001[Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] yeah I did maybe attention please foreign thank you tonight is somewhat of a special evening it's the last board meeting for our board member Jimmy lodano I should say that it's uh 601 I'm calling the school board meeting to order and now I want to say that this will be your last board meeting we appreciate you being here we'll get more to that but because it is we tonight we have two schools here we have Nature Coast and Mountain Elementary for the first time in history we will have from kindergarten to 12th grade doing the pledge of allegiance for you and not only that because you're from Ybor City yes after the pledge we're going to have it done in Spanish by two
002girls it's a celebrating Spanish you could do it okay there's a recognition of Spanish month with that please have reflection oh thank you thank you could you stand up please tonight for a prayer I'm going to say a few things if I can we usually go with Reflections but you know how much I love prayers and so I'm going to make this my last prayer if you could just bear with me Lord this is my last prayer as a school board member ten years ago you placed me on a mission which has which has become both a burden and a blessing against Great challenges I have completed all that you have asked please protect and preserve all the worthy projects that we have created with your blessings please protect our school districts our teachers which
003are under constant Attack From Evil doers protect our citizens from false Christians and you know who they are Lord protect our board members superintendent district employees our teachers our sros who protect our kids our bus drivers Food Service custodians I want to I want you to protect everyone from the top to the bottom please protect and bless all our children and their families you have released me father from my obligation and for that I am thankful you have blessed me with the greatest gift my wife Tammy now that you have given me the time for us to spend enjoying the rest of our lives together I will be forever grateful in the name of our Lord which we say Amen [Music] foreign [Music] she may be seated so thank you thank you very much and
004uh Muy Bueno on that I would like to thank all of our parents staff I see out here friends and family that have joined each of these uh students up here whether it be from Moten or from Nature Coast thank you for coming out tonight and supporting them and coming here I will tell you this is by far the best time of this Tuesday board day that we could possibly spend is when our kids are up here giving this pledge so we really appreciate that foreign starting with Moten as uh elementary students if you would just please state your name and which grade you're in do we have that microphone and we're going to work our way right through Nature Coast too shark so you're next you're on the on the line next go ahead
005my name is Linda little and I'm in the fifth grade my name is Cora corner and I and I am in fifth grade my name is [Music] my name is Johnny Thomas and I am in the fifth grade my name is Trenton Brown and I am in the fifth grade my name is fifth grade my name is Kathy Hernandez and I'm in the fifth grade my name is fifth grade my name is Jayden Lewis and I'm in fifth grade my name is Melanie's market and I'm a senior my name is Chloe Krug and I'm a senior my name is Ashlyn senzig and I'm a senior my name is Danica bedessen I'm a senior my name is Ashley bauerfine and I am a senior my name is Isabella Castillo middle school and I'm a junior my
006name is Hannah shorty now and I'm a junior my name is Autumn Cooper and I'm a junior my name is Madeline drug and I'm a junior my name is Ava unicella and I'm a junior my name is Emily Hinton and I'm a junior my name is Madison Pennell I'm a senior my name is Scott Rawson and I'm a sophomore this is Madeline Davis and I'm a junior my name is Jada Greer and I'm a sophomore my name is Mariana Perlita and I'm a sophomore and my name is Junior my name is Kendall Coles and I'm a sophomore foreign [Music] my name is Tiffany Nagel and I'm a senior my name is Cortland Bernard and I'm a junior wow I think that's the most we've ever had yeah so so thank you again students thank you
007again parents family friends uh students I'm sure you need to go home now and study because I'm not going to tell you who but a few of your teachers got some pop quizzes for you tomorrow so be ready all right thank you again guys foreign [Music] well it's obvious most of the people didn't come here to see us okay that was beautiful I need an approval of the agenda October 25th 2022 may have a motion in a second please vote passes five zero Gina all right so tonight I want to talk about some fun events we have coming up in our schools along with um recapping some events we had in the past weeks so starting off uh chokichatti Elementary is currently participating in the peanut butter challenge along with 4-H students and staff are
008being asked to donate jars of peanut butter during the month of October to help combat hunger they'll also be celebrating their annual Monster Mash dance on October 31st which I would like to fight invite any veterans in our community as well as the school board to attend their annual Veterans Day show on November 9th at 6 pm they would also like to invite the board to attend the crime stopper pinning ceremony on November 8th Hernando High has their homecoming dance this Saturday with their parade and football game on Friday schools throughout Hernando County are participating in Red Ribbon Week this week in support of living drug free to recap some of our past events central celebrate their homecoming two weeks ago and also had students come over from Pine Grove Elementary to trick-or-treat with the
009high schoolers Wiki Wachee had their homecoming last Saturday and their parade during the week which is great because they're able to include students from Winding Waters to come over and watch major Coast also had our homecoming last Saturday along with our annual class games and the wave during the week I would also like to talk about an event that went on today so the teen chapter of leadership Hernando which had an event today where they had the opportunity to visit Weeki Wachee High Central High and phsc to learn about leaders and programs within our schools for those of you who don't know what this program is is out of the greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce and six students from four of our middle schools are chosen to represent their schools and learn about our
010community and its leadership opportunities this is a great way to help our students grow as Future Leaders all right thank you thank you very much well done next item is presentation 230973 recognition of October Hernando County School District veteran chair and board members several weeks ago you may recall the school board identified an opportunity and made a recommendation to find a way to shine a light on our current Hernando School District staff who formally served in the armed forces or those who continue to serve as reservists so in support of the board's suggestion the communications team developed a plan to embed a recurring feature of Staff veterans each month tonight marks the first of what will be many opportunities to introduce them recognize them for their service to their country and to acknowledge their ongoing
011service to the students of our school district and at this time I would like to welcome Challenger K-8 principal Miss Rosemarie mayorini who is here to introduce Mr Chris King [Applause] thank you Mr King has served over 11 years in the active Army the Florida Army National Guard and the U.S Army Reserve he was an enlisted and infantry man before earning a commission as an infantry officer in 1993. he has beetold the West German and Jessica Czechoslovakian border during the Cold War he has participated in human human human eye practicist I promise humanitarian humanitarian missions in South Florida during Hurricane Andrew and in countries abroad ultimately during his third combat tour in Iraq Mr King made the decision to become a teacher he is currently serving in his 17th year as a teacher in Hernando
012County he represented CK as our teacher of the year for the 2018-19 school year Mr King has been an intriguable part of our school safety team and we are grateful that he is part of our Navigator family and Mr King also provided us a little a little artifact from his time in service if you'd like to look at the screens look at that look at that promise in that young man's eyes Mr King please come on up and let us honor you sir foreign this is very embarrassing thank you very much any recognition of veterans service would be incomplete without honoring sorry the service of our military families and spouses who make that service possible they support us during the before during and for years following our deployments foreign for me personally my son Chris
013has been my rock my daughter Mary has been my counsel at conscience and my wife Jackie has been there for years and during separation and fear and she has done so with Grace and for that I say thank you very much and I love you all thank you [Applause] by the way I wanted to thank the board and superintendent Stratus but I couldn't get through it we're fine we're fine don't worry about us all right go buy dinner tonight I think Chris and I started in this District in 2005 Chris together that's Challenger wow obviously a leader you can see right away thank you so much [Applause] yeah I believe that was a good hire that year when I hired Chris the next person I'd like to invite up to the podium be Sophia Watson
014he's in your drawer they say fancy seeing you here Sophia Watson director of Simpson Tech it had to come out tonight and give a special thank you on behalf of Simpson Tech to Jimmy um Simpson Tech is here because of you it's your baby um and we want to just present to you with a little something in recognition of your steadfast dedication to all of Workforce Development in Hernando County we wouldn't have moved this far ahead if it wasn't because of you um so we want to thank you thank you [Applause] you know Tammy get in the picture get in the picture get in the picture thank you [Applause] next item is number four 23-1033 approved Proclamation number p23-002 Hernando County Schools bullying prevention act of kindness week November 14th to the 18th of 2022.
015two okay good evening School Board chair school board members Mr Stratton my name is Jill kalasa I'm director of student services and I just want to thank you for giving me a few minutes tonight to read the proclamation tonight is the Hernando County Schools bullying prevention acts of kindness week November 14th through 18th 2022. whereas it is important that Hernandez students be protected from bullying and harassment and its tragedies and recognize that bullying and harassment are a form of violence with lifelong effects as we acknowledge at a safe physical and emotional environment is a significant goal and a personal right of each individual and whereas as we acknowledge that there are many incidents of depression poor self-esteem anxiety aggression self-destructive behaviors and violent acts that children resort to in defensive bullying and harassment and whereas
016excellence in education is dependent on safe secure and peaceful School settings and whereas all parents students teachers and especially those leaders in Education Health Care law enforcement government and business need to collaborate with each other to focus public attention on this important issue of school safety and work to change the social climate and social norms in regards to bullying and whereas bullying and harassment are learned behaviors and occur in more environments than just school and whereas individuals and communities have the responsibility the power and knowledge of the resources available to stop bullying and harassment in its tracks and whereas heightening awareness and helping each other to recognize and respond effectively to bullying and harassing Behavior will promote respect and safety within our learning environment and Beyond into our family community be it resolved and proclaimed
017our schools are committed to bullying and harassment prevention and officially designated November 14th through 18 2022 as Hernando County Schools bullying prevention acts of kindness week thank you thank you [Applause] next item is the approval of the minutes I thought we need to vote on that does anybody dare not to vote I need a second 5-0 thank you now the approval of the minutes from the informal Workshop student expulsion and regular meetings of 11 10 11 22. you need a motion second and a vote passes 5-0 public hearing items thank you Mr chair ladies and gentlemen this is the public hearing and final approval of the Neola policy updates volume 22 number two special update May 2022 and volume 23 number one ladies and gentlemen this is a public hearing so if there's anyone who's
018present that wants to be heard on this proposition now would be the time to come forward chair let the record reflect that no one approaches the podium a motion in a second [Music] please vote passes 5-0 citizens input green sheets thank you Mr chair ladies and gentlemen this is the opportunity for the public to be heard on items appearing for action on the meeting agenda tonight copies the agenda available at the entrances to the boardroom to speak at this time you should have already completed a green citizens input speaker form identifying the specific topic that you wish to discuss speakers wishing to address General matters not on the agenda this evening should complete a pink citizens input speaker form and they'll have the opportunity to speak later in the meeting if you have any materials
019that you wish to share with the board please provide them to the board's secretary prior to speaking each speaker has a total of three minutes to address the board and the remaining time is displayed in two monitors on the sides of the building speakers will be called to come forward by the chair prior to making your remarks please state your name and address for the record all speakers and comments are subject to applicable School Board bylaws and policies including those requiring appropriate decorum and civility all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer and no person may a question or address board members individually staff members should not be expected to answer questions from the audience unless called upon to do so by the board chair superintendent thank you first speaker's caller you finish would
020you finish filling this out thank you Carla Johns Brooksville Florida I want to say I saw the proclamation on the agenda packet the other day and I am over the moon excited that is finally being implemented for four and a half years I have stood up here fighting for my child it's been mainly one being bullied I think that a lot of parents need to understand that we are not perfect there's not one perfect parent in this world and if your child is the one who is being the bully and you're not made aware of it be open-minded and don't think that your little darling is perfect all the time also I think that it needs to be focused on reaction when there are situations where a child finally reacts and no one understands or
021even knows that he's being bullied or she stop focusing on the reaction and let's get you down to the core problem of what caused that reaction as part as the bullying investigations go thank you thank you thank you Cole you want to take this [Applause] and then just give it back to home Thank you Lisa Miss Ariel good evening Lisa massario Burbank Drive Brooksville um I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you say thank you to our bargaining core team and our bargaining committee members and recognize them Susan Jackson Who's My co-chair Dana blazik Patty Greenwood Jason Daly and our bargaining committee members Amy Earnest Nicole Whitman Ethan grief Dustin kupchik Jackie cross and Casey Tobias the work that we do at the bargaining table is volunteer work basically working on behalf of
022other teachers and those people have dedicated themselves some of them extra time to do research for our team and and to help us be prepared when we come to the table so I wanted to just highlight some of the things that are in our um our agreement for this evening we took a lot of extra research leg work and time to bring something forward for athletic supplements and I know our coaches will appreciate that it's been long overdue the improvements for coaching supplements raises that do not create further compression in our salaries which is really important and I think that those those were issues that I think both sides were really in agreement on trying to get done and trying to accomplish and then Insurance increases that did not take away from our raises so
023the fact that that was absorbed was greatly appreciated I wanted to say thank you to the district team and the superintendent and the school board for making investments in our people at my first meeting as hcta president I said to Mr Stratton I said at the board meeting I was looking forward to working with Mr Stratton and his team to make this district one of the best places to work in the Tampa Bay area we are committed to that and salaries are just a part of it so what I feel I'm compelled to do in this moment is to point out that this is Union work so all the times that you see people trying to put a negative spin on teachers unions and trying to bash teachers unions remember that this is Union work
024so negotiating contracts working with District leadership to improve salaries benefits working conditions which we never forget are also our students learning conditions this is our work and this is what we do thank you thank you that's the end of citizens input now we have the adoption of the consent agenda [Applause] sorry not required I'll be a good girl okay Susan you're pulling anything are you pulling anything I'm not pulling any items I had if I had questions they've been answered okay and one was just answered okay no I'm not pulling any items thank you for asking you're welcome Jimmy yes so let's go ahead and poll number nine and number 18 please Linda I have nine okay can I have a motion to accept the consent agenda with number nine number 18 being pulled need
025a second we need one of those new laptops that were given to all the students okay vote past five zero okay number nine ratified changes to the contract between Hernando United school workers h-u-s-w here you know Hamilton has a problem with his ears oh he has a problem hello Mr lodato Lisa you you know I had to bring you up yes because I always appreciate all the answers you give me and the reason I wanted you to come up here is to explain the contract as far as with the uh signing bonuses for the mechanics are they certified mechanics that you're going to be hiring yes okay and the cost of that would be what could you just kind of go a little over just a little overview sure so um we started out this
026year we ended last year actually with a shortage of bus mechanics as you all know and um we had a daunting task at the beginning of the year to bargain raises for our non-instructional bargaining unit based on some new legislation and and that put a huge strain on our financial or dollars so we we had to get everybody to Fifteen dollars an hour and at the same time there's always opportunities to talk about other positions but the biggest need was was that and so that was where our Focus was knowing and understanding that we also had a shortage in bus drivers and a shortage and mechanics and there are a lot of positions in the district that we have lost to the private sector because of pay um with with the money that we invested
027in the non-instructional which is about four million dollars it it has created an influx of new employees in certain areas we have seen an increase in bus drivers we have seen an increase in pairs in some other positions but we were still lacking in the vehicle mechanic area and with that we were we were pulling buses off the road at at a rate that we weren't able to keep maintaining them to put them back on the road and when we don't have buses on the road enough buses for our routes we can't get kids to school so we knew that was an emergency we needed to come together and find a solution that could help us immediately and then we'll continue to bargain at the table for long long-standing solution but we needed something quick
028to get us through this desperate period and so we had some funds available non-recurring funds through our Esser money that was slated for bonuses not necessarily this type of bonus but for salaries and bonuses so we did have to amend that Grant to cover this this type of bonus and we're in the process of doing that but that that was the only way to spend that money so we can't use it for anything else so we came to the table with the Union they brought it to the table and and we talked about it and we all agreed that that was the best thing to do to provide a solution for this issue that we had and I'll let Ralph talk about this too because he lived it every day and we have filled all
029but two all but two so that's six six new exactly so yeah at a cost of twenty thousand and so it's 120 000 so far we have two more that we'd like to fill we have one in the process we're reviewing for credentials um and they do have to be certified in that area so we're definitely hiring um experience mechanics and because of that we are keeping our buses on the road we're getting kids to school and even at this level because you know we have an aging Fleet they're still working overtime they're still working nights and weekends to get the job done but but it's getting done um to say that I was a little concerned about starting the school would be the probably the biggest understatement in the history of speaking right um
030because although our staff did a tremendous job to get us to the place when school started to have enough buses to cover the routes plus some spares I knew we had about a 10-day window that we would not have enough buses on the road to transport kids um there's a lot of sleepless nights a lot of stress thankfully we were able to do this and over the last few weeks we've been able to hire we had a gentleman start on Monday I have another gentleman starting on um I think it's the 14th of November within the next couple weeks we hired two previous to this so we are and we have one that's in the process if we can get the credentials and certification not the certifications but the references checked and we'll have him
031on board and then vote I have 98 routes this morning I had 95 buses one of the reasons and you may hear emails get emails one of the reasons why we haven't activated the GPS on the buses because I have multiple people covering multiple routes trying to because of our driver shortage and not enough buses on the road that's why we kind of did not activate that yet we're hoping to do that at some point this year once if everything works well and we get our 50 buses hopefully around April that will be a tremendous help but it has been a tremendous tremendous help to be able to hire prior to the opportunity of the bonus we went months and months without anyone even putting in an application and when they did and we told
032them what the the price was our our rate they uh chose to go other place of course so we are very very grateful yes well the reason I wanted to bring you both up is because we've been discussing transportation for a long time and with the Advent of purchase of 50 new buses it's going to be you know Monumental for us as far as what we have going a major concern the Nissan United talked about it for a while were the mechanics and the way you've come forward to fill that Gap a stop Gap and then now we'll make sure we continue those contracts forward and continue with our mechanics so we're not spending money at the rate of say 150 175 an hour for outside Services where we can do our own Fleet in-house
033so I just wanted to bring you up here to bet you on the back because you won't be seeing my face anymore and I wanted to thank you so much for all the Flack that you took there's not too many people that would survive that and you did and you're one hell of a man I got to tell you and Lisa I can't thank you enough you always respond to everything we ask of you and I'm just so damn proud of y'all thank you Jimmy and we appreciate your support too over the years thank you okay [Applause] would you like to make a motion yes I will I would love to second foreign number 18 23-1011 approved the 2022-2023 dual enrollment articulation agreement between Saint Leo University and the Hernando County School Board assuming Assurance
034of Paul purchase order an estimated annual amount of thirty seven thousand five hundred dollars hi Beth hey I just wanted to pull one of those Gomer piles on you surprised I love that yeah thank you so much it's not often I'm gonna get to see your face again and I saw your husband tonight and that was a great thing so the reason I brought you up there's a lot of people who ask about dual enrollment and I had several people called me uh one who was you know deeply involved in the community and we they wanted to know what the contract with Saint Leo was it the same similar contract that we have with phsc and if you could just explain what we do and you know why we do this absolutely so yes it's
035the same type of contract we have one with USF UF phsc and Saint Leo which is renewing the agreement so that initiated out of um Hernando High teaching program so we partnered with them for the education courses because post-secondary institutions based on their accreditation from the southern Association of college and schools Saks for short they can only offer a certain amount of classes on at high school campus so we have already maxed out of the ones that we could partner with phsc4 so then we looked for the next closest that had a teaching program which was Saint Leo so where did the funding come from who funds this it comes out of our dual enrollment the same the same pot that our our PhD funding come from is there a certain funding source that you
036call it I mean we always have S or this or can you explain I believe it's just out of the general fund you and we're opportunities for our students and we have the stool enrollment program we get any kind of breaks at all as far as if if it costs so much for a class do we get any reduction yes absolutely we do yes um St Leo I believe um for theirs I'd have to see what their General tuition is I think it's probably four or five hundred dollars a credit and we get it for 125. okay I wanted you to bring it up because that way people always think you know we just spend money needlessly the kids really don't need it why are we spending the money I just wanted you to come
037in and explain the program to them because I know what it was but they don't know what absolutely and it's it's a great way for parents and for students to well for students to get the credits but for parents to save on College because even though St Leo is a private university but those credits are going to transfer to vhsc USF UF Florida State as elective credits if they don't go into the education major and we have a lot of students right now that are taking advantage of those courses well what I really like about the program is this one aims at you know sending our students to uh facility that's going to get them a degree and at the same time we're doing the CTE programs which you're involved in and then Sophia's involved
038in the uh the votec with Wilson so we seem to complete in a circle that wasn't here before and now it we're moving at a more rapid pace of getting kids alternatives for our lives which I've been getting so many compliments from a lot of the families who called and said my God now you've really all put it together I said well this board has been so proactive to try to get that Circle completed and I was just real proud of them I wanted to bring you up here and have that discussion with you well thank you thank you the opportunity I think John yeah I just want to declare it I'd be real clear on the funding source it does come from our general fund from the state and local dollars that we receive
039for each student called full-time equivalency at that High School level it's it's based on six periods so one sixth it breaks down like that so if they're taking a phsc class or class of Saint Leo that one-sixth of FTE would go over and so on if they were taking multiple classes or full-time even at phsc or at St Leo then that money would pass through and go to to that agency so it is passed through money for us and zero cost to the parent and or student excellent okay thank you [Laughter] here I am yeah this plaster and I had a conversation about doing Roman and I think what last year we had about 30 of our students complete both their AAA and their high school diploma which saves parents and students thousands of dollars
040they can use toward their four-year degree if they choose to do so my question in calling her was that um all of these colleges and universities have different requirements for students to be able to participate in the dual enrollment and I was asking her our students used to take the pert test and that's not required by the legislature anymore so Beth being the person she is she said I think I need to put together a chart with all the qualifications if you want to go to UF as a dual enrollment if you want to go to St Leo or Pasco Fernando and I know that would be very helpful to the parents in deciding and I'm assuming that probably a student start out at a university as a dual enrollment that if they want to
041be accepted as a full-time student that would probably give them an edge possibly in getting acceptance it could different schools have different requirements yeah but the State University system does have if students get their AAA degree kind of that that quicker particulation yes right okay thank you thank you you're good thank you you're released thank you I'll never call you again Jimmy you want to make this your last motion I would love that thank you in a second please vote that passes five zero we were back to Citizens input thank you Mr chair ladies and gentlemen this is the opportunity for the public to be heard on any general topic of relevance to the operation of Hernando County Schools to speak at this time speakers should have already submitted a pink citizens input speaker form
042that you find in the tables as you enter the boardroom if you have any documents that you wish to share with the board please provide them to the board's secretary prior to speaking each speaker has a total of three minutes to address the board and the remaining time is displayed in the monitors on the side of the boardroom speakers will be called to come forward by the chair prior to making your remarks please state your name and address for the record all comments are subject to applicable School Board bylaws and policies including those requiring appropriate decorum and civility all statements should be directed to the presiding officer no person may address or question board members individually staff members shall not be expected to answer questions from the audience unless called upon to do so by
043the board chairs superintendent finally please note that although the board encourages citizen participation no immediate action can be taken on items presented during public comment if follow-up action is required then the matter may be placed on an agenda at a subsequent meeting in accordance with school board policy thank you thank you our first speakers David Anderson welcome back what year was that two years two years ago years ago yes hello everyone um my name is Haven Anderson my pronouns are she her hers I am a senior pre-law political science major at the University of South Florida and I graduated from Hernando High School in 2021 I attended Challenger and Brooks Elementary before that so um I was a student representative oh wait I want to start and say congratulations Mr lodato and thank you so
044much for all the time that you've spent serving students um I was a student representative in my senior year at Hernando high school and I sat in your seat Gina Congratulations by the way I've met the board members in depth while I was a student representative but I knew them long before that that's because the board members especially K hatch and Susan Duvall visited each of the classrooms that I was in during my time at Hernando schools more than once a year not only did they visit but they talked with students and teachers alike they remembered teachers names asked them how they were doing and sat in on lessons with as much interest as the students in the classroom ready to soak up any knowledge that day that's because teachers to them are more than
045just a paycheck are members of a teachers union their beings human beings who K hatch and Susan Duvall and the other board members care about and listen to I also knew that the board members because on more than one occasion I attended school board meetings for various achievements and K hatch and Susan Duvall not only greeted me but welcomed me and celebrated myself and other students achievements that day they deemed with pride when they saw us and it made our achievements all that much sweeter they know students when myself a disabled person other disabled people throughout the district parents and other generally concerned people reached out to the board K hatch and Susan Duvall voted to keep us safe because our lives and our education matters to them when I was a student representative I've
046never felt more welcomed by a group of people Susan Duvall and Kay hatch asked me each time how I was doing and not in the obligatory kind of way they asked because they cared they cared about me like they care about every other student in Hernando schools when the issue of covert graduation arose I brought the issue up to the board and was disappointed when it wasn't possible so to explain to me the issues they ran into Susan Duvall showed me that she had already crunched the numbers and I mean files upon files of venues upon venues because Susan Duvall knows students she cared so much about students and their family's safety and satisfaction that she made sure every possible Avenue for graduations was addressed and considered for every High School in Hernando County before
047students even raised concerns Susan Duvall knows students a little under a year post-graduation I needed a letter of recommendation for a scholarship I was applying to of course I reached out to miss hatch Not only was she willing to write me that letter of recommendation she was excited to hear from me even though I wasn't a Hernando County student anymore I mattered to her my education in Hernando County School District was more than successful and at the end of the day students and teachers are who matters when it comes to this board not politics not what ifs only what is best for the students listen to students and former students such as myself teachers and people actually affiliated with schools for truth [Applause] Hernando County students got to be doing something right Hamilton Hanson I
048don't think there's seven people up here I only got four copies is there anybody specific you want to have this hello good evening wait a minute you only made four copies of seven people it's not mine another one there you go that's not yours these areas are code of ethics okay I'm back okay I'm sorry my name is Hamilton Hanson I am known as The Angry curmudgeon and you can get in touch with me at Hamilton Hernando at hotmail.com you now have your own copy of the U.S Constitution there's a bucket of free constitutions at the back of the room everybody in this room all the time should have a copy of the Constitution see he's holding it up because our school board steadfastly insists that we live in a democracy I have provided each
049of you a copy of the Constitution over the years Grow Up by displaying it while I speak for any individuals who wish to receive a free copy let me know board member has to have in the United States let me direct you folks to page 15 section 4 of that Constitution booklet also I have provided a number of sheets of paper to the audience of the official Constitution of the United States of America article 4 section 4. I ask that the audience read aloud with me the precise words of that section ready the United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republic Republican why I swore we were in a democracy we're actually in a republic it says so right there in the Constitution and I don't want to hear anybody in
050this room anybody in this District ever again say that we are in a democracy read the damn Constitution it says so right there thank you thank you [Applause] um first of all um I like Miss Deval to know that Hernando High finally got their Algebra 2 books that were ordered a week before school started eight weeks later they got their books they were the wrong ones um but I really don't know why we need books because apparently the teachers aren't teaching out of them okay because if that was the case my daughter would have passed her reading test and not missed it by Five Points only to come home to find out that she didn't know what a comma splice was an adverb or tone 11th grade I think our kids need to know that
051second of all y'all are talking about putting your books on computers and giving them to all the kids well how's that going to work because during the pandemic the kids had to go to Publix because the kids on the east side didn't have internet service so I'm sure that those are going to have links to the internet that they're going to need that they won't have okay my other child um and you got to follow it because it does get a little bit confusing um he has gone back and forth with one teacher not once twice three times but four times in eight weeks eight weeks how's he supposed to learn when he's had three geometry teachers two reading teachers and a history teacher that's getting pulled out to teach AP so he can be
052replaced with sub now I want to know um if they don't pass their eocs are you guys going to write them a note and say please excuse them for not passing their eocs because we didn't have the teachers um but from what I hear from my kids the T-shirt issue is the real problem is not what the teachers can't teach or this or that it's the behavioral problems in the school I have one sub that I know of it's a retired teacher her sixth and seventh period class she ends up crying we should not have that we need to kick these little asses out of school and let the kids that deserve to learn be there and not worry about y'all state fundings that you all were not worried about when descent has said about
053giving us the money no you don't want to mask them you all said that was not important money was not important now you got what oh we need to State money we can't write them up we can't do this but let me tell you um bars I know Mr Floyd Coalition thank you man thank you thank you yeah no hold on no no no your time's up no your time's up no no more time would you please thank you for me to get a damn oh yeah I'm leaving thank you and you know what I'm not going to the last of this oh Patricia Greenwood foreign hi Patricia Greenwood Landover Boulevard Spring Hill um first the comment on the buses okay so I have actually had the pleasure of seeing one of the few new
054buses that we have gotten this year and every morning I am in awe of the brightness and the bus from the door is open because it's got the beautiful LED lights in there you can see everything a kid loses something they can find you without needing flashlights it's it's beautiful I can't wait till we have a whole bunch more of them um secondly I'm here to say thank you to the board all of you to the cabinet members who are here all those who helped us get emotional um secure our position for a hallway um the teacher that was supposed to come has fallen in love with the kids that she's been working with the first quarter and I can't blame her because I would feel the same way um but we we do have
055a couple people we've been talking to and not cannibalizing other schools because we're not going to answer that problem but we have a former para who left this because of pay who has a bachelor's degree so we're hoping we can kind of lure her back in and she's an awesome parent too um but I just wanted to thank you all for the the support that we feel um I can't say I disagree with a couple things that were previously said um but we're working our way through it one student at a time settling things down getting everybody down to learning and hopefully keeping our teachers bringing more teachers in raising them in our own schools at this point through our teacher programs and other programs so I'm very hopeful for the future thank you all
056and Jimmy I'm never losing your phone number thank you I don't think he'll be losing yours either [Applause] I'm sure you will Susan frible please press it again Susan pribble Brooksville Florida I'm reading a statement from Liz Marion and Jennifer brownhart they couldn't be here tonight we would like to First say that we are sorry we could not be here this evening we are hosting a Deltona Spirit night for our students we did however want to have these remarks read on our behalf we have known Jimmy lodato for many years we have worked together assuring that we have an SRO in every school and we worked on the half cent sales tax committee together Jimmy was also instrumental in assuring that there is an oversight committee to see how that money is spent he has
057always supported media centers and the library programs that we provide for our students we have since become true friends he he had already raised his family and took his retirement years to give back to this community Jimmy is an honest hard-working and dedicated member of our community he is generous of spirit and with his time he has worked tirelessly to improve our schools for our students and the people of Hernando County Jimmy your presence here will be truly missed and felt for a long time we thank you for all you have done we are proud to call you friend Liz Marion and Jennifer brownhart nice um [Applause] I'm going with them to see Springsteen in February so I'll hug them okay my own words Jimmy um yeah I probably can't touch what they said and
058I'm just speaking here but I feel like you were a board member for more years than you actually were because you were out campaigning for the half penny sales tax working tirelessly to get the adulthood Center up and I don't know that a lot of people in this community value you the way they should have I don't know that you're going to be replaceable and all of you this is the best board I've ever worked I've said that many times thank you thank you [Applause] Carla Jones you do better on pinkton on Green I forgot to put my last name on the green one Carla Johns Brooksville so I want to tell a really funny story about how I met Jimmy lodato a few years ago I lived where a bus stop was two houses
059down for me and I had the sign in my front yard and I had Speeders and we're talking 55 miles an hour at a bus stop so Miss Pam Everett put me in contact with Mr lodato he turned around he called Pam and he goes is she trustworthy Pam goes yes but she's a Spitfire I don't really think you understood the magnitude of how much the Spitfire was going to be in the last you know last few years but Jimmy is the person who helped me when I was most scared to come up here for the first time ever after an incident that happened to my son Jimmy is the one who helped me get through it because I told him I'm gonna throw up he goes you know what if you throw up you
060throw up but whatever you do don't ever back down because you will lose any credibility that you ever had up to this point you will become very credible because you are a parent and you are passionate and you were going to fight for what's best for your children Jenny I have called you and your wife Tammy my friend for the last two years and just because you're not going to be on this board you can't get rid of me that quickly I am going to miss you terribly being on this board and I feel you got cheated out on this election and I'm so sorry that we're stuck with hearty Barbie thank you very much you'd be proud Gracie malaruni a boat for Susan and Kay is a vote for children [Applause] that's an endorsement
061here really do you want to follow that Kimberly I can't follow that just get money notes up I did it on my phone this time okay go ahead all right Kimberly Maroney Brooksville Florida for the record first I didn't know about Mr King did he leave but he was my son's teacher in middle school and I heard stories from my son that how much he loved that teacher it was amazing to see I'm so glad that they honored him okay real quick okay the tutoring program I understand for the homework help is from fourth to 12th grade and that it can help with the SAT act the fast assessment here's my thing third grade needs that too it's a retention year they need that uh homework help as well um I'm gonna try to be
062fast because I got a lot to say uh Weeki Wachee won their homecoming game on Friday yes go Hornets uh one Nest one swarm one family uh Pine Grove had a Fall Festival on Friday and unfortunately we couldn't attend a sick child so but it looked like really a lot of fun I know I went to their spring one they really put on awesome things for the family also Challenger had their trunk and treat Trunk or Treat unfortunately we're able to go that either because it's sick children but that looked like a blast and I hope we get to do it again next year Challenger on Monday October 31st I'd like to invite the board to Mr Stratton the children will be doing a living biography Museum where you can their projects will come to
063life they had to choose a historical figure my daughter chose Lady Diana so I hope you guys come and see that it's at a 2 45 in the cafeteria first Monday I like the idea Lisa massario had for the stakeholder space on the Forum and I put mine and my daughter's on there for her okay real quick Show and Tell I know I came and talked about Chomp champs this is what they look like the children get this and then who recognized them and for what I just wanted to show you because I forgot all right my next show and tell so I got crap in the mail and excuse my language um I don't this is all lies uh they never you all never voted to raise our taxes that was the voters who
064voted to raise the millage sure we put masks on children whoop-dee-doo let's talk about something else CRT I ain't seen it my 16 year old came in here and said it ain't being taught this is who they're promoting it's who I'm not promoting vote for Susan and Kay our children depend on it nobody is going to play with my children's education and I got three of them in this district and I got a louder voice no matter what they got to say thanks [Applause] we know how she feels this morning if you'll check with Miss michaelika back there I think you know her just about the tutoring because we are expanding that I just don't know if it's going to go down in that level but the tutoring programs itself will expand she's back there
065since I got 20 quick seconds I'm sorry I understand not going lower than third grade but the third grade because it's a retention year that was my thought for you but talk to her because she's got plans at all levels Lisa macera good evening Lisa massario Brooksville Florida I'm actually reading something on behalf of one of our work site leaders because she was unable to make it tonight and she worked really hard on wanting to be here to deliver it herself so I'm going to try to get through it because it's long uh good evening school board members and Mr Stratton my name is Charlene Francisco and I reside in Rainbow Woods Spring Hill Florida I come before you tonight to speak in regard to a daily life in my classroom I've been an educator
066for 29 years teaching language arts physical education serving as a former athletic director varsity coach and a part-time e-school hope teacher every day I have the honor of instructing and motivating 220 to 220 students on the importance of physical activity in their everyday lives some days this is not easy as students are unmotivated and reluctant to engage in physical activity however I strive to demonstrate the importance of making a connection with their own health I make sure that every student in my class knows they possess a special gift and talent in this world and that their it is their job to try and develop and explore it as a physical educator I've been blessed with coaching numerous young athletes to reach their maximum potential and to be the best at their craft this may include
067challenging them beyond their initial goals to develop confidence I do not stand alone in this challenging task coaches all over the county spend numerous hours motivating conditioning and listening to their students they strive every day to make a connection and establish a relationship with their athletes these connections may continue for years to come I've personally witnessed students who come to school only for sports and to have physical education daily developing the necessary skills of teamwork work ethic and commitment to excel at something some days it is just simply giving them encouraging compliments going out for a sport or realizing the potential that they possess the skills to succeed these simple words of encouragement often lead to alumni returning to my school to thank me for believing believing in them realizing that they have a unique
068gift to explore in this world I personally thank you for recognizing coaches and their commitment to their athletes they work tirelessly and endless hours furthermore in my program I help students realize the importance of serving their community for over 20 years my students have participated in the American Heart Association Hoops for heart program this program promotes awareness of heart disease and allows students to raise funds for a worthwhile cause I'm proud to state that Powell has raised over 75 thousand dollars for this effort in fact because of their support I was recognized as the national Hoops for heart coordinator of the year at our national physical education convention in Dallas in 2008. this recognition would not be possible without my students in addition students participate in stack up for cancer during World Stack Up day
069this holds a special meaning for me as I lost my youngest brother to this disease I fondly remember this event in 2018 and Charlene's going to have to come back and finish them thank you [Applause] and I'm Glenn Laster Mike the necklace no actually really I never knew that Glenn lastra um Spring Hill did you know my address how's this where I never done this before so um you guys have seen me speak up here many times um most of the time as a proud principal talking about some of the amazing things that I've been doing at my school and my students have been doing my teachers have been doing but tonight with all the negativity out there about our school district about our school board I felt compelled to come and just talk about
070how proud I am to be part of Team Hernando um I grew up in this County graduated from Central High School I won't ever let Kelly know that you know I'm a bear at heart but you know I bleed purple and gold now but um I grew up in this County I've worked in this district for 19 years this is the beginning of my 19th year and I've seen a lot and I can say I've never been prouder to be part of Team Hernando I've never seen a more Unified District I've never seen our teachers go above and beyond like they do and they're doing it now in a unified front every time I go online I see amazing things from our teachers District wide I got to watch my tongue because you guys know
071I like to talk um our administrators The Innovation that they pull together on our monthly principles meetings if we're at a conference and just going to their schools the ideas we share with each other is All About Kids and for that negativity that's out there about our school district it does hurt my heart because I am all about this District because not only am I someone that went to school in this district and worked in this District my children go to school in this District my beautiful wife who did not tell me to say that works in this district and you know it's it's it's who I am and we really need to to Showcase that and we're showcasing it all the time about the things we're doing and and lastly the school board and
072its members and our superintendent I know Miss pribble said it she's never had a I I agree with her I've never had a more prior moment to work for a school board like this everything you guys do is supportive everything you guys do is all about children and and it's just amazing you know I'm being moved to East side this this summer every one of you guys came up to me asked me how can I help how can I do that and many of you on the board came to our events this summer at Eastside Elementary K hatch was there on the hottest day uh giving out popsicles it was really hot and it was it was an amazing event Susan Duvall came out all right and so I'm just very proud of this and
073Jimmy thank you for everything you've done and the last thing I'm gonna do is I only got 30 seconds left is just it's a challenge to anyone that's watching this anyone that's behind me listening if you have some questions about what's happening in our schools come to our schools and I promise you every principle every teacher every student will be proud to take you around that campus and show you the amazing things that happen every single day at the schools of Fernando County so thank you guys thank you [Applause] Thomas Kellerman say something hold up a minute no you can stay there we'll change the whole program for you all right okay Tom Callum at Brooksville Florida um again I just want to kind of follow up with what Mike was just saying um I
074worked in another District as an administrator I can tell you that in all the time I was in that District I didn't see board members on campus as much as I see our current board and it's not just coming out at election time it's coming out for all of our events and it's coming out talking to our parents talking to our students talking to our teachers um okay I've seen you clean up dishes at events I mean it's the things that need to be done you guys are there every step of the way Jimmy today tonight's your last board meeting you could have mailed it in you didn't you're very involved and that I think that speaks volumes to the professionalism of this board the support of this board Mr Stratton from the moment I
075got hired as principal at Pine Grove you and your staff and the board anything you need Tom just let us know and anytime I pick up the phone you guys are there so I do appreciate it I am sorry you missed Fall Festival um I will not be going out in the Olympics for the sack race though so um but we have a great time I'm so appreciative of our families our teachers we have a great staff at Pine Grove there's a lot going on and as Mike said if there's anybody out in in the public that wants to know what's happening on our campuses just come out we'll be more than happy to show you because there is a lot of good things happening in Hernando County student achievement is on the rise and
076has continued to be on the rise for the last couple of years so it's easy to find the negatives and things but if you really look at what we're doing in Hernando County we've got a bright future ahead so thank you thank you very much [Applause] Brad Benson good evening Brad Benson uh pristine place I know you all never thought that I would come here to defend the school board but um we got a real crisis first off Jimmy didn't lose anybody that knows anything about these elections in the Blaze and Golia mafioso knows that these uh elections were stolen from a couple of candidates in 13 counties around Florida the tabulating machine suddenly stopped counting right at a key moment and I just remember looking and seeing that my good friend Monty Floyd the
077carpet bag and cowboy was down by three thousand votes and then two and a half hours later they still never got the machines up and blazing Golia got up and announced to all the candidates that already knew who was going to win that here's the numbers and suddenly Monty Floyd's in a runoff with Susan and Jimmy's loss which is that's just that just didn't happen Jimmy's the most popular School Board member here even with people that don't like the school board and uh he won now uh I have filed uh a federal case in federal district court to get rid of the machines in the State of Florida we have the only case in the State of Florida right now we being me because no lawyers want to take it because they're all getting uh
078well judges and lawyers don't want to take it because they don't want to argue again they don't want to be election deniers makes us terrorists all right that being said does anybody here know why the moms for Liberty this wonderful mom's for Liberty that caught you all bringing that porn into our schools okay why they would have a connection to communist China you say what why would the group that's here for Mom oh 55 seconds Jesus I don't want to get arrested tonight let me let me uh let me move on here what I I'm getting ready to sue Monty Floyd for defamation of character him and his hearty wife okay and as part of that I've been doing a little research on the moms for Liberty and Tina deskovich and Marie Roberson and uh
079uh forget the other lady's name uh Tiffany Justice they all have great names um they have those of you that know about child trafficking know about the proliferation of Foundations in the child trafficking industry and these people seem to be tied up in a whole lot of Foundations a whole lot of screwy name things but the most screwy name thing is uh that they have registered as a foreign entity and the foreign entity that they are registered with is cogency global which is a Hong Kong Limited company against Chinese thank you Mr President thank you okay [Applause] thank you [Applause] trying to control things okay I need a bonus he says last night talk about going out with a bang huh good evening uh and it's Barnes Bonita Barnes excuse me and boy that's kind
080of a tough act to have to follow and I'm gonna have that to you to start with you can pass it around um so there's kind of some good news and some kind of bad news um the first thing that I do want to say is I think it's really important parents if you don't get out and use your voice to protect your kids now they'll they're going to inherit a world in which they have no voice and they have no freedom so now um for the bad news I'm going to kind of go out on limb and guess nobody knows about this but I'll read you the headline Sheriff nean house other brass accused of terminating Deputy who refused to participate in group sex parties uh this is from I believe it was the
081September the 25th this raises a heck of a lot of questions um makes you knee makes the hair on my neck stand up because raises a lot of questions about how it ties in with the Baker Acting what is really going on here act and they're strategically timed hit piece uh which was definitely intended to install his favorite disingenuous Cowboy School Board candidate who has very suspicious ties in the Sheriff's Department among other organizations further no one trusts our elections and who believes the cowboy went from the loser with the lowest numbers and we saw that at the struck poll suddenly becoming Champion that don't add upright as I said how this ties with the Baker Acting of defenseless kids and not that sros have all the decision making but given the first page of
082the Florida Department of Mental Health allocation plan and every county has one the way that reads there's more than abundant reasons for an independent investigation and the cowboy needs to be disqualified and we definitely have a situation where we got the pot calling the pot the kettle black so Annette I'm sorry for what happened to you I think it was pretty low class and it should not happen so I'll leave you with that out okay next speaker is Pam Everett Pam Everett Brooksville Florida Jimmy I want to thank you for everything you and I go back 10 years we've been on the same side and we've been on opposing sides but it's always been about the kids it's always been no the four the board has to vote on decisions that are handed down from
083Tallahassee they don't understand sometimes your hands are tied it has to start I proved that with the FSA I went all the way to Tallahassee on that one you did what you were supposed to do I didn't like the way it went I went to Tallahassee and fought them going forward I want to point out a few things we had a republican board at one time when Dr Romano sat on that board we had three Republicans and I will say that Susan Duvall voted with those Republicans to remove her and thank you for that I try to do it with my pink slip and that went nowhere we had a republican board it changed nothing and they have to understand involvement is what's going to make the change the five of you appear have a
084voice but sometimes your hands are tied and each and every one of you when you vote it's what you believe is for the best interest of the kids it has nothing to do with anything else it's about the kids every single one of us that has given our time regardless as if it's on the board in a classroom they give their times our teachers give their time it's stressful on them it's stressful on their families but there's something in those people's hearts that they continue to give if they do not kids wouldn't be here they would go nowhere our kids are our future and these parents need to understand if we do not make the right choices this time our kids are in trouble our teachers are at their limits now you put the wrong
085board in here how many are going to stay I wouldn't I'd find someplace else to go teach because these teachers have it in their heart they're a special breed and if we don't give them the board that they can work with one that will support them we're going to really have issues so again we need to take the politics out of this do what's right for our kids we're not always going to agree with one another but the bottom line is what is best for our kids that's what matters again we're not going to agree on everything but where is it coming from where is that vote coming from and it comes from the heart it comes from what we really believe it's right for the kids I will continue to fight for our kids
086I will continue to advocate I wanted to take Susan's seat sorry Susan I wanted that seat thank you [Applause] are we back to work okay we're having trouble with the timer but we are keeping time over here so don't go about that it's working by you okay Cindy Canley is that right candy candy ah you how are you I'm good how are you I told you to come back hi I'm Cindy Gandy born and raised in Brooksville and very proud of it and I just wanted to tell Jimmy in front of everybody that I'm going to miss you the first time I met Jimmy I was at Adult Ed painting and he introduced himself and asked me who I was and I told amen we had a really nice conversation the next time I saw
087him he remembered who I was very impressive um and I just wanted to say that I respect all of you the deepest of my heart I mean Susan I've known you for how long should I tell them she was my teacher in Junior High um Kay hatch I met you when you were campaigning the first time and Linda I met you when you were campaigning Gus I've known you for a long time Mr Stratton I've known you forever um and anytime I was at any of the schools painting you would all come up to me and say hello how are you doing and um I miss it because I'm retired now but I'm loving retirement I've been retired since January I haven't come back to volunteer yet I will someday we got a paintbrush for
088you and I just wanted to say about the smut mail my granddaughter is the only one in our household that got that letter out of all of us the adults so I got in contact with the person in charge of that and you know who it is and he said well how old is your granddaughter I said it's none of your business it's my granddaughter and he says well I'm not understanding this we only sent it out to the last four elections who ever voted in the last four elections and I said you're a liar so just to let you know he lied to me because she had never voted before so right there is a liar sorry dear Lord but um anyway I'm just behind you 100 behind you 100 behind everybody 110 150
089percent you know I I respect all of you and um I need a t-shirt [Laughter] all right thanks thank you [Applause] Alexander Hernandez hello folks hi uh my name is Alexander Hernandez um I just it was really nice hearing all the positive feedback from folks that was really cool uh real briefly I wanted to say um it was a surprise seeing the the teachers here who just ratified her contract that was awesome I I come from a union household I'm also a union member and everyone in this room every worker should have a union so if you don't have one it's just talk to your workers talk to me in the back before you leave it's very easy so but yeah everyone should have a union uh they're very important for democracy um and finally
090I wanted to say uh it was really awesome seeing the students come up here teachers backing um the board the board that's running I've done a little bit of research on these elections since I was last year and I just want to say it's it's frightening to see that folks are intent on running a school board who have no interest in public education um and that is for a lot of reasons it's harmful right but it's a it's and there's a lot of money I know the gentleman said China and stuff but it's not that complicated you got to follow the money because mom's a Liberty Group we know that they have a big budget that is generally larger than most I mean there's a lot of schools a lot of infrastructure you got to
091keep up with right so there's a lot of money and folks want to get into that pie the gentleman who is the guy who represents this area iglazia or whatever and the the governor right they got their crew together that's where the money comes from from this mom's a Liberty Group and they want to make sure that the money for these projects that the board approves goes to their friends so that's ultimately what it's about um I trust the folks up here because the folks back here have come up and said it over and over I don't trust a dude who looks like uh he's a con man like he's going to Swindle you with his little hat like folks have mentioned so yeah um thank you for the teachers thank you to the board
092folks and yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna do my part in getting out the vote for y'all I appreciate hearing that the community is doing that too um and yeah that that's it um thank you thank you [Applause] Collision more [Applause] everybody else is all nice good seeing you again everybody else is all sweet tonight and then the big bad Asia Moore comes up from Brooksville Florida um so as you can see tiny monster is restless tonight and around here Jimmy I'm gonna miss you my first time standing before this board Mr Stratton I wanted to do some not so nice things and scream some not nice things at you guys but over the last couple of years I've really come to become fond of working with you guys as much as I may disagree with
093some of you and your choices you still answer my calls you guys still will help me out whenever I ask for help and that I appreciate so I'm coming to you guys today to ask you guys for help because there's not a school in our district that looks pretty there is not a school in our district that when you walk up to it it makes you fat feel proud to call that your home school every single one of them has trash in their driveway every single one of them has a lawn that's overgrown every single one of them has paint falling off of the walls every single one of them has issues please stop child sit right [Music] tiny little human stop moving I have a son that attends Spring Hill Elementary and I have
094made sure that the principal knows that I'm willing to volunteer I don't care if it's with the broom but with the behavior issues that I see on campus there is no reason why y'all can't send out a permission slip for the parents instead of doing in-school suspension can't send them out there with the broom to start picking up the trash in front of our schools do something to clean up our schools and constructive with these kids who are just having issues like mine sitting still it happens I understand that but there's something that can be done and there's something that we could benefit from it with it in our schools education seems to be a problem public education seems to be a huge problem I stand up here tonight to talk to you guys about
095an issue with the school and I'm listening to everybody else talk about the elections and while we all know that I am not a fan of that cowboy and that I've done the ethics complaints and all of that nobody truly knows where they're supposed to go to voice their distaste for these people nobody knows where they're actually supposed to go to stand to ask the questions of those of you guys that are running there's no debates there's no open house for politicians there's no information out there on where we can actually go but what we have to say in our distaste or our like for somebody is actually heard so a lot of our meetings are being taken up by stuff like that and sometimes it's Babble and sometimes it's boring and other times it's
096entertaining and I kind of miss the show tonight and got here late but it's a problem with education there's not enough information out there on where else parents can go to find out more about our current board members that are up for election or the ones that are running against them other than the propaganda that we get in the mail I'm not saying that's our board's responsibility because your responsibility is to make sure my child passes his test and gets to the next grade but I think something needs to be done with the parent Academy to be able to get it out there on how we can actually better communicate this stuff for future elections because for some reason everybody in the State of Florida as much as I love it school boards become partisan
097and we're supposed to be none nice to see that you passed on the level of energy to your child and I'm sorry uh Melinda cook somehow I missed you could have said I was saying you for the last I say the best I was not planning on speaking tonight so Melinda cook Brooksville Florida I have been a teacher in Hernando County for 20 years I graduated from Hernando in 96 so I am back to now purple and gold after being at Explorer so I just really wanted to say thank you to Jimmy one of my first big introduction to Union work was working with Jimmy on the half cent sales tax and I went to my first meeting with everybody on the committee and Jimmy was the first one to say hello and never stop
098saying hello after that we worked really hard we developed our red support public education t-shirts we were on the corner every Thursday waving our signs and the community came and supported us in a way that it blew my mind because it was literally the only thing on the ballot and to just not only get the support but get the number of people who actually came out and voted in that election was amazing and just it kind of it really invigorated the dedication I think in the community to the schools because we saw how important it was I also just wanted to thank the board for their support I know that the bargaining Adventure is not always sunshine and rainbows but this year I feel like from hearing everything from our side of the bargaining committee
099it has gone probably the most smoothly that it has ever gone in the past and that's an amazing thing and it's one less thing that the teachers in the county have to worry about we are in a Dire Straits when it comes to public education we're getting hit from Every Avenue and the support that we know at least from our core board that's what's keeping people where they're at because the outside we can't control but what we can control in-house is what's important so I just wanted to say thank you to the board and thank you to Jimmy bye thank you [Applause] next one is probably Jimmy's favorite fan is Tammy lodato actually I should be looking at all of you because my heart is just full with the warmth of your words I have
100seen Jimmy spend many nights crying yelling Jimmy frustrated stressful because the only thing he cared about was the district these students every parent has what maybe two four five kids maybe more Jimmy worried about 24 000 students 24 000 kids that's a lot of love in your hearts that's a lot of worry but everything he did was to make a better life for them Jimmy grew up very poor his first job he was eight years old so he's been working a long time he knows what it's like to face poverty he knows what it's like to face an uncertain future because he knows what it's like to get in with a bad group but he also knows what it's like to have someone care in the form of his teachers his principles the sros the
101firefighters people who truly are the village I know some people don't like that phrase but he's the personification of it takes a village because his family was very poor everybody had to work they didn't have time for him but as an adult and a school board member he wanted to make sure that every student had an opportunity if they don't want to go to college if they have issues if they have problems at home he wanted to make sure that they would have an opportunity dual enrollment the Vo-Tech school that was his dream you know the kids with I'm not I'm sorry I don't know the lingo but the kids with special needs he had all of these on his list of things to do I think he pretty well covered the list is there
102anything left but I'm talking about Jimmy but every school board member here is the same I've seen you in action I've seen you disagree I've seen you come to a compromises everyone here I know cares about the kids in this County and anyone who doesn't believe that is not paying attention Jimmy likes to say that I'm his gift he's my gift from God and I was happy to share him with you but now he belongs to me you can keep this number you can call him Jimmy would never turn anyone down but I'm going to spend a lot of time keeping him busy thank you [Applause] uh embarrassing that sounds like jealousy okay wrapping things up Susan are you actually read John no only for Gina says okay a couple of things uh congratulations go
103to the schools who will be receiving additional funding for maintaining an a school grade level or improving their school grade level letter by at least grade by one letter congratulations to Jill renahan for her work with leading the safe schools program for our district the national law enforcement certification is recognized the Hernando district for exemplary Safety and Security in all areas quite a job [Applause] our school district has a half day tomorrow sorry parents well this allows students some time away from school the half day does afford the opportunity for continuing teacher and staff development and that is important in in that it benefits our students November 10th the education fair is going to be at Hernando High School 5 30 to 7 30. I'd like to recognize Brooksville Elementary for their opening of their
104new PBIS room tomorrow best wishes go to Hernando High School for the growl and fireworks on Thursday in the parade and homecoming game this Friday and last I want to thank Jimmy for his energy and helping direct this successful half cent initiative in the Simpson Tech College those are two extremely important events in our growth as a school district I appreciate his dedication to the students parents and our community and thank you for being on the board okay I I'm reminded this evening as I've listened to all of the comments about our school district and about how we function as a team how significant that is for our community and that is a real gift that we share with one another and that we need to continue to share out in the community we are
105um I I can't think of enough words to say how healthy we are as we work together healthy is different from perfect but we are working well together making terrific progress our students are growing um and we need to continue that momentum I needed to say all of those words before I say thank you to my friend Jimmy and I thought I was going to be okay with this my friend don't make Jimmy cry okay then I'll be still we have not always agreed we have not always seen eye to eye but there has never been a time when I have questioned your commitment to this District to our students and to our staff as well as your commitment to the health and growth of this community and as one board member and as a
106friend I want to say thank you Linda I would like to say thank you to Mr Calumet I'm excited about Thanksgiving coming back it's been a few years but I've always enjoyed that and this Friday I'm happy to report is going to be the 50th anniversary of Westside Elementary and my neighbor actually went to Westside Elementary and I think she's 55. so I I think that's quite a a testament to it finding the words to say to Jimmy have been very difficult and I found a song that I was hoping that we could play tonight and those of you who like country music know what that song is would anybody like to maybe guess the song is I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty so I wanted to dedicate that song to him and I'm
107sorry we weren't able to play it but I'm sending it to you I'm Tammy so you can enjoy and you'll understand why I wanted to dedicate and Kim's shaking her hand those of you who who know the song know why that it was a perfect song for Mr ledato so I I wish you and and Tammy the very very best and thank you from working with you for the half penny sales tax for being on the board with you and for the Simpson school I know we'll see you again because there's no way to keep you from not coming to that grand opening I know so I'm not saying goodbye you never like to say goodbye to friends just see you soon I hope so thank you Mr father two quick thanks you thank yous
108one thank you for uh giving me another uh year of service to the board as general counsel and and then I wanted to say to Mr ledato thank you very much for your service to this board it has been a pleasure serving the board and serving you uh and I wish you and Tammy all the best in your travels and uh you know hide the cell phone for at least a couple weeks you guys can get around break mysteriously Gina you want to say something on behalf of all the students in Hernando County I would like to say thank you for your service to us and what you have done for us in these past years it really means more than you know so thank you yeah just a few things coming up tomorrow I'm
109surprised it wasn't mentioned here but tomorrow's red for Ed read for Ed don't forget that to support a public education and the board hopefully has a copy I'm looking at Lisa massario hopefully they've received a copy of the schools that are participating which I believe most are the respective staffs are meeting at the flagpole typically and then doing a walk-in in support of public education that's happening tomorrow morning as early as probably 7 15 7 45 8 6 15. I won't be at that one uh so uh come out show your support and and walk in with staff board members if you have the opportunity to do that and then at Western man Hernando Middle School Thursday night we have the Saul apparent Leadership Council at 6 pm West West Side Elementary Friday night at
1106 p.m we'll be celebrating their 50th anniversary so it's been there for quite a while and there will be many many many Veterans Day Celebrations coming up so keep a keep a lookout for that and please pick which ones you can attend and and then see Roy which is our school related employee of the year and I'm mentioned these because we won't have another meeting between now at least we won't have a meeting where we take this kind of business action on on the 10th of November the C Roy meeting and I believe it's at Silverthorne again Tammy yeah so looking forward to that and I just want to wish everyone a very safe Halloween next week and it's a great day for us because we didn't do it during some of the coveted period
111but we get the elementary kids next door the I believe it's just the kindergarten come over and they're dressed up and and we dress up a little bit too and you can see the building and and hand out candy so it's a it's it's a good reminder for everybody over here why we do what we do so it's a great reminder on that and then finally um Jimmy I can't thank you enough for the last four five six seven years uh working as superintendent and before that knowing you before that as well um your service and and and just your energy and and then when people realize you're 80 years old it's like oh my God you have more energy than probably anyone in this room except for maybe you kids uh but you Channel
112it in such a positive direction and for service and and I appreciate that and I mentioned earlier when I said I'm going to miss our talks I'm definitely going to miss our what I call my morning Jimmy devotionals is when he'll call me really early because he's up and he'll call me really early and it doesn't matter if he's ramped up upset or just excited it's always presented in a positive way to me on how we're going to hit the ground running John we're going to do this so thanks for pushing me and driving me as well and uh I miss you but I've got your number you've got mine don't be strangers as you travel around the world and have fun don't be strangers and I know where you live for now so I'll
113drop by and thank you Tammy for allowing Jimmy to to serve up here first I want to thank everybody for coming out and then I want to tell you Jimmy I'll never say goodbye to you we've been together for 10 12 years something like that you know great mentor great leader I learned a lot from you you're an excellent example what a perfect School Board membership being and then I would like for you to do the honors of having lasts to speak and then adjourning our meeting for us thank you guys for your kind words and UK Susan Gina John my abort City friend Dennis and Linda who I've known for many years we even served in the dec together didn't we Linda we did we had a lot of good times a bittersweet because
114I I wanted to see the school completed and up and uh Sean is going to make sure that gets done and gets finished and I know that Sophia's in the back who who have the whip in hand and make sure that we get everything that we said we wanted from those Builders and that Design Group and I have the greatest of confidence in you Sophia we've been together since 2013 2013 talking about this concept over a corporate jet when I first met you and I knew then you were a winner and that we would get this done and we did get it done it could not have been done without this board every single one of them listen to me ranting and raving about what we're going to do when I used to sit up
115there and Susan was on the board and we talk about the half cent and Gus was a chair and we're hammering the fact that we lost the half cent and that we lost the money we needed to repair the schools the schools were in in terrible shape coming off of 2012 the Great Recession no one spent any money because they didn't have the money to repair them and so a group of 13 volunteers got together and one of them is right here Greg Laskowski Tammy Brinker and all the poor people Melissa all of us got together and fought an uphill battle called SOS Hernando we're going to save this district and we're all volunteers and people thought we were crazy but we did it 120 plus million dollars to replay the schools and they said
116it couldn't be done but we did it then we turned around and we put sros in our schools to make sure our kids were safe I mean that was a huge cost Factor everybody said and we all said on this board well what's a child's life worth we have to spend the money we have to protect our kids and we did it we protected our kids didn't we and then we needed buses and we came up with 50 new buses half the fleet to be replaced in one shot thanks to Heather Lisa and the whole group they figured it out and we got the 50 buses ordered and they'll be here next year and that'll be done then we finish the equation of getting the funding for our schools it was a tough tough battle
117dealing with the legislators and we got vetoed two years in a row by the governor and at the same time you know we had a situation called a hurricane in the Panhandle and he was just came on board and so he didn't know what his budget was going to be and I'm sure that's the reason he vetoed it and then the second year we had covet so we asked it again for the 10 million dollars and it was vetoed one more time and everybody kept saying what was it Susan oh we we're never going to get that bill and we said no we're going to push this whole thing forward and we're going to push it over and over and over again until we get it and on the third year the funding came through
1189.3 million dollars thank God for Wilton Simpson who pushed it and Ralph mazzullo who pushed it through and it couldn't have been done without this board couldn't have been done then we had another problem we're going to build it a Central High figured we had the property we'll build it there and then Dennis Wilfong Dr Wilfong cornered me at Mr Hogan's office and said why don't we build it at the airport so they said to me you know let's go over and talk to the bocc that's what Dennis said let's go talk to him so of course I'm going to step in front of the bocc and tell them I want I want some land at the airport and they say oh we don't have any land so wait a minute it's an airport you
119have land ask for the land where where is the land the land is right behind Gale Insulation so then they had purchased that land so why don't you let us have that land and the administrator tells me Jeff Rogers well we'll figure how much it's going to cost you I said no you don't understand I'm not asking to buy it we are asking to lease it he said well we can do a lease I said that'll be great he said how much did you have on hand what did you want to pay us I said I want to give you a dollar a year for 99 years and he sat there and laughed at us did he not gospel he laughed at us John well we got the land we got the land and then
120phsc came on board and said you know we're going to put ours right alongside of you and then Jeff Roger said well we want to put a county building in the in the middle of it or on the side and so the three of us got together and we got the land but we didn't know the land was submerged you know the land was under water a bit right Susan Flood Zone a lot Linda and they turned around and said you know we're going to have to figure out how much it's going to cost to bring that land up to where we could build on it so we found out we're going to have to add a six feet of land and compress it down to four so we asked well what's the cost of
121that plus the sidewalks in the infrastructure blah blah blah six 0.1 million dollars 6.1 million dollars the board thought we were crazy you know like Jimmy we're going to get 6.1 million and I said do we Susan so we're going to get that 6.1 million and we pushed to get that 6.1 million did we not and it wasn't our money we gave it to the county because it's the county land but they're going to go ahead and put the infrastructure they trying to say is then we had a cost increase we couldn't make it with 9.3 I had to go back to Senator Simpson I asked the board can I go back and speak to Senator Simpson They said yeah I'll go ahead and do it I went over to speak to him and told
122him I need more money you know much money they need I said 4 million would do it he said what about 2.5 2.5 so I go back to Sophia can we do it for 2.5 she goes over to Sean and talks to them we had all this discussion and we found out yeah we could do it for the 2.5 so here's what I'm telling you board it's like it's a group of people who are totally different you know three Educators two businessmen an incredible superintendent who's he's interactive with this community but yet we have people out there who are trying to take him out they wanted to be an elected office so they can do a partisan election and win that seat too like they do at the County Commission so they want to control
123this District so here's what I'm telling you and this is the reason for the conversation this has been a long battle and you heard our teachers talk about the association that they have with this board and how they were able to get raises how many years seven years in a row raises every single year we worked with you we knew what you wanted you're our teachers that's what you are you're our heroes of course we're going to work with you and so we got that done and so they turned around and said no we would like to put other people on this board so I disagreed with the party that I represent and I told them I am a nonpartisan I'm on this board as a non-partisan so I don't follow their Direction I follow
124the direction of our students and our teachers just like they do and we did so here's what I'm telling you if you like what we have done if you like the progress we have made over the last seven years then I'm asking you to mobilize I want you to do what we did on SOS Hernando except I want you to make it sosb I want you to save our school board I want you to get those two individuals those great board members who have been working so hard on your behalf Susan 50 years in education [Music] and a person like Kay that goes to all the schools and does things that I can't do she gets out there and she just works with everyone in the school district and she's like a part of them
125she intermingles and Gus gets out in the community and does all this and Linda has such a rapport with everyone and you hear her she's so eloquent when she's up here when she speaks I mean we can't help but listen to everything she says because everything she says makes so much damn sense right and so I'm asking you get out and mobilize you teachers do what you did at SOS I want you to go out there and I want you to mobilize I want you to get videos out there I want you to make sure everybody's done what did we do last time if you have 10 members who are on your Facebook then tell their members to ask their 10 members and their 10 members and their 10 members until we get this thing
126done voting starts tomorrow if you want to complete what we're doing right now then you're going to have to do this and I'm going to give you the prediction why if two board members take their position this board will reverse and what will happen to you is the half cent will not be voted on because those candidates said we don't need that half cent to repair our schools that same couple of people who are running are also saying that you know we're in bad financial shape real than years we have reserves close to nine percent three percent is what the state requires so when you listen to all this malarkey are you going to take their word for it are you going to put some person in here who sat on this board before and
127then ask yourself what did he do when he was here before why didn't he do the things that are done now that we did for the last four years why would you elect that again oh why because he's single faceted critical race Theory I haven't seen one person that's come forward to tell me that we have critical race theory in our schools and we sit there right we sit there and listen to this BS and it's an insult to my teachers it's an insult to my teachers to sit there and accuse them it infuriates me and it should infuriate you we're not New York and we're not California we're Hernando County look at the record the record speaks for itself get out there and mobilize and get our board members elected I'm asking you I'm
128begging you and damn it do it [Applause] of it self first Jimmy I think the last request I'd like of you is to uh say that you'll do my eulogy for me all right Gus I'll probably be 110 by then please close the meeting I'd rather you do it you're my pro thank you I appreciate that thank you all for coming out this has been a meeting like we've never had before all drive safely we're adjourned [Music] thank you foreign [Music]