001Got him. ask that you silence yourself by electronic devices. As a reminder, there are two now 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 school district business or public education. Additionally, if you are speaking to any of the items for public hearing, you'll be called to the to speak by me, myself during the agenda during public forum. If you wish to speak at either of the forms, you must complete a form located on the back table and bring it forth to Deputy Superintendent Payne, who's gathering them at the front table. If you wish to speak at both forms,
002you must fill out a form for both. All speaker forms must be submitted prior to the start of the agenda public forum. This meeting was properly advertised in the Pensacola News Journal legal notice number 11042636. It is tradition of the Escambia County School Board to begin each meeting with an invocation or motivational moment followed by the pledge of allegiance. This month, Mr. Fesco, District 2, will lead us. If you'll please rise. At this time, we'll move to adoption of the agenda. Mr. Superintendent, are there any additions or deletions to your recommended agenda? Yes, sir. There's just a few. Under item 24, consent finance item deleted. Item I is added. Item J is added. And then in section or item 42, consent superintendent other, item A has been deleted. Thank you. State statute and schoolboard rules
003require that changes made to the agenda after publication be based on findings of good cause determined by the person designated presid over the meeting and stated in the record. Do I have a motion to adopt the agenda? Agenda. I'll second. Any discussion? No discussion. Please vote. Mr. Harold, are you there? Mr. Harold. That's a kind of Yeah. Can we vote by just a raise of hands? Absolutely. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Mr. Harold. Approve three to zero. Moving into committee and department reports and special recognition. Mr. Superintendent will start with PTA update. Come on up, Miss Gamble. Good to be in front of you to bring you news about the PTA in Escambia County. Thank you for giving me this time to speak. Our 29 PTAs and PTSAs have been busy with
004student enrichment programs and family engagement events such as carnivals and STEM family nights. Throughout the county, our local units are working to support all our students, families, teachers, and their school. Several local units have also hosted teacher appreciation events, not just at their schools, but at schools who do not yet have an active PTA. We recognize Molino Park, Cordova Park, and Cook PTAs for their outreach efforts. As the year progresses, PTA continues to grow in Escambia County. Our membership to date has exceeded last year's. We have we have 352 members. As you may realize, the strength of PTA's voice for child advocacy is in our membership numbers. If you have not had a chance to join, please consider doing so to show your support to our children. Remember, anyone may join. You do not have
005to have a child at the school and there is no time commitment required. Although we wouldn't be able to do all we do without our wonderful volunteers and we are still growing. On April 2nd, we are scheduled to reinstate our 30th local unit. County Council has been busy has been busy assisting all of our local units along with celebrations and community engagement. On January 25th, we celebrated our 100 years of PTA in Escambia County. We thank We thanked Superintendent Leonard and board members Miss Bgosh and Mr. Herrell for attending along with over 100 PTA and community leaders as we celebrated our history. In February, we participated in the Escambia County Public Schools podcast of Falooa, a great event where we were able to engage with parents and talk about PTA's purpose and mission. We were
006special judges for the county history fair where we awarded seven students for their submissions that showed a connection with PTA's purpose and history. Additionally, on February 19th, we had fun cooking a meal for the families at the Ronald McDonald House. Our schedule for the rest of the school year is filling up and you will find us at gallery night this Friday. So stop by to see us near the Artail Art Gallery. On March 27th will be our rescheduled Reflections Arts Awards Ceremony where we will award 51 of our students for their creativity in the arts and their accomplishments to moving up to the state level for judging. On April 5th, we will hold a spring training for our current and future PTA leaders with guest instructors from both National and Florida PTA. This training is
007funded by a mini grant from United Way of West Florida. And we round out April with two community events. Earth Day at Brave View Park on April 19th and on April 26, we will be participating in WSRE TV's Be by Neighbor Day. We will close out the school year by bringing back ECCPTA's local unit awards celebration tenatively scheduled for May 30th. Our 130 our over 130 wonderful and volunteers deserve to be recognized and celebrated for all they do throughout the year. Stay tuned for more information and we hope you will be able to attend. Again, thank you for letting me update you on PTA in Escambia County. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Next we have military ch child proclamation. Sir ask the board members to go ahead and come around to the front. Can I
008get a motion? I move the motion. I move the resolution proclamation. I will second. Any discussion? Please vote. Let's go ahead and vote. That's fine. Are we doing it by hand? You feel good? Okay. I feel good, too. Mr. Harold, are you there? Can you Can you hear us? Okay. Okay. Any luck, Dana? I haven't seen anything yet on my screen. Approved four to zero. If you would indulge, I'd like to You had so much confidence in the manner in which this proclamation was written that you approved it before I read it, which is the type of confidence we have in our military and our military families. So, I would like to ask Command Master Chief Wallace and Commander Alfano, who's the executive officer, to please come to the podium while I'm reading this proclamation.
009Our board members will go ahead and come around to the front. Whereas Naval Air Station Pensacola provides social, cultural, and financial benefits to the Pensacola community. And whereas re research shows that military families experience frequent relocations where families often move an average of every 2.9 years and children of military personnel can attend up to nine different schools by graduation. And whereas deployments which are necessary to the mission of our armed forces and are a normal cycle of the military lifestyle can impact the educ educational outcome of children. And whereas educators play a special role in the lives of children and school can serve as an oasis of stability for children especially during a parents deployment. Now therefore, be it resolved that the school board of Escambia County, Florida, does hereby recognize the month of April
0102025 as Military Child Month and calls upon families, schools, businesses, and communities to be our partners in announcing this resolution and to become active in celebrating our military children. Be it further resolved that a copy of this proclamation be spread upon the minutes of the regular meeting of said board that a copy be tendered to Captain Shandra Newman, commanding officer of NAS Pensacola and Chris Hendricks, schoolison officer, NAS Whitingfield, which was adopted this 18th day of March 2025. Master Chief Commanding Officer, please come greet the board. It is an honor to be representing NS Pensacola and the service members and their families who call us home. I want to take a moment to recognize a very special group within our community, our military children. April marks the month of Military Child, a time to honor
011and celebrate the strength, resilience, and sacrifice of our youngest heroes. These remarkable children face unique challenges and often endure long periods of separation from their parents due to military service. To all the military children here in Pensacola and around the world, I want you to know that your bravery does not go unnoticed. Your unwavering support for your parents and your adaptability to change is truly inspiring. To our military families, thank you for your service and sacrifice. Your dedication to our nation not to go and we are grateful for your resilience and commitment to our community. Naval Air Station Pensacola's long-standing relationship with our community has endured the generations of military connected children that have been able to thrive. The Air Station has been part of the city of Pensacola for more than a century. And
012just as you've taken care of the war fighters train, you've taken care of the service members children. To the individuals, I want to say thank you as we celebrate month of the military child. Thank you. We will now begin the agenda public the agenda public forum. All forms must be submitted at this time. The purpose of the agenda public forum is to allow members of the public to address the school board regarding any item on tonight's agenda, including items for public hearing. Speakers must adhere to the guidelines outlined 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, superintendent, staff or employees will not be tolerated. Please direct your comments
013to 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'll be warned by the chair and subject to removal if violations continue. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes. Miss ODM will serve as parliamentarian. Miss Buzzwell 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 we have tonight for public forum agenda item only is Cynthia Brown. Cynthia Brown, you have three minutes. Good evening, Chairman Williams, school board members, and Superintendent Leonard. It's my honor to be here tonight to stand before you as you prepare to cast your vote on our current school year salary
014schedule. I want to start by thanking Carolyn Gray, Nick Mzowski, Jonathan Peacock, and Vince Childris, and the members of the district bargaining team as well as the members of the Escambia Education Association and Escambia Educational Support Personnel Bargaining Team. We are all truly grateful for their many long nights of crunching numbers and bargaining. Moving forward, we need to continue to work on compression. In order to hire the best, we must we must have a competitive salary. This will ensure we have the best teachers and workers for our students in Escambia County. The newly formed experience recognition and realignment committee within our bargaining teams will help us to achieve that goal. It is time that our experienced teachers and workers here in Escambia County are rewarded for their service to our community and our students. We
015need to value years of service in Escambia County. Before I close, I also want to say thank you to the payroll department as they prepare now to spend many long hours crunching numbers just so they can get um this new salary schedule and two employees paychecks. They did an amazing job um with the school recognition money and getting that out quickly and we appreciate that. Thank you for your time and for your service as we continue to provide Escamia County students with the best education possible. Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda is the approval of the minutes. Can I get a motion to approve February 13th regular workshop? I move that item. I'll second. Any discussion? No discussion. Please vote. Do we have Mr. Harold? Is he able to Okay. Mr. Superintendent, we
016voted. I'm just not sure why has it came up. No, sir. It is not. So, you're right. Dana, can you see the results of the vote? We don't worry. Let's go with what we have present. It's approved three to zero. Thank you. Next item is the approval of the February 18th regular board meeting. I'll move those minutes and I'll second. Any discussion? No discussion. Please vote. As you have the results, you can go ahead and post it. It's approved. Three to zero, sir. Thank you. Uh we do not have any items for any business for items four through seven. And this brings us to the consent agenda items 8 through 42. For the consent agenda, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? I'll move that consent agenda. And I'll second. Are there any
017the items to be pulled? I would I will pull item number uh 12 C. Yes sir. Any u any discussion? Please vote on the consent agenda minus the one item that's been pulled. I for the last two items on public now. Okay, Mr. Herrell, I have you connected to my uh microphone. So hopefully we can hear you and you can hear us. Thank you, Mr. Har. We're voting on the consent agenda if you can hear me. We're voting on the consent agenda. My vote is yes. It is approved four to zero, sir. Thank you. All right. This brings us to item 12 COU for community action. Can I get a motion? I'll move the uh the item. I'll second. In discussion, I will be abstaining from voting on this item. Please vote. My vote is
018yes. This was the vote I really wanted you to be online. Mr. Harold, my vote is yes. Thank you, sir. Is approved. Three with one abstain. Thank you. We do not have any items of 43, 44, 45. R 46. This brings us to our public forum. We will now begin our 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 will not engage in a back and forth dialogue in this venue. However, this board and the superintendent will note your contact information for response if appropriate. As always, we invite you to contact us by phone or by
019email for follow-up. Our meeting times and locations are posted on the Escamia County School District website. Speakers must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the policy and posted on the agenda. You're expected to be respectful in your addressing to the board. You are asked to use titles and not individual names. Personal attacks against schoolboard members, superintendent, staff, or 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 allowed three minutes. Miss Odin will serve as a parliamentarian. Miss Buzzwell is a timekeeper and will start the timer with your opening remarks. The buzzer
020will sound when your time has elapsed. When the time of sound, when a timer sounds, please bring your comments to a close. The first speaker we have tonight is Miss Vicky Bagot. She has six minutes with three minutes donated by Gary Bagot. Good evening. I thought I would just drop by during spring break to encourage all of you to keep standing up for our children. The book fight isn't about us. It is way deeper. And I hope all of you realize that. The fight for the innocence of our children is prevalent today like never before. Three years ago, I simply wanted help in making sure that younger beginning English teachers did not dare use a book that had discussions of sex, masturbation, and beiality as a classroom novel. Never in a million years could I
021believe that that book was one of many found deep within the crevices of our library bookshelves. When you and I were in school, librarians did not even think about putting a book on a shelf until they had actually read the book. Now, our own library media director has openly admitted in the review committee meetings that librarians do not read all of these books before ordering. Many simply use so-called professional reviews. Let's talk about this. Do you know the difference in obscene and inappropriate? To be obscene, the Miller test of obscinity is used. Something that our director is telling those on the review committee to use for the talisman of any book under review. It is a three-step process which usually allows any book to stay in the library because of the taken as a whole
022clause. something again our director has gone over with the review committees. I so look forward to July the 25th when hopefully that verbiage is totally irrelevant. Until then, however, please note that these books are not being submitted for obscinities. They are being submitted for being educationally or age inappropriate. Therefore, the Millard standard of obscinity is irrelevant. These books are sexually inappropriate for minors. As a veteran teacher and a lover of God's creations, I cannot believe that I'm even having to stand up here and continue to expose the fact that we have employees who seem to be leading the charge to corrupt our own children. I praise God for those librarians and teachers who have done what needed to be done in the name of decency. Our schools have our children for over seven hours a
023day and we are supposed to be acting in place of the parent. When a visiting adult cannot even go to the library on his own grab a book to guest read to a class, then there's a problem. And if you are depending on the mark report online or the librarian to tell you what's in the book, that's another problem. Our district likes to tout that we have an optin form. What will happen when a child who has one of these forms in place checks out a genre on that list? Who will be held responsible? Last week, my weekly video featured two series within our own elementary schools that introduce gay characters and being in love. Neither the parents nor the librarians were given this information. Nowhere in the Mark reports were parents warned about this.
024The argument that kids see this on TV or on a cell phone is our is not ours to have. Again, that's irrelevant. Currently, we have 27 books that supposedly are going to a review committee. Why? Let me share some of these. The art of racing in the rain has discussions of what tongues and thumbs can do while watching a man arch with joy. Also, it has references to sex with the bear. I am not your perfect Mexican daughter has discussions about shopping, partying, and effing. And he wants sex so much that he's willing to f losers. How about The City of Thieves, which has discussions like on page 328 where a guy claims the redhead girl was no pinup, but he wanted to see her naked, unbutton her shirt and tick her tickle her pale
025belly, then strip off the underwear and kiss her thin thighs. All of these are considered puriant. I submitted a book in September of 2022 called The Hate You Give. On the form, I simply wrote anti-cop agenda and age inappropriate. This book at that time was only found in our middle schools. Guess what? Now it's in our high schools. Several librarians who obviously can be trusted realized the book was inappropriate and it's gone. But other librarians have have left it bare. Besides the word 228 times, this book has discussions of sex like this. Let me clarify. My butt against his crotch, my back against his chest. I'm bumping up against him trying to figure out how to get the ball back into the hole. Again, this might pass the obscinity Miller test, but it is educationally
026unsuitable and inappropriate. Sadly, we cannot trust some of our librarians. Sadly, we cannot trust all of the mark reports. We have to keep moving forward. We also cannot depend on these so-called professional reviews that are being used in the review committees. Are you aware that some of these review committees like or reviews like book list, they're published by the ALA and NCTTE reviews don't even half the time use textual evidence. Those writers would have failed my graduate English classes. I leave you tonight with two new reviews that I have submitted found within our schools. These contain passages full of acts of orgasms, hand jobs, and masturbation. Thank you. Thank you. Next. Next week. Next we have Marilyn McDonald. You have six minutes. Three minutes donated by Neil McDonald. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, School Board Superintendent
027Leonard, and School Board Superintendent Leonard and Miss Odum. Thank you once again for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. Please know that even though I come and share what I feel God has put on my heart, I do honor each of you and your position and very much appreciate your hard work. I know you all are working in many ways to bring change and improvement to our public schools and for that I say a sincere thank you. I believe God has put this particular school board and Superintendent Leonard together for such a time as this for the good of our most precious and treasured commodity, our children. Until just recently, our nation's borders have been wide open, open to every kind of evil to come in. Sex traffickers, fitnol and drug cartels, terrorists, you
028name it. They have had free and open access to our beloved America for the last several years. This is a perfect picture, open borders of what we have going on in our public schools with so many books and materials that are daily made available to our children, kindergarteners through high schoolers. These are books that are filled with perverted sex, drugs, violence, and every evil imaginable. Just as our nation has opened borders had had open borders that have made us vulnerable and greatly weakened us as a nation, so have our public schools been greatly weakened by this onslaught of indoctrination. Our nation is now being cleaned up. Boundaries have been set and the foolishness of wide open borders has abruptly come to an end. It was necessary for the sake of the republic. I present to
029you tonight that for the sake of the next generation, our children and our grandchildren, it is crucial for their wholeness and well-being that you make these changes and clean our schools of this filth and deception. It is time to close the doors on the evil agenda that has swept through our public schools nationwide. How can we expect God's blessings when we defy him every day by allowing our children open access to this filth and perversion? Next month will mark three long years since this book issue was brought to the forefront and exposed in our county. Isn't it time to deal with this once and for all? Why should we drag our feet on protecting the most vulnerable? Review committees are not our answer. Going through these books one book at a time is not working
030and is only greatly prolonging the process. It's a sad day when we have to form review committees decide to decide whether or not our children should have access to these despicable books. The professional reviews that are a big part of what the review committees and library media specialists are using to review a book are a sham. These so-called professional reviews are put out by those who want our children reading these kind of books. And they purposely leave out the information that would expose a book for what it is. Totally misleading parents, children, and all those reading the summaries in those professional reviews. We still need a matrix of community standards based on common decency. And those community standards should reflect what you know is right, not compromise. There's man's ways and there's God's ways. Surely,
031it's time to choose. If you love God, love your children, love our children, and care about both their physical and mental well-being like I think you all do, then you will say enough is enough. And we'll see to it that our school libraries and classrooms are cleansed from this indoctrination and filth. It's time to write the wrongs on behalf of our kids. In the Holy Bible, First Kings 18:21, it says, "Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, then follow him." But the people said nothing. It's time to say something. It's time for you to do something. I believe the line is drawn and God is saying who is on the Lord's side. I
032pray it will be all of you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh next we have Mr. Alton Williams. You have three minutes. Good evening. Alton Williams. I'm here. I graduated at 69 here with my homework from the constitution. Illegal invasion by migrant other without gun. My reading my news article a communication between President Fox and former President George Bush and returning Texas back to Mexico. US citizen will be given green card and there's no mention of the United States giving land back to the Indian in America after meeting in Congress working to change the civil service job rules and regulation. Part of this information I got from uh a news world news dated August 21, 2001 and my full letter and everything was sent to the president the former President George Bush not George
033Bush but George Joseph Biden and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Thank you. That was my homework. William I may be able to take this book. Thank you. Next we have Miss Rita Inderson. You have three minutes. Good evening. My name is Rita Anderson, proud grandparent of a second grade dur. Thank you to the board, the school principles, their administrators and teachers who are on the front line and soldiering the students. Representing information from the 2023 24 Escambia County Schoolwide Improvement Plan. NB Cook designated as a school of excellence has a school grade of A. O.J. Sims has a school grade of C. The defined percentile for an A is 62% or greater. The defined percentile for C is 33 to 49%. Grade level data reflects the majority of OJSM students score less than level three on
034statewide assessment in English language arts and math where the majority of the students at NB Cook score level three or higher. There is a wide performance gap between the two schools levels. Currently, NB Cook has a significant performance gap between their high proficient students and a large subgroup. This subgroup has a current proficiency rate of 42%. The school score of A appears to be supported by the high performing students. To maintain the A score, NB Cook will need to keep their higher level students enrolled and challenged while working to increase the proficiency of the lower performing subgroup. NB Cook does not need to merge with OJ Sims where the student majority scores are below proficiency causing their school scores to plummet. Merging the schools could create a school where the majority of the students perform
035at a low proficiency level. It is likely the higher performing students that counterbalance the lower scores and their supportive parents would exit with a school merger. If the proposed merger is approved, your child's classroom could have the majority of students needing remedial action steps and attention that may not address the needs of the students at higher proficiency scores. What will this merge classroom look like academically? How will the teachers teach? How will behavior be monitored? Behavioral issues at OJ Sims requiring discipline resulting in suspension is substantially higher than NB Cook. Currently they have a school counselor overlay with Lake View counselor and have 25 mentors that work with children individually one hour a week. I am against the proposed merger allow OJ Sims to continue on their course of improvement and MB Cook to continue
036as a lottery magnet school serving the children of the entire district including the option extended to our military families. If this merger comes up for a vote, I implore you to vote no. Thank you. Um, next we have I'm sorry, I'm having trouble reading this. Caroline, thank you. You have three minutes. Good evening. My name is Caroline Hartnett and I'm an adoptive mom of two black children ages six and three through foster care here in Escambia County. As an owner of two homes in East Hill, both within a block of NB Cook, one of which I have owned since 1998. I am here to speak regarding the potential changes between the two schools. I'm also a former Vietnam era dependent who moved here as a third grader when you didn't tell that your parents were
037in the military for fear of repercussions. There were no special accommodations or celebrations or appreciation. We served quietly and near shame. I left public school in Escambia County by Thanksgiving break of my third grade year because it was undeniable that my teacher hated military children. I mentioned this to acknowledge the changes that have happened, the improvements, but also to say that there's a way to go. After applying for NB Cook and School Choice, we received no other option than our zone school, OJ Sims. After much worry and questioning, we chose to use our school choice to send our son to an F-grade school at the time, Global Learning Academy, now a C-grade. And I'd like to say that my son is in kindergarten in Miss Kelly, Mrs. Kelly Reed's kindergarten class, our student, our teacher
038of the year for the district. This should not and we made this decision based on the reputation of Mrs. Pierce when we met with her to send our child to goal and we're very happy there, but it's not a decision we should have had to have made. Not with two homes in East Hill. I have paid into the tax roles and I was not looking to adopt my son and he fell into our lap and now I'm here to get my piece of the pie in East Hill. We deserve better. We simply deserve better than a C-rated school with all of the things that have been mentioned previously. I don't know what the answer is and I don't know what my family will do, but we simply deserve better. It has been overlooked for far
039too long. School choice is not an option for us. Nor are private schools with the new situation of step up for students that's available to everyone. All of the private schools are full. That was my first choice. I didn't have a pregnancy and a time to get on waiting lists and things like that. You deserve to do better for children that are not heard for whatever reason it is. So I ask you please when this does come up for a vote you vote yes because we simply deserve better. I have paid and other people have paid. My son deserves better. My taken shelter at birth from West Florida Hospital deserves better. And I'll finalize that by saying don't you want to be part of changing his future? I sure would like to invite you to
040change it with me. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next speaker is Mr. Rich Hosnik. You have three minutes. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Mr. Superintendent Minnesota. Um I uh I'd like to address two points. In uh back in 2022, House Bill 1557 became law. The following year, 2023, House Bill 1069 became uh Florida law. Both of these House bills and state statutes address classroom instruction. Okay. Uh together they require an absolute ban on any classroom instruction concerning um sexual orientation, um gender identity, gender fluidity, and also they require that at any grade level all the from preK through 12 that classroom instruction be both age appropriate and developmentally appropriate. Okay. So, that's the law. That's the law. Now, I'd like to tie that in with this uh discussion that was already uh brought up
041by previous um speakers tonight. A volunteer should be able to pull a book off a public school library and read it. They should be able to. We need a community standard. And I would suggest this. The very first community standard that we should adopt with you members of the board as directly elected representatives district by district in the Scambia County. The very first community standard should be and with more to follow, but the first should be that the same Florida statutes that apply to classroom instruction should by extension also apply to the library. Simple. Here in Escambia County, we are going to ensure this should be the community standard. The same statutes that that govern instruction in the classroom should govern material in the libraries. If we were to do this, Vicky Bagot wouldn't have
042to come up here every school meeting and tell you what, you know, the latest book that's being challenged. The material in our libraries is currently in violation of Florida statute. If you are willing to just take a very simple step, a first step towards a community standard and say the stuff in the library is going to be governed by the same statutes that govern classroom instruction. That simple. Then we won't need book review committees. we can just clean house quickly and uh and then we could h we could just sit back and rest knowing that our kids are not going to be indoctrinated and that the material in the library will be wholesome and safe. Thank you for your attention. Thank you. This concludes our agenda items. Anything else for the good of the meeting?
043Yes. I'm sorry. Thank you, Melanie. Come on up, Miss Eubank. I'm sorry I missed it. You have three minutes. Thank you, Miss. Thank you and for the opportunity to speak. My name is Melanie Eubanks and I'm very concerned about the book review committees and we have the process of the book selection reversed. Books should not be selected until they are first reviewed. And how is that possible to read every book and media specialists they were told to air on the side of caution. This is not happening. They are relying on the quote unquote professional reviews. Most of the review companies are pushing a sexual agenda. The school board is not in the sex business. We must be intentional in what we put in front of our children. Parents have the right to protect their children
044from being exposed to obscene material. The book committees are not doing that and u it's like it's an attempt to appease those who want to protect innocence of young minds. the structure of the committee is lacking. If you vote no and you're not in the majority, you have no say so what age level are great appropriate that you think that that book is. And um that makes me feel like I can be shut out real easy. Um according to the law, child pornography means any image depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct. As a school district, we need to do better than the law. We need to uphold moral wholesome behavior. I was given a book, The Breakaways by Kathy J. Johnson. It's about students in a middle school and some fifth graders on a
045soccer team. On pages 153 and 159, two of these students end up in the same bed. They talk through feelings, revelations. One reaches out and touches the other and they ended up holding each other and then they're kissing and the pictures are in here. I'm not making it up. And you may say, "Oh, this is benign." But don't be so naive. Bad company corrupts good morals. This is not what we want for our fifth graders, middle schoolers, or any of our students. This is available. And you know, um, our media specialists when they pick out these books, they're representing you. You're responsible for the content in here, just as principles are supposed to be responsible for their schools. Somebody's letting stuff go. It's time to deal with the books at the sources. It's time to
046come up with a new procedure. What is in place is not working. We need media specialists that have integrity. People who do what is right when no one is looking. people who go above the law to protect our students innocence. You know, we do not want to foster our children to go down sexual paths. We want them to study math, reading, and sciences and things without getting entangled. And I appreciate us having a different procedure. Thank you. Now this concludes our agenda items. Anything else for the common good from the school board, Mr. Superintendent? Hearing none, this meeting is adjourned.