001Good afternoon. Today is Tuesday, August 26, 2025, and it is 4:33 p.m. Welcome to the Valuchia County School Board meeting. In just a moment, I'm going to ask that you stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance. Then we have a um which will be on video with our students from George Marx Elementary. Then following that we will have the anthem and it's going to be live today. We have Miss Charlie Kushmir who is the music teacher at Cypress Creek Elementary along with her husband Mr. Josh Kushmir who will be on the piano and then immediately following that we will have a moment of silence and reflection. So at this time, will you please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance? >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of
002America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Music] Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light what so brightly we held at the twilight last gleaming who's brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. For the red parts we wash were so gallently streaming and the rockets reds bursting in g through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled ber yet we [Music] or the land of the free and the home of the brave. [Music] [Applause] Thank you. You may be seated. Welcome everyone. Whether you're here in the audience with us or you're at home listening, I would like to at this moment take time to introduce those that are here with me. I'll
003start on my far left. We have Mrs. Donna Brosmer representing district 4, Mrs. Christa Goodrich representing district 2. This is our um school board attorney, Dr. Gilbert Evans, who we greatly appreciate. Going over to my far right, I have Miss Celeste Gilmore, our agency clerk. Next to her is Miss Jesse Thompson, representing District 3. Then we have our vice chair, Mr. Ruben Cologne, representing district 5. To my immediate right, we have our superintendent, Dr. Carmen Balgamin. And I am Jamie Haynes, the chair. and I represent district 1. Items for approval to on this agenda this evening is 1.03, 2.02, 5.02, and 17.01. Public participation times for any items that are on the consent agenda prior for prior to us voting on the consent agenda, you may fill out a green card. Miss Johnson has them
004over there with her to speak about any items on the consent agenda. Then at 6 PM, we have time for general interest items pertaining to public education in Valuchia County. We allow at least a total of up to 15 minutes during that time and you will have three minutes each and for that you'll need to fill out a yellow card which Miss Johnson has over here on the side. Then time is also provided for public comment on any action item before the board vote is called on that item. Tonight we have one action item and it is 17.01. Then finally, time is provided at the end of the meeting for public comments for items of general interest pertaining to public education in Blush County before any items from the board, superintendent, or attorney are up
005for discussion or announcement. So, we're moving on right now to item 1.02, our district vision statement. We are here to create lifelong learners prepared for an everchanging global society. Next item is the first item we will vote on tonight. We're moving on now to item 1.03, approval of the minutes. Board members, you've had an opportunity to review the minutes from the August 12th, 2025 workshop and from the consent session. Do we have a motion to approve the presented minutes? >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you, Mrs. Thompson. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Goodrich. Is there any discussion over any of the minutes? Hearing none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor of approving the minutes from the August 12th, 2025 workshop and consent session, please say I.
006>> I. >> Any opposed? It passes unanimously. We are now moving on to item 2.01, agenda changes. Dr. Balgaban, are there any agenda changes before the agenda is presented to the board for approval? >> Madam Chair, I have no changes. >> All right, board members, you've heard there are no changes for the agenda this evening. Do we have a motion to approve? Madam >> Chair, >> thank you, Mr. Cologne. >> No, I wanted to u propose an agenda change. Uh we have a lot of folks from our community that are here to support item 15.01. And so out of respect to them, can we move that after 3.01 if the everybody else is amicable to that? >> Okay. So you'd like to move item 15.01. >> Correct. After the immediately follow superintendent. Correct. >> All
007right. You've heard what Mr. Clone would like to do. Is there anyone that would like to add to that or have any discussion on that? >> So, I'll make that in the form of a motion. Okay. So, we have a motion to to move on the agenda item 15.01 up following item 3.01, which will then move the items 4.01 down to 17.0. 01. >> I'll second. >> Thank you. So, Mr. Colon has made the motion. Mrs. Goodri has seconded it. >> Any further discussion? >> Yes. >> My only concern in doing it is that if those who may not have arrived yet, who figured it was farther down on the agenda, would then miss it. So, >> okay. >> I'm I'm just not sure where I am with it. >> I'll still keep my motion.
008Is there a possibility of if people come later and want to speak on it, can we >> We're not voting on it. There's no there's no it's not a voting agenda. So, they could speak. They're in public comment. >> Okay. >> Yeah. It's not We're not voting on that. So, >> but they will have missed the presentation, right? >> They can see it on YouTube. >> I'm sorry. >> They can watch it on YouTube. >> I mean, it's not something we're voting on. So, my my agenda changes. That's made my proposal. I think for all the people sitting here that would be pretty respectful their time. Correct. And then for the others they can also still speak. >> I'm >> okay. So I would like to add this. Um having set in on the agenda
009conference I will tell you that as soon as we approve the agenda we move straight into the superintendent's announcements which are very quick and then we will move straight to the consent agenda which is not very long for this evening. Um, let's just ask this. Is there anyone that's going to pull anything off of the consent agenda? >> I have one item. Uh, and just a couple of quick questions. Nothing. >> Okay. Anyone else? Okay, that should move very quickly. And then the next item up would be the 15.01. So, I I mean, I'm open to either way, but I do continue to see individuals coming into the boardroom. Yeah, I'm I'm gonna say if looking at that that is very quick and so there's I don't think we're going to make anyone wait too
010long. >> Okay, I have to call for a vote on it because we have a motion and we have a second. So, if you're in favor of moving 15.01 to follow 3.01, please say I. >> If you're not in favor, please say nay. >> Nay. >> All right. So, if I got it correctly, we have one I and four nazs. All right. Then we're going to leave it the way it is. All right. So, then we have to vote on accepting the agenda as it's presented this evening. Do I have a motion to accept the agenda as it's presented? >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you, Miss Goodrich. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Brosmer. Any further discussion? Okay. Hearing none, then I'll call for the vote. All those in
011favor of approving the agenda this evening for the way it's been presented, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right, it passes. Then we are now on to item 3.01. Dr. Balman, it's time for your announcements. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, board members, and members of the audience. So many familiar faces, and for those of you tuning in from home, thank you for doing so. So, as we all know, and no one is counting, this is our third week of school. And uh I I I'll be remiss if I didn't say a special thank you to the entire Valuchia County team, every division, every school, all staff members. As we visit schools and we have discussions with our staff members, one of the things that resonates and you will hear throughout it's it's
012how smooth this year's opening has been. And again, that is a reflection of the commitment of every staff member in in Valuchia County. So, I want to thank you for a smooth reopening. Also, I had the pleasure of visiting with several board members on day one. We we went to Stark Elementary, Dand High School, Galaxy Middle School, Creekide Middle School, Mainland High School, Seabbze High, and from there on to now many, many schools. And uh you know if if you really look at our schools 75% of our schools achieved an A or B rating 75%. That is a clear reflection of their ste this team and their commitment to students learning. Also when we look at the number of schools that have achieved that also it's a clear reflection of our students and their learning
013that they have been able to showcase. It's a reflection of their achievement. Also, we have 28 schools that will be receiving the A banner this year and that's an improvement from 2022 where we had 7A designation of schools. So, 7 to 28. So congratulations to all of our schools, but also we have been on the road delivering those banners and we have two m two more districts that we will be doing next week to conclude that Orman Beach Middle uh the ACT program there. We want to say a special thank you for a very generous donation of $8,800 and that came from the leadership class, the Orman Beach Chamber leadership class where they made that donation to that ACT program at Orman Beach. Our very own Futures Foundation matched that grant and presented a check
014of $17,600. So, we want to say thank you to the leadership class, to our futures foundation for supporting Valuchia County for over 40 years. Thank you so very much. And we're very excited about this ACT program and we will continue to expand on these CTE programs in our district and we pretty soon I think in in a month or so, we will be doing a CTE presentation so that we can all learn about some of those CTE programs that will be coming our way. also HVAC. So we know how proud we are of our HVAC and our internship opportunities for our students. Over the summer we had a challenge of 300 internship that we were asking for from our partners in education partners in ed and stakeholders. You have exceeded that expectation and we receive
015over 425 internship opportunities from different organizations for our students. So, we want to thank you for those hands-on opportunities that our students have been able to engage in, but in particular our very own HVAC program um from Pineriidge High School. I still remember when we opened up that program there and the very our very own Mr. Leland Wilbert and I see that he's actually here in the audience today. not only grew that program, but it made into a stellar program. Over the summer, we had several of our students from that program that participated and actually they worked here in Valuchia County. We have a short video to show you of that in a little in a little, but Mr. Wilbert. Sorry for putting you on the spot, but we were there because he received the
016very first staff member uh teacher instructional um superintendent challenge coin and he was nominated by his peers and in for that coin and it's a whole process. Um our team reviews all of the applications and they pick that deserving individual. So I was there to present the coin and surprisingly enough they had another announcement on that day where he's also chosen to represent Pine Ridge High School as teacher of the year. So congratulations [Applause] you [Applause] and last but not least before we show the video I want to share with you that September we have some important um dates coming up in September. First and foremost Mr. Macall did you know that it's attendance awareness month? >> Attendance matters every day. Right. Also, it's National Hispanic Heritage Month and we will be doing lots of
017celebrations and our schools will be doing celebrations. We will be showcasing some of those. In addition to that, September 1st, everyone gets to take the day off because it's Labor Day. Even though it's Labor Day, you get to take the day off. There will be no school on on September 1st. September the 6th, it's National Read a Book Day. And although September 6th is National Read a Book Day, every day we should be reading. And last but not least, September the 7th is National Grandparents Day. This is so exciting that we have National Grandparents Day because you know what? Our grandparents, they're truly special individuals in our lives. So these are some important dates for the month of September. And now we will conclude with a video. Thank you. three months. I got the job
018because I saw a flyer for it and I was like, "Hey, why not [Music] eventually grew to love the job and now I've been working here for almost 4 months." Being an internship, uh, people can always say the good thing is always have your foot in the door. We learn what what pressures and heat and temperature and all that is in the classroom, but how to talk to someone, how to answer a door, those are all things that you have to build in the field. And that is just an amazing opportunity these kids are getting before they even graduate to get that confidence. And when you have confidence in a service call, the call is just much easier to perform. The program for 3 years, I got two certifications from it. And honestly, without that
019program, I would not be here where I am today. I learned everything from theoretical to hands-on knowledge and I would recommend anyone who wants to take the program to take it. It's a wonderful experience, you know, coming here every day, learning new stuff. Being taught in class is more different than being taught in the field. So, right now, I'm learning a lot more in the field than I was taught in school. Having Wubber as a teacher, it's amazing, you know, getting to learn more stuff. Wonderful to be here and have, you know, the experience. >> Currently, Baluchia County schools have hired three students from my program. This is an amazing opportunity and I'm just pleased to be with it. Uh, everyone that you bring it up to says it's such a great opportunity. Uh, so
020I'm just honored to be running it and to have everybody on board. It's a very good program. I love my position. I would definitely recommend anyone who is technically inclined to take the program and get a position with us here at VCS. [Applause] So, Dr. Bachmann, I heard that some of those students are going to continue to intern throughout the school year. >> Yes, they will. Yes, they will. This is just the beginning. Miss >> Chair Haynes, >> I will say this, this was the first year that I can remember that we didn't have lots and lots of emails about HVAC issues at schools. So I think those students did a wonderful job. >> We're we're very lucky to have you know what if if you really look at it Mr. Wilbert and and now
021he's he's recruited right a very good friend of his. So now they're co-eing that class. But how they have grown that class but the level of success too when you look at the certifications that they have achieved it's it's and the it's so impressive the passing rate also. So I I we're so indeped to you. So thank you so much and you really deserve being nominated for from your school as teacher of the year for Pineriidge High School. [Applause] So at this time we're moving on to item 4.01 public participation concerning any items on the consent agenda. So do we have any green cards? Okay. Okay. 15.01 is not on the consent agenda. Okay. So, I only have actually one for the consent agenda and that is item 12.01. So, we will do public input
022on item 12.01. 01 12.01 is personnel actions. So at this time would Miss Dorothy Featherston please come forward to speak on item 12.01. Welcome. >> Thank you, Miss Featherston. Art is my favorite special area. Why do we only have it once a week? Now, that's what my students ask me. And I don't know how to explain to them that their current their most cherished class is being cut short because of budget cuts and budget decisions. They don't understand phrases like staffing formulas or aotments. They only understand that something they love is being taken away. The Florida Constitution, Article 9, Section 1A, was written to protect children from overcrowded classrooms. It sets a clear limit, 18, the youngest grades, 20 22 in the middle, and 25 in the higher grades. The law is there because kids
023can't thrive when classrooms are stuffed full of teachers or teachers are stretched thin. But when positions are cut, when staff are shuffled around, and when averaging loopholes are used, it's the students who feel the loss the most. My school um elim at my school, six positions were eliminated. Two of them were special area. The district recommended that our principal place guidance counselors into the special area rotation to cover that gap. That means less art and music for our kids. And it also means fewer counseling sessions, fewer opportunities for children in crisis to be supported by the one professional trained to help them. The role of special area is to educate and enrich, not to serve as a public forum for counseling. Sensitive conversations require privacy, not a clouded crowded classroom. This isn't about numbers on
024a spreadsheet. This is about children's creativity, their mental health, and their chance to thrive in schools. So, I really would like to urge the ward to talk to the guidance counselors who've been placed in the special area slots and see how this is affecting their ability to do their jobs. Talk to your teachers. Ask them what overcrowded classrooms and fewer special area classes are doing to the kids. And most importantly, talk to your students. They'll tell you really how they feel. because they already tell me special areas should be staffed with special educators. Guidance counselors should be counseling and children should not be the ones paying the price for increasing the fund balance. Please stop starving our schools of people who make learning possible. Our car kids do deserve that 21st century education. Thank you.
025>> Thank you. We're now moving on to the consent agenda items. Um, Miss Brosmer, which item would you like to remove for discussion? >> Uh, 13.06. >> 13.06. >> Just have a couple of questions about it. >> What? >> I just have a couple of questions about it. >> Is there anyone else that wishes to remove anything from the consent agenda that they may have questions about? >> Okay. Then we're going to start with item 13.06, 06, which is the resolution 2025-15 removing State Road 44 parcel from the district surplus list. Um, Dr. Bamman, I see people moving. Come on up, ladies. >> Good evening. >> I was looking at the It's a sizable piece of property and I was looking at at the description on the um on the agenda item. It and it
026refers to the district possibly having a future use for the property and I was curious to know what might be envisioned there. >> Thank you. Um and I have also with me our coordinator for planning Trish Smith is here um who helped with this. So, we actually came across this um it was surplused by the board about 10 years ago. So, none of us were in our positions at that time. And I assume that at that time they thought there would be no use for it. It wasn't on our surplus list. We've found it quite by accident. Um because we've been looking and working with realators to sell some of the properties that we don't need. However, what's changed since then to now is all the new development that's happening out off of Blue Lake
027um a little bit uh west of or east of uh where we have Freedom um elementary school into land which is pretty full. Um and so we have a lot of growth and new developments happening out there. So it would be prudent for us at this time to to keep this property. We frankly were shocked. We didn't know it had ever been surplus. We never, as far as those of us who are there now, never had an intention of selling that property. >> Thank you. U that makes sense. I'm not as familiar with this part of the of the county. So, I was just curious to know how we might use it. And um I I wondered too as a result of that, does that go somewhere on our five-year plan? >> So, what'll happen
028is it um we've never, as far as I know, unsurpassed a property before. So, what we're actually doing is we're reversing the decision from before to surplus it. Put it back in our list of properties. We have we they keep a list of our um properties that we own and then a list of our surplus properties as well. Two separate lists. Um right now it's not going to go on this five-year this current five-year plan is complete. So, the next time we would updo a five-year plan would be next year at this time. So, if we see a need by then, we could put something on the next five-year plan. Um but I don't know if we'll be ready yet in a year to do that or not. I'm not sure. So, when we're as
029we're looking through that, you know, continued growth and and places in our county where we now need to shift, then that's when that would come into play. >> That makes sense to me. I figured that it would have to sort of correspond with the time frames uh for the development, >> correct? >> The developments that are planned in the area. So, that's all I had. >> Okay. >> Thank you, >> Miss Haynes. Anything else? >> Well, I'll add something. So that property has been around a very very long time and I was very surprised when they called me and said it was on a surplus list. The property is actually across the street from the Daytona um college state college >> campus and we have had it for a long time and it was originally
030there were plans drawn and everything for what was going to be built there and then we hit the recession piece and all of that came to a screeching halt. So, all I can believe is somewhere shortly after the recession is when somebody put it on a surplus list because I would have never put it on a surplus list. And it's come up a few times where people have said we could sell it and I'm like, you know, we can't sell that because it's going to be needed. >> There's for a variety of growth that's happening into land. >> Yes. >> I'm just curious, was the Daytona State campus already there? >> Yes. Yes. So it makes sense to me that it would be a good place for a school u and and not getting rid
031of it. So >> yeah. >> What we did do is originally it was a full partial and um the county approached us because they needed to extend Bearsford Road which would actually be to our advantage because it would give more ways to get into it. And so they came over to one side of it still leaving us with two like a very large piece and a large piece and we're they're putting the road in there which is to our benefit but they made a trade with us for putting that road piece in there. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Any other discussion or questions? All right. Then at this time, I need someone to make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. So
032we have Mrs. Bromer for the motion, Mr. Cologne for the second. Hearing no further discussion, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor of approving the consent agenda presented this evening, please say I. I >> I any opposed? Okay, it passes unanimously. We are now moving on to the presentations. I have three cards for people that wish to speak um prior to our discussion on item 15.01, which is a superintendent evaluation. Do you have any additional cards? Everything else is yellow. Are any of those on this item? Can you tell? >> Okay. All right. Then we're going to go ahead and hear the public input prior to starting this discussion. So, our first speaker for item 15.01 will be Miss Cynthia Slater. If you'll come forward. Welcome. Thank you and good evening. I am
033Cynthia Slater and I'm the president of the Valuchia County Daytona Beach branch of the NAACP where I've served in this capacity for 25 years. During those 25 years, the Daytona Beach NAACP have had a relationship with the school district, uh, good, bad, and indifferent. However, since Dr. Balgabin's leadership as superintendent of Valuchia County Schools, it has been nothing but an honest and positive relationship. Because of our relationship, we've had monthly meetings in order to share information that is provided to the community as well as how we as a community could work collaboratively to to in order to ensure that our children are provided the best educational opportunities possible. I want to congratulate Dr. Balgabin, Dr. be as she is so affectionately known for receiving high marks from this school board from this school board and
034for being nationally recognized for her leadership. Her work shows a significant rise in the district's academic performance culminating in Valuchia County Schools receiving its first A rating from the Florida Department of Education in 16 years. With that, Dr. be it should be given you should be given the utmost recognition. My concern is that some individuals working in the system has condemned your performance and question how the district received an aid. I take offense to this question and allegations because uh you they believe that our children in our schools cheated to increase their performance have no respect no confidence and have little to no value in our relation in in our leadership in our leadership principles teachers support staff and our children and parents and I say to you or to them or whoever said this
035shame on you. Additionally, I want to uh say that I was sent a post by a parent from a school board member complaining about the lack of fluent English speaking a fluent English-speaking work in a in a in a nail shop. And as president of the NAACP, I condemn that racist statement and believe that whoever said this should be censored. If this person who serves on the board uh as a uh you must embrace children from all backgrounds that speak different languages. Again, I say to that person, shame on you and you're probably in the wrong uh sitting on the wrong board. Evidently, serving as uh diverse populations is not your calling. Let me be clear. All who have something negative to say about this administration, you are being scrutinized by the NAACP and you
036will continue to be called out. Again, I am Cynthia Slater, president of the Valuchia County, Daytona Beach NAACP for 25 years and ready to retire. >> Thank you. Next up will be Miss Daisy Grimes, followed B by Miss Ida Wright. Welcome, Miss Grimes. >> Good afternoon. Uh, I'm going to represent myself today and not Felicia County African-American Leadership Council because I have something to say to these elected officials. First, let me commend our superintendent for a job well done in a very, very challenging situation. I want to commend you. I know it has not been easy. I do read the paper and I do stay on social media. So, I know it has not been easy, but in spite of all that, we got an A. self. I am here today to express my deep
037concern regarding recent comments made on social media by a member of this board. This information was screenshock to me and other members of our community. The remarks about language preference were unprofessional, harmful, and not reflective of the integrity expected from an elected official who represents all students and families in our district. Additionally, a recent post by a parent forum group questioning the validity of data presented by the district staff shows a lack of respect for the professionalism and integrity of our district employee. Publicly undermining staff in this manner is both discouraging and unfair. Do parents have a right to ask questions? Yes, definitely. But it should be done in a more professional manner and social media is not the place. Elected officials, parent groups, and all of us have a responsibility to serve all students
038and staff with fairness, respect, and integrity. Comments that seek to empower certain groups while diminishing others are divisive and dangerous to the health of our community and the future of our schools. I respectfully ask this board to reaffirm its commitment to professionalism, including all and respect for both students and staff and parents and to ensure that all public communication reflects these values. I also ask parents and other community representatives to be a bit more respectful when attempting to share concerns. We should all use the power we have to be more respectful and in a positive way. In the words of Dr. Mayor Mloud Bethul, power wrongfully used is dangerous. Thank you so very much. Right. All right. >> Welcome. We love seeing you when you come. >> Good afternoon. Good afternoon, board members, chair, madam
039superintendent. I'm Ida Wright and I'm here to say I commend you on well a job well done. When I was on the board, one reason we did not release the superintendent's evaluation is because we had people to actually go to attorney Ted Doran's office because we had it open to the public to take photographs. And unfortunately, um, and God bless his soul, Mr. Russell knew about his evaluation before the board had an opportunity to convene and discuss the evaluation. As professionals, it is your responsibility not to release the superintendent's evaluation until you are able to do it in a com in the open public and that and so that the superintendent has an opportunity to defend, refute or discuss whatever you all decide to evaluate and how you evaluate her. So, thank you board. Keep
040up the good work. But that is your fiduciary responsibility to be forthright to the public but also to be professional and make sure that everything you do is in decent and in order. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I have um one more card because I think people are trying to figure out which card to do the So next up is Mrs. Linda Cuthbert. >> Welcome. Good evening and um I apologize for my voice. I was on the school board from 2014 to 2022. Uh before that I was a veteran English teacher at New Spring Beach High School for 26 years. I had the great opportunity to go from the classroom to the school boardroom. I brought in a lot of insight. I knew how the school system worked. I knew how unions presented themselves
041to the school district and how I used to be outside in the parking lot with my placard as well. So much I did not know was what happened on the schoolboard side, but I learned very quickly. My first meeting was when a board member tried to get rid of the first superintendent I worked under, and that was Margaret Smith. Shortly thereafter, I put the vote in, the recommendation to have Tom Russell become our superintendent, only a few years years later for him to be run out. We hired um Tim Edgner, a former principal at Spruce Creek High School and a uh district uh personnel who've been retired from St. John's County who was hired for six months so we could do a superintendent search the right way. We did that with when we hired Dr.
042Fritz and then he too was run out. We decided to hire Dr. Carmen Balgaban thereafter. I have worked under five superintendent. None of them are perfect. They're all human beings as much as I expect the school board to act as human beings to be proactive not reactive to share their vision of success with their superintendent. She is the CEO of the school district much like George Renwald is the CEO of the county and all the city managers of their respectable municipalities. You the board like all the councils in this community as well as anywhere else in this country. You govern you offer your guidance, your visions, your proactiveness because you were elected as representatives for this school district. It's a county school district. It's not a personal agenda board. You work as a unit together
043for happiness, for growth, to see smiles on our kids, to celebrate our children and their support staff, which are teachers, counselors, meet specialists, paras, bus drivers, custodians, and board members. Please do not forget why you were elected and that your duty to the school district is positive. You must make sure that you always work together as a unit, not against each other, but she is your partner through thick and thin. Do not go through another eight years of hell. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, Mr. David Gimenez. Hello. >> Hello. Welcome. >> You know, there's a cliche that says that what we said about others said more about us than what we say about them. Um, today I think uh we are celebrating uh the success of uh the superintendent and the board. Um and
044the benefactor is the ch are the children, right? That's what we're here for. We all are welcome to our ideas, to our opinions, to our differences and that is fine. But respect is something that is necessary when you are representing the community when your goal is to be good for you for the children. Uh superintendent, thank you for the job that you had done and that you're doing. I have a little baby uh five years old. He started kindergarten. His best friend is funny, is a little blonde, beautiful little girl called Peipa. She's English. And that's all the people that we serve. We serve little ones, Spanish ones, black ones, Asian ones, but our job is to make sure that they have the best that we can give them. That's how we are made up
045by many different races, by many different people. But congratulations man. You deserve what you have done. You guys leadership is phenomenal. So thank you so much. Good job superintended and didn't move 1501 up to the front. Um any final cards on 15.01? Okay. All right. So we are now at 15.01 the superintendent's valuation. Would Mr. John Cash, chief of staff, please come forward to share a presentation on the superintendent's evaluation and open up for discussion. >> Thank you, Chair Haynes, board members, superintendent Balgaban. wanted to just share with you briefly uh the process that we utilized with the superintendent's evaluation. Before I get into the process, I just thought I would very briefly uh just a reminder for everyone about the instrument itself. So the evaluation tool for the superintendent, it has a scoring rubric
046which has three categories with descriptors. Now there are seven performance areas embedded within her evaluation. And I'm going to read those seven because I think they're very important and they talk about the way of our work and they align with our strategic plan and our guardrail. So the first of the performance areas and by the way each performance area has indicators and there's a total of 26 indicators with the seven performance areas but the first one is highquality instruction. The second performance area is high quality staff. Thirdly is safe and supportive environment. Fourth, we have resources and operational processes. Fifth is communication and community engagement. Next is effective board relations. And lastly is leadership and decision making. Now to support the seven performance areas with the 26 indicators. Each board member received the superintendent's tool
047itself which we just I just shared with you. In addition to that, you also received what we call the evidence document. And that evidence document um was uh aligned to all seven performance areas and even aligned individually to specific indicators under those performance areas. And just for uh what it's worth, there were 167 artifacts or evidence indicators that were shared with each board member. Some of those uh most of those had live links as well that when you clicked on this it had a voluminous amount of information about the work happening in each area in our school district that I just articulated in the seven performance areas. Um so they supported that the scriptors and the live links of those 167 as already alluded to matched all seven performance areas and every one of the
04826 indicators. So, that's just a very brief uh overview of the actual instrument, the tool, and what board members received in order to make their decisions based on evidence and artifacts besides their day-to-day interactions with the school district. Now, the process itself is each board member completed their evaluation independently and submitted that evaluation back to me. Uh they also received the uh comment uh form too if they chose to write comments. They weren't required to, but if they chose to write comments, that was also returned. So then I took all of those individual evaluations and compiled them into a singular document which was to be representative of each board member's evaluation. So then I looked at that for accuracy and then to be very thorough uh the board attorney Dr. Evans and myself also convened
049and looked to ensure that everything was transposed correctly and accurately to reflect each board member's evaluation of the superintendent. Then as a final step to ensure that we uh got this correct because it's very important is the board attorney Dr. Evans, myself and chair Haynes convened and did the same exact process. We were simply looking for accuracy and transparency of the evaluation tool into the singular document. Uh that was the process that um I used. If you have any questions about the process or anything that I've shared, I'll be happy to answer them. If not, I will turn it over to the board for their discussion. Thank you, Mr. Cash, Mr. Cologne. [Applause] >> So, I want to thank Dr. Balgabin for always keeping her focus on where it belongs, which is our students. Every
050decision you make, every initiative you lead, every challenge you address has been done with students at the center of your decision making. That is something that I have consistently observed and it's why I'm confident in her leadership. My ratings of proficient were deliberate. Proficient does not mean perfect. It means the superintendent performs her duties at a level that is in high level in accordance to the rubric. The rubric defines proficient as producing quality work in most competency areas. completing tasks and projects when expected. Bringing projects on budget. Maintaining a balanced budget. Addressing problems and issues directly. Achieving goals within established timelines. Maintaining safe and adequate facilities and complying with all legal requirements. Dr. Balgaban demonstrates all of these expectations and she does so with a relentless commitment to our students. So, thank you. I want
051to emphasize that proficiency is about consistency, steadiness, and results. That is what matters most in a when leading a large and complex district like ours. I have seen that in Dr. Balgaban. She listens very carefully, reflects honestly, sometimes extremely honestly, and works through imperfections rather than avoiding them. She does not shy away from challenges. Instead, she engages openly and works towards solutions, always keeping the focus on student success. Her professionalism is also something that I value deeply. Even when faced with very difficult circumstances, when she has been treated with rudeness and disruption, or even when she has been personally attacked, she has chosen to m to remain composed, respectful, and focused. Thank you for that. That kind of discipline and restraint is not easy, but it's a sign of real leadership. It shows me that
052she is able to keep her eye on what matters most and not be distracted by the negativity. That is one of the reasons I believe our district is making the progress and will continue to succeed. For me, this evaluation was not about seeking perfection, but about measuring it against a clear standard and recognizing the strong, steady leadership that produces results. Dr. Balgamin's work aligns with that standard and her unwavering focus on students gives me the confidence that our district will continue to thrive under her leadership. Thank you, >> Miss Thompson. Thank you. So, I find myself in a very unique position because two of you have seen quite a few superintendent and two of you are brand new. Haven't been here a year yet, but very close. When I got on the board, it was
053right after Dr. Balaban had been hired as a superintendent full-time. And so, I look at a lot of my goals that I gave to you, and it wasn't that I told you something that was I a lot of times you'll admit they were out of the box. I've had some ideas that were out there, but some have really worked. And I appreciate that. That you listen to each of us and you take what is unique about each of us in each of our districts and what we bring because we all have a very different perspective, which is one of my favorite parts of this board is the diversity of thought and idea and background. And so I know there are people out there that probably Dr. Balgabin's not their favorite person, and that's fine. I'm
054probably not either, so we're all good. But you have to respect the work. Now, for my evaluation, I relied very heavily on the evidence that was given. And it wasn't even all the evidence, if I'm correct. There was about five times more pieces that could have been thrown in there. But thank you for not doing that because there was a lot of reading and research that went into that. But if you were to take Dr. Bamin the person away from the evidence and just look at that. I am so proud of where we are as a district, as a mom who's very proud, but also as a schoolboard member to be part of this and see what's happened because it hasn't been that long. We haven't been here that long. I mean, honestly, if you
055look at other districts and compare the numbers, you compare the data, you compare the changes that have been done, and some people want to say there haven't been that many changes, but I challenge anyone to look at the evidence and say there's been no change. So, um, my evaluation was how it was, knowing that no one is ever perfect, that we will continue to strive for excellence. I don't think you'll look at these evaluations and stop tomorrow. I hope not. Please don't. Um, but that's where my evaluation came from was that perspective. And I appreciate and I really do um you going through this with me and for always entertaining those out of the box ideas. Thank you. >> That's good. Rich. >> So yeah, I was brand new to being a board member and
056didn't have a big background in Valuchia County Schools. So I I campaigned saying I'm going to bring business to the table. But what I didn't know was how much business you're already bringing to the table. You're so good at marrying business and running a major operation with the care that's needed for children and making sure their education is strong. My evaluation is not because I'm a sheep. It's because you're a rock star. >> And the people that have tried to pull you down, it's hard. That's hard for anyone that anyone out there when you sit up here and there are people bashing your character and bashing who you are. and I and I see behind the scenes what you're doing. There's not a question I have asked you that you haven't answered or given me
057the person to say this who this is who has the answer. I also have some pretty crazy weird ideas that I come up with and you listen to all of them and you try to make them viable and workable and it's all because you understand the value of what I'm trying to bring for the children and that's what matters at the end of the day. You know, I've said to several of the chambers that I've been to and um lots of the businesses, I would hire you to run any business I've ever had, but you're you're bigger than any business I've ever had. I would recommend you to a Fortune 500 company, and I think you'd run circles around people. You run a machine. The district staff that you have is absolutely incredible. And you
058do, you hear adversity, and you choose to take the high road. You don't respond. you you just know you're on a mission and you know I appreciate that so much. Um so you're doing a great job. I think you're doing a wonderful job and do I think anyone's perfect? No. But do I think Valuchia County is exceptionally lucky to have you? Someone who is also nominated as national superintendent of the year >> and not not for any other reason than that you deserve it. So I think you've done a great job. I'm super glad I got elected when you were here and you got to make the job a bit easier for me. And also I did want to point out good job district two showing up tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you,
059Miss Goodidge. >> Most I'm going to keep mine short and sweet. I did probably more written comments than I suspect most of the of the board members did. Um I um noted where I think uh Dr. Bulgaban's special gifts are and she has many and I also noted areas where I think we can improve and we can talk about those anytime. >> Thank you. So um actually Mr. Cologne uh surprised us this year and he wrote the most comments. >> I think he was >> he did. Yes, he did. >> I think he was making up for last year, which is fabulous. >> Um, and I was happy to give up that spot and go in second behind him. We're here and we kind of got here in an interesting way. We we didn't set
060out for Dr. Bman to be sitting here in this chair. She came into our district as our deputy superintendent in January, right before we hit the pandemic and COVID. And she when we hit that point that March, she stepped up to make sure our students still could have learning at home. What was it going to look like? How was it going to work? And she worked hard along with our district staff, our curriculum individuals. So many people stepped up at that time and we didn't know when she arrived that she would be placed in as a superintendent because Dr. Fritz was not going to be able at that moment to fulfill the duties. And at that time on the board it was Mr. Cologne and I and two of the lovely ladies sitting here in
061the audience tonight, Miss Cuthbert and Mrs. Wright and Mr. Perseus. None of us had ever faced what we faced at that time. And on top of it, there was no rulebook. There was no guide book. There was nothing that would tell us how do you operate in that situation. But I remember having a conversation with Mrs. Wright and I said, "She's here and she's working hard. You know, I think she should step in and fill in in that spot." and she did, not knowing that we would meet six times during the month of July. Five board meetings in August, four board meetings in September, going ending as early as 11:00 p.m. and going all the way to 2:30 a.m. But she was here and she stepped up and she did the work. And one night
062or one morning, I would say when Mr. Cologne and I were walking out to our vehicles. He looked at me and he said, "So is that's what a real superintendent is like. This is my 39th year. I have worked for or with seven of the superintendent. I started under Sarat, Dr. Sarat. I've been here a long time. So, seven superintendent and two interim superintendent is the group that I've worked for. What I can honestly say is she didn't come to Val County to be in that position. She got placed in that position and she worked hard and she accomplished things during that time period that seasoned superintendent in other districts were struggling with. And I know over the years she's received phone calls from the state to come work for them. She's received phone calls
063from other districts where they've asked her to come work for them even I think recently and I I called a friend of mine who's a board member and I said hands off step back. We're not giving up our superintendent. But what I know is her heart is for children. And if you've never visited a school with her where it's just her going in to visit, you need to have that opportunity because we stopped at a school the other day to Berry Elementary in the front office and there were three little ones up there and they gravitated immediately to her and her whole face lights up and she just proceeds to have an entire conversation with them and they think she's the best thing and she thinks they're the best thing and they didn't they were
064like we need to go back to class but then they wanted to talk to her some more and they're like our teacher's going to be looking for us but then they had something else to tell her and one little guy I think could run the school already he told us exactly what needed to be done and she listened to him so whether it's our youngest learners our middle school students that are tough our high school students with her salt group where every month she meets with high schoolers to hear what they have to say and what they think whether it's your organization if you're here tonight representing an organization or a Rotary club or a chamber. I sometimes don't know how she doesn't burn out. I'll be honest with you because she's going nonstop and
065that's been one of my biggest concerns. And by the way, I did kind of put that in my comment. So, my ratings are not only based on the evidence that was collected and shared with us, but it's on my own evidence because I take notes. Everybody knows that. And I keep track of things. And here's what I have found. From the day you stepped in during a time period you didn't know you were going to have to do, and you did that for 10 months, and then you came back and stepped in. You've given your heart to this county and there's been times where you and I have had open, honest conversations where we bring a different viewpoint, but the thing of it is we still have great respect for each other. We can agree
066to disagree on something or we agree to hear each other out. And I will tell you from when you walked in the door and you had to dig us out of a financial hole that we were placed in, you have done that. You have made tough decisions. Last year, you saved us $2.3 million from the district level through cuts that you made. This year I happen to know an individual or two wanted to add some more positions to their department and you didn't do that because here's where we were and Mr. Clone I think will agree with me. One of the things we both asked when we got on the board, we wanted to know how many vacancies they there were. And I think probably the ladies in the audience got tired of hearing us
067say we want to know how many vacancies there are. And it took us until spring of um 2019 for someone to sit there and finally tell us that there was almost 150 classroom vacancies in the spring of 2019. And with that being said, I still don't think the answer we were given was totally honest because I think if they had a long-term sub in a classroom, they weren't counting that as a vacancy. Fast forward to now. That was prior to COVID, by the way. We had that many vacancies. Fast forward to now, we open this school year with only 44 classroom teacher vacancies. Now, I told the futures board last week, my goal is that one day we're going to open and there will be a teacher in every single classroom on day number one
068because that's where they should be first and foremost. But look at the progress that has been made. And I was around here when we made the last day. I worked in federal programs with Archie Gallon and he chose to retire at that point in time because he said every one of the title one schools were an A or B and he said I think it's time for me to retire and he walked out the door and he retired and it wasn't very long after that though that no longer the case. All of a sudden, 37 of our elementary schools were C's and D's. So that was all before COVID. But we've come out of that time. We've come out of some decisions that were made during that time. I will say this, I'm a strong
069supporter of having a leader that has a vision and a mission and a plan. and she challenges everyone from her cabinet to district staff to her administrators to implement the plan and monitor and adjust as needed. And that's what that's why we're here because without a plan, we can't be here. We tried sightbased management years ago before I got on the board. and we got on the board and found out sitebased management doesn't work because everybody doesn't have the same plan. And so I want to thank you. I want to thank you for that January of 2019 taking a chance on Valuchia County and coming here with the thought that you were just going to be our deputy superintendent. I want to thank you for stepping up and putting in 10 months of hard work
070leading this organization as the superintendent during a time that I hope we never face again. Um, but at least we have some knowledge if we do. But then I want to thank you more importantly for coming back three years ago and taking this on because we're we're an interesting group. Everybody sitting in this room plays into that interesting group. Thank you. Because no matter, as I told futures the other day, we're not going to let anyone steal from our students the hard work that they've put in, take away from our teachers and staff, whether a bus driver, schoolway, cafe administrator, par profofessional, officer. It takes everyone to ensure that the children have all their needs met to be able to show us what they've learned. And I'm proud of where we are right now. Now,
071unfortunately, if you haven't all heard, the state changed the cut scores. So, we can't just sit back and do nothing. We have to continue. And we've got more work ahead of us if we're going to continue to stay in A and ensure our students get the best education because that's why we're here. And if we're not here for student education, there's other places you can go and, you know, be on boards or sit on committees because our primary focus should be children. And I appreciate all of you that came to speak tonight. And my goal is let's fill the classrooms so every child has a teacher. and let's continue to move forward the education. And as I look out over the crowd tonight, you know, we have a principal sitting out here who actually her
072and her team along with the support of you and your team actually took her school from a D last year to an A this year. And so I'd like her to stand up. [Applause] She's our [Applause] and everyone at that school and everyone that supported them. They deserve to be celebrated. So don't let don't let anybody steal our celebration. We're here to celebrate. We're going to own this. Is everybody where they need to be yet? No. because every child learns at a different rate. But you got us here and I'm thankful that you're going to continue to keep us going in the right direction so that I I'd like to be like Mr. Gallon. I'd like to say I can retire because every classroom has a teacher in it. And Valuchia County Schools is a
073an A-rated district because I've talked to other districts that get the A and all the extra work they have to do to keep it. It's a lot harder to keep it once you get it. But thank you for everything you've done. And um you know, you'll have a chance to read everything and any questions you have for me about what I've written. I I'm happy as always to talk to you about it. >> Thank you. All right. Then it is we're going to take a quick break for just a few minutes and we're going to come back in and do um public input right at 6 pm and then we will have just one action item. Is that good with everyone? Are you good with that? >> Y >> or do you want to do
074the action item first? >> Action item. Let's get out of the way. >> All right, let's move to the action item then. Item 17.01. Do we have any public input? Oh, do we have any public input for the action item? Okay, Dr. Baldwin. >> So, actually for this action item, Madam Chair, it's in regard to our internal audit plan and I have a recommendation. So, may I read that recommendation now? The recommendation is that we move forward with RSM who is the firm that we have been using for many years now to conduct this year's audit uh risk assessment and also other internal audits as recommended by the audit committee. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Cologne. >> I'll second that motion. >> Thank you, Mrs. Thompson. I'd like to add that um the
075risk assessment is what we start the year off with so that they can then have a meeting following the risk assessment with the internal audit committee that has members um from each of your areas so that they we can then rank what needs to be audited this year and then it'll come back before the board for you to vote on the items that the internal audit committee are recommending for audit this year. And this all comes about um from the law that went into effect on July of um 2019. So any further discussion? All right. Hearing it, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor of approving that RSM will now conduct their risk assessment for the year for our internal audits. Please say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? Okay, it passes
076unanimously. This is good. Rich, >> I do want to say something and I am Can I say something just out of turn? >> Absolutely. >> I just I don't know if I can. It's okay. I just want to address something because my um my business partner and my best friend comes from the Vietnamese community and I just wanted to share that comments made by individuals are individual comments. And I'm very proud of all the different communities that are in Valia County. and anything that was taken from that, please know it was not from the entire board. So, that's what I want to say. >> All right. Thank you. Then we will be back in here. It's 5:45. We'll be back in here at 6 p.m. to do um the stack of yellow cards. [Applause] Welcome
077back. It is 6:02 and we are moving straight into item um 18.01 01 which is public participation. So at this time I have I think 11 cards. I'm going to name the first two speakers so that the first one can come forward and the second one can be ready. Our first speaker this evening will be Ken Phelps. Please come forward, Mr. Phelps, followed by Josh Gorgon. Did I say that correctly? Welcome. Good evening, Chair Haynes, members of the board, Dr. Balgaban, and fellow attendees. My name is Ken Phelps. I'm the vice president of resource development at the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce. Uh I'm a business leads fellow with the US Chamber of Commerce, having completed a program uh in education and workforce development best practices. I'm also a proud graduate of Dand High School,
078class of 1990. And for any of my classmates that might be listening, I hope you're planning on coming to our 35th reunion later this fall. Tonight, I'd like to offer congratulations and thanks to the school board, to Dr. Balgaban, and everyone here at Valuchia County Schools. And I'll start with the congratulations first on the recent A rating received by the district. It's first since 2009. It is a reflection of the fantastic work being done on a daily basis by the faculty and staff and most importantly the students at each of our schools. Second to Dr. Valgamin on being named a finalist for the National Association of School Superintendent 2025 Superintendent of the Year Award. It's a well-deserved honor and we appreciate your dedication to providing the best learning environment possible for our students each day.
079They are the future of our region and that leads me to the thanks I'd like to offer on behalf of the Daytona Regional Chamber membership. We've built a strong partnership with Valuchia County Schools over these past several years and our interest in a school a strong school system is rooted in a desire to build a successful region. Our mission is to advocate a strong economic and business environment through which our members and the entire business community can thrive. Part of that work is ensuring that our local businesses have a deep and talented pool of workers from which to hire. So my thanks are for just a few of the ways in which we've worked together to provide opportunities for students to consider building their future in Valuchia County. The district has partnered with the Daytona
080Regional Chamber on a soft skills youth summit to help strengthen their employability skills. This year's event, which is the fifth annual, will be called Level Up Professional Skills and Personal Branding because that really speaks to the goal of the event. We want to help students understand the skills needed to be a professional regardless of industry as well as help them understand that they're creating a personal brand every day. We connect them with business leaders who have already traveled the road on which the students are embarking and they want to help the students along on that journey. While that program targets high school juniors and seniors, we're also working to support our early learners in partnership with the school district and the early learning coalition of Flaggler Valuchia. The readers to leaders program helps bring awareness
081to and build support for the programs and efforts which are already part of the daily work of the school district and the early learning coalition. Strengthening youth literacy is one of the most powerful ways we can support building a strong community and workforce. Those are just a couple of examples for which we're grateful for the partnership of Valuchia County Schools. These students are the future of our community and we want their future to be vibrant and fulfilling. But none of that would be possible if the Daytona Regional Chamber was the only interested party. So, thank you for the spirit of collaboration between our organizations. Congratulations again on the successes that the district and its students have earned and thank you for your partnership in building a future we can all enjoy and be proud of.
082I wish you all a good evening. >> Thank you. >> Josh Gorkin, you'll be followed by Major Matthew. Is it Weissel? Okay. Thank you. >> Good evening. Good evening, chair, board members, Dr. and Dr. Balgaban. My name is Josh Gurgen and I'm the government adv advocacy manager for Advent Health, the official healthcare champion of Valuchia County Schools. Since 2018, Advent Health has proudly partnered with the district and we recently renewed this partnership for another five years to better serve students and families. Over the past few months, we've taken big steps forward. We hired a full-time team member dedicated solely to Valuchia schools focused on strengthening healthmies and creating career pathways for students just for students. Just la Sorry guys, I didn't write these talking points so I'm kind of freestyling. Just last week we po
083we hosted 40 Pineriidge High School Health Academy students at the Wawa 250 NASCAR race where they learned about careers in healthcare and toured our infield care center. This summer, we awarded six Felia County students full ride scholarships to Advent Health University to pursue nursing degrees recognized during a special ceremony in Victory Lane. We continue to provide thousands of free sports physicals every year, including EC ECG screenings at Daytona International Speedway. With our next event already set for April 2026, together with Mike McCiff, the absolute man, we're addressing chronic absenteeism by donating bikes to students with transportation barri barriers, installing book vending machines to incentivize attendance, programs that are already showing impact. We're working closely with Superintendent Balgamin to support new lit literacy initiatives that encourage more students to read and excel. Dr. Bagamin has been
084an advocate and a champion of this part partnership. Some would say a rock star. And under her leadership, we've seen real results. From reduced absenteeism to expanded career opportunities for students, Avan Health is proud to support her vision, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the years to come. Thank you. Following um Major Matthew will be Leland Wilbert. Go ahead. Welcome, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. My name is Major Matt Weber. I'm the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Recruiting Station headquarters in Jackson, headquartered in Jacksonville, covering all of Northern Florida and southern Georgia. So, about 40,000 square miles, and we service 250 high schools. I'm here today uh with one of the 11 representatives I have within Valuchia County. Sergeant Miguel Javier is the one most directly responsible for this
085immediate area. Um and you know want to first thank you all uh for what you do and congratulate you on the fantastic results this year. Uh my objective tonight is simply to highlight some of the great accomplishments of county students and graduates. Uh so in the past year 48 young men and women young men and women have made the admirable decision to earn the title of United States Marine. We sent five off this morning uh to go uh to recruit training at MCRD Paris Island to go uh to go take their uh take their stab at it. Uh and then as of this morning, we have 42 others enlisted and ready to go to to the boot camp over the next couple of months. So um these 90 make up more than 10% of what
086we send to boot camp in any given year out of that 40,000 square mile. Uh so really a commendable group of young men and women uh across the board. We also offer multiple paths to becoming a marine officer. Uh largely through uh the our officer selection officers and through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship. So over the past three years, uh we've uh given out or awarded $4.7 million in scholarships, uh 360,000 of which have gone to Valuja County students. So incredible, incredible there. Um, as a recipient of the scholarship in 2011 myself, I can't speak highly enough of the program and and always open to expanding that opportunity to students from across from across our area. Uh, finally to close, I meet a lot of young men and women in my line of
087work from all over uh Florida and Georgia. And whenever I come down to this to this part of our area of operations, I'm continually impressed uh with the young men and women I meet from Valuchia County Schools. I know that that is uh the result of the hard work and dedication of this group here. So, I thank you again for that. I thank you for the time this evening um and uh would again open ourselves up for any collaboration to to keep those opportunities available for for our young folks. Thank you. >> Thank you >> Leland Wilbert followed by Kristen Johansson. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Good morning Chair Superintendent B and the members of the board. My name is Leland Wbert and I serve as Hack Academy director at Pineriidge High School. I'm here
088today because I'm excited to share the impact that took place over the summer. Now, the HVAC Academy has been going on for 5 years now, but this past summer, our internship program started. Over the summer, we had an internship program where four students and myself as instructor partnered with Valuchia County Schools and the facilities allowing the students to work on air conditioner units all across the county. We started at Brewster and we made our way out. But I'd like to share that with that success now has grown and it's no longer just a summer program. Starting next Tuesday, we're continuing it going. So starting next Tuesday after school, we will continue this work with all the schools, monitoring the systems, cleaning them up, and making sure everyone's comfortable because when everyone's comfortable, it's just easier
089to be there. Through this program, students are not just learning theory. They're installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting realworld HVAC systems under the guidance of professionals. They gain hand-on skills in electrical systems, refrigerant handling, system diagnostics, and preventive maintenance. These experiences truly give them the confidence and technical knowledge needed to step directly into well-paying careers and apprenticeship programs after graduation. They have now been able to see the classroom curriculum truly come alive before their eyes. The internship also strengthens the bond between our schools and local businesses. These authentic workplace experiences are exactly the type of opportunities that set Valuchia County apart and directly contribute to the students, which is truly what it's all about. This all comes down though to the kind of initiative leadership, prioritizing work-based learning, removing barriers, and creating real world connections that Dr.
090B began recognizing as the finalists for the National Superintendent Award. We're so proud. On behalf of our HAK program and the superintendent's work-based learning initiative, I want to sincerely thank you. Truly do. Your vision, dedication, and unwavering commitment to preparing students for their future is amazing. I am beyond proud, truly beyond proud to be a part of this district that champions hands-on learning, supporting industry partnerships, and continuing to build skill workforce ready for tomorrow. Thank you. you >> Kristen Johansson followed by Pam Crowwell. Welcome. >> Thank you. Good evening. My name is Kristen Johansson and I am the chair of the workforce development committee at the Port Orange South Daytona Chamber of Commerce and I also have been an active member of the um Spruce Creek High School Academy of Finance Advisory Committee for multiple
091years and the proud graduate of a mother of three, not proud mother, sorry, I'm not a graduate. um a proud mother of three graduates of Spruce Creek High School. So um from the bottom of my heart as a parent and as a member of our um our business community, I want to thank you all for the work that you do here. And specifically, I want to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Balgabin and her dedicated team for their tireless efforts that you all put into workforce development and career readiness for our students. the partnership between our chamber and the district and some individual schools multiple individual schools in Port Orange South Daytona um is stronger than ever. So when I get to see that firsthand in the role that I play in our workforce development
092committee and I see firsthand the value that your entire team places on student readiness and the investment you all make in community relationship building. So several members of your staff at the CTE level and your business partnership staff um participate in our workforce development committees on a regular basis and they prioritize it and that mutual benefit has been absolutely exceptional. Uh our business partners participate in career expose. We participate in teen job fairs, academy advisory committees. Uh we run a youth leadership program that we collaborate with you all on as well. And we all come in as classroom speakers. So, not to mention the mutual work that both of us do educating our local businesses on the value of internships, uh, apprenticeships and work study opportunities. So, we all understand that a community is stronger
093and healthier with the quality school system and wellprepared workforce. So, I'm proud of the work that we do to help strengthen that and I thank Dr. Balgabin for the value that our district puts on engaging our business community work to work toward this end together. So I look forward to work continuing this relationship and improving upon uh this relationship even further as we continue to make strides that we have been making for this far. So thank you very much. >> Thank you. Hem Crowwell followed by Tara Sha. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Good afternoon. And I just want to say ditto is on all the the accomplishments of our superintendent as well as all the the A district and all the A schools. It's wonderful. However, I am here to comment on the latest court
094ruling on book removals in Valian Orange counties that came about around two weeks ago. I quote the judge who said none of these books are obscene. Judge Carlos Mendula of the US Middle District Court of Florida ruled that the law HB10201069 used to pull hundreds of books from Florida public schools is in violation of the First Amendment rights of students and without regard to the overall value of the books. Also, labeling book removals as government speech only serves to stifle disfavored viewpoints. I hope and I ask that these books be returned to the shelves as soon as possible. You know, parental rights are not so different from political activism. Let's not use one to trample on the other. If you object to your child checking out a specific book, then don't allow him to check
095it out. And as a wise friend said to me, I'm no less of a parent or more of an activist than the one that files an objection to a book. hoping to remove access for everyone. We're both advocating with our children in mind for change. One trying to stop unconstitutional laws, the other trying to overturn the court's long-held standard for protected speech. I hope Felia County does not spend its precious money and time on an appeal to this case. Since the state of Florida was also a defendant in this lawsuit, let's leave it to the state's dime if there has to be an appeal. And finally, I understand that there are uh applications ongoing right now uh for a book review, a selection committee that this is in process and I know that uh the
096purpose is to have it completely random, but I feel like it would be a better better idea to make sure that all six districts are somehow represented along with the demographics of the population. To me, that seems like a better way to have a book review selection committee. And thank you so much for your time. >> You followed by Dan Morris. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Good evening. My name is Tara Shay and I currently serve as a CTE facilitator at Newurn Beach High School. Prior to that position, I was a work-based learning coordinator for 14 years. Um, I really believe in work-based learning. Um, I see the impact of these everinccreasing opportunities through our CTE department and it's exciting. It's it's really a good thing, a good change. In the past, connecting students with
097meaningful opportunities at local businesses was often challenging. Um, work-based learning was basically just OJT and often in low-wage, part-time positions that didn't necessarily connect a student to their potential future. It was often underutilized and frankly seemed like it wasn't seen as a very important program for many years in the past. Well, Superintendent Balgamed saw the importance and the shift has been really amazing in the past couple years. Um, under her leadership and with her support and of course very hard work by our district CTE staff, um, we've really seen a lot of changes and that a lot of the prior obstacles have been removed. um her commitment to CTE and specifically work-based learning really opened doors for students in ways that we had not previously explored as a district. I've seen firsthand that collaboration between
098schools and area industries has truly grown. Businesses now feel that they have the chance to be partners in education. We now have a r a access to a wide range of internships, job shadowing experiences and even direct to hire OJT opportunities through Dr. B's um Valuchia Vision 500 initiative which she spoke about briefly and you heard that we are almost to that 500 number which is amazing um especially in such a short time. Um you saw the video showcasing the HVAC pre-apprenticeship and um the student testimonials testimonials and then heard Leland's excitement and now that's spreading. So just in this past year we've able we've been able to um increase the pre-apprenticeship programs to include welding and automotive and if you talk to many students you know that those are two areas of the highest
099interest. So, I think that's super exciting for our district. Um, for our work-based learning students, these experiences are transformative and they gain hands-on skills as well as much needed soft skills. Um, they build confidence and they prepare students for high demand, high wage careers right here in our county. Hopefully, hopefully they'll stay right here in our county. The opportunities are definitely here. Uh my position as a liaison between students and businesses allows for strong relationships with many Southeast Valuchia businesses and I truly believe that the trust between the district and local businesses has strengthened and you can hear that just from the um >> I I apologize but your time is up. >> Okay. Thank you. And you can hear that just from the um the recent comments from the the Chamber of Commerce. Thank
100you so much. >> Thank you. the Dan Morris, followed by Elizabeth Albert. Welcome, Mr. Morris. >> Thank you very much. Um, good evening, chair, superintendent, and all members of the board. I'm here tonight uh representing a business called Honest One Autoare. We have three locations in Valuchia County, one in Deltona, one in Orand, and the one in South Daytona, which I own. Probably about six years ago, I was I was asked to join the education committee with U. Kristen and I was felt like a fish out of water business guy with mostly women in the leadership and in schools and and education. But I quickly learned that they had a a real mission and that was to connect business owners and and educators. So in the past connecting businesses with schools was really a challenging
101task. barriers, red tape made it really hard to create meaningful learning experiences for students. I could see that firsthand. We were looking for people and it's hard to get them when they're always going trying to go to college. Sometimes people don't fit that mold and I'm one of those people. Thanks to the superintendent's leadership, uh these obstacles have been removed, doors are opening, and students are getting into experiencing things that they never did before. It's truly a great thing for our county. Recently, I attended the Valuchia County Economic Development Q breakfast. If you ever been went to those, you you would see how this one was really impactful because it was three business owners. One was a painting company, very successful. One was at HVAC, again, extremely successful, and the third one was an electrician.
102And um I can tell you they all gave a presentation on how much they need help that they need the trades that they need this workforce development in this city and the impact if we don't do it. If we don't create schools and these learning experiences, the trouble we're going to be in as a county and because of the leadership of the superintendent, this board, we're moving in the right direction. We we truly are ahead of many other counties across the United States. So, I've seen a fundamental shift towards collaboration. Workforce development is now a priority, creating space for interns, uh, job shadowing, and direct hire opportunities. Students gain hands-on experience in professional shops. They develop critical skills. They build confidence that step directly into well-paying jobs. One of my best technicians will make close
103to 150,000 this year. He just has that one niche. he can do things other people can't. He just sees it. At Honest One Autoare, we look at internships as a a way to direct hire people right out of high school. And we want to get them at the bottom and grow them. And it's a great thing. There's such a a great college here, too. Our our technical college, we probably have three employees from there, and they're wonderful. And some of them actually do some student teaching up at the college. Most powerful is the trust that get that gets built with the with the internships. We get to know these people. We we teach them what what's difficult and what's great about this job being an auto mechanic or a service adviser. You name it. >>
104So, I'd like to just congratulate Dr. Bowen for her leadership. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> And this board. >> Thank you. Next up is Elizabeth Albert followed by Maria Gabriella. Welcome. >> Thank you. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Balgabin. Before I start, I want to give a shout out to the building trades. Both my children are uh proud trades workers. My son is a union uh journeyman electrician and my daughter is a thirdyear welding apprentice working down at the Cape. Both of them earning a living wage and I'm proud of it. So, let's do it with the building trades. Thank you very much. So, I want to speak to you tonight about a practice of our district that is doing harm to some of our teachers. As
105you know, support staff are still able to earn tenure after a period of years, but our instructional personnel hired after July 1st of 2011 can no longer earn tenure. So, they can they are placed into an annual contract status. Annual contract means that in any given year they can be non-reappointed by their administrator without any reason provided, which results in what we call here in Valuchia as a break in service. Usually, this non-reappointment only happens to teachers who are at the beginning of their career, maybe the first, second, or third year. It's not typically something that occurs afterwards. Yet, would you believe that in the past last year, uh, one individual with 12 years of consecutive service within VCS who has been rated effective or highly effective for each one of those 12 years who
106was hired by this district as Valuchia leads with leads, which means she was a mentor to new and early career educators. uh someone who is known for her ability to increase student academic outcomes who had applied to the transfer fair to move on to another school at the end of the subsequent year of that year. Would you believe that that administrator was able to non-reappoint this individual who had given so much to our district without any reason given? The result of the non-reappointment, as I mentioned, is called a break in service. A break in service means that the individual is no longer eligible to teach summer school if that's what they're doing, which is a loss of income to their family. Uh the individual's return to a category one level in the evaluation s system,
107which again for her, she's a mentor. So it's more of a nuisance than an issue of moving through those hoops. But the biggest uh issue here is that because of our placement schedule, because of the compression that we have with our instructional salaries, when you're non-reappointed, you're placed on the placement schedule. You lose all of the money that you've earned through your raises, whether they are TSIA or what have you, through those years of service. And would you believe because of the legislation that we're all trying to figure out how to navigate, we have 21 slots on our placement schedule, all at the same value, 20 $49,201, beginning teacher salary. So again, a 12-year veteran with a track record that is spectacular is placed at beginning teacher salary. Now, this individual, believe it or not,
108had secured a position before the end of last school year because of her reputation. And the additional issue here is that the principal that nonreappointed her was not worthy to be brought back to this district. So I suggest that when we have decisions of this magnitude that essentially result in an individual with a long-standing track record of success in our district, those decisions need to be re-examined, particularly when the administrator is re removed because of their failure to meet the expectations of this district. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up is Maria Gabriella. It was a parent. Did she leave? Okay. All right. We'll just pass it on. Back in the door. >> Oh, okay. All right. Thank you. All right. Then we are now moving on to item 19 um.01. Uh it's time to
109submit our 2026 legislative platform. I know I talked about it in July and brought up that looking at what we want on our platform and so this is an open discussion time about what you would like to see for our 2026 legislative platform. Mr. Cologne. >> So, I guess my first question is where are we in the RFP process for our um for our legislative liaison folks? Um it >> um it's going to take place in October. they uh have put I think they just have released the RFP and they're you know there's a whole process that has to go through because they have to submit through vendor link the individuals that are going to score it that are on the committee to decide you know make the recommendation have to be trained on vendor
110link then there's an entire day of presentations um set aside for whoever applies they don't know yet who's going to submit and then there'll be a scoring piece of time and then Um, I think they bring them back for further questions and then the decision will be made and it'll come before us. >> When is session next year? Is it January or is it late? No, it's early because it's an election year. >> So, it's January. >> So, we have a deadline right now for FSBA for anything we want to submit to them so that they, you know, things that we think should be considered statewide to be on the FSBA platform. This is a question about the legislative platform for FSBA. >> FSBA andor the things we want like what we choose to submit
111to FSBA, we could choose to also and we can add to our piece if there's specific things just for Valuchia County. >> Okay, that was my question. Thank you, >> Mrs. Brosmer. I think just having watched it a little bit uh last year um it's really hard at this point not knowing what any of the legislators priorities are and what direction they're planning to go. It's hard to um to project what might uh play well or be a priority for the members uh because that factors into it no matter what our priorities are. And and um in my mind the FSBA functions kind of like League of Cities, you know, where where they do the broad brush and and we might be looking at at things that affect us more specifically. So I think I
112I don't have any um any specific policy suggestions at the moment but but what I would like to request is that we keep this as kind of an open discussion as uh the committee meetings as bills start to get filed and the committee meetings are being held. uh that when we see things that jump out at us that we want to affect, maybe change the language or add or subtract something um or kill a bill um that we're able to come back and talk about it and and kind of renew this discussion uh over time because it is um a very fluid process. Uh, so I I think that's the only thing that I would look for at uh for the time being. >> Okay. So, you don't have anything specific at this? >> I
113don't. >> All right. Thank you, Mrs. Goodrich. >> Um, so a couple things. I do believe that Representative Traymont will be pushing forward for um cameras and non-verbal classrooms. >> And that would be something that I would be very supportive of. So, as that would be a discussion I would like the board to have to see if as a board we would be supportive of that. Um, for those that don't know, that would be a bill that would allow for cameras to be in classrooms where there's children that are non-verbal that can't go home and tell their parents what happened through the day. Um, there have been incidents that have happened and so this would offer an opportunity for those to hopefully not ever happen again. Um, so I would want to support that. Um
114I I'm always until until we get on par with um more of the country. I'm always going to support looking at how we can increase teacher wages. Um I think we have to keep bringing that to the table. I know that we've had increases. I know we've done a lot lately and I don't have a overnight solution, but I think we need to keep having that conversation because Florida needs to raise the bar. Um another thing I would want to support, I don't know if we how we do it from a school district point of view, but I'll bring it up anyway is I know that um Senator Wright is pushing forward to um really penalize DUIs. So maybe we have some statistics as to how many children have been um involved in accidents or
115things that resulted from a DUI that we could offer some support to um our senator for that. So those would be the things that I would say were just things to start. I'm there's plenty more that we may want to support or not support, but those would be the top three I'd have today. Thank you, Miss Thompson. >> Thank you. And what did you say was the deadline? >> Um September I'll I'll look it up. What [Music] >> next week? >> Yeah. So upcoming. >> But I did talk about this in July that you needed to start thinking about what you wanted to submit. So I agree with the increase in teacher wages because I do think that while we are doing excellent things in education in Florida, I agree that teachers the pay is
116low and I feel like the money is there for Florida. So I agree with that one. But also I would like to as we are watching to see what bills do come forward if we could make a push for the state to pay for any of the mandates that they do because there are so many wonderful mandates that come out with no money attached to it and then we have to pay for it even if it's not something that we've asked for. Don't give me that look. Um, I support a lot of the things as far as safety and security. I mean, I get it. I want our schools to be safe, but it would be much appreciated if the money came from the state for all the mandates. So, if we can just keep
117an eye on that, that'd be great. >> Thank you, Mr. Cologne. >> It's your turn, Madam Chair. >> That's right. It's my turn. Okay. So, I brought this up and I feel strongly about this last couple years and each time I'm shot down. So, I did ask when it was changing and we were going to give scholarships to homeschool students and private schools, which I support parent choice, but that we we did get it so that those payments go out quarterly instead of for the whole year and then they kick them out and they come back to us without any money. But I have been continually asking that there be some form of accountability for those students. Now listen, we've had parents for years that have homeschooled. You know, I knew a kid that got
118a full ride scholarship to Yale that was homeschooled. But this new piece, those parents did it without taking any money. But this new piece is parents are taking money now in homeschooling, but there's no accountability to ensure that the children are moving academically. And that is a concern for me because there can be a parent that has three children and as long as they're in general ed, they're getting approximately $27,000. And we've seen the articles and the news things out there where money is being used to go to Disney and SeaWorld and all of this. I'm not saying that you can't have an experience there, but are these kids going to be productive citizens and ready for the workforce or to go on to college or universities? So, I keep going up there each year
119and personally talking about there needs to be some form of accountability. I'm not opposed to a parent making that choice, but I don't want to then all of a sudden have an 18-year-old that is not ready to exist in the real world. So, there needs to be something. And you know, for years ago, we used I used to actually assess students that were homeschooled using the tests at the time, which were like the Iowa Achievement Test or the Metropolitan and all that. But right now, we have no accountability academically in place. And I think that that is a priority. We need to have academic accountability for people that are taking the money and using it in other ways. That's my feeling and you guys may agree or disagree. Last year we went up and we
120talked about what we were facing with school counselors and the shortage we were facing with school counselors because of the hours that they had to internship hours they had to do before they could become a school counselor. And so we we had a lot of conversation with DOE and all that and we made progress with them. Um, I don't know if it's perfect yet where we have it, but we've made a whole lot of progress that now if they're a teacher and they're getting their um, counseling degree or someone coming in and they already have the bachelors that we can put them in and pair them with an experienced school counselor so that we can meet the needs of our students. But an area along that lines that is still we are struggling with is
121our mental health counselor piece. We they have I can't remember I had it in my notes how many hours they have to do in order to be certified to work in our mental health field. And I know that Mike McCallif, you know, you don't have enough mental health counselors. We know that when a crisis happens. And so I would like to see our legislators consider allowing us to do the same thing with our mental health counselors, allowing them to come in and be paired with experienced mental health counselors to earn the hours that they need because the way it's set up right now, they have to get their hours without being paid and it's a it's a large number. Well, how can we ask someone to go into a field where you basically have to
122devote an entire year of hour of your time to earn the hours to be able to then progress to being paid? And I people can't do it, but yet we need those individuals on our school campuses because we have children that are facing crisises every day um that we don't even know about and we need to in order for them to learn, we have to deal with those types of issues. Then as far as the safety and security piece goes, I feel I want to thank our legislators last year for seriously taking and coming some them to our campuses to understand that a onesize bill did not work for all campuses. So, I think this year when we go up there, we need to be sure to thank them for listening to us and allowing
123us to not have to do double locking or triple locking with inside of our school campuses because that was really not safe for our students. So, please don't forget to thank them for that because they have made I haven't gotten any emails this year at three weeks in and no emails. Yes, Captain Captain Smith is happy about that. >> Jazz hands. >> Yes, he had jazz hands because kids are not being locked out of their classrooms in buildings where nobody can hear them knocking on the doors because we've got the perimeter fencing. We've got the one point entry. And so they've now allowed us in those buildings that yes, the classroom doors are locked, but they have doors on either end where nobody can see them or hear them. They've allowed us to keep those
124unlocked so kids can get in and out. And when you visit a high school that has over 3,000 students, you'll understand why those doors can't be locked. So, I want to thank them for that. And as far as funded versus unfunded mandates, I don't ever appreciate unfunded mandates because some of these unfunded mandates are very expensive. for example, the one that I I agree with you that um Representative Chase Traymont is going to go after that piece, that's going to cost a lot of money. So, my thought is that they're going to enact that piece this year. We need to say they have to bring the money with it so that we can do it. And as always, um we're not where we need to be, but we've come a long way um for where
125we are on teacher pay because um in November it'll be seven years since you, Mr. Clone and I stepped on the board and at that time the salary was 39,200 for brand new um beginning teachers. So we are at 49,201. that is um the salary of where they were for last year. We're in negotiations um you know for this year and I my concern this year is I think the smallest amount of money was put towards what we needed and so the money has continued and this is what people have to remember every time we take salaries up we have to continue to maintain those salaries and I think sometimes people don't understand that piece so they say oh you got $1 million. Well, that would give us all of this. Well, no, the $16
126million also includes maintaining what we gave last year. Um, and I haven't seen the numbers for this year, but last year when we looked at the um general budget funds, it was 80 um Stephanie may be able to help me. What was it? 80 80 what cents per dollar of general funds goes towards salaries and benefits? Or Todd may know right around 80 cents. So 80 cents of every dollar that comes in for us to spend, which is not just for salaries. Um 80 cents of every dollar is already going towards salaries and benefits. And we still have to keep the lights on and the air on and the water going and buses and schoolway cafe and all of those other things. So that's where the bulk of our money goes and I wish we
127had more of it and we could continue to raise people up but we have in seven years made more progress than we had made in the 32 years I was here in Valuchia County prior to that. So that's where I stand on things. So Mr. flow. >> So, the only thing I think that and I don't disagree with any of the things you just said. Um, I do agree with the part and and Christa, we this this legislation actually was presented by leak back when and the challenge was and and and again, I wasn't opposed to it. It was just because it's an educational record and these are massive hours of recordings that have to be maintained for so many years. the price tag on having that wiring and the was just crazy. And so
128it died then for that same reason. It was, you know, we're going to impose this on the school district. In fact, at the time they wanted to do Broward and Valuchia. Those were the two districts that they were looking at doing this with and it was the dollar figures was just insane. So that's that kind of put that on the kibos. The one thing I do want to see though is and we can work on two things and we're not we haven't been great at doing this is actually coming up with some appropriations requests which we again we we kind of have gone through um through lobbyists and all of that. You know, last year I was very disappointed that, you know, I don't even think they brought the schedule to us to say, "Hey
129guys, what do you need in your district?" Didn't feel like it. And so that's one of the reasons I was very critical about renewing that contract personally because I think that that's part of their job. And so I'd like to see maybe through our CTE, through our, you know, typically the, you know, the governor's red pen is very heavy. However, things that align with the speaker's priorities. So, you know, if it's workforce, if it, you know, those kinds of things, we know that they don't like paying for things that they think they pay for already. And so, what kind of great ideas can we come up with in our district that might survive the strike of the pen? And many years ago, I remember I had an appropriations request and it wasn't wasn't for a
130lot of money and it made it through the House and Senate and ended up getting vetoed. Um, but at least you don't you don't get a no if you don't ask. And so I I'm I'm hopeful that we could at least uh start putting together what are those things that we think will align with the priorities as well as um you know benefit our students that uh strategically we can ask for. And so that's the only uh thing that I that's not on that but you know that that work can go on before we have a lobbyist anyways. So that's just my thought. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Brosmer. >> This conversation reminded me of one um one thing that has come up. Uh I've been approached from several different quarters about how to
131integrate um information and maybe processes or something regarding human trafficking uh into the schools. And so I I don't know if any legislation may be appropriate for something like that, but I think we ought to look for opportunities uh to support it if if um there are suggestions that are made. >> Isn't that part of the first aid thing? Human trafficking, isn't that part of I think yeah, >> there are some things that have been done initiative includes included that >> Miss Goodrich. Um, so on the topic of appropriations, when I was at the schoolboard finance training, the second one, there was a presentation that was given that was phenomenal and I actually called Dr. Belgin afterwards and said, "We got to get this in front of our legislators because I don't know that they
132are all given or have the time to understand how our budget works because it is quite different than how cities and counties operate. And so before going into the legislative session, what I'd like to ask is if the board could put together a a meeting, a dinner, a whatever it is that we can invite our our all of our legislators to come and learn how our funding works because I think if they have a great understanding of it going into session, that will help them to make strong educational decisions. So, that would be something I would propose is perhaps we have some of our business partners sponsor it, welcome us, um, and invite our legislators to come and and have us do a presentation about how schoolboard finance works. Um, that'd be the one thing.
133And then, Mr. Cologne, um, I do hear you on the expense and I and I heard you as well, Chairman Haynes, that it it might be expensive. Um, I think with modern technology, with so much rapid advancement, I have to believe that there's a way this can be done. I do think we ask the state to fund um this because we've been asked of so much lately to fund on our own. So, I think we go to the state and I the the alternative cost is greater in my opinion. Um, and so I I think there's got to be businesses out there, and if you're listening, please come to Florida and tell us about you that can can do these recordings at a economically reasonable cost. So, I would still stand strong behind that. The
134other thing, and I did bring that this up at the workshop that we did last time, um I still would like to hear from some of our curriculum experts. What could we offer our legislators as far as making some changes to the progress monitoring assessment so that the data that we receive from it is more specific so that our teachers have the specific data they need to know the children have mastered this or they haven't mastered it because I actually think we have a group up there that's willing to listen um because they've heard from so many of their constituents that it's we're not opposed to progress monitoring and I like the progress monitoring model but we need the data that comes out of it to be able to drive our instruction and you know
135I would like to reduce amount of assessments that we're giving so that we have more time for instruction and practice but I don't think the only way we're going to do that is to get the state to be more specific in the way they're assessing so that that data can be used by teachers. Miss Brosmer, >> uh just a a procedural question. Um I'm assuming that the suggestions that we've made here are all going to go to FSBA. Um some of them may be more locally um pri more local priorities than than others, but how is that decision made by FSBA? how how do they go about choosing their their slate? >> So, they have a committee of schoolboard members, individuals that have agreed to be on that committee to go through all of the
136ones that are submitted by each of the 67 districts and they line them up for how many districts say this should be a priority. like we would not send them anything on an appropriation because that would be specifically to us. But they'll be looking to see where is their more common things and then that's what they would build their platform from and then we can be more specific with what we want. >> Thank you. >> And that's the committee you're on. The advocacy committee if I'm correct is actually the one that it comes to. Yeah. >> So I'm good. I'm good with all of the ones that you said. I don't disagree with them and I'm good with us submitting those to FSBA. I think they're all of benefit to every district in Florida. So,
137I'm good with that. All right. So, anything else anyone would like to add? All right. Then we're moving on to item 19.02. Any items from the superintendent, board members, or the school board attorney? Miss Thompson. >> Thank you. I just have one thing um because it's been mentioned here and there, but I just want people to hear it and know that it exists because on the front page of the Valuchia County website, there's a lot going on and thank you to the team that's put so much effort into that. But there's right at the top it says FAQ the facts and I think this is important for people to know because I'm sure I'm not the only one that gets calls and it's usually something that someone saw on social media and they're like, "Hey,
138what's the truth behind this? What can you tell me about this? What's going on at the district?" And I don't mind answering those phone calls. I don't mind answering those emails. However, sometimes I sleep and sometimes I'm with my kids having dinner and so I can't answer the phone 24/7. And that spot on the website, it's right there on the front page. You can click it. It's right at the top. Um, has a lot of answers to questions that come up that circulate. And I know that a lot of parents I talked to don't know exactly who to contact for this or that issue. And I think that's a great spot and a great resource for our community members and our parents. So, I just want everyone to know that that's out there. Thank you.
139>> You um Miss Brosmer, uh Celeste, would you do the honors, please? Um I prepared my comments, uh so that I make sure I stay in in my aotted time, but we're going to talk about the NDA. Uh on rare occasions, a school district might use an NDA. for example, to inform vendors of legal restrictions that uh may be unfamiliar to them, but they've never uh but NDAs are never used to go beyond the law. We did. This should have been brought to the board, but it wasn't. It's now up to the board to rescend and invalidate it because it's unconstitutional and violates several other statutory provisions under Florida law. You have before you in what's being passed out uh the NDA, a one-page overview of the issues and a legal memo with appropriate case
140law, as well as the language in the Florida Constitution that explicitly describes the process required to add a definition to the list of what is confidential in Florida's public records law. First, however, there is a cover page, which is a screenshot from the Daytona News Journal. a couple of weeks ago. It shows plainly that the photo I shared on social media was accurate and that I didn't doctor it. It has gotten back to me that some in district leadership have claimed I did, which is a good segue into the glaring obscenity of this NDA. The Florida Constitution details that in order to add a new category of what is confidential or exempt from public disclosure, a legislator must first file a bill that justifies its public purpose. And that bill has to be passed by
141a twothirds majority of both chambers. We've done none of that and are not even authorized to do it. but couched among legitimately confidential categories. This NDA adds five categories to those definitions. Budget, strategic plan, legal matters, non-public communications, or in other words, private conversations, and any other information the district may decide. We don't get to do this. either we rescend it or it will be rescended for us by a court or by the state and could result in sanctions. In addition to the constitution, we have violated Florida's legal doctrine against unconscionable contracts. The primary element of which is that one party has such a disproportionate advantage over the other party that the other party effectively has no choice but to sign like the position our employees were in. This is humiliating. The district has violated
142Florida law in a breach of public trust unlike anything I have ever witnessed in 30 years of working with Florida governments and agencies. Some things cannot be defended. And this is one of those things. It doesn't matter how many or how few were required to sign. No competent legal counsel would allow it, much less facilitate it. The NDA claims irreparable harm for any violation. But there's no such thing. This NDA is a naked admission that the district is trying to hide or control information. We board members have already been told that we have to pay for any public records we request. And now this. This action demands accountability. It violates Florida law, severely damages our public standing and reputation, breeds fear in our employees, and creates justifiable suspicion between the district, the public, and the
143state government. That breach of trust will be very difficult to repair. This board must begin to repair this damage by rescending this NDA effective immediately. We cannot allow the district we are charged to oversee to blatantly and deliberately violate the Florida Constitution and publicly humiliate Valuchia County schools. And we cannot legally justify allowing it to remain in effect. So, I move that the Valuchia County School Board resend and invalidate the non-disclosure agreement as written, effective immediately, and prohibit the use of non-disclosure agreements in the future. I apologize. I'm reading it. Um, good. Do you want to speak next or >> So, my question would be obviously that's not typically a common situation where you wouldn't have a motion. So I don't what's the what do I don't know the process here the procedure and so
144do we then does this now become a topic because it sounds like something we should >> only if there's a second >> becomes a topic only if there's a second >> are we allowed to make motions in our >> it was not it was not noticed >> and this document was not posted for anyone to see it. So my stance has always been if it's not been noticed and it's not been posted for everyone to read, then we don't vote on it because how are we going to do public input? No one knows that we're having a discussion even about this. But I defer to Dr. >> I agree with you 100%. It was not noticed. This is not on the agenda. But now if if we get someone to second it, we can perhaps
145move forward with this. But first, it's not noticed. It's not on the agenda. And usually, we do not vote on things where the public does not have the opportunity to give input with Let me finish with >> I was just going to amend my motion if that will help and and ask that uh this be added to the agenda for next for the next board meeting for consideration by the by the full board. um amend by motion. >> Okay. So, if you don't mind, may I ask a question to you? So, do you want this as an action item on the next board agenda or do you want this first as an item to be discussed at a workshop followed by I'm okay with it either way. Um, so if if um it fits better
146in a workshop, that's fine. But I do believe that it requires board action. So um I will defer >> requires board action for what? >> To resend the NDA uh because it it wasn't brought to the board, but no one else can resend it. It should have been brought to the board. I have no I think perhaps if we want to discuss this at a workshop to actually show Miss Browner where she's incorrect on several of her assertions here, we could do that. >> My next question um because I have not I was trying to speedread it but I have not read the entire thing. >> Did you consult with an attorney um to prepare this document? >> No. >> Okay. So you prepared this document on your own based on your research that you
147did on what the law states. >> Correct. I I did legal research and writing for for circuit and appellet courts for eight years. So this was a natural thing for me to do. And as an as an a certified attorney in the state of Florida, I've also done research on this and consulted with other districts and I have not seen any violation of Florida law with this. That's why I think I need to create a memo for the board and for you all at the next workshop to validate my point or the point of the NDA. >> And that's why we have a legal system because there are always dueling opinions. Okay. So, um, if I understand correctly, I I'm giving my personal opinion right now. I think I I'm open to having a discussion
148about this. Absolutely. But I will tell you that when I worked in the federal programs part of County Schools, I had to go to fraud training every year as part of my job role because of handling millions of dollars that I had to oversee in that role. And I actually had to sign an NDA for certain information that cannot be shared. For example, um part of what I had access to, which we're not using at the moment, but was the status of the students that qualified for free and reduced lunch and I had to sign that that information would not be shared. There are pieces and parts of things that happen within a school system where those items should not be shared. But I will tell you some of the pieces that I've seen happen
149over the years and why I support um and and I've not read the whole NDA, but I was asked about it. We pay individuals, employees in Valuchia County to create software systems specific to Valuchia County. We pay individuals to create curriculum maps or um learning maps or you know actually put together assessments and things and when we do that they're paid on Valuchia County time to do that and unfortunately I've witnessed over the years and this is why sometimes you need an NDA people then try to take the product that they created on Valuchia County time that they were paid for and they try to then sell it as their own product to another district, a state, whatever, to make money off of that. And I'm sorry, but we're not here to allow people in
150Valuchia County time to create systems and processes for us, whether it's in software or a better way to streamline um your storage of virtual information, and then allow them to go sell it as their own product. >> I do understand that. Uh there are and that's why I said there are a number of things that are listed in the NDA that are appropriately confidential. The and when you were describing having worked for the federal government, they get to do that and the state government gets to do it. We don't. and and I um with regard to the to the computer stuff uh that was not one of the things I mentioned that uh where it's a new definition but that whole first page is definitions and that's what I was looking at the things that
151are not currently in Florida law or in federal law that we are we are not allowed to keep from the public. And so, um, I said I didn't I didn't consult with an attorney. I had conversations with attorneys, with legislators, with a uh with current and former uh public uh employees, whether they were staff or elected officials, no one's ever heard of doing anything like this by a school school district. And so that was why I raised it. >> Okay. So, let me clarify. I was working for Valuchia County Schools in the federal grants program. Okay. Which covers title one part AD title two, title three, title four, title nine. So I wasn't working specifically for the federal government. I was in the federal grants program that's a part of Valuchia County Schools. And yes,
152we had to sign things because there's student information that is confidential. And what the only nicest way I can say this is what people think should be common sense doesn't appear to be common at times. People don't understand that you can't share information and my understand and I have a question for you Dr. Bogwin. This was only individual. Okay. No, it was I was under the impression the only individuals that signed this were individuals at the cabinet level andor higher level district um administrators that are overseeing some of these projects. I mean I personally worked with the software team to create software a few years ago prior to this job. Um it was my understanding this was not school-based. >> No. >> Teachers, paris, secretaries, any of those individuals. >> I believe well as you
153know in context we have about 8,200 employees. 8,200 employees. And I believe it's it's a probably 100 or less. >> Correct. >> And these are because of the facet of their job and areas for which they're exposed to. as you and I know and several of you here that we have had incidences of employees who've left and taken our software um to take with them to other locations. We've had employees that have worked in in the uh legal department and after they left they discuss cases and specific information regarding so failure to act also when you're seeing such trailing events taking place could put our organization at risk. I know that there have been many questions that were asked of the legal team that we have provide briefing. our general counsel has contacted many districts
154including Miami Dade and a few others. So this is this is not unheard of. This is just because of the how sensitive some of that information is. And you know, you can't sit at the dinner table or with friends at at a you know, restaurant or whatever and you just discuss certain information, especially now with with the Family Emergency Rights and Privacy Act, an active group of of advocacy that's taking place for violation of such. So anyway, I am fine if if that's the choosing of the council and yourself to put it as part of of a workshop or however you choose. But I believe that we have provide ample information regarding this. It's just that it was not um processed uh you know to in a way to seek true understanding why it was
155taking place. So, >> so is your motion for a workshop or for the board meeting? >> Well, um, ultimately it will need to come to a board meeting, but I'm okay with doing a workshop first if if that's if if the board thinks that's their first choice. >> Miss Thompson, what is what's your choice? >> I think that we should have a workshop to discuss it because I think this could be a lengthy discuss discussion. It doesn't have to be, but I think that we might come to a conclusion at a workshop that might make a board meeting go a little bit faster. Mr. Cologne, >> so my question is, so this was executed under the organizational rights of the superintendent. It's not something that came to the board. It's not something that the board
156approved. It's something within the rights of the superintendent. And one of the things we're seeing in our country as it is is everyone's figuring out who can do what and when and how much authority do they need. And in this case, the superintendent has the authority organizationally. And so I don't I believe they've consulted uh legal. I believe there are many other districts that have these as well. Uh I don't believe it's under the authority of the board. I think this is organizational. And because I believe so, I don't know that we even have the ability to resend this without it being infringing on the organizational rights of the superintendent. And so that we may have the discussion, but it would be for nothing if we don't have the legal right to uh infringe on
157operations. And so, you know, in in a world of, and I've said this, I'm in the world of healthcare, okay? Where everybody wants to sue, everybody wants to claim attorney, which is very concerning to me that that that that's even come up tonight because usually we stop talking whenever the a word comes out. Sorry, Mr. Evans. Um however I I truly believe that um this was done under the authority of organization of the superintendent and regardless of what we think I don't know that we have the ability to uh resend that. Uh and so that is uh that's my concern is yeah we can have the discussion but for what if we don't have the ability as a board to resend that. So thank you >> Miss Prosmer. I think this is a great example
158of the complication of having the same attorney for both the board and the district. There is a natural tension between the two. They don't always necessarily agree. And for something like this, how how do you ask the same the same attorney to to sort both of those out? It's like a trying to do an amicable divorce and and you reach an impass and you can't have the same attorney. um there is nowhere for me to go as a board member and get an objective opinion, an objective legal opinion if if um Dr. Evans is effectively representing both sides or of the of the function of the district. So, I'm just mentioning that when when this decision was made um regarding your position before I even got on the board, uh I remember being at a
159a a candidate forum and we were asked about that decision. I was the only one who said I didn't think it was a good idea and I still don't. Um but I think this is a an example of of some of that complication. Having said all of that, um, if there's a consensus for a workshop, then I would appreciate that being scheduled. >> All right. Um, Miss Goodrich. >> Okay. So, was my I have a few questions. So, was the legal memorandum written by you or an attorney? >> Me. >> Okay. Is that common? I don't know. I'm not an attorney. >> It's common for me. >> Is it Is it doesn't But is it common practice for an >> It's usually the attorney who attorney would write it. >> So, I would just say
160perhaps in the future there are many attorneys that would talk to us in the community. So, and I know you have friends that are attorneys. Perhaps maybe that would be an avenue. Um but my I hear you, Mr. Cologne. I I agree with you that if this is under the superintendent's purview, then um you know, I don't I don't particularly like um stepping outside of that. However, she has shared that she's fine with it. And additionally, if it's if it's going to be a situation where, you know, is the transparency in question? I don't think transparency is truly in question, but I think for some people it feels like it is. And so, we do need to address that because that is the community that we serve. And so, if there is a question of
161that, if there's a um belief that we're doing something under the table, I don't believe we are. And so, let's just have the workshop, share the information, and that way it clears it up. So that would be my opinion on it. >> I would like to ask our chief of staff to come up because I know that there were several incidences that had occurred here and um our chief of staff worked very closely with our legal department and he's going to give you a um a sequence of uh steps that we have taken. He will not be able to narrate definitively to share with you details about some of the the situations that we've had but also the consultation that took place and the research behind and some of the the legal ramifications also that
162embeds in when it comes to interdep interdep departmental working togethers different departments working together. >> Correct madam superintendent. So first of all before this was done as um Dr. Dr. Evans alluded to, Dr. Evans and his team did consult other attorneys in other school districts, and it is not uncommon for NDAs in the state of Florida. There are other districts. I don't have them at the tip of my tongue, but it is a practice that has been accomplished in the state. We have had multiple instances of the course that's been brought to our attention of information that should not have been shared publicly uh being shared in improper ways that people have access to sensitive information. I'll give you a ve this is a very simplistic answer. So what somebody makes as a salary, somebody
163that works in payroll over in Miss Workman's shop. So we are public employees and so that's publicly identifiable information. People can find out how much money we make. But it doesn't mean the lady in payroll or the gentleman in payroll can just tell her friend how much you make. There's a process to go through those things. So it was really to tighten up some of our controls that we've had. And this was already mentioned and there's specific examples that we won't say publicly, but some of the systems that we developed here in Valuchia County that were the way of our work that were taken from this county and utilized in other places. We know that to be factual. So, this was a way to protect that. I can tell you that we also got inquiries
164about these things throughout the course of time and so we've been transparent. Miss Thompson mentioned this, but a while back we had inquiries. And if you go to the facts page, there's more than two responses to these issues. One is a series of questions that we received from a public request from a actual media entity that you can see those responses right there on the web page and then you'll see an opinion that Dr. Evans and his team put together where they quote some of the Florida statutes and some of the rationale behind this. Can you share a little bit also with HR for example and some of the information that they are privy to when it comes to tax and >> yeah I mean another >> yeah another thing that people don't think about
165so when you hear financial in this it seems to be financial was the word that we were hearing constantly about what what is this financial that people aren't allowed to disclose. It has nothing to do what's publicly available financially and Mr. CE can speak to this better than anybody and I've heard him say it on multiple occasions that we have gone through the auditor general. We have had full audits. We've had a uh Mr. CE how long was the auditor general here the last time he was in Valish County? >> How long? >> Yeah, six months. >> Six months going through our financials. So, it's very transparent. But the thing when you hear financials is this. Does somebody who's not being reminded that they don't have the ability to share this able to share simplistic
166things like how much you contribute to a 403b? that's nobody else's business but your own or how many dependents do you claim on your taxes. Simplistic things like that I think were more of the effort, not big financial decisions concerning the school district when it comes to budget. That's Mr. Ciss's department and we're very transparent with that. So I that's also been a little if I'm being frank that's also been a little frustrating for us to see that quite frankly that there's this implied notion that we're doing something financially untored or something like that and it's just simply untrue. You can't be a public school system in the state of Florida and not be totally transparent. And we are 100% transparent. And that's something that I know Mr. CE and his team take very uh
167seriously. And I also will tell you this and I know this and I won't I won't uh betray anything that I shouldn't, but the superintendent was thoughtful about this. It wasn't an intent to stifle anybody. And when you see Dr. Evans response that he put, it's clearly articulated that this does not prohibit anybody from being a whistleblower or talking about anything that's inappropriate or anything like that. It's really to protect the way of our work, our intellectual property and to remind people. Sometimes as human beings, we get comfortable. We have to be reminded there's certain things that we should not we should think before we share certain things. >> That's all that was the intent. That's that was my interpretation. and I think probably everybody on cabinet and and Dr. Evans team when we heard
168this information >> I'd like to add um I'd like to talk for a minute about what you said about Dr. Evans. There's actually three attorneys on staff here in Valuchia County Schools. And when we had an outside person coming in um to be just the attorney for the school board, it was costing us an astronomical amount of money to and the and as far as as far as calling that person, the minute you called that individual, the clock started ticking. So most of us were not calling because it was going to continue to raise the cost of what we were spending money outside of. So we looked at other districts and the model that they have set up is the model that we started with. So Dr. Evans first and foremost is a schoolboard attorney.
169But if you look at Bvard because we're following the same model that Bvard has, he though oversees the entire legal team. He has the experience to do this. He has the knowledge. He came with a wealth of already having worked in the education field as an attorney at the university level. Then um Miss Crims is actually the attorney for Dr. Balgaban. She's the staff attorney, which is what we had before. And now we have, which we added a few years ago, but we have a new one. We have the attorney for the ESC Department of Justice piece. So, we still have the same number of attorneys because we used to only have two in-house and then the one outside. We now have three. And I will tell you that Dr. Evans is one of the
170most ethical people I have ever met. He's honest. He's truthful. He's ethical. And he is not going to do anything that would cause him to be disbarred. And And I truly feel I have never asked him a question that I haven't felt comfortable and he will even collect information for me from other districts when I ask. And so I'm sorry that you're struggling with talking to him. I don't have a problem talking to him and I feel like I get honest answers and he will even tell me where you know if he consulted with somebody else where it came from so that I if I wish to follow up I can follow up there. So I think we need to move away from the premise that we just have a single attorney. We have three
171attorneys here and Miss Crimson is the one that reports directly to staff, but he pretty much is doing what our other attorney was doing. He's also overseeing all the lawsuits that come in. And trust me, I know how many there are because they're all served to me and I come and see him all the time and hand over the lawsuits. And then he has to determine can they be handled in-house which is we've reduced a lot of our expenditures by doing that or he has the list of the approved attorneys and what their specialty areas are and he makes a decision of who's going to take that on because ultimately all litigation has to be dealt with by the school board. Go ahead. My only uh comment is that we've been told from the beginning
172from the time I got on the board that we do not have attorney client privilege and if he's the board attorney it follows that we would. So that's where I think some of the >> that is that is incorrect. >> I have a question. How long do we discuss without Robert's rules? >> Like with there's not a second. How long does a discussion go when there's not a second? if we're following Robert's rules. >> For the vote. >> I'd like to call for the vote. >> Second. >> Okay. So, the motion then is to hold a workshop. >> Call for the vote. >> Oh, >> made a motion to call for the vote. We have to agree on whether or not to stop discussion and vote. >> Call the question. >> So, >> call the
173question. Call for the vote. I'm not sure which one it is. >> Call the question. >> So, each person needs to >> vote. vote if we're calling the question or not. >> The vote, right? Do we want to just go straight to a decision? I seconded it. So now we call a vote >> individually. >> Yay. I second it. >> I'm a yay. Yay. Two. >> Yay. >> All right. Okay. >> On the table. Do we have a second? And to clarify what the motion is, >> that's what I was trying to make sure is for the workshop. >> Your motion. Yeah. For work. For the workshop. >> Um, okay. Then I I guess I'll figure out the wording. Um, I move that we schedule um a discussion about this issue at the next workshop.
174And and that's all. >> I'll second. >> Okay. We'll call for the vote. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right, then. That part is done. Do you have anything else you'd like to discuss? All right. Anyone else have anything they would like to discuss? >> I was next, but >> yes, Mr. Superintendent, may I share one one clarifying point? I apologize. >> Absolutely. >> Um, I heard it mentioned that um sometimes we would have to charge board members for information. That is not true. any board member that requests any information from us, we're happy to provide that in your official capacity as a board member. >> That was part of the presentation in the um Gray Robinson uh PowerPoint that was done. I actually had to go back
175and and look at it to make sure that I understood what he what he said. and he cited um he cited an attorney general uh opinion that said that that board members are no different from any other member of the public and that if we want a document we have to pay for it. >> That's correct. >> That was that was part of his presentation. So that's why I made that comment. >> Thank you. >> Can I Sorry, Mr. Goodrich. Can I and just Well, Mr. Cash is here. Uh, and so I think as a board, and this comes up in Deltona a lot, if we as a board want something, we can ask for it. No individual board member can request endless documents. Uh, and and this happens a lot in Deltona. I love
176my city, but where you'll have one commissioner who just asks for bogs down the whole clerk's office asking for documents. And so the my understanding is if we as a board one body say yes Dr. B we would like this document. So that gets proposed here we say yes Dr. we'd like this document then we as a board but as individuals if I wanted to see a bunch of public record or documents I would have to pay as an individual for and that's what I would expect and so um only reason I'm pretty versed on this is because Deltona is rough when it comes to this and so um this comes up a lot there and it really is designed so it doesn't get taken advantage of so um just I'd expect to have to
177pay for public records if I made requests as such. >> I would say the things we've been asked for have not been a burden or overly voluminous. It's very simple things that are easily obtainable to give. That's typically what we do. >> Do those get shared with all of us when they're responded to an individual? >> Many times they do depending on what the particular item is they're asking. >> We turn that into all times. >> Yeah, >> fair enough. because we are nobody as individuals. We are as a board and so you know it and I think >> Jamie all the time >> whatever one gets everybody gets it. So >> thank you. >> Sorry. Thank you. >> You're fine. You're fine. I appreciate the clarification. That actually was helpful. Um, so what I
178have is that first of all, I was able to go out and chalk paint with Horizon. Um, their PTA before the first week of school is really fun. But what I learned when I was there is unfortunately Horizon has never had a hotel motel partner. And so obviously we know Bob Davis um has left a major void. But I do want to just while I um maybe have people listening say if there's any hotel motel out there that wants to adopt Horizon Elementary School, they don't have a hotel or motel that's adopted them. So that's the first thing. Second thing is a big shout out to all of our mentors that have signed up and I want to commend the district. I worked really hard to try to get it um the mentor training available
179online so that people that were not able to drive to a certain location could be trained and that happened. So, thank you all for that. Um, I know that there's been a great tremendous response and I hope in um all you guys schools that you let them know that they can now do training um not coming in person which is great. And also amazing news on the workbased learning. Big um shout out to everyone that's involved in that. My sister called me the other night and she said, Christa, her daughters are seniors and she said, "If we had had work work-based learning, it would have saved so many kids that didn't know what they do or don't want to do from having the opportunity to at least test it out." So, that's fantastic. Also, thank
180you to um the district for um listening to my ideas and things that about um our ESC kids and let's continue working on that road. But I want ESC parents to know that there are a lot of things that we're working on behind the scenes to try to push Felucia further. And um I think that's basically it. That's all. So thank you. Have a great week, >> Mr. Cologne. So I want to start with some of the facts. In our district, we have 2,639 ESOL students, 1,800 who are in elementary school. In Deltona, 40% of families are Hispanic. This is not an exception. This is who we are. Now, let me be clear on the these are not just numbers on the page. These are children, boys who translate for their parents at every parent
181conference or doctor's appointment. And that was me growing up. My parents didn't speak English. little girl who stands and puts her hand on her heart every morning, stumbling through the pledge of allegiance, learning one new English word every time. These are our students. Let's not forget that our superintendent was an Esau student. She knows what it's like to walk into a classroom where English is unfamiliar and now leads this district with vision and strength as was very witnessed today. This is what happens when we welcome and invest in children. They rise. Deeply troubled to see words publicly said that sent the opposite message. Words that suggest that children whose families don't speak English are outsiders. Words that don't reflect who we are or we who we should be as a district. Let's be honest, when
182board members use words like that, it doesn't just hurt feelings. It hurts children. It undermines that trust and it tells thousands of families in our community that they're not wanted and that is unacceptable. I want to say this without hesitation. Our Esau students are not a burden. They are not a problem to fix. They're an asset. They're a blessing. They're living proof of resilience and the promise of our future. And if anyone believes otherwise, then hear me clearly. It's not the children who don't belong in our schools. It's that way of thinking that doesn't belong in leadership. This board has a choice. We can stay silent and complicit or we can stand up right here, right now, and send a message to every family that you are welcomed. you are valued and that you have
183a home here. And to the little girl who's learning the pledge every single day, we owe it to you to stand with you. And we have not had it with you, Miss Brosmer. Your words were very hurtful. >> Why? because I was looking for a nail tech who spoke English so that I could explain what I needed. >> Thank you. >> Is that what this has all been about? >> Again, your words are very hurtful. >> Oh, I I had the worst manicure I've ever had because I couldn't explain what I wanted and so I needed someone who spoke English. I was just looking for a nail tech. That's all it said. And my guess is you never saw it. That's it. Thank you. >> Miss Thompson, do you have anything? >> No. I had
184a couple things. Um, real quick, I will tell you that I really want to give a shout out once again to the Orman Beach um, leadership class of 21 for taking on the Orman Beach Middle School um, FFA program. That teacher that is teaching that this year has opened with 189 students. And that was needed because we have that program at Seabbze that exploded in just a short period of time. And the fact that they raised the money and that futures then was able to do a matching grant and put $17,600 into that program at that school. I think what they'll start looking for next um is possibly an elementary school that will feed so that we we can have something similar to what we have on this side where we have George Marks feeding
185into Dan Middle and Dan Middle feeding into Dant High. But um I got invited to attend it the other day and it was an honor to attend it and just to see the excitement and the kids had already put together some of their compost and things like that and you know that's what we're here for. We're here to support our students. I also want to say um thank you to Dr. Bagamman because I lived through the period in Valuchia County Schools where all of the vocational ed, the workforce education, whatever you wanted to call it, it was closed. Um we stopped doing that and they sold all of the equipment off because when I came to Valuchia, we had all those programs. Then under a former superintendent's leadership who believed every student would go to
186a college or university, they cut closed those programs down. And as we've heard from our workforce, we need students that want to go into electrician and HVAC and automotive and plumbing and all of those things. And so I am very thankful because you and I had a lot of conversations about this when we were running back in 2018 and that was to bring those opportunity back back for our student. I I'll never stand in the way of a child that wants to go to college or university but that's not what every child wants to do or how they want to go about it. And so thank you. And I do want to ask for appropriations to continue to grow the programs that we have here so we can meet the needs of our community. Um,
187Miss Bromer, you just made a statement about what Mr. Cologne was talking about that um, he couldn't have seen what you were talking about. So what I need you to understand is you have blocked me on social media. I believe you may have blocked all schoolboard members on social media. However, when you're an elected official, um, if you are going to use your personal email, your personal Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, any of those types of communication to talk about what you do as an elected official, where you stand on things, um, what you think of how a vote went, what you think of other board members. You actually once you start using any personal page as an elected official that crosses the line. That's why we all have district pages in which to post things on.
188So actually by blocking all of the board members from being able to see the things you're posting. And here's what I have to say. You can block us, but trust me, as soon as you write about if you were to go out here tonight and write about what happened at the board meeting or you write about it tomorrow or you give an opinion based on a comment that I said or that I'm not doing my job um correctly, I hear about it. I get a screenshot. Okay? So just because you have personally blocked us, it doesn't mean that that information is not coming to us or maybe somebody sees it and you've written about me and they send it to Mr. Cologne. So there is nothing. This is what I say all the time about
189social media and you will see on social media I I don't discuss what goes on in this boardroom. I don't discuss litigation. I don't discuss opinions of what I feel or think about people because nothing is a secret on social media and it's going to stay there forever and follow all of us no matter what we do. So I try to set an example for our students because trust me employers nowadays look at their social media to determine whether or not they even want to interview them to hire them. So yeah, I personally did not receive a text on the comment you made about the nail tech, but I had enough other people that are friends of mine or former colleagues or whatever that saw it that they rolled and I I said, "Don't send
190it to me. I I don't want to read it." And I hear what you were expecting from it. But that's the other thing about texting and social media and all of even emails. People perceive what it is. They put their own tone to what they think you're saying. And you know, it's it's no different than what Miss Thompson faced, if you don't mind me saying, last fall over some comments that she made that then blew up in the community. And so I understand what you were looking for. However, we teach a wide variety of children in Valuchia County. And as elected officials, we do have to think about what we're going to say. And trust me, we've all made a mistake at some point in time. But I will tell you in Lee County, there
191was a school board member there that just repeated a comment about one of the ethnicities of children in that area that someone else said and it it basically destroyed her career. >> I'm I'm sorry I have to interrupt you. The only thing that post said was in search of a nail tech who speaks fluent English. That was all it said and it was because I had ha I have not been able to find anyone where I could have a conversation that that was a personal request on my part. It said nothing about children. It said nothing about any ethnicity. It said nothing about any anything except I needed to be able to have a conversation with the person who's providing a service. But with regard to blocking the board members, I was advised to do
192that when I was elected because it prevented any possibility of a Sunshine Law violation by any member replying back to me and and frankly I don't usually discuss what happens in board meetings. I will share generic things like uh memes and discussions and articles and things like that. But even if I do, the whole idea was to to prevent any interaction and and I was advised to do that. If I should friend everybody, then I'll friend everybody. I I don't care either way, but because I was advised to ad um pre try to prevent any any Sunshine Law violation by interaction, that was why I did it. >> And Miss Browmer, that is not the case. If you use your public your private page to discuss business that's related to you as a school board
193member, you are not allowed to block anyone, nor can you delete comments. I don't know who gave you that advice, but um that's not the case. >> Okay. As long as everybody knows not to respond to anything I say. >> I I don't I typically don't respond to anything on social media. >> I know you don't. >> I don't. I wish people a happy birthday or a happy anniversary or tell them I'm praying for them if they ask for prayers, but that's pretty much the extent of what I do. Um so I think we put in a time limit. So, I wanted to say, can we can I move to adjourn the meeting? >> Yes. >> Y >> All right. At this time, it is 7:42 p.m. and the meeting is adjourned.