OCPS | 2025-09-30 School Board Meeting

001Good evening and welcome to the Orange County School Board's regular meeting scheduled for today, Tuesday, September 30th. And thank you all again for being here with us. As a reminder, board members will not be participating in any outside electronics, communication, text messaging, or anything else while we're here because we want to give our full attention to the business in front of us. really quickly, we have present with us, member Ferrron, member Salamanca, member Douglas, and member Banos. Regretfully, member Gallo, member Felder, and me and Chair Vice Chair Bird were not able to be with us today. In a moment, we're going to rise for a moment of silence. And after that, I'll invite you to join us in the pledge of allegiance. And now for the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United

002States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Before before we begin, Dr. Vasquez, do we have any changes to the agenda that's been published? yes madam chair I do have one change from the agenda. We are going to move item 15.03 requesting the approval to designate the hungerford property a s a surplus and the memorandum of understanding between the Dr. Phillips Foundation and the school board of Orange County to item 17.02. All righty. Thank you. We have a motion to amend the agenda. Do we have a I'm sorry. We have a request to amend the agenda. Do we have a motion? Motion by member Vanos, second by member Ferrant. All in favor, please say I. Oppose. Motion carries with

003all members present voting in the affirmative. All right, we are going to begin tonight's recognition with board member spotlights. Each board member has this opportunity once a year to shine a spotlight on two exceptional OCPS employees. Tonight, that honor belongs to board member Maria Salamanca. Board member Salamanca, can you tell us about your honores? Yes, and I'm excited. I wasn't sure what order we were going to do this, so I had prepared folks to hang around for a little bit, but this is so much better. it's so exciting. I love this part. This is kind of where we each board member recognizes folks in our respective districts that are truly stand out and represent us and make us proud and kind of highlight what makes OCPS so great. so I have two incredible educators to

004talk about today. So first of all, Mrs. Katagan who is being recognized for her outstanding contribution to District 2. She is Innovation's Heist 2025 teacher of the year, which I didn't know before I chose her, but I am not surprised at all. The first time I met her was when I walked into Sunmy's Elementary. and just from our first interaction, I could just tell that she was doing such an incredible job. and she was working on a book club with her teachers at Sunblaze. And a lot of the books that they were reading was around the structure leadership and literacy and coaching and what the role of the teacher was. And I could just tell all of these educators were so engaged and loved what she brought and just the collaborative nature of of what

005she brought to assemblies. her leadership has played a pivotal role in shaping now a new school at Innovation High School. that is you know full of culture of innovation and she really exemplifies that. She as an instructional coach she leads with empathy. She guides our teachers modeling effective practices and facilitating professional development that is both rigorous and relevant and that feels collaborative to them as well. and that stands out from every time I talk to anyone on campus about the work that she does. her professionalism, her attention to detail, her commitment to truly instructional excellence makes her an invaluable asset to both District 2, but Innovation High School as well. you know, when the grades came out this year, Innovation High School was, and I don't I don't know the history, but I think it

006really was Yeah, it's historic. It's historical for a high school that is brand new to get a B right out of the gate. And that requires, as you know, you're kicking off a new school. There's new leadership. Everybody's getting used to it. And for it to excel academically out of the gay without a senior class is truly exceptional. And I have no doubt that in there's a huge part of that is the work that you did behind the scenes with our teachers. So, thank you for your passion, for your dedication. It shines through with our students and anytime you walk into Innovation High School, that culture that you built along with the leadership really is there. So, thank you so much. Come on forward to receive your certificate and take a picture. Oh, sorry. I

007mean, it was an A, not a B. It was an A. Yeah, it was an A. Yeah. So, first high school ever to open with an A. And we have some really cool little things here that I'm going to bring down. Congratulations. It was awesome. Oh, come on, man. Don't Don't do one with that. or not without doing what? Wait a minute. Make sure I'm doing the right thing here cuz without actually it's jewelry. Oh, whoa. Wow. By by by a horn by her. all right and you know I think my fellow board members got to see how awesome innovation is with our state of the schools and just I mean really truly incredible that the work that is happening there. next up, I'm really proud to also recognize the Luminary Middle R teacher, Kelly

008Smith. Kelly also exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship in our teachers. Luminary Middle is also a new school in district 2. Miss Smith took on multiple ambitious challenges of launching the school's new future farmers of America program and her impact has been extraordinary. And when I first visited, it was so clear that from the way the classroom was set up, how engaged the students were, and just how excited the community was about what was going on in her classroom, that her work was really stand out. She secured three grants, earned the school green school of promise status in the very first year of the school, and created an incredible hands-on opportunity for our students. They've grown and harvested vegetables. They've hosted baby goats in the classroom and I know that there's future plans to build the

009chicken coupe and incubating some of those chickens. they grew squash, peppers, sweet potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes. and one of my favorite that I heard was that it there's officially a celebration of salad day where the students use their own produce to host their own salads and learn about the importance of eating healthy and and all that goes into that. thank you so much for the incredible work that you're doing and building this program from the ground up, for inspiring a new generation of leaders through the program. we're very proud to have you and truly to both of these educators, you exemplify how much you go the extra mile when we have a new school. And it's so much work to have a new school. The budget is different. The culture has to be built up. Everybody

010works extra time. and you two, and the reason I have both of these educators was in the new schools, you just see how different that culture is because of teachers and educators like you who go the extra mile to make our new schools exciting and a place of learning. and a place that parents are like, I have to have my kid come here because there's so much cool stuff happening. so thank you for the spirit of entrepreneurship, for representing everything you do so well, and we're really lucky to have you. So, come on up and we'll take a picture. Congratulations. Thank you for all that you do. Congrats. Congratulations. And thank you. No, you're That's Chris Davis. Chris Davis brings all the stuff. Congratulations. He's got more swag than anyone. Nice to be over here.

011I know. I feel like everyone left me. Thank you, Member Salamanca. We're thrilled to spotlight such stellar teachers who present the excellence that we have districtwide. It's just it just exemplifies what we see time and time again. And it just blows me away. And it's new school, so it's always exciting. Oh, right. Exactly. You know, District One has to come to my school openings cuz District One doesn't have any. Oh, boy. Yeah. It's bummer she's not here today. I know. Yeah. Yeah, she'll get you back later. I know that was All right, we have one final recognition maybe isn't quite the right word. Celebration might be a better term. Tonight, we have the immense privilege of honoring a group of individuals whose swift coordinated actions on campus saved a student's life. I'd like to invite

012students Josh Josiah Vra. Is he with us? and Ariana, come on up. Ariana Rodriguez, social school, I'm sorry, school dean Doyle Washington. Is Dean Washington with us? Thank you, sir. School nurse Deborah Bucowski, assistant principal Courtney Tamasi and school resource officer Eduardo Delmpo. If you all would come forward. Thank you so much. So, a little little piece of information about these amazing individuals. On September 9th, University High School Mercedes Hunt collapsed. Fellow students Josiah and Iriona immediately found Dean Washington, who quickly alerted school resource officer Delmpo and school nurse Bowski. Within minutes, nurse Buchi was performing CPR, a heroic act that likely put Mercedes back in cardiac rhythm. Assistant principal Tamasi stayed with Mercedes during transport, ensuring that her care continued. Their calm and heroic response saved a life. I'm pleased to announce that Mercedes

013is doing well and I believe she's joined us tonight. Mercedes, you want to come on forward? Mercedes, are you okay with that? And Mercedes mom, I think, is also here. Hi. Why don't you come on up? So, I knew which one was mom because it was the only other person in the in the room that I saw that had tears in her eyes other than me. No, I'm sure there were plenty of you, but so heartwarming. So, Mercedes is doing well, as you can see. She's joined us tonight, and she is feeling better. Am I right, Mercedes? You feeling good? Yes. She's been fitted with a device that will help regulate her heart. And thanks again to the swift actions of this team, she is steadily improving. And we're so excited that she's able to

014join us and celebrate this moment as well. I'd also want to point out that we talk about heroic and you know they wouldn't be here these individuals wouldn't have been there for her if it weren't for the fact that they went the extra mile and got trained in CPR. So it doesn't take a whole lot to be a hero and just going out and getting the training and being ready that makes you a hero. So, that is my call to all of you all to figure out how to find a place. And one of those places happens to be the Orlando Fire Department. There are many others. If you're not really sure, you can always email me and I'll put you in touch with places where you can get your CPR training. And there's nothing

015better than knowing that if there's ever another situation like Mercedes, you're ready to step in. So, with that, we want to again, we want to get a couple of pictures. We've got the whole group rallied together here. Board members, if you'll join me, yes. And mom, don't worry. You got a lot of tears up here accompanying yours. It doesn't get old, but it does. You could say it. Oh, you talking about them? All of us. Oh, okay. We're We're in a big smile. Big smile again. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Congratul Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Dr. Vasquez, do you have any newly appointed administrators to present to the board tonight and the public? yes, Madam Chair. We have two new

016appointees this evening. First, we have Miss Barker, who is a resource teacher at Walker Middle School, who's going to be the new assistant principal at Freedom Middle School. Thank you school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Arm Brewster, Executive Leader Dr. Fritzler, and principal leader Mrs. Stanky for the opportunity to serve at Freedom Middle School. I am especially thankful to God for his grace and guidance, and to my amazing husband, Darius, and daughter Ryan. I also want to thank my parents, Michelle and Dell, my in-laws, Tasha and Kendrick, for always supporting and showing up for me. I would like to thank my siblings, family, and friends, including all of my family and loves for always encouraging, praying, praying for me. I want to thank Dr. Williams for setting the example at Jones High School. I

017am grateful to Mr. Walden for helping me begin my educational journey and to Mr. Anderson for believing in me as a first year teacher. I especially want to thank Principal Brown and who welcomed me to Walker as a dean and pushed me to start this AP journey. Thank you as well to my past and current leaders, mentors, and the entire Walker Viking family for their continued support. A special thank you to Dr. Jackson, principal of Freedom Middle School for being here tonight to support me. I am humbled, grateful, and very excited to begin this journey, and I look forward to serving our students, families, and community. next we have Miss Cassandra Tropman who's going to be the new principal at Castle Creek Elementary School. Good evening. first I'd like to thank Chair Jacobs, the members

018of the school board, Superintendent Dr. Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Arm Brewster, Dr. Jones, and our district staff for this opportunity to serve. I am truly honored to be appointed as principal of Castle Creek Elementary School. I'm excited to begin working along the dedic alongside the dedicated staff and to partner with our students and families as we continue to build on Castle Creek's traditions while also creating new ones together. My commitment is to bring stability, consistency, a strong sense of direction while maintaining a positive school culture along with a focus on student achievement so that our school can continue to thrive. I also want to take a moment to thank two special mentors, my forever principal, Megan Rivera and Randall Longhouse. I want to also thank principal leaders Lisha Miller, Kimberly Hankerson, and Rob McCllo for

019helping me through all of my transitions. And lastly, I give thanks to God and my family who are here who have supported me along this journey. I look forward to the great work ahead and I'm grateful for the trust you have placed in me. Thank you. Yeah, you both want to you two want to come forward so that we can get a picture and you if you have let's get a picture of the two of you and then if you have a support team or family bring them up congratulations Thank you. Anybody? Anybody who's here, family support team, your OCPS family, y'all. Come on. Don't be shy. Come on. My gosh, is she adorable. You want to think about it? Y'all going to go that way. Keep going. Keep going. There you go. Super happy.

020One more. I love her. She's I think she is this year still. She's a long time cheerleading coach. Oh, yeah. She works for us here in the building. So, you'll see her in the elevator, but she's amazed. You don't take death from nobody. But you got a huge time. Yeah, I love that. Thank you. I tell for those who are joining us for the first time, one thing you'll come to know if you spend very much time here, OCPS is like one big family in so many ways. It is so neat. Okay. we tonight we will not have any speakers on behalf of our associations or council reports. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Let them go. Yes. Thank you. I was about to do that, but thank you very much. I should have done. Okay. This

021is the time when we will free you if you want to go. If you're here for celebrations, we're thrilled to have you. So if you don't want to spend the rest of the night with us, we'll understand. Thank you, Member Salamanca. All right, as they're exiting, let me just make a brief announcement. All 24 2526 school year proclamations were adopted by vote of the board during the August 12th 2025 board meeting as designated celebrations and observations. The list will remain on the agenda for the entire school year. All right. I'm going to take the liberty of moving item 1702 from the back of the agenda till now so that we can take up the matter of the non-consent emergency items. Request approval to designate the Hungerford property as surplus under statute 013.28 28 subsection 1

022sub subsection A Florida statutes and the memorandum of understanding between Dr. P. Phillips Foundation and the school board of Orange County, Florida. Mr. Palmerini, do we have anyone who's come to speak on 1702? yes, we do, Madam Chair. We have it appears 19 people checked in. There's 20 signed up. that would mean under our policy 2 minutes a piece. Okay. so board oftentimes we hear from the speakers first. In this particular case I think we have a presentation from the Dr. Phillips Foundation and so would it be the board's pleasure to hear the presentation? Oh, there's no presentation. Okay, disregard that. all right, we'll take public comments. Okay. I'm gonna call the first four or five names just so they can be ready. number one's Mushami Robinson, Kevin Balding, Theo Washington, Taurus Mack, and Theo

023McHuite. And as they're coming forward, let me take a moment to acknowledge some of the elected officials we have in the room. starting with State Representative Bruce Anton. I believe I saw him here with us. We also have Eatenville Mayor Angie Gardner, Vice Mayor Theo Washington, Council Member who is about to come speak to us, Taurus Mack, Councilwoman Wanda Randolph, and I believe that's all the elected officials that are with us at this time. All right, our first speaker is Mushami Robinson. Welcome. Thank you respectfully, Madam Chair. I signed up to speak for the magnet programs on the agenda. There wasn't a signature, so that's why I'm going to speak for it. I'm going to relinquish my time for who's ever here for the Thank you so much. Okay. We'll look forward to hearing from

024you. All right. then the first speaker is Kevin Balding. Mr. Balding, if you would give your name and zip code is all you need to give. Great. good evening. My name is Kevin Balding. My zip code is 34787. Thank you, sir. Thank you. that was new at your service. All right. Thank you. hi, my name is Kevin Balding. I'm the president and CEO for the YMCA of Central Florida. just wanted to spend a little bit of time just talking about our involvement with Dr. Phillips Charities. we have had a long and great history with the charities over decades. what we've seen with them is just decades of support, decades of investment through different leaders, both staff and volunteer as well. they have been great partners and what I'd really like to bring a little bit

025of attention to is the most recent partnership that we've had and that is at our newest location in the packing district. that is our new Leonard and Marjorie Williams YMCA. it's they've made an investment there not just in our in our Y but in that community and what we've seen there as being one of the first entities to be there is a community that's come together. it's been a very strategic location and strategic investment as well. by being there in the packing district we've been able to serve and bring together people from both sides of of of where we are. So whether you're in Pine Hills or whether you're in in College Park, everyone's coming together under the umbrella of the Y and it just makes for a really great experience. the last thing I

026would share with it is the partnership with the charities has not just been to get a building up and get it established, but to also help us to help to connect us with other partners in the community. so whether that be other corporate partners like Publix or other developers along the way or other nonprofit partners also we've we've we've benefited greatly from their involvement over these last few decades. They have been just a selfless catalyst for community development and happy to be part of u the team. Okay. Thank you sir. Thank you. Next speaker is Theo Washington. Welcome. I'm sorry. It don't work. It don't work. The universe is not working. Working for me. Thank you. I'm Vice Mayor Theo Washington, town of Edenville, oldest bike, Mr. Val in the USA. my main thing with

027the process of thisou is that we learn the presentation when you guys learn the presentation. And I think protocol we should have got this presentation before you guys received the presentation. Then during the process of these stakeholder meetings, everybody was even at the table. As you know, if you don't know, Edenville is a CRA district. The whole town is the CRA. The CRA was not at one of these meetings. And to order to revitalize the town to redevelop, CRA has to put the input on the town or any development on any. So my thing is that the CRA was in the end of these meetings then put a blessing on any of these master plan that they call like I said the town council having pure a master plan of this nature of this of

028this of this meeting of the of these meetings that they had. So my main thing is this here that the CRA need to be involved in this and the town council need to bless what that came out of these meetings. And that's one thing I was saying before we met. We had a special meeting that let the town council put a blessing on this here and bring it to the Orange County School Board so that y'all know that we support this. But when we was in the blind, it's kind of hard to do when you sit here and say the literature of the, you know, some literature saying that I did this in the back room with of the other group with the mayor and it does, like I said, it doesn't mention anything by

029the town council and energy reports. So, it just says the mayor. So, I would like for like I said, I don't support this tonight. I think we come back and make a better decision on this here. So, like I said, I just can't support thisou at the time because we didn't get the blessing of it. And it's kind of hard that there's five of us and there's five of you guys up there and you see it the same time we see it. So, that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker is Torres Mack. Good evening everyone. chair, board, I thank you for the opportunity to speak again. I had an opportunity to speak earlier about the hunger for property. My concern is not having the opportunity to know this until

030I watched it on the news and it was kind of disturbing to me to get phone calls throughout the process of learning this news right here. I definitely hold the mayor accountable for everything that has taken place today because I wouldn't be here if it hadn't. Inville is a very unique place. I'm here to speak the voice of the people that can't speak right now. And I'm I'm I'm frustrated. I haven't really been able to wrap my head around everything that has taken place. But I can recall you guys having a meeting in June of 2025, actually June 17 to be specific. reference to possibly having a lease purchase agreement with the town of Eenville. And that was something that I was super excited about, but for whatever reason, that kind of went away in

031terms of Dr. Filler's foundation being involved with this process and in terms of the master plan. And let's let's let's make this clear, my problem is not with Dr. Phillips foundation. I welcome them to help us in any way possible to be able to move forward to help us build economically in our community. My problem is with the mayor. I'm going to always hold you accountable no matter what. I respect you, but I'm going to hold you accountable. And what you did to not only myself, but to this community is it's disgraceful. it's is it's is it's I can't wrap my head around on how I feel about this, but I think it's wrong morally. I ask this board to please consider tableabling this item or just taking it away until we can fix this

032matter because I don't think it's going to be good for the community and for the betterment of our community moving forward. So, that's my take on that and I appreciate you guys listening to my complaints. I have more to speak about, but I know I only have two minutes to speak on it. So, thank you. But I definitely appreciate you guys and opportunity to sit up here and speak. I'm speaking for my town, the town of Beanville, the oldest black municipality in America. Don't nobody know what we need in the community of Beanville besides the people that actually live there. And thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Theo McWay and he'll be followed by NY Netheri Julian Johnson senior Millard Leavant M Reed. Welcome. Good evening chair and to the superintendent Vasquez. my

033name is Theo Mcu zip code 32819. I grew up in the town of Etonville as a young kid growing up when the town of Eatenville were like my world. grew up there playing part one of football, little league baseball, and even basketball. I knew at an early age that I wanted to go to college and I wanted to provide a better life for myself. And my mom always told me that in order to achieve your goals, you got to have a dream. And my dream was to go to college. But I knew in order to achieve that dream dream, I had to be a good student. Graduated from Edgewater High School, went to Rollins College on a basketball scholarship. Why am I saying this? Eatenville is what gave me the desire to do the thing

034that I've done in my life. I'm a retired Orange County public school teacher 35 years and I think the town really needs to come together, sit down and discuss what direction we're going. The last couple years I've donated basketballs from Rollins College where I played to Hungerford Elementary School and to the boys club trying to inspire some of the young kids there to grow up to be maybe another Theo McQuary or Deacon Jones or Tina McCall. We're sitting here trying to disagree on whether the mayor was right or wrong. She has apologized tonight. We all have made mistakes in our lives, but I do believe that Dr. Phillips Foundation will be a great partner ship with the town of Edenville. I live in Dr. Phillips community. My son played little league baseball there and I

035just hope that we can get this thing right. I commend the board member saying how she's a part of the board up there and they've always had to table this item about the town of Beanville land. It's time that we get it right. Sir, otherwise we will lose the land. Sir, I want to have to cut you off. All right. This is going to be a Thank you so much. This is going to be a really hard meeting because I'm supposed to follow that timer that goes off. And the problem that I have is y'all have very important things to say and we want to hear everything you have to say. But if I cut one of you off and I don't cut the other off, then it becomes a question of am I playing

036fair. So first two speakers got to go over from here on out. I'm sorry, but work with me. Make my job just a little bit easier tonight so I don't have to be the bad guy. Thank you. All right, let's hear from our next speaker. Next speaker is NYI NY welcome. Thank you. NY theory 32751. I want to start by saying that the lack of transparency has denied the public an opportunity to participate in this decision. I want to say very quickly that I'm about solutions. I want to draw to your attention, Madam Chair, I'm hoping you will give permission. I have here a document permitted for distribution. It's an internal document from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It's dated January 15, 2025. I got it in my email about 2:00 this morning. I

037need to say to you all, I've sat through the presentation and as I sat through the presentation by Baker Berios, I wondered why in the world would anybody in Eatonville not want this? Someone said it's incredible. It is absolutely incredible. And I want to say to you that what we've been told by professionals in the field is that the Baker Barios model isn't appropriate for the town of Eatenville. That is out of date. I want to say to you frankly that some of the things that you are hearing here, there were not hundreds of people who attended those meetings from Eatenville. I attended at least three of them. At least three of them. The first one, the second one, and the last one. I've asked for the sign-in sheets because I've checked with my other

038peers from Eatenville. I don't think in any of those meetings there were 25 people from the town of Eatenville. I need to say to you frankly and I used to teach these things that there really is a problem about the model that you've been given and I want to say to you that if it is your intention to bring national partnership if it's your intention to have a million dollars of money on this give us a chance to have other options table it for six months not forever we're in the process of actually working on an economic impact study about cultural heritage tourism. We are sitting here in Orange County, Florida, the the world global destination and no one is talking about cultural heritage tourism about sustainability. Thank you. Next speaker is Millard Levant. Welcome

039sir. Thank you. Maria Levad 32810. what I basically wanted to say tonight, again, I said last week, I don't know if this is a good deal or not because I don't know anything about it. I'm on the planning and the zoning board for the town of Edenville and no one on the planning and zoning board knows anything about it. If it was such a great thing for the town of Eatenville, I don't understand why they would ask the mayor to keep it confidential and not share with her people who she work with, not share it with the town. I have a problem with someone trying to come in the back door. There's no transparency there. So what I'm saying is that you can't make a decision when you don't have all the information. So for

040the people in the town of Eatenville or in Catalina Park, there's so many more things that has importance here. What impact is this going to have on our roads? Are who's going to help widen the roads? Are this is going to increase traffic? Are kids going to be safe walking from Catalina Park down to Hungerford to go to school? Are they going to be safe just crossing the road to go to a corner store? None of this has been put before us. And all of that I think that brings the fruit from a poison tree. If you don't start with A, B, and C, there's no way you can go to D, E, and F. And that's what I'm saying here tonight for some of the people from Catalina Park right now. when it rains.

041A young man was able to ride by my house in a canoe. There are so many more things that should be taken care of in the town of Eatenville before we can start thinking about other things. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Your next speaker is Julian Johnson, Senior. Julian Johnson, Senior 32810. Excuse my hat, but I'm representing 1887 first. And in in my 31 years being a resident, 30 plus years being a resident of the town of Edenville, I've watched four mayors and have never seen one. They promised to put things put the residents first, but nah, they didn't do that. I'm appalled about that. I'm tired of the back door things. As Milard said, funding proposals have been proposed to us as the town not to the town but to the council

042and like we don't have the compens competency to understand that a million dollars is not going to shake anything in our town, y'all. Let's be honest. That's not going to do anything. we need some still some some finances that's going to move our town forward. our town has been sitting still and my god, I'm so sick of it. I I relinquished myself from board meetings from from the meetings, the council meetings, because I got tired of watching the bamboo swim. I'm a resident. I'm a state stakeholder and I raised my son and my two daughters in that in that in that town and wow my daughter lives in Atlanta now and she what's going on in Edenville now she hears it and watch it on the news I'm like come on I'm tired of it

043we're not incompetent in our town we're very bright we have a a multitude of of educators And we know when we've been bamboozled, we're tired of it. we was in a meeting not too long ago and we were asked by our mayor, stop posting stuff on social media and I see why. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker is M. Reed. M Reed 34787. good evening. I have the pleasure and honor of serving as the chief impact officer for Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida. Our experience at Boys and Girls Clubs is that Dr. Phillips Charities puts the needs of the local community first as they look to make positive and longlasting impact. They have a proven track record of success and have a history of transformational impact on the communities and organizations that

044they support. We have been able to grow our operations and expand our reach to serve even more children and teens in Central Florida due to the investment Dr. Phillips Charities has made into our organization. It's not just providing tickets to shows at the performing arts center for our kids, but their commitment to our mission has helped us to build new facilities in Paramore and Winter Garden. They are also supporting our education programs as we work to improve literacy skills across our footprint of clubs. We are proud to partner with Dr. Phillips in our pursuit to serve these children and teens in our community that need us the most. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Your next speaker is Julian Johnson, followed by John Beichchum, Ladana Jordan, Stan Mars, and Gerald Smith. All right. Good evening, sir.

045Julian Johnson, Jr. 32810. and tonight I just wanted to be a little bit clear and speak to a few things, right, as I analyze the history of the board's actions, right? we want to talk about accountability as Councilman Mack talked about. 1951, the school board took control of 300 acres of land, the Hungerford property, right? Land donated by black families and the Hungerford family and, for the purpose of black education in our town. since then nearly 200 acres have been sold for profit. Millions of dollars have been made. Edenville has not received anything. in 1980 you sold 10 acres to the town for $100,000. Land you acquired for less than $16,000. It's not help is robbery. you sold other parcels and created an industrial park where major corporations operate out of, right? Pennies on the

046dollars and taxes. how many residents of Edenville actually work in those corporations now? It's not going to be anything different. You sold land to the Florida Department of Transportation who turned land in Eatenville to a dumping field for for the I4 project. Like this is the historical context of the decisions that been made by the school board. Not saying that all of you made these decisions, but this is the history behind it. But you do wear the burdens of those decisions that were made. now the proposal with Dr. Phillips on the table. I've heard YMCA Boys and Girls Club talk about how much Dr. Phillips has invested has Dr. Phillips invested into the people of Eatenville. A dollar any money into the people of Eatenville. where's that at? Where are they where are they coming

047up here to tell you that? and then also the so-called help seems to be controlled. That's all it is. so reality check school boards controlled our biggest resource. our children's minds. So the education and the asset of the land. So those are our biggest resources and assets. The children's minds and the land. Our education is who we are. So now this is the result of the school board's decision and we're here today and I object this decision to you're helping me out, right? Thank you, sir. Thank you. The next speaker is John Beichum. Mr. Beum, welcome. I'm I'm working on it, sir. Thank you. Okay, perfect. There we go. Thank you, Mr. Beum. What do you need? My area code, zip code 32 John Citizen Beach 32751. I'm the founder of Maitelland Edenville walking tour

048Edenville 1887.com to preserve the history of Mland Edenville and I stand against the sale of this hollow grounds, these hallowed grounds of the Hungerford School property. This land is sacred. is a barrier place for our ancestors once refugees of the former enslaved people and the foundation of Edenville, the first self-governing black town in America. It must be protected just as we honor the indigenous people whose lands was taken before. Three months ago, Adam Menison, a 17-year-old Edgewater student, stood before you and pleaded for land back. His fathers followed up. Yet their words have been ignored. In the book of Exodus in the Bible, it says that if the new king, which was Pharaoh, had known the story of Abraham, he would have seen the Jews as not a threat. If you knew the story of

049Edenville, you would see Edenville as a place to preserve history. Edenville is a living museum. these connections and their ties to the heritage. Dr. Phillips Cherable has no partnership with Edenville. Their board chair Terry Praler also is a founding board member of Lyft Orlando was honored along besides Mr. Baker at the Boyscott event this year. This connection and their ties to the Heritage Foundation raises serious concerns about backroom deals. An effort to erase black history. Edenville should be built upon culture heritage, tourism, and the arts. Not sold away, not not sold. And these hallow grounds civil liberties be threatened. And this is this is American history. This is on Mount Rushmore. We all should be involved in Edenville because it's a learning ground. There's 77 million visitors come to OIA every year and most of

050the a lot of those people make their destination historic Edenville. Yes, sir. Thank you. Next speaker is Laduana Jordan. good evening, Lewina Jordan, 32751. I am speaking on behalf of one of our elders residents in the historic town of Edenville. her letter reads, "My name is Vera Pittz King, a native of Eatenville, Florida, born 88 years ago. I have memories of hunger for industrial school as a young child. When I asked, it was explained that the bell ringing that I heard meant get up, do chores, have breakfast, and go to class. I attended Hunger For 7 through 12th grades. In 1961 through 1999, I became further involved by accepting the position of secretary and bookkeeper. Even though the school is no longer there, I strongly feel that the plans that are being offered by Dr.

051Phillips charities will profit the town in a very positive way. I feel that it will place the town on more stationary grounds, encouraging it to move forward in the future. Hopefully, the future of the town will allow citizens to feel more feel that is more than a place to lie their heads. I would like to remind the citizens of Eatenville that going in the direction that those who protest will soon put the town in a position of non-existence. We need to we need stronger and caring leadership desperately or we no longer will exist. Look around, you see the needs that are current like better water, repave streets, and much more. After reading the Dr. Philips Charity's master plan. It shows that Edenville's history would continue to be protected. Those are the are the words of

052Miss Vera Pitts King. On behalf of myself, I stand I am heartbroken that this land could potentially be sold. However, I'm very hopeful that we can get it right. Right. And let's bring some change to our community that we deserve. I'd love to see this in my lifetime. this land developed to something that we can be proud of. Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you. Your next speaker is Stan Morris. I'm so sorry. I'm getting there. It doesn't always I'm excited to be here. I found out about Edenville some years back doing some work over there. I live in Orlando and I was shocked when I found out Edenville was actually a township. I thought it was a community like Washington Shores. And the sad part about it is it's the oldest black

053incorporated city in America. Matland wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Edenville because it started around Lake Lily and they were together at one point and because of racism they asked them to separate it or it wouldn't be a Maitland. They've accomplished it. And and from an outsider looking in, the people in Edenville have done a darn good job for a mayor to be on maybe 15,000 a year, less than 20 grand. These people are on $100,000 salaries and stuff. It's like Goliath's coming at David. Personally, I feel Edenville represents all black Americans. And if there was a tally of how many blacks there are in America, if we gave one dollar, you wouldn't need a Dr. Phillips. I mean, it's our house. If the oldest house doesn't matter, how can the contents have any significance?

054How can we expect for you white people understand the black story if we're not excited about it? I mean, you don't have the same personal emotion about Edenville because it's our story and we've been socked to about history. It's a prefix word about a story. We're talking about our story. We're talking about Edenville, not Hungerford. We're talking about the again the oldest black recorded. And recorded means there's not any place in America that's recorded before Edenville. No city. It's the oldest black incorporated city in America. And we got to if we lose the house, you look on social media, we're learning about what black people have done in America over and over again that we didn't know. When does it come to a point to when our future kids try to find out what we've

055accomplished? I'm 71. I got a good 15, 20 years. I'm gone. And what are we going to leave behind? An argument or other people that are not us? We're not talking about your house. We're talking about our house. Thank you, sir. All right, let's take our next speaker. Next speaker. Next speaker is Gerald Smith, then followed by Tiffany Simmons, Angela Johnson, Jean Jones, Alexander. Welcome, sir. Thank you. Thank you for your patience. good evening. My name is Gerald Smith and I work at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Edenville, Florida. first off, I want to acknowledge the frustrations that have been expressed here today during the work session and during this meeting. we understand those frustrations and I just want to remind all of the people who are frustrated of the power that you have. When

056Moses got to the Red Sea, God said, "What's in your hand?" That God will give you everything you need in order to have power to do what is necessary. This vote today is about the process of beginning to move forward. And as we move forward, we want to stress the need to maintain the history of Etonville. We don't want to obuscate it. We don't want to erase it. We want to celebrate it and make sure that people know about the history of the town. We want to ensure that whatever is developed benefits the residents and the town. when it comes to the town of Eatenville, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church has been in Eatenville since 1882. That's 7 years before the incorporation of the town. We've been in the town. We're going to stay in the

057town and we are committed to partnering with the town to ensure that the town is successful and thriving for decades to come. So whatever we do as we move forward, let's ensure that we're doing it for the benefit of those who live in Edenville. Thank you, sir. Thank you for being here. Next speaker is Tiffany Simmons. No. Under school board policy beedh speakers can't yield their time to other speakers. So are you not wanting to speak then? Okay. next speaker is Angela Johnson. Miss Johnson. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening board chair, superintender, fellow citizens of the historic town of Eatenville. I stand before you to talk not just about the hunger for property more so looking at not just it as land but it is a living piece of our community's history our heritage and

058our promise. I'm not going to repeat a number of things that have been stated but I will ask you to think back to your June 17th meeting when your attorney actually stated there were two different ways that Orange County School Board would dispose of that property, transfer or sell it. And one of those way the two ways was public bid or to work with the town. I don't see you working with the town today. I have been one of 10 residents on average that have sat through 18 months of a master plan. I have a copy of it here with me because I was one of the members that was at that meeting. This has not been adopted by the town council which they have stated to you. This has not been talked about in

059different sharetses with var with a number of different members out of the community. Tell me how can 10 residents represent 3,000 residents now because we've had growth with two different apartment complexes. So, what percentage is that? It's less than a fraction of a percentage. Do you think that is fair? I'm also wanting to say to you, I want you to consider I'm not sitting here upset with Dr. Phillips. Is Dr. Phillips a great great partner potentially Dr. Phillips has stated that they have given $250 million in the Central Florida community. However, I'm still waiting on the statistics of what percentage of those dollars have gone back into black communities. They stated a very few small nonprofits that they've worked with. We brought to your attention a year two years ago when the original agreement came

060with Baker Barios to do this master plan. We were saying it was a land grab then and it is still a land grab. I asked you does the master plan. I'm going to add one statement. I need the attorney to to give us clarification on what is the Florida statute's guidance on disposing of surplus property. It is my understanding from an Orange County Real Estate Management representative that property should be sold or at least gone out to bid to notify those that own property contiguous of it. So, if you can please give us clarification on that. We'll give you an answer, but thank you. Way over the time, but Mr. Palmer, you want to take care of that now or do you want to address that later? I'll address it later. Okay. Yes. All right.

061Next speaker. Next speaker is Michelle Fort, welcome back. Look, see, it's us. Okay. Good evening, Madame Chair, vice chair of the board, and the residents and everyone. I want to say this. Poverty is like a disease. It's passed from generation to generation. One in five African-Ameans are in a third generation of their family to be poor. The data from the Census Bureau on Eatenville. The medium household income is $28,944. We have a poverty rate of 30.5% in the state of Florida is 12%. I don't understand as to why anyone says that this is a bad deal. We know that poverty is a disease. The school knows that it impacts a child future. We're here on behalf of other residents that don't agree. We don't agree that our preschool children deserve better. Do you know preschool

062enrollment in Edenville is 8.3%. Child care is from $800 to $1,200. My brother's son A3, he went to the summer program that was $20 a week. That saved my brother the money. A single parent, we have home ownership less than 20%. Everything in this plan for Dr. Phillips benefits the community. It breaks poverty. This is ridiculous what individuals are coming up here to say. What I will say is this. There's individuals in our own town that wants to make a profit off of this land. So, I'm asking this board to do what's best for the for the children and for the residents. Don't let them get their hands on it. This is a deal of a lifetime. This is actually bringing what the town was built to 2.0. When I when I listened to the

063resolution from Mr. Tres Mack, a medium income of 77,000, those are the homes they want to build for. Then they want to use the CRA funding. You can't do that. And the attorney said it. If Eatenville could afford their land, they would have been headed back. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. next speaker is Keon Cantrell. Turn around. Follow that. All right. Give me a second, sir. I'm going to try to get that might come up to you. Okay. Do we get to hear from the little one, too? Yes. He got something to say. I hope he does, cuz I bet it's starting real last. No, you go first. All right. All right. My name is Keon Kentrell. Zip code 32751. All right. I'm here on behalf of the citizens and the

064residents of Edenville, Florida. I am personally 25 plus years of resident, conscious and cognitive resident. I mentioned that because the ages of one to four, you really don't know much. So not much to mention there. But as I've known this city here, I've known buildings to go down, but not nothing to be built back up. And that's a bad thing because without growth, without building, without redevelopment, we don't have any room for the children to grow as a community. And then we'll have the community to grow for those children to grow. For instance, the families we mentioned, my brother, he's a single father. It's hard for him, like you said, to mention to get financial support for some of the things his child needs. You know what I mean? Some of the tools that are

065utilized for our kids to help further them in life, help the dream, help to build, help to see things. It was hard for me to see that when I was younger. Yes, I do have a degree that I went to school for, but that was due to some other financial things, not by the city of Enville. So, that is a big concern for me. Another thing as well is that with this we was going to create jobs for our community. So with this development the learning facilities as well as a healthcare facility some other ventures the land we were able to build upon that and we're able to get some jobs for our community so that we could support our children in our homes in our households so we can get that income up. That

066is the goal. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you sir. Yes. I'm getting it down. Oh she's good. You ready? Yes. You give your name. See? Okay. You can step up. Hello, young man. What do you say? My name is a Royal Brown the third. Okay. And will you say please? Please say yes to the deal for Dr. Phillips. Speak. Go ahead. Speak. Please say yes. Please say yes to the deal for Dr. Phillips. Dear for Dr. Phillips. So I can have a better future. Thank you. How old are you, young man? How old is this little guy? Five years old. how many more speakers? Your final speaker is Representative Bruce Anton. Okay, thank you. Representative Anton, great to have you in the house. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Did we miss

067somebody? Oh. Oh, no. I'm going to do that. But did I miss Did I miss somebody? Yes. Okay. Oh, okay. Okay. I Okay, you're on the side. That's okay. Good evening. I'm state representative Bruce Anton. I represent district 41. Edenville is not in my district, but I have a 30-year history working with the leadership, the elected officials in Edenville. I was state senator Buddy Dyer's eyes and ears for eight years in Edenville. He represented that area. I did the first economic impact study for the fifth Zorell Hursten Festival. I worked with Jeb Bush to mitigate the damages of a 119 finding audit on the town of Edenville. And then for the last three years, I've been working on trying to bring an American history, black history museum to Edenville. Where I'm coming from today is

068I'm going to ask you to just delay this 30 to 45 days. Allow other folks to submit a proposal. I'm not saying I'm opposed to Dr. Phillips. I'm just saying allow other folks to submit a proposal. I believe other folks could possibly bring in a better proposal that pays a higher sale price and provides more benefits, tangible benefits to the residents of Edenville. Now, this is going to require building some tall buildings, maybe bringing three or 4 thousand people, new people into the town, but you could also get your park. You could get a new city hall. You could get your childhood institute. All of that could be paid for through selling off oneacre plots of land plus the impact fees that you would collect and that would be more than enough money plus you

069would generate a sustainable tax base. So my only request tonight is just to give another 30 45 days and allow other folks to submit proposals. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Representative. I think we have one more speaker. Yeah, this Jean Jones Alexander and I apologize. It was grayed out on my screen indicating that you had spoken. So, my apologies, ma'am. Oh, a little please. It will get there. It just doesn't Alexander. There we go. President of the Edenville Community Cemetery Association. 32751. The first thing I want to do is thank the board for remaining optimistic that this proposal plan will ultimately move forward. I'd also like to thank Terry Pratcher, chairman of the Dr. Phillips board, for pledging that this project will honor the legacy of Edenville. It is definitely welld deserved. I'm a

07079y old woman. My family started in Edenville before Edenville knew it was Edenville. I hold it dear to my heart. I'm offering my full support of the land deal because I want to see Edenville at least start the progress before I close my eyes permanently. My family was in Edenville as I said before the town was originated. I'm third generation to psych and out of Jones. It is with much pride that all of my life I was able to say that my family was instrumental in starting the oldest black town in the United States of America. I have attended meetings with the Edenville Council for approximately the last 25 years with hunger for property being the topic of discussion. It is time for the town to move forward. I agree with the mayor of Edenville.

071This new deal is a bigger deal, bigger than big. I know that we can do better than we're doing. This is truly a historical deal. Let's preserve our history. I love Edenville. I was at one meeting and they had a developer in. All of a sudden, he wanted to change the town. Please don't ever get rid of that name. Keep it Edenville. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. you know, I appreciate all the comments that we've had in favor and in opposition. One of the things that I hear from a lot of the comments is a concern about things that you rightfully are concerned about, that I'm concerned about, and I would be more concerned if I were African-American and I'd grown up in Eatenville. I will acknowledge that I can't pretend to put myself in

072your shoes, but I'm doing the best I can. And based on the concerns that you have, I'm also concerned that there's not a clear understanding of what is being proposed. So, I want to just take take a minute, take a little time out here. first what we're talking about is entering into what's called Mr. Blount. God bless you. Hey, how are you? How are you? Magnificent and improving now that I see all of you. Wonderful. I thought about you just the other day and hear you walk into the chambers. Good to see you, my friend. Well, the chamber has important and critical business. We got to move our communities forward. Okay. I I promise I did not know he was coming. Mr. Mount used to follow me around when I was mayor. I could always

073count on you to have my back, sir. anyway, back back to my point. What we're talking about doing is entering into a memorandum of understanding, not a binding contract, not a sale, an understanding that we proceed forward. It's the beginning. It's not the middle. It's not the end. It's the beginning. And what the Dr. Phillips Foundation is offering to do is the things that I've heard almost each one of you talk about. And I think there's confusion and I understand why that somebody else would invest more money. I don't think there's a comprehension because I don't think most of you have had the opportunity for a presentation. That's that's not on you. but I do want to ask if Mr. Robinson and Mr. brether breather, if you would just take a minute to kind of

074an abbreviated explanation because this is an amazing opportunity. I've heard you talk about the history, the museum, the museum. Representative Anton, thank you for fighting so hard for that museum. We wanted to see it as well. They're going to build that museum. They're going to create the early learning center. I'm trying to get it back. We shrunk. I'm a little taller than him. price tag is tens of millions dollars higher than it might appear because of all the things that they're going to do. No cost, zero cost to the town. and some of the concerns you've had about storm water and widening the roads. That all comes into the plan. So, I just I want to give them a chance to talk to you all about what they're proposing. Mr. Prather. Well, first of all,

075thanks a lot on behalf of Dr. Phillips Charities. We appreciate being here and we have heard some of the comments that have been shared today over the years that we've been doing work involved with the town of Ethanville and appreciate that. You know, our goal, our goal has been from the beginning to do what Dr. Phillips Charities has been doing for 100 years is support our community and make our community stronger. You know, we have no desire to profit off of anything out of the town of Etonville. That is not our goal. If anything, it's all about working with the residents and the leadership of the town to identify the best path forward to support the town, protect the history and legacy of the town, but more importantly do everything possible to prevent displacement of

076residents because often times in our communities across the country when development comes in, displacement comes with it. And that's one of the things that's a guiding principle of what we do. So Terry and I have been talking about this for for a while. We watched the last deal fall through and we were concerned when we watched that deal come together and we thought this town is going to disappear forever. What can we do as Dr. Phillips, what would Dr. Phillips himself had done to preserve the legacy and we will use that as our north star as we proceed forward if you so grace us with a vote of yes. Anything else you want to offer? No, I think it's it's important all the again the comments that we've heard. I think so many people are

077saying the same thing in different ways, you know, because there's a sense of fear because one of the things that often happens with development is market forces take over and the thing that gets forgotten about first is the community's history and legacy. And often times what the only thing left is a mural on a wall and that's something that we cannot allow to happen. Okay. All right. Thank If you'll hold on just a minute. Member Vanos, do you have a question for them or no? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Pomearini, let's go to you for the answer to the question about surplus property. thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. So the statute is 101328 and it says subject to the rules of the state board of education, a district school board may dispose

078of any land or real property to which the board holds title which by resolution of the board is determined to be unnecessary for educational purposes as recommended in educational plant survey. A district school board shall take diligent measures to dispose of educational property only in the best interests of the public. And then the state board of education rule or the state requirements for educational facilities that's been adopted by state board of education rule it says in section 1.4 subsection 4 a board may dispose of any land or other real property by resolution of such board if recommended in an educational plant servant of a and if determined to be unnecessary for educational or ancillary purposes. Upon disposal of any land or real property, funds received shall be deposited into a depository account pursuant to Sref

079section 2.14 and credit to the fund source used for the original acquisition. Essentially, this would go into our capital fund, the funds that we would receive for sale of the land. So, you know, as you all know, I've been very, you know, reticent when we've been dealing with this subject, especially when it came to the donation of it because it was generally a donation of the land pre in previous iterations of this deal that we received. In my opinion, we're receiving value from this property. It is a $1 million sale initially. There will be amounts that are tied to the contract itself. It will be a contract for more than $1 million for the sale, but the amounts on the under the contract will be forgiven as milestones are hit, as infrastructure is improved in

080the town. That will be forgiven some of the value of the contract for the purchase of the property. If when the healthc care center is built, some of the purchase price will be forgiven at that point. When the history museum is built, some of the purchase price will be forgiven at that point. When the early learning center is built, some of the purchase price will be forgiven. However, the value there is our children will have access to early learning which is a value to us when those children get educated better early and they come to school with more skills. They'll be they'll perform better when they get there. So there is certainly a value to us in my opinion to have the land go to an early learning center. There is a value to us

081when there is kids come to school healthier. So from that standpoint when we have an early learning center built and our kids come to school healthier that will be valuable to us. They'll miss less time in school. They'll be healthier when they're there. So the history museum will certainly be of value to us because under the terms of theou our students will get to attend the history museum for free. So they'll get to learn about the history of Eatenville free of charge and so we can send them over there on school field trips. So in my opinion having you know worked on this deal with Dr. Phillips and reviewing these statutes extensively. I think thisou and eventual contract for purchase and sale fits well within 101328 and the board has the legal authority to do

082it. I do want to clarify and then I'll turn to member Vanos. as Mr. Pomearini is talking about a value to us, he is explaining that under the statutory requirements it meets that. The reality is this isn't about a value to us for all intents and purposes. We're nothing. Okay? What we provide in terms of education is everything. So when we talk about us, we're really talking about you. We're talking about them. We're talking about our kids and we're talking about their future. We're talking about future generations. So as we think about the legacy of Eatenville, we absolutely have to preserve that. But at the same time, there's an opportunity to preserve it, to memorialize it, and to build a future that we're equally as proud of as the past. And we do that through

083the early learning. We do that by creating a place where our kids can start with early learning and progress through education and get a certificate, go to college, get a great job, and work back in Eatenville with the jobs that were going to be created. Did I forget the gentleman or the woman who mentioned that? Thank you so much. It really is about how do we sustain Eatenville? How do we protect the past? How do we make the strongest future? Eatenville does need financial stability. And this project, if it doesn't build that, it's a failure. We do everything right, but we don't put Eatenville on a sound financial base. We fail the future. It's not okay to preserve the fast the past and leave the future out of the equation. It's got to be both.

084And this is the biggest organization, the best that we have had. I've been following this for 25 years. No, not the 50 years or the 79 years, but for 25 years, I've watched from the county commission to the mayor's seat to here. I've watched proposal after proposal. It comes together, it falls apart. Comes together, falls apart. Every one of those was built on a private investor, a private company. Yes, some of them really wanted to do good, but at the end of the day, they were going to walk away with those profits. Nobody's walking away with anything. This is about giving. That's what this foundation does. They give, they don't take. They give and they give and they give and they don't take. And that's why for me walking away from this, I would regret

085that for the rest of my life. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for those words. I want to thank everybody who came tonight to share their opinion. I know for some of you this is extremely frustrating. You feel like you were left out and I understand that frustration. We talked a little bit about that during the work session. And I think I think more than that, sometimes it's just it's hard to let your plan go. but sometimes I think that's what needs to be done for the benefit of of the of the bigger picture. I have a question for you, John. Mr. Paul Marini, sorry. That's okay. Over the last I know when did the school close on the property? 2000. Give me a second. I have it here in my notes. 2009. Okay.

086And you know, I know there have been several people that came up today and they asked about you know, can you give us more time? Can you give the town time to submit a plan during the past months and years? Could the town have submitted a plan? Sure. I mean, we've had various iterations of this throughout the years. I mean, we had the when when I first got here, one of the first things I did was work on a lawsuit that was designed it was a it was, you know, a lawsuit designed to get the covenant off the land. As you all will remember, we had a restriction on the property that said it could only be used for the education of African-American children with a focus on vocational education. So, we got the covenant

087off the land. It cost us $1.15 million to do it, but we had to pay that to the Hunger for Trust. And then we had various iterations of plans where we eventually got to one. We put an RFP out. We got a proposal and we accepted it. It was a deal contract for $14 million. it went through the process. the town declined to reszone and make the comprehensive plan changes to allow that plan to go forward. That the contract was canceled as a result of that. And since then, I mean, this just being fair and transparent, this property was also subject to litigation to put the covenant back on the land. And the town at various and sunundry points could have put a proposal across. They did put a proposal across to us to for

088a lease purchase agreement under 101315 for an extremely reduced price. quite frankly, it was a dollar a year lease with a purchase price of a dollar. And you know, this board had had a work session, had conversations about it. There was never any consensus for for doing any of that. So the town could have put together a plan that, you know, for the purchase of the property, for the lease purchase of the property, for something different than than what they did and that other than that lease purchase that we got, I think it's about a year ago at this point that we haven't seen anything. Thank you. And you know to you to use a running analogy like you can only race against the people who show up to to race you. And so here

089we are and we have this amazing incredible plan from a trusted partner in our community. And if we had another plan to compare it to that would honestly be be better. That would be great if we had another another plan to compare it to. But we there is no plan. There is no other plan right now. And I, you know, I have been, I've attended two or three of the workshops that the town has hosted with Baker Barios. I've listened to what the residents have said. I've attended outdoor markets and I've attended festivals in Eatenville. I've attended tours. and I've met some of the best people and I know how important the town is to Eatenville and I know how important it is to preserve that legacy. and you know what I've heard is the

090town wants their voices honored and that's what I see in this plan. We've there have been workshops and Dr. Phillips and Baker Barios have both said that the master plan has not been adopted yet because it is subject to change because they want input from the town council and from the residents. So the voices are honored. people said they wanted the local businesses to be driving the economy and that's exactly what this plan offers. They said they wanted green spaces and venues and pavilions and restaurants and options and early learning centers and health and sports complexes and arts and culture and that's part of this plan. they said they wanted a way to preserve their history and the legacy and that is part of this plan. they needed funding and they needed a trusted partner

091and now they have that. And a real concern that was brought up in the last couple of days was who will hold Dr. Phillips accountable and through the discussions today we learned that we can have there can be an advisory do I have to stop that we can that there can be an advisory committee that asks the hard questions and shines the light on Dr. Phillips charities and make sure that they are working according to the plan. That is acceptable and that can be they can work with the town council to have that. I have heard from Be Hadler who was a party to the lawsuit against the school board and she is the great granddaughter I believe of Robert Hungerford and she supports this plan. we've heard from people whose whose family has started

092the town and they support this plan. I've heard from a lot of different people in the community and I think one of the things that someone said to me is she said, "This land is not an heirloom and it's not something to just look at. It's something that needs to be developed for the town and the people of Eatenville deserve progress. And the people of Eatenville want their children to come back and have something to come back to. And when I see this plan, I see it offering so many of the things that the town has said they wanted with the help of a trusted partner who can provide that funding and who can provide that guidance and those relationships to actually get it done. I understand the frustration. I understand why some people have

093felt excluded, but this has been an open process and everyone has been invited and the best part is they are going to continue to be invited. Their voices are part of the future and so I think Eatenville is ready to move forward and I'm really excited for for what the future holds with this plan. Thank you. Thank you, Member Vanos. Member Fon. Thank you, Madam Chair. member Vanos, that was beautifully stated. I think something that you continued to say is that Dr. Phillips is a trusted partner. I did hear someone come and you know, ask what Dr. Phillips has done for the community of Eatenville or what money has been given to the community of Eatenville. and I think we need to step back and say instead of always asking like give me give me

094and what is for me me it's more look at what they have been doing for the communities all throughout we have Dr. Phillips the Dr. Phillips Center downtown. Your students that go to the school in Eatenville. They go and go on a field trip and get to see Broadway productions done in a Dr. Phillips Center. That is for your students. That's for your children. the YMCA that we were just discussing at the in the packing district that is so close to where you're at. Your children can go there. They can attend see all the things. but what is presented before you is Dr. Phillips Center charities saying we want to invest in you. We want to invest in your town. and so it's it's a little I guess I've been a little confused when I

095see the plan the master plan that has been done by the community the residents of Eatenville. 18 months of workshops. spent time with Baker Berios and Polus coming together with the community of Eatenville open to the public and the public sharing their ideas and everything that member Vanos just said went down the list. everything that you've talked about, the education in the parks, and the shops, a grocery store, a new place for you to have your town hall. everything that you're asking for is in this plan. and something that I believe it was the gentleman from Baker Berios had mentioned that this is a living document. So the plan is a living document. It isn't a final proposal. It is a living document. that as that we move forward you're able to give input but

096I think as you know when I when I see people kind of putting the brakes on and saying wait let's let's wait a few more days let's give it 30 more days 45 more days is something that I brought up and I'll kind of end with this but as I brought up at the work session the show Shark Tank which this isn't really Shark Tank it's more like dolphin tank because there's no shark involved it is a you know the nonprofit tank if you will where we have an incredible product if you will. So the town of Eatenville has presented and said we have this incredible asset to Eatenville. We want to do something incredible to help our town but we need a partner. We need somebody that will join alongside of us and that

097you know shark if you will quote unquote but it's not really a shark it's a nonprofit who wants to come alongside and say I want a partner we want to help you make your dream a reality just like on the show you watch these people they come in they team up with a partner and all of a sudden their product is booming and selling you selling everywhere and it's amazing but there are times when you see somebody with an incredible product and they stand up there and they wait a few minutes too long and they lose their chance. And so I think we need to jump on this. This is something that we need to move forward with for the town of Eatenville and for the residents of Eatenville, for the young generation who wants

098to raise a family, make sure that their children have an incredible future. And so I'm I'm excited and I support this initiative. Member Douglas, the other members really said great things about this proposal and I would say because it's just the first step. Okay, there's no contract yet. All right. and please for the sake of your f for the for the sake of your beautiful town of Edenville and for the children the future of the children of Eatenville. Put your heads together in peace in prayers, okay? And think about the great things that could be accomplished for your town. Okay? I just would like to see you coming together in prayer as I said again and listen to each other in peace and see the great things that could happen to your beautiful town. Hear

099what the mother said about their child, okay? And what they're going through at the moment. Please, I ask you to look at all this and come together again and make a decision in peace because that's your town and we all want to be proud of it. I'm not from Edenville, but when I go to Edenville, I feel like I'm from Edenville. Okay, that's the reason why I'm talking about the preservation of the culture and the tradition, the museum, the parks, the beautiful things that you can see accomplished in Edenville. All right. And I, you know, I will say I agree with the proposal and I wish you the best. Please in peace always and in prayer. Thank you so much. Thank you, Member Douglas. Member Salamanca. thank you, chair, and for all the great words

100up here. I don't want to duplicate too much of what's been said, but since being on this board, as Pomarini mentioned, there's been so many different combinations of solutions proposed by different stakeholders and so many of them have fallen apart because there's always different groups and subgroups and subsets of people that feel very strongly against because this group benefits and this one doesn't and this one is for profit and that one is for profit. And it's been really difficult because every single time that this falls through, we once again get the hundreds of emails, not just locally but nationally saying, why is OCPS not wanting to do anything about this land? And this board has wanted to make this work. And out of all the proposals we've had, this has been the one that is

101nonprofit where even before thisou, which again is the beginning of the process, there was 18 months of work getting community input and the variety of things of what the community wanted. And that's just the beginning. and truly believe that as an organization based on the thoughtful work they've done so far, they are probably the first partners we've seen who are willing to listen and show up in that way rather than come in with an agenda or a point of view or this is exactly what we want. And when we got this master plan, as everyone said, education, healthc care, public spaces, workforce prioritization of those in the city, all of that is part of this working document that we're just kicking off. It's just the beginning of that. and so it it was truly a

102relief, I think, for for me to see such a thoughtful approach to this. And you know for us to not do this today for us to wait 45 days to wait 6 months to get more you know inaction is also a choice for us to sit here and say once again we're not going to do this we're not going to move forward that is a choice to not move this community and this town forward with an excellent plan. And let's say we do say another 6 months, 12 months until all the parties get aligned. There is a very low likelihood that all parties and all stakeholders will be happy with one solution with one private person to develop or just from the history of what I've seen that is highly unlikely that we would get

103there. And if this falls through, who else is in line to do such an incredible comprehensive plan? I don't see anyone else raising their hand to do such a thoughtful la. I mean, this is a 25-y year vision of seeing this through. That level of commitment has not been seen by this board and how we think about really and trusting that the voices of the community will be heard. And so I it's going to take a lot of work as this is just the beginning of collaboration and real input. And I of course encourage everyone who's here today in support or not support to show up to the future meetings and workshops to have their voices heard and understand that it is multiple stakeholders all who want very different things. And we know that because

104we've seen all different iterations and permutations of different stakeholders wanting very different things. And yes, some of these things absolutely advantage some for-profit organizations and certain agendas over others. And that's a really hard place for all us to be because we really think that this is a call for the community to make. but it's been around for a really long time. And like I said, not just the last 18 months for input, but it's been years of this board waiting for alternatives. And so I do not see the need for delaying this. I in my inbox beyond those that showed up today, I would say the ratio of support is probably a 9:1 ratio for those in support of this, not against it from folks in the community and folks who have been to the

105workshop. So, it's not I think I'm just excited and as member Douglas said, I hope we can all work together onward because it's an amazing opportunity. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Member Salamanca. all members have spoken. I'll open the floor for a motion. Member Vanis, this is in your district. Would you like to offer a motion? I would like to move to surplus the property and to accept theou with Dr. Phillips. All right, we have a we have a motion by member Banos. We have a second by member Douglas. All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries with all members present voting in the affirmative. Again, thank you all, every one of you, for being here. Thank you for your care, your passion, your concern. Stay engaged. Stay involved. We'll do

106our best. They'll do their best, but we can't do our best without all all of you at the table. All right. All right. We're going to take a short break and we'll come back in about 15 minutes. Get a job. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. He feeling Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Down. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Boney. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey, hey,

107hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up Heat. Heat. Heat. All right. Welcome back. We are back in session. we are going to pick up on Dr. Basque has strategic plan. Do we have a strategic plan? We do. I know. It feels like we were done, but I'm very excited. You know, the board has Can I hold up just one minute? Is there anybody in the audience for public hearing? three. Anybody here for three? For three. Okay. anybody here for the anything on the consent agenda? Okay. What I

108was going to suggest is if we can allow the public to so that we hear from them. You all have been around all day. So let's take up I think correct me if I'm wrong. I think we would be on public hearing 3.0 John. Okay. Yeah. 3.01. Okay. Do we have any comments on 3.01? I believe we do. This is why you were speak. Yeah. Hello. Welcome back. H thank you for your patience. thank you, Madam Chair. But you were here for a historic meeting. yes. And I'm so grateful. Right. Mosami Robinson, area code 32804. I am a retired Orange County public school educator. those who know I am a 2004 Olympic gold medalist. So, I am glad that I was here for that part. I came to speak about the magnet programs. and I

109came to just kind of share in support the continuation of promoting our magnet programs at Orange County Public School. I'm still waiting for my daughter to be sat in her magnet program at her school, but I'm currently a recipient of Step Up for Students money. That is why I'm here. It is so very important that we get our children coming back into Orange County Public Schools. as a parent, she is going to sit in Orange County Public Schools. I absolutely want her to be educated in Orange County Public Schools. for full transparency, I did take my daughter out of the schools for middle school, sixth and seventh grade. I tried the Step Up for Students program. and as a firm and educator that loves OCPS as well as our Florida education system, it is imperative

110that we continue to provide for the county and our communities what families need to keep them here under our umbrella in the public school sector. I'm a product of public schools from Columbus, Ohio. and the only reason I opted to go from a home for a home education program because as a mother, I mean, what I want my daughter to receive was a privatized learning. When I noticed that we've been growing in the county, we've been employing upwardly with people who I see have intrinsic value for our county. and I and I continue to ask you all to support our district and what they're trying to do. I've seen how people have been placed that I know personally. And so for me, I see that we're going in an upward direction of providing diversity in

111the magnet programs for all of our children, which was so uberly important. I wrote an email asking that we test all of the second graders, I think this was a couple years ago, and give all the tests that are offered in the United States of America to service the 71% minority students that we actually serve. And I think that as we continue to do that, we will start to see and retain our community of children. I can tell you I get a little nervous when I see car dealerships being built, understanding that a lot of the sales tax is what goes into this school choice program for Step Up. every time I see that, I feel like we need to kind of level up again to continue to bring our communities back. I can say

112having gone into those environments. I retired and then went into teach in those private spaces, we can do it better. The public schools can do it better. And the only reason I'm saying that is because what I'm seeing is there is still a disconnect. And we have the ability to cover and service all of our communities and all of our families if we continue to promote the right programs, put them in the right places, let our family know what's there. But I think what's uberly important when I want to say this, our principles have got to be supported to be able to satisfy those needs of the community. I don't know if they get to have a principal council, but I'm advocating for that continued support so they can sit our children. and we bring

113our children back to Orange County Public Schools. Thank you so much. Thank you. What a what a lot of helpful information. And we have contact for you if we want to reach out. Yes. All right. Wonderful. What are you doing right now? Okay. All right. Available to support. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. that's our only speaker for 3.01. All right. Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. I'm so excited about our strategic plan update. the board has focused our work on reading and how vital it is that our children are able to read and comprehend and all that goes with being able to be a fluent reader. and sadly what the drawbacks are when our children cannot read. And so we know we cannot do this alone. It is a work that

114requires our talented teachers, support staff, and administrators as well as our community and families. And so today you're going to hear about an incredible program that we have, Read to Succeed. you're going to hear that it started through the work of our incredible foundation and how it has grown and is thriving and the impact it's having on our children. And so I am going to turn it over to Dr. James Russo who will lead us in the presentation. Madame Chair, I so hate to do this. We have two speakers on 17.01. Okay. So, if we've wanted to take the speakers. Okay. All right. So, the first speaker on 1701 is Stefana Frell. Oh, thank you. Stefana Ferrell 34787. Right. so you know as a parent of public school kids I am very concerned that within

115a week not even a week of passing the schools of hope legislation we see you know we there's reference to Shark Tank. This is, you know, blood in the water and the sharks are circling and KIP schools coming in taking over our assets, utilizing our resources and their proposal says K through two, then they're skipping 3, four, five, and then doing sixth grade. So, what happens to our kids that, you know, they've enticed the community, they've they've gotten them into K through two, and then, oh, guess what? our public schools still have to stick around and serve those kids for three, four, five because they don't have a plan ready for them. It is incredibly concerning to me that we are prioritizing choice, a false false idea of choice when they get to pick and

116choose who they're going to serve and utilize our resources, drain our funding and try to promote themselves, utilize our spaces while they go ahead and start turning a profit so that they can then create a K12 school in our community. I hope that there is a plan. And I know you all have to approve this anyway, but I hope there is a plan to educate the public on exactly what is happening here. what type of commitments there are, the lack of accountability that they have to this community, that they can come and go as they please, as it suits them, and pick and choose who they serve and when they serve them. I am very concerned about this. I know you have to vote it through because of the penalties that the state has put

117in place. And all of it is a shame. I'm saying it here during the public comment period in hopes that people start to realize what is happening here. School choice is a lie. You do not have the choice. They have the choice on who they serve. Meanwhile, draining our public schools. So, thank you for the work that you do in supporting our children. I am a public school graduate. I look forward to my kids graduating from Orange County Public Schools. Thank you. Your next speaker is Coulson Fry. Good evening, chair and members of the board. My name is Coulson. My zip code's 32792, and I'm here as a 2022 graduate, a community member who's deeply concerned and a C alliance organizer. last week, the state board of education expanded the definition of persistently low performing

118schools. Now, if a school is in the bottom 10% for third grade reading or fourth grade math scores, it can be targeted for replacement. If a school earned three grades lower than a C in 5 years and has not earned a B or higher in the most recent two years, it can be targeted for replacement. If a school was closed under state intervention, it could be targeted for replacement. This means that many more schools in Orange County are suddenly eligible for takeover and the district is forced to sign agreements within 60 days or lose millions in funding. Tonight we see the first examples of that expansion here in Orange County. The proposed agreement with Kip Central Florida shows how quickly the new state rules are being used. The school could this school could open in

119neighborhoods like Mercy Drive, Washington Shores or Holden Heights, pulling students and resources away from existing public schools. The board of education will have little control over location impact or oversight. I would like to highlight that these schools of hope operate parasitically to our public schools. They use our public facilities, services, transportation, and they rely on public school infrastructure and our tax dollars while at the same time pulling funds away from the public school system. Kip Central Florida has a plan to grow and expand over the next 10 years. Instead of attempting to improve the public school system of all students, they instead want to prey on public schools that they deem failing, a criteria that has become significantly looser over the last state board of education meeting, placing many of our schools that we would

120agree are not failing at risk of schools of hope. This is predatory and this does not place students first. I understand that the state requires you to sign this agreement, but I urge you to be clear with families that this is not a choice made by this board. Please acknowledge that this agreement is being forced on Orange County by Tallahassee. And I ask that you take action in one place you still have power tonight, your legislative platform. Add strong opposition to the expansion of schools of hope so that the voices in this community are heard in Tallahassee. Document your concerns in this meeting record about impacts on public schools. Orange County families deserve transparency and they deserve leaders who will fight to protect their schools. Please use this platform tonight to do both. Thank you.

121Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay, that is our last speaker tonight. All right, Dr. Vasquez, we interrupted you or we interrupted Dr. Roose. Yeah, Dr. Russo was walking to the podium. Is it Dr. Russo? It is, right? It is Dr. Russo. Okay. I thought so. He looks to be too young to be a doctor. That's a compliment. I'll take I'll take it. Thank you. That is laughing back there. Was that inappropriate? Okay. Yes. All right. Ready. All right. I think I've been Good evening, Chair Jacobs, board members, and Superintendent Vasquez. Tonight we have the privilege of providing updates about the OCPS Read to Succeed program. We will share the story of Read to Succeed, a program that has been a cornerstone of literacy and learning in our community for the past 25 years. We

122will include the program's history, highlight the partnerships that helped Read to Succeed thrive, reflect on the impact the program has had on our students, and share how the program is growing. The story of Read to Succeed began in 2001 when the foundation of OCPS sparked a powerful idea to combine a service model with community engagement principles. The goal was simple yet profound. Provide one-on-one reading support to students who needed it most. We named the program Read to Succeed to reflect our original focus of helping struggling second graders, a critical age where early intervention can change the course of a child's academic journey. At the heart of the program was and still is the dedicated pairing of volunteer tutors with our students, building trust, confidence, and literacy skills. As the students needs evolved, so did the

123program. Prior to 2011, the volunteers did not utilize a set curriculum. In 2011, a fluency curriculum was implemented and in 2012, a vocabulary curriculum was added. This allowed us to structure the Read to Succeed program to further meet student needs. In 2015, in addition to the first and second grade programs, Read to Succeed introduced a tutoring program for retained third graders. In 2017, OCPS made a strategic move by reorganizing the read to succeed program into the curriculum and digital learning department. This opened the door further to introduce curricular support. In 2020, OCPS partnered with collaborative classroom in the utilization of evidence-based SIPs curriculum and began working with kindergarten students to provide them with structured literacy support. By 2022, the program expanded even further. Paid tutors were hired to support students in kindergarten through third grade,

124and a powerful partnership was formed with the UCF School of Education. This collaboration brought in skilled pre-ervice teachers to expand the reach of our established tutors, marking a pivotal shift, not only leveraging retired educators returning to serve, but also built a robust pipeline of future teachers into our schools. Our read to succeed initiative tackles the consistent challenge of students reading below grade level by providing personalized support. We leverage the power of our community with one-on-one reading sessions and deliver small groupoup instruction during school during the school day. Utilizing an explicit structured literacy approach aligned with the science of reading. The process has proven its effectiveness over time. Teachers identify students who will benefit most and we pair them with a compassionate tutor. The success of Read to Succeed is observed in the growth of our

125students confidence, engagement with reading and joy they discover in books. We are not just building better readers, we are nurturing learners. I will now turn the presentation over to Elizabeth Conrad, our ReadA to Succeed senior administrator, who leads our program and is the engine that keeps our volunteers, tutors, students, and teachers connected and engaged. Good evening. Evening. Thank you, Dr. Russo, for the warm welcome. Thank you for having me. Read to Succeed began in January 2001 with a passionate mission to help students. Read to Succeed started with 100 volunteers serving 100 students at just five schools. It was a humble beginning, but we had a bold dream to make a real difference in the lives of young readers. Today, that dream has grown beyond anything that we could have imagined. Thanks to our community partnerships,

126the dedication of our tutors and staff, with the support of our schools, Read to Succeed continues to thrive and expand its impact across the district. In the 2425 school year, we had 162 volunteers serving 348 students. In addition, we also had 117 paid tutors supporting 4,796 students. That's 5,144 students receiving literacy support from the volunteers and tutors at 120 elementary schools. This is amazing. However, we have set our goal to serve 5,500 students and have already received interest from 132 schools to receive services during this current school year. Read to Succeed thrives because of our incredible partnerships. None of this would be possible without them. Beginning with the foundation for Orange County Public Schools, Read to Succeed began as their signature program and continues to be a flagship initiative and a top priority for funding.

127The foundation has been a pillar of support, bringing in local and national sponsorships from long-standing partners such as Orlando Youth Magic Foundation, Wells Fargo, Heart of Florida United Way, Disney, Orange County Citizens Commission for Children, just to name a few. The Foundation for Orange County Public Schools has raised over $3 million to date to support Read to Succeed. This includes more than 1 million in matching funds from the Florida State Legislaturator School District Education Foundations Matching Gifts Program administered through the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations. The foundation continues to fully fund the salaries and benefits of the ReadTo to Succeed program, allowing us to grow, innovate, and continue to deliver highquality literacy support, keeping the focus of our work on our students. The impact of Read to Succeed is felt in classrooms, within student confidence,

128and in the voices of educators. We surveyed teachers asking, "In your opinion, did your reading tutor have a positive impact on your students reading success?" An astounding 95% agreed. This speaks volumes about the effectiveness of our tutoring model and the dedication of our tutors. We also asked about self-confidence and 96% of teachers agreed that the reading tutor had a positive impact on the student. We know that helping students believe in themselves is important in improving their reading skills. Looking ahead, the future of Read to Succeed is bright. We surveyed teachers, administrators, and school staff asking if they would like to continue read to Succeed services on their campus for the 2526 school year. Overwhelmingly, 99% said yes. This feedback reinforces that the program is valued, needed, and making a real difference in schools. The everyday

129read to succeed experience is an engaging, exciting, and confidence-building journey with a caring adult mentor where each child actively participates in building their literacy skills. The true impact of Read to Succeed is best captured in the voices of our teachers, tutors, and students, a few of which are included on this slide. I would like to introduce Debbie Cook, former second grade teacher at Andover Elementary School. When she retired, she joined the Read to Succeed program as a volunteer and she now serves as a SIP tutor at Three Points Elementary School. She has been serving students through Read to Succeed for 10 years. Well, Madame Chairman, school board members, and guests, my name is Debbie Cook. I am a paid certified tutor with the read to succeed sips program and I am celebrating 51 years as

130an educator this year. I began my career with OCPS in August 2000 as an elementary teacher at Panar Elementary School after moving to or from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I taught at Panar from 2000 to 2005 and then accepted a position at the newly built Andover Elementary and taught there from 2005 to 2014. I retired from OCPS in 2014. While teaching second grade at Andover, volunteers from the Read to Succeed program worked with many of my struggling students. I noticed that those readers were always happy and excited when the Read to Succeed volunteers showed up at our door and I began to notice confidence in their reading and that they more readily accepted the reading challenges that I gave them. Upon retirement, I began looking for a place to volunteer. I immediately thought about Read to Succeed.

131I contacted the Reach to Succeed office and met with Elizabeth to discuss becoming a volunteer. I was placed at Andover as a volunteer that first year and then was offered a position as a paid tutor at ThreePoints Elementary. Five years ago, I was selected as one of five tutors to pilot the new SIPs program. What is appealing about sips is that it focuses on funological awareness, phonics, and site words. These three things are the foundations of developing excellent readers. I love that the initial and ongoing assessments given to the students keep every student on the correct instructional path and help those students to become lifelong readers. I was also very excited that after my first year the data showed and Elizabeth is wonderful working with data and keeping track of that 85% of my kindergarteners

132were reading on or above beginning first grade level. I'm now in my 10th and sadly final year as a Read to Succeed tutor. Thank you so much and thank you for supporting our program. Thank you, Debbie, for your service all of these years. It's been wonderful having you on the team and just supporting our students. So, thank you very much. We will now hear from Kimberly Sandell, first grade teacher at Dover Shores Elementary. Miss Sandell has been involved with Read to Succeed for many years. Good evening. I've been teaching for over 30 years in Orange County and hands down, Read to Succeed, stands out as one of the best enrichments programs. I'm so lucky to have had the opportunity of working with many Read to Succeed volunteers. I get to witness the excitement and growth

133year after year. There are so many standouts of the program. I'm going to share a few of my favorites. The priceless smiles of my students faces when volunteers arrive and we share and they share after their session with me. The confidence building that occurs. The love for reading being instilled in their lives. Connections with an outstanding role model. Academically building foundational skills. Increasing vocabulary, sentence building, fluency and comprehension. And then we can't forget that they get a great home library to take home. Each year, my selected students look forward to their read to succeed day, even keeping track as the day gets closer. I've never had a student not want to go. It truly is a highlight of their week. I love how the activities build on our classroom, leaving giving learning, giving my students

134extra support as they're growing as readers, and the one-on-one ratio for learning can't be beat. I feel that the volunteers benefit from the enjoyment of watching firsthand as Raiders grows grow. I have even had a volunteer loop up to second grade so they could continue working with the same student. A really neat experience. I mean, what a connection. My students build a bond that they end up inviting the volunteers to come to events at our school and even to meet their families. So, put me in front of first graders and I can teach all day, but speaking here to adults is kind of scary, but this program has such great value. That's why I'm here. I have seen the success with my first grade students truly benefiting from the unique pro unique program. you never

135know, volunteering could be in my future experiencing the program in another way. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much, Miss Sundelle. You're amazing. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. And we really appreciate you. We really do. Yes. Absolutely. Hey, I would be just as nervous in front of the first graders. Opposite for me. Oh my gosh. So, how can you help? We don't you don't need any prior experience. We provide all the training materials and ongoing support needed. The benefits go both ways. Research shows that volunteering reduces depression and anxiety in adults. By helping others, you're also helping yourself. You can become a volunteer tutor and mentor. You can sign up through the OCPS additions volunteer program. For those of you who would like to begin their support now, please

136use the QR code on the slide or type in the web address. I would like to thank my team for being here tonight. I would like to recognize first Dr. Russo Claire Steel and Dr. Hton for their ongoing support. as well as my Read to Succeed staff. Katie Paxton has been with the program just about as long as I have. She's our resource teacher and does an amazing job. Sadia Raman is newer to our program, but she's our program specialist and we also have two volunteer coordinators full-time in our office. They couldn't be here tonight, but I'd like to recognize their work as well. Its Munz Ran and Samary Lopez Hill. without this team out at the Pine Hills office, we couldn't do what we do. And I just want to publicly thank them for

137everything that they do. I'd also like to publicly thank the foundation office. W Padza has been an amazing support to our program over the years and Margot Cruz director of philanthropy has also been very super supportive. Everybody in that office is super supportive and I've enjoyed working with all of them. So, thank you for your time and, your support is invaluable and together we can change the lives of our students. Thank you very much. All right. Before you step away, I have one quick question for you. so the volunteers don't have to have any prior So, do you train them on how Yes. Yes, we train them. Yes. Yeah. They just have to have a passion for helping kids. That's it. Yeah. Okay. Wonderful. Yes. Thank you very much. I'm retiring from office in a

138year, so you might see me back. I'll come knocking on your door. Yes, we have many folks in this building that work for Orange County, including Scott Howitt, who's been a Read to Succeed volunteer at Rock Lake for eight years now. That's so Yes. Yeah. And Debbie Padza also volunteers. Yeah, Scott, just one more reason to like you. That's so cool. Thank you. I love you. Whatever the case may be. Thank you so much. Great presentation. So glad you guys were here to share your personal experience. Yes, sir. Yep. And then it's just the final slide if there were any questions or any more discussion. Oh, any other question? Yeah. Yeah. So, I just want to also publicly thank Elizabeth. Elizabeth, I remember when we transferred the program over and your enthusiasm and your love

139of the work that you do has grown and I didn't think it could because you were so passionate about it and so we are so thankful for you and your team and how you continue to support our very young to be able to become avid readers. So, thank you. Thank you so much. All right. now we can John, help me out. What page are we on now? we are on item 3.01, consideration of policy. It's I believe JFBD. All right. I remember recognizing the superintendent a while ago on this. So, we'll Dr. Vasquez, we are now on 3.01. Okay. So we are going to begin with policy JFBD magnet school programs. as a reminder to the board and our public, we had our work session on the 26th of August. we made notification to both

140the classroom teachers association and to OASPA on the 27th of August. we published our notice on the 31st of August and we're bringing it to the board today for its revisions on the 30th of September. All right. Thank you. we've already heard public comment on this. Is there a board member that would like to offer a motion? Floor is open. I'll make a motion. All right. Motion to approve. I'll make Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve. That's okay. It just it had to be to approve. Okay. We have a motion from member Ferrron to approve JFBD and we have a second from member Douglas. All in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries with all members present voting in the affirmative. All right, we are on 3.02 policy JIC. Dr. Basco, you're

141recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. As a reminder, we had our work session on the revisions to the policy on the 26th of August. We made notification to both CTA and OESPA on the 27th. we provided notice on the 31st of August and we are seeking approval of those revisions at today's board meeting. All right. Thank you. Seeing no comments from the board, the floor is open for a motion. you had. Okay. Okay. Move member Vanos motioned. member Salamanca seconded. All in favor, please say I. Oppose. Motion carries with all members present. Voting in the affirmative. Okay, we are on consent agenda. Any questions, comments on consent agenda? Seeing none, is there a motion? Oh, it's either everybody at once or nobody. I would m make the motion. It's a little unusual. How about you, member

142Douglas? Jump in there. First, my first motion to approve. Okay, perfect. Any is there a second? Motion by member Douglas, second by member Vanos. All in favor, please say I. Opposed? Motion carries with all members present. Voting in the affirmative. let's see. 1701. Okay, Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. as you heard from one of our speakers, we do have our first application for a school of hope and that is from Kip. And so I'm going to turn it over to our team Greg Moody. and he will introduce those members that will be speaking and share some information with you about this new partnership. Thank you, Superintendent. Madame Chair and board members, I'd like to introduce, as you know, she needs no introduction to this group, but Dr. Kia Scott with our charter

143office. She's going to walk us through and give us a little background on this resolution. Dr. Scott. Thank you. Good evening, Madame Chair, board members, and Superintendent Vasquez. Before you this evening for consideration is item 17.01 requesting the approval of the KIP Central Florida Orlando performance-based agreement. Kip team and family, formerly known as Kip New Jersey, submitted a notice of intent and performance-based agreement on August 14th, 2025 to open Kip Central Florida, Orlando, a designated school of hope. For the benefit of the public, schools of hope and hope operators are authorized by section 102.33 Florida statutes. A hope operator is defined as a 501c3 nonprofit organization that operates three or more charter schools serving students in grades K12 in Florida and other states. They have a proven record of serving students from low-income families. Hope

144operators must meet specific statutory criteria to be designated as a hope operator by the Florida State Board of Education. Kip team and family is one of the seven approved hope operators in Florida. A hope operator may establish a school of hope in the f if the following applies. The school of hope serves students from one or more persistently low performing schools or students who reside in a Florida opportunity zone. The School of Hope is located in a Florida opportunity zone or in the attendance zone of a persistently low-performing school or within a 5m radius of such school, whichever is greater. A school of hope may be located outside of a Florida opportunity zone or persistently low performing school attendance zone if the school district does not have underused vacant or surplus property available for the

145hope operator to use within a Florida opportunity zone or persistently low performing school. The third option would be the school of hope is a title one eligible school. Kip's notice of intent and performance-based agreement identified identified targeted areas greater than or within that five mile radius of the following schools. Eagles Nest Elementary, Eckleston Elementary, Pinelock Elementary, Rolling Hills Elementary, and OCPS Academic Center for Excellence. Ace the opportun excuse me the economic opportunity zones targeted include Holden Heights, Laccasta, Mercy Drive, Rosemont, South Paramore and Washington Shores. Kip Central Florida Orlando School of Hope will operate two campuses within a 5m radius of two persistently low performing schools andor a designated opportunity zone. The first campus will open in August of 2028 and serve students in kindergarten through 2 grade and sixth grade, then adding grade levels

146over time to a full K12 program with multiple campuses. If the board does not approve this performance-based agreement, the district could be subject to penalty outlined in section 102.33 section subsection 8 Florida statutes, which states, "A school district that does not enter into a performance-based agreement within 60 days after receipt of a notice of intent shall reduce the administrative fees withheld pursuant to statute 102.33 subsection 20 to 1%. % for all charter schools operating in the school district. Upon execution of the performance-based agreement, the school district may resume withholding the full amount of administrative fees, but may not recover any fees that would have otherwise occurred during the period of non-compliance. Madame chair, it's the recommendation of staff that KIP central Florida Orlando performance-based agreement be approved this evening. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

147member Vanos, you're recognized. I heard that. Huh? I heard that. thank you so much for the presentation today. I just wanted to to ask a couple of questions. one of the questions was what happens if we don't approve, which you answered that we lose fees, funding, we can't go back and get any of it. was this contract at all? I understand it's a performance-based agreement. Was there anything negotiated with OCPS or we just kind of received it? not on the PBA. Okay. are the schools of hope are they held to the same standards as our other charter schools within OCPS? They are, but there there are some leeway because they locate specifically in schools of low performing areas. also in lowincome families. So, they do have a little leeway, but not much. they still have

148to have the same they're they're still accountable as far as school grades are concerned. But do do traditional public schools have that leeway in those areas? Traditional public schools, I'm going to give you a good example of where they may differ. So, for instance, a traditional a charter school, for instance, if they receive a double F grade, they are automatically closed, you know, once an appeal is done. If a traditional school receives a double F grade, you know, the school board has the opportunity to, you know, reconfigure a school, change leadership in that school or bring in other programs to that school. Got it. Okay. Thank you. are there any other counties in Florida who have these schools of hope operating right now? Yes. So, there is another KIP in Miami Dade County. They did

149not they are a school of hope currently but they did not open initially as a school of hope. Duval County has idea public schools. Pulk County and Hillsboro also have idea public schools. Okay. And are the results in the schools of hope are they better than the results in the traditional public schools? I'm going to say overall average is C average for for IDEA as well as KIP Miami. So overall it's a C average. Yes. Okay. Thank you. do the schools of hope do they receive any and I guess charter schools do they receive any additional funding in the way of federal or state grants that are specifically for charter schools? they can apply for a charter school program grant. it's from the US DOE, but the state of Florida also has those grant opportunities.

150as far as other funding, there are loans that are available to schools of hope. They are revolving loans, but those do not come through our district. They would be through the state. and these revolving loans, is that just funds appropriated by the state legislature? Yes, they're appropriated by the state legislature. And the way it replenishes itself, it works with a third-party fiduciary who will once it drops past it's $100 million. Once it goes under $25 million, that fiduciary can replenish it another 25 million, but it's also paid back from the interest from those loans. So, as the schools pay those loans back, that interest goes back into the fund. Do traditional public schools have access to a revolving loan like that? Not to my knowledge. Okay. Thank you. now I understand you said that the

151schools of hope, they're a nonprofit. Yes. Which is great. do they have the ability to let's say choose their own vendors or you know, building construction companies, things like that. Yes. That are for profit. Possibly. Yes. Okay. thank you. I appreciate this information. No problem. Thank you. All right. member Fant, those are great questions. I really just have a simple one. is there a reason why it's a K2 and just sixth grade? my only thought would be that they're trying to help those sixth graders navigate, but I'm just trying to understand that. Maybe usually the pattern is to stagger. if you want some more definite information, we do have some members from Kip here. But in in looking at the programs personally, I've seen that they stagger enrollment. They open K2 and then the building

152they would have grade six. So they can build six to eight and then move from K to three and then each year add a grade level. Okay. So having an elementary and then a middle, correct? Is basically what we're talking about. Okay, that makes sense. Thank you. Welcome. All right, any further questions? All right, floor is open for a motion. I will make a motion. Okay. Motion to approve by member ferrron. Is there a second? Guys, we don't really have a choice. We don't really have a choice. I'll second it. All in favor, please say I. I. Is that I member Douglas? Okay. Motion carries. Opposed. Motion carries with all members present voting in the affirmative. Thank you. Have a great day. Painfully. That doesn't need to go in the record. Seriously. Okay. Okay. Of

153course, member front, I'm sorry, I didn't see you. I just want to ask a question. for those who feel like it's painful to do that. I'm just my question is if we're wanting to help all of our students and there's areas within our district that are having kids that are struggling with their education and we have a group coming in that wants to help them. Wouldn't we want to receive that help? That's what I guess I'm just trying to understand your side of it. Okay. So, you know, I think if the answer to how do those schools perform was A or B, I would probably feel a little I would be embracing that more if I believe the students were going to be better served. I think that a little bit of that also comes

154from the different set of rules that apply to public schools. And I'm talk I'm not just talking about schools of hope, but just there are different standards, different different measurement tools, different funding opportunities that I think honestly I think if we're really interested in making sure that all kids succeed, I think all kids and all schools should have the same flexibility and the same funding. So the rules are different. when we started the concept, not we, but when the charter school concept, I was, you know, my kids were in I would say elementary, middle school, and the idea behind the charter schools was kind of an experiment to see if we loosened the regulations would those schools perform better. And the experiment was then supposed to be if that works then we'll loosen those we'll

155make there you know more flexibility for our regular schools if greater flexibility is the solution. That part never happened. so I it's I guess it's just my personal experience over the years with feeling like public schools were not given the same opportunity and the same flexibility and acknowledging how fundamentally important it is to have public education. Just good old fashioned public education. Again, if charter school models working, it ought to be the way all schools can work. That's that's it. Okay. Anything else? I appreciate it. Okay. Yeah. Superintendent, I was going to just add a couple of comments. So, first I want to say that Kip does have a proven track record with the schools that they have opened. I myself several years ago visited a few of them and they were successful. They have

156a lot of focus or did on professional development and training of teachers to ensure teachers have the expertise. One of the issues we have with the schools of hope and this is not I believe applicable to kit but the collocation clause which I don't know if the board is very familiar with that but it allows for a an operator for school of hope to colllocate in another school and while u the legislation passed I believe this past year at the very end I think gets part of the appropriations but at the last minute it poses some significant issues for us. So for example if we have a school that's at 95% capacity technically there's 5% of the seats that are available a school can come in and colllocate. So you would have two schools in

157one. We would be paying for the custodial staff, the food and nutrition staff. Equally, we've been told that if you have a building that maybe is vacant, which at this point we're not in that situation, but the school district would have to fund the custodial staff and the food and nutrition staff. Now, we're we've asked for clarification and there might be changes that come to during this next session. but there are implications for the district on a budgetary in the in the area of budget again not applicable to this particular situation that is causing you know concern especially at a time when you know dollars are very short. So I and I'd be happy to share more but just wanted that particular concern of collocation is a real one you know and one of the

158while we're on the topic one of the concerns that I've got with the collocation and maybe there is maybe this has been thought out on our call the other day I was asking Greg and Dr. Dr. shot Kia Scott Kia I is it Kia Scott it's like I always like Emma Scott Kia anyway so let's let's assume it's a coll-located school and majority of them are traditional OCPS students and there is a disciplinary issue and it happens in the hallway and it involves you know students from the hope school and this and the regular students. I'm like I don't really understand who who takes charge how that works out. Bus drive buses the same thing. I'm like who's code of conduct. There's just some logistical things that I think need to be fleshed out so

159that there's clarity. You know what I mean? So I just it's sometimes it's those devils in the details that Yeah. Go ahead. could this then be something that we bring up during the I mean, I know we just voted on our legislative, but something to then bring to Tallahassee and say this is, you know, we understand we want to partner with people to help our communities, help our schools or our students. but the logistics of it because from what I was reading I don't I must just be under the wrong impression but I thought that they receive funding and then if they're you know in one of our schools are using our buses then we would receive funding for them to use our bus according to what I've was reading in the statutes. and then

160for like electricity and such, is that something then that we could say? I mean, I don't think we would, from what I would think, I don't think we're going to sit here and go, "Oh, this is a 95% full school. Let's go ahead and have this a school of hope come in." I think it's more we're looking at areas that have 30% capac, you know, 30% is full and the rest of the school is empty. and so it's a way to like kind of section it off, partition it off in a way that would help. I don't disagree with you, but the way the legislation is written does does allow them and again we as I'll speak as FADS organizations have asked for clarification. It does allow an organization to come in. It doesn't have

161a cap. we don't have the ability to say no. and so certainly if you're having those conversations I think they may not have thought about some of these issues. It's one thing if you're collocation and maybe you've got three buildings and one building is for the school of hope and the other two are for the traditional public school. but from the direction we received this past week and I don't think you've heard any differently. it's it's very vague and the way we've interpreted we haven't been told that we're wrong in that interpretation. So I'm hoping we'll get some type of clarity. They mentioned that maybe there could be some revision to the legislation, but they could not promise anything. Okay. I think we're on to reports. Dr. the best coast. Do you have a report?

162Yeah, everybody's very tired. I promise I think I can do this in like two minutes. so, first I want to give kudos to our incredible HR team under the direction of our chief of staff, Rob Bixler. we, you know, we went through, the shock of learning that we were an additional 2,800 kids, less and we had to look at laying off or moving teachers and some support staff. And I'm happy to report that as of today, there's only one instructional staff that does not have a position and all of the classified have been placed. So, thank you to the team. for their efforts. And this past weekend, maybe it was the weekend before Saturday, we had the parent academy hosted at Lake Buenav Vista High School and it was incredible. Do we have the little

163clip to show? Oh, yes. Yeah. So, this is the board. I want you to just look real quick. you know, we've we've talked about how important it is for our students to know about pathways, know about the college experience. And so, Saturday, in the gym, if I'm not mistaken, how many, Maria, was it 82 different colleges and universities were present. The students were able to get information. they had a job fair in the cafeteria. they also had sessions going for for parents and they had an area where they were looking at they were not looking they were taking care of the students that were there. So really was what we want to see. they're going to replicate this but it was a packed house. There were lines of students waiting for certain colleges. we had

164some staff some of our executive staff complaining that you know their college wasn't represented. So, they were taking notes of who needed to be there. But a kudos to Kathy, Mariel, and the entire team. It was an incredible event. Our deputy superintendent, I think, danced with somebody or something. It was great. It was great fun. And board member Douglas, I think you also participate. And there was also a youth academy and there were pizza everywhere. Everybody was happy. I mean, and there was a robot there that was playing basketball. It was it was a great atmosphere and we could feel a lot of information going on and it was a really great event. Great event. Congrats. Let's do it in District 4 next time. Thank you. Okay, good. anybody else? That it? All right, Mr.

165Pomearine. For two meetings in a row, I have nothing. So remember that. Thank you. Is your review coming up? Yeah. Okay. Of course. I'm sorry. Member Vanos. I'll be quick. I just felt like we couldn't end this meeting on you know we passed this memorandum of understanding for Hungerford and we finally have found a way to transfer the property and I wanted to just thank superintendent for keeping with this and this board and the chair. I know it was a lot of work and a lot of pressure and so I just wanted to thank you and I also wanted to I would just be remiss if I did not thank my predecessor who sat in the seat before me Dr. Karen Caster Dental who was truly instrumental in I think starting the shift of looking

166at this property of something to sell to how can we find a way to you know transfer this property back to the town of Eatenville. and she cared so much. when I was I just have to share a story when I was running for office, I would ask to meet with her so that she could share with me what a day in the life of a schoolboard member looked like, which I understand the idiocy of that question now, but but we would but we would we would meet for two hours and about 1 hour and 15 minutes was talking about Eatenville and then 10 minutes was talking about everything else. And so I say that to say that she cared so much. She did so much research. I can tell by reading through transcripts of

167meetings that happened before I was on this board. how much she educated herself, how much research she did, how much she shared with other members of this board. and so truly I thank thank Karen Dr. Caster Dental and just know that without her I don't know that we would be here today. Just wanted to share that. Yeah. Well said. Well said. Yeah. I don't she had I think we're all passionate about it, but her her passion exceeds all of ours together. So, yeah, and commitment. So, thank you for recognizing that. All right, with that said, the meeting's now adjourned. Was a long day. That's a Woo! Woo! Woo!