April 26, 2016 School Board meeting

001the April 26 2016 meeting of the Marin County School Board is called to order for the courtesies of those listening to the meeting I'm impressing everyone in the audience please turn off your electronic device and put them on vibrate later later in the meeting time will be provided for individuals to address the board on matters concerning the operation of the Maring County School System of the school board only presentation to the boards are limited uh to 5 minutes and are televised if you wish to address the board regarding a regular agenda item on matters in which the board customary take action you must first complete a peach form located on the front table if you wish to address the board regarding a public hearing or student discipline matter please complete the lime green form this

002form must be fully completed and received by the for uh board secretary no later than 5:40 p.m. the procedures appal for each are on a separate sheet Madame secretary please call the rooll Mrs Nancy Stacy district one here Mrs Carol Le District Two present Miss Angie Boon District Four here Mrs Kelly King District Five here Mr Bobby James District three here Mr George tommen superintendent here Mr Steven Lake Board attorney here Miss Vita Brown Career Education facilitator please introduce the students who will be providing the inspiration and leading us leading Us in the pledge this evening this evening good afternoon my name is velvia brown I am one of your Career Education facilitators uh with the Career and Technical education department of Marian County Public Schools thank you for having us out on this afternoon

003we have two students who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and then deliver the inspiration KH Taylor is of Liberty Middle school she placed fourth in our state leadership conference in middle level procedures and principles she will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Jessica MCC of Vanguard High School who is our district 7 President elect Jessica will deliver the inspiration please stand and join me in the pledge of allegience 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 thank you you may be seated hello stepping to the staccato of synchronized Heartbeats we breathe in walk through the door shake hands and present we prepared for months researching and

004editing editing and practicing and finally it's reality we're here at State an amazing opportunity learning and networking all following the FBA Creed we believe in education responsibility and understanding no matter race color sex or handicap we all promise to use our ability ities to make a difference we are all preparing to succeed for when we leave textbooks and homework retire our backpacks for briefcases and enter a world unlike the one we have become so accustomed to into a world of businesses and salaries but we will be ready because we are future Business Leaders we know what to expect in that Brave New World our briefcases will be packed with experience we have grown and developed played our strengths and and strengthened our weaknesses striding to the Legato of confident Tranquility we breathe in we walk

005towards our futures prepared joining fpla has been one of the most beneficial eye-opening and enjoyable experiences of my life through fbaa I feel that I have a better grasp on the business World improved leadership skills and the experience that I need to transition from school to a career fpla focuses on on service education and progress these three competencies are vital to FBLA service produces students who give back to the community and do what is right education gives students the tools they need to succeed and progress is what we see in every single fbaa member FBA has something for every student with over 55 competitive events it's easy to find something that matches your interests and challenges you for me this has been public speaking and business ethics in just these two competitions I have learned

006so much about my strengths and my weaknesses through public speaking I was able to mature in my style and develop new rhetoric techniques for business ethics I was able to work with a group researching and presenting on important ethical issues in both competitions I was able to make it to State finals which was an amazing opportunity the amount of knowledge and dedication present at state competition is unlike anything I've seen before it's a celebration of competition learning and success this is an amazing organization that has given me as well as thousands of other students the opportunity to grow into a strong passionate citizen ready to make a difference in our world I am a future business leader of America thank you Miss Brown you stepped out before I could say something to you Miss Brown

007I know you have work you also work with middle schools uh tell us a little bit about how you you connect the middle school with what you do I was out at uh ctae I think it was last year when I sat in on one of your program and you had middle the middle school uh Horizon and you also had some schools from outside of the county tell us a little bit about that yes sir that is correct correct district 7 is comprised of Maran Citrus and Levy counties um within fbaa we have both the middle level which is grade 6 through eight and then the high school level so the middle school students have the opportunity to compete at state level which trains them to compete at the state level once they get to

008the high school and then they can move on to National levels if they desire how many kids did you uh you had involved in that program um currently this year we had around 173 approximately uh for district 7 and we had over 4,000 participants at our state leadership conference last month guys uh Bor if you have not seen that program and had an opportunity to go out and watch this young lady work with kids uh you're missing a really a treat on what we do thank you again for job well done thank you thank you thank you Mr superintendent board with the exception of item C1 C13 and c35 which have been withdrawn entirely I recommend approval of the agenda for their April 26 2016 school board meeting with the materials in the board packet

009those materials distributed to board members at the meeting and the audio recording included as part of the official record of the meeting May I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation so move second so move by Mrs uh elely second by Mrs King all in favor signif by saying I I we don't have here we go okay the motion pass uh 5 may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the March 17 2016 administrative briefing and work session may I have a motion and a second so move so by move by Miss zely second and second by Miss King are there any additions or corrections to the minutes saying none all in favor signify by saying I I the motion passed 5 Miss Judy cetti public education Foundation officer would like to recognize

010a new business partner for the North Marian High School good evening superintendent tommen chairman James and the rest of the board members thank you very much for allowing me to be here again this evening and I hope that when I come and I bring these presentations to you that it is a reminder that great things are happening in our schools every single day and that we have community members that are involved and share with us their time their talent and their Treasures every single day I am pleased right now to introduce a princip of North Maran High School Mr Ben White House and with him from Cullison right construction we have Sarah Cullison and Barry Mansfield and Cullison Wright is a new business partner with North Marian High School and they are uh excited and

011proud to be joining North Maran in this Venture so I'm gonna allow Mr White House to say something Mr White House thank you I just want to say how much we appreciate the support of cson Wright and and joining force of our school and we know that every partnership that we gain with the community makes our schools stronger and so we're we're we're grateful and we're looking forward to a great future together with them well we appreciate it and actually it's an honor for us to be able to um participate you know um I went was raised in noal went to Forest High School my kids all went through here so we always you know it was taught my mother-in-law actually was a teacher for 39 years at Ward Highlands so we were taught you

012support the school system so anyhow we we appreciate it we um value this uh partnership and thank you so much okay now for the little presentation hold on we're gonna clap in a minute Mr th okay so to hang in your school office and hang in your business office just to acknowledge our partnership thank you all very much Barry Barry I just want to say say this to you I remember you in your youth so thanks thank thanks thanks again for supporting us and I know that you will continue what you have always done you've always helped us in Baron County you're giving back to the system that you came from thank you thank you Miss Kathy Quin executive director of the of school development and evaluation who served as the district United Way leoon

013would like to share the results of this year's campaign Mr James Mr tommen members of the board it is with extreme pleasure that I stand here before you this evening because we're going to do something that's very unusual here uh with the board usually at the end of the meeting we thank our community for giving to us well tonight we're going to give to our community for as long as I can remember and I've been with Marian County public schools for 31 years we have always had a United Way campaign that supports the United Way in partnership with the Maran County Public Schools this year is no different so I'd like to bring some folks in are actually they're here uh Scott Quintel is the executive director of the United Way we have Natalie mccon

014who is our who is the campaign director and we have Mr Brad Rogers who served as the Maran County chair for this last year with the United Way the thing that makes this so exciting for me is that the United Way serves our kids when there are kids at the Salvation Army because they have no way no place to go it's our kids they go to the boys and girls clubs those are our kids I could go on and on and on and know Mrs elely is involved with reading Pals but all of these dollars that are raised stay here in Maran County and I don't want to steal Scott's Thunder but I think you can tell how excited I am of to be part of this project so what I'd like to do is

015I would like on behalf of the of the Marian County Public Schools I would like to present this check the to the United Way of Maran County for 27,800 [Applause] 8524 I believe Mr quentel has a couple of words followed by Mr Rogers Well on behalf of the number of people in this community that will benefit from the school district's generosity your employees generosity thank you very much um it was exciting to see the enthusiasm within the school buildings this year as uh as as your staff considered the impact that their gifts would have to United Way and I believe we have a short video uh that we shared with them this year Brad turn to that lights down a little bit okay um while he is bringing that up I will share with you

016uh we have a sheet and Natalie from our staff is going to share one of these with each of you the contributions from School District employees this last year provided services to 2,56 individuals here in Maran County so that is truly fantastic when you look at the number of folks that received Services kids in the community that were helped with Early Childhood literacy their success rate in schools uh your staff really should be commended for their generosity and commitment to Maran County as a [Music] whole so have you ever given to United Way no they've asked me about it here at work and I've heard of United Way but there's not much I can give from my paycheck we are still digging out of debt since Jim's been out of work for a while you'd

017be surprised what even one from your paycheck could do it all adds up because the way that United Way does it is the most effective way and our company lets you do it payroll deduction so that makes it even easier I feel like even my small gift makes a big difference in the community kind of like it's multiplied when it's added to all the others why don't you give it a try when they ask this year hello hi ma'am thank you for your donations to United Way Reading was a real struggle for me but with your help in the Maran County Literacy Council I was able to get the help I need oh you're most welcome young man can I help you good morning I wanted to thank you for your gift to United Way

018because of your gift I was able to get a hot meal and a warm place to stay at the Salvation Army and they helped me get back on my feet oh you're very welcome ma' hold on excuse me ma'am I just wanted to let you know because of your donation to the United Way I was able to get myself and my children out of a domestic violence situation thank you thank you thank you I did all of that with one investment big or small the power of your donation goes a long way to make a big difference right here in Marian County donate to United Way today and see what the power of one can do so again thank you on behalf of the 2056 individuals that were helped in Maran County with the generosity

019of your team also have the opportunity to introduce to you someone you already know Brad Rogers he was our campaign chair this last year and I really want to give Brad credit uh this year we had a 2 and a half% increase in the campaign it was the first time in the last seven years that United Way has accomplished that and it was under Brad's leadership that we were able to get that done Mr James board members thank you for having us here tonight we want to um this is really a celebration and uh you know I'm married to a te to a school teacher and I ask her she gives every year and she always talks about how important it is to give because the teacher see every day what the United Way agencies

020do they see what arnet house does they see what Kimberly Center does they see what Interfaith do the boys and girls club and on and on um as they as they said earlier uh the School Employees gave $258,000 to United Way this year but I thought i' give you I've been coming to this board for how many years George 20 years I know you like numbers the increase this year by giving in giving by by School Board Me by School Board employees was 15% roughly $32,000 that basically was the increase in our overall campaign giving this year the school board employees um we had 500 new donors from the school system uh the participation rate increased from 38% to 45% and I don't want to leave these out you provided eight um someone wrote my

021notes Here incredible Superstar loaned executive volunteers and they were absolutely vital and um Mr tomman organization is a reflection of its leadership he has been so supportive of United Way and it reflects in what the employees have given I'm going to give you one more set of numbers just to give you an idea of how how generous your employees are in the state of Florida Maran County Public Schools was the third highest money raising school system in the state behind Miami Dade and Bard you all should be be very proud um you all know what what these agencies do what they mean to these kids and these families and we are extremely grateful to the employees of Maran County school system thank you very [Applause] much question okay Brad uh Mr Rogers I have a

022question Scott um that video was great when when um school starts next fall do the principals or does the district put some the video or something together to sell our employees on um the need for giving to United Way you you actually as a district do a couple of things um number one Kathy quellin and her leadership of uh the school district campaign is fantastic um I know that um the the efforts around United Way um are one of the things you look at in developing some of your staff so kind of project management skills um we also look for the opportunity to share this message with as many people as possible in the district and I think that's one of the things we were able to do this year was to have the opportunity

023to directly share you know the the numbers and what the impact is and and and the number of people that are served um with employees within the district and as Brad shared the numbers you can see it it made a tremendous impact well the video was great thank you so much for working so hard Brad and Scott appreciate it one thing i' I'd like to just share with you asking for money is not an easy task nope m and I just want to say Brad on behalf of all of us in the county thank you guys because y' did a really tremendous job of asking for money thank you okay may I have a motion to adopt the proclamation recognized in May 3rd 2016 as national teacher appreciation day may I have a motion in

024a second so moved second moved by Miss King second by miss elely all in favor signify by saying I I a motion pass a 5 Zer Mr John Curley Vice uh Mr John C Curley Vanguard High School principal and Miss Tina chiso Mar County teacher of the year and as well as Mr Chris app Dr Bell Marin County a president of the Maran County Education Association please come forward for the reading and presentation of the Proclamation you want to read it sure nobody wants to read it I'll read it the proclamation for national teacher appreciation day whereas teachers make public schools great and whereas teachers work to open students Minds to ideas knowledge and dreams and whereas teachers keep American democracy Alive by laying the foundation for good citizens citizenship and whereas teachers fill many

025roles as listeners explorers Role Models motivators and mentors and whereas teachers continue to influence us long after our school days are only memories now therefore we the members of the Maring County School Board and superintendent serving as the policy and decision makers for Maran County students do hereby Proclaim May 3rd 2016 as national teacher appreciation day thank you thank [Applause] you Chris you got to come to the podium chairman J board members Mr superintendent have something for you congratulations to uh Tanya who will be displaying this proudly at Vanguard uh High School um I come to you tonight on behalf of the association and I wanted to uh share with you teacher appreciation week and why teachers deserve our praise and support uh unlike other careers in which the same method can be applied time

026and time again teaching requires an individualized approach as each student learns differently and has a different set of circumstances that they bring every day uh I want to give you some facts about us teachers uh on average teachers work more than 52 hours a week uh including 30 hours for instruction alone and 22 hours on average on tasks like preparing lessons and grading papers at the same time teachers work with more uh an average more than 20 students in a class and we know that that can be higher in in in certain grade levels uh and work with new students each school year uh every day in schools across the country teachers touch the lives of millions of children and their work and impact extends far beyond the boundaries of of the classroom so how

027can we appreciate teachers let's talk about this when families are engaged and partners with teachers amazing things can happen when students attend school more regularly earn better grades enroll in higher level programs have higher graduation rates and are more likely to enroll in postsecondary education all when our families are engaged one prominent study found that students are 10 times more likely to improve in math and four times more likely to improve in Reading than students who attend schools without effective family engagement and here's one that should involve all of us here the Journal of Human Resources state that family engagement can raise student academic achievement so significantly that schools would need to spend an additional $1,000 per pupil to receive the same academic results so parents get involved with your child's education and I'm sure

028teachers will appreciate uh that um before I turn it over to Tanya I I want to just um mention something uh I recently got the retirement list from Marian County and um I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the many teachers who are retiring this school year uh looking at that current list we are scheduled to lose well over a thousand years of teaching experience uh in honor of teacher appreciation week and uh their retirement I would like to read this poem uh author unknown your retirement has made everyone value you ever more it has made us appreciate the way you have strengthened our cores you are not just retiring from your post position or role you're retiring as a teacher who inspired our souls so thank you for everything you do teachers on

029behalf of the mea and then I'll turn it over to our teacher of the year hello thank you thanks for inviting me back I enjoy coming every time um Mr tommen Mr James and the rest of the board members um it's it is an honor definitely being teacher of the year in Maran County and I hope I represent van uh not only Vanguard High School but also Marian County very well um as far as national teacher appreciation it means a lot to us as teachers to be appreciated usually we take a week out of the year and we get um gifts luns breakfasts from usually members in the community parents and um clubs around school and that does mean a lot to us I just wanted everyone to know that so we do appreciate everything

030you guys do for us so thank you for Miss sty yes I would like to say I have three students that wouldn't be what they are today had it not been for their 13 years in the Maron County School System I'm proud of them this school system did them well thank you Miss I wanted to make a statement um I know your school might do something every day for teachers not every school is as lucky to have the parents support and that group so I would like the parents to know that we need to support our teachers whatever School your children go to and you don't need to buy them gifts thank you notes are great parents support is great even an apple in the teachers mailbox is terrific but um definitely but um anything

031you can do to let your teachers know how much you support them I'd just like to share this with the principal and the number one teacher your number one teacher it's always a pleasure to have you come before the board and I know when you're at your school you all reflect your students and your students reflect you all so again I would like to congratulate you on being the teacher of the year and I want to thank all the people at vanard for a job well done thank you thank you we appreciate it [Applause] okay I will now ask the board attorney to explain the rule uh the rules governing persons who wish to address the uh the board tonight thank you Mr James good evening everyone in compliance with the Sunshine Law section 28614

032of the Florida Statutes the school board has adopted procedures for public speakers who wish to speak at tonight's meeting regarding one of tonight's agenda items or a matter relating to School District Operations school board has adopted these procedures to ensure the public has a reasonable opportunity to speak and be heard on school board and School District matters a written summary of these procedures is available from the table near the door to this room please fill out completely a public speaker form located on the table adjacent to that boardroom door those forms were due to the school board's assistant no later than 5:40 p.m. speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of recedo forms by the school board's assistant based on time consideration the school board

033by majority vote may decide to limit the number of presentations on any one topic shorten the presentation time which I understand the board chair is inclined to do tonight move public common time to a different position on tonight's agenda or eliminate the public common time for this meeting Al together and reschedule it for a future meeting before you begin speaking tonight please State your full name and address for the record spell your last name I understand that each speaker uh Mr chair will be allowed uh two minutes of time is that right okay when the speaker has one minute remaining the speaker will receive a vision ual notice to complete his or her comments speakers may not yield their time to other people speakers and meeting attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful

034manner therefore verbal attacks and profan profanity are prohibited also unsolicited commercial solicitations are prohibited the school board May of course on its own initiative request informational presentations on matters involving the Maran County School System matters dealing with student discipline including expulsions will be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting parents wishing to address the board regarding a discipline matter will have the opportunity to do so at that time speakers may use handouts or audiovisual presentations but only if they were provided to the board assistant at least 48 hours prior to the meeting and have a total length of five minutes or less only a student's parent or Guardian may use a student's first or last name identifying references to or identification of other students Andor their families is strictly prohibited thank

035you for your attention to these uh requirements tonight Mr chairman that concludes my explanatory remarks okay board do I have a consensus for the two minutes for our speakers so I have a consensus on that let me just share uh this with with with you uh with the people that will be speaking and the people that will be listening my commitment has always been to young people and when you are speaking tonight I would like for you to understand that that we are we have two sides to the issues that will be heard tonight I would refer to you if you agree with the person that's speaking to give them a thumbs up but please don't applaud simply because we have people here and we do not want to hurt young people it's okay to

036say hey John but don't say hey but give him a thumbs up to let him know that you agree with him this will in this will in turn keep us moving along and we will keep keep this to the uh to a point where we can it will be manageable make sure that we do not have a pep rally but we are here for substance Madam Secretary uh Leah Ceno Leah centeno okay c n t n o if I'm not pronouncing it correctly okay I wasn't expecting to be first I wasn't even expecting to be called um but I thank all of you I'm going to leave my paper there um I just want to thank all of you first of all for just even um being here for for wanting to be uh educators

037of our children before you begin would you state your name and address for the record yes my name is Leah centenno and my address is 5880 Northwest 131st Avenue moriston Florida 32668 okay yes again thank you thank you for your time um I want to commend you for wanting to be Educators um and I thank you I thank you for this opportunity to speak for you um Mr Bobby James I want to thank you personally especially because when I was in high school you were my principal and I remember a big change when you came because you would always um even though I don't remember the words you would always and um your your announcements with something um more or less as a call to Excellence and I appreciate your dedication I really and I

038I think all the students knew that you cared um you know we're all here for our children I think we can agree with that you know um we all United over the United um the the charity video forgive me I'm nervous United what is it the United anybody help meited yes United Way yes I mean people should not be abused people um should not be hurt okay so I just want it to be known that nobody here I believe I believe at the end of the day as Americans nobody wants to hurt anybody and um and I do I you know see my sticker I stand with God and and you know what I'm laying everything down I'm just going to say that that doesn't mean that I discriminate anybody um it God is love

039and I think we're all here for love I I love everybody I don't I don't look at somebody as as as uh I don't say I don't come up here and say hi I'm Leah and I'm a heterosexual you know that doesn't matter God is love and um out of love I I commend you for for maintaining the bathroom situation as it is because because um I know people that have been molested in bathrooms plain simple how about that I know people that have been that have been hurt over this so up thank you so I thank you thank you for for I pray that you keep it that way thank you rockan menzone roxan menzone so we'll have L okay just so that we can have the next person ready would be Carlos Smith

040roxan manzon 1910 Southwest 29th teris Okala Florida 34474 superintendent Tomlin chairman James board members and my fellow calary County residents my name is Rock Sam Manz I'm a 40-year resident of the Okala area I work for a fantastic employer I own my own home I pay taxes and I am volunteer in my community and yes I am transgender I commend superintendent tomman and chairman James for their attempts to work out a responsible policy regarding our transgender students thank you I remind the other board members that your first responsibility is to provide for the safety and Welfare of all our students you the board will fail to protect the safety of our transgender students by forcing them into bathrooms that that not did not match their gender appearance and they will be subject to harassment most

041certainly bullying and possible physical violence you are sending a loud and clear message to our transgender students you're not accepted in our schools and we don't care about your safety it is also painfully obvious that you the Marion County School Board has caved in the pressure from the religious extremist and uninformed parents to craft such a hateful discriminatory policy which you are implementing immediately you have chosen to take the easy way out apparently this policy is a done deal this is a complicated issue and how much research has the board actually done to properly address this issue just a few workshops were a half-baked gester to come up with this terrible policy no input from the transgender community no best practices from other schools with successful gender inclusive bathrooms you're also aware you're in violation

042of Title Nine you've been chosen to ignore that law you your policy also goes on to encourage students with gender identity issues to seek out support advice and guidance you left out one other resource in that paragraph and that is an attorney I say shame that's time thank you that's not thank you last time thank you m Carlo Smith following him will be Stephen and tone good afternoon school board members my name is Carlos G Mo Smith and I'm the government Affairs manager for equality Florida I think it's very important that we have a conversation about the rule of law address my address is 2237 Stonington Avenue Orlando 32817 we need to talk about Title 9 the rule of law and also the very real legal and financial liabilities that this district will be voluntarily

043subjecting itself to if you move forward with this gender inspection ordinance so let's talk through the legal ramifications going forward with this would expose Maran County Schools to a significant risk of Investigations lawsuits by federal agencies private parties and potentially the loss of federal funding why because Title Nine of the education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program such as a public school that receives Federal funding this is binding guidance issued by the department of education and rulings from numerous federal courts that reinforce this guidance uh in the last 15 years look I know we don't have a lot of time but what you need to do is take a breath and you need to basically assess if you really want to jump in front of this legal

044freight train because the reality is is that for the school board to believe that some Court somewhere someday would basically reverse 15 years of American jurist Prudence on this issue and stand with and support the Maran County School Board is is in the realm of hopeful fantasy if you pass this you'll get sued you'll spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money not on school books not on learning instruments but to go down this path this path that is motivated by a misunderstanding of a marginalized community that is already vulnerable in our Public Schools I invite you to please work with equality Florida we're happy to meet with you to help you through this process you're not the first school board to have to do this thank you but I can see that you

045guys need some guidance so thank you for listening have a good day please vote no or postpone this ordinance thank you Stephen and tone and I apologize if I'm butchering names next up will be Reverend Lynch andan okay might be Anan and anine Stephen Antoine no I'm Reverend Jim Lynch was there somebody ahead of me Stephen Antoine sorry you're next Mr sorry about that we had a little misunderstanding of the name there um Stephen Antoine and 6542 Southeast 87 Street of Cal Florida is my address I'm going to squeeze five minutes into two uh thank you so much for everything you guys do um every day to help our children and all that work that you do I think should be commended I appreciate chairman James for what he said about the focus on young

046people and I believe everybody here tonight actually on both sides of this agrees uh a quote that's often attributed to uh Thomas Jefferson is that Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty I'm happy that we are in a free Society where Liberty is important and I believe we should protect that Liberty however in doing that we also need to be vigilant and I believe the most important Place one of the most important places to be vigilant is in our school system with the innocence of our children at stake and in that I believe that the support for this board in this community the majority support is with you to say that facility should be limited to People based on their birth gender there is no scientific empirical evidence that has been peer-reviewed that shows that

047there is a true case for being transgender and this means not going to argue that tonight this means there's no way to prove it so someone could easily go in there on a dare on a prank on a lie whatever and easily manipulate this rule or manipulate things going on in Toronto Canada Christopher hambrook took advantage of his transgender rights to gain access to a woman shelter and he attempted to rape multiple women in there until he was caught this is not something that may happen in any school but this is where this can lead there's a news article on this um right out of Toronto Canada where they've had these transgender laws passed I know you guys know this I this is nothing that you have not seen before and I thank you I

048stand here I've never done this before in my life I thank you for listening to the silent majority and I'm here because the silent majority will no longer remain silent we will be heard thank you thank you Reverend Lynch I'm Reverend Jim Lynch my address is 15706 Southwest 46th Circle in Okala I Pastor open circle Metropolitan Community Church in Belleview Florida I had a whole prepared statement for 5 minutes and I know I can't do five minutes it's hard for a preacher to do less than that but I do want to say speaking from my experience I've been pastoring in Metropolitan Community churches which is a denomination that ministers particularly to gay lesbian bisexual transgender and other disenfranchised people and in my almost 30 years experience as a pastor I have dealt with administered to

049many many many people questioning gender identity and various places in the process of being transgender I can tell you that transgender people you know for you or for me for most people in this room deciding which rest room to go to is given if you're a man you go to the men's room if you're a woman you go to the woman's room but a woman born in a man's body or a man born in a woman's body it becomes a lifethreatening decision every time they want to use a public restroom in a recent survey 78% of transgender identifying students claimed discrimination and abuse physical abuse in school four out of 10 transgender youths attempt suicide and too many are successful I think it's incumbent on the school board to provide for the needs of all

050of its students the previous speaker talked about being in a free society and I got to tell you that transgender people do not live in a free society and it's time that they had that opportunity thank you Gina Duncan good evening I'm Gina Duncan my address is 1326 Easton Avenue Orlando Florida I am the transgender inclusion director for equality Florida I am a transgender woman AR rise to speak in opposition to this flawed discriminatory and dangerous trans B policy you know I work with school boards all across Ross the state and unlike Maran County they are working to find solutions to issues involving bullying harassment and discri and discrimination of LGBT students at a recent School Board conference last month over half of the the state's School boards were present representing a majority of our

051students Statewide while these schools are working to provide safe learning environments Maran is about to pass a policy puts transgender students at risk this highly vulnerable Community will now be subject to harassment to bullying and quite frankly is something that you were elected to prevent for simply wanting to use the restroom these kids will be harassed and bullied it is a common knowledge that this bigoted agenda is being orchestrated by the Liberty Council an organization whose President yesterday posted a tweet saying she was going to be sure to carry her Glock 45 into the bathroom this is the door of Hysteria and hatred you are opening by passing this policy finally by passing this policy you will forever be known as the North Carolina of school boards times are changing Society is changing and it's

052time for Maran County to step out of the Dark Ages and support all students so they can be their true and authentic self otherwise the next trans student to attempt suicide will clearly be on your hands Thank You Tristan Burns who's the next one Tristan Burns followed by Harold Phillips hi um my name is Tristan Burns I'm a licensed mental health counselor in the State of Florida EXC me the name and your sorry name my name is Tristan burns my address is 439th Avenue South St Petersburg Florida 33705 um I'm a licensed mental health counselor in the State of Florida I'm a father um I'm a son of a retired High School principal and I say all that to know that um of course safety is is always an issue in schools but so is

053education and so is safety of children and so is testing scores and betterment of children all of that comes into play and by by causing things like having students teachers and staff regulate bathroom usage for a student not only do I feel like that's a waste of school board resources number one and school resources number two it kind of sets up for lawsuits and discrimination and other pieces that I know I wouldn't want that to come upon me as an employer or as a school district and I also noticed in the hallway that you have all of the you know the employment regulations the oosha roles the EOC roles all hanging in the hallway because that's where I was because we're so packed tonight and all of those organizations OSHA EEOC have stated that they're

054aligning all of the bathroom rules with the gender that you want to present not the gender that you were Borth with so all of the federal rules are going against everything that you're thinking about doing tonight including Title 9 I know when my mom was a high school principal she talked all the time about the importance of Title 9 funding to get what she needed for her students are you really wanting to risk principles and teachers struggling to get what they need for their students to improve your test scores and do everything that you guys are looked upon from a state level just because of this one bathroom incident I don't think it's worth it so I say vote no Mr Harold Phillips followed by Miss Kathy Phillips Harold Phillips 6888 Northwest 120th Street moriston

055Florida 32668 good good evening Mr chairman members of the board as I expected you're going to hear from all kinds of people from all over giving you all the reasons why you shouldn't continue to stand for this issue it's been very unfortunate that our superintendent decided on his own with advice of Administrators to change the policy that's been in existence in Marian County for nearly a hundred years and decide that they're going to change and lose the privacy of most of the students in Maran County for the sake of a very few so I listen tonight and I heard Mr adello representing the teachers union talk about family engagement so that's why I'm here it's family engagement my son and 43,000 other students in this want their privacy and until the Supreme Court of the

056United States decides whether our privacy does not Trump their rights that their so-called rights that they're trying to create with transgender that hasn't even been determined sex yet in the in the courts I ask you to stay firm with your decision and let's let the Supreme Court of the United States fight this battle and see where it lies in the meantime the privacy of our students should be protected in the restrooms and I also want to tell you speaking to multiple teachers in Maran County they want their privacy and their restrooms back as well and uh Mr alabel talked about how much we need to appreciate their teachers probably the best way you can appreciate them is give them their privacy back I understand that there are some issues uh with the other side of

057this equation and they're going to continue to use inuendos and misinformation to try to sway your judgment but I ask you to stand for the rights of the the vast majority of the students in Maran County and continue to support the resolution that you have and lastly Mr chairman in your words to one of your employees two weeks ago at our meeting you said let's use com sense in this situation so I'm asking you tonight use common sense and vote for this resolution thank you Cathy Phillips followed by Sue Clifton I'm Sarah Clifton I'm sorry Kathy Phillips 6341 Southwest 103d Lane Ocala Florida thank you for the opportunity to speak here tonight on behalf of anybody who is greatly going to be impacted by The Proposal of this agenda tonight you're going to hear a

058lot of Statistics there's probably going to be a lot of upset people but I think maybe you to hear from a mother I been a resident of Maran County for 27 years and I have a daughter that graduated from Maran County Schools I understand what it is to fear your child's safety when you're away when they're away from your protection and I'm as passionate about this proposal as everyone here but for different reasons I personally don't understand why this issue had to be an emergency with five weeks left in the year I also don't understand how one person could complain about a bathroom issue in this makes this an emergency agenda I complained for four years to the assistant principal of Belleview High about my daughter being bullied ridiculed and harassed by a group of

059boys and was told there was nothing they could do until she was physically harmed now I understand that there are some policies that have changed and if I were to file these complaints now they would be documented and correction would be taken it would also no longer fall under the category of bullying but now would be labeled as a hate crime it's extremely difficult for a transgendered teen to coexist in this environment and be true to themselves while being publicly shunned meeting basic needs such as the trip to the bathroom should not be a traumatic event contrary to popular belief these kids do not lean under stalls and look at others gen genitals all they want to do is pee forcing a teen into a bathroom of a sex other than which they identify would

060would could fall under the category of a hate crime and I wish the general public would educate themselves on the difference between transgendered and gay and lesbian transgendered individuals feel as if they are trapped in a body that doesn't belong to them and like my daughter most were depressed and suicidal the number one and two causes of death for these teens are suicide and murder my daughter has risen above the odds graduating high school with high honors and is a graduate of the University of Florida and has become a valued citizen of Gainesville often lecturing at the University on gender issues time thank you thank you very much for listening to me and I'm very sorry that um I I went over and I asked that you please um continue to keep this in place

061Sarah Clifton followed by Randy Osborne my name is Sarah Clifton I live at 1271 Northeast 11th Circle here in Ocala my youngest daughter is a graduate of Forest High School I concerned con ered because I think that we are putting political issues ahead of the safety of the students the true student the students that are truly at risk in this particular instance are not the vast majority who don't have to worry about if they have to go to the bathroom they just go it's the handful of students that don't Mark the right box as far as some of the administration is concerned they are the CH children that are at risk of physical harm of bullying of being outed however you want to put it whatever nomenclature you want to use these are the students

062whose privacy is being invaded this is a bad resolution it is not an emergency if you're doing it wrong doing something doesn't help if what you're doing is wrong I urge you to take the time to find out how other school systems have successfully managed to put this issue to rest for decades some school systems have dealt with this over 20 years ago but if you try to do something in this Speedy fashion and call it an emergency so that you can campaign on it and make this half campaign and half prayer meeting that is not what is best for the students of Maran County thank you Randy Osborne followed by Jessica lanhardt Mar County School board chairman thank you for engaging this issue and and listening to this topic address my name is Randy

063Osborne 4203 Northwest Highway 225a Okala Florida and I'm going to use a vernacular a school vacular if I may um equality Florida um on presid ation they got an A on accuracy they got an F you see our founding fathers set up a a republic a constitutional republic and it's the longest living um form of democracy ever in the history of our nation and they set it up and they had what's called separation of powers and I want to remind this board that the courts were never designed to legislate From the Bench and that is what they're doing in fact our founding fathers actually they took local control they pushed the control off the federal government in fact the 10th Amendment is very very clear in our constitution of what the federal powers have the

064right to do and the rest of it they pushed down to the States and then they pushed it down to the communities and that is the reason and the value of this board is to make those decisions and thirdly I want to say this a person's Freedom personal freedoms they end when they impede the rights of others and this is exactly what's going on here it is impeding the rights of others and when somebody's rights impede those then you have to step in and say no that we're not going to do that and then the third thing I want to remind you and just let you know litigation is coming okay there's no way that you're going to get out of this um One Way decision that you make today you will get into litigation

065on it and what I would suggest is to get on the right side of that litigation Liberty Council has offered has made an open offer and they reminded me just before I walked in here to let this board know that they have made an open offer to support this board in making the right decision in defending this young man thank you Jessica Damon lanhart followed by Thomas Ryan hello my name is Damen leonhart legal named Jessica leonhart I live at 11150 Rolling Hills Road Apartment 15 denell in Florida 34431 I am a transgender student here in Maran County I'm 17 I am a senior in high school I am currently homeschooled because I was shoved out of the school system and almost forced to end my education early for being transgender I tried to get

066help I was told by teachers and other staff guidance counselors that maybe if I wasn't doing this transgender thing I wouldn't get pulled out of bathroom and beaten thrown into dumpsters and almost commit suicide because of it I was born with a vagina I was given the title of a girl at Birth I do not align with that gender but still I used the women's bathroom when I was in school I had a shaved head bound my breast down and wore pants and all male clothes clothing and yet by women I was drugg out of the restroom and called a sexual predator how would you feel that the way I am dressed now if I went into the men's room the same exact thing would happen I can't go into either and many other students

067can't go into either because of these laws you're telling the students of Maran County to kill themselves because we don't care about them there are many many transgender students here in Maran County more than you know of and you are basically telling them that we don't care about your safety you are putting the safety and health at risk of the children that you say you want to protect it's not right please vote now Thomas Ryan followed by Elizabeth Miller and Madison Myers sh minutes they agre to share minutes Thomas Ryan okay not present okay Elizabeth Miller and Madison Myers are sharing their minutes hi my name is um Beth Miller and I live at 3830 Southeast 15th Street Okala Florida and I am here to support my son Matthew I am the parent of a

068transgender child I want you to know that it takes tremendous courage for these students every day to get up to go to school and to be there and to live their truth and really we all want to live Our Truth we want to be accepted for who we are this is not a black or white issue and you are all elected to support all of your students not just the children who are not transgender and by putting this law into place you are doing exactly that you are not supporting all of your students all of them and I'm going to tell you right now I love my child just like every other parent in this room loves their child I want my child to be treated fairly and to be treated justly and that is

069what this is about I'm asking you as a parent to vote no hello I am Matthew Eli Meyers and I am a transgender student of maring County I feel discrimination every day based on my on my birth gender I was born female and now I identify as male I I do not want to face Prejudice in the school in my school and this would create worse I'm already told let the men do the work even though I tell them I a Man Too I would appreciate if you would vote no because you may be thinking you were protecting others when you're actually ruining others lives thank you Vernon uh yinger yinger thank you Vernon yinger followed by William Pierce I'm Vernon yinger I live at 8448 Southwest 88th Place in oala uh George superintendent George

070Tomas and for I'm here to this is a greater problem I guess but I think you need to stand your ground on the decision I uh feel that if the transgender people need psychological help I think that needs to be provided to we don't want to we love everybody and we don't want to create uh but for one or two in a whole school system it seems like uh a big you need got an opportunity that you need to investigate a little bit more I felt that too much time had been put in it but I'm wrong thank you Mr William Pierce to be followed by Harley Rackley hello board members my name is William pierce my address is 14168 noreast 53rd Court Road Central Florida 32113 um just just listening to all this I

071I follow a lot of stuff in the world and I I'm just going to come right out and say it because you know we are what we are just like the transgender said they are I stand here I believe in my heart representing Jesus Christ the lord of everything and Jesus said we are to love everybody but to allow people that believe they are men and or girls that believe they are boys and vice versa to go in the restrooms with opposite sex is just looking for of a battle that's looking for major trouble and that's common sense in my opinion um you know you like the one guy said over there you're going to you're going to have problems you're going to run problems whether you like it or not that's just going to

072happen Jesus said the world hated him before it hated us so if you stand for him the world's going to hate you and we're in that day we are in that day and time when the world ain't going to love you because you ain't of the world if you're of the world the world's going to love you and that's common sense for for a person like myself that is a born again Christian so I was Bor bulled in school I know what it's like to be bullied I had a boy that used to bully me all the time one day on a Saturday he come up bullying me at the Jiffy store and I turned around and clocked his plow and when I did that that boy never bullied me no more am I saying

073that that's the right way to do it no but sometimes you got to do what you got to do I mean but all I can say is stand for what's right or you're going to fall for what's wrong and you guys know that you ladies know that everybody knows that even if we won't want to admit it we still know right is right and wrong is wrong if you're mentally this um uncapable well yeah then you got a reason to not know right from right and wrong from wrong but otherwise that's it thank you yall have a good night Harley Rackley followed by Roger nect Harley Wayne Rackley I known many have six most Six South West uh 17th Street in Okala Florida I want to commend you on taking that stand you took I

074did a little research myself and I appreciate the people that are having problems but you stood up for 99.7% of the people I looked it up it's 3% of the people are transgenders and my political correctness I want to look out also for the rights of the 99% of the people I I'm a grande I've been around longer than most anybody that spoke today I'm a grandfather I'm got children I've got great grandchild I've been around a long time I've seen a lot of different things happen I think that the influence that you would have on little children getting confused about if they see a boy in a girl's restroom a girl in a boy's restroom or vice versa that could be confusing to a small child I I just it doesn't make sense to

075me whatsoever and I just think like I I commend you for doing that uh I feel sorry for anyone that would be in that position but you don't sacrifice the majority by I looked that up 99% of the people are not transgenders and so this political correctness is making it okay for the civil rights for that little bit and Overlook the civil rights for the others and I just think that would be a serious mistake to change I commend you on taking that stand that you did and like I said God loves everybody but let's keep a guy a guy and a girl a girl especially with the influence on little young children I don't want any confusion I wouldn't want it on my grandchildren I don't have to explain why a boy can go

076in a girl's restroom or vice versa thank you a lot Roger Neal followed by Susie Hawks Roger Neel 12727 Southeast 97 Terrace in beautiful Summerfield uh my daughter was a uh Bipolar person so I looked up the definition of bipolar it's a simple definition I couldn't believe it in the dictionary containing two contradictory qualities now we're calling bipolar people or a form of it transgender my biggest fear is the the rest of your students are going to get confused fear they not going to be doing the what they should be doing they're going to be confused they're going to be in a classroom and they have to go to the bathroom they're going to say to themselves maybe I better just cross my legs until I can find a friend to go with me and

077even with a friend when they go in the bathroom there's always the fear that the opposite gender is going to walk in the kids have so many fears as it is now the world is so inter turmoil this is just one more agenda which I believe is Agenda 21 to make it rougher and tougher on this country we are the greatest nation in the world we do most of the inventions we are the brightest in the world but we are going to destroy ourselves that's it Susie Hawks followed by Reverend Onie Susie Hawks 1223 summergate Drive far Rico Florida I'm going to read Because where where where in Florida Ric near Tampa Tampa based on one physical characteristic a doctor made a decision of my gender the moment I was born this wasn't my choice

078I'm going to speak to the number just mentioned 99.7 boy that makes me rarer than and hen's tooth you're not going to see much of us I really don't know what your issue is a country built on morality integrity and unity we have armed forces trained not to leave a man behind I see that going south right now what I see here is a group of people in disagreement over something we pride in Freedom such a shame you're proing proposing to take that freedom of choice from The Young less fortunate children who cannot fight in the same way for themselves there's nothing to fear here we've used the bathrooms for years I'm not from around here and yet I feel ashamed that this meeting is happening in a progressive State this shows examples that rules

079don't count against federal government just legitimizing bullying both by school to a young child and children to other children ignoring that education is the solution wow school this goes backwards in human rights it wasn't long ago people were uncomfortable with the color of who they sat next to lower pay for women still exists this sets of presidents and is a start of regression and increased discrimination heading towards race sex disability who's next thank you Reverend Anie followed by and Mr Lewis hello I'm Reverend Janet Anie my address is PO Box 147 in East Lake wear Florida as a religious leader in Marian County I am attuned to words and statements that call us to Aspire to Transcendent ideals two phrases in the philosophy of thean County schools in the mission statement of Vanguard High School

080jumped out at me the provision of experiences to help children and youth become responsible intelligent and functioning citizens in a democracy and to educate students to be responsible citizens in a changing World democracy and changing are theological words Jesus addressed both of them when he invited the weary and the heavy laden to rest in him one of the reasons that Maran county is a great place to live is because the citizenry and the institutions are engaged in upholding Democratic principles that speak to the high ideals of our country while grappling with a world that is changing more rapidly than many of us would like it's a delicate balancing act one that makes us weary and heavy laden the issue before the Maring County School Board is only nominally about an individual's right to privacy performing

081a biological function what this issue is about is identity both personal and communal transgender persons deserve our compassion it is not a life that anyone would choose they face rejection suicide murder is high surely we can bend a little bit to obey the laws and accom accomodate the most vulnerable Among Us don't all of our religious Traditions require this at least from us I would encourage you good and thoughtful people of the Maran County School Board to heed Jesus's admonition to fear not and to continue the good work in creating a safe environment for all of the students to grow into their responsible and compassionate citizens in a changing world thank you Melody Lewis followed by roxell Mayberry Melody Lewis hi my name is Melody um my legal name is Demetrius Lewis um PO Box

08277874 Cali fora 34477 um I'm a 15-year resident of Maran County um I'm a parent of five beautiful babies um I run a local support group um here in Okala um I've had the privilege of meeting many trans people here in this community including some of the youth that go to our schools um these kids face a lot lot of adversity from their peers as well as from society because of who they are statistically speaking one in8 trans kids will be assaulted either physically or sexually in their schools and this isn't even including outside of a school environment this is just within a school this policy would be an extension of the bullying and discrimination these kids face on a daily basis passed by those who claim to have their best interest at heart it

083is not right to invade their privacy and make them prove their identities to this school board or to anyone else you claim this is about protecting the privacy of our kids but in reality this policy would be a direct infringement on those kids privacy it sets the standard that a child must prove that they are anatomically congruent with what some beliefs dictates gender despite the overwhelming evidence those factors are not the only thing that determine gender you must vote no no to the invasion of our kids privacy no to bullying through policy no to gender inspection policies thank you roxell Mayberry followed by Linda f brro my name is Ronald Maybury I live 1215 Northeast 34th Avenue Okala Florida 34470 and I thank you for the chairman and the board that have my hear my

084say I'm going to sound a little selfish because I am a grandfather I have one grandchild in in school in Maran County I've going I've got two great granddaughters going to school in Maran County and I don't like to see what's happening in the this area well people have been suggesting I heard on the other day that the the European leaders said that while they weren't going to come to Virginia or North Carolina because of their rules and regulations about their schools I remember that we had a revolutionary war telling the Europeans to stay away and have we have our own rights to do I I can I I feel for the trend Jer people I I pray for them and I I think that we have a a wonderful country a wonderful citizenship I

085believe that we we can work together and work this out and thank you Linda fam brro followed by Gary score Gill Shore Gil Shore Gary Gil Shore okay Linda Ambrose 61 Oak Circle Okala Florida 34472 um first of all I understand the equality and the rights of the transgender but in the same respect respect I want the same equality and rights for my daughter for our children and our schools um if it's equal rights that the transgender want then don't take my rights and my daughter's rights away because they want to share a bathroom there's equal rights for men for women and transgender there needs to be three bathrooms if that's what it takes available to accommodate each birth gender my concern is not that the transition ERS who truly identify themselves as a man

086or a woman my concern is that some pervert looking for the opportunity to dress as a transgender and pray on innocent children and because of their perverted actions scars our children for life also girls will be afraid to go to the bathrooms and the medical fact is when you hold your urine it causes UTI and that shouldn't have to happen to our girls so Maron County I ask that you stand firm in the men in the men's bathroom the girls in the girls' bathrooms and if we can find a way an expense to provide a third bathroom for transgender it's equal rights for everybody and that's what we're here for equal rights and safety of our children thank you Gary Gil score to be followed by Hannah Willer good afternoon or actually good evening now

087everyone my name is Gary Gil Shore and I live at 2522 Southeast 179th Avenue in Silver Springs Florida 34488 and um I'm kind of scratching my head a little bit here because I hear all of this talk about from the other side about sexual predators about rapists about the danger for these children and if you actually break down the statistics and look at it you'll see that it is not transgender people who are being victimizers but it is transgender people who are being the victims of exactly that type of behavior and so it is the fiary duty of this school board to provide a safe learning environment for all of Marian County's children and I don't think that this policy does that one bit in fact I think any of you considering it should really

088be ashamed of yourselves because it's putting innocent children innocent children at risk by forcing them to use a bathroom that they do not identify with within their gender now as a fun fundamental concept of American Justice that we do not hold whole glasses of people guilty for their actions we hold individuals guilty for their actions and if there is an individual in a bathroom whether they are transgendered or cisgendered or whatever Behaving Badly that's still illegal and that's how every other school system that has an inclusive gender policy handles it if someone's behaving badly in the bathroom hold that individual responsible but do not take children that do not identify with a gender and force them into the wrong bathroom now this is a little bit of a difficult concept it's a little bit hard

089for me to understand because I identify with the gender I was born with but we have to have compassion and understanding for those who are born different from us and that's what I ask you to do and I ask you to vote no on this ridiculous proposal thank you Hannah Willard followed by Emily Yanik good evening everyone my name is Hannah Willard I live at 1627 and a half East conquered Street Orlando Florida 32803 and I'm the policy and Outreach coordinator for equality Florida I've had the pleasure of speaking with several of you about this hastily conceived and Reckless gender inspection resolution that would put Marian County students at risk I stand strongly in opposition to this resolution it's unenforceable inappropriate and has no basis in fact every student needs to use the restroom and

090every student expects safety and privacy when using them but this gender inspection resolution would invade everyone's personal and medical privacy this resolution would require all students to provide proof that their Anatomy matches either the sex on their birth certificate or the sign at the door who will be responsible for conducting these inspections how will they do that in practice these gender inspection bills risk everyone's safety and privacy in restrooms especially and including transgender people I work with school boards all across the state who are taking steps towards including and embracing gay and transgender students with their policies and procedures I was in Bard County this morning working with the school district there who just decided to move a policy forward that would actually proactively protect lgbtq students this is the only School District in Florida

091that is considering this Draconian measure that would further stigmatize transgender students I'd also like to explain why there are several of us who've come from other cities around the state we're here because equality Florida functions to protect all Floridians and the LGBT community here in Maran county is terrified I've spoken to transgender and gender non-conforming people over the last week who feel it would be profoundly dangerous for them to testify tonight these people are terrified to give their physical addresses they're terrified to be on camera they're terrified because they face physical violence and harassment every single day this very hearing is put putting transgender people at risk imagine the consequences of this Reckless resolution poised to take effect tomorrow here's the bottom line transgender girls are girls and they belong in the girls' room transgender

092boys are boys and they belong in the boys room most important thing to know is that this is dangerous and I ask you to vote no on this Reckless resolution thank you Emily Yanik followed by Liberty Thurman Emily y a h yanic that Liberty Thurman evening um I'm Liberty Thurman 1311 Northeast 13th Avenue I'm here on a different issue but I do believe my daughter was treated unfairly she was suspended from school for 10 days because she felt the need to defend herself she felt she was threatened she was assaulted and she did not want to get hurt any worse her and another student had a verbal altercation during PE at that time the bell rang shortly after the altercation the bell rang my daughter left the gym walking away from this I have a

093video that shows all of this and I would love for all of you to see that not maybe not right now at some other time that you can see my daughter trying to get away from this child during that time my daughter is having water squirted on her she is being pushed and then it proceeds to her hair being pulled so hard that her neck get whips backwards the next time they could have touched her it would have been she' have been on the ground at that time my daughter turned around and defended herself and she got suspended for 10 days Administration told me it was because she didn't come to them during the verbal altercation at PE there 's a you know I mean she's 13 years old so it makes it really hard

094to say that a 13-year-old should have went to an adult yes I understand that but at some point in time shouldn't the adult have been there to protect my child as she was being assaulted verbally assaulted um I don't know hold on um you know the administration told me that there was adults all around that could that she could have gone to well if there was all these adults around where was the supervision I also teach school I know that in my classroom if I see a verbal altercation going on I'm going to intervene somewhere in there I don't know how they can sit here and say to me that nobody saw this and that there wasn't an adult supervising this when my daughter was the one being assaulted and got in trouble for defending

095herself so when we say we're going to suspend both of them for the same issue for the same fight the same punishment you're giving that bully the upper hand to say you know what it doesn't matter I've been in trouble before I can take another 10day suspension I have a daughter that is Mak good grades she does well on her State Testing she has never been in trouble she's never even had a referral until this time and now she's have her grades have fallen to where she's at D's and Fs from a 10-day suspension I'm just asking somehow something in this has to change Mr James this this is one where I want to say something to this lady very briefly I want school board members I have seen the tapes Miss Stacy is true

096Miss Stacy and we need to look at this next time in our code of conduct Stacy Mr James I can talk to the PE I'll go outside and talk to her then that's a good idea I'll go outside her okay let's continue esparanza castan followed by sander truso doing my name is esparanza Cita 25 Southeast 62nd Avenue I'm sorry okay is this better I know we're having a hard time hearing out there I did some research in Florida you can get a birth certificate and a driver's license chained to your correct gender without gender reassignment surgery federally you can get a passport you can get diplomatic papers HUD and OSHA have have you agree to use somebody's proper agenda so at the Florida level and the federal level as a business I know I have

097to find oia laws or follow oosha laws Marian County has its own policy against bullying and we've certainly heard a lot of problems that are going on add on this problem of singling out transgender students and you are putting a Target on their back somebody's already mentioned Title Nine problems there's a saying false expectations appearing appearing real that's what fear is I'm a mother I understand that we all want to protect our children well that includes parents of transgender children lots of people have signed up the national task force to end sexual and domestic violence recognizes the right of transgender people to use their facilities this is an opport Unity for education and growth instead we've reacted with a knee-jerk reaction at least many of us have as somebody said we have a fiduciary and

098Constitution constitutional right uh Duty excuse me to protect all our children excuse me a hundred years ago somebody mentioned a policy that was 100 years old I'd like to point out that a 100 years ago this school board could not have be seated women couldn't Vote or hold office black people were basically barred from voting and holding office you can't create your own facts there is plenty of scientific evidence that thank you that that follows us up I hope you do the right thing thank you Sandra truso followed by Michael Richard Barrett Sandy truso 2845 Northeast 31st Place Okala since our local P paper and a speaker at uh Thursday's Workshop felt she was the only one who supported transgendered children that day let me say that I also stood for supporting those children but

099in the form of protecting their safety rather than uh from supporting what I considered to be a misguided concept of civil rights a girl who physically remains female while using a boy's bathroom is at risk at at these times where anything goes allowing this action to pass in our school district heightens the possibility of hastening the expansion of this a action in public bathrooms where and everywhere and at this point the same girl will no longer be dealing with boys bathrooms she'll be dealing with grown men placing her at even greater risk why would anyone want to subject a truly transgendered child already ridiculed and bullied to this sort of thing there's also no way of proving one to be transgendered not through DNA not through anything showing up in the brain we can only

100go by their claim that they perceive themselves to be of the opposite sex from their birth sex therefore anyone of dark intentions could dishonestly make that claim why would anyone want to subject non-tr gendered children to this deliberately dark deception thereby placing them at risk as well no thinking person would deny this potential this is already happening in schools and public bathrooms through across this nation but who would want to increase this nightmare by legally increasing the risk may I also refute the implication of the workshop speaker and a star banner editorial that some board members have only opposed this issue because they're up for reelection however these people have worked to protect children for many years and I know that Nancy Stacy has fought for children as a parent as a private citizen and

101long before she ever thought of running for Schoolboard I finally respectfully request that you take the initiative in this battle to protect all of our children not just transgendered all of them beginning with voting to adopt the resolution before you thank you Michael Richard Barrett followed by Mark sap hello my name is Michael Richard Barrett I go by Molina Raina spanhel um my address is 8689 southeast 69th Terrace in Trenton Florida um it occurs to me that so much of this comes from a fear of us of who we are and what we are about so I thought I would share with you some of my my story I am a trans woman um I am also a single parent uh with full custody of two uh young teenage kids I'm also going back to

102school for a degree in computer programming since beginning my transmission uh transition a few months ago I have made more friends than I ever thought possible for me to do I have met wonderful people I have made connections and been more engaged in everything I do online thankfully it is getting easier for me to find others like me friends I never would have heard of before connections I never would have found when I travel I try to meet with at least one of my new friends from online groups or others I now enjoy work waking up every day and looking forward to the next life no longer feels drab I no longer seek to fill that monochrome with the vibrancy of others and have instead found my own that's not to say I never had

103some before I just have so much more now I've been much happier and content with myself I have rekindled my desire to achieve and found a motivation to keep going I'm confident that my teachers at Santa Fe would say I am among their best students and I work hard to maintain that the world is more engaging and it feels so good I could choose not to ch transition but it's made so many things so much better why would I want to in the words of My Friend Sophie we go where few Dare To Tread and many of us Thrive there imagine that when you stop fearing walls you don't need breaks thank you Mark sap followed by Jane moley good evening chair board Mr superintendent Mark Sapp 3425 Northeast 44th place oal of Florida a

104society that values its privileges over its principles soon loses both we must stand on principle we must stand on what is real we must stand on what exists not what is a fallacy not the way we feel but what is matter of foundation I don't care if you're lbgt or if you're heterosexual or if you come from the South African flying spider monkey Club there are certain things in this world that cannot be changed your gender is one of them you can change the way you look you can change the way you feel and maybe an amendment needs to be made where we have small unisex bathrooms in each school with the economic implications that far outweigh the 3% that can be dealt with on an individual basis 97 % of our students identify a

105certain way the rest of the world has for about 11,000 years we do not mean to make brass decisions we need to handle each individual on compassion and with love I don't believe in ostracizing every single person out there but I believe that the decision can be made and I do support this amendment thank you Jane Morley followed by bernardina Williams 42 Jane Morley no response apparently she left okay hello my name is bernardina Diana Williams my address Is 1330 Southeast 15th Avenue Ocala Florida 34471 this country has laws that we should follow and I'm concerned that the school board is enacting restrictions that will end up costing the taxpayers big bucks to defend I think our school board if I may generalize needs to consider the effects of their actions on the students these

106individuals transgender as they may be are the classmates of our student students they are athletes they are IB students and they are our children's friends they are human beings that are not causing any disruption they are appreciated by other students and they bring value to the entire student body this is a legal issue I want to share two personal experiences one of my daughters brought home a friend when she was still in high school this young man had major issues at home plus he was black and he was gay he ended up living with us for three years I cannot tell you what a pleasure he was we gained a new level of appreciation for his circumstances we are all God's children Second Story has to do with ridicule this one touches my family so

107profoundly my brother's son just committed suicide recently now he had internal challenges that he perceived to be insurmountable let's recognize the suicide rate of our young people we are adding trauma to an already traumatic world for these students these are human beings we are talking about and when their world may be overcome overloaded because of some Antiquated views of the world repercussions will be on your shoulders my daughter teaches in the school system she sees this every day and the students to their credit have worked around these issues schools and principles have worked around these issues they the kids are the ones who should be we should be looking out for we even you even say that you are are you really obey the law thank you Brandon Cook followed by ebony Butler hello and

108thank you so much for hearing from me uh my name is Brandon Cook I live in uh 18 Hickory Track Okala Florida 34472 uh I just wanted to make a few points to you all today and I really appreciate the hard work that you've done um I just I think that bathrooms are more based on sex than gender gender is perceptive but sex is not sex is based on our reproductive organs so if you're born with that organ you should go to that bathroom if we go by perception instead of reality then we're in a place where a woman when she sees a man come in has a right to perceive that she needs to defend herself whether right or wrong I think that the government is instituted to provide people with safety so that

109those type of things don't happen if we did make that decision then we'd be in a place where the government is not protecting her why shouldn't she protect herself so I think that if anything we should definitely look forward to this amendment we should push forward for that not necessarily because of any hatred towards transgendered people but let's just think about it honestly if we let women go into a men's bathroom how are they safe a man can easily overpower them a man may change his sex but that doesn't give up his power that he has over a woman the ability to to throw them around that natural strength so I think that we should consider that as safety more so than we consider what someone thinks or believes in one minute that can easily

110change in an next thank you so much for your time ebony Butler followed by Mary Hedman good evening my name is Ebony Butler I live in 19 Pine Court Okala Florida um I just wanted to state that um earlier when everybody was talking about you know safety and different things about the bathroom I wanted to state that the conclusion that I've come to with the equality from Orlando being here that there's actually a main agenda it's not about the bathroom it's not about transgender it's one main thing just to shove an agenda down your throat and that's what I'm seeing today and there are things that are black and white not everything's not hardly anything's gray there are things that are black and white and male and female is black and white and I believe

111if you're born a man you need to go to the man's bathroom if you're born a woman you need to go to a woman's bathroom it doesn't matter I could I could identify myself with a cow does that mean I need to go outside and eat grass no it does not mean that so what we're born with is what we need to need to stick to and for also for the safety and when people were talking about you know the safety of their children that's also very important for people that have small children and I just wanted to express that you know when the lady was talking about Antiquated beliefs and traditions and those Antiquated thoughts come from our conscience and I know I spoke about this earlier but it's a reason we have a

112conscience and our conscience shows us what's right and what's wrong and what's black and what's right and I just wanted to keep it the way it is and vote Yes on keeping boys in the boys bathroom and girls in the girls bathroom Mary hman followed by Wanda Sanchez hello my name is Murray Hedman and I live at 8665 Southeast 168 kitridge Loop in The Villages in Maran County dear members of the school board tonight you have an opportunity to stand up for all of your kids by voting against this emergency and I'm not sure why it's an emergency resolution targeting our transgendered youth as a Marian County resident a former school counselor and treasurer of P flag Lady Lake I believe you are responsible for the well-being of every child and the fiscal health of

113our school system a vote in favor of this discriminatory short-sighted resolution is a vote against some of our kids and a threat to the title 9 funding you receive from the federal government thus it is a poor move on many levels this issue has already been decided in the US fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and I realize you're not under the fourth court of appeals but let's face it a trend is a trend why do you think it will be any different when you are challenged and I'm sure you will be you can even use this court decision to defend your no vote on this issue besides all of this where do you think our trans kids have been going to the bathroom room before has there even been one serious incident to Warrant this

114action even Fox News and I hate quoting Fox News but even Fox News has said this is a solution in search of a problem they researched it and found no instances of people using laws meant to protect transgendered people as cover for committing a crime it is obvious that many of us will be watching what is ultimately decided on this issue and remembering and I would like to mention one other uh little tenant of our country and that is separation of church and state thank you very much okay Wayne Wanda Sanchez followed by George Broadwell Wanda Sanchez okay George Broadwell hi my name is George Broadwell uh 008 Southwest 91st Drive Gainesville Florida thank you for allowing me to speak tonight in opposition to the regulation that's being considered um I'm a professor at UF

115speaking on my own not on behalf of the University I teach a lot of transgender students and I think it's important that all our educational environments be safe and welcoming to all students the sad fact is that LGB students often did not feel safe in schools and National survey of transgender students in 2009 found that 90% of them had said say they have heard derogatory remarks two-thirds say they feel physically unsafe at school half have miss school because they feel unsafe or uncomfortable consider transgender girls for example who uh identify as girls and dress as girls they're not comfortable or safe when forced to use the boy room boys room and they're particularly likely to be bullied in this case the American Academy of Pediatrics which is doctors who specialize in children's mental and physical

116health opposes any legislation of this sort and their spokesman uh spoke about similar legislation in the state of North Carolina so I'd like to quote what the American Academy of Pediatrics said as pediatricians we know firsthand how increasing burdens and barriers for youth who are lesbian gay bisexual or transgender can inrease increase their risk of depression substance abuse dropping out of school or suicide adolescents who are transgender are already are already at heightened risk for violence bullying and harassment and are already more prone to depression and engaging in self harm including suicide legislation of this sort making their way through State legislatures across the country exacerbate these risks by creating a hostile environment for Trans transgender youth all implying the same message you're different something is wrong with you you need to change in order

117to fit here I hope that's not the message that Marian County wants to send to its students and I hope the board will instead work to create policies that make all students in the district feel safe and accepted in the schools thank you very much Clifford Lara followed by Chrissy Vickers Clifford Lara Clifford Lara 1213 parade Avenue CMI Florida I want to thank you Maran school board for giving me the opportunity to speak I I heard the young lady earlier today and I've been listening to many of the dialogues that have been going on up to this point the young lady who said that um she was beat up and thrown in a dumpster that greatly concerned me I don't think that those things should be ignored I think that when those type of things

118occur those students who were involved in those things should be reprimanded should be taken care of but I don't agree that in the isolation of uh small amount of people and I'm concerned even for their well-being I would only imagine what would happen to that young girl if she was to or young boy as she may believe she is uh what would happen to her if she was to go into a boy's restroom and I'm concerned about those health issues and those concerns that would come by so I would uh ask you to uphold your ruling I would also uh like to say that I believe you're standing at a Pinnacle Point in your county not only just for this County but throughout the nation and you're standing in a place where many are supporting

119you across the nation we've seen people come from all over this state even to speak on both behalfs so I want to encourage you and I want to strengthen you uh with my words and to know that uh I support you fully and I would go and support you anywhere else so I uh I ask also that you would consider the children consider these children not only those who are transgender but those who are not transgender and not create a scenario that is worse than it is so I would ask you to uphold your ruling thank you Chrissy Vickers Follow by Gary White Chrissy Vickers is not here next name Gary White I'm Gary White 9280 Southwest 96 Court Road 34481 the lady stated some percentages while ago I would like to let her know

120that in Chicago 100% of the black children are our fear because of the gun violence and the problems that are inherent with bad educational programs and keeping people stupid through government schools that I might add um I'm here uh to guard over our children and as guard over parents the ultimate from Attack by these very good people who I hurt for I've listened to them tonight I don't feel sorry for them they don't want to be felt sorry for I want to love them I don't want to hurt them but they are not the issue and a lady mentioned that earlier in socialist Marxist program the issue is not the issue this is a created uh attempt to destroy the family the family unit that is simply what it is this attempt to left to

121destroy the family is a place strongly in this place tonight Common Core although some people think only uh standards is a curriculum and I've studied it part of common core is giving the child before any probably sexual things are happening ing the ability to make the decision of whether or not they're going to play out their life as a boy or a girl it says it it states it in the Common Core book The issue is not the issue this is a destruction of the family I pray I hope these people our people our American friends who are transist a transgender come along and and do good but I almost want to in in ending say has anybody in this room grown up not bullied thank youy has returned as well Mrs Morley has returned

122earlier I can put her at the end Natalie Natalia HZ followed by Reverend Martin hi my name is Natalia jenez I live at 4056 Northeast 17th Avenue Okala Florida 34479 I'd like to put aside all the issues of morality for a moment and look at the legal financial and public relations issues here School gender inspection policies similar to this one have been found to violate titl which as you know prohibit sex discrimination in public schools in fact the United States Department of Education Office for civil rights which is responsible for enforcing title n has explicitly said that and I quote all students including transgender students are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title 9 passing this policy would put us at risk for losing Federal feral funds due to not complying with Title 9 though there's

123not yet a federal law explicitly protecting the rights of transgender students on a state-by-state basis this is where we are heading these policies are being declared illegal this proposed policy is directly based on the Gloucester County school board's policy that was just overturned one week ago exactly by the US court of appeals it also opens up the school board to expensive litigation our schools need every penny and don't need their budget being diverted to cover a lawsuit in 2012 this school board passed a similarly discriminatory policy against LGBT that is lesbian gay straight bisexual and transgender students oh I missed sorry lesbian gay bisexual and transgender students Banning the creation of a GSA a gay straight Alliance at Vanguard High School the policy was stricken but only after the ACLU brought a lawsuit and as

124I'm sure you've seen in emails the ACLU already sent an email today warning that this policy is legal we don't want to be spending money that could be used on education on lawyers and we definitely don't want to lose the federal funding that help keeps our schools a float we don't want the sort of negative media attention that could come with this as well we want media attention for the wonderful things our students are doing in our schools their accomplishments awards and achievements but we can't keep the amazing music teacher who led Shady Hill to winning the first stop on Radio Disney's music and our tourist school without Federal funding so we need to put the good of our students first thank you Reverend Martin followed by mallerie says meny yes my name is Pastor

125Jack marttin 13489 Dy s Street uh Spring Hill Florida I have been a pastor for 34 years a counselor for 34 years up until the end of March I was a candidate for the Congress in this District here in Okala the reason I was running was this very reason we have an IDE ideology taking place in our nation today that is trying to sweep away every bit of common sense that we have if we think for one moment that that CH that passing that that allowing the kids to switch bathrooms is going to stop bullying we don't understand anything it's going to increase bullying it overlooks all of the children who are going to be damaged by having somebody from another gender walk into the room you you violate every belief every family has in

126that right I've listened to fear tactics by many of the speakers here all the all the talk of of Title 9 and and Suits I'll tell you what you let a few of these kids start getting raped in class in in these bathrooms and you'll see lawsuits you you start seeing parents who get greedy because of lawsuits and they start stepping up and claiming their children have been damaged by having this this situation take place you're going to see the problems you have you made the right decision when you stand it won't be before uh you know a government you're going to stand one day before God and the only decision you're going to have to answer right then and there is Lord did we cow toow to the pressure or did we do what

127we knew in our heart was right I think you already know that you did in your heart what was right and I pray that you don't change your mind and I thank you we are all praying for you just one last thing people always come up with oh you're homophobic I have a son that's a homosexual I love him as much as my other five children I would step in front of a bullet for him that's a nonsensical argument it's about what's right and wrong and it's about what's doing to protect everybody not just a select number if if you want to have a singular bathroom for them that that's fine but to say that to go in each other bathrooms you're violating the right of every other child in that school I thank you

128God bless you mallerie sansy followed by Cheryl Olen my name is mallerie samany and I live at 5728 Southeast 156 Terrace Hawthorne Florida 32640 I'm here today like many of you because I wish to secure the safety of our children I want to see children thrive in our Public School Systems and I believe adults have the responsibility to protect respect and dignify all students I'm an educator and I know that Safety and Security are tantamount to a productive learning environment this is especially true true for our younger more vulnerable school children today's resolution attempts to th the effort to protect some of our most vulnerable young people transgender and gender non-conforming children are often made unsafe by school officials and their peers some of these stats you've heard already but they bear repeating uh a

129recent study showed that 75 to 80% of trans kids felt unsafe at school this feeling of vulnerability correlates to lower gpas high rates of absence a declining enthusiasm about going to college by attacking trans kids this resolution reverses the purpose of public education it discourages kids from even coming to school for fear of harassment or bullying 78% of trans transor gender non-conforming kids report being harassed about their gender while in school 35% were physically assaulted at school because of their gender school is already an unsafe place for Trans kids and this bill intends not only to justify the harassment but to expand it more than half of transgender and gender non-conforming people who are harassed in school have attempted suicide more than half that means the suicide attempt rate for Trans kids is 25 times

130the national average we as adults have a responsibility to set an example of respect and inclusion for children I wholeheartedly support efforts to protect children but I oppose this resolution because it does the opposite it targets an already vulnerable population of kids who just want to get through school and go on to live happy lives for anyone truly interested in being an advocate for the children of Maran County I encourage you to educate yourselves for anyone whose Christian faith is trying to convince them to support this bill on biblical grounds I encourage you to vote no thank you Cheryl Olan followed by Patricia schaer good evening I'm Cheryl Olen my address is 106 05 Southeast 142nd Avenue Road in oaha I have lived in Marian County for about 15 years I am a former Maran

131County teacher um I'm here tonight to ask you to please vote against this resolution school should be a place of safety for all children school should be a place of inclusion for all children schools should be a place for acceptance for all children what you are proposing this this resolution would take away that safety and inclusion and acceptance for some very vulnerable vulnerable children um transgender adolescents especially have enough humiliation and and distress uh without it being reinforced by the administrators of their schools um this is not a religious matter it's not a privacy matter it's a matter matter of fairness and compassion and inclusion so I'm asking you tonight to please vote no on this resolution thank you Patricia schaer followed by Kenneth Baxley Patricia schaer 2015 Southwest 43rd Place Okala 34471 superintendent tomman

132chairman James distinguished school board members thank you for your service to our community and for openly addressing this topic I am a former Vanguard Vanguard High School parent both of my children are graduates of Vanguard High of the Vanguard High School IB Program let me first by starting and by saying I am a Christ follower and I stand with God I am here to appeal to your sensibilities regarding the transgender bathroom issue that the board is currently addressing this is a highly sensitive topic with emotions high on both sides of the issue in attempting to keep emotion out of the conversation I would like to focus on facts first transgenderism reportedly affects less than one half of 1% of the general population approximately 0.3% secondly appropriate safe gender neutral eom recommendations were made in this

133case by providing the student at the center of this controversy with a private bathroom may I repeat appropriate safe gender neutral accommodations were made for this student it is my understanding that the student refused the accommodations that being said the powers that be caved to the one over the concerns of the many this is not how a representative Republic is supposed to work who addresses the concerns and the uncomfortable feelings of all the other students faculty and staff who must now potentially share a bathroom with the opposite sex you've had the strong arm and threats of the vocal minority thrown at you already this evening I would encourage you to seriously consider the liability concerns should someone with nefarious intentions intend to do harm to a student of the opposite gender because the school board

134caved allowing cart blanch and a free-for-all with regard to bathroom and locker room usage please use common sense and maintain bathroom and locker room usage according to birth gender thank you Kenneth Baxley followed by Cassandra Capo biano hello my name is Kenneth Baxley um please to meet you and to be here tonight I reside at 3218 Southwest 34th Avenue Circle local of Florida and uh i' just like to address the board and say that um you know I've watched you work I watched your labor I've appreciated the work that you've done the intentions um you know don't always agree with but but that's beside the point what I would like to address here tonight though is that uh really this is not about bathrooms and I think everybody here knows that it is about Family

135Values it is about Christian values um I serve the god of the Bible this nation was founded on the god of the Bible and when we want to make something religious seems like the Bible gets left out or taken out of context at best and so I'm just want to urge you to do what I believe is in your heart to do what's right um the children are at stake you know we're not looking to see somebody come and undermine our values to undermine what we stand for and undermine the things that uh we hold dear I would not want to have to be responsible for somebody going in and abusing a child and then having to face that parent and tell them that because of a policy that was made that it allowed that

136person to to uh usurp it thank you very much Cassandra Capo biano followed by Jane Morley good evening I'm Cassandra Capo biano I'm the um my address work address is 14260 uh West Newberry Road Newberry Florida 32669 but my home address is mopi I have two children um they could go to to Maring County Schools especially given the the most recent law um I'm the director of Florida institutional Legal Services which is a project of Florida Legal Services a civil legal aid and we provide legal aid to to people who are economically in need around the state um I've been listening I know lawyers often talk a lot more than we listen I've been listening to what a lot of people have said and one of the things that sticks out to me most dramatically

137today is that Liberty Council stood here and offered to bankroll litigation defending the school board on this issue there as um equality Florida said there's a legal freight train coming probably on either side we we will happily be part of the the side that challenges this ordinance the Constitution protects the minority it does not only protect the majority you all know that and the Bill of Rights the the founders of this nation that's why we have the Bill of Rights is to protect that 3% that other that's the statistic others have cited there have been no incidents not one incident of violence caused by a transgender student against another student um the Liberty Council we need to watch who we make make friends with right they're a designated hate group a designated hate group it

138whether you agree or not it is a designated hate group they def constantly bankroll defenses against of government agencies who enact or promote anti-lgbt ordinances and laws and it's all over the I mean it's on their own website so it's really not in controvers thank you Jane Morley good evening superintendent members of the board thank you for allowing me to speak tonight I come I'm a mother address please oh 5700 Northwest 2 Street Okala Florida 34482 I come from a very conservative family and I'm a mother and a grandmother mother I know that many issues are at stake here and I pray that you all will make the right decision and what's in the best interest for the majority of our students many people will have issues and we are opening ourself for issues where

139somebody that can disguise thems themselves as a transgender can go into a bathroom and harm the majority of the children we don't want that to happen so I pray that you all make the right decision and vote to support the resolution thank you I have two additional people to speak but they wish to speak off the air so that will be at the end of the meeting and they oh changed your mind okay okay Claire Lancaster your name is Lan hello my name is Claire Lancaster my address is PO Box 786 mopi Florida 32667 I'm a parent I'm also an abuse Survivor of abuse I'm familiar with how abuse works I'm familiar with how sexual assault works and I'm also familiar that there is no evidence to suggest that this policy will in fact protect

140students against any sexual assault at the last board meeting you said that you were offended by what these students wanted for their rights while other people are offended as well I am offended that there's an emergency meeting for this I'm offended that when over 2600 students were absent from Westport there was no emergency meeting there was a real threat there was a real threat that time and no emergency meeting I'm offended that parents have been coming to you about bullying and there's been no emergency meeting there is a real threat with bullying and there's no emergency meeting I'm offended that there's cyber bullying there's cyber problems no emergency meetings I'm offended also that there are actual sexual assaults happening on campus on the school buses and there's no emergency meetings why is there an emergency

141meeting on this we need to talk about this more you need to talk to both sides not just one side this needs to be thought out and all children need to be considered and the safety of all and what the real threats are and what the facts are so please take more time to consider this thank you we have anybody else um Chrissy Vickers was outside and did not hear her name called so Chrissy Vickers is that the last one last one on air hello my name is uh Chrissy Vickers uh 295 Southwest 15th Street ellaa Florida um I just had something real real quick I've been just observing everything um I just I just wanted to say real quickly it's just really really burdening Ju Just to see that because well that we've become

142so sensitive to the transgender community and and that we've forgotten about the rights of everyone else and what we stand for and whether it's Christ or whatever it's just that we've become so sensitive to the to the LGBT community and the transgenders because I I I actually I love everybody don't have an issue with that but we have forgotten about the rights of everyone and that's all I wanted to say is that we need to take everyone's rights into consideration and if we can change try and change a law just because of this there there are so many other things that we've been trying to change laws for and nothing's been done so it's that we need to be sensitive if and my thing is if we're going to be sensitive to this we got

143to be sensitive to everything else thank you the only person I have one left that says they would like to speak off the air okay at this point board because I know we have a shade session coming after this is that correct yes sir sir at this point I would like to give the board a f minute break so so y'all can we'll call to recess at 748 at 7:48 board y'all can take take a there's no script for me be a long day e e e I could reconvene to Maring County school board at 8051 801 I'm sorry at this time may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda with the exception of item C C11 C13 c36 which have been withdrawn entirely from the agenda may I have a a motion

144in a second so move second it was moved by Miss elely second by Miss King all in favor signify by saying I I the motion passed 5 Z in accordance with the consensus obtained at the April 21st 201 uh 16 administrative briefing and and work session and the consent with and consent consistent with the Florida law I declare good cause for resolution 6- 001 to be placed on an emergency item on this agenda for the protection of of the health and safety and Welfare of all Maron County Public School students at this time I will ask Kevin Christian public relations officer and TV media production coordinator please read for the record the resolution 16-1 in its entirely entirety kin copy by the way Kevin is Superman nope just doing my job this resolution reads whereas

145Maran County Public Schools acknowledges and supports the right of all students to attend schools that are safe protective free from violence and harassment appropriate and that ensure their right to privacy whereas the term sex is defined as a person's biological sex either female or male as determined at Birth whereas there is a long-standing history in this nation and Florida public schools of restricting access to single seex restrooms locker rooms and other single seex facilities on the basis of biological sex whereas students have a reasonable expectation of privacy in Maran County Public Schools and all Marian County Public School Single Sex facilities based on the federal and state constitutions and other laws whereas Maring County Public School students are minors in the majority who are entitled to Education and Care and a safe and protective environment

146whereas male and female users of maring County Public Schools single seex facilities reasonably expect not not to be exposed to persons of the opposite sex while using those facilities whereas persons who are transgender gender non-conforming gender fluid and or gender independent are not a protected class under federal or state law or Maran County public school policies whereas neither Federal nor state law prohibit Marian County Public Schools from res restricting Single Sex facilities to use by persons of a designated sex whereas some students May question their gender identities and assert they are transgender gender non-conforming gender fluid and or gender independent whereas Maran County Public Schools encourages all students with gender identity issues to seek support advice and guidance from their parents staff professionals and other trusted adults and whereas the school board of Maran County

147Florida now desires to provide current guidance on this important complex and legally unsettled issue to the superintendent of schools School principles staff students and parents particularly regarding the interpretation of applicable School Board policies now be it therefore resolved that single seex marrying County public school facilities designated for girls and women including but not limited to restrooms and locker rooms shall be restricted to persons who are biologically females single seex Maran County Public Schools facilities designated for boys and men including but not limited to restrooms and locker rooms shall be restricted to persons who are biological males students wishing to use alternative Maran County public school facilities shall always be offered comparable facilities as required by law and students dissatisfied or having other concerns with the school district's offer of comparable facilities May Avail themselves of

148of the grievance procedures specifically established in current Maran County public school policies this resolution adopted this evening the day of you fill in the date there at a regular meeting of the school board of Maran County and would be signed by the board chair Mr Bobby James and superintendent of the schools Mr George tommen may I have a motion in a second I make a motion that we um vote on resolution 16- 00001 I second it and we have a second as now we have discussion and we'll start with you Mr sty with discussion um I believe we've discussed it a lot um the superintendent had asked us for guidance and now we and he had a little difficulty getting with us in guidance we gave him guidance Thursday and his office Thursday last Tuesday

149but tonight we are giving the superintendent written Guidance with clear resolution reflecting our anti-discrimination policy that does not allow discrimination based upon sex exactly as title N9 States we are simply making a public Proclamation tonight confirming our existing policy we are in complete compliance with Title 9 as we have been for decades thanks to our current anti-discrimination policy we cannot help that the Department of Education Federal Department of Education is now working under an an illegal unadvertised rule we believe this interpretation of Title Nine has been promulgated illegally and without due process by unelected bureaucrats it is a violation of the constitutional right to the pro personal privacy of our students poses a risk to the safety of our students and additionally will disrupt the educational process and the orderly operation of our schools in

150fact the real hoot to this entire thing is the federal department of education does not even have a constitutional right to even exist so I would um like to I've passed something out to my fellow Schoolboard members and instead of reading the entire thing it's talking about why I believe this rule is totally illegal because it has not been properly advertised by the Federal Department of Education civil rights division um I've searched everywhere there is absolutely no advertising on this rule but I have passed this out I would like for it to be a part of the uh record so that I don't have to read the entire thing but the Schoolboard members have had a chance to read this so it does need to be a part of this record or I can read

151the entire thing but it would take a while okay Miss elely um I believe we've we've heard from a lot of parents and I appreciate the 46 people who did speak tonight it's I I know it was hard for some of you to come up and speak but it's good to hear from our public and we wanted to hear your your opinions your feelings um either way um I believe that uh we spoke about this last week at Great length um and I thought about something if that if transgenders can go into either the boy or girl bathroom depending on their choice for the day boys all Bo right boys that aren't transgenders can go just to the boy's bathroom girls can go just to the girls' bathroom so isn't that reverse discrimination that's just

152rhetorical question but I just thought that that was interesting um also the safety issue is the biggest and although nothing has happened yet we're going to see some things happening folks we will and if um it depending on the situation we can't have teachers monitoring the bathrooms that's not going to be possible but if we know the rules like we have rules in you know Maring County and kids know what they can and can't do then then they should be following the rules and if a transgender student feels uncomfortable with the um gender neutral bathroom that's been offered to him or her then um like you know need like the resolution says take it up with um you know the uh the mar County Schoolboard policy but I am definitely in favor of keeping the

153boys and the boys's bathroom girls in the girls bathroom okay I think that the school board has we have the the r rain respect and and dis digity dis digity to to a lot of to a lot of people to our all of our children we when we come to school we're here for our students I don't think that that any of us when we go to we're talking about school we're talking about our children for for for going to to to school not about the other what we're talking about now I think that um we we we could come I just say we came right here we came right here and we did an alternate we using an alternate for people wanted to use another um um facil facility I think that sometimes we

154talk and we think things so big and we think we make it so big big about things when I know that I know that I everyone hears we're here for every child that's what we're here for the children that's what we all think about school is about we're not thinking about most of us some ofar things you didn't think about you know going to this to that when we go to a teach that we're talking about the the bathroom that we're that we have so much that people come together when we say okay we would then we realize we realize that what we can do then is say okay we do have Fe um women and we do have men so we said we can and we if you look we're saying we're an alternate

155place because I think that we come together with our children I think that we should think about that you know we don't think about what you feel because it's your child they they're poor you not you might be 12 I mean if you're over 20 and you want to find with us about it it it feels like oh wait don't you have to look these are our children and by the time they go other over when they 20 not not one teacher in here will sit here and have the same same thoughts about it you know I I and I believe that I think you all know I think this really hard and I wanted to be able to treat this I I I said well this I wanted to be able to talk not

156just because because I wanted to pray that it's all about God for for everybody because I know there's every child that I in this far that they're here every child is may not be God we know that but we know when it comes for when you go to school we hear about that for what you're when you go to to when you go to your take when you go to your town till you go to the school the meet to the school place we're here for that you know so I I'm really you know I'm supporting this because I trust the children it's what we do for them is more important what everybody that wants to find here or somebody say this about it or whatever it's about the children tomorrow for the children you

157know so that's why we came when we came to when we came to this I think we came because we we thought about children like again the girls the boys and then we say alternate we thought about it we didn't come for anything but that because so important it's so important I think I I say some you know I said well sometimes we need to just stand up look for our children and yes they're going to be mothers of course they're going to be fathers good job if you a for for God and you couldn't do it the same way that everybody thinks still you're doing a good through through I I when I go to some teachers around one of the things I I see is some of them they there's so many things

158I mean some of you have the thoughts there's so many that comes through them but if you look at all our teachers that come through they're here because there no there some plaws P that come in that's you have to cry they have to say they really put a lot okay they really come a a gum think for our children our teachers they're not look they when they come in if you have to think when they come in they're not about the things you think we're here for to make what you come for to be an an a tated tated that's what it's about it's really about that and and yes I'm say it again I want them one more thing for me for God cuz if you don't believe because what I feel I'm

159not going to hurt you that's not that then why would I work about your God then think that we're here for our children children uh that's all I wanted to say thank you Miss King okay good um with my other board members we have had a lot of discussion we didn't uh come up here tonight and make this decision believe me we have put a lot of thought and um we've done a lot of research also um to form and come up with our opinions and I agree with my other board members um I am also in favor of this resolution as I believe it's important for us to respect and Supply every one of our students with privacy and protection and safety of using the restroom we're not up here uh we're not up

160here trying to um show was the word correct word I'm um we're not up here trying to show favoritism or um discriminate that's the word I'm looking for discriminate against anyone up here but we do want to ensure student safety and privacy for the entire student body and with this resolution in there it states that transgender students will be um accommodated with a a a gender neutral restroom they're not comfortable if they're not comfortable attending or using the male or female bathroom that they were um born to use and um if they choose and this gender neutral bathroom is provided and can be used by any student in the school it's not just strictly for transgender students it's for any student again um I don't feel that this is discrimination it's allowing every student privacy

161and safety and um I'm just gonna leave it at that okay I I'm passing the gavel to miss King and uh and I I have to really just say I understand what everyone is saying rest assured and I hope you all will understand what I'm going to say we are at the end of the school terms and we have many mandates that's required to fulfill these last five weeks of school just as a nation is as is on stage and slowly working through the issues we need to ensure that any resolution that we that we render will be will be passed with equality legitimacy feasibility and impartiality to all of our students this is only can this can only be done in the develop developing a decisive resolution that will be that can be carried

162into the future and and should not be hurried we must ensure that any resolution we make does not violate tile the tile 9 act a law Banning sexual discrimination in school as a school district receiving title funds we under very strict and precise governing rules the recent ruling from the US court of a court of appeal for Y in Virginia marked the first time a federal court has determined that tile 9 protects the right of transgender students to use sex segregated facility that's consistent with their gender identity this rules open the door for future rulings that could be costly to the school districts uh districts around the country who do not comply we cannot let our motion dictate our action I'm asking the school board to table this issue until the a date and I

163will give you some dates and the reason I'm asking you all to do this is I have worked real hard with the Florida School boyss Association and if you look at those dates on junee 8th and June 9th we are having uh in uh Tampa this very thing that we are are discussing today June 8th and June 9th and this will give us an opportunity to look at what is occurring in state in in the state and throughout the country and when I asked you to do that I know that four of our members go uh go down to there and when usually when we come back we usually will say that this is a very a very good Workshop a very good meeting and what I'm asking this board to do is not change

164your view I don't want you to change your view all I want us to do is to is to go go down look at what has been done and come back with this what I propos to do and what I'm asking for us to do is that we schedule a June 23rd Workshop after you have reviewed the material that we've got from um from what we've got from uh what we get in uh down in U in Tampa when we look at what we are talking about in reference to establishing of a plan because this information is good there is not an emergency at this point there has been only one incident at Vanguard and for us at this point to to to not take our time and look at the information that we that

165we are will be getting I listed some things that I would like for us to do in this period of time the Florida school board uh Association and Summer Conference is June 8 through the 10th that's another month and I would like for our attorney to talk to us about the consequences of passing a resolution prior to receiving uh information or and when I say just look at the consequences of us and what will occur if we do not uh comply with these wishes I would like the superintendent um to work to develop task force to look at how we can uh possibly retrofit our bathroom and they and takeing consideration the amount of money that we will be spending if we have to defend the lawsuit if we can use that money to retrofit

166our bathrooms I would like to also have our attorney to look at a way in which we can make this thing pable with uh working with the OCR working with the National School Board Association and their attorneys to make this work I have set two dates that I feel would work for us once we come back from uh from Tampa and have this information and looked at some of the schools some of the school district that had the same type meeting that we I had tonight and tabled it and tabled their decision till after they came down and looked at what is uh going on I will say this Sarasota County Bard County they had an opportunity to do this and I'm asking this board not to change it board I'm telling you from as

167a as as one of your colleagues we have been very diligently going to these meetings I can count you one two three four that go down and sit there in these meetings and go over and listen to our colleagues and I'm urging you to Let's table this until we go down we look at it and look at and talk with our colleagues and come back and schedule a work session and bring these things together and we can in turn have something in place for the beginning of our school year I do not want to write us sign a resolution tonight and they expect us to be enforcing it tomorrow simply because we are rushing and I'm asking this board to just thank as just think about what I am saying I'm not I'm not saying

168anything about what all of all the people are are saying out there what I am saying is about what we need to do to make sure that we've covered all our bases and it's not going to kill us it's not going to kill us can I say something I'm going to try but I do think that if if if the state of the the state state of Florida of Florida Florida they we we do let me stop for one second for one okay for for Florida Florida we there we don't have we don't have the say the say now right now for that if you look the Florida state the Florida there is no law yet for it right so mean if if the children are just other same other thing if you're over 20

169year G right one time over 21 years for for 20 a 20 young person what you're saying and why I have a prog just to say it in this way is that if you're if you're saying that the little that the children these peees with the babies little B children they don't have the law they're not the law but if you're making them to be the one who have the law but you're not having am I right understand it's okay am I right though you yeah I think it's just kind of it's okay I'm sorry okay Mr I I am not challenging anything that you all are saying all I'm saying to you is that we are part of the Florida school boys Association and they are putting and if you read it they're putting

170on a transgender a program that there that where that is talking about all the legalities of this all I am saying to the board board there is not an emergency here it is not an emergency here where we have to take action tonight we can go down and get information that other boards have have worked their way through through the State of Florida and we can make sure that we are writing are writing something that that can uphold time or it could be more in line with what we need to do and it will be more in line with some of these school districts that have experienced this and have tabled this King they have table their actions until they have had this meeting and gathered this information I'm not asking you to change change

171your mind all I'm asking you to do is go down there and come back on the 21st with a with an opportunity to do that okay all right thank you Mr tommen thank you Bor and I appreciate the opportunity to address you tonight as you are aware my personal legal counsel has reviewed the proposed resolution and and has expressed several legal concerns the substantive concerns have already been outlined to you by other attorneys including Mr Lake guidance from the office of civil rights and now a federal ederal court has indicated that this resolution may not withstand legal challenge I do fear this will open the school board up to needless and costly litigation and have a negative impact on our students if you as a board intend to move forward with a vote then there

172are procedural requirements not currently being followed that need to be addressed if you examine the list of the 230 or so res resolutions passed by this board since 1988 you will not find one which concerns enacting a campus-wide policy or rule like this the resolution being voted on is in fact not a resolution but a rule which the board is directing me to implement on all campuses School Board policy your Schoolboard policy 2.23 and the administrative procedure act set forth strict requirements on how a rule or policy is to be enacted by the board for nonemergency rules the board is required to provide the public proper written notice which is advertised for 28 days prior to the vote the notice must include a concise explanation of the proposed Rule's purpose and effect the estimate of

173economic impact to all affected by the rule and the specific legal Authority for the board's action any person who claims to be substantially affected by the rule is then permitted to file a written request with the board seeking a determination by an administrative law judge as to the validity of the proposed action that decision can be appealed by either party to the Fifth District Court of Appeal for emergency rules which is how you are proceeding tonight the 28-day waiting period can be waved but the board must publish in writing prior to its action the specific facts and reasons for finding an immediate danger to the public health safety or welfare and its reasons for concluding that the emergency vote is fair under the circumstances an emergency rule which is adopted cannot be effective for a

174period longer than 90 days from the date of adoption and it is not renewable unless the board adopts a permanent rule or policy through the normal procedures set forth by our policy and statute if the board is intent on passing this resolution I would urge you to follow the procedural requirements we have put in place for enacting a rule as set forth in board policy 2.23 and the administrative procedure act in order to protect the district from a legal challenge of the process last but not least I continue to believe that as Educators we should continue to try to educate ourselves about this issue and not act hastily based on fear or political expediency Schoolboard policy 2.27 allows the chair of the board to appoint special committees whenever deemed necessary this issue lends itself well

175to committee study and dialogue before taking any official action a committee of persons with opposing views willing to sit down for Meaningful conversation as well as experts in child psychology or law enfor enforement would help inform and educate all of us before any permanent rule or policy or resolution on this topic is passed thank you okay Miss Stacy point of order this agenda is not doesn't talk anything about discussion the leg discussing the legality of this our attorney responded to each one of us and that could be included in the board um com the board this this resolution hearing or whatever we've all seen it our board attorney responded to all of those things Mr tommen this is not a rule this is clearly guidance and a proclamation to the community as to what our

176policy has been and obviously it has withstood the test of time it has been we have not had any violations with um Title 9 in two or three decades I mean there's just not ever been one so therefore I'd like to call the question please I have I have a motion on the okay I'd like to call the question yes please so point of order I miss Lake I had I asked for I made a motion that we table this issue I think a subo motion has to be ruled on first doesn't it get second first talk about if it's been second but I I can talk to my attorney right can I talk to my attorney okay motion has to have a second before discussion ensues right and it died like a second okay

177do you want to do you want to restate your motion okay okay I'm asking that we table this uh table this until we come back from the central floor Coalition uh until we get until we come back from our our Workshop down in uh Tampa I'm asking that we we do give ourselves an opportunity to to go down and look at what is being done because there is not an emergency where we have to do something and direct our people to do something tomorrow all I'm asking is for us to table that there a second motion okay I would like to call the question please okay so chairman I'd like to call the question that we go ahead and we vote on the resolution number 16-1 this is a proclamation stating and giving guidance to

178our current policy that is in effect and I'm sure that Mr tommen knows it's in effect because when my students were at Forest High School um there was a child that was suspended while my kids were there for using the wrong bathroom so the policy is the same as it was then Mr tommen when you when your Administration suspended a student at Forest High School that I recall for using the wrong bathroom and it is still in place nothing has changed and I call the question um okay Miss king would you call the question and we can vote okay we call a question we call the question I call a question okay all in favor they are resolu opposing view Mr James you want to vote wait did did they vote Yes we voted we're

179just trying to wait for it to come up all in favor signify by saying all opposed say nay I'm just putting that out there so we can hear it okay I I yes okay the motion passed for [Applause] one Mr James I know that at the uh Schoolboard conference we can find out more we can get more information on what else we need to do no I'm not saying this okay may I have a motion to may I have a motion to approve the following donations okay $2500 to Anthony Elementary School from the business partner kenned D Terry Enterprise about the public Education Foundation $1,000 to BW High School from the Rotary Club of bellw $1,500 to community Tech adult education from Star Shield service LLC $2,500 to d uh to Dr NH Jones School

180elementary school from Duke Energy Foundation $ 5,33 to Fort McCoy school from uh Cactus Jack uh two incor Incorporated $22,000 for Hammet Bourne uh junior Elementary School from IBM Corporation $1,500 to hamit elbourne junor elementary school from their business partner inline orthodontist by the public Education Foundation $2,500 to Madison Street Elementary School from their business partner Region Bank by the public Education Foundation $575 uh $10 to Maring County Public School Grants and federal programs from Al's charitables and education Foundation $2,500 to shade uh Shady Hill Elementary School from give a note Foundation $5,000 to Vanguard High School from the board of County commission may I have a motion in a second so move it was moved my Miss King I mean Miss Elie do I have a second yes second second by miss bton all

181in favor signified by saying I the motion passed five uh zero the next administrative briefing and work sessions is scheduled for Thursday May uh 5 2016 at 9:00 a.m. the purpose of this work session is to receive a presentation from the mar United for public education regarding local test data requested to uh uh data requested to rename van uh Vanguard High School basketball court uh as well as review the differentiated accounting and student discipline as it is related to weapons and firearms the student uh the student hearing scheduled for April 26 28 2016 have been cancelled and the recommend for expulsion will appear on the up coming board agenda before we get to that before we get to uh our comments I missed something in in terms of that Miss Elia did you get the

182numbers on how much we got of course I did of let us have that and then I'll go somewhere else $1,738 and10 cense and I I want to commend the board of County Commissioners for giving $5,000 to Vanguard High but wonder if they have more than that may they might want to make some donations to other schools I'm not sure what that was for okay that was for they usually help with uh with the basketball tournament over there and bring people into Baron County Miss El why you had the floor would you go ahead and thank the people for sure that's a lot of money and it's a lot of businesses and people in Maran County who are showing that how much they care about our schools and um keep them going I like the

183businesses that aren't even business partners that are making donations and um I'm just very very proud to be a member of maring County School Board and being involved in the schools it's great thank you okay board memb Miss Stacy you have the floor oh I would just like to is this comment comment I would just like to um to say say thank you we have three ladies that came together at a time when they were the only ones that could do this to move our country forward so that we can move forward and challenge the overreaching federal government I believe our district will be a landmark case and I believe that if it hadn't been for the women on this board that I so appreciate this would not have happened and I remember Rosa Parks

184another woman and she fought for civil rights because she fought for people who were born with skin that was not the same color as mine she fought for those rights because she was born that way she couldn't just say I want to be white and receive the um and receive extra favoritism over the um over every just because that's what she wanted we had to go through civil rights legislation and we had to settle that we had to settle she was black when she was born and when she was born our constitution gave her rights because of she had equal rights at Birth to everyone else and she was a wonderful woman and we will what we're doing doesn't touch what she did but I'm proud to be a woman standing for the Constitution of

185the United States I took my oath of office that I would support the Constitution of the United States and I believe that is what I have done tonight thank you Miss I I feel good about what what have done together as a as a board um we still have a lot of a lot of things this is just the beginning of the end but um I I believe we've done the right thing and I believe that we need to keep our bathrooms and our locker rooms safe for all kids and that's why we wanted to enact this right now not you know next fall but I think we did the right thing the other um I know we did the right thing the other thing I wanted to remind everybody May 3rd next Tuesday is

186National teach your appreciation day and parents write a note to your children's teachers or do something nice to show them how much you care for for everything they've done for your children and um just be supportive of your teachers because they work a many many hours beond the school day so thank you teachers keep up the good work thank you Miss King I also want to say um I realized what we did today took a lot of courage and um I still feel confident that we've done our research we did our due diligence to make uh the appropriate decision what is best for all of our students every one of them um and now I'm going to go to a lighter note and mention that today I went to um today is agriculture literacy day

187and so I had the opportunity to go out to Okala Springs and I read to the second and fourth graders and we learned a lot about vegetables and it was just it was light-hearted and fun but they were they liked learning about them like the bell peppers and the traffic light pepper I it was just fun so that and then also um again I want to someone called and you may have got it May 5th is the National Prayer day and we're invited to read the proclamation between 12 and 1 with other leaders so we wanted to make sure um that everyone is aware um on the Square okay that'll be on the Square and then again as always I want to remind our students that attendance matter matters and um just finish out this

188year strong thank you Mr Lake no comments tonight thanks Mr superintendent thank you chairman James as I give you each two weeks during this assessment season I've asked Mrs Weldon to provide me an assessment update and how things are going here her response to me was the administration of computer-based FSA continues through this week and next week for grades 4 through1 for English language arts reading and grades 5 through eight in math these test must must be concluded by May 6th Air's testing platform that's the computers has been performing reliably so far FCAT science is a paper based test for students in grades five and eight is being administered this week grade eight grade eight took both sessions of FCAT science today while students in grade five took session one today we'll take session two

189tomorrow you can see how complicated this gets the testing window for the state end of course exam opened yesterday but most of our secondary schools are working to complete the FSA English language arts and reading and FSA math before starting the eoc's the testing windows for eoc's will close on May 13th or May 20th depending on the test Mrs King has already made the comment that attendance matters uh many all of our schools are taking this very very seriously and especially during the testing season we even received a telephone call from yamina Park Elementary that during six days in a row when they were doing testing every student that was expected to be there had perfect attendance so that was pretty interesting thing the state for your information you may have seen news articles about

190this has finally released the school recognition dollars uh school plans have already been approved for the dispersement of those funds following the guidelines provided by the state it's about $1.8 million uh to 22 different schools here in Marian County very proud of that the Washington Post has recognized the rigor and challenges of our seven public high schools here all offer challenging curriculum and that's something that we certainly propose to do and will continue to do we are again having an second annual recruiting fair and this this this Friday evening we'd like to thank the College of Central Florida for hosting that very successful event for us and providing the facility just for your information I will be hosing third annual superintendent leadership conference for assistant principles and principles in the last of July of this

191summer and then our own technology department something that's very popular for our teachers is hosting a day of Technology on July 27th and I believe that event is going to be at Vanguard high school and then finally for you we do are having a district retirement celebration for the number of instructional administrative and non-instructional persons who are retiring you will receive an invitation it should be in your mailboxes if you hav an already gotten it it is Tuesday May the 3D from 4:30 to 7: at the Okala Hilton again you will be receiving an invitation but I wanted to give you a heads up on that thank you chairman James that's all I have sir uh board we have spoken and I just want all of you to understand I was not trying to get

192you to change your mind about anything what I was asking you to do was take advantage of of the opportunity we would have we chose not to do that and this is the cross we bear okay now and when I say this I've heard Rosen park name and all of that but guys I I have always asked all of us to think things St and that's one of the things I I felt I feel very strongly that we had it that we got backed in the corner here because I heard things that I I thought I would never hear someone said well it was a ladies club and guys y'all have been knowing me a long time and it it should not have been a ladies club and that that's really is disheartening to me

193because that I have never I have never did anything based on any of that type of stuff I did this I did what I did because I wanted you all to really just examine it and make sure that we are going down the road and which you can live for I will back out of it and I will say we we out there the train is coming so this is where I am okay let's move on before addressing the express questioning policy I wish to acknowledge that the board members have received the alternative placements list for students through April 8th 2016 Miss flat are there any parents who have submitted a timely request to speak on their child's behalf not on the child we just have the one that wanted to speak off air okay

194may I have a motion uh to approve the expulsion of JD 16-12 and jd1 16- 33 with a with an educational service through the first semester of the 2016 2017 school year may I have a motion and a second so move it was moved by Miss elely second and second by m King all in favor signify by saying I I the motion pass 5 Z this complete the teli portion of the meeting okay