001Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome Welcome as I call to order the October 2025 meeting of the Escamia County School Board. Whether you're joining us via live stream or in the audience, we appreciate your interest in the education of students of Escamia County. The mission of Escami County Public Schools is to provide equal access to quality public education that embraces the uniqueness and potential of each student. We're united in our mission. At this time, I ask that you silence your cell phones and electronic devices. As a reminder, there are two public forum options. There will be a public forum for agenda items only, including the consent agenda and student and employee discipline at the beginning of the meeting and then a public forum at the end of the meeting for any items pertaining to
002school district business or public education. Additionally, if you are speaking to any of the items in public hearing, you will be called to speak during the agenda public forum. If you wish to speak at either of the forums, you must complete a form located on the table in the back and bring it forth to Miss Harris at the front table. If you wish to speak at both forms, you must fill out a form for both. All speaker forms must be submitted prior to the start of agenda public forum. This meeting was properly advertised in the Pensacola news journal legal notice 16664900. It is tradition of the Escamia County Public Schools began each meeting with an invocation or motivational moment followed by the pledge of allegiance. This month, Mrs. Burgosh, District 4, will lead us. Thank
003you, Dr. Williams. At this time, I would like to introduce my friend Chris Lambert. He's a Marine Corps veteran who's been a true inspiration. He joined the Marine Corps back in 1967, earned three Purple Hearts while serving in Vietnam, and is still serving our community by mentoring fellow veterans in Northwest Florida. You can come on up. Lambert is the chaplain and 12year VA volunteer and he's also been battling addiction for over 44 years. But guess what? He's helping empower many you young folks in this area. It's amazing how he's managed to overcome so much and become such a positive force in our community. And I thank him for making room in his busy calendar to come today to stop by. I'm so honored to call him my friend. Chris, would you like to get behind
004the podium and bring us the pledge or the invocation first? Invocation first. Yes. Please stand. Military is the other way around. You know that, right? Uh let's pray. Father God, we thank you for the freedom, Lord, to participate in our local education system. We just pray this meeting has your loving directions to focus on our principles, Lord, and not let our personalities disrupt our mission. Father God, your teachings are deeply rooted in love, tolerance, and forgiveness. Finally, Father, we just ask for ears to hear the each other tonight. your divine intervention to understand and for all here for the betterment of our students in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Covers for theirs. Remove your covers, please. If you're wearing a cover, a hat that is. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
005America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. Thank you for your service. Thank you. At this time, we'll move to the adoption of the agenda. Mr. Mr. Superintendent, are there any additions or deletions to your recommended agenda? Yes, sir. Uh, under section 24, consent, finance procurement, item N has been added. And then under section 41, consent, superintendent employee discipline, item C has been added. State statute and schoolboard rules require that that changes made to the agenda after publication be based on a finding of good cause determined by the person designated presid over the meeting as stated in the record. Do I have a motion to adopt the agenda? So moved. I'll second. Been moved and second. Any discussion? No
006discussion. Please vote. approved five to zero. Moving into committee and departmental reports and special recognition. Mr. Superintendent will start with PTA update. Good evening and thank you for allowing me to bring updates on PTA in Escambia County. I am Melanie Gamble, the current president of the Escambia County Council PTA. We are pleased to announce on September 25th, we successfully reinstated the Pine Forest High PTSA. We are thankful for the five who volunteered their time to support the students and teachers at Pine Forest and look forward to assisting our new leaders throughout the year. As a note, this year we are seeing a trend of more fathers stepping up to be involved in PTA and it seems to be as both presidents and treasurers, which is what occurred at Pine Forest High on the 25th, as
007well as other local units such as Fairy Pass Middle, Belleview Elementary, and Oakrest Elementary. ECC PTA is excited to see the increase in male involvement in PTA. We are also seeing an increase in student involvement as volunteer leaders in our county. We are pleased to announce Ariana Headley, who attends Workman Middle School, as one of our student representatives for county council. Additionally, student Z Robinson was elected as the second vice president of Pine Forest High PTSA. We look forward to working with all of our students who have stepped up to volunteer at their local units as they expand their leadership and community service experiences. October is National PTA family and school safety month as well as the month we celebrate the national initiative to help keep kids drug-free by participating in Red Ribbon Week. As
008PTAs are partnering with their schools, our PTAs are partnering with their schools in promoting fun but informative activities for the week of October 23rd through 31st. ECC PTA kicked off Red Ribbon Week last night with a Zoom event focused on vaping and drug use awareness which was presented by Sedak. In this Zoom, parents and community leaders learned about the various forms of vape pens and substances that our children may be exposed to. We will close the week of Red Ribbon Week on October 30th as we support Jayla's voice at their families united against fentanyl summit that is presented in cooperation with DEA. This event brings stakeholders together to share, collaborate, and build towards solutions that will save the lives of our children. Additionally, some of ECC PTA's upcoming events include our connection cafe at PJ's
009Coffee on Saturday, November 15th from 9 to 12, where community and PTA leaders may stop by and chat with county council members. Also, mark your calendars for Monday, February 16th to from 4 to 6 for ECC PTA's family engagement night. We will have more information on that soon. And on March 5th, we will hold our annual Reflection Arts Awards at Washington High School at 6 PM where we will celebrate our very artistic children. We truly hope you each have been able to attend a PTA event or meeting this year. The spirit nights at local restaurants, fall festivals, and family educational enrichments enrichment nights are in full swing at all of our PTA schools. Thank you for the time and your support of PTA in Escambia County. Our next presentation will be to our middle school
010students who scored a maximum score on last year's FAST test. Last month, we recognized our elementary school students that had done the same. Uh over the last month, our high schools have been doing that at each and every one of their sites. But tonight is your middle schoolers night. We're so so excited to do so. What's going to happen is Miss Payne is going to call each of your names individually. We'll have you come up, greet the board. Our chair will give you your certificate and if I miss anybody's name tonight and you're in the audience, make certain that I know because we have your certificate here as well. We're very, very proud of you. If the board will join me out front, the festivities will begin. Our first student representing Bula Middle School is
011Bryson Allen. [Applause] representing Ransom Middle School and Anatoli Badilia. also from Ransom Middle School, Hannah Wang. [Applause] again. from Ransom Middle School. Melody Kershaw [Applause] representing Bailey Middle School. Charles Turberville [Applause] and from Brown Barge Middle School, Hudson. Various. [Applause] Did I miss anyone? And if I said your name incorrectly, please charge it to my head and not my heart. [Music] [Applause] like to announce the October 2025 stellar employee of the month. Escambia County Public Schools Office of Community Involvement is proud to recognize Miss Cindy Hayes as the stellar employee of the month of October 2025. Miss Hayes, please come forward with your co-workers, family, and friends. [Applause] Cindy Hayes exemplifies what it means to be a stellar employee of the month. Her consistent delivery of high quality work not only meets but frequently surpasses
012the expectations of her role. With exceptional attention to detail, deep technical expertise, and a remarkable ability to manage complex tasks effortlessly, Cindia is an indispensable asset asset to her team. Cindy's collaborative spirit and generosity and in sharing knowledge fosters a positive work environment. Her commitment to teamwork has significantly boosted team morale and productivity, making her a cornerstone of her department's success. Cindy is always on the lookout for ways to improve and identifies opportunities for innovation and process enhancements. Her problem solving skills have led to the implementation of several new procedures that have saved valuable time and resources. Her professionalism and positive attitude shine through in every interaction. Cindy handles high pressure situations with grace and maintains a respectful and uplifting demeanor that enhances our workplace culture. Cindy's excellence, teamwork, and innovation truly set her apart.
013Cindy Hayes is stellar because of her excellent work ethic and her dedication to the staff and students throughout the Escambia County School District. She contributes to the healthy culture that supports high-erforming teachers, leaders, and staff. It is for these reasons and so many others that she has been selected as our stellar employee of the month of October 2025. Cindy will receive a plaque, a pen, and a check for $100 from Members First Credit Union. Cindy, please come greet the board. [Applause] All right. Good evening to the board and to Superintendent Leonard. I would like to thank you for the privilege and honor to be here tonight. Um, I'm excited and my co-workers are also very excited because I think this is the first time in history our little department has been awarded such an honor.
014I would like to thank my entire work team and family for believing in me. Thank you to Kevin Windham for sponsoring me and a very special thank you to Don Wilson for nominating me and thank you Don for setting me up for success from the very beginning. when I joined this team over 10 years ago. I wouldn't have been here if it weren't for your guidance and your bright light. Um, I also want to thank all of my co-workers, past and present, who've helped me along this journey. Um, our work team is a small one and a very big world, but we're a mighty one. So, from the bottom of my heart, I'm so proud to call you my work family and I'm blessed and truly humbled. Thank you. We're very proud of you, Cindy.
015We have one more middle school student that made a maximum score on her fast testing. Like for Meline Madril to please come forward. Congratulations, Madam We'd also like to celebrate workplace giving uh and the campaign the campaign that concluded at the end of last year that we will also be picking up on right now. Um and let me make certain that I read every word so that I don't get in trouble with the appropriate individual. We are pleased to acknowledge the winners of the Escambia County School District's workplace giving campaign. This initiative is a collaborative effort between the United Way of West Florida and the Escambia County Public School Foundation. The generosity of our employees demonstrated through both monetary contributions and volunteer efforts positively impacts our community, our staff, our students, and their families. This
016evening we are pleased to welcome Laura Gilliam, president and CEO CEO of United Way along with Joe MacArthur, executive director of the Scambia County Public Schools Foundation. Additionally, Chris McFarland, coordinator of enrollment services, and Wanda Cottic, coordinator of community involvement, will be here to introduce this year's winners. Following their introductions, the winners will have the opportunity to shake hands with the board, after which we'll take a group photo. Did I cover everything? All right, Miss Gilliam, Chris, Joe, Panda, please come forward. Good evening. Thank you so much. We to have for having us here. We are very excited to be with you this evening. Um, I also want to introduce another team member from United Way of West Florida, Mary Kate Fowler, who's on our development team. Wave, Mary Kate. um she's new to the
017area. Her husband is in the Navy, so we're glad to have them in the community and and with our organization. So, just again wanted to say thank you for this great partnership and for the generosity of your team of um the school district. Uh we are very very grateful um to be a part of of this work. Um this is just one of several partnerships that we have with the Scambia County Schools. Um, many of you will recall that in July when it was very warm, um, we had stuff the bus, which is the approved school supply drive that we do every year with the school district. I believe every school in the county received supplies. Um, we collected 20 pallets in all. Uh, that's a it's a great partnership because a lot of the
018volunteers who come out are not just staff but also students. So, um, that's always a lot of fun. Day of Caring is this Friday and there are 13 schools in the district that will have groups of volunteers coming out and help with cleaning, painting, um beautifification outside, any number of activities. Um and so we're grateful to again have that partnership so that it gives these volunteers an opportunity to give back to the community. Uh a new partnership is the healthy schools initiative, a healthy schools of Scambia initiative which is funded through the children's trust. Um we are now in four schools and um that is focused on bringing community resources to help improve the health and academic achievement of students and families. In addition, we've also enjoyed um several of your having several of your
019team members on our board. Um when I joined United Way in 2018, Joe MacArthur was on our board and then Chris McFarland and now Wanda Cottic. So u um thank you very much for being generous uh and allowing those folks to serve serve on our organization's board. So again, thank you um very excited to be here and uh congratulations to these winners. We are um again grateful for that participation. Good evening. I am proud and happy to be able to announce um that for the United Way of West Florida for last year's campaign, employees donated a total of $19,865. Our leading schools and departments from last year were as follows. For the district exceptional student education, Sandre Hill, director, Marlene McCully, coordinator [Applause] at the elementary level. Belleview Elementary, Ashley Kemp, principal Jennifer Shupe, coordinator.
020[Applause] At the middle school level, we'd like to congratulate Ransom Middle School, Al Marsh, principal. Natalie Lackey, coordinator. [Applause] And at the high school level, congratulations to West Florida High School. EC Shannon, principal Jeff Anderson, coordinator. [Applause] Thank you. Good answer, sir. Go. Yes. One more. Stay put. Thank you. Good evening. I'm excited to be here tonight and talk about work workplace giving and the Escami County Public Schools Foundation. Um, as Laura did, I'm going to point out, I'm going to go off script just a little bit because Chris just had me announcing names. Um, of all of the different fundraisers we do and grants we get and monies we raise, to me, this is the most heartfelt and humbling of all of them. What workplace giving is to me is that our employees in
021Escambia County believe in the work that we are doing at the foundation. They understand our mission and they understand that the money that we raise goes directly back to the classrooms, the teachers, the students, schools and employees in Escambia County. So, I want to personally thank everyone that um donates to workplace giving to the foundation each year. Um last year, our employees donated a whopping total of $21,876 to the foundation. And I'm going to clap for that. Our leading departments were as follows. the district central warehouse and an amazing partner and friend, David Gardner, director of warehouse service operations. Come on up. That's quite amazing because his team also um manages and handles and is our partner with our tools for teachers program. Um and so here you show up again and do this. Thank
022you, my friend. The elementary school that gave the most was West Pensacola Elementary. Christine Baker, principal, Brittany Langlo, coordinator. Come on up, Christine. [Applause] Our middle school biggest donor was Belleview Middle School Adrien Green principal Latana Sonni coordinator. [Applause] I'm sorry if I messed up your name. Did I mess it up? Did I mess up your name? Latana. Dr. Griffin is here today. Congratulations. And for high school, once again, West Florida High School, Ishi Shannon, principal, Jeff Anderson, coordinator. [Applause] Please. Co's over. [Applause] The district would like to thank all 75 of our schools and departments who participated in last year's campaign. Uh last year we had a combined total given of $40,000 and this year we have established a goal of $50,000. Um this October 30th we will have our kickoff with all of
023our workplace coordinators here in room 160 and the campaign will be the first two weeks of November. Um and all of our schools will be participating through our payroll deduction program as well as through a Google form that we provide them. So, we want to definitely thank United Way and the foundation for being here and for our schools that go out of their way every year to help support the campaign and thank you for giving us this opportunity to present tonight. Thank you. We will now begin the agenda public forum. All forms must be submitted at this time. The purpose of agenda public forum is to allow members of the public to address the school board regarding any item on tonight's agenda, including items from public hearing. Speakers must adhere to the guidelines outlined in
024the policy and posted on the agenda. You're expected to be respectful in your address to the board. You're also asked to use titles and not individual names. Personal attacks against schoolboard members, superintendent, staff, employees will not be tolerated. Please direct your comments to the chair. Personal attacks against other speakers and outbursts during another speaker's time will also not be tolerated. If you fail to follow these guidelines, you will be warned by the chair and subject to removal if violations continue. Each speaker will be allotted 3 minutes. Miss Odin will serve as a parliamentarian. Miss Boswell is the timekeeper. will start the timer with your opening remarks. The buzzer will sound when your time has elapsed. When the timer sounds, please bring your comments to a close. The first speaker is Jenna Henderson. You have three
025minutes. Good evening, superintendent, schoolboard members, and our community. I am Jenna Henderson, a Escambia County alumni. I have two daughters who attend Escambia County Schools in sixth and 9th grade. My husband works for the district and this is my 18th year as a proud Escambia County educator, and I'm currently an elementary media specialist. On the agenda tonight are updates to policies regarding the selection and adoption of instructional and library materials as well as discussion of the latest release of the DOE 2425 school year reconsideration list. In July, you chose you chose to remove hundreds of books from the shelves of our publicly funded school libraries. This decision was made with little research or regard for what was being removed. On that list were many books that we had already been through our rigorous process of
026our review committees and board approval when your decision was to keep the books on the shelves. However, since it was merely questioned in another country, you removed them all without consideration. Now, there's another list from the state of several hundred books that have been challenged in other districts and I believe about a hundred of which can be found in our media centers. You have the choice to blanket remove over a hundred books, giving up our control and the rights of Escambia County parents and families to the members of another community even though your own policy 2522, which you're discussing tonight, states that only parents and residents of our county may contest library materials. Are you aware that 63% of the books on this reconsideration list from the state are from Klay County and that they
027have a resident book challenger much like we do in our county? and that one man in Klay County has submitted 48% of those book challenges since 2022. Are we going to let one man in another county decide what is appropriate for our students? According to recent reports, our school board has spent nearly $1 million in two court cases in which the actions of this school board in removing books from the libraries is being questioned. $1 million in counting because those lawsuits are ongoing or in appeal processes. I can't imagine that continuing to remove books without due process is going to be a good look. Or is those books be added to these cases and the judges will see that this problem is ongoing. One school board member came to my media center to warn me
028of this new policy and how I will be held accountable for the contents of my media center. However, when I opened the discussion to the vagueness of this new policy and how it relates to existing state statutes or are current book challenge processes, you were quick to shut down the conversation. Is this board familiar with the state statutes already in place for media specialists and what we have to follow? But state statute laws and schoolboard policies aside, while I'm not here to speak for all media specialists, I'm sure that if any of them were asked, they would say their one goal in the library program is to instill a love of their reading to students because readers produce thinkers and community members. None of us want to hurt students or place harmful materials within their
029reach. Thank you. [Applause] Next we have I'm sorry can't hardly make out the name. Is it Sherry Champ portion? It's Chiara. Thank you. I am speaking um to you today because you have the power and the responsibility to end the assault on students right to read and the rule of law which has been incurring in our beautiful county. a county from which many people have been leaving, even fleeing. There is an exodence of talented and principled people um from unjust firings at the University of West Florida to to students and future educators who would be our future teachers. I've spoken to teacher uh to teachers who must conceal their identity. Um others who have left the teaching profession and scraped the rainbow sticker off their car out of fear. Others who have left Milton for
030Madison. You are teaching our children that it's okay to cave to hate. And I I must remind you that it's not good government to say I have six minutes actually. Uh that it is not I was donated time. Thank you. Um it is it is it is not good government is to say that we're going to save money by not going into the details and looking at these books. No, that is skipping over the process. You are elected to represent students, teachers, parents, faculty, and teachers, the people. We should be protecting all of our students. This censorship regime re contradicts our expressed values of tolerance, diversity, and anti-bullying. They are a form of state facilitated bullying themselves. We cannot lie to our students and tell them that LGBTQ people and minorities do not exist. And
031a $1 million is a lot of money. That's money that that's money that we could instead be spending for instance instead of enacting a cultural purge to protect our young people many of whose families are at risk and themselves are at risk of deportation. And to our young people, you have a voice and it is powerful. I encourage all of you to organize and stand up for yourselves, for your peers and teachers and librarians. You are the future and everything that we do is for you. We rely on you. We will we will rely on you to address the deep crises of our planet and our communities. And you can stand up to injustice and you can achieve justice. We know that this ban will not hold. In living memory, it seemed like segregation would
032never end. My mother and uncles remember when George Wallace was shot, when MLK Jr. was shot, when students at Escambia High School rioted over integration, and yet school segregation ended. Just as segregation ended, this ban will end. You can help turn the tide now. You have the power and the responsibility. As Dr. King said, the time is always right to do what's right. Let's do right by our teachers, librarians, students, and the people in this ban um now because it's the right thing to do. And I would also say that if we have bans in place around school sports, around the around around names and pronouns of students and faculty, those must be done away with, too. Remember, $1 million is a lot of money. We could be protecting little girls and little boys from
033their families being deported. You you must be aware that in the news today, one of what a what a what um a the owner of a of a of a of a taco stand that many of us go to. I apologize. I forget the name of it. He is having to leave this county that he has that he has supported. And you must answer to the people, not to not to any passing fad, not to the loudest person in the room, not to the governor Ronda Santis, and not to the president who was not our king. You will remember that 7 million people came out to to to to insist that we must follow our constitution and our laws. And some of the laws that we have on, one of them is called the Civil
034Rights Act. There is a law higher than any dictate of a governor or a self- selecting legislature. The Civil Rights Act, our Constitution, and the laws of hum of human decency. Thank you. And I yield my time. Megan Hughes, you raise your hand. Megan Hughes. Okay. I just want to make sure you donate three three minutes. Yeah. Next we have McKenzie Ramsey. You have six minutes and you have three minutes donated from Brett Ramsey. Brett here. Okay. Thank you. You have six minutes. Hi, my name is McKenzie and I'm a Scampia County resident and a former ECSC educator. I'm here today to speak on the policies regarding selection and adoption of instructional materials and challenges to adoption or use of instructional library or reading list materials. I appreciate that the new policies are slightly more
035thorough in what constitutes reasoning for removal or inability to acquire books. However, I am very concerned about a section that states that the superintendent has the right to remove a challenge title without review. This policy appears to give the superintendent the ability to unilaterally decide that a book should be removed without any input from the board or the opportunity for the community to give their thoughts during a meeting like this one. This is unacceptable. Like many of my friends in the audience, I have come to these schoolboard meetings and told you how I feel about book removals. And like many of my friends, it often feels like I'm speaking to a brick wall. There is no acknowledgement and seemingly no regard for our position. Just continuous bending towards a very vocal, hateful few. However, I
036take solace in the fact that all of our schoolboard members are elected officials that can be held accountable through being voted out of office if necessary. Our superintendent, however, is not an elected official. He holds no responsibility or accountability to the residents of Escambia County, except for the five members of this board who have already shown that they will not stand up to this attempt to silence the voices of minorities or engage in the authoritarian tactic of book bans. He should not be the final say on this topic. Last month, you all passed a heightened tax rate to fund our schools. Let me be the first to say that I am completely willing to pay higher taxes if it means that our teachers are paid a living wage, our facilities are wellmaintained, and our students
037have the resources necessary for them to thrive. What I'm not okay with is paying higher taxes so that this district can pay for lawsuits regarding book bans. It's been reported that over $600,000 has been spent on this to date. However, it's pretty hard to find that information or any regarding this on your website. After some digging, I found a very small section in the superintendent's annual report that states that the district does not think that they will be materially affected by this fiscal year by the lawsuits due to insurance coverage, but that the lawsuits could have adverse material effect by next fiscal year. I'd like to know where you plan to find the money to cover that and if it will come at the cost to our students and educators. The fact is these lawsuits
038will not stop until the district follows the guidance set forth by the federal judge in August. No book may be removed until it has failed the Miller test. If you continue to pursue the current policy, the lawsuits will drag on and the money will continue to be wasted. I urge the board to increase their transparency around these costs. Finally, I'd like to say that beyond policy and money, it is morally wrong to keep these books away from our students. I'd like everyone here to take a moment to imagine a teen girl who picks up I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou from her school library. A beautiful and classic memoir that also includes Miss Angela's experience of sexual abuse by a family member and her healing journey. The teenager reads this book
039and sees her own experience reflected in it. For the first time, she finds an ally in this book, and she feels hope that things can get better. After she finishes the book, she returns it to her library and gathers the courage to tell the librarian that this has happened to her, too. Together they are able to begin getting the girl to safety and to the help she needs. Without that book, she may have never told anyone. This is not an imaginary tale. This is reality. But not here in Escambia County, where that book is taken off the shelves. Many will argue that school libraries are not the place to these books. But I ask you, what is? If you believe that all the children of Escambia County have happy home lives where they are treated
040with respect and love, I'm really sorry to break your heart and tell you that that is not the case. where so many of our students school is their safe haven. And when we remove these books, we are reaffirming the most dangerous thoughts in these children's minds. We are telling them that it is shameful to be a victim of abuse, that it is shameful to be queer, that it is shameful to be a person of color. These are not the messages we should be sending to our students. So, in conclusion, I urge the board to rethink the policy being voted on today, to increase transparency around the legal fees regarding these book removals, and to put all of our removed titles back in our libraries immediately. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Olivia O'Brien. You
041have three minutes. Olivia O'Brien. Olivia O'Brien. Okay. Firstly, I would like to thank my previous speakers for so eloquently putting into words what I cannot so eloquently uh put myself. I'm speaking today on the subject of unnecessary bookbans at the expense of taxpayer dollars. There is no reason to remove learners access to information if it does not fail the Miller test. Furthermore, publications from marginalized perspectives are not obscene and our learners deserve access to learning tools that range in perspectives for the betterment of our future adults. I I yield my time. Thank you. Thanks. We have uh Linda Fossil. You have six minutes. Three minutes donated from Barbra Beck. Good evening. Policies 2520 and 2522 work to further restrict books and the rights of students to read. The Department of Education book removal list will
042now become the guide for which books cannot be selected, for which books cannot be selected, not qualified certified educators. A profanity count is now the norm for choosing books at various levels. Because there has not been thoughtfulness in developing these policies, there are landmines ahead. For example, no profanity, limited profanity, and no overly gratuitous profanity. There is no definition of what counts as a curse word or quantification of how many is too many curse words for middle or high school books. This amount is obviously different for different families. Be assured that librarians are already regularly vilified won't be buying more books with this policy. Many of them will refuse and with good reason. It allows someone to say one bad word is too many and then allows the school board to continue to go down
043the road of eliminating librarians completely. Why keep paying them if they're not buying books or buying books that violate an impossible to follow policy? The top three districts in Florida accounting for 80% of removals in 2425 school year are Klay County, Poke County, and Escambia County. According to Florida Freedom to Read, 97% of books aren't required by law. They happen because of fear. Fear of losing funding, fear of political backlash, fear of standing up for students rights to read. This is what censorship looks like today. Self-silencing, not statutes. When educators and librarians are intimidated into removing books just to be safe, it erases stories, stifles learning, and betrays the very purpose of education. This is what is being done in supporting these policies. Policy 2522 will do away with the district review committees. The proposal
044in actuality is to move to restrict the ability to have books in the library that are age appropriate or contain the presence of specific themes like sexuality, violence, or controversial topics. Eliminating the district review committees is an obvious effort to eliminate the voice of the community. All the board members have stated that they support citizen input, but obviously not enough to have input on challenge books. The policy was previously changed to increase the number of people on the committee who would represent the community by representing each school board district and thus providing a view of community standards. This obviously hasn't worked out as intended because all of the books with the exception of two have been voted to be retained in some form. This board with four former educators would rather listen to one objector
045than the five citizen members of each committee. In June, it was decided to remove all books from school libraries that appear on the Department of Education book removal list with without further review. At that time, over 400 books were removed, whether or not they had been challenged in Escambia. When the latest report for 2425 was released, there are 224 books to be removed in school libraries, only 14 of those were challenged here. So approximately 624 plus books removed from school libraries since June. How depressing. Banning books negatively impacts students by restricting access to diverse viewpoints, hindering critical thinking and reading engagement and potentially creating knowledge gaps. It imposes a narrow world view. Bookbands can lead to a more insular and less culturally aware student population by limiting exposure to diverse cultures and perspectives that are
046vital for a pluralistic society. It interferes with curriculum. It bans bans force educators to develop curriculum without a full range of materials which can negatively impact the quality that students receive. Any parent who enrolls their students in public education is entitled to all the benefits that come with public education and that includes unencumbered access to the school libraries. One person or small group cannot be allowed to decide for the entire school district what can be in the libraries for students to read. The book policy is becoming more and more restrictive as a select few claiming to represent the collective parent voice advanced discriminatory censorship. Parents have always had the power to influence their child's education. Ironically, government entities are now actually limiting that influence. Do not support these policies. They are bad policies for students.
047Thank you. Thank you. Uh Leah Yun Banks is next. You have three minutes. My name is Leanne Eubanks. I'm a social studies teacher in the district. I'm here to speak to items 7A and 7B on the agenda and ask the school board to vote no to these two policies. If the school board wants to go ahead with these policies, there needs to be a lot more study and clarification. As far as the getting rid of the review committees, parental bill of rights says that parents have a right to make choices for their own students. That doesn't mean they have a right to take choices for other people's students and children. As far as the profanity count, I think there are a lot of issues that have not been adequately explored. What's the criteria for a
048curse word? How many curse words count? At what level? We know that it's none for elementary, a few for middle, no egregious ones for high school. Who decides? Is there going to be a list of curse words generated before this is voted on as a policy that you can't go back from? Decide on that and then go look at some of your books. Look at some of your favorite books. To Kill a Mockingbird. I feel like we all read that in high school. One of the most powerful books that I ever read as a student. By this policy, if you're counting the number of curse words, you would have to pull it. Martin Luther King Jr. I teach about him when I taught middle school, when I taught elementary school. Are y'all familiar with the
049letter from a Birmingham jail? It says, "My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and give up their unjust posture, but groups are more immoral than individuals." It continues. I can't read the whole thing, but I have had my students read it before. Um, he continues to say that he has to explain why it is impossible to wait to move forward on civil rights. And he says it is impossible to wait when you take a cross-country drive and find it impossible necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no
050motel will accept you. When you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading white men and colored only. When your first name becomes and your middle name becomes boy, however old you are, and your last name becomes John. And when your wife and mother are never given the respected title of Ms. when you were harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a negro living constantly at tiptoe span stance never knowing what to expect next and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments. It continues king speaks of the oppression that he experiences and he does use curse words. Do we eliminate that? Thank you. Next we have Lindsay. I'm sorry. I might mispronounce your last name. Lindsay. You have three minutes. Hi. Hi. Um, so obviously everything
051that people have been talking about tonight is are things we've been discussing for years. Years. We're throwing away a lot of taxpayer dollars. Years. So, I'm want to kind of like narrow that down a little bit um and talk about something specific that I'm concerned about as my kids enter high school. Um the advanced placement literature exam. This is an exam designed to test students abilities to analyze and interpret literature, engage with complex themes, and understand diverse perspectives. It's an exam that not only evaluates a students proficiency in reading and writing, but also challenges them to think critically about the world around them. The curriculum for the AP literature includes a rich array of texts, novels, plays, poems that span different time periods, cultures, and ideologies. The College Board, which administers AP exams, has stated
052that AP courses must remain faithful to the principles of college level work, and that censorship violates the course framework. However, our school district has removed books that frequently appear on these lists based on new state laws. as it's become as it has been stated many times. This has led to multiple lawsuits and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. That's not to mention that these rulings will be appealed and continue to cost the district more money. You can argue that you have the power to control which ideas are on the shelf, but this ignores professional expertise and the reading interests of our students. Um, I think I have a little bit of time to read some of this. While it would take longer than the three minutes allotted to go through all of the books that
053have been seen in the AP literature exam, here are some of the most frequently seen that are no longer seen in the shelves of our Escambia County high schools. Um, this is not inclusive of the 600 books that are being taken down as we speak. The Blest Eye, this was seen on the 1995, 2008, and 2009 exams. Beloved seen on the 1990, 999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 09, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, and 17 exams. The Handmaid's Tail used in 2003 and 2009. Slaughterhouse 5 used in ' 91 and 2004. The Kiterunner used in ' 07, 08, 09, 15, and 16. Their eyes were watching God used in 88, 90, 91, 96, 04 through ' 08, 2010 through 2014, and 2017. Catch 22. This is a big one. 82, 85, 87, 89, 94, 01, 03,
05404, 05, 07, 08, 2011, 2015, 16. And lastly, the color purple used in 92, 94 through 97, 05, 08, 09, 2012, 13, and 16. Perfect timing. Thank you. [Applause] There are no other there are no more speakers. This will conclude our agenda public forum. Next on the agenda is approval of the minutes. Item A, September the 11th of regular workshop. I'll move those minutes. I'll second. Move and second in discussion. No discussion. Please vote. Prove five to zero. Item B, September 11 special meeting. I move that we accept these minutes. I'll second. Moved and second. Any discussion? No discussion. Please vote. Prove five zero. Item C, September the 16th, executive session. Moved. I'll second. Moved and second. Discussion. No discussion. Please vote. Approve 5 to zero. Item D, September 16th special meeting. I move we
055accept those minutes for the September 16th special meeting. I'll second. Moved and second. Any discussion? Please vote. Approve 5 to zero. Item A September 16th regular meeting. So moved. Second. Moved and second. Any discussion? No discussion. Please vote. Approve 5 to zero. Thank you. There are two items for final reading and public hearing tonight. Item A is policy 2520, selection and adoption of instructional material. Um, I receive a motion. Oh, got to hear it first. Pardon? Just I just read it said there are two items. The first one was policy 2520, right? Okay. I'll I'll move the madam matter, Mr. Chair. I'll second. in discussion. First, I would like to say thank you to those that came out and speak, but I do want to make a clarification. The books that are on the AP
056list, that is mentioned in one of the policies. Is that correct? Just want to make sure you know that. So, they will be up in our libraries. Yeah. And you know then I'll say this there's concern I have great concern for several books that I that I read when I was a student and also in college that um um would like to see reconsidered but I know that we in a situation now where we um we need to move forward. Uh and I I will do my best in the future to to help get those books removed. I mean returned. So um but I will be voting yes on the U 20 on this one on this policy. Any other discussion? Please vote. Approve five to zero. Item B, policy 2522, challenges to instructional library
057and reading list material. I move that we adopt 2522. A second. Any discussion? Please vote. approve five to zero. This brings us to the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. I'll second. Are there any items to be pulled? um curriculum, finance, human resources, operations, superintendent, including student and employee discipline. Please vote on the consent agenda. approve 5. We will now begin public forum. The purpose of public forum is to allow members of the public to address the school board on any matter regarding education and administration of our schools. In this setting, we as board members are not compelled to answer questions or respond to you and typically would not engage in a back and forth dialogue in this venue. However, this board and the superintendent will note your
058contact information for a response if appropriate. As always, we invite you to contact any of us by phone or by email for followup. Our meeting times and locations are posted on the Escami County School District website. Speakers must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the public in the policy and posted on the agenda. You are expected to be respectful in your address to the board. You're also asked to use titles and not individual names. Personal attacks against schoolboard members, superintendents, staff, and employees will not be tolerated. Please direct your comments to the chair. Personal attacks against our speakers or outbursts during another speaker's time will also not be tolerated. If you fail to follow these guidelines, you will be warned by the chair and subject to removal if violations continue. Each speaker will be allotted
059three minutes. Miss Odum will serve as a parliamentarian. Miss Boswell is a timekeeper and will start the timer with your opening remarks. The buzzer will sound when your time has elapsed. When the timer timer sounds, please bring your comments to a close. The first speaker is Chel Chelsea Mahan Maym. Excuse me. Hi. Uh, my name is Chelsea Mayan. I'm a parent of an AK sutor second grader. Um, I'm here today to express my concern over the proposed participation of public schools in Escambia County and the Lifewise Academy agenda to remove children from their school during school the school day to take part in Bible study by local volunteers. Um, so I u I make a very conscious decision to send my daughter to public school. Um, even when I see a lot of my friends
060and neighbors making the choice to go to private schools, I think about it all the time. Um, there's a reason that the Escambia County Schools rules and regulations only allows release for religious instructions in grades 9 through 12. Public schools should be institutions of tolerance and community where families of all backgrounds, cult cultures, and religions feel welcomed. Giving precedence to one religion and separating children from each other achieves the opposite goal. What is to stop other religious organizations from offering a similar proposal to that of Lifewise for off-campus instruction? Please uh leave religious instruction to parents and churches and do not take the backwards step of separating our children in these already divisive times. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Adam Compton. You have three minutes. Good evening everybody. Thanks for your time. Um
061I'm Adam Kaitton, also a proud AK Sudter parent. We love the school, the teachers, staff, everybody there is doing a great job. Um I'm here to speak on the same issue. Um and I'm not sure how any of you on the board feel about it or or if you know about it. Um but this um you know program if it's put into effect would would separate students by religion during the school day and you know they'll say it's not by religion but you would have students who are signed up to leave the school to go to a Baptist church for part of the day and then coming back does create a religious division among the students that I don't think has any place in Escambia County schools and the having looked into the program a
062lot it's one of its goals is to have students recruit other students into the program, which I think is a highly disruptive effect in our schools. I mean, they try to entice them with, you know, pizza parties and stuff like that. And and the goal, there's a reason that this program refuses to do Bible instruction before or after school because the intention is to disrupt public school during the school day. And as a parent with a kid in public schools and another kid who will be in public schools, I'm very much opposed to that and just wanted to let you know. Um, thanks so much for your time. Thank you. Eubanks, you have six minutes. You have three minutes donated to you from Susan. Thank you. Wait a minute. Hi again. Um, I was here
063a month ago to talk to you about the issue of classroom libraries and how they're being affected by the board's policies in terms of uh having books approved by certified librarians. Um, it is now October. We have been at without classroom libraries for three months. Um the state policy requires that all books in classroom libraries must be approved by a certified media specialist. As I noted last time, my school media specialist approved every book in my classroom library two years ago, but now because of a change in policy, they have to be reapproved by the district media specialist alone um or her assistant and that is taking an incredibly long time. Um, when I was here a month ago, I had had to remove 87% of my classroom library. Um, in the past month, I
064have gotten another 7% of my book set free. So, I got 80% of my classroom library available. However, they're still mostly only children's books. Um, I want to address some issues about this. Um there are common misconceptions that I've heard in these meetings about teachers books and libraries. The classroom libraries teachers provide are for students to do research in my case for students to participate in history fair for students to do silent sustained reading. Providing books, open access to books, books where students can choose the subjects promotes literacy, promotes enjoyment of reading. Um, the teachers in our classroom li the books in our classroom libraries are not purchased by the schoolboard. No tax money is being spent on these. Every book in my library is either one I purchased or one that has been donated
065to it. Um, I've heard at these meetings people say it's fine to take the books off the shelves because kids can go to Barnes & Noble or the public library. I teach at a title one school. My students cannot afford to go to Barnes & Noble for a book. They do not have transportation to get to the public library if they're doing history for they do not have transportation to get to the University of West Florida. They do not have access unless it is at the school for the majority of kids living in poverty. That is a non-starter. Um, as far as the goal of having these books approved, there's a misconception that the books that the teachers are having to put away are somehow pornographic offensive on the band book list. Every book in
066my library was already approved two years ago. Not a single one at that time was on a band book list. No book since has been on the band book list. Every single one of them was preapproved. But because of this change to the rules, we are without classroom libraries. Um the invocation today said um that we're all working for the good of our students. Um I think this policy is contrary to the good of our students. I think it is harmful and it's harmful to teachers. I'll tell you right now, we're in a district with teacher morale at an all-time low. We're struggling to bring up our students reading scores. We're struggling to increase literacy. We're struggling to help our students learn and become critical thinkers. And this policy is taking away necessary resources that
067teachers and students need in order to be successful. I don't think the intention of the policy was to close down all classroom libraries, but that has been the effect. Um because we've been three months without classroom libraries. I've talked to a lot of my fellow teachers. Many teachers have after having to get our our libraries cataloged twice before, having to close them off, shut down one once before, and my library was shut all year while it was reviewed that time. A lot of teachers have just given up. They've packed up their classroom libraries. they're taking their books home or they've simply marked all of their books off limits because they do not have the time within the school day to go through and sort between the pending approval and the approved books. Um, and so
068in effect, we have no classroom libraries. Again, standard response, we have an Excel time that is for enrichment. When students have nothing to do, they're caught up on work. I say, "Read something." They can't. I don't have anything for them to read. Um, I will brought in some more examples just to highlight what's going on with these books that I cannot share with my AP class. The Federalist Papers, the anti-federalist papers. Neither has been approved. Voices from a March on Washington. Every single one of these is indexed to a standard, a benchmark, and an item specification on the state EOC. Narrative of the life of Sjourer Truth. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas. Kids at work. Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor. Famous photographs that are used in our curriculum. Can't use
069it. The day the women got the vote. The day Pearl Harbor. Photo essays. Usually use those so students can see photos. Fred Koramatsu. All-American hero. His court case is required instruction. I got this book for free from the Koramatsu Institute when Pensacola's Japan America Society offered a nationally recognized education program for teachers on Koramatsu. Can't use any of those materials. And AP History Prep books. These weren't approved in my library yet, so I can't pass them out for my kids to study. So again, this is a problem. Please look into it. [Applause] Next we have Mr. Rich Holes. You have three minutes. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Mr. Superintendent, Miss Odum, I'm here tonight to invite you to the movies this week. Uh, I didn't expect uh the uh the comments that we've received
070so far, but um it's it's a movie. It's a documentary and let me tee it up for you. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that prayer had to be removed from the public school system. 1963, they ruled that the Bible had to come out. And we've been reaping the whirlwind ever since. But what is little known is that in 1952, 70 years ago, there was another Supreme Court ruling that understood that 90% of children in the United States are educated in the public school system. Not every parent can send their child to private school, parochial school, Christian school. So the decision in Zorak vlausen was that parents who had children in public school had a right to take their children out of the public school system during school hours to receive religious instruction. That's a
071parent's right. Now, it's kind of been under the radar for the last 70 years, but it was resurrected again recently in 2018 when uh an organization called Lifewise Academy was founded and uh this has taken the nation by storm. They originally hoped that they would have this program in 25 schools in 2025. Well, it's in 35 states. uh they have hundreds of over 100,000 students enrolled and we have the first program of its kind that's going to be launched right here in Escambia County uh probably next month. Um we have a willing we have willing churches. We have lots of willing churches. We have willing uh parents who want their children receive this and it is the law. In fact, the law in Florida says that the state is a shall state when it comes
072to release time religious instruction. That means that superintendent, school board members, principles shall support a parents right to give their child release time religious instruction. It's the law. It's the law. So, um, there's a documentary coming out on Thursday the 23rd. AMC buy you at 7 p.m. Anybody in this room that wants to go to that movie, I will buy your ticket for you up here. I will buy a ticket for you and your spouse. Same goes here. Uh, you need to know about this program because it's coming and is supported by Florida statute and federal laws. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. We have Shara, you have three minutes. Thank you. I want to first of all say that a board member said something that was not factual, which is that um uh books on
073the AP are not banned. First of all, you cannot see into the future to know what future um AP uh uh examinations are going to have. Um but second of all um the uh the books are listed in the uh in in in those which uh you are purging. So that was um an inaccuracy. I believe I actually read the day Pearl Harbor was uh bombed at Fairy Pass Middle School and I'm very sad to see that students will not get that option. Um, but I wanted to uh ask you primarily um what other um uh policies are you mirroring from the uh the the governor? Um so uh do we have uh do we have uh bans on uh um school sports participation for transgender people? Are you restricting uh name and pronoun uh
074uses for teachers and students? Um, I would uh I I would love to be able to to be able to uh to have that information. Um, and uh I forgot to quote Dr. King actually, which is to say that uh the the best time to do the right time uh to do the right thing is always uh and I'd also like to uh let our uh let the let remind you that you received over uh 310 letters from 62 individuals uh imploring you not to to do what you just did with uh with with with keeping our school libraries closed and keeping this book purge going. um we are we are slipping into uh a situation of of of sectarianism. Uh we do not want to end up like Northern Ireland where we have uh
075religious conflict and by enacting these kind of uh bigoted policies. Uh it it it's not healthy for it's not healthy for our society or for our future. Um but I would really like to know um Mr. chair, if you may be able to speak to do you have any particular policies on the use of student or teacher pronouns and names or school sports participation? Do you discriminate against transgender students? Okay. Well, I wish that you would be able to answer that. And I would just also remind the speaker that miss uh sorry, the school board member that misspoke. one of the speakers here tonight. You narrowly defeated him and I was proud to vote for you because I thought that you would uh contribute to ending the tide ending the tide of this cultural purge
076um and and these corrosive bigoted policies and I hope that you will uh you will be able to lead going forward. Thank you. There are no more speakers. Uh this concludes our public forum. Is anything else for the common good from the school board? I am going to react um to uh Miss Eubanks. Miss Eubanks, after your last uh visit here, I went to Escambia High School. I don't know if you know that or not. Spoke to your principal, your media specialist. I spoke to Miss Vincent and her office and to the superintendent to encourage and look at what can be done to make sure that your books are cleared since they were originally. and it's a matter of getting them into the right system. So that is something that has been looked at. Even
077the superintendent and I'm taking words from you, sir. You could speak for yourself, but I'm going to repeat that Mr. Leonard said that he is very much in favor of making sure that we could get your books and other teachers, not just you, but teachers books that have been reviewed reviewed and into the D uh Destiny system and available to students as soon as possible. We are limited at this point with the number of people who can review. We did more in the summer when there were media specialists available to do that in their off hours and be paid for it. and that is not the case at this time. But your requests and your comments do not fall on deaf ears. Thank you. And and again, I said everyone, not just you. You brought
078it to our attention. I looked into it and and we are going forward and things through Miss Vincent's office, through the superintendent are moving in that direction. uh definitely not as quickly as you would like or any of us would like, but we do we are aware of it. I was not aware of the review process change due to having to be listed in Destiny versus the other um app that was used before. All right. Thank you. There no other comments we are journ