School Board Workshop 10 -27-25

001All right, good morning folks. I'm showing nine o'clock. So, at this time, we'll go ahead and call the school board workshop into session. Colleagues, as usual, we'll go through each item on the agenda. If you have a comment or question about something, please just let me know and we'll take care of that. Superintendent, same thing for you, sir. I know you have staff here and so we'll look to you to to call them forward as you need them. All right, first item of business is called to order. Second will be the approval of the agenda and changes. And I've been handed a list of several changes here, so I'll go over those very quickly. First of all, administrative and personnel appointments. We deleted item 4.2, appointment of the program director for facilities. On the consent

002agenda, we added item 7.25, 25 payment of a one-time bonus to district employees. And then on uh school board members announcements and requests for information, we added item 13.3, designation of a school board member to serve as the board's representative to the teacher of the year selection committee. And this evening, colleagues, help me remember, we do have some uh public hearings that begin again at 6:15. Okay. So, those will be the changes to the agenda for this evening. We have no recognitions and then we head into administrative and personnel appointments. So, 4.1 will be the appointment of the principal for Pine View School recommended by Superintendent Chambers. 4.2 is the item that was deleted as I mentioned. And then 4.3 is the appointment of the assistant superintendent of human resources also recommended by superintendent chambers.

003And then that will take us to section five public comment on agenda items. And then section six we have some committee and staff reports. But before I start that, Mr. Spolski, I think that uh you folks are here today with a special presentation. Thank you, Dr. White, school board superintendent, uh, John Spolski here, and also Miss Sarah Matthysse. Uh, she is one of our Okaloosa Public School Foundation board members. And we wanted to just take a quick, uh, moment here to refresh everyone on what the foundation does to support our district, our teachers, our students out there. So, first of all, you can see we have a a very uh powerful uh board. We added some new members. one of our school board members, Miss Sanchek, has served on that for many years, Miss Linda.

004And um you can see Sarah's there. She's with Modern Technology Solutions about threequarters of the way down the list. But I'll pause just for a second so you can see the the really that diverse group of people, individuals. Many of them are retired administrators. Uh many of them are active in our private sector. Some are in engineering in our military contracting fields. Florida Power and Light, Egglund Federal Credit Union. We are just very happy with our board and what they do uh to support our foundation and our mission. So, so who are we? What do we do? Well, first of all, we have a lot of fun together, but we serve as a catalyst. We serve as a catalyst to promote excellence and we try to take all the experiences from our private sector, from

005the public sector and come together and work as a as a very um efficient board. I serve uh interesting enough not only as the assistant superintendent for this board and our superintendent but also um as the executive director of the foundation. Um and and that is rare throughout the state, but it also is very valuable because we get to see some of the needs and some of the uh really in the trench kind of details that the foundation can help and support our our district with. You can see Miss Tate, our office manager. Miss Boba Miles was new this year. um she's our take stock and children uh officer, executive officer and then Lori Lipniki is our success coach. So very excited to have them. Mr. McInness serves as our legal counsel. Miss Ali in

006finance make sure that we're all tight with our books, accounting procedures, and all the things that are associated because a lot of money flows through our foundation. We want to make sure we always have exemplary audits. And then Mr. McNeely provides uh tech support, helps us with a lot of the backside with virtually streaming our meetings. So, I won't spend a lot of time on this because I do want Miss Matthysse to give you some really kind of boots on the ground experiences, but some of the events that we get to do are just so enjoyable. We host events with the college and career fair, our literacy events, our CT summer camps. Um we do so much with the community. Just this past weekend, we were out at the United Fidelity Community Day where we

007passed out books uh under the under the glorious weather here in the panhandle. We're just so excited. Not to mention the scholarships for our students and the teacher grants. One of the large things we do at the beginning of the year, we have a lot of fun, as you can see with the pictures, is stuff the bus. So, we take over the Walmarts uh all across our county. Uh Debbie Tate helps organize that. In fact, Miss Matthysse had some of her team members meet me at the Crestview Walmart. Um, and we were under the tent together grabbing all kinds of backpacks and school supplies. Uh, and really delivering those right to the schools. We don't bring them down here in a warehouse until all of the schools have what they need. And then we have

008a a small surplus on the backside to to make sure we're backfilling any of the things that come up for our schools. I did mention our teacher classroom grants. So, these range anywhere from 1,000 to 2500. Um, and this year alone, we're in the 50 to 60,000 uh dollar range of allowing those teachers to help enrich their classrooms. The the main thing we're here for is to support our teachers and our students. That's really what we're trying to do. So, this was a a really an action shot here that was at our celebratory event that we always have at our Niceville Community Center. That's really really a a great event to go to. Many of uh have you have been at those before. We have about 60 to 65 students in our program. And you

009can see this event is a transition where we're bringing on ninth graders as part of our take stock and children program and also graduating our seniors. Those that successfully complete we get them a two-year scholarship so that they can continue their post-secary education. Very exciting stuff. This is some of our CT camps in action. We had a traveling CTE camp uh where they went out and helped kids learn uh skills. There's also, you can see our military partners help us with those pieces. Our college and career fair getting kids excited about what they're going to be doing uh not only in high school but after high school. And then this I will let Miss Matthysse talk just briefly about this as we continue to go through the slides because she's been hands-on with me with

010this activity and what we called our reality check. Miss Matthysse. >> Good morning, Miss Matthysse. >> Good morning. Thank you so much for having me today. Um so this is just a super fun hands-on event that the kids get to participate in. Um that financial literacy class that they're required to have now each year to graduate. This is a chance for them to take what they've learned um in a real world kind of setting. They're given a credit score, um a fake family, and a budget each month. And they have to go around and they have to see, okay, how do I manage getting all the things I need as an adult from housing, clothing, insurance, everything? Um how do I make that work with my budget? So, it really kind of gives them that

011chance to um put to practice what they've learned for the year. So, it's a really fun event. Um, I've been lucky to man a couple of the booths, but also give out some gifts at the end just to say thank you to all the kids for their persistence throughout the year and um, making sure that that's a great event. >> Thank you, Miss Matthysse. We also try to make sure we're back filling for our schools locally and our school district initiatives. We are very um, wellreceived when we go around with our treat trolley. Talk about a morale booster for all of our employees. Many of our board members as well as administrators and district staff go on the treat trolley. Our blessing bags help a lot of our students with their hygiene uh kits and

012needed uh things uh to to make sure that they feel good about themselves. And then of course the foundation supports our recognitions, our formal recognitions, not only the teacher of the year banquet, but also our our ed support professional of the year, our service coins, and our challenge coins. We're so excited that we get to support those those initiatives that make people smile. We regularly attend, as I mentioned, community events, United Fidelity, our Chamber of Commerce meetings, uh many many meetings. We get up there and and try to serve as a as an energy, as a catalyst, as as someone who is lighting that fire across our district, uh so that get out there and really support our our young people and our teachers. And these are some shots from our upcoming event. I'm sure

013Miss Avanche, our superintendent, will speak to it later today. Our barbecue and bingo. Uh you can see Nico Stubblefield from Eglund Federal Credit Union. Our superintendent is there having some fun. A well attended uh event that that raises quite a bit of of money for our foundation. So what I would ask anyone out there that's watching on our virtual and our streams is is get involved. We need mentors. We always need mentors to help guide uh these young folks. It's quite an experience. I have an opportunity. I have a sophomore this year. I know Mr. Bryant uh mentors, Mr. Horton who retired mentors. Many of our board members also mentor and have for many many years. You stay with the student for four years. Uh trying to steer them in the right direction. Sometimes it's

014listening, sometimes it's giving advice. Um the young people need us. And I I think that's part of the the gift of the profession that we're in, whether it's a formal foundation or it's uh something on the on the school district side is is we get to be a part of that. Without finishing up, I wanted to give Miss Matthysse a chance to really just share some personal things, but I didn't want to skip an opportunity to recognize our serving president, Miss Gates. Miss Gates uh is of course well known in our district. Um I worked with her very closely, and I just wanted to say thank you, Miss Cindy, for everything you do for our foundation. Miss Matthysse, anything else? >> Yes, thank you. Um, when I moved here eight years ago, I got the,

015uh, wonderful opportunity to continue my teaching career at Bluewater Elementary under Amy Clue and Susan Garing. Um, loved my six years with them. I took time for my family to focus on my daughter who was a senior and kind of took a step back from that role. Um, I then was given the opportunity to work in the private sector with MTSI and their goal was really to get involved in the community at an education level. They really wanted to see how can they stimulate our local environment to um give kids an opportunity to maybe come back and work in the local community in an engineering or mathematical way or just really any way to like bring the economy back because they really love this town and they love what we do with our um relationship

016with the military. So Debbie Tate who I got a chance to work with at Bluewater um she invited me in. She said, "Hey, can you come and just think about being a part of this board?" And I thought, "Oh man, my company is looking for a way to get in. How can we um partner with the Okaloosa school district and be a part of that growth?" Um, so I mean we've done everything from the science fair, uh, being a member and a sponsor for them. Um, stuff the bus, um, uh, working with Chakahhatchee Basin Alliance with grasses and classes. I mean, any chance we get, um, that we have, we try to put ourselves in there because we know how important it is to be a part of the community. And um I kind of

017wanted to just touch on a moment because we're coming close to the holidays and we're always asking people, "Oh, what do you want for Christmas? What do you want for your birthday?" And my kids lately have really kind of gotten away from the, "Oh, I want the Nikes or I want the beads or I want all of this stuff," you know? And I thought, "Okay, good." They're thinking about you like wastefulness. They they want something that's more lasting. And so I think about those moments that we get to have with them, those experiences. And then I thought, man, that's what the foundation is doing. We are creating these moments. We are creating these experiences for our community to come in and be a part of our education system that we normally wouldn't necessarily be able

018to have on a daily basis, right? I mean, you don't have parents just kind of walking off the street or grandparents walking off the street saying, "How can I help?" But these opportunities that we give them through Stuff the Bus, through barbecue and bingo, gives them a chance to support in a way um that maybe might not be as hands-on, but definitely is there so they can support their kids and their grandkids and their community. So, thank you all so much. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Any questions from anyone? >> I would just like to say Dr. I just want to just first extend my appreciation as well uh to Mr. Spolski, Miss Tate and the team, Miss Gates as the president. If you look back at that list that was there and

019it was showing not only scholarships, supplies, food, CTE, all the opportunities that the public school foundation provides for our students. And that's just a smidg of what they do each and every day. Mr. Vanek is at those board meetings and you know full well just the gravity of what this group does for students across our school district and it's just something that I could not be more appreciative of because it's one thing for those nth graders to step into the scholarship and one day graduate with it for with a two-year degree but it's another thing supporting elementary all the way through to college and that's something I couldn't be more appreciative and then you look at that list of those that's on that board and it Like Mr. Spolski said, it is a great representation

020of this county and the support that we have. So just could not be more appreciative. >> Thank you, sir. >> All right, Mr. B. >> Uh, Mr. Chambers, you're you're a humble person as always and I've been on this board long enough to remember there was a time when the foundation was struggling and I think under your leadership and appointing the right people to be a part of that. Uh, Miss Gates is out there, Mr. Horton, uh many other people who uh within the community who said, "Hey, we're not going to let this fail." And uh now look at it. It's very vibrant. It's very healthy. All the things that we're doing. Uh Mr. Spolski, I know you're uh leading the charge now. We thank you and everybody that's involved with it. But yes, there

021was a time when the foundation was close to being done with and but now it's not. Mr. VCH, thank you for being our representative on the foundation, too. >> Thank you, Mr. Brian. >> Well, you know, I got to say something. >> Yeah, >> it it's a it's an honor to be on the on the foundation. I've enjoyed it. It's a lot of fun. Uh, you know, we're living in a time where people volunteering has kind of gone by the wayside to be honest. And at the when we have our foundation meeting, uh seeing so many community members come in there on, you know, because they want to um and they're so enthusiastic about what's happening with our school district and they're giving of their time, their personal business day to come to that and

022to show up at all the events. And we have a really good time doing it. We have a lot of fun. Let me tell you something. this barbecue and bingo, you start seeing people get competitive and get I mean, I've never seen last year a cake get sold for so much money. I don't know, Debbie might remember they were auction off these cakes. It's like, wow. Okay, so it's a lot of fun. And the thing is is everybody knows that everything we do, every penny ultimately helps a student. How can you not get excited about that? And that's what these folks do. So again, I'm honored to represent this board on the foundation. I love doing it. Uh it's it's I get excited when we're doing things. Even in the summer when Debbie calls me

023and I go out and do the stuff the bus, it's about 110 degrees, but it's exciting to see all those things that uh uh doing. So yes, it's doing very well. I think I would say our foundation would be a model to those throughout the state if they're looking at getting something started or doing it. And I don't know how many foundations there are but um certainly uh with the leadership our foundation is doing it right and then again ultimately for so many students are benefiting so good stuff and I this I love um having it in paper all the things that we do we have this up here it's good to see uh the uh expansion of so many things that we do so thank you >> thank you miss colleagues anything else just

024one quick thing so if you can't support by volunteering or giving money, you can buy a license plate and the support education license plate actually does money does come back to the foundation for that. So, I know a lot of us have them. They have two kind. One's pretty basic, but then another one's pretty cool. Kind of shows off the Florida beaches and all that. But, yeah, when you're renewing your tag next time, I get a support education one. It does help the our foundation out. >> Okay. Very good. Very good. All right. Well, uh, thank you for that report, Mr. Spoloski. And, uh, colleagues, we'll go back to the agenda now. And we're on committee and staff reports, and we're on 6.1 in travel paid for September 2025 by Miss Perry, chief financial officer.

0256.2 out ofount travel paid for September 2025, presented by Miss Barry. 6.3 Quarterly report, service agreements under the $10,000 threshold for internal and budgetary funds presented by Mr. Windham and then 6.4 Okaloosa Academy basic financial statements and supplementary information for the year ended June 30, 2025 presented by Miss Perry. All right, that takes us to consent agenda 7.1 is approval. 7.2 is approval of the minutes of the student disciplinary hearing of October 13, 2025. Minutes of the workshop meeting October 13, 2025. minutes of the regular meeting October 13, 2025 and all recommended by the superintendent. 7.3 Appropriation of District 2 school board member capital outlay funds to Chakta High School for risers in the amount of $3,000 presented by Mr. Parker Dest and recommended by the superintendent. 7.4 4 appropriation of district 2 school board

026member capital outlay funds to Richberg school for windows in the amount of $11,644.90 presented by Mr. Parker Dest and recommended by the superintendent. 7.5 Appropriation of District 4 school board member capital outlay funds to Richber School for windows in the amount of $11,644.90 presented by Mr. Tim Bryant and recommended by the superintendent. >> Dr. Dr. White, if I can comment on setter 4 and 75. Uh, first of all, thank you, Mr. Dest, for uh, helping with this. For those that have uh, might be familiar with Bridgeburg School, it's one of our oldest schools. And, uh, I'm so happy that we're going to be able to replace all those windows and get it so you can actually see through. You know, they're real nice and all. So, uh, but this is a project that's been kind

027of in the works for a couple years, and I'm glad to see that we can help make this happen. So, Very good. Thank you, sir. All right. 7.6. Request to advertise the public hearing for new schoolboard policy 02-22 risk management claim settlement presented by Mr. McKenna to turn to the board and recommended by the superintendent. >> Mr. Chairman, you have a slight revision to the policy. It's on the desk this morning. So, that's the one that we'd be requesting to advertise. >> All right, colleagues, you have that red line there in front of you. Thank you, Mr. McKinnus. Then 7.7 requests to advertise a public hearing for revision of schoolboard policy 06-33 administrative leave suspension and dismissal of employees presented by Dr. Lee Hail, assistant superintendent and recommended by the superintendent. 7.8 request to advertise

028a public hearing for revision of schoolboard policy 08-09 duties ethics professional conduct presented by Dr. Hail, assistant superintendent and recommended by the superintendent for approval. 7.9 requests to advertise the public hearing for revision of schoolboard policies in chapter 5, student education records presented by Mr. Spolski, assistant superintendent and recommended by the superintendent. >> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes, sir. >> I have a few words on 7.9. >> Okay. So, as I was reading it, I got down to page six and it's um in section D. It says category A information consist of and then two in there it says authenticated birth date, place of birth, race, ethnicity, and sex or they're adding ethnicity. So, I wondered about that and so I'm gonna get on my soap box here a little bit. So, um, I have an

029issue with that. It's a principal issue. And, um, so I started I talked to our our lawyer and first off, it wasn't in there before. We're adding it to the policy. I want to know why. And two, um I was informed basically it's because it's requirement of the Florida DOE and um it's required to include race and ethnicity information as mandated by the Florida DOE and state law and um so then I I started looking a little bit more. So what what is ethnicity? I mean examples of the ethnicity uh Hispanic, Latino, Irish, Jewish, Chinese, Japanese. Why why do we need that? And why is a requirement? I mean, it's a requirement for us to do because it's state law, but it's a principal issue. There is no need for any branch of government to

030know my ethnicity. That's my personal belief. And I mean, why do they need to know if I'm Jewish or not? You know, a government is a group of people making decisions for the masses. And I really believe that shouldn't. Now, I want to state a fact that I fully support our Florida DOE. I think they're doing a fabulous job. And I'm a huge supporter of Governor Dantis. He appointed me. And I just I don't I don't like this ethnicity thrown in there. I would like to know the reason why. And if it's of a statistical nature where they want to track it, I question that because here it says that um the um it's voluntary. Okay. It's based on selfidentification by the student or their parents as as detailed in the FDOE guidance. I don't

031find so if it's voluntary therefore the stata stat statistics are skewed so you can't even get any good information for it if you don't know who's you know providing that information or not. Um so you know I'm in a catch 22 fully support FDOE and our and our state government but it's a principal issue for me that I would not want to see on there. So I have to vote my conscience on it saying I don't think it's needed. Um, I would like to learn more about it. You know, I just learned about that this week, so I'd like to learn more about it and see their reasoning behind it. Um, so, uh, I just wanted to bring that up. If it came down to a vote for me, I would not support it personally

032based on principle. I don't want to get in a fight with DOE or the state because I, you know, I'm huge supporter and I think our district is great and our school throughout the state. I mean, we're examples for the whole nation. Uh but I see no reason for anyone to know if I'm Irish or Jewish. I don't see any feasible reason. Now I'm an open book. I can be change my mind can be changed on it. But uh I wanted to express that to my colleagues that u I I have a principal issue on that. >> So is that required on this form for them to answer that or is it optional? >> From my understanding it's optional. Does it say does it say that >> the inclusion in the policy is required because

033we have to follow the state law and Mr. Hley and I have discussed that and and he he he's not he's following that part of it. >> Um but it it's my understanding there is a reference to voluntary. Uh I haven't looked exactly to see how the forms are filled out but in in regard to the language in the policy it is consistent with the state statute which our policies have to follow. But they can refuse to answer that the right. Yeah. Okay. So, do we know who to who would we would could contact to find out what the like you said is it is it statistical? Why is it on there? Is there a way we can find that out? >> I think that that'd be a request to the DOE because it's part

034of their rule. >> Okay. >> And we can we can have staff look into it. um not say that this is the answer, but more times than not, what comes from the DOE is an enaction of state law. Um but we we'll look into that. >> And it may be coming down from the feds even. I don't know. I don't know. I just it just popped out at me. We're adding it. But why? >> All right. All right. We'll find out about that more specifically. >> Okay. So, does that mean we're going to pull this off >> or >> Well, I I can confirm for you it it's part of the state board rule in the statute. So, I I I couldn't recommend pulling it off because we're just trying to update the policy consistent

035with the law. >> Okay. >> And as as you know, colleagues, this is a request to advertise a public hearing, >> right? >> Okay. And uh so that's that's why it's on consent. Okay. Anything else? Okay. 7.10 request to advertise adoption of a new job description for director 1 human resources presented by Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. 7.11 request to advertise a public hearing for the adoption of a new job description for associate director curriculum presented by Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. 7.12 budget amendment number one fiscal year 2526 presented by Miss Perry chief financial officer and recommended by the superintendent 7.13 monthly financial statement for September 2025 presented by Miss Perry and recommended by the superintendent 7.14 Invoices to be approved for payment presented by Miss Perry and recommended by

036the superintendent 7.15 school donation ations presented by Miss Perry and recommended by the superintendent. >> Mr. Chairman, yes, sir. >> I'd like to point out as usual, but right now we are over a quarter a million dollars raised. Uh we're at $255,3916. Shout out to last month to Legacy Vacations who uh did $4,000 for the superintendent's Thanksgiving meal initiative. So, our community does awesome work. >> Yep. Yep. All right. Thank you, sir. All right. 7.16. Payroll warrant register and accounts payable warrant register totaling 63,115,534.98. Self-alth insurance claims and fees totaling 3,471,98159. and bank transfers totaling $30, million50,000 for September 2025 presented by Miss Perry and recommended by the superintendent. 7.17 approval of stream order form to offer optional financial app for employees presented by Miss Perry, chief financial officer and recommended by the superintendent. >>

037I'd like to speak to that. >> Okay. >> I am so happy to see this opportunity for our employees. Um in for a long time um employees have some employees have requested different pay schedules um which of course puts a an extra work on our our other employees that do the payroll. But this way to me everybody gets what they need without putting a burden on our financial folks here at the in the district. So, I'm excited to see this uh opportunity and of course thanks to technology we'll be able to to do this. So, I'm hoping that a lot of the employees will take advantage of it. >> And Dr. White, I'm so glad uh that you mentioned that, Mr. Vanek, as this board knows, this has been a discussion for years, >> I

038think, from the union as well. and uh to have the opportunity to allow employees to in essence create their pay structure throughout the month. I think that that's a positive thing. There's so many um other details within this that's going to be a benefit for employees. I want to thank Dr. Hail who has done a great job and Miss Perry who's done a great job in researching all the different options for allowing this type of structure to be in place. It took a lot of time and effort, but uh that's just great work in doing this for our employees and just again also to the union helping uh with this as well. >> Very good. >> Okay. All right. 7.18 resolution 25-11 authorizing the approval of a first amendment to lease schedules for certificates of

039participation the school board of Okaloosa County master lease program adding certain improvements to athletic fields that may be financed with the proceeds presented by Miss Perry and recommended by the superintendent. >> Okay. >> Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Sure. >> All right. I just want to state for the just for the record to be transparent that uh for the public that who sees this um in and over time I've been this district a long time there has been criticism that we sometimes favor athletic um programs and stuff but my initial reaction to this request was I was hesitant uh because of several reasons. that what I did was I spoke first of all with Mr. Martell, the principal of the high school that uh I in my area and with his athletic director, uh

040the coach, uh several people along with some others. I believe I spoke with uh folks at Chalkaw, Miss Heinall about putting this artificial turf in. Um, I was concerned about safety, which I've been given some information that uh disputes my concerns, so that's good. Um, I was concerned about uh at a time when uh some parts of our, you know, finances are are tied. I wanted the public to understand how we could make this kind of uh big uh investment. But now that I I'm looking at it, first of all, you've heard the term a perfect storm. Well, this is actually a perfect opportunity. A lot of things came together to make this a perfect opportunity. Uh in that we were able to have that savings from our coop. Uh and we one thing that's

041great is that we did not have to decide do we start with Baker, do we start with Chalkaw, who do we have to pick and choose to get these fields done. uh we can get all four of the high school fields that are now uh regular uh turf to this. I think that's great. And I also want to remind our communities that in Okaloosa County, this is not strictly um a sports arena. Our stadiums are used for a lot of different purposes, including graduation. Uh certainly more sports than football. Uh we even have community events in our stadiums. So by putting this turf there, we're while it's a big initial expense, we're going to be saving a lot of money in the long run. Uh and and also easier to maintain those fields for the

042safety of our students playing on them and for our other students and community to be able to utilize them. So, I want people to understand when they see this, uh, there's been a lot of thought and planning going into, uh, making this decision to spend this amount of money on, uh, these stadiums. So, uh, like I said, I was hesitant, but it now has my full support, uh, after doing my homework and speaking with others because I think it's going to be great for our students and our school district in the long run. >> Yes, ma'am. Anything else, colleagues? All right. Okay. That was 7.18. 7.19. Tag on bid purchase over 50,000 to Polar King International. Presented by Mr. Windham and recommended by the superintendent. 7.205 2026 uniform statewide assessment calendar presented by Miss Lightborn,

043assistant superintendent, and recommended by the superintendent. 7.21 Quarterly School Safety Compliance Report first quarter 2526 school year in accordance with rule 6A-1000184F presented by Mr. Danny Dean director of safe schools and recommended by the superintendent >> and Dr. White. I just want to thank uh Mr. Dean and his staff as well as the principles at the school, administrators, teachers, as you know, with new law as it pertains to uh the safety of our schools, which is paramount, but there's a lot um of expectations. There's a lot that also has to be done. So, just very much appreciate the work at the school level and Mr. Dean and his department who uh who are leaders throughout the state. I just appreciate that work. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dean. All right. 7.22. 22

044renewal of agreement with TSA Consulting Group for administrative service of OCSD 403b 4557B plans presented by Miss Ko risk management director and recommended by the superintendent. >> Mr. Chairman, I have a >> Yep. Just so if you looked at that in detail, you know, that's already happened. It was July 1st. Um it just should have been brought to the board earlier uh so we can vote on it, you know, prior to it being initiated. No fault to our district at all. It's the outside group that was dragging their heels. I'd just like to send a letter saying, "Hey, next time get it to us earlier." I know Miss Ko was bugging them and bugging them and bugging them and finally, you know, brought them down to the table. So, they just need to be aware

045to get it to us prior, so there'll be no hiccups. >> All right. Yes, sir. Thank you. All right. 7.23. Self-help project. Purchase and install a new play structure. PL Elementary School presented by Dr. Bill Smith, program director of facilities and recommended by the superintendent. 7.24 Computer Science Teacher Bonus Grant application for fiscal year 2526 presented by Miss Beasley, program director, career and technical education and recommended by the superintendent. And then 7.25, payment of a onetime bonus to district employees, presented by Miss Perry and recommended by the superintendent. and Dr. White and school board. Um, so could not be more proud to bring this forward. And I've spoken with several of you as well. Um, and I also want to say thank you to the BOG who works through this and looks at the money

046in terms of our health insurance plan. But I do want to say to our teachers, to our support professionals, to our administrators and district staff, and I say all the time, public education has changed. that not that's not necessarily a negative, but there's a lot that is on the shoulders of educators today. You look at what's expected in terms of mental health, what's in what's expected in terms of safety, what's expected in terms of higher expectations that continue to raise every year. And when many of us went into school to be an educator, there was a certain thought that was in your head. And that paradigm has changed. I still say it's the absolute best profession that could be out there. But the work that's on our educators is immense. And this is a small

047token of our appreciation for the work that they do each and every day. And to be able to receive this bonus uh right before the Thanksgiving uh holiday, I think will be a nice uh infusion. I say all the time, you know, I wish it could be even more, but just uh very appreciative of Dr. Hail and his group. the bog as a whole to be able to help make this occur. So, just very appreciative. >> Yes, sir. >> And I'd like to add to that if you don't mind. Um I uh as a superintendent knows and and Miss Perry, I've kind of been bugging them about this because it it's tough times financially uh and in our not only for our employees but in our nation even. So, uh, to be able to do

048just this small amount, uh, I'm just so grateful again to the bog and to everyone who worked on it to find a way to get this to the employees. And of course, the timing is is particularly good going right there before the holidays. And I hope the employees will uh take this um to know that this district and this board does care about them and that we're doing everything we can to support them. Um obviously we can't give money we don't have but in this small way I want them to know that we do think about what they're up against every day and appreciate what they're doing for our students. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> And Dr. Watt, if you don't mind, because one thing that we continue to advocate for, and we'll continue

049to do so, and I'll just uh a reminder, these aren't exact numbers. When you look at the base student allocation, which was $167 the previous year, now it's around $47. When you look at program cost factors, that was a certain level, and now that has come down. And so, there's challenges that are out there within the budget, but all districts face these same challenges. So to be able to uh to provide this bonus uh with in this way at this time is just something again that that I appreciate. >> Yes, sir. All right, colleagues, if there's nothing further, we'll go ahead and move through the agenda. All right, that takes us to section 8, superintendent human resources recommendation. 8.1 and 8.2 are information only. 8.1 employees on admin leave 8.2 2 deferred retirement option program.

0508.3 action item out of field report for 2526 school year presented by Miss Duron and recommended by the superintendent. 8.4 employment separations presented by Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. 8.5 Personnel Recommendations presented by Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. 8.6 employee transfers presented by Dr. Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. 8.7 reinstatement reimbursement of sick leave due to line of duty illness injury medical examination presented by Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. And then 8.8 leave without pay presented by Dr. Hail and recommended by the superintendent. There are no items on the discussion agenda. That takes us to section 10 construction program owners representatives business. 10.1 is the status report. Mr. Hindley. Is there anything for today? >> Uh, nothing today. We'll have that report at the next board meeting,

051first one in November. >> All right. Thank you. All right. A couple of action items. 10.2 tag on bid purchase over 50,000 to Astro Turf Corporation, Chakahanche High School, Niceville High School, Crestview High School, and Baker School. Presented by Dr. Bill Smith, program director, facilities and planning, and recommended by the superintendent for approval. >> And Dr. White. Yes, sir. >> Uh, we are going to have M. Mr. Meyer come up. And while he's coming up, I just want to say this. Um, I do appreciate uh your words, Mr. Vanchek. I do appreciate the conversations that I've had individually with board members as well. I do want to say when we look at capital projects across this school district, it's about looking at the totality of this school district in a comprehensive fashion. One of the

052things that I'm proud of is the work that uh Mr. Meer's done with the with the master facilities plan, for example, and this project is in there. But you look at what we're trying to do with new schools, classroom additions, looking at what we're doing in terms of the uh parking, looking at what we're doing with bathrooms, looking at we're doing looking what we're doing with technology. There's so much that is happening across the school district, the multi-purpose buildings, but then you go over to the arts and you look at what we've done with the auditoriums, what we're looking at doing at Nashville and what we're looking at doing at Crestview. You look at what we've already done on the athletic side as well. So, this is a multi-tiered approach to the facilities in this

053school district and just want to put that piece out there. >> Thank you. Um, Mr. Mr. Chambers, board members, uh Dr. White, you're right. We have a lot going on and uh athletics is just as important as the uh the arts and the extracurricular and the in the school building. Um and we try to make it as equitable as possible with the amount of things that we need to uh have done throughout the U district. I do want to briefly uh go through some slides and uh thank you Miss Vanchek for covering everything that I was about to talk about but uh it was it was spot on. So um you're right uh uh there's there's a lot of questions about artificial turf. Some people call it synthetic turf, astroturf. Um there's been a lot

054of names over the years in the 60s and 70s in the Astro Dome. That's where this all started. And it was basically outdoor carpet on cement. It has changed quite a bit over the years. Um, and we have, you know, for Walton Beach High School is is our only field currently. Um, but in the panhandle, um, the they're they're going in each year. Uh, matter of fact, the the company that we're working with now in the time frame that we're trying to do these fields are also doing 23 other fields uh, throughout Florida. So they they are popping up and there's good reasons for that and I'm going to go through a few. One, it just inspires play and it cultivate uh pride throughout their school. If you've seen any any of the high school

055games on ESPN, you know, they they highlight some some of the bigger programs throughout the nation, you see those facilities and and most of the time they are synthetic turf. Um so it does it it brings a sense of pride uh to that school. And then to your point, Mr. Vancheek, there's a lot of community events, especially in the our community that use the high school stadium fields and and we try to accommodate that when we can. As a former principal at a middle school, I know I was asked all the time, can we use your field for this? Can we use your field for that? And um when you're when you're trying to um have fields stay in in maintain them in dormant season and it's being used constantly for different events and other

056sports, it's hard for a for a field to to to grow uh and to come back from the damage that is caused by the the by the use. So, um, and that's the biggest thing. The usage of our fields over the last 10 or so years has greatly increased. You look at the additional sports at the high school level. You you didn't see lacrosse, girls flag football years ago. Not to mention ninth grade teams, JV teams, varsity teams, the middle schools use it. Um, and it just does not have the time to recoup. It's a year round availability that doesn't have to rest. Um you you can use it for extended period of times, multiple sports. If we have seasons, for example, we have some football teams uh currently probably going to go deep into

057the playoffs. There could be other sports going on on at the same time. Well, you you can use it with the lights on 247. Um and it's a consistent surface. there's no ruts, there's no uh uneven grass or holes that we're trying to maintain. Uh and the safety of that is important. There is a savings over time. Um you know, we have to have the personnel, the equipment to maintain it and to mow it and to line it. Uh a lot of the the the high schools are are now trying to resod portions of their fields every year so it looks good in for graduation. Uh there's a cost to that. will save on water. Um, and there is a durable lifespan u with these safety. That's that's a big um question when you start

058talking about synthetic turf. Uh, but the consistency of the field and the shock absorption that has improved over the years um is is another reason why um districts and schools are are looking at um going this this way. Um, and then you don't have to worry about the drainage. We have some fields if it rains hard for two or three days in a row, you cannot use the field. Uh, it just will not drain. And the way these are designed and built now, the drainage is not a problem. Um, the multi-purpose use of these fields. So, we're we're not just talking about sports. We're talking about marching band who we all know uh they're out there every night, hours on a time and and they're they're they're using those fields. The lines are there. They

059can use them as much as they want. ROC, um lacrosse, soccer, um they can be designed with multiple lines on there, uh used for multiple sports. The community outside groups that they they come in and want to use the field, there's no damage. Um and then it's always ready for our big events such as graduation. So why do we want to invest in that? It supports equity. Uh athletes um they get a high quality reliable field field boost school pride and it's going to be ready for our future. So those are just some of the highlights uh that we're looking at. I I I I appreciate the high school principles being here. uh they were a big part of pushing this um and and that some of them have been working for several years uh

060on ways to do this and we put our heads together and we felt like this was the right time. Um if you don't mind, Mr. Mel would like to come up here and just say a few words and um his experience with with his field and the usage. Um I think he's a good sp spokesman for all the principles. Mr. Mel. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. on the principal group there. We just want to thank the >> thank uh Mr. Meyer, superintendent, Mr. Spolski, Mr. Smith for recognizing this. And there's a lot of big reasons why this is important, but I think paramount to that is student athlete safety when he talked about the uh the bare spots and the uneven surfaces. That's real. We uh just I'll go a little bit specific to Niceville

061alone with Ruckle using our field for football with freshman JV varsity. Girls soccer utilizes it quite a bit. Girls flag football, boys and girls lacrosse. We did some drone footage a couple years ago in about April when that finally ended up. We sent it to Mr. Meyer to show him just how little surface is actually left on the playing field. So, we're that group always begging for money to resod the field just to make it look presentable for graduation. But, you know, this is Florida, so that base layer underneath that sod, it's sand. Sand is not a consistent surface. Sand is dangerous for kids to be running out there. Uh, in the last two years, two separate occasions, I was the admin on duty for a lacrosse game. And on two separate occasions, the officials

062came over and say, "We can't start this game. There's hole here, hole here, hole here." And we've already been out there trying to fill all the holes. So, we keep the John Deere Gator with fill dirt and a shovel, and you go out there and you fill it up. So, you've filled in a hole. So, I guess it's safer, but is it really safe to play with sand in a hole when you've got kids running around there playing? So, the safety part of that is paramount. And then, um, again, specifically to Niceville, this incident happened. We talked about the drainage. So, Niceville actually has a creek bed underneath the surface of the north end of the field. When it rains at all, it is going to be a mess out there. So, um, start of

063last season, we knew we have a really good team, gonna make a big playoff run. Fever pitch, everyone's pumped. It's the home opener for Niceville High School. And on Thursday, uh, we get a pretty good thunderstorm in the afternoon and there's a middle school game that night. And so we knew what the field looks like after anyone goes out there when it's in that wet conditions. So, uh, we canled the middle school game. Sun came out, every other middle school played. We had canceled Ruck and Destin. Mrs. Lightborn called me. Get There we go. Uh, obviously we had a lot of folks upset. Sunshine and everybody else is playing. Why is Ruckle Destin not playing football tonight? And um Sborn spoke to me in that way. And I said, "Miss Liporn, it's it's Eagle Stadium

064and we don't want our home opener because you have no idea how bad this field is when someone comes out here and plays in these conditions." Um but I understood her perspective as well. So note taken. Next time they can possibly get out there and play, we'll let them play. It's going to be really bad for the high school team the next night, but that's what we'll do. So coincidentally, two weeks later, same scenario. Thursday night middle school game. Rains like heck right after lunch, but we were away Friday night. So, let them play, of course. So, middle school play. So, the next morning, I hope you remember this from Sideborn. Next morning, I go out there and I take a picture of what the field looks like at Niceville High School the morning after

065a game when you just had a halfhour thunderstorm the day before. It's four to six inch ruts everywhere. It's divots. It's mud. It's muck. and I take a picture and I send it to Miss Lightorn who calls me immediately and she says, "That's a mess. Can you guys raise some money and turf the field?" Am I right, Miss Lightboard? So, the assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum even recognized maybe you guys should put some turf down on those fields out there. So, that being said, again, just thank you for recognizing the need for student athlete safety to get a more consistent service force. Thank you. >> Thank you. and and superintendent certainly I support this uh in in a previous uh time I was responsible for trying to maintain an athletic football field and soccer

066field and and uh I know the difficulties of that. I often stood on that field uh with the golf course manager trying to figure out how to get rid of mole crickets that were decimating the field and some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. So, I support this and I and I guess the the the one thing that comes to my mind having had that experience is that that uh one of the unique things that of Okaloosa County is that we have a a full slate of athletics in middle school and uh we have some middle school uh fields. And so I was just curious, sir, if there were any thoughts or any plans to uh maybe see about providing the same level of safety to those middle school athletes that we will

067to the high school athletes. So I I just want to say this in a comprehensive manner and I'm I'm glad that you asked that question and I'll go back to the the master facilities plan and we will continue to not only look at that look at athletics and I'm going to get to the question in a second but we're going to continue to look at classroom additions as we go forward. We're going to continue to look at roofs. We're going to continue to look at air conditioning systems. All these things being important, you look at what's happening with Crestview High School with the parking. You look at what we're doing with the cafeterias that are being rebuilt and then the cafeterias that were vacated and now we're turning the majority of those into classroom space

068to add capacity. All part of a plan. You look at what we're doing with the arts, again, the auditoriums, all part of a plan. And then you look at the turf field that's not only for football as you've heard, it's for all the other types of activities as well, part of a plan. So then you look at the arts, for example, and you look at athletics. This is the start of again a comprehensive plan to go forward to help upgrade these facilities. And so to answer the question, as we go into the future, uh there will be discussions about other types of fields that we'll look at. There will be discussions of other athletic facilities that we'll continue to look at as well as part of a plan. But I'll caveat all of that budget

069pending and that's where Mr. Meyer does a good job looking at the five-year plan. And there's the money that we have and that's the money that we're going to make sure that we're responsible with. But the answer is yes. We'll continue to look at athletic facilities, the arts facilities, and then again the infrastructure of our schools in this district. >> Excellent. And colleagues, you may know that uh in Shalomar uh there's a community uh ball field. I think actually uh the county has something to do with it and they're putting on artificial turf on all of those fields. And this is a a shalomar facility. So I think this is sort of the the wave of the future for all kinds of good and valid reasons uh that I've heard here today. >> Sure, Mr.

070Brian. So uh I I too, Mr. Vanek was a little hesitant on this particular item, but after doing the due diligent research and talking to the stakeholders involved, uh obviously the cost savings is going to be significant because we already have issues trying to hire people to do these jobs. >> Uh so in the long run, it's going to be great. >> Uh but there is a long run and I've been on this board, Mr. or Dr. White was on this board when we had to make a decision about resurfacing a school that already had this. And so my concern, and I know y'all have a plan in place because you were just talking about it, but in 10 to 12 years, none of us are going to be sitting on this board, and I

071don't want to put us in a position to where these have to be replaced, and there's no money there. And that was a concern I had, and I would ask that we address how we're going to be able to take care of these in the future. So future boards, future superintendent uh are not burdened with trying to come up with money. So if you don't mind, I know we uh if we could be explained to the people to people how we're going to fund this moving forward. >> And I'll say it simplistically, which is not simplistic, is uh to avoid what happened in the past. Um many of you weren't even on this board at the time. Uh Miss Perry will be setting aside dollars for each of the uh turf fields that she will

072have in an account that will continue to put money in each year. So when the time comes for what needs to happen with the resurfing or if it needs to be completely redone, those dollars will be there. >> And then also to follow up on Dr. White's uh concerns with the middle schools. So I know Megs and Shaw River Dest >> and Dest have football fields. I know the others share with the schools that have or are going to get turf. Uh I will just follow up with Mr. Mel there. I had the opportunity to go to Shaw River's first game of the year. they were playing uh prior I believe it was and I was really shocked to see the condition of the field because it was in really bad shape and it was

073so bad that this year uh our youth leagues could not use Shaw Rivers Field which they had in the past because it was so bad and uh you know now the youth leagues are having to go to Fort Walton to play their games and with the addition of this turf like was explained the community will have will benefit the community. So those little kids don't have to go all over the county to play a game. They can actually play a game at Crest View High or Pine View because Pine View will actually have the the artificial turf, too. So, and also on there, if if you notice there was some uh it just wasn't the athletic fields, it was the tracks, too. So, uh there I know money pending they're going to upgrade the tracks

074there a little bit. Now, unfortunately, it won't be to state standards where we can hold track meets at all the high schools. Uh, but Pine View will be up to date where we can actually do track meets up there and not all everybody has to go to Fort Walton to do a track meet. Now, of course, we'll share everybody will share the love, but like I was saying, you know, it would be nice that South End people will be able to come up and do a track meet in in Crest View in the future. So, uh, I was also excited to see that the tracks are going to get some love on there, too. So, All right. Very good. Anything else? >> I I have a question. Uh Grant, how do we make sure that

075we don't have migration of any of the fill underneath these new turf these or maybe it's a bill question, but I go to for Walton and if you go around the edges of the field, you can see the migration of the black pellets that come out. Do we have a plan to make sure that that doesn't happen? because I know as it migrates out it sort of necessitates almost a self-fulfilling need for ongoing maintenance. >> Um you're always going to get a little bit of that. Okay. And and there they'll we will get equipment with with the fields that we will use to rake and which will rake that stuff back in place >> because you're playing in the middle of the field. A lot of time has tended to push it to the outside.

076So there's a standard care that you have to do each year or each period of time to keep that migration back in the place where you're actually playing. But there's a huge effort. Uh the water is the problem and they're going to they will excavate probably 6 to 8 in of the existing dirt. They'll come in there with a a complete uh irrigation uh drainage system that'll go underneath it, put a a 57 stone on top of that, 89 stone top of that. So the water will just literally soak right through into the draining system and go out. The the problem with the what you're talking about is the the pellets floating. >> Okay. >> They want to float off. So the better you can get that water off and the systems have gotten a

077lot better since that field was put down. >> Is the drainage system and all of the the I guess the geotech that goes into uh putting that system in. Is that an explanation? This is second question for the variation in the engineering costs because at Chalkaw's at 133, Niceville's at only 6,600 and then Cresview and Baker the engineering services are estimated at 1516. So niceville which does have you know like Mr. Mela said some drainage issues. What's the variation? Because the others are well north of 10 grand, 15 grand, but Niceville is only at 66. >> The big difference is the three fields that are higher priced. We're gonna have to build ponds to hold the water. >> Okay. >> It the at the with the city of Nashville across the street from Niceville High

078School, Triumph and the city of Nashville built an enormous retention pond and the city has agreed to let us send our water over across the street to that pond which eliminates all that expense for having that we're doing at the other scoop which is the difference in the price. >> I appreciate >> we have no storm water problem at Niceville. Well, we do because we have no place to put a pond on that campus, right? >> So, we're taking it across the street to the to the city facility. >> I I appreciate that explanation. Thank you. Uh chairman, the only thing I've got is just a a minor um aside just to my fellow board members. Um Fort Walton Beach of course is not getting turf. This is a lot of money that's being spent

079everywhere else. I'm in full support of getting you guys turf. I just want to make a remark on the record that the reality that the way I see it is uh Fort Walton did a good job of being first out of the gate. We had some some folks spend some real serious dough from the private sector to get us the turf. and what I'd like to see going forward. And and I'll give you my reasoning why I think you should support it in the long term of of why you should help um or at least prioritize spending money uh on athletic facilities at Fort Walton Beach High School is last meeting we spent 30 minutes talking about declining enrollment. How we're in the competition with Liza Jackson for for FTEES. Uh we're we're in competition

080with Destin High School and in particular um Destin High School students could be coming to Dest and a lot or excuse me a lot of Destin High School students could be coming to Fort Walton. We get a percentage of them because I know how these parent I mean they're my colleagues. They're my friends. I grew up there. They're making decisions on why do I send my child to Destin High School or do I send them to Fort Walton Beach High School? And a lot of it's coming down to the presence of a full high school experience that Destin High School cannot provide because they don't have the facilities. On a long enough timeline that will change. Um right now a lot of parents are making the choice to send their kid over the bridges and

081brave through the traffic because we have better facilities. They're newer and in addition to of course stellar academics, a lot of them are making that choice based on our athletic facilities and we need some help with Fieldhouse. We need some some help with uh the baseball stadium as we move forward. And I would just simply ask for you guys to keep that in the forefront of your mind um as we as we go because we're in a competition with uh the only high school that we've got that's a charter um in Destin and Fort Walton Beach is at the forefront of that competition and it we need the help to make sure that we stay competitive over the next several years. So I'll leave it at that. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. D. >> I

082do have a question about the field at Fort Walton. It's how old now? >> Over a decade? 50 years. >> So let's let's let's so let's back up for a second. So just because the question's posed. >> Come on up, Mr. Meyer. So the field >> in terms of the new turf that was put down was put down when? Um 2017. Okay. >> Right. >> Which I think the district paid for, right? >> They did. >> Which the district paid for, right? >> Yes, sir. The district paid for that. Do you know how much that cost? >> 425,000. >> Which is to Mr. Bryant's point something we got to make sure we don't set ourselves up for. Right. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> But I thought you were saying when that stadium was built that

083was private money, >> right? >> It's a mix. Not Not entirely. >> Okay. So the field the district paid for at the tuna 400. Is that what you're saying? No. >> When it was first installed, it was I think when when did it first go in? >> So 10 10 years before around 2007. and then I could be off by a year or two. >> Okay. >> And so I just want to say so obviously there was the enormous generosity of an amazing supporter to Fort Walton Beach High School and to this district which made turf possible at Fort Walton Beach High School. Then fast forward a decade and I think there were certain expectations maybe of money that was going to be set aside. M >> this board uh did a great job and

084by this board not everyone was on the board but this board uh >> helped make sure that there was a new turf because that other turf had run its course. So that was back in the 2017 time frame where that decision was made. And so now, of course, here we are today in 2025, uh, in some people's minds, probably behind the timeline of what we would like to do for fields in terms of turf, but I'll say, you know, there's a price of progress and we're in that right now. And so, we're getting there. But uh to your point, I absolutely understand uh I know there's a number of things that we've done at Fort Walton Beach High School athletically and the like, but absolutely understand continuing upgrades across the board, but in this case

085specifically athletics at Fort Walton, but also our other high schools as well. >> Okay. So back to what I was getting at is that the current fields there now said seven was in 17 so about 8 years in the life expectancy of these fields is what? >> 10 to 12. >> Okay. So what I'm getting at we're putting these fields in now but we already have a school that has a field that's aging. So where does that fit in the picture right now? because now in a couple years we're going to be looking at having to upgrade that field and I imagine like you you were saying and others said um the fields we're putting in now have upgraded from that kind of field right >> yes >> so that's that's what I'm trying to

086get at >> no and the same holds true the same plan for these fields going forward where we are setting money aside the same thing will be for for Walton. When that time comes, when there's a new field, there will be a budgeted um item to make sure that we take care of Fort Walton as well. >> So, that's being that's being set aside now to to take care of that field. >> It'll be part of the long-term plan. Gotcha. >> Because we're still what four to five years out from that. Yes. >> All right. >> And for Walton H was putting aside their money. They're going to uh get that money back and the district will take over funding that replacement. >> I got you. Okay. Thank you. >> Just want to make sure

087everyone understands that. >> So, this is a as it pertains to fields. >> Yeah. Now, it becomes a district responsibility, and I mean that in a good way, a district responsibility for the installation and the upkeep of these fields and making sure that we're budgeting accordingly. >> Mr. Chairman, >> I'd just like to point out to the public basically um that uh why we're here right now. So, this was not originally part of the budget. Um this is not sales tax money. This is only because of the savings that have been generated from a local contractor in a competitive bid situation after we got our bids and validated everything come way under and this is was available for us to do this. So no sales tax money all pure savings have it plopped in our

088our lap and and they're doing a good job with it. So, and our, you know, one of our main jobs is fidiciary, right? So, this is a beautiful thing. >> And to that point, the likelihood would would have been we would have done one high school this year. We would have done another the next year. So, this would have probably gone over about a five-year period and we were able to do it in one fell swoop. >> Yes. And we didn't have to get into picking and choosing who do we start with and and all that. That's what I was saying. >> No. Uhuh. Why not make it? going to start at the north, right? Um, and that's what I was saying my initial comments is that, you know, this is a perfect opportunity that's

089come together because of what you said. That opportunity is just good timing and that's why it's a good thing to to go with. >> Okay. Anything else, colleagues? All right. Let's move on. All right. 10.3 TPM program number six task order number 39 scope modification number three GMP Okaloosa Technical College new parking lot presented by Dr. Smith and recommended by the superintendent and then lastly 10.4 program number six task order number 38 GMP for districtwide fine and performing artsville high school band room edition presented by Dr. Smith and recommended by the superintendent. >> Go back to >> Sure. >> Three >> 10.3. >> Right. So, um, Miss Ko's here. That's going to cover the parking lot area for the new medical building, right? I think that's good. So, we're keeping that in consideration when they're

090going in there about having to build on the at that corner. >> Correct. >> That's great. Thank you. >> All right. I would like to comment on 10.4. >> All right. which goes to the point that we are investing in our arts. So I know nice this is for niceville but Crest View is they're expanding their band room some. So uh so we are making an investment in the arts as well. So >> and again glad you're saying that and I'll just say this is a good problem to have. If you go back prior to the halfset sales tax, as you'd know, you remember what the capital budgets were like. Now with the halfset sales tax and a stronger capital budget, we're able to do projects again across the board from facilities to infrastructure to

091arts to athletics across the board. And all of that allows us to offer all of these wonderful opportunities to our students. Yep, that's right. >> All right, so that brings us down to section 11. Mr. Attorney, your business, sir. >> No report. >> All right, superintendent, your business, sir. >> Yes, sir. We have a few things in a couple presentations. I do want to point to the capital master facilities plan that uh was passed out to each and we've referred to it. But also, what's in here is the five-year plan for schools as well as the 10-year plan for schools. What's in here are the halfsent sales tax projects that are completed and those that are ongoing or in progress and then also some of the capital projects as well. What's also in here are

092middle school athletics and high school athletics in terms of where we are and where we're hoping to go as well. This is a fluid document. All of this is subject to to budget to dollars that come in. Um so each year Mr. Meyer is tasked with making sure that we update this capital master facilities plan. You'll see many projects will roll forward because it's part of the plan. But if budgets adjust either way, this will also adjust. So just want to bring that to your attention. Also just want to congratulate Dr. Donna Kelly who last week was in Washington DC where she was receiving the National Distinguished Principal Award, one of 43 principles across the country. So you think about that, that's um you just look here in Okaloosa County to be one amongst our

09338 principles here is absolutely amazing with the caliber of principles we have. But then you take that across the nation and again just could not be more proud. This started in 1984 and so it's been in existence since then. So just uh just very proud of Dr. Kelly and specifically representing Northwood but also representing Okaloosa County. So I just could not be more proud. Also want to congratulate some students at Niceville High School. There's what's called an AP capstone project and there's three students which I'll mention their name in a second. But when you take certain AP courses, there's a compilation of things that happen over time and then you have to be able to produce a product at the end of its time for these AP courses. And these students uh receive the AP

094capstone award. There's Hannah Lara Shukhart, uh, Brooke Arbick, and Jessica Barry, and they all received national recognition for this AP Capstone Award. Mr. Mela's here as well, and he's uh, nodding and smiling. So, three fantastic students. Then you look at uh, we're going to we're going to go further uh, with this in December, but you look at our band programs. They recently had their uh their MPAs which is like a FSA for them and to do it this early in the year to receive these distinctions. But this is a Florida band Masters Association. It's a marching assessment and every high school in Okaloosa, Fort Walton, Chalkaw, Niceville, Crest View, Baker, all received the straight superior ratings. >> And as you can imagine, that's no easy task. And so just want to say um very much

095appreciation to our high schools who happen to be here, but also to those band directors, those assistant band directors and most importantly the students and I would be remiss if you didn't say the families because as you as you know band parents and how they volunteer their time. It's everybody working together for this. So just absolutely outstanding. We will recognize them in December with a couple other recognitions for some special uh things that have also happened with our bands. Do want to just remind the board we have two amazing projects that are coming forward. Uh we have our Thanksgiving meal drive that's going to come up and then we have the angel tree project. the Thanksgiving meal drive. We received even more uh donation of funds from businesses in this county and uh Miss Card

096came forward who leads this up for us with a big old smile and she said we have others who now want to uh participate. So this is a reminder not only will they receive meals this year, they'll also each of them receive a laptop this year as well for these families in need. So just uh exciting times. And then the Angel Tree project with the sheriff's office. If you remember last year, all the presence that this community again wraps their arms around this school district and our students and schools and provide these gifts for students who otherwise may not have had gifts during Christmas time. So, I just could not be more excited about that and just thank the sheriff's department for partnering with us. but most importantly thanking the businesses and the community and

097just the individual folks, many of which are in this school district who buy these gifts for our students. So, just so proud about that. Um, Mr. Vanchek, it's already been up there, but it's on my slide, but I'm going to turn it over to you for the uh just one more plug for the barbecue and bingo. >> Yes, it's coming up next week uh November 6. And this year we have a new venue. We're at the uh Shoe Foundation Educational Building. Is I got Did I get that correct? >> Yep. And that's um over on Ready Avenue because we have outgrown our other venues. So, we've had to move to this big venue, but it's it's exciting and tickets are now on sale and you get an great dinner along with your bingo cards and

098it's just a lot of fun uh to be there and know that we're doing some great things for students. So, if you need a ticket, Mr. Spolski and I will give it to you. What else? >> I did want to say this year we'll have a live band. >> Yes. >> Rewind 74 playing all of those classic hits. Uh, so we're looking forward uh to having them some live music to play. I hear they're pretty good. I hear they're pretty good. Uh, the lead singer, Mike McCann, right? >> How How would you define a classic hit? Well, uh, I I would say, uh, answer it. You can BBOP, too. There, Superintendent Chambers, >> and I will throw the challenge out to this board, to senior staff, to those who are out there. I think last

099year I was a B5 away from uh, bingo, and I'm planning to take you all down this year. So, just >> see, I told y'all this is competitive, and uh, it's tough, but because it's not just just your regular, they do different kinds of games in this bingo, and you got to have some skill. So, >> it's bingo. I mean it's bingo. I mean do are >> No, it's not. There is a there is a distinct skill set in bingo if you understand it. >> Exactly. And there's there's ways you got to get it. So >> I could see I could see Mr. J5 B5. >> Yeah. B15. It was just trying to get it. So hope everybody will support that if they can and get a ticket. So yep. Thank you. The last thing

100I have before we have a couple groups come up really quickly. Okay. Um I do want to just continue to talk about district district enrollment. Okay. >> And we do have the MGT group that help with the north end resoning. And we've also asked them to look at just zoning, excuse me, look at um enrollment across this school district. Okay. And one of the things that is clear is there's a tale of two parts of the county. On the north end of the county over the next 10 years, there's projected growth. Over the next 10 years, the central and south part of the county below the Shaw River, there's projected um a decline in enrollment. And so, let's talk about that for a second. And so, what are some of those factors? And these are

101not Marcus Chambers factors. These are factors based on MGT. It's factors based on research. It's factors based on what's happening in this county. And so one looking at life expecties, lower birth rates, housing costs as we know, school choice options such as family empowerment scholarships. So there's a lot of things that go into what's happening with enrollment. We've talked about the family empowerment scholarships. They definitely impact, but that's one part of the story as well. So, we will continue as a district to monitor what enrollment uh is looking like in Okaloosa County and also uh continuing to have plans and being able to make decisions accordingly. Just wanted to share that with the board. And are we having Miss Liporn come up or Mr. Spolski first? Just wanted to uh excuse me, take a couple

102of minutes and review uh the zoning work and some of the tasks that we accomplished as we went through sharing that information with our north end partners. As Mr. Chambers just mentioned, everything north of the Shaw River is uh experiencing growth. Uh the infrastructure, the strip malls, the Publix, uh the Dollar Generals, all of that is going up. the sewer taps and we uh positioned oursel when I say we, this board, our superintendent, our administration positioned oursel to have uh property to to go vertical to support the needs of our students and our families up there in that growing area. So obviously when we're building a school, our mission was to um put proposals out there, look at the data, see the areas, look at the grade bands, and how it would affect the different

103schools uh in in that area. So I want to scroll down. First of all, just so you know, this is our on our live website. This is not a PowerPoint presentation. We made this available to all of our families. We use this to schedule all of our meetings so that all of our families were invited to attend any of these meetings. We also um put frequently asked questions on here. So, we went to every elementary school, we went to every middle school um and and reached out to different uh people within the community trying to share this information because resoning is a is a large uh task and it impacts families. There's a lot of kitchen table conversations that will happen uh between now and when Pine View opens in August. So, we have the

104proposed boundaries uh out here for all of the the family members as well as a a hot email address so they could send in questions to get things answered uh directly. I do want to say thank you not only to our MGT team which we partnered with, but also our MIS team. I saw Miss Ross here in the back. She was instrumental in leading this charge um to put this proposal together for tonight's vote. Any questions for me? >> And just a recap for the board. >> You've spoken with each school in terms of faculty and staff to the schools individually with families. >> Yes, sir. who attended um in order to make sure that this was something that was was explained, something that was put out there and then people had an opportunity to

105provide input. >> Thank you, sir. >> All right, >> Sighborn. >> Welcome. Um, Miss Baron is going to do the the big part of the presentation, but I wanted to start this and I wanted everybody to understand how important technology in our classrooms is. Um, first of all, our students, if you walk around the grocery store or you go to a restaurant, you're going to see children with either a phone or an iPad in their hands. So, that's what they're used to. That's how they learn. Um, so we want to make sure that we are providing that same learning experience in our classrooms. We want to engage students through technology. We also want to make sure that the technology is up todate. So when our students test, a lot of our parents don't know this,

106but all of the assessments starting in preK from the state are all either on iPads or laptops, Chromebooks. So um it is important that our students know how to utilize that kind of technology in order to be successful on their assessments as well. So we have put together a technology plan. We want to show you where we are with technology in our classrooms and I'm extremely excited. I have two grandchildren and I know many of you do as well in the system and um very excited to see the avenue that we're continuing to to go down um with technology and as Miss Baron comes forward. So, we're looking at a balanced approach with technology in the classroom and I couldn't be more excited than the work that they're doing. But I also want to set

107the stage for you. This board has allocated dollars for much of what you're going to see. So when we started talking about those clear touches a number of years ago, it's this board who helped make this also a reality through your dollars and through votes with budgets. So just appreciate it. and Miss Barrett and this group have done a great job of not only just looking at technology but actually going places to see it in action so we can learn from mistakes and then learn from things that we can get better at in successes. So I just appreciate the work involved to get us here. >> Thank you. Another reason that we are um implementing over time technology is of course for the the biggest reason is that our students can be successful after they

108leave us and in their jobs and there aren't too many jobs left uh in the workforce that don't use technology in some way, shape or form. So, we're trying to set our students up for success. It doesn't happen overnight. And again, uh, you schoolboard members have helped enormously, especially with the clear touches. So, we do want to thank you for that. Um, the devices, am I okay? The devices that we have so far in our classrooms, we have iPads, we have Chromebooks, clear touch panels, and then we have the virtual reality goggles. And so, I'm going to go through each one of those with you. Um, so far what we're doing starting with K through two, we went onetoone with iPads a couple of years ago. This year we've expanded that to third grade as

109well. Uh, so we are one to one K through three in our district. And then we've also uh, which we'll be talking about in a minute, we've done a pilot with two schools going onetoone iPad schoolwide and that's with PL and Prior. So, what we're trying to do is eventually replace our Chromes with iPads, but for now, that's not something that happens overnight. So, we still have Chromes in our classrooms. And Chromes are great tools. They have the built-in keyboard. Um, it makes it very easy for students to type. So, we still have those. Those are existing in our seat management contract. And little by little, we're going to be moving some of those out and moving more iPads in. The other thing that we have that we've been working on is getting clear touch

110interactive boards into our classrooms. The picture you see there, you see two pictures. One is with it looks like a little kindergartener interacting with the board. The other is with some middle schoolers. The board is uh flat and they're being able to use it as an interactive table, per se. Um we have right now a total of about 760 clear touch boards in our school district. A large amount of those are due to um schoolboard members giving allocations to schools. We started that about nine years ago and um it took you know some schools a little bit longer to to jump in and some schools jumped in very quickly. Um, so over time we now have some schools that are complete, meaning there's a clear touch in every single classroom. And those schools are Northwood,

111Riverside, Shalomar as of October 25th will be um complete. Elliot Point, Longwood, Mary, Prior, Dest Middle, and Bruner. So all of those schools right now are complete and have a clear touch in every classroom. So that is so exciting. Other schools are working on it bit by bit. Um in our school district and this is including all classrooms not just core area classrooms we have about 1526 classrooms total um in our school district. So that leaves about 766. So we're almost halfway there to be full implementation in every single school as we do the new construction sites at different schools. Um, clear touch is part of the package that we put into those new classrooms. So, that's another way that we've been able to get those curriculum. last year. Um over the past year and

112a half, we have uh provided the money with school district help and technology to put clear touch panels in all third grade ELA and math classes across the district, algebra and geometry ac across the district, foundational math classes across the district, and ninth and tth grade ELA across the district. And those last year were our areas of concern. The reason that those areas were selected first and given priority is because they are the areas that we needed the most improvement according to um our state testing scores. And I'm happy to say that those areas did improve um and so now we have new priority areas. So, as we get more money and we're able to allocate to different subject areas, um again, we'll be looking at data to drive those decisions. So, this is an

113example of some of the engagement that happens. Um Hillary, is this a video? >> Okay. Okay. Well, I'll just talk through it. Um, this is a a video of engagement. You can see how the teacher here is able to walk all around the classroom and immediately see if somebody needs help. Teachers are no longer tethered to the front of the classroom as we used to call the stage on the stage where all the kids were seated in rows and the teacher was stuck to a document camera and not really able to instruct while walking around the classroom. And in that video, you can see how students have what is on the board on their iPads and then the teacher is able to walk around and immediately see if somebody is off track, if somebody is

114having a misunderstanding where the teacher can stop instruction and then immediately address that concern versus not really knowing about the students in the back of the room and and if they're comprehending what's going on or not. >> Plug it in. Plug it into >> also the we do. I do. You can see again in this top video um a teacher again walking around showing what is happening at the clear touch. He's working a problem and then the students are solving that same problem at their desks. He's able to walk around check for understanding. Um, it's hard for a student to not be engaged because the student never knows when the teacher is going to show up over their shoulder in that classroom instruction. Um, down in the right hand corner, you'll see a little kindergartener

115using the iPad. This is to show you that kindergarteners don't have any problem using the technology. In fact, um it's our teachers that we're having to train the most, not necessarily students because these kids are coming to kindergarten and already knowing how to use iPads. Um and they're having no trouble with it. That was an ELELLL student. Um as he was working that problem, he eventually came to the right answer. He was putting words together on the iPad. So that's just another way that and you can see that um from the very youngest students to our higher level students that iPads and the clear touch boards work seamlessly together and it's engaging students. Um when we walk into classrooms now we very rarely see any students who are not engaged. There's usually 100% engagement. Now

116this one does need sound Hillary. Um, this is >> education is ch >> a video regarding our prisms VR goggles. This was initially a grant that we received from Florida Power and Light. They bought several sets of um headsets for our students for math and then the district we added a science curriculum to that. So we have them in math and science uh classrooms across our district. Right now they are at Prior, Bruner, Davidson, Fort Walton Beach High School, Chalkaw, and then Richburg and CTE have purchased their own um and have those within their programs as well. We added science to the curriculum this year and um the initial cost of the headsets was that for most these schools that was provided by Florida Power and Light, but then our district provided the money for

117the curriculum and they will continue to do that. We we updated the curriculum this year for those schools. We would like to eventually be able to add to other schools um within the district, but again um you know, Rome wasn't built overnight, so it takes a little bit of time. But this this video is going to show you a little bit about how those virtual reality headsets are being used in our classrooms. >> Education has changed and if we do not change with it, we're going to get passed by. It's just high stakes all the way around and it does put a lot of pressure on kids. It puts a lot of pressure on teachers. >> We have to find a way to engage our students in the way that they >> you can maybe

118watch your >> technology later. >> Prisons is a virtual reality math and science program. They are given a problem that >> investigating. They're learning. >> Prisons came in and did in our school district um and another school district. And so a lot of the people in this video, these are our teachers and our students talking about how well they learn. Um they have different scenarios in the math and science world that allows real world problems that they're able to solve using geometry, algebra. Um we have chemistry, biology, so physical science. So there's all kinds of things that they can do. they can actually go into a lab and and virtually dissect frogs and things like that that we used to have to do in real life that now they can do virtually. Um, I've been

119in classrooms where I've seen handicapped students. That was one of my my favorite things to see was a student in a wheelchair who was using these and was able to interact and and do all the things. um just being able to work the handsets and uh it just really opened up the world around that student who was in a wheelchair. All students can use this. All students are engaged and in talking to the students, you find that they actually understand the concepts that are being taught when they're able to apply it to real world scenarios. Some of you may have been able to experiment with those a couple of weeks ago. I know we did a demonstration but it's it's just a fantastic new reality for them to understand complex um benchmarks that we have

120to learn in a real world way. the one to one apple schools. Um this was Prior and PLU this year. We are working on going onetoone. We have gone one to one in those schools. Um we're hoping second semester that the students at Prior will be able to take home their devices and employ fourth and fifth graders will be able to take home their devices. Um it started off at the beginning of the year. every student was assigned an iPad so that they take that iPad with them around to all their classes. So it becomes in essence their iPad. Um they are able to sign in with an Apple ID and then teachers are able to seamlessly use Apple Classroom and Apple Schoolwork to get assignments to them to share students screens. um when she

121a teacher's walking around, she can just project several screens up to the clear touch that shows student understanding. If she sees that maybe two students are working a problem in a different way and she wants to show both, the student can um have their work shot over to the screen and then describe how they came to that answer and then the other student with that solved it a different way can come up and explain how they got to that answer. So, it's it's been very very interactive. Um, teachers will be able to assign things that they can do at home as well once they're able to take these devices home. So, it hasn't been perfect. We've that's why it was a pilot because we wanted to find out at a middle school level and at

122an elementary level what some of the little bugs we needed to work out with Apple and um with our own technology just to make sure it's a success. And then from there, we're going to see how everything goes to determine how we move forward with other schools, if we do indeed move forward with other schools. So the other piece of this is training. So you can see how these things work seamlessly in our classrooms to increase engagement. But as far as training, that's the other piece. So you have all these teachers and maybe some of them have been teaching for many, many years and haven't really used technology in their classroom and they're a little bit intimidated about it. So in bringing technology to the classroom, a huge piece of that is training the teachers

123on how to use that. So just last school year, just to show you, we had 87 school sponsored trainings, 30 content area professional learnings, 51 trainings that were sponsored by curriculum and title one from June 24 to July 25, 391 individual teacher consultations. That's where um Tasha Bates, Meredith Nes, Liz Bears, people in our technology department go out and work one-on-one with teachers to train them on how to use their clear touches or uh their iPads. More than 400 teachers were trained in afterchool Saturday and summer professional learnings. These were all voluntary training. So teachers are so excited about the technology that they're willing to go after school on Saturdays and during the summer to be able to use them to engage students. So far this year, just in the first nine weeks of school,

124just in the first quarter, uh there were 43 school sponsored trainings. These happened at faculty meetings, uh, professional learning communities, department meetings, grade level meetings, six trainings that were sponsored by curriculum, and 55 individual teacher consultations. So that's happened just in the first nine weeks of school. Just ending with a quote, we need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher's hand because it's the pen and paper of our time and it's the lens through which we experience much of our world. So just um we're with your help and with the help of um our community taxpayers, our district, we have been able to really make gains in the technology world and I feel like it's increasing the engagement 10fold for our students and I feel like it's going to make them um

125much more successful in college and tech schools, vocational schools, just whatever career they decide to go in military um they have to have the background in technology so we're helping to get them there. >> I don't know if you had any questions. >> Thank you. I just I do have one comment. So, Miss Baron, I know over the years uh when you were at Prior, uh I think you were the one that led the charge on asking school board members for money for clear touches, but I also know you work behind the scenes and get grants too to help get uh prior to I think it was the first school that actually had clear touches in >> in the schools. But uh because of your leadership and your foresight uh it's exciting to hear your

126presentation because now that goes to all the schools and uh your team that uh also is behind the scenes too. So thank you very much for all that you do. >> We're getting there and thank you for all that you guys have done to help get us there. >> It's exciting. Good report. >> It is. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. That is it. Appreciate it. >> Okay. All right, sir. >> All right, colleagues. So that'll bring us down to board members business and 13.1 will be a travel request. It's an action item. Uh 13.2 will be requests for information. And then 13.3 is designation of a school board member to serve as the board's representative to the teacher of the year selection committee. Okay. All right. So uh Mr. Heinley, I know that

127that you've spoken about that one before. Is there anything else? uh >> on 134.3. >> Yes, sir. >> Yes, that uh I'd be willing to do it. I signed up for it, but I have scheduling conflicts. One of them we're going to uh I'll be down at a schoolboard conference in in Tampa. So, uh >> I just can't can't make it. So, if I have another board member, okay, >> that would like to volunteer. >> All right. Does anybody want to discuss that this morning? >> Um since I know I will be at that same conference, I know I can't do it either. So, okay. So, in the spirit of uh wanting Mr. Heinley to be indebted to me, I uh will be um glad to take on that u position for the teacher of

128the year selection committee. >> All right. Well, thank you, Mrs. Vanjek. Okay. All right. So, then that takes us through the action items and that brings us now to board members announcements or requests for information. So, Mr. Hindley, I'll start with you today, sir. >> Okay. Well, uh the soup already took my uh congratulations to the uh academic side for the Nashville High School AP people. So, uh I'll leave that at that, but I will go to Ruckle on the sports side. So, Ruckle volleyball are just now the county champs. Ruckle football are the county champs. Ruckle boys and girls cross country are the county champs. and second in state. So, they've had a very good athletic uh first semester. So, they're rocking and rolling. That's all I have, but I will keep the tradition

129alive. Today is the 27th. So, board members, who is the 27th president of the United States? >> Tafted. >> Taft. Yeah. >> The biggest one. >> You are correct. I'm glad you're doing your homework, though. I haven't heard Dr. White answer in quite a few months. >> No, I just ask questions. That's >> that's all I have. >> Yep. >> Okay. All right, Mrs. Vanj. >> Okay. So, we um we already talked about the band, which Baker band got superiors. First of all, I want to congratulate the Baker football team for a 100 season, >> right, Mr. Martellum? Yes. Now, we are That is rare. I mean to to go undefeated is quite a feat and of course this is nothing new for Baker as you all know and if you don't know you haven't

130been listening to me u so we're excited I want to congratulate um Mr. Martella the principal also athletic director Mr. Carmichael um Carile, excuse me, and of course, uh the the coach, uh Matt Brunson, and the team, they um they've had some wonderful games. I've enjoyed watching them play. And so, we're waiting to see how it moves forward. Correct. Uh depends on how the others fall. So, that is quite an accomplishment. I'm very, very proud of them. A couple other things coming out of Baker. Um B one of Baker's students named Luc Lucas Rose. He's a trombone player and the band has been chosen to uh perform in the high school honors uh performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 8th. That is awesome. So excited about that. Um so congratulations to

131uh Mr. Campbell, the band director, and this young man for uh that great thing. We're looking forward to that. Uh the other thing at Baker is, you know, uh in CTE and I see Miss Beasley out there. Uh they have a criminal justice class and they have just named their first criminal justice team. That's uh Miss Dea McClendon who runs that. How exciting. They do some really creative realworld things with crim their criminal justice and so excited. They've now got a team that they're going to uh do a lot of different projects with. So excited about that. Um, also want to point out a couple things. First of all, over at Fuosa, uh, they have a new a little group of students named the Care Crew. And this crew has set up a campus closet

132for all the students in case they need some clothing, particularly going into cooler months and everything. And it's studentrun. This is elementary where they get all those uh, clothes together. I'm very excited that they're doing that over at Fuosa. that I wanted to announce that um we all have concerns about the safety of students, cyber safety for parents and the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Department. It's Ashley Bailey who's u out of the crime prevention unit is sponsoring a night for parents information at 5:30 at Elliot Point Elementary. And she already did one I believe at Shaw River. Anyway, she's doing this and it would be great for parents to go to to have any questions about how to keep their their students safe when it comes to the cyber world. So, I'm hoping parents will take

133um advantage of that. And we've already talked a lot about the uh barbecue and bingo, so I'm good. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Aancheek. And uh I'll like to congratulate the Chakahhatche football team on their district championship. their season's still alive and we'll be following that closely, of course. All right. All right, Mr. Bryant. >> Thank you, Dr. White. Uh, first of all, I would like to take a moment to recognize uh Miss Appleberg over in the corner there for her leadership and we talked privately uh last week and she knows what I'm talking about here. But because of her leadership, uh uh things look good for our school district when it comes to contracts and everything. So, uh thank you for your leadership there. Uh, I would also like to uh

134thank the super send thank the superintendent for recognizing uh one of our students up at Laurel Hill School. Uh, as you know, we've talked in the past that we've had many students uh take their skills that they've learned in school and save lives. But this is an elementary student from the first grade. And uh I'll just read from the superintendent's uh post on Facebook. He had the honor of meeting Kyle, a first grade student at Laurel Hill School whose quick thinking saved a life this summer. At a family pool party, Kyle noticed uh his three-year-old friend uh Sebastian floating face down. Without hesitation, he jumped in for into action, pulling Sebastian from the water, alerting nearby adults and finding the child's mother while his uncle performed CPR. and he was only 8 six years old

135this student and uh because of Kyle's courage and fast response Sebastian is alive today. So thank you Mr. Chambers for going up uh to visit our school our school that almost touches the Alabama border there that uh we appreciate you doing that. Um and I'd also like to recognize and I see Miss Uden is here. Let me pull it up real quick. I apologize. Uh, we would like to recognize Jody Dunn who was uh who received the John Phillips Susa Foundation Banworld Legion of Honor Larette. So, we we are very proud of our most senior band director in the county who now uh mentors a lot of our younger band directors uh that are occupying positions now. And uh just like we talked about, arts is a very big part of our school district and

136the arts look very great uh very good for all of our uh uh schools with the uh uh the younger folks that are coming in and leading these organizations. But it does take somebody like Mr. Dunn uh to be a great mentor to all those uh that he serves with. And it's always always a great thing when when we go to football games and stuff and see how the band, you know, the bands really interact with each other and uh it's just a great camaraderie. Uh even though there's friendly competition there, the bands really uh bring bring the spirit to each of the games that we uh that you might go to. And uh so we're really excited for Mr. Dunn on that. So and with that, I just thank you. Oh, real Oh, I'm

137sorry. We had FSBIT uh meeting last week and I just would like to thank Miss Ko uh for all that she does and risk management her team. Uh I will just say it was a very good uh conference. Uh some positive things that are going to be happening uh in the future that we will have to vote on but that's next year. But everything look is looking great when it comes to property and uh uh uh property insurance and health benefits and things like that. So really appreciate Miss Ko. We had a great time and uh we didn't have to travel very far. We only had to go to Okaloos Island which is great because we normally have to travel the longest. Us in Santa Rosa County, we usually have to travel six or seven

138hours to get to these conferences. So, it was nice only to go 30 minutes. So, so thank you, Miss Ko. Thank you, Dr. White. >> Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Mr. Des. >> Thank you, Dr. White. Um, as you can see, I am wearing my green tie in in honor of uh our understanding that Chalkaw uh did win and I have to congratulate them, but I will simply remark in my my uh my Vikings defense. We uh we put some points on the board. We did. Not everybody can say that. I'm proud of I'm proud of both teams. You guys got on the chalk toss side, you got one heck of a team. You really really do. I'm looking forward to uh to seeing where they go from here. Um, I will only remark

139to say a few thanks to some very important folks who made the Silver Sands fish fry such a success. And since I've got Michelle Hec and um Lindseay Smith here, I want to tell both of you thank you for your crossromotion of the event uh in in dovetailing it with the high school games rivalry. I think it brought a lot of attention to the event and reminded our community about the Little Silver Sands School uh that does such impactful work with our most um uh important our arguably our most important students and um I wanted to thank you for that. Um, we ended up having a record, this is our third year of doing the fish fry and in conjunction with some uh with a private donation from Neil Finkel and the Margaret Finkel Foundation

140of $10,000. >> Uh, and over 500 tickets sold at $10 a piece. We raised over $15,000 for that school in one one evening. And I know a bunch of you bought tickets and not all of you came to eat, but that's a testament to wanting to support the school regardless of whether you got dinner out of the deal. So, thank you to all of you that bought tickets and everyone in the community and to um Miss Hayden, uh Mr. Bryant, uh we've got another school up at the north end called Richburg. If you guys want to work with the Rotary and some of the other folks up there that want to wrap their arms around Richburg, I promise you I'll show up. We'll cook the food for you and we'll do the same thing for

141Richburg because these these two schools are very special. They belong to all of us and um I'll do whatever I can to help support them. Other than that, uh, I'll leave it at that. Thank you. All right. >> Yeah, Mr. >> So, uh, thank you, uh, Mr. Parker for thinking of Richburg School, but I honestly thought you were going to thank Miss Hayden for already getting your Crestview shirt ready to wear at the next board meeting since we do have that that big game coming up on Friday. That's really what I thought you were going to say. So, but but again, thank you for your support of Bridgeburg. >> Well, I'll leave it to Miss Smith to get you your Fort Walton shirt so you're ready, too. >> All right. Very good. All right. So,

142that uh takes us through board member comments and brings us down to section 14, public comment. This is the opportunity for members of the public to address the school board on any particular item that's not on the agenda. And so, I do have one yellow card here for Miss Laura Lang. Is she here? Hi, Miss Lang. Would you come forward? And Miss Lang, I don't remember that you've been here before. And so what uh uh you want to discuss with us regarding policies and procedures and so at this juncture I'll turn it over to our attorney who will talk a little bit about the rules that we have for public comment. Okay. All right, Mr. McKinnus. >> Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. This morning, you'll have two minutes to make your comments and uh we would

143ask that these concerns relate to educational issues in the district. Uh and that items pertaining to personnel matters are under the responsibility of the superintendent. So those are typically not addressed here before the school board and we would ask that uh all speakers act in a respectful manner. Thank you. >> And so we have twominut time frame. >> Okay. >> So uh we're ready to start. Mr. Attorney, go ahead. >> Okay. Thank you all. Um I'm here to um I have a couple questions and concerns about the policies and procedures regarding um um I don't know if a kill list that was u made at prior that my student was on about 3 weeks ago. So um the policies and pro procedures from my understanding um we have a zero tolerance policy within the district.

144However, regarding this particular incident, this child is exempt from that because of state she's protected, I'm sorry, set student is protected by um certain state and federal laws. Um upon doing further research as to what that pertain to because no one was at liberty to tell me exactly what, you know, those things were due to confidentiality of that student. um maybe um thinking that this student may have an IEP or a 504. And if so, if that's the case, my question then is what protects the other students um from this student making uh a threat of this magnitude um and moving forward. What can we do as a community? What can I do as a parent to implement change? because this leaves um several other um questions on the criminal justice side and the mental

145health side of this whole thing as it affects me as a parent, my daughter as a student, the other students who were on the list um administration because a lot of them they were very genuine, you know, very um active listeners um very respectful. I was met with respect all the way across the board wishing that they could tell me more but you know they were confined to those restraints within um what they could and could not tell me about the situation. So just moving forward what can be done so that parents are assured that our students are safe when these things happen and these certain students are protected under these guidelines so that they aren't alternately removed or anything any other things mandated by the state. That's my time. Well, that's that's the twominut

146ending time. So, you finished you finished on time and uh the certainly uh I'm not familiar with this particular situation at this time as you've just brought that to us. Um but uh superintendent uh I I think you're aware of this situation. >> No, absolutely. And first of all, I just want to say thank you. Uh we had a great conversation in my office on Friday. Uh, and I just appreciate your advocacy and the way that you went about making sure that your voice was heard, but also others. And like I said in that meeting, having parents who are proactive, something that I appreciate. I would say to this board as a reminder um anytime that we have uh students who make uh threats um anytime that we have students who go against our safety

147policies I very much hold true to the fact that there is a zero tolerance uh mindset to that. I will say um when it comes to safety, when there's a threat that's made, we have threat assessment teams at each of our schools that go through whether and Mr. Dean's here. He could give the the the exact verbiage, but credible threats u versus noncredible threats as well. So all of that is examined through threat assessment teams. >> Was that done in this case? >> It it was >> all right. Um, that's not to take away from the the significance of of what happened in these cases and not particular to this case necessarily at all. Uh, we do have federal laws that we have to abide by. We do have state laws um that we have

148to abide by. And I'm just going to say that as it pertains to students who uh make a threat, you know, whether they're at the school or whether they're coming back to school as well. uh schools also have what we call safety plans in place and we make sure that that does occur and safety plans I think are necessary uh for the students and the families but also for the school as a whole. So yes absolutely there's a zero tolerance policy but we also have to follow federal laws and state laws as well. >> All right understand colleagues anything Mr. Yeah. Question, S. Um, so if a uh a student is falls under those federal state laws where they're not held to the same standard. Um, I get that. What if that becomes a recurring

149problem from that same student? I mean, is there Yep. where it comes into play? >> No, absolutely. And we talked about this as well. If there was something that was reoccurring, uh, we I don't want to say we would shed a different light on it because there's still those rules that are there, but there's also things that we can do with our schoolboard attorney. Um, there's other options that can that can occur. There's no place for a student, regardless of their classification, that just gives them the ability to do such and such. um not necessarily in this particular case, but you have students who are on an IEP. You have students who are on a 504. And if you're going to enact certain discipline, not necessarily in this case at all, um you have what's

150called a 504 meeting or an IEP meeting. And then there's also what's called a manifestation of the disability. And if something is deemed a manifestation of the disability within that meeting, there are certain things that you have to do by law. Um, but I just want to say again, I appreciate the meeting. Uh, I appreciate your cander and the way that you carried yourself in the meeting and here today. Just very much appreciative. Um, it helps us get better when you hear from parents on these types of situations. So, I just want to say thank you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you, Miss Lang. >> Thank you. All right, colleagues. All right, colleagues, that takes us down to section 15. We do have some public hearing public hearing tonight. One 15.1 public hearing for the proposed

151resoning of student attendance areas for Antioch Elementary School, Bob Sykes Elementary School, Davidson's Middle School, Laurel Hill School, Northwood Elementary, Riverside Elementary, Scho River Middle, and Walker Elementary School to create a new student attendance zone for Pine View School. Presented by Mr. Folski and recommended by the superintendent. And that takes us down through all of the items on the agenda. I think that pretty much concludes this meeting. Mr. McKennis, we're good. Yes, sir. >> All right. This meeting is ajourned.