001Good afternoon. Welcome to the Orange County School Board's work session which has been scheduled for today, Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, for the purpose of discussing policy ECA, building and ground security policy IHAM, local school wellness. not a policy but discussion on a student on the board and agreements regarding the potential conversation of Orange I mean sorry potential conversation we've had a lot of conversations we're way beh past potential conversations potential conversion of Orange Center Elementary School between the school board of Orange County and Lyft Orlando. And let me we're going to start with the pledge of allegiance in just a minute, but also Dr. best as as we as we do that if you'll give some thought to your position on moving lift to the beginning since we have guests here. All right. Thank you.
002All right. Let me do a quick roll call. Well, I don't Let's see. At this moment, we have everyone here except for member Salamanca who won't be joining us and member Felder who I believe will be joining us as far as I or is she on the line? Okay. All right. She will be here. So, with that, if you will join us in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. Oh, I did it backwards. I'm so sorry. Did I tell you? Did I tell you? Sorry. That's okay. Moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. And now for the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All
003right. are we okay? Oh, okay. We're we're among friends and including anybody who might be tuning in to Orange TV. I hope I can call you all friends. I am sorry about that little hiccup at the beginning. I mentioned to our vice chair a minute ago, I feel a little off. Like, so, there you go. So, we'll just bear please bear with me and let's get started. So, exciting exciting agenda in front of us. As I mentioned, we're going to move the lift conversation forward because that we're we're excited that you're here and we want to, you know, be conservative with your time. Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. very exciting indeed. Orange County Public Schools has had an incredible partnership with Lyft Orlando for many many years. I remember my
004first encounter with Lyft when I was an area superintendent and was very excited about that partnership and things that were happening in Orange Center and in the community. And then as deputy superintendent got to see that evolve. And now as superintendent what I've seen is just miraculous. the community really has been transformed, new housing, new businesses. the school has increased enrollment this year by over 90 students. and in an era when we are looking at declining enrollment, that is no small feat. And so today we are going to have a conversation about next steps or possible next steps with our incredible partners from Lyft. And so I'm going to invite them up to the table and really want this to be conversational. Eddie is going to be able to give us a little bit of
005a background and then talk about what the future looks like or could look like and then we'll have an opportunity to just dialogue and ask questions. So, I'm going to turn it over to you and thank you so much for what you and Lyft have already done for our children at Orange Center. it's it's truly a blessing. No, thank you so much. Really appreciate your words, Dr. Vasquez. Thank you to the entire board. Thank you, Madam Chair. It's been one of the greatest privileges of our lives. Honestly, I know I speak for my colleagues that are here, for our board members, to be involved in serving the most important people in our community, which are children and families and the parts that often get forgotten. And so, it's been an incredible journey the last 13
006years now since we started around the notion that it was not enough to just support great causes in our community, but if we could get the private sector and the business community focused on actually locking arms alongside our nonprofits and resident leaders and educators in our neighborhoods that have received the least amount of investment over time, we could produce a different result. And it is, this year has been a significant milestone for us. I think most of you have heard me report by now what's been the happy arrival of well over $120 million of investment of the knowledge of having cut childhood poverty in half in our neighborhood over that period of time. And even just yesterday I got an email in my inbox about a couple who we did not realize were married at
007first, but one graduated our healthcare training program. her husband just graduated from our construction program. Both of them have landed new jobs with promising incomes and long-term careers. To have families like that, experience new futures be the kinds of homes that our children are going home to from the classroom makes all the difference in the world. and it's just a great reminder of how and why we started. We saw classrooms where teachers were doing extraordinary superhuman work. where kids are being exposed to opportunity and inspired for the future, but where the neighborhood around it through the absentee slum lords, through poor management of large properties really make creating unstable situations for children. And in a neighborhood like where Orange Center Elementary is located, it's most ironic of all because you have these generations of proud
008families and people have a great positive connection with that place to have to deal with the impacts of poor management of public property and the lack of investment. So today even as we celebrate how far we've come the thought has been to really engage in how we could do more how in the same way that we've tried to pursue significant catalytic investment in the categories of housing, access to health care, early childhood education, employment. could we do even more together around education? the Orange Center Elementary is a historic and beloved school in the neighborhood. in our partnership together since 2020 as part of our existingou we've already discussed the investment of additional housing which we now have a exciting pipeline of hundreds of new homes over the next few years in that area immediately surrounding
009the school and the school zone and the hope of expanding the school's capacity and partnership with you to go all the way to 8th grade. our college scholarship program that focuses on neighborhood children going to Jones picks them up at that point to follow them through to successful completion, graduation, and college completion which is a really big deal for us because 70% of firstgen college students do not finish college regardless of how much money they get in scholarships. usually not because they can't cut it, but because of the pressures at home, which our model is uniquely designed to address because when mom calls and a bill is due or there's crisis at home, they can send them our way because we probably already know where mom lives and we're probably already working with her and
010their siblings. and the idea of letting our kids set be set free to pursue a greater future. That's the kind of cradle to career partnership that we want to bring to life. And we think that this opportunity of partnering in a narrative that's about OCPS's innovation approach to education to engage in a public private partnership like this one that is not a traditional charter school or even a traditional conversion under the new legislation. It's about locking arms together. we want to sign up to greater accountability and transparency than you would have from any other charter school operator in the district because we want this to be your story. And the reason for that is if this is a story about OCPS's innovative leadership and partnership in education at a time like this then it doesn't
011have to happen only in one place then we can sort really open the doors and invite more public private collaboration from the business community from philanthropy in other parts of our city that needs it. and we think that this is something honestly our country is looking for that the nation is looking for innovation in this space for the well-being of our children. So, I've been super grateful. all of you have been helpful both in one-on-one conversations and as a board to really enlighten and provide wisdom for us. I'm extra grateful for John John Pomearini and his work really in legal counsel on how do we do something that is fair and appropriate and in line with the mission of the district but also takes us to new grounds together. we have a memorandum of a
012of agreement that we've now crafted together with the idea of capturing that. Obviously, that will still be followed with the actual contract and a number of other legal documents. But this sort of sets in motion the opportunity for us to announce such a partnership with this pilot site at Orange Center Elementary. let me pause there and invite questions, discussions. I'm so grateful for the chance to have this conversation with you all. Superintendent, do you want to May I am so sorry. I didn't properly introduce you. usually somebody catches it besides me, but I apologize. This is Eddie Morton, the CEO from Lyft Orlando, and then I'll let you introduce the wonderful people that are here with you. My apologies. No. superintendent does this for me. See, if I'm running a little late, she'll just pause
013outside so that she's a second behind me. I told you I was a little off. She just she just faked all of that. Okay. Well, thank you. Forgive me for feeling so comfortable. I didn't catch it. You guys are like family. Absolutely. And maybe it's just the excitement of having you guys here. And I mean that sincerely. Thank you so much. That means the world. I'm I'm joined with great gratitude by Mark Shamley, our VP of community impact, as well in the audience, Lynn Thompson, our director of education, and Jarvis Jarvis Wheeler, who has been our director for this partnership and our collaboration at Orange Center Elementary. Y and I'm just at his wing man, so Okay. Okay. He will do for you for me what the superintendent does for you, Chair. Well, we have
014several members of the ward who who want to speak, but, I don't often do this, but I hit my button really early because, as I was listening to you talk, I feel like you've been like watching all of our meetings and every conversation we've had about charter schools or alternative schools or anything along those lines. because you hit all the key points and one of the one of the things that we've struggled with as a board believing that transparency is critically important but it hasn't been the case in terms of what's required of charter schools or public schools who receive funding and private schools I'm sorry that receive their funding indirectly and it's not just about they should do what we should do it's we should all do what's best and I really think transparency
015if it's needed anywhere. It's education. Absolutely. And there's, you know, every single public meeting, every single document, every single text that takes place between cities, counties, state government is a public record. And so most of up here, us up here, I shouldn't speak for everybody, but I know most of us believe that our parents have a right to know and that the information shouldn't just be something they have to drag out, but it ought to be forward thinking. And so really excited to hear that word. and the other was your approach towards this partnership. I I wish Jeb Bush was sitting in the room and I will probably follow up with a phone call to him because he kind of kicked off this whole concept of charter schools and he explained it then and we've
016had several conversations since and he continues to say it was about this great experiment and to see if you let the private sector take some role but have less restraints less and more flexibility what would happen and if the byproduct of that is better schools then it will be an opportunity for all schools to benefit from that. So a great experiment and an opportunity to see if there's a better way to do things with the goal of of public education the broader sense of it following. So that's what we're certainly looking forward to here and there is zero doubt in my mind that we have the partners at the table that will do just that. So we look forward to we hope that we have something to teach you. We certainly believe we do after
017so many years, but we also look forward to what you learn and what you're able to teach us. So with that, let me turn to member Douglas. Member Douglas, you're recognized. Okay. good afternoon and always so nice to see you here right here with us today. I just I just want to echo chair that's all right. Anyway, yeah, chair is good. Okay. I just wanted to say I love your approach to partnering with us OCPS and doing it so flawlessly and doing in a way that it's not, you know, right to your face and it's not aggressive or it's not abrasive. You have done a great job bringing that partnership together little by little and building a great actually a great relationship with Orange County Public School. And I wish that we can reproduce this
018to all the charter schools around us and make really great things. away from that I have seen what you've done at Lyft and I was really awed by what you've done amazing what you've done bringing services health care to the people in that area housing to the people in that daycare in the people in that area schools that are great for the kids to be ready for elementary school you know and bringing all these wonderful for things that you have done around this area of Orange Center. I used to work at Washington Shores and I'm telling you it was not it was looking nothing like what we see right now. The first time I went I was like what is this? Am I in the right area? Because I wasn't quite sure. But thank you
019so much for you know bringing making that big difference in Orange County because Orange Center is belongs to all of us in Orlando. We love Orange Center. We love that area. It's almost the heart of Orange of Orlando. And for you to have come and change it and make it so different and so affordable for the people who need it and have jobs for the people who need it, it's really wonderful. Thank you so much. I just now that I butter you up and flattered you and I just want to say what would you do for the west west side of district 4 because I think great things can be done in that area as well. And I just appreciate and I know that in all part of Orange County, we have pockets of people
020in poverty that we don't realize because we surrounded by beautiful homes. And in the midst of these beautiful homes, if you look really really closely, you would realize that there are people that are really needy. And I it's almost emotional to me because one you know I was canvas I was canvasing and campaigning I discovered this area in winter garden and I was I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. And that was among all these beautiful millions of dollars houses and right in that little area. It was it was incredible to see something like that. So, it's been my heart to talk to you about this and bring partners with us and make things happen and I will keep on keep on keep on going on until
021something is done. Thank you so much for everything that you've done. Thank you. Thank Thank you, Member Douglas. And I should have you know, for us, this is a partnership with Orange County Public Schools. and we realize that really being stewards of what we've learned and what we can do here and to emphasize the chair's words, you can have flexibility with accountability. we want to prove that. We want to demonstrate that and then make it much more easier for us to see this happen in other places that are so worthy. Thank you. And thank you, member Douglas. Member Faron, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. so again, I'm sure all of us are going to say the same things, but really really excited that you guys are here. just watching what you've done and the
022partnership that you've already had with OCPS is really incredible. one thing that I do see when I go in schools, you know, as as a school board, we're trying to help with education side, make sure kids are reading, writing, know their math, get those scores up. But we do see that there is a greater need outside of the school system. which really is if we start going into that, it makes us you know, it pulls us kind of weaker, if you will. and so you got to focus on do 100% on what we've been called to. And that's where I love this partnership because you guys come in and you say, "Hey, I we also see the need for the housing to make sure kids have stability and the med, you know, medical side of
023it." and so as we're partnering that public private partnership is really huge. so just thank you for seeing the need and then not just seeing it and going well my family doesn't have that need so I don't need to worry about it but seeing the need and saying what can I do to help change it? And so really you're helping change generations. so I really I appreciate you all. this Lift Orlando has been really lifting the community. I love the name. I think the whole this partnership is going to be incredible. I love the K8 model. I'm a huge proponent of that. My kids grew up in a K8 school and really it makes a huge difference when middle schoolers aren't having to like kind of fight for like, you know, status, if you will,
024in a new middle school. they're just going back to their same school and being a part of it and now learning how to you know the partner with the younger grades and how to be mentors to the younger kids and you're kind of teaching that already within the school model and then outside of the school they're getting that mentorship as well and so I just think it's a really holistic approach. really excited to just continue the discussion but thank you again for being here and for being willing to partner indeed. Thank you. Thank you, Member Verant. Member Vanos, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. And just want to agree with so many of the things member Ferrant said just about the importance of recognizing that, you know, the supports around the school are so critical
025to what a school needs and so and you have done such an amazing job in Westlake. So, thank you for that. it really is critical. And also like the idea, I know parents are very supportive of the K8 model, so I know that will make people very happy. I do have and I also wanted to to recognize that as we discuss this sort of like charter partnership, we're not talking about just for the benefit of people who may be listening in, we're not talking about some like franchise operation that is like not for profit but really for profit. and kind of this rubber stamping kind of charter school situation. that we do have some good homegrown charters in Orange County and definitely would would would would put you all in that category. So, just want
026to kind of clear that piece up. but I do have some questions as I have brought up before and they really revolve around governance and really what is the partnership, you know, true aspect like between OCPS and Lyft as reflected in this agreement. So, I don't know if the I'm not really sure exactly where the best place to start is, but I think I want to go to the I guess first I'll go to the accountability piece. And I see written in the agreement there's a requirement for an every five-year high stakes review. And I'm just curious what that looks like. It's the same comprehensive review schedule that you would have in a charter school. In our case, however, it would be additional like we would be providing regular check-ins. Our staff, we want to
027have in regular conversations with you all. What we wanted to stipulate there is that there would be no less because it's this partnership. We wanted to air on the other side that the very least you would have the regular assessment that happens in a charter school environment that looks at not only what how are we doing financially, are we performing academically, are there any ways in which we're doing anything that might not be unlawful? Those all trigger the power for OCPS to say, "Hey, this is not working out or this is not meeting our standards and the ability to then pull the plug or put the school on schedule for termination if that was the case." so the goal is that we want you to still have the ability to do that. if I my
028entire board were here, they would all agree we want to be held accountable and we want to be held accountable to high standards. we don't want to be known for doing something mediocre or for getting away with a lower bar. and so the goal is that schedule is sort of the regular season with which that would happen and it would look at every aspect of the school and how we're operating and so you'd be able to see that beyond our regular communication. Got it. Okay. And if I maybe John I can ask you this question. so I think what I understand you're saying is you are seeking the 15-year contract but the review would be every 5 years which isn't so is that different from the normal charter school situation? Madam Chair, may I use
029your So, to the extent that they had a 15-year contract, we would not have the review every five years. But this I we thought was important to do because and Mr. Moraton said out the three bases for us to have oversight over a charter school is one financially. If they were in some sort of financial emergency or they weren't running their books correctly, we could take action to close them there. if they weren't performing academically, if we were seeing, you know, D's and Fs coming out of that school, that would be a basis. And then material violations of law. Those are the three bases under state law. So, we could review them if we started to see that at any time during this charter contract, I don't anticipate that was that's going to happen. But,
030if we started to see like they went into financial emergency in year two, we could go and get review with them immediately under under the charter school statute. But to to the point that you asked, if it's under a 15-year contract, we wouldn't do a review every 5 years. But we thought it was important to put it in there, especially since this is a new type of partnership, then it's a little bit different than what we do with our normal charter schools, that we thought it was important to have this review every 5 years to just ensure we're on the right partnership. And Lyft, to their credit, was very, very amanable to that. When I suggested that in the meeting, it was like, yeah, absolutely, no problem. Got it. Thank you. So, the review itself
031is the same as it would be for any charter school, but it's the frequency that's different under this. And just so for the board's awareness, when we have a 5-year review on a charter contract, Dr. Kia Scott and her team, they go out to that school and they look at the school's books, they talk with the school leadership, they talk with instructional, they do a very very comprehensive review of the operations holistically of that school. That's what would occur here at at year five. Just to add member Vanos, there's also the flip side of that is for us the hope is by collaborating in how we lead the school both with the oversight through the advisory board that would be attached to this and two seats on the board of the school which is very
032unusual for a charter school operation. There'd be regular conversations about what's happening in the school and there would be awareness by at least the people appointed to serve in that capacity. But the flip side really is that we also want to celebrate the wins that happen at the school are wins of OCBS. as opposed to us touting those as something that we've accomplished without you. The goal is to really put points on the board for our children in the name of our public school system together. And so how that could help whether it's the population growth of our school or whatever long-term achievements we could achieve and academic performance. we want to elevate our performance overall as a region as part of the OCPS team in that sense. Thank you. So, actually I want to
033go back to something you said. and maybe the agreement has been revised since I read it on Friday, but did you say there are two members of the school board on the charter school board? No, there'd be two seats on the charter school board where the school board member, in this case for our first school member, Felder, would be able to appoint two people to serve on that school on that board. And then we would have a seat available on the board of adviserss and we would have the school board member serve on the board of adviserss as well. So, they'd be part of regular meetings about what's happening in the school as well as having relationships with people that would be nominated to serve on that governing board. And member Vanos, if I could
034add Eddie and chair add, I think the other part of this is the evaluation of the partnership between Lyft and the school district. Right. I think it's important that this isn't just there was a regular cadence for compliance and reporting of the performance of the school. But what we're trying to accomplish here is a unique partnership between the district and a place-based organization to address some of the things that member Ferrant was talking about. all the things that happen outside of the classroom and how do we make sure that we are coordinating and addressing those in conjunction to performance of the kids in those schools and also supporting the families. Okay. well, let me just follow up on one thing. So the two Thank you for that. So the two seats on the I guess
035the charter board, the NSI, right? Yeah. Is that And that's out of how many seats? Seven. Yeah. Okay. So seven seats. Okay. And then the advisory board in which member Felder or her representative would have a seat. That is a 12 member board. Correct. Correct. Okay. thank you. Thank you. And then I get Oh, I'm not done yet. I will let other people take I just I I guess I guess one of the things I'm trying to understand is what you are seek what Lyft is seeking to achieve through this agreement that doesn't exist already. Yeah. I think number one, it's long-term investment that influences the academic performance of the school, the stewardship of the talent and the leadership of the school in ways that are hard to do as simply an outsider supporting the
036families from outside the walls of the school by having shared skin in the game in the success and operation of the school. much like we do in our investments in housing. We're already learning like we're not there for a year or two to do some good deeds and feel good like you know we were one of the first projects in the entire state of Florida to increase our commitment to affordability and housing from 15 years which was a typical traditional commitment for decades to 50 years. and so similarly here when maybe all of us have moved on to do something else, the goal is to establish something that has the same continuity to invest in leadership and the professional development of teachers and national partnerships that bring best practice and to also leverage what we've
037seen happen in early learning in West Lakes. And so you might recall our early learning center, which we're super proud of. It maybe one of the nicest preschools in town if you ask me. the challenge with it is that single facility is not enough to serve all of the children in 3285. So over the last few years, Mark and his team have done a fantastic job building what we call an early learning collaborative. And so now what typically is an island, this nonprofit center that has access to all this philanthropy and is so much nicer and bigger than the mom and pop daycarees in the neighborhood has become now a resource that overflows in capacity and professional development and behavioral services, technology, you name the number of things that are happening now for almost 20
038centers in total and almost a thousand children across the 805 would not be possible with a single center. here. What we would be able to do is take the independence of the structure, the philanthropy, the partnerships, the private sector involvement and investment that we would receive and turn this into that same hub and spoke model where the other half a dozen schools that all feed up to Jones High School would not be competing with the school, but now because of the school's presence and the way that it's operated would have access to professional development, to training, to literacy resources, to a lot of the wraparound supports that we do, they would all become part of one network. The goal there because the commitment is for the whole pipeline is by us having this role in
039the school we would have a direct connection to our early learning work. So now this becomes the preferred school that the children coming of our early learning work would be connected to and where our scholarship program would flow out of. And not to mention that in a few short years the freshman class showing up at Jones High School would be very different if those investments are happening in the whole feeder pattern. And that's sort of the why the model is more than just Orange Center when we think about what we could do with that approach across the district where we need it most. And that requires really being embedded in how that school operates in a way that allows us to make a really long-term commitment to make sure that all those partnerships are not
040just handshake agreements or informalus but true operational commitments that happen really really seamlessly with our staff and NSI staff. And so that's something that's would be difficult to achieve if we were just sort of a sponsor or supporter of the school as we have been. this would put us in the position to actually execute the whole ecosystem horizontally across public and charter schools and vertically across all the different ages for children. I know. Well, thank you and I appreciate that. And I know that long-term investment is not something that other charter schools do. They can leave when they feel like it. They can close their doors when they feel like it. So I do understand that piece of it. a follow-up question I have on the K8, and you mentioned this with the middle schools
041and the high schools, what would the impact be? So, what would the impact be on other middle schools if Orange Center became a K8? Yeah, I know that's always a concern, but the idea is that we would gradually open up those grades. So, it primarily be focused on the enrollment. So, we would need to kind of create the facilities for it. That is obviously going to make sense doing it all at once, but we would not immediately open a middle school that would then compete with the other middle schools. we would just open a grade at a time because we'll have funding and staffing needs each year. That gradual opening allows us to mitigate the impact on other middle schools in the same way. But you would in essence have another middle school in the
042district. And do all of the students from Orange Center go to a are you a part one middle school or is it kind of split up? Most of them go to Memorial Cross Clear Lake on the south side. Memorial. Okay, got it. Okay. I can't even read my handwriting. So, I guess I will stop for now and let the next person ask questions. Thank you. Thank you, Member Vanis. Member Felder, you're recognized. Good afternoon and thank you, Chair. I have indeed been enjoying the banter and conversation regarding Orange Center and Lyft and the Lyft organization. They know my history with their efforts and I'm here to tell you that and I'll re reiterate it again. it was until I saw and spent some time in the baby cradle to career that I got a better
043understanding of the kind of help. I do want to say to the board members that have already spoken, thank you so much for your support and concern of wanting the schools in my some of the schools in my district to to get better. But I specifically thank you board member Vanos for some of the points concerns you brought up. and I remember when John and Bridget was so excited to let me see the information on Friday and one of the first questions I asked board member Vanos was 15 years. What about every five years? And John, you know, had me understand that's the way they're set up. But if indeed there is a concern then we would it would have to be addressed and it wouldn't have to wait until another 15 years. It would
044immediately be addressed. board member Vanos also it's interesting for me to note that in the 50s60s and 70s when I attended school there was never a concern about whether or not the schools were adept in terms of teaching quality education. The quality of the education was not bad. It was the books. So the books were old but the quality was not bad and beautiful shore is where I yet reside. but I am happy to note that things have changed. a lot of things have changed. Learning has changed. People's idea concern about what's important in learning has changed. People priorities about public education has changed. So you have to work with what you have and there at this point in time there very well may be a need for a lift organization to come in and
045assist. But I'm constantly and John and super superintendent Vasquez here's my mantra every time we talk about it. I don't want to take over spirit. We are still the people in charge of education. We do public education. We do it and we do it well. And from my understanding and the many conversations I've had with Lyft, they are in agreement with that. And I got a good understanding when I talked with Jarvis about Lyft's position of being wraparound communities, but we do schools. So why not have this beautiful partnership? Because we do know, we do schools. We do schools. We do know that the trajectory of any community is judged by the schools. And if people don't think the schools are good, nobody's going to move in the communities. So, I appreciate that we still
046have grasp that reality as a board and as a district. I also would like to mention the fact that we have to member Gallow said something to me. Well, we were on I think we had a board meeting. She said when we first got the idea was coming to us about this influx of charter and member Galla whispered to me. said we can reimag we can take control we can control the narrative of what charter is and I think I believe with this endeavor that we're doing with Orange Center we are going to reimagine with what some people may think charter is because when you look at when you go to the hearts building you spend time with Lyft and you see the things that they're doing with the community it is reimagined it's different
047and I my little town hall was a little different than probably some of yours. We had shrimp and grits at mine and chicken wings and you know all that kind of stuff and families were there with babies, little ones and bigger children. It was a different type of town hall and it was on a Sunday at 1:00 after church and it was pre it was a precursor of the Chris Brown breezy concert which drew a lot of people to come in because they gave away tickets to go to the concert. So I'm just saying that's a re-imagined in my opinion just of of a town hall meeting. It's very very different. However, I think because we are the board that we are, I'm so proud of this board. the intellect that this board brings to
048the district and the compassion and the understanding of people and children. I believe that together we can make sure we do what we say we are promising to do. we will make sure that we do what we say we are promising to do in terms of the partnership. and I am excited. that I've already got in mind, the people I'm going to put on this advisory committee because I and I've been talking, you know, at some of my speak easys at my friend's house, at my house, and just letting them understand what we're doing and how they can take part and how we are really reimagining what we want to do with with charter. So again, and I'm so appreciative of Dr. Bridget Williams who also helped me get on board for some things because
049I was not on board at all. But after you know that's why you know there's a song that Jerry Butler made some years ago in the 70s. It was called ain't understanding mellow. And simply like it's good to understand. It's good to be on the same page with people you're having conversations with. And so this is what we're doing. I'm grateful that they do understand that public education is not a rush endeavor. Takes children 12 years to go through public education. So it may not be a very very rushed endeavor. But the fact that when it's not rushed, that means we're trying to dot every eye and cross every tea. So everybody will be on the same page or at least in the same book. At least in the same book. And so I'm grateful
050for that. So, in closing, my dissertation I've just given you all. thank you so much for the work. I'm thankful that you've been clear with my fellow board members to help them really understand and the fact that other board members are thinking about can you come to my district because I mean it's a lot of things going on and and we in Orlando in Orange County we're already doing it but we can do it with gusto. We can set the precedents. We really can. We can set the precedents. So, I am grateful. And I know it's a slow crawl, but you know the the whole idea about the tortoise and the hair. The tortoise won the race and that's the slowest one. He won the race. So, thank you so much for sharing. Thank you.
051Thank you, Madam Felder. I cannot express enough how much your support means not only in this conversation but the time that you've invested in learning as we've sought this common goal but even more so your championship and moving forward your accountability. I think it'll lay the foundation for this relationship long term. Thank you. Right. Member Burge, you're recognized. Thank you, Chair. well, I think Eddie definitely knows how I feel about this partnership because we have had several conversations and from the very beginning of this I have felt like and openly spoken that I that I felt like this was the missing piece. This is what we honestly in public education and society are missing, right? Like we look at our results all the time and we have strategic plan updates all the time that show
052these amazing things that we are doing in Orange County public schools. We see kids come up here and talk about their amazing schools. We have teachers that are, you know, when we go visit schools and we see what these teachers are doing. It is tremendous. Yet we still struggle, right, to see the results we want to see. And you know, years ago there was a book written, it takes a village. Yeah. Right. and that is the truth of the matter. It literally takes the entire village to help these children make the gains we want to see, succeed in life, it just graduate with all of those things that we want for them. And so, you know, we have them for those seven hours a day. We can do tremendous things. We can have a great
053strategic plan like we do for the next 5 years that I believe in passionately. But they have 17 other hours where they are facing so many struggles and so much instability in their lives and you know all those things you've talked about that if we can fix those things and we can provide them with a home that they go home to every day where they don't have to worry about listen to parents argue about money or worry if they're even going to have a place to sleep that night or food on the table and all those things that get in the way of them actually learning. wow what we could accomplish, right? And we and we've seen this in other places and we've been fortunate enough as a board different occasions to go visit. Would
054you mind just real briefly for the public that might watch this? just share a couple of brief examples of other places in the country that have put together this model that has made this work and some of the results that they've seen. Yeah. And I think the we've spent a lot of time talking about some of the more famous national examples that we are so fortunate are so excited about this conversation that we're having here today. They've pledged their support to see its success happen in the hopes that it would be as famous as these most famous stories. And many people know the name Jeffrey Canada, the founder of Harlem Children Zone, an institution that till this day 100% of children graduate and go to college. even though most all of them come from the
055public housing in Harlem in New York still the folks over in Atlanta at purpose-built communities and Drew Charter School 30 years ago was the worst public school of all public schools in the city of Atlanta in Atlanta public school systems almost 30 years later it's the number one school in the whole state of Georgia usually at least in the top three they're all black golf team went to won the national championship for their high school and I joke around their high school looks like a pharmaceutical headquarters or something. It's like the idea that our children are deserving of the best and capable of being the best has been part of the DNA of these institutions. And we're very fortunate that the timing of our conversation has aligned up with both their ability and desire to
056see that success multiplied in other places. and they're looking at Florida, they're looking at Orlando specifically and this partnership as a bright spot that could lead the way for the future. and so thank you for for bringing that up and you know I want to highlight this underlying theme of our conversation of the nature of our partnership. My team knows I like to speak in metaphors but I've not come up with a good one for this yet. but in many ways I want you to view that what we're trying to do is deliver a service and that service to the district is the ability to have flexibility. the kind of flexibility that creates room for innovation that is harder to achieve otherwise at the school level and the ability to have support for children and
057families outside of the walls of the school. It feels like most of us have two extreme views about public education. You either take it for granted and assume they're going to solve all the problems that kids show up within the room and then hold them responsible for all the outcomes that fall short when it's an it's an impossible mission. or on the flip side want to try something completely different and throw it out when you are the caregivers and educators of most of our children in the community. The right path is to show how does the private sector partner with public education and do it in a way that can really deliver what's better for children long term. And so that opportunity to deliver flexibility, stability for children outside the classroom and long-term commitment and
058investment, the scale at which we're talking about here with the eighth largest school district in the country, no one is doing. So even those very famous examples that we're talking about, there a lot of other great ones that we've spent time learning from over the last many years. nothing comes close to what we could do together here. Member Bird, if I could add just another component, the common denominator with the two examples that Eddie shared with Drew in New York in Harlem Children's Zone. U what impressed us is it wasn't just about one school. It was about their investment and impact in the ecosystem in that surrounding and education in that community. And that is something that we are drawing on as we think about this work. It's incredibly important to us that isn't just
059about Orange Center, but it's about the surrounding schools. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you. That's a I'm so glad you said that because you know that I'm particularly interested in expanding and there are several areas in Orange County. I think I could see and we've talked about this having you know these like you said the spokes you know all over the district and helping this whole ecosystem of kids right all over. So I love it. I a quick question. I just wanted to touch on the employment at the school. The current what happens with the current, you know, staff, unions, all of that. Could you just cover that real quick? Yeah, under the new neighborhood schools initiative would be the operating entity at the school. They'd then be employed by that entity. Our goal is to be
060the most competitive employer possible for them. And we know that's a high bar compared to OCPS and its benefits. But that's the work that's going on now to reestablish great opportunities for those teachers. They're in long term. They will be part of a more flexible innovative environment. I'm sure there'll be a lot of things that teachers will love about that. It is also likely to be an environment that challenges all of them to grow more. There'll be more opportunities and exposure for training, for trying new things. And so, it's not like it's a sort of an easy coast on the other side of this. But boy, the team we have at Orange Center right now, the principal we have, the teachers we've spent time with all of them, they're not only are they fantastic and
061are they talented, but they're up for it. Now, this has been a conversation we've not had with any real consequence openly with them until there's an official conversion in the process, but the intention is that they would love the challenge ahead and that they would be compensated and rewarded handsomely for it. Wonderful. I think I think that's it. I just, you know, I appreciate I appreciate this so much. and you know, when I get questions about it or I talk to people about everything happening with Lyft Orlando and about this partnership growing, it's it's always, you know, this is where we're at in public education and in this country. We're, you know, everybody's looking for something new, for a different way to tackle the prog. and I'm excited that I think OCPS could be, you
062know, on the forefront of something innovative, something different. and something that's just generational life-changing, right? this, like I've said, I think this could be the missing piece and what could really do it and really make those changes. So, it's really exciting. and I'm so grateful so grateful for the partnership. Well, thank you for the way you phrase that. That is the story we're excited to tell of OCPS's leadership here. We just want to be your partner to make it happen. Thank you, Vice Chair. Member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. most of what I was going to say has been said already. I do I have a couple of questions, please. busing. Yeah. Are we will we be busing in our students? At the time, we do not have busing at Orange Center. We've not contemplated
063that yet. It's the next operations. We'll see how necessary that is. With all the development that we're doing within walking distance of the school, it's unlikely we'd have capacity for many more children outside of that. But, okay, time will tell. That's fair. And then that kind of leads into the next question, which is I know that you said you would expand to the K8 and it would be slow. cuz right now the enrollment is like 444 and the fish capacity is 483. So there's not a lot of room. Yeah. To grow. Yeah. So that's going to take some time to to build it out. What is your do you have a capacity in mind? Well, we're a number of mine that you would like that because usually like K through eights, they try to keep
064it small in the middle schools just because that model is pleases people when the classes are small. Don't want to be too big. I think we've talked about you've got close 756 is the number we were looking at in terms of our projection over so at the end of that fiveyear period that would be the target number. So that you'd be adding like 100 per grade level, six, seventh, and eighth. Okay. Exactly. That's exactly that's the numbers that we hit here usually in or in in Orange County. so yeah, I think this is a great partnership. What you what you've done to lift up that community has been so vital and so important and this is just the next step in creating that public private partnership. And I'm sure you've heard I think all of
065us board members at one time have said that we're here for all children. like all children matter and this is a perfect example of putting children first and making sure that children get the education that they deserve that they need and the programs that you offer these students is so vital to that community and it's truly I believe going to be a neighborhood school that will continue to to thrive and have a lot of pride there's a lot of pride for the schools in that area and Orange Center is no exception you hear member Felder talk about Washington Shores constantly cuz that was her school and there's just a lot of pride. and I have no doubt that you will keep keep that pride going moving forward and as member Bird mentioned it does take
066a village. and we can't do it. We can't do it by ourselves. And it's imperative in this day and age with all the changes that are coming to public schools, with all the attacks that are happening on public schools, that we continue to be innovative and look for ways to ensure that all students are served, and that we do it we do it in a manner that meets their needs. And I have no doubt that Orange Center will meet and exceed the needs of that community. So, thank you for all that you do. Oh, thank you so very much. And each of you have spoken in different ways about how do we how does this cast vision for our wider community and just a bit of a sneak peek of we are hoping to on
067the other side of this partnership be an official really launching a communitywide message we called we lift Orlando. the idea that this is not the effort of one organization or one group of people but something all of us are called to do. that all of us are called to do what we can to lift up this community and the best place to start is with our children. and so that's a story that I'm looking forward to all of us writing together. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you and we've had the benefit of of hearing all the great things with purpose-built communities Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Har Harlem school zones like we've had the opportunity to listen to those great stories and the
068outcomes of the stories. The public may not have had the same access to that. so I appreciated member Bird having you explain a little bit about what's happening in Atlanta and the good work that they're doing. because that's really what we're trying to replicate is those purposebuilt communities. So again, thank you. Indeed. Thank you, Member Gallo, Member Banos. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Member Felder, for sharing your journey. because I know, you know, we definitely asked some questions along the way. So, I really appreciate you sharing that and the fact that you have been out in your community and Lyft has been out. I mean to to your credit you have built a community that wants you to be in their schools because you have you know spent you know invested millions and
069millions of dollars into the community and spent time there. So I appreciate that. one of the concerns that I have always brought up and so I'm going to hit on again is just the the governance model and you know my understanding is that there cannot be any schoolboard members or district employees on the board because you're not a unity of interest which is required under the under Florida law. so I mean the reality is that and you're a wonderful both of you are wonderful leaders. and I understand this as a 15-year commitment, but you may change. Totally. There may be different leaders in charge. And so that is where I'm I have a little bit of concern about this governance model. I you know my understanding is and John you may be the correct person
070to ask about this is that the only way to have a governance model where members or district employees are on that charter board would be if the school district itself applied for the charter. Is that right? Yeah, that's correct. It's a commission on ethics opinion. And I believe it's 11:23, the one I sent you yesterday, that says there's a unity of interest that would allow school board members, the superintendent and district employees to be on a charter school that the school board itself applied to operate. Otherwise, if the school board's not the applicant, there is not a unity of interest and it violates 112313 with respect to doing business with your own agency and having a conflicting contractual relationship. Okay. So, I mean, just as we continue these conversations, that's something I would like to
071explore what that looks like if the school was the applicant and how we could work with you, you know, to make that how that might work. So, I that is something I would like to follow up with. member Bird asked about the teachers and it sounds like they're excited for sort of the challenges ahead and the excitement and everything that's happening. Would the teachers have the option to be part of the teachers union or the CTA or the bargaining unit or no? So these are two great examples of sort of forks in the road. on one end you have the option of doing something the district leads and you'd have friendly neighbors like Lyft Orlando. Even if you enrolled to start the charter school, you would still be running the charter school. We would then
072be we could be a partner. We could be supportive. But the goal of creating the kind of flexibility that we're talking about, a large part of that is the fork in the road of the union. or being able to have the kind of private sector investment that we're describing, those then would not be on the table. And so I think the way to think about those two is that they're mutually exclusive in a way. You're creating an environment of a great flexibility with the balance of a lot of accountability. Conversely, you kind of do what's happening today or some alternate of starting a charter school to operate, but they would not give you the benefits of what we're talking about. This creates the insulation for that flexibility to be possible. And so, it is there
073is a lot of trust, hence how much time you invested in this conversation. I think I love your questions, memberos. I think they're the right questions to be asking. they're the questions that this kind of institution should be holding partners like us accountable to. it's why we've been making such a big deal about accountability and I'm so grateful that's been part of our DNA all along. So, it's not something that we've had to muster for this conversation. but there comes a point where we kind of have to look at each other as partners and say, are we going to trust each other to do this? so that's what I would say to that. They're basically two different paths. Got it. and I and we've talked about this before and I want to call out publicly
074that I have had questions from the beginning. I have been the skeptical member and you have fielded every single one of my questions. You've met with me for coffee multiple times and I that says a lot about about you as well. So I wanted to to highlight that as I ask. and I think it, and we've talked about this, and I think it's worth noting that, you know, the private investment, for whatever reason, is hesitant, I guess, is a word to use to be investing in our public education and public schools. And I think that's a real issue and a real problem. and so I think one of the things that I would be hoping to find partnership in with Lyft is that you would be you would stand alongside us up in the legislature
075and be advocating for additional education funding and additional flexibility for all of our public schools whether they're they fit the charter model or not. and I think again that additional funding is important for for all of our schools. So I would hope that that would be inclusive of the partnership. Absolutely. And thank you because I think it's the courage of this board to do something so out of the box to enter this public private partnership that is in so many ways unprecedented that I think will earn us all the credibility to have that kind of advocacy at the state level and maybe even nationally. Who knows? Great. Thank you. Thank you. I just have just two more questions and this is really just related to the agreement and I'm you know again I just want
076to make sure as a on the board for a school district that we are making sure that the school district interests are fully reflected in this one is with the capital obligations with respect to because I saw on page well it doesn't have a page I guess it's section five roles and responsibility of the proposed agreement it talks about capital improvements and it talks about the obligation of the Orange County School Board to lead the redevelopment of the school campus beginning in 2026 2027. so I just wanted to I understand that the school school districts have an obligation to I guess provide capital enhancements to charter schools as they would to a traditional public school. Is that just along is that what this section is referring to, John, or is this something more? No, that's
077what this section is referring to. So, when there is a conversion of a charter school to or a traditional public school to a charter school, we have to enter into a mutual maintenance agreement and we would and we are also committed statutoily to maintaining schools in the manner in which we would otherwise maintain another public school that's under our traditional control. So if we had an expansion of capacity at that school and we did not have enough capacity, part of that maintenance responsibility would be to ensure that we create the capacity necessary to operate the school. In this case, it's a little particular to Orange Center just because of our existing partnership. And so theou approved by the board in 2020 was around most of the work that we've been doing. So we agreed to
078invest in early learning, invest in the teachers, invest in literacy, expand housing, expand wraparound services. the other side of that deal was that OCPS would expand the school to become a K8. each year because of the population changes, Dr. Williams and I or someone, we would talk about the fact that maybe the timing wasn't right. now the timing becomes perfect. I mean, we haven't gotten started yet and already just the excitement and momentum at the school has increased enrollment to the degrees the superintendent was talking about. And so for the moving forward there's that particular investment about that expansion for the K8 to become possible. It's also important to note that in this agreement the school asset remains an asset of OCPS. It never converts to be property of NSI. it always remains part of
079your real estate portfolio. Thank you for pointing that out. I know that does concern concern some. So I really appreciate you pointing that out that it does remain an OCPS asset. And I also just because we've referenced it and I am a dork. I have pulled the previous agreements and read through them. of course, and I I do want to point out, as you said, that there were obligations that Lyft undertook in that 2020 agreement that you've met. Thank you. so I appreciate that. There was one thing I did want to ask about on that agreement. and it was on page four under the master planning process and it says that Orange Center Elementary will become a high performing school by the year 2023 2024. First of all, what does what what do you mean
080by that? What does that mean? Is that a standard definition or I can say that in our conversations with the principal at that time which hence is sort of the inciting incident for this very collaboration is our inability to retain high performing principles. and so the ability the ideally the goal at that time was that we would be able to retain talent at the leadership level. and our hope was that for the school to be ranked among the top 20% of schools in Florida. now there are other metrics for high performing but what was sort of the conversation at that time was that we wanted to be a model for OCPS and for the state and how you could what you could do at that school that was entirely predicated on the talent being in
081place from a leadership perspective. I've joked around that at Lift Orlando we've gotten really good at getting principles promoted and gone. and so that's one of the things we hope to create more sustainability through the partnership together. Okay, thank you so much. Oh, thank you, Member Vanos. Thank you, Member Vanos. Member Douglas, now that you have answered great questions and I hope your head is still there and no problems and it's been great questions truly and appreciate that. But my question will be what would be the next step in making this happen? Yes, thank you so much. So, this has been a race to for the work to begin. And so, with the, MOA's approval, and our questions discussed today, we would like to be on the docket for the next schoolboard meeting, for this
082to be officially approved, by OCPS. and then we'd like for that to then be followed by a convening of the parents and the typical process for school conversion. but the it's important to us that OCPS lead with the first step. And so timing has been of of essence because those two things have to happen in the same calendar year and the holidays are quickly approaching and there's a long window of notice we have to give to families. But that's the very next step and then the team goes through a lot of work begins then as we engage then in the actual contracts and all the agreements and the process of doing what would takes to do a conversion. How long will it take to do to So we would start school year 2627 would be
083our first year. than engaging in operations. But you can imagine how short the first six months of 26 are going to be before we get to do that. Yeah. And then really the journey begins at that point. All right. Well, thank you so much. We're looking forward to all that. So we thank you. All right. Thank you, Member Douglas. So we have no further questions. If you have any wrap-up comments, we'd love to hear them and you don't have to, but you're welcome to. Just thank you. member Felder said how proud she was to be on this board and you could hear just it resounded how sincere not only those words are for her but I can tell you for us how proud we are to just you know governing bodies change as time goes
084on, people come and go and how fortunate for our community that this particular set of leaders are the ones making decisions here. on behalf of our board, on behalf of Westlakes, our staff, we're so proud to be partners with this group of people and with this organization. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah. And Chair Jacobs, I just want to call out member Felder. one of the things that she said in some of our early meetings that were a little interesting, but she said she wanted to make sure that she was the watchman in her community. And I have I have watchmen on the wall. and I've carried that in this whole process to make sure that happens. And so I just I just want to say thank you to your leadership, member
085Felder, and thank you to this entire board. All right. Thank you. Thank you all. We'll see you soon. All right. Thank you. Dr. Vasquez, before we move on to the next item on the agenda, I'm usually a little warm, but I'm cold. And so, do you think like would this be too much or could we just maybe adjust the air? I thought maybe I could just keep my ears a little warmer. Later I'll tell you the story at Orange County when the temperature was too hot. Okay, this was much better. Trust me. Thank you. and our team in the back has the right to edit out any sense of humor that was uncalled for. All right. Okay. So, we are going to now move on to policy ECA and Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. Thank you,
086Madam Chair. I was looking over to see where, you know, general counsel was. I go, "Oh my gosh, he got up and he's presenting and then I notice that's where he is." So, we are we're going to begin with policy ECA, building and ground security. Mr. Paul Marini, our general counsel, will be presenting the policy changes. thank you, madam superintendent, members of the board. wanted to bring this policy to you all. everybody's All right. Very good. Just making sure everybody just sort of look. No, no, no, no problem. I just want to make sure you guys add it. wanted to bring this to you all. be honest, this arose out of a couple things. One, you know, this policy is rather stale, I guess, is the polite way to say it. It's been a while
087since we've looked at it. And then two, as you all know, I've written you about it. We've had a couple instances over the last year or so where we've had folks coming in and video and audio taping interactions we've had with our staff and you know, long-term interactions, you know, 30, 40 minutes, you know, recording. There's people in the lobby that have that have been recorded while this has been going on, you know, folks who are just waiting to get service here at this building. So, we wanted to do a comprehensive review of our security policies and to maybe take care of situations like that and to ensure that our schools and our district offices, you know, other than when we have public meetings at various places, they're places of business. And one of the
088things I wanted to do is start off with there's a Supreme Court case from the 1980s that talks about public buildings. And one of the things that the folks will say that you know I'm a member of the public. I have paid for this building with my tax dollars. I should come in and be able to do whatever I want in the building. And the Supreme Court said as follows. We have recognized that the first amendment does not guarantee access to property simply because it is owned and controlled by the government. In addition to time, place and manner regulations. The state may reserve the forum for its intended purposes purposes, communicative or otherwise, as long as the regulation on speech is reasonable and not an effort to suppress expression merely because public official opposed the
089speaker's views. As we have stated on several occasions, the state is no less a private owner of property, has the power to preserve the property under its control for the use to which it is lawfully dedicated. And that's the United States Supreme Court and Perry Education Association versus Perry Local Educators Association. So we have the ability to ensure that our places of work remain just that places of work where people don't come in indiscriminately where they don't videotape indiscriminately without permission where they don't disrupt the operations of the district. So this policy actually is a replication or the proposed policy change is a replication of an ordinance from the city of Puna Gorda who was also experiencing folks coming into the building videotaping folks in their city hall while they were interacting with them. And
090the city developed a policy. it was challenged on first amendment grounds and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida said no absolutely this policy is 100% allowable. It the First Amendment does not prohibit the government from doing this. So what we're doing is we're replicating that policy almost verbatim, you know, with the appropriate changes for words that are school districtbased rather than a municipality based or a county based. So starting with that the section one consistent with the decisions of the US Supreme Court public access within facilities own controlled and leased by the school board may be restricted depending on whether such areas are classified as and I'm sorry for this but it's the legal terms that the Supreme Court uses a designated public forum a limited designated public forum or
091a non-public forum and so areas within facilities owned controlled and leased by the school board are classif ified based upon their intended use. so we say for example there are areas that are intended primarily for the use of board employees in the conduct of the employees business. There are areas which are primarily intended for the use of board employees in the conduct of the employees business which may be time to time utilized for a public meeting. in this building think this room or think other conference rooms where the boards meet where the board meets in a publicly noticed meeting. That would be a limited designated public forum. And then there are limited areas which may be open to the public while engaging in legitimate business with board officers or employees. So think the area around
092our front desk here when people are coming in saying hey I have an appointment or hey I you know need to find out where this service where I can get my child registered and that is an area where we invite the public in to do business but we don't do it indiscriminately. they have to come for a specific purpose and there may be certain areas which are primarily intended for the convening of public meetings. Obviously this room is that right. section two the superintendent or her designate is authorized to manage public access to board own controlled and lease property. In performance of these responsibilities, the superintendent or design shall have the authority to identify which areas are to be considered designated public forum, a limited designated public forum or non-public forum. That means the superintendent
093can say, I'm allowing, you know, people to come in and to engage in speech in this particular area at this particular time. But as you'll see further in the policy, most of our areas within the district are going to be non-public fora. Obviously that makes sense because we have students at schools. Our schools should never be a public forum unless we have some sort of publicly noticed meeting there because kids are there to learn. Those employees are there to teach. You know, we don't invite people to come in and speak during the day unless there's under controlled environment. That kind of stuff, right? upon classification of the area within board owned, controlled and leaseed property, the superintendent or designate is hereby authorized subject to the availability of appropriate appropriated funds to employ whatever means the
094super designate deems necessary and appropriate to separate designated public fora from non-public fora including the use of physical barriers or signage. This means the superintendent can say this is a non-public forum. you know people can't gather to engage in speech here because this is a place where students are being educated, employees are doing their work, right? the superintendent and design shall also have the authority to develop and implement procedures to regulate and control public access within board owned and controlled and leased property to provide for security and privacy of public visitors to provide security and privacy of board employees and officers and to minimize potential disruption to the work of board employees. Any person who engages in conduct that causes disruption to the work of the board shall be deemed no longer present on legitimate
095public business within boardowned, controlled, and lease property. It's a restatement basically of the if you act inappropriately at a public facility, we deem you as not being authorized to continue to remain in our public facility. And it gives the superintendent the right to say, "Please leave." And then if the super if the person does not leave after they've been asked to escalate it further potential trespass warnings etc. the boardroom the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center all ancillary plants auxiliary facilities and educational facilities find in are nonpublic fora unless and until a public meeting is convened in such areas pursuant to a public notice or is detailed herein. So when we say the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center, think everywhere behind the gates leading to the elevators and the offices of the district employees. That's the
096non-public portion of the building, right? Because that's where the work of the employees is taking place. When we say ancillary plants, auxiliary facilities, think think transportation hubs, think maintenance facilities, that kind of stuff. That's we're saying all of that and our educational facilities which are our schools are non-public fora meaning we are not inviting the general public in to come and make speeches and to come engage in you know free speech. They are coming in if at all engaged in legitimate business that they have at that particular facility. All board employee work areas within the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center shall be considered non-public fora. Again, that means it's the employees work space. We're not inviting people in to speak. Members of the public are prohibited from entering board employee work areas without being escorted
097by a board employee. All other areas of the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center hereby designated as a limited public fora and only persons who are present to engage in legitimate public business within board members with board members or employees shall be authorized. So if people are coming out here to the front desk to say I need help with certain services, they are allowed to do that and then we'll direct them. You need to go here. We can take care of the service at this building. You actually need to go to the school to do that. You actually need to go to our Magic Way facility. For example, if somebody comes to this building looking to register their child, Magic Way is where they would do that, right? unauthorized persons found by the superintendent or designate
098to be within a non-public forum or limited public forum and who refuse to leave the premises upon request shall be considered a trespasser. Law enforcement at its option or at the request of the superintendent or designate may issue a trespass warning notice for this conduct. Obviously trespass is not going to be the first thing we're going to ask. We're going to say, "Hey, look, if they can, if they're there legitimately, but they're acting in a way manner that's not appropriate for the setting, if they start yelling and cursing at employees, we'll say, "Look, you need to stop doing that. We'll be happy to help you, but you need to stop." And if they continue to escalate the behavior and not stop when we ask, then we'll say, "Okay, we're going to ask you to leave
099and we're going to trespass you out of the building." It gives the superintendent and her design the authority to do that. All right. Paragraph five. Except within the board meeting room, conference room, or other locations where a public meeting is being conducted, it shall be unlawful and a violation of this policy to record video or sound within board owned, controlled or lease property without the consent of all persons whose voice or image is being recorded. this prohibition shall not apply to law enforcement activities. So this is to take care of the issue that we had earlier this year and in previous years with employees. As you all know and I and as as I sent you, we had folks coming in to make public records requests and what they were doing is they were taking
100their cell phone and they were recording the interaction to and basically it's what's known as a first amendment audit. what they were trying to do is see whether or not we were handling their public records request correctly and they would audio record the entire you know exchange. They would ask the employees, "What's your name? You know, what do you do here?" And they would engage them. And a lot of times these videos get ended up getting posted on YouTube, you know, especially when there was some exchanges that were and I want to be clear about our employees. Our employees were incredibly patient in the exchanges that you all have seen on YouTube in dealing with this. But you know what these v these folks who do these First Amendment audits try to do is entice
101sometimes confrontation because confrontation makes much more widely viewed videos. And so what we're trying to do is prevent the incentive to escalate situations by not allowing recording unless everybody who's being recorded consents to it. And when we had recordings done in this building, we were having folks who were just here, you know, parents, you know, potential employees sitting out in the lobby waiting room that were getting recorded as they were going around the entire area here around the front desk. And so what this policy is meant to do is to prohibit that from occurring unless everybody has consented. in addition to being a violation of the policy if any of one is observed to be recording video or sound within board owned, controlled or leaseed property without consent of all persons whose voice or image
102is being recorded and such person refuses to cease activity after being advised that such activity is prohibited under the policy. Such refusal shall be considered a disruption to the work of the employees. Therefore, a person shall be deemed no longer to be present on legitimate public business within boardowned, controlled, or leaseed property. The superintendent or designate is hereby authorized on behalf of the board to request any person who refuses to cease the uncontested video or sound recording to immediately leave the premises. So, we would ask them very politely and say, "Hey, we have a policy that prohibits audio and video recording. Please cease recording." And if they refused to do it, at that point we would have the authority to say, "Okay, since you're refusing to record, stop recording as our policy requires, please leave
103the premises." Right. any person who refuses to cease the uncontested to video or sound recording and refuses to immediately leave the pre premises following request by the superintendent or designate shall be considered a trespasser. Law enforcement at its option or at the request of superintendent or designate may issue a trespass warning notice for this conduct. So, it again gives the superintendent the authority to have somebody given a trespass warning if they refuse to stop recording when we ask. To be clear, and I just I know you all understand this, that would not apply to anybody recording a public meeting in this building. Everybody would still have the right to record a public meeting in this building from the audience as long as it's not disruptive. If if you're moving to block people and people can't
104see and you're recording and you're being disruptive with it, we could ask you to stop being disruptive. But if they are unobtrusively recording in this room when you all have public meetings, that will still be allowed because the law requires it. the superintendent or designate may have cause to remove any person they determine acts in a manner which violates or is reasonably suspected to violate any federal, state or local law, ordinance, rule or regulation. That of course if you're breaking the law, we can ask you to leave the building. and we can ask the superintendent can take action in for any acts in for acts in any manner which violate any board rules or policy including but not limited to the facilities rules or any directive or sign or notice at the public property. This
105would mean if it says hey there's a sign that says this is the private workspace of employees and no members of the public are allowed past this point and if a person goes past that point the superintendent can take action to remedy that. the superintendent and designate are hereby authorized on behalf of the board to warn persons of prohibited activity and request such activity to cease. Law enforcement at its option at the request of the school board may trespass issue trespass warning notices for violations of these conduct. The superintendent or designate are authorized on behalf of the board to warn persons who have entered into or remain in areas where they are not authorized to be and may subsequently request such persons to leave the unauthorized area. The superintendent or designate are hereby authorized to
106call law enforcement to treat any persons who refuse to depart after such a request has been made as trespassers. Law enforcement and its option may enforce a persons to refuse to depart by means of section 8108 and 8109 Florida statutes or issue a trespass warning. Those are the two trespass statutes under Florida law that allows there to be criminal charges that come out of trespassing. And then facility rules. the following conduct is prohibited within the interior spaces of all board owned, controlled, and leased buildings. you can't engage in any conduct prohibited by federal law, laws of the state of Florida or board policy. you can't possess weapons except as specifically permitted by law. I do want to stop here and take a second. we have recently had a decision with from the first district court
107of appeals regarding the open display of firearms out in public. there is still a Florida statute that prohibits bringing weaponry into schools. There's still a Florida statute that prohibits bringing weaponry into government-owned buildings and public meetings. So, we are going to and I'm setting up a meeting. I've started the process of setting up a meeting with the state attorney. other districts have said their state attorneys have interpreted that decision from the first DCA to not allow the prohibition of carrying guns into a public meeting to be enforced. that's not the way I've read it. The attorney general of the state of Florida has issued a memorandum that says nothing in the first district court of appeals decision affects the prohibition from bringing weapons into schools and government buildings. So our understanding is that law is
108still in place. We can still screen folks coming in to our public meetings for weapons. and that's the position we're going to have. Plus, there's still federal laws on the books. The gun-free school zone act, which says that you can't have guns within 1,000 ft of a facility. That's a school. As you guys know, we're less than 1,000 ft from Orange Technical College, which has high school students that come over here to take classes and to engage in programs. So, our position is you still can't bring a weapon into this building because we're within 1,000 ft of that school. But, I just want you to be aware that the that decision has been rendered. We may have some folks who want to bring weaponry into the building. Our position is absolutely not because there's still
109state statutory prohibitions against bringing weapons into this building. Certainly statutory prohibitions against bringing weapons into any school. Among the things you also can't do, smoking using any smoking device. disruptive harassing or unsafe behavior including conduct which interferes with board employees or board members in the performance of their duties or interferes with the proper use of board facilities by others. Of course, this will be tempered by the ability of folks to come here and petition you all for redress of their grievances. So, they can do that and sometimes in ways that's very sharp. you will I will also be guiding you through any of those types of situations that we have in the future to ensure that while we're protecting this board and the folks in this room that we're not violating folks's first amendment rights.
110the same thing with abusive harassing behavior including displays us or displays of obscene language gestures and graphics. in most areas you know that's going to not be permitted in board in board meetings. We still have the first amendment that we have to deal with. So I will guide you through any of those issues. we prohibit blocking of entrances, exits, fire exits, access areas or otherwise interfering with the provisions of service or use of board property. we again prohibit the entering and remaining in non-public areas without authorizations including offices, hallways, stairways, elevators, etc. we will prohibit any act which could result in substantial risk of harm to persons or property. We will pres prevent the disrupting of board business events or other board sponsored or authorized activities. Folks interrupt a play at a school, interrupt a
111sporting event at a school, something like that, this would be prohibited under this policy. U leaving unattended packages, backpacks, luggage, or other personal items. Of course, that is a security risk in case especially if there's something of a weapon in there. we will prevent laying down and sleeping in chairs, benches or otherwise within our buildings. we will prohibit the possession of illegal drugs. we will prohibit the posting or fixing to board property, any signs, leaflets, posters, flyers, without the permission from the superintendent or designate. Obviously, if the school's advertising a play, a sporting event, a club meeting, that's all going to be authorized. But if some outside group comes in and starts posting flyers all over our property, we're going to remove those. we're going to prohibit tampering with the unauthorized use of the building
112or facility system or devices, including electrical, plumbing, locks, doors, and cameras. So, you can't come in here and destroy our property. again, we're going to prohibit the audio and video recording anywhere inside of board buildings except at duly notice public meetings or is otherwise approved by the superintendent or designate. and it's the same thing that we've had previously about you know it can be conducted within the board meeting room the recording can and if they are conducting unauthorized audio recording we'll ask them to leave etc. we are going to prohibit remaining in a board building after posted hours of operation or after the conclusion of an authorized after hours public meeting or event. you know, so if folks are still hanging around an hour after the Friday night football game, we have the authority to
113ask them to please leave the premises. The event's over with. failure to cease conduct, specifically prohibited in the items I've just gone through. when requested by a board staff member to do so, that's prohibited activity. and a copy of the foregoing facility rule shall be posted in close proximity to all public entrances of board owned, controlled and lease buildings. So, you know, in this building, it would be a copy would be on our bulletin board out front. In the schools, it would be in the area where we have public notices that the public can come in and see at our schools. And that is it. As I said, this policy is taken almost word for word from the city of Puna Gorda's ordinance which has been upheld as legitimate rules covering the usage of a
114facility. And so deviations from this I mean obviously we can do some of it but I want to be careful to the extent that we deviate too much from what that ordinance is. I can't guarantee that we will enjoy the first amendment protection arising out of it. Having said all of that, I am now open to answer any questions you have. Thank you, member Vanos. Thank you, Mr. Pomerini. I just have a quick question. I understand the reason for changing this policy is because of the videos that were posted, but I also think transparency is important. So, let's say if someone comes and they request public records as they have the ability to do and they are not treated well or they don't get what they need, where would they go to like raise that
115issue? Okay. So, if somebody is not treated well and if like they're not if our folks refuse to take the public records request, then what they would do is they would raise an issue with our office of professional standards because our folks have been given memoranda to say, you know, look, there's a couple things that you have to do when you're requested for public records. Number one, you know, say, hey, we have a records department, records at ocps.net, net where you can make this request in writing if you would like to do it that way you can do it that way and if they say well no I want to go ahead and make the records request now and they then folks can say well if you want to give it to me in writing
116I'll be more than happy to take it and if they say I don't want to write it down you have to take down what I'm asking for we have given our folks the training to say okay tell me what it is you want and take it down and say thank you very much what I will do is I will send this to our records department to comply with the request. If that stuff does not happen, then our office of professional standards can a complaint can be filed with that office to say our employees did not com, you know, comply with my public records request and they didn't handle it appropriately and I would like for you to investigate that. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. No further questions or comments? I'm sorry, Member Douglas. No problem. One
117question. just one question about the guns and the weapons. It's it's not very clear because let's go to 8B I think it was possessing any weapon except as specifically permitted by law. So, it's I don't know. I So, anybody who's permitted by law can come and have a weapon? No. So, you cannot have concealed weapons on a school campus. You cannot open carry on a on a school campus. Those are all protected places under Florida law. the except specifically permitted by law. school resource officers, guardians, those folks, those folks are expressly pro permitted by law to have a weapon on a campus. But otherwise, under Florida law, nobody's supposed to have a weapon on our campus. That's what that's meant to do. And quite frankly, you have to leave that exception just open there to
118deal with any ruling that comes from the courts that allows somebody else other than those folks to carry a weapon. And just the way the courts have started to interpret the second amendment, they are expanding the right in places of of where guns are allowed. schools and school, you know, government buildings are still not the areas where they're going to be allowed. We can still protect those buildings. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. just a quick question. I know in the past when we talked about weapons, we've had conversations on the spray the I'm losing my pepper spray. Pepper spray. Thank you. does that change does this conflict with our other policy about no pepper spray? So even with the 1 oz, it's we still aren't allowing pepper spray in our
119schools. That's my understanding. Yeah, that's from the code of conduct. Yes. Okay, that was my question. Thank you. Mr. Palmer, let me let me follow up on the weapons question. Yes, ma'am. And may maybe is maybe I'm confused. Maybe it's different in public school facilities, but or maybe the law has changed. People are allowed to carry if they have a concealed weapons permit, they are allowed to carry guns into government buildings. Correct? I don't think so. Let me You know what? Okay. Let me make sure that's the case. But my understanding and my memory of it is government buildings if the under the Supreme Court case in Heler, you know, what Justice Scalia said is hey, you know, you can have a concealed weapon in your house to protect yourself, but that doesn't open up
120the field to allow it in safety sensitive places and the things that he listed was government buildings and schools. How recent was that? That was 2008 and the cases that I have seen are they have not gone on that distinction and opened up the field to allow weaponies into government buildings or and schools. And the memo from the attorney general after the case came out of Florida just now said, "Hey, this doesn't apply." And didn't address the statute that says it prohibits carrying there. But I will research just to make sure and I will get something in writing to you guys. I c I can't in my memory pinpoint when I thought that changed and it might have been I thought it changed before 2008 and it's and I'm not it's probably me more likely
121me than you that's wrong on this. But if you would just check I'll look and I'll get you guys an answer to that. And I have one little nitpicky thing. and I'm trying to remember where it was where it mentions that schoolboard, if no, if you don't, follow the direction of board staff. Mhm. And maybe it's caught someplace else. I did step out and walked back in in the middle and I apologize for that. yeah. so if you if you fail to cease the conduct after a request by board staff to do so. Yeah, I can say board employees. Oh, no, no. I I was just What if it's a board member? So, that was my nitpicky thing. We I don't have any problem adding only because we are sometimes, you know, in here and
122yeah, I or another board member might give a direction. It's like I said, no, I can put in member andor staff. That's not going to change the meaning of this policy. It's interesting because, you know, we don't we don't think of us as having staff, you know what I mean? that the superintendent has staff. We have staff. It's you and the superintendent, right? And that's the sum of it. That's a lot. Is that what you said? Well, you're right. That's exciting. I knew I knew that was coming. You knew that was coming. so anyway, that was just It's I'll clear the language up. I know. Exactly. I think you said it's from the city of Orlando. City of Puna Gorda. Oh, okay. Yeah, I would just Yeah. clarify. I thought I got all the nomenclature
123changes done, but yeah, I know how to change it and take care of it. I'm sure you do. And just like I said, I walked in, that's where we were, and that's just kind of the way my brain works. No problem. Thank you. All right. Thank you. okay. Member Ferrron, then member Gallo. Member Fant, you okay? Does the superintendent wants to say something? Okay. I'm sorry. I'm just clarifying. Since all of us work for the school board of Orange County, aren't we all staff for the board? That's where I clarify true. All that's true. The board is the employing agent of everybody. That's okay. All right. Thank you. I Yeah, you understand why I don't feel like they are and especially when I get an email from somebody who's not happy about one of them.
124I'm very quick to point out who's in charge when it comes to those issues. so, thank you. Then we don't need to change that. We just probably need to clarify that the board and the board staff. Thank you. Thanks for thank you member ferrant for raising that member you're recognized. Thank you madam chair. just a couple questions. Well two of them had already been answered which is great. So I just was trying to understand if schools were included with the kind of non-public side of it. So you had answered that and then the recording is okay during public meetings. So my question would be I understand that you know we don't allow cell phones during school time but there are the you know rare occasion where something kind of wild is going on in class
125and a student pulls that phone out to record. Is that still is this now going to pro prohibit them from sharing that? Would there be a consequence? No. This is this policy is meant for members of the public and for you know coming in to visit our building outside a like outside agents coming in. That's correct. The board's code of conduct with respect to students and the consequences for utilizing cell phones would still be the operative document the operative rules for our students. Okay. Thank you so much. That was it. Thank you member Front. Member Galla. Oh, thank you, man. I was just going to say no, you can't. I have my concealed carry permit. You cannot carry in government buildings and that still stands true. Plus, you have to be 21. So, even though
126laws have changed and open carry and concealed carry is allowed, there's still a law in the state of Florida that requires you to be 21 years old to to carry and you have to have your ID for But like you can't we you can't carry into a government building or courthouse or a bar or any any non-public entity that has signage up that says firearms not allowed. You can't enter that building with your firearm whether open or concealed. Oh, okay. Thank you. There was a time when you could because there was a time where the only place you couldn't in a government building was in the chambers and elsewhere you could and maybe that was before that decision but I abs yeah I'm absolutely certain that there was Scott Maxwell used to write about the
127hypocrisy of changing the laws and still not allowing them in chambers up in Tallahassee. I will say well the chambers I mean the county commission you couldn't like they weren't allowed in the gallery like you could carry them into the capital but you couldn't actually take them into the gallery in the house. Well I look forward to hearing yeah I'll I'll give it the John treatment. I'll go through the statutes and say this is what it says and Yeah. And Yeah. Yeah. And Okay. That's it. That's all we got on that. All right. We ready to move? So, I just want to make sure the board is giving us permission to put this forward to final adoption. Do I have consensus on that? -huh. You do. Okay. Thank you. With Yeah, with the change that
128we discussed with the change of all the staff and just changing it board and board staff. Yes. All right. Thank you. All right. We ready to move on to IHM. All right. And Dr. Mr. Vasquez, you're recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. Next, we will be reviewing our school our school wellness policy. I am the some of the major changes came about due to legislation that no longer require a healthy school team. So, a lot of the revisions that you will see on the red line have to do with that. I am going to turn it over to Vivian Cotus will be begin the process. Good afternoon members of the board. I have Mark Watson here our senior director of food nutrition services. He and I are going to review proposed changes to IAM. the first
129is the title. the proposal is to add student wellness to the existing title. and then, you'll notice as I go through these changes, many of them are formatting issues. If we've used an abbreviation earlier on in the policy, we don't, we use the abbreviation later on rather than repeating it again. So, the first revision in the body of the document is page one. Pre kindergarten now has the prek abbreviation. the first substantive changes are in this section two on district-wide teaching. They were made to conform with current Florida law regarding the appropriate teaching for health education and student wellness. In that subp paragraph two under district-wide teaching, we are removing the language of evidence-based, medically accurate and tracking the actual language of the appropriate Florida statute to add the word age appropriate and developmentally appropriate
130K12 health education curriculum shall be established with addresses the following concepts. community health, consumer health, environmental health, family life. And then it would delete, the language and awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of teenage pregnancy, mental health, and emotional health. That deleted language is being added to this the next page of the policy, and you'll see that language included on the second page. and then the paragraph would read including injury prevention and safety, internet safety, nutrition, personal health, prevention and control of disease, deletion of the word substantive deletion of the word and I apologize substantive use and abuse and adding the language and prevention of child sexual abuse, exploitation and human trafficking. Paragraph B is the addition again of the language which reads students will learn life
131skills that build confidence, support mental and emotional health and enable students to overcome challenges including self-awareness and self-management, responsible decision making, resiliency, relationship skills and conflict resolution, understanding and respecting other viewpoints and backgrounds. paragraph C would be additional language which states for students in grades 6 through 12 instruction includes the social, emotional and physical aspects of social media. This component must include but not limited to the negative effects of social media on mental health, including addiction, the distribution of misinformation on social media, how social media manipulates behavior, the permanency of sharing materials online, how to maintain personal security, and identify cyber bullying, predatory behavior, and human trafficking on the internet, and how to report suspicious behavior encountered on the internet. subp paragraph C1 I would say the Florida Department of Education is required to make
132the instructional materials being used pursuant to the subpar paragraph available online and OCPS will notify parents legal guardians of its availability. we are proposing to add the language of paragraph D which reads for students in grades 6 through 12 the health education curriculum includes awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of teen pregnancy. Sub paragraph E is modified to include the language for students in grades 7 through 12. The health education curriculum shall encompass a teen dating violence and abuse component that includes but is not limited to the definition of dating violence and abuse, the warning signs of dating violence and abusive behavior, the characteristics of healthy relationships, measures to prevent and stop dating violence and abuse, and community resources available to victims of dating violence and abuse.
133Sub paragraph F is a new paragraph which would read for students in grades 9 through 12. instruction includes developing leadership skills, interpersonal skills, organization skills, and research skills. Creating a resume, including a digital resume, exploring career pathways, using state career planning resources, developing and practicing the skills necessary for employment interviews, workplace ethics and workplace law, managing stress and expectations, and self motivation. And then the last paragraph in this section would the proposed language is to remain at as is. Madame chair, I don't know if you want me to go through the whole policy or if you want me to stop at each section and address any questions that may arise. Well, let's yeah, let's hold right here for just a minute. Member Gallo, if you have questions here. I do, but some of my questions
134are related to further down. Okay. So, all right. Member Vanos, you comfortable with holding all your questions? Member Fant? I had a few just in this section. so in section 2A how is this presented like or when would these items be presented? Is it just kind of mixed in throughout the year or is there a specific time? it's on page one 2A. when would that be presented to students? What subject? Right. What subject or at what time would that Madam Chair, may I? Abs. Absolutely. Member I'm going to ask Mary Bridges if she'll go up to or the podium either when. And she'll be able to answer questions about that section. Thank you. yes. So, with all of this, it would be in in some multiple courses. A lot of that is covered in the
135hope course when you're in the high school grades, elementary, age appropriateness is done during, they do have that health course, 30 minutes a week, and so a lot of it's done there. in the middle schools and high schools. We also portions of those especially the human trafficking and some of the internet safety and things like that are in that resiliency course that we do twice a year on the resiliency day. so it's kind of sprinkled. We also in elementary school have what's called child safety matters which has some of the nutrition and some of the you know danger stranger danger and things like that. that's, you know, age appropriate for human trafficking. And then in middle school, we have teen safety matters. And so those are like three lessons in elementary and middle school that
136they do throughout the year for all students. Perfect. Perfect. And then there is parents are always notified. And yes, parents are notified. It's all on our website so that they can see all the material that we use beforehand and they can see that resiliency course. They can just take parents can take the whole course if they like. Perfect. Perfect. my other question is on 2C where it talks about just explaining misinformation on social media. How is that presented? and I might need curriculum to come up. We have a couple places we do talk about it in those courses that I've talked about and in the child safety matters and teen safety matters. Mon'nique Burr is it comes from the state of Florida is where that curriculum comes from and so they talk about it in
137that aspect but it's also when we do internet at the beginning of the school year I think when kids are learning about their devices they also have some curriculum there and I'm not quite sure what's in that one we can get more specifics to the board afterwards but Miss Bridges is correct that it is infused throughout the curriculum and it's embedded and some of it is in specific courses and then some are part of some of our processes that we have such as our resiliency days or at the beginning of the year when we go over the code of conduct but we'll get specifics to you. Perfect. Thank you. and then okay I let's see I think you already explained all that and then a two F I just wanted to just state how awesome
138this is the inclusion of this and making sure that kids are getting the leadership skills and interpersonal skills organizational research like the resume creating all of that is going to be huge. how will this be like a specific class or again this is sort of just something we're encouraging teachers to? Yes. quite a few of those things they will get as they do more and more lessons or be exploring Zello because quite a few of those things are in that Zello college and career program. But also in our English courses almost I think all four English courses have units and and certain standards that talk about resume writing and all of those type things. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Okay, I think everyone else is comfortable with waiting until we get to the end.
139All right. Thank you, chair. The next title we have here is setting physical education and physical activity goals. the revisions in this section are to delete school board of Orange County, Florida. We've already said earlier in the policy that we are going to refer to the school board as the board deleting the word that. So the paragraph will read the board believes healthy habits that promote physical fitness foster good health. we've deleted or or we're proposing the deletion of the language the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC lists lack of physical activity amongst the six behaviors that cause the most serious health problems in the United States. and then the remainder of the section would read the OCPS physical education curriculum will be taught through the implementation of the Florida standards. The essential goal
140of the physical education curriculum is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable them to lead a lifelong healthy active lifestyle. All schools will implement physical education programs that support a sequential comprehensive curriculum and planned activities. Physical education and physical activities are essential elements of the school's instructional program. the program requirements section one is unchanged. We just given it a paragraph number. says, "The OCPS physical education program shall be designed to emphasize physical fitness and encourage active lifestyles. Programs will encourage students in preK through grade 12 to participate in physical education. The physical education curriculum will consist of activities at least moderate intensity and for duration sufficient to provide a significant health benefit to students subjecting subject to the differing capabilities of students. Subsection 2 is a new designation of participation
141requirements. subsection 2A would read students in kindergarten through grade 5 will receive a minimum minimum of 150 minutes. a week of physical education that includes at least 30 consecutive minutes on any day during which physical education instruction is conducted. Subsection 2B students in grades 6 through 8 will participate in the equivalent of one class period of physical activity sorry physical education for one semester of each year to C would read the participation miss we have a question or I have a question do we need to read all of the changes is what's already in policy. Why can we skip? No, we can certainly if that's the board's desire to skip, we can do that. We want to skip what's already in policy. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Proposed section 2C would would add the participation requirement shall
142be waved for a student who meets one of the following criteria. the student is enrolled or required to enroll in a remedial course or C C2 the student's parent legal guardian indicates in writing to the school that either the parent legal guardian is requesting the student enroll in another course offered as options by the school or the student is participating in physical activities outside the school day which are equivalent to or in excess of the mandated requirement detailed here. again, the only change to sub paragraph 3 would be to add the number. sub paragraph 4 also a number and adding the words kindergarten through grade 8. numbering of paragraph 5 and then numbering of paragraph 6. seven would be to delete 7 a. so that the only language in seven would be the existing language.
143and then the remainder of that section is paragraph numbering. there are no changes to the recess section. then we get to the area titled establishing healthy school. this is the section that consisted of the healthy school teams. We are proposing to delete this section. it is no longer mandatory under applicable law and it is duplicative of other activities and programs provided by the district. So the proposal is to delete the healthy school teams portion of the policy. under the next title which is establishing nutrition standards. Those are formatting changes again to refer to Orange County Public Schools as OCPS and to refer to local school wellness policy as simply the policy. then we continue on to section six on page seven which is a proposed deletion given the proposal to eliminate the healthy school teams
144from the policy. subpar that would create a new subp paragraph six and substituting the word comply for the phrase be in compliance. again reumbering of the policy subsection 8 would be a formatting change capitalizing S in the state of Florida and using the abbreviation for the healthy hungerfree kids act. The remaining language in this section is all formatting until we get to page nine which would be a new subsection G which is a bless you which is a request by the food nutrition services department to add language which reads due to contamination food nutrition services will not heat prepare or store food brought from someone's home or from the outside. The next section we have is titled setting goals for other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness. the proposed changes are formatting again with
145the additional language included on line three which reads an activity sponsors guidelines that are consistent with the OCPS eat smart nutrition standards for healthy snacks. There is additional language on the top of page 11 deleting the reference to the US Department of Agriculture and just relying on the abbreviation. Also on page 11 there is a proposed deletion to subsection 8 due to the request to eliminate the healthy school teams. a modification to a new subp paragraph 9 instead of referencing they such programs. And then we are on the bottom of page 11. The title is setting goals for measurement and evaluation. At the top of page 12 would be some formatting changes. Section subsection two would be removing the sentence the OCPS healthy school team will use the OCPS eats smart nutrition standards. deleting subp
146paragraphs four and five because those relate to the healthy school teams. and then eliminating the language of a new proposed section 4 to so that section would simply read the schools and cadres will conduct ongoing review of the implementation of this policy deleting again the existing subp paragraph six and finally modifying the new subp paragraph 6 simply read this policy will be annually reviewed and trienually assessed for updates and that brings us to the end of the policy. All right. Thank you. Let's begin with member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, I have a series of questions if that's okay. number one, so I know that, and I only know this because we created an ad hoc committee at FSBA, but the president has brought back the restoration of the presidential fitness test. Will we
147be incorporating that into our curriculum or into our PE classes? Anybody? Oh, thank you. Hi. some of our schools already do incorporate that. we are working on expanding that to more of our schools as we've seen that come out in in the news recently. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. And then the nutrition, I know that many years ago we got nutrition guidelines on on sodium, what we could calorie counts, all that had to be determined like per serving. Are those guidelines still in place or do we have more flexibility? yes, those guidelines are still in place and actually in the future starting now some of those guidelines have gotten stricter. something like sugar is is going to be it's going to restrict sugar even more going forward. So yes, those guidelines are still in
148place. Do they take into account like I'll just say high school for example the calorie count. Do they take into consideration the makeup or the weight of a individual? For example, a 90 lb girl doesn't need as many calories as a 250lb linebacker that's going to have football practice in the evening. Yet, if memory serves me, they get the exact same amount of calories served to them. Yes, that's still in place. It doesn't take into account the size of the student. it just takes in account their grade level and that's from the USDA. So, I guess my concern is I'm concerned that for some of our students, especially in my district, this might be the only hot meal they get. And with the calories so restricted, I'm fearful and have been fearful that like kids
149are still hungry. I know they're still hungry. I've been I've been in elementary schools schools where the elementary kids go, I'm still hungry, which is why we have share tables in elementary schools, but I haven't seen any like share tables or that at the high school level. Maybe there are. I haven't been to a high school lunch in a while. But we do have share tables in some of the high schools. Okay. and middle schools and elementary schools is not at this moment not required at the schools, but we're in a progress u process of getting that as a a they have to do it in the schools. So that's what we're working on now to try to get the policies and procedures in place to make sure that they're in every school. Okay. And
150then I know that we used to after like after school, especially for those that are playing sports, offer them like we have snacks or food available to them before practice for those who don't leave and have to go straight to practice in some of the schools. well, the afterchool program is a little bit different than the the breakfast and the lunch program. the breakfast and lunch program everybody eats at no charge at all schools but the afterchool program it's only schools that are qualified for those programs which is the supper program and our afterchool snack program. So we do have a large amount of schools that are in that pro those programs but not all schools are in those programs. What about high schools? it's some high schools, some high schools are not in involved,
151but the high schools that are involved, we do reach out to the activity athletic directors. We have a meeting with them every year so we can feed those sports teams at with our supper program. Okay. Thank you. And do you think there's any any shot in the future of getting more flexibility with the calorie count that we serve to our and I get off for healthy foods and serving healthy quality items to our students. I think that's important for their learning and their growth. I've just I feel like we don't give them enough food, especially our larger students. Well, one thing we're we're our department is involved with the Urban School Food Alliance, which helps us go to and not lobby, but talk to law lawmakers to say, "Yeah, we need to enhance our and
152increase our calorie count in our schools." So, that is in the works. I'm not sure if it's going to pass or not, but it is something that we are looking at and that's nationwide, not just Orange County Public Schools. Thank you. And then I have a question about I know that a lot of students, mine included, took hope online. So, they didn't take hope where I think is some of this stuff is discussed. I'm assuming that with Orange County virtual schools, their curriculums would match whether you're online or at school, but like what with Florida virtual school, are they probably have their own curriculum, so we wouldn't know what they're they're teaching or if they're teaching what's in our policy. Madam Chair, that is correct. and I see Mr. Moody is here. OCVS I believe
153uses FLVS curriculum and so we they would use that same platform. I cannot speak to and I'm not sure our team is prepared to speak today on how that FLVS curriculum integrates some of the topics that are in here. We could certainly research it, but it's a it's standard space. and but we would need to research how those specific topics are, if they're covered. Okay, that's fine. I just I know that taking Hope online was way more difficult than actually taking it at the school. Like it's for those students who are thinking about taking hope online, I would recommend taking it at the school because both my kids struggled. this why do we removing all the CDE verbiage from the policy? Was there a reason for that or is it just tied into the wellness
154programs that we no longer have to have? The CDC programs were tied into the healthy school teams. Okay. and so if you remove the healthy school teams then we are reverting to the Florida standard guidelines and not the CDC which was what the healthy school teams was built around. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification. And then going back to the food for a little bit, I've been getting complaints actually out of Stephanie's district about the cookies and the chips that are sold at lunch. So I guess I'm curious because I'm I'm I'm being told that it's food and nutrition services that offer this. And so some parents don't want their kids to eat the cookies or don't want their kids to eat the chips and the kids are stealing money out of their
155piggy banks and buying the cookies and the chips because they really want the cookies and the chips. And so how do the cookies and the chips abide by the nutritional guidelines that we have to adhere to? Well, a lot all of our products are different for sold in into the in the public in the stores. we have reduced fat, reduced sugar. we also have 50% or more whole grain in all of our items. So all of those items that we have meet the our guidelines through those different things. So it what you see in the schools is not what you see in the stores. So if you say you had a Pop-Tart in the school, it's a lot less sugar in it than it is in the stores. it has 51% whole grain in it
156also. So it's just a different product than it is in the store. So that's how it meets our guideline. Okay. So it's a health it's a healthier product. Yes, ma'am. And we do have four dietitians on staff who have to go through every single item to make sure it meets those guidelines. Maybe we can promote that better because like parents who don't want their kids to have sugar or those fats, maybe we just need to educate them that no, this isn't your typical cookie. This is a lot healthier cookie. So if it's if it's a sweet that your child wants, this is a healthier version of that sweet than just a regular Publix chocolate chip cookie. Yes. It also some of the schools have vending machines that also is required in those vending machines to
157also have the same products that we serve in the cafeteria in those vending machines. And if they don't, they can't be on during the school day. Okay. And are we have we gone to more I know soda's not allowed because of all the sugar, but there's like do we do do we offer like seltzer water or like poppy or some of those antibiotic drinks that are supposed to be really healthy for you? Are we allowed to sell those in schools? No. Even and if I could just if you can come up for a sec but even our the Gatorade disorder, we had to stop selling Gatorade in certain grade levels because it had too much too many products in it. And we even go even as deep as the colors the different dyes that's in
158it, we can go by. So it just depends on what the item is. But the poppy and all that I think if you can and this is I'm sorry this is Jamila. She's our senior administrator and she's also a dietitian too. Oh, wonderful. Menu and nutrition. Yes. Thank you. Now, what was the question, please? if we're if we're selling any of the more healthier sodas that are on the market today like Poppy and that lollipop that many of the kids are drinking now due to the probiotics and it just kind of being the in thing. Of course, the Eat Smart standards are also when it comes to beverages, it's based off of the grade levels. So, at our middle school and below, really only water, juice, and milk are required there. But once we get
159to the high school level, any other item or any other beverage, there's a strict caloric restriction there per ounce. So if we are selling things like those, then they also meet those criteria. So the schools have the option like to put in like seltzer waters or something that have no calories that are kind of just flavored water. Okay. Like a carbonated water. Thank you. And then my last question is you discussed PE in our middle schools and I believe that the policy read that parents can opt out if they could prove that their ch child is getting all the exercise they needed extracurricular activities like before school or after school. And how do they how do they how do they do do we notify the parents that's that's an option? I think they're coming up.
160There is a process and I believe it is a form that the parents fill out and but I'll I'll defer to Mary and her team. And then while we're waiting up I guess the follow-up question to that is who determines what's a match and what's not? Because like some might not feel that baton is a lot of exercise. I would argue that it's a very much an exercise and so I'm just curious as who determines what sport would meet that criteria. I believe there's criteria from the state although looking at Mary's face I could be wrong. No. Yes, you are. and I would have to go back and look at our communication out cuz my director I'm I'm not positive, but the state gives pretty clear instructions on what is and is not acceptable for
161the waiver for the elementary school and the middle school. Okay. Can you just sh when you share that with the board? I'd just be curious to know like what is excusable and what's not. Absolutely. It I will say it's pretty broad. Okay. But I will I do know that much just from getting calls from schools. But and it is obviously we could always improve on communication, but there are a lot of students that have the waiver for PE and so I do think it is well known, but we can certainly make we can go back to our communications and see how we share that with with our parents. Yeah, I know my I my youngest opted out for middle school girls. It just PE just it's that's that's a tough class. I girls don't want
162to dress out. They don't want to get sweaty. Like it's it's it's it's problematic. It's stressful for them. Thank you so much. All right. Member Vanos. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to just feel like I have to provide the other side and say that my middle daughter like discovered that she could run because she took PE in middle school and honestly didn't really like it before that. but because she was in PE and because they had to run the mile every Monday, she hated it and she hated it and then she realized, oh, like maybe I'm kind of good at this and she ended up really liking it. And so, I'll I'll get to the PE in a second, but one thing I did want to ask about was going off of what
163member Gallo was asking about the salt and the sugar and all that and like how the products in our schools like aren't really the same products that are in the grocery store. but are they do they have the same branding on them? Like do they look the same? Some some items do. Some items there they have different markers on. I'm just giving example. Say you have Doritos. It'll have a RF on it for reduced fat. so it does have a little bit different logos, but it's close to it. Yeah. I mean I would and that's that's a manufacturer, you know, trying to still promote their products. Yeah, that's exactly my point. Like even if in our schools there's 50% whole grains, whatever that means, and you know, some less sugar and some salt, we're still
164promoting Doritos and cookies and Pop-Tarts and sugary cereals, even if technically they don't have the same level of sugar. and I that's a concern of mine if we're we're really looking at at kind of caring about that. I just want to also say it's I understand that the healthy school teams were probably not necessarily functioning in every school and it was probably hard to keep track of. I know I tried to to join ours in elementary school. and it's it was kind of another thing for schools to do and so I understand why why it is being cut out, but I wish it weren't. I wish it were different because I think it is really important to encourage healthy behaviors in our schools and I think it does help our students learn more. So just
165want to express just I wish it I wish we were in a different place. can can I say something to that on the food nutrition services? We still have a administrator who's on staff who still goes out and teaches nutrition to the schools whenever the schools wants a nutritional class. We do have a person who goes to different schools to do that. So, we will always have that on staff. Okay, that's really good to hear. I think that's really important. That's those. So, thank you. I also wanted to follow up on one of Member Gallow's points about the size of meals and I just wanted to say that even for some of the 70 lb girls, they also find it not enough food. So, if there is anything that we can do to kind of
166increase those those sizes because maybe if the meals were bigger and more nourishing, students would be less I'm not saying 100% but maybe they would be less likely to go for the chips and cookies if you know the meals were maybe a little bit more satisfying. And I know that's not on I know that's not on you. We have limited funds and we are so grateful that we have free breakfast and lunch and I truly truly so grateful and I think it has made such a huge difference for our students and I am I'm so happy we have that. So, but if there is anything that we can do, I would support that as well. okay, going back to I think this was the first policy. It was 2A. I'm not sure what page it
167was on. I'm sorry that the full page wasn't on the screen. Sorry. Yeah. Yes. Okay. So, that one, the districtwide teaching. I'm just I have a couple questions about this. So, I'm just curious about why we crossed out an evidence-based medically accurate. Member Vanos, I think the revisions to this section were really truly to conform with the applicable Florida statute. It's section 103.42. and we just tracked the language of that section. Okay. So the evidence-based medically accurate comprehensive education is just not part of the Florida statutes. Correct. It reads comprehensive age appropriate and developmentally appropriate K through 12 instruction. It doesn't include the evidence-based medically accurate language. So, since the revision was tailored to the statutory section, that's why we deleted that language. Okay, got it. Thank you. for the health education piece and I
168and member Fant was kind of asking like when it is delivered during the school year and I understand that it is like embedded in certain things but I wanted to ask about I don't know what we call it now but sort of like the comprehensive sex education which we would have called it when I was in school that fourth grade we went to the Robert Crown Center and learned about all that. I know this past year at at least some of our middle schools that health piece was delivered on the last day of school and that was that done on purpose or I'm just kind of curious why they would choose to deliver this health class on the last day of school when many students aren't there when you know learning is probably not top
169of mind for most students or teachers for that matter. just sort of wondering if there's any guidelines about when that class should be taught. So, well, while she's coming up, we have made adjustments to our curriculum resource materials to be able to align and that is more aligned with what it was prior to the submission and the pause on the instruction before until the state approved it. And so what we tried to do last year was to give students who missed it in fifth grade in sixth grade an opportunity to see that content as well. And as I researched it and the team gave me lots of information on it. some of those are like they cycled and so when they what they would have gotten from in fifth grade that they didn't get in
170the sixth grade curriculum was minimal. So I'll let you continue. So we were pending approval from the state which did take a little bit last year. So those were shifted in our scope and sequence to second semester pending the state approval. So it could be why some of the schools maybe were providing that instruction towards the end of the school year. as Dr. Vasquez mentioned for the reproductive health and disease education all topics build upon each other. So it's kind of like concepts of like math where I'm learning addition before I'm learning multiplication etc. So some of the topics that are covered in fifth grade such as puberty are then touched upon again in sixth grade and then and so on. And I definitely understand that and I understand that there was a delay. Department
171of education didn't approve. People didn't know what to do. So I totally get that. I just and I understand why it would be in the second semester. I guess I'm just I'm I'm not I don't think the very last day of school is probably the best day to teach it, but I'll I'll leave it at that. and maybe it'll change this year. May I May I comment? That's left up to the individual school. So that's not a district decision. We certainly can touch base with our middle and high school folks to ensure that they are teaching according to the guidelines and not leaving it for the last few days of school. Thank you. one other question on 2A and I understand that you're just copying from the state statute, but I do just want to
172make sure. So, are we teaching just the concept of consent anymore in health education and reproductive education or is that not a topic that we teach? I would have to look at the materials again just to confirm, but we do have consent as a covered topic. Oh, okay. Good. Perfect. and then I think my last questions are have to do with physical with PE. I think it was page three. I was trying to get it as you were scrolling through page 3 2c and I think these were the waiverss. Yeah, those so this addition of waving PE for a student who is has to take a remedial course. I'm assuming this has to do with timing, but I Oh, hello. but I I don't know. I think PE is just a really important class that
173particularly in the elementary school, and I just hate to see some students not participating in it in elementary or middle because they have to take a remedial course. I and I'm wondering how we worked this before this waiver was allowed. Lonnie, I can take that part of it and then you can Yes. Lonnie came up to speak about what what was acceptable to the state. so the practice of waving PE is probably over 10 years old if not more when the penalty of not passing the state assessment also became severe where students were retained. And so that has been a practice that has continued where specifically in third up into third grade. they may miss PE or have a waiver because they have to have remediation which is required by the state. And then as
174you get into the middle and the high schools, it's a requirement for graduation to pass the state assessment test. And so you can have PE, but if you're not going to pass the test and not graduate and not have a diploma, one would argue that the reading class is probably a little bit more important than the PE. I'm just from my perspective especially when you talk to parents parents would now they don't have to a parent can say we're not going to and the child can continue to have PE and then we've done a lot of things with that parent say you know I'm going to take care of part of the remediation we work something in through their ELA or reading block but that's the history of why the waiverss came in for the
175remedial class and I just is that true for elementary and middle school. What What part is true? I'm sorry. The waiver. So this I know. So for elementary school that's true, too. I just want I want to make sure I heard that correctly. And you probably Well, I it used to be very it was more prevalent at the elementary level because of the third grade mandatory retention. Okay. Thank you. And the last question I had, I think, was on page 44 4A. I'm not sure if it's a question, but it's in my notes, so I just wanted to check it out really quick. Or is there not a 4 A? Can you I'm sorry. Could you scroll to the next page, please? Okay, I think that was it. Thank you. I really appreciate your insight
176and answers. Thanks. Thank you, member. member Ferrant. Thank you. All right, back at this with page four recess. Just wondering, and this might be more for Dr. Vasquez but as we were at one of my town halls with the K8, I know they're really wanting to have recess. I do have several other middle schools that incorporate recess. and I love the idea of doing that for the middle school students. I think they're just they get antsy during the day. And so I'm wondering is that something that we could start? I don't know that it needs to be in policy. I don't know. I mean, I would like to see it in policy. but I don't know how we can go about doing that. Great question. and I'm going to speak a little bit about the
177student town halls at the board meeting because already we've had some great insight. spoiler alert, dress code has come up quite a bit. So some of you are going to be very happy. some maybe not so much. But the idea of having recess has come up a couple of times and so we will take a look at the schedule and how it could be possible to incorporate a little bit of a break in the day because that's what they were saying that they're they're so overscheduled. Some even saying they leave school they have other activities whether it's dance, whether it's a sport. some of them actually are taking classes outside of the regular school day and so then when they're finished with that they're getting home it is doing homework late at night. So we
178are going to take a look at the schedule. We're waiting on more feedback, right? because right now we've only done four or five middle school town halls and it hasn't come up in every one but it's come up in the majority of those and it's clear that they need some type of break. I don't know if it's something that could be incorporated like when they finish lunch are they able to maybe go outside and their their supervision and they get a little bit of free time to be able to just touch the grass so to speak. So, we are looking at that for next school year, not this year. Okay. Wonderful. Wonderful. I know Hunters Creek middle school does it really well. So, if you need to talk to anybody there, they do a really
179awesome job. okay, so next one would be it was I put page eight. page eight, number eight. So, just a quick question. the where we struck out the healthy hunger-free kids act. is there a reason that we want to remove that? And because if we're leaving the acronym member Ferrron, if you look at the bottom of page seven, it's really just a formatting issue. We've we've spelled out the full name of the act, then we've given it an abbreviation. So, I think for the sake of consistency, that's why we're only using the abbreviation in that subparagraph. You got it. Okay. I didn't I Yeah, thank you. I didn't notice that. It's hard when you have those that many letters in an acronym and you have no idea what it means. Yes. No, but I'm glad
180that it spelled out before that. So, that's really helpful. the other thing I just wanted to touch on and I don't remember where this was in the policy but lunch I agree with the other board members where lunch I do feel like it is we have kind of a broad we have kids who say that there's too much food and I don't want to eat it all and I don't want to receive it all. but they're being required to receive everything that's offered because of the free lunch that we give. and then there's other students who are hungry and they would like to receive it. And so I think there's just that kind of is there how do we balance that? And so that's one question. And then my other one is could we offer
181more food if we went back to paying for the like having parents pay for the lunch? the first question that you're saying about can you repeat that one so I'll make sure I get right yeah so when I go to the schools what I'm told is the students say they tell the lunch lady no I don't really want the chicken say or I don't want salad but I do want chicken and apples and then the lunch lady says no you're required to receive every everything that's on the menu or you can't have lunch and so that's the part where I Is there a reason we're doing that? And okay, they're they're not required to take everything that's on the menu that's on the menu. They are required to take certain amount of items to make
182it a reimburseable meal because if they don't take those items, according to the USDA, it's not a reimburseable meal. We can't get the reimbursement for that meal. So, it takes three components to get to that three items. so, I'm just giving an example. if say you have a hamburger, a you have milk, you have salad, you have fruit, things like that. You only have to take three of those as certain things. So like the hamburger would be counted as two because it's a grain from the bread and you have your meat meat alternative which is the meat. Then you have to take another one. You always have to take a fruit or a vegetable. You have to that's that's a must. So they can't turn down a fruit or a vegetable. So if if they
183wanted a pair to go with that, they can get a pair. They don't have to take the milk if they have the other items if they if they meet those requirements. But that's a requirement from the USDA to get the reimbursement for that meal. Okay. Now, with the when some of them saying they don't have enough, some of them say they have too much. that's I think board member Gallows was talking about the share tables and the donation tables and that's why we're trying to encourage more schools to get share tables so that kids who don't want the items they can put it on that share table and the kids who wants extra they can take it off that share table. Is that something that we as a district can provide for a school? cuz
184I know one thing that I've heard is schools will do a share table but a lot of the items need to be refrigerated. So do we provide the refrigeration? We don't provide the refrigeration for all schools. We did have some some grants that we had that we provided refrigeration for some of the schools because it is a big health department issue that these items have to stay refrigerated. If they are a refrigerated item or if they're a perishable item, they have to stay refrigerated. and somebody has to monitor that and take those temperatures of that those items at a certain time during the day. So, it just depends on if the school has somebody who can do that and if they have the refrigeration and even if they don't have refrigeration, we do provide sometimes
185coolers for them so they can put it in the coolers with ice so they can keep it cold. It just depends on the item. So, it would be if we had more grants that we can get refrigeration for all schools, it would make it a lot easier. Okay. the other thing that has come up when I'm visiting schools is the request for mini waters. Instead of like the three flavors of milk, you just do just a regular milk and you do or milk, chocolate milk, and then like a mini water. Good. Well, we're we're we're actually trying to through the urban school food line. One of the other things we're trying to do because as as of now milk is a requirement to have on the menu but you don't have to take it but
186it's a requirement menu and water is not considered a nutritional u component for the USDA at this moment but it is a lot of districts around the United States are trying to get that water as one of those items but at this moment it's not considered a nutritional beverage. for schools. But if we were to go back to the way we were doing it where we have parents pay for the lunch, would that be something that we could maybe supply more food, not have to give every single it, you know, all the three different items or even for the paid students, we actually get a reimbursement for those also. So that's still a requirement through the USDA. you do get re a reimbursement amount for a paid student for a reduced student and for a
187free student. So, and we have to go through USDA is the whole point whether they're paid or not paid. Yes. So, it's all governed by the USDA for the reimbursement. That's why the Well, that is frustrating. I think that's a part of the issue is that it's like we got to cut all this red tape and just let us make amazing meals for kids. Like there's so many different meals that are very hearty and satisfying, fulfilling, and I feel like we're always every time we try to do something great, it's there's just a red tape. So yeah, it's it a lot of lot of people don't know, but you know, the Food Nutrition Service is one of the most regulated departments in OCPS. So I mean it's a we have a gauntlet of requirements that
188we have to have just to get that reimbursement so we can stay an enterprise so we won't take any money from the district. Okay. Thank you. Member Felder. It's always eye opening. Member Felder. You're recognized. Thank you so much. I have a question. I was in the back. Hear me? I'm sorry. I was in the back and I heard you mentioning of vending machines. I have a question. Well, I guess a concern. Vending machines, who's responsible for putting them up? is it legal for, say, maybe teachers or people that work for the district to negotiate with a vending machine company and put the vending machines up. And of course, you know, when they're in the schools, the money comes to the school, but if it's privately done by an instructor or something, how does that
189work? And if there are up, is there some type of tracking record to see who's really putting the vending machines up? Okay. I first I'm I'm not the authority on vending machines. All I know about vending machines for ours is if they do have a vending machine, they have to meet the eat smart snack standard that we have in place. you can find that online. and if they if it meets the requirement, they can have it on 30 minutes after the last meal period. if it doesn't meet the ESmart standard, it only it's supposed to say on come on an hour after the last bail. So I know it's a for the vendor machines that we have they in procurement they have procured certain companies to run the vendor machines and it goes through the
190school and the school has to make a contract with that company to get the vending machines but it is under the guidelines of it has to meet certain guidelines to put it in unless it's if it's to the student but if it's to adults they can do whatever they want if it's away from the students. No, I'm No, I guess maybe I didn't word the question correctly. I understand there are guidelines that are following in terms of the menu that's in the machines, the chips and all that kind of stuff. But I guess my concern was and I may need to kind of investigate it closely again and then come back with a question. But my concern is I cuz my thing is money if money is going to be made I needed to go
191back to the schools not to I need not to individuals. I just like I just I just believe whatever we're doing with the climate that we're in now in terms of finances and I heard the vending machine comment when I was in the back and I wanted to to ask that when we put them in schools I know that's probably a certain percentage if I'm not if I'm not wrong that the school gets the company gets it and then the school gets it but my concern if there are individuals at a particular school who are putting vending machines up. They can't do it without principal approval and that's illegal, is it not? Don't you go to jail for that? I can't answer that question. Mark, let me take it, please. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So,
192we do have guidelines for the use of vending machines. We can provide that to the board. If after you rece if you have concerns about any school operating a vending machine outside of our guidelines, just let myself know or Dr. Williams know and we will look into into the specifics. Thank you. I just I just wanted to make sure I kind of knew that Superintendent, but I just wanted to make sure I wanted to have clarity before I come to you. All right. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. I'm going to call on member Gallo. I do want to bring to the board's attention, we are scheduled to start our public comment portion in four minutes. and we do have one other item that we were going to discuss. Dr. Vasquez, you want
193to comment on that? Thank you, Madam Chair. we will re bring back the topic of student on the board to another work session because of time and if you would like I can Lonnie came up to be able to answer board member Galla's questions about what's included or maybe it was board member Vanos what's included in the waiver from the state but we can put that in writing and send it to all the board for the sake of time. Okay. All right. We're going to hear from Mr. Flores in just a minute. Mr. Pomearini, do we have how many speakers do we have for the public comment period? Eight so far. Oh, okay. Okay. I Yeah, I think we need to get on to that on time. I Thank you. All right, Mr. Flores. can
194I can I ask my question? Yes. I'll be quick. So, I'm not I don't like that we pull kids out for I know it's allowed by law for the PE, but I don't like it. I don't like that because I think that with all the research, it helps us it helps kids learn when they have physical activity. So, my question is two, number one is we don't take them out of every single PE class, do we? Like for the entire like there are allowed some physical activity even if they're in remedial classes. Number one. Number two, can a parent opt them out of those remedial classes? And my third question is in statute it says that in if all sixth graders should be doing the 150 minute mandate of PE if they're in in a
195school that has other elementary levels. So do we do we have that 150 minute mandate for our K through8s? I will we'll check unless Mary knows very quickly. the answer to your second question is yes. I mentioned that parents can opt out of the remedial class and we will verify how many days they have because I believe there's on most schedules, most elementary schedules there's PE 5 days a week or three days a week depending on the schedule. and I will confirm what if how many they are pulled from because they can be pulled out of art or music, right? It's not just PE that they can be pulled out of because art music is not required. I'll verify. Thank you. Member Gallowin on the sixth grade if if we if the 150 minute applies
196to all our K through eights for students in sixth grade. I I need to double check on that. I believe we it's we have it so that they can do that, but I believe the waiver still allows them to they can still use the waiver if it if appropriate to not be in it, but I'll double check. Okay. Thank you. Because I was I was under the impression that the elementary statute for that 150 minutes was a little bit more stringent than the middle and the high schools. but maybe not. Ju I just want to make sure we're following the law. The the middle school class periods are 50 minutes, so they would get the 150 if they're enrolled in PE. Thank you. Anything else? Member Kell. All right. member for real quick just the
197on I think it was page one that 2A would it be beneficial to the public or somebody else reading the policy to include the statute that you cited the 103.42 from state statute just so that they can kind of go back and see why we have it that way. Member Front, the style of the policies changed and we are now putting all of the statutory references at the very end. So, it's listed on the last page of the policy and we've we've deleted putting them at the conclusion of each section. Some people found that confusing. so if you see on page two you'll see there was a specific authority section and a lot of these subsections within policy I am all reference the same statutory section. So that's why they were included at the very
198end. So the end of the entire policy it was yeah if you if you look at the last page of the policy and it's a long policy it's 13 pages all of the relevant authorities are on that last page would it be beneficial to have any kind of asterct or something that states like so for people to to see that at the end or I mean I don't know just thinking about it because I mean when we were looking at it I didn't I mean off the top of my head I wouldn't know which statute it is so it is helpful to know. Okay. If not, I mean, it's not like a game changer, but just a thought. Too many things. I we had it that way and then it was confusing and that's why
199we've changed it to this way. So, if there's consensus from the board to change it, then we'll I mean most of the policies have been have been adjusted because it was confusing. Yes. All right. That concludes this portion of the work session. We are going to come back at a future time for the other discussion item. we have how many speakers right now? Is it eight? Nine. Okay. We have nine speakers. I am concerned that the board has been sitting here for four hours and I think it's probably necessary that we take a very short break. So everybody Huh. 10 minutes. Yes. Okay. 10 minutes and we'll be back here anyway. Heat. Heat.