School Board Business Meeting and Presentations 5_30 p.m. 9-26-22

001foreign time I'd like to call the meeting to order this is Monday September 26 2022 this is the school board Awards and presentations time um calling this to order at 5 30. I'd like to recognize Dr Moore for a series of presentations thank you madam chair this is probably the best part of our meeting which is presentations the opportunity to acknowledge and recognize some outstanding things and outstanding individuals in our school district and with that I'll turn it over our public information officer Ms Maddox thank you Dr Moore tonight for our first presentation we have our steam designation Awards and I would like to introduce Miss April Perez she's our steam coordinator for the district and she will be coming to the podium to recognize these schools and individual teachers Miss Perez good evening the

002purpose of the steam designation for the school district of Indian River county is to Foster creativity and Innovative thinking schools to participate in Steam designation use interdisciplinary learning experiences that promote inquiry technology integration and authentic project-based learning that's connected to the real world our steam schools Partnerships reach beyond the walls of our schools and include higher education and Community organizations we're excited to announce our esteemed designated school for the 21-22 school year and at this time I'd like to introduce our steam specialist Mitzi daraco hello good evening we are excited to recognize the hard work and accomplishment of our steam schools for the 2122 school year it is an honor to have the privilege to work with your teams and present each steam school with a steam banner and certificate in recognition of your Collective

003efforts and hard work your dedication to being best by students regardless of the challenges faced and continued Partnerships with local community organizations to further the work this year is inspiring we all we also have the privilege of recognizing for teachers who completed the Epic steam challenge last year by engaging their students in supplemental activities in the categories of science technology engineering arts and Mathematics thank you for your continued dedication to our students so schools earning a gold designation are Osceola Magnet Elementary Storm Grove Middle Rosewood Magnet Elementary schools earning a silver designation are Beachland Elementary and Dodger Town Elementary schools earning a bronze designation are Vero Beach High School congratulations to our steam designated schools [Applause] foreign congratulations to the 21-22 Epic steam teachers Kristen Bruckner Catherine Woodall Julie Carroll and Kim Bryant foreign let's

004give them one more round of applause as everyone is exiting the room thank you so much [Applause] we are very excited about this next presentation of course all of them are always exciting however we have to brag on our 2022 National bus safety poster contest winner from daughter Town Elementary School Mr Jeremiah baia Sanders come on up Jeremiah [Music] Jeremiah won first place nationally I think he's ready to give a speech you said I could do that he won first place nationally in the third through fifth grade division for the national school bus safety poster contest what's happening so his poster which we got the picture right up there it was first chosen as the state winner for Florida who submitted his poster as their representation in the National contest and then Jeremiah won against

005all other state winners in his division which is their most popular division that age category third through fifth he will receive a certificate and a 250 dollar check did you know that also his poster along with Dodger Town Elementary will be highlighted during the sport during the school bus safety week which is the third week in October and we are really looking forward to sharing that on our social media once they do that as well and I can't forget to recognize Miss Dana Matheny who's here as well and she is his art teacher she said wow this is a lot of money you're right and Miss Metheny we just want to thank you as well for making sure that all those posters were submitted from Dodgertown you had a really good turnout and we knew

006when we saw this one that you know pretty much this was going to be the winner we knew when we saw it so again congratulations to Jeremiah and we would love to get a picture of you with our board members would you just to stand right in the middle there [Applause] there you go you want us to come down there with you Jeremiah is running the show tonight so everyone is moving down to the front yes all right let's get family in as well [Applause] and again congratulations to Jeremiah and his pictures will be up on our website tonight actually in our Gallery so make sure that you check in on there and as soon as we receive the information from the state we will be bragging about him all over social media and our

007website so we're very excited thank you Jeremiah and family for being here tonight for our next presentation we are doing our casual for a cause presentation in the organization that we got casual for last month was the environmental Learning Center um Miss Barbara schlitt Ford is the executive director of the ELC would you please join me at the podium this students and staff members of the school district of Indian River County raised a total of 2 768.87 for the environmental Learning Center and of course we have to mention that Storm Grove I know Mr Taylor was in here for a presentation he's the principal of storm growth they raised the most money at 506.19 . that is incredible just the the partnership that we have with the school district means so much to us at

008your ELC you know we're right there at the Western foot of the Wabasso bridge if you haven't been to see us lately we're excited about our School District fun days that we've been hosting for the elementary schools so we have our second one this Saturday and then our last one November 5th so we'll pray that the weather holds out and we'll be moving forward but we really have things for all ages and we exist for the benefit of the community to get out there and be in Wild Florida and we hope that if you haven't been there lately you take a look on our website and our social media and come get involved with the environmental Learning Center thank you guys so much [Applause] foreign [Music] here are the real checks and you get to

009keep that as well yes all right thank you we have a new parent communication platform in our district PBIS which you may have heard of before it extends positive behavior reinforcement Beyond school and remind keeps families up to date with what's happening in the classroom now we have a tutorial video for you tonight um just to introduce you to both of these platforms and how you can use them to help connect with your teacher and keep track of your student and we can't go without thanking Carrie wall and her I.T team for assisting us with this video thank you very much so go ahead and roll it in an effort to streamline Communications from school to home the school district of Indian River County has implemented two communication apps PBIS rewards and remind this informational

010video will review the steps to activate your accounts and enhance communication with your student's School PBIS rewards is a positive behavior Support app utilized by students in grades K through 8. the app has a digital token reward program and allows parents to track and monitor the progress of their students behavior PBIS rewards allows for a teacher to family communication Administration to family communication and also translates to Spanish the app is available for all devices to access your account open your device's App Store and search for PBIS rewards family then download the app to your phone please be sure to download the app with the purple icon which is intended for families then choose your notifications preference select your language English or Spanish click scan code allow camera access then scan your QR code reminder you

011must download the app prior to scanning your QR code it will not work outside the app confirm your relationship to the student if you have more than one child click the green add button to add additional students you are now set up to use the PBIS rewards Family app remind is a mobile first two-way communication platform being utilized by students in 6th through 12th grade remind allows Educators to communicate with students and Parents Without sharing personal contact information you can receive messages and reply in whatever way works best by using the remind app text messages email or on the web using the remind website students can log in from classlink or the app and all classes are automatically connected to claim your account download the free app for IOS and Android or visit remind.com your

012login information is automatically set with the contact information stored in focus to activate your account go to www.romine.com click sign up then enter your email address or phone number that relates to your focus account next you'll enter the four-digit confirmation code received via email or text create a password and complete any requested information prompts once logged in it is important to review your profile information and set your notification preferences these settings can be adjusted by clicking the settings icon once in the profile tab display you can view and edit your personal information including your name password or preferred language please note you have the option of adding a child however they should already be connected don't forget to double check your preferred language preference a key feature of remind is the ability to translate incoming

013messages into your preferred language and automatically have messages translated when they're delivered to others once you have edited reviewed and saved your profile information you will click on the notification preferences tab this tab allows you to manage how you would like to receive remind notifications this information can also be edited to add or remove phone numbers email addresses or connected devices once your notification preferences are finalized you are ready to begin communicating through remind if you have any questions or concerns or would like additional information please visit the digital parent resources page at sdirc dot info forward slash digital parent resources [Music] so that was a lot to take in and that is why we have it on our digital parent resources page and we can also we also will be posting it on our

014YouTube channel so you can go through in the privacy of your own home and one step at a time and make sure that you are signed up for both of those apps next I would like to introduce Mr Eric Seymour our assistant superintendent of Student Affairs Advocacy and access for a special Guardian cap presentation uh good evening how many of you knew that there were over 2 000 student athletes in the school district of Indian River County probably not uh we didn't either but it's a matter of checking our numbers and uh seeing that students are involved and hopefully those numbers will increase and uh did you know that Over a four-year study the American Academy of Pediatrics reported 9542 concussions in high school football and that they were increasing hello I'm Eric Seymour assistant

015superintendent again of Student Affairs Advocacy and access uh one key area in our department is to oversee Athletics in that we work directly with our principals athletic directors and coaches to provide needed support to help reduce sports related injuries concussions are a major concern in our sports with football reporting the most and highest number of head injuries at this time we'd like to show a short clip it's into trenches for Melbourne Central Catholics football team as they prep for their next game in those trenches fifteen-year-old Junior lineman Max Navarro an exchange student from Mexico says he's getting support from his coaches teachers and fellow students Max has loved playing football as long as he can remember uh it's an awesome um I never thought it would be like this um I like football since I

016was a kid but I wanted to live like the experience here in the U.S [Music] go signs as in offense and defense Max must get in the trenches on the offensive and defensive line is getting twice the physical contact of these demanding positions you might notice Max's helmet looks different you'll feel more safety more confident about it Max and his teammates on the offensive and defensive line are wearing Guardian caps during practice the one size fits all soft shell helmet cover is designed to offer impact reduction it's engineered to cut down on the impact some 33 percent eyes got to be right from there our feet will follow and then our hands will do all three of those are important head coach Rich perzinski says the NFL has been doing a good job spotlighting the

017guardian caps used by more than 100 000 athletes across the country for the past couple years it gave him and his staff the idea to equip their own players with safety being their number one priority some former players came through and donated the Caps so every offense and defensive lineman here at Melbourne Central Catholic has his Guardian product and again we feel that we haven't really had any concussion issues thus far Max's goal is to move on to play college football and he hopes that team takes advantage of the safety caps too because he would continue to wear one definitely take it in Melbourne Greg Malone Spectrum news all right thank you and we have one of our schools here two were invited one with the blue and gray and the one with the red

018the one with the red is here and they want to uh let you guys see exactly what that Guardians cat looked like looks like on a helmet you can take that up and let our board members see it okay and at this time I would like to bring up two members of our Education Foundation the board of directors chair and Miss Heidi Leone director [Applause] the school district of Indian River County would like to thank them for they their generous donation of 200 Guardian XT caps 100 went to Sebastian River High School and 100 went to Vero Beach High School as mentioned in the clip the guardian cap can reduce the impact up to 33 percent during practice in addition to reducing static Heat by 15 to 20 degrees in the whole map this is

019a positive step for athletes and on behalf of our department we would like to thank the Ed foundation for their support foreign excuse our dress and our smell [Laughter] s yeah thank you thank you very much and guys on up on a very very light note a light note uh you didn't know our superintendent was a football player and he said that they didn't have headaches until they played against Vero Beach High School thank you [Applause] last but certainly not least we have Kristen can we can we ask a question sure one second are they wearing those during the games or just during practice that's where they hit five that you know they get five days a week so most of their ideas are within the practice time so they can't wear them through the

020games but right now is for practicing and most of the Interior alignment which you have to Blind well over 300 pounds out of payment test during the entire week did you have a question yeah why but wouldn't they also hit or have contact I mean they obviously do during games so can they is it is there a reason why they're not allowed to wear it during a real game well it hasn't been sanctioned yet by Sports but they are recreating the helmet to you know deal with all of the concussions and issues that you know are presented during these hard impacts so right now the best thing that they could do without changing the game was to uh create that guardian's cap that makes sense thank you thank you last but certainly not least we

021have Mrs Brittany Sweeney here she's the marketing manager for Dougherty Enterprises um this past summer Miss Sweeney if you would join me at the podium please this past summer um we had the Applebee's stuff the bus activity at Applebee's now we've done this in the years past um and so this is sort of a reverse check presentation because they have a check that they would like to give our school district um from their Applebee's stuff the bus event hi everyone I'm Brittany Sweeney and I'm going to introduce Jennifer Bell our general manager for the Applebee's in Vero Beach um hi so we are super excited to present this check to the school district of Vineyard of Indian River County today um it is for 1 305 dollars um as well as an estimated 300 or

022750 dollars in school supplies that we did donate um we wanted to find a way to help support our community and neighborhoods so we started our stuff the bus school supply Drive event last year this was our second year and we were excited to see this event grow each year and raise needed school supplies and money for the students of Indian River County thank you for partnering with us and we look forward to another event in thank you [Applause] foreign chair with three minutes to spare I think that concludes our presentations okay I appreciate that and at this time we'll adjourn the awards and presentations it's 5 56. it is Monday September 26 2022 this is the business meeting for the school district of Indian River County School Board it is six o'clock I'm calling

023this meeting to order we're in the Joanne idlett Junior teacher Education Center the Pledge of Allegiance tonight will be led by Vero Beach High School's Air Force Junior ROTC Detachment 043 under the direction of Dean rasdale retired major U.S Air Force and Sean Rood senior master sergeant U.S Air Force please rise the face ladies and Gentlemen please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you foreign we'd like to thank our students [Applause] you guys do such a good job all right are there any items board members wish to move from consent action not from consent to action but I'd like to add um

024two items to discussion okay okay go ahead uh proclamations would be one item and then another item would be the football fields yes ma'am I would like to add a discussion item okay classroom libraries okay are there any items that anyone wants to move from consent to action seeing none I'm going to call for a motion to accept the adoption of the orders of the day as amended okay second Mr barefoot Dr Schiff all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed the pass is 5-0 okay Dr Moore says we have more presentations Madam chair we have a proclamation I'm gonna turn it over to Ms dampier to present that Proclamation oh I hear them good evening the first two weeks of October are designated by the state of Florida as disability history and awareness

025weeks during this time the ESD department has has planned activities for schools to expand students knowledge understanding and awareness of individuals with disabilities Mrs Moray director of exceptional student education will provide an overview of some of the activities and introduce students from Citrus Elementary to read the proclamation good evening thank you for having us we are very excited to provide the proclamation here today we have five students from Citrus Elementary here along with their speech language pathologist Taylor Caldwell who will be leading the way their school team is here as well their principal their resource Specialists and other members of the Citrus staff so for these first two weeks of October recognizing them as disability history and awareness weeks we really want to inform Advocate and provide information on our school campuses that will be

026incorporating K to 12 on all of our different campuses as well as a special event at the school choice Fair on October 8th where we are showcasing disability history and awareness and including ese services in that very important event so with that I am very happy to introduce our five students here tonight we have Caius Anderson Alan Ables Raymond Stinson Jackson McLean and Lincoln McLean who are going to be presenting for you momentarily okay all right Proclamation designating the first two weeks October two weeks a ghost and you never universe to provide to provide instruction attention hi everybody what all right there are already 100 75 000 students with jerseys foreign [Music] Authority [Music] a relativity for all people and and whereas a key method of promoting these four principles is for our schools to

027recognize the contributions by people with disabilities to our society and provide instruction in disability history people with disabilities and the disability rights movement through school curriculum School assemblies and other school activities and it is desirable that state post-secondary institutions promote activities that provide education awareness and understanding regarding people with disabilities and okay are you ready so we're just also encourages cup cooperation between the school system post-secondary institutions and the commute at large to promote better treatment and fair hiring practices for people with the disabilities good job [Applause] [Music] now therefore be it resolved by the school board of Indian River can't meet the the board urges our schools to provide institutive instruction on disability history people with disabilities and the disability rights movement especially during the first two weeks of October and periodically throughout the

028school year and encourages other institutions to conduct and promote educational activities on those subjects all right yeah for the results that the first two weeks in October of every year be recognized as disability history and awareness weeks in Indian River County Florida adopted by The District School Board of Indian River County Florida on the 26th day of this some Temple 2022 sign on behalf of the District School Board of Indian River County Florida by e [Music] chairman Dr Peggy Jones Vice Channel Dr Mary Schiff Jacqueline Rosario [Music] your doctor Brian barefoot did the K more Let's Pretend the schools I know [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so excited are we gonna hold on one second hold on one second and then we'll take a picture all right so I'd like to call for a vote to

029accept the proclamation I make a motion the first two weeks of October 20 2022 as disability history and awareness weeks I'll make a motion second who seconded Dr Jones all those in favor aye passes 5-0 all right well now we can celebrate [Applause] oh one more one more so cute oh my gosh good job thank you Kristen so cute and Dr Moore is that all the presentations yes ma'am okay students did a great job of public speaking I know a lot of adults are nervous about public speaking they didn't seem to be nervous at all so it was wonderful to see that all right at this time we're going to have ours yes before we go into citizen enter can I say something sure um I'd just like to acknowledge that today is the first

030day of Rosh Hashanah that began last night with araf rosh hashonah um and I would like uh to acknowledge that this is one of the two high holy days in the Jewish calendar that began last night in the year 57 83. so to all who celebrate I want to wish you a good New Year Lashana Tova and a sweet new year thank you thank you Dr Schiff all right at this time it's citizen input time I'm going to read a statement this is the guidelines these are the guidelines for citizen input according to the school board policy 0169.1 each statement made by a member the public shall be limited to three minutes in duration persons will be recognized in the order in which the requests were received the time shall start when the speaker at

031the podium and the school board attorney will be the official timekeeper you will hear a beep at the end of your three minutes persons may speak for up to three minutes at the beginning of the business meeting during citizen input as indicated in the order of business and for up to three minutes to each action item agenda item during the action agenda and each board member discussion item as indicated in the order of business persons may speak only once about any given item the time period may be extended by the presiding officer only the individual speaking of a speaker submitting a speaker's form is allowed to address the board time may not be yielded to other speakers during the meeting please refrain from clapping or outbursts of any sort so that we can proceed with

032dignity and with the Quorum by not infringing on any individual's First Amendment rights I need to remind everyone to direct all comments to the chairman not to individual board members or to the superintendent board members may or may not address any citizen input statements at the end of the citizen input comment time and as board members listen to citizens without interruption citizens are asked to give board members the same respect as per Florida statute 100 1.372 subsection 3 the presiding officer of any District School Board May order the removal from a public meeting held by The District School Board of any person interfering with the expeditious or orderly process of such meeting provided such officers first issued a warning and continued interference with the orderly process of the meeting will result in removal all right

033I'm going to start I'll call the first name and then who is on Deck so we'll go with Claudia villadrosa first and Diane parentella after that hello come to the podium it's all yours Dr Moore and members of the board my name is Miss Claudia I've been in the school board for more than 20 years and this is my first time up here and I'm asking for an inflation bonus for my co-workers and myself of five thousand dollars for this school year gas has gone up 16 electricity 15.8 percent rent 6.7 percent groceries 13.5 percent and health insurance went up seven percent that's a total of 13.5 percent for just this year next year they expect the inflation to go up 15.7 percent and the third year 17 to 18 percent with this percentage going

034up I am not able to buy food like Publix or Whole Foods or even Walmart sometimes I do have to go to the up store and um I don't mind doing that I am proud of what uh where I buy my food but with that said our our neighboring counties they they are paying their employees better than our school district um so again I am asking for an inflation bonus uh for my co-workers and for myself thank you Diane parentella is next Julia white is on deaf good evening uh your last meeting I spoke before you about the need for a new policy for purchasing library books I understand that the rulemaking at the state level has not been finalized but just today a proposed rule was released related to the listing of Library materials

035and reading lists on school websites 6a-7.0713 one of the different definitions from this rule reads quote district-run Public Schools therefore charter schools are not included in the protections provided by the new state law the definition I am most concerned with however is the one that defines a library media center as quote any collection of books ebooks periodicals and videos maintained and accessible on the site of an elementary school including classrooms the classroom library that was closed off by a teacher at a local Middle School was making the rounds on social media after open house last week you better get used to seeing closed libraries in classrooms or Worse classroom libraries removed altogether how are we going to improve our reading scores when classroom libraries are going to disappear if classroom libraries are required to be

036kept in searchable format what teacher is going to have time to catalog all those books books I might add that the teachers have purchased with their own funding I am the President of special questions of the Treasure Coast we are a therapeutic writing program we have a horsepowered reading program with Dodgertown Elementary and then going back to about 2019. this year we're trying to add the program at Indian River Academy we've been trying to work through the new requirements as well as working through risk management but at this time we are unable to even give the students a horse coloring book read for the records coming up on October 27th last year libraries were given the book for read for the record and we were allowed to pledge to read what's the plan for this

037year can we order those books is it going to be given to us is this another opportunity to promote reading that will be lost due to new legislation and since charter schools are not included in the definition of elementary schools it leads me to believe that this was never really about the books in the first place okay thank you after everyone speaks after everyone speaks Julia white is next on Deck is Jennifer Pippen Julia White's mother of a student at Vero Beach High School and Storm Grove Middle School I'm also the president of the fighting Indians band boosters first of all I want to thank each of you that helped with the change in the policy for charter buses I am beyond ecstatic to hear that there is policy change either coming or in place

038but that's not why I'm here tonight I want to talk about the Citrus Bowl first of all thank you to whomever helped with switching our game to Sebastian River High School last week it worked it wasn't fun to be in another Stadium but it worked um but let's talk about the big you know elephant in the room this Citrus Bowl is in need of some major help and to my knowledge there was supposed to be a renovation done I think this summer and it was to address the field and the away side after the home side got done to my knowledge there was supposed to be another renovation um there's just inadequate drainage at that field and this is a problem for not just football teams and the other teams that play on that field

039but it's also a problem for the band kids that play on the field but that's that's still not the only problem at the Citrus Bowl there is um inadequate parking for our handicap they Park in a field to the east of the stadium that is also used by cheer and by Band trailers and if you've ever tried to navigate that field with a trailer filled with handicap parking you'll know our pain um but yet there's more so the away side seating is a hole that you can drop just anything small children purses cell phones it's a problem in addition to that the away and home side concession stands are not air conditioned and yeah okay that's frivolous but we live in Florida and it's a heat problem for any volunteers that work in there but

040it also makes our equipment like the ice machines work extra hard and Last Summer the one in the Wayside broke and this year the one in the home side broke and yes they both got fixed however that also put our band boosters and our football boosters out money and time having to go buy ice to make sure that their students were well hydrated and cool um the list goes on and on the away side parking lights do not work uh they haven't worked in the four years I've been there it seems to not be a light bulb problem um in addition to that if buses try to park over there they can't navigate without running over curbs so I really implore you to make a plan and follow through with it for not just the

041field but the away side in the parking lots as well um it saddens me that a team like fighting Indians is working in these conditions they deserve a field that matches their pride their sportsmanship and some place that are visiting teams and guests are proud to come to thank you thank you thank you Jennifer Pippen is next Cindy Gibbs is on Deck I have a couple things to pass out am I allowed to pass it out to you or does somebody have to do it um thank you sorry good evening my name is Jennifer Pippen I'm the chairman for moms for Liberty of Indian River Florida and one of the co-founders for We the People Indian River County if there is any children in the room and their parents would like them to leave for

042the remaining of this meeting or if there's anybody watching on YouTube I am going to be reading from some of the library books that are still on the shelves but what I did pass out to you are constitutions that were donated by the 1917 Society moms for Liberty has distributed through the 1917 Society 6 million constitutions through the United States this year and every single middle schooler eighth grader in this County received one of these except for the public schools so all of the charter schools the public schools a lot of home schools they are still yet to be approved from the school district of Indian River County the first email we sent to get these approved was on September 2nd if anybody wanted to do a public records request and there's been three since

043then so the only students 8th grade students in the county were public school students that did not get these in their hands I wanted you to have a copy so you see that it's unbiased it's just the Constitution the Declaration of Independence and our children deserve to have these in their hands because they're donated as supplemental material um these library books are still on the shelves parents are still asking um why they are not able to know the names and authors of these books so they can opt their children out so this is for again educational purposes for parents to be able to opt their children out this book sold is currently in our high schools there is no parental opt-out just to give a summary there are two girls that are sold into sex

044trade they are 11 and 14 years old if you look I could show everybody all of the sticky notes are all sex acts in this book so all the sticky notes in this book are sex acts okay this was approved to go back on the shelves at the February meeting again if there's any children listening or children in the room parents have the right to ask their children to not Mrs Pippin I can't have you read an excerpt that is meant for a 17 or 18 year old because the FAA has us allowing children that are under that age to watch it is a live broadcast I can't allow it okay but First Amendment rights say that we can educate the public on what are in the libraries for students and there could be 13

045year old students that are reading these books understand please stop my time okay so I can't even attempt to read the book that's currently on the Shelf referred to the attorney thank you uh chair Baron Borg members of the board pursuant to the school board's policy and their guidelines for a citizen comment the chair runs the meeting and the chair has the opportunity to stop any speaker if they go on too long but also if they are going to read something that is not proper for the purpose of a business meeting if the speaker would like to distribute that material similar to how the speaker is distributed these guides than the speaker can choose to do that so that the board members are able to view that material themselves thank you okay this book was

046sent to you um I believe it was January of 2022 before the last challenge um I was told that these books are only purchased on Amazon this book is from Sebastian River High School the book we purchased for two dollars on Amazon is the same book What's the title of that book sold by Patricia McCormick and it was emailed to the entire board when it was challenged it was challenged for incest rape and pedophilia and I know my time's almost up this book was challenged in March after the big February challenges this book is called sold or excuse me push a novel by Sapphire and I know that I can't read it it's about a 16 year old girl who's impregnated twice by her father and is sexually abused by her father and mother and

047graphic sexual nature thank you next speaker is Cindy Gibbs and on Deck is Angela banshof good evening hi I'm Cindy Gibbs I'm not going to talk about books for our district to truly achieve a world-class education designation we need to expand programming for students with exceptionalities on all ends of the spectrum we need more access for parents of children with disabilities to know their rights not just to be delivered those forms and documents they are written in language that are very difficult for people to understand who are even living inside the educational world and so parents need to truly be a part of this story I've been an fie IEP meetings with colleagues with people that I know well and it's always an uncomfortable situation it's a cold room it's uncomfortable furniture it's an uncomfortable

048situation when you're talking about how um you wish your child was doing better than they were so I feel like we can make that process more comfortable for our families at the other end of that Spectrum let's talk about how our gifted programming in our district is for elementary school children who are incredibly High achieving three quarters of one day a week it's not enough if we're going to achieve a world-class education system in this District our kids deserve more than that so we need to be able to find out how we can fund that better and also support our teachers I was looking through the project e-squared goals that what's posted on the district website ends 2021. and here we are considerably through 2022. so the Strategic goal from 2018 to 2021 was increase

049the percentage of high performing students at the primary Middle School levels demonstrating academic learning gains through the increased provision of high quality curricular and instructional resources and broaden Service delivery models of enrichment supports and gifted services for diverse student Learners and there are three strategies but I specifically want to talk about the one that says expanding access to Unique accelerated Blended learning approaches for all gifted students as well as students in need of enrichment supports at historically underrepresented schools we saw again tonight I'm thrilled to Pieces about those steam designated schools but please note which schools those were you've heard me talk many times before about what it's like to teach at a title school that doesn't get the Applause and the recognition at our school board meetings let's make sure that we do have

050a district-wide world-class education system thank you thank you bandsoff and deck is Michelle Sanford did I say that right yes yes I thank you for your time I'm Angela vanzoff I have three children in the district my two boys are at Vero Beach High School and my daughter is at Gifford Middle I'm here representing the fighting Indians football team as the booster club president I'm here to address the issues with the field conditions at the Citrus Bowl as many of you know we had to move our game this past week to Sebastian River High due to safety concerns from the poor field conditions as our field was deemed unplayable we got this news Thursday afternoon I am here to ask for immediate attention to this ongoing problem this is not new news as I'm aware

051it's been brought to the attention to the district for years I am suggesting the board take a very close look at not only the fields but also all of the facilities in and around the Citrus Bowl dilapidated sheds excessive drainage issues in multiple areas of the stadium a campus locker room that has not been updated since the mid-1980s the locks do not lock and in turn excuse me results in thefts of our student athletes equipment and personal belongings my son got things stolen several parents here their child as well I ask that the board take the appropriate steps to come up with a game plan to remedy these multiple problems while we were very thankful on Friday that our game did not get canceled and we love the hospitality that Sebastian River showed us um

052as well as having Governor DeSantis there um Vero Beach High School athletics particularly the football team continues to be one of the top programs in the State of Florida we also bring in a lot of revenue for our school and for our community it's a shame our facilities are not reflecting that we need a short-term solution to finish our current season and we need a long-term solution for the coming years thank you thank you Michelle Sanford is next Rebecca Cook is on Deck hello superintendent Moore and school board members my name is Michelle Sanford and I have two children in our County Schools one also middle and one at Osceola Magna Elementary I am here tonight for several reasons first per the library Access Data report put out by our district two weeks ago I

053want to share a pie graph made from those numbers that referee see the tiny little red sliver that represents the parents who opted their children to have no access to books 8.8 percent of parents I know these few parents can sometimes be loud and claim to represent the majority in our County but that is not true the numbers do not lie most of us are the green and I implore the school board to start representing the majority in this County and not just the 0.8 percent I would also like to encourage the district to start ordering books for our libraries it was unfortunate to learn that there has been no book ordering done by our media specialist since March I appreciate appreciate Diane parentella for Having the courage and coming to the last meeting to

054share this most of our parents did not know and the majority of us are not opposed to new books being ordered using our budget to its fullest is very important not using it can can have negative impact on our District's future budgets some see this as measures to slowly defund our Public Schools I hope that the board and superintendent take this into consideration I recently learned from my from another parent that our children are not doing any novel studies in critical thinking classes my 8th grader confirmed this he said they are studying science instead this is unacceptable needs to be addressed immediately why this isn't an action item I have no idea I understand that there are new statutes and laws coming from the state every day but the district needs the changes before the

055school year is over not next year also teachers and their classroom libraries need to be supported by our district I've seen the form that teachers had to fill out for their classroom libraries when teachers sign a form saying their library is in compliance yet the next week things could be different when new books are being reviewed to be pulled the district has the lawyers this should be this should not be an added burden on our teachers you are having teachers fill out forms you are asking us to fill out forms and we did at a certain point the parents Bill of Rights needs to protect the majority of our students to have the excellent education experience that you have promised I am tired of my children suffering because of a few parents who want my

056kids to live by their standards values and views of lifestyle and education while at our Public Schools they can opt their kids out of almost anything and everything yet that is not enough they are now infringing on my children's rights and this needs to stop stop gearing classrooms around the point eight percent and consider the majority of families who are being who are being affected by this lastly I want more than just reading writing and arithmetic for my children we should all want our children to be considerate classmates passionate Learners excellent students deeply educated and persistent critical thinkers as they leave our schools and move into our society we should expect nothing less from them and nor should you thank you thank you Rebecca Cook is next and Reverend Dr John vacciano is after that

057good evening school board and Dr Moore my name is Becky cook I'm a teacher assistant and the Secretary of CWA local 3180 first I would like to thank you for the thousand dollar bonus that support staff received last school year that money helped a lot of employees and their families this year support staff employees received a two percent wage increase starting July first that ranged from 26 Cents to 60 cents more an hour depending on the pay grade and how many hours an employee Works per week that wage increase could range from two dollars and sixty cents to twenty four dollars per week with the approximate average being around 12 to 13 dollars more per week considering the current 8.3 inflation rate cost of living two percent just doesn't keep up with the cost of

058basic necessities the support staff starting pay for the lowest pay grade is currently 13.31 cents per hour that will hopefully be raised to Fifteen dollars soon for all federal workers for the January 30th 2022 executive order by the president but fifteen dollars an hour in Indian River County Florida is no longer a livable wage it seems hourly paid workers are always at a disadvantage when it comes to wages as a union officer new employees sometimes contact me to tell me that there must be a mistake in their pay they either didn't realize or forgot that because they only worked nine and a half to ten months out of the year they are paid in 24 equal pay periods over a 12-month period therefore the pay is even less per pay period since part of our

059wages are held back for the two months when school is out that makes it even more challenging for many of us struggling to make the money stretch from Payday to Payday for us it's often a never-ending battle to survive the current inflation rate is seriously hurting many support staff employees I come before you today to ask you can to consider and approve an inflation bonus for all support staff employees last year you approved a thousand dollar bonus unfortunately after taxes were taken out most employees were left with around seven hundred dollars however you try to stretch it high inflation eats up 700 fairly quickly over a period of several months this year I'm hoping that you will consider at the minimum doubling the amount to two thousand that would certainly help to get support staff

060through the school year and a bonus might just help slow down or stop the revolving door of support staff Employees leaving the school district currently there are 735 support staff employees last year from July 1st through June 30th a total of 177 support staff employees separate it from the school district thank you thank you Reverend Dr John vacchiano is the next and Susan Baldwin is on Deck good evening everyone would you bow your heads with me almighty God we acknowledge our dependence upon thee and we beg our blessings upon us our parents our teachers in our country amen I'd like to share another story about another great American public educator that was born in 1800 in Pennsylvania he grew up in Ohio his name was Dr William Holmes McGuffey growing up under the teaching of

061his mother McGuffey learned to memorize entire books of the Bible at the age of 14 he started teaching school beginning with a class of 48 students because of this deep love for Education McGuffey wants to deepen his Knowledge and Skills and through a divine intervention in 1818 the Reverend Thomas Hughes invited young McGuffey to enroll at at Old Stone Academy Mr Guffey continued to thrive and in 1826 he was named professor of languages at Miami University in Oxford Ohio he became very well known for his lectures on morals and biblical themes an April 23 1833 he signed an agreement with Truman and Smith Publishers to produce a set of textbooks for American school children he initially published a series of four readers that were published between 1836 and 1837. in his fourth reader he wrote

062from no source as the author drawn more copiously into selections than from the Sacred Scriptures that man is entitled to be pity who at this day can honestly object to imbuing the minds of Youth with the language and the spirit of the word of God according to Dr westerhoff Mr mcguffey's interest in teaching children to read is directly related to his conviction that knowing the contents of the scriptures is of ultimate significance for decades the McGuffey Readers were America's textbooks for the first six years of grade school over 120 million copies produced and implemented in our Public Schools between 1836 and 1960. one biographer of McGuffey wrote for many common folk McGuffey represents the most important figure in the history of American public education the school Master of the nation another writer wrote for 75

063years his system and his books guided the minds of four-fifths of the school children of the nation in their taste for literature in Morality In Their Social Development and next to the Bible in their religion in his book about McGuffey Quinton skabarek wrote as I researched and wrote on presidents such as William McKinley an industrialists such as George Westinghouse Henry Clay Frick Henry Ford Andrew Carnegie Edward Libby Michael Owens and H.G Hines the name William H McGuffey was clear clearly the mentor of many of America's greatest capitalists almost all had used the McGuffey reader and developed their belief system in the one room schoolhouse in the heart and breadth of transforming education we should seriously and prayerfully consider the great founding fathers of American Education in their curriculum thank you thank you Susan Baldwin is

064next Lisa Hansen is on Deck last week I emailed the superintendent and the board concerning the non-distribution of the donated pocket constitutions to the 8th grade classes Dr Moore responded to me the next day wishing to clear up misinformation the email told of how on Friday September 16th all the students from third to 12th grade would have access to the Constitution via the canvas platform also spoke of planned lessons planned activities and a celebration of Constitution Day I appreciated his quick response and it all sounded very good but it did not address the reason for my email is why were the pop the pocket constitutions not distributed to the students what is the problem with putting a hard copy into of our Prime of the primary documents of our country into their hands thank you

065Lisa Hansen is next Susan meal is after that good evening I'm Lisa Hansen I'm a retired speech language pathologist with 30 years of experience I've served in multiple schools in every age group from pre-k through High School in The District in this District as well as in Brevard County I am but one person but I'd like to express my experience it has been that most teachers administrators and support staff are dedicated to inspiring children to be productive critically thinking citizens of our society they love and care for kids they invest and dedicate themselves to this common goal can things be improved in our public education system absolutely should there be more parent involvement certainly of course but I will say this I have co-taught in many teachers classrooms including one teacher that's here today an

066excellent pro-education pro-literacy teacher Cindy Gibbs not once have I seen sexually inappropriate book material in any classroom or being taught by any librarian I have never witnessed or engaged in lessons about different races that would lead a child to feel badly about their birth race I have never seen books being taught in any classrooms addressing gender identity or sexual orientation I would like to ask these parents rights groups what is your end goal from where I'm standing the goal does not end with more parental involvement it ends with parental involvement as long as that parent agrees with that group and with their religious beliefs it ends with the demise of our public education system I am not exaggerating these groups are Laden with anger vitriol and tribalism to such an extent that there is no

067room for compromise brainstorming and real solutions and who wins here teachers fear vigilantism lawsuits and being fired for any reason a parent sees fit administrators who are working to keep children safe healthy and growing intellectually are harassed and forced to resign parents are left to educate their children themselves which is not an option for every family everyone is placed in a high stress defensive solutionless position and while in this state nothing will get done nothing has ever been accomplished in our society without compromise and in the end the biggest loss is endured by the children thank you for your time thank you Susan meal is next Jennifer Freeland is on Deck good evening it seems like only yesterday we were debating in the Public Square the idea of same-sex marriage and now we're debating whether

068or not children should be taught they can change their sex I'm glad to hear that none of this is in our schools because I was very concerned when I've some of the things I've seen over the past year related to this District it was fast we went from one to the other and what's important is and is that I remember and remembering is an important factor I remember when I needed a signature to get my ears pierced at 16. now in schools we're debating whether children should be taught they can choose their pronouns that sounds harmless but it's not it says to them that English language can be changed at any time words have no meaning you have no gender you can be whatever you want whatever sex you want and those are lies they're

069not the truth people say follow the science well the science is clear you are born either a biological and anatomical male or female and you can't change that you can mutilate it you can drug it and you can castrate it but you cannot change what chromosomes or God for that matter set out to make you it starts with pronouns but there's also messaging about parents not understanding this kids have to educate them and that's right we're on the precipice of throwing out all our shared values all our reasoning all our science and all our gut feelings and allowing this movement to tell us how we can raise kids and how they're going to destroy them frankly that talk about toxic masculinity the war on boys and the push for unisex Fashions skinny stick models it's

070working on kids eating disorders and yes gender dysphoria are on the rise why wouldn't they be changing pronouns is the first step down this slippery slope to a Godless Society it's a society with no science No Faith No Redemption and no morals and if we persist and if you persist in following groups like Equity equality Florida with their LBGTQ guidelines then we'll persist in fighting and we'll fight other radical groups including the Nea the national Teachers Association which now offers students queering sexual education with a high how-to guide that's very graphic and I won't go into the details right here do does our state union does our County Teachers Union support this and talking about books what are wrong with the books we have why do we need these new books from an industry that

071doesn't have our children's well-being in mind thank you thank you uh Jennifer Freeland is next David Dinan is on Deck that's not no I meant that excuse me excuse me we'll have order thank you I'm sorry no I she I meant that in a kind way I didn't mean it okay um nope that's supposed she's passing out a sample about what I'm about to talk about it has to go to Nancy oh sorry my bad we didn't know we've never done that I usually email it to you it seems to be something new we just found out tonight yeah this is the the reason this is in place is for the safety of school board members sometimes people pass things that are not that's fair I just didn't know I'm sorry didn't need a break

072thank you foreign good evening to the board and Dr Moore while we go over and over books that have had little to no circulation and may have been in our libraries for decades and haven't done us any harm so far I feel it's important to tell what real problems are currently happening every day in our classrooms class sizes are grossly exceeding State requirements you currently have that in front of you from a report it's an excerpt I have the whole report 30 to 38 kids in core classes for six periods um the district is putting multiple low-class numbers in single periods seemingly to hide numbers general education classrooms that have 99 or more ese students with no supports misleading parents expectations of least restrictive environments and inability to buy new reading materials teachers have a

073laundry list of telephone calls to make for absences detentions a plethora of other disciplinary issues teachers are writing discipline referrals student documentation teachers continue to create and Implement lesson plans collaborate once a week act as mediators security officers truancy officers administrative secretaries I.T support counselors guest Educators test administrators maintain positive parent student relationships and we do still teach reading writing and arithmetic all while being attacked and Bill and eyes from outside and within we are terrified to say or do something wrong we walk on eggshells waiting for the next attack and at what point does it come if anybody thinks that we actually have time to teach CTR or indoctrinate kids if we had the ability we would indoctrinate manners Common Sense courtesy kindness and self-control but as of yet we are not magicians sdrsc

074continues to add to teachers plates micromanaging them at a return continuing walkthroughs often verbally chastising teachers on site reassigning with little to no notice placing discipline on teachers when students get hurt and dangerously overloaded classrooms um demonizing the use of sick time that teachers work for and is part of our contractual benefits and administration continues to use our collaborative time as meeting times teachers are just plain tired the district has lost 45 teachers with only 26 postings while we sit here tonight there are many teachers missing dinner with their families missing bedtime and bath time routines with their children missing their children's concerts recitals sports games missing their own family time to support other people's children you Crow and boast about State rankings and scores I will remind you that that success came a great

075sacrifice of teachers you pushed to the point of complete burnout and exhaustion and ultimately out the door okay thank you uh David Dinan is next and Joanne Binford is on Deck hello my name is David Dinan I just wanted to take a moment to thank the superintendent the members of the school board and our teachers for all their hard work I'm truly grateful for the education that my eight and nine-year-old have received so far in the school district um that said I think over the last few years all of you have faced much more anger resentment and negativity than appreciation or thanks I truly believe that the majority of the board have their hearts and Minds in the right place working for the benefit of all students over the past few years school board meetings

076have become ever more divided and divisive and heated even as a high schooler up north I do remember some ridiculous shenanigans on the part of parents trying to get vital and much beloved student programs for inane reasons that I still can't understand but that was nothing compared to what's going on today as all of you navigate the changing landscape of rules and legislation I can only urge you to continue to do what is right do it will do the most good uh for all students regardless of their background their family makeup their economic circumstances or any number of factors that can help boost them up or pull them down you're bound to follow the law and any legislation as you must but you never have to over interpret it and you never have to over

077apply it you do not have to allow any law to be the weapon of choice of a bully looking through today's agenda I see moves that strive to increase inclusivity such as the updated strategic plan and the proclamation of disability history and awareness and that kind of work is vital but the work only starts there which I think you already know please continue to help every student to grow academically and socially by ensuring that wherever they attend school there's a sense of community no matter who they are what their circumstances are who their parents are or where they come from only through learning and working with all different kinds of students and all different kinds of Educators can they gain the vital life skill that's working and collaborating with those who have different ideas beliefs

078backgrounds and experiences to your own those are hard lessons to learn a student is not a Success Through excellent grades alone although some people will tell you that a successful student has also learned how to function and interact with those around them in a constructive and positive way it's the combination of excellent education and excellent social skills that will make a successful student lastly I do want to remind you that the loudest most vocal and most angry parents are activists are not necessarily representative of the majority a majority of parents may not be able to be here for whatever the reason but they have placed a deep trust in you as stewards of their children's education and they expect you to cut through the chatter the noise and the drama thank you thank you Joanne

079Binford is next Wilkerson is on Deck more in school board members for having this meeting here I'm not going to read from this book but I want to show you this is perfect this is a book that was removed from the high school and brought down to the middle school so those are for ages 11 through 13. this book has three sums in it orgies and it talks about rape it's too explicit to read out here which should tell you something as far as the teachers we love the teachers and I got to tell you I've been with the school district from 2005 to 2021. I worked with special needs kids my own kids went to school here I love the school district I love teachers that I've met here and worked with for decades

080I've I've been in the presence of special needs I've even coached soccer teams I've coached a lacrosse team and I didn't even know how to coach lacrosse because I didn't want to lose that program at our middle school because our parents moved on and I did that for free you know that's because I cared and I understand the position that the teachers are in because I've been with them I've worked with them I've lived on the school campus pretty much because when you work for the school district you work for the families when you coach you coach after school you stay late you work the nights the conference nights so I know what it's like and we're not here to be angry we're here to say look we're concerned we don't want these books to

081be read by our children and we're not asking you to stop purchasing books it's simple Do You Really Want to Have All That explicit material it's not important what's important is you know it reading math English dealing with the kids that have a difficult time at home giving them that security the ground you're grounded when you come to school some of those kids the best time is at school but this is not an angry issue this isn't concerning issue please take these books off the shelf put something else on the shelf for them to read that's more educational we don't need this why do we have to fight about this it's explicit why do we need that we need skilled trades Jobs still you know kids to focus on what can I do you know

082when I went to school I might be aging myself but we had the printing press where you actually had to put the metal plates down to roll the printing we had all kinds of shop classes you guys don't have that here anymore we need to bring those back get those kids busy get those kids studying something else they don't need to read this stuff and even if they're not reading it it still doesn't need to we don't need to waste our school money on this we're already struggling look at all the problems we're having with the with the high school and the band I've just heard a Litany of things that this school needs that we need to provide for our teachers our students why are we wasting it on this why is it so

083hard to remove a hundred books we're not asking you to shut down the library why are we spending our time on this thank you Don Wilkerson is next Nate Wilkerson is on Deck good evening there is a lot of confusion regarding the new library book use form parents have never before have been asked whether or not to let their kids read library books our kids shouldn't have to opt into reading all children should have access to books free of sexual material and pornography the reason they have to opt in is because four of our five current school board members voted to return while over a hundred of those books to the library shelves that contain sexually explicit and pornographic material these books should have never been on the shelves in the first place because of

084their content and they weren't properly vetted my question to the four board members and the superintendent is why did we have to return these books to the shelves why if you would have kept these books off the shelves then there wouldn't be a need for the parental permission slip and then all children would have access to books in our libraries this wouldn't be an issue this form to me is very ridiculous and it's created a lot of chaos for parents for teachers and for our students exposing our children to books containing graphic sexual descriptions like oral sex anal sex rape incest porn foul language it doesn't prepare them to be successful adults how does this help our children how does it benefit their academics and their success unfortunately I have heard and seen parents and

085teachers talking about moms for Liberty and blaming them for this they thankfully brought to light that these illegal and inappropriate books were in our schools in the first place the four board members and our superintendent are in fact the ones to blame for all of this parents and teachers I would suggest you contacting them to remove the books and then remove the unnecessary form so that all children can have access to all books um it's kind of crazy that this is in our school and I can't read from this book but our children can read from it this book is called Crank it has a 107 F words in it it talks about rape it talks about heavy drug use there's 46 sex scenes in this book talks about strip clubs uh men reviewing women's

086bodies and what they're wearing how is this beneficial for our children how does this promote academic success these books are in our libraries kids have access to this one they don't even need to fill out the porn permission slip for this this is ridiculous these books needs to come out so that our kids can have access to reading materials thank okay Nate Wilkerson is our last speaker thank you an inherent task in your chair is to protect all kids in our school system obviously we've been talking about it a lot tonight but these books have been brought to your attention you weren't aware of their existence before but now you are and as has been said the decision was to put many of them the Lion's Share back on the shelves and a permission slip

087was created for parents to sign for kids to even have access to the library at all that permission slip is an admission by the board that these are inappropriate that they shouldn't be there that they require a permission slip like a like a field trip or something this is the library these are kids on what planet is it unacceptable to read these books in a business meeting but perfectly acceptable for our kids to have access to them in the library we're talking about threesomes and orgies and blow jobs and deplorable awful things that our kids should not have access to and yet we put many of them back on the shelves I'm asking remove the explicit material get rid of these books out of school libraries where children have access get rid of this permission

088form let kids have access to the library let them read let them grow let them not in their understanding of sexual acts thank you very much Dr Moore do you want to speak absolutely Madam chair just a a few comments just in response to our our public comments some of these items are going to be addressed in discussion so I won't go into great detail uh but to our employees both both unions that were represented today cannot value or appreciate the work that's being done on a daily basis and the reality is the work that you do is God's work and you give more to our children in a lot of cases than you do to your families so what you do on a daily basis is not easy in the world in which we

089do this job um it's a special time in which to do this job and we absolutely solely support uh and value the work that you do and we look at whether it be class size or expectations at school sites or new contracts or continue to compensation those are the conversations that we need to engage in that we need to ensure that we're on the same page to support one another and doing this work it's it's not easy these are not difficult times the level of funding that's provided to run a school system is grossly grossly underfunded and what we do to provide compensation is absolutely um to be very honest we go above and beyond in trying to figure out a way to get this done for our employees and I think everything that we've

090done as frustrating as it may be because teachers feel as if they're being pulled from all sides in all directions uh we lead by supporting our teachers supporting our employees and understanding the complexity of the world in which they they do their jobs and we will continue to do that work continue to engage in that conversation we have our teachers back we have our employees back we know the times are hard we know it is difficult uh but we're never in a shy away from being in support of those who really stand in front of our children on a daily basis you look at the stadium and I think there there is an obvious concern not being able to play a football game at the Citrus Bowl for Vero Beach Senior High School is absolutely

091absurd and we are looking at that field and some of the surrounding structures as well as opportunities to be Innovative to immediately address that can concern it is not a possibility to continue to move around or bounce around where our fighting Indians play football they need to be in the Citrus Bowl uh both with yes a short-term solution as well as a long-term solution to ensure that that Stadium uh is representative of the quality that is on that field which are our students which are our coaches really to ensure we have them that's not a problem that was created overnight that's a problem that's been recreated over the last 15 20 years in terms of the lack of a plan in terms of updating the field continuous quick fixes for the last 10 years on

092the field versus really taking the time to maintain it and create a field that is reflective of the of the quality of the students that are on the field so there's a opportunity to write what has been a years and years and years of wrongs looking at classroom libraries I know Doc Jones you have that on the items so we'll talk about it a little bit later but let me be clear this school district this Administration our principals only want to inform our teachers what is the shifts or change in state law as it relates to libraries or classroom libraries using a library in a classroom is a great strategy used the right way and by no means is it the intent not to use that strategy we want to problem solve we want to

093support uh I think our our teachers know we want to have your back we want to support you and we want you to fully understand what is the expectation set forth by our state and how do we work together in order to ensure that's happening the form simply created in order to inform our teachers to ensure they have an understanding and a lot of times you could read that form you know those books and you can be done with that review in 10 or five minutes but we want to continue to ensure that we are in fact using classroom libraries now if a teacher makes the decision because that's the decision they make we'll support that as well but at the end of the day this school system does not want to support um walking

094away or removing a classroom library for fear for any reason so that's a a continued opportunity to continue to support I think I'll address later on well the library book used for useful Library you as I have told board members we have diligently for the last seven weeks tried to get parents to fill out that form and have not been very successful in getting parents to complete that form so what we did is push out information a number of times to parents who were yet to fill out the form the last time we sent out the form we asked parents to fill out the form if they so choose to and if they choose to we will honor whatever that request was the intent was solely to honor the will of parents that was the

095intent uh not to provide permission because of the spooky books that are in the library absolutely not the case but to ensure we had voice from parents unfortunately the response was not overwhelming so parents now can fill out the form at any point that they want but our my fear was that parents who did not complete the form because whether they were disengaged or not involved we were denying access to a child to check out a book that's not the intent of that so therefore we're allowing students who do not have a form on file to check out a book while the same time allowing a parent any opportunity to check out a book The 917 Society donation which is standing in front of us now there are still policies to review and at the

096end of the day I'm going to honor and respect a public school system that allows each and every single child to walk in feel some comfortable and feel safe what this system does as it relates to the Constitution uh is a model for the entire District to follow I would put our students up against any other students in regard to what we do in terms of teaching and their depth and their understanding but we do have to follow policy we do have a a system in place for donations which is under review and we need to ensure that the documentation does not have a political side one side or the other and that is the review in which we're we're under thank you madam chair okay did you want to speak yeah okay [Music] um

097I have a few few things I think I'll begin with the superintendent and ended uh Dr Moore what policy are you referring to that's currently under review with regard to donations because I I'm I'm unaware of that I guess Miss uh Shattuck is looking that up the chair 9700 uh which is um relations with special interest special interest groups that is the policy that we're looking at or I asked staff to look at and provide feedback um and um we're going to talk about I have a comment and some question about the library uh books that you just mentioned Dr Moore but I guess we'll we'll discuss it during uh Dr Jones's discussion session um a question for Mrs parents hella if she's still here are you she's so what rule can you re recite

098that rule is this a new rule that you're saying just came out today is that what I understood uh proposal was released today 6a-7 .0713 [Music] and and that came from where I'm sorry the DOE Florida education okay thank you because I haven't received that so I'm going to look it up so I appreciate that um Mrs Julia white mentioned something about someone here changing a charter bus school bus policy we don't change charter school policies charter bus charter buses not Charter Schools okay correct okay correction good um and I have a question for Mrs um Mrs um Shattuck I mean um Molly shatting um you I've often heard you say that federal law trumps state law and obviously state law trumps local policy and both of those if we had a local policy that

099violated federal law or state law we would have to change it um but that is the same thing the same case for the United States Constitution um it's also the same for someone's First Amendment right someone's First Amendment right is their right it's not a privilege that trumps our policy so they have citizens have a right to speak at a publicly noticed meeting um there are many court cases that have recently been upheld with the decision and of course I I kind of look through it this is not um because I haven't actually done all the research but as I'm pulling up articles I'd like if you can uh Miss Shattuck to please provide for the board some legal um opinion uh and advice on First Amendment rights and school board meetings specifically regarding the

100Sunshine Law and how Florida attorney general advises to allow citizens to have their First Amendment right to be able to say anything that they want from the podium now clearly I know you can't walk into a crowded room and yell fire or you know or bomb you know anything like that but there is a certain and I know that different courts can rule differently but if you can it doesn't have to be now but if you can please provide that for us because we're walking a fine line when we tell citizens that they can't speak anything when we have when they have a First Amendment right to say anything specifically with regard to public notice or public knowledge and learning or public information and at a public meeting would you like me to address that

101now um are you a it's my question yes okay it's not so I mean if you have a question I mean if you haven't answered now but I still would like something in writing as a follow-up please absolutely yes um thank you um through the chair I can address that now your policy is zero one six nine point one public participation at board meetings and the law which is in the policy at the end where it talks about the laws implemented is Florida statute 286.011 and 286.0114 in your policy it specifically says that the presiding officer May interrupt Warren or terminate a participant statement when it is lengthy abusive or obscene they can also request an individual to leave when the conduct disrupts the meeting they can request the assistance of Law Enforcement Officers to

102remove someone disorderly and they can call For Recess or adjournment when there's a lack of public decorum so when I was specifically referring to is that it's clear through the statute and also interpretations in the Attorney General opinions that the chairwoman or man as it may be is May uphold public decorum at board business meetings that they are for the purpose of board business and that while the public may speak at them they are expected to keep a public business decorum and that you know abusive language swear words things like that will not be tolerated so that's why those types of things are not um you know would be not allowed at board meetings despite a First Amendment right to free speech despite although there's a First Amendment right to free speech it's not total

103there are many areas in law where there are other concerns that somehow put limits on it and so that's the interpretation that's in statute that's in the law that's in attorney general opinions that has been upheld in court cases and I'd be happy to provide more written information on that for everyone but I thought I'd just explain it here to you um so the public yeah I would love for that in writing please because what's interesting to me is that there is emphasis on uh proper decorum at a board meeting but there is an emphasis on proper decorum with regards to the contents of the information that children have access to that's pretty disgusting to me but yeah I'd love to have that in writing if you can I appreciate that um I also want

104to address something that miss barenborg you keep bringing up which is the FCC regulation uh yeah FCC regulations um we we also need uh Miss Shattuck if you can give us some information on that um whether we are or are not uh what the FCC what Mrs berenberg mentioned at a previous workshop and then tonight with regard to uh being monitored by FCC what I received as information is that we own let me see if I can pull it up um we own the school district owns and manages the education Channel that's the only outlet that I'm thinking about uh I don't know if Mrs berenborg you can talk to it yourself um was referring to with the FCC but we own it it's not managed by anybody else we own it we manage it

105the content on that channel is produced by the school district of Indian River uh by the school district of Indian River County by specifically our Communications Department there are currently no outside programs or internet access or any other content or commercials that are on that channel no paid commercials are run there um nothing else is allowed on that channel so I'm not so sure how that could be regulated by FCC or I'm not sure right so I did a little bit of research on that I know that the Communications Department provided a link um to a a website for that information with regard to public education and government government access channels um but I I need some more information from that and I'd like a legal opinion on that as well absolutely thank you I

106appreciate it yes yes sorry yes thank you to everyone who spoke tonight I appreciate you coming out um we are going to be talking about classroom libraries a little bit later thank you for all the input I had on the agenda to pull if we had Capital outlay but we pulled it to talk about the field I've been in constant communication with Coach J Mr Seymour and Mr Bass taking a look at this for over a year I was on the FHSAA executive associate executive director and uh I was one going out there to choose fields for competition for five years and I happened to be at the regional playoff game a couple of years ago and I happened to be the first one Coach Jay saw that was not good and we almost lost

107having that game on that field that night so I know Dr Moore and Mr Bass have been working on this I know Nick westenberg has been working on this and we know it's not quick enough we know we had some in the capital outlay that is for next year and what it's going to look like but we'll talk about that in a little bit but I know the intent here and we have been communicating that with Coach Jay um as far as the CWA you know we're listening I heard the other day on a news broadcast that this is one of the most expensive states to live in right now with rent groceries everything and um it's very very challenging for families and and we're listening um and when Miss Freeland spoke regarding our teachers

108Dr morocc you know I've talked to you about class size and we have some of that example here with our core and I know some of our electives are pretty high and I understand that I understand that as a principle I understand that as far as FTE and support I understand that about what our core classes are to be with the average I understand all of that but I think one of our parents hit this on the head when he said we must create a sense of community I looked on the website the other day we're still a few thousand teachers short in the state I know Miss Phelan said 45 teachers left I'm not exactly sure of that number if that's still the same or we replace them and we all know every teacher

109will tell you last year was the hardest year they've had since covid and there's a lot going on there's a lot of accountability from the state and I just do know that it's a former principal and teacher in every other position you can think of we must must always have that sense of community in having our teachers and administrators back which then help our parents and our students so you know we'll talk about that again but um I have talked to Dr more about some of these class sizes and I've been in every school once some of them twice already this year and you can go into any classroom they are not wasting a minute they are engaging the students they are teaching the standards and doing their best you know with a going on

110a little bit now with the state we have three testing you know right right now instead of just the one test we have to say now it's three times we were testing students at the you know first couple weeks in kindergarten that's State mandated we're doing our best to see what we can do see where they are and then we go forward but I do know and every principle will tell you keep that sense of community with the district and the schools and that's how we'll succeed but we've got to make sure that we communicate that that's all I have right now Dr Chef yes ma'am thank you um for a small piece of good news left but I wanted to acknowledge how beautiful the Sebastian River your book was this year by Mr Gerke

111and his student assistants including Taylor sturgeon and I had hoped that he would stay long enough to hear that is an input I want to say a few things and I'm not going to call out specific comments but I'm going to give some broad Reflections on some of what was said um to some of the things that were said about cost of living increases for CWA and teachers I want to be clear and this follows up on what Dr Moore was saying we are bound and limited by what the state provides us unfortunately the state has not given the district the equivalent of cost of living increases since about 2008. in fact the amount we received from the state the state has consistently decreased which limits our ability and what we're able to provide that's

112not an excuse and it's not good enough and I absolutely agree how we manage that money takes many things into consideration the money from Indian River County that goes up to the state and then what comes back is not reflective of the taxes we pay but is rather distributed from property Rich districts to property poor districts so we actually lose out on some of that again that doesn't excuse and I agree with Dr Moore we need to do better but I want to qualify that some of this is about advocacy at the state level as well as the local level and to the degree that we're able to do that please Advocate with your legislatures Advocate with your Governor Advocate with your representatives because we need that support as well um third I want to

113be really clear that as I sit up here as a school board member I am a very firm believer in the separation of church and state we have an obligation in a public school system to provide an inclusive secular non-religious education to our students and I support that and I want to be clear about that that's our job fourth I also want to be clear that I a hundred percent in the concept of inclusivity welcome our lgbtqia plus students and I would do nothing to exclude harm or minimize their role in this school district and they deserve representation just as every other student does just as every student from every religion every ethnicity and every background deserves representation here so do they and I will stand firmly for that lastly when it comes to books

114which I was hoping to avoid talking about when we talk about books and we talk about what's allowable and what's not allowable in this District the problem is that when we start where do we end the problem is that if we say this book isn't acceptable or that book isn't acceptable first off most of those books are not being checked out and not being read we documented that six ways from Tuesday in this District it can be public records requested but who gets to say and at what point do we get to say what books are and are unacceptable for all people in the district do we say that books about Judaism are unacceptable if we're Christian do we say that books about Islam are not acceptable do we say that we cannot have books

115about Raphael's art because there's nudity in it at some this is a trajectory that goes somewhere that I feel I fear is very dangerous and while we're talking now about a limit of roughly 150 books that some people object to many parents in this District are not afraid of those books and have conversations with their students about them and I want to be clear that it is our job up here to listen to All voices and what you don't see is the emails that we get is the phone calls that we have from parents with a broad diversity of views that want some books on the shelves that some parents may not object to May object to so the point is how do we balance that and how do we balance that in a way

116that respects All rights for all parents and all students that's it thank you Mr barefoot that's a tough act to fall just just a couple of comments uh this issue around teachers teachers pay this is not a unique discussion for Florida it's not a unique discussion for Indian River County one of my daughters happens to be a high school teacher in a suburb around the Boston area um I've got kids grandkids in the New York City public schools and from my daughter-in-law in particular in New York you hear these stories and there isn't um there there probably is but I would suspect that this um lack of proper funding compensation for teachers and you could say it about any uh essential workers you could put police and fire and and and nurses and doctors particularly

117family doctors as opposed to specialists um this country's got a challenge and in many respects the people the professions that we depend on the most for health safety in educating our children are the ones that are that have the least amount of resources made available to them and I don't know who said it maybe it was you doc that um we can't do a whole lot about what's going on in in the Boston Public Schools we can't do a whole lot about what's going on in the New York City Public Schools but we can sure as hell do a lot about what's going on in our schools and and somebody's got to get somebody's attention because we are letting down a whole generation I'm not going to be around but these kids your kids are

118being shortchanged by any standard and the reason they're being short changes are just not enough teachers to go around and it contributes to all the the fighting and all the the dysfunction uh that takes place in some of the schools that I know upset many of you Miss Pepin you send out some videos of the fights I mean there's all sorts of reasons for this but we have to address this um this issue of how teachers are compensated and um we have to improve the working environment because part of the it's not just pay it's it's the environment that many teachers just don't want to be part of anymore it's across the board and it's easy to sit here and point out the problem we got to find some solutions and we have budget limitations

119I understand that but this has got to be front and center as far as I'm concerned otherwise five years from now we're going to look back at our kids that are now in elementary school and we say what the hell happened what happened to these kids they're not prepared to enter Society we got enough challenges with Technologies kids live on these stupid phones and they can't even communicate with one another you go to a restaurant and you watch young adults they don't even go out on the date I don't know who they're dating their phones I mean they sit there and look at their phones they don't talk to one another I mean it's unbelievable so we got a real problem in society and it's up incumbent of all of us to do whatever we

120can and put our heads together you know I this may not be exactly right I wrote this down I read this the other day and there's different points of view whether it's books or several other things I'm sure but it's when you listen to one another anything's possible when you don't listen then you don't hear and when you don't hear the possible becomes impossible and that's sort of where we are right now you know everybody's you know it's like a football game those of you who follow Sports football used to be is typically played between the 30-yard lives maybe the 35 sometimes you're on this side of Midfield sometimes you're on that side now the game's played inside the 10 yard lines the game of politics and politics has poisoned our educational system and and

121and and to appoint this constitution book on the top it says the 917 Society I have no problem with the 917 Society next week the ACLU will put a book in front of us with the Constitution and their their name will be on top of it is that going to be okay for everybody the fact of the matter is the 917 society's got a political agenda I don't have a problem with their political agenda I probably wouldn't have a problem with the ACA because I don't pay attention to it but the fact of the matter is there's a political agenda inside these books why does it have to have the 917 Society why isn't it just neutral why isn't it just a book The Constitution I mean it's pretty simple but everybody today has there's

122an angle go on the 917 Society website tell me it's educational the fact of the matter is it's political and I don't have a problem with their politics but it's wrong to put it in education so that's enough for me but the one other thing I would say this issue with the fields and I guess we're going to talk about this field um I'm more than willing to work with Mr Seymour and whatever Mr Bass I've raised a lot of money for fields and you know some of you know I'm involved in trying to raise money for the Pharaoh Beast Community but here right next door imagine this if we're successful of raising the six to seven million dollars over the next couple of years for the property that Joe Graves gave the district for

123the Jimmy Gray Stadium and the inclusive playground and The Innovation Center and whatever else is there how in the hell next door can we have a field that's in the condition that this is in it's an embarrassment it's an embarrassment for the community and we've got we've got it it's not just lobbying Tallahassee to get more money we've got to engage where's Angela we've got to engage the private sector and they've got to help us fix this problem because it ain't going to get fixed by the politicians there is not enough money to fund all the special interest groups that sit out everybody's got their hand out everybody's on the Dole we're going to have to figure this out on our own and whether it's the Educational Foundation as a role to play you know

124but I'm more than happy to work with Dr Moore with anybody here and I can put together a group of of individuals that will address this issue to some degree but we need a plan I'd like to have some idea what's going to cost and I know this is your yeah we're going to talk about it during discussion so um it's just not acceptable that's that's the that's enough for me for the moment okay I know we're going to talk about it so I won't belabor that point I agree with y'all um when you go to give us the opinions um Miss Shattuck could you also include which what you instructed me several weeks ago months ago about FCC regulations is live broadcast okay thank you um also one thing that wasn't mentioned I know

125you talked about teacher pay employee pay is what we heard about that's a big difference and a big difference in the amount yeah so um yeah we we definitely need to address you know cost of living and and what it costs to live in this town so we appreciate all of your comments thank you for coming forward and and being very honest with your feelings and um we appreciate that at this time I'd like to ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda items so a second it doesn't matter okay Mr Barefoot uh all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed pass this 5-0 all right nothing was pulled from consent to action so we're moving on action agenda there is nothing at this time unless you changed it and I didn't know

126you nothing James okay so superintendent's report thank you madam chair I will give a very brief update because we are under a tropical storm warning so we will meet with the emergency management team tomorrow around 11 o'clock in order to make a decision regarding the remainder of the week so as you know if shelters are opened schools are shelters so there are three shelters that would be considered which would be a special needs shelter a regular shelter as well as a pet friendly shelter those would be three of our schools so we'll be working with Emergency Management tomorrow to make a decision our goal is to notify our community of what our expectations are moving forward for Wednesday Thursday and Friday a lot of unknowns the pace of the storm how quick it's moving it

127is seems to be coming back towards us a little bit each update kind of pushes it back towards us a little bit so we want to afford our faculty our staff our families enough time time to prepare if that need be the case while the same time making sure that we keep our schools open because at the end of the day teaching learning is our primary responsibility but when it comes to a storm we shift from schools to shelters it is our principals who run those shelters by the way uh it is not anybody else so the job that they will do over the course they will work around the clock in shifts to keep those shelters open kindling serving as the the principles for those shelters so pay attention to our social media that

128information will continue to be posted as soon as it is available we're hoping to have information out to our community no later than one o'clock tomorrow thank you thank you all right at this time we're going moving into discussion we had one item that was on the agenda we have three more items added okay Mrs Rosario you brought up uh I'll go with the one that was first printed so that is board discussion on school board attorney evaluation with documents thank you Madam chair uh board members you received a an extensive amount of documents on board docs the purpose of this discussion is really a follow-up from one that has been attempted in the past three times since I've been board member um one many of the documents actually came from Dr Schiff in I

129think it was in October or November of possibly 2019 um somewhere around there that timeline either way then coming out of coming shortly after the pandemic and schools closed we had it on the agenda moving into the summer period time just to give new board members a little bit of timeline and then then the pandemic hit and you know it was put on hold it wasn't an as important as dealing with shutting down the schools and all that other stuff um and so then it was put on the agenda again on November 29th of 2021 um at with which time uh Mrs Dia gresta at the at that time um then submitted her letter of resignation uh so it just hasn't had we haven't had a chance to talk about it um now I'd like

130to bring it um forward again so that we can have a good discussion if not right this second um once I go through what what I uh will share with you very briefly um uh I will ask you a few things of course based on our discussion um number one do we want to set up a um special session or a special meeting to talk a little bit about this and only this and we have plenty of time in October to do that if if the board pleases the other thing is um depending on whatever you suggest holding off on it which I hope we don't because usually when we talk about things it takes a little bit longer than usual but at either rate what I put before you were some documents that I

131think might be necessary for your review and hopefully you've you've read many of it before this discussion about the school board attorney's evaluation process we only have school board members only have two employees we have the superintendent which we hire and then we have the school board attorney both of which are our responsibility to evaluate as you all know you have hired employees you're responsible for evaluating them the superintendent was recently evaluated his annual evaluation um I believe I was the only School Board member who submitted a formal written evaluation not true no no well okay I apologize what I received was that answer that he did not receive any formal but that's a different discussion so we'll bring it up later so I'm glad I'm glad to hear that um I have not received

132though I've requested when those came in to please send them to me and I have not received them you have not may I receive them thank you appreciate that um and so likewise would be the the school board attorney um so uh Miss shattuck's position is slightly different than an in-house full-time attorney she is contracted her and her firm Are contracted with the school district but nonetheless even contracted attorneys can have an evaluation it can look very very differently so that's what I put what I provided for you all are A variation of different uh evaluation tools that are used by different counties there are two that stand out to me personally the most because it seems like it would align at least formatted format wise um with our our district and could align if

133we were to look at the format with our strategic plan or just the the role of of the school board attorney in general doesn't have to be our strategic plan um but anyway the ones that I appreciate um are Lee County just to give you uh some perspective there Lee County has a school board um form that has a scale and it's highly effective effective needs Improvement on satisfactory and then there are rubrics that go along with it what I like about the rubrics is that it removes the personality it removes the person obviously and it just focuses on the work and the responsibilities that are expected the next one that I appreciate uh is Brevard counties he's part of the document they're all part of your documents I didn't see those earlier they're there

134um School Board uh Brevard County um they have a general uh Council evaluation one that also is based on an evaluating rating scale highly effective effective needs Improvement on satisfactory um those there's a different parts there uh part one addresses communication The General Counsel is an integral member of the district's legal team who must utilize effective And Timely communication skills the next part addresses legal knowledge Services The General Counsel is responsible for assisting board members and superintendent in legal performance in the legal performance of their duties um the next one next part is organization and management the general Council will manage the oversight of In-House and outside litigation uh taking responsibility for legal budget and part four professionalism uh general counsel will demonstrate diligence competence and professionalism in their role as advocate for uh and

135counselor for the school board there's also a part five which you can read yourself and then a final summary sheet so uh the other ones are in your packet as you can see at Polk County Manatee what I will share uh is that there is a document in there um that I don't know if Mrs barenborg and uh Dr Schiff remember um when Judy Stang was here Judy Stang was the executive assistant before Nancy esplin in Prior years she did some research on this area as well and I believe back then the school board was discussing creating a uh evaluation tool for the school board attorney at the time so that's also a part of your packet it is a lot for you to review but I think it's very important whether the school board

136decides to start having discussions about that now um or to be have discussions about it and have make a decision now um is is important because Mrs shattuck's contract is up July I mean is up on November 29th right November 29th it is an annual contract if nothing is done then obviously it just gets automatically renewed if not at the very least we can have discussion about our expectations and then moving forward create a tool for evaluation um but that's why I'm bringing it to you all now so I'll just end my discussion here or my you know introduction of this this isn't anything new I think we I think at some point you know at least with with previous board members we've had this discussion um I don't believe that Dr Jones and Mr

137Barefoot you've been a part of it it's just smart for one to be able to have a tool to address the work that is expected of an employee and so um I'll leave it at that here thank you okay so I don't know board members doctorship I actually don't disagree with you Mrs Rosario that this is an issue that's come up a bunch of times and is something we need to put into a more formal structure what I'm not clear about is exactly what you're asking for here are you asking for a discussion of how we move forward are you asking for us to do a review are you asking for a timeline by which we'll do the review given that the one year is almost up or are you asking for us to do

138formal evaluations that's the first off that's the part I'm not clear about as to internal and external we had that conversation a year ago when we decided to continue with an external Council Mr Fagan did a tremendous amount of research and provided us with documentation so I don't think we need to go back over internal or external we did that but to the to the question of whether or not there should be a review process when that should happen and whether it should happen with this board and whether it should happen prior to the end of that year or after that year is complete I can see where we we should make a decision about that but I'm not clear from everything that you provided and everything you've just said exactly what it is you're

139asking for actually I just your feedback right there gave some clear indication sorry may I just your feedback right there just gave some clear indication that at least you're in favor of having the discussion um I think I don't want to I don't have a clear I I want to hear from board members uh if you if you think that there should be a formal evaluation tool which I hear that's what you're that's what you're saying that's important that's good that can guide us depending on what everybody else feels for the to end the discussion to then say okay why don't we have a special session so we can continue having the this this discussion and create the final evaluation tool what I think and I'll just say one word and I'll give it to

140other board members um the issue becomes this board has now has um had the benefit of Miss shattuck's Council for a year now a new board coming in on which I will not sit and we don't yet know if you will sit will not have that same experience and it will be another year until I believe they are capable of evaluating and making that decision so that may be something for us to discuss or it may be appropriate to defer that for a year until a new board is seated the new board obviously will be seated in less than a year but until they have the experience to be able to make that evaluation and determination will take some time so exactly that's why I'm bringing it up now who else Mr Barefoot um well

141I I think it's it makes sense to have some sort of a structure much like we do for the superintendent for any any employee um personally I hate to have this Personnel discussions in the public I think it's it's it's bad for us and it's particularly difficult for the person that you're evaluating so for my own purpose I'm probably not going to say much if we have to talk in the public I'm more than happy to sit down with Michelle and I would encourage all of you one on one and then you will come up with some form and you can check the box but I think that um nobody's ever entirely honest you love to throw Kudos at someone in public if there's some things that we could all do better those messages are

142better delivered one-on-one I'm not going to sit up here and have a negative thing to say about Dr Moore machiatic or anybody else I will deal if I have those feelings I'll do it privately one-on-one but I do think that there's a a place for call it a form if you want we've got we the superintendent one two three one through four there's a very specific definition of someone who you know me meet expectations exceed far exceed met most or did a lousy job I mean I think they're there's a lot of a lot of if you've been in the Personnel business we get Miss Oak and Mr bash you could you know probably pull some stuff up besides the thing that you did but but I'm all in favor of that but I would

143encourage all of us individually to get some time so that you're not put in a position um it's unfair to any of us and it's certainly unfair to machetic it's just not the way to to run a railroad in my opinion thank Dr Johnson I'm in favor of an evaluation tool and I think anyone has done any evaluation you look at it as you know where your concerns are what what you're doing well and where there could be growth just like we do with Dr Moore and have those one-on-ones and those are always a long discussion anything I put in that information and obviously it's public record I understand that is something that I have researched and taken a lot of time to do but you know I certainly wouldn't sit in front of my

144high school staff and evaluate a teacher in front of anybody else so I think the tool is good I liked Brevard a lot and I think that doing that is good because then miss Shattuck would know you know if we have any questions if we have any concerns and anyone who's being evaluated I mean when I was being evaluated where can I grow what can I do better that's always a good thing and then working with that with Dr Moore and because machiatic is one part of the of the team and I've dealt with two other attorneys um from that team sniffing in Spelman and uh I'm very very comfortable with them and getting the questions when I ask them they respond to me and very comfortable when they give me information on public records

145or anything like that so I think any evaluation tool is good because we can never become complacent and we always want to grow so that would be one-on-one as far as I'm concerned thank you um I agree with you um Mr Rosario that we should do an evaluation tool uh just a reminder though I believe our agreement is with the firm not the the attorney herself so if we were to evaluate just like we would evaluate any project that we have a agreement with we evaluate the firm or the construction company or whatever to see if that job was well done because we don't have an in-house attorney we have an agreement with a firm I believe we should look at doing a tool for evaluation absolutely but we need to do it with the

146agreement that we have that being said um you know always praise in public punish in private so I agree with you all that that's if we have a concern with our actual attorney we need to have those conversations privately with the attorney um just like we do with you Dr Moore and um you know I don't think everybody needs to be in the that room when we're having that conversation about his evaluation he deserves to hear that just from me one-on-one just like you but um it is public record so whatever we type type on the paper is what everyone can see maybe not all the words that were said in the room but definitely the what's on the paper I agree with that that's why um when we had brought this up years ago

147and then of course had in covid and all that happened it was actually um one of the items when I became chair to say to him hear some bullet points that we need to do because you weren't on part of the team when we talked about evaluating the attorney he wasn't and neither were you guys so I did bring this up to him as one of the items that we need to address at some point this year I had I think we put it on for November or December and then when you brought this up tonight I thought well here we are because I had definitely had talked about doing it November December after the year that we had the attorney in place but understanding that we are in an election year and we will

148definitely have at least one new board member that was part of the reason why I thought wait until November December to start this this deep me conversation because I started to open these and I said 25 documents on Friday night as I'm on my way to the football game and I read them while I was there I know I know okay I know that's why I asked about the one because I've missed one of them and I started to realize oh my gosh some of these are several pages long you know I want to do a good job with this I don't want to just you know it's a term nice term for it just do it quickly so um I I agree that we need to really do our research and find the good

149tools that are out there and I know reaching out to fsba a lot of times when I ask about things from other districts I can get those items and I think I don't know if you did that but that's a good thing to do so I appreciate that I agree we need to do this I think um we had already talked about putting on the agenda for November or December okay okay yes can I um I think we're collapsing two conversations here we're collapsing a conversation about the process of evaluation and the evaluation itself right you're right the distinction that's important they are about time is because it's an election year so whether if we're talking about simply putting a process in place uh that's fine you know people are adapted who's ever here is

150adept at that but the capacity to evaluate um a new board may not have for some time and so I think we need to make clear what we're talking about I completely agree with Mr Barefoot um and Mrs barenborg about what conversations we have publicly and what we have one-on-one um I think that's an important distinction but I'm still not clear if we're talking here about a process to determine an evaluation that will occur sometime in the future and if it happens immediately following the first year of working with the new firm if there are at least one and possibly two new board members they simply won't have the experience to evaluate that so I think that's something is a board we need to sort out and if that's going to happen sooner rather than

151later then it has to happen soon I'm gonna I'm gonna piggyback on that just a sec the other thing I that I thought of is when you are a first interviewed and then accepted to a new role you usually have access to the evaluation and the objectives that you will have to adhere to and so I think you know it's kind of like building the plane in the air you know it's not fair to somebody to evaluate them as they're moving along so I think you're right we need to determine what we're going to do and the timeline to do it and then what is the evaluation process so you're right there are two different things there well because if the determination is that an evaluation process should occur with this board that has the

152experience I'm not sure when our next Workshop is and if that's before the temp it's on the it's the 10th um and then there's yet another board meeting after that or there's a determination that can be made at that meeting about having something complete by the end of October the middle of November if that's what the board decides to do but we have to make a decision about that the more it not an election year it would matter less but it is so Mr Rosario yeah I'm I'm not so worried about the election personally year I'm more concerned with the process and the tool that we would use um for now anyway but but I do appreciate considering the election what you mentioned is um it is something to take into consideration because a new

153board coming on would not have the experience that we have had but even time wise uh November 29th by November you know we're not even here uh sorry October 29th is Monday November 22nd is the annual uh leasing meeting and our last business meeting in November um and then that's it but that's with a new board I know so so bear with me here I know and then the date of which for which um this you know the renewal of the annual contract is November 29th so there really isn't much time my point is that there isn't much time in in the scheduling if we were to consider reviewing um if we were to consider creating an instrument now have conversations privately based on that instrument just like with Dr Moore I'm letting you know

154that I'm willing Dr Moore has uh more than graciously agreed to add this continued conversation where we can actually come better prepared to create a tool on October 10th is that right Dr Moore you you said earlier that you can add this to the workshop the the agenda for the superintendent items is very brief so I think you all would have substantial time to have this conversation as well as others would it be appropriate to ask also if um Dr Jacobs could uh also facilitate the way that she did where protocols guide us through that so it's a little bit you know coherent we have one person uh just for additional compensation to do that but okay I mean we could do it ourselves but we'll go around in circles you know no I think

155that would be fine oh so if board members you're okay at least we can you know pick a date October 10th um and and and and come ready to prepare what kind of what kind of evaluation tool um I suppose you're you're interested in maybe what are your points of evaluation what would you want to look for talk about um I know for me for example it would be obviously knowledge of of the Law whatever that that would be based on the um experience and um and the work but also on knowledge of our own policies on not they're they're you just look at all of these um guides and you'll be able to kind of identify and become ready to talk about it on on the 10th um and then we can move forward

156from there if we don't for some reason having a proper timeline to get everything done before November 29th then the new board would have to take it over I mean it just it is what it is in terms of that um we are not negatively talking about someone's evaluation now okay or positive Mr Barefoot I think we've beaten this dead horse the tenth we can try and work and come up with a format I also remind folks and perhaps I'm wrong that this contract with the law firm is uh cancelable on whatever the 30 days notice so there's not this one year November 29th as far as I'm concerned is irrelevant we should do the evaluation when it's appropriate to do so when In fairness to that firm uh and if we're if we have

157uh different board members so be it that that will be reflected in the evaluation but I I it doesn't need to be done based on the one year because it's it's a it could be canceled at any point in time yeah I don't just the one it was a one year I believe and then a 30 days I don't remember you may be right whether the 30 days was within the first year I honestly don't remember that well you have the contract there yeah but but that's the middle of the meeting but I think I frankly think we beat this thing to death we should move on I think everybody gets a message we're all in favor of developing a form a tool to evaluate and yeah and I just say this from personal experience

158um knowing the role of legal counsel to the board take some time knowing how to use it knowing how to take advantage of it knowing how to work with it is not something you learn in a month or two or knowing what is the responsibility so to that end I do think the year is significant because of an election year I don't think new board members will necessarily know that in a month or two that said you're right we've beaten it to death we've got the point yeah so I would like to say how about on the October 10th Workshop we work on at least putting out either the timeline or the way we want to put this tool I don't think in a workshop in just a couple hours we're going to be come

159up I'll agree to a specific tool especially when we have all this to read before then and decide you know what we want to look at I think um maybe the timeline would be a good thing to start with and uh how the tool is going to look as far as evaluating I think I just heard you say about knowing the law knowing that are you referring to our board attorney or you're referring to the firm it would be both because they're both they each have individual okay so I think that we need to do is then discuss how we're going to do that are we going to address the firm the attorney or both so maybe we do it that way as we try to figure out a timeline and then how we're going

160to address the evaluation start there and then if people have ideas of you know what that needs to look like you've given us some if other people have others I know I've talked to Andrea about it fsba a while ago so I'll need to bring that up again but we need to live with a document that's comfortable for the board and we definitely need Dr Jacobs okay just saying all right so will October 10th we'll put that on and I want to just um conclude with this if I may you know as uncomfortable as some may feel about having these discussions in the public that's our job we can only discuss in the public having individual conversations with I'm going to use Dr Moore of course because I've already done it you know individual conversations

161about his and your evaluation um that's done in the private there's a written documentation for it but that that wouldn't change with Miss Shattuck or any other employee that we have but it is unfortunate in some situations but that's that's why we are elected officials to have discussions in the public to we cannot because of sunshine have it any other way we cannot have it collectively any other way we are collectively fully permitted to have one-on-one conversations you have this conversation we have to have it in the public to converse with whatever with one another yes we do to have an individual conversation with Dr Moore Miss Shattuck we are legally entitled to do that anytime correct that's what I said so we're going to end we're going to end this conversation with on October

16210th we're going to make the determination how to move forward on that okay all right second item proclamations yeah I have not uh okay let me get out of here so I um and I'm hoping Dr Moore and Miss Shattuck or mishata can help me with this I have I've been looking for policies um on proclamations do we have any policies on created proclamations and what its purpose is dude we can go back in and look off the top of my head I cannot think of one I have not been able to find anything so to my knowledge a proclamation is a promise it's a pledge that we are making for a particular purpose um who monitors and so this is part of the discussion I really had some questions here who monitors uh proclamations

163when a proclamation is created for example tonight we wrote one uh proclamation to honor um I forget the title of it disabilities week who monitors this week next year that it will be disabilities week it's not what the proclamation said I don't believe did it say it was ongoing or did it say it was this year some of them are different that's my point I would say the proclamations are honorary and identifying whether it's a event such as that I don't think they're they're binding to say that we're going to do this on X data or whatever the thing would be I mean I have a proclamation in my office for Miami-Dade County Public Schools that one one month is Dr Moore month I don't know that that's something they're celebrating anymore so we had

164one they canceled it things you were part of cancel Cutler no oh I don't know that's nice we'll move on um well we had one I think I can't even remember it specifically but miss barenborg may remember I think it was honoring vaping month or no vaping month or something right it's an entire month to know see I'm getting shaking heads so like who monitors that month like this month September is supposed to be and I think it's actually September or October is supposed to be vaping month no vaping month or something like that so through the chair it would depend on what that particular month is so if it's vaping that'll be under the leadership of Miss dampier um well not to pick on Pam but also this this Proclamation is also assigned to

165miss dampier if it was something around literacy it would be miss basurer it just depends on the the item itself and as we do a proclamation it is to bring a level of awareness to our community that this is something that's very important to us so we want to acknowledge and celebrate it so I'm wondering um the need because we CA I can't find a policy on it so I'm wondering the need of creating a policy that says if a proclamation states that a particular month is going to be focused or you know uh um uh created to honor no vaping for example that we actually create the policy that says that that month is going to be no vaping for that entire for the entire District like have activities have push-outs have you know

166notices have memos have principles honor the that in their schools for that particular purpose the same thing happened with 911 last year we created the 9-1-1 Proclamation and it was not fully honored on 9 11. we did not honor Patriot Day on Patriot Day on that Friday obviously Patriot Day fell on that Sunday but the honorary day would have been the day prior which would have been that Friday and not every single School uh created activities um to teach children about the events of 9 11. um you know our Proclamation for 9-1-1 honoring Patriot Day says that we are going to teach our students appropriate age-appropriate standards driven lessons it does not say that announcements are to replace standards-driven lessons or that memorizing the preamble to the United States Constitution is going to be a

167substitute for a 911 related uh age-appropriate standards driven lesson those are two totally different things and so we had a lot of schools in our district not honor this Proclamation here so of course it started to get me thinking what's the purpose of the Proclamation which is why I'm having this discussion here so maybe I think we we need to board members what are your thoughts about that creating a policy that honors a particular event if the if the proclamation is talking about a day or a week or a month that we actually have it a district-wide thing okay I I see Hands raised uh Mr Barefoot I'm looking at the definition of a proclamation it's official declaration issued by a person or persons of authority to make certain announcements known proclamations are issued by

168Mayors and governors for historical cultural and Civic celebrations or events and may also recognize a special day week or month it's pretty pretty and it said that at the discretion of that entity whether it's the governor or the school board it's you know and proclamations are issued all the time for all sorts of different reasons special events you want I mean 911 is recognized by about every School District uh businesses uh still to this day even though it was on a weekend I mean I'm not I'm not sure what the what the what the point of the discussion is that's that's not what the proc the proclamation for 9 11 is not what you're stating I get the definition we get that that's not a topic of discussion the proclamation for 9 11 for example

169very clearly states that it is the proclamation of the school board of Indian River County to honor September 11th as Patriot Day will teach our students age-appropriate standards driven lessons regarding the events that occurred on September 11th will hold a moment of silence at each time above when possible and conduct Patriot Day activities those are three specific you're reading such a thing that's fine what the the are you are you disputing the content no of the park no what I said was not everyone in the school board in the school district honored this well that's but that's not a it's not a legal document that's why I'm having the conversation to create a policy so that this could be honored appropriately but who's going to decide well that's the whole that they would have to

170be the superintendent and the board if we created a proclamation we decided that this is important enough to make sure that this is done in our district every year on September 11th and then it's up to the superintendent to make it happen same thing with vaping vaping is a month it's up to the superintendent to make it happen okay Dr Jones oh I'm sorry doctor yeah just a quick thing when we review the proclamation for today it was for the first two weeks of October 2022 most of our proclamations are specific to the year or month in which we are specifically doing it they're not ongoing policies they are as Mr Barefoot and others have pointed out predominantly symbolic to demonstrate we are putting attention on a particular thing I think what you're asking for

171is something different you want some curricular something around 9 11. that's a completely different thing than a pot than a proclamation Proclamation is for a specific amount of time to demonstrate our symbolic commitment to a particular issue that is of concern for us or that we want to demonstrate respect for no so I don't know what I'm saying so that not every school and well first off it was a Saturday but first off we don't know that we don't know everything that every school did because that's particularly our job yes we do we know everything that every school yes we do because it was requested and it was sent out to I think it was sent out to all board members it's possible that I missed that but the I have a copy if you'd

172like it yeah I'm sure I have it yeah there you go but there I I think we're also um we have to consider here the board's role in the superintendent's role right what it what is it that the superintendent is in charge of as the as the administrator of this district and as with his staff who oversees curriculum I don't know I just I don't think that's my point is that it's not being honored not all proclamations are written this way but some are okay okay Dr Jones I think of all the proclamations I've been a part of for many years they are recognizing they are applauding they are thanking um they're making a group of students or staff or faculty feel recognized for what they've done and I think they're important and I think

173we need to continue to do recognition but I do not see it when I look at all of our policy areas from bylaws to Administration to instructional staff to students finances and so forth you know when you set up policy uh that's saying that it must be done it must be done it must be done I think we can encourage um our our schools to continue especially with 911 you know the importance there but of all the many proclamations and the one that miss barenborg you supported was very important with the vaping you know I I look on our website well three four times a week and then that is out there what we're trying to do what the schools are doing so I see it as very important but I do not think it

174fits in policy um a couple things I always wondered when I heard a proclamation at a at a government meeting well that's nice but that's nice that they honored somebody that night but what are they how are they gonna go through with it yeah so I understand that part especially when you have them that are written specifically this way however this one says September 20th 21. adopted on that day right right right so we will honor Patriot Day every year where does it say every year now therefore be it proclaimed by the school board of Indian River County that we honor September 11th as Patriot day we'll teach our students age-appropriate standards driven lessons regarding the events that occurred I I'm not I'm not disputing that we need to do that I'm not we need

175to it's Patriot Day it's a it's a holiday that we have not really a holiday but it's a Remembrance Day of what happened that day so we definitely need to do that um I agree with you that if we put something in a proclamation that specifically says in here um you know about the lessons the standards driven lessons Etc that it needs to be honored yeah I I got that I it needs to be honored I agree with you I think proclamations have been honorary in the past so people think okay well we did it this year we're done um I think we need to be more specific to say are we going to say that this happens every year on that day if so that's a way we need to write the proclamation and

176if so is that a policy now because policies right policies are every year we do that or until we change a policy proclamations are usually honorary but the way this one's written I will agree with you it doesn't seem so honorary to me it seems like okay this is what we're going to be doing the question is whether or not we're doing this all the time or just that year which was last year we haven't had we haven't talked about it this year so perhaps this would be one to bring up again is right to how to how to move forward with especially this day yeah so we have there is a public law um 107-89 it is a joint resolution with the 107th Congress on December 18 2001 they declared Patriot Day designation September

17711th is Patriot Day the proclamation uh it reads the president has requested to issue each year a proclamation calling on State and local governments and the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate programs and activities all Department agencies and instrumentalities of the United States and interested organizations and it goes on and on and on um um to the people of the United States to observe a moment of silence on Patriot Day in honor of the individuals who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attack and it goes on there is also another presidential Proclamation that was created September 10 2010 so one was 2001 and then in 2010 there was another presidential Proclamation honoring Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance so there's a lot to support

178it if we're going to specifically talk about 9 11 but the the idea of proclamations in general we do have some I think that we should be honoring uh the month that we proclaimed would be um baby no no vaping month and so are the so shall the other proclamations that actually are specific to whatever that week day or week or month is so I'm I'd like to do a little research and find out how other governments would handle their proclamations because you know our County Commission does it all the time the city does it all the time um I think that perhaps specifically for this one that you brought forward honoring Patriot Day perhaps we need to put something I'm not sure if it's in policy or if there's a standard that's already out

179there that we need to adhere to but we need to maybe if you modify it yeah yeah and if it's a policy within the policy you could put um and make a proclamation in the policy but a proclamation to me is not a policy no two different things absolutely okay which is why I was wondering why we don't have a policy addressing proclamations or specifically to this one um and again I think we brought up that proclamations are mostly honorary I think with this one in particular it shouldn't be honorary this should be part of what we do oh without question yeah so I think that maybe looking at this one um honoring Patriot Day is something that we need to maybe either address policy or something else whereas other ones can be honorary maybe

180within the policy we say we have the proclamation read on this day and then we do these following things that way it's part of the policy I don't think we need to make every Proclamation a policy though because otherwise we're just adding too much to the plate of yeah I couldn't agree with you more okay so but then I think would that also calls for uh further discussion as to when proclamations are created that would fall in the superintendent I suppose when proclamations are created is it going to be created like a 9-1-1 where lessons are expected or we're honoring a week or a day or a month or not if we're honoring a person then it wouldn't need to be pushed out to the whole District every year this week or every year this

181day or do does that make sense I'm crystal clear on what a proclamation is and I'm crystal clear on what a policy is and policy does not or sorry Proclamation is going to drive my work policies drive my work so if it's creating a policy to codify what is in within a proclamation I don't think any other district has that but sure we we could we could do that Proclamation it is simply simply to acknowledge and celebrate and bring awareness to a specific initiative and it is not to drive or Define action so trust me you'll never see a proclamation again that defines any kind of action because we don't want to waste time with conversations like this we want to be about the business of the board um and we could do a better

182job of of defining what a proclamation is to kind of capture it around the celebratory awareness initiatives and not defining action I'm a little I'm a little offended that you would call this a waste of time because this is board work okay this is a debate around a proclamation attempting to drive action and this is simply not the intent of what a proclamation is but that's how this Proclamation was written so this Proclamation was written to say that lessons would be created and lessons were embedded I think you're going from information that was provided by the public information officer not the uh assistant superintendent from qriket instruction regarding information that was embedded into pacing guides and opportunities for students to do that information nothing else was provided as a follow-up so there's nothing else to

183compare to okay but the the reality is on that day both whether it was Friday or Monday this system did an absolutely outstanding job of covering the importance of that specific day reinforcing um what happened on that day and ensuring that every single child had a deep understanding of why we would never forget yeah I would disagree on that one okay I just miss barenberg I just um again looking at policy and Proclamation we just have to be very careful on what proclamations and we will decide that should be given out to the schools and work to be done right I mean we just have to be really careful in that and understand what Miss Rosario is talking about with 9 11. obviously as a high school principal we every year every year I know

184I'm going back but I remember my dad graduated from high school in 41 went to college and then everything changed and then I remember him talking about how people forget and I understand that point but we just have to be sure that okay we think very very much so that 911 is very very important but then someone else will say well this is very important this is very important so we just have to be careful about anything with policy absolutely what about what about procedure is that what you're talking about no just on proclamations in general if a proclamation is addressing honoring a week or honoring a day or honoring a month or whatever the purpose is why not create a procedure tied to a policy but create a procedure that says this is what

185we're going to do to honor the proclamation that we've created to honor that day or week or month and I think that's I would prefer it to be different I would prefer it to be a policy and you know how I feel about that but and I think that that's I think that's what you're saying if you had a policy that says when you create a proclamation it has a b c d or E it's specific to that date or time something around something like that which gives a clear understanding on how to create proclamations a proclamation for for us is the best way to get a to bring folks here to have the board celebrate them to vote 5-0 around that specific item but developing criteria on what is or is not a proclamation

186I think that's relatively straightforward it's just not codified creating something policy that's not but I mean creating something that says we've agreed to this we've signed our name to it and so this is what the entire district is going to do to honor this for that day or week or month that that's that's all that's time specific to that individual I mean with that individual one right yes yes a week he follows through that that week is honored right okay okay District wide right or whatever it says yeah so if it's a week of honoring Transportation then it's a week of district-wide transportation whatever activities at the same time I don't want a lot more work put on these teachers I mean 911 is one example I mean curriculum instruction I like I said I

187go to the web page and I see what was done um there they're struggling as it is we've got to be careful anyone else Mr Barefoot next topic all right I don't know if we came to any sort of conclusion but well yeah he's going to create a policy I mean a procedure you're going to create a procedure okay and it will be brought to the board for discussion correct I know we have some people people that are staying this late to listen to our next item so we're going to talk about football fields yeah so um I added this I I talked with a few parents obviously I saw a really really disturbing video on um the moisture and probably now with the rain it's going to get worse we all know the the

188field Vero Beach High School field I mean it was already talked about um but some of the citizens that came up said you know it's important to have a plan someone use game plan which is pretty interesting considering we're talking about a football field so what what and I I wanted this official discussion so that we could be on the same page with what is that plan what what what what conversation has been had I you know in the office Dr Moore um so that we can address some of these issues with the with the citizens um who are our constituents um I know in addition to the field uh Vero Beach High School locker room has I don't even I don't think anyone remembers the last time it was updated um so uh I

189don't know how much a field would cost we've already kind of talked about it a little bit but I can't imagine also updating the locker room at the same time would cost that much more if we're going to do it let's do it right but anyway so if we can have that official conversation now what the update is where what the status is what the conversations have been like are we in a holding pattern are there games going to be used on a different field going through um you know hurricane season okay um you know let's hear from other board members too Dr Chef yeah um this has come up before sometimes when there is a discussion to be had for which either board members or District administration wasn't prepared to have that conversation at

190this moment I think what would be most productive at this time would be to ask Dr Moore and others to prepare a report for the board on the state of the field what's going to be done about it what the cost is and and what the plan is rather than having a lengthy conversation now without that information at everybody's fingertips it would be appropriate I think to request the information and have that conversation at a future meeting I'm not denying the importance of the issue it's certain it very clearly is but I don't know that people came to this meeting prepared to give a full timeline breakdown cost estimate you know all and Mr bios maybe you have that at your fingertips and I'm underestimating you um foreign but oftentimes when a discussion is brought

191up at the last minute we don't have the necessary background information to be able to have a full conversation about it I'm hearing Mr Zario asking us to have a conversation so yeah but that's my point she's also asked she's asking for a timeline she's asking for a cost estimate she's asking for an evaluation of the need of of what's wrong what needs to be fixed what the extent is no I didn't say what needs to be fixed okay sorry that was but you asked for all the other things and I am not quoting you exactly because I don't remember exactly what you said but you're asking for a lot of information that unless the superintendent is prepared to have at his fingertips um I think would be better in a more thoughtful conversation where

192he can get that information to us we can review it and then we can have a dialogue about it okay so let's start some just initial conversation so he gets some feedback from all board members about it um Mr Barefoot the bottom line is you know somebody read off the laundry list of things that need to take place from the fields to the locker rooms so we we went through a process for the community complex what was needed was developed the cost was estimated and we went forward that this is pretty simple stuff so um Mr Bass Mr Seymour you get Nick involved and and do a comprehensive this is what we knew to create a facility comprehensive facility that the community deserves what's it going to cost and within the framework of that we

193can prioritize you know locker rooms are first the fields first another field New concession stands whatever it is but you know just develop these are all the pieces this is what we think it's going to cost and we can take it from there but as I said earlier this is not something that the district is going to be able to uh fund they can participate to a degree we're going to have to figure out whether it's grants but I think the private sector is going to have to play a major role in getting the kind of facility that most people would like to have and it's not going to be cheap assin Coach Jay for about a year looking at this and obviously it is in our Capital outlay as far as where we're going

194at the end of this year I think 300 000 was there for everything we need to do for that field and talk with Mr Bass about this several times um I'm at almost every Bureau home game in almost every semester of a high school home game so I know I see it I walk it I'm there early and I know the concerns going back a little bit I'll just I haven't told you this story yet Mr Bass I was at the 81 state championship when it was here and I was in the top row and then the stands were shaken so I know how um you know we did a little bit with that with our seating and so forth so I know we have a lot to do and I know what's in the

195plans as I said earlier with fhsa for the state tree I'm sick they'll go to a big venue for regional it's home and a couple years ago we we almost lost a regional game because the team was refusing to play I know this county is dedicated with Athletics and Performing Arts and extracurricular we know how important curricular to our students we have anywhere from 20 to 28 participating in our high schools banned athletic Student Government drama course so it's very very important that we keep on this and I know there's a plan I don't know how much you want to discuss right now Dr Moore but I know coach Jay um is is in on that plan and we're looking at to see what we can do you know it was a great experience that

196they handled that so quickly last week when Vero had to go to Sebastian but we were sure as heck lucky that Sebastian was away and they have a buy this week if anybody's playing a game I don't know but we were lucky there and what Vero Beach High School administrations Vash River High School administration did to make that work under the guidance of Mr Bass it was wonderful so I want to thank you for that was like a 24-hour turnaround but it's not easy on the students it's not easy to travel to another game or another home site and I know Miami Dr more most people go to different sites you know I've been there when we played Miami but I know that the red clay is an issue I know they're looking at it

197but I don't want to say too much so I'll stop there okay um I do remember going to one of the community complex um meetings that we had and uh football coach spoke and he spoke about the field conditions and he said that it would help a lot when we get the community complex built to have soccer and Lacrosse off that field that would help but we're looking at a couple years from now right by the time we get that all built maybe two years 20 24th see if we get if we stick to a discussed timeline they'll be able to start in the spring correct Dr Moore that with the if we have enough money in to start the construction of the stadium and the playground in the spring so the assumption would be

198there's a possibility that you could do something in the fall of 23 but more than likely you're really talking about full-scale usage for other sports in in the 2024c year okay so we're looking at a year and a half from now that we can move those teams off the football field I got it I'm worried about safety I'm worried about kids getting injured and you know we need to do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen so we we saw tonight where we are protecting their heads um how about the rest of their body you know when they're out there on the field so you know this board has a limited budget and everybody comes to us asking things you know band instruments repair that everybody you know that wants to have it

199and we just got to do the best we can with the money that we have we get that I agree with you it's going to take grants or something else because I know the cost of I don't have a specific number but I can imagine the cost of that I remember when we redid the stands the cost to that and that was tremendous I do know that we just did a renovation on the locker rooms for Sebastian River High School and yet that school is not as old as Vero Beach when was the last time the Vero Beach locker rooms were done I'm not sure yeah so yeah a long time ago so um you know everything needs fixing but we need to make sure that we're keeping Safety First locker rooms I understand that's

200important thing but safety first field and that's my thought is the field first locker room second but soon after um maybe we need to look at this Five-Year Plan again and say where do we need to put things in priority because when we brought up the band when I brought up the band instrument issue you were able to prioritize for Capital money to be put towards the band instrument so I appreciate that so we're hearing and we've known that this field has issues so I think we need to prioritize our Five-Year Plan on that thank you board member yeah follow up go ahead I'll choose a chair go ahead um I I just wanted to follow up on the Jimmy Graves field and the grants and the donations that have been provided for that field

201so far um that those are different funds we we get it we all agree to that we know that but quite honestly if you ask me where my priorities line my priorities do not lie in creating or starting to build on the Jimmy Graves field when our football field is not in working condition my priority is my priority is that we address the Vero Beach football field first because that affects children now and a lot of people don't want to have the conversations about you know um what's happening with those fields or what the conversations have been like I know Dr Moore you're going to address it now I have every confidence that you're able to have conversations on the on the Fly because that's that's that's what you do same thing with Mr Bass

202um but um but my priority is the field that affects the children now if there is an issue let's say Friday night Friday night there is a a game this is why it's important to ask because we have parents who want to know and kids who are waiting to find out if there's a game Friday night in Sebastian and a game Friday night scheduled for Vero Beach but Vero Beach Field is not they're not able to play there where are they going to play Sebastian on Saturday night so let me I'm just this is what I'm asking so let's let's get let the superintendent follow up thank you thank you all right so let me just um first and foremost thank the the board members for their feedback and I think sometimes sometimes things happen

203for a reason so initially our Capital plan was coming before the board but the state was delaying and uploading the document in which needed to be completed so it was pulled let me be very very very clear there are so many things that are broken in this District because of knee-jerk reactions and not having a long thought out created plan to bring the district to a level of financial stability to bring the district to a level of instructional uh Fidelity it it reacts it reacts it reacts versus ensuring that we have a long deep thought out plan to ensure that the district is going to be successful in all things that it does and though that is very very hard to do it takes bold and courageous leadership bold and courageous staff board members in

204order to say this is the plan these are the priorities and this is the space in which we have funds to operate when you look at that field that's not a surprise that's not something that all of a sudden we realized um last week did we have 20 inches of rain in that specific area over an eight day period the answer to that question is yes um was it unsafe to play on literally Mr Bass probably lost two pairs of shoes walking on the field and sending us video that video I think you were referencing Miss Rosario was Mr Bass always lost a lot of weight lately still foot sinking into into the ground and I I cannot thank the boosters the coaches the two administrations uh what they all pulled off in literally 36

205hours was amazing it really spoke to community uh when you look at the graves property yes we have a long-term plan that long-term plan isn't going to address the situation that we have at that field right now we probably won't have well we probably will in the next 36 hours have 20 inches of rain over a very short period of time we probably won't but moving forward we need to get the field to a space in which we can do that we will be looking at our Capital plan we'll be looking at the funds or the resources that we have saved uh which speaks to Mr Bass and Mr Mr westenberger's um ability to save money in the projects that have been fully implemented or fully developed to see where the opportunities to quickly pivot

206so as we begin next school year we have possibly a turf field in place that's going to require looking at what are the priorities over the course of the next five years uh where do we shift or modify those priorities in order to get that done and looking at the structure as a whole that would be the opportunity for me to go back and look at and say okay field job one uh the other structural needs that need to be addressed when do we get them done how would we get them done so I think we're going to be able to bring to the board a capital plan that includes uh shifting that that field over the summer to what could be a turf field or a artificial service artificial turf which is the desire

207um of the athletic director at that school over the course of the summer that takes six months six weeks six weeks six weeks to do um so that would be not a a solution for the field not a solution for the overall structure of the environment so it's really looking at where our opportunities within the budget our capital budget these are different funds that can only be used for projects such as that uh to bring it back to say where are the opportunities uh can we get that done over the summer and then going into the upcoming school year it's it's not draining what are the opportunities to do quick fixes in order to ensure we can get through the rest of the season because we're going to go very very deep into the playoffs

208uh and we want as many games until we go to wherever the state where's it going to be Orlando the state championship yes sir okay until we until we go there we want to make sure that every single home game would still be uh at the Citrus Bowl and being played without the fear of an injury because of a subpar um field so I think when we have the those conversations the upcoming month we'll go to bring something um a longer solution to the board so what do they in the meantime we're we're working to to look at where are the opportunities to fix the field there's there is no quick fix to fix the field whether it's putting tarps down over the course of the week if we know it's going to rain that

209would be a possible solution if it's looking at some of the drainage issues that we could fix relatively quickly in terms of the flow of water at the end of the day the district has chosen for year after year after year to do a quick fix on the field versus appropriately maintaining over the course of time and that goes back to all of the usage um that's been on it and how do we fix it with a couple of months that we have versus breaking it all the way down and then building it back up that work was never done never has been done and and Dr Moore just you know I've been talking to you Mr Bass coach day about a year regarding this and so people understand why um just redoing it and

210putting in the regular grass and so forth how it would not help the drainage with the red clay I mean there's a lot of history I mean you're just not going out there saying oh this is what we're going to do because because you know we have a North County High School too so we have to understand you know the expectations for both and being the former principal of Sebastian River High School they built that field work a dream I mean they just did and it still looks pretty good but it been to a Vero Beach game this year you could say even when it's not wet wet the sides are just you know it's just awful so there is reason for wanting to go to that type of field because even if you build

211it up with red clay and everything that's going on it wouldn't be cost effective in about 10 years you know right no exactly maybe maybe just a little Mr Baskin probably a little deeper understanding as to they can explain it better in terms of the neglect the field has been exposed to in terms of over the course of years as to why it's absolutely not draining correctly through the chair there there is collection boxes on the sidelines of the Vero field that will allow it to drain if it could drain so you know first of all I want to say this it was not to be fun or anything perfect storm over the past eight or nine days um in my 29 years of education either being a football coach or being overseeing facilities and

212athletic facilities being one of those only one other time have I seen a field that was as wet as that field and that was after a tropical storm Fey and like 2007 or so um so it was The Perfect Storm however when you look at the the Citrus Bowl surface yes there is a crown there and there are drains on the sideline but what you don't see and I got a real firsthand view of that here at the beginning of this football season is the material this underneath that so if you if you compare the Citrus Bowl to Sebastian Rivers field Sebastian River Field is built with swells on the side so there's a better drainage capacity there but it is a Mucky dark soil that is rich in in nutrients that the grass grows

213on in Sebastian here you look and there is a thin layer of dark material and then it goes to a clay almost I call it a Marley type surface so there is no ability there for the water to perk down and because there it can't perk down that you don't get any any absorption that way and it's so it just holds water it won't run off the sides so that's why it's standing there so you know I know Dr Moore had mentioned artificial surface um we could come in and we could completely um rototill that field kill all the grass off we would need to redo the irrigation because you would you would damage the irrigation with the rototill um put it back in inside well we would have to change we would have to

214excavate out that poor material and bring in really good material but you're you know you're only going to be able to go down anywhere between 6 to 12 inches but over time that poor material that's underneath the good material is going to come back and we're going to have the same issues again it may not be five years or ten years from now but it will come back over time um you also couple that with the fact that with football uh freshman JV Varsity any given year girls and boys soccer girls and boys lacrosse JV and varsity you're looking at anywhere from 90 to 100 athletic events on that field per year whether the material is just fabulous underneath or not you're wear and tear on that field is going to be tremendous so the

215artificial surface is the best route in my opinion to go you know lacrosse and soccer you know when the other complex gets gets there it's going to be grass you know is there a possibility for more injuries lacrosse and soccer on terp artificial surface there is but I think you know the fact that the field the Citrus Bowl now is not really wide enough to accommodate a full-size wit soccer field and you don't have good running conditions along the side with with potholes the drains plus the track I think you know that overcomes the fact that it's going to be on Surface or artificial turf to protect those kids from that injury we're looking at about 1.6 million for the artificial turf what Dr Moore has already mentioned is worked with Mr westenberger today going

216through our our capital budget and we do have some savings from some other projects that we have completed and so that money could go toward it and I am very optimistic that we could find the money to do that six weeks turnaround time would be what what one of the companies has quoted us we've talked to two companies right now for artificial surface both of which are on the state contract list and we have a third one we're reaching out to also Mr westenberger has already reached out to the um St John's waste or Water Management District and you know saw what had to be done as far as drainage with their regulations that we're good to go there because it is a pervious Surface so we're good there so I think you know with

217Dr Moore and your blessing we can make this thing happen for next year yeah I'm I'm glad you brought that up about the clay because uh you're right that clay will keep coming back and coming back it's uh impervious that's why they fill the landfill at the bottom of the landfill with it so um not calling our field of landfill I'm just saying that clay is the problem here and I think you know looking at artificial turf might be the answer for that field I think you're right and obviously you've done a lot of homework on it anyone else we're good okay appreciate the discussion about it this is this is exactly what I what I wanted us to have a discussion about with regard to the field I wanted to thank Angela uh Ben

218zaf I don't want to mispronounce your last name um I believe President of the booster club at Bureau Beach High School and January Lloyd honorary member booster mom and 500 different hats for all of their you know volunteer hours and their focus on this issue and and you know I other than the Vero Beach High School football team being moved to Sebastian I had no idea there was an issue with the field so this is all pretty new to me so I'm glad I'm glad that we we met and that we had this discussion and I'm glad that we're going to move forward in a positive way so I hope that the rest of the season for the kids is successful no matter what and safe Dr Jones just wanted to also thank the parents

219for coming and also coach Jay and his entire coaching staff and the students for all that they do for their school and all the coaches do for the students um and while we brought that up um having attended Saturday's memorial service I was so proud of our team and how they were so respectful and yet I'll show I mean I don't know if all of them showed up but it was it was quite a quite a showing so I appreciate them being there and also at that service coach date gave a wonderful wonderful speech he did all right classroom libraries me okay I've got all these notes Dr Moore but I'm just going to try to summarize this um and hearing many people speak about library books in general and classroom libraries and and Dr

220Moore I just I want to make sure that our teachers and administrators in our schools know that they can have classroom libraries I think the the kind of a message out there is that there's a little fear we don't know if we should do this maybe we should be on the safe side but they are okay to have classroom libraries I was in eighth grade seventh grade English teacher for many years I built a library up and you know what I I built that Library up with students for enjoyable reading nothing connected to the standards just enjoyable reading so that those students could choose a book when there's a few minutes left and they could go ahead and read um I know that we have received memos you know regarding the state and where we're

221going to go from the June 3rd memo and I told you this the last Workshop I talked with Chancellor Oliva Miss bromback and then Dr Paul Burns and obviously they're moving forward they've got through maybe six lines of that last last state statute that they're looking at um and Miss perintella talked a little bit about that today but I I just want to make sure because I I hear from teachers and some administrators we just don't want to take the chance you know and I'm thinking as a former English teacher and I have the books you know if the parents have a question about what books I have they could certainly ask I don't want to cause any more work for the teachers they have a question about a book they could certainly talk with

222you or curriculum and instruction but what can we do to make sure that they know it's okay to have these libraries for our students I'm very very concerned um Dr Schiff announced this earlier and I gave this information at the workshop students are not going to the library to check out books one high school they had 32 books checked out that were nothing to do other than with dual enrollment API B SAT and ACT they're not going to the books the library for you know enjoyable reading now I know it's not like that in elementary I know it I've seen it and not quite like that in middle school because I was there for many years and again I've stopped by several schools so what can we do to open this up to make sure

223that our teachers you know we've got their back if they've got a question to ask us but don't shut down your classroom libraries period what can we do and through the chair I think it's a ongoing conversation now that the system the district hasn't done anything nor will it ever do anything to encourage or inform or direct a teacher not to use a classroom Library I will say classroom library is a good strategy when it's used correctly and it is aligned to the standards it is a opportunity to provide a book of Interest a leveled to the needs of that specific child where he has the opportunity to read um that that is the ideal use as we pushed out at the beginning of the school year it was the intent and the sole intent

224was to notify teachers of any shifts or changes in State Statute which I think we did a very good job of and then continue to reinforce for teachers who have made the decision whether it to be I don't want to in fear of it or I don't want anyone to get me I can't say specifically what their concern is but to have a conversation with them to alleviate whatever that concern may be and that's walking classroom to classroom and meeting with teachers to say we want you to have absolute use of if that's a strategy you would like to use absolutely use it while at the same time be empowered with the understanding as to what should not be on there and it's very straightforward the shift or change from last year to this year

225is minimal right minimal right so the change or shift of practice should be minimal as well now there are are a a group of teachers who just as you said I don't I'm going to play it safe or I'm not I don't want to do it for this reason or that reason and those are the opportunities for whether it be principles whether it be District staff to engage in a conversation let us help you let's work through let's deepen your understanding as to uh if this was the strategy used last year why would you not continue to use this strategy this year and that is the conversation I think we've made tremendous ground or we've made tremendous strides in getting that information out from the beginning of the school year to now but it's a

226con a continued conversation and at the end of the day it is really ensuring that teachers know that the system has their back and the system wants to help them inform them and ensure that their life is as easy as possible because it is it is not easy work that they're doing just one comment I don't agree with the one one thing you said about that it's aligned to the standards I had books from we had I had students in eighth grade reading maybe at sixth grade level some reading at 11th grade level I had books of Interest they didn't align to every standard or at that time a different Criterion reference but you know there are books out there for enjoyable reading and if they have a question they can certainly ask a parent

227but not everything's about the standard either I mean enjoyable reading is what these students like to do you know it's not a force reading and we're losing that and I'm saying that books need to be appropriate but not everything has to align to the standard enjoyable reading books kids are grabbing books every minute that we had 10 minutes to read they could check them out and I just I just don't want intimidation or Any teacher feeling like oh my gosh I can't do that or I'll be in trouble that's what I don't want and through the chair I think you thought you taught language arts and and reading right yes so okay a lot of others so therefore it was aligned to the standards um based on the content in which you taught uh and

228and secondly yeah I could make that work okay thank you and and secondly the there should there will be no fear or intimidation by anyone employed by me in in the system uh it is to appropriately inform and to problem solve into support to have the conversation to engage in the communication so if it's a strategy that they they want to use they have every opportunity uh to actually use it so that is the the commitment that I give to you uh as well as our teachers thank thank you Dr Schiff no I'm good okay Mr Barefoot nope um yeah I'm going to bring up a concern that I saw um you skipped over me I'm sorry I thought you already spoke no oh go ahead um I one of the things that I I

229want to remind um which I know Dr Moore knows this that any material used in the classroom at any material used in the classroom made available in a school library or included on a reading list any that contains content that is pornographic or prohibited under statute 847.012 is not suited to the student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented that is in statute 1006.28 so it doesn't matter if it's a classroom library or in the media center or you know for personal reading or use for direct instruction that is the language in the statue for all courses of studies any material used in a classroom any material used in a classroom made available in a school library or included on a reading list it doesn't matter it just cannot contain anything that is

230prohibited that has pornographic or prohibited under 847.012 that's the big issue here so that's the concern and part of the new statute that was signed into law to be in effect as of July 1st it was to ensure that even classroom libraries did not have certain information that is prohibited there was a um I rule a memorandum that came down from the Florida Department of Education dated June 3rd 2022 addressing House Bill 1467 and it says exactly that that book selections must meet certain criteria and that book selections whether it be through the library media center or directly in classrooms that it meets certain criteria as of uh included in Florida statute 1006.40 and there are some other I think it's three 3D um that there should be a requirement for evaluating each one of

231those books using a consultation uh reputable professional you know site or periodical to review the books so a lot of the a lot of the concern that I'm hearing seems to be um I'm trying to think of the word so as not to be so strong seems to be coming from a small group of um Educators that want to pinpoint or blame a certain group of people which actually is not true only the law can dictate what is provided in classrooms not our opinion the law okay um dude I'm I'm going to speak one of the concerns I saw when I I spent a couple days before school started to help a new teacher that frankly was overwhelmed walking into a classroom that quite literally when you opened up all the cupboards was a mess

232things were just thrown in there from the last year um having helped organize that classroom for a couple of days I went through and saw how many books this teacher had available for the classroom Library hundreds of books a lot of them were leveled readers that were purchased in the past had codes on them and everything else one of the things that I have been very quiet about because you know I didn't get an opportunity to talk about it until now is um you know there was a quote about me getting volunteers to come in the classroom and help with looking at these classroom libraries there were people that were coming up to me and saying how can I help because they hear not just this thing I saw but lots of teachers having hundreds

233of books that they've had in the past that were you know there were times where you'd say to the kids I I did in my classroom you know go get the red binder because that's on your grade level anything you want over there on your grade level that's that's yours to grab so those leveled readers sometimes were get bought from different companies and given to the teachers for classroom libraries so we have a lot of books out there that were classroom libraries that weren't bought by the teachers they were bought by the school district so the concern I had was how do we go about looking at getting these books to kids and yet not violating any laws or making sure that anything that's out there that's been been considered that might be a concern

234so my idea was to work with volunteers whoever to train them to say get a computer look at the books pile them up and say okay type that book title in to falet and see if that book has been flagged for any reason if so put that book aside if the book has not been flagged and it looks like it's it's a good reader in full let okay that book can go as long as you know it's impossible sometimes in some of these classrooms they have very thick lots of thick books so it's impossible to read them all but um that was one way I thought okay maybe we can help somehow with volunteering to get this off the teachers you know they are feeling like if they put a book in a kid's hand

235that they're they're in trouble and I don't want them to feel that way and I want books in kids hands we want appropriate books in kids hands so that's why I offered getting volunteers to help with that so that we can maybe just use the stack of books and type them in they don't have to be in the classroom those volunteers they can just be somewhere else where they're just typing in the titles to say yep that one's good let's go with it the question is how do they determine that one's good that's the concern is that is the big question mark some people say oh that's obviously you know where the Wild Things Are is good somebody else might not think it is so unless the only thing we can go off of is

236there was a list that I know moms for Liberty came up with that these are the concerns we have there's been a list of other people said well we don't have concerns with that book so we're in stuck in the middle of this um that's why I asked for guidance for a grade level appropriateness so that we have something to go off of we do have teachers out there that are scared to move forward I've told you over and over again I sat at the football game the other night and I don't know how many teachers I ran into and I heard it over and over and over again it is not something that's been solved yet it hasn't we have teachers that are nervous about putting books out for kids to to grab and

237use we can't have that happen so how can we solve this problem well can I add to that for a minute sure it's not just that we have teachers who are afraid to put books out for students to use it's they're afraid they're going to get disciplinary action they're going to lose their jobs that's what I'm talking they're going to be called so so so they are airing on the side of caution and to be honest I can't blame teachers for doing that I can't blame them for airing on the side of caution when we are in volatile times how we resolve that I agree with you I don't yet know um but there's this this prevailing sense that we don't trust our teachers that we're not trusting our teachers to know how to teach

238their kids and that's the part that really upsets worries and concerns me at what point did teachers become the bad guys did they become the ones who didn't know what was right for their students and be the ones who could best evaluate their students needs and and that's the part of this path that really concerns me and worries me to be honest um we got to figure out a way to trust our teachers and encourage them to want to be here because right now many of them don't many of them are fine they're moving along they're doing what they have to do but many of them are feeling increasingly frustrated and demoralized about the job they've been doing for years that is becoming more and more untenable we gotta figure that out yes Dr Jones

239I'm just looking over this June 3rd memo and I talked to Dr Paul Burns about a week ago so he sends me the information and I think this is what Miss parentella received today um where they're just beginning to training for school librarians media Specialists and other Personnel involved with the selection of School District Library material okay that's just beginning and the other one dealt with um putting the information on the website and that pertains to elementary schools uh but of the three people I talked with the other day and Dr Burns is a former principal and so forth he said we're not asking you not to order books or not ask you this I said well there's fear out there and they're not sure what to do so you know obviously um the house

240bill 1467 says that districts need to be transparent in the selection of instructional materials and library and reading materials when's the last time we ordered anything so we're transparent because we haven't ordered anything since this law came out obviously and as far as the um classroom libraries obviously um you know elementary teachers who have anywhere from 18 to 25 people um they could let their parents know what books they have and if they the parents can let them know whether they wanted to check it out but you know I'm sure our parents understand what is appropriate I'm sorry our teachers and parents understand what's appropriate for the grade level and if they don't want them reading it that you know that's a Parent's Choice but like we had earlier on this graph 90 some percent

241said okay to read what we have in our libraries or in our classroom libraries um you know they're just beginning on this they've gone through three lines then they're going to go through another three lines and even Dr Byrd said when it goes to the State Board in October they could accept it they may not accept it and then if they accept it it could be appealed so you know I think we're doing our best of what we can do as far as you know following this but at the same time I I agree with Dr Seth our teachers know you know especially for our students you know what um is appropriate for their grade level what is good enjoyment reading and to continue to promote the love of reading I I just don't want

242to lose that yeah and and to may I add something um to your point Mrs barenborg one thing that I I can appreciate you're wanting to get our teachers help by bringing in volunteers however it was an idea yeah consider you know the fact that there's a teacher trusting their certification I know to a volunteer right who may or may not be well trained or attentive enough and I don't know if teachers are going to feel comfortable with that I know you know that's why I said I don't know what the answer is because people want to help they just don't know how they can help Mrs Rosario yeah um it's it's it what's not complicated is that the law say states exactly what should and should not be allowed in the classrooms it's really

243not complicated it says instructional materials shall be free of pornography age-appropriate grade level and standards based really very simple four elements free of pornography it's in the statutes standards-based grade level and age-appropriate it's it's it's really not rocket science I I don't understand what the complication is the form in which the super in because we're talking about classroom this is all about classroom libraries I think I was talking about was classroom libraries the form that the superintendent and his team created at the beginning of the year call the classroom Library selection form for instructional staff it really only talks about a few things here for classroom libraries and I you know everybody knows I I can be critical with with um the the discussion on library and media center you know content but this is

244a good written guide for a checklist essentially you know for teachers to use and it says what you should and should not have or do you have the question is do you have Express explicitly instruct books that ex explicitly instruct on sexual content or gender identity there are different questions yes or unsure two does the book promote compel or encourage a student to believe one or more of the following and then there are some different you know um I guess they're they're not bulleted but they're they're bullets they're different sections uh does the book uh is the book from the 1619 project does it promote um anything from the requirement on uh no critical race Theory or critical race Theory or not having it um and then of course the rule and the hb7 law

245and then that's it I mean it's it's really not that complicated this was really created I know that the worry behind some teachers is that they're going to get fired or you know I get that but you know their their sensitivity and there's Grace too and we have to be able to allow the superintendent to let this um Library selection form uh be it was created for this purpose it has all the bills there to identify what each of the laws actually State there are only one two three there are just four there um and then each one of those items specific because this was about classroom libraries right specific to just classroom libraries that are there along with the new rules from the fldoe it's it's really not and my purpose here and I

246trust that the teachers do know that and I respect them that they do know that I'm just telling you how they are feeling and that's something that I want to make sure our superintendent district staff understands that and again the four areas no issue with that I'm just seeing how they are feeling why they're feeling that there could be an enormous number of reasons but that is what they are sharing let me just point out you know when you read that a teacher's looking at this stack of books hundreds of books in their room and seeing I got to go through every single book to make sure that it meets all of that and that's what the law says that's why I offered volunteers for that but yeah but it is what it is yeah

247what what Mrs Rosario sounds really clear to you about what the law says is not actually so clear we've talked before about definitions of pornography and that's why the books were not removed yes it what we had this conversation for it to be pornography the main intent of the book has to be praying content designed to arouse sexual interest we had this conversation it's obscenity it was of the obscenity statute not the pornography I'm going to talk now we've also talked in hb7 what seems straightforward to you when it says we're asking a teacher to go through books and determine what may make a student feel uncomfortable well well for a teacher to determine what may make some student uncomfortable based on race gender ideology or anything else who determines that and how it's not

248as straightforward as it means statute is written to be open to interpretation we are having this conversation at the higher education level as well because it's not straightforward and that's the problem and teachers are in the middle of a game now where they have to interpret vague statue and their livelihood depends on that so it's not clear it's not clear who determines and it's not clear what what is intended by some of these laws and that's why it's under review that's why there are lawsuits it's going on and on and for teachers to be put in the middle of that puts them in a precarious position which is Dr Jones's point is their discomfort with that it's our job then to make some determinations to minimize the discretion that they have and that's what these

249conversations are about but we disagree on the content context and um sort of opinion about what is the intent of of some of these standards and we are doing the best we can here's man here's something in hb7 that is that is uh captured in this selection form in this classroom Library selection form that does not leave for interpretation members uh uh does the book promote compel or encourage students to believe one or more of the following first one members of One race color national origin or sex are morally Superior to members of another race color national origin or sex that's pretty clear no it's actually not it's very does one is one represented to be morally Superior than the other people are racist sexist or oppressive whether consciously or unconsciously I think that's pretty

250clear a person's moral character or status as either privileged or oppressed is determined by race color national origin or sex treat others disrespectfully based on race color national origin or sex an individual should be discriminated against because of the historical actions of another of the same race color origin or sex a person based on the race color national origin or sex should be discriminated against to achieve diversity Equity or inclusion I mean and it goes on and on I these are pretty clear I mean I don't you know is the book from the 1619 project or does it quote or reference the 1619 project and of course there's a link for the other rule on critical race Theory which also includes the Holocaust the theory of the Holocaust or the Holocaust Theory so it's pretty

251clear Dr Moore you've you've got my support on the creation of this Library form because I think it's pretty clear and who determines discrimination is it determined no seriously if you read this thing like determining discrimination is clear is it why do we have why this is why there's confusion no kidding but here's the point if if someone is discriminated against who determines whether that discrimination occurred and how it occurs right we have policies to review that why do we have disparities in academic achievement why do we have disparities in student discipline because some argue there's there is disparity there and some argue there isn't this is so much more complicated Mrs Rosario than you are making it out to be no it's really not the laws actually Define what is discriminatory the laws actually

252Define what is pornographic the law actually defines what is obscenity the law actually defines what is sexually promiscuous okay the law defines nudity the law defines it not me not what I think the law defines it foreign I'm going to pause this right now to have um Dr Moore have a comment thank you madam chair and I think it's very similar to what Mr barefoot said earlier regarding continuing to have a conversation whether it be principles uh to ensure they fully understand my expectation is that we're not punishing or running a system based on fear but running a system based on what is in the best interest of children and willing uh to sit with each and every single teacher who wishes to have a library uh and answer any questions they may have I

253I think the form that was created was created to support and inform teachers uh taking an extra step to say all right let's look at these specific questions specifically in elementary school I think you can go through the forms relatively quickly from for me as a teacher knowing the books that were in my library uh I I could go through those four questions that all right I got six books let me go find them and get additional information regarding those specific six books we just want to remove the miscommunication we want to remove the fear that this school system the evaluators the principals The District staff are out to get you because we're not out to get anybody by by any means um and I think this staff and our principals and assistant principals uh

254have proven time and again they're going to problem solve and they're going to work with uh and to answer any questions our teachers have and I think what's happening in our classrooms now is absolutely wonderful if you go in you can see the quality or the depth of instruction that's taking place uh the focus of that instruction the alignment of that instruction and at the end of this year the rate of improvement the system uh will realize will be because of the work that teachers are doing so it is our desire to say if there's four teachers or three teachers or ten teachers or 12 teachers at a school let's go sit and have that conversation and if at the end of the day they choose not to have a library that's their choice but

255I don't want that to be a choice because I'm in fear of this or I'm in fear of that that's just not who we are it's not who we are we're not running uh we're not retaliating against people it's just not the the makeup of the folks in this system uh is it a hard time yeah uh you have people pointing their fingers at each other and trying to make it seem like this thing that it's we have to be above it that's not that's not we could be better the community deserves better and yes we're in hard trying complex times but you know what some Public School Systems got to figure it out somebody's got to be able to lead the way somebody's got to say hey this is we live in Florida we're

256not going to change where Indian River county is it's in Florida it's not leaving Florida it's going to be in Florida so we have to figure out how does Indian River County School Board employees teachers and staff uh be in the best interests of children with the laws in which we're governed by and that's not easy to do for some people uh it's not easy to do for a lot of people but we have to be willing to have that conversation and I know that we can the fact that people get frustrated is really a good sign it's a good sign because it means they care that the fact that you know even tonight as a reflect all night we've had a lot of conversations about what's really really important that's that's great growth for

257for kind of where where we want to go um so members of the board we principals myself District staff will continue to engage in those conversations uh really to bring a love a level of or to reinforce um what is expected um and problem solved so that every teacher understands the intent is just to clarify what is in fact state law and help and assist in any way possible so they can make a choice whether they want to use a library or not and not at all be in fear of retaliation no one's been written up no one's been documented no one's been called to the principal office about a library at all we've had zero issues not one administrator assistant principal has had a conversation with the teacher about a book it has not

258been an issue not this school year not last school year it just hasn't been an issue that doesn't mean that there are teachers just saying well I'm not going to make I'm not going to let it be an issue because I'm not going to do it at all those are the ones that we want to that's the next step I can tell you because I I guarantee you I walk more classrooms than in most people times three and the libraries that I see are available they are open they are in use I see students using them um and then when I see one that's not go get me that form because I'm going to go through that form with you all four questions and every single time that I've had the opportunity to do that

259no no no not my elementary school no of course I don't have that well then turn your books around you're good to go and that's powerful what a superintendent says that it's powerful when the principal says that it's powerful uh when the District staff who is visiting says that because that that's the intent that's the intent so it's more communication it's listening it's understanding the reality on how some people feel we have to validate those feelings sometimes people feel frustrated or concerned bernata I got you school system we're not we're we we have everybody's back to do the best that we could possibly can to be in service of our children thank you madam chair thank you Dr Moore just as a follow-up question if a teacher who is listening has a question about a

260particular book They're unsure of um they don't know you know they they question whether it can fall either one way or the other what do you recommend for that teacher do they bring that book to you to their principal to their Media Center specialist take it off until it's verified what what are your your suggestions always communication uh system principle probably in that specific area going I seek that additional information my staff District staff always available but their first response should be the assistant principal at that school so a new teacher that's not read half the books and that hundreds of books they're going to bring 50 books to the assistant principal well that's the exception and why 50 books were just laying around with that specific teacher is very odd too and are they

261are related readers in the past are they no they're there but as you're transitioning a new teacher job number one is let me look at your let's look at the core material let's understand that there's there's 50 books here you don't know what those people that's why we put them all on the cabinet because she was just trying to focus on how to teach the you know the reading program but um again you know I think as the the instructional coach higher level not kindergarten through second because you can get through this looks pretty quick and go yep yep yep if it's older kids though and they've got these guided readers from the past how do they determine oh I've never read this book before so I'm going to have to read the book to

262determine if it can go on the Shelf see what I'm saying I I understand what you're saying but I'm looking at most level readers and it's looking at the content of the specific book and saying is there is there pornography in this specific book no no is 1916 project taught in this book absolutely not it's about ducks and um I I don't you know ducks in water water okay so there's there's certain books we you can now there's some like oh what does this really mean yeah those are the ones and I think that's the opportunity for 99.999 of books in elementary schools it's in and out it's I don't know I just think that this mess clear for our teachers because um I believe I've shared with issues I don't know I I last

263two weeks of how many teachers have come up to you and said they're scared or nervous but they don't say anything because they don't want cause issues right yeah and I think the the only thing for me to do is to receive that and respond in a way um in which we deepen the understanding and you know the the structure between a good board and a good superintendent is exactly that and as information filters up to me it's being filtered by the teacher to the assistant principal to the principal to the deputy it it's it's going to be filtered but you guys have long-standing relationships uh some of you taught here grew up here so that information coming to you helps inform the implementation of the policies you all improve which is me to go

264back and say you know what let's go back and circle back around um because we should not have or we do not want this level of frustration or confusion around um minor changes in State Statute um we have to be able to inform and listen and address concerns as they as they come up yep to that point um so like Mrs Baron Borg and Doc Jones have mentioned I've also heard a lot of concerns from teachers who were who are not necessarily referring things directly to their assistant principles or their principles or it's being pushed down it's not getting to you what's the best vehicle by which to create an environment where they can either bring that to us or bring that to you where there is not a fear of any kind of retaliation

265or any like I don't know the right exactly the right words here but you're right I think information is not filtering the way it needs to and that's why we're having these experiences from the teacher level to the administrator level to the district level how can we get around that so I think we have the systems in place whether it's to report it to the teacher Union we have monthly meetings with the Union reps sitting with the principal discuss those specific issues whether they share it with you uh to get that information back to me we can't live in frustration and I say that all the time if you are frustrated you are obligation to children and the school system is to speak and to act I can tell you there has been zero people

266I'm the superintendent of schools but I I don't retaliate against anybody I have and I think you all know me well the expectation I have the the the morals on how we lead um are very clear this is an I got you system this isn't I'm going to punish you I think it's been tried over and over again and every single time we're going to do what's in the best interest of employees while at the same time serving in the best interest of of of children and that that really has to be the conversation the fact that people are speaking out to me is a evidence of a healthy system versus not saying anything at all so as that information comes back it's just the opportunity to reinforce it's the informal conversations across the entire

267system when they say a teacher says to another teacher yeah I thought that way too but this is the information that I got and this is the reality those are the the ongoing conversations we need to continue to have so the number so no one teacher uh feels that specific way and I think at the end of the day we may there are going to be teachers who with everything that we do and say are not going to feel comfortable and that's fine too but we've had the opportunity to truly inform listen to uh allow them to speak to us and us to clarify any any concerns they may have So to that end I want to just clarify and encourage for any teachers who are watching this um what we're discussing here is a

268system to get information where it needs to go right and and if it needs to go to the superintendent that we can be vehicles for that so I want to encourage people to reach out to us or reach out to a board member whatever board member you're most comfortable with or all of us so that we can help convey that information in a way that will represent your interests the only way we know it is if is if you share it and the only way we can get it where it needs to be is by being that vehicle so I want to encourage people to do that because I hear information sometimes second and third hand and it really helps to hear it firsthand back to the agenda all right so yes let's move on

269to member matters who would like to go first Mr Barefoot I don't have any okay Dr Schiff I don't have any either okay Dr Sean real quick um easy parent advisory Zoom meeting of the day was very good thank you to miss Moray and Ms dampier thank you to everyone who made donations that was on our board agenda so please take a look at those it's Hispanic heritage lunch at felsmere Hispanic month seven September 15th through October 15th and they're having something uh I'm on the fsba advocacy we have our first meeting tomorrow so I'll keep all the board members up to date on that and speaking of retired Educators obviously I'm one of them and uh we uh we're working at felser the old felsmere school um looking through all of their books helping

270with their books and choosing uh the books for their students who come in from the Fellsmere area and putting them on the mobile reading bus and I just want to thank all of them you know we had retired Educators who have given 30 to 40 Years of their life to the school system and they are out there in many many ways either from McAn Laura Rodney Jackson United Way up against poverty mental health many many non-profits and I know Miss barenborg mentioned them you know I know we probably can't help them have them with that but they're out there continuing what they started in this district and they were Dr Moore they were many many many of those people who built this district from the ground up so they're still out there volunteering for our

271our students and our parents I'll be one Monday yep okay Mr Rosario um yes so last week uh last Thursday was dads and donuts and some schools they celebrated dads and donuts um uh others it was called something else but it was really dads and father figures bringing their children to school and it was so sweet I went to Treasure Coast Elementary School and enjoyed time there what was really nice was the presentation that the Learning Alliance uh collaboratively with the school district of Indian River County put together to encourage parents to write down their dreams and their hopes for their children and then actually clip it to a string and then a copy of that would be provided to the superintendent um so that he could use it for future reference um but it

272was really nice it was a wonderful ceremony early on a Thursday morning you would think that people worked and wouldn't be able to come out but it was pretty packed I mean there was a line of parents of dads uh probably all the way around the corner of the school from Treasure Coast if you can imagine how that how that line works but it was really nice it was nice that morning they also had kind of like an open house where you can go into classrooms and spend time with your child uh in their first period class um it was so pretty I mean everything was really nicely done there so I'm glad that I had a chance to um to see that to be a part of it I also wanted uh I went

273on Friday night to the Sebastian River got a shame shame Shameless plug here but my son I mean you all know that I homeschool but my son I uh enrolled him in the JROTC program at Sebastian River so now he's a part-time shark um and he loves it but he is I guess he doesn't think he's a part-time shark um he he loves it anyway um but that night um I thought that they were gonna do the the they were going to be at the game to support Vero Beach High School but they weren't anyway so it was nice being at the game and of course we had a wonderful surprise um Governor DeSantis um uh showed up and did the coin toss so I'm grateful for him and his family uh it was really

274lovely to see him engage with his family and his children had a ball as they were just playing they were just kids you know it was it was really nice to see very pleasant so I'm glad to uh that he thought about Vero Beach and that he came to to participate in that um I do want everyone to be safe with regard to the weather I'm hopeful thinking that we will miss the storm because we're not in as of now based on some of the models it doesn't look like we're going to be in the cone even though we might get some wind but I hope we don't have to close schools and I do have a question though with regard to the the shelters and I know this has always been the case for

275schools to be shelters um but what about the is the IG Center a shelter do we know through the chair I I don't think that it is I think the shelters are buildings our schools that have been inspected they meet certain criteria they have the generators they yes all those things it is a well-oiled machine when we activate shelters in terms of the delivery of supplies the coordination of meals the supervision of staff so people won't see that work and just for a point of reference once we have sustained winds of 35 miles an hour buses can't be on the road so you know 35 miles doesn't seem like like much of a deal but we can't run we can't get kids to or from school if if we have those wins that are going

276to be projected to be at 35 miles an hour yeah well that makes sense and thank you for that um uh so with that I hope that everybody stays safe of course and I do hope that we don't have to close any schools and open up shelters but um my last thing that I want to say I'm going to give a plug and a congratulations to Mrs Jennifer Pippin who received notice she is um I think so far the only parent in our community who has been selected as a parent representation representative member of the library media work group for the Florida Department of Education so I'm grateful for her interest and for her involvement in that she's been a a voice for parents and I'm just grateful for her selection on that committee so

277we have a representative in our district now at the Florida Department of Education so thank you for that congratulations okay um yeah I attended the ESC advisory meeting also but I was there in person but I like the fact I know you said to me I think we're only doing it in person from now I said I like the fact that there was a zoom also because it allowed parents that can't get out here to be a part of that meeting and I think it's kind of a nice thing to have both um people that can get here and be in person and people that can get on Zoom and at least listen and and participate maybe we could do that with some other things but just thrown out out there uh I attended the

278memorial service for Marvin Wright um Junior and I know Dr Jones was there too um I was impressed with how many people spoke about the concern for children to reach out for mental health issues and seek help for if they had Suicidal Thoughts um I really I've attended a lot of ceremonies like that in the past and um that's the first time I heard that and I've attended ceremonies where kids had done that before and it was just kind of glazed over so it's nice that we're actually talking about it and getting it out there and and kids are needing mental health um support uh the football game was fun um we didn't get rained on too much and uh but the coin toss I'm going to just tweaked that a little bit Mr Rosario

279actually it was the governor's son who tossed the coin and he did a great job went over the top of all the kids and I think they found the coin and determined who was going to kick off so it was kind of cute it was fun it was nice that the Indians won and they're continuing their streak but I think a big shout out to Sebastian River because that was nice of you know a rival High School doing that for them so we appreciate that the weather with shelters I have done shelter Duty in the past I know you have you have um it's not fun so I'd like to just I know people that are hunkered down in their homes you don't realize what people need their family and they go to these shelters

280and they work and then they tell you after eight hours or something go home and you're like wait a minute the wind is going sideways and the water's going sideways I'm not going anywhere so you stay but you're not on the clock even though you're you're sitting there because it's the safe place to be I'd like to say thank you to those people that do that shelter training or job because it's really tough um it's amazing to me what you deal with in a shelter people would be kind of shocked at some of the things that you deal with and how sorry but filthy the school can get into just a few hours so what people don't understand is when you make the difficult decision to close schools and I think it is a very

281difficult decision because we've closed schools before in anticipation and then nothing happened and people go oh they shouldn't have done that the problem is you have to do it early enough to prepare for everything one and also understand that again about the buses and whether or not 35 mile an hour winds are going to come or not come because you know that these storms aren't as predictable as you'd hope even though we have better weather indicators but the other part is how long it takes to clean up after and that after is miserable so um I know it's a tough decision I know you're going to make that decision with um you're not going to make the decision but the emergency team is going to make that decision tomorrow so we should know by what

282time both about one o'clock by one o'clock tomorrow and then we will possibly have schools closed for two days possibly three direct okay so just putting that out there I know Miss Maddox sent us an update but it doesn't open so just letting you know foreign there's no link anyway um with that I'm done and uh superintendent's closing uh thank you have a good night thank you okay thank you all it is 9 48 this meeting is done