at-home days with LaunchEd at Home. And B, based upon demand, teachers may be allowed to teach from home or from their classroom. A classroom may have few or zero students present based on what our parents select. The state's required assurances for the innovative model would need to be met regardless of the teacher's location. Number four, it will be recommended, it is being recommended today, that the start of school year for students be pushed back from August 10th to Friday, August 21st. This date is calculated to be the latest

046possible date we can accommodate without impacting calendar requirements. It will allow for additional monitoring of COVID-19 data and the potential need to adjust our plans. Teachers would start on August 13th and most of our 10-month classified staff would begin when students start on the 21st. No changes to the teacher or classified employee contracts are necessary for this adjustment. But I do want to note both of our union presidents have acknowledged that if we should decide to provide additional professional development days or training days for either employee group, that would require additional collective bargaining. Some question was posed previously as well about additional custodians being hired. We will be looking on the July 30th budget meeting at all of the additional costs to be taken from our CARES grant dollars. So I've considered all of your

047input and we can certainly make additional edits during our discussion of the innovative option today. By the end of our discussion, I would request the school board's approval of the innovative plan. It will then be submitted to the state along with my assurances required in the state template. The Department of Education should provide a decision on approval within a week. At that time, the district would need to start a parent registration process for the three models and begin coordinating teacher preferences. We will continue to consult with the board and keep our entire community updated. That being said, if you would refer, let me just, for your understanding, refer to the draft document before you. We will provide it to both of our union leadership before it is submitted, as it may have some adjustments today.

048I want to show you the geography of the document. It is quite simple, provided by the state, and it is called Florida's Optional Innovative Reopening Plan. This is what we must submit. What is your plan for your innovative? Any district that decides not to submit an innovative plan are simply required then to open brick and mortar as a state. indicates and most all of our districts also offer the virtual option so on the document in that in the very first page you will see a description of the innovative model we're going to walk through that in our powerpoint presentation which is online for everyone this is the condensed script only without visuals that would be submitted to the state And then by the time you get to page five, it requires those assurances. It is

049understood that the district must agree that assurances are in place not only for our brick and mortar schools, but for our schools that are, for our classes and our families that are experiencing our LaunchEd experience as well. And so it's a checklist, things that are not out of the norm that you would expect to provide for our students and for our families, but those assurances are required with your innovative option. As I say, we will amend that as needed and then have it prepared with my signature to distribute. So we are ready now to go to the PowerPoint, which is going to give you more information on our innovative plan. Look at the agenda on. on the very first slide, slide two of the agenda. So we've talked about giving you some background. Want to

050talk about the actual innovative reopening plan and its requirements. Then we'll just quickly walk, not quickly, we will walk through the three models that will be offered that we went through extensively the last time we were together. Number four, I want to review our recommendation for amending the calendar to push back the time that our students and teachers will arrive. And then I need to share some particulars about OCPS's reopening plans. Keep in mind, all of those plans under number five, we can continue to work with and grow and improve as time proceeds. Then at the end any questions or discussions would be provided for All right flip to slide four This should look familiar. We did talk about it the last time we were together. These are the requirements The framework if you will

051for districts who wish to provide an innovative model Format must be live, both synchronous and asynchronous, with an ability to interact among the teacher and the students and students among their peers. Same curriculum and instructional hours, whether in person or at home, are required. It must address equity for all types of learners. It must have a focus on narrowing achievement gaps. It must maintain an automated attendance record. by day and hours of instruction, must have a system of monitoring daily engagements in every class, conduct progress monitoring, and provide results of the progress monitoring to the Florida Department of Education. Additionally, school districts who are using the innovative learning model are provided to submit an optional innovative reopening plan that satisfies the requirements of the commissioner's emergency order. FLDOE will consider factors including but not limited

052to the three bullets you see there. They also are interested in the percentage of students who are learning through live or asynchronous instruction, quality of proposed progress monitoring, and efforts to close achievement gaps. When a plan is approved there is some benefit school districts will receive some flexibility designed to provide financial continuity in other words typically students who are doing Virtual learning are not funded at the same level as those who are in the brick-and-mortar face-to-face If our innovative plan is approved Reporting of student attendance will include all of those launch at hours Done at home between teacher and students and will be funded identical to the face-to-face instruction Previously Orange County virtual school in Florida virtual have been funded at lower Amounts of money as much as two thousand dollars less per student the

053guarantee here is for our innovative model It will be funded at the same level So we have three models in face-to-face which is required, virtual, which is already approved, it already exists, and then hopefully an innovative model, which we are calling OCPS LaunchEd at Home. That is the one that requires application and state approval. I will be looking for your conclusion, your consensus before submission. Additional assurances have to be included in the document by the superintendent as well. Let's talk about face-to-face. Face-to-face learning is where we have to provide all instruction on site. Protocols include all staff and students over the age of three wearing face masks. When on campus, students would be required to wear face masks when transitioning between classrooms unless a student's disability does not enable him or her to wear a

054mask. Students would be required to wear a face mask in class unless it is medically necessary for the student not to wear one or where social distancing guidelines are not feasible. Class schedules would allow for specific time for hand washing or hand sanitation, including when students arrive on campus and before they leave campus at the dismissal of the day. Elementary students would be washing their hands regularly as scheduled, certainly before and after lunchtime. This model must be offered to all families, standard calendar and hours required. Let me also add students would be seated in a socially distant layout in classrooms with chairs and desks and work workstations as far apart as possible We do acknowledge it will not be six feet apart in most instances Safety measures I've described in most instances are due through

055the cares Act funding safety measures include Staff and students age three and above, I'm sorry for that repeat, three and above wearing face covering, hand washing, social distancing, removing excess furniture, directional signage, limited movement, touchless thermometers, and encouragement of virtual meetings among staff members. Let's talk about the OCVS virtual. This is for the both elementary and secondary levels. It's for families who do not want their children to return on-site. They would have the option of enrolling full-time or part-time in Orange County Virtual School. That is the case currently in past years. Parents have had this option. There is no approval again required for this option. It is fully accredited. It is free I actually told staff we didn't need to repeat that but I got a question asking about the cost of Orange County virtual

056it is free to our parents and families because it is considered one of our OCPS schools. OCPS virtual would have local teachers. I made this clarification previously. I think it bears repeating. Local teachers versus Florida virtual may have teachers hired from throughout the region or even outside of the state if necessary. OCPS virtual includes our local teachers. This is important as well. It has maximum flexibility. Self-paced live lessons are available. There's flexibility of how students earn their courses online. They may be located in various locations. If their family is out of town, out of state, they can complete their courses wherever they are located. There is a set curriculum and a timeline for completion. And as mentioned, it is a franchise of Florida Virtual School. Now the innovative model. Although FLDOE anticipates that most students

057will return to full-time brick-and-mortar schools, some parents will want to, that is their assumption, some parents will want to continue their child's education through innovative learning environments. That is what Orange County Public Schools will now call LaunchEd at Home. Again, For parents who are not ready to return to the traditional environment when we reopen for that first semester, this will be an option. It allows students to stay connected to their local home school. In this option, students will attend school through a live stream of lessons on a traditional bell schedule. For example, an elementary student would log on at 8.45 a.m. just as the first bell for the day is ringing. Their classmates who are attending face-to-face are taking their seats. When the teacher begins her first math lesson, the students in the physical classroom

058participate in person, and those students attending from home will be able to view and participate in the lesson in real time should that class have a mixture of in-person and at-home students. We also mentioned that there is technology available. It is not required. It is one tool, swivel technology, where if a teacher has a class with some in-person students face-to-face and some students who are at home, they have the freedom of interacting from the board and all throughout the classroom with both groups. That was the demonstration you saw the last time we were together. The option provides families a temporary option that leaves them connected to their local school, while also honoring teacher time because the teacher does not need to prepare a separate online and face-to-face lesson. It honors teacher privacy. The teacher initiates

059the close and opening of live streaming, and the teacher will have the option to choose if a lesson is recorded or not. as well as how they provide the class access to any recorded or pre-recorded lessons. Lessons which are recorded can provide automated reporting on attendance and engagement within the live streamed sessions. Those are the three models two already in existence or required one that I would like the board's consent to provide to the state for approval Along with that consent in a an emergency item that we've added to consent agenda is a change in the start date Slide 18 delineates for you the current calendar plan that is in place. Slide 19 gives you the alternative start date. Teacher pre-planning would begin August 13th on a Thursday. They would still have their six days

060of pre-planning as agreed. Students would begin on August 21st, which, yes, we do know that is a Friday. Give us our first effort at the brick-and-mortar face-to-face. It also does not breach our payroll requirements or collective bargaining agreements and issues such as having health insurance deductions made. First teacher pay date would be September 2nd. 10-month staff pay date September 2nd and 9th based on which category they're in. The last day for students would be June 8th, and post-planning would end on June 10th for our teachers. Let's cover now some of the actual reopening details. Most of these we have covered previously. I want to go through them with you again. First, let's discuss the risk reduction that has been put in place. We are going to promote risk reduction through culture of teaching both at

061home at school and in the classroom We're going to have staggered entry of walkers and car riders Buses certainly are on usually on another part of the campus coming into the school We're going to control our entry points and have periodic temperature checks of staff and students. You will recall. Dr Pino advised that you did not want that to be at a continual checking every day because it would certainly gridlock students coming in and hence create larger gatherings of students that would be counterproductive. We're going to utilize signage, utilize cloth face coverings, and limit the movement of our students in cohorts. Physical barriers will also be in the front office to keep distance from those who are in public-facing positions. Slide 22. Here's an example of a signage that has been prepared for our schools

062to be posted to encourage proper social distancing and traffic flow. We will have banners, posters, signs, and stickers. You have seen many of them on display here at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center. Next, let's talk about transportation services. So busing will continue to be available for students that are beyond our two-mile perimeter of schools. And it will also be provided for those students where it is required in their IEP. Want to say also that parents are encouraged to transport their students to and from school in their personal vehicles whenever possible It will minimize our student contact, but we have to still provide that two mile radius Bussing for our children face covering will be required on school buses to increase our capacity safety of our students. Slide 24 we are certainly also as discussed

063previously encouraging parents to provide or encourage social distancing at the bus stop. We cannot mandate it it is simply a community issue that we want to encourage. Buses will be sanitized twice each day. Bus drivers and monitors will use PPE while on the bus. and disposable masks will be available and provided to any student without a face covering slide 25 as we are transporting the windows and vents will be open to increase air circulation we will have assigned seats to maximize i'm sorry to minimize contact start loading from the back to the front and unload from the front to the back Now let's talk about food and nutrition services. This has been an object of great interest. Breakfast, we will have our grab-and-go provisions, as we have had in the past, where students pick up

064their breakfast and go to the classroom. Lunchtime, our staff has said, considered to be similar to a subway line. Students will pass through a serving line with cafeteria personnel. They will not be picking up items. They will simply point out what they would like to have added to their tray and then grab their tray at the very end of the line for their lunch period. Schools will be extending their lunch periods to maximize space between classes. Remember, we're trying to keep those cohorts together. There will also be provisions for outside dining to maximize the separation of classes as well. Supper will continue to be provided as a grab-and-go for participating sites only. And for our virtual or OCPS launch ed students, we will have grab-and-go meals provided at their enrolled or assigned school. I might

065add for our virtual school students, OCVS, that has not been a provision in the past. We are providing that for students in OCVS as well as launch ed at home should they need it. Next, let's talk about school clinics. They are funded. We have a funded school health assistant and a trained district designee to oversee the clinics. As requested by a board member, we did provide the cost if we were to try to upgrade to nurses in all of those clinics. It is a significant cost that can certainly be discussed when we get to our July 30th budget hearing. They will be equipped with personal protective equipment and of course the thermometers that are no touch. Two areas have to be designated to serve our students. One is the well room for triage, medicine distributions,

066brain, ankle, etc. And then the sick room for fevers, coughs, sore throats, symptoms that may be COVID related or contagious. School clinic staff will participate in training prior to the start of the school year. They will wear personal protective equipment, adhere to social distancing to the extent possible, utilize district temperature screening, and contact parent or guardian if a student temperature is 100.4 or above. Next, cleaning and disinfecting. We want to reinforce all of our cleaning practices, particularly in the outdoor areas. We are going to prioritize disinfecting frequently in touched areas and maintain the resources and equipment needed. The photo you see there is an example. Disinfecting sprayers, or foggers referred to sometimes, are being purchased and dispersed so that we can have additional cleaning in our schools and classrooms. We're going to reduce the sharing

067of common spaces, frequently touched objects, clean, visibly dirty surfaces, the soap and water prior to disinfection, use an EPA-approved disinfectant, follow label directions, and of course keep disinfectants out of the reach of our children. Slide 31 provides for you the same protocol, confirmed COVID-19 case response plan that we provided previously. When a student or employee tests positive, the district will contact the Department of Health. They perform contact investigation and determine individuals who will need to self-isolate. Based on their guidance and recommendations and investigative findings, procedures may change at any time. Self-isolation is determined by location and proximity, use of face-to-face coverings and shields, social distancing measures, level of contact, and interaction. Based on the outcome of the interaction of the investigation, DOH will then provide the district with guidance on closure and isolation. The instructional

068continuity plan is much more detailed than the distance learning plan we transitioned to after spring break. It is what the state will expect us to have in place should a school need to close down entirely, or should the state or district move to shutter schools and face-to-face instruction. In this instance, our instructional continuity plan would match our launch ed at home that we would pivot to. We will also coordinate with district personnel and county health officials to initiate response procedures for communicating with parents, staff, and students for disinfecting and decisions about dismissals and closure. We will be in contact with the Department of Health. They are our partners in this matter. That being said, members of the board, we have covered our local protocols that we have in place as well as what is required

069to be submitted to the state. Madam Chair, members of the board, certainly open to your questions and discussion. Let me begin with a question of the board. Right now, I know we have 10 individuals who have joined us in person. Let me check with Mr. Pomerini or whoever is able to tell us how many callers we have on the line. Right now, 13, Madam Chair. Okay, so we have 10 individuals present, 13 on the phone. Board members, would you prefer to hear from the public and then engage in our questions and dialogue? I would prefer to hear from the public. I have one member prefer to hear from the public. Let me pass this. Is there any, do we have any? I would prefer hearing from the public. Okay. I think based on the nodding

070of the head at the dais here and the input from Dr. Gordon, I think the majority of us are in agreement. Let's hear from the public. Let's do what we've done in the past, unless there's objection from board members, and that's rotate the orders. So we have a total of 23 speakers. We have 10 in the audience if there's not an objection. then I will take the first speaker that was here in public. And that is Mr. Stewart, Jarrett Stewart. Is Mr. Stewart present? Mr. Stewart, thank you for joining us. If you could come forward, Mr. Stewart, for the record, if you can give your name and address at the conclusion of your name and address, and this applies to everybody, of course. you'll have three minutes to make your comments okay we very much

071appreciate you taking the time to be here and we look forward to hearing your comments thank you sir yeah thank you uh my name is jared stewart you said address address yes uh 18170 concord okay i'm gonna just do it this way so i apologize for the lack of eye contact here okay um and facial contact in general right all right um yeah my name is jared stewart i'm an english teacher at winter park high school i teach ap and ib english And I know already your teeth are grinding because English teachers, right? Good news for you is that I study philosophy as well, so at least I'm self-aware enough to know how insufferable I can be. So I'm going to be quick here. I'm the first to say that I loathed much of distance

072learning. I'm a bit of a traditionalist as pedagogy is concerned. I love to lecture and discuss. I love the back and forth of my subject. Zoom calls were sparsely attended, grades were predictably softened at the end of the year, and students knew, you know, what buttons to press and which levers to pull so that they could do the least amount of work and get the best results that they could. That said, as much as I hemmed and hawed through that first final quarter of the school year, I was at ease because I felt like I had a higher duty than to teach classic literature or figures of speech, right? I was setting an example. I was tending to the needs outside of school. Right now we've got experts in the field who are telling us

073that we're not yet even knee-deep in the consequences of our neglect. Conversely, we've got governors and senators and others telling us economy, economy, economy. Money, money, money, right? The dollar is more valuable than the one who spends it. And we're not immune to that here as a school board, right? No doubt there are dollars at work here. Parents have to work, right? Child care is an obstacle. Yet where this seems to go astray as far as I can understand it is when economy becomes an issue left to administrators and educators. Education is becoming a scapegoat right now, right? I'm reasonably young, healthy, no pre-existing conditions, but many of my colleagues occupy different spaces along the spectrum of age and vitality. Many of my students battle any number of illnesses which prime them for a virus.

074For one of them to fall ill, and potentially gravely ill, because an administration couldn't exercise proper ingenuity or integrity or even, you know, just some patience in the face of economy, would be blood on their hands, which I don't know would wash off. As always, there's an easy way to answer this question. Make yourself the uninsured staff member at an OCPS school. Make yourself the teacher or the student with pre-existing conditions. Make yourself the parent who has taken every precaution at home, who has to send their child against better judgment to school only for them to bring COVID home because I don't know about your classrooms, but I average about 30 students per class and only about 25 desks. So I don't know where we're even going to get three feet, let alone the six

075that is required. Oh, man. Oh, even me. I'm husband to an asthmatic wife with autoimmune deficiencies and a 10-month-old, right? I don't want to bring home things that I don't have to bring home when there are other modes. I guess that's all from me. I entrust you all to make the right choice and consider the well-being of all of us and not just of the school board, I guess. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right, now it's the lousy part of my job, that I have to remind everybody that during public testimony, we can't have outbursts, either cheers, applause. But here's what we do, because it is important to know how you feel. So if you're in agreement, you can raise a hand, two hands. If you're really in disagreement, you can put a

076thumbs down. And, okay, and that helps us, and I apologize. That is my job. Okay, Ms. Robinson. Thank you again, Mr. Stewart. yeah i'm i'm sure we all chair mr robinson hold just a minute we're going to take the caller on the line we're going to take the caller on the line if you'll just have a seat real close up here and then we'll take the color and we'll go to you first caller on the line chair our first vice chair I just wanted to reiterate something that you said that we talked about in pre-agenda, that if you're in agreement, if you're in chambers, you can wave your hands, and we can even see that on YouTube, or we'll get indication from staff. But if you're on the phone and you agree, there is a

077public email that will go to the support person, Ms. McGill, who's in chambers, that can let us know that others are in agreement. in case callers drop off. I would, I am remiss I don't have that email in front of me, but if Ms. McGill or Mr. Pomerini could give that email for those callers just so that we know when people concur or disagree. Thank you for that reminder, Vice Chair Gould. We will take the next caller on the line, and I will get that email address so we can announce it between our next two speakers. Mr. Howitt, you'll get that email address for me? Thank you. Okay, next caller on the line. Our first caller is LaWanda Thompson. Ms. Thompson, welcome. You're recognized. Hello. Ms. Thompson, you're welcome. You're recognized. If you can give

078your name and address for the record. My name is LaWanda Thompson with the Equity Council. My address is 664 West Lyman, Winter Park, Florida, 32789. As I said, I'm here to talk about what we're doing so far as COVID-19. The necessity in a crisis to understand and have a healthy respect for pluralism is indeed to reach a proper consensus to this conundrum of whether or not to open up the schools during a national pandemic caused by an invisible killer germ called COVID-19. Sir Isaiah Berlin once wrote about three dogmas that... To all genuine questions, there's one true answer and only one, that the true answer to such questions are principal knowledge and that these true answers cannot clash with one another, which to all that he wrote, he refuted with two words, value, pluralism. Yes,

079you did surveys. Yes, you held meetings with administration. Yes, you strategically planned an administration with the administration and the board. But the true voice of the people has not been properly consulted because it requires you to hear us more than yourself to get a proper answer. Ten people in person and ten people on the phone, I'm glad that you changed that. But even still, that's not allowing for the showcasing of this dialogue. Already shows us that you weren't trying to make a decision based on what you really verbally heard from the people outside of the vacuum of your own voices. No single overreaching ruling should prevail with such. so much hanging in the balance. To that note, it is unfortunate that necropolitics, which is the uses of social and political power to dictate how people

080may live and how some must die, has been handed down through the innocence of our children. I need to remind everyone that intentional spreading of COVID-19 can land you in jail or with a lawsuit. We need to know the school system is going to try and protect themselves from litigation into which no one else can protect themselves. Yes, because someone is going to get COVID-19 while in the school environment and have issues with their body for life or potentially succumb to the virus by death. Some teachers are going to weaponize the police and the legal system against children or families that they feel have potentially spread COVID-19 to themselves, while there may also be teachers in our midst that will intentionally spread COVID-19 to students they don't care for, just like there have been teachers

081arrested or fired for assault against... Students, pedophilia on the job, and fire for being prejudiced or racist towards students and other faculty and staff. Also, some parents will not notify the school that there may be positive COVID-19 results in their household, and then they will play ring around the rosy with arrest, litigation, and lawsuits, and or death over and over again. Lastly, NPR recently put out an article entitled, The Ghost of Colonialism is Haunting the World's Response to the Pandemic. The modern-day control and socioeconomic politics... political and cultural aspects of the former colonies and current United States is playing out through neocolonialism and its response to COVID-19. Neocolonialist attitudes are being played out in unprecedented ways since the pandemic began. And to that I say, Superintendent Barbara Jenkins, Honorable School Board Member, be careful. The

082question remains, can you all stand in the gap for those who will be disproportionately affected by COVID, our vulnerable children and employees in the district? thank you thank you thank you let's hear from our next in-person speaker gretchen gretchen robinson miss robinson i apologize for my error in calling you prematurely your if you can give your name and address for the record thank you that's fine thanks gretchen robinson 520 ramona lane orlando a member of orange cta parlante por mas organized florida and huge love to dr armbruster members of the board in march evelyn ortiz one of my closest friends the dean at new rochelle high school got infected with COVID at a staff training before New York shut down. She nearly died and she gave it to her partner, another dear friend, Enid, a

083visiting nurse. My college friend, Julie Butler, a beloved Harlem veterinarian who refused to shutter her clinic, died in April. You may have read about her in the New York Times. In March, we did the smart thing in a lockdown when the state had 450 cases. It kept us safe. We're no longer safe. During the past week, Florida, a state, has had more new cases daily than any country other than the U.S.-Russia umbrella. Brazil, three of the largest countries in the world and more active cases than any country other than the U.S., Brazil and India. Florida's new cases are breaking the U.S. records daily and we now have the highest number of active cases in the U.S. Orange County has had the third highest number of new cases in Florida since Sunday. My partner's baby sister

084and best friend Gloria and her entire family are sick in Miami because her 15-year-old had her asymptomatic friend over to hang out. Gloria and her husband are now dangerously ill. We've all heard the lines that kids rarely pass it on to other people. Tell that to Gloria. My best friend Tony's wife, a firefighter here in Orlando, is positive. Now both of them need to quarantine, and there are so many cases that it takes weeks to get results back. And just because neither one got very sick doesn't mean that everything's cool. We're now learning that everyone who's exposed, not everyone who's exposed, develops antibodies. And for those who do, those antibodies wane quickly. Herd immunity, it turns out, isn't really a thing. Three teachers in Arizona who taught together virtually in an empty classroom over the

085summer. Distancing, masking, sanitizing, all became positive together. One died. School hasn't even started yet, and last week, 18 OCPS employees tested positive. This just in. A colleague's father-in-law just got sent home with pneumonia, presumptive COVID. New York lost beloved principals, teachers, doctors, nurses, first responders. Who are we prepared to bury? I am a teacher and I don't want to die. I don't want to bury my colleagues. I don't want to bury Evia, my 65 year old partner. I don't want my 29 year old to bury me in a state that obviously needs to shut down a won't. I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe going shopping. I don't feel safe being in this room. I have a killer immune system that throws off everything, but I'm scared of this thing. I'm terrified of going

086back into the classroom. I know you all are amazing. You're all racking your brains and working around the clock trying to figure out how to do this safely. But the reality is face to face teaching under the best of conditions with the best of plans and most competent guidance is manifestly unsafe. Given the explosion of cases we're experiencing, it is hang gliding over an active volcano. I have zero interest in playing chicken with a deadly virus. When I signed up to teach, I didn't sign up for hazardous duty, folks. I served eight and a half years in the military. I never once feared for my life. I do now. what in the hell are we doing thank you and thank you for your service to our nation as well um next caller on the line

087who do we have next calling us madam chair yes it's may i speak please i'm sorry remember gallo i didn't i didn't realize you had push a button please you recognized um thank you so i'm still getting calls from parents that are saying they're calling in They're getting hung up on like after 45 minutes and they call in again and they're getting hung up on after 45 minutes and I was told that when Callers called in that we would be taking their phone number because we understand that sometimes this system is precarious so that we could call them back That's not happening. So can someone please let us know how we're going to make sure we don't lose callers who'd like to speak Member Gallo, can I inquire? I wanna make sure I'm understanding this.

088If these were callers that called in during the period when the call line was open? Or are these, so they were in the queue, they were on the line and they got dropped? Is that what I understood you to say? Yes, Madam Chair. Dr. Jenkins, I'll leave it to you. Thank you, Madam Chair. We'll certainly have them look into it. We tested it and actually had someone call the line and it was working. Keep in mind, you extended an additional 15-minute window. We are happy to reopen it. If someone says they were dropped, they can call back in. If you say the word, we will reopen that window again. We tested it with folks calling from their cell phones and it was working just fine. Happy to have it opened again if it's the board's

089pleasure. Dr. Jenkins. And we will also ask the monitor, the operator on that call to make sure he takes phone numbers when they initially call in. Thank you, Dr. Jenkins. I think that's something we absolutely need to make sure that we're doing because even if somebody calls in again, if they wait for 45 minutes and they get dropped, we need to be calling them back rather than them calling us back. Okay. I also want to acknowledge that I have received messages from our staff that we have a number of people that have emailed that they cannot understand me very well. I recognize this problem, but I also think we need to remember that if we're going to ask our teachers to come back to school and to teach with a mask on, that parents need

090to be aware that their children may have the same challenge understanding. So I'm going to keep the mask on. because this is a reality. And I think, I'm not going to belabor the point, but I think teachers also, parents also need to make an informed decision about whether they want their children to come back into class if they have that option. So do we, yes, Mr. Pomerini. Madam Chair, just for the question about the email address, it is publiccomment, all one word, at ocps.net. Okay. It is publiccomment, all one word. at ocps.net so if you are on the line or you are not on the line but you hear a comment that you concur with you have the opportunity to let us know the same as we're doing the hand waving my suggestion is that

091we open up the lines one more time for 15 minutes dr jenkins after that i think that it is incumbent upon our staff to make sure they get every phone number and they call back every person Is there any disagreement with opening up the call lines for another 15 minutes? No, that's fine. Can I just add one thing? I have gotten messages from people that are on the line holding but have not spoken to an operator who have not had their phone number taken. So we might need to do that for the people that are on the line holding. Excellent point, Member Byrd. All right, so we're clear on that. Whoever is manning the phone lines on behalf of OCPS is going to make contact with each person that is on the line holding, is

092going to get their phone number in the event that they get dropped so that we can directly follow back up with them. We are going to open the phone lines for an additional 15 minutes to give those people that got dropped and anybody else who wasn't able to get in an opportunity to get back on the line. But in the interest, again, of trying to... to accomplish today's business. We're gonna have to rely heavily on our staff to follow through with these directions. Let's go to our help me out folks. Our next telephone. Thank you, Mr. Pomerini. Our next caller on the line. Our next caller on the line is Jason Henry. Mr. Henry, welcome, sir. If you can give your name and address for the record. Sure. Name is Jason Henry. Address is 612

093Cannon Ridge Drive, Orlando, Florida. First, let me begin by noting how tough of a decision I know that this is for members of the board. I recognize that everyone would not agree with your decision, but I appreciate your guidance and your leadership on this matter. Quickly, I'd also like to thank Dr. Gordon for her years of leadership in our community and for our students and wish her success as she prepares for a professional transition off the board. As a parent of two students who attend public school in Orange County and the husband of a support staff worker at OCPS, I am concerned for the overall safety and health of my family, students, and teachers. While we don't necessarily have enough evidence and testing to know if kids are susceptible to the virus, we do know

094how prevalent it is amongst adults. While this isn't germane to me only, I've had a family member experience the worst of this virus as she was on a ventilator for a week because of COVID-19. She's still experiencing issues and has yet to get back to normal. As you consider the options ahead of you, I'd also implore you to consider how an outbreak of the virus in a single classroom may impact the entire school. If a teacher or staff member tests positive or is exposed, will that individual be forced to quarantine? Will that individual be forced to use sick time while self-isolating? Will their health care needs be taken care of? And will students or entire classrooms who are exposed be forced to quarantine as well? Again, I understand that these aren't easy answers and your

095decision will be based on a careful and thoughtful approach. But as a parent and spouse of an OCPS worker, I felt that it was important that I voiced my concerns. Thank you for your leadership and thank you for listening to what I have to say. Thank you very much, Mr. Henry. Thank you for calling in. Let's go to our next in-person speaker, Ashley Modesto. Ms. Modesto, welcome. If you can give your name and address for the record. Okay. Hi, my name is Ashley Modesto. I live at 489 Burntree Lane, Apopka, Florida. I'm about to enter my fifth year teaching math here at OCPS. And, you know, this summer really has not been a summer vacation. uh i probably work with one of the best math teams in the county i'm going to brag a little

096bit we have have a group chat and we've been planning and we've been working we've been talking about all the possibilities of all the things that are going to happen we've been making videos preparing to do online education making powerpoints giving enrichment to our kids over the summer so they avoid that summer slide we are professionals and we will do whatever it takes to ensure that our kids are well educated and well prepared for the future We as teachers could do almost anything. You know, we sacrifice so much, but we cannot sacrifice the health and wellness of ourselves. You know, the new plan has a lot of options for parents and students. It does not have any for educators. Our ability to stay home is based off of if children are going to stay home.

097I am fearful. You know, I work for OCPS, my mom, my sister, my aunts. You know, this is... We always like to joke this is our family business. I'm an OCBS graduate myself. Majority of my life has been here. And to feel disregarded like that is truly offensive. I work very hard. So many of my colleagues are amazing, and they spend so much time working, wanting to do well. Our preference would be to be into the classroom, but unfortunately, that is not an option at this time. It would be nice to know if we are going to have some type of vaccine or something, but we do not have any of that information. We don't know what we don't know. I think what it would be best is to prepare for the worst case scenario,

098prepare that this gets worse, prepare that a vaccine isn't readily available, and then I'll adjust our plan based off of if something good happens. As of right now, I feel like we're being very reactive and not very active. reacting to every situation as it comes instead of trying to plan for that situation teachers we are jumping through hoops to be prepared but it is straining it's straining on us mentally emotionally physically not you know wondering are we you know now we're going to get paid two weeks later it's a very stressful time We are ready to go digital. We are ready to stay home and do whatever it takes to avoid a loss in academic gains rather than a loss in life. You know, we are professionals. We could do it. We have that ability.

099That's what we were hired for. That's what we will. That's what we will do. It's it's a very hard decision. And I really do appreciate your guys working. And I did watch that 11 hour work session. And it truly means a lot to hear your ideas, to hear your concerns. But we also have to identify that the teachers do not have decision in this new plan. And that is unacceptable. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right, let's go to our next on-the-phone caller. Who's our next caller on the line? Our next caller is Taylor Mack. Taylor? Hello. Hello, this is Teresa Jacobs. Welcome. If you can start with your name and address, please. Yes, my name is Taylor Mack. My address is 1589 Woodstone Drive in Apopka, Florida. I first want to start off

100with a quote that I've learned, which is, not as low before blown, okay? So I understand that board members have difficult decisions to make. I do understand any decision made will have some form of limitation that we will have to overcome. What I want is to offer my perspective as I work at a Title I school with 99% minority in an urban area. I also have two children who are both enrolled in OCPS schools for the upcoming school year. Every day as a parent, my first priority is to ensure that my children's basic needs of health and safety are met. That, after all, is my most important task. During last school year, some of our students were burdened with being in uneducable living conditions. Some with daily lives that include tasks that not many adults

101have experienced. But again, we have to consider Maslow before Bloom. My goal as an instructional coach is to ensure teachers are differentiating best practices to meet the needs of all of our students and that our teachers are adequately supported. In our current times, in a face-to-face setting, this job is nearly impossible. Yes, virtual school is an option, but how many of our parents have the skills, knowledge, and resources that allow this to be successful? I, myself, a parent of an upcoming sixth grader, struggle with the heavy burden of having her enrolled in six online classes with subjects I myself am unfamiliar with. I'm using my voice not to just express my concerns as an educator and a parent, but a voice of the stakeholders we often leave out. We are undoubtedly here for students. The

102vision statement for OCPS is that we are promising a successful future for every student, yet we have very little input from whose vision our vision is aligned to. The students are our most important stakeholder. Our students have concerns about having to wear masks every day to school. They are concerned that their class sizes, that may I add, are already beyond what research has proven to be most effective, will be too large to properly social distance. They are concerned that their learning style also does not fit in with online learning. They are concerned that their scores are deemed more important than their health physically and mentally. Fortunately, COVID has allowed me to interact virtually with educators nationwide. And again, one of my favorite quotes that I learned from Principal Ra in California is, This means we

103must consider students physiological and safety needs before we even begin the discussion of learning objectives and the COVID slide. I ask upon making any decision, we ensure that we are considering the basic needs of all students in this county, not just some. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Our next speaker is Nicholas Anderson. Welcome, Mr. Anderson. My name is Nicholas Anderson. I live at 10-846 Waterford Court, Orlando, Florida. We know that if schools open in August, the disease will spread, and as it spreads between the children, it spreads to their teachers, their parents, and their wider families. As it spreads, the ICUs will fill, and people will die. There is no scientific dispute that this will occur. Knowing this, the Board ought to provide in its reopening plan the number of people that they are

104prepared to sacrifice and let die before they will say it was a mistake not to have fought the mandate given by the state. I ask the Board to consider themselves five years from now when they look at themselves in the mirror. What do you think is more likely to haunt you? saying that you fought a state mandate despite the legal repercussions to protect the children and the families that you serve, or knowing that people died directly as a result of your decision to follow those orders, and say, when you think on those people gasping their last breaths on those ventilators, I had no choice. I was just following orders. Orders that we know are politically motivated and made without any scientific recourse. to the best practices of the countries and municipalities that have actually fought

105back this spread. In our history classes in these schools, we teach our children the shame of men and women who let innocent people suffer and said, I had no choice. I was just following orders. And if you decide to open schools knowing that children and their teachers will suffer and come back to us a year later and say that you had no choice, You will not be able to wash your hands of this like Pontius Pilate. A lawyer can give you a legal reasoning and a lawyer can explain the legal consequences. A lawyer cannot wash your conscience when you have to face yourself when you are alone, when people have died as a result of your choice. I am asking the board to do the hard thing, but the right thing that you know is

106true and to fight against. What we all know is the wrong thing. How many people are you willing to let die? Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Our next caller. Our next caller is Nicole Stein. Hello. Welcome, Ms. Stein. If you can give your name and address before you begin your comments. Thank you. Sure. My name is Nicole Stein. I live at 3439 King George Drive. I thank you for, you know, the hard decisions that are being made today. I do want to say that today we are given health guidance that is in direct conflict with plans being made regarding schools. Common sense tells us it's a bad idea. The start and stop of school is inevitable because of the virus. We will have teachers, students, admins alike getting sick, some getting very sick, and some dying.

107And that will create a trauma for our children. Furthermore, it is mind-blowing to me that I can watch our governor stand up yesterday and preach the three C's. Please, no closed spaces, no crowded places, not unpacked settings. What is school? Not all of those things. It doesn't. Furthermore, you know, I have a rising first grader. I'm very, very interested in the innovative plan because, you know, we talk about. mental illness emotional illness keeping our children healthy in those areas i would love for my rising first graders to be connected to their school to see teachers that he saw in the hallway to see classmates that he he went to school with or saw in the hallway he does need that social interaction i'm not willing to risk his life for it but if we're going

108to have an alternate plan Our young learners shouldn't be forgotten. There's no chance a six-year-old is going to sit in front of the computer following a bell schedule from 9 to 3. It's not going to happen, nor is it developmentally appropriate for it to happen. So I would urge, you know, maybe a revamping if it's possible to the learner. That's all. Ms. Williams, Melanie Williams. I will try a different mask. The feedback that I cannot be understood continues to come in. Folks, I am trying to do what I can to conform with the rules we're asking our teachers. Ms. Williams, thank you for being here. A pleasure. Thank you, Chair Jacobs. My name is Melanie Williams, 10755 Arborview Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, 32825. And thank you again for the opportunity to speak on behalf of all

109families. Dr. Gordon, you called and OCCPTA is here. We have answered the call. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global emergency response resulting in a tremendous effect on the daily lives of families. While it appears that the incident and risk of COVID-19 are low for children, this crisis has dramatically impacted their quality of life. As a result, OCCPTA has taken special steps to ensure that the concerns of our students, families, faculty, and staff are heard as plans are being made to reopen schools. In the last four days, we had conversations with many of you, school board members and Chair Jacobs. OCCPTA put forward three surveys to parents, teachers, and students. The response is over 15,000 in such a short time speaks volumes. Teachers and students are extremely concerned about returning. Teachers are worried about how

110to keep the children as well as their own families and selves safe. Special area teachers see a very large number of students on a weekly basis. How can they protect themselves and the students? How do you respond to a parent who sends a sick child to school? We recognize that during school closures our students have lost the stability and routines that all students and parents depend on. And while there's a need to return to school, the well-being of our students, faculty and staff must be a priority for all of us. So we have a few strategies we'd like to see you implement, please. Schools will adhere to the social guidelines laid out by the CDC. We saw that in the presentation. Thank you for that. But there must be additional sanitation measures. Florida Department of

111Health must... provide guidance to parents and caregivers about the criteria for testing children for COVID-19, listing of health care providers, locations of testing sites for children, and effective treatment options. Remote learning plans should be accessible to all students, especially students in foster care, kinship care, the homeless, and those involved in the criminal justice system. Safe transportation will be provided. We saw that but who will monitor the students on buses? Caution must be taken with open windows on a bus with elementary students OCPS must protect students identified as being infected with the virus from the insidious danger of the stigma that may extend to that student. We need an actionable plan to make sure children who are at higher risk for adversity are always accounted for. The homeless, disabled, children with families in mixed immigration status,

112children with special needs, incarcerated, and children in the foster care and or justice systems. Any plans to reopen public schools need to be mindful of existing technology and educational and economic gaps. OCPS, we trust your judgment on this, but understand this. Our numbers are not declining. The safety of the staff, students, and their families are critical. When will one life be worth it, OCPS? Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Williams. Okay, let's take the next caller on the line. Our next caller is Eric Vasquez. Thank you, Ms. Vasquez. Welcome. If you can begin with your name and address, please. Hi, my name is Erica Vasquez. I'm 5926 Lake Point Village Circle. Can you hear me? Yes, we sure can. Go ahead, Ms. Swiped-Vasquez. Okay, okay. I just wanted to make sure. Okay, first, I wrote this

113whole speech I wanted to give, but I just want to say that I am completely blown away by the previous public comments. They touched me deeply, and they were very moving, and I think you as a board recognize that because you are human. You have your own emotions. And, you know, I think it's great that the public is speaking out the way that we are, and I'm hoping that we are being heard. With that being said, I am a mother of three ESC kiddos in OCPS. Two of them are in a charter school, and one of them are going into a public high school. I'm fortunate enough to choose virtual options for my kiddos. But other families, this option is not an option. So my concern is about the limitations and the requirements for OCVS

114and even FLVS. Part of a substance into either virtual school requires students to be, to my understanding, on grade level. as per its state on the flvs website or on the ocps website states shown academic progress for two consecutive school years what happens if a child does not fall under those specific categories and what happens if they are unable to adhere to our school's daily schedule presented to them through LaunchEd. I think that ESC kiddos should be able to apply for either virtual option and be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but waive strictly enforced requirements for children with disabilities. It's one thing when your child physically attends school because you have certainty of school hours, but at home it needs to be a little more flexible, especially for the requirements for ESC kiddos. I understand

115with virtual school options, it is one-to-one support, and one-to-one support is not the same as one-to-one instruction. Hold on one second. Let me get to my neck. Sorry. I also understand that under teacher contracts, extended hours beyond virtual and traditional timing is not feasible because we are no longer in crisis or pandemic learning. If a parent of a child with an IEP opts for Lawrence Ed. And if they are unable to adhere to the school daily bill schedule, there should be options considered for these unique situations as well. Ma'am, your time has expired. Thank you very much for calling. All right, our next speaker is James Barone. Welcome, Mr. Barone. Good afternoon. My name is James Barone, OCPS parentsurvey at gmail.com. originally from Pine Hills. I'm a Floridian. I'm father of an OCPS student. 1445.

116I didn't give my address yet. That's what the rules state. 1445 Sophie Boulevard, Orlando 32828. I'm going to get my extra five seconds. It's good to see so many educated officials being schooled today. Also, it's a shame that we didn't have time to read all the names of those who died from coronavirus, as well as those who have been admitted to ICU. It's a real shame we didn't have time to do that today. So I want to remind you and the honorable school board members of a few key elements that currently you are not fulfilling the promise of a successful future by reopening any student who gets sick, falls ill or dies will not have a future and that violates your vision. The original survey that you put out was done on the week of

117May 18, 2020 when we had fewer cases. Therefore the support of OCPS families and communities are lacking. You are not meeting your vision. I would wager if you did the exact same survey, you will find far less support from families in the community and you would be forced to come to different conclusions. Your objectives of creating and maintaining emotional well-being as well as a safe environment are not being met. How can it be met when a student is under constant threat of attack from a viral agent at school or if a student is hospitalized or in ICU? Or if that student infects their parents or grandparents who subsequently die, where is their emotional well-being? Their emotional well-being is not being met in the classroom when they're far away from their friends who they cannot interact

118with. It's like saying, here's this candy, but you're never going to have it. Further, the environment is not safe. It's been proven through testimony of doctors, National American Association of Pediatrics, as well as case studies that closed environments such as a classroom is rife to spread this virus. Lastly, your market differentiators. How are you being transparent and accountable to your stakeholders? I ask you this because there's an insurmountable number of questions that have yet to be answered. Questions regarding infection, quarantine, sick days, sick pay for teachers. What will happen in the instance of the death of a teacher, the death of staff or faculty, the death of a student? Are you ready to be accountable? How many students are you ready to watch fall ill or die? How many teachers need to fall ill so

119you can prove your level of accountability? And the plans laid out there is little to show the concerns for the students. I can already hear your defense. You're going to be saying, well, we were mandated to do it. The governor, the FLDOE mandated schools to open. That is only saying that the evidence has been proven by the state and by the governor that they are complicit in the culpability of the negligence of reopening schools to the detriment of faculty, staff, students, and teachers. We are openly being told. that they are ready to violate labor laws as well as OSHA regulations in an effort to reopen state for business to the detriment of students. How much longer will you toe the line to the disadvantage of your students and stakeholders? It's your chance to do something.

120When the SAF enclosed, there were responses from Dr. Pino in his office. And as you could see, if you read the letter that I sent you ladies last night, they're all the same. They're all just a bunch of just, just the same. Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, it's not my problem. Oh, it's up to the school board. And he's taken no responsibility for himself as appointed health official. If you believe as the elected representatives of the school board that Dr Pino is representative of the Florida Health Department is not doing his job, say so let us know. So that way you can make a stand and we can support you. I'm only speaking for myself. I'd rather have you be decisive and make a good decision than be decisive and make a bad decision. The

121fact is, Stan will stand with you. If not, the souls of the children who die from this will rise from the grave and make sure you are never elected again. Mr. Brown, your time is up. I'm sorry, sir. Thank you. We need to go on to the next speaker. I'm sorry, Mr. Brown. Well, this is what we learn. We learn what we teach. Let's go on to our next speaker. our online speaker please our next caller is angela de jesus mr jesus welcome and thank you for calling if you can start with your name and address for the record please thank you hi my name is angela de jesus i am from 7839 a avenue orlando florida 32822 i am an ela teacher in east orlando I was watching the last school board meeting on

122YouTube and I kept hearing this word safe. There was a moment early in the meeting when Ms. Karen Castordentil asked Dr. Pino if it was safe to reopen schools to which he replied could you define safe. He then explained that if one defines safe as a space with zero transmission of the COVID-19 virus, then no. Open quote, we will see transmission, end quote, he said. Personal protective equipment, social distancing, and other precautions only circumvent the disaster that is COVID-19. They do not prevent it. Kimberly Bird thought she was safe. She worked in a classroom this past summer with two other teachers hosting summer school online. They wore masks and gloves. They kept their distance. They used hand sanitizer. Then in June, all three teachers contracted the virus. Kimberly Bird, a teacher for 38 years who

123touted her district in Arizona for so long that she was teaching her former students kids. Kimberly Bird died on June 26. She died two weeks after being hospitalized when she thought she was working in a safe space. As of July 12th, according to CNN.com, the other two teachers who shared the room with her are still struggling with the effects of the virus. If we go back to work in our school buildings, we will all be exposed to COVID-19. No amount of safety precautions can stop it. You cannot guarantee us a space to work that has zero transmission. Therefore, you cannot guarantee us a safe space to work. We will not be able to stop human beings, no matter how few, from self-induced cross-contamination. Keeping teachers and students in one room won't stop them from using

124shared restrooms or shared transportation. I cannot force a student or co-worker to use PPE. If someone in the building decides to rebel, what disciplinary action can we take that also reduces the chances for transmission? Why is this even an option? The transfer, the chance for transmission does not need to be mitigated or circumvented. It needs to be impossible. The only way transmission between us is impossible is to keep us out of the school buildings. I ask for you to keep teachers working from home. I ask if we must open schools in limited manners that you require teachers to volunteer to work in the school buildings if they feel safe doing so. We've worked from home before. We learned so much. We can do it again. We can teach from home and we can be safe.

125Thank you for listening. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Our next in-person speaker is Mr. Pollard. Mr. Pollard, welcome. Thank you for being here. My name is Ron Pollard, 1869 Emerald Cove Boulevard, Apopka, Florida, 32712. and the grandfather of three young ladies that are in OCPS public schools, one who's four years old. But what I wanted to talk about was this. As the exclusive bargaining entity for the classified workers of Orange County Public Schools and president of OS for the Orange Education Support Professions Association, I need to chime in on the reopening of schools as it relates to many essential employees such as bus drivers and monitors. front desk people and other clerical staff, food and nutritional staff, clinical workers, paraprofessionals, custodians, IT and maintenance, just to name a few. While we applaud pushing back

126student return dates, we believe that classified staff need to return with teachers prior to the student return so that they can be trained on the proper procedure that OCPS has enacted to ensure the safe return of our students. The news you can use this morning said bring back staff and students together. That's a mistake that can lead to chaos. Bring the staff back with time to be trained and provided so that they can know what to expect. It gives us all times to work out glitches, which I promise you we will have glitches before the students return. So while OSPA's first option is to keep schools closed while paying our staff until it's safe to return, we're aware that the district opposes this idea. So if schools must reopen, we want to continue working with

127you to do so in the safest way possible, which includes the extra training days I mentioned, as well as other working conditions, which we will negotiate at a later date. Thank you all for your time. Thank you very much. Mr. Pollard. Next we'll go to our next online caller Our next caller is Lauren's area. Meske. Hi, can you hear me? We sure can if you can begin with your name and address and thank you for calling Yes, thank you board members for giving us this opportunity. My name is Lauren's or rem see 4828 New Broad Street, Orlando, Florida 3 2 8 1 4 I am a seasoned public school educator as well as a mental health advocate We all know that mental health and wellness affects our children, as been stated by several doctors and

128mental health professionals, as why that's one of the reasons children should be back in the school building. I have yet to hear about the mental health and wellness of everybody else in the school, including teachers, support staff, administrators, the list goes on and on, the bus drivers, the people that work in the lunchroom. So what about, do you have any statistics on the mental health and well-being and how this will affect their instruction for the children as well? Because if their instruction won't be effective... the learning by the children won't be affected. Mental health and wellness is extremely important not only to children but to adults as well and I'm sure you would know this and understand this. So we need to hear not just about the mental health and wellness of our children, we

129need to hear about the mental health and wellness and how it will affect the instruction from our teachers and every other adult that makes the school day happen. Okay, this is very important. I have not heard nothing about the mental health and wellness from the federal level, from the state level, or for the local level on the adult and the teachers and everybody else that makes the school day happen and the instruction that makes it effective. Also, with this being said, how will the learning outcomes be productive and measured if the mental health and wellness is not met for the adults or the children? How will you measure these learning outcomes? Because I am sure they will not be met. In a normal classroom setting, as a public school educator, in my experience, with things

130documented and put in place, trust me, they don't all happen. Whatever is on paper, it doesn't all happen in a normal setting. So now with all these procedures in place, even though it's on paper, realistically, it will not happen. And it will take a, we know there's a physical toll. We know that. Look at the data. Look at the numbers, especially in the state of Florida. But what about the mental health? Who is going to be held accountable? Will these learning outcomes even be met if these kids go to school? What's the point? They're not being met. So now not only are physically they are at risk, the mental wellness and well-being, which is very important, as we know the first lady and the governor's wife tried to implement a mental health program last year

131that was not funded and not properly implemented. So clearly there was no plan, no funding. So how will your plan work? cater to the mental health needs not only of the children but of the teachers and everybody else involved in the education of our children thank you let's go to our next in-person caller miss dormel good afternoon wendy dormel 1020 webster avenue orlando florida 32804 Yesterday, presidents from 10 state education unions representing over 70,000 educators and school employees issued an unprecedented joint message underscoring what parents, teachers, and health experts are demanding. Schools must reopen only when it is safe to do so. Time restraints prevent me from reading that declaration, but I have provided it for all of you. Even before the pandemic, Florida's school districts were financially struggling after decades of underfunding. Teachers and

132parents were compelled to provide students with even the most basic supplies. We know that our schools do not currently have the resources for the necessary increase in custodians, teachers, physical space, buses, PPE, and hygiene and disinfectant products needed for a safe reopening. The commissioner's unfunded mandate does nothing to secure adequate resources. Instead of collaborating with the educators who have devoted their lives to our children, too many leaders are shaming and pressuring them, raising concern when they raise concerns about their own health and safety and that of their families and students. While we all know face-to-face learning is optimal, we cannot support any plan that will expose students and teachers and the families and communities they love to illness or death. Academic challenges can be addressed. A lost life cannot. There is not enough time in

133the next few weeks to accomplish the amount of planning that is essential for a safe reopening given the COVID-19 surge. As responsible caregivers and adults, we take precautions to ensure the safety of our children. We must be proactive and thoughtful when making decisions. OCPS has closed schools because of hurricane warnings, even though the hurricane never came. The district has kept students, teachers, and staff in schools past the end of the school day when there have been severe weather threats, knowing it would be reckless. to release them into a potentially dangerous situation. Yet at this time, we face a crisis like no other. We have a pandemic raging around us. Leaders are saying fling open the school doors. We are not faced with a potential threat. We are in a crisis. It's surrounding us. There simply

134is no justification for physically reopening our schools for face-to-face classes because district... was ordered to do so by an unfunded emergency order that ignores the current crisis and dangerous conditions. Thank you, Ms. Dormer. We'll take our next on-the-line caller. Our next caller is Jason Fronzek. Mr. Fronzek, welcome. And if you can start with your name and address, please. Thank you. My name is Jason Fronzek and I reside at 1258 Arlington Place in Winter Park, Florida 32789. I'm also a member of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and an art instructor with the Florida Prison Education Project. First I want to say thank you Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Jacobs and the honorable members of the board. I want to begin by also thanking Honorable Angie Gallo and the Honorable Linda Cobert for responding to my emails last

135night. Thank you for listening. My son and I, like many others, are in a unique situation of a child custody. My son travels back and forth from my home to his grandparents' home. We're both aging and at risk. It is also the only opportunity he gets to see his mother, who is also at risk. Sending my son to school right now during this crisis would be doing him and his family a grave disservice, denying them the opportunity for any safe and quality visitation time. While I realize that my specific concerns is not directly related to OCPS policy, your decision today does hold great value in the direction my specific school will go as being a charter school. I would also like to point out this is not just about me and my son. It is

136about our community, our children, and our teachers. My son's school will follow your lead. I believe the current influx of spread of this pandemic locally You should look deep inside and ask yourselves if opening the schools is the right thing to do. Many of the children in this district are in shared custody situations similar to mine, and your decision today will greatly affect how they can safely spend time with their families. I'm worried the extended effects of moving forward will only make the school, and specifically the teachers' jobs, more complicated. Our children will be better served by having an option to attend an exclusively online. until it is safe to return and even according to the world health organization we should be below a five percent threshold of positive testing before considering reopening we are

137barely under 11 percent testing czar admiral brett teror reported on sunday from the white house that florida and other states should certainly consider locking down until this threat passes and following the the american academy of pediatrics recommendation of returning to the school As you will note in Representative Ana Biascomani's letter to you last night, the APA suggests returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children. But we must pursue reopening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers, and staff. Science should drive decision-making on safely reopening our schools. Please choose a virtual-only option for our community, or at the very least, representative Anna Ascomani has also suggested push back the opening date of our brick-and-mortar schools until August 31st thank you for your time and hearing today thank you

138sir our next in-person speaker is it's hard to read the writing I apologize I believe the last name maybe is Robertson Roberson Welcome. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Shami Robinson, 4611 Lighthouse Circle, Orlando, Florida, 32808. I'm coming on behalf. I'm an Orange County public school teacher, and I'm speaking on behalf of me teaching now at a Title I school, and I always speak on behalf of minority students as well as the population that we serve the most. And what I do know is that statistically right now in the United States of America, The mortality rate of the black and brown communities are very high in America with COVID. Also, the reality of it is in Orange County Public Schools, my concern is that we are equitable in allowing option three. If our families do not

139have access to the internet and we do not give devices and all the options are not choices, then we have not done our job. If we do not allow for those that are underserved who have socioeconomic means that are less than some of our other population and those are the ones that are having to go back into the school system and I think I emailed you guys a lot of the callers talked about the neocolonialism and we can talk about the whys and I think when we go home at night and we think about the why they're pushing the opening I want us as a district to take a larger look at what we offer our students. And if we don't first offer every single family an opportunity to have a laptop and to have

140internet access, we have not done our job equitably in dividing and putting out the choices. I could speak all day about what us as teachers need, but I wake up crying because what I do know is the population of children who are going to be forced to go back without having access to an online option are going to... honestly look like me here in Orange County and the rate in which the mortality is for the black and brown community in America. I could not sleep another night and not come right here and speak on our behalf. So what I would like for us to do as a district first to see who all needs the access. to online options and then after we have that number provide those parents and families with that and those

141of us who need and absolutely have to have our children back in the school because there is a reality that our families need child care we prepare for that number responsibly and fiscally we know what resources we'll need if we know the numbers that we need just so that you guys can know a statistic in Detroit a young lady named Kyla Herbert. On April 19th, she passed away. She was the first child to pass away, a five-year-old black girl, under the age of 20, in Detroit. Because statistically, what they're not doing is the research for black and brown skin children. It is causing our blood to clot, which is causing an overall, it's causing the organs to shut down, and it's causing the children to go into cardiac arrest. And it's also causing long-term meningitis.

142Nationally, they could do this data and share this data, but I do it because I'm a parent. My daughter will not be going back into the classroom right now, but if I have to go back in and do what I have to do, I will. But I want us to first give all of our families the option to have accessibility to online learning and then find out how many absolutely have to be back in the classroom so we can quantify it and prepare for it. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Robinson. Thank you. Okay, before we take our next caller. We had indicated we were going to take a break at 2.45. I have one more speaker card, but Mr. Santiago is in the audience, and I recall that he said he was going to make

143comments on this. So I think that is an oversight on our end and paperwork. So we have two more in-room speakers. On the phone, how many more speakers? I'm checking into that, Madam Chair. So if I wanted the board I wanted to know from the board once we have that count whether we wanted to stay in the chambers before we take a break and Allow the rest of the public comments because if we take a break obviously they all have to wait with us So it would be helpful if we knew that count numbers so that I could tell the board how much longer that Israel is going to take While we're waiting for that. Let's take our next speaker then our next speaker I just got back 18, Madam Chair. We still have 18?

144Yes, ma'am. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm confused because I asked Dr. Jenkins by text 20, over 20 minutes ago, and we had 18 speakers. So you recall we extended that window for call-in, and so it grew from that point. I'm sorry. I thought I asked you after that window had shut. Okay. So we have 18. Yes. All right. So let me pull the board. on whether we're going to 18 speakers plus two 20 speakers we have one more hour before we would be finished with public speaking we had indicated we were going to take a break at 2 45 board wanted to know before we started when was i going to because i kind of forced us through a very long session last time without breaks so five minute break start um how many people are

145in agreement that we take a five minute break now let me begin with member member lopez you want a five minute break now um can i make a comment i'm sorry member lopez you wanted to make a comment for almost an hour please member lopez you're recognized thank you madam chair um i i just want to To repeat what I said about the group, Vamos Por Mas, from Erica. She was saying that they were holding in the phone for more than one hour, and they lost the communication, and they tried to communicate again with the school board office, and they were saying that they're going to return the call. I just want to know. if they can call back or somebody can call them and we also have interpreters from the multilingual department because they

146made the arrangement earlier so i just want more feedback on this matter thank you member lopez dr jenkins Yes, staff are trying to call anyone so they have a live contact that are in the queue. We have actually, what was presented to me were two phone numbers of folks who said that they were dropped. They are contacting those as well. Member Lopez, if you've actually got a number, they'll double check to make sure that person's been contacted or in queue. All right, Member Byrd. I'm sorry, this is from previously. You had wanted to be recognized earlier during public comments. No, I was just getting ready for comments after. I'm fine. Oh, okay. Thank you. So, Member Kestradano, is yours? Okay. So what we have is board members have queued up to speak when we're done

147with public comments, which is at least an hour away. So let me start over again. We have an option to take a short five-minute break now. I need to know how many board members are in favor of that option. Let me begin with Member Gallo. Madam Chair, I'm in favor of it. And I'm hoping we can take this five minutes to figure out this phone issue because I still have people on hold that have not been contacted. And I have people who have not been able to get through, and I've heard from many people. So we clearly have an issue. Thank you. All right. I changed the recommendation that we take a 10-minute break so that each one of you who have heard from somebody can talk to Dr. Jenkins and the staff, and we

148can confirm whether people have been dropped, what has happened, and move forward. Anybody in disagreement with that position? All right. A 10-minute break. Let's see what we can do to deal with technical issues. We'll come back at the hour of that clock says three gosh. I wish I was actually pretty close. Let's go with three o'clock All right. Thank you Scott. Can you come see me for one second? Dr. Jenkins. Are we ready to start back up? We're way over time And I did want to make sure that you had enough time for your staff to Give us an update on what has happened with the calls that we received And where are we so that the board then can weigh in on whether we have Really welcomed the public input that we have sought

149throughout this process. Dr. Jenkins you recognized Thank You madam chair. We had personally submitted about six I believe seven callers numbers that said they got that they were either in queue waiting to be spoken to or That they got bumped staff will make calls to those individuals when they count everyone who met that last 15-minute extension You're up to 50 And so they're going to make sure they're going to continue calling those individuals, telling them they're on hold and they are in the queue. Do we have any reason to believe that during the additional 15, so we had a 15-minute window, and then we had another 15-minute window. Is there any reason to believe that people that were trying to get in that window didn't have enough? There weren't enough lines open for them to

150make that phone call to get in. So we can accommodate up to 200 callers in the system that's available. The issue was a live operator checking in with them. So if they drop the line at that 15-minute window, that's where you end up with about 50 callers. All of them have not had a personal live operator speak to them yet, but it's about 50. And we have capacity for more than that to call in. So what you're telling me is all those 50 calls that came in, even though there wasn't an operator that can answer them, we are getting those 50 callers that came in during that window queued up to... To call to weigh in that is our that is the instruction that we've given if they've been on eternal hold It's because a

151live operator hasn't reached them I've asked them we've sent actually some backup support staff to make sure they know they are in whole in queue and on hold They'll have a live person actually touch base with them on those calls. Okay. All right Let me go through down the list of board members just to make sure if board members Are concerned about this this and I know board members are always concerned about hearing from the public if there's any outstanding questions on the issue of Whether or not we're we're doing our best to make sure that we're hearing from our board members Remember bird you had queued up. I think it was on a different issue, but this would be a time to be recognized yeah, my cue was for something else, but But no,

152I I my the ones that have contacted me that said that they were bumped I have given them those names and they're being contacted. So I think that we're good member Kestrel dental Okay, I'm member Gallo. I just said I think three or four more names to dr Jenkins via email for her to look into all right. Thank you and and Again, we have we are getting to the 50 people who had originally called in but weren't Put through to us Member, I'm sorry, Member Coburn. In addition to the duplicates from the other board members, I asked mine to email me directly and I have sent those concerns directly to the superintendent. Okay. I am going to tell people if you're emailing me while I'm chairing the meeting and sitting here, I'm probably not going

153to get the email, so please make sure that you're sharing it with, I would say Scott Howitt would be the best person. Please email Scott Howitt rather than me directly because I can't. Multitasking is only so good. Member, Vice Chair Gould, are you comfortable with where we are at this point now? Will I wait for Vice Chair Gould? Dr. Gordon? Are you cut out there for a second? I'm forwarding mine as well that are copying me or if they're on the line, I'm telling them to hang on there. All right. Thank you so much. Dr. Gordon, are you on the line with us yet at this time? Member Lopez? You're good at this time, correct? Yes, okay, let's move let's move for if I omitted anybody Please speak up. I think I think I went

154through the board members. Dr. Jenkins. No, not dr Jenkins. I'm sorry. We left off with I think our last our last speaker I believe was In person or on the phone. Do you remember mr. Pomeranian? No, it's been 25 minutes. Let's go to Keith Morgan Keith Morgan in the audience. Thank you so much. Mr. Morgan and thank you for your patience this afternoon And mr. Santiago will take you as the next in-person speaker. And again, I apologize you've been here since pre agenda as well. Mr. Morgan welcome but what I'm gonna do, I know that my time is limited, I had an opportunity, so I'm gonna, Madam Chair, I'm gonna yield my time to James so he can speak on behalf of what I have. So thank you very much. Mr. Morgan, I hate to

155do this, but that's, our board policies don't provide for that. Oh, your policy won't let me yield my time? No, sir. Okay, that's fine. few questions that i have and it might be on my new point i know that you all have a tough job um you know it would have been great to hear your discussion to kind of see which way you were going as far as the board and then maybe have a discussion afterwards to kind of help influence your decision to see that we want to protect our our teachers and our first responders and the people in the world being retired myself I've had that opportunity to lead men in the battle and be responsible for deaths and seen chemical attacks. And I don't want anything to happen to American citizens. My

156question is just right now, I know you're not going to answer, but what direction we're going as far as this new innovation approach, because I think that gives at least the parents an option. that we want you, I know later on down the line the state can say no and I'd ask Dr. Jenkins or Ms. Jenkins, you know, has this approach been approved by any other? Community or any other school board and she said no, it's like one of the first times So if anything, you know, I would not like to have the kids to go back to school I have an option to make a choice for my son who's still in school But if not if we can at least get that approach approved here if the state's declined in of course, then

157that's a new Topic for discussion, but at least we can now now know who to focus on versus having to focus on you fine ladies here today Thank you. Thank you so much. Mr. Morgan. Thank you again for your patience Let's take our next in on on the phone caller Our next caller is Julian Vasquez Miss Vasquez welcome if you could begin with your name and address and thank you for calling us Yes, thank you. Julian Bosque, 5392 Lake Margaret Drive, Orlando, Florida, 32812. Distinguished members of the board, you have an unprecedented and difficult decision in front of you. But we, as a community, put you in this position to make these types of decisions. I can only hope today that you make the decision to begin the school year with distance learning and reevaluate

158in January. You do not have to put teachers in a position where we have to choose between our safety and our career. Two of you decided not to attend this meeting in person today because you decided that the risks outweigh the benefits. You have the luxury of making that choice and keeping your job. We as teachers do not. Since you last met publicly, the state of Florida shattered records of daily cases, 15,000 plus, 12,000 plus. And we beat our own death day counts just this very morning with 132 up from 120. Our own county just saw 1,300 plus cases on Sunday. Let's not sugarcoat things. There will be so much more when schools open face-to-face. Has left a meeting. I'm sorry, Ms. Vasquez. I'm sorry. We have somebody on the line who doesn't have their

159phone on speaker. I apologize. Please continue your comments. I don't know where I left off, so I apologize if I repeat that one paragraph. Since you last met publicly, the state of Florida shattered records of daily cases, 15,000 plus, 12,000 plus, and we beat our own death rate counts just this very morning with 132 up from 120. Our own county just saw 1,300 plus cases on Sunday. Let's not sugarcoat things. There will be so much more when schools reopen face-to-face. For so long... Teachers have been seen as numbers on a proven work list Marzano scale and a standardized test that does not measure a student's true abilities. I implore you to not look at us as test scores any longer. Children and staff have died from this virus with schools closed. Imagine what will happen

160when we open them. You've heard about the teacher who perished in Arizona, and you've made it clear that CDC guidelines will not be implemented to the full extent, especially since we're overcrowded and underfunded. The reality is you have already teachers retiring early and leaving the profession due to COVID. But what's most fearful is that teachers are preparing their wills. I'll close with this. You continue to say that this order is mandatory and that you have no option to refute. There's always an option to do so for everyone's health and safety. You can do the right thing and stand up against this repugnant so-called executive order. You're just choosing not to out of fear of losing your board seat. In the face of peril for others, you should not be afraid to do so. Stop asking

161us to be the martyrs. There's no greater good that we would be fighting for. The community will remember those of you who stood up and those who sat down come election time. And for those of you who choose not to do so, well, to everyone that is listening, we have the power to remove you from your seat. You should not be confident that the seat will remain for you regardless of what you choose. People's lives are at stake. You can't stand up for what is right. Thank you, Ms. Vasquez. All right, Mr. Santiago. Thank you for your patience, Mr. Santiago. Thank you all. Samuel Vilches Santiago, 8933 Fort Jefferson Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, 32822. As the son of an ESC paraprofessional hitting Oaks Elementary School, the brother to a sophomore at Colonial High School, an OCPS

162graduate. And a concerned citizen, I wanted to first thank you for your hard work on this issue. I know the decisions that you'll be making are very tough, and I'm sure all of you have thought about different things as you make that decision. But I wanted to bring up some of the questions that I think you should consider making as you make this decision. First, what are we going to do when a teacher or student tests positive for coronavirus? How can we trust? that effective contact tracing will actually happen when the state has proven ineffective of doing so outside of the schools. Two, how are we going to protect our ESE students who are often the most vulnerable in our schools and communities? Third, how are we going to provide safe public transportation options for

163all students and ensure that we're not putting low-income students at risk simply because they have to take the school bus? Four, how are we going to deal with students and teachers rising anxiety levels because they know they're putting not only their lives and their families' lives at risk, simply because they have to go to school in the middle of a pandemic. And also, how can they teach or learn when their lives are at risk? And lastly, do you know that some families and students, and especially those who are low income or minority, actually don't have any option of staying virtual or going physical? because at the end of the day they don't have access to education, they're not necessarily educated, they might not have access to internet. So how do we make sure that our

164achievement gaps are not increasing simply because we're making one or another determination? And I think at the end of the day when we think about reopening the schools, the bottom line is why are we willing to sacrifice some people's lives? simply to put together a facade of normalcy by the executive action taken by the governor. This is a political decision being made at the state level that you should not necessarily follow here at the county level. At the end of the day, if you cannot answer these questions, we cannot safely reopen our schools. As you make this decision, please keep in mind those in our communities who are the most vulnerable. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Santiago. All right, let's go to our next caller. Our next caller is Casey Saxon. Ms. Saxon, welcome. Ms.

165Saxon, if you can begin with your name and address, please. Ms. Saxon, are you on the line? If we don't have Ms. Saxon on the line, I'm going to go to the next caller, and I'm going to ask that our staff please call Ms. Saxon back so we can find out what happened. We have our next caller. Our next caller is Matthew Panzano. Mr. Panzano, if you're on the line, welcome, and can you give your name and address before you begin your remarks? Okay, two for two makes me uncomfortable that this is a technical difficulty rather than losing a caller. What caller do we have on the line? Staff? Our next caller is Fallon Everett. Mr. Everett? Or Miss Everett? I'm sorry. Miss Everett? Hi, yes, Miss Everett. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for

166taking my call. My name is Fallon Everett. My address is 2231 Viento Street, Orlando, Florida. I'm a second grade teacher in OCPS. I just want to pose a quick question to think about related to face-to-face learning. The question is, what is the suggested procedure of actions for teachers and administration to take If a student outright refuses to wear a mask verbally and even physically. Considering those students who struggle with emotional behavioral disorders and frequent violent outbursts in the classroom, how are teachers and administration expected to help those students face to face if we must social distance? that's everything all right thank you um i should probably have clarified and let me clarify for all of our colors on the line we won't be answering questions during this period but we do expect that our staff

167here is taking down those questions and we'll be able to answer those questions at the end of public comment so um i would expect that that will be a call for probably uh for mr pomerini do we know what happened to our first two colors and if not can we go to our fourth caller our next caller is christopher duke Mr. Duke, welcome, sir. If you can start with your name and address, please. Yes, hello? Yes, Mr. Duke, if you're on the line, could you start with your name and address? And thank you for calling. Yeah, I'm sorry. That's okay. My name is Mr. Duke, 1875 Oak Lane, Orlando, 3203. Can you hear me okay? Yes, sir, we can hear you. Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Yeah, I just wanted to pretty much

168just reemphasize most of the points that everyone else has. involved in or been brave enough to go up there in person to make that none of this outweighs the safety and health of our families and our students. We closed back in March, which seemed like the right thing to do, and the cases weren't nearly as high as they are now. And there have been no dramatic or staggering advances medically or scientifically since that time, so it doesn't really seem to make much sense or warrant us rightfully flinging open the doors to the campuses now. Outside of being a fifth-grade teacher, I was at Pine Hills Elementary and moving to Orange Center Elementary. I'm also a parent. I have a four-year-old and a six-year-old. She's going to be a rising second grader at Audubon Park Elementary

169and you know, they dearly miss school we Want them to have that socialization? We want them to be there with their teachers and their friends But none of that none of that outweighs I guess a before none of that outweighs the consequences or possible consequences The risks that they go with that. It's not worth their lives You know, secondly, I love my students Missed them last year and we closed I by no way do I prefer teaching at a distance, but the realities of the situation dictate that they supersede all of that. And, you know, I don't have any pre-existing conditions. I myself, by all accounts, have a pretty good immune system, but I could asystematically give the disease to a student who brings it home to their house. A lot of the students live

170with their grandparents. The grandparents catch it in, you know, worst case situation. It's just something that should be avoided at all costs. The safety, like I said, the safety and the health of our families and our students outweigh all that. And the last thing, I guess, is just I can't imagine. Obviously, cases will go up when schools open, and it could get to the point where we, within a month, have to close again. So it just doesn't seem worth it to waste all this time and all these resources and all this energy. spending and trying to figure out the best way to open and we could just be trying to figure out the best way to serve the students at a distance the best way to set up the digital learning experience for them just

171seems like a much better way to spend our time than to be pushing against something that just seems so obvious but um like i said most of the callers and the people in the audience have made fantastic points uh moving points and i just uh yield my time to uh them thank you very much for all your time appreciate it thank you sir um next caller our next caller is melissa vaughn miss vaughn welcome if you can give your name and address for the record before you begin your remarks melissa vaughn x1 rollingwood trail maitland florida i am the mother of an elementary student who's hard of hearing by an iep profound disappointment that the options orange county is so far ignore the needs, the educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing students and

172students with disabilities. The face-to-face option prevents deaf and hard of hearing students, whether they be oral, like my son, or use some kind of sign language accessing their education. I think as Chairman Jacobs showed us, it cuts off the ability to read lips, the ability to read facial expressions. These are absolute prerequisites for any deaf, hard of hearing child, regardless of degree of hearing loss, regardless of communication modality. When you couple masks with physical distance, the challenge is my son's functional listening evaluation shows that his understanding and ability to access environment auditorily decreases significantly when he is more than three feet from his teacher. Masks and distance, this is simply an insurmountable hurdle for deaf and hard of hearing children. When you couple the prohibition against shared objects, it gets worse. My son uses what

173we call a pass-around Roger microphone. It's an assistive listening device. Clearly, in a face-to-face option, that'll also be off the table. When you put these three obstacles together, it's clear to me that an in-class face-to-face option as described simply ignores the realities of deaf and hard of hearing, even masks with clear inserts, which I don't know if this board has or not. children from having access to clarity of speech they cut down the clarity they cut down the volume the virtual options are likewise not a viable option for deaf and hard of hearing students students with other disabilities i think it's clear by virtue of their disabilities these children require specially designed instruction that's not available through these virtual learning options in addition those obstacles we see in face-to-face also obtained in this setting Your

174description describes this as best for students who are highly motivated, work well independently at home, and have success with distance learning. I'd ask this board to consult with audiologists, with teachers of the deaf, to find out the inherent difficulties web-based platforms present for especially elementary students to hear and understand presentations, to hear and understand information, especially when there is no speaker, just an off-screen narrator imparting information. students in this setting in a web-based platform like virtual schools described cannot ask teachers immediate clarification they can't ask questions they can't ask to be slowed down this board has to consider miss fawn i'm sorry um mr pomerini was trying to explain your time is up we have a three limit three minute line time limit but thank you so much for calling us next caller our next

175caller is elizabeth I apologize. I can't pronounce the last name. Ms. Elizabeth, if you could give us your name and address for the record as you begin your comments. Thank you for calling. I sure can. I sure can. That's okay. It took me eight years to learn how to spell it, so no worries. My name is Elizabeth Panagopoulos. My address is 3573 Grandwood Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, 32837. I would like to first take a minute to thank the public for all of their comments. I'm a teacher in OCPS. I teach high school. And your comments honestly make me feel less than saying thank you. As a teacher, it means everything to me that you're calling in and voicing these concerns. It's good to hear other people know it isn't safe. To the school board, not to

176be rude, but I'm appalled at the conversation we're still having. I think that we all know it is not safe to return to school right now. And frankly, more than ever, we are not giving our students a choice. Now, we don't give our students a lot of choice in their education, but more than ever, we are not right now. The government gets to decide first, then the school district, then their parents. And our students have to go to school and face the virus, and they don't get the choice to even get a vaccine for it because it's not available. So I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not comfortable with my students being the last people to have their voices heard while being the majority of the population in a school. That's not acceptable. Like Mr.

177Vasquez called for, and I believe Mr. Stein previously mentioned, I need you to directly ignore this mandate. I need you to directly ignore this executive order. I need you to deal with the fallout later. This is not a hard decision. To everyone thanking you for making these hard decisions, I'm sorry, it's not. If you are of the opinion that it is a hard decision to make, you fear losing your lifestyle and influence and job more than you fear the loss of the life. And that loss of life will be on your hands. If you'd rather keep a job than prevent people from dying, I think that's ridiculous. Frankly, you're either going to lose a job ignoring this mandate or you're going to lose a job when we vote you out in November. You're adults in

178charge of children, and I need you to act like it. For everyone else who's publicly commenting, I'd like to call on you to also ask the school board to directly ignore the executive order they were given. Like everyone else has pointed out, you can sit here and say, oh, but we were just following orders, or you can stand up and not follow those orders because you know they're incorrect, unsafe, and unfair. Thank you so much. We could be spending this time planning for effective virtual learning instead. Thank you. Take our next caller. Our next caller is Ian Shooker. Are we okay? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. If you can give your name and address for the record. Hi, yes. My name is Ian Shooker. My address is 3753 Grandwood Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, 32837.

179What I would like to say as eloquently as everyone has said beforehand, a few different points. Point one is How many deaths do you think are acceptable? And I want you to think of a number. I want you to think how many deaths by teachers or students or faculty in Orange County do you find acceptable? I am a fiance to a teacher, and I have had to figure out how to sign and put together a will because of the... fact that you all can't ignore an executive order and I am begging you to reconsider and to ignore this executive order. My point too is that you, if you are saying, well, we're going to social distance, we're going to have kids and masks, we're going to have all of this. When the virus spreads, And

180you all blame the children or the teachers for not putting in their right social distancing. You are holding our kids to a higher standard than adults. And even the president, who just put in a mask after 133,000 deaths in this country. That is unacceptable that you would expect our kids to hold a higher standard to the American people. Third, I'd like to ask, Dr. Jenkins, you said you are monitoring significant trends. With the government, wouldn't the largest single day increase be significant? We haven't heard anything about that. Nothing of updated standards. It's been on a survey that the virus is raging against everyone. Don't ignore us to die because that is what we elected you to do and to be a safeguard for everyone there. By the time you find out if someone is infected,

181it is already too late and you are going to send them into school buses. We have a better option, and that is to ignore the executive order, and that is to not send our death that is acceptable. Shame on you. My first point was I asked you how many deaths are acceptable. If you thought of a number that was anything other than zero, shame on you, and you should quit right now and make room for someone else to do your job because it is unacceptable if that answers anything other than zero. Thank you very much. Make the right choice. Be a spineless coward. thank you next caller our next caller is peggy lindseth welcome miss lindseth hello hi if you can give your name and address for the record we appreciate hearing from you yes

182ma'am my name is peggy lindsest i live at 2840 kb way winter park florida 32792 and i have been on the phone on hold since 12 14 so i just want you to know this is really important and i appreciate the opportunity to talk because I would never stay on hold. I would have just hung up in any other circumstance. But I'm calling to tell you that I'm a teacher. I'm a kindergarten teacher, and I chose to stay on hold and phone in what I wanted to say because I didn't feel safe traveling to the ELC. I have gone basically nowhere all summer. I feel going to Publix is... treacherous. Anyhow, this will be my 27th year with Orange County Public Schools. Obviously, I love being a teacher. I love my students. And I always

183tell my students every day, you know, like, my job is to help you to learn and you're going to learn to read because, you know, reading is so exciting. But my job is also to keep you safe. I don't know how to say that to my students this year. If you, I know you all have a really hard choice. And that emergency order, I beg you, implore you to defy it. Be like Palm Beach County. Obviously, they're going to do it. If lots of counties do it, I just think there's, you know, safety in numbers. And DeSantis is going to have to make other choices. But anyhow, you know, these are really scary times. This has been the worst summer of my life because I'm very anxious. I don't sleep at night. I'm trying to

184hold it together. I'm sorry. I've had conversations with my children about power of attorney, making a will, because I feel like I need to have all my ducks in a row. And I just can't imagine. Like, I've been doing this for a long time, and I just love teaching, and I just can't imagine that we're in this position. But like today, there was in Florida, 9,194 new cases and 132 deaths. I mean, that's horrific. We should not even be thinking of sending kids back to school. And like, I'm a pretty cautious person. Like I buy the fairy tale shampoo at Target because it prevents life. I know you're in school. Kids are germs. You know, you can get life. I've never had it. but I don't want it. That's why I use fairy tale shampoo.

185I don't want to take it home to my family. You know, like, OCPS said, you know, after spring break, we were going to go. distance learning and I was kind of like, oh boy, but you know what? I'm proud of myself. I never really heard of the big blue button, but I learned how to do it. And from the very first day of distance learning until the end of distance learning, I met with my students every single day. I had not all the time, 100%, but most of the time I did. Time, ma'am. Ma'am, time. Yes. All right. I implore you not to follow the order. Thank you, ma'am. Before we take our next caller, Dr. Jenkins, the first two callers that we had on the line, it seemed odd that both of those callers

186were not there. They were both there. They were both speaking, and apparently we did not turn their audio on. So what continues to happen to people who have technical difficulties is they have to call back in and they get bumped to the back of the line. As this caller just said, she's been on the phone for, she had been on the phone for three and a, I think three and a half hours waiting to get through. So I want to share that with you in case there's any way. It was Ms. Saxon and it was Mr., I think it was Panzano, the first two callers that called. If there's anything we can do to right that, it's just. I understand there's challenges. I just think when we're part of the problem, we have to be

187part of the solution better than this. Let's go to our next caller. I will reintroduce Casey Saxon. Oh, thank you. You read my mind. I take back everything I just said. Thank you. Ms. Saxon. I apologize. I will reintroduce Matthew Panzano. Thank you. All right. Let's start with, so you're, is, I mean, Ms. Saxon is on the line? Yes, can you hear me this time? Yes, thank you, Miss Saxon. Thanks for calling us back. I apologize for the technical malfunction on our end. If you can give your name and address for the record. That's okay. Yes, if you could please begin my time after my address is stated. Absolutely. This is Casey Saxon. Thanks. And my office address is 9145 North 60 Road, window 32827. I'm a parent of two elementary school students. And first

188of all, I just want to thank you all for the work that you're doing. I don't envy your position. I know that your hands are tied to some extent by our legislators. And I'm not even going to weigh in on whether I think schools should open or not because I understand it's a very complex decision. Instead, I'm going to ask for some clarity on a few points and then share a few things that I think you all can take into consideration as we move forward. Points of clarification first. Number one, during last week's school board meeting, it was brought up that Health Hero Florida will be coming into all OCPS schools and vaccinating students for the flu. So I would like to know how parents will be notified and how they can exercise their right

189to opt out of that if desired. Number two, under LaunchEd, it states that parents will be able to keep their kids at home for the entire time or select a combination of in-person and at-home days. And I would like to know how much control parents will have over that hybrid possibility. So, for example, can I keep my kid home 100% of the time starting out? And then, you know, as cases drop, maybe send them back a day. And then increase those days with freedom as I see fit to my comfort level. So I would need answers to those two questions before the deadline to decide. So I'll follow up with an email with you guys. And the next, just a little sharing of information. So this is an excerpt from an email that was sent

190to each of you, Dr. Jenkins included. It was written by a fellow parent who happens to be a pediatrician. So obviously a matter of public record since it's been an email to you all. And she shared it on social media, but I won't share her name. She runs a pediatric practice, and she says here, quote, children do get COVID. It is not just a runny nose. We have a 15-year-old patient who had a massive stroke. She was a healthiest radio cheerleader, and now she cannot walk or talk. My practice lost a three-week-old newborn to COVID. We currently have a six-month-old in ICU, and four patients have encephalitis, end quote. Next point. One thing that we're not really discussing here, other than to say that counselors will be available, is the fact that you're going to

191have students returning to campus inevitably having lost... you know having had a parent lose a job or maybe both parents maybe they've lost their home let alone maybe there are spouses who are possibly losing jobs plus teachers themselves being obviously and understandably unhappy with the options being presented so you add to that a student having to deal with losing a classmate or losing a teacher or losing a family member due to covid i think that puts us in a pressure cooker type environment and i'm very fearful that this means that we're primed for another school tragedy like Parkland. So last week you guys stated that, you know, these drills that go on in schools are not conducive to COVID distancing. So I just want you all to be thinking as you're going forward with this,

192what kind of safety measures you are going to put in place to mitigate these additional risks. I'll finish up here. In light of that, I urge you to put together a pediatric and mental health advisory board comprised of a broad variety of... Ms. Saxon, I get called out every time. I do not enforce the time limit consistently, so I have to stop you there. Dr. Jenkins, you have the questions down to respond to later. Thank you. Next caller. Our next caller is Laura Kemp. Lauren Kemp. Ms. Kemp. Hello. You're recognized. Thank you for calling in. If you can give your name and address as you begin your comments. Lauren Kemp, 514 Real Mar Avenue, Orlando, 32828. I am following up on our president of the OCPTA. I list the additional strategies we beg to be

193implemented to ensure safety, equity, and a meaningful learning experience for all children. OCPS should encourage parental and caregiver involvement by offering families with engaging and enriching content to share their children at home that will enhance their learning experiences. OCPS should engage all stakeholders in the planning, implementation, and monitoring stages of reopening. Florida Department of Education and state government should give local schools and school districts greater flexibility and anonymity to address the unique challenges in their community. Any plan to reopen public schools need to be mindful of existing technology, educational, and economic gaps. OCPS needs to provide clear and transparent information about varying learning options with an opportunity for public feedback before plans are finalized and implemented. OCPS should have plans in place for outreach to students who do not return to school with special consideration

194for their individual circumstances and an understanding that some students will face unique challenges and may need additional support and assistance to return to school. Any decision to reopen should take into consideration the legitimate concerns of families. students, teachers, staff, and health professionals and make reasonable efforts to accommodate them if possible. Policies regarding the decision to discontinue isolation after suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should be taken into account in divisible circumstances, including the hardships of extended isolation and the cost of testing. OCPS should provide multilingual updates for families across multiple platforms with current, accurate, and useful information. OCPS should establish plans for continuing of learning to mitigate the effects of significant absences on student achievement. My fellow board member who is in the call queue will present the rest. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

195Next caller. Our next caller is Shannon Rokal. Ms. Rokal, welcome. If you can give your name and address. Thank you so much for calling in. Can you give your name and address for the record before you begin? my name is Shannon Rocha and I live at 2157 Whitewood Court I want to start by saying thank you so much for opening up to public comment I really appreciate my chance to have my voice heard I'm a third year teacher who has had to sit beside three different students in two years while they struggled to breathe in my classroom I held their hands and told them how brave they are I have handed them empty inhalers and been told that they don't have medication because they grew out of the condition. I have tied up their hair

196and wiped their eyes. I promised them that I would not leave their side. And I cannot bear the idea of those same students lying alone in a hospital struggling to breathe with nobody to hold their hand. What will happen to these students if we open? To the asthmatics, the exceptional students in education who I teach? the students with pre-existing conditions and the parents and grandparents of healthy students. How can we claim to be concerned for these students' emotional well-being and then choose to send them into this environment that would be the lives of themselves, their friends, and their family? What language arts Florida standard covers writing sympathy cards for dead family and friends? Benchmark will teach our children how to cope with empty seats that should be full. I explain to my students why some

197of their peers are not coming to school anymore. How am I to avoid othering these students in this launch ed system? Do I have to set them aside? Do I have to explain to their peers that they cannot come to class with me because they are at risk? How is that equitable? How is that fair to the students who have to watch me on camera speak to my students in class while they have to sit at home alone? I have co-workers in my love who work in other places, in the office, in the library. My mentor works in the library. Will I be able to meet with her? If I can contact someone who has contracted COVID-19 or if I have COVID-19, will she have to quarantine? What about the students who come to see

198her in the morning and the evening, those student assistants who have classes with her and then go into other classrooms? How many steps away from the source is an acceptable risk? Is it two, three, four? When do we decide that they are far enough from the source, they are no longer a risk? And how can we dream of playing these games with real lives? I urge the school board to please defy this order from the governor and commit to a fully digital platform for the safety of my students, for their family, and for my family. I don't want my parents to have to deal with me in a hospital and they live far from me, and I don't want my partner to have to worry about this. Please keep in mind the vulnerable in our

199community, not just the healthy students, but the unhealthy students and the teachers who are older, who need help, who need us to consider their lives. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Do we have our next caller on the line? Our next caller is William Niepert. Mr. Niepert, thank you for calling. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. We appreciate you calling in. Can you start with your name and address for the record, sir? Thank you. My name is William Niepert. I live at 8248 Frame Court, Orlando, Florida, 32825. And I wanted to let you know that I am a proud parent of two OCPS students and a proud teacher to represent OCPS for the last 11 years. I'm a little insulted to say that I'm still only making as much as a first-year teacher. I

200have made sacrifices for this profession. It is a humble profession, but it's worth it. The sacrifices I will not make are sitting in a closed room with the recirculated air when we know that this virus is airborne. If you expect us to, then you will have already procured for us, hand sanitizers, PPE, soap, these types of things. But I'm not sure how you plan to do this when hospitals can't even get these materials for their own staff. Recently in an interview, the second worst person in the world Betsy DeVos said that the case fatality rate for people under 25 years old was 1%. Last year for the 2019-2020 school year there were 215,703 students. 1% of those students is 2,157. We know Center for Convincing and Prevention Studies says that 18.5 percent of U.S. children

201between the ages of 22 to 19 suffer from obesity. That's 13.7 million children. Six million children under the age of 18 have asthma, and black children suffer from asthma more than double the rate of white children. And the CDC also says about 193,000 students under the age of 20 in the U.S. have diabetes. This says nothing of your staff of 25,000 people. Also, what are the long-term consequences for the people who do survive? Are you also asking us to carry around an oxygen tank for the rest of our lives from classroom to classroom as we try to deal with the lingering effects of this virus? I've sacrificed much, so have my colleagues. I will not sacrifice the health and well-being of my family and my own children and the students in my classroom. I will

202put my children into homeschool and take my 11 years of experience to help them. If you think it's your job to ask teachers to sacrifice and to put themselves in harm's way and to ask students to put themselves in harm's way, I would like to remind you about what Cool Hand Luke said. Calling it your job doesn't make it right. I yield my time. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Samantha Lamborn. Ms. Lamborn, thank you for calling. And if you can begin with your name and address, please. Samantha Lamborn, 7631 Bramwell Street, Windermere 4th Street, Windermere, Florida. I would like to first and foremost thank you for this opportunity that you give the community to become engaged in this decision. I am a current student in

203OCPS. As student body president of my high school, a lot of my peers have expressed... the following concerns for how we are to return to school normally. How will the face-to-face reopening safety plans differentiate between elementary and secondary schooling to compensate for the differing school population when students are expected to return back to school face-to-face, whether that be this fall or in future months? For further clarification, Are high schools going to have the same safety precautions as elementary schools, or are they going to be adjusted to fit the population size accordingly? Also, what is being taken into account to help assist and aid the incoming graduating class of 2021? with upcoming graduation and college entrance necessities now that students are no longer participating in essential activities such as academic, extracurricular, social that are needed for

204students to achieve their future post-secondary goals. And three, how can we ensure that the school community will be informed if a student or faculty member has tested positive for COVID-19? And what are the steps taken by the school to ensure the safety after a positive confirmation of a faculty or student? Many students I know wish to be able to have a choice. to do a hybrid program of sorts to be able to wait until the cases decrease in the community so that they can be able to return and enjoy the rest of their high school or the rest of their schooling experience. Is there any way that this can be renegotiated or a new decision can be made so that students can be able to voice their concerns and to be able to return when

205they feel like they can and complete their high school experience? Thank you. Thank you so much. Next caller. Our next caller is Megan Hanrahan. Ms. Hanrahan, I hope I pronounced your name right. Thank you for calling. Could you start with your name and address for the record, please? Hi, yes, my name is Megan Hanrahan. I live at 13013 Royal Fern Drive, Orlando, Florida, 32828. Go ahead with your comments. Thank you, Ms. Manorhan. Okay, thank you. I'm going into my 10th year of teaching eighth in Orange County, all in elementary school. So for listeners, I do apologize that my perspective is limited to that of an upper elementary school teacher with no children. I have to say I love teaching, but being a teacher in recent years has become very difficult and frankly dangerous for physical

206and mental well-being. I'm constantly battling internally between doing what I love, which is teaching, and what I think is morally right, which sometimes is not. Previous speakers have spoken so eloquently and passionately regarding the devastating health toll that returning to school would take, and I second everything that they said. So I'm not really going to be adding to that aspect. If you haven't been moved by their speeches and concerns, I doubt that I'll be able to do so. So I'm just going to talk about a different angle. Over the years, teachers have been asked to do more with less, whether it's related to learning materials, books, extra training, professional endorsements, recess equipment, clothing, cleaning supplies, what have you. Like it or not, most times it's up to the teachers to supply these. Not only with

207our money, but you have to think it's also taking up our mental and emotional capacity. Having us return to a face-to-face situation in any way would be adding to that already enormous load. We've all heard questions and comments regarding clinics, teaching phonics behind a mask. Disciplining students who refuse to wear a mask or to social distance. Special areas where students are already 48 to a room. Teachers and staff who tested positive. All of these questions have no answers and understandably so. It's just too much to bear and certainly too much to figure out in the 15 days that we have until teachers are supposed to return to work. There's just too many unknown variables that would make returning face to face a responsible choice. In the spring, teachers were given one week to train ourselves

208and to teach. train ourselves to teach virtually while putting instruction on that platform and not to toot my own horn here but i think we really rose to the occasion and yet again did more reflect understandably some parents felt the instruction in the fourth quarter was not up to par with the first three but i implore you to understand that the level of instruction that will occur if we return face to face in august will be nothing like what you've ever seen in the past teachers will spend a great majority of their time mental capacity working worrying about considering those unforeseen variables and actually teaching As the three options currently stand, there's no good answer, but there's variations of that, in my opinion. I don't believe though, that that has to be the case. The

209Orange County Virtual School option has the schedule flexibility that works so well for many students and teachers in the fourth quarter being self-paced recorded lessons and being available for face-to-face for a portion of the day, but it requires students and teachers to withdraw from their current home school. LaunchEd has that flexibility, but would include all of those questions and concerns that come with teaching face-to-face. It seems to me enforcing teaching completely remotely from the beginning of the school year to say winter break, starting with teacher trainings and TVs as scheduled July 31st and having students return to their home schools just completely digitally, at the proposed date of August 21st, this would give teachers, parents, students, administration so many benefits. For the teachers, it gives us three whole weeks to build on the trainings that

210we started in March, which in my opinion, we're a foundation. Ma'am, time. Okay, got it. Thank you so much for calling. let's take our next caller our next caller is javier figueroa mr figueroa thank you so much for calling can you um give your name and address before you start your comments we'll start the timer after your your address thank you sir thank you sir could um if you could wait espere un momento so we have an inter and their interpreter i don't know that language thank you can't hear me yes can you communicate good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak 1950 a pop-up when they come inside. His question is why schools should not open. At this time there is no control over COVID in Florida. Why to close beaches, schools,

211bars, and not schools? And when I would not wait, what the experts recommended? The same government didn't know how to control the crisis? Who guarantees or give him a guarantee that opening the schools where the cases have elevated considerably where teachers and students will not get affected by this situation. When Florida is the new epicenter of the pandemic, is now the time to open schools. Another point that I want to bring to your attention, what is going to happen with the students from the ESC program? What guarantees do I have when I have a student with autism that is not going to get COVID-19? Students with disability, they cannot learn with a mask. ESC students have already been a challenge during normal schooling. I will now want to think that during this time, these students

212will be penalized as well. Does that include the translation? That does include the translation. Okay, ask him to wrap up with this last sentence. He just want to wrap up saying that he wants to ensure that you know that he doesn't want to expose his child to the situation regardless of race, religion or beliefs. Thank you. All right. Thank you, sir. Let's go to our next caller. Our next caller is Veronica Lucha. Miss Lucha, welcome. And if you could begin with your name and address. Thank you. My name is Veronica Lucha, I live in 14-016, San Terry, Detroit, Apartment 200, Orlando, Florida, 32A32. Wait a moment, please. Madam Chair, what I think I want to do on this one is just stop the clock during the translation. Would that be acceptable? I'm sorry. So I

213thought what you were doing was when the person's asking the question, you press it. When the translation is taking place, you stop it? No, I didn't stop it at all last time. I will this time. Oh, no, no, we need to do that so that we're not limiting our Hispanic. language speakers to less than half the time thank you gracias por favor in este momento el tiempo va a ser detenido para poder ofrecer los tres minutos que usted tiene por ley puede comenzar gracias soy Veronica Lucha miembro de Organize Florida y Parlante que es el brazo hispano de nuestra organizacion madre si puede seguir She's from organized Florida. She's the mom of a student, a seven-year-old student that goes to Eagle Creek. She has seen personally the impact of this virus. Her child has suffered

214of panic attacks, seeing his father having a battle with COVID. His life has not been the same. She deals every day with asthma, with her child with asthma, and it's a condition that affects her life on a daily basis. Sending her child to school will be irresponsible from her, exposing her child and other students in the school. She opposes to the opening of schools for the following reasons. The numbers of COVID cases are out of control and no control at this time. How teachers will be able to control 20 students in the classroom, having them to wear their masks and keep them on, but not being able to control that in the classroom. The lack of education of many people of not wearing their mask will expose many of the students and staff to the

215virus. We are unaware of the sanitation processes that exist currently in everyone's home. After this experience, some homes have high expectations on sanitation, whereas others don't. And that's where the complication comes in. For those families that do not follow the level of sanitation hygiene, that's where the situation gets bad for schools. She will continue to honor her last name, Lucha, that is fight in English, and thank you. Thank you, Ms. Lucha. Let's take our next caller. Our next caller is Jennifer Erickson. Ms. Erickson, thank you for calling, and thank you for your patience. If you can give your name and address before you begin to comment. Thank you. My name is Jennifer. Okay. Thank you. My name is Jennifer Erickson 5 2 2 0 Cypress Creek Drive Orlando Florida 3 2 8 1 1. I've

216been an OCPS teacher for 20 years and I'm also a parent. I'd like to first thank the board members who have answered my emails and expressed support for keeping our students and teachers safe. Many of you have acknowledged that we can't make school safe and we should not be going face to face. I echo other speakers comments that face to face will mean needless deaths. that's absolutely unacceptable. However if you're going to force us into this life-threatening situation there are a few points I must bring up. Number one, teachers must not be forced to accept unmasked students in their classroom, medically exempt or not. This greatly increases risk for everyone in the room, and we can't be expected to take on even more risk. As a performing arts teacher, I see many more students than

217a regular classroom academic teacher has in their room, and so I'm already taking on increased risk because I see a larger population of the school. I would refuse to teach an unmasked student in my classroom. Number two, we must insist on 100% compliance with safety measures in order for a student to be on campus. A student who does not comply or intentionally targets someone by coughing on them, spitting at them, et cetera, must be removed from the face-to-face option for at least the remainder of the quarter. And number three, high-risk teachers must be given remote teaching options. They should not be asked to choose between their life and their career. I urge you, however, not to put us in this life-threatening situation at all. We have seen other superintendents and other school boards stand up

218and say no. We've seen them say our school community, their lives are more important than this mandate. Defy the order. We beg you, defy the order. It's wrong and you know it. Do the right thing and save lives. Teachers give up so much. Teachers risk so much already. We should not have to beg you for our lives. Thank you. Thank you. Next caller. Our next caller is Brenda Martin-Smith. Hi. Good afternoon. Hello? Yes, I'm sorry you're there, Ms. Smith. If you can give your name and address for the record. Thank you. It's Brenda Martin Smith. My address is 3409 Gulfstream Road, Orlando, Florida, 32805. I am a retired OCPS administrator, teacher, social worker. I am currently giving for my seven-year-old autistic. grandson who attends Catalina Elementary, our son and his wife serving Army overseas. We

219are not going to send our grandchild back. He lives in a household with three elderly people. If we catch COVID-19, we will die. In our neighborhood, people live in hotels, rooming houses. They are just trying to survive. They cannot social distance. You can drive down our street anytime or go over to Catalina Park and see kids and adults all ages, not social distancing, not. wearing masks. I don't care how much you clean your schools, you cannot control your constituents. Any face-to-face option is not an option. Orange County Virtual Schools, they told me they could not he needs is real i need you to remember time time at night ma'am thank you i am so sorry but we're out of time thank you all right next caller our next caller is mrs fideo mrs fideo thank

220you for calling fidella i'm sorry mrs fidello thank you for calling can you start with your name and address please hi um anna fidello zero zero eight lockridge court orlando Thank you, Chairman Jacobs, for taking my call. I'm a 25th-year employee of OCPS. I teach at Windy Ridge School. It's a K-8 school. At the beginning of last week, I was at school. I was asked to come to the school. I was just exposed to seven people, and that evening I received a phone call saying that I had been indirectly exposed to a COVID-positive person. I now am sitting waiting for my COVID results and I've been told that I can't return to any school property until I have a COVID negative result. So with that being said, you can imagine there were very few people

221on campus that day. We were not in summer school having come off of the July 4th week off. And during the regular school year, we'll have considerably more people on campus and I can't even begin to imagine being there even one day and then being told to go home and get a test and it will take who knows how long to get these tests. Being the fact that I am at Windy Ridge, we have a very unique middle school. We have one teacher that teaches one subject. There are no other people, there are no other teachers. in the grade level that teach the same thing that I teach, and that holds true for all the teachers in our middle school. I am currently on blood pressure medicine, as many of the teachers are in our

222school. The CDC states that this places us at an increased risk from severe illness. Those are their words for COVID-19. If people like myself who are in the situation where we can be at an increased risk, I'm very concerned that if we feel like we cannot risk teaching face-to-face, will we lose our jobs at our school? I'm very concerned that my 25 years will go down the drain simply because I can't take that risk. I can't bring it home to my family. I have been isolated from my parents since the CDC asked people of age to be in isolation. I think that it's incredibly important that you all take into account teacher consideration. when making choices. I know that today Dr. Jenkins discussed the innovative plan, the OCPS LaunchEd at home, on the fact that

223parents are going to be choosing whether their children should come back to school or should stay at home until a certain timeframe. But I'm very concerned about the teachers. Are we going to have that same choice? Time, ma'am. Again, thank you very much for your time, and I appreciate all of your difficult choices. Thank you so much for calling in. I apologize for having to cut you off. Let's move to our next speaker. Our next speaker is Erica Stover. Mr. Stokewood, this is Teresa. Hi, Ms. Stokewood. It's Teresa Jacobs. Thank you for calling in. Could you start with your name and address for the record, please? Hi, thank you. Before I give my name, I just want to quickly thank the staff for making sure I had an opportunity to speak. They are working very

224hard and I appreciate them. My name is Erica Stover. I live in 770 Silver Cloud Circle in Lake Mary, Florida. I am so proud to teach for the 10th largest district. I was relieved and proud when we closed our schools for everyone's safety in March. And in May and in March, the president said they, being us as educators, should not be teaching for a while and everybody will understand. On May 5th here in Orlando, we had 542 new cases that day. Today, there are over 18,936 current cases and over 12,624 of them, both current and new, since yesterday, and 132 deaths. Please tell me that your common sense doesn't tell you that opening the schools right now is a poor idea. Personally, I am immunocompromised and immunodeficient at 27 years old. I am like the

22537% of the deaths that have been reported. As a teacher last year with my conditions, I contracted both A and B strains of influenza. I saw my asthmatic and immunodeficient students fall ill as well. There are multiple things going around, hashtag 14 days, no new cases, and we are nowhere near there yet. And that's something that us as educators, I feel, would make us comfortable once we hit that point to reopen the schools. But that aside, here are some of my questions. How many of the 212,605 students under the age of 18 here in Orange County are we willing to sacrifice? If a child comes into my classroom with 100.4 temperature, what happens then if in my Title I school a parent cannot be contacted? I ask because this has happened when a child has

226had 102 degrees fever and I have to keep them in my classroom away from other students wearing a mask. Will OCPS be providing safety materials such as a face shield, hand sanitizer, Lysol wipes? I also asked about our transportation for buses. Per CDC guidelines, how will we follow and enforce these on the bus, such as cloth coverings, avoiding touching surfaces? I can also tell you from my experience that my Title I schools assigned seats rarely work, but we can always give that a try. As I've been watching this meeting, oh, I'm also curious what we do when it rains on the bus since we're keeping the windows open and the vents. But sorry about that. As I watch this meeting, and this is truly not meant to be disrespectful, I do not envy your positions

227at all, and I very much appreciate you listening to me. This is more observational. The CDC guidelines state that you must be six feet apart. physical distance of at least two arms length, practice in combinations of face covering and avoiding touching your face. Now, not all of you had your face masks on initially. How well do you think my ESD, IEP, or 504 classified nine-year-old in my class will do with their masks? I'm just curious. My last question, when you decide this, and please let me know if I should, at 27, write a will for my mother, or you could, like Tom B., Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Let's take our next caller. Our next caller is Jennifer Vose. Ms. Vose, thank you for calling. If you can begin with your

228name. Yes, we can hear you very well, Ms. Vose. If you can begin with your name and address, please. Thank you for calling. Yes, it's Jennifer Vose. I'm at 870 Cranes Court, Maitland, Florida, 32751. Madam Chair and honorable members, I have two items. The first is I implore you guys to do within all of your powers to delay the start of school. I have a personal preference of August 31st or later. I know what your hands are tied on. Every day that we have a later start gives us additional days for our community, the opportunity to try and get control over the spread of this virus. And if this virus cannot be better contained, then maybe at the late and start, we can get our local health officials to agree that sending kids back is

229not a wise or judicious decision. My second is it's a little more nuanced, but it's not been addressed today. I'm also going to ask that you consider additional flexibility for students that attend magnet schools. Families that choose magnets attend because there is something missing at a student's community school that makes a magnet school a better fit for their child. And while magnets provide access to quality educational facets of academics, specials, and electives, they may not always be a reason why an OCPS student attends those schools. By allowing part-time attendance to magnet schools for specialized courses while supplementing with OCVS flex or homeschooling would be an easier way to reduce population congestion and burden of creating classrooms that need to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Please allow our innovative learning community schools to do what they

230do best, which is innovate. Every child is unique and every family situation is unique. All of my kids attend magnet schools. For my older kids, It's access to the electives that are not available at our local middle school. For my youngest, it's access now to daily gifted education. I have the ability to keep my children home. I can help reduce the overall class sizes of our schools by keeping them home. But I probably will not if certain options for them this year places their magnet slot in jeopardy for the 21-22 school year. Please do not create additional barriers when families aren't comfortable with face-to-face, but other full-time digital options may not be in the best interest or educational choice for their families. I'm asking that you please make it clear to parents what we can

231and cannot choose for our children's education that would affect their eligibility for the following 21-22 school year. I recognize that you guys are stuck with an unexpected set of decisions that's fallen upon you guys, and I do not envy you guys, and you have my utmost confidence in your ability to come to a consensus. Please do all that you can to protect our children. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Let's go to our next caller. At this time, I'm going to reintroduce Matthew Panzano. Mr. Panzano, let me personally apologize. for the malfunction on our end. Thank you for your patience. No problem. Can you hear me now? We can hear you wonderfully, Mr. Panzano, and we'll start the timer after you give your name and address. Thank you again for calling back

232in and for your patience. Absolutely. Panzano, 11524 Pumkin Seed Court, Orlando, Florida. Earlier, and if you don't mind, I'm going to give you a little bit of grading feedback on that, constructive feedback. The point that I'd like to make, socially distant kids. I found that on Google, but that was certainly not paid by in their class. The car riders and the walkers. they come in the grouping will happen no matter what social distance every day and no mention of how we would see drills not in the powerpoint whatsoever thank you so much mr manzano let's take our next caller our next caller is lucia piva miss piva my name is lucia piva 9360 southwest 72nd street i'm an attorney at phillips richard and rings and we represent the orange county classroom teachers association and collective

233bargaining so so important that we follow the science and the facts and we've been trying to follow that approach through the bargaining process. I want to share with you some of the things that might help you get a sense of what's going on in our minds and how frustrating and frightening this is for teachers. For example, over three weeks ago, TTA proposed principles and ground rules. that simply sought to lay the foundation for maintaining dialogue during reopening negotiations and to agree on best practices to accomplish our common goals of safety while maintaining the high-quality education that we know that this district offers. One has a common goal of continuing to deliver the best possible education, regardless of the modality, and to protect the health and safety of all populations. In order to do that, the

234proposal also calls for transparency and a meaningful partnership with stakeholders, including local health experts, parents, students, and employees. We know that all stakeholders need to be part of the conversation and that we need decisions to be guided by science and the needs and concerns of the community. Unfortunately, not only has the district not agreed to these basic principles, some of its actions go against these principles. We wanted to make sure that there was real communication and collaboration, so that teachers and parents wouldn't be put in a position where they would just be responding to decisions that were already made and forced to try to undo those decisions. It's clear from today that this has never happened. A related issue that has unfortunately been a consistent problem is that the district has failed to respond to

235questions in a timely manner, even where information should have been readily available. Simple questions like what health experts did the district's district consult with? We have written reports on those experts. How many schools have nurses? What are the procedures in place to communicate with parents? Key questions like this were not answered for sometimes weeks at a time. This obviously raises serious concerns about transparency and whether the district even has all of the information it needs to make informed decisions about our school safety. We've also learned of several issues from those employees that have been reporting to work sites over the summer. They're being met with goals that are not prepared to accommodate them or provide them with the necessary protection. There hasn't been adequate PPE available. The supplies that were promised were very different than

236those that were delivered, and they weren't given the tools to complete even the most basic tasks. If we can't get it right when a few employees and students are on campus, how can we expect it to be safe if all schools open in just a few short weeks? We know that this board takes its duty to operate schools in a safe manner very very seriously and the community is entrusting you to do just that. We really do appreciate everyone's hard work but we need to get this right. There's many many critical issues that remain unsolved and that need resolution and a lot of work needs to be done. We've been trying to get there but we haven't had the adequate success. Thank you. Thank you so much. Let's take our next caller. Our next caller

237is Kathleen Smith. Ms. Smith, this is Teresa J. Smith. Welcome, and if you can start with your name and address. Hi, sure. It's Kathleen Smith, 8122 Hook Circle, Orlando, 32836. And I just want to say I appreciate all the board members who have emailed me back. I can't tell you that I really do appreciate that. I'm going to review this executive order, and I'm just going to read what I wrote because I feel like this is what the problem has been. Remember when your mother was saying if all your friends jumped off a cliff, will you jump too? Well, that's exactly the dynamic happening in opening schools during a raging pandemic. pulled from Penn State University. They looked at that notation of would you jump off a cliff. They said obedience refers to complying to

238a command made typically by someone who is of high authority. This implies conformity without really believing or supporting the behavior demanded, which is exactly what's happening with the executive order. We know we should not be opening schools. We all who listen to scientists and frontline healthcare workers know it shouldn't even be a question to open the schools or not, especially because we already established distance learning, a workable alternative. We spike daily in Florida with this deadly pandemic. I watched the 11-hour school board meeting, you know, last week or so, and I kept thinking, why in the world is returning to brick and mortar even on the table? You're ready to jump off the cliff because the president, DeSantis, and Corcoran want the economy open for their political agenda. Are we risking the lives of millions

239to get the president to look good? The president has not met with the coronavirus task force since April. Let that sink in April. 292,000 infections in the state of Florida right now. So it continues to accelerate. So are we going to be obedient to these three men who probably have never been to a public school? If DeSantis cared about Floridians, he would have made the mask mandatory, but he bows to the president. Their agenda is not protecting children or school staff or families of these people. It is to make the economy look better. Economy, not human life. They're also proponents of the charter and private schools. Now, here's a quote from the Orlando Weekly about Corcoran. Quote, during his time in the legislature, Corcoran spearheaded efforts to fund the charter and private schools with taxpayer

240dollars. End quote. Three men who do not care. We are millions who do care. My first students now in their late 20s still contact me. I continue to get emails from my students currently because they know I care about them. So I will not jump off that cliff with anyone. I will stand up and protect these kids. We fought a war in 1776 to rid ourselves of King's ruling. We fought World War II to stop a dictator after taking over the world. Much blood shed and lives lost. But if you prop up these three men and their demands to open schools, you are going against everything Americans believe in. And history will remember how the feet followed the king. Oh, I have one last statement. Could I say? Would you listen to your mother and

241not jump off that cliff? Thank you so much for calling. Next caller, please. Our next caller is Randall Chapman. Good evening, Mr. Chapman. Hello. Good afternoon. Name is Randall Chapman, 2343 Sherbrooke Road, Winter Park, 32792. This is the most important four hours of the whole time I've ever been on, so thank you for expanding the phone queues. I'm calling today as a concerned father of two OCPS students and the husband of a veteran, decorated OCPS teacher. While I acknowledge the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in, the difficult decisions you're faced with, particularly for our low-income, ESC, and special needs students, I cannot believe we're moving forward with opening full-time, face-to-face instruction amidst 10,000 to 15,000 new COVID cases daily statewide when we close the schools in March of 10 to 20. Having been in my

242children's classrooms, there's no physical way for students to safely attend class and follow the CDC's school reopening guidelines. My wife's portable has 40 desks crammed in it with recycled air. There's no way she can safely teach in that portable. The district has obviously resigned to this fact by referring to three feet instead of six and by adding in the qualifier where possible when discussing physical distancing. I feel like our national and state leaders are forcing my loved ones into harm's way for political reasons, not educational ones. Our teachers and students proved in the spring that they could teach and learn remotely. We should be trusting them to do the same this fall. The district should be standing up for our students and staff by defying this moronic executive order. I will not be sending my

243children back to school in the fall face-to-face until a vaccine is available. I cherish their safety and now their teachers far too much. If my wife is forced to teach students face-to-face instead of remotely, she'll be forced with the choice of her job or her health. Finally, I read the United States Secretary of Education accepts 0.02% of our students dying as a price to reopening brick and mortar schools full time. That represents 42 children in OCPS. I find that position to be evil and immoral. And the only just response is no preventable student death is tolerable. I repeat, no preventable student death is tolerable. I implore you to do what's right for your students and employees. Do not reopen face-to-face instruction this fall. Thank you. Mr. Chapman, we appreciate you waiting in for your call.

244Thank you. We'll take our next caller, please. Our next caller is Danny and Cruz Rodriguez. Good evening, Mr. Cruz Rodriguez. Will you start with your name and address, please? Yes, I'm Daryl Cruz Rodriguez. I'm a student at 1224 Tool Street, Orlando, Florida, 32825. I'm calling today about reopening schools. The DHS administration has put every student at risk. With this order, especially since we're now a little upturned for the coronavirus, we simply cannot expect students to not be exposed to viruses, and we cannot expect teachers to be public health officers and educators while being overworked and underpaid. Our schools don't have the financial ability to reopen normally five days a week. For those who say just go to virtual school, homeless and low-income students don't have reliable transportation to school and never reliable internet. This order

245does not work for lower-income classes. And to add on top of that, the school board needs to ensure that student participation in advanced study programs like IB, ACE, or AP is not preventing them from making it safe and personal students on how to return to school. We need to make sure that this pandemic does not throw them off their advanced course of study and that is the end of my comment. Thank you. Thank you so much for calling tonight, Mr. Cruz Rodriguez. Our next caller, please. Our next caller is Suad Warid. Good evening. Welcome. Could you please state your name and address for the record? Caller, Mr. Swaric, are you there? Let's move on to the next caller while we try to contact. Are you there? Our next caller is Martha Artuna. Hi, Ms. Artuna.

246Welcome. Ms. Artuna, are you on the line? All right, let's check to see if we're having some technical difficulties, and let's try to call Ms. Artuna. Member Cobert. Yes. Vice Chair Cobert, would you, if they don't respond, ask them to unmute their phone just in case. Okay. Ms. Artuna, are you there? Are you muted on the line? Let's see if we can contact her. Can we move to our next caller while contacting these last two, please? Our next caller is Tammy May. Hi, Ms. May. Are you on the line? Hi, Ms. May. Could you please state your address for the record and welcome? Hi, my address is 441 West Highland Avenue, Apopka. I am a high-risk class and bring one kid homeschooled County Virtual. My senior on Orange County Virtual. But the thing is, both

247of my kids have ADHD. Orange County Virtual, no videos, no anything, and that needs to be... so long and concentrate because when my senior was learning at the end of last thank you so much thank you for your time thank you for your time and for calling us miss may our next caller please our next caller is ariel helen hi miss helen are you on the line hi hi i am please go ahead with your comments beginning with your name and address and i live at two 2157 Whitewood Court in Orlando. Welcome. So my partner is a teacher at OCPS, and I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak. And I implore you to rethink this absolutely asinine decision to reopen physically, because you are sacrificing thousands of human lives with absolutely no

248gain. As many speakers before me have stated, there is no way to ensure the mental and physical health and safety of anyone in this school. Beyond this, opening physically ensures that student education will be continuously interrupted by any number of things, including quarantining, any school closures due to outbreaks, etc. Why, when the risks and deaths were lesser, was it an easier decision to close and reopen with distance learning? And yet now, as members soar globally, nationally, and most especially in this state, are we even entertaining the idea of condemning our families and communities to a guaranteed risk of death? Additionally, this issue goes beyond Orange County. We have family and friends who all live beyond this community and by risking and contaminating our teachers and students we are spreading this beyond ourselves. It's going to

249create a butterfly effect of endangering our own community. Are we expecting students and teachers to spend the next year and a half quarantined because they're unable to see family on breaks, lest they risk their high-risk families, including parents, to see the effects of this outbreak? The risk and stress of this prospect is already weighing very heavily on our staff. I've had to console my partner multiple nights and multiple weeks through this experience. How can you possibly expect them to teach, assist, and cultivate our student educational growth when that stress is being multiplied by the physical risks and effects of watching their friends, coworkers, and students fall into this virus? I think it's disgusting that we're expecting our teachers and their families to have to deal with this kind of prospect. The decision to open physically

250in August is short-sighted and incredibly irresponsible. The only rational decision is to start this year with distance learning. These teachers have proven themselves more than worthy and more than capable of facilitating positive and exceptional student education through distance learning. Additionally, I've already lost my job due to COVID, and now you're forcing my partner and me to make the financial decision that they may have to go back and risk their lives simply so we do not become homeless. If that is not kicking our community while we're down, I don't know what is. Everyone keeps talking about the economy, but they fail to realize that by forcing these teachers to make the decision between their life and their job, you're forcing people into homelessness. I'm begging you to stop this madness and stop making us all plan

251for the real possibility of burying our partners and our families and our parents simply because the board refuses to stand up for what is right. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Ms. Helen. We very much appreciate you calling in. Can we have the next caller, please? Our next caller is Anthony Solvinsky. Hi, Mr. Solvinsky. Are you on the line? Hello, Mr. Solvinsky. Can you try unmuting your phone, please? I'm sorry. We're having some interference and some difficulty hearing you. We might need to try to call you back one more time. Mr. Solvinsky, are you on the line? all right can we work to try to get a better connection with him next caller please our next caller is rebecca fernandez miss fernandez welcome could you start with your name and address please

252hello yes miss fernandez welcome can you start with your name and address please um this is anthony fulvinsky oh i'm sorry wonderful we're glad we got you back on the line we thought we lost you could you start with your name and address please yes So, yes, of course. Hi, my name is Anthony Fulvinsky. My pronouns are he, him, his, and I currently reside at 4123 Mission Court. I'd like to start off by asking the question, how will you all feel with blood on your hands? The hit musical Hamilton, which I had a great time learning about in APUSH class, as well as my theater classes, teaches that history has its eyes on you. And I strongly believe this, and I strongly encourage you all to remember that when you are voting on what to

253do in this situation. You're all working on creating options. This virus doesn't work in options. It infects whoever it wants to, and it kills those whose immune systems cannot handle it. I learned this in my biology honors class. This is an election year and it's a particularly good year to be taking AP government. I took AP government in fall of 2016 and I learned a lot about speaking up for what's right and voting out those in power who do not have my best interests at heart. However, this time it isn't my best interest I'm speaking up for because I graduated in 2017. It's my turn to speak up for the current students, those current students who've been shut out of this conversation. What's seldom talked about is the trauma you will be inflicting upon students.

254I was born in 1999, the same year as the Columbine shooting. Just over two years ago, 17 students in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were murdered and their classmates started the March for Our Lives. We're prepared to walk out again. Students should not ever be told to choose between their education or their life. What's going to happen when the next active shooter comes into a school and the school is placed on lockdown? I can picture the kids huddling in the corner with the lights off, textbook in their throwing hands, ready to defend themselves. Now suddenly they're not socially distanced and everyone has caught COVID-19. It's not lost on me that the state cut about one-third of the online education budget recently and continues to underfund the brick-and-mortar schools, and teachers have to buy their own

255lifestyle lights and Kleenex out of their own already mutely paychecks. It's not lost on me that federal school funding is being threatened if schools do not reopen, yet this is a completely counterintuitive method of dealing with this pandemic. It's not lost on me that when the board came back from the 10-minute turned 22-minute break, no less than four people were not wearing their masks, including the Honorable Ms. Lopez, Dr. Jenkins, and Chairwoman Jacobs, and that is met with all due disrespect. If you can't wear your mask, a simple act that protects yourself and others, how can you be expected to protect the next generation of doctors, scientists, first responders, artists by opening schools? You must ignore the brick and mortar mandate or else you are at best complicit and at worst murderers. I urge you

256to keep schools closed, provide access to online learning to every one of all backgrounds. I urge parents and students to boycott schools if this district insists on killing its students. Thank you very much. I yield my time. Thank you, sir. Let's go to our next caller. Our next caller is Deborah Lehigh. Ms. Lehi, thank you for calling. Could you give your name and address for the record before you begin your comments? Yes. My name is Deborah Lehi. I live at 2201 Osprey Woods Circle, Orlando, Florida. And I just want to say good afternoon. I hope you are all doing well. I'm an individual behind the East River Change official Instagram page, and I'm speaking on behalf of OCPS LGBTQ plus stories as well. For my own well, sorry. Now, I've only had this account three

257days, but the amount of neglect stories about the school is horrifying. The kids come to the administration, the people who are supposed to protect them, only to be told that they are overreacting or to get over it. From my interactions with the school and OCPS as a whole thus far, they don't care about the students' well-being, and they are only concerned with their own image. I've been told, and this is a quote. We cannot speak to bullying or racism going unattended to. Here's what I say to that. We cannot make change without addressing the problem. Being ignorant to what is happening will never help us. I know that this meeting is meant to help bring change to that. Discrimination of all types runs rampant through my school, my peers, and my teachers, and OCPS has

258repeatedly failed to deliver adequate justice or investigation. The goal of this call is to reopen cases. take instances of discrimination and harassment seriously and to start delivering appropriate consequence to students and teachers who act inappropriately. Additionally, I feel that the implementation of safe spaces for people of color and LGBTQ plus students with the presence of professionals who specialize in these experiences would be greatly beneficial. Many schools have been silent thus far about the stories coming to light and saying that they cannot address it because that is not the image they wish to portray. At this point it is too late for that. This is our reality and you can't change it. I have a trans friend and she has attended UHS. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me, ma'am. I am so sorry. The

259public comments we're taking right now, people have been, and you probably have been too, waiting for hours. We were on the subject of the school reopening launch ed option. And I think you're referring to something the board already voted on. Yes. I was told that I would be able to speak on this is a quote from you or not from you, but from the site resolution condemning racism and affirming inclusive environment. Okay. I think that probably they all got into the same queue line. Go ahead and finish your comments. I apologize. Go ahead. All right. Thank you so much. I am so sorry. I hope you can find your spot. I apologize for the interruption. i can continue speaking yes and i'm again i apologize for the interruption error on our end in terms of

260our communication if you can remember where you picked up please go ahead and finish your comments and i apologize uh yes ma'am thank you so much um as i was saying i have a friend and she has attended university high school she has attended winter park timber creek In all three of these schools, she has experienced extreme transphobia and running. The LGBTQ plus OCPS Instagram page, me and her both have learned that she is not the only one. She especially has not had the worst of it. The administration has repeatedly proven that they do not care about racial or queer equality and won't do anything about it. We must start holding teachers accountable for their biases. And if we are to make a change, we also need to put into place. consequence for students that

261perform racially or queer motivated hate acts. If you had an ounce of care about the students that you were elected to protect and not the check that you receive, I urge you to change that. Thank you. I yield my time. Thank you so much. All right, let's take our next caller. I'm going to try to reintroduce Rebecca Fernandez. Ms. Fernandez, you're recognized. I have never been so excited to wait for hours. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm so sorry. Thank you for calling. If you can start with your name and address, Ms. Fernandez. Yes, Rebecca Fernandez. My address is 6620 Swyer Court, Orlando, 32818. I'm the mother of a soon-to-be rising second grader and a very proud public school parent. I have to start by saying that my family has already lost three family

262members to COVID in the last couple of months. My nine-year-old nephew has lost his grandfather and best friend. My sister got COVID and lost the pregnancy. And we just buried my uncle a couple of weeks ago. I have to urge you, members of the board, I have to beg you. Please stand up for the future and the safety and the health of our children and of our region and keep our schools closed and consider an all-digital option. I do not envy your position. I get how hard it must be to sit in those seats. I know that your hands are tied. I know that there is no great choice. There's hardly a good choice. But I know and you know that there is a right choice. This choice that parents are expected to make. send

263or don't send, it's not a real choice for the people when the state and federal leadership have themselves not chosen to put people over profit. We know that not a single parent, not a single parent would put their child in harm's way. Those of us who can keep our kids home, you've heard time and time again on each of these calls, if you're listening, if you can keep your kids home, you will. Those who can't keep their kids home. Those are the kids who are going to be walking into school, leaving our most disenfranchised communities, our working class communities, those who have to go back on the front lines, our black and brown communities, our low-income communities, to fall victim to what will undoubtedly be a super spread of this virus. The question is not

264if. The question is how big will it be. As a nation, our children have been the most protected class. We closed schools when this all came about. We have no idea how this is going to impact our kids. We haven't even reopened the McDonald's playground. We do know that when people come together in groups, that this spreads. And we know that people die, and we know that it happens in large numbers. We can just look at our own numbers. I beg you. I beg you on my knees as a mother of one. I beg you to be the leaders that we need. Please have the foresight to see how this will exacerbate the inequalities that are already plaguing our communities. To stand up for what is right. You, each one of you, is our last

265bastion of hope. Please keep our schools closed. Please keep our time. Ma'am, your time is up. Your time is up. I apologize, but your time is up. Let's move on to our next speaker. Our next speaker is Leanna Hitchens. Hello. Welcome. If you can start with your name and address, please. Yes. Leanna Hitchens, 8768 Ward Shore Crossing, Orlando, Florida, 32829. Go ahead. First thing I want to say is I am a 2020 graduate from Lake Nona High School, also student body vice president, former student body vice president. And I've heard a lot from my peers. The question, the main question being, if we can't have our graduation, that was supposed to be July 23rd, it was canceled due to the number of rising cases in Florida and in Orlando. Why is opening schools still being

266talked about? There was supposed to be 748 graduates, and there's multiple, there's a couple thousands of students, and in total, people attending Lake Dona High School, and I'm sure other high schools around the county. This also concerns me with my siblings also being OCPS students and other family members being in the OCPS system. Personally, I experienced the coronavirus scare. I was with friends for two hours and about more than five people got infected. So imagine students in school all day long. The students who do not want to wear masks, for example, the ESE students that cannot fully comprehend the importance of wearing a mask, will you turn them away? As a 2020 senior, I didn't get to have the end of the year. Seniors of 2021 might not have the beginning, but at least you

267can give them the chance to have the end. It is said that if you feel sick, do not come to school because not everybody else wants to get sick either. However, this virus can spread without any system. This is not a political situation. This is the fact that it is a life or death matter that needs to be handled correctly. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. I hope we did not lose you in the middle of that call. It didn't sound like she was finished. Do we have a, can we take our next caller? Our next caller is Emil Levin. Ms. Levin, thank you for calling. If you can begin with your name and address, please. Yes, thank you for taking my call. My name is Emil Levin Enriquez, and I am 3363 Orlando,

268Florida. Thank you for taking the time to hear public comments, let alone dealing with this daunting task. I speak to you on behalf of my family, and without doubt in the name of lots of families concerned. with what we are dealing with in these trying times. We must set aside the politics that have dragged this discussion. The measures proposed at the state and federal levels are wrong at so many levels. The ideas presented here are technically, financially, logistically, and legally almost impossible to achieve as presented. The thought process from the Secretary of Education of these United States to assume death is wrong as well. Prevention is the rule, not collateral damage in the name of politics. Eight hours in school with masks, with an emotional toll, with social distance that this entails for everyone is

269way too much at a so much higher risk and long-lasting effects for everyone. An option to board the bus is not even remotely an option in these circumstances. Back in March, all the measures were improvised at a lower risk then. But now, there's no need to even afford a discussion on what to do when the answers are obvious of where we need to go. As both our kids have been in OCPS for a decade at Andover Elementary and Odyssey Middle School, I'm being both... the wife as a member of the PTA and me as a volunteer, and parents to a special needs student with an IEP. We both have maneuvered so much to remain involved and be able to get where we are. The teachers and staff are helping us get there. We are advocates

270for the safety of our kids and also advocates for the safety of teachers. We're not able to accept the statistical probability of someone passing and then and only then take proactive action that is much needed here. I can only support other callers who see the need to provide laptops and access to internet to every student. Equal access for everyone, including minorities. Long distance learning is the only realistic option. As I would like the board and superintendent to be best remembered for doing the right thing in order to save lives. Sir, time. Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Raskondra Bitter. Ms. Bitter, thank you for calling. No, it's Raskondra Batir. My address is 627 East Concord Street in Orlando. We've been talking a lot about

271numbers in this conversation, about numbers. I really urge each and every one of you to not desensitize yourself because every single person who is involved in this situation is more than a number. We are human people. I'm tired of constantly being used as a poker chip at the political table of my life and the lives of my peers and students who easily swap for an ounce of political and financial gain. We are more than just numbers. We are human people with lives and feelings and dreams and futures. Last week, Dr. Pinot made the point that for zero transmission to happen, schools would need to stay closed. That if we happen to open... There will be transmission of this virus point blank period. There's no way around it. So there's no polite way of saying this

272other than if OCPS opens schools this fall, people in the buildings there will get sick and die. Those deaths will be directly linked to this board's decision to reopen. Now, I'm not ready to die. Even though I will protect my kids with my last and final breath, I am not ready to die. None of us are. Even if one person contracts COVID-19 during the reopen, that is one person too many. If all students stay home and school is done virtually, every student is protected. Every educator, office staff, lunch person, and custodial worker protected. I understand your hands are tied. I understand that this sport is under the microscope. I understand retaliation from the state level, the federal level. All of that is plausible. I understand that even funding is in the balance, but please, I

273am more than a dollar amount. My kids are more than dollar amounts. Our families, our communities, our futures are more worth, are worth more than dollar amounts. Be courageous and be bold to those above you and speak out for what is right, like myself and so many educators and community members have been today. If you must reinvent, reinvent what reopening means. Imagine, become creative, push outside the binary and the boxes you have been given. I do it every day in my classroom in order to give students the education they deserve. Do everything and anything in your power that we as Orange County residents have entrusted you with doing to protect us and protect our kids. I'm a person. Remember, I have dreams, I have beliefs, passions, fears, and emotions. I'm not a data point. I'm

274not a political bargaining chip, an arbitrary dollar amount, or a tool easily disposed. Like myself, there are thousands of others in this district, educators, staff, students, and families. We are people. Please see us this way. Refuse the state mandate. Stop asking us to be your martyr. Thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Kyla Murphy. Ms. Murphy, you're recognized. Hello? Yes, Ms. Murphy, you're recognized. Yes, my name is Kyla Murphy. My address is 2322 Pebble Court. And I'm calling the board today because at the last work session, Dr. Pina was saying that graduation couldn't take place yet the ESC students started this Monday. Some of the concerns that parents have expressed throughout this school board meeting has been the lack of planning and the lack of transparency. I, as

275a mother of two ESC students, have concerns not only for my children but for their teachers. wondering has the board taken into consideration once those doors are open does our community have the bed capacity for our children and for the adults that would be impacted 0.0016 is the fatality rate of children if the total number is 210 336 children will die and that's a fact So it could be your neighbor, it could be my son, it could be any one of our children, not to mention the staff that are being exposed. I have no faith in the contact tracing that the district keeps saying that that would be what would dictate whether a school would shut down or the procedures that would be put in place. They're over seven days out with their contact tracing.

276How is that even possible? At that point, everyone's exposed. The second concern I have is that the last school board meeting, there was no one from OCPS Health Services. There was one person that it appeared had came that day to discuss the planning of reopening schools. Where are our community stakeholders? Where are the children's hospitals that are within our community to speak out and give their recommendations? And which guidelines are we following? Are we following CDC? Are we following the American Academy of Pediatrics? Are we following the Florida Department of Health and Education's reopening plan? Because I'm confused. All of the plans are very vague. It's a matter of interpretation, and that leaves our children exposed. Not to mention the teachers. What training have they had if we're going to put them in face-to-face? What

277supplies do they have at their disposal? I'm proposing that the school not reopen until August 31st so the district can go forward and do practice drills of how they would handle and isolate and contact and sanitize classrooms. How would they... train the health attendants at the school to isolate those children. My youngest son will not wear a mask. How are those situations going to be handled within the classroom? What PPE is his ESE teacher going to receive in order to protect her when she has a classroom of students that will not be able to wear masks due to their disability? These are all questions that I've sent to the board and urged to please review with the local medical community. And I think at the last meeting at Cat Gordon, one of the school board

278members. Ma'am, time. Thank you. Thank you. Let's take our next caller. Unfortunately, I do not have a name for our next caller. Oh, okay. Let me just check for a moment. So Mr. Pomerini. By I believe the board's rules we have to have a name and address Well in order to speak yeah the fact that okay. Yeah, if she needs to identify, okay All right, um for our next caller are you on the line and can you please give us your name and address before you begin your remarks Hello. Yes. Can you give your name and address before you begin your remarks? Rachel Buckley 2 1 1 5 Conway Road Orlando Thank you Go ahead with your remarks. I'm a proud Orange County CTA member and have been teaching for OCPS for almost 20 years.

279I'm currently an art teacher at Howard. On June 26, I started a petition with change.org addressing the OCPS school board and district leaders. The petition has gained almost 3,000 supporters in the last two weeks. This petition can be found at change.org. Keep OCPS schools safe. I added Dr. Pinot to the petition after the state mandate because we were told he was now the decision maker on the issue of going to face-to-face instruction for distance learning. I would like to add now we have been told that Mayor Deming says it is up to our district. I speak on behalf of the petition supporters and urge the Orange County Public School Board and district leaders of Orlando, Florida to follow CDC guidelines and keep schools closed until the threshold is met to enter into Phase 2 as

280outlined by the CDC. This includes a downward trajectory or near zero incidence of documented cases for at least 14 days after entering Phase 1. This also ensures our ICU beds are less than 75% full and there's no staff shortage, equaling to the amount of PPE supplies that would be needed for four days. Test availability, such as the percentage of positive tests is less than 15% for 14 days and the test order result would come back in less than or equal to three days. When and where it is possible, special needs students will receive one-on-one accommodations at specific sites. following proper CDC recommendations. Distance learning should be provided by current OCPS teachers with their assigned students until these criteria are met and the district can follow the reopening guidelines set forth by the CDC. The CDC

281has a specific set of guidelines for reopening. Using this, schools should only begin to reopen when Orange County has entered Phase 2 according to the CDC gating criteria and phase-specific thresholds. Orange County has not met this threshold. On March 17th, there were six cases in Orange County. Our distance learning instructions began on March 30th. The Department of Education announced on March 30th that classes wouldn't resume in Florida schools until at least May 1st. Since this petition was made, we've continued to break record numbers of COVID cases. Florida is the new epicenter of the pandemic. On July 11th, Orange County hospital beds were at 80% capacity, ICU beds at 76%. And today, area leaders are looking at the Orange County Conventional Center to be used as a field hospital, just in case. Today there are 936

282new cases in Orange County for a total of 18,937 and there have been 83 deaths. Internal documents from the U.S. Center of Disease Control and Prevention warn that schools are reopening K-12 schools and universities. And I just want to say we're counting on you to keep us safe. We were on fire in March. I'm sorry, your time is up. Thank you. Next caller. Our next caller is Megan Cost. Hi, my name is Megan Cost. My address is 7772 Rigby Street, Windermere, Florida, 34786. I am a fourth grade teacher in Orange County Public Schools, and I have been for the last four years. I am also a new mom. You might hear my son in the background. If you hear any yelling, that's probably him. I just want to say we've already heard so many people,

283and it's very, very clear that the overwhelming support it sounds like is that people don't want to go back to the classroom. Parents don't think it's safe to send their children. Teachers like me don't feel like it's safe to go back. I have an autoimmune disease, and my husband has high blood pressure, so we're both in high-risk categories. And with a five-month-old son at home, it's incredibly scary. We know it's not safe too. None of us can really pretend it is. Dr. Pino asked us to define what safe means. That's not a good sign when a doctor asks you to define safe. Some of the things that haven't been brought up yet about going back are things like what are we going to do with substitute teachers? I know every year I tend to get

284sick at the beginning of the year because, you know, kids come in and try, as you might, to try to sanitize things. They carry, you know, illnesses or, you know, you pick up food poisoning. What do we do in those situations? A lot of times we can't get subs as it is. In those cases, a lot of times our children are split among other classes, which would raise the exposure to the other teachers as well as those children. Another thing that I have a question about is the sanitizing. Who's doing the sanitizing? Is it going to be us? Is it going to take away from our instructional time and our planning time that's already so limited? Also, I know Orange County has not asked to suspend state testing yet. Are we going to have pressure

285on us to be focusing on those learning gains rather than saving our students' lives? I just feel like all of these questions are still out there, and the plans look really good when you're just on the surface, but when you dig even just a tiny bit deeper. you realize that they're not adequate. We know that children are affected by this disease. We know that the adults who teach them, a lot of them will have autoimmune diseases like I do, or they'll be over 65. And you're asking us to choose between our lives and our jobs. We need leaders right now who are willing to stand up to an administration when they see laws or memos or executive orders that are being implemented unfairly or unjustly. Thank you for being willing to speak. Absolutely. Thank you.

286Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Shannon Isles. Welcome, Ms. Isles. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you. And it's Ms. Lyles with an L, actually. Thank you, Ms. Lyles. Apologize for that. You can give your name and address for the record before you begin. Yes, my name is Shannon Lyles, and I'm recently relocated to 1318 South Summerlin Avenue, Sanford, Florida, 32771. I have been an OCPS teacher for seven years, and I'm seeking, quickly might I add, to implore you to consider a temporary distant learning model for the reopening of our schools. OCPS is the ninth largest school district in the nation with 199 schools serving 215,000 students and over 25,000 employees. Our population is also incredibly diverse being 42% Hispanic, 26% white, 25% black, 5% Asian,

287and 2% multicultural. That makes for a grand total of 74% of students who belong to racial and ethnic minority groups. As of the 2019-2020 school year, there are 98 Title I schools, meaning that the district poverty average is 44.59%. On June 25th, the CDC released an article about the effects of COVID-19 among racial and ethnic minority groups, stating that Black persons are five times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19, and Hispanic and Latino persons are four times more likely to be hospitalized. All of this to say that our community, the community that elected each of you to represent and take care of them, is a high-risk community, and you know it. 74% of your student population is four to five times more likely to be hospitalized by this disease than most of us speaking

288today, compounded with the fact that nearly half of the district is living below the poverty line. When our students and families contract this virus, which they inevitably will due to the surge of coronavirus cases in the state, so many of them will not be able to afford the medical help they need, and then those who can afford it won't be able to get it due to overcrowding in our healthcare facilities. Not to mention the emotional and monetary distress that infection and slash aura hospitalization is likely to cause our families. And I could go on for hours about the thoughts and fears of OCPS faculty and staff members. We have been left out of this decision-making process as though we are expected to be silently compliant about whatever system you decide amongst yourselves and that we

289are expected to sacrifice everything for nothing. But being silently compliant doesn't make you a good team player. And ultimately, you aren't in the classroom. We are. And I'm scared. I'll be the first to admit that distance learning is far from an ideal situation. I was one of hundreds of performing arts teachers in this district suddenly trying to teach my subject matter through a screen. But I will do anything to keep our community safe. And if that means sacrificing my face-to-face instruction for a little while longer, I'll do it. I cannot believe that we are playing into these inhumane political games. I don't pretend to know the intricacies of this impossible situation, and I know that there will be fallout from whatever decision you make, and I do not envy your position, but I implore you

290to listen to the facts over fiscal threats. and to act for the population you swore to serve. Because in times of crisis, we must reorganize our priorities. So, do you value the lives of this community, or do you not? At the end of the day, as unideal as it is, it's a right and wrong decision. Good luck with it. Thank you. Thank you. Let's take our next caller. Our next caller is Katima Simmons. Hello? Yes, welcome. If you could give your name and address for the record before you begin your comments. Yes, my name is Katina Simmons. My address is 1752 South Caramore Avenue. I reside in Orlando, Florida. I'm calling in today because I want to first and foremost say that I stand behind basically most of the callers that have called in today

291and are in agreeance to not open up the schools. I personally, as a parent, do not and will not play Russian roulette with my child's life. I do have a special needs child. She is autistic. She has an IEP plan. I choose the innovative option that you guys are proposing. And I'm wondering if with the innovative option, does it include children with IEPs or 504 plans? I also would like to know, is there going to be a discussion on whether or not After the initial first semester commitment with the innovative program, will there be an option to extend the program for parents like myself who do not wish to return their children to face-to-face schooling for the remainder of the 2021 school year? I think that it's just crazy that they have mandated that the

292schools reopen. I think it's for political gain. And it's heartbreaking. Fortunately, I'm able to have, you know, Internet access and a laptop to provide my child with. But what about the children who don't have that? What about the parents that cannot provide that for their children? What plans do you have for those people that are less fortunate and cannot, you know, provide this type of education, digital learning or distant learning for their children? Is there a plan for them? If not, I think that you guys need to take that into consideration and give that some thought. The last thing I would like to say is that God be with us all. Thank you. Thank you. We have been back in session here for over two hours that we had discussed trying to take two-hour breaks.

293I also understand for our timekeeper and Deputy General Counsel Betfair. personal hygiene reasons he needs a personal break um so we are going to take a i am so sorry that i did that to you but i i i announced at the last meeting that i needed one so this is we're human gosh we're human we're all human let's take um a 10 minute break remember gallo over there okay great all right all right everyone welcome back let's begin with our next caller mr pomerini Our next caller is Maya Anderson. Ms. Anderson, thank you for holding for so long. You're recognized. Thank you. Can you hear me? We can hear you very well, Ms. Anderson. If you can give your name and address for the record to begin. Thank you. All right. My name is

294Maya Anderson. I live at 1525 Cardinal Road, Orlando, Florida. So I'm a rising senior at Winter Park High School, and I want nothing more to go back to school and have a normal senior year. but that is just really not safe right now. And face-to-face learning should not be approved by the school board. At Winter Park, there are about six students that are homeless. If they go back, they have no health insurance, and they have no resources to assist when they will get sick, because they will get sick. We're putting innocent lives at danger by going back. Teachers especially are going to get sick. We already pay our teachers way too little and overwork them too much to pile this on them too. They don't have a choice. Their families don't have a choice. The

295Honorable School Board member, Jacobs, even said that six feet social distancing is likely not possible. When the people's interest admitted that they will test people, I don't know the numbers are accurate. This meeting in person, it is because you know it's not safe. Your family should not be there. Your political career should not be more important than my life. It should not be more important than my close friend's life, who is recovering from cancer and is an OCPS student. It should not be more important than the lives of the teachers who have made me the person that I am today. And you have the power to do the same. I will gain the right to vote in just a few months, and I will absolutely remember the names of those who voted for and against

296my safety and my peers and teachers when I cast my first vote. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Mark Richards. Good afternoon, board members and... superintendent. My name is Mark Richard and I have the honor to be the general counsel for the OCCTA, the union and professional organization for your educators. I think it's important for me to remind all of us that I have the honor to voice what our educators, our president Dormel and others are thinking. So just take a moment and understand that I do not speak for myself as a lifelong resident of Florida and a product of the public schools. I speak on behalf of all of those who we say every day, you're the best teachers, and they are. This is a great school system,

297and it is. And now we have a moment, an unprecedented moment in history, to actually actualize those accolades. to actually put something behind all of the praise and the prestige. What are our educators? What are our parents? What is the community saying? Three things. First, we get the challenge. It is not easy to be in the superintendent's chair or any of your chairs. It is not easy to be a teacher, a support staff, everyone from the buses to the cafeteria to the center of the campus. all education, the challenge of the life of the mind of a child, it is not easy right now in any of those to be a parent. We get the pressure that we are all under. So the question comes in an unprecedented time, a time that none of us

298have ever experienced in our life. In my 66 years of blessed life of being a labor lawyer for 40 of those years, I have never seen anything like this, and neither have you. We would argue as your teachers for all of us to step back and rely on what we know. First of all, it will be evidence-based. Go buy the best science available. Don't listen to us lawyers. Don't listen to folks that are pushing political agendas. Listen to evidence-based science. We teach that in our chemistry classrooms, our mathematics classrooms, and our social studies. And the science tells you we're peaking. The science tells you we're not even in phase one and schools can only open under those guidelines in phase two. The hospital ICUs speak science. The intubators speak science. The fact that we have

299no vaccine, herd immunity, or treatment protocols speak science. The deaths speak science. The years of rehabilitation coming off intubation speak science. science. Let's be evidence-based, two and three. Second one is let's live up to what we teach in our classroom. We do not teach history about those who did not show up. We teach the history of Harriet Tubman who hid folks in the Underground Railroad. We do not speak history to those that turned a blind eye in Amsterdam when the stormtroopers came in to take away those who were going to be put in. concentration camps we talk about the family that hid in a in a house mr i hate to interrupt you but i have to enforce we have to enforce these rules uniformly sir so let me just end by saying this you're

300you were actually over your time Okay, I'll just end by saying it is your character that we're calling upon today. Please do not open these schools until they're safe. Mr. Richardson, I'm sorry, but you ignored three times that you're over time, and if I allow one person to do this and not another, I get accused of giving unfair treatment. I have to take that seriously. We're going to do that with each person. For anybody that may be able to hear us, Mr. Pomerini calls time usually twice before I interrupt. So let's go to our next speaker. Our next speaker is Andres Torino. Hello? Hello, Mr. Storino. You're recognized, sir, if you can give your name and address before you begin. Thank you for calling. Hello, I am Andre Storino. I live at 1760 Choctaw Trail.

301I'm here to talk about the school reopening. I'm a student at Winter Park High School, a rising sophomore, and I find it somewhat absurd that we are considering reopening the schools when we closed them back when we had 38 cases. The school board has a moral obligation to not reopen schools until it is safe for all people. Even with the option to stay home, most people will decide to go to school face-to-face, and it's inevitable that at least one of those people will have the virus and spread it to others. This will lead to deaths of students, teachers, and their families. So I ask, why are we even considering reopening schools at this time? If we decide to abstain from opening schools, nobody's going to get hurt. But if we decide to open schools, it

302will lead to deaths. And that's unacceptable to any generally moral person. Don't let the governor and the commissioner of education bully you into following their executive order that's based completely off politics and not the lives of our citizens. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next caller. Our next caller is Kelly Moy. Ms. Moy. Thank you for calling. You're recognized. Yes, Ms. Moy, if you can begin with your name and address, please. Thank you. Of course. My name is Kelly Moy, and my address is 2481 Whitehall Circle, Winter Park, 32792. I'm an OCPS educator for 14 years now and a mom of a rising first grader in OCPS. Before I begin, I want to thank you for listening and hopefully reconsidering the options set forth so far. Also, I thank the chairperson, Jacobs, Ms. Bird, and Ms.

303Gallo for responding to my email. I also thank all of my fellow educators for speaking out. I concur and applaud and fully agree with everyone's push for distance learning. I love the Maslow before Bloom and the point that this shouldn't be a hard decision because that is how we all should think. Education can be regained, life cannot. First, I feel like I need to state that I love my job, my school, and public education with all my heart. It is my passion and livelihood. Anyone who knows me knows this, so please know that distance learning would never be my first choice unless lives were at stake. However, today I'm speaking on behalf of my son and so many other families like ours. I predict that many of the concerns brought up so far by parents

304will receive the response of, well, we're giving you options. However, I want to speak for the kids and their families who are not actually being given an option. This includes kids of OCPS employees, kids of parents whose work will no longer be flexible because they're going to say, well, schools are open, and our kids without devices and Internet, thus leaving them with no option except to return to school. The opening of school is being pushed as the best thing for mental health for our students. They could quote unquote socialize, which we know wouldn't be able to happen the way it used to. But this is not the case for my son. Since he's heard that schools might be reopening, his anxiety and insomnia are through the roof. He is sick. During conversations with him since

305the talk of opening schools, he asked the following questions that I do not have an answer for. Here are his questions. He's sick. If I can't go to other places, why can't I go to school? Why do they think school is safe when there are so many people? How will I stay safe when I take my mask off to eat? How will I be able to do centers if I cannot get to my friends? What if other kids won't wear their masks? Will I not be able to hug my teacher or my friends? I still have recess. I have to have recess. Why can't we just stay home and do Big Blue Button until it is safe and when there's positive cases? and his mental health is a friend a loved one or educator of

306his eyes or forbid near him how you are live is virtual until our numbers are dropping counties in florida have done it other counties in the nation have done it please thank you thank you thank you let's hear from our next caller mr palmer before we hear from our next caller i'm sorry it's not you you're that you're not putting the color in i just for the board's benefit because we have a couple of board members that are not in the chambers At this point in time, I think we have about 35 or 36 callers that are on the line and in queue. I just wanted to let the board members that are in remotely, I think the board members here are aware of that, just so that you can gauge your personal breaks as

307well. Let's take the next caller. Our next caller is Magnolia Cruz Rodriguez. Ms. Cruz Rodriguez, welcome. And if you can start with your name and address, please. Hello there. My name is Magnolia Cruz. My address is 1560 Martin Bridge Loop, apartment 110 in Apopka. Go on with your comments, please. All right. Thank you very much. I am absolutely in agreement with everything that all of my colleagues and everyone else has said so far. There is really nothing else that I can add to that beyond I just need to continue stressing just how important this is. The only things I wanted to bring up that I feel have not been discussed yet have been the lack of support for hard of hearing and deaf staff and families. They are unable to be part of this conversation

308due to the lack of closed captioning or interpreters, and they have been cut silent. because of this, and that is absolutely unacceptable. An issue that I also did not hear about when it comes to reopening schools is how we actually plan on making the live streaming work in the classroom. I am struggling to figure out how this is going to work for those of us who are school employees, although families do have the choice in enrolling their students at home. Our internet has had a history of being incredibly mediocre in the past with several connection drops. And if the internet is already struggling to keep up with the thousands who use it for hours on end on campus, How is it going to support a teacher live streaming, let alone all teachers live streaming simultaneously?

309I'm only 25 years old, and I'm already terrified of dying or having my partner die a clearly avoidable death, let alone the clearly avoidable death of my fellow staff and students. These students deserve to have a future, and we deserve to have a future, and I want to know why you want to take that away from us. So please, for the sake of countless lives, fight against this. We as educators and adults teach kids to stand up against bullying, stand up against discrimination, and we want to know if you will stand for nothing, what will you fall for? So please. reconsider this and have us do this as safe as possible. Thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Elliot Robinson. Hello. Hello. Thank you for calling. Can you

310hear me? I can hear you very well. Thank you for calling. Can you start with your name and address and then your comments, please? Yes, ma'am. My name is Elliot Robinson. I'm at 2117 New Victor Road, Ocotee, Florida, 34761. I'm calling because I please, I do not want the schools open. I am a teacher and I have taught for 37 years. And I have been, I've taught everything from kindergarten through sixth grade. And with this pandemic, there's so. so many things that are not safe about reopening for a brick and mortar building. We can do all the hand washing, sanitizing, wearing a mask, but you're going to find them, as students that I've seen, you're going to find them on the ground. Other kids are going to pick them up. I saw this cartoon that

311says, hey, a classroom. He spit on me. Another one said, he said, my mask is cheap. Then one student was under a desk and one student had the mask on his head and another one had the mask on his eyes. So those are some of the things that they're not going to follow this, put the mask on. And there are going to be some students or individuals are going to come to school with COVID-19 that they may not even realize that they have it. They may be one of those asymptomatic carriers. Then we will have the domino effect. It will spread like wildfire. The school will have to close and still do online. Distant learning was great. I don't understand it, and I'm confused. In March, there weren't that many cases. We did distant learning.

312Great. Big blue button. Now there are thousands, and then we want to open schools. First of all, the people that are officials in office, they want to send us back to school. They don't care about teachers or kids or in a bus or board members. So then we're just numbers, statistics, expendable. We're a pawn in their sick game. They're bullies. And we teach students against bullying. It's not acceptable. And so now. I would really, really appreciate it if you do not open the schools. I am scared. I am 59 years old, been teaching for 37, going on 38 years. And kids, if you're going to teach the students, you've got to go up to them. You've got to show them something. Kids are going to follow the protocol. I'm afraid. I'm in a portable. When

313you get those students in a portable, you're all breathing the same thing. And so if you didn't see where it says the woman that was on the elevator, she was an asymptomatic carrier. There were 71 people in there with her. They all got it. They all got the COVID. So, and teachers never get a voice. Everybody else, the parents get a choice, the students get a choice, but teachers don't. So I don't feel comfortable going back. So I've been, this is a teacher who loves doing what she does. I am looking at other things to do online because I, okay. But anyway, I really do appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Okay. Bye-bye. Our next caller. It's Brett Richards. Hello, yes, can you hear me?

314Yes, Mr. Richards, we can hear you very well, sir. Thank you for calling. If you can start with your name and address and then your comments, sir. Yes, thank you. My name is Brett Richards. My address is 1560 Martin Ridge Loop, Apopka, Florida, zip code 32703. I want to talk today specifically about something that I don't think people have addressed yet, at least not fully. A lot of people have talked about the emotional aspect of it, and they have said it in words far better than I can. But you have this third plan, this innovative option, to try and reduce. And let me emphasize it is reduced because the only zero option is not your innovative plan. But your innovative plan is going to rely on teachers being able to teach in person and live

315streaming at the same time. Do you have appropriate webcams for all of them? Do you have microphones? Do they have the software installed on their computer that they don't have administrative rights for to record? They might have had to work around that at the beginning of social distancing with their own personal devices. They won't have this option anymore. And now you're asking all these teachers to not only manage an in-person class, but also an online learning environment simultaneously with what support? The one person at site on campus who has the ability to support them? They're in person who has the administrative password? I am so sorry for the people who have to deal with what a mess this nightmare will be, but it's not going to work. Your plan sounds nice on paper. It is

316going to fall apart. And I am sorry that you have to come up with this plan instead of addressing the elephant in the room, which is the fact that in March, we closed because it was the right thing to do. It was the hard choice, but it was the right choice. Now, with thousands of cases, suddenly it's difficult because you're more concerned with politics and blowback than reality. And trust me, we are watching as you're listening to these cases when your mics are muted, when you're talking, when you walk away. There are 10,000 people watching this. Let me make this clear. are many, many people looking for you to guide them, looking for you to stand up for them, looking for you to improve and give a real solution to the people who need support,

317the people who need the library or the cafeteria to be a socially distant space where they can get internet, those people who can't do from home, but you need to work on somehow providing them a space to learn. And instead of doing that, we're talking about a solution that isn't going to work because We can't address the elephant in the room. If we open, people die. Full stop. And at this point, if the emotional appeals of everyone here has not gotten that through to you, I'm not going to do it. So instead, I address the 10,000 people watching this stream. If they will not make the choice we are all asking them to, then we must make it. We need to stand up for the people who cannot stand up for themselves. For the people

318who, if they are a uniformed person, if they go to school, they will die. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. Please listen to everyone. Thank you, sir. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Kira Ancona. Hello. Welcome, ma'am. If you can give your name and address for the record before you begin your comments. Yes, my name is Kier Ancona, 13744 La Ronja Street, Claremont, Florida, 34711. I'm currently a six-year teacher at Windermere High School and a graduate of OCPS Colonial High School. I'm also a member of the community who voted the current board members in to protect our students and teachers and make OCPS an amazing district. You need to keep schools closed for the first nine weeks until it's safe to open for face-to-face. The only things I can

319express are my concerns and the profession I know and work in. As you make these decisions safely behind your desk with a safe social distance from your fellow colleagues, remember that teachers and students are the ones, like always, that will be impacted the most health-wise. Not only before and currently do I have to worry about being shot in my workplace, now I have to worry about getting sick and dying because people need their kids to go somewhere while they go to work. Let's be honest, it's not about teachers educating, it's about us being babysitters right now. A large part of my professional career was involved with working outside of education in the scientific research community. I became a teacher to help awaken students to the scientific world. I try every night with the uncertainty of

320what will happen this coming year. And I know you have a tough decision to make, but teachers and students have a harder one than the board. I love my students. I love them so much. I want to see every last one of them live a long and healthy life. But the decision you make will have a lasting impact on the students and teachers. Ask yourself, would you risk your child so school can be back open face-to-face for an outbreak to occur? I don't want to risk my son. As a science major and professional, I'm telling you, it's not worth the risk. When a student has a fever, it's too late. A fever is a late sign of COVID-19, days after an individual is already spreading the virus. Leading scientists all over the world say we

321need more time. Our leadership has failed us, failed the American people, and it's your turn to not make the same mistake. I teach high school, and many students are not mature enough to follow guidelines. There's also not enough PPE in hospitals, but you expect there to be enough in schools. Not enough cleaning supplies, large numbers of students in my classroom with unsafe social distancing, not complying with safety orders, et cetera. I have a hard enough time telling high schoolers to keep cell phones away. Now I have to argue about masks and social distancing. Parents will, mark my words, send their kids to school sick like they do now, and an outbreak will occur. I work in a school that's overcrowded, and next year we'll have almost 4,500 students. How do you think this is going

322to work even with half the amount of students? Schools will be the last straw in our hospitals once the outbreak occurs. Why would you risk this, wait to open schools, start digital, and save lives? start digital until numbers subside and reevaluate every parent would rather have their kids behind educationally and alive if you can do nothing else at least start high schools at digital learning so you may give that space of our buildings to middle and elementary schools to maybe social distance better thank you thank you let's hear from our next speaker our next speaker is chris bowers mr bowers welcome sir if you can start with your name and address please Yes, thank you. My name is Chris Bowers, and I live at 2012 Forest Circle. Dear members of the school board, first off,

323thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I felt it was important to add my voice to the growing number of teachers, parents, doctors, scientists, politicians, and my incredible colleagues who have already spoke, who no longer think it is safe to reopen schools in the fall. I've taught here at OCPS for 13 years. I love this district and I feel incredibly loyal to my school and everyone who goes to work every day in what can oftentimes be a thankless job. We all know that there are dangers that go along with this line of work, but nothing could prepare us for the last month and the stress and anxiety and fear that comes along with each new headline. Here are just three that you've already heard today, but I'd like to reiterate. One, 85 kids

324and counselors infected with coronavirus and YMCA camp outbreaks from Georgia. Two, beloved Arizona teacher dies of COVID-19, and the two other teachers who share her classroom are also infected. Three, Florida shatters record for the single-day COVID cases. Now, I know you know this, but that was only two days ago, and it was more than 15,200 cases. For the first time, I can think of you literally have lives in your hands today, and you can choose to stand with the people you are here to represent, or you can stand with politicians who are trying to intimidate you into a reopen that serves only their political agenda. I know that you have mentioned in several emails, and I've heard others say, I know that you've mentioned in several emails. responses that you could be removed by the

325governor if you do not follow their reopen order. I am simply asking you to be brave and bold. Every one of you knows that it is unsafe to open schools in a few weeks, and every one of you knows that someone who is healthy today listening to this meeting is likely to die if you reopen schools. people's lives versus a political threat. It is that simple. And soon we will know what side you take in this decision. And at this point, it might be good to remind you that the governor is not the only one who can remove you. The voters of this county also can. And how you decide this issue will be the one factor that every educator and every family member of an educator think of for casting their vote, whether it

326be this year or in two years. Please stand with us. Please fight for us. Please do what every scientist, doctor, and rational-thinking human knows to be right and do not reopen schools until it is safe for every single person who has to set foot in them to do so. I will end with this. I mentioned earlier that it is a near certainty that if you decide to reopen schools now and send this all back, that someone who is perfectly healthy today will die. I don't need to tell you that that loss will be forever on your shoulders. I simply want to ask you to think of my son, who is about to turn four years old. Think of my wife and my parents and my brother and my mother-in-law, and please think about what you

327would tell them if that one life were mine. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Let's take the next caller. Our next caller is Matthew Hazel. Good evening. I'm Matthew Hazel. I reside at 10108 Matchlock Drive, Orlando, Florida, 32821. I'm an OCPS high school teacher and resident in Orange County. I urge the school board to defy the order of the Florida Department of Education and to delay reopening our schools. Florida is currently one of the top global hotspots for COVID-19. Reopening schools at this juncture will be wildly irresponsible and dangerous to our students, our teachers, our staff, our families, and our community. Evidence is increasingly mounting that reopening schools in our state simply cannot be done safely. New studies from Harvard, among others, indicate that COVID-19 can spread through HVAC systems. And most of our classrooms are

328small, enclosed, windowless boxes with recirculating air. Even if all of our students and employees wear masks, and even if capacity is reduced, we cannot change the fact that our children and our educators will share a small, insufficiently ventilated space for seven hours a day, breathing each other's air. Transmission in those circumstances is inevitable. Schools will be forced to close again anyway after reopening as infections rage out of control. How many children, how many teachers, how many family and community members will have to die in order to convince us to do what we were always going to have to do? We must keep school doors closed and teach remotely. Back in March, Dr. Anthony Fauci made an important observation. Much of our knowledge of this disease has grown and changed, but this has remained true. He

329said, you don't make the timeline. The virus makes the timeline. I well understand the political and economic motivations to reopen schools. Heck, I want schools open, too. I miss teaching children. And we all know that they will learn and grow better with face-to-face instruction. But it doesn't matter what I want or what you want or Richard Corcoran or Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump wants. None of us set the timeline. The virus sets the timeline. And that timeline says no. I understand that the state government has threatened to remove our local school board members if they refuse to reopen schools, and that your removal might not even stop it anyway. Here's my request to you. Defy the order anyway. Force DeSantis to remove you all from office. You will be front page news in every city

330on the earth. Force the eyes of the nation and the world to see the insanity that is being perpetrated on our children. You are voting to make 200,000 students and 24,000 employees risk their lives in reopening schools. It is not too much to ask to ask eight people to risk their jobs in return. Many speakers today have thanked you for listening or said they don't envy you this decision. I do neither. Listening to these voices is your obligation as elected officials. You ran for school board. You sought out this responsibility. And if now, when it matters most, this responsibility is too large for you, then you should resign. And I do envy you your position, because we've just listened to hours of comments from citizens that would have the courage to defy the order to

331reopen. If you do take the coward's choice and vote to reopen schools, I hope that you will promise today that when funerals are scheduled for OCPS teachers and children who died as a result of your decision, you'll at least have the courage to attend each and every one and show your faces to those families i yield my time thank you sir let's hear from our next speaker our next caller is christina broussard welcome if you can begin with your name and address please christina broach that it's before one east haley avenue orlando florida go ahead with your comments um first of all firstly like many people i would like to thank you um for taking the time to listen to us and for, I believe, ensuring the safety and academic growth of all OCPS children.

332As I have listened to people talk, I have gone from really, really wanting the schools to open because I am a first-line COVID nurse who, when we were doing distance learning, struggled to have a 5-, 9-, and 11-year-old boy, all of them with 504s. stay on top of their tasks and stay on top of their assignments and communicating with different teachers across different platforms. It was a daunting and overwhelming task and I was never, never able to stay home full time during that time because I am an essential worker. Although I know that my position makes it disproportionately difficult for me to stay home with my children. and that lots of parents with special needs children will struggle to be able to accommodate for them. Listening to the concerns of teachers, many of whom express

333that they themselves have health concerns, really has opened my eyes to the fact that opening now is just not advisable. As Dr. Duncan said, you know, we pray for wisdom. We pray for wisdom in this time that we can weigh the risks and benefits. And with, you know, clear minds and earnest hearts come to a conclusion that will benefit us all. Nobody here wants to make the wrong choice, and nobody here wants to make a choice that they were pressured into. And so I know that you guys are weighing all of this. Cautiously, if and when schools open, you know, the concerns are the same. Like, will we have additional staff for lunchrooms, for custodial staff to be able to sanitize, not clean, but sanitize surfaces? Like I said, I'm a nurse who works with

334COVID patients. I understand these things are difficult to do. Will we have support for the school nurses? Will we have additional school nurses? And will the clerical staff and other staff equally be supported both with resources, guidelines, and the funds necessary to run these additional programs? These are basically additional programs that are going to be run inside the schools. My children attend the magnet school. I am such such as such a advocate for those schools and as somebody mentioned hours ago on this line I would hate for our children to have to lose their spot if virtual school was an option that we were kind of like forced to take at this time you know Howard had a teacher on the line recently who was proposing, you know, a change.org petition. And I just can't

335say enough good things about those teachers, those schools, and the involved parents and staff that make them wonderful. I am truly, truly concerned for my children's academic achievement. They struggle, as is, on a good day with excellent teachers who are well prepared to take care of them. Thank you guys so much for your time. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next speaker. Our next speaker is Michael Friedman. Mr. Friedman, you're recognized, sir, if you can give your name and address for the record. Hello, this is Michael Friedman, 6241 Sunset Isle Drive, Winter Garden. You know, I really would have felt better today, I think, if more than literally only one teacher used their time to convince parents. how they're going to do a hell of a good job in

336virtual learning. One teacher spent their time trying to convince parents that they can do this and do it at a great level. Instead, what I've gotten is an emotional please, rhetoric, hyperbole for the last four hours. The truth lies in a very gray middle ground. There are legitimate issues on both sides of this challenge. I appreciate where people are coming from when it comes to this deeply emotional fire they have. But teachers in large are not trained to teach virtually. We learned that last semester. YouTube is better at it than most teachers. At the same time, students aren't equipped to deal with this on a daily basis. And it's not just a matter of if they have a laptop or internet access. The curriculum wasn't developed for this. Very different teaching a second grader than

337it is teaching an 11th grader. I need to remind people, though, that there are numerous cases around the world, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Taiwan, Switzerland, Sweden. Students and teachers return safely and have done so under specific guidelines. Where I go now is that we've got a binary choice and a third option, which is a hybrid option, which doesn't take into consideration the guidelines. If I had to make a choice today, yeah, I'd probably send my kid back to school. But I'm hoping that with not only a delay that you guys have proposed, but also looking at the actual guidelines and getting some real data at this point in time, how many people will actually send their kids tomorrow. My guess is a lot of people won't. And a lot of teachers will self-select and say, no,

338we're not doing it either. And that number is going to get a lot higher than I think we thought a month ago. But the reality is there's going to be a gap between people who want to go, people who don't want to go, and people who want a third option. And I would encourage you guys to at least use the time to look at other options. People around, you know, districts around the world are actually socially distancing classrooms. There's staggering entry times and class times, limiting group activities, requiring masks, they've got penalties for noncompliance. They are telling people that you can volunteer and self-select, and that's teachers and parents. They're shortening school days and weeks and alternative hours they're providing. They're even, in some cases, providing different pay and bonuses for people that want to

339teach in person versus people who don't want to. So there's a lot of different options. I think you guys need to get recent, relevant data to see where parents and teachers stand and look at the real numbers about who's willing to go back and teach and not completely aligned with the teachers' union. and who what students want to go back with their pet you know their parents want to send kids back and aren't completely gaving in to saying we'll never find a solution but nobody is proposing solutions and i would encourage teachers that are on the line in queue tell us why tell us why you're going to do an amazing job teaching kids virtually that gives us confidence that this is a good path forward because we don't have it we watched it last

340semester it's a joke so it needs to get better so convince us that thank you thank you sir let's hear from our next caller Our next caller is Michelle Cox. Ms. Cox, you're recognized. Hi, Michelle Cox, 5428 Woodclotham Street, Orlando. Thank you very much for the opportunity to voice my concerns today. I have two children in OCPS schools, one of which have an IEP born with a medical disability and another one with a 504C. I am also immune compromised and have a higher risk of contracting and possibly dying of this disease. While I can agree that both my children can better benefit from in-person learning, the risk outweighs the reward. I implore you to defy the face-to-face order that is coming from persons that have no ties to our district, schools, and communities. Please follow

341the data of science and not the dollar of the political agendas. I am not a teacher, but I am a parent, one who has spent a lot of time volunteering in our schools. Children will not adhere to your guidelines. They will not keep masks on. They will not social distance. They will not sanitize or wash their hands. They will not follow one-way hall signs. Good grief, adults have trouble following this in public. I see it all the time. like you're recommending. Therefore, it will not be a safe environment. And what about our teachers and other support members? Do their lives and the lives of their families not matter? On top of being overworked and underpaid, they are now expected to be public health care workers. Please, please rethink opening for at least the first nine

342weeks. That will give you time to implement a more safe and effective academic and safety plan for our students and staff. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Takara Brown. Ms. Brown, welcome and thank you for calling. If you could start with your name and address, please. Hi, my name is Takara Brown. I'm at 9801 Red Clover Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 32824. Go ahead with your comments, please. Thank you. So thank you for having the time to listen to us today. I am a concerned parent. I have three children. I have two in high school, and I have one in middle school. My first question is, what is the plan for students who may have AIP? My other question is how I understand if you guys are going

343to look into getting more custodial to help with the cleaning how you guys okay you guys will have enough funding for for as far as getting more teachers higher more bus drivers that are already needed and all arm OC um schools. Also, how are you going to go ahead and hire more janitors? You guys are going to need a team as far as keeping lockers clean, rails clean, tables clean. Football equipment clean. Everything clean. Library area clean. Cafeteria. You know when kids are walking up stairway areas, they constantly touch rails because some kids cannot walk without touching a rail. They need that balance to be able to hold on. Nobody is going to be walking behind these students to go ahead and sanitize every second of the way. The desk area. Everything that a student

344may touch, including the bathroom stalls and the doors, it is too much risk for our children. in this world today with the COVID going on. I am speaking for concerned parents. I am speaking for teachers. I am speaking for you that are sitting in these seats that are asking us, how do we feel? Because you too have children. You have nieces, nephews, cousins, grandbabies who also attend OCPS schools. Also... I know that you guys support no bullying. I wish you guys would go ahead and stand up for the big bully in the world, which is Trump, as we all know. You guys are only coming to this conclusion because you guys are being threatened from your job. And it's very sad that we have to come to this. But I really wish that you guys

345continue to keep schools closed, at least for the first nine weeks, or even until the second nine weeks, until we can ensure that our student safety is to go back to school without worrying about being sick and the teachers concerned as well as being sick. Thank you for your time today. Thank you so much for calling. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Alyssa Ruiz. Ms. Ruiz, you're recognized. Thank you for calling. Hi, my name is Alyssa Ruiz. I live at 8605 Margin Drive. Many people have spoken of their concerns for the general student population, but I feel it's important you get the in-depth depiction of concerns and issues that will rise for students with special needs. I am aware of the different options you have given, including face-to-face learning, online learning,

346and your innovative learning. While online is a quick, logical, and easy fix for some students, it is not an option for all. I personally have a brother with autism, and online learning is not a possible task for him with his learning capabilities. Some students with special needs, including my brother, need constant prompting and someone to physically be there with them the entire time. There's no way we can get certain students to sit down for six hours straight and look at a computer screen and complete work. Some parents have jobs. We at home are not trained or qualified to fill in teachers. So considering online is not a possibility for some like my brother, the only other option we have is to send him to school. But that is not safe and should not be an

347option. Just sitting in a special needs classroom for a few short hours, it is easy to see that safe social distancing and sanitation is not possible. Telling these children to cover their noses or their mouth when they cough or sneeze doesn't mean they're going to. And this isn't necessarily an intentional disregard for sanitation. Some just cannot grasp the concept, my brother included. Full-grown adults who know better are refusing to wear face masks to keep people safe. We cannot expect all of these young children to wear them either. And those schools deal a lot with teachers being in close proximity with the students in order to help them with their assignments. It's impossible to avoid that. We have been left to choose between two terrible and impossible choices. How can you expect us to make the

348best decision for children when you guys can't do the same? This is us holding you guys to the same standard we are being forced to be held by. You guys are struggling with the idea to put thousands of kids and teachers in danger to save yourself from making a decision that is obvious to everyone except yourself. The fact that the public needs to enlighten you on the issues of children with special needs and disabilities is extremely ableist on all of your parts. You guys in the building cannot even consistently participate in wearing masks and keeping six feet apart. I watched as the cameras rolled after break while half of you had your masks hanging off your ears and the other half spoke closely with each other. The public speakers brushed past each other. in their

349seats, on their way to the microphone because it was the only available path. Six feet apart is not even possible in your building. You guys behind the bench may be willing to carelessly risk your lives and the lives of your families, but you guys have the choice. You're taking that choice away from these children by succumbing to the mandate. If you truly understand that opening up is unsafe, then be an example of what to do when ignorant people put political agendas above the safety of the people. Do better. Thank you. I yield my time. Thank you. Let's hear from the next caller. The next caller is Dawn Collingill. Ms. Collingill, thank you for calling. If you could start with your name and address, please. My name is Dawn Calantlo, and my address is 2407 North

350Hampton Avenue, Orlando, Florida. Go ahead. Okay. I want to take the emotion and the fear out of this. Because we really don't have the correct data to be informed of your decision, to really make an informed decision for you guys to safely return to the classroom. Even Dr. Burse the other day, she said that she can't speak to the percentage of children that are infected, and she doesn't know what that means to the schools that are willing to reopen. So her exact words were, our data is skewed originally to people with symptoms and then skewed to adults over 18. And as a parent, I know the reality is that a lot of children are staying home more because the adults are going out. They're going to public. And we're social distancing. Our children are not

351even able to be tested at the same rate of adults. And some of these children can't even go, even if they are sick, you can't go to just any site. You have to be over the age of 18. And that poses a problem as well. Then we have kids living in homes with parents that are testing positive. And because the parents are testing positive, the parents are just assuming that the kids are positive because they don't even want to deal with it and get them tested. So, again, our numbers are skewed. We also have contact tracing that is inefficient, and not everyone is even abiding by the quarantine guidelines. So you are contagious with this virus two days before showing symptoms. And some are so minor that these people just shrug it off. They feel

352tired and they think they just need to go take a nap. But that's not the case. They wind up having other symptoms later on down the road. So the contact tracing doesn't even begin until you get a positive result, which now takes over a week possibly to get a test, then another week to possibly get this positive result. And so you have people that are walking around not even knowing that they have been exposed, and they are still contagious because of that two-day period of being contagious before symptoms show. I'm not even talking about asymptomatic here. So right now, adults are even going into their jobs, and they're infected. and they don't even know. Or some are actually going to work knowing that they could possibly have been exposed. Being tested for COVID, not saying

353anything, got a test yesterday, shows up to work tomorrow. I know this is true because I work with a lot of small businesses as an HR consultant, and I am flawed how many people are actually doing this and then coming in and saying, well, I tested positive, but I showed up to work for three, four days before that while I was waiting for a result. To me, that makes no sense. And honestly, as a parent, how can I be ensured that sending a child to school with a parent that's willing to do that to their job, how is that going to work in a school environment when if their parents are going to school, the kids who are exposed could potentially be going to school and in the classroom? Let me just say quickly, COVID-19

354is not any different than any time. Ma'am, I'm sorry. Your time is up. Ma'am, your time is up. I apologize, but your time has been exceeded. Let's go to our next speaker. Our next speaker is Angela McCullen. Ms. McCullen, welcome, and thank you for calling. Can you start with your name and address? My name is Angela McCullen, 8720 Naughty Pond Lane, Orlando, Florida. I'm also part of OCPPTA as well. Some of the things I want to bring to the table is different from a lot. For pre-K and kindergarten, some of the teachers believe that we should bring in more teachers for those grade levels. and make those classes smaller so that if the schools do open back up or when they open back up with smaller classes they would be able to take better care

355of their students as a parent with two children in the dual language program at Little River Elementary which it goes from pre-k to second grade the digital learning last year was very critical and it was not easy being that I do not speak Spanish. I also have other kids that are in that same class that doesn't speak English. They came from Puerto Rico, and their parents do not speak English. So with having this program, it is a great opportunity for both sides of the spectrum. And with not being able for them to learn with their teachers properly, They're not going to take in what they need to and to be held up to the standards that they have to be held up for that dual language program that we have in place. But I've also

356talked to parents that are scared that if we don't open our schools, our kids are going to get really far behind because they've stated that their kids didn't learn like they should have with the digital learning. And I don't want to see our kids go backwards and not be on their grade level. And the reason I say this is because my 11th grade year in high school, a lot of students were on middle school grade level for reading. And this was before the No Child Left Behind was brought in a few years later. And even in this crisis, we still have to make sure that no child is left behind in the academic grade levels because it will hurt them in the long run. And with our kids being our biggest future, we have to

357make sure that everything is put into place. I mean, the digital learning, if that's what we end up having to do, then for certain programs. need to take place and we need to give more access for the parents to be allowed to be able to teach their kids better especially with the programs as far as the dual language and with other programs i mean our country I know a lot of the teachers said not to go back, and I'm not going to agree or disagree. Everybody has their opinion. But in our country, we have tested more people because we have more resources. Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Maria Hernandez. Ms. Hernandez, welcome, and go forward with your comments, please. Good afternoon. This is

358Maria Hernandez. As a parent and OCPS teacher, I worry about my daughter's health and any other student in our school district. I worry about my health as I fall under the at-risk category. I even worry about my fellow co-workers and their families, even if they're not at the at-risk category. It is evident how our state and district desperately want to reopen school as if we did not have any other means to make learning happen as we did during the last four and eight weeks of the 2019-2020 school year. Remember how in less than a week, our teachers made it happen. They once again rise. and they will write because they're capable of doing so, especially after the last semester. We're human beings, and we need to be provided with options on what is best for

359us as teachers right now. Teachers wouldn't be in this profession if they didn't love their profession, if they didn't love kids. We always want what is best for them and to look for their safety. making sure you're doing the same, make sure you're doing the same thing. It is a matter of understanding how much we really care and do something about it. We need to advocate for our children. I know many of you are parents, and I'm asking you to please be empathic and real when you send your kids back to school under these situations, school under these situations. As a teacher in a Title I school, Union Park Elementary, Where many of our students lack resources, I suggest providing each student with a device if needed. As these are learning resources, let's think of

360their well-being and welfare. Now let's reflect on this. God forbid a staff member or a student becomes sick. How can we guarantee others around them have not got exposed to COVID? Has the district thought of the consequences that will fall on them for not being proactive and fail on making a decision that will assure the students and staff welfare? How can you assure schools are following the six-feet protocols? It is hard enough to keep two students distant from each other. Imagine having an entire classroom. To conclude, I should not lay awake at night. Worrying about bringing home this virus to my family. Not only is my well-being affected, it is my family as well. Even though we all face We all know face-to-face is the ideal teaching. It is not in the best interest of

361some of our kids, and it is not in the best interest of our teachers right now. Let's rethink it. But more of all, I'm going to ask all of you to please let's show our teachers and students that we care about them. Let's be more than a school district. Let's be a family. Can we do that? Can we agree on doing that? Just for the benefit of our students. Thank you for your time. Ms. Fernandez, before you get off the phone, we need your name and address. I mean, we need your address, please. My address? Yes, please. 1214 Gottie's Drive, Orlando, Florida. This is Maria Fernandez. Thank you so much, Ms. Fernandez. Teacher and parent. Thank you, Ms. Fernandez. All right, let's go to our next caller. Our next caller is Kevin Sperenza. Mr. Sperenza,

362thank you for calling. Can you begin with your name and address and then move on with your comments? Thank you, sir. Kevin Speranza, 10911 Barberview Boulevard, Orlando, Florida. I am a five-year teacher at university. And firstly, I would like to make a suggestion regarding the face masks because they're going to be very difficult for students and for teachers. I would like you to take a look at doing the face shield. which can be strapped around the back of the neck and then it goes up, or you can take a face shield, hang it off of like a baseball cap and it hangs down. So that would be a whole lot less obtrusive and it would be more clear and it would be less claustrophobic and not impede the instruction or the receiving. So please take

363a look at that as an option to those that don't want to wear masks, myself included, because I have a breathing problem. Number two, unfortunately, this is political, and I applaud you for coming up with multiple options. However, because of the limited time I have, this will sound braggadocious, but I had one of the highest EOC scores last year, and I was about two grade levels above the FLVS scores for my EOC for my kids. The year before that, I was about one to one and a half grade levels or not grade levels, I'm sorry, grades. So average is a D, then my kids were at B. If the average was a C, my kids were at an A. So the point is we need to be in the school. I totally disagree with the

364fear that that's all I've heard for all day long. People keep saying, look at the data. Well, please do look at the data, because I have looked at the data. No one is talking about the average of over 500 under-18-year-olds that have died per year in the last two years from flu. Under-18 flu in the United States the last two years. Where was all the rage and the fear? So far on the CDC website, 21 deaths from COVID under 18. Follow the data. That is why we are going back to school, because the kids are the most resilient. I have five daughters. I have 90-year-old parents. We are good. We are strong. We do not fear. We need to be in school. The kids need to be in school. No one's talking about the abuse.

365No one is talking about the mental health. No one is talking about the kids that have committed suicide. Nobody's talking about all of these situations because the kids are at home. For many of these, school is their refuge and not online learning. School. They've got to be in the school. So please take steps to bring as many as we can back into the school. That is their safe haven. Thank you, sir. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Latasha Simmons. Ms. Simmons, welcome. If you can start with your name and address. Sure. My name is Latasha Simmons. I live at 2224 South Palmetto Lane in Orlando, Florida, 32828. And I just want to thank you for taking my call and listening to all of the calls that have dialed in. I am

366a proud parent of two students attending schools in Orlando, and I value education, but I also value my children's safety and health along with mine. My daughter will be a junior and is a participant in the IB program. University High School has a population of about 3,000 students. How can you properly and safely distance that many students? You cannot. I'm a parent with an underlying health condition that could prove fatal if I contracted COVID-19, but I want my daughter to have the opportunity to complete her program. I implore you to consider a remote option to ensure student safety and family safety as well. Unfortunately the IB program is not available via the Orange County Virtual School. Please provide an option that will allow my daughter to remain in the IB program while not compromising her

367health and potentially mine. Thank you for listening. Thank you ma'am. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Tama Parham. Welcome. If you can begin with your name and address please. Yes hello can you hear me? Yes I can. Okay, my name is Shannon Parham. My address is 7705 Covedale Drive, Orlando. First, I would like to say that I am a proud OCPS math teacher, and I have two children who are in OCPS. Thank you for this opportunity to speak. In considering my experience as an educator and a parent, I must say students can't and will not behave like trained soldiers. While social distancing guidelines look good on paper, We are forgetting that in a face-to-face setting, perform such behaviors as holding hands, sharing food, and hugging one another. It is natural for

368adolescents to have a desire to be affectionate towards their peers. Additionally, you must consider the less pleasant aspect of teaching, which is that some students have the propensity to rebel, especially in a face-to-face setting. As a math teacher, I say let's talk numbers first. Fortunately, in an environment too... some students to wear a mask, guidelines on top of other district policies. There has not been enough discussion on whether or not schools have free time again, I yield. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. We have our next caller. Our next caller is Tanisha Hawkins. Ms. Hawkins. Thank you for calling. Hi. Could you start with your name and address, Ms. Hawkins? Yes, good evening. My name is Tanisha Hawkins. I am a Winter Garden resident, 34787. Thank you for taking my call. Need a

369full address. I am currently in OCPS. Ms. Hawkins, I'm sorry, we need your full address. 3242 Irish Peak Drive, Winter Garden, Florida. Thank you. Thank you for taking my call. I am currently an OCPS instructor. I have been working in OCPS for 20 years. I'm also a mom of a rising 11th grader. I would like to share my questions and a few of my concerns. If a staff member tests positive for COVID-19, will we be required quarantine time? Will sick leave be covered? Will sick leave be paid? If an instructor has five classes a day with 30 students each, do all 150 of those students need to then stay home and quarantine for 14 days? Will OCPS require all 150 of those students now to get tested? How are parents going to be notified of

370this issue? Does everyone in each of those kids' families now need to get tested as well? What if someone who lives in the same house as an OCPS employee tests positive? How many days should that teacher take off of work to quarantine or that staff member in general to quarantine? Is that time off considered paid time off? Where is the district going to find substitute teachers? Substitute teachers, they teach in multiple schools. What if they are diagnosed with COVID-19? Do kids, staff in each school now have to quarantine and get tested? What if a student in a class tests positive? What if my child tests positive? Does every other student and teacher or staff member that they've been around now need to quarantine? How will we get notified if an infection is present in our

371schools? Because of the regulations, are parents and staff going to get mysterious emails to say that there is an infection, but we get no more notifications? What is this stress going to do to our staff? How does it affect their health and their well-being? How does it affect our ability to teach? How does it affect the quality of education we are able to provide? What is it going to do to our kids? What are the long-term effects of consistently being stressed out? As I speak to you now, my hands are shaking. How will it affect students and faculty when the first teacher in their school unfortunately passes away from COVID-19? The first parent of a student who may bring it home. I thank you for listening to my questions. I thank you for listening to

372my concerns this evening. I pray that you guys are able to make a sound decision in this very important matter. And I wish you all a great evening. Thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Tom Brazel. Mr. Bradley, welcome. And if you could please start with your name and address first. Thomas Brazel, 1147 Galway Boulevard, Hopkins, Florida. Good evening. I'm not sure if my or others' statements today will make any difference in your decision or if this is just plain lip service. But if I do not speak up, there is no chance that maybe it will. My son is currently enrolled at Orlando Gifted Academy, and therefore... enrolling him in virtual school is not an option and i do not support him returning to a brick and mortar

373school at this time either but i'm not going to try and give any more reasons as to why we shouldn't pause and acquire additional scientific information about how to control this pandemic before making these historic decisions now we have an executive order to open schools drawn to the blanket without thought for local needs and situations we are currently playing with our future generations instead of protecting them. What is wrong with us if we cannot be the one to speak up for those who can't? And conviction against what we know is unfair and dangerous. It is time to push back and take a stand for what is right and show that Americans are fighters for those that are unable to do it for themselves. It seems that the L.A. school district, the second largest in America,

374understands this by defying the Department of Education's return to school orders. I submit, if the governor's mansion and the White House are currently not open for public tours due to the COVID-19, why should the school system? As the saying goes, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I understand that the spring semester was thrown together in haste and has not. perfect but was designed to protect our students take this time to come up with a stronger online plan by delaying opening these are not normal times and innovation is needed and Americans always rise to the challenge I know that this is an exaggeration but if I were to put my child in a life-threatening or life-endangering situation I would be arrested and charged with child endangerment and neglect and possibly face prison

375time What is it called when the government and its different departments do that same thing? Lastly, if you choose to reopen, you may find many teachers calling, quote, sick. And then what do you do? If you choose to do the right thing with our public, we'll support and fight for you against our government if they decide to punish you. Thank you for your time. Have a good evening. Thank you, sir. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Ajay Ekenyemi. And I apologize for mispronouncing that. Sir, I'm not going to try to mispronounce it. So let me just welcome you to the call and ask you if you could give your name and address for the record. Yes, I'm Akim Yemi Ajay. I live at 9922 Lake Louise Drive, Windermere, Florida. I am

376a pediatric pulmonologist and a sleep disorder specialist, so I am a physician for children. I take care of lung diseases. I'm on for a couple of reasons. First of all, as a scientist and a physician, we need time. 200,000 Americans have died of a disease that we didn't even know existed six months ago. Do you know what that means, to have 200,000 people die from something we didn't even know existed six months ago? Ironically, in those six months, we have realized in the last month that a simple steroid that has been available for over 40 years actually helps in treating this disease, which means... Everyone that probably died between January and April had a chance of surviving if we had the time to learn and understand this disease before exposing our people to it. Pediatric

377multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which is in children, and it's a severe manifestation that can affect their heart, wasn't even described to April, four months after this disease came present. So we do not know what this disease will do to children. But children aside, as a physician, I take care of several people who live with their parents and grandparents. And grandparents, they live in multigenerational homes in downtown Orlando. These children, believe it or not, will get sick. These children will take this virus home to those parents. The kids may not get sick, but their parents will if they have pre-existing conditions, and they may die. Their grandparents will, and they may die. We need time. We need time to understand this disease. Let us be scientific about how we go about this. Oh, and by the way,

378face shields would make no difference. That's absolute rubbish. First of all, this is an airborne disease, and it's also an aerosol disease. As a physician, I would not go into a patient room wearing a face shield without a face mask. It's pointless. So please do not use face shields in place of face masks. That doesn't make any sense. I also want you to understand death is final, but we have time. As a physician, I cannot be okay with one person dying. I don't care if it's a kid or teacher, a parent, a grandparent. Nobody should die from this disease. And all we're asking for is time. We're actually learning how to treat it. But in kids, we really don't know what this disease is about yet. Parents have done an awesome job of protecting their

379children, keeping them home for months. We haven't even seen kids with common cold, asthma attacks or anything in our clinics the last few months because we understand that by their parents keeping them home, they kept them safe. When they start going back to school, we will learn what this virus really means to a child who has sickle cell disease, to a child who has chronic lung disease, to a child who has... Sir, I'm sorry, sir. Thank you. We really appreciate hearing from you, but the time is up. We need to move on to our next caller. Our next caller is Giselle. Hello. Hello. Thank you for calling. If you could start with your name and address, please. Yes, sure. My name is Giselle Munoz. I live at 14208 Queenside Street, Orlando, Florida, 32824. All right.

380So first, I just want to say thank you to each parent, teacher, and student who has called. This is amazing, the support that we're getting and the fact that the community is so aware of what is going on. So I want to thank each and every one of them. First, it's important to mention that me, we, my husband and I, are both teachers currently working for OCPS, and we are also parents to an OCPS student. Evidently, there is no doubt that the decision that you are all about to make is going to impact our lives and also the lives of maybe hundreds of other families that have two or more staff members in their families. Taking into consideration the recommendations that you have provided, we are concerned about the available options for families like ours

381where both parents are teachers. Clearly, we don't feel safe and comfortable sending our daughter to school, nor do we feel safe going back to work. It's important to mention that we already know the science information and the CDC recommendations. The only safe option for my whole family is distance learning. Out of these three options, the only one that takes us into consideration as parents is the virtual school option. But what does that mean for my husband and I as teachers? Facing this issue, we have an additional concern if schools were to open. What options do we as teachers have to simply feel safe while teaching our children? What opportunities will we have to get a position, say, at OCVS to continue to serve the community and educate our students? This means that depending on your

382decision, if we have to go back... thousands of teachers will have to look for online teaching jobs simply to be safe and do our jobs in a safe environment. I don't think that's fair. In addition to the stress already generated by all this, we all know because we've all heard each other, we will also need to change our jobs and professional settings, and we have about two or three weeks to do so. We understand the amount of pressure that you guys have right now, but you must make the right decision. You must remember this is not about politics. It is about the safety of our people, the safety of our community, and the safety of each person who voted for each and every one of you in these positions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

383Let's take our next caller. Our next caller is Jessica Andrade. Ms. Andrade, if you could start with your name and address, please. Hi, my name is Jessica Andrade. I live at 2101 Peter Garden Drive, 32824 Orlando, Florida. Ma'am, you can go ahead. All right. I would like to address the reopening of the OTCS schools and how unconsiderate all the lives involved in this would be and how unconsiderate that it's still a debate. I have seen the toll that COVID has taken on so many people's lives. Out of the eight people in my household, I am the highest risk. Having a history of asthma and lung failures, I am the one who has the most to lose if I don't attend school this upcoming semester. I have done four years of pre-ID and I'm coming junior

384into the IB program. If we IB kids do not attend school this fall, we do not only lose our spot in this amazing MAGNET program, but what alternative are we being given in order to stay and stay from home? As of right now, there are no other alternatives for us. I'm also a member of the CCHS band program, and I would like to know how a program with around 200 students is going to function. How do we play our instruments and make music with masks on? And that goes for all performing arts and sports classes as well. And that's just me and my story. Many teachers and staff have become role models to many of us students, and we will be risking all of these teachers and staff members' lives. This topic should not even

385be a debate right now. Oh, there are so many lives at stake. And there's so many important factors that just haven't been considered. Many younger kids are struggling to keep their masks on. My brother is five and will be starting school this fall. But he hates masks. And he probably wouldn't stand to wear them at school unless someone would be on top of him. He would be risking his health and his fellow peers' and teachers' health. I personally think that for the sake of all the lives at risk, we should do online school until further notice like we did last semester. I mean last four years, sorry. While we all miss being face-to-face, the risks outweigh every desire to see each other. I now forfeit my time. Thank you so much. We appreciate your call.

386Can we hear from our next speaker, please? Our next speaker is Angie Robinson. Hi, Ms. Robinson. Are you on the line? Hello, can you hear me? We can, Ms. Robinson. Would you give us your address for the record, please? It's 1340 Ramona Lane. Thank you. Go ahead with your comments. I'm the adult daughter of an elderly OCPS teacher with chronic health issues. I'm also a permanently disabled veteran currently undergoing chemotherapy, dependent on my mother, my small family member, for everything from bathing to housing. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would be forced to plead with people not to let my mother die. What are you going to tell the children you claim to care about? When they inevitably infected and kill their parents. What will you do for the children inevitably

387or by your decision? What message are you sending to those children when you send their teachers to slaughter? Those teachers who have given them so much, I've sent emails to many of you and you've applied that your hands are tied. That is bullshit and you know it quit your job protest. Nazi soldiers loading children into gas chambers for doing their jobs, and you will be known and remembered forever in the same regard. There will be a generation of orphans because of your cowardice. If my job required that I sit for hours while parents and children and community members begged me not to kill their loved ones, I would quit. What is wrong with you? I hope that hell can make room for all of you. And I hope that your families can bear the shame

388of their relation to you. I just, this is sick. It's sick. You've been sitting for hours while people beg you not to kill their children and their sisters and their brothers and their parents. People are begging you not to let their family members die, and you don't know what you're going to do? You can't make up your mind? This is a question? You claim to care about these children. Do you think children are sinking? They're going to know what's happening. They're going to see when their teacher dies and their principal dies and their nurses die. They're going to know, and they're going to know that this was an option, that people made the choice. Children who grow up in war see the sickness of the people committing these atrocities. And they will know who did

389it and who made this decision. And it will be you. And you will have to look in the eyes of your children and your families. And they are going to look at you and know what you did. And you are going to have to live with that for the rest of your life if you do this. Every single death is going to be on your hands. Thank you, Ms. Robinson. We appreciate your call. Can we have the next caller, please? Our next caller is Catherine Brewer. Hi, Ms. Brewer. You're on the line. Can you tell us your name and address for the record, please? I absolutely can. It's Catherine Brewer. Address is 8037 Laurel Drive in Arkansas, Florida. Go ahead with your comments, please. I would like to thank each and every one of you

390for allowing me the opportunity to come on and voice my opinion. In this prevalent time that we're in, We all know that COVID is a killer. And having you all allow us to come on and speak is just a big bond. Everyone has an opinion of how school is and should reopen it for this coming year. We've heard from the governor. We even heard from a doctor on the call, the parents, the education secretary, and the president. Everyone has a study and research to back up their claims. But unfortunately, how many of them really have classroom experience? We already know that the teachers that work for OCCS are overworked and they're underpaid. I am a parent that is all in. I'm on the PTA board. I volunteer wherever the teachers need me. I try to

391be there. At this point, it's like we're asking of them too much to come back into the classroom to try to teach our children and to also be a parent. We're saying our kids have what mental state will our kids be in, but we also have to take into consideration what mental state are the teachers in. They're having to worry about delivering the curriculum to our children to learn, but then they're mentally in the back of their mind stating, well, I may have someone in this class that's infected, and then I'll get taken home to my family. I could I'm considering the innovative option hopefully you guys and I carefully you guys pass it because that's the option that I'm choosing to take at this time like the doctor stated that was on before me

392he said we need time we don't know if our children can contract it but studies have shown that children the youngest one that I've seen that has passed away was seven years old And I don't think it's fair for us to put our children out there, our teachers out there, the principals, you guys, because I've seen it and been in the schools and have seen you guys come and show up to events that we have supporting us. I don't want you guys to fall into that realm either. So I'm not only looking out for my child, I'm looking out for the well-being of you guys because at the end of the day, our educators are the ones that are teaching our children and have them there for the majority of that time. So at this

393time, I pray that you make the right decision. And in order to know better, in order to do better, you have to know better. So please take into consideration you're putting a lot of people's lives at risk. And I don't want it to reflect and come back on you guys if something fatal happens that it was left in your hands. I'm using my time, and thanks for the opportunity to speak. Thank you so much. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Jordan Villepa. Thank you. If you can give your name and address, please. Yes, can you hear me? Yes, we can. Can you give your name and address and then your comments? Thank you. Yes, my name is... My name is Jordan Diabatamohan. I live at 8216 Tranquility Way, Windermere, Florida. I'm

394a fourth-year teacher with OCPS High School. At the moment, I'm pregnant, and my due date is actually the very first week of school. I've been quarantined since March, and I've left my house only to attend doctor's appointments for my pregnancy. I love my job. During distance learning, I spend a lot of time reaching out to my students. to my children to make sure they were okay mentally. I worked hard to provide a seamless experience for them to continue learning. I live streamed and recorded lessons with them and worked with them one-on-one when possible. I spent hours texting and calling students and checking in with them. With that said, I'm terrified. I'm afraid to return to my classroom and bring back the virus to my unborn child or even later when I have to return after

395my unpaid maternity leave when she is born. A previous caller said a six-month-old was in the ICU. Will this be my daughter? Because I have no choice but to return to the classroom. I am more than happy to live stream daily. I'll work eight hours. I'll work 10 hours. I'll work 24 hours a day at the same pay that I already get. That means that my child is not put in danger. I want to work, but I want to do so safely. And I don't feel like our classrooms are safe. We have overcrowding in schools. I know for a fact that we have one in my school. And there is no possibility of social distancing. We are underfunded and cannot guarantee access to all safety equipment or compliance with health guidelines. I had to ask

396my students before we went on quarantine in March to bring in hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes and other cleaning products to ensure that we had enough to clean. I understand some teachers and students want to return to the classroom. I get it. I don't want to take their choice away. So I'm asking you, please don't take mine. I implore the school board at the very least to allow at-risk teachers the options to teach via distance learning. And with that, I yield my time. Thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Jalissia Bell. Ms. Bell, welcome. And if you could start with your name and address, please. hi my name is jalecia bell i reside at 101 lee road orlando florida 32810 um i am a product of the otps

397public school system and my son is currently within the otps system i've had the pleasure of working with school officials who have helped me go to college and put me and push me beyond my limits That's opened the door of opportunity for me and my son, for me and I hope the same for my son. However, under this current leadership, I am disheartened, disappointed, and furious at the callousness, the lack of courage, and the fits of language this leadership has displayed towards teachers, students, and the community alike. One, parents will be willing to send their children to school to accommodate their work schedule. The lack of support may cause parents to send children to school with COVID. This puts school officials, those who are actively on campus, students in the community at risk for infection.

398No solid plan has been mentioned that perspective ideas from people who are far removed from the community who is set to serve. Number two, Dr. Pino advised that in-person graduation should be canceled due to high COVID numbers. Yet a month later, we are recommending reconvening schools where children will be in close proximity for long periods of time. Please make it make sense. because this looks like incompetence and in my time of being engaged with ocps under dr lebriggid williams and kat gordon they have always led this community with integrity and grace keeping the best interests of students teachers and parents as well as the community in mind what has happened Three, reconvening in person perpetuates a sick cycle. The cycle results to children who may have been exposed by others, as you cannot manage all

399of the positive reports, as there are some people who are asymptomatic. They're bringing COVID home to their parents. What about those who are, who don't, who are not displaying symptoms? I haven't heard this term really mentioned yet. Number four, many of the sanitation practices you're suggesting doesn't seem enough. washing hands before lunch and after lunch as the superintendent said is not our students not touching anything else throughout the day sanitizer is a support not a substitute moreover what implications will this have on your custodial staff for intricate vessels and maintaining cleanliness is there an increase in pay for them number five chair you advise that the masks are a reality and that parents and students are going to have to deal with it if adults were not able to understand what you were saying at

400the onset of the board meeting what makes you think their children will understand what it is that their teachers are saying and they already struggle in an active environment. The statement was touted and showed how you don't positively represent what the parents, teachers, and staff are saying alike. Education and degrees are only a component of competency. I have multiple degrees. However, it is the common sense factor that is missing. Where is it? My hope is that someone who is not as talented is not reelected into this position. We need leadership, and unfortunately, the silent responses that I've heard for the seven-plus hours that I've been on hold does not show that. Number six, this is a war on low-income communities. Time, ma'am. Ma'am, time. Thank you. Thank you. I did agree at the beginning that

401I wouldn't respond to comments at the request of one of our board members, but I do want to clarify for anybody who's listening, the reason the board members have not responded to any of the comments is that we have agreed to be respectful and listen to all comments in the interest of the public's time. We will be responding later. Let's go to our next caller. Our next caller is Latha Hara Roy. I apologize. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Could you give your name and address at the beginning of your remarks? Thank you. Lazaria Wright, 1242 Morning Miss Lane, 32819. My name is Lazaria Wright. I'm a student at Dr. Phillips High School. I'm also a member of the student government. I'm very confused why people are being sent for making tough

402decisions because this shouldn't even be up for discussion. It really upsets me to know that adults are willing to risk our lives for political gain. During this pandemic, I have kept in contact with many of my friends and classmates who have stated that they are scared to return back to school in these conditions. I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am, but I am willing to risk it all if it is going to cause me to risk my life and the lives of my family. What limits a high school diploma if I am not here to reap the rewards? There are over 4,000 kids enrolled at my school, and I honestly do not think that it is possible to social distance. My younger brother is in kindergarten, and I know that he

403will not keep on a mask for several hours. And I don't know how his teacher can keep him from hugging his friends who he hasn't seen in four months. Just remember that this is really killing people. I yield my time. Thank you so much. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Shea Raquel Russell. Ms. Raquel, if you're on the line, go ahead with your comments when you're ready, but give your name and address first. Yes, hi. My name is Shea Raquel Russell, and my address is 807 Apricot Drive in Ocoee. Thank you for... giving the public an opportunity to be able to speak on this matter. For me personally, I would hope that you guys, you know, not even extend the mandate for schools to do this face-to-face. It's irresponsible. I don't

404think it's the smart decision for anybody in any of your positions to make because, you know, at this point you guys are putting the lives of our children at risk. People are dying from this disease and nobody knows how to stop it besides telling us to stay away from crowds, keep our hands clean, you know, wash our hands and keep a face mask on. That's, you know, that's solving the problem momentarily, but six months down the line, what's going to be the result if we open up schools and let our kids into... enclosed spaces where the air is recirculating and kids touch the walls and they touch their face without realizing it and you know they're tying their shoe but they don't realize that their shoes are on the ground so they could be carrying

405germs and god knows what so i i beg you guys to take a more detailed look at the situation that the entire world is facing florida is in a handful of states that are rising. Everybody else in the world, their cases are going down while our cases are skyrocketing beyond belief. And, you know, with everything going on in the world right now, having kids at the forefront in schools, having to learn in the classroom, it is irresponsible without a doubt. Nobody should have to think about it. Nobody should have to second guess. This idea of bringing our kids back into the schools, you know, as a born and raised Orlando citizen, I beg you guys and I expect you guys to, you know, make the right choice and, you know, do what you got to

406do. Your kids are at risk. My kids are at risk. I don't want, you know. them to be exposed to something and not realize that the simple things that they're doing to avoid the problem like washing their hands and not touching their face are the are those are the things that jeopardize their health the most because they are they don't realize that they're doing it you know just keeping everything clean It's not enough. This thing is killing us. It is killing us. And if you get these kids back into the classroom, you are giving them a death sentence that they have no choice but to take. And, you know, at this point, I don't really have much other than that to say. So, you know, I just beg you guys to just make the right

407decision. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Before we take the next caller, we are at about the two-hour mark since we've come back. Can I get a check on how many callers we have still on the line so that we can make a decision whether to... I think it's eight, nine. That's what I thought. I've counted. I think that we've got 30, so we have another 30 minutes. So shall we take a break, board members? We have 30 minutes left, about. Member Bird is good. Member Castrodano, you're good. Member Gallows, okay. Okay, I've got the green light from everyone who's in the chambers here to proceed forward. We should have about another 30 minutes. And then just for our callers to know, we will take a break before we come back and the board deliberates.

408And I've got an updated number. It's 6. Madam Chair, may I give my voice on that, please? I'm still out here in La La Land. Of course you can, Dr. Gordon. The only reason I didn't hear this. I just ask, please don't forget that we are here. Nobody checks to see if we are back in the queue and even when we get kicked out of the queue. But I know you do the chambers, but I guess, Pam, is it Vice Chair Gould and myself? Are we the only two? Yes, you're the only two. That had to stay out of that building? Yes, you're the only two that are not here. Yeah, okay. Well, don't forget that. I know she texted you, but I don't have anybody to text, okay? I just do John, and that's

409the best I could do because nobody's trying to keep up. And I'm keeping up with everybody there, okay? I have every speaker, the time they spoke and how long they spoke. So what was the question you asked? Because I don't remember. Dr. Gordon, to be clear, Member Gould is not texting me. I would be very upset if anybody texts me. So everybody's texts are going to John. I asked about whether or not we needed to take a break. And the reason that I didn't ask you and Member Gould is because I know from being home that you can get up and stretch and you can get up and walk around. You can take the phone with you. So it's just about whether or not we're going to take a break. That's what I was asking

410the board members. Well, do I get to vote on that? Yes. We're not actually voting. You've got to come home. Ma'am, I don't leave my seat. I'm multitasking here. I don't get up to even go okay to the bathroom like you guys do because when you get up and go, I'm still writing and I'm still talking to parents or whoever texts me to say they got kicked out of the queue or whatever. I have a line of communication and any of the people that's coming and calling can tell you that. That's how you're getting a lot of your speakers. so i'm just asking you to be respectful and remember all right let's take a let's take a let's take a vote then um dr gordon let's that's a good idea let's take a vote so

411uh member gallo the question um that i have is shall we proceed forward with the remainder six speakers and then take a break member gallo yes please remember lopez yes please remember cobert yes vice chair gould yes Your pleasure, Madam Chair. I'd just like to be asked. Okay, no problem. Your pleasure. Okay, so you're okay if we go forward? You called it. You called it. It's your pleasure. I'd just like to give my little input. Okay. I am important. I know you're important. Dr. Castrodano? Yes. member bird yes okay so we'll we'll move forward so that our six speakers that have been on the line for quite a few hours now can conclude their remarks then we'll take a break and then we'll come back let's go to our next speaker our next speaker is

412rachel gunson miss gunson thank you for your patience if you could start with your name and address how are you very good how are you um Good. Rachel Benson, 6400 Cropping Street in Winter Garden, Florida. 34787. Go ahead with your remarks. Okay. I'm actually calling on a, I guess I'm on the different side of the spectrum. I'm a single mom of three. And when our schools were forced to close in March, I understand everyone was scared. And I understand that we had to close. And distance learning for my middle child was okay. She got it. She missed school. Distance learning for my youngest, who is severe ADHD. could not keep up with Zoom lessons. And he's very, very smart. And I'm so thankful that he was on top of it. And I helped him as

413best as I could. But I am not educated, you know, in that field in order to teach him the basics of the rest of that. And he passed kindergarten. And now he's going into first grade. And I need school to be open for my children for social reasons. I am a single mom and I have to go back to work. I'm back to work now. I pay for a sitter, but I can't rely on the sitter who's actually going back to school. What's going to happen after that? Everyone says that they can't have these schools open, but what about us for the families that have to work? And who's going to pay my bills? Unemployment is running out. There is nothing left for unemployment, and there's no guarantee that we are going to get another

414stretch of unemployment. My kids do best with structure, and the structure of going to school helps them. And it takes them away from this little piece of world that what is going on. They need to go back to school. and I am all for optional masks. And I know I get a lot of heat with it, but, you know, I think it's a personal choice. And I get where they're needed, but I also get where my 6-year-old is not going to be able to keep one on. And if his whole day... is going to be spent on focusing on keeping it on, then we need to reevaluate that as well. He goes to school to learn, and that is why he's in school. We take risks every day coming out of our house. I take

415risks every day going to work now at a very popular theme park, but I do it because I love it, and I have no other choice right now. Unless someone else is going to pay my bills, it's who's going to pay my rent. I don't have that. I need the kids to go back to school. We need some sense of normalcy back, you know? And I get the teachers are scared. I get it. We all are scared. But this is the next step in hopefully getting some normalcy back in our future. And I am just the other side of the spectrum today. I know you guys have heard a lot of not opening. We need the schools open. Oh, we need a choice. to have these schools open. My kids need to go to school.

416So I thank you. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Ladara Royal. Ms. Royal, I appreciate you calling. If you can start with your name and address. Ladara Royal, 4712 South Rio Grande Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 32839. To the honorable members of the Orange County Public School Board and Superintendent Jenkins. We, the members of the Instructional Unit of Orange County Public Schools, have been doing a great deal for the sake of educating our students. We have been cursed at, attacked, taken advantage of, mishandled emotionally and mentally drained. We have paid for school lunches out of our own pocket, bought extra groceries so we can bring them to our classrooms and offices so our students will have extra to eat. We have spent what we have and what we did not have

417so our students can attend the field trips. Yet through all this, we continue to show up day after day. Why? Because of the love we have for our students, our school district, and ultimately our community. As educators, we put ourselves on the front line for so many things. We make so many sacrifices. But being a possible martyr should never be one of them. Years ago, completing my degree in education, I would have never imagined. the answering the divine call of being an educator could one day place my life in jeopardy. As a former history teacher having taught U.S. history, American government, and political science, I often inform my students that the duty of the elected officials is to do what is right and what is good for the community. Now this evening, we call on

418each and last one of you to do what is right. Opening schools at 100% capacity will not only disenfranchise our elderly teachers and our teachers with various health risks, such as myself, but it will negatively impact our ESE, Black and Brown students and teachers as well. On the board members, I assume you noticed that Black student lives matter. Hispanic student lives matter. ESE student lives matter. Black teachers' lives matter. Hispanic teachers' lives matter. And most of all, all students' lives matter. And all teachers' lives matter. I submit to you that doing what is right will not always make you the most popular or even the most liked. It may even leave you standing all by yourself. Righteousness, if you will, is the character of one who consistently... does the right thing at all times. And

419righteousness is only suited for those who dare to serve on a higher moral and ethical ground. So then, let me address what is the right thing to do. At this time, at least until January, virtual learning shall be the only option. And if you see fit that we must go back on school campuses, we must adhere to guidelines. Certainly school courtyards and cafeterias should never be used as that be sure. Time sir. I pray for each last one of you and I pray that God would give you the grace to make the most honorable decision. Thank you sir. Let's take our next speaker. Our next speaker is Natasha Castrillo. Thank you. Welcome and if you could start with your name and address please. Hi, firstly, I just wanted to say that my friend called about

420the resolution condemning racism and affirming the district's commitment to an inclusive school environment for all, but apparently that wasn't a topic that we could talk about. I'm sorry, if that's what you're calling about, we're certainly welcome to hear your comments, please. We need name and address. Okay. If you can give your name and address. My name is Natasha. My name is Natasha Castillo. I live in 10248 Dillon Street, Orlando, Florida, 32825. Okay. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Natasha, and I'm a 17-year-old student at this university high school, and I run the LGBTQ OCPS Stories account, where I give a voice to queer kids that are unable to speak up for themselves due to the systems put in place by you, the school board. Reading the 100-plus stories that were sent in

421for you to share can be described in two words, absolutely horrifying. The amount of people saying that they were sexually assaulted, beat up, bullied, and attacked, and so that our administrators could not or refused. to do anything was astronomical. It was almost every single one, whether it be a female student getting sexually harassed just for an administrator to brush it off and say boys will be boys, or for a transgender woman to get beat up to the point where she had to switch to online school and administrators won't do anything about it because it's within their, quote, religious rights. This has to stop. Students and teachers need to start being held accountable. There's absolutely no reason why we queer students should have to go to school where we are supposed to feel safe. And here

422people call us slurs from every corner and administrators just turn a blind eye. It's actually very interesting to me that as a student I will get in more trouble for saying one curse word but not for constantly saying racial or queerphobic slurs. That has to change. I should not be afraid to go to the bathroom because I don't know if any boys are going to sexually assault me or beat me up for being trans. Women should not be told by teachers and students that their queerness is invalid because they haven't found the right guy yet. Black and brown kids should not have to argue with their white teacher on whether or not the teacher can or can't say racial slurs on the basis that it's in a piece of literature. These are all from stories

423I've had to read and share. What do we do about this? We need to start holding students and teachers accountable. Using racial and queerphobic slurs should be considered a level one to two offense, and teachers that use slurs should be written up. There should be a gender-neutral bathroom at every school, just like a family bathroom at a Target or Walmart, so that we can eliminate the irrational fear of trans people using their preferred bathrooms. Students that assault other students because they are queer or because they are a person of color should be expelled. That is considered a hate crime outside of school, so it should be treated like it inside of school. Queer and black history should be taught as well. If you educate ignorant people, they start becoming less ignorant and may possibly do

424their part to educate others. Books that teach students about racism without using racial slurs should replace the books we have today, or you should start punishing teachers that use these slurs in the name of education. Sexual assault allegations need to start being taken seriously. Although you all on the board might be thinking sexual assault allegations are taken seriously as a student, let me tell you that is the opposite. We've all seen the coming-of-age movies where a student gets sexually assaulted but nothing is done about it because the assailant is popular, whether it be because of financial status or because of their athletic status. For example, a star quarterback. I can testify that that is true. All in all, I know we can't make change in a day, but if you truly care more about the

425students you were elected to protect and take care of more than the check you get thanks to our taxpaying parents, I suggest you take note of the things I said today so we can make OCPS a better place. I yield my time. Thank you. Let's hear from our next caller. Our next caller is Joshua Soper. Welcome, sir. If you can start with your name and address, please. Hi there. This is Joshua Soper. My address is 8314 Banyan Boulevard, Orlando, Florida. And what I'd like to tell you about today is I'm a mechanical engineer, and I have a Six Sigma black belt, and I have done design of ventilation systems for military bases. Most of those military bases have closed to letting people walk into the bases because of the COVID virus. It's airborne. Most of

426our ventilation system is currently inadequate. It could be made adequate. A simple test with banana oil in one classroom, releasing it, could test whether it gets all the classrooms. Maths only work if both people have them on. If one person has it and they exhale and it gets into ventilation, that school is contaminated using a lost letter method, which is where you drop a... mail on the ground and it manages to get to people is how these viruses work it's in that airstream if it gets in a kid it gets to the family so every single classroom is at risk from one kid so we need to do these simple tests i would motion or recommend motioning that you guys delay doing anything other than sending the launch head model up to the governor test

427the schools and figure out if it's safe to open them and then figure out what needs to be done to make them safe to open instead of exposing all these kids. My sister's family all has COVID. This was my brother-in-law thinking it was safe to walk in a server room where there's absolutely nobody there, where there's recirculated air. He pulled his mask off just for a second and got it. And now all the kids are sick. That's how it's going to work is one sick person exhales, it gets into the air stream. We just have dust filters in our ventilation and everybody's down. If you wanted to, I can come get some banana oil, come in with my full face respirator, put people in classrooms, get some banana oil sprayed in the air, and we

428could test the classrooms and see if it's safe. And that's my little presentation. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. All right, let's hear from our next caller. You're welcome. Thank you. Take care. Our next caller is Martha Artuna. Hello? Ms. Artuna, welcome. Thank you. If you can start with your name and address, and thank you for calling. Yes, my name is Martha Antunes, 177 Creekside Way, Orlando, Florida, 32824. I have four children in the system, a fourth grader, seventh grader, eighth grader, and ninth grader. Business learning was not a walk in the park, but for my children's safety and for my safety and the safety of our faculty and staff, I'm willing to put on those big pants and take on this LaunchEd option that I would love for you guys to get approved as

429we can still keep that sense of family with our teachers and my children's peers. And everybody has a choice, but I want my kids to, my choice is to keep my kids healthy. I'm tired of hearing people dying close to me from COVID. It doesn't discriminate anybody, no matter where you're from, what language you speak. It's going to get you. So please help us. I mean, if you can approve this long chat. keep us connected with our teachers, with my kids can keep connected with their peers. And most likely, I just want to keep my kids alive. I care for my community. But being in the hotspot, I see a lot of negligence of people not wearing their mask. So the example should be set at home. It can't be expected for teachers to give

430this other task. So on top of everything else, our teachers are not babysitters. Parents need to teach their kids basic skills that, as of right now, there's kids that are disrespectful to their teachers who don't want to listen. What makes you think they're going to listen to keep their mask on or to stay away from other peers? So instead of giving the teachers no option in this, yet giving them all the responsibility, I need you guys to start with the parents, the parents who don't even take their kids to school, more or less teach them. virtually or even help with the homework if the kids were to return to school. So again, it's my only choice for my kids and I would love for this LaunchHead program to be part of at least a semester.

431I'd rather have my kids safe and well rather than planning a funeral that no government official, no one is going to help me pay for. I have four children. It's not easy, but you guys need to help us. I mean, no, I can't stress it enough, just like all the other parents have said it. On the news today, Leesburg Elementary has had a child in the summer camp test positive for coronavirus, a summer program. What's going to happen when you guys open, even the 31st of August? What's going to happen? If that can't be contained with the summer program? Time, ma'am. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. All right, let's hear from what I believe is our last caller. Two more callers? All right, that's not six, but that's fine. Let's hear from our next

432caller. Our next caller is Helene Leonidas. Welcome. Hello. Hello. If you could give your name and address for the record, and thanks for calling. Yes, my name is Helene Leonidas. My address is 3343 Bellingham Drive, Orlando, Florida, 32825. Go ahead. I am a mother of an eight-year-old girl with Down syndrome, as well as asthma and a heart defect, and a four-year-old with no preconditions. I have been urged by our healthcare professionals to keep her home this fall semester. I have had multiple appointments with our pulmonologist virtually, and he has urged us to not. to not expose her to anybody, even if they're following the proper procedures. I am thankful to be privileged to be able to stay home and help my children with their school activities. Even though it was hard and exhausting, the transition

433we had on March when the crisis started, we managed and some goals were met as well as... I'm sorry, I got lost. As we sit here listening to this plan to reopen our schools, I was praying and hoping that considerations will be taken for our children with IEPs. But sadly, that is not happening. You cannot expect for children unless... likely for children with special needs to see through to sit through a normal school schedule in front of a computer. It is not only impossible but it's also unhealthy for them. Our teachers did such an amazing job teaching from home. The kids had interaction with their peers as well as their teachers. The children had small group times that met their needs according to their grade level. Their needs There needs to be more consideration on

434these rules for our kids that have a short time span attention. We also need to take into consideration for For parents that have multiple children at a young age, which requires them to have to sit with each of them during instruction time, how is one parent supposed to sit with two or more children at the same time during their instruction if we are supposed to do the regular school hours that... They're used to. We also need to take into consideration our teachers. As all families have their own situations and health needs, there is no safe way to reopen school buildings yet. Where we... I'm sorry, I'm lost. There's no safe way to reopen school buildings where we parents or teachers or staff can be assured their safety. Please give our children with IEPs a chance

435to succeed and to make the beginning of their school year a fun and safe one instead of a stressful beginning. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Let's hear from our next caller. Our last caller is Dania Davey. welcome miss daisy if if you could give your name and address before your comments thank you for calling good evening yes thank you my name is dania davey 3210 pixar street orlando florida We made it to the end. I can't believe I'm the last person, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity to speak. I attended Washington Shores Elementary School and Piedmont Lakes Middle School. Based on the high-quality educational foundation I received, I went on to obtain my bachelor's in community health from Brown University and my JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.

436In all humility, I consider myself an OCPS success story. In continuing that proud tradition, my daughter is enrolled in the first grade at OCPS, where I'm an active member of the PPA and a regular volunteer. I fully believe in OCPS. I asked my daughter if she wants to return to campus, and she said, do you find me so annoying that you want me to risk my life? All jokes aside, I recognize I'm raising a future community leader, and I value her opinion. As a result, I will not be sending my child to campus in the fall. I participated in the OCVS elementary info session and was disheartened to learn that there are currently only two teachers at the elementary level. I'm sure this will be scaled up based on demand, but I do not feel

437confident this will adequately occur in the short weeks ahead. I have reviewed the LAUNCH-ED resources available on the OCPS website and based on my working from home combination homeschool in the spring, I am pretty sure my child will not be able to sit in front of her iPad or laptop for six consecutive hours. I ask you to please reevaluate the proposed LAUNCH-ED to accommodate young children with working parents. Please allow it to more closely resemble some of the flexibility afforded by the OCPS model. Please do not force me to make the difficult decision of removing my child from OCPS as homeschooling currently appears the only responsible choice for my family at this time. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right, that concludes our public comments. We are going to take, each time I've said

43810 minutes, it has taken the board a little bit longer to get back, sometimes for technical reasons. Do you want to take a 15-minute break? Let me just declare it. We're taking a 15-minute break. If you guys object, speak up. But let's affirm we have to be back here in the room sitting, and I'm gaveling at 8.15, okay? Welcome back everyone. Thank you for all the callers that called in. We're gonna take board comments in just a minute. I wanted to start by asking Dr. Jenkins, because we have been in comments for hours, just to make sure that we're all clear about really what is in front of the board for action today. and what is at risk. So Dr. Jenkins, let me turn to you first. Thank you, Madam Chair. Briefly, anyone who wants

439to go back and watch the opening comments, they certainly are more extensive. I have to share with you a couple of things. First, there were 123 speakers, we believe, when we combined those that were online and those that were in the chambers. Board has 212,000 students, 25,000 employees, 14,000 teachers, and so we have to keep things in perspective. It's a huge decision, huge impact. I want to thank the board for patiently listening to those 123 speakers. I have listed 26 questions that we are going to add to our FAQ for parents and FAQ for... Teachers and staff, I will tell you there's extensive information there about what happens with employees when they, should they have a positive test. A lot of the questions around what happens with information and contact tracing, essentially, that is done

440in coordination with the Florida Department of Health. And I would like to say for our IEP, our students with special needs, some of the assurances we have to provide to the state in the document that we shared. that is actually also now posted online include assurances that you're going to take care of in your face-to-face and in your innovative plan that you're going to take care of those issues like homeless children, foster care children, children with disabilities, and English language learners, as well as our students who have families struggling with poverty issues. Those assurances pretty much entail what school districts are supposed to do anyway. I have to provide those assurances to the state that in this... error, we would do the same thing. So again, the emergency order from the commissioner really moves out

441of your purview approving a face-to-face absent. Any additional advice or order from the Florida Department of Health or local departments of health and executive order 2149 and subsequent executive orders, that is an expectation. If you did nothing, you would only be able to offer face-to-face and your Florida virtual school slash OCBS because those are already in place and expected. What I've asked the board to consider, and actually the title on the document says Florida's Optional Innovative Reopening Plan. That's what the state template actually refers to it as. I mentioned I have to give assurances that we're going to do certain things that are expected of a school system for serving all of your populations. I have to indicate when we're going to start our face-to-face brick-and-mortar, as they prefer to call it. I have to

442indicate our start date, which we've pushed back about nine days, nearly two weeks. But I have to give detail. What I'm really looking to the board for is some agreement that the detail we're providing for that option, the innovative option, the launch ed option, is in agreement with the board. Now, there are differing opinions whether or not the board even has to give agreement to that part. We are partners in leadership for this district. I want the board's agreement that that third option is something that we would go forward with. I believe it gives additional options to our teachers and quite frankly this is the option I'd like to encourage as many families as possible select. It will help limit the number of children that may have to come to the school setting, and it

443will give more options to our teachers. I would encourage every parent who can possibly make this selection to certainly consider it. The OCVS option as well helps those numbers. And so what it's going to boil down to is parent choice. driving what we're able to offer to our teachers. So encourage folks to look very closely at the information we provided for the OCPS LaunchEd at home. As you recall, a question came up about this. In general, the state requirements are that that LaunchEd, that innovation model, has to mirror what your face-to-face model actually has in place for your students. encourage folks to take another look at that and consider that. What I'll be looking for from the board is whether or not we can submit our innovative, our third possible choice for our parents. Once

444we get past that, again, that'd be an opportunity for parents to start registering for their selection and for us to start helping our teachers, our staff, get into those slots that are created based on demand. And that's by design what the state has required us to do. I also wanted to take just a moment for our general counsel present here today, associate general counsel, to talk briefly about the repercussions. Should there be this notion that you stand up against Tallahassee, the governor, the commissioner, and refuse what the emergency order called for, I've asked him to just share. briefly because there are financial considerations as well. I want him to share that with you briefly. But again, I am not asking nor is it required for the board to make an approval about a face-to-face. I

445need your support for that third option, the innovation option that does not currently exist. Mr. Pomerini. Thank you, Madam Superintendent. Good evening, members of the board. You know, I just need to give you the advice about where we are, and we did that briefly last week, but I just want to remind the board of the situation we're in with respect to following the order, the emergency order that came out. And I've communicated with a great many of you over the last week, but I think it's instructive to hear, for the public to also hear where... the state of the law is and what we've been providing you. So under Article 9, Section 2 of the Florida Constitution, it says, the State Board of Education shall be a body corporate and have such supervision of the

446system of free public education as is provided by law. So that provision says that the State Board of Education supervises the system of education in Florida. That provision also says the State Board of Education shall appoint the Commissioner of Education. So you start from that starting point under the Constitution. And then the courts have weighed in on the supervisory responsibility of the State Board of Education, the Commissioner of Education. It's a case called School Board of Palm Beach County versus Florida Charter Education Foundation, and it's a case from 2017. And the court said very clearly as follows. The Florida Constitution therefore creates a hierarchy under which a school board has local control, but the state board supervises the system as a whole. This broader supervisory authority may at times infringe on a school board's local

447powers, but such infringement is expressly contemplated. and in fact encouraged by the very nature of supervision by the Florida Constitution. That case is from the 4th DCA down in West Palm Beach. The Florida Supreme Court declined to review it and left it in place. We also have a case out of the 5th District Court of Appeals, but as a reminder, that's in Daytona Beach, and we are directly governed by that District Court of Appeals. It's called School Board of Volusia County v. Academies of Excellence. It says, furthermore, under the Constitution of Florida, while the school board shall operate, control, and supervise all free public schools within their district, the State Board of Education has supervision over the system of free public education as provided by law. So you take those constitutional provisions, those constitutional rulings,

448then we also have the Florida statute that gives emergency powers to the Commissioner of Education. That statute is 1001.10, subsection 8. and it says in the event of an emergency situation the commissioner may coordinate through the most appropriate means of communication with local school districts to assess the need for resources and assistance to enable each school institution excuse me, institution or satellite office the ability to reopen as soon as possible as considering the health, safety, and welfare of students. So the commissioner has been given emergency powers by the legislature in order to ensure that schools reopen as soon as possible. So we have all of those. things coming around with with respect to the constitution and the statutory basis for the commissioner's emergency authority the other things we have to remind with this is obviously

449a reminder from last week there are provisions in florida statute that requires both this school board and the superintendent to ensure that they are in compliance with law. So 1,142.15 says that the school board shall require that all laws and rules of the State Board of Education or of the district school board are properly enforced. So even if this board were to direct that schools would not open tonight, if that was going to be on the agenda, the superintendent would still have the requirement under Florida law to... follow not only the statutes but the directives of the State Board of Education and that's in 1151 subsection 14 which says the superintendent shall require that all laws and rules of the State Board of Education as well as supplementary rules of the district school board are

450properly observed so the school board has to follow the laws and the rules of the State Board of Education the superintendent has to do so as well there are consequences if that does not occur so a couple things one we talked about the removal from office last time potential that is there that's obviously an option the second is If the school board refuses to open up schools, they could be in line for a loss of funding. The state could say, you are violating our order, and we are therefore not going to fund your operations. And I will use this as an example for those of you who were on the board in 2014, and most of you weren't, but you followed this, I am sure. The Lee County School Board in 2014 decided, had a

451vote, and said, we're going to opt out of state testing. Okay, and the Department of Education came back and said if you do that There are potential things and remedies that we will take that includes a loss of funding That includes potential removal from office by those school board members who are not enforcing state testing. So that has been an option that has been taken before. The other thing that came up tonight, we heard a lot about ESE students. And as you all certainly are aware, but members of the public may not be aware, most of our ESE funding comes from... federal government IDEA the individuals with disabilities Education Act and we get federal funding for that and of course we have seen that tweets from the president United States have said if schools don't

452open we will withdraw federal funding so there is a possibility you know that tweets not an official policy this point but it could become one that if we don't open we could jeopardize the federal funding we need to educate our students with disabilities so I wanted to give that overview I have no pleasure in giving that overview let me just be clear about that you know I'm not here to talk about the propriety of emergency orders or tweets I'm just telling you potential consequences that could occur to the extent that we don't open schools so You all are board members, and you all get to make policy choices, but it is my duty as the lawyer here tonight to make sure that you all are aware of the potential consequences if you go down the

453roads as suggested by some of the callers tonight. I would end, Madam Chair and members of the board, I would end by reemphasizing, can't be said enough that any plans are... considered fluid at this point as we are told by our health officials that they will closely monitor the data and that information could be changed based on those trends. I am not by any means indicating these plans, these dates are in stone because they could very well change in the next day or so. What we have to do at this point is have a plan that third innovative plan potentially so that our parents can start making their registrations and so we can also start helping our teachers get in the best possible positions for them as well thank you madam chair thank you let's

454go to member burke thank you madam chair um okay first of all i have i literally have three pages of questions about the um Plans about the launch ed plan and face-to-face plan. Let me begin by reminding Mr. Pomerini that we need to we are working on a timer So if you have three pages, let's stop for a second your three pages You're gonna have to do them in five minute increment. I know. All right. Yeah, and everybody who has pages of questions Please make sure you have any questions in order and ready to go ready to go with you Okay These questions were generated from the hundreds and hundreds of emails that I've received about this I do think that these plans need a lot of clarification before our parents can make choices I

455Know we're working on that. I know the staff is working really hard on clarifying everything But I Just want to say that but before I do those I think instead of asking all those questions at this point I feel like I need to Go ahead and make a statement that I was gonna make and get hit the elephant in the room Since we just spent all these hours listening to public comment I first want to thank the district staff and Dr. Jenkins for the extraordinary work throughout this whole pandemic, but most importantly, working through these reopening plans. Few know how difficult it is a feat. to follow the laws and the mandates and ensuring safety procedures are in place and the learning needs are all met of all of our students. This is a huge

456organization and I think it was obvious last week through our work session that there are so many different facets to this issue. It's remarkable what you have done and I commend you all for what you've put together. Now, this is what I propose. I propose that we go ahead and get our plan approved as it's written, though I will say that I do think that the lunchette, I do like that you added some flexibility with parents being able to do some time at home mixed with in-person. I don't know, and that was one of my questions, if that includes allowing... Especially the young children to maybe come the morning and be picked up for lunch and finish the afternoon virtually But that is something that I would like to get clarified But I do think

457that it needs to be approved and I'll tell you why in a minute but I Ask that we attach an addendum or a statement if you will to our plan That we as a board are going to reassess the conditions of the virus locally on our August 11th meeting And if our local Orange County positivity rate is not at or below 7%, we will not open face-to-face, but we'll start with virtual and launch ed at home only. I suggest we propose a phased reopening, one that is incremental and based on data. The last few days we've been going down. Our positivity rate today was 9.4. Last week when we met it was up around, there was some spikes up into 16%. At such time as we have an average 7% positivity rate in Orange County,

458which can be attained as evidenced by Lake County and Brevard County, which have already reached these numbers, then we open the face-to-face option. When rates are between five and seven percent and this is why I want our plan submitted and approved, then we can open with safety measures in place. As rates fall below 5%, maybe we can lessen the requirements, such as recommending face masks instead of requiring them. This would also give us a measured criteria if we need to shut down face-to-face learning if our positivity rates spike back up at any point. Now, I am very concerned about our children that may have no supervision at home and parents that have no other option and cannot keep their children home to learn virtually. I've been greatly concerned about these children since March. When school

459begins and if we are not at a 7% positivity rate and we do not open, I propose that we open elementary schools in our community as community learning labs where these children could come to do their virtual education in a supervised environment under the supervision of district classified employees that volunteer with an additional pay stipend as well as staffing from Kelly Services like we did for meal distribution sites all over the summer. Does this proposal follow the commissioners mandate? Hopefully hopefully our numbers will be safe will drop and will be safe for everyone. Is it a risk? Yes, but we The eight of us are not employees of the state We are elected officials whose job it is to represent the people who elect us and the vast majority of people Who represent us do

460not want schools open. All right remember if one sentence If I cannot decide for my own children yet, I am not willing to decide for all of our children. Thank you. Let's go to Member Kester-Denton. all right thank you madam chair and thank you to all the parents and teachers and staff for reaching out to me and for the 11 000 people watching and participating in today's meeting first i want to address the new start date i like the flexibility shown by pushing the start date back nine days recognizing that we need additional time to determine the current status of the pandemic The new date pushes back the student start date from August 10th to August 21st, and it pushes back the teacher start date from July 31st to August 13th. However, that also pushes

461back teachers' paychecks. Most have not gotten a paycheck for three months, and I want to recommend allowing teachers to start July 31st. as it originally planned and use that extra time to plan, prepare, practice with the launch head cameras to contact students and parents, set up new routines, learn digital best practices until students log in. I also agree with Mr. Pollard who asked that we allow all the classified staff, bus drivers, aides, custodians and front office staff to come back for paid training of protocols as well. Second, I want to talk about the guidance or lack thereof given to this board by our director of public health. Chair Jacobs, thank you for inviting Dr. Pino to join us today. I'm sorry he chose not to appear. The decision before us is a difficult one made

462more so by his absence. Last week, Dr. Pino said that our outdoor graduations were too dangerous to hold, but returning to school as COVID rise is acceptable. He gave us no guidance. In an email to parents who asked for his recommendation, he said this was the board's call and we should choose wisely. Yet the Commissioner of Education forces the board to provide an option bringing kids face-to-face with COVID or risk losing education funding. Since then, we have rising record-setting COVID cases in Florida, and today we have a record number of deaths in Florida. If Dr. Pino was here today, would he still give us no direction? No direction means he wants us to open up the school doors while we have not controlled the spread. A 20 year ER doctor and chief medical officer of

463Advent Health in New Smyrna believes we need to be 100% virtual because we do not have enough control over the virus to open yet, especially without a vaccine. So in light of the fact that Dr. Pino, who works for the Florida Public Health Department, did not give us a decision or direction. and wants us, the board, to make the call to expose our community to the virus, I want to recommend a community-based, independent medical advisory team. I want to put together a team of pediatricians, school nurses, nurse practitioners, ER doctors, family physicians, UCF Medical School, our children's hospitals, and epidemiologists who have a vested interest in our community and do not pose a conflict of interest as to whom they speak for. They can bring their firsthand experience to supplement the data that Dr. Pino

464relies upon, and we can get more regular and informed updates. So after listening to so many teachers and parents and reading so many emails and taking so many calls, I would like to suggest some changes to the proposed plan. LaunchEd, the program is currently open-ended with parents able to choose their kids working from home or going to school. In light of the current COVID crisis, I believe it will still qualify for the state's innovative designation if we only allow students to work from home. It would also make a low-risk option even less of a risk. That can be subjected to or subject to slowly integrating students back when the situation improves. We could work with the independent medical advisory team to determine when that is. The face-to-face option mandated by the Commissioner of Education and

465Governor, I would also like to push back the start date for students to know sooner than August 31st, since that falls within the last allowable date by our governor. and the reevaluate as the date nears. This will give us more time, more time to see the extent of the virus. We can evaluate whether it's even possible to keep our school safe and sanitized. And we can listen to the advice of the independent medical advisory team. For those families who are choosing the face-to-face option because they need their children to be supervised, we should have resources to help them. We need to partner with after-school groups, our county parks, community centers, and faith-based community. We shouldn't endanger our employees because of unmet child care needs. In addition, families will need to know that the face-to-face option

466will be subject to frequent and extended closures. So digital or distance learning will inevitably become the default. Then in the meantime, we need to direct our parents to the LaunchEd from home option or OCVS because it is the lowest risk option. Thank you and I'd love to hear from my colleagues. Thank you, Member Kester-Dentl. Actually, what I'm thinking probably because... You've raised some issues. I think some have some challenges I think member birds raised some issues that have some challenges that maybe we just all go through our ideas and then we'll go back to the superintendent So that we can understand what those challenges are. So how about we approach it that way? Remember Lopez and dr. Jenkins you're following this so Okay member Lopez Thank you madam chair, and I have to take away

467that I'm sorry. I am so sorry member Gallo. I apologize Thank You madam chair So I just want to echo some of the sentiments from my fellow board members I want to thank everybody who has sent me an email who called in today who participated I still have several hundred emails that I have not had the opportunity to respond to but I have tried very hard to read as many as I can We are in some unprecedented times, and it was very obvious by those who called in that they're scared. Our teachers are scared. We have parents that are scared. We don't yet know what we're doing with I as Member Byrd pointed out I have three pages of questions because I have more questions and I do answers Right now regarding the launch and

468what it would look like and the flexibility that we could offer I think it's imperative that we keep our teachers safe, especially our high-risk teachers We've got to provide a safe environment for them to work. In fact, I was just looking at over our strategic plan and in our values it talks about collaboration and innovation. We have to collaborate with everybody within our workforce and we have to be innovative in finding ways to make sure that they are safe in their environment and able to teach. Our objectives is positive climate and a safe environment. This is in our strategic plan. We have promised a safe environment. Can we follow through on that safe environment? Can we promise our teachers and our kids that when they come to school that we can social distance, we can

469wear masks, we can sanitize, and that they will be safe? I know I'm not comfortable making the statement that I can keep them safe. In our market differentiators, it says we have to be transparent and accountable to our stakeholders. That means us. part of OCPS us as part of the board have to be transparent and we are we're responsible we're part of those stakeholders and I take that very seriously as we worked very hard on these strategic plans so with that in mind and I know I've got only like three minutes left I like some of the ideas member Byrd and member Castrodental I appreciate all the hard work that the district has done they've been remarkable behind the scenes we've had to pivot in March very quickly we had a lot on our plate

470they have been very gracious with their time with all of our questions the thousands of emails with questions that we have sent every time we get a complaint and we want that complaint resolved they have tried their hardest to do so and they've been on it so I just want to say that I tremendously appreciate that The 21st, I think, is a good start. I would also support pushing it back to August 31st. I, too, as Member Castrodental mentioned, would like to find a way to pay our teachers because our teachers are counting on a paycheck. They've had a rough summer, and they need to get paid. And I know we have some CARES money. I don't know what that looks like. I guess that'll be one of the questions that Dr. Jenkins can answer

471when we turn it back over to her. But if we can find a way to pay our teachers, they need professional development. We are going to be going back and forth with LaunchEd. there's a lot of questions around launch ed teachers have a lot of questions and we could use that time for professional development and to help our teachers and our staff get prepared i agree with member byrd if the rate isn't below seven percent we really need to think about going and doing the launch ed version virtually for our teachers and our students. I think that some of our teachers were remarkable and they did a phenomenal job back in March when we had a pivot to distance learning, but I also heard from a lot of kids, especially our ESE children and our

472smaller children, our younger children, that it just didn't work. They struggled with it. They struggled with the lack of interaction from their teacher. The lack of contact from their teacher and we can't have that we can't continue to let our children suffer we have to find a balance between keeping our staff and teachers safe and Keeping our students safe because as one caller mentioned we have kids that do not have safe homes. They are at homes They are being abused We don't know if they're safe or not because we haven't seen them since March and they are regressing in their learning So we need to make sure that we find an environment for them and maybe as a member Castro dental pointed out We work with partners the boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, whatever

473we need to do so that we can bring those kids back into school and make sure that they're safe and that they're learning and they're not regressing and that our ESC kids are getting the services that we need. Because I am, as well as Member Berg, cognizant that we have parents that have to go back to work and they depend on us to open up our doors. and taking their kids. But that has to be balanced with the safety of our staff. So I do think we should push back the start date till August. 20 or 31st is the last possible date. I would like to know what is in my authority to do as a school board member. If I really, you don't need me to really submit this launch ed plan and face-to-face

474is already a given, what is it within my authority so that I can make sure that the will of my constituents is known? That would be very helpful. And I do have questions, but I'll come back to those because I am out of time. Thank you so much. Thank you, Member Gallup. Member Lopez. Thank you madam chair, I have a few questions So the first question is, first of all, thank you to all the parents and the teachers who communicated their concerns. Gracias a todos esos padres que pudieron comunicar sus preocupaciones. Also, thank you for the emails. Gracias por los correos electrónicos que enviaron. Siento mucho que no tengamos toda la información en español. I'm so sorry that I don't have all the information in Spanish, but I promise that I will communicate to you.

475what we are talking today, tonight. The first question that I have is if we push the day to start later, what type of arrangements can we make to avoid financial hardship for instructional and also for non-instructional? I also have a question about the executive order. I know that Miami-Dade did not follow up the executive mandate. I would like to know if they have any repercussion for making that decision, if they lost their seats, if something happened in Miami-Dade. I also read an article. from the Brower superintendent says he will recommend 100% online learning in COVID numbers don't improve. I am very concerned about the COVID numbers in Central Florida because they're not improving. It's increasing and increasing and increasing and it's heartbreaking for me listening for eight hours, my constituents, you know, our community, Central

476Florida, teachers, parents crying, you know, and I know that. all of us are facing the same situation with this anxiety. And, you know, as the mother of an overcrowded high school, as the sister of a monitor, as the daughter of a 94-year-old mother, I think that we have to be very careful in this decision. And I know that this is an order that we have to follow, but I think that listening to... Today to all the the testimonies and the stories. I think that we have to look at data and and I agree with on Dr. Karen caster dental because you know why Pina did not come maybe we need more feedback on that matter because I feel kind of uncomfortable to not saying anything about a face-to-face education. And if I have to lose

477my seat, I'm willing to lose it for my community. So the other question that I have is, can we provide more flexibility for lounge ed schedule? I think that having our students, and I know, you know, in our low-income communities, the sisters and brothers take care of all their children, and I don't think they... can be sitting down in front of a computer for more than six hours. I think we have to make any type of flexibility. I don't know if I voted for lounge shed. Am I voting for also face-to-face education as well? Because I think that sometimes it looks like one, if... THEY ARE IN THE SCHOOL FACE TO FACE. WE HAVE LAUNCHED ON THE OTHER SIDE. AND I DON'T WANT TO VOTE FOR SOMETHING THAT DEPENDS ON EACH OTHER, BECAUSE I DON'T

478BELIEVE THAT WE ARE PREPARED FOR A FACE TO FACE, EVEN IF COMMISSIONER CORCORAN SAYS WHATEVER HE WANTS TO SAY. BUT THIS IS THE REALITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA AND ORANGE COUNTY. DO WE HAVE ANY INFORMATION FOR PE, SPECIALS, RECESS, AND AFTER CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES FOR FACE TO FACE EDUCATION? I DID NOT HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. student that is in a magnet program like IB, Cambridge, Vet Assistant, and want the flexibility of distance learning, can we make arrangements to provide those classes through Orange County Virtual School? Because I receive those type of concerns as well, and I would love to know more information about that. THAT TYPE, NOT ADVANCED CLASSES, NOT AP. IT'S ABOUT MAGNET PROGRAMS. AND THE OTHER QUESTION IS, IS THE TRANSPORTATION DESCRIPTION THAT WE HEARD TONIGHT DURING THE UPCOMING YEAR IS INCLUDED AS A PART

479OF THE LAUNCHED VOTE? or it's a separate decision. And the last question is, if the student go 100% Orange Virtual School, can they get a computer from OCPS? I hope that I can have more time, and I have more questions, well, more than solutions. But for me, it's very important to know more about the consequences of not following the executive mandate in Miami. Thank you so much. All right, thank you so much member Lopez let me let me but begin by Clarifying I think we've heard a lot of testimony from teachers and I think a lot of teachers are under the impression that the board is not worried about them literally worried sick about them and and I know I am I know every one of us is there's never I've been in office almost

48020 years. I've never faced anything that had more human ramifications and I take every single life of every single citizen, every teacher, every student extremely seriously. So for anybody who thinks that our teachers, our students, our support staff and all their families aren't important, I just really want to correct that. It's extremely important. I really had hoped that we were going to be able, until the state jumped in at really the 11th hour, I thought we were going to be able to come up with enough options. and I know the superintendent was bringing us some options that were safer than what the state is proposing for our teachers, safer for our students, safer all the way around. I am incredibly uncomfortable with the situation as it stands. This emergency order, I believe, has, I believe

481that the state is serious. I believe they have the authority, primarily not for constitutional reasons, but because they have the authority to determine what and when and how we are funded. And in fact, in cases this isn't clear, in the emergency order under Section 2, it is, I mean, I'm sorry. Yeah, under Section 2, it's extremely clear, and I don't think this was written haphazardly. It's clear that in order to receive the flexibility and continuity provided for in this order, school districts must submit a reordering plan that satisfies the requirement of this order. They're talking about the flexibility of funding. So absent this funding for the LaunchEd program, absent the state's approval of this plan, we don't have the funding for LaunchEd. Okay, and if virtual school doesn't give us near as much funding as

482what we currently get, and it's not as reliable. So while we're trying to make sure that we do not risk any lives, we also, if we do not, if we do not comport with this, we also risk. having to lay off teachers in the worst economy we've ever known. So I've heard from so many teachers that are worried that if we push back to even the 21st or the 31st, they might miss a paycheck and they can't afford that. We're talking about teachers being, a large number of teachers being unemployed for potentially the entire school year. So this, when I hear people say stand up to the bully in the play yard, this is a different situation. Like Member Lopez said, I'm not thinking about whether I get removed from office. That would be an

483easy choice. If I could save lives from getting removed from office, I would go, that would be my legacy, right? I would be forever proud. That would be such an easy choice. No, the problem is, it's the... The bully they want us to stand up to has the ability to force us to open schools and virtual and no LaunchEd program. If we do not vote for LaunchEd, there is no other safe LaunchEd program. If we do not vote for LaunchEd, there is no other safe option other than virtual schools, which doesn't work near as well. So we've got to give our kids and our teachers that option because it's the safest option for our teachers, and it is the best option, I think, available for our students that, frankly, I don't think should be returning

484to school if their parents can possibly avoid it. So I risk by standing up to a bully that I'm not the one who gets the black eye. It is the very people that we are trying so hard to protect. The lives of our teachers and our students that we're trying to protect are at greater risk by us not making a responsible decision based on the facts that we're faced with. So in short, here's my thinking. I think that, Member Byrd, you threw out some great ideas. Member Castodon, you threw out some great ideas. I want to understand what is workable, the idea of having a learning lab. And if we can afford doing that, I think it's a great idea so that we can get our teachers out of the classroom, all of our teachers

485that need to. But I also wanna make sure that we consider one other option, and that is that we approve LaunchEd. The superintendent whose job it is to send up a plan complies with the order as it is today. But this board can also take a strong position that we are on record that we do not support the face to face, not given where we are today with the numbers and not given the way it is laid out by the state because we cannot comply with the CDC recommendations for social distancing. We take that position, we send that up to the state. We are not saying we didn't give them a plan, but we are saying that the fourth largest district in the state does not support their plan and does not believe it's safe.

486We're also sending a clear message to our parents. If you can possibly keep your children home this fall, keep them home until the situation improves. I will yield my last three seconds and we'll come back second time around. Let me go next to Mr. Pomerini. Madam chair just uh to make you aware member Gould is having some connectivity problems that we were trying to work through oh gosh okay thank you all right let's go to member Gordon as well remember Gordon as well okay let's go to member oh my gosh both of them so that would lead me to believe it's on our end I'm sure we're working through it as fast as we can remember Colbert thank you madam chair all right let's go through the facts In March, we were shut down with

487a very low positivity rate. We were ordered to shut down at that time. Now we're being reordered as of last Monday to open with upwards of a 15% positivity rate. You can debate that whether it's 9% or 15%. It doesn't matter. It's more than double. In the FDOE's own guide for K-12 schools, It does say that where there is substantial community transmission, which is what we have now, if local officials have determined there is substantial transmission of COVID-19 within the community, they will provide guidance. The only guidance that we have received from Dr. Pinot in front of us last week was that transmission will happen. That makes me uncomfortable with reopening our schools. in the method that the DOE has recommended. So here's what I would like to propose, and it has some of my

488other colleagues' ideas in it. If our plans are to remain fluid, and that is the word we keep using, they are fluid, meaning we have that ability to flip a switch, instead of LaunchEd being our third choice, I think our number one choice should be LaunchEd, and I'm very happy that we added the option for teachers to do that from home. I have teachers who have said, gosh, if I could go in and do that isolated in my own classroom, that would be fantastic. Other teachers that said, I can't go inside a building. I need to do this from home, and I can. If we give that the option, that's great. That's choice number one. Choice number two is Orange County Virtual School, which has already put it put into place. There'd be a big

489shift there. We need to talk to teachers about if we end up going back to normal in, say, January. how that shift works back to their own home school. And then the third option, the third option would be a face-to-face option only if, according to CDC guidelines, we are below a 5% transmission rate. Yes, we need our local Department of Health or emergency management advice. We can, according to the Chancellor, we can be advised by the local Department of Health, State Department of Health, Emergency Management Department, or State Attorney General. So that our emergency department, emergency management partners over at the county could be helpful in advising us as they continue to look at the data over the next week. So if we had a very small number of face-to-face, again, there are some teachers

490who want to be back in the classroom, that would be the third choice and only if we got down to that rate. I think we submit the plan. It gets approved. LaunchEd gets approved. We meet all three criteria of their order, but we make a bold statement that that is our plan. I would be much more comfortable, and I know this is more difficult, I would be much more comfortable identifying an August 31 date. I understand the August 21 date. The August 31 date would give us more time to plan, prepare, and train, and we could possibly swap out some of our training or teacher work days from later in the year and push them up so that teachers can be paid so we can find the money from there or from the CARES Act.

491Sorry, I can't work without my glasses. But I think that I'm hoping that that will meet the mandate of the order under the law. Because that order goes against the governor's original executive order shutting us down and saying that we need to reopen step by step and include the three Cs. So one order actually defies the other order. I think this proposal meets the mandate. It meets a lot of or most of what our constituents and our teachers asked of us tonight. It ensures that we listen. And it is based on data, research, and law. So all of the other very detailed questions that I have about LaunchEd and the different programs, we can answer those over the weeks. We can sit with the superintendent individually, answer those questions, and then get those answers out

492to the public as they develop and that the frequently asked questions grows. But I think it is critical that we approve a plan tonight that can be approved by the state with LaunchEd being the major focus of that. I do think this meets the mandate. I do think this meets what our teachers and our constituents have asked of us. Not to throw another monkey wrench and more work on your plate, but those are my thoughts for now, and I'm looking forward to hearing my other colleagues. Thank you, Member Cobert. Let's see if we have Dr. Gordon back on the line. Does anybody know if we were able to get Dr. Gordon or Member Gould? Member Gould is back. I'm still working through Dr. Gordon. I am. Okay. Let's go to Member Gallo then. And Member

493Gould, has she indicated a desire? You would have put her up there if she... member i'm sorry yeah i was seeing if she wanted to be queued up i'm sure okay member gallo um madam chair i can go after member gordon and member gould if we get them up since they haven't had a chance to speak yet remember gold um would you like to comment on this issue uh yes i'm sorry i had sent that in hours ago i guess uh it got lost in the shuffle um So I'm sorry that I missed the tail end of some of the comments. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Okay. I am sorry that I missed the tail end of some of the comments. I was listening to them in delay on YouTube, which

494is always a little challenging when you might be queued up. We all have had moments of fight or flight during these last few months. and certainly we heard the fear come out loud and clear this evening. We are in a battle, and this war is affecting all of us in this community, but especially our lower economic community the most. COVID is not the only threat that we're facing, but there are very immediate threats for many of our community. including people who have gone from furlough to layoff and still haven't received unemployment. They have lost their health insurance. They can't afford to go to Publix to buy groceries for the first time in their lives. They're using food banks and our service of food distribution. And when eviction accommodations and utility accommodations are lifted, they're going

495to be without a home and have bad credit. So there are many issues facing our children and our families currently. We are basically facing another unmandated or a mandate that is underfunded. Our staff, you know, if we delay, which I am in favor of, to go as late as possible to give our community time to get the numbers down and under control. they could go two to four weeks without pay. And while they may get their full compensation at the end of the year, they would have a cash flow issue. I had asked at the workshop to find out about if our families, if our staff could collect unemployment or receive any of the $600 CARES Act funds, and I've been told twice after re-asking the question in different ways that our team does not

496qualify for that. No matter which way we turn, people's health and well-being are at risk. There are a lot of lies and safety on all sides of this issue. COVID has put already the underemployed at a higher risk of health and well-being, unlike ever before in probably the history since the Great Depression. Way back in February, we had an unemployment rate of 2.7. And with that rate, we still had 445,000 people in Central Florida that didn't have regular access to health care and were uninsured because they were underemployed. Our economic impact is not just corporate economy and about, you know, corporate gains. It is really about the 23.2 percent. of people who are now unemployed, which represents hundreds of thousands of people in Orange County. So I hear the cries, but I want to put

497this in perspective as our choices are coming before us. This is not a one-dimensional just fight the pandemic. We are fighting to save our children and our families from not being able to put gas in their car, pay for food, and at the risk of losing their shelter. This is an assault from all sides, the virus and the economic structure. Even with some of the reimbursements, we're not going to see full dollars. We're going to see 87.5% reimbursements for the cleaning supplies and disinfectants and things that would come under the emergency orders. We have a lot of challenges before us. All that said, the advisory council, I would like to see us have a medical advisory council, not so much to tell us what to do, but to guide us as we do open to

498make sure all the latest measures are followed because that changes also daily. And we can keep out of that as much as possible to the latest. CDC or local guidelines to keep our families safe. I would also like to see a look of safety, which will mask are optimal, but they certainly are a scenario when there are accommodations that need to be for our teachers. And so people like to wear shields and masks for that extra protection. I would also like if we would buses because if we have a child with accommodation that cannot for a physical reason or a medical reason where a matter of way we could put shields up on part of the buses and identify those children needing that kind of an accommodation. And I appreciate the comments of my colleagues.

499And there are a lot of people who are not willing to protect them when they're in school, but bring back that support system that is so a sense and well-being of our children and our families by starting school again. We're in a tough position. Thank you. Thank you member Gould. Member Gould, just if you're still able to hear us, we were losing, you were choppy at the very end. If you are calling from a cell phone, if you could try to call us from a landline, maybe that would help. I'm not quite sure why we were losing a little bit of the connection. Let's go to Dr. Gordon. Madam Chair, I've been trying to get a hold of Dr. Gordon during this interim period because there was a phone system that kicked both her and

500Mrs. Gould off. I've yet to be able to reach her since that's occurred, but I'm continuing in an effort to do so. Okay. Okay. So are we saying our phone system kicked our two school board members off? Yes, three times. Thank you. I think what I heard you say, Member Gould, again, it's really breaking up. I think you said yes, that's what happened? Unbelievable. Yes, it is. when we might be on the line but we couldn't hear anything oh my god it was fine for the last however many hours eight hours until oh my god okay until it was time to hear from our school board all right thank you vice chair let's go you're working on trying to call her directly thank you let's then go to member gallo maybe there's a way on

501your phone we could we could use the speakerphone up against the microphones Dr. Jenkins? Yeah, I thought Dr. Gordon said she could hear. She was watching on YouTube, so maybe if I go through some of the answers while they're trying to get her back online for speaking, I think her last message said she could hear. Storms in the area may be impacting Internet and phone system. We can't tell in here. All right, why don't you go ahead, and if John can get her on the phone, we'll see if we can put the phone on speaker. Has joined the meeting. Who just joined the meeting? Has left the meeting. Dr. Gordon, are you with us? Oh, my gosh. All right. Dr. Jenkins, we're going to go on our second round of comments. I think we've heard

502from each board member once that's at the dais, but obviously not remotely. Do you want to respond to some of the issues that are raised? Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. I thought one of her messages. I thought one of her messages, I believe she said she was listening on YouTube. So let me go through a few of the answers and then we'll. go back to hopefully live board members. So one question, I've heard several say they are okay with having the plan approved. One of the reasons I wanted the board to have some discussion is because I'm getting conflicting directions. So on the one hand, I hear that LaunchEd should have flexibility for parents. And then on the other hand, I think I heard from member Castor Dental, it should

503be home only. That's one of the reasons I need some. Interaction from the board because those are totally conflicting number two heard a comment that we should attach a statement I am very much agreeable to having a letter to the governor commissioner Some additional statement that we send in I think that's appropriate I would caution us on trying to set exact numbers I believe as the numbers shift from day to day you could open then close and open and close if you set 7% or 5% I worry that you will have issues with what do you do if you go one point above and then the next day you're one point below. So I would caution us on that. But I absolutely think it's the right thing to do to send some additional correspondence and

504to continually review, as we've been told our local health advisors would review as well. Learning centers having classified staff supervising, that would be a collective bargaining issue. Nothing we could unilaterally determine that some employees would be assigned to learning centers, but certainly happy to research it. The issue around moving the start date back even further is twofold. One, I would need some collective bargaining around trading some days, potentially days that are normally. teacher work days or potentially leave days part of spring break or winter break to try to pay for those days if you try to pay for it out of your other dollars and I have a concern because if you recall I believe we were down to about 38 million with a January recalc predicted that will potentially have some significant impacts. So

505in your mind, just imagine about $4.7 million a day for each day that you add to our instructional staff, $1.1 million a day for 10 months as you add days to them as well. So twofold there. It takes collective bargaining to shuffle some days and try to shift days to get an earlier start date. If you change... The first payroll, even beyond that first implication that we presented, the reason we presented that was because we can account for the days and you're just picking up a payroll period. If you shatter the payroll schedule, you have issues around both their health insurance deductions and their pay periods. Moving that one pay period was the easiest way to do it without having a greater impact. If you shred your entire payroll schedule. by moving it back to

506the 31st, it's going to take some time, and it will probably take some bargaining because you're also impacting our employees' contributions to their health insurance program, which we are self-insured. I suppose you may potentially be able to front some of the dollars, but you're going to have quite a bit of shuffling to go on there. So moving it back, consider the cost, where the money will come from, and that we have to have some collective bargaining, especially... around shifting certain work days, professional development days, so that teachers can start earlier. So Miami-Dade, we have not heard any stipulation other than Miami-Dade and one other district, I believe it was Palm Beach, have been officially moved back to phase one, so their entire communities are shifting back to a greater shutdown, which of course closes down

507the schools as well. We are not aware, and that was recent information, they are officially being. shifted back to phase one. So we are not aware of any specific penalties at this point. We think that will give them cover because the entire community is being shifted. Launch it flexibility. Again, what is required in your innovative plan is that your hours and bell schedule match what face-to-face would provide for students. That's why we can certainly have some flexibility if it is the board's pleasure on... days in and days out, days at home and days at school, what is going to be more difficult is to try to manage half days in and half days out because your travel time is going to eat into your seat time. If your travel time eats into your seat time,

508you run into the hours required, total hours of seat time required for FTE. Certainly we can research that as well. From one day in, from... days in and days at home we believe that can be managed half day travel time transportation potential transportation costs and lost time is going to impact your seat time for those students I believe LaunchEd can certainly accommodate our IB teachers and some of our magnet programs as well. I do believe, it came up earlier, I do believe we can adjust policy, create an emergency policy if necessary so that magnet spots are held, that parents and families don't give up their magnet slots because they are making certain selections. computers would be provided. Our last cohort, cohort eight, are the last students to get their laptops. We've had some delay in

509that delivery. We are looking at some alternatives where we can dismantle some of our labs and CALS, computers on wheels, at our schools and get those laptops to our students as well. We also still have hotspots available provided by our philanthropic community to help some of those families that don't have connectivity. Another question about the 5% rate. I think you run the same risk, certainly. And I want to make clear two first, second, and third plans. We only put those in some order because we knew one is already mandated, one is already in place, and the innovative is the one that we are really pushing for approval tonight. And certainly that would be the one that we encourage as many parents as possible to select. And when I'm done, I want General Counsel, Associate General

510Counsel to comment. Emergency Management Department actually is not mentioned in the order, so I've asked Mr. Pomerini to comment on that. And... Health Advisory Council cannot advise on reopening according to general counsel. They can certainly provide input, but they are not the source to advise on reopening. That's a good segue to Mr. Pomerini. Thank you, Madam Superintendent. Yeah, I'll start with the Medical Health Advisory Council first. The order is very specific, the emergency order by the commissioner, and it says, subject to the advice and orders of the Florida Department of Health, local health departments, executive order 2149 and subsequent executive orders. Executive orders clearly are the governor. There's a principle in the law and I'm not going to even attempt the Latin but it says the inclusion of one thing is the necessary Exclusion of

511the other so to the extent that it is not listed in that order. I am very uncomfortable saying that a that an emergency Management by the county is going to be able to tell us to close down. It's possible That becomes much more of a difficult question because the emergency order itself just listed those three entities, the governor, the local Department of Health, and the Florida Department of Health. Ms. Enball sent you all an email probably about... 20 or 30 minutes ago detailing our detailed analysis on that with respect to whether or not we could do that. And to the superintendent's point is also our opinion that to the extent you can't have that medical advisory council advise you to. Not open that would not be one of the entities called for in this emergency

512order that could give us Advice and orders to say that you are not to open for the same reasons So let me let me Get some direction from the board at this point We have at least one board member member Gordon who is does not have access to provide us input She's listening though. I understand but she can't provide input Which means that if we do not get the connection with her this board is going to make the most important decision We've probably ever been asked to make actually I think the launch ed is an easier decision But how we're going to handle the rest of this without one of our board members So I do want to and I don't know if this situation is going to improve because we don't know what the

513technical Problem is and we understand there may be a storm. There may be some other interference I had talked to Ms. Envall ahead of time, initially thinking that we could be here till past midnight, and I know from my previous experience that there is a point at which the mental fatigue starts to impair the judgment, and I wanted to make sure that we had a backup plan if we could not. wrap up this decision in a way that we were all comfortable with. And that backup plan, we have to advertise, we could have an emergency meeting, we could reconvene on Friday. I want to present that to the board because we have a lot of work to do right now. And we have... board member who can't participate and I am very concerned about moving

514forward with a decision with not that we are all going to necessarily agree but not having input is a huge concern I'm getting ready to put you on okay okay we may have just we may have just been able to make contact with hold on dr. Gordon I'm getting ready to put and I'm gonna still put that out there as an option for us to come back on Friday it's been a fresh set of yeah brain cells I'm gonna put my phone up to the microphone it should work Okay, now let me tell you what I'm going to do. One, the guys. Okay. I'm going to let, I'm going to show. Tell her she's online. Dr. Gordon, you're online. You're online. I actually just put you up to the microphone. And you've got to turn

515down the YouTube, so it's behind. Yeah. All right, now I'm putting you on the microphone. I'm on already. You are now, so go ahead. Okay, I can't hear this. Okay, how come I cannot hear? First of all, I'm sorry. Okay, I think the storm disconnected some kind of way. All right, I cannot hear. Am I on? I don't know what I'm saying because I can't hear myself. John, could you let her know the option I just put on the table that maybe we come back on Friday? Okay, I have a line. Dr. Gordon, the chair is saying we could come back to you after we get you back on. No, no, no. I'm saying we could reconvene. We can have a meeting on Friday for decision where we could hear from all of us. Hold

516on. The other. Has joined the meeting. Has joined the meeting. Oh. Has left the meeting. A participant has left the meeting. Is there a way for another way to communicate? Yeah. I was emailing doesn't work particularly well. I anticipate we have a lot of work ahead of us. And I do want full participation. I can tell from the body language of my colleagues here that that's probably important to all of us. Why can't we why can't we have them use WebEx? We've I've asked since the beginning of of us coming back into these meetings if we could do WebEx and our meetings and I've been consistently told that for some reason we Can't marry those two technologies So we could come back on Friday We could Take the input that the superintendent's received as well

517as input that she could get from dr Gordon separately between now and the vice chair separately and then come back and Again sit down fresh It would give us time to process it would I think it would also an advantage It would also give the superintendent time to process How can she make work what she's hearing? There's a lot of similarities in what we all want. The question is, what is the best way to make it work? What's the most effective way? So that would be my recommendation that we come back on Friday. What time of day? Dr. Jenkins, some input here. A noon meeting again. We would not be taking public comment because this would be for decision only. Yeah. I would say 9 o'clock. 9 o'clock, let's get it done. Okay, 9 o'clock,

518got it. Yeah, and you need to understand that's going to call for some overtime for the folks who run it because we're shut down on Fridays. So there will be some cost to it, but we can manage it. That's fine. Okay. Do we have a motion to table the meeting and reconvene at 9 o'clock on Friday morning for decision only? Discussion and decision only. Vice chair. I know I am online All right. Thank you. Dr. Gordon. Okay. Yes, I'd like to move that we table the meeting until Friday Give us a chance to process give the superintendent a chance to process and that we reconvene at 9 a.m On Friday. Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? I have a second by by Dr. Kester-Dentel. Dr. Gordon, let me tell you what

519has transpired. I am extremely concerned about the connection with you and the ability for us to reach a decision without full participation by all of our board members, you in particular, since we're having the greatest technical problem. And we have a motion on the table to table this meeting, reconvene at 9 o'clock on Friday morning. So that we hopefully have complete Connectivity with all of our board members and can start with a fresh All of us fresh not tired out and with the superintendent having an opportunity to digest what she's heard. I've also suggested that the superintendent reach out to you directly to make sure that she is fully aware of your input so that when we come back on Friday, we will be better poised to make this very, very critical decision. Dr. Gordon,

520you're recognized. Madam Chair? Yes, Dr. Gordon. Were you able to hear me? I didn't want to, but I did. And I really just thank for you to lead a meeting and all of you had your little say. And you brought in your little teeth. And for some reason, when Pam kept hitting hers, I can hear that I'm in the meeting, I'm out of the meeting. I, too, had something to say. And I think it's very disrespectful that you, as the person leading this meeting, would not make sure that all of your members get an opportunity to say something. After I waited online and waited online and still waited online and you never called on me. Now, I think you can call all the meetings you want and you can say all your things. But I'm

521going to say this. I'm going to say this. I have a slide that I would like to show. And I'll send you all to three different times. I have a slide that I have to show, and that will not take long. I have another slide I would like to show, and then I will end my speech that I will speak for District 5 and the children of this county and the parents and the teachers. And while I'm speaking, I will give you my recommendation. Since each of you, Ms. Colbert gave hers, Lopez gave hers, Jacobs, you gave yours, Ms. Birch started off with hers, and the others. So I would like to show my slide one first, please. Absolutely. We would like to see the slide. Thank you, Dr. Gordon. Glad you're back in touch

522with us. Of course you are. Now, John will have to let me know because I'm just looking at the slide. I just want you to take that. Go back to the first one, please. Go back to the first slide. Thank you. Because I cannot see when you put it on, I'm behind. This is the daily new coronavirus case in Florida. And May 4th, it states that Florida stayed at home. And when we stayed at home, it was very, very different. And then the second slide, the second slide, we are the third largest outbreak. And I brought this before this board because I've made my home Florida. But my birth state is South Carolina. The bold blacks are different countries. South Carolina, if I wanted to go back to my birth state, it would be extremely

523hard. South Carolina is the third, not in the state, United States, but in the nation. Florida is the second. I know that we have to do something, and I'm going to ask you to put on. There are lots of things, and since you all have already made the motion without me getting in and knowing that I'm still alive and well on this other end. I'll save my motion, I'll save my comment, but I would like to end with this video. safest way to reopen schools is in the context of low community transmission that has been effectively suppressed by a broad-based comprehensive strategy. We can't move from let's deal with the schools and then we all deal with that for a week or two and then let's deal with the workplace or then let's deal with

524infection in hospitals or long-term care facilities. This is playing whack-a-mole. We have got to focus on a comprehensive long-term strategy that focuses on everything at one time. But we can't turn schools into yet another political football in this game. It's not fair on our children. So we have to look at this carefully. in the light of the transmission in any given country or any given setting. And we have to make decisions that are based on the best interests of our children, be it their educational or their health interests. And that must be based on data. That must be based on understanding the risks in the specific setting in which schools are. If we suppress the virus in our society, in our communities, then our schools can open safely. And there are many countries around the

525world in which schools are reopening successfully. and safely because countries have dealt with the real problem, community transmission. All right, board members, we have a motion and a second. The primary purpose for that motion, I'm sorry, Dr. Gordon? Are we still in discussion? Of the motion? Yes. Yes, and I was just going to kind of bring us back to why there was a motion. There are two reasons. One, because we had so much difficulty getting both Dr. Gordon and you on the line consistently so that you could participate in the dialogue and I was quite concerned about us making a decision without everybody having full input. And the record is, the video is very, very clear that that was a driving concern of mine personally. Secondly, that it is 9.30. We've thrown a fair number

526of issues at the superintendent that I wanted to make sure that we had, the superintendent had an opportunity to give us her thoughts and advice on the possibility and the practicality of implementing what we've suggested. and all of us would have an opportunity to kind of digest what we've heard and what we've thought about and come back fresh on friday and spend the time that we need to make the best decision possible so that was the reason for the motion and the second and we are on discussions so member gold you're recognized for discussion on this topic you um i know there has been a majority of us that not really ready to discussion tonight but i'm willing to I WOULD LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND DO THAT SO I COULD LISTEN TO THAT COUPLE

527OF MINUTES OF TAPE IN CASE THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT I MISSED. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT IF WE CAN TO RETURN TO THE WEBEX AND ALLOW PEOPLE TO LISTEN IN THAT WAY SO THAT WE CAN HAVE FULL DISCUSSION, ONLY HAVE THAT FULL DISCUSSION COMPONENT IN THIS DIAL. LAST TWO WEEKS OF USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND IN LIGHT OF REALLY WANTING TO KEEP THAT SOCIAL DISTANCING COMPONENT, WE COULD ALL COME DOWN, BUT I DON'T THINK We still have that fluidity when we're in 18 parts of the room. I don't think the right example. I am in and out of their locations all the time. The safety and security of everybody I know very seriously. A way the conversation stays tight, not distracted by the technology, and the WebEx really made that happen. Thank you, Member Gould. We have

528tried to have both. Let us deal with one issue at a time right this minute, and that is the motion on the floor, which would be to come back on Friday morning. To just discuss and vote on this before I take the next board member. Dr. Dr Jenkins you recognized Thank You madam chair and we will certainly look into researching that again The problem is a live broadcast and the web act simultaneously, but we will certainly have staff review it again You have two remaining items, I believe on the agenda and so I'm wondering no, no, no, I understand that but But what I thank you, I was hoping to do is table this hearing. Okay, because she said for the discussion. Okay, so the remaining items on consent agenda would be carried over as

529well, not just the item we've been discussing. You mean non-consent? Non-consent. That would be a decision of the board. Okay, I was trying to get clarity. I think that's an excellent point, and I'm glad you did before we took a vote. We can take up the rest of the board's business on Friday morning, or we can stay and vote. I think I have a very special company in town, and I have a four-day weekend, and this is a sacrifice to be here on Friday, but I will tell you I think we're better off personally. coming back fresh and prepared to discuss this as long as we need to to make the best decisions. So that would be my preference, and we still have, I think, a great deal of work. My sense is we have

530a lot more work than we might think we have. It's not just let's just discuss it for another 20 minutes. It is probably several hours. So let me go to Member Castrodentil, who's next. Is this on the vote? Do we need further discussion, but any board member before I call for the vote without hearing any or seeing any board members, then let me go ahead and call for the vote with starting with members. So we are. Madam Chair. Yes. I just got a text that Dr. Gordon would like to speak on this matter. Okay. Member Gordon, we're on the discussion of the motion. to table the rest of this meeting until Friday morning. You're recognized? Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. We're on the motion to table the rest of the meeting until Friday morning

531at 9 o'clock. You're recognized for discussion. I know this is at your pleasure, but Madam Chair, I'm going to ask you, if it is not too much, since you all are not paying attention to the queue and not paying attention to online. And being left out, I am not ready to really stop the discussion, and I'm really ready to vote. But if you all feel that you need the extra time, I'm willing to sacrifice it. I've done it for 20 years on this board and will continue to do it. It is my first preference, other than teaching an osteologist who graciously have already sent me tonight my time when I'm going to start. And they're trying to get us in there early. The biggest thing, I'm asking you to go to WebEx. I heard the

532people arguing with you all about the mask up there. What is it? We have people with COVID in that building that had to leave. I don't know what it is so much with the days. I was thinking all of the board members I spoke to, Palm Beach. Marion County, everybody is on WebEx or Zoom or whatever, but for some reason you want to go in and conduct a meeting where you can't even get comments from everybody, me in particular. So I'm asking you to allow us. We did well on WebEx once we got it going, but do what you want to do. I'm not in favor of motion. but I'm going to be wherever you guys are. Thank you. So Dr. Jenkins is looking into if there's a way for us to do both. The

533reason board members have consistently expressed a desire to come in is because we are in a position of asking our employees to come into work and possibly having to have our teachers come in. So Dr. Jenkins is going to look at that, and then I think what we need to take up after our next meeting or the following meeting is are we going to go back to WebEx because we do not have full participation of board members here for health reasons, very legitimate health reasons. But if we can't blend the two technologies, which Dr. Jenkins is going to look into again, if we could blend these two technologies, if not, which technology are we going to in person, which does not work well? If you're calling in, we understand that, or WebEx. Let me go

534through a roll call vote. Member Gallo, we're on the motion of tabling the remainder of our meeting until Friday morning. Aye. Member Lopez. Aye. Member Cobert. Aye. Vice Chair Gould. Vice Chair Gould, are you on the line? Let me go. Dr. Gordon, I know you cast your vote no. Sorry, I'm muted. Okay, Vice Chair Gould. I will be there. I will be there. I'm not in paper. Mine would be innate. I understand. Vice Chair Gould, did you say aye? I'm an aye if we, I wanted to really, I didn't say it properly, but I wanted to amend the motion for the proper technology. Okay. And I know that messes it up now. Well, the problem is we don't know if we can blend these technologies. And so I think that's what this superintendent said. But

535they both record. I mean, that's the part that I guess that I just have a satisfactory answer to. They both record. Can I get you to, I have asked Dr. Jenkins since day one, and she's been pursuing this. Can I get you and Dr. Jenkins to have this conversation between now and Friday? Sure. Okay, thank you. So we have, Vice Chair Gould is in favor, Dr. Gordon is opposed. Dr. Kester-Denton? Aye. Member, Melissa Bird, Member Bird? Aye. And I likewise vote in the affirmative. Okay, we have a motion. We are tabling the meeting. We will reconvene at the hour of 9 o'clock on Friday morning. We will not be taking public comments. This is for discussion, deliberation, and board action only. We will take up the remainder of our agenda as well when we conclude

536this. Dr. Jenkins has feedback from board members, but I would suggest that if you have... I'm sure Dr. Johnson will read this out. But if there's any further clarification that you want to offer in terms of what that plan is, so that we can all come back. Thank you. Thank you to our 115 callers who waited forever on the phone. I want to thank this board for their incredible patience, their hard work, and their commitment. And we will see you guys on Friday. Okay. God bless you. Thank you.