001Rasmussen to lead us in the pledge. Yes, sir. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. On the agenda, I have as a board chair to make a couple of recommendations or changes. One, we want to change item number. The last two items to be flipped, 8 become 9 and 9 become 8. And just when I had to read something, you get a pop up here but now I got it. On the second reading. Second reading of item policy number 6110, which is on page three, letter E, number one, it should read, establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the district is managing the
002federal award in compliance with the U.S. constitution, federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. That's just a typo. And I spotted that and we need to fix that and change that. But since it's a second reading, I see no reason why we would, you know, stop it. And other than that, that's what I have. I'd like to request that the item on the consent agenda regarding the IT purchase move to the action item agenda. We would make that number nine then and leave nine the new nine to become ten. I recommend the board adopt the agenda as amended. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. The agenda is adopted. I recommend the board approve the minutes from the December 9, 2025 school board meeting. So moved. Second. Is there any
003no votes? Hearing none. The minutes are approved. At this time, I'm going to ask Deputy Superintendent Amber Acevedo to help us recognize a very impressive student from Marathon High School. Thank you. If I could have the board chair and superintendent come up and also I'd like to invite Marathon High School student Ashley Rasmussen to the front. Okay, Ashley, stand right here in front. Marathon High School junior Ashley Rasmussen is being recognized for her outstanding and diverse contributions to both her school and the district. A dedicated leader, Ashley currently serves as president of the class of 2027 and has held multiple leadership roles in stud government and clubs while also representing her peers as a member of the Monroe association of Governing Students. And she participated this year in the district's calendar committee as the student
004rep. She balances academic excellence as an honor student and dual enrollment participant with active involvement in athletics, including competing in weightlifting and serving as the varsity volleyball manager. Ashley's passion for arts shines through her long standing commitment to drama productions, yearbook photography and leadership and interact and mags. Beyond the campus, she has logged over 400 hours of community service supporting local festivals, theater and environmental initiatives. Showing an example of her initiative. She was very instrumental in developing the first EL night here at Marathon High. Her dedication, talent and spirit of service exemplifies the very best of Marathon High School and the Munro County School District. We congratulate you Ashley on your gems for being part of so many, many great educational moments. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Congratulations. At this time we have citizens input.
005Do we have anybody here to speak? First up we have Ms. Maria Covelli requesting three minutes. Presentations to the Board are limited to three (3) minutes for each individual >> nd five (5) minutes for the representative of a designated group. Transfer of time between individuals and/or groups is not permitted. Letters submitted to each Board Member and/or the Board Secretary prior to a Board Meeting will not additionally be read into the record at the meeting. All statements must be directed towards the Board; no person may address or question Board Members individually, and Board Members will not engage in a dialogue with persons making public comment. Furthermore, all speakers agree to abide by the Code of Conduct for Citizen Input (School Board Policy 0169.1) and will begin their presentation by stating the full name and their city
006or town of residence for the record. Good evening, Chair, board members and Superintendent. My name is Maria Covelli and I live here in Marathon up on Grassy Key. I've been a resident of the Keys for going on 11 years now. I typed my statement up so I don't forget anything. So if you'll pardon me from reading it. Thank you for giving me a moment of your time. My name is Maria Covelli and I'm here tonight not as a professional speaker or a medical expert, but as someone whose life was permanently changed by a lack of honest real world preparation about sexually transmitted diseases. Three years into my most recent marriage to someone who I thought was a man of worth, faithful, honest and loving, I was diagnosed with hiv. I did everything society tells us
007we're supposed to do. I waited. I was safe. But we were married and I trusted my spouse. I believed that marriage meant safety. It did not. What followed was shock, fear, shame and a painful education. I never asked for one that came too late. A year after my divorce, I learned that I had also contracted another other lifelong sexually transmitted infections. These diagnosis didn't come from reckless behavior or ignorance. They came from trust. And that is exactly why our children are vulnerable. During my journey with STDs I've discovered that STD rates are not declining. They are rising, especially among young people. In talking with our local health professionals, they have girls as young as 12 years old come in on a monthly basis to get tested for diseases that they can't even pronounce, let alone
008fully grasp the consequences of contracting. Many students will leave school believing myths that marriage equals protection, that you can see if someone is infected or that STDs are rare or easily cured. I can tell you none of that is true. I'm standing before you today because statistics don't change lives. School books don't change lives. Stories do. I emailed each of you my story in hopes that you can understand that further educating our children about these diseases will empower them to make healthy choices in the future. I'm asking for permission to speak to health classes alongside existing curriculum to put a human face on this epidemic. Not to scare students, but to inform them, to empower them, to help them understand that STDs don't discriminate by age 55, gender orientation or marital status, that trust without
009knowledge can be dangerous, and that protecting your health is not shameful, it's responsible. This is not about promoting sex or abstinence. It's about promoting truth, consent, testing, communication and self worth. If my story had been shared with me when I was younger, if someone had told me that even doing everything right doesn't always protect you, I might be living a very different life today. We cannot protect our children with silence. Silence is how this epidemic continues. Please allow me the opportunity to speak with the students not as a warning, but as a resource, as an additional education to what they currently receive as proof that education saves lives. Thank you for your time and for caring about the health and future of our students. I look forward to further discussion on this matter. Thank you.
010All items listed as consent agenda items are considered routine and noncontroversial by the School Board and will be approved by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. Prior to this meeting, Board Members have had the opportunity to review each of these items and may request that any item be moved to an Action Item for individual consideration. I recommend the board approve the consent agenda as amended. Move. Second. I do have a comment. Go ahead. So as we are limiting out of county travel for staff because of the budgetary issues, I've noticed that there's a single person going on three out of town trips. If we're going to limit the staff that's allowed to go, then I think we need to spread it around better and not have one individual going
011to three different things but have different people going to each one. So I'm not sure if that can be done after we've approved the request. I guess that's my question. So we are in the efforts to save money. We're limiting travel, mandatory trips. We're going to have one person go rather than a group. And otherwise we're not going to have any travel unless outside organizations are paying for it. So what I would propose to the board is we've vetted these through SLT as we've been talking about it. I would advise you to consider approving this and then going forward, know that we're looking very carefully across the system to save money, particularly on travel. And my issue isn't even with the number of people traveling, but giving multiple opportunities to a single individual when we
012have so many people that would probably like to take advantage of the opportunity. That's noted and we will take that into consideration going forward. Thank you. Are there any no votes? Okay. Hearing none. It passed. Next. Report. We have three reports this evening. The first is going to be an upstate on some of the really impressive work being done regarding career and technical education. Presenting this report will be Ms. Leslie Holmes. Yes. The chair pick first. Nope. The PDF. That one. Nope. That one. Okay. Good afternoon, Superintendent Tierney, board chair, board members and the district leadership team. My name is Leslie Holmes, Coordinator of Adult Education and Career and Technical Education, also known as CTE. I'm here today to present you about our vocational offerings. How do I move it forward? Oh, there it goes.
013I got it. So quick introduction to CTE. This allows a fusion of academics and hands on learning for our students in our schools. So at Key West High School we have a variety of offerings. I'm not going to read them to you. And I'll go into some of these in a little more detail further on into the presentation. Sorry, I flipped. Marathon. Touchy mouse. Here at Marathon High School. Here are the offerings that we have here at Marathon High School. Thank you and congratulations to chef and his class for an absolutely stunning and delicious pre meeting happy hour. Sorry. Having some mouse issues. There we go. And then here are offerings at Coral Shores High School. So as you can see at all three schools we have some overlay and some different courses that our
014students have the opportunity to take. In our middle and elementary schools, we have opportunities for our students to earn certifications. These are the courses that they're. I did not touch that. That they're affiliated with because we are missing. There we go. So some opportunities for expansion. We have new programs this year. We have an elementary school. Our students can take the digital tool certification. We will have. We have a dispatch 911 program at key West High School where students are trained to become 911 dispatchers through a simulation that is AI generated. We have cosmetology and fashion here at Marathon High School this year and moving into next year. We are creating an engineering pathway with Coral Shores High School and that comes from middle to high. We have a partnership with the Golden Fleece foundation
015where we provide monetary incentives to our students who pass the certification exam. So it depends on which exam they pass, what level of award they get. So that is thank you to Mr. Padgett and the Golden Fleece foundation. And to date we have given out $72,250. So some highlights from Key West High School. As you this isn't everything that happens at Key West High School this year, but these are just a few things I'd like to bring your attention to the bottom picture, which is the Customs House in Key west and that is the Holiday Bazaar. The students design and animate and produce the light show that is displayed on the Customs House with a partnership with Disney. So I didn't get the opportunity to see it this year, but I definitely want to see
016it next year. Some highlights from Marathon. Thank you to Chef Stanton and his culinary program for providing the hors d' oeuvres for the meeting this afternoon. The students in his class competed this year in Orlando and won second place at the Sushi Battle at UCF Rosen. Some very talented students there. Our outboard marine class in Coral Shores was invited to work side by side at the World Shore Off World Offshore Championship back in November. And that's that picture at the bottom of them working with the marine mechanics on the power boats. So moving into some career pathways. As you can see, our students are using their skills they learn in the classroom to lead them towards a career in a variety of careers. So it's not just I passed, I got a job. They're actually
017going away to colleges and getting degrees and different things. So this is a video I'd like to share with you. This is one of our former students of Key West High School, Logan Palacier, who is a firefighter with our Key West Fire Department. Hi, my name is Logan Palacier. I've been with Key West Fire Department now for three years. I was in the high school portion of the fire academy my junior senior year. And what a big help that was for me in starting my career at such a young age. It gave me the advantage of learning the physical aspect of the job, also building good study Habits because that is also part of getting through the Fire Academy. So that being said, without that class, you know, it would have been a lot harder
018to get through the Real Fire Academy. So I'm just grateful for that class and the opportunity to do that. And the opportunity is still there. And I highly recommend if you're interested in the career, you know, not only to prepare yourself for it, but also to learn about it and see if this is what's, what you really want to do. Because if I didn't take that class those two years, I would have been a lot, you know, further behind when I did go through the Real Fire Academy. And it just gives you an advantage over, you know, other people who don't go through it because, you know, it just, it builds that foundation that you really need to be successful, especially if you want to start this career young. And it's a great career to
019start young because it's physically and mentally demanding. So if you're interested in taking, you know, this class and furthering this opportunity, then I highly recommend you do that class. And if you have any questions, stationed at station one and you're more than welcome to come by, good luck. Nope, back to the PowerPoint. Sorry. Okay, so as we are always looking to explain expand our opportunities. We are currently working with College of the Florida Keys to expand educational activities opportunities for our students. And these are some of the pathways we are looking to connect with College of the Florida Keys with. At this time I'd like to invite miss Christine Paul up. She would like to share a story of one of her former students and the impact CTE has had on his future. Good evening.
020I'm Christine Paul, Principal of Marathon High School and I'm so pleased to have this opportunity to share regarding vocational programs. As you all know, vocational programs play a critical role in keeping students productively engaged in school by providing relevant hands on learning experiences that connect education to real world careers. For many students, particularly those considerate at risk, these programs offer a clear purpose for attending school, building skills and seeing a tangible path to success beyond graduation. By combining academic instruction with technical training, vocational programs increase motivation, improve attendance and foster confidence and responsibility. We're working here at Marathon to expand our offerings. New this year we have the Cosmetology nail pathway. And last year we added the fashion marketing program. But I'd like to share one powerful example. A former at risk student who struggled
021in traditional classroom settings but found success through our culinary program. Through hands on training, mentorship and industry aligned skills, this student discovered a passion for cooking, graduated, and is now working successfully as a professional chef. Stories like this demonstrate how vocational education not only keeps students engaged, but also opens doors to meaningful, sustainable career opportunities that benefit both students and the broader community. So thank you, Chef Stanton, for serving as an inspiration for not only this student, but many more. So as you can see also from our current students representing the culinary program and the fabulous spread that they prepared tonight, you already stole my thunder. Ms. Liz Kahn, another round of applause for them. But these programs are truly essential and they truly make a difference. So thank you for your support for these
022programs. Thank you, Ms. Paul. And in this next slide, and the slide after, these are just some of the images of our actual students working in their classrooms. We have our fashion, we have cosmetology, culinary, just a variety. If you want more pictures, I'll be glad to email them to you. And then we have one more testimonial that we will share with you. And this is Jessica Nitti. She works for Fox News in New York City and she was a former. Hi everyone. My name is Jessica Nitti and I'm a proud graduate of Key West High school, class of 2021. Today I work in New York City at Fox News as a production assistant for the morning show Fox and Friends. And I'm grateful for the education and foundation for success that the Monroe County
023School District gave me. During my time at Key West High School, I didn't just learn from textbooks. I gained hands on real world experience that prepared me for my college and career. One of the most impactful parts of my experience was a TV production program where I learned from Mr. Ed Smith. I developed technical skills like working with cameras and editing software along with teamwork, communication, and the ability to perform under pressure, skills I use every day in a live news environment. I was also involved in the snapper the school newspaper writing articles throughout all four years of high school. That experience helped strengthen my writing and taught me how to tell clear, accurate, and compelling stories, which is a skill that I use every day in my journalism career. These opportunities helped me gain
024acceptance into the University of Florida's Journalism and Communications program, and that strong foundation ultimately led me to my career after graduation. Looking back, the most impactful part of my experience in the Monroe County School district was the encouragement to explore my interests and the support of teachers who truly cared about student success. I'm proud to represent Key West High School and I hope that my story shows students that what they do in high school can open doors far beyond the classroom. And that concludes the presentation. Is there any questions? Are we still doing the coordination with businesses for students who are interested in different jobs that we don't offer at the high school? We have our students that work around different businesses that we track through our OJT MOVE program. MOVE is different from OJT
025though. We only are employing through our MOVE program students within the schools. So we have students working in daycares and at the district office assisting with like office type work. But then in the daycares to help after school programs. We are doing MOVE and not just OJT. Oh yeah, OJT. Yeah. Okay. And are we still getting more businesses involved? Right now we're the only provider. We put it out to the schools like, hey, this business is called and they're looking to employ. But I think the OJT kind of take has taken that over a little bit because they're going out and getting jobs in areas that they prefer to work in. So we don't have the people that own businesses anymore coordinating with. Yes, we do have some, like the Aqueduct. We haven't expanded it.
026We put a big concentrated effort when we first began the program. We have not been out to do that again. So again, we have people within our own and then we do have a few, but it hasn't expanded. And so it is definitely an area that we can continue to or make that new push. You know, we went out, we asked, we worked with the, the companies, the businesses who wanted people at that time, but we have not done that thus far this year. Part of that is the transition between Ms. Blesky and Ms. Holmes and just coming up to speed and with some new things that the state has come out. But definitely it is something that we can put along with our. What we're looking to expand with CFK as well to help
027broaden the opportunity. So we'll put that on our agenda to look at again. Yeah, I just know that we're limited in our schools because we can only have so many rooms full of stuff and there are only so many students. So the push for the MOVE program was great and I'd hate to see us stop doing that because it's such a good opportunity for the kids who can't find what they're looking for at their high school. Yes. And again, we can. Now that Ms. Holmes is getting a little more acclimated to it, we can definitely get out there and reach out to businesses again and see who are interested. And again, we try to match that with student interest and Sometimes it takes the OJT path, but we will work further on that MOVE portion
028so we can meet as many interests as possible. I heard you say the water company. We're still doing it with the aqueduct. What about the electric companies? No, we don't have anyone at the electric. At Keys Energy. Did they ever show it? But we have it. They never showed it interest. They had. We did have someone there, but they haven't shown interest since that. That time. Yes. And some like it more during a summer, which is another thing that we found. Some like it because they open summer internship opportunities. And that is another kind of a pathway that we noticed with some of the bigger companies that you're mentioning. So. Okay, so you will push for it further on with everybody. Yes. City co-op. Yes. And we did reach out through all. We did do
029a massive push. You remember when we first opened the program up and down the Keys, and we haven't done that massive push again. So this would be about two years after the initial inception of move. So it is probably time that we get back out there. And the timing will probably be very good now because again, we're coming up on that spring summer and a lot of the bigger businesses do make way in their budgets or have opportunities come up in the summer for those internships. So they're more likely to get engaged. So we will definitely make that push again up and down the Keys. Okay. Anyone else? Yeah, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Sue. Sue, go ahead. The Electric Co-op is really good at bringing kids in for summer internships. And in fact, they do
030it for both high school students and kids home from college. It's a very good opportunity there. So I just had kind of questions in general of how do we determine what pathway goes where and where students interest is and what the community needs? Like, what is the vision? Do we have like a 10 year vision of where we want to be and what we want to do? Are we doing this a year at a time with the current students? So each high school has a curriculum showcase that they have right around this time of the year where they feature the curriculum offerings for different electives and different CTE courses. So it's featured there a lot of times. It's a feeder from middle school to high school. So for example, we have a robust CTE program
031up at Key Largo School. Those kids feed into Coral Shores High School and continue on that, say digital video path or digital infotech path where they are fed into. That's where we're going with the Engineering pathway in the upper keys is having start off with the engineering and then as they get to high school, continue on that engineering pathway. But what about the things that need. Well, I'll just say, you know, there's a lot of interest in the lower keys about having marine engine repair. And we have on our capital plan the backyard buildings. I don't, you know, that would be a space to that would that needs that right now. CTE is there, but do we have a vision now of when it comes time to rebuild those buildings, of what we want, what
032programs we want to develop, to be in there? I think so. In speaking to that particular project right now, the school has been tasked with kind of getting ideas of what they would like to see in that blueprint, and that comes from student interest. So the schools do kind of a student interest survey to see if there are expanded offerings that students want. And sometimes they'll put that in their course offerings to see if enough students are interested. And that's how several of them, such as fashion came to be or how cosmetology came back because it wasn't a technical CTE course yet. Students were just avidly, you know, wanting that class to come back. So we brought it back, and again, it's growing in all three schools now. So student interest is one big factor
033as far as the. The community and their needs are. We are somewhat limited on that because again, space and the cost of bringing together some labs, and that's how move came about. So I think re energizing move allows us to get out there. But in terms of, for example, Key West High, when they look at that, again, they've been tasked with what can. What would you like to see back there? They have an automotive lab. What else would they like to see? But a secondary part of that is our new conversations with College of the Florida Keys that do have things that we are actually in our initial meeting, you know, they have a welding program, and they now have a welding instructor in the lower Keys, which they did not have in place before.
034They had the equipment in the lab, no instructor. So in a partnering with the College of the Florida Keys, we are looking at possible dual enrollment opportunities because they do have a marine mechanics lab out there. So that's part of exploring what you have around you that maybe we can make use of through partnerships. So we are continuing to explore that. And yes, QSI will take student interest when they're looking at that back building and determining what they would like to see in there and what needs they have and they're in that initial phases now. So I'm glad you brought up cosmetology because I spoke with a woman up in the Upper Keys who told me that our cosmetology programs are very popular, but they still, when kids, even if the kids, if someone did
035it for four years, they would still not be in a place where they were really even close to getting a certificate or a cosmetology license. It still would take many, many, many more hours. And the closest place now I think is in Palm beach county and Fort Myers. So if, you know, I'm curious as to how many. I mean, I think all the programs are great and it's great to give opportunity for kids as career exploration. Like what am I good at? What do I like? But I'm curious as to how many of these actually get to certifications where you could graduate and go to work in that field. And that may be more than this conversation. I'd be happy to talk with you about it later. But I think for since everyone likes, you
036know, cosmetology is very popular, we need to be working with the College of the Florida Keys to see if they, you know, or Miami Dade Community College to see if they would be willing to have the rest of the hours that they need so kids could achieve that without having to move away from the Keys. I took note of that and superintendent shared that with me as well. And I do know that's true. To get a full cosmetology license, students can come out with enough hours to get a nail certificate. But the full cosmetology license and some of the things on our discussion board are actually in conjunction with a type of a move where if students can get part time work and get hours in some of the local salons that can help them.
037It won't get them near the end of the hours there, but that is one way. The other is at our next meeting with College of the Florida Keys, we're going to mention that interest to see if they would have an interest in doing that. So that, that might be a way, as you said, to fulfill allow students the opportunity to advance. Much like the fire academy. The fire academy gets you started, it gets you training, it doesn't get you the final certificate, but it does give you all of that. But we have the ability here in the Keys for someone to continue. So trying to see those opportunities is something that we definitely again are looking at. And that was brought to our attention. And so we are seeking different ways that we might be
038able to Support students as they go out and give them direction. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, most of my points have already been made, but by the way, thank you, Mrs. Holmes, for a wonderful presentation. I think it's terrific that Monroe County Schools can offer so many career pathways for our students to explore and hopefully find their passion and that will lead them to successful lives and careers. I did have the opportunity to sit down with the initial meeting with Mr. Tierney and Dr. Guevara to discuss how we can collaborate and work together to enhance improvement, expand the career and technical education program. That's something I'm extremely passionate about. So I know you're a part of that committee, so I look forward to hearing back from you and to see what ideas
039you're coming with and how we can all grow together to help each other to benefit all of the students of Monroe County. So thank you so much and keep up the good work. Thank you. I brought gifts for the board members. You guys can swap out later if you prefer a particular pattern. But these are bags that were made by our Key West high school fashion students as one of their projects. Not only do they have the fashion show at the end of the year, but they do projects throughout the school year. Thank you, Ms. Holmes, for excellent presentation. Now we're going to get an update on ELA adoption from Ms. Acevedo and Dr. Adams. Thank you. This is a curriculum adoption year for our English language arts, and there is a very procedural way
040that we go about the curriculum adoption, and Sarah is in charge of that. So I'm going to let her go over the steps and where we are in it. And again, this is for your information, so you know how the process is. It's also part of the process to make sure the board is informed. And there is a component in that that allows for the community to also look at the materials that we're looking at. So, Dr. Adam. Good evening, School board, Chairman Tierney, Superintendent Tierney, anyone else who's joined us this evening, whether in person or online. I'm here tonight to really give you a brief update as to where we are. I will be back again once we have some purchasing recommendations and then back again to give you the entire budget. So without
041further ado, we'll get started with that. We have. Oh, maybe not. No clicky. Maria. Okay, I'm doing the B. Okay, I'm ready for the next one. We're on strategic goal one, Promoting academic success. And we can keep going. So today we are going to talk about our finalists, we've come down to two. We had four strong bids and we came down to our two finalists. It's very close, as I'll show you. And at the end of this slide show, I've got the one pager on how to view the public materials. They've been viewable this entire time. However, because we have the finalists, we want to be a little more formal in saying, please go take a look if you have not already. I want to take an opportunity to thank all of our adoption committee
042members. I will do so in more detail at our next, you know, brief. But for now, I do want to mention that we've had representation from each school of teachers, of parents. And then again, something I was really proud of last year that continued is we've had school and district administrators participate. So at the school level, we've got Key Largo Poiena and HOB administrators participating. And then at the district level, as you might imagine, our ESC specialists, our ELA specialists participating again, as well as teacher representation, literacy coaches and community members as well. I did. I dragged a couple of teachers out of retirement because teachers are passionate, whether actively serving or not. So we've got some active community members, ex teachers participating, and all of their responsibilities are listed on the right. They definitely
043have put in some work. We are a little bit ahead of what I had planned at the end of last school year, so that is good news. We've again selected our finalists. A couple of differences between this school year and last school year. Last school year, you'll remember, we were adopting K12 science, so a much larger span. You know, you've got K5, 6, 8 and then all the various courses in 9, 12. For science, we have a smaller scope this year that was done with intention. A couple of reasons. For one, 912 didn't have a lot of options to choose from. They had two at the beginning of this year, and one is one that we already have. For another, it's a budgeting situation. The ELA is a very expensive adoption. I've done it before.
044So I wanted to make sure that we could really be on target with both our budget and then also our options and our selection process. So the other thing that we did this year is rather than doing virtual presentations, we actually did have the finalists go ahead and present in person to the adoption committee. And that was very effective. And I would like to continue that to the extent possible. It's at no cost to us. And we certainly did get more out of it than we had just reviewing the materials, you know, at our schools and looking online. So where we're at right now is basically our two finalists, which we'll get to in a minute. We are test driving some of their software. And so some teachers have elected to try some of one
045product and some have elected to try some of another product, and they're getting feedback from their students and basically going to present that back to us as we consider what we want to do in terms of a purchasing decision. This is very brief, but kind of paints the picture of where we're at. Our two finalists are Benchmark advance, which is a product we currently have, and then McGraw Hill wonders. And what this slide is really meant to demonstrate to you is that it's a very tight, tight race. What you'll see in the bigger bit of data is that both of these products ranked very highly. The blue being very, very high, the green being very, very high. Blue is a little bit better, but there was not a big gap amongst either of them. And
046then in the right, you'll see that we did get teacher ranking. And I'm very interested in seeing how we end up at the end of this because it is a very tight situation. So ranking first is what you see on the right there. And that compromised 75% of all of our teachers that participated. And the way that that was handled is that the literacy coaches at each school had grade levels, basically rank, and it was a big, wide gradient across the district. But it's a tight race between those two. Any question? All right, awesome. So at the end of this, there is hopefully posted a one pager. All of our material adoption is run through Ed Credible. Every single announcement, every meeting, all our notes, all of our reviews, and all of our forms are
047through there. So it's free to have an account. And so we encourage anyone and everyone to go ahead and take a look at those two. Do they make that announcement to parents from the schools that were doing it? Like, how would a parent at the school know that we were doing an evaluation if they weren't? They do. I've worked with the literacy coaches and I know through SAC meetings and such that information's been relayed. And then we also do post whenever we're having a meeting onto our own website as well and kind of keep moving people back to incredible. But I did want to take the opportunity to do this now because transparency. Thank you so much. Thank you. Is the option on our website to what to look at the two options. This is
048on there. Basically the one pager to get to Ed Credible. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. No problem. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Adams. Now we're going to have. Mr. Lafear is going to brief the board on the final design for Founders park baseball field. So this design, the board has seen before this vote does not obligate us to spend any money, but it approves our design, which will go to Islamorada for a vote as well. Obviously, a lot of passion around this project with both of those entities. Concurrently, we are working on a license agreement with Islamorada. There is still some daylight in between the two organizations, so work to be done on there, but we're asking for final approval here so that this has not become a stumbling
049block as we work toward an agreement to benefit both communities and the students and young people of Islamorada. Good evening, Chairman Tierney and board members. Thank you for the introduction, Superintendent Tierney. That's some of what I have to cover in my summary on the action agenda. There are the actual construction documents, the final design for Founders park baseball field improvements. These plans represent the final design process. So this would complete the design process. And the next step, once both the design and the license agreements are approved by the school board and the village council would be for the contractor to put these documents out to bid to the various subcontractors and then begin to develop their guaranteed maximum price contract from the bids that they accept on those particular with those particular subcontractors. That said,
050the superintendent indicated we've got the license agreement still in work with the village staff. Village council approved their version on January 8th by a 5-0 vote. So that was good. We have that version now and it's been reviewed by staff, it's been reviewed by legal council, it's been reviewed by some of the board members. And then so we have input to go back to the village on with that agreement. And once we can come to agreement with village staff, that will then be brought to this board as well as back to the village council for consideration and hopefully ultimately approval. When we do bring the license agreement back to the village council, we would at that point likely bring this final plan to them as well for consideration so we can get approval and move
051forward on timeline. So as to the final design, it's displayed on the screen there right now. There have been no changes since the last time it was presented to the board. Just as an overview, we are installing an artificial turf playing surface. Constructing a new concession restroom building with a press box on the second level, new dugouts and new bleachers. The existing building out in Wright Field, which I'll get up and point to here in a little bit, is now also being renovated. Those designs are currently still in work. With that said, I will walk us through a couple of these. There we go. This is kind of just the overview of the entire field itself. Going around from right field to left. This is the existing building that's out there now that the design
052is in work to turn that into a locker room and storage area. Inside there will be the the visitor side. There'll be an enclosed bullpen, the visitors dugout and storage area. New bleachers to the side of the concession restroom facility which is here behind home plate and pretty much mirror image on the other side. Home side bleachers, home side dugout which will include some storage areas and the new enclosed bullpen area. This is just a zoomed in image of all of that same. I'm going to get to some detail here on another slide on the concession restroom and press box. So this is first floor concession and restroom area. A walk in open air area with two drinking fountains, two restrooms on either side, two single use restrooms on either side. On the concession area
053we will notice that there is a window that the folks working the concession will be able to look out and see what's going on with the game. You've got a three compartment sink for dishwashing, a hand washing sink, an ice machine, freezer, refrigerator, some tables to work with. This is a fryer, a grill with a hood on top. These are the two serving windows, another table area. This is a popcorn machine and this is the kind of custodial closet with the deep sink to hold all the clean materials. On top is the press box. Pretty simple quite frankly. The stairs come up into an opening, the press box area itself, then some area for storage and it equipment. We'll get to some verticals. That's the obviously the area. The field facing view with the press
054box and the window from the concession stand. The two side views, one with the stairs up to the press box and then the field, the side facing the parking lot where the concessions and restrooms will be accessible from. Timeline still hoping to start at the end of this season. Need to keep the process moving along to make that happen. And $6.2 million is still the estimate. Same as it was last time and we'll get a better number once we get it out to business did and get that final GMP. I'll take any other questions. I have a list. First, do we have the design in this for the outer building? No, it's still in work. So that will be in addition to the 6.2 million. The 6.2 does not include the renovation. And is that
055intended to be part of this project? Yes, it will probably. Assuming we stay on timeline. It won't happen at the same time. It will happen probably after the season. Okay. And then just my feeling is I will not agree on a GMP until we have a licensing agreement and a use agreement in place. I also think district needs to come up with a date, at which point, if we don't have those documents, we move on to Coral Shore's backyard. Because at this point, they're waiting for this to happen. And so if. If there continues to be the difficulty in getting something passed that we can all agree on, I don't think the entire school should have to wait. So then we move ahead with the other project while we still continue to keep working on
056a use and license agreement for this one. And I just want to make sure that no GMP comes to us until it the construction committee has reviewed the bid the items that are on the design, which is beautiful and I love, but I still think we have the construction committee. I think it's important for them to see everything prior to the GMP and then before we vote on the GMP. Yes, ma'am. We don't move forward toward GMP until we get first the license agreement agreed to and approved and this final design approved to by village council. At that point it would go out to bid. So we're not even going to start the GMP process until that starts happening. And at what date are we going to decide that we've now spent too much time
057waiting and we have to move forward with a different project, Coral Shores backyard. I think we'll know more here in the next month as we continue negotiations on the license agreement. I don't know that we have that answer yet. I think we should have a date. We need a date where we say if we can't come to an agreement, Hunter, you know, tell me if this isn't possible, but if we can't come to an agreement by whatever it is, I mean, even if it was 2027, like, I'm not saying it has to be tomorrow, but there has to be a date where if we can't get something agreed upon by all parties that Coral Shores High School doesn't just keep waiting because all of the other sports are at Coral Shores High School. Instead of
058a date, you have in your mind how things should progress, how you should get this done by next month and this done by three months from now. And you already have in your mind a groundbreaking time, correct? An approximate, yes. So you could come to us and say to us, one of the blocks to get to that point is being blocked and you got a problem. And at that point we can say, hey, if they don't get on and solve this, where we're going to go somewhere else instead of saying an exact date. Well, my concern is we just continue to go back and forth. So if we don't have an exact date, then the negotiations can continue. Can I make a recommendation on that? We don't necessarily need a date. We need a monetary
059amount. How much have we spent so far on this design? Because at some point we're going to cross a threshold where there's going to be a diminishing return and they may say no and we could be in this 150 grand just on design. I think the monetary amount is set with regard to the design. Now the what we're paying to negotiate the license agreement, those costs will continue to increase. Why don't I make this proposal? If we continue to see delays, it's going to delay to the point where we're going to miss the deadline to complete this project after this season and it's going to happen. Have to be pushed back a year. Maybe that's the option where we come back to the board and rethink whether we're going to wait another year or not.
060Let me say a couple things. Ms. Kahn, the first comment on the license agreement. We recognize the importance, which is why introducing this report, even though it has nothing to do with the license, I said concurrently working with. Because one goes with the other. Even though this report is in that on the construction committee, everything's going through there. We did have the first meeting the other day, generally had good feedback and we'll get better as we move forward. But that is standing now and we will have everything run through there. And then our monitoring of the timeline has come down mostly to what Mr. Tierney kind of outlined is, you know, we had an end date in mind and we have time still to work this out in order to meet that end date. And
061if it came to the point where we didn't think we'd have the milestones met in order to do that, I think at that point, we'd come back to the board with another. With a conversation or a question on what direction. That makes a lot of sense. So Basically, without having June 24, 2025. It will be at the end of the season. If we can't start construction in order to get this moving because there is no agreement in place, then we'll flip flop Coral Shores in Founders park and get Coral Shores backyard done. And Founders Park, we can continue to negotiate on the license and use agreements while we actually work on Coral Shores. Is that what's being said? What we said is I think we'd come back to the board at the point we didn't
062think we'd make a timeline and then we'd have, you know, further discussion. But I'm going to. Well, I'm okay with moving forward with this design. I'm going back to the monetary amount. Are we splitting the cost on all these designs? Are we eating these costs? Because these costs will not carry over to Coral Shores. Should we go to the backyard? We're stuck with a design that we pay. We're paying for the design. Yes. So again, it's less money we have to spend toward the backyard because we're eating a cost. So that part has to play in as well, saying at some point, we just got to cut our losses. We're not going to be missing 50, 100 grand on just constantly doing designs that could go to the backyard. So that has to play into
063it as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the baseball field of Coral Shores and the backyard of Coral Shores are two different projects on our capital plan. And we don't have to say that we're going to flip them. If we have the money set aside for the baseball field, you know, we won't be able to put shovels in the ground at Coral Shores this next year. It'll take a year of planning. And there's nothing to say that at that point where we get to where the Coral Shores, which is where we'll be getting to, was supposed to start, that both projects can't be done at the same time. This is not a. I mean, we have set aside the funds for this, so we don't have to say then we're going to wait three
064years to do the baseball field. We just need to. I mean, I recognize it's getting frustrating, especially for the ball players who thought that they would be playing on a new field this year, but which, you know, they're not. But, you know, if they don't play on a new field next year, it doesn't mean they couldn't play it on it the year after. And we don't have to flip flop them. We do multiple projects, construct construction projects all the time. In fact, when we were building schools, it was, you know, giant projects being done all at the same time. Depending on how it all flows, it does become a project management balancing act. And when we did have that time period where we had three schools going at the same time, we hired additional staff
065to handle that. But we were also the primary decision makers. There's a big difference there. Yes, sir. And the only reason I was talking about flip flopping is because our five year plan allows certain funds financially based on what our money is for each year. And now that we've had a. Does the budget cut apply to both capital and operations or is all the money we're down right now, like is it both or is it one or the other? So it's operations only. But if the capital plan now in, let's just say 26, 27, we're adding two projects, is that money being spent? Is it just on hold? You know, it changes the five year plan. So that's the only reason I'm talking about flip flopping. And then to Darren's point, I'm assuming we're going
066to approve this design today. If it goes to Isla Morada and they say no, what then is the cost to redesign and at what point do we stop, stop spending the money until they can come to an agreement? So on the capital side, our revenue would have some ability, some ability to influence projects. But you know what? I think what I heard flip flopping, I just hear a desire from this board to do things for the Coral Shore students and community. I don't think it was postponing more than we feel like we want to do something for them. And your last question I think still goes back to can we meet the deadline we laid out? And if, if yes, we're still moving forward, if it gets to the point, no, then we have to
067come back and have another conversation. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. Is that it for the? Hunter? Just to follow up about the license agreement, I think we have a, you know, outside date of bringing it to the school board for approval of February 24th. Really the only question I have is, is this something the board would like to, you know, workshop at some point before then, or would you just like legal to go ahead and, you know, continue working with the village and, you know, bring you back a product when we feel it's ready. Well, can you email the board everything that's going, you know, when you get some sort of information from them and send it to us? Yeah, certainly. Does that suffice? I would prefer retreat to a workshop. And I think
068in order for everybody to understand the nuances, and it's better for us to have a conversation, all of us, rather than send you five different emails. Like, for instance, the last time I went through it, I went paragraph by paragraph, but nobody else knows what I had to say because that can't be shared. Yeah. And just for, you know, full disclosure, there seem to be some, you know, differing values and, you know, different levels of importance placed on certain aspects of the agreement or not amongst the board members. So, you know, I think a, you know, workshop or retreat, you know, whichever you decide, would be beneficial to present a unified front. But if, you know, that's not something you'd like to do, we can, you know, move forward without that. We can do that.
069Can you schedule one for us? Okay. Okay. Anything else? No. So just to be clear on the plan of action, you know, we'll have a draft of that finished probably by the end of this week. I have to finish with Mrs. Khan on a few things, and then we can get that over to the village. But, you know, we'll hold off on, you know, agreeing or amending anything until after the retreat, which would, you know, likely take place February 10th, I'm guessing. Well, can you send it to us before the retreat, though? Yeah. Yes, I can. I can have it time. Okay. All right. That's it. That is all. Unless you have any other questions. Mr. Tierney. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I regularly talk about the level of community support in Monroe county and how
070that makes this a special place and contributes to the success of the students in the schools. And as an example, I'd like to thank Mr. George Fernandez and Matthew Rawls, the Tennessee Williams Theater for hosting the Sold out Yuck Show. It was such just a great experience for our students, and I do believe that that community support leads to increased student achievement. On that subject, congratulations to Monroe County School District for a significant increase in graduation rate. Last year, the district went up 5%, doubling the rate of increase for the state of Florida. So just really, really fine work across the classrooms, the school and the district. So congratulations to all, and of note, exceptional student graduation rate went up 8%. English language learners went up 17%. And as a point of interest, in the
071state of Florida, the graduation rate for Black students is 89.2. In Monroe County School District, Black students graduated in 95.5% rate. So really strong work and congratulations to all and we're going to continue to try to raise the bar. Along that line, PM2 is in just about analyzed. We'll have a report for the board next month. So we'll go over in detail but initial indications look like we're up across content areas and feel confident that we'll be able to continue to build on the success that I just referenced last year. Halfway through the year PM2 it is now time for mid year evaluation. So in the vein of holding us all accountable for ever improving and increasing performance, you know I meet with people who report to me and give feedback, they meet with the
072people who report to them, give feedback, then we go over that feedback so that we are in a cycle of continuous improvement. And what I'm going to ask is next time I meet with the board in our one to ones if you can give me improvement on how I can do better that way. We're all regularly trying to improve our performance once again to continue to improve outcomes for students. And at this time I'm going to introduce someone performing at such a high level there is no room for improvement on our screen is going to be Ms. Kate Deloach. Unmute, Kate. Kate, you're muted. Oh, now I can hear you. I couldn't hear you guys before. Can you hear me now? We can hear you and see you. Yes, you're good. Please go ahead. I'm
073going to assume everybody can hear me and your thumbs up. We're ready for me to get started. Great. Perfect. Well, thank you all so much. I am coming to you from the frigid north up in Tallahassee. It was very, very cold this morning. It is supp to be cold for Florida Keys Day. So anybody that's headed up next week, pack your one coat because it will be a little bit chilly. I have just a couple of quick updates for you on the legislative session and I wanted to kick it off with a little announcement from our side on the Southern group. After seven years of working with the Southern Group, we are expanding our Florida Keys office with another Monroe County Schools graduate. So for those of you that remember my counterpart back from the
074days of Rep. Holly, Erin Muir has joined the Southern Group team. And so you will probably be hearing and seeing from her in the next couple of weeks as I start to get her engaged with our quest clients. But we're really excited to have her to the team and I'm excited to have her work with the school district. As far as legislative session, we are finishing up week three or we're about halfway through here in Tallahassee. There are a few things that we are working on and tracking. Just wanted to highlight for you. The first is first two Senate bills, Senator Gates bill, Senate Bill 318. This is the bill we are tracking that creates a new categorical for the Family Empowerment Scholarships among other things. That bill along with Senator Simon's SB320, Simon's bill
075is intended to kind of cut bureaucracy and give more flexibility to districts on everything from hiring to pay to evaluations. Both of those have passed the full Senate. They moved them very quickly. But one of the things that we are noticing in the education space this session is that the House and Senate are not directly aligned. So Both of those bills 318 and 320 have passed the full Senate. They are not necessarily moving in the House. The companion to Senator Simon's bill needs to still move and Senator Gates bill doesn't have a direct companion but there are several bills in the House that could be used as vehicles. So I do think that these issues are going to continue as session progresses. There is also a universal breakfast and lunch school breakfast and lunch bill
076that I mentioned in a few of the updates that is sponsored by Senator Jones. It has not started moving yet so I've reached out to Senator Jones office and we'll continue to watch that as we get into budget and see what they're looking at there. But it is definitely timely. I've seen now two articles in the last week addressing, you know, breakfast as well as school lunch debt and how to manage that. So we'll continue to track that one as well and hopefully Senator Jones bill gets a little bit of traction. We are also working on an amendment to HB453 that is a bill sponsored in the House by Rep. Gossett Feidman and in the Senate by Senator Berman. That bill deals with the Special Olympics, but it also clarifies a provision that would say
077marching band constitutes as it will count for PE and performing arts credits. So we've been working with your team on some language to see if we can get that expanded to school sponsored performance dance teams. And I met today with Senator Berman's office. I also had a chance to sit down with Rep. Mooney who is extremely supportive and he and I are going to be going to see the House sponsor tomorrow. That bill is ready for the House floor on the House side, it's got two committees left on the Senate side, but we do have a little bit of time because the House is not meeting this week for session and Senator Berman is out of the office. So it gives us a little bit of time to do some work and see if we
078can get that amendment put into place. The last big update I've got is just on budget. Obviously, we are all excited for that portion of session it will kick off. We are starting to. Well, all of the budget discussions are starting to happen, but we're expecting to see spreadsheets either late this week or next week. I think the Senate is definitely going to release them next week. We're just waiting on the House to see when that will be. One thing to keep in mind is that our Bruce hall project does not run through a subcommittee. So what that means is when the initial budgets start popping at the House and Senate level, they start with the appropriation subcommittees. Our Bruce hall project will not be on that list because it runs only through the full
079appropriate committee. So we are working on our end. We're meeting with the chairs, the full appropriations chairs in both the House and Senate. But we won't necessarily see the Bruce hall project population right away. We'll see that a little bit later in the process. Of course, they like us to wait until the last minute on that. But we do expect to see some budget movement in the next two weeks as well as a little bit of additional movement on the House side to see kind of what they're thinking on some of these education bills. The Senate really took the lead this year on getting to two pretty big packages over and ready for the House to consider. Those are just a few of the really high level updates, but if anybody has any questions, I
080am happy to answer them. Everyone turns to look at me. Hi, Kate. I think you all are on mute though. So if I can't. I am not on mute. Can you hear me now? I can, yes. Do you know if there's anything in the works for the Schools of Hope? I know it was heard at the State Board meeting. Are they going to let that be sort of fixed by rule, or is there an idea that there might be a bill out there? That is a good question. There have been a couple of proposals filed. Everything from, you know, repealing the entire thing to making some changes. I have not seen those moved yet, but let me do a little bit of follow up and see if I can find out if they're planning to
081let any of those Bills move or if it's something they're going to address with rule. Thanks. And then I wanted to thank you for. So the bill that has to do with the dance teams was something that the K nets have been asking for for a very long time. So I sat down with them this weekend about what the possibility was because they had open the statute that had to do with marching band counting for PE and fine arts. And they wrote what I think sounded like a pretty professional letter. It was pretty great. You know, we spoke to the superintendent and he agreed that it was. Well, you can talk about it yourself, but that it was just good for kids and, you know, we'll see where it goes. I think it's. It would
082be hard. You'd be hard pressed to say that those dance teams don't work as hard, you know, hard enough. And what the girls said in their letter was that for 50 years they've been part of athletics at Coral Shores. They get varsity letters. They're required to go through all the same requirements of the other athletes, including they're randomly drug tested. You know, they spend about eight hours a week performing. They have a boot camp in the summer. They practice for about eight hours a week. Then they do lead both sideline and halftime. They do halftime at the basketball games and in pep rallies. You know, it seems like someone who sits on the bench for JV basketball can get the credits for PE but those girls can't. And so we're really hoping that we'll be
083able to get that in for them. It'll be a big deal for these performing dance teams. You know, I don't know much about the. But I suspect it's about the same. We have girls from. And boys from Coral Shores that go on and get dance scholarships in high school and are participating in performing arts teams, really, all across the state of Florida and in professional, you know, university preparation in New York City. It's a great opportunity for these kids, and they need to be recognized. So thank you, Kate, and thank you, Mr. Tierney, for supporting their efforts. One quick question, Kate. How are you? That's not the question. What's your feeling on that free breakfast and lunch? Because that's super exciting. So my only Senator Jones is a great senator. He's a Democratic senator out
084of Broward, and he does move bills, so I wouldn't count it out yet. The fact that it has not started moving is a little worrisome, which is why I want to check back in with him and see kind of what his plan is. But it should at the very least help elevate that discussion a little bit this session, especially during budget, because I had the same thought. It was very exciting. So you're maybe a little bit hopeful? Cautiously optimistic. Yes. That's it for me. Thank you. Thank you, Kate. Thank you very much. Well, thank you all so much. Stay warm down there. And we'll see a large contingent next week. But hopefully things stay on track. And so far they're going pretty smoothly. So we'll pray that that continues. Thank you. All right. Well, we'll
085start now with Ms. Talbot. Feel very special. Mr. Tierney, thank you. I have a couple of things I just wanted to comment on. Earlier this month, we had some of our district employees get nominated for terrific awards. So I just wanted to congratulate Paula Mercer from Key West High School for being selected as Teacher of the Year. And Darren Pace from Key Largo as Principal of the Year. And Jacob Poelma from Coral Shores and as Assistant Principal of the Year. And Emory Carey from Key West High School, Support Personnel of the Year. That is just wonderful. And congratulations to them. This week is Literacy Week, and I think most of us have the opportunity to attend a school today and read to students. And I would say that's one of the highlights of what we
086get to do. And I think most of us will probably have time for the rest of the week to do some more of it. So thank you to the schools for inviting me and the rest of the board to do this. The kids are so entertaining, the things they say, really, really interesting. But anyway, that was a terrific experience this morning. And also earlier in the week or last week, I had the chance to attend the planning board session with Mr. Tierney and Dr. White and the folks from Vescor and their attorney who are working with us on the teacher housing project. And I just wanted to share with everyone that it went very well. I was very optimistic after attending that, that, you know, things are moving forward smoothly and. And I'm really excited
087the possibility of getting this pushed through the planning department. So keeping our fingers crossed, things seem to be moving in the right direction. So that's all I wanted to report. I love Literacy Week as well. In addition to reading to the kids, I do want to say thank you to Mr. Ed Tierney and the owners of Benihana's because this is also American Literacy Week, and they do a fundraiser at Benihana's every year where a variety of people guest chef. And I think Mr. Tierney has a future there if he ever decides not to be superintendent of anymore. But thank you to the owners of Benihana and Mr. Tierney for participating in that very worthy fundraiser. And thank you to the schools for hosting all of us as readers. There's nothing more fun than being with
088the kids and getting that opportunity, which we don't get enough of on the board. And as I tell all my reading coaches, call me anytime. It doesn't have to be Literacy Week. Thank you. Yeah, I, too, love Literacy Week, and I learned more than I ever thought I would need to know about the Liberty bell today in 5th grade class at PKS. I also want to give a round of applause to the people who ran the STEM fair this weekend. It went, you know, pretty smoothly. And to all those science teachers that are helping the kids prepare for the competition. You know, it shows. You know, they are really prepared. They know their science. The game has really been upped in the last five years. And the quality of the projects and the questions that
089the kids are asking with their projects are. I mean, there's a wide range. One was. Well, the one that wins the award to me for the McKeesiest one is how well people are able to estimate the weight of the tarpon they catch. But they also had ones some IT or some AI and what makes different difficult to hack password as well as, you know, microbiology and microplastics and all of that. It was very impressive. So appreciate that. And then this is the week that Key Largo school is. They're an avid demonstration school. And this is the week that people from all over the state and probably over the country come to see the good work that they're doing there. And so, you know, shout out to all the people there that are making that happen.
090That's it. Yeah, Just real quick, stay warm. Watch out for falling iguanas. You're welcome. While I'm not a fan of basketball, I did attend a basketball game here last week between Key West and Marathon High School. And what I want to tell you about it. Well, first of all, you know, somebody from Key west is telling me that they were going to win by 50 points. You all can imagine who that person is. When the game started, Marathon right out of the bat was ahead, and Marathon was ahead in the game for, I would say, 98% of the time, Marathon was ahead. Now, during this time, you know, we had a lot of students from Marathon High School here supporting, and Key west had some supporting to their team. They also had, which I thought
091was very interesting, one of the other sports teams from Marathon high School came in mass to support this, another team to support the basketball team, which I thought was very impressive to see the whole team come to support them. And while I'm going to tell you this game, a couple of points, maybe a couple times, Marathon might have been a headbutt, decent margin. But then of course, as it got to the end, it really tightened up. And as I say, you know, they. Marathon was ahead for 98% of the time, but the more important 2% at the end, they lost by one point. And what I also want to tell you about that, you know, there was a time even here back in the day, if that had happened, there would have been. I mean,
092there were a lot of police around, but they wouldn't, probably wouldn't have been enough. But I want to say the way the students on both sides have handled themselves at this game, you know, I would tell you that the way this played out in a lot of places, it would have made the news by what would have happened at the end. So I really want to commend the students from both schools that they really handled this well. And as far as why Marathon lost, well, I can tell you, Key West had about twice as many players and marathon players had kind of run out of a little bit of gas at the end. And so they really should have won. But all in all, I really thought it was really nice to see this, the
093way it was handled by the students in both schools. But again, I think that somebody bribed one of the refs. Anyway. Well, that's it. So at this point, I'm going to recess the regular board hearing and open up for a public hearing on the second reading of a job description and policies. Do we have anyone here to speak to either of these items? Board members? Mr. Attorney, do I have to read that change that I had brought up in the beginning again? Would that be required? Probably not a bad idea. Just be on the safe side. Now I got to get into email again. All right. I got to figure out how to do that. Yeah. All right. Now I got to look for that email. All right. I could help you. Falls on your
094right hand. Yeah, you're not my right hand guy. I guess that makes the right hand guy to me. Andy, got you. Sorry. When did you send that to me? This morning. I know. Chairman, I could read the change for you if you'd like. Wait, I think I found it. I got it. Okay. So in Policy 6110, page three, letter E, number one, it should read, and it will read as we finish it off, it will read, establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the district is managing the federal award in compliance with the US Government constitution, federal statutes, regulations and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Okay. At that time then if there's no other discussion on this, then I will recess the public hearing
095or close the public hearing and go back to our normal reconvene the regular hearing and we have action items. I recommend approval of the proposed 2026 Greater Florida Consortium of School Board board's legislative platform. Move. Second. Discussion? I have a discussion on it. I just questioned, I saw that this is the first time that they're ever going to send a proposal to the federal government. And it just, you know, as I see the federal government and the, especially in the Education Department, which is winding down, I think at this time to start going after them and requesting more and more funding, I mean as I read it was like, you know, why don't you just ask for, you know, $100 billion? I think at this time it's not the right time to start going after
096the federal government, especially when they're trying to cut down and then we want to increase. So in my view this is unnecessary to do. At the federal level, they have said they're not going to cut IDA or title one, they're just moving it to different locations. And when the Florida School Board association was in D.C. in September, which included a lot of these same people that will be going for the Greater Florida Consortium, it was clear that the many of the staff and the lawmakers really didn't understand what the federal funding was used for in the schools. So like for example, the funding that goes to professional development, they thought it was being spent hiring inspirational speakers to speak to people in and off auditorium, which is not how it's being used, it's how we're
097teaching our teachers science of reading, you know, and those sort of techniques. So the goal of this was to educate both school board members who often didn't under didn't understand how the money was being spent and lawmakers about how the money is used. And the reason the Greater Florida Consortium is going after it is because it is now expanded to the place that it represents 19 congressional districts and more than half of the students in Florida. So we have more than half of the congressional delegation is represented, you know, represents us. And so that would Give our districts a way to be communicating about how those federal funds move down to us. And since. And I think also because of what happened on June 30, when all the money was sort of put on hold
098and canceled, that made everyone start thinking that maybe we need to be communicating with lawmakers in a, you know, I mean, we're not ask. We're not asking for more money. We're asking for the same money, except for the idea, which has never been fully funded. And with that, I still feel that, you know, there's other ways of teaching people what the money is used for than going after this. It seems to me this looks like it could wind up to be a talking point or something. And I just find it. It's not the right time to start. You've never done it before. I wouldn't start now. And do you expect every school district to approve it? I would think that some of them will. Some of them will not. It's possible some won't. But it's
099going to be the same for the Greater Florida Consortium. If a district decides that they're not going to approve this, then nobody can go. And then that kills the federal program. Right. What effect does this have on us? Well, those funds are important to keep coming, so they play an important role in training and some of the other, you know, ancillary support that we provide. Anyone else? Call the roll? [ROLL CALL] Maria, can you send the approval of the platform? Did you send the one from the state legislative one before the date that we approved that? We did that in December, I think. Let's figure out what. I'll work with you later. We'll figure out the date. We just need to let Mr. Sarah know from the consortium. Thank you. I recommend Approval of the
100Monroe County School Draft District Proposed 2026 Legislative Platform. So move. Second. Any discussion? Yeah, I really appreciate the work that was put into this and I hope that we can have these discussions moving forward. You know, I do go up to Tallahassee and I have a lot of relationships there. And this really helps me to be able to advocate for what I know the district is behind rather than, you know, advocating as an individual. So thank you. Are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passes. I recommend Approval of Revised Job Description: 61090 Executive Secretary Alternative Education. So moved. Second. Discussion? I just want to thank Ms. Saisha Osborne for taking on this very important and time consuming job it means money to the district at a time when we are looking for whatever
101we can get. So thank you to her for taking on this position and I am happy to approve it. Are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passes. I recommend Approval of Policies Revisions for Finance and Performance. So move. Second. Discussion? Thank you, Dr. White for continuing to update these. Are there any no votes? I'm sorry, I thought you were getting them all. That's why I haven't been mentioning them. You can give to somebody. Okay. When I think it's a tie, then I'll call it out. But I see I looked at you and you seem to be getting them. So I stopped saying. I didn't say any today. All right, so on this last one, let's go back. Are there any no votes? Hearing none. Motion passed. I recommend the board Approve Final Design/Construction
102Documents for Founder's Park Baseball Field Improvements. So moved. Second. Discussion? I don't know if I'll be able to vote for this again. If this design is not approved by the city. I'm not going to be willing to continue to spend money on a design. I just won't do it. Okay. Scrivener's error. It's a village of island. It's not a city. Especially a design that the entire school board and superintendent are behind. It looks beautiful. Are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passes. I recommend Approval of Monroe County School District's Property & Casualty Insurance Renewal for Policy Year 2026-2027. So move. Second. Discussion? So I just think like I say every year that we need to continue to look at what we can self insure, whether we're bidding everything or just some things. And
103we continue to be asked to spend more money. We need insurance. But I think we really need to take a deep dive into what we're paying for, what we're getting and what we can handle on our own. Especially as it relates to flood and wind. I mean a lot of our. I mean we're not going to move the wind. Let's be realistic. Our building codes are the best in the planet for God's sakes. One thing that's going to move us as a meteor. But you know, I do, I would like to look at the properties that are below flood to make sure those are insured. But anything above flood. We really should self insure on a lot of this stuff. Okay. Are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passes. I recommend Approval of
104Recommendation to Reject all Bids related to RFQ 2025022. So moved. Second. All right. Ms. Kahn, moved. Mr. Haran, second. Well, you guys rushed into that one anyway. Any discussion? Are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passed. I recommend Approval of Social Media Litigation Representation Agreement. So move. Second. Discussion? Are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passed. Recommend approval of purchase of Sentinel 1 software through CDWG. I'll move for discussion. Second. Discussion? So here's my issue. Every year we look at what we're paying for students and we get rid of the stuff we don't need, but we get piecemeal stuff from IT. Always high dollar amounts. So first I'd like to see an overall expense report of what we've spent on IT updates and added programs from not just last year, but
105the year before. I want to see the difference between what we used to get and what we're getting now that the IT directors changed. And in addition, I don't want to keep seeing piecemeal, piecemeal, piecemeal, because $90,000 is a lot of money. But when you look at all of them that have come across our desks, we're up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And at a time when we're continuing to cut schools, teachers, programs, we give students to keep increasing things that we didn't have prior and getting new things that cost us a lot of money. I just don't think we're being responsible as a board if we just continue to okay this without seeing an overall picture and financial expenditures for the department. So we're in the process of working on a report
106for next month for this very reason, because the technology changes and a new IT director, talented, very intelligent new IT director is going to come in and find issues that need to be addressed. And part of what you're seeing is addressing those issues. So we are working on that. We'll see if there's anything else that you'd like to add as we're having this discussion. As the superintendent said, we've got a plan to come to you at least a couple of times with piecing together what is our entire IT kind of procurement plan. The focus of the first one was going to be cyber security, and we're doing that at the next meeting. And we can, and I hadn't thought to include costs along with that, but we absolutely will. And each year we do a
107budget for it that maps out what we're purchasing. We essentially do a five year plan for it and we can bring that to the board. But what I really like the board to understand is that, you know, I would not classify it as piecemeal. It is very well thought out and very well planned and it's very much layered. And that's what you're going to see when this next, when Dr. Collegi presents next time. We've made tremendous progress since the dark day that was 2016-17 when we were victim of a cyber attack. We have come leaps and bounds since then and it is all planned out and we're always chasing it, right? We're always looking to see what that one new threat is because there's new threats every day. And what is that new tool that
108we didn't know about last year that might be an addition to our cybersecurity posture or one of our other their educational programs. So we can absolutely bring all that to you specific to the purchase tonight we're a little remiss in how we labeled it. I'm going to talk to internal services on how to label these particular IT purchases. You know, in contracts which this is not. This is just a purchase. This would have been considered a renewal. We have to have this capability. It's a threat, cyber threat security tool. We have to have, we have to have a product of some type that does this service. And we've gone with Sentinel One now for the last two years. This would be the third year we're going to go with Sentinel One. So it's an antivirus
109software essentially and we have to have one. So but we'll bring you the entire cyber security picture and its cost next time and then maybe the time after that, maybe a larger view at all of it to include our five year plan so you can be comfortable with it. And if you could please include in that the cybersecurity that we pay for because we also just purchased insurance that comes with software and other things to make sure our cybersecurity and I want to make sure that we're not paying for overlapping things and B, if we can spend less on one thing or another if they do overlap. So I just think a discussion needs to be had where everything is coordinated and presented to us at once. And when I said piecemeal, I just didn't
110mean that your plan in your mind was piecemeal. But the way that it comes to us is item by item and each item doesn't look like a lot in and of itself for IT security. But when you add the numbers up, it comes to a very large sum of money. And before I continue to approve those, I would like personally to have an overall picture of where we're at. What we need are we reviewing constantly, just like we do for the student materials, to see what we can get rid of what didn't work for us. And then one thing that the other IT director did that I haven't seen, and you may not know that she used to do this, but phishing emails went out to all staff to make sure that people were on
111their toes. And it really helped because there were a lot of people that clicked. Before was that product. We still have that product and we still use it in other ways, but we can. We can reinvigorate that. That little test that everybody loves so much. I mean, they don't like it, but I'd rather it be our test. Yes. Than somebody from outside. Yes. Let me just circle back to the insurance, the cyber security insurance piece. We do work very closely with Dr. White and Ms. Enriquez on providing them the information we have on our cybersecurity posture. And we actually get a discount from the insurance company on our cybersecurity insurance because of the strength of our cybersecurity posture. So that's great but we wouldn't know this if I hadn't uphold the consent agenda item. So
112this is just an example of the kind of information at least I'm personally looking for. We'll bring you what we have planned for the next one, and then I've got an idea of what we can do for the one after that. It may take a few more because it's a pretty big plan to get your arms around, even if you're relatively intelligent on IT stuff, which I somewhat claim to be. So I feel ready, willing, and able. Awesome. Pat, I do want to reiterate what she said. Let's see what last year was. And absolutely, too. And to include personnel. And I do hope that we're training new people. Is that what's happening over there? Always. Otherwise I'd be furious. Always. Okay. Unfortunately. Yeah. In this department, like all of our departments, we are always getting
113new people because we lose good people, especially when they're specialized. Like our IT professionals are. Well, on the other side, though, you know, I have to tell you, my wife has come home quite a few times recently saying the Internet was down. We're going to cover that a little bit in the next meeting. Okay. Is that our fault or is it somebody else's fault? This last particular outage was internal issues, yes. Was it those guys? All right, well, thank you. But, yeah, I like the two years to see what's going on with personnel numbers, too. Got it. Anything else? Are there any no votes on this? All right. Hearing none. Motion passes. I don't think there's anything else to do. Let's go home. I recommend Approval of the Designation of the Marathon Middle/High Football Stadium
114as "The Michael H. Puto Stadium". So moved. Second. Is there any discussion? I think this is a really great idea, and I appreciate it being brought before us. Well, there was a lot of people wanting to come to speak against it, and what I did. I told them the meeting would be next week, and so those people will be here next week. You know, what the heck behind. You know that, right? Yeah, I know. But you know what? As Mike would say, this is huge. All right. Well, are there any no votes? Hearing none. The motion passes. And before we give him the microphone, I think I want to adjourn the meeting before he can speak. Meeting is adjourn.