001Good evening. We will call to order the Tuesday, May 19th, 6:00 p.m. school board meeting. Please rise for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. We will have our JROTC FPC Air Force uh presenting tonight Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Prem Prakash Patel, Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Sophia Thomas, Cadet Chief Master Sergeant Matthew Wickham, Cadet Staff Sergeant Josiah Rosa, and they are led by Colonel Melvin Baskerville. Please come forward. >> [snorts] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Oh say can you >> [singing] >> see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly >> [singing] >> we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through
002the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs >> [music] >> through the night. >> [singing] [singing and music] >> and >> [singing] >> of the free >> [music] >> and the home of the brave. >> [applause] >> Right, face. Forward, march. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you. You may be seated. >> [snorts] [clears throat] >> Roll call, please. Lauren Ramirez, present. Janine Ready, Wellforay, present. Christie Chong, present. Lashaka Moore, Move on to our spotlights, 3.01, Superintendent Strategic Plan Spotlight. Yes, I will yield my spotlight time for 3.0, I mean 3.03 through 3.07. Okay, 3.02, the Flagler County Education Foundation Spotlight, Ms. Rizzo. Testing. Excellent. Good evening superintendent school board members and Flagler schools leadership team. On behalf of the Flagler County Education Foundation, I'd
003like to take a moment to celebrate some incredible student accomplishments and thank our community for continuing to invest in Flagler's future. This year we are proud to graduate 21 seniors in our Take Stock in Children program, all of whom have committed to continuing their education at the next level. Together these students have earned the opportunity for four-year tuition scholarship totaling more than $200,000. And even more impressive, two of these students are actually juniors who are graduating early this year. So we are very excited to to announce that. This Thursday evening we'll celebrate these outstanding seniors along with their mentors at the Palm Coast Community Center. We're incredibly grateful to the mentors, the families, the donors, and community partners who have poured in to these students throughout their journey. I also want to extend a heartfelt
004thank you to everyone who helped make our senior scholarship drive-by and surprise the best one yet, for sure. We want to um such a memorable success. I'm sure everyone has seen the videos, especially Ms. Ramirez. We love your excitement and passion for for our students and our seniors. We were able with 150 members, school district staff, local organizations, and volunteers, we delivered over 200 scholarships in the two nights totaling over $300,000 from local support, which is absolutely incredible that our community supports our seniors the way that they do. With combined with our Take Stock scholarships and our local scholarships, the Education Foundation is proud to facilitate more than $500,000 in college scholarships for the graduating class of 2026. We [applause] are beyond grateful to our generous donors and our community partners for believing in our
005students and continuing to support Flagler's future. Thank you all. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Okay, 3.03 Flagler Schools Retiree Spotlight with Mr. Joshua Walker. Good evening, school board chair, Superintendent Moore. Um, this evening we have the distinct honor of honoring our over 40 retirees who have retired from the school district during the 25-26 school year, which is incredible. I'm going to go ahead and start with listing the names of those who are unable to make it today, and then we'll get to those folks who joined us for a wonderful uh celebration just before this meeting put on by the Ed Foundation. So, I do want to thank the Ed Foundation for their support. So, going ahead and getting started, I have a Miss Lee Baker, Richard Bartholomew, Elena Bell, Sandra Berry, Angela Buchanan,
006Ruth Clark, Christine Connors, Cara and Justin Cronk, Dean Decker, Edward Dumpson, Tanya Fisher, Deborah Gats, Raymond Gomes, Kathy Haney, Ann Hardgrove, Richard Jeffries, Deborah LeBlanc, Maria Lopez, Jacqueline Malloy, Eugene McGinnis, Craig Medvid, Jamie Lou Norris, Celeste Peracho, Joy Plant, Rena Presti, Rosa Rodriguez Otano, Linda Sheldrake, Margaret Sperling, Claudette Toos, Debry or Debbie Viera, and Mr. Wilrick Woods. Among those folks, there's over 250 years of service dedicated to Flagler students. So, let's give them all a round of applause. >> [applause] >> And now I'll go ahead and transition to the folks that were able to be with us this evening. Folks, when you hear your name, please come up to the front. Um and so that we can get a picture with the board after. I'll start here with Ms. Uh Nancy Alessi, 39 years in
007Flagler schools. >> [applause] >> Rima Abenathy Hughes, 22 years with Flagler, but 35 years in education. >> [applause] >> Michael DeLorm, 11 years. >> [applause] >> Ms. Bev Ford, 35 years. >> [applause] >> Mr. David Freeman, 10 years with Flagler. >> [applause] >> Ms. Amelia Folmer, 38 years in education. >> [applause] >> Coach Scott Howell, 24 years. >> [applause] >> Mr. Robert Willette, 6 years, but 31 total in education. >> [applause] >> And Ms. Maggie Streck, 10 years. Let's give everyone a round of applause. >> [applause] >> All our last two come up, retirees. Thank you so much for the countless time, energy, resources that you have put in not only Flagler schools students, but also Florida students as a whole. So, thank you all. Maggie's Okay, perfect. >> [laughter] >> Look right over here
008for you guys. Congratulations. Big eyes, big smiles. Hold tight. Hold tight. Thank you guys. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> Testing. Testing. Okay. Am I back? Sorry. Okay. All right. 3.04 BTMSC Perch Teams presenter is Mr. Tracy Jones. Mrs. Tracy. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Superintendent Moore and members of school board for allowing us to share more about Sea Perch program at Boiling Springs Middle School here today. Sea Perch is a underwater robot program at Boiling Springs Middle School that helps students um learn engineering and collaboration skills. And in Sea Perch, you build underwater ROVs. An ROV is a remotely operated vehicle. And what you will be able to do with these is you use them to simulate tasks and missions [music] that first responders might encounter whilst um uh after emergencies like hurricanes or tornadoes.
009Last year was um environmental monitoring and coral restoration. So, there's two parts of SeaPerch. There's the mission course and the obstacle course. The mission course is all about task completion. So, do you have to pick up and move heavy debris, take water samples, place sensors, and the obstacle course is all about maneuverability and speed. We are proud to say that this year we are sending not only just one team to Internationals, but three teams, a record for Flagler County. And I'm also happy to say this is my second consecutive year going to Internationals. But, none of this would be possible without the wonderful help of our faculty advisor, Ms. Jones, who does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work with registering our teams for Internationals and registering us for the competitions. Thank you. Thank you so
010much. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> Right there. Perfect. I want you in the center. >> [applause] [applause] [clears throat] >> Okay, our next presenter is uh the 2026 Art in the Capital presenter with Mr. Reeves. Here we go. Here, board members, Superintendent Moore. Um we have such a crowd here tonight. We We're just want to make sure is is Jaycee Kurbec here? Hey, all right. Come on up. Excellent. This is our second year of recognizing our students with their Art in the Capital. And um she did an art piece called Saunder, which is right here. Which I'll let you kind of show off for everybody. And I'm going to say that it's still life It's a still life grid drawing with zentangles. And then I had to look up zentangles because I wasn't sure. It's
011a meditative drawing method where you create beautiful abstract images using structured repetitive patterns. And so it is a lovely piece of work. And I just want to recognize her and her teacher today. Ms. Kisner is here. Uh eighth grade student from Buddy Taylor Middle School. And it's an accomplishment because one of many students that submitted her work. And then from that, from the school level, came to the district level. And at that point was judged again and uh won this year for us and it was sent to you our legislator's office, uh Representative Greco, who then had it uh on display during the legislative session along with 67 other pieces of work from students from around districts from the state of Florida. So, it's quite the honor. And uh she was recognized with a letter
012from our our representative as well as certificate honoring her work from our Commissioner of Education. So, I just want to recognize you today for all your efforts. And thank you so much for making this project so good. We're very proud [applause] of you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Oh, the other way. >> [laughter] >> Uh well done. Beautiful. They want to see it down there as well. Yeah. Yes. [clears throat] Congratulations. >> [snorts] >> All right, our next spotlight is the 2025-26 Crime Stoppers student poster winners presented by Mr. Bosserdet, Office of the State Attorney R.J. Larizza, also >> [snorts] >> Jake Jason Lewis, Assistant Prosecutor 7th Circuit, >> [music] >> Mr. Greg Feldman, Northeast Crime Stoppers board member, and Mr. Ed Fuller, Northeast Crime Stoppers also board member. Good evening, school board members, Chair Chong,
013and Superintendent Moore. Tonight, we recognize students who have used their creativity and talent to promote safer and and stronger schools and communities. Through this year's Crime Stoppers poster contest, they shared powerful messages about courage, responsibility, and the importance of speaking up when something isn't right. To all of our student participants, thank you for your hard work, creativity, and commitment to making a positive difference. Your efforts reflect the values that help keep Flagler schools and our community strong. And to our winners joining us this evening, congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. At this time, I would like to invite Jason Lewis from the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office and Chief Rodriguez from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office to come forward and recognize this year's winners. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Uh good evening, board. Uh
014Madam Superintendent, I just wanted to say before I even start, uh just watching all the students come up with the things that they've done, it's super impressive. You know, a lot of times we get negative about the future of our children and what they're doing and it's pretty amazing what all these children have accomplished here. So, I just wanted to congratulate all you and not just on this Crime Stoppers, but all the the things you're doing here. It's amazing. Um we have a great relationship with uh the school board, uh the Sheriff's Office and Crime Stoppers for the Crime Stoppers uh awards that we're going to give out for the artwork. It's so crucial for the students and and the next generation of citizens to be engaged and to do something that's going to help
015make our community better. And when all these students, we've had we had I think this year over 100 uh posters that were done and I personally had an opportunity to to go ahead and judge those and they were amazing. Talented, the students really put their hearts into it all. Unfortunately, we can only have nine winners, but I just wanted to congratulate all the kids who actually put into it and uh did something and we really appreciate that. No. Oh, you're good. Okay. Set it up. >> All right. This is the first time uh Chief Rodriguez uh might not want to talk. >> [laughter] >> Sure. I'm just kidding. I work with him a lot. He's a good talker. Um the best. So, and I'm pretty uh blind, so I needed my extra cheat sheet here.
016So, uh we're going to start with first place in uh elementary. It's Ayala Tanoco from Wadsworth Elementary School. Are you here, Ayala? >> [applause] >> Great job. Good job. And we have uh second place in the elementary. It's Valeria Moctezuma. >> [applause] >> And that's from Old Kings Elementary. Great work. Good job. And uh third place, we have uh Madeline Barnes from Wadsworth Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Congratulations. Great job. And I forgot to mention there's also a check there, so they get some money to go buy some cool stuff. Or, they can put it into their 401k for the future and save. Uh if we can move to uh middle school, if I get this correct, we're going to be rewarded here. J.C. Kurevic, first place, from Buddy Taylor Middle School. >> [applause] >>
017Did I get your name right? Did I [snorts] Kurevic. Kure- Similar. Good job. >> [laughter] >> And uh second place, we have uh Isabel Sandovar from Buddy Taylor Middle School. >> [applause] >> And finally in uh third place, we have Daria Dermezia Lee. Did I That's very bad. Dermenci? I guess we will get that to him from Indian Trail Middle School. But good job. >> [applause] >> And now first place in the high school, we have Chloe Dotson from Mantanzas High School. >> [applause and cheering] >> Congratulations. Great job. Uh second place, we have Alexis McLaughlin from Flagler Palm Coast High School. >> [applause] >> Great job. Thank you. And finally third place, Philip Marino from Flagler Palm Coast High School. >> [applause] >> I just wanted to thank everyone for participating again this year.
018We really love having you guys do that. Thank you. Can I get a picture with you guys? Excellent work. >> [applause] >> Uh my name is Ed Fuller and I'm at Northeast Crime Stoppers board and I'm going to I'm going to be a shameless huckster here. Uh if you notice two uh recipients from Wadsworth Elementary won this year. >> [applause] >> Indian Trails uh where both my grandsons go, so I'm not going to say that for transparency reasons they go there, but I want to thank all the children for all the great effort that you put into these uh posters. You know, it's you're building a culture. That's what it's all about. It doesn't hurt to get a little money to add it to it. But I want to thank everyone who participated and I
019just want you know it's really important. I want to thank R.J. Larizza, our state attorney, who always is graciously lets us use his office for judging contest. There's over 100 posters over there, so you can imagine how many people go in his office for 2 hours and and and naturally we do lobby for our schools, Flagler County. Uh Jason Lewis said I will not get prosecuted for saying that because it's full disclosure. Uh but it is amazing what what what the kids do and I want to thank everybody for speaking so loudly about how proud they are to be a part of this culture. Thank you so much and God bless you all you winners. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Our next spotlight is the Guy Harvey Conservation District recognition presented by Ms. Alves. >>
020[clears throat and snorts] >> I have a bit of a complex now. Everybody seemed to leave. So, good evening school board and Superintendent Moore. Thank you. Um tonight I have a very special spotlight to share. Flagler Schools has long been committed to environmental stewardship and today we're celebrating another major milestone in that journey. In 2022, our district was honored as a Guy Harvey Marine Science District of Excellence. A lithograph signed by Dr. Guy Harvey hangs in the superintendent's suite upstairs. Over the last several years, 15 of our dedicated educators have gone above and beyond attending specialized professional learning to bring world-class conservation efforts directly into our classrooms. Because of this dedication, I'm proud to announce that we have been officially recognized as 2026 Guy Harvey Conservation District. Tonight we're joined by representatives from two um
021Guy Harvey Conservation Schools along with other teachers who have participated in Guy Harvey Conservation trainings. In fact, I'm super excited to have them over here and I'm going to bring them up in a second. The teachers are from four of our 10 schools and have recently um completed an array of professional learning. Their hard work has brought a free standards-aligned curriculum to our students, merging the wonders of marine science with the beauty of art. Our educators share a common goal, ensuring that our students understand the importance of protecting our oceans and our ecosystems. Participating teachers had access to classroom supplies and they're all eligible for grant funding for field trips and continued professional development to keep Flagler at the forefront of science education. Which you know is my goal. So we're incredibly honored to be
022a Guy Harvey Conservation District and we look forward to expanding these training opportunities to even more staff in the future fostering a lifelong love for science and stewardship in every Flagler student. So I'm very excited to bring up 10 amazing educators that have participated in at least one sometimes three and four of the Guy Harvey trainings that are offered um and we have a mix of science as well as art teachers. So that's super exciting. So if I could bring up Miss Fitkus, Miss Hall, Miss Rosa, Jimison, Miss Dowdy, Miss Sensabaugh, Miss Skipper, Miss Cordova, Miss Adair and Dr. Asher. Come on up. >> [applause] >> A little something for each of you. And then we're going to have a picture with this lithograph. That's what it looks like. Um There you go. Everybody scoop
023that way. You guys up there are perfect. You're You've got this down. You've had a little practice. Right up here. Big smiles. Big smile. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> All right, so many wonderful spotlights tonight. We'll move on to the approval of minutes. The chair will entertain a motion the approval of minutes from April 14th and April 28th. Move to approve. Second. Moved by Mr. Meraz, second by Mr. Furry. All in favor. Aye. Aye. Do we have any additions or changes to the agenda? We do not. Okay, we'll move on to public comment. Agenda is adopted. Oh, I'm sorry. Can I get a motion to adopt the agenda? Move approval. Second. Moved by Mr. Furry, second by Ms. Reddy. All in favor. Aye. Aye. >> [clears throat and cough] >> The motion carries. Anybody for
024public comment? Yes, we have four public comments today on agenda items. Our first person is Ron Long on agenda item 7.02. Um good evening, Madam Chair, board, Superintendent Moore. I'm Ron Long of Auto Drive. The district is currently requesting a $623 uh bill for new vehicles. This includes seven new cargo vans, two passenger vans, and a box truck. Now, I understand the argument that maintaining a newer fleet, newer vehicles can reduce maintenance costs, it improves reliability, and it also increases resale value, and that makes sense. But, the question is do we actually need these vehicles? Right now, the district appears to operate approximately 23 class working class cargo vans, around 40 additional work trucks. These are F-150s, 250s, and 350s. Roughly 27 passenger vans, more than 90 school buses, and then there are about 30
025vehicles in what's commonly referred to as the white fleet, a pool of vehicles used by district staff and teachers. This includes Explorers, Expeditions, and Nissan Altima. Now, when I asked about the tracking the accountability of these vehicles within the white fleet, I was told that there may not be an formal record and logging system documenting who uses them, what for, or for how long. Now, I replied with asking for clarification because maybe I'm using the wrong terminology, but if that's true, that should concern every taxpayer in the county. I've not heard back on my question for clarity yet, but I'll wait and see. Many of these purchases appear to be piggyback contracts along with other counties. Concentrating purchasing together can absolutely save money, but we are also but are we also committing ourselves to purchases
026that we may not actually need just to participate in another county's procurement structure. At the same time, we continue hearing that enrollment in Flagler schools is declining. We lost about 300 students from last year, yet the spending continues to rise dramatically. Over the past decade, the school district budget has grown roughly from roughly 190 million to nearly 350 million, while the student enrollment has increased only 1,200 students during that same period. That trajectory deserves scrutiny. Now, this is not about attacking employees or preventing departments from doing their jobs. Reliable transportation matters, but taxpayers expect stewardship, not autopilot autopilot budgeting. Competition for students is increasing, enrollment trends are changing, and that means budgeting must change, too. I was at the press conference when Flagler CFO Blaze Ingoglia showed up in Flagler recently, and one statement that
027he said stuck with me. He said that local governments have spending problems, but he said that school boards are even worse. Now, whether you agree with that statement or not, it should at least cause us to pause and evaluate whether every expenditure is truly necessary. Taxpayers of Flagler County deserve confidence that every dollar is justified, every vehicle purchased is needed, and every asset owned by this district is being properly tracked and recorded. Thank you. Have a good night. Next, we have April Tinoco on agenda item 3.06. Who are we waiting for? Okay. Next, we have Jayden Daza on agenda item 21.01. [clears throat] Good evening. Good evening, school board members. My name is Jayden Daza, and I'm the SGA president at Matanzas High School. The topic I really want to cover is student mental health.
028Students need an outlet and a way to speak their minds, and on the behalf of students' mental health from my personal experiences, mental health is a crucial is crucial for a successful academic career. At my lowest, I realized I wasn't able to be successful in the classroom like I used to be. But with the help of my advisors, the SGA program, and my family, I was able to get back on track. Resiliency Week, unfortunately, does not benefit students' mental health, but I believe I have come up with a solution to benefit both our schools' programs and the and the students' mental health. I suggest we invest in more student mental health services that are in our schools. For example, we could have school counselors with the specific purpose of being an outlet in order to
029create a safe space for students to speak their minds and discuss their problems. This way we are aiding students' mental health, grades, and test scores, which could result in an improvement in attendance rates, which is also a major issue in our current education system. I believe students' mental health is a major issue which deserves more attention. Thank you for your time. Thank you. We have one more person, Madison Lauriano, on agenda item 21.01. Good eve- Good evening, school board members. My name is Madison Lauriano, and I'm the SJ secretary at Matanzas High School. I would like to speak to you today about the student board member representatives. I feel the students who have been chosen should have a voice. During a previous meeting, it was said that they are just kids. We are the future
030of our community, and I feel the student board member representatives are more than just kids. Having the opportunity to speak at meetings like this encourages responsibility, confidence, and collaboration between the students and the board members. We have ideas and should be able to participate and debate about the decisions that directly affect us. Please allow our future student board member representatives to have that voice. We can bring different perspectives and beneficial points of views. I respectfully ask the board to consider this for the next board member representatives. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to finance consent. We'll [clears throat] need a motion for 7.01 to 7.06. Move approval. Second. Moved by Mr. Furry, second by Ms. Rutty. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Have a discussion point. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
031Yes. Uh I just want to touch a little bit on some of the um expenditures and in regard to the fleet vehicles. Um for this particular agenda uh today and the purchase orders that were requested, there was extensive questioning of the operations team as to what these vehicles were being purchased for and if replacements could be uh utilized. Uh in this case, many of them are work vehicles and or to transport students to events such as bringing students here from Matanzas, from the SGA, or taking the Sea Perch team to uh competitions. Uh those are special uh types of vehicles and not just regular white fleet fleet vehicles. So, in this particular case, I do find that uh the vehicle request is reasonable. However, I also um have pushed for us to evaluate if carrying
032an extensive fleet of white fleet vehicles is appropriate or cost-conscious when compared to perhaps paying out mileage and or does the demand for those white fleet vehicles, not work vehicles, um uh suggest that they are needed. And so, uh with future purchases, I would hope that data is brought forth. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Rutty. Any other comments? No. Okay. All in favor, um 7.01 through 7.06. I. I. >> The motion carries. Okay, moving on to academic services, 9.01 through 9.03. Could I get a motion, please? Move to approve. Second. >> Second. Moved by Ms. Ruddy, second by Ms. Ramirez. All in favor. I. I. The motion carries. >> [clears throat] >> Human resources service consent, 10.01 to 10.05. If I could get a motion. >> Move approval. Second. Moved by Mr. Furry, second by
033Ms. Ramirez. All in favor. I. >> I. I. The motion carries. Operational services, 12.01 to 12.04. Can I get a motion? To approve. >> Move to approve. Second. Moved by Ms. Ramirez, second by Mr. Furry. All in favor. >> Ms. Ruddy. Um for 12.03, I would like for us to um consider exploring or having discussions related to um the mitigation dollar amount that we set forth um as we've discussed in the previous board uh workshop, that if we were to tally up the number of students that those mitigation um payments or impact fees provide would not come close to building a school for the number of students that would require housing. Um so I just wanted to make that point during this vote. Do you want to move that to action? Uh for a for
034today or for a future item? Well, we're about we're voting on it now, so Yeah, I'm not holding up this vote, but I would like us to have a workshop item around that in the future. Okay, so we'll put that in board member request. Thank you. Okay. Um I'm sorry, did we we already motioned on this? Okay. All in favor? I. I. I. I. Motion carries. Okay, finance action 14.01. Can I get a motion to approve? Move approval. Need a second for discussion. I second. I'd like to bring that up for discussion. Mhm. Moved by Mr. Furry and second by Ms. Ruddy for discussion. Um so I want to thank the team that worked on evaluating these peak card proposals. Um and you know, we do have a very responsible um and fiscally observant team.
035However, going forward, as discussed in the workshop, I would like to see rubrics that define clear evaluation criteria in terms of what is the meaning of a five, four, three, two, as well as a combination of both hard and soft um evaluation criteria elements. For example, what is the um cost savings rate comparatively? Um in this particular um proposal, [music] right, to find that individual data, you'd have to drill down. And when speaking with team members, uh they could justify their particular rating score, but yet one could not essentially define how do you determine a three, four, or five. And so I would like for the team to consider a um process improvement to developing a more rigorous rubric that's less subjective. Thank you. Are there any other comments on this action item? We will
036go ahead and vote on this. All in favor? I. I. >> I. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Drolet. Okay, human resources services are slate of insurance benefits for action, Mr. Walker. I'm sorry. Can I get a motion to approve? Move approval. Second. Moved by Mr. Furry and second by Mr. Reddy for discussion. We've workshopped this quite a lot, but any comments, questions? All right, all in favor? I. >> I. Motion carries. Thank you. 19.01 FSB advocacy presenter, Ms. Moore. Thank you, board. You must identify an FSBA advocacy member to serve on this committee made up of 67 other members of school boards. This member helps shape the legislation advocacy efforts for public education at the state and federal levels. Members participate in statewide advocacy discussions, attend monthly meetings, and engage with policy makers to represent
037their districts' interests. And we are required to identify someone to serve for July 1, 2026 through June 30th, 2027 term. We have Isn't it Ms. Ruddy and Mr. Meros now? Is that right? Do you want to continue? Yeah, I'd be honored to continue in that aspect. Yep, I would as well. Okay. Done. Thank you. And just for the public, this one is off cycle of the November um reorganization, and so we have to identify this advocacy for the July 1. Thank you. So, Ms. Ruddy and Ms. Ramirez will continue to serve. Thank you. [clears throat] Great. Thank you. Okay, we're moving on to our second public comment. Do we have anybody for public comment? No, we do not. I think it's just a nomination, so I don't think it's strictly required. Okay, board member request.
038Um did we get Ms. Ruddy's or would you like to state that again, Ms. Ruddy? Um from today specifically, um a reevaluation of the rubric used to determine uh vendors or expenditures uh specific to financial items, P-card services, banking services, that include hard and um soft criteria. Um as well as an evaluation of the use of our white fleet and comparison if those mileages were reimbursed through the federal um miles um uh or dollars per gallon, cents per gallon uh that we currently have in policy uh to determine on future white fleet vehicles uh not specific to work trucks or things of that nature, transportation, should be purchased or if they should essentially be retired. Oh, yes. Thank you. Okay, any other >> Better uh you you're happy that you don't see my Christmas wish
039list at this >> [laughter] >> Any other board member request? We will move on to our closing comments. All right. So, we had a great crowd tonight. Uh I want to acknowledge the students that came today. Also, I heard you were at the workshop also, so thank you. I know that takes a lot of courage. So, I appreciate it. I know my fellow board members do as well and other students that may not have known that you can come and speak. So, what a great field trip. So, great job, Miss Allred. And I wanted to say as we wrap up tonight, so to celebrate the incredible work that all of our parent-teacher organizations have been doing across every single school. Our elementary schools have them. Our high schools have booster clubs. And then our middle
040schools, they're in the middle and they have Oh, obviously, they're in the middle, but they have the transition. So, not necessarily PTOs, but they have a SAC committee and they work as a parent-teacher organization. And I've been gathering some data from all of our parent-teacher organizations and just to share that with you, our schools are raising so much money. One example, Bel Terre Elementary. So, that they are my liaison. 38 thousand dollars was fundraised from our PTO there. PTO consists of adults that have jobs, have kids, take care of adults. They might not have jobs, but they may have 10 kids and they're taking care of those kids. That That's a job. All right. Um $38,000 and that's just one example. So, I want to just recognize our parent teacher organizations our Wadsworth Elementary, okay?
041I want to say, correct me if I'm wrong, $22,000. That's just two schools and there's more data and I'll be sharing it, but I just want everyone to know they are working so hard for the schools because we only get a certain amount of money from the state to help with the current resources that we have and I know a lot of people may not know that. Um but the parent teacher organization, our booster clubs, and our SAC committees, that's the bonus, right? You know, if you have a swimming pool. If you want the water slide, that's the bonus, okay? So, the parent teacher organizations, that's our bonus and great example, they pay for the buses. We had I know a parent was wondering, you know, how can we get these buses paid for for
042field trips? They help pay with for the buses. Ed Foundation does a lot as well. So, between Bel Terra Elementary PTO and Ed Foundation, they paid for a charter bus for Legoland. That bus cost more than the tickets for these children. So, I just want that to set and I'm very proud of our volunteers, whether they're in PTO, SAC, or booster club, but no matter what the funding that they do, it goes back to the schools. And at every one of those meetings and everyone's welcome to attend, whether you have kids, you don't have kids, but they pull up those financials, they pull up the bank account, and it's amazing. Profit and loss is only as good as you make it. And if you have a business, you will know you can make mistakes in
043a profit and loss. If you know how to use QuickBooks, you may not be doing it the right way. So, I wanted to recognize all of our volunteers. So, thank you, as well as of course our education foundation. Bunnell Elementary I heard on the workshop about the Italian themed lunch. I was able to attend and it was amazing. They have a garden club. So garden club, these kids are able to grow and then create food. And I didn't know we had a garden club. I thought I knew every every organization club we had and I didn't know. So I got to eat the meatballs. These kids made the meatballs from scratch. So our children in Flagler County schools, they have these opportunities to do that in our public schools and you know, you're welcome to
044come in to eat it. It's great. So I had a wonderful time. I Flagler. So I Flagler, that's a virtual virtual school for some of our kids. It's a different flexibility. They graduated 22 students. 22. And I was able to go to that, ran into a couple district staff and it was great. They were so happy. So if you're a student that may need a different option, maybe not full public school, but you're not sure about full home school, this is that great happy medium and I highly recommend it. You have all the resources that all of our Flagler students have. And parents safety is our priority. So continue with the emails to everyone. You know, safety for our students is number one. So when we're thinking about policies like today, they were discussing a
045lot of workshop in the workshop, safety will always be number one, but we do have to follow the law. So we have our attorney that keeps us on track, but safety is very important. And I want to congratulate our future grads, Matanzas and Flagler Palm Coast High School. We're excited for you. I could go on all day, but thank you Mr. Marcus with our policies keeping us on track. But parents, just reach out to us if you have questions or concerns, one of us will assist you. So have a wonderful week. Thank you. So, wonderful recognition of the retirees this evening and 246 years of educational experience transitioning to the next phase of life is wonderful them, but certainly is a gap for us. And one item that is critical in ensuring that we can
046continue to fill the gaps from our retirees year after year is health care benefits. And this evening we voted in a health care plan that I'd like to take a couple of minutes to chat about. So, this transition is going to take some flexibility and change from moving from or to the health scope benefits, which is a third-party administrator and will require us all to think differently about how we engage with our health insurance, but I have full faith in our team to help educate our staff as well as the quality of the program that we've selected to support our staff in order to meet their health care needs. But, flexibility is not the same as lowering expectations. I have been a constant irritant to our team and our health care benefits consultant to do
047better, find a different way to lower those costs. It is not sustainable for our team members to spend $15,000 a year on premiums before they can use that health insurance. This change is not about lowering expectations. And without this action, this very unique approach, we would have had a 22% renewal increase in premiums and continued to hemorrhage money as we did this last year being over budget by $800,000 in our self insurance fund. And that's definitely not sustainable. In terms of our state's support of school district or public school funding, the FTE increase was 1.97% nowhere near that 22% for health care premium increases. The network replacement option gives us an opportunity to move away from a traditional model that depends heavily on discounted bill charges where transparency is limited and long-term cost control is
048difficult. By moving to a fair, transparent cost plus reimbursement structure supported by Healthscope benefits and the auditing provided as well as advocacy services, we're creating a pathway for better oversight, stronger accountability, and more meaningful control over health care costs. Most importantly, this approach allows us to protect and improve benefits for employees. The overall funding increase is limited to 4%. Employee aggregate contributions will not increase, and we are able to provide real savings to employees who need coverage for their children. This will require acclimation as I previously said. There may be new processes, new terminology, and new steps for employees to learn, but the willingness to adapt is critical and allows us to move from simply accepting annual increases to actively managing our health plan in a way that better serves employees, families, and taxpayers. I
049believe this kind of decision reflects responsible stewardship, protecting access to improved affordable health care, demanding transparency, and willingness to change when the old model is no longer working. I do wish to acknowledge one area where I continue to advocate for greater fairness. When both spouses work for the district, I believe the premium structure should be meaningful meaningfully recognized that both individuals are district employees. While the two employee spouses tier does receive a higher subsidy than the standard family tier, the benefit is not applied evenly across all plans, in particular under the gold plan. Unfortunately, my position was outvoted, but I will continue to be an irritant and ask for better outcomes. How can we do more and how can we do better for our staff and employees? Thank you. Well, good evening, everybody. Uh it
050was a wonderful day, lots to celebrate um with our students, with their creativity and art, and the SeaPerch program. I think that's just a amazing program that we have here with uh underwater robotics. I remember when I was in school, that type of technology fascinated me, uh but the the fact that we're actually doing uh amphibious robots, I think that's pretty amazing technology that we've uh advanced to. Um and [clears throat] the Guy Harvey award, you know, my both my kids had gone to Old Kings, and they've always been marine focused, and and um it's just really awesome to see that we're being recognized in so many areas across the district for achievement and and advancements, and this is just another reflection of that. Um tonight we had the uh a joyful evening to send
051off our retirees, and grateful for the Education Foundation. They always step up and and provide a a great uh experience for many events, but especially this one. People that have dedicated their lives to advance children's education in the community are are truly heroes and we will miss them dearly, but I'm very happy for their future endeavors. Um as Mr. Mayor said earlier about the money raising, I I have to really thank our community. We have a very generous community when it comes to education. Whether it is through the PTO, through the booster clubs, um our Ed Foundation. In in Flagler County, education matters to this community and that even goes back to when they renewed the half penny, which has opened up many opportunities uh on the renewal and the 10 years before that. So,
052education is important to this community and I'm grateful for their contributions to to fill in the gaps cuz as it's been said, we are not funded fully for every mandate that is passed down. And so, these people stand in the gap when it comes to our budget. Um when we get to speaking of Oh, and just one more thing on the retirees, uh I did have the I was fortunate to be able to meet Mr. Freeman's wife and he introduced me and I said to him, "You know, I still got your phone number." >> [laughter] >> And she she went right online it looked like to to to buy you a new phone as soon as I said that. >> [laughter] >> Um and on the insurance front, um I will say this is one
053of the most challenging areas as a board member that we're tasked with uh because of the the ever increasing cost of health care. And Uh, I will say we had a very collaborative executive session with all the board members weighing in trying to get as much as we can uh, bargaining with the unions uh, and making sure that we're uh, coming to a compromise. And I think this year we really uh, did something great because we were able to to not only provide more transparency uh, for our insured but we were able to make it uh, more accessible for them to add their children. And this is a big deal here. This has always been a barrier uh, for our employees and we made it a little simpler with this plan. Um, also we gave
054it more transparency and access because now it's no longer tied to a network. So, they can go anywhere they want um, and choose the doctors they want and whether it's in town, out of town and this uh, this this creates um, an opportunity for the the cost of the of of the care to to potentially be less. And that's what I was trying to highlight in our workshop is that we know we have family plans for our families and that covers them. But at Flagler Schools as a whole as an insured body as we we are a family plan in itself. So, the better the better we are better stewards with our health and with our choices uh, is will translate into a better premium in the future because there is no magic bucket of
055money. It is all comes from the premiums and we got to pay everything out and if there's not enough money there then we have to make adjustments. The goal is is to have our our costs go down hopefully with a healthier uh, workforce and uh, with um, lower cost billing on some of our um, insurance needs like not going to the emergency room unless it's really an emergency. Using our health center for and having a primary care, those are things that really make a difference. So, thank you all for all your hard work on that and have a good night. Yeah, you we [clears throat] all know that health care is such a challenge across the country and our board really pushed to make some changes every year that we sit down and we're like,
056we want this, you know, and that's something that we we push the district and um our insurance um partners to work with us on. So, I'm proud to see some of the changes and and how those will pan out and especially the ability that we've made it now a lower cost at to add family members. So, um thank you guys for all your hard work on that. We appreciate it. Um yes, lots of celebrations. It's always bittersweet when this time of year comes around. All of our retirees and just you know, it's sad to see great um talent and knowledge leave, but you know, we know it's time. Um Mr. Freeman, Mr. Owlette, uh we're just going to miss you so much cuz you when we were new here, you were always so welcoming. So,
057it's tough to see you guys leave and we're going to miss you. And graduation is coming. Um it's always so exciting and just always thankful to be a part of that and to get to stand there with our students and congratulate them. So, looking forward to that. And lastly, I want to say happy birthday to Mr. Furry. Not many people here. Y'all want to sing? >> [laughter] >> Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Will Furry. Happy birthday to you. Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. >> [laughter] >> All right. Thanks y'all. Have a good night. Good night. Thank you. Happy 173rd day of school. Right? Um so many great things um happening. Today's a special day because it is the only 173rd day of school that we're going to
058get and tomorrow will be special as well. And so I know um parents may have children at home that are like, "Do I still have go? I turned in my device or I'm finished with my test." The answer is yes. Please come back. >> [laughter] >> Um but just so proud of all that we've been able to accomplish. I just want to really highlight and thank our community. When we hear over $300,000 worth of scholarships given out from our local community, it's a big deal. Um and I know that our students are so very thankful. And being able to go out and celebrate them at their homes and see their families so happy and to talk to them individually about their next steps it is always such a great treat and an honor. I just
059want to say today's a great day when we see so many of our students here um being recognized. Such a great field trip for Matanzas High School. I hope that you definitely do it again next year. To our retirees, thank you so much for all that you have given to the students of Flagler County but to this community as a whole. And I will also um add my comments to Mr. Freeman and Mr. Ullett um to they have just been so critical um as I have stepped into this role as superintendent and I I them. And if Mr. Furry, don't worry if if they change their numbers, we'll find it, okay? >> [laughter] >> Um Uh but this is the final meeting of this academic year and I just want to take a moment to
060express my deepest gratitude to this board, to our staff, to our families, our students, um and to our communities. Our community. Um a school year is not a sprint. It is definitely a marathon and any success that we celebrated this year um is really about a collective group of people coming together with the mission of putting our kids first and doing what's best for them each and every day. Um I especially want to congratulate our students that are promoting from the different grades. Congratulations to them for those of them that are transitioning from elementary to middle, middle to high school. We can't wait to see all that you accomplish at the next level. And then to our incredible graduating class of 2026, we cannot wait to celebrate you and shake your hand and see you
061walk across the stage. Uh we've had a great year and looking forward as we go into the summer, we anticipate uh school grades and our the release of our academic performance and I want to just say thank you to our staff and to our students, our community, our parents for all that you've done this year. We anticipate some great results as they come out. Um we've made such great improvement um with in achievement and we we do anticipate those scores being released and us being able to celebrate really soon. Um I was reflecting this week, 3 years ago this week, I became interim superintendent of Flagler Schools. Three week three years ago this week. And it has been an absolute honor to serve as superintendent um here, to work alongside this board, work alongside our
062our faculty and our staff and our students. And I want our students to know, especially those of you who sit in front of us, um it is you with you in mind that we make the decisions that we make, um that we put forth every single effort to put you first and do what is best for you. We do not ever take it lightly um the decisions and the power of the decisions that we make. And so, we do want you to know that. We take it extremely seriously the work that we get to do and it is an absolute honor to be able to serve as your superintendent and to represent you every every day. So, um thank you to everyone for your unwavering support, for your tough questions, um and your but to
063your sheer commitment to our mission and our vision to ensure that our students graduate with the skills necessary for them to reach their maximum potential. So, to everyone that we will not see before um summer starts, have a restful and enjoyable summer and we will see those of you who will be on summer break back in August. But, know that we're still here and we're still working. So, if you need something, send us an email. Have a good night. This meeting is adjourned. >> Mhm.