001Well, good afternoon everyone and welcome to Orange County School Board's work session which has been scheduled for today, Thursday, November 6, 2025 for the purpose of discussing School of Arts and Entertainment. The public will not have an opportunity to provide input during this work session because it's not a regularly scheduled board meeting and no action will be taken. There will be no We just covered that. So, thank you again for being with us this afternoon. Just a quick roll call. Member Ferrant, I'm here. Member Douglas here. Member Vanos here. Member Gallo, are you on the line with us? I'm here, chair. Okay. and member Felder may be joining us later. Oh, she's not she's not. Okay. Yeah. I wasn't sure if she was be Okay. And vice chair. I'm here. And I'm here. So, Salamanca.
002Oh, member Salamanca. Good afternoon. Whoa. That's on Bridget. So, just as a reminder to the board and to the public who may be tuning in, board members will not be engaging in outside electronic or digital communication during the meeting so that we can focus our full attention on the issues before us. And as I try to remind everybody and including myself when speaking, please speak very close to your microphone. Make sure obviously that it's turned on so our YouTube and Orange TV viewers can hear you clearly. Again, thanks for participating in today's meeting. We'll now pause for a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And now for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with
003liberty and justice for all. All right, Dr. Vasquez, I will turn this meeting over to you. thank you, Madam Chair. I'm very excited about the information that's going to be shared with you and the public this afternoon. as you know, part of our strategic plan really focuses on being the number one choice for education. And with that comes the ability to choose pathways based on children's interest and needs. And to today you're going to hear about a very exciting venture that began with the vision of our foundation for Orange County Public Schools and Mr. Jose Ferdandis, who at the time was the chair of the foundation, and looking at our facility, Cherokee, a beautiful historical facility just a little ways from here, and how could we turn that building that originally or most recently was
004a school for some of our children with exceptional needs. and since then we have built a new facility where we can centralize services for those for those students. So they really are getting all that they need in in one facility. And so this vision of a school of arts and entertainment has evolved and I am so thankful to Jose who if you're not aware is also a parent. I think your youngest has graduated. Mhm. Yes. So, three of his children went through our schools. His wife is a guidance counselor at one of our high schools and he has agreed to help us on this venture. So, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Harold Border who will introduce the team and then Mr. Fernandez. Good afternoon, Chair Jacobs, members of the board, Superintendent Vasquez.
005Thanks for the opportunity to share with you the exciting news about the school of arts and entertainment at Cherokee. with us today is senior director Ben Allen and also senior manager Sandre Dunlap who are supporting the work in this area. And then also with us is Jose Fernandez who we would not be able to to go on this venture without. His support has been tremendous. he's been supporting the district for years with his work on the foundation and at this time I'll turn it over to Jose. Well, thank you very kind introduction. Thank you Dr. Vasquez. Thank you Dr. Border. as he said I'm Jose Fernandez. I'm I'm here as a volunteer. So I'm an unpaid person here advancing this idea. but I as as many of you have I've worked with over many many
006years know that I've have participated in some sort of volunteer capacity with Orange County Public Schools since 1995. Believe it or not, I was almost in diapers then. But it's always been it's always been fun. It's always been rewarding. And as Dr. Vasquez mentioned, I'm an alum of raw of of of OCPS as well from Colonial High School a long long time ago before cell phones existed. and but and three all three of our children graduated through Orange County Public Schools and and my wife Iris is a guidance counselor as well. So we're very much committed to this effort of of helping our public school system. in a previous life, how did I end up here? as as as it was mentioned, I was I've been on the board of the foundation for Orange County
007Public Schools, working with Scott and Debbie since 2017. and was recently chair of the foundation a few years ago. Dr. Vasquez knew of my involvement in my previous life as while serving as Mayor Dyer's chief of staff when we were putting together the three venues including the framework that eventually created the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center and thought that some of the experience that I had in working on that may be helpful through this process and I couldn't agree with you more. That was it's been very helpful. what's cool about this pro project is that there's nothing like this not just in our district but anywhere in the country. I think this is truly we have we have researched extensively to find some a model that we could find and there is none. So we
008are creating the model and along the way we're learning and I'm sure we'll hit some bumps along the way but but really you are being as innovative of a school district anywhere in the country today. the schools the school of arts and entertainment is the first of its kind. While other schools offer pieces of this model which includes cinematic arts, sound design, emerging media, no public high school in the United States of America brings them all together in a fully immersive interdisciplinary experience. This is a national moment for us here at Orange County Public Schools. Over the past several months, I've had the privilege of joining our arts facilities and school choice teams on site visits, in conversations with post-secondary institutions, and in early meetings with potential business partners. The response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
009Everyone sees the promise of this school not just as a place of learning, but as a talent pipeline, a cultural landmark, and a beacon of opportunity for our community. I'm grateful to be working alongside this amazing team Debbie, Scott, Harold, Ben, and Sandre and everyone else and Dr. Vasquez in putting this project together. and look forward to working with each of you as the school comes into place. with that said, I'll turn it over to Dr. Border who will go into details on what the components of the school will be. Thank you. Thanks, Jose. I appreciate it. So, as Mr. Fernandez said, "board, this will be a firstofits-kind public high school, immersive, interdisciplinary, and future focused. Originally a conservatory concept, but in reality, we have multiple secondary schools across Orange County Public Schools who are
010already producing incredible performing artists. This school is for the creators, those that are household artists, streamers, and game designers. To serve them, we must build for what art is now. Immersive, technology enhanced, and artificial intelligence proof. In Orlando, we have a booming industry with modeling, simulation, and technology, $ 105 billion dollars annually in these industries. Yet, local industry leaders are still recruiting from outside the area to fill these high highpaying and high demand jobs. The School of Arts and Entertainment will address this need by establishing Orlando as the nation's hub for workforce ready creative talent. With immersive training in cinematic arts, sound design, and emerging media, students will be prepared with the skills and certifications to continue fueling Orlando's fastest growing industries and keeping those high-paying creative jobs in our economic region. So speaking more
011on those industries, Orlando's creative sectors are expanding rapidly. Industry growth for 2024 and modeling, simulation, and technology grew by 2.3%. Arts and entertainment grew by 4.3%. There's also high demand skills are needed. Digital storytelling, augmented and virtual reality, simulation, AI integration, visual design will lead and continue to further this industry growth. This will also help with career preparation as students prepare for emerging careers at the intersection of art and technology. The 2024 job market for modeling, simulation, and technology was 37,000 plus and arts and entertainment 28,000 plus. So, just to kind of recapture that, this is a bold vision for creative technology that'll be located in the heart of Orlando's thriving arts, entertainment, and technology districts. The School of Arts and Entertainment will connect students directly to the industries shaping the future. Surrounded by creative
012studios, technology firms, cultural institutions, this campus will offer unmatched opportunities for mentorship, internship, and career pathways. This slide here gives you a vicinity of kind of what we just talked about. located here in the heart of Orlando and surrounded by the modeling and sim corridor out east with the Enzion Theater, Museum District, Creative Village, Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center nearby and the theme parks just further south. There'll be three concentrations within the School of Arts and Entertainment. Sound design, emerging media, and cinematic arts. and let's explore those concentrations further. So within sound design we will be looking for the composition of original music both instrumental and vocal ensemble production digital recording studio audio editing and electronic and multimedia music production. And there's some beautiful renderings there by our architect Corgan of students in action within
013these paths. Within emerging media, there'll be experimentation with traditional and new digital media, fabrication with 3D printing, industrial design, innovative painting techniques and sculpting, multidisciplinary art making, and curatorial and installation experiences. Within the cinematic arts concentration, students will learn storyboarding, creative writing and script writing, video direction, short film production, and cinematography and editing. So, creativity will truly be unbounded. Again, at the crossroads of Orlando, transit connected and steps from downtown, ideally located to maximize reach from drawing the widest possible pool of student talents, cultures, and perspectives. Overview of the map from above with 550 South Yola's location. Cherokee is also a historic landmark that will be reimagined, coming up on its 100th year since it was built in 1926. It is one of Orlando's most architecturally significant historic buildings. Here on this slide, you can
014see the school of the Cherokee School and we will look to sustain those signi those architectural features that are historic moving forward. So timeless architecture frames cutting edge studios, outdoor courtyards, and community spaces. A rebirth that honors the past while building the future of Orlando's creative economy. And here you can see a new rendering of Corgan on what the outside of the School of Arts and Entertainment will look like. Here you're seeing some of the spaces within the building. And let's start with the destination theater, which will be a flexible space for arts exploration. Renovations of the historic theater honor its past and embrace its future with a new flexible design that will be able to be transformed to meet a variety of production needs from live performances and film screenings to community events and
015interactive showcases. This space reimagines what a theater can be. And here you're seeing those renderings at the bottom of the left and then continuing over to the right. Some of those performances in action. The interiors of the building will also be built in a manner to inspire creative energy. Here are some of those interior renderings. And let's talk about some of those areas. The fabrication labs, those will be equipped with the highest perform high performance computers and software to facilitate advanced digital projects. The production studios will feature green screens and soundproof booths to support immersive learning in a cinematic arts and sound design. The collaboration zones and outdoor learning areas will promote community and interdisciplinary collaboration. What you're seeing here will be the lobby slashg gallery of the school. As you enter to your left,
016you see a large digital display board which will have student art on it. Students will also learn the skill of how to to manage and operate such a digital board. This slide shows the gymnasium which will not be part of our school of arts and entertainment moving forward. Instead, that area will transform into the dining and commons area that you see here. You also may have noticed on a couple of the other slides and you'll notice on this one that we are going to conserve some of the wood features of the school and those will be incorporated into the ceiling for acoustics. Outdoor spaces will blur the line between campus and community where inspiration emerges organically. Rendering of a creative courtyard while maintaining some of the beautiful canopy that is around the school. nighttime rendering
017of outdoor the outdoor courtyard and the school will be built with creative flow in mind. So there will be no barriers in between these areas of concentration. The school is built in a manner for collaboration interdisciplinary study across the areas of concentration. rendering of that creative flow, how every every area will flow together. And then we have some slides here of students in action within the areas of concentration. And so we'll close with this is a opportunity for legacy about our students future. It will be a national first, revived and re-imagined, inspired to innovate. It'll fuel Orlando's future, and it will be a legacy that lasts. And so, with that, Chair Jacobs, members of the board, I'll turn it back to Dr. Vasquez, and we look forward to your questions and discussion. Thank you so
018much. I want to speak a little bit about the funding aspect of that. we do have dollars built into our capital plan to address the majority of the renovations that are going to be required for this to become a reality. However, and Dr. Border or Mr. Fern as you might speak a little bit to there is an additional 25 million that we need to fund raise. Do you want to expand on Yeah, sure. Thanks, Dr. Vasquez. Yes. So, we $67 million to take care of the school as we would do a building of this size in typical fashion. And so above and beyond that, we are looking at approximately $18 million that we would like to raise that will be used to enhance the facility to support those areas I talked about with the fabrication
019labs, the outdoor learning so that the students actually have access to the latest and cutting edge technology that is available in industry which they're going to be working on when they enter into these careers. So then an additional approximately $7 million for a reserve fund that would again to help support that moving forward. But also teaching and learning will look different in this facility in in our vision. we're looking at our students taking some core academics virtually and while they're at this school, working on their areas of concentration, collaborating, also bringing being able to bring in guest lecturers as an example, visiting professors, and so the reserve fund will also help with that, mentoring opportunities, internship opportunities so that our students will be graduating ready to enter into these areas and continue studying and taking
020it to the next level for the high demand, high high wage opportunities. Thank you so much. And so with that, we're ready to hear your comments and questions. All right. Thank you. And thank you both to you, Jose, and to you, Harold, for excellent presentation and the inspiration and how inspiring this is for all of us. Let me call on Vice Chair Bird. Thank you, Chair. yes, I agree. So inspiring and so exciting. and again, it's us thinking outside the box, looking for new ways to engage and excite students. And I love it. I'm all for it. I just have a few questions. So one of the areas of concentration in the sound design is composing. So you said instrumental and voice. Does that mean also that we will have orchestra students there and voice
021students at the school as well? I'm just wondering if if not then how are they composing if they don't have the instrument players there? No. Great, great, great question. Miss Bird. we do see intersection of that. some of that may be collaboration also with our other schools with some of the original artistry. but what we what we have learned is that every sound learned this talking with Jose has been captured digitally. And so part of the artistry at this school will be able to take sounds and put them together in art and production. But yes, we do see collaboration with other schools for some of what you're talking about with the actual performing artists. There also may be students at this school that want to be performing artists and gain these skills. And so could
022be both. That's that's interesting. And also I think there's a lot of really interesting work being done in that area that you just talked about. and it's up for a lot of discussion. There's a lot of controversy in the artist world about digital sound and AI and producing. I just heard a whole story on that about how some artists are very against it obviously. So, it will be interesting as we prepare students to go out into the world for them to, you know, learn about it and debate about it and face it right while they're in high school. I love it. I think it's great. are this is kind of a just thought that I had while you were talking about film. Are we going to join forces with lobbying efforts with the county and
023with the state for bringing tax incentives for film industry in Florida? I know Orange County just announced they want to try to look at some TDT TDC dollar dollars to help fund that. but I think that's going to be a statewide thing that has to happen if we're going to bring film. Yeah. I think that's that's a board decision on on whether to advance that or not. That's not ours. yeah, but on the TDT side, we have looked at and and are moving towards maybe setting up an introductory meeting with the TDT board. we have asked the team here internally to look at creating destination programs at the theater. for example the Florida high school cinematic you know film festival or something like that where we will draw the top talent from around the state
024to compete at our facility over multiple days and that as you know the TDT's main purpose is to try to generate you know hotel nights and that could certainly be be something that we can offer I mean or demonstrate I'm sorry. So, we're actively putting that data together to see what already exists and what could be created as new opportunities. and then going to visit the TDT and asking for some support. Yeah, I think that's a great idea and I and I think that it would be worthwhile looking at what the county is doing with lobbying with the state to look at tax incentives for film producing here in the state just for the benefit of our students that were going to be graduating that are going to be looking for jobs. It would be
025nice if they can stay within our state to do that. And then my last question is just about the funding. I understand about the capital, but how will that work for the operating budget of the school if the students are taking their core classes virtually? How will the school produce their operating budget just through their arts classes? So yes, Miss Bird. And so also we do generate funding if they're Orange County virtual students. Okay. And so some of that will be worked out internally, but yes, if they're taking we're thinking these students will want to take multiple arts classes. And so, you know, not to go too far down that path, but if a student typically takes seven classes, you know, if they're taking five with us, it's 57ths of the funds. But if you
026take 10 classes, then it gets divided by tenths, so to speak. And so I think students here will want to take a lot of elective classes. And so that could actually then mean additional additional weight on that total amount of money if that makes sense. Yep, it does. Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Miss Bird. Thank you, Vice Chair. Member Fant. Thank you. awesome presentation. this has been a long time coming and, I live in the area and so drive by the school quite often and have wondered as a parent before I got in the board and then on the board it's, you know, what's going to happen with Cherokee and such a beautiful facility. Love the ideas, the real creativity behind the design and then the school design itself. so that's going to be I know
027it'll be a huge buzz in the community. Everybody will be excited about it. A few things that I wanted to ask the how much you had already mentioned. You said it would be a total of 67 or it's 67 plus the additional $18 million. So what for what we would thanks Mr. V for that question for what we would like to accomplish it would be 92 million in total. 67 is what we would be using our capital dollars for. And then the 25 million was the breakdown of the 18 and seven that we would want to provide the enhanced state-of-the-art equipment that's being used in industry. And then an additional amount of money that would be reserved to be able to to keep doing that as we go forward. And then also for like the
028lecture series and visiting professors and those pieces. Perfect. I love that. If I may add as well, Miss Front, is we have put together a business plan on how to, achieve that $25 million goal. it's been it's been very thoroughly vetted and thought out and put together. there are specific targets, there are specific donors that we are have actually started to have conversations with. but the process has just begun. So, if you know someone, let me know. I'll be happy to talk to them. Wonderful. Wonderful. But that effort is now underway. Wonderful. I love that. and really partnering with the community as well because then it's the community has a stake in it to really help our students and in turn help the community at large. really excited. Another question that I had would how
029many students total can fit in the facility? Thanks, Miss Fran, for that question. So, I'll get you an exact figure. I know it's 625 650 in that vicinity is what we're looking at for a 9 through 12 school. Perfect. the other issue that has come up in conversations with community members is the parking. I know parking is very tight and what are we doing to make sure that we have enough parking that parking isn't going to be overflowing into the community streets? It's nestled right into the middle of a neighborhood. Great question. So, we this site, the size of it, the parking spots that we will have are what we would typically have for this this size. we did explore a parking garage. However, the amount of dollars that was going to be versus the
030amount of spaces is not economically viable decision. And so we are having talks about there's talks about a potential arts walk that would be part of this. we're also talking about depot parking. we have some ideas of where we could transport kids from that are in the vicinity. And so those discussions will further but we do have ideas and plans that we're we're working on for that. Okay. And this would be students would be bust in like a regular school or this would be more of that magnet feel where the parents would have to bring them. Yeah. No. So this there this is going to there there would not be the traditional bus transportation but for overflow or you know if there's additional it's a 9 through 12 school but if there are additional cars
031that's what we're looking at for how we could potentially have some depot transportation from a site like that. working maybe with the city on that as well to utilize some other resources that could be available. Wonderful. Perfect. And then my last question is just how will students be selected to attend this state-of-the-art school? So that there's more to come on that, but we're looking at this not being typ like our typical magnet process. we're looking at this being an audition applicationbased process. We're really looking to identify talent for this school that could then with this opportunity really take it to the next level. So that was that's kind of also aligned with the shift that we were having in the model. And so it'll be really identifying students who have the talent and the desire
032for these areas and then that being part of an audition slash applicationbased process. Excellent. I really love that. I think that is going to really bring it up a step step above where people are wanting to go because the talent is so high and you know they're kind of rubbing off on each other and helping each other. iron sharpens iron. So, excited to see that. thank you so much. Love the booklet as well. It to me it gives a private school feel in the middle of a public school. So, love it. Thank you so much. Thanks, Miss Fra. Appreciate it. Member Benos, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. As the district as the board member in district six, I'm so excited about this. and I just I have lived in this neighborhood for so many
033years, so I have run by this school so many mornings and I am so excited to see it being rebuilt. And I love the ideas that you've talked about today, Mr. Fernandez. I could not imagine a better person to be in charge of this. when most people say we need to raise $25 million, I get nervous and panicked. When you say we need to raise $25 million, I think, okay, we're good. We're fine. We can do this. No problem. So, thank you for taking this on and volunteering. And it's not just volunteering your time. This is probably a job you actually paid to do in many ways. So, I appreciate it. So, thank you truly for for making this happen and for Dr. Border, for you and your team as well. So, thank you. I
034also love that this is a first of its kind. And you know, usually in the public education space when I hear the word innovative, to me it's a code word for things I don't like. But when I hear the word innovative here, I love it. And it is exactly what I think innovation should be. and it is, you know, working with our city and it's working with local businesses because it is to everyone's benefit to support our a public school. I've always said it before, public school parents and public school families and public school students love public school choices. So, thank you so much. Very excited. I love the again the partnership, the internships, and I love that you talked about AI and that you that we're seeking to make this AI proof, right? We
035recognize the influences, and I love that's a real focus on how we sustain this these creative areas and industries. A lot of the questions that I had written down were already answered, but I did have a few. one is we were because one of the concerns I also had was about parking in neighborhood and I know we've talked about just the need to make sure that the neighborhood feels very involved and is committed and interested and sees the huge benefit that having this school in their neighborhood really is. I mean for people who don't live downtown, this is I mean really like two or three blocks from the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. It is so close. and it will be such a benefit to the neighborhood. But when you talked about parking, you mentioned
036something about an arts walk. Yeah. What does that mean? So, there's been discussions about as this the areas continues to evolve and reshape that art will be incorporated into pathways within the city. And there's been talks about an art walk. So that could be part of a plan if we were able to identify nearby spaces that had additional parking if that's even warranted because again this school will have the number of parking spots that a school this typical size would have. This idea comes from SCAD. Okay. so we visited the Savannah College of Arts and Design. and they have pathways, you know, from parking areas back to the classrooms and to other buildings that they incorporate this they allow the students to decorate and create a public art basically a public art path that guides
037you to the school. So that's the thought at least. I mean that takes a little integration obviously in collaboration with the city and we're still a few years away from something like that. But but again trying to allow the school to really be part of the community so it's not enclosed in those four build you know four walls but rather it bleeds out into the community integrates into the community. So those are kind of thoughts that again trying to think outside the four boxes the four the four walls and so that's what we meant by that. Okay. So, it's it's essentially just having more walking pathways to get to the school. So, if someone had to park farther away, there there's like a pathway to get there, but it's incorporated into the school. Is that
038what you're kind of saying? Kind of saying like that. Yeah. And that, you know, and if you would think of you can almost see there's there's already some elements of that with a new trail along South Street, right? And the art exhibits that they've put every so every other block or every block or what have you. Something similar to that is what we're talking about. to something that incorporates that it then leads to the school. Okay. So, in addition to this amazing school, I'm also getting more walkways and No, no, no. We're not saying that. I'm not promising that. Well, I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. But that's that's amazing. Okay. I just wanted to clarify what that meant. the other question I had was about I know you said a lot of the
039core classes will be done virtually and I love member Front when she brought up just the collaboration with other schools in the area. I think that makes so much sense. But I am curious. Do you think that we would have the teachers kind of in on and in those specialty areas to fill the spots? You know, enough teachers to teach these programs, I guess, is what I'm saying. So, that'll be part of the work ahead, board member Vanos, and the design. And so, thanks for that question. So, that's why we are looking to you. I do think there will be a lot of teachers extremely interested in current arts courses but also new courses that we will work with the state to see what other courses are available that we can offer or even design
040aligned with this school and aligned to state standards. I think there will be a lot of interest in those. but also having lecture series ability and visiting professors will allow us to tap into hopefully additional resources and also post-secary partnerships that could allow for this as well. Okay. Because it just seems like there's a lot of specialty training that would go into a lot of these positions. But but you're saying kind of with visiting professors and or teachers and then possibly training associated with some of the groups you've already talked to, we could probably get there or potentially like visiting professionals as well. So, you know, not just professors, but those in industry. so we obviously would have a lot of things to work through with that. but I think that they are all possible
041as we go ahead and think about how that could work in partnership whether those are mentorships apprenticeships so that we're going to be exploring all of those all of those avenues. Okay, great. That sounds wonderful. yeah, I think all of my other questions were answered. I am very excited about this and happy to help in any way I can. So, thank you again so much for your work. Thanks, Miss Vanos. member Vanos, I am sure I'm sorry I was caught off guard when you said you'd help in any way you could. I'm sure that any help you can give raising the 25 million would be greatly appreciated, right? Be careful. okay. I'm pretty sure we have member Gallo wants to be recognized. Member Gallo, welcome. Amber Gallo, can you can you hear me? We can
042hear you. Great. Thank you so much. I just wanted to say that I'm so excited about this program for this school. I think it's going to be fabulous. I think it's going it so needed here in Orange County and this highlights the best of what public education can offer to its students. So, I'm just I can't wait for it to open. I am so appreciative to Mr. Fernandez and his his work. It truly takes a community to put something like this together with the funding that we need to fill the gaps with the school. So, thank you, Mr. Fernandez, and we look forward to working with you. Thank you. I do have one question because I believe the other ones have been answered. I know that we discussed in our one-on-one that we were looking
043at some of the workforce partners that we would be engaging in to ensure that we were holding programs that are needed in Orange County because ultimately I believe our goal is to educate and then retain those talented students here in Orange County to build on our skilled workforce. So, if someone could just tell me who we're working with or who what businesses would be aligned. Thanks. Thanks, Miss Galler, for that question. there'll be more ahead on that but we certainly will be working with the economic chambers Orlando and Orange County on the high demand high wage opportunities. I've they have lots of data on those fields which was also part of our earlier presentations regarding the economic opportunities and then you know I don't want to mention specifics but all those areas that we talked
044about on the map earlier the simulation corridor the theme parks we the local theaters we hope to be engaged with all of those entities as this work progresses. ES as we move forward. So I know not a not a lot of specificity in that but certainly much more to come and it is certainly at the front of our awareness and will be it'll be intimately part of the work ahead. Anything else? Member Gallo. Sorry, we're having some interference. Okay, we're not able to hear you right now. If I'm good, chair. Thank you. Oh, wonderful. Okay, thank you. Well, that was much better. Thanks, Miss Galler. I appreciate it. All right, member Douglas. good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. I am so excited about this venture. I just I wish it was in district 4, but anyway,
045but I am so excited about this venture and u arts and entertainment is just my heart. I'm not good at any of these, but I just I in admiration for kids that can really produce arts. It's just amazing. And we have talent in OCPS for sure. And you won't have any problems finding the kids, those kids to be in that school. for sure. a lot of the questions that I have and I want to say thank you to Mr. Jose Fernandez for and the team for working on this wonderful wonderful idea. Thank you so much. I was going to ask if they were going to have performance in this facility but you answered my question with the parking. Apparently there's not enough parking for this but I don't know. No, Miss Douglas, thanks for that
046question. We will have performances in this space. And so, you know, again, a building built for the 600 plus students, the parking mirrors. So, you know, we have performances at schools right now of this size. and the parking, you know, is adequate for that. So we expect the destination theater to be something that is utilized a lot. we would love the destination theater to be exactly that an evening nightly destination. Wonderful. not just for obviously for our students at that school, but also we see this as opportunities for our own other schools to utilize this theater. and then also with some of the other conversations how we partner with the community on this space I think will also be part of our efforts ahead and proposals and plans that we work on. Oh, I'm excited.
047Okay, great. Great. And also my other question, I mean I had a question about the how do you raise the remaining 25 million, but you you told me that you had already an idea of how this would happen and with Mr. Rosifan on this. I'm sure you probably have great ideas about how this will happen. So, thank you so much for for our kids and for what you've done for them. And my next question will be how do you two choose the teachers that will be you know that will be in that facility and teaching our kids? Yeah, thanks Miss Douglas for that question. So, it'll be similar. I mean, it'll be the processes we utilize now when we're opening, you know, schools. There'll be positions that, you know, teachers will have the ability to
048apply for and the principal and assistant principles will interview and hire and go through the process. Yeah. Because they have to be really Yes. really good teachers to be I mean passion for arts and entertainment to be and we'll we'll work closely, Miss Douglas, with HR on that. but you know this is a this school is not relieving any other schools. It's a you know it's a school of choice kind of standing you know outside of a zone. And so we'll work through our HR processes on that. But the principles and assistant principal of the school, they'll be the ones to to determine. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you member Douglas. Member Salamanca. Thank you, Chair. folks asked all my questions, but I think one of the points that I know we talked about
049that is really important is so many of our students who are curious about the arts and the tech associated with the arts sometimes do at our schools and more extracurricular activities, but don't get a sense or the opportunity to be like fully immersed in in a more career-like way. and one of the things that I've heard from students and from parents sometimes is that they end up enrolling in universities and going to programs that are really expensive or going to for-profit colleges that for these types of degrees. unless you're really kind of committed and this is your love and passion. you really have to pursue the job after really seriously. And if you don't, then sometimes you have a degree and no job and a lot of student debt. And so one of the things
050I'm really excited about this is that we're going to be giving our students the opportunity to explore these careers with a little bit less of the kind of scary cost associated with it. And that's going to be really valuable and unique to our community. but also I think it's an opportunity for a lot of our partners in education to show up and support because they're going to benefit, you know, economically and hiring really great talent because of this. So, I love what we're doing here. I love that we're aligning a lot of these incentives and that our families and students are going to be better off because of this. And I'm just like excited that this is going to be something we can offer and do it in such a high quality way. And yeah,
051I love the design. I love so much for it. I think with the work that you all have done so far and even just the presentation and our vision, I don't imagine that a lot of the folks that will benefit from this in industry would say we're not being thoughtful about this. So, thank you for kind of putting the best foot forward on behalf of OCPS and bringing that to a lot of our industry partners and hopefully folks that will support. Thanks, Malamaka. Appreciate it. Well said, M. Salam. Member Faron. I had some more thoughts and questions. one question I do have, we've talked a lot about the digital art type media, the sound, a lot of it is digital. will there be the hands-on art like the regular painting and all the I'm I'm
052thinking even ways that the students could be used to generate funds for the school with murals helping paint murals around the city things of that nature where I think there's community members or even at Disney they're hiring our students to come and help support in that way. Would there be that type of art? Yes. it's interesting you've asked that question. we one of the companies that we visited actually specializes in in in background design and does all the work or does not all the work but a significant amount of work on the theme parks on what you the shelling that goes outside the buildings and this is the non-professional description of it. I'm sure they use more sophisticated language, but but what you see with like the Transformer buildings and the epic universal theme park
053components. we definitely see that and that type of artwork being done. And the school is designed that way. There is what they call a dirty courtyard, which sounds kind of funky. We'll have to name it something different, but that's what they refer to in architectural terms, which is where the these things take place where, you know, things get dirty and and they use they dig in and they paint and they form these things. so the long I mean the short answer is yes. Some of those components here. Okay. I'd love to hear that. Art is definitely one of my big loves, you know, aside from doing everything else. And so I'd love to see that. my last question that I missed earlier was in part of the presentation it was said that there will be
054dissolving barriers between different disciplines. What exactly does that mean? How does that look with the 9th through 12th grade? Yeah. So Miss Fra there the school is going to be designed with that creative flow where there won't be barriers so in between the concentrations. So that it's really going to be built in an integrated fashion that cinematic arts, sound design, emerging media, they will it will there will be interdisciplinary collaboration continually. And so that's that's kind of what we mean by that. It won't be, you know, grade levels per se. I mean certainly there'll be additional, you know, years of experience that comes with courses. but the design is that the 9th through 12th graders will be collaborating across all disciplines and working together kind of like you would really see right now you know
055in in performing arts with within our our traditional schools. Okay, wonderful. That's I was wondering how that was working, but that sounds wonderful. Really again like huge thank you to the team. Go ahead. You look like you want to share one more thing. No, I was just, you know, when the, you know, we're in the spring, we'll be coming up on the musical season, which are always amazing. And when you think of all the students that are working on that, you know, they're designing sets, they're doing the they're they're doing the work outside where they're they're painting and everything to bring the set design together. You've got other students who are, you know, the orchestra students, the coral students, the, you know, the the students that are in drama. They're all working together interdisciplinary to
056make that production happen. And so that will be the whole theme at this school across all three concentrations. Wonderful. I love it. Thank you again. I appreciate all the work and thoughtfulness into this project. Thanks, Miss Fro. All right. Thank you. Before we close out, I want to check one more time. member Gallow if you have any remarks. If not, we are way ahead of schedule. Unless you rely on the clocks in the back of the room, in which case I was looking up there, I was like, wow, we blew through two hours really fast. Madam Chair, I wanted to if I could just add one more before you close your I just want to take a moment to recognize I know everyone spoke about the booklet. and there was this was certainly a team
057effort. Jason Locker and, Christy Garden both provided enormous amount of text information in here. And then we, this was all done in house with, Lindsay Luxa, who did the great job. So, I want to take a moment to recognize them as well. Thank you for Yeah, thank you for pointing that out. Yeah. And the last thing I'd like to say from my perspective too as a parent what's what's really cool about this school many many many many things are cool but anecdotally I recently attended an IB graduation and you would think that IB students aren't necessarily aligned with this type of curriculum but I think you would be wrong what I realized is that about a third of the students that were where they were going to college were industries related to this at the
058IB graduation So I think we will actually bring be bringing in some not just artistic talent but some academic talent as well which is which I think will will provide a really unique mix. and again that's just an observation as a parent and the other issue as a parent is we all know that for a number of different reasons unrelated to to in society sometimes these children involved in in technology become isolated. They do these things but they do it in their rooms. What's going to be again another interesting component of this is bringing these kids out of those rooms and bringing that talent in a collaborative environment where they will build things together. Now and I think that will be a really fascinating social experiment to see how it all comes together. But but
059that's another added value of having this type of school again bringing these kids out of those rooms where they're doing these things already but really bringing it in in in a collaborative manner. So I just wanted to to add those last two bits as well. Yeah, absolutely. Chair, just one one additional piece. thanks Jose for that. I'd be remiss to you if I didn't thank one everyone who I don't know that has worked on this. It's been you know, we've been having this conversation for a while and this vision and the school choice office certainly part of those conversations along the way, the foundation team. And so, really looking forward, it's incredible to work alongside Mr. Fernandez and looking forward to furthering this work as we go forward. And so really appreciate your time, your
060questions, and your feedback this afternoon. Thank you. Well, thank you. And let let me close with this, Mr. Fernandez. We are so very fortunate and very very grateful that we have somebody like you in our community who cares so much about public education and has invested so many years, so much time, so much talent. And as somebody pointed out, I think it was member Banos, I know it has also cost you financially because you could be spending all of that time and energy totally on for your own interests, but your interest in and passion for public education for the future of our kids. Thank you. Can't say thank you enough. And we wouldn't be on this path without our superintendent. So talk about leadership. Yeah, we're always so proud of you. I always cry. Yeah,
061I know. I don't cry when I'm sad. You can punch me in the stomach. But honestly, it's the boardest. Huh? The board that you know is the board who put you in this position. We will take 100% credit for everything you come up with. No. And honestly, Jose, I can't thank you enough because I know that there's sacrifices that you're making to be able to do this. But another piece of evidence, another testament to how blessed we are in our community, that they value public education, they see themselves as avenues for us to provide a better experience for them. So, you know how thankful I am to you. Thank you. All right. Well, we are out of here an hour early and infinitely more inspired. So, thank you. Thank you. Got to hit the airport.
062Thank you. Thank you. Looking up. Honestly, I thought, man, we're just wrapping it up on time, but it feels Heat up here.