001You want to feel it? Here? I can't hear it through here either. Where do you push to turn them off in here, too? It's off. It's still off. It's off. And that's the difference in the mic. No. I didn't hear it on this one. What's that? This is the way. That's the way, see? Try it again. It's coming back through those now. Is it on there? It's not coming through this mic, just this headset. No, but it is coming through here. It's still on. It's It's more Fly little schools. So, how could we see specifically 3 test test test >> board workshop. Please rise for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance and our national anthem. >> [snorts] [snorts] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
002and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [music] [music] >> Thank you. Hey, roll call. Lauren Ramirez, present. Janine Roddy, present. Christie Chong, >> present. And Mr. Furry will be a little bit late, but he's a leader today. And board, before we go further, something I'd like us to try today as we go through agenda items, um, we'll go down the line to speak just to give everybody a chance to participate. So, we'll start with Ms. Ramirez, and we can also circle back again just to make sure we cover everything. So, you want to go in a round robin fashion is what you're saying? >> Mhm. Yes, ma'am. And also for our audience, just a reminder, this is a board meeting to hold
003all conversations till the end. Just want to make sure that everybody gets a chance to hear. Thank you. Okay. We will move on to liaison updates. And I know you just said round robin, but if you don't mind if I go last just so my computer I can pull that up. I apologize. Ms. Roddy, are you ready? Uh, sure. Okay. Uh, let's see here. It's a little bit blurry. Uh, so last week obviously was spring break. There was the scholarship dinner, and I'm sorry I did not attend. That was my error. Um, just uh, school events weren't on my mind that week, and I got the notice like on my phone 10 minutes before, but I heard it was lovely. I'm sure Ms. Ramirez will speak about it. I believe she was able to attend.
004Um, but some other items that occurred just before the break, Buddy Taylor Symphonic Band earned straight superior ratings at the Florida Bandmasters Association District 21 Musical Performance Assessment. Um, and so, uh, we are proud of our performing arts and the recognition that, uh, they've achieved from a year's worth of hard work. Uh, Buddy Taylor, uh, also had a, uh, career expo fair with over 60 vendors, programs of choice. Uh, that was wonderful. I was able to attend some of that, and I thank, uh, Ms. Johnson from the Ed Foundation who was significant in helping pull that together. Ormond Beach held its, uh, night at the museum exhibit at the end of February, uh, which is a wonderful event. Students actually become some of these historical, um, figures, and, uh, really wonderful and educational for them.
005It's a popular event for the parents. Coming up on March 9th, I'm sorry, April 2nd, they have a multicultural festival, uh, it coming up starting at 5:30 p.m. on that evening. Uh, FTC, uh, you might have seen some of the signs around town. They have their big, uh, home and lifestyle show March 28th to the 29th. That's hosted at FTC. The reason why FTC is involved is some of that is, uh, monies are collected for some scholarship opportunities. It's the only scholarship drive that they have of the year, so it does benefit, uh, those students. There's also been a couple of updates, uh, regarding the, uh, uh, legislative items that are in play. Um, there are several items that are moving forward. One, however, that is not is the, uh, Florida voucher funding. Uh, while
006there are some elements that have moved forward, what has not moved forward is the discrepancy amongst the accountability for those funds. So, as a reminder, students, parents can choose to, uh, participate in receiving vouchers where they can spend at private, religious, or home schooling, uh, as an alternative to public schooling. When they do that, that is organized through in Florida, the Step Up program. So, essentially, our taxpayer funds are funding two different systems. The problem happens when a student doesn't stay in a home school or private school or religious school environment and switches to a public school and vice versa, those monies are not tracking appropriately. And, um, I believe the estimate of this year thus far is about $30 million that is not aligning between the expenditures and the intake there. So, uh, as
007this legislation period is coming to an end, uh, there isn't a large step forward in resolving that. And right now they are in recess. They do have to return, uh, as the budget is not, uh, finalized. Um, there is also an item that could be of impact for us that I hope people um uh advocate for is that the Senate and the House do differ on how to handle um the declining enrollment supplement. So, schools receive a little bit of a buffer when we spend money based upon our predicted numbers and our predicted student enrollment numbers are not um uh are not realized. And there is the House version that is dropping that supplement. Uh which would have large budgetary impacts for us and put us in a critical state um should our enrollments continue
008to decline, which is another reason why we need to shore up the funding uh accountability for students. Um and another item is the safe schools formula. The say Senate um is removing or proposed to remove the $250,000 base for each district uh while the House version proposes keeping it in. Again, that would be uh quite challenging if that safe schools money uh minimum were changed significantly as our responsibilities and needs are ever increasing to keep our students safe as our priority. Thank you. That's all I have. All right. So, from the Chamber of Commerce, we have a few updates and some events are happening. Um I saw that some really good news. There's a new endowment um that was secured for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. So, that's really great to hear. I love that
009program. It's just so great for our young kids and they get a book sent to them every month. Um that was just >> [cough and clears throat] >> I love that program. Um and that is in partnership with the Community Foundation and United Way of Volusia and Flagler counties. On April 23rd through 26th, there will be the Palm Coast Songwriters Festival at the Daytona State College Amphitheater. This will feature live music and country's top songwriters. That sounds like a really great event. On April 11th, there will be a ribbon cutting for the Learning Experience Preschool and Daycare. That facility I drove by recently, it just looks beautiful. All right. For the Education Foundation, I had a chance to attend their Board of Directors meeting and just hear more about our federal school programs and get
010an update on their financial report. Um I also had a chance to attend the senior scholarship thank you dinner. Um just such a great program, great way for the community to be involved um as a way to just bless the younger kids and help get them scholarships for college. Um so, that was really wonderful. Um and then of course, April 20th, we have the Joe Rizzo Memorial Golf Classic coming up. It's the fifth annual. There's still time to sign up for this great event. And we're very blessed to have a wonderful Education Foundation. All right. Flagler Auditorium events, believe March 26th, we have the Brass Transit Musical Legacy of Chicago. And the 28th, there will be a family musical called The Jungle Book. And on the 31st, will be the United States Air Force Band
011of the West Jazz Band. Today at 3:00 p.m., we have the School Health Advisory. And for our schools, you're coming back from spring break, so not a lot of updates. Just hope everybody had a great chance to just enjoy their family and take a break. Um March 28th, that'll be this weekend. Wadsworth, uh just a reminder, they will be having their craft fair and vendor market. For the Carver Center, um I also had a chance to attend their fund ra- fundraiser, the Motown Madness. That was a lot of fun. Um got to help auction off some cakes. I have no photos proof of this happening, so. But that was fun. Okay. And the Historical Society, April 11th, um will be the second annual Bunnell History Day. That'll be from 10:00 to 5:00 including vendors, food
012trucks, and historical reenactments. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Meares. All right. Yes, and with spring break, I think things are have been a little brief, but I hope everyone had a good spring break. So, we'll start with Belle Terre Elementary. So, they continue to recognize their faculty and staff weekly, which I think is really nice. Um we talked a lot about retention, so I feel like this is a great [clears throat] stepping stone because they feel recognized. So, I'll highlight Miss Cheryl Breckwoldt, Coach Legacki, and Miss Jackie Anderson. So, um a few weeks ago, they had the Teacher and Employee of the Year Awards, and at that event, it was really nice to see current teachers and staff that actually went to school in Flagler County. So, that was really great to see because with Belle
013Terre, they have a teacher, several teachers, but um Miss Gargan, she was recognized as Teacher of the Week last week, and she was a former Belle Belle Terre Belle Terre Elementary student. So, it's really great to see more and more current students and as they grow up, staying and sticking with the district. So, good to hear. So, Matanzas High School, um Miss Gilliam, she did a really great job with the Multicultural Night, which happened not too long ago. And so, it was great to hear which school's going to have one. So, that's really it's nice. I love it. So, everyone's following suit. So, it was great music, fun um food, students [clears throat] were there. There was a little rain, so they moved everything inside. They also had the art show going on. So, it
014was great to see what our students are creating. So, if you ever get an opportunity to see that, go ahead and um definitely stop in there. The ACE pinning ceremony happened earlier that month. I ran into Miss Ready there. Uh it was it was great. So, our campuses, all of them, they do a really great job with our current students and having them feel special and recognize them for any recognition that they receive. So, that was amazing. Also, all of our bands are incredible. Most of the events are free. I think we should charge cuz they're so good, but ever looking for any type of free event for kids, family, Matanzas has a great one, FPC, all of our campuses. So, it was nice to watch some of those. Virtual Teen Town Hall, they have
015their end of the year teen summit. So, it is a Saturday, April 11th from 10:00 to 3:00. I know sometimes uh kids may have a lot of activities going on, but if you do have a middle schooler or a high school student with no activities going on that day, I highly recommend it. It is an all-day event, but it is very fun. Last year, I was able to, you know, pop in for a little bit, and I'll try to do the same this year, but April 11th, they've been working really, really hard on that event. EPAC, we have Dr. Holliday. She hosts a Coffee with Kim, and she's been putting that on the Parent Square. So, if you are someone that is interested in attending that, it's low-key. So, think of just, you know, relaxing,
016having a conversation with Dr. Holliday. If you have any questions, um if you have an exceptional student and you're looking for different resources, that would be a great opportunity to pop in on that phone call, the Zoom, and ask questions, and her and her team will be very willing to help you. And then, we have our Florida School Board Association. So, I have a few more updates. Miss Ready did a great job updating on some of the legislative session. So, the state education budget, it's not finalized yet. So, they'll return to Tallahassee in mid-April. Uh um I'm just going to highlight a few bills. You did a great job with some. There's so many, so you can always track them, but ones that just kind of stuck with me, uh one bill is clarifying extracurricular
017fees. So, think of ensuring home school and cross enrolled students paying the same as public school students. So, while private school students, they may be charged up to $400 per activity. A school safety bill, so that would add stricter protections for our students, our schools, our staff, everyone involved. And finally, an educator certification bill, so it will aim to support teacher retention by making certifications more flexible. But just remember that all of these these are bills, so they're still waiting in the governor's office for signature. So, we'll continue as a group and a team to try to update you as we hear things. And that's what I have for this week. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. All right. For additions and changes to the agenda, we will be pulling 8.02 for today.
018Are there any other additions or changes? Can I get a motion to approve today's agenda? Move to approve. Second. Moved by Miss Ready, second by Miss Ramirez. All in favor. >> Aye. Aye. Motion carries. We'll move on to public comment. Do we have anybody for public comment? We don't have anyone for public comment. Okay, great. We'll move on to Academic Services, 6.01, Tobacco Free Florida with Mr. Finelli and Mr. Gaines. Yeah, we got room for all everybody at the table, yeah. No, we're good. We're good. Good afternoon, Ms. Chum, school board members, our Deputy Superintendent O'Brien. Um today I have with me Tobacco Free Flagler. We have Ms. Rochelle Stone, Ms. Terry Williams, and Mr. Tyrese Gaines, and they are here give an update on Tobacco Free Flagler and its partnership with Flagler County Schools.
019You take it away. Um yeah, so I think uh just starting out with our positions, I am the Tobacco Policy Manager. Uh I'm the Community Engagement Specialist. And I'm the chair of the partnership. Just retired a year ago for his position. >> Yeah, so she's act- all of these things that you see on the screen currently uh for the most part, she actually had a huge role along with Mr. Pennelli uh playing a part in these things. So, um if you guys just want to start out by talking about a few of these things that you've accomplished over the years? Sure. Okay. Would you like me to start? Okay, we're going to start with some of the highlights here. All right. Uh so, um several years ago, Miss Williams and I got together and wanted
020to create a plan for Flagler County Schools specific to prevention and early intervention for our students. Um it was right about the time when we had extinguished, no pun intended, smoking in Flagler County Schools. We we saw less than five tobacco-related consequences um in a school year. It we we had beat it. We had we had we had finally accomplished what we always set out to do. Um and uh at about that time, police started seeing vaping coming on. And thanks to Miss Williams, who had the foresight to really see what she thought this may turn into, um we jumped out in front of it extremely early and put together a plan of awareness, education, and intervention around tobacco and vaping in Flagler County Schools. So, um for that, we put some uh action items
021on here of things that we wanted to accomplish. So, what I did is I I've gone through and updated the document in red with where we're at on all of these um items that we set forth to accomplish back in the '21 and '22 school year. So, from then to now, this is where we're at. Uh Miss Williams through Tobacco Free Flagler was able to get us a new signage for all of our campuses that we put at the the points of the single points of entry to the campuses. We put them in our car rider lines cuz we know sometimes um we may have parents that um visitors that are smoking in a vehicle or something, and that is not allowed set forth in the school board policy of Flagler Schools. We are um
022smoke-free campuses 24/7. Um outside of our gyms, outside of our football stadiums, anywhere where um we may have uh visitors coming on campus [cough] that may not know the policies of Flagler Schools. But, also um where our students will see them, so they're visible to everybody. We also um in in conjunction with Tobacco Free Flagler hosted a poster comp- uh contest. We um have been hosting parent trainings, and also Tobacco Free Flagler hosts parent trainings throughout the community um called In Plain Sight. So, it's items that students could be using to smoke nicotine or um other drug products um that you may not know that that's what those items are. It may look like a highlighter or a jump drive, but they they can be used to um smoke different different items. Um Flagler Schools,
023we also had started a social media campaign back then, and it continues on where Tobacco Free Flagler will send us facts and things that we work to push those out through our social media channels um for our families, uh we started SWAT assemblies back then where our high school students that were on SWAT would actually come in their athletic gear, in their band uniforms, um and and speak to our elementary kids about why I don't smoke and I don't vape because I'm a football player, I'm a cheerleader, I'm in the band, and that would be counterproductive to the goals that I want to accomplish in my life. And I'll tell you I I had the opportunity to be there for some of those, and they're so impactful when it comes from the older students. More
024so than the grown-ups, what is that the Charlie Brown wah wah wah. >> [laughter] >> When the kids say it and they're there in their football uniform, an elementary kid want to be a football player, it means something [clears throat] to them. Or band, or whatever other activity or event that they're participating in. Um so, they've done several of those events, and they go over extremely well with our students, and the message really gets through, it really resonates with them. We've also added to our Five Elements Five Hours of Resiliency curriculum um some uh instruction on vaping and the the the things that students wouldn't necessarily know about vaping from what they've heard. A lot of times they hear that it's vapor, water vapor, and it's safer than smoking, which are all misnomers, which are
025totally not true. So, that video really helps to um show them all of the negative impacts and the dangers of of vaping. Uh of course, at the Back to School Jam, they're there, they have a table set up, they're providing literature and information to our families. Uh we've updated the school board policy uh a few times over the past several years, with the most recent being um in August of last year, where the policy is is 100% um complete complete, which which we've worked for years to get to that point where it's comprehensive of everything Mhm. um that we could we could ask for in that school board policy. And then we also have our intervention plan where for students that have been identified, what are we doing, right? What are we doing to intervene
026early um to stop it from becoming a lifelong habit for our our students. >> [clears throat] >> Um so, we have substance use counseling, which we identified SMA has a program uh that they use through it's called EPIC, and students that are um caught vaping on campus, we refer them to EPIC as an early intervention um for substance use. We also have our tobacco education courses that we provide to students, um and that's paired with a tobacco citation, where they actually are required legally by the courts, and um myself or Mr. Glasgow, we actually go to court on tobacco citations to represent the district to make sure that there's follow-through. Mhm. Right? Not just that we assigned it, they do it or they don't. No, we go to court, and they have to the judge
027will ask us, "Has the child completed the required sanctions of the citation?" And then we [clears throat] will we will you know, answer accordingly. [cough] If they haven't, then there are additional consequences to include losing your driver's license and and some other things that could come as well. Um also, we've been working for many years to get a teen tobacco cessation class, which is hard. A lot of the tobacco cessation classes are for um adults. It's very hard to find one that's specific to students under age because they're not supposed to be using So, they really can't sanction a cessation class for kids that legally shouldn't be using. But, we've worked to find them. Um Flagler Cares actually implemented one here in our district 2 years ago. I know Tobacco Free Flagler has worked with
028several community organizations, including Advent Health, to bring cessation programs for youth here to Flagler County. And then I'm I'm very proud of this one, and um it's something that we're known for throughout the state. Uh we were the first district in the state [clears throat] of Florida to go uh school-wide with our vape detection devices in all of our middle and high school locker rooms and restrooms. So, we were way out front of that. It's something that we still use today and continue to update the technology, and it is one of our best prevention early intervention um strategies. Uh a lot of our students that um that do try and bring a a vape on campus are um identified through those devices. Um I would just like to say the um citation class, the little
029bit of history of that is um I moved here in '05. I was with the health department. And when I moved here, I was planning on retiring full time. And so, in '06, I noted so many Flagler kids were smoking. So, I went to Judge Addick, which she's retired now, and I said, "Listen, I have a program called Not on Tobacco. It's a 10-week cessation program. Uh we're doing it statewide, and I'd like to give it to you for Flagler County." And Judge Addick said, "I'll look it over." Called me and said, "Okay, and I want you to implement it in Flagler County." I said, "Whoa, wait, I'm retiring." So, through the process of that, we got um we got I went to the clerk of court, talked to Judge Addick, and I said, "I
030think the first thing we need to do is get citations in place. So, they know that's wrong, and they get a citation, the clerk of court they have to go through the school system. Uh Judge Addick made it all through the schools, so I didn't have to run it. And uh John has worked so well with that. So, when they get a citation, their parents are aware, uh they have to take the class, and then they probably have to go to the clerk of court to satisfy the citation, which is about $30. So, that's kind of the background in '06 when I started here. I've worked with John a lot longer, probably 20 years now on on tobacco prevention. And that's kind of my mission in life was to prevent that. So, the kids were
031such high on my priority. I have 11 grandkids. Eight of them are here in Flagler County. So, I didn't want them doing this. And he said, "We eliminated tobacco." It was unreal. I mean, no one was smoking these kids. And then, of course, we started talking about vaping. And the health department said, "Slam no. We cannot mention vaping. We're only going to talk about tobacco." This was back in like '08, John, and I said, "Oh, we've got to get ahead of this." And they just wouldn't do it. And finally, by the time they came around, of course, vaping is just so popular now. And so, we kind of were behind the ball on that. I'm very proud of Flagler County because we were used as uh the status for the state. I mean, we had
032school boards calling John in the state that's saying, "Wow, what's Flagler doing? We want to do what they're doing." When we did the Halo program, wow, they the state called me and said, "Who do we talk to?" I said, "Talk to John Fanelli." And uh so, they wanted the citation programs. Many of the school districts now have citations. Many of them are trying to get the Halos and um the cessation classes. So, I'm very, very proud of the work we did. Uh we worked really hard in Flagler County. And then, I retired last year, and this is my grandson-in-law, and he took over my job. And then, Rochelle's doing the SWAT students of the community. So, we I left it in good hands, and they're following through. And you guys thank you so much for
033passing this this policy because I've been working on this policy for a long time. And we kept doing little pieces and pieces. And the state has a 13-piece um A+ policy. That's what you guys got in place now. So, congratulations. I'm proud of all of you. Thank you for your work, and I hope it continues. And I know it's in good hands now. And John, thank you for all you did in working with me. Appreciate it all. Uh they pretty much covered all the bases. I just want to touch on the cessation piece. Um we actually have been in communication with our North Florida AHEC and uh Caitlin Kennedy, who is a program manager over there. Um she was going to try to make it today. I don't think she could make it. Uh but
034AHEC actually has a uh well, a little bit I started out doing this in Alachua County. And um AHEC actually rolled out a pilot program for their youth cessation. And it was very successful. They rolled it out in a couple of high schools, and it was very successful. Heard positive feedback from the district, the uh teachers, um everyone who was involved. And now, AHEC uh they had to pull it back a little bit, ran into some red tape, I'm pretty sure. And um now, they are basically almost ready to roll it back out. I think it would be very key uh if Flagler County took a look at this and just maybe tried their hardest to um get this uh cessation program implemented kind of like uh with the tobacco citation. Um I think the
035biggest thing with uh cessation with our youth is transportation and time. So, if there is a way that we could possibly work together, uh we have resources, we have the manpower to maybe even get one of these cessation uh courses in school around school hours, that would be, I think, very uh helpful to not only the community, but uh Mr. Fanelli, uh Mr. Fanelli and Mr. Glasgow back there. Um So, yeah, I think that's the biggest thing that I wanted to touch on today. Once again, I wanted to say you guys are almost like the gold standard in the state in terms of uh tobacco prevention policies. So, um I encourage you guys to continue to go down that path because things are changing. We are seeing new devices. We are seeing uh different [clears
036throat] drugs added into uh these vaping devices. So, I just encourage you guys to keep your ears open to Tobacco Free Flagler, and uh we appreciate everything that you do. Awesome. And I'll just mention SWAT stands for Students Working Against Tobacco. Um we currently have clubs at FPC, um Buddy Taylor, and the Carver Center. Um we have do have three advisors as well who run those clubs. They're teachers. Um and uh we're hoping to get one at Matanzas in August. Um >> [clears throat] >> I met with someone there that is going to be running that club. Um so, you know, it it's a great club. You get community service hours. Um you know, there's different events that we do. We did a lot of beach cleanups. Um we do like the back-to-school jam. Anything
037school related, we're there. It does start in middle school. So, like John said, um we had some soccer players go in the schools um at Rymfire and Spennato, and I will tell you it's a it was a huge success um to those kids. And while one was presenting, there was actually an elementary school getting caught vaping. Um and this was a few years ago, too. So, um yeah, so I think that is very important for them to see the role models um talking to them about vaping and to hear their stories. Like um he said that he couldn't play soccer because he was vaping so much that he couldn't keep up um with the running aspect. Um so, if you have those into the elementary schools before, ahead of it, it is um a great
038asset um to the schools. And I will say, too, um I appreciate Flagler schools because um a lot of other counties can't get into the schools for SWAT clubs, but [clears throat] Flagler County has always been supportive. FPC has a great club. Um we just had five graduate and move on. One is actually moving on to environmental health. Um so, that's really cool to see. So, it is a great um club program and does offer many, many things. But Flagler schools has always been like on top of it as far as allowing me to come in. So. Yeah. >> And the problem with vaping is health-wise, these kids don't understand that it is nicotine and it is addictive. And the problem with vaping, they get addicted so fast, and they can't quit. That's why the
039intervention is so important because um when I did that on the back of we had 3,000 students across the state of Florida that we had 10-week programs, and they would come to us why we started it at the health department because they said, "We can't quit. We we're trying to quit, and we can't. We thought [clears throat] we could start this and quit anytime we wanted." And that's the misconception going on that they can do it if they they can't do it on their own. And that's why this is a very important program. So. Thank you. All right, questions or comments starting with Mr. Ramirez. I I just really appreciate the program and hearing more about it. I have kids in the schools, and they do love when older students come and talk to them
040because they come back and they tell everyone about it. Random they'll tell the stranger, "Oh, we had a student here talking about XYZ so not to smoke or vape." So, thank you. And with the vaping, you know, we are we're we are the gold standard. When it was out in the news months ago, other counties that were putting them in and installing, I'm like, "Wow, that's like old news cuz we have we've had it for a long time." And and I think it's it's great because students, even if they're not doing it or if they're not thinking about it, at least they're realizing why we have it because it's so important. So, I appreciate everything you've been doing, and then getting the high school students more involved. So, hopefully we can get Matanzas on board
041and just continue doing great things. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, so as the liaison uh to this uh group, um and it's near and dear to my heart. I grew up with a long line of smokers, >> [cough] >> and to this [clears throat] day, I know that it affects my lung health, and I think it was uh directly uh correlated with uh severe allergies that I've had my whole life. I think it compromises your immune system. And so, when vaping first came out, I thought, "Oh, well, that seems like a win, right?" Because people can smoke, and it's not bothering the lungs and all this. But what I've learned is that the nicotine uh still contributes to cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure. And what is interesting is the the concentration of nicotine in these
042vapes has now uh been correlated with uh brain development issues for those who are under 25. And most people who start are under 25. Um and so, uh it isn't just a well, now this is a a dirty lung issue and I'm or second-hand smoking, right? It is a nicotine issue. So, in order for us to maintain our gold level status that you all have worked so hard, I feel like we need to think about what is our 2.0 version of this program because uh from my um connection over the past year with this [clears throat] group, I've learned a couple of things. Number one, yes, the vapes, right? But the exposure to those materials. So, uh and I think it's in the presentation here, and Mr. Gaines might speak to this, is that especially
043in Bunnell, the concentration of areas where students come across or can purchase or at least see this material is alarming. And so if we think about if you look at where students have to walk to school, right? I can think FPC, right? We have U-section students who need to walk to school and they walk right by a vape shop. And so right now the the ordinance, I think you might call it, is 1,000 ft and they're right on that line. But we have to think about, well, can we collaborate with the city and be on the forefront that nine other districts in our state have jumped on in order to expand that circumference to ensure that our students are not being repeatedly exposed or have easy access to these materials because they're marketed like candy.
044>> Yeah. They're and my understanding is now they're evolving to these pouches now, right? Where you can't so it's that's not going to be picked up by a vape detector, right? So I think I would like to see us work on lobbying and collaborating with our city and perhaps Mr. Gaines can speak a little bit to how those nine other, I think it was eight or nine other districts were able to accomplish that. Number two, I love that we have I FPC and Buddy Taylor involved in the SWAP program. But really that's not enough, right? That's half. So I would like us to see how can we make it maybe facilitate the ability for us to have these liaisons. So typically it's a teacher that receives or could receive a stipend. And I think that
045the principals have some discretion over that. So what is the difference there? Is Matanzas and Indian Trails not providing a stipend for it? Is it that they couldn't find individuals? Why can't we find consistency, right? What can we do to fill those spots, right? Um So and then I think the the third item speaking to the cessation as you said before, it's difficult to find [laughter] programs that are specific for youth. So I did meet with Caitlin and I have not reviewed that curriculum. I believe that we should leave that up to Mr. Reeves, but at least at the beginning or when we have students that have a violation where they're caught with smoke nicotine. So I kind of want to try to evolve this instead of smoke-free nicotine-free, right? That we offer that cessation
046program to the parents as we would any others um for some of I think we've had similar mental health services where if it's optional then the parents can opt in and then there's kind of less requirement for us to oversee that curriculum to my understanding. But at the very least I do believe that probably Mr. Reeves it would be beneficial for him to review that curriculum. And see how we can better infuse that for our students who are tackling this challenge at such a young age that perhaps they've gotten themselves stuck on. >> [clears throat] >> So those are the three aspects that I'm hoping come out of this discussion today. Mr. Furay, any comments? Yes, so thank you all for sharing. I missed the first part of your presentation, but I'll watch it on
047the recording later, but I did very happy to hear what I heard for what the time I was here. And I can [clears throat] relate with with Miss Ruddy. I grew up in an era where parents were smoking in homes and in cars until that became politically incorrect and so but you know, I remember going to school and I remember learning how harmful cigarettes were and you know, I remember Nancy Reagan saying just say no and Red Ribbon Week. These things all worked for some. You're you're not it's it's it's not everybody's going to listen, but there are a lot that are and so we can never give up on this fight because these choices help me to just say no from smoking and drugs, right? And um that and I'm passing that on to
048to my children and it's about breaking the cycle sometimes in the family cuz often, you know you know, kids will watch their parents and and emulate them in in good, bad and indifferent ways. So we want to give them, you know some good education on this matter so they can make the right choices because it's not only a drain on the health, which is one of the biggest problems and but it's also a financial drain on the on these families, you know? And and the fact that they I've been in the presence of vape and and smells like cotton candy. Yeah. I mean and it's it's not an unpleasant smell so I can see why it's attractive to these kids. So It tastes good, too. I think you can see that on this board. We
049we are in support of continuing this education and and deterring children from harming themselves with this. Yeah, and I just want to say thank you also for your hard work. Just greatly appreciate how proactive you all are in staying ahead of everything. You know, we've seen that shift from tobacco to vaping marijuana and all these things, you know. You ask somebody, I'm in health care, like do you smoke? And they you have to clarify, you know. It's not tobacco, that's the problem. Anyway. So just appreciate it, you know, I know I my kids are in middle school and they tell me, oh my friend vapes. What? You know. So just thank you so much for your involvement and your hard work in this. Are there any other comments or anything? Mr. Gaines, did you want
050to speak a little bit about the concentration of tobacco in that? Yeah, I've attached a couple of presentations for you guys. I know we didn't have a lot of time, but I just wanted to yeah, go over to the zoning presentation. Uh and talk to you guys a little bit about another policy area that we work in that I think goes hand in hand with K through 12. Uh Scroll down for me. I'll let you know when to stop. You you keep going. It's going [clears throat] to be a little. So oh oh a couple. So [clears throat] this right here is the Florida Tobacco Mapper. Anybody in the state of Florida can get on this website. It's a interactive tool that you can go on and it has a bunch of different data, statistics
051that you can narrow down, print out charts down to the percentage of whatever statistic you can possibly think of in terms of vaping where retailers are located, anything like that. So continue on down, please. Right now currently per the last update, there are 128 tobacco retailers in the county. I have personally seen like three or four pop up since this and they haven't been put into the system yet. So that number's probably going to be closer to about 140-ish right now. So yeah, we're and obviously as we continue to rise in population, that number is going to go up. Next slide, please. Um And Flagler County has a sale to minor violation rate of 20%. So that means every two out of 10 stores that was at least an inspection was conducted, they failed that
052inspection. Wow. And then among youth who use tobacco, about 14% reported that at least one of their sources [clears throat] was commercial and I can attest I was a youth in Flagler County and I did not make good decisions and there were retailers and there still are retailers that will sell to underage youth. So that is a huge issue in the county. Um And then one of those places is the city of Bunnell, small place in terms of the actual populated area. There 22 tobacco retailers in that that the Bunnell that we think of. About I think there's about 18 to 19 in that exact area. Um 16 of those retailers are within 500 ft of another retailer. So that means out of the 22, 16 of those are basically dropped on top of each
053other. And six of those are within 500 ft of a school or park. Rochelle can attest to this. We just did a event on couple of months ago for the Carver SWAP Club and that that park that the interior of the park is Flagler schools, but that exterior park over there, that is not and people can just smoke right there. And the youth from that center actually use that park and the basketball court as well and I think that is a huge issue in terms of us being a school system, and then also municipality having its own, you know, um laws, ordinances, and things like that. >> [snorts] >> And actually, Bunnell is the only one we didn't get done. >> Yeah, other than the smaller Flagler County, Flagler Beach, and Bunnell just was not
054interested in working with us Yeah, we are we're still working right now to try to get a parks policy passed over there, so fingers crossed. Yes. You can continue on, please. Okay, and uh the city of Bunnell has 7.4 tobacco retailers per 1,000. Um in order to be considered a tobacco swamp, you have to have three tobacco retailers per 1,000. So, um Bunnell is over two times that amount in terms of tobacco retailers. Uh and Flagler Beach is a little bit over that amount. Um obviously, the population is a little bit smaller, so that can also play a a role into things, but considering Bunnell and Flagler Beach's populations aren't that far apart, it's uh a interesting statistic that they're double um the tobacco swamp uh point. Um So, when you say that there are
05542 tobacco retailers within 1,000 ft of a school or a park, the current um requirement is that they're outside 1,000. So, were these grandfathered within, or is it that there's a different regulation for a public park? Right. So, whenever a policy is made, for the most part, usually because we are also a city, county, whatever you want to call it, that doesn't want to uh hurt business owners within it, um usually they are grandfathered, and that's why it's so important in a time right now, as our county [clears throat] is growing, that we get in front of these issues that we currently see in a place like Bunnell. Um easily, Palm Coast can become a tobacco swamp. Uh and then just not even Palm Coast, but smaller areas of cities, of municipalities can be their
056own little tobacco swamps, and I think the school board um can play a a big role in terms of your guy advocacy, for for the most part, um for these policies. >> [clears throat] >> So, some of the things that Tobacco-Free Flagler has been able to do in regards to policy is uh smoke-free parks in the city of Palm Coast. All of the city of Palm Coast have smoke-free parks, and then Flagler Beach, our beaches are smoke-free. Yes. Um and we were one of the first in the state to go smoke-free, the first, and it's because of the work that Tobacco-Free Flagler has done. And I have a question. So, smoke-free, so tobacco, cigarettes, and vaping, correct? Or is it So, I'd love to see, and I know this it would just have to be
057people working more together, but parks when, you know, people they are out there smoking, our youth are there playing youth sports, and you know, I guess this would be more of like a partnership with the city and the county of, you know, more signs, or even our officers, you know, citation, or some type of letting people know and regulating it more, cuz you do see that a lot at parks when flag football games are going on. There's vaping by adults that kids are watching. Yes. We were recently doing our park celebration for the city of Palm Coast a couple of weeks a weekends ago, and as I was, you know, standing, uh we had a little microphone and calling the kids over, dad, he walked outside of the little fencing, and he just and I
058saw like a little like smoke come out of him, and I was like, is he is he serious? Like, cuz I was announcing all day that we're doing a tobacco-free park celebration, and >> [laughter] >> So, so I told him he couldn't do that. At least he yeah, I guess he thought that was like okay, and I go over there, and I'm like, hey, can you not do that? And he was a little upset with me, but I just like you said, I think the education, I think the enforcement may need a little more emphasis than just a so I mean, and self-policing does work. Obviously, that worked in that moment, but I feel like we can do a little bit more. Well, I do see, you know, obviously, with the 6,000 homes approved for
059Bunnell, we're going to see that corridor take off, right? And we know that that elementary school is right in the midst of that. We have a lot of building going at on at the north end of town. Um and so, what I'm looking for is some insight in how, and if you could share more about how nine other districts in the state have expanded the minimum feet between a school and a tobacco establishment, how that worked, how they were able to work with their city officials Right. in order to make that happen. So, in terms of the in terms of Flagler County, if they were to implement a zoning policy, it would only cover um a few commercial places. The city of Palm Coast, the city of Bunnell, the city of Flagler Beach, they actually
060would have control over a lot of the retail stores in terms of those zoning policies. So, that would be a basically the same way we went through parks would be a municipality by municipality effort. And the same way that those the the parks policies or ordinances were passed would be very similar to the to zoning ordinances. There are already sample ordinances. The county that I worked in right before I left, we actually got a zoning policy passed in the city of Alachua, not the county. And that is for the municipality. So, we already have I want to say seven municipalities and two counties that have zoning policies passed. So, in terms of templates, there are seven templates that we currently have that can easily be reviewed and possibly even implemented if we chose to go
061down that route. Great. >> [clears throat] >> Well, again, we just thank you guys so much, and appreciate you taking the time to come and present. So, Thank you guys. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. We'll move on to 6.02 student code of conduct with Mr. Glasgow. >> [clears throat] [clears throat] >> Good afternoon. Chairwoman Chung, school board members, I have Mr. Glasgow with us here today, who is going to give us the update on the revisions to the elementary and secondary code of conduct, where we are in the process, and then hopefully tonight we will be asking for permission to advertise the revised elementary and secondary codes. Mr. Glasgow. Madam Chair, school board, Deputy Superintendent Dr. O'Brien. Um just wanted to provide the board with a update on again the introduction. I'm I'm not
062going to go through all the slides. Um I know we've already covered majority of them, but just to remind the community, the reason why we do this process is to make sure that we maintain compliant with state law or compliance with state laws, enhances our clarity and fairness within our processes, and then addresses emerging issues in our schools as such with Tobacco-Free Florida and vaping in our schools. So, that's something that's always evolving that we take a look at. If you go to the next slide, please. Just the updated timeline. We have two more sessions of coming in front of the board. So, the next session, it will be the finalized version for the board to approve on. We will shut off all public comment and input from all stakeholders the week prior to the
06318th. I'll talk about the responses that we received so far. If you go to the next slide. So, again, we just finished up meeting with our deans from across the school district and reviewing their input, and also received input from our administrators as well. If you go on to the next slide. Our feedback, we still are at 128 current responses on our form. If you could progress forward, keep going, please. Keep going. Stop right there. So, I don't think it's here. Actually, keep going just a little bit. Little bit more. There we go. Next slide. Perfect. So, at the recommendation of the transportation department, we did add bus suspension and a clarifying definition of what that may look like. And it also includes students shouldn't be at a bus stop either during their bus suspension
064or during out-of-school suspension either during the pickup or drop off drop off times of that specific bus or transportation van. If you go to the next slide, please. So, we already covered this one. Next, please. So, we revamped our artificial intelligence AI misuse. We previously had a statement in there, but this is an updated piece, and really just to be able to collect not only what our students are utilizing and who should be authorizing it but to also just not include not just this blindly state chat GPT or uh Google Gemini but um large language model is the term so we made sure to include that. Next one, please. We clarified information regarding um the search and seizure for digital devices and going through student devices as we see fit for um investigation purposes and
065making sure that we're following federal and state guidelines regarding that. Keep going down, please. Uh same thing with the student safety monitoring on district technology. We've added language in there that clarifies the district networks and accounts and school-issued devices may be monitored to support student safety in reasonable technology use and um anything that may come from that uh regarding supports and services for our students or their families. And then finally, next steps is to continue collecting feedback like I said the week prior to um the informational meeting. I believe it's on the 18th of April. Um and then we're still developing the frequently asked questions document and then um we'll provide the finalized version of our student code of conducts at the informational meeting in April. That concludes my presentation. Do we have any questions?
066All right, Mr. Ramirez. I appreciate the hard work. I know it's been a lot and then the meetings and everything just reviewing data and just thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Um I think my question might need some insight from Attorney Smith. Um uh with the advent of deepfake uh content that's able to be published, so a student able to take a picture of another student create videos of their likeness does our current student code of conduct in terms of the bullying cover that or would that need to be a separate section? So while Mr. Smith is coming up, I can speak a little bit to that cuz I've I've been doing it over the the past 8 years. Uh we have levels of technology misuse that does cover some of that. It's not specific to
067like deepfakes but it in the definition for technology misuse it would cover them utilizing technology in a malicious way against other students. >> So if and that's I guess my question. Let's say that I make a video of somebody or like I'm able to take Dr. O'Brien's picture and I can create a movie with her in it. It could not be malicious but she did not give me her permission to do that. And then, you know, certainly uh I've read that there's a recent case where uh some very disturbing content was created from student likenesses. Um so definitely that would be [clears throat] malicious. But it there would be would there be would that student be breaking any rule if somebody were to say, "Well, I don't know if that's malicious or not." But they
068didn't have permission to use their likeness in that that content. >> we do have different levels of of discipline. So there are levels of technology misuse that aren't malicious but they're not appropriate for school. And then we have higher levels of of uh misuse which do include malicious uh intent in it. So we do have it's a tiered system of of levels that um addresses technology misuse but we could look at the definitions for those and see if we need to include additional language around creation of of videos >> up to him what if it passes your muster. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, so this would be a discu- this is a discussion that I just had with Doug like 2 days ago where we're trying to imagine the problems that are headed our way uh
069with regard to this and uh trying to fit it into the tiered system that John was that uh John was discussing with you. Um so I I would imagine that's going to ultimately um need to be addressed by um board policy as well. Or a separate AI policy? Yes, exactly. But once we figure out how it's going to fit into that, once we know exactly what we're working with, then trying to in terms of what's out there, then >> [clears throat] >> then trying to figure out how that's going to >> Yeah. Cuz as it stands, we don't have a policy that says you can't use somebody's likeness, right? Without their permission, right? Um it's kind of vague as as this all evolves. I think it is on our agenda at some point to talk
070to about in the future. The other question I have is in the code of conduct, it specifically states if you're on a district network or district device, you should not expect privacy. Uh I I'm Mr. Deesing might uh need to weigh in here but let's say that I'm on my personal device and I go to and I'm on a school campus but I don't choose to connect to their network. Uh I you know, we're also talking about dreaming because the students say that the Wi-Fi signal stinks when they're not on the network. But let's say that they are. Um you know, and they engage in inappropriate conversation, whatever. Is that is not something that we're able to monitor cuz they're not on our network and not on our devices, right? But if we were to
071find it by searching their device, that's when it comes into our purview? Yes, ma'am. Is that correct, Mr. Deesing? We can't We we can't oversee what students are searching or communicating on their personal devices when they do not connect to the network, right? That's correct. >> Okay. And we'd only search for the likeness in which the information is being presented to us. So if we are working with our families and going through a particular device and something is discovered other than what we are looking for, we would not be seeking discipline or anything like that. Now It would only have to be about the complaint. Correct. >> Really, what if it's though something that is threatening, right? >> So if it does violate state statute possibly, it would be turned over to law enforcement immediately.
072>> Okay. All right, thank you for that clarification. Appreciate it. >> Yes, ma'am. Uh Mr. Furry, any questions for me? Nope, thank you. Looks like we're heading in the right direction here. So Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for your hard work and always staying on top of this. I know you're constantly making changes so we appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate your time. All right, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. 6.03 goal four spotlight with with Dr. O'Brien and Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Walker joining us as well. Good afternoon, board chair Chong. We are here today to provide you with the strategic plan goal spotlight for goal four, which is talent. Um and this goal is really about aligning our recruitment and retention efforts so that new talent and existing staff
073are supported throughout their entire life cycle. All right. Um in terms of the why for this goal, it's really um by by bringing a strategic focus to our recruitment and retention work, we want to secure and maintain a consistent high-quality team of educators staff and administrators. And so we'll give you an update of where we're at. We have two metrics that we have inside of this goal. One is to reduce the percentage of vacant instructional positions. We measure this on day one of each semester and our goal is was to drop from 5% in 23-24 to 4% by this school year and we and over the last couple of years have consistently been below that 4%. This year at day one of semester one our vacancy rate for instructional was 1.79% and semester two 1.75%.
074And then we also have a metric for non-instructional positions. Our goal was to go from 7% to 6% and again we've been consistently below that. This year for semester one, we were at 1.65% and semester two, we were at 1.9%. And when we revised this goal, just um a reminder for the board, um we did change the targets to be in alignment with industry uh standards for both instructional and um support positions. So we are certainly faring very well as compared to um our school district neighbors and and the general uh education industry. Um but if Mr. Walker could speak to a little bit about what we've done to make that happen. >> Yeah, absolutely. So being I would say public in the community, being forward-facing, you know, we've had the opportunity to host a
075variety of job fairs, whether it be at the GSB or participating in some of the other job fairs, whether it's uh even at the school levels or even at like the Palm Coast Community Center. So we've been able to kind of put ourselves out there showing that we are an enticing employer in our community. Uh that's been very helpful. When we look at the economy also and once the economy kind of starts to waver a little bit, public sector tends to become a little bit more appealing for some folks looking for stability. So when you look at our track record as an employer, we've been very strong in maintaining our talent and keeping our uh our employees underneath us, right? We we haven't had the opportunity or have been forced to reduce in any way
076as it looks to them, right? So that's very appealing on the outside of it. So making sure we are engaging with our folks in our area and also maintaining the ability to be a premier uh employer, you know, statewide and nationwide. Um over the past 2 years we've implemented new uh applicant tracking system through PowerSchool which when you go to it and you go to our job board, it even shows you, "Hey, here's is a map of Florida." And you can see Flagler County and Flagler Schools is right on the water. So, right there it's very it's very appealing. It's very nice for folks that are looking to maybe move to the area. Okay, I'm going to kind of follow the pin dot and follow the uh the heat map there. So, those are things
077that have been very helpful. Okay. Any questions? Uh just a comment. I've heard several times on the radio Flagler in 60 seconds and it it's been great. Uh Don, you sound great on there. But, I appreciate hearing the different parts and I've heard a lot about, you know, hiring events and so, you know, I I think that is great and so, just continuing, you know, thinking of different ideas and you know, it I hopefully it works and >> [clears throat] >> No, and that's an excellent point. So, for those listening, we are hosting two job fairs in the month of April. They they'll both be at the GSB. April 3rd is going to be a transportation specific job fair [clears throat] for bus drivers and bus aids from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. So, please
078come on by, talk to our staff, talk to the transportation staff, get an interview and see if this would be a great fit for you. We do offer a lot of on-job training as it relates to getting behind the wheel. So, if you may kind of be uh a little bit wishy-washy, we will provide training. And then on April 18th, which will be on a Saturday, we are hosting an instructional job fair from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. here at the GSB. So, both of those flyers are out. We're circulating it through the radio. For the instructional [clears throat] one, we encourage folks to pre-register. That way we can get an idea of your certification status and get you scheduled for an interview. And I would just say when people register, and you may already
079have it, but collecting data, how did you hear and then was it the radio? Cuz >> [clears throat] >> I mean, I heard it, so it'd be nice to see like is it working? Is it not? But, thank you for putting that up there quite a few times. Um so, on when I look at this goal, it says reduce the percentage of vacant instructional positions on day one. So, [clears throat] to me that's more about your efficiency in hiring what you lost and not so much the retention. So, [clears throat] what is our retention rate? And how does that compare to our county neighbors? That's an excellent point. So, right now I don't have the retention rate in front of me. As we look at kind of evolving this goal into the next strategic plan,
080we've kind of realized, "Hey, we've hit the goal as far as vacancy rate, but how are we going to expand?" So, something that we've talked about as a team is really kind of boiling it down to certain targeted areas, whether that be paraprofessionals, bus drivers, bus aids, and also high-demand teacher needs areas, and kind of splitting it two ways. One for the vacancy rate, which we've talked about, and the other one being retention. So, we're actually in the process right now of looking at those targeted groups and going backwards to see historically how we've done. Cuz what is the current cost to acquire a new hire? It can vary. I mean, you have to think the standard sub rate for someone with a bachelor's, I believe, is $185 a day. So, every day that we
081don't have a full-time instructional personnel in that position, it's going to keep building day after day. Luckily, through the purchases of, you know, PowerSchool applicant tracking, that's already a fixed cost. So, really it's the time and energy put in by our personnel [clears throat] staff and at the school level going through applications. So, I think that's where we see the biggest strain on resources. Well, not only that, but these job fairs, right? Do are we charged a registered fee for this when we join these job fairs? >> charge fees for our job fairs. Now, when we look at potentially going out and about, whether it's at a a college and career fair out there, then yes, there are. And that's what I'd like to see maybe in our next future goals is that not so
082much on day one, cuz that means while people are scrambling and to be honest, this kind of a goal could end up having us hire people who are less ideal for the role just because we want to beat this metric. What we'd rather do is retain people and so, that would also help us be more fiscally responsi- responsible by not having man-hours, onboarding, paying registration fees, paying for ads, things of that nature. And I think some of that goes to how good is the onboarding in terms of you know, getting them ready for success and accuracy of the job posting. I say this specifically to our para roles. We have a wide variety of para roles and we use them interchangeably. You could have a para that needs to have be responsible for toileting one
083child, while another para could be, you know, maybe uh oh serving multiple students. And my understanding is the current model is that that's interchangeable. You could have a para one day sitting with a student that has relatively low needs with a para the next day having emotional, physical outbursts. So, >> [clears throat] >> especially we're going to have paras who are exposed to students who are going to be physical, we need to be very clear in that job description and we need to provide them proper training ahead of time, right? And I think that when we look at our job our HR reports, we're seeing way more paras, right, than we are our instructional people. And so, um you know, if those are our students who are at the most need, right, how much of
084that time are they not receiving those services because of those turnovers, which also technically is a hidden cost. It's a phenomenal point. So, when we've looked at paraprofessionals in general, we've had some really productive conversations with Dr. Halliday over at ESE and looking at, "Okay, HR will essentially, you know, wrap them up, get them ready to go, and then how's that handoff looking?" So, we are having constant communication on, "Okay, how can we best inform the school that they have a paraprofessional starting and then they're able to roll out the red carpet, so to speak, make sure those supports are in place." So, as we look at retention and targeting those groups, I agree that that's definitely something that we are looking to dive into. Okay. Thank you. So, on the retention front, you know,
085ever since I was joined this board, the talk of retention has always been focused, "Hey, can we get get an exit interview? Can we get an exit?" And we've seen the challenges with that. And that [clears throat] seems to be the go-to thought is like, "Why not get an exit interview?" Um and whether they will be honest or not, that that that's a is the data worthy of of using. I I'm thinking that, you know, people are probably more willing to share when they're being onboarded. Um so, what my thought is is to be doing an an onboarding survey once they've been hired and ask them, "Why did you choose to go with Flagler? You had other options. Why did you choose Flagler Schools?" And maybe have some highlighted things that we are that we
086put our initiatives out for, like the wellness center, um things like that, other incentives that we have out there. Gauge what attracted them in the first place. Uh that will help us with two things. One, marketing to those strengths that we have, but also maintaining a quality and standard in those areas because I do believe that when people come on and they came for that reason and then as time goes on, the the consistency of those of the value or the benefit or whatever consistency slips, then they start maybe looking somewhere else, right? And let's let's face it, on the way in, everybody's happy. There's not really any consequences to share Yeah, positive information. And I think that that could be used later because especially when somebody's, you know, talking to exit, you know, we
087kind of we could look reference that and say, "Hey, are we not living up to what we what we were when you started? Where where can we solve that problem to keep you here, right?" So, those are some areas I think we could we could strengthen retention with. If we did like an onboarding survey, would it be anonymous? Like truly? We'd have the option to. I mean, our classes as it relates to onboarding, you know, during the summer will go from 20 to 45 individuals. So, I know when they go through their new teacher orientation, they're given a survey on, you know, the quality of the PL associated with it, which is extremely helpful for us and the team as they go back to prep, "Hey, how can we do better moving forward? What really
088stuck?" Um for onboarding, it will be here. Sometimes you have one one person up to five. We could definitely integrate it to where it could be anonymous or you know, maybe not hold them right to it, but, "Hey, by the end of your first week, we encourage you to fill out this survey and do a touchpoint after." Yeah. I just I think most people probably it's nice to be asked for feedback, but in their mind they could be thinking, "Well, I don't want to get in trouble or penalized or something." Yeah, and I I would say it would be an optional. I mean, it's not going to be a mandatory for employment, but I just think people are more willing to offer up the information at the front end than on the back end, so.
089And it is often an it's an interview question, "Why Flagler?" And so, but but when I think about how we capture that, it's not in a way where we can look at that data all together. It's typically in in handwritten notes, right? Like, "Why are you Why are you choosing us?" Um uh to Ms. Reddy's question regarding or or rather comment on the day one, uh when this goal was developed, I I think it really came from a place of ensuring that all of our classrooms Right. >> on day one with with teachers. Um and so, that's where it came from We also worked on around the pandemic. systems and onboarding over the summer, making sure that we had those systems in place so that everything was done on HR side and school side to
090get teachers in the classroom on day one. We also talked about last meeting when we talked about the new strategic plan about state surveys. So, that's something that we're looking into as a strategy. On a yearly basis, having evaluators or administrators have conversations with staff members about how's it going? You know, thank you for choosing us next year. What's making you stay? All those You know, I'll just add one more thing. A mentorship program. I know I mentioned it before, but potentially could that be something that could help? I don't know if other counties do that, but it works for other types of organizations. I don't know about Yeah, and we do have that in in some different pockets of uh employee types, I would say. Yeah. Like if if it worked in one of
091them, potentially that could be something to help with this [clears throat] goal of maintaining retention. Yeah. All right. Any other questions, comments? Thanks, y'all. Appreciate it. Thank you. 8.01, project priority list with Mr. Bush and Mr. Freeman. Good afternoon, Chair Chong, board members. Um so, to use capital outlay debt services funds, um there's a a two-step process. Uh the first step is a a survey. And in this case, that was survey 6.1. It was approved um by this board in March 25th of 2025 and then approved by DOE in July, uh excuse me, June 13th of 2025. Uh the second step, and that's what we're here for, is uh for the approval, is you project priority list. Um and this pro- project priority list includes two flooring projects. Uh the first one was um building
09210 at Bunnell Elementary School, the new flooring on the second floor. And then at Buddy Taylor, building six and nine, we did the classrooms uh first floor and the classrooms and corridor on the second floor. Um It's the first time I've heard it Buddy Taylor. >> [laughter] >> I thought at first you I was like, "Oh, okay." Now The two st- That's That's how we call it. My apologies if the No, no, no, no, no. >> two-story building and we did the two. >> Buddy Taylor, okay. Well, cuz one part is Buddy Taylor and the other part is Buddy Wirth, so we just call it Buddy Wirth. >> took me a couple seconds, but then I got it. I was like, "Oh, okay." Um >> [laughter] >> and we're plant services scheduled to complete um
093this by the end of the fiscal year. Are there any questions? Thank you for focusing on these priority projects. Yeah, thanks for clarifying as well and to those watching that this is not your entire uh facilities list of things to do. This is out of a specific bucket of money. That is correct. >> Thank you. And and this is is this carpeting mostly? Um yes, most of that Yes, sir. Um there is some LVP depending on, you know, some of the flooring that's And are these the the type that that are that that they're are squared out where you can replace the pieces? >> Okay, got you. They're two by two square carpet tiles. Has that been working out well overall? We feel so. >> of it, yeah. Okay. It allows, you know, if there's
094um there's stains that custodial is unable to get out, it allows us to be able to remove that that tile or tiles and and put that in. I mean, I know the the carpet color may be a little different cuz a different lot, but it's better than having to try to cut out if it was rolled carpet to try to replace that. Much more challenging. Sure. And do we keep Do we get a little extra when when we do these projects? >> Yes, sir. We do have attic stock out at US1 that we keep. Thank you. Mhm. Um I'm just curious on the square footage of these cuz it doesn't it doesn't expand out. Do you know that? Um I could get that for you. I don't I don't know at this particular moment, but
095I can surely get that and send that to you. Any other questions, team? All right. Thank you. Okay, so we are moving on to public comments. Do we have already pulled up 4.02? Do you want to take public comments? All right. Any board member requests? Uh I would like us to put on a future item to review the school district's practices relating to the assignment of the ratio of school-based administrators to student population. Um I would like to take a look and to ensure that the current demands that are placed upon the school-based administrators, such as the several observations that need to happen during the year, uh facilitating uh parent concerns, additional student discipline issues, as well as the extracurricular and evening activities, are able to be managed uh with success [clears throat] in a
096uh with a uh the staffing model that we currently have in place. Okay, Dr. Bryan's got that. >> [clears throat] >> Any other board member requests? Okay. We'll move on to closing comments. I wanted to thank Mr. Corey Bush and his team. So, I don't know if anyone heard, but over spring break, a Boston terrier decided to have spring break at Buddy Taylor Middle School, in and out, a little Boston terrier dog. And so, last Thursday night was receiving calls and um Mr. Bush got on top of it real quick with his team. Is it Mark or Markle? Markle. Markle. So, went to late Thursday evening to help get that little Boston terrier out. So, I just want to thank your team and just being so active uh with our smart animal rescue in Flagler
097County. So, that was pretty nice and just want to thank uh our community partners, their continued support and engaging with our students. It's so important to have our business partners, our organizations, our community partners. So, keep up at it. It's awesome. We do appreciate you. And our Flagler County Mosquito Control. So, there is a pilot, so Pilot TC. So, he took the time to connect with one of our schools, Wadsworth Elementary, through helicopter. So, these are great partnerships and our kids in Flagler schools are going to remember this stuff forever. So, I just want to just say thank you to all of them and our district staff. So, working so hard during spring break and I will see everyone tonight. Thank you. Uh I also wish to commend Mr. Bush and uh Mr. Freeman on
098the energy savings grant we received. That was wonderful. Appreciate that work as well as the um the FPL. I guess they really provided that opportunity as well. Was it FPL? Yeah. So, it was generous of them. Uh very appreciative. I also want to uh wish our students competing in future problem solvers and community problem solvers at the state level this week in Orlando much luck and success. Uh they're currently in that process where they are writing about future scenarios and solving those issues regarding a seven with a seven-part process. It's very intensive and presenting their community solving uh projects that they've worked on all year. So, I wish them uh great success. I also encourage our community uh and uh staff to join us this evening for the school board meeting. On that agenda is
099an item regarding health care. Uh and just to let you know, just as we stand here right now under our current uh system, the school board pays $9,600 on average for an employee enrolled in our uh just our health insurance and the employees pay an average of $16,000 a year in premiums for family health insurance before co-pays and deductibles, all on an average salary less than the median salary in Flagler County itself. So, that is something we'll be discussing this evening and um uh coming to a vote on. It is one element uh of of what we're trying to do to help us find solutions to that and we would love to hear your thoughts on those programs that we're exploring. Thank you. Very good. I have nothing to add for now. I will have
100my comments this evening. Thank you. All right. Thank you, everybody. We'll see you at 6:00 p.m. This meeting is adjourned.