001e e e welcome everyone if you are here in the room and you are not part of the student recognition or the appointment piece for this evening I'm asking if you would graciously give up your seat so that we can get all of the students that are here for the recognition piece and or the appointment pieces in the room because those are the two things that we're going to be doing at the beginning so if you're in a seat and you're here for like the duration of the meeting but not you're not being recognized for either of those parts I'm asking that you give up your seat at this time e e e R if there is if there is a seat open by you would you please raise your handri I know if there
002are any seats open and once again I am nicely asking that if you are not here as part of the student recognition or the appointment piece admin of appointments that's happening at the beginning of the meeting we have an overflow area right outside these doors and it would be nice if you would move out there and we will bring you in as soon as we start to clear people out but if there's a seat open anywhere near you would you please raise your hand so we can get the individuals seated that are here part of student recognitions or the administrative appointments I have a seat on the front row okay if you're here for the the meeting for basically the most of the evening you will get back in here shortly we just need you
003to move outside if you're not part of that piece I have one seat up front here I've got two here Mr Gangi I've got some up front I need everyone seated I have one up here on the front row do we know do we have all the students in administrative appointments in here yet or do we still have some of them outside okay all right right there are seats outside if you're here for any other purpose that they have to keep it quiet out there at this time it is 4:41 and I'd like to call this meeting to order in just a moment I'm going to ask those of you here in the audience inside to please stand with me and we will have the Pledge of Allegiance in the national anthem tonight it will
004be presented by the River Springs Middle students middle school students and staff following the pledge of Alle legance in national anthem we will have a moment of silence and reflection so at this time please [Music] stand hi my name is Stacy flowers and we are going to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and then I will play the national anthem for you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for [Music] all [Music] e for [Music] thank you you may be seated at this time I'd like to introduce those that are here at the front with me starting on my far left we have Mr Carl persus representing District 4 next to Mr persus is
005Mrs Jesse Thompson representing District 3 then we have our Schoolboard attorney Mr Aaron wolf over on my far right we have Miss Celeste Gilmore our agency clerk next to miss Gilmore is Mr ribben clone representing District 5 then m is Anita Bernett our vice chair representing District number two and to my immediate right is our superintendent Dr Carmen balgam balgam I am Jamie Haynes um your chair this year and I represent district one items for approval on this agenda this evening are items 1.03 2.02 4.01 7.02 19.1 through 19.22 we are here tonight and as always we do a piece where we recognize students staff and business or community members that support valua County Education and or have earned um an award or have participated in an activity we also have public participation times at
006each of our board meetings we will have public participation for any item that is on the consent agenda before we reach that point to vote if you're wanting to speak you'll fill out a green card over here on my far right Miss Johnson if you'll wave this is for consent items or actionable items if you're wishing to speak about something for general interest you'll fill out a yellow card the to so we when we get to the consent agenda we will have time for public speakers to speak you'll be given three minutes to speak then normally at 6: PM or shortly thereafter we have items of general interest pertaining to public education in Valia County during that time we have a total of up to 15 minutes which will be provided for public comment then
007time will also be provided for public comment on any action item before a board vote is called on that item there are a lot of action items this evening then time will be provided at the end of the meeting for public comment for items of general interest pertaining to public Ed education in Valia County before items from the board superintendent or attorney are up for discussion or announcement each speaker will come forward to speak when their name is called at any of the times and you'll be given three minutes to speak I can't stress the importance that you please be respectful of the time clock and stop when your time is up also when speakers are speaking there will be no signs placards or other visual forms of communication authorized except as a part of
008an individual speaker's presentation speakers shall not engage in personal attacks abusive language or other conduct which interferes with the meeting I as a chair have the right to terminate any speaker's privilege to address the board if this rule is violated members of the audience should be courteous to all speakers and shall refrain from making audible comments or applauding during the meeting during public speaking you can do a thumbs up you can do a thumbs down you can do a jazz hands but we are asking that you remain silent and not interrupt the people that are speaking during recognitions please clap and cheer for our students and our staff and community members our district vision statement is item 1.02 it's to create lifelong Learners prepared for an everchanging Global society and at this time I I
009invite board members if they would like to share some comments Mrs Bernette thank you so as as you've mentioned many of times this is our busy time of the year um and so I've I've got a few events that I attended and I know we were together at uh a few of them all of us but uh the Atlantic law and government Academy had their end of the Year banquet and um they were honoring almost every one of their students for attending the Florida public services Association this is just their second year attending and participating in that and um they brought home a lot of trophies there's a a uh an article in the hometown news if anybody wants to read it and then I think all of us actually attended the um the Futures
010Tak stock and children into the Year banquet and I don't know if anybody's participated in that but it's really a great program where we have mentors taking care of these students from 9th grade through 12th grade and um they kind of give them you know they're mentoring them helping them get through high school and preparing them for either college or after high school jobs it's um very rewarding and and they actually get a nice scholarship at the end of that too to attend some uh Daytona State or S old College I believe um and then um Miss Haynes and I were able to attend the child's Academy graduation and that was very rewarding to me I was almost in tears attending that because um you know however you end up there is is where God
011has put you and um these girls have gone above and beyond to make sure that they are graduates and that they've set an example for their kids and it was very heart heartwarming to see that and the support that they had so that's what I have to say thank you thank you Miss Thompson thank you so I know once again we've all been super busy I think many of us attended the turnaround Awards in our respective districts and I went to quite a few in District 3 and just great job to all those kids for putting in all that effort and thank you to all the schools that made it such a special event and the parents that came out in the middle of the day to have lunch with their students and really celebrate
012them it was very special at every single one I went to and then Spruce Creek Elementary did a pep rally for their students before testing I saw a couple other schools do that but I went there we had a fly over the whole school was there their mascot was there the kids the older ones were cheering on the younger on the younger ones were cheering on the older ones so it was a great Community event and I was so happy to be there and also I just want to give a shout out and great work today to all the students that had your Ela testing I know there's more testing on Thursday my own kids went through it today and just hang in there guys we're almost at the end so great work to all
013of you for making it through today that's it thank you Mr cologne and so as others have stated it's been extremely busy but want to give a shout out to our FFA programs that we had the banquet for Deltona High's FFA as well as uh looking forward to Pine ridge's FFA event on Sunday uh congratulations to our first year teacher of the year a winner U she's a wonderful teacher out of pineridge and so we were excited to bring home the gold for D5 um senior we've had both of our senior awards at Deltona High and Pine Ridge of course it's a amazing what our students are accomplishing I mean they are truly uh going above and beyond but I will share it's it's also equally as enlighting to see all of our Community Partners
014in Ed as our superintendent would call them uh that truly have invested not only their time but their money in supporting our students and so uh both of the senior night events were were uh amazing turnaround student awards uh I want to thank the Futures found Foundation uh I for one had my doubts on changing the format uh it was just within minutes I was on the phone with her saying why are we doing this but it has truly turned out to be a great time for everyone I will share with you I was at a Galaxy middle school and uh this they did it during the school day and the students parents were there and the mom of one student was there uh and they had a slide presentation going on now mind you
015the kids were not even there yet and the mom sees her kid up on the screen and starts crying cuz they've been through something yeah and so it was just really inspiring to see that and I think that went across we were uh subsequently um chairwoman Haynes and myself attended uh V's turnaround student that was exciting because you know they're coming from everywhere uh and then uh I was at heritages last night last but not least girls basketball so last night I had the pleasure of uh attending a basketball game at Heritage and man those girls are just passionate competitive like I was tired watching them but uh kudos to those who support those Sports programs in our middle schools and uh it's just to see that much passion tells me we need more of
016that and so um I will stop there again thank you thank you Mr persus yeah thank you madam chair um great job everybody everybody's been so many things I just wanted to say I know we've just finished up with teacher appreciation week and uh as we've uh it's just been such a great turnout and I wanted to thank all the businesses and the ptas uh who just went over and above and beyond to do what they could to to uh show their appreciation to our teachers whether they were doing breakfasts or lunches or after school events or giving them Awards and just any kind of token of recognition cards everything I saw flowers I saw just all sorts of just a great outpouring and it makes the makes the teachers the staff the principles it
017makes them all feel so so good that that you appreciate what they do and you value what they do each and every day so big uh just a big shout out to all of our uh Community businesses for supporting our teachers uh also uh we're all looking forward to high school graduations I know we are especially the seniors they're really looking forward to think it probably tell you exactly how many hours and minutes are left in the school the school year right about now but anyway we'll be looking forward to those and they all will take place in the Ocean Center thank you madam chair thank you a few other highlights of what we've done um because we had a little bit of an extra time off the way the calendar fell since um the
018first day of made in start till Wednesday we also attended the valua County Council PTA Awards which was wonderful to see all of the teachers and administrators and volunteers there um earn the awards and yes we were at the Tak stck and children which is a wonderful thing put on by you know Futures but um Mr cologne and I um also attended the Symphony of Illusions performance where our um Deltona Middle School students were highlighted and won an award and I um once again participated in the prep piece for the Catalyst summer program so the Catalyst summer program is put on by Dr Felicia benzo and she does four of the high schools and it's a wonderful opportunity for students it does start in June and so you know if you reach out to her
019she would be happy to tell you about it I as far as the turnaround Awards events go this is what I said to um the students and I've attended danan middle uh Valia online learning as Mr clone stated University High Dand high and Taylor Middle High so far in the past we've had everybody come to one location whether it be held on the east side or the west side and invariably we have students that can't get there and so they're nominated for this turnaround award by their teachers and administrators and then they can't make it there and the way it's been done in the past even though it was nice it was just their name was called and they walked across a stage and were handed a certificate so this year Futures did try something
020new and it does mean a little bit more work for us but all the rewards of going to one of these so they're being held at their individual schools this year and the very first one I attended was at Delan middle and I have to give a shout out to the chef there that does the culinary program because he and his students prepared the entire meal and each child the sixth grade student the seventh and the eighth grade student not only invited their family to be there with them they each gave an invitation to a special teacher that they felt had made a difference and those teachers got to also attend that event and it was in the evening and it was I mean they had you know linen tablecloths in the whole nine yards
021and it and each of the school counselors got up and they talked I mean the school assistant principls got up and talked about the student and how they had turned around and the student then introduced everyone at their table and who they had with them and why they had selected their teacher there wasn't a dry eye in the place and lots of pictures were taken because that's what it's about it's about parents capturing those memories so that they will have them but each school has put a different spin on it but each one of them has been wonderful so I said I've told the students I'm put you know I ask them how do you feel about it and they all say we like it this way so I said I'm putting in a word
022that we continue this next year like I said it makes a little bit more work on us but it's not about us it's about the students and it's a great event and we did have the first year um futures um Teacher of the Year Awards and I want to thank Deltona High for hosting it this year I've been over to Woodward Elementary um if you ever need to be happy like if you're kind of down you need to go see which one of our elementary schools is putting on a performance and Woodward Elementary just put on their p P Pan Jr play and they even actually had a little live puppy dog who did beautiful in the play you know just imagine a little puppy being in the play but he did a great job
023but the students were phenomenal and then we were out of valua Pines um to rec rep um recognize our mentor of the Year award for valua County and we left there with tears in our eyes because she'd taken on mentoring a student there and she stayed with him and she promised that she'll even check on him when he goes to middle school and that's what makes the difference is if you take time out of your life to make a connection with that kid just check in on them and see how they're doing and then from there um I was over at um Blue Lake Elementary for any of you that know Mr fle he every year gets a Futures Grant and his students go over to Blue Lake Elementary at the beginning of the year
024and they interview first graders okay so you got high school students interviewing first grade students and they find out things they like and things about them and then the the high school students go back and they write a story using the information they collected and some of them illustrate it some of them get some of the art students on campus to illustrate it even Mr fle illustrates some of them but they get the books all bound and they're beautiful and then they walk over to Blue Lake Elementary to deliver the books to the students and Futures Foundation supports it and they're always there and what's really neat is what there's three copies of every story and one gets to go into the library at Blue Lake one gets to go home with a child so
025they have their own book and one stays at the high school but the high school kids pair up with the student that they wrote the story for and they read it with them together and their snacks and there's photos but this year they did a new twist and I see um Miss Bailey back there the principal at Blue Lake and she and I talked about it it was the greatest thing the high school students got up and they basically in a short period of time ask the kids to give them like give us an animal give us you know an action and they wrote a story right there with the children so that they could see how they go about writing a story and that was powerful F that the first graders saw that the
026words that they gave them they could then put into phrases and sentences and they could create a story but I then went on over to Delan high dantai and Delan Middle have two of the strongest FFA programs out there and last year dantai exceeded their goal and they handed out 147 um CTE or Cape certification Awards to the students at delant that's how many of those tests they passed and this year they set a new goal well they exceeded their new goal and I don't know they had a few more they were hoping to get but they're right at 180 Awards handed out to students for passing their certification test and that's just phenomenal you know to see that the kids have learned what they needed to learn and that they take those tests and
027while we were there it if you go go ever to see um Mr bradner and his group back in FFA they're always going to feed you that's just what they do so they fed everybody that was there that day and then um my final thing I would say is there's just a lot going on right now and I know at times it's hard I was I was a single mom of two growing up and I'm happy that they're all grown up now and it's hard sometimes to manage but what I would say to any parent that's listening or Guardian if you're the grandparent raising your grandchildren whoever you are it's easier today than it ever was to just take a photo very quickly take those photos because you're going to Blink and they're going to
028grow up and it's nice to have that memory to go back and look at so everywhere I've been that's what I've been saying is take the photo and moms listen we don't we don't we're not perfect okay but don't worry about how you look because guess what your kids love you no matter how you look same thing with you dads so take the photo so that you have those memories because graduation is coming up and I'll say to all the parents that they're graduating take lots of photos all right but if you're going to attend a kindergarten graduation in the next few weeks take the photos if they're leaving fifth grade and headed to Middle School take those photos and if you can't be at the award ceremony reach out to another parent or the
029teacher and let them take the photos and share them with you because it's important to have those memories but at this time we're going to move on into our next item which is item 1.03 approval of the minutes board members you've had an opportunity to read the minutes from the last Workshop and so do I have someone that would like to make a motion to approve the minutes move approval of the minutes Madam chair second thank you Mr persus thank you Mr cologne any discussion about the minutes hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving the minutes from the regular works from the regular meeting on April the 23rd 2024 please say I I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now up to item 2.01 agenda changes Dr
030balaman are there any agenda changes no Madam chair I have no changes all right board members I need someone to make a motion to approve the presented agenda Madam chair I'd like to propose a change I'd like us to table item 19.0 one this code of student conduct um in light of our recent events I think our code of student conduct does not address uh vandal ISM and uh things that are a result of senior pranks and so I think this is something that we need to definitely take a serious look at and so I'm going to kindly ask that we uh table that for a future date um so that we could provide input on those changes okay board members you've heard that um the superintendent has no item she wishes to remove this
031evening but Mr cologne would like to remove board action item of removing 19.1 from tonight's agenda please say I I I any opposed I'm GNA say nay so it's four to one all right then we're back to I need someone to approve the agenda minus 19.1 move to approve the agenda minus 19.0 one I second that motion thank you Mr Tom Mr persus and thank you Mrs Thompson any discussion I'd like to just add this the reason why I voted nay is we have within the code of conduct we already have um a discipline piece and it's and it states what the consequences are so I think that if we use that discipline piece and the consequences this could be handled but at this time we will now vote to approve the agenda minus 19.1
032all those in favor please say I I any opposed all right then we're moving forward we are now up to item 3.01 announcements by Dr Carmen balaman thank you madam chair board members members of the audience and those of you listening at home my announcements will be short this time because we have quite a bit of other items Ms to uh go over but before you mentioned you talked about our futures foundation and obviously our first year teacher um uh award ceremony so I'd like to welcome not only all of our first year teachers but for the outstanding work that they have been doing here in valua County um it was such a proud moment to be able to stand on stage and see the level of professionalism and dedication that has come forward from
033every single one of those individuals that are there so thank you Futures foundation for your support always of our vision mission and goals but also we talked about Tak stock in children and I know all of you were there at that event and there's so many silent Heroes that we have in our community and as you listen to those Partners in education in the audience and those mentors you know every single one of them they are truly and deeply committed to the success of our students now these are folks that are not interested in their names being mentioned or being their pictures being published anywhere right because we call them silent Heroes and servant leaders for a reason their mission is that they understand that the future and the success of our county is our
034students and they will do whatever it takes behind the scene so I want to thank all of you that we don't hear your name of often you're not in you know in your pictures are not posted Here There and Everywhere but you're doing the work behind the scene and in my opinion in our opinion here you are the true heroes so thank you to all of those individuals who have committed to this program for 29 years um also last week we celebrated our teacher appreciation week and you know what I've always said this and I will say it again that one of the most noble professions that we have is that of being a teacher it's because of teachers every other Prof profession exist so with that said you should be celebrated every single day
035again for the work that you do in the classroom and out of the classroom thank you to all of our teachers you are truly appreciated and again you have a choice and that choice is where you want to work but you have chosen vuia County Public Schools and for that I'm grateful and thank you for what you do for every single one of our 64,000 students um Bob Davis also I I'd like to give a shout out because as you mentioned Mr perses we were at the event last week and 100% of our schools Madam chair and board members now are part of the adopt the school program 100% of our schools ladies and gentlemen there's a hotel ass Association that has sponsored every single school and with that said there was so much that
036they have done for our teachers right um and to celebrate our teachers because again they know the value of educ Educators in our community not just in our community in the entire world it's because of you you shine light and light is what wisdom comes from and with education anything and everything is possible so I want to thank our business partners again for believing in valua County public schools national uh mental health awareness month as you know um every day we should celebrate mental health and we know how important that is but again there is a division that works behind the scene not you know day in and day out and board members you guys know this because you see it on our Command text so a shout out to our student services department our
037mental health Team all of our counselors thank you our psychologists all of you for those wraparound services that you provide to our students to our communities thank you thank you thank you also some upcoming dates um May is also Asian and Pacific island heritage month and also milit military appr appreciation month so thank you to all of our military families again that servant leadership right there when you put your own life on the line to Serve and Protect others there's nothing more noble about that um May 18 national speech pathologist Day and May 27th it's Memorial Day and I am going to say that for May 27th Memorial Day all of you should take the day [Laughter] off um and shair that's it that's it very short for my announcements do you have a video
038to share I I have I will not disappoint you but yes can we do it now before we move on thank [Applause] you thank you teachers I appreciate my teachers because they're nice and they're very engaging to work with thank you all the teachers thank you teachers than you for making learning fun with all your fun projects all right I appreciate my teachers for always understanding being there for their students thank you teachers being nice thank you thank you teachers thank you thank you to all of my teachers from kindergarten to 12th grade you've been super helpful thank you teachers we appreciate you thank you teachers I would like to thank my teachers for just necessarily believing in me and fully understanding like some of the hardships that I like go through um from both
039mental and physical and as well as just you know being being cool and like super making learning fun and everything I appreciate my teachers because they're awesome appreciation a p p r e c i a t i o n thank you so much for always being so supportive in all our learning Endeavors and taking your time to make sure that we always understand the material I appreciate all teachers so much thank you thank you to my teachers because they're nice thank you teachers I want to say thank you to all the teachers for everything you've done for the students and how you help them work through their greatest pro problems and help them become something who they want to be thank you for being so nice caring and helping us when we need it thank
040you I appreciate my teachers because without them I wouldn't be able to go to college I know 2 * 2 is four because my teacher taught me that thanks to my teacher we appreciate you I love you teacher thank you teachers for teaching us thank you I I appreciate my teachers because they help me out teachers are the best thank you [Music] teachers and that concludes the announcements at this time we're moving on to item 4.01 administrative appointments and transfers Dr bovan thank you madam chair board members we have seven appointments today and two transfers um the first individual he's not here but I do have a video but i' like to talk a little bit about him as you know we've done some conversions with some of our job descriptions and um some realignment
041which by the way I like to share with the board that at this point in time we're looking at 1.9 million in change with um some of the cuts that we've made in some of the the re adjustments or conversions that we've done so I'll put that out there and as I told you that's a work in progress and we will have that more conclusively by the end of June however one of the Des the job description is going from is everything okay I could hear an echo I just St to remind everyone please turn your phones on silent or off thank you thank you chair so at this time our appointment number one is for the public information officer and Greg tetta he has obtained his bachelor's degree from Flagler College St Augustine Florida
042a master's degree from West uh Western Governor's University Salt Lake City Utah he has worked for telmundo as a news director in Austin Texas he went on to become the executive director of communications and Community engagement in Coler County Public Schools Naples Florida and then became the executive director of marketing and media at Florida Southwestern State College Fort May Meyers Florida he is currently the chief Senior Chief Communications officer at Richland School District 2 colia South Carolina today with your approval I'm recommended for Greg tretta uh to to be the public information officer for Community Information Services and if approved his effective start date will be june3rd 2024 if you like to say a few words but I do have a video by by uh Greg have to vote before we all right so board
043members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have anyone that would like to make a motion motion to approve thank you Mr clone thank you Mr persus any discussion okay then I'll call for the vote all those in favor of Greg tetta being the new Pio for valua County Schools starting on June 3r please say I I I any opposed it passes unanimously all right can we play the video hello I'm Greg dretta and I'm excited to be your public information officer I'd like to first thank the Valia County School Board and superintendent Dr Carmen Balaban for putting their trust in my leadership I look forward to building authentic Partnerships within our community serving as a trusted Communications Council to our schools and showcasing the incredible work being done in our classrooms each
044and every day my wife and I are excited to call vucha County home for many years to come I look forward to meeting each and every one of you very soon thank you all right we're moving on to the next one we are at this time appointment number two I would like to ask Dr Tamira Baker Dron to join us and I like to share with you a little bit about this young lady that all of you have already seen in action for a little bit um but miss Dr drton has obtained her bachelor's degree in biology education from from the Florida Institute of Technology she has obtained a master's degree in Ed leadership from Troy University and she's earned a doctorate from National St Louis University in Chicago she holds certification in Ed leadership
045biology 6 through 12 she she start high school science then moved into Administration where she worked at all levels as a dean and assistant principal she served as the principal at orav Vista Elementary she served as the principal at Memorial Middle and she served as a principal at wava high school she's been with us since July of 2023 as our director of secondary curriculum 6 through 12 today with your approval I'm recommending that Dr Tamara Baker Dron serves as the executive director for secondary schools in division of teaching leading and learning and if approved here this evening her effective date will be July 1st 2024 with this new title board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that would like to make the motion I motion to approve thank you
046Mrs Thompson do I have a second I'll second thank you Mrs berett anyone like to say anything or have discussion Mr colog Dr Jon I want to thank you as you have uh served our schools well uh I hear nothing but good things you know we always worry when someone comes from the outside how will they be received how will they uh be respected and and and I want to thank you because you have uh brought a level of profession ISM and uh and all I'm hearing are good things and so uh again congratulations and thank you I too would like to um reiterate what Mr cologne said everywhere I go I only hear great things and um people appreciate how you explain things and you work with them um so that everyone has an
047understanding and I know that um there's been some difficult things thrown at you this year at times but I appre appreciate how with Grace you've always you know tackled whatever it is and I love the fact that you always give updates afterwards so that we know what happened so thank you Mr verus yeah well said Madam chair uh yes and I've I've just enjoyed meeting you I didn't realize your background until uh until you just read that U um Madam superintendent there but uh yeah Elementary principal Middle School principal high school principal you're a smart lady you're a smart lady but you know the higher you get the fewer friends you're going to have you know that that's just the way it works but uh anyway we'll have your back and just keep doing a
048great job all right board members you've heard the recommendation we have a motion in a second if there's no further discussion I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I any he opposed it passes unanimously congratulations [Applause] [Music] it's your turn good evening School Board chair Haynes board member Bernett board member cologne board member persus board member Thompson along with superintendent bobin words cannot express how I feel at this moment I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to serve as the executive director of secondary curriculum for valua County your trust and support have brought me to this pivotal point in my career I want to start by thanking God who is the head of my life and go and my guide and protector I extend my heartfelt appreciation to Dr V
049as well as my high school and middle school principles who welcomed me into this County and their schools with open arms without your support and Trust in my work I would not be standing here today to my cherish family and close friends whether present in the audience or watching online thank you for your unwavering love and support throughout my educational journey to my daughter Lauren and my son Joshua thank you for always keeping Mommy on her toes and reminding me of the importance of my work every day and to my husband my rock and voice of reason during life storms thank you for being my constant support lastly I honor my my late mother whose dream was to witness her only child and baby girl achieve all her goals and aspirations her memory fuels my
050determination once again I express my gratitude for this incredible opportunity to be a part of the valua family together we will continue to strive for excellence ensuring that every student engages in high levels of learning every day thank you great [Music] [Applause] so don't leave we're going to get through all of this and then have you come up for photos Okay so please don't leave Dr bamin yes Madam chair so appointment number three we're doing countdown I would like to ask at this time that uh Miss jackque Copeland join us miss Copeland here she goes to share a little bit with you about Jack whis Copeland she's up to attained her bachelor's degree from bethon Co cookman University Daytona Beach Florida her master's degree from Stetson University the land uh Florida certifications ad leadership Elementary
051Ed exceptional student education English speakers of other languages Esau she's been with valuan County since 2004 and started as a teacher at George Marx Elementary I know you remember that Miss Haynes was she was also a teacher and an assistant principal at George Marx Elementary and then she served as a principal intern at Heritage middle and currently the principal at Southwestern middle school with your approval today the board I am recommending that Mr qu copelan serve as the executive director for exceptional student education and her effective start date would be July 1st 2024 okay board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that would like to make a motion move to approve thank you Mrs Bernette do I have a second second thank you Mr persus anyone like to say
052something I would I figured you would Madam I first met tqu when she was teaching first grade at George Marks Elementary and I uh actually approached her and asked her to come teach a new program that we were going to have that summer for the first time as the master teacher and so she signed on for cab which is called Summer enrichment adventure and it's for kindergarten first grade students that we were funding it out a title one at that time and it was an opportunity for primary teachers to come and participate in a learning piece for two weeks with students there and she did a phenomenal job I mean it was just amazing what she did because basically sometimes when you walk into education or you change a grade level you're just not sure
053and when you walk out of college they don't have you totally prepared for what you're going to face but she did a great job of training and providing opportunities for those teachers to learn during the summer and grow and developed and then she went and and she went on and she tried out middle school and that's where she is right now and I will tell you this is kind of Bittersweet for me this evening because she's a phenomenal principal at Southwestern middle school and I hate to see her leave but at the same time I believe she's the right person to move into this new job role and that she will dedicate just as much time as energy to it as she has everything else she's done so I want to say thank you for
054everything you've done and and the fact that you're not leaving you're still here so we will all get to see you and we will get to see the next things that you accomplish so all right so we have a motion and we have a second at this time I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I any opposed passes unanimously congratulations [Applause] good evening Schoolboard members Schoolboard chair Mrs Haynes and superintendent Dr balabin I am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the executive director of exceptional student education I am committed to ensuring that every student regardless of their abilities or challenges has access to the education they deserve I believe that every student has unique strengths and potential waiting to be unlocked I will work collaborative ly
055with all stakeholders to create an environment where every student can Thrive and reach their full potential I want to express my sincere gratitude to the board this evening for placing your trust in me I am aware of the responsibility that comes with this position and I will continue to uphold the values of inclusivity and excellence in education I must extend my sincere thanks to the incredible faculty and staff of Southwestern Middle School I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside such remarkable individuals for the past eight years team tiger you have been my colleagues mentors and Friends your dedication and passion for Education have inspired me every day to my husband who's in the audience my parents and sister who are watching online your unwavering support and encouragement has been a source of
056strength and I would not be here today without your love and belief in me so thank you once again all for this incredible opportunity I'm ready to get to work so let's make a difference together thank you [Applause] [Music] y don't leave none of you are allowed to leave you guys heard that right all right chair thank you appointment number four at this time I'd like to ask Mr Mike malli to join us um just to share with you a little bit about this young man besides being the principal most recently the principal of Deltona High School he has obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida a master's degree from Arkansas State University certification and Ed leadership physical Ed adapted physical Ed exceptional student education he's been with valuan County Public School
057since 2006 started as a teacher at Atlantic high school then new samah high Westside Elementary and then went on to become an assistant principal at Holly Hill Citrus Grove Elementary and then Delona High School most recent became the principal then after at Deltona High School with your approval I'm recommending that Mike malli serves as the executive director for students or student service services department and if approved his effective start date will be July 1st 2024 board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that would like to make the motion gonna have a tie go ahead go I will happily make that motion and I'll happily second that motion okay so Mr clone has made the motion and Mr persus is seconded any discussion go ahead Mr clone I'll keep it
058simple I look forward to seeing all the places you will go thank you I'm just so proud of you you know you've worked hard you have excelled in every position along the way uh you're just an awesome guy and I'm I'm just so grateful Madam uh chair and superintendent when we can promote from within too it's great to have people from the outside come in and we welcome them but it's it's especially rewarding when some of us who have known these people when they first came in and just watch them grow and attain the the positions that uh that they attain attain now so congratulations you know we've known each other a long time Dam and I thought at one point you were at Mainland too no man okay all right but once you came
059down to Elementary we got to know each other so what I'd say is you have a lot of experience and you've had some great former principles who have been mentors and that's the best thing that anyone can have and so just remember that because just like some of like Judy winch and people that took the time to Mentor you please I'd ask continue to find someone and Mentor them so at this time I will call for the vote all those in favor of Mr Mike mcalli moving into the executive director position of graduation ass assurance and student services please say I I any opposed it passes unanimously [Applause] congratulations my turn good evening Madame chair Haynes Vice chair Bernette Miss Thompson Mr persus Mr cologne and superintendent Dr Balaban I'm very humbled and honored to
060be appointed executive director of graduation assurance and student services I would like to thank you all for exhibiting the confidence and Trust not only in me personally but also professionally first I would like to take a moment to recognize my parents who are watching at home and my beautiful bride Katie and my amazing daughter Meer Maya who are both with me this evening I'm blessed to have such an amazing family to support me through all my Adventures not only as an educator but also as a son a husband and a father I love you all and thank you for being my biggest cheerleaders behind the scene belusa County system has played an important part in my life not only am I a proud product of uchia County Schools I've spent the last 18 years of
061my career giving back to those who have profoundly given made me the person that I am today I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone within vucha County Schools Community who have supported me throughout my career in my journey I've been fortunate to cross path with remarkable individuals who have left an enduring imp PR on my professional tra trajectory their influence though unspoken by name has been profound shaping my character and guiding me through diverse Landscapes of my career their impact extends beyond my guide mere guidance it's a testament to the power of the human connection and genuine support their influence continues to resonate with me shaping not just me professionally my Endeavors but also the person I've become today to my Deltona High School family as we're in the threshold of change
062I'm filled with gratitude for the journey we've shared together we faced obstacles headon we've shattered some barriers we fostered a culture like none other unwavering determination and resilience regardless of the challenges our students May face we stood firm in our commitment to Student Success I'm deeply thankful for the trust that you've placed on me as your leader it's been an honor to serve alongside such a dedicated professionals who continuously strive to grow both professionally and personally our success has not been a stroke of luck it's been a result of deliberate planning intentional collaboration and instruction and the power of personal connections your unwavering dedication to our students and your Relentless pursuit of Excellence has been the driving force of the work and Beyond and behind our achievements I challenge you to continue to chry this
063carry this forward and the lessons we've learned of the connections and we've established to continue to shape the future of our school and our community of the 32725 to my student service family it's with immense enthusiasm gratitude and anticipation that we embark on this journey together it's a privilege to join such a dedicated passionate group of professionals who are committed to making a difference in the lives of our students of vucha County Schools every piece of the work that we will do will relate back and support vcs's goal from a strategic plan ensuring all students will engage in a high level of learning every day our mission will demonstrate a clear understanding of our Department's goals and strategies as well as a commitment to fostering Collective collaborative and supportive environment for our team our emphasis
064is the way of the work that we will do is all based on guardrail 2 we will ensure that we are providing conditions that are complimenting VCS goal and our strategic plan all while providing conditions that are enhancing student learning I'm eager to collaborate with each of you drawing Upon Our Collective expertise and our experiences to provide the best possible systems of support for our students together we will break down barriers we will offer guidance we will create an environment where every member member feels safe seen valued empowered and Thrive thank you for welcoming into the student service family I'm honored to be a part of this incredible team and I look forward to the meaningful work that we will accomplish together here's to a journey filled with growth Collective collaboration countless opportunities and a
065to make a difference I want to thank you all again for this wonderful opportunity ahead and I can't wait to get started [Applause] [Music] thank number five chair countdown guys um Mattson Ki where are you right there come on up so let me share with you a little bit about how nice look at that I like that suit I think I think you and Mike mcalli coordinated today um I want to share with you a little bit about Mr Madison kangi he's obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida master's degree from Western Governor's University mil Creek Utah certifications in the following Ed leadership Middle grades inter integrative curriculum physical Ed exceptional student education and he's been with vucha County since 2005 he started as a teacher at pineridge high school and went
066on to becoming the assistant principal at the following cample Middle School Delona middle and pineridge high school with your approval approval here today board and chair I'm recommending that Mr Madison Matson Ki becomes the assistant director for student transportation services and if you approve his start date will be June 3rd 2024 wow okay board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that would like to make a motion I will happily make that motion all right do we have a second I'll second that motion thank you Mr Thompson any discussion or comments seeing as you'll be in transportation I look forward to seeing all the places you will go every day I appreciate that may yes okay oh no we have to vote sorry we have to vote she's got something
067to say she's just holding back I just want to thank you I want to thank you for everything you've done and the way you have supported the community and the students at pineer high school and you know we don't ever stand in anyone's way when they're ready to take on a new challenge and I know that you'll face this challenge just as you have being an assistant principal and so I'm I'm expecting we will have very few emails or phone calls from parents because you're going to make Transportation work no pressure no pressure at all that's definitely the plan I'm giving you a I'm giving you a challenge M okay but at this time we Mr clone has made the motion and Miss Thompson is second and all those in favor please say I I
068anyone opposed it passes unanimously now it's con [Applause] good evening Madam chair hannes distinguished members of the school board Dr baglin I'm very grateful and feel blessed to receive this opportunity to serve our County under the position of assistant director of Transportation there are so many people I'd like to thank the list would be too long for this this event I would like to say this though I will not not be sitting here today without the support system that we have in place in our County for all those people that were always in my corner thank you to my colleagues at Transportation my new colleagues at Transportation you're getting a person that will go to bat for you I will put my time and effort to ensure that we provide a service for a great
069service and experience for all our stakeholders you'll never you'll never forgetting the opportunity or excuse me never forgetting the priority with Transportation that's going to be safety I look forward to meeting you all and seeing you soon finally to PID High School this was not an easy decision for me as you know I spent many years at Pin Ridge I consider pin Ridge my home and therefore all the people that work at PID my family I truly believe page High School is on the verge of changing the perception in our in our County parid High School will be one of the top schools in our district I truly believe that I will miss all the staff all the students the community tremendously I'll always have your back Pine rid and keep Rising Panthers thank you
070all [Music] thank you chair Haynes and board members now number six and that would be no other than Miss Jessica advises Miss Jessica please join us miss avises has obtained a a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida a master's degree from Stetson University the land Florida certifications in Ed leadership Elementary education K through six English speakers of other languages she's been with Valia County Public Schools since 2010 started as as an assistant principal at friendship Elementary then Sunrise Elementary and Enterprise Elementary current interim principal at Stark Elementary and I must say this this is not in the script Miss visis took on on that assignment as interim and from day one hit the ground running you immediately could be seen everywhere heard every everywhere in the in entire Community there and truly engage
071in the work that's being done at Stark we have seen a tremendous difference in your short period there and for that leadership we want to say thank you that's again that is servant leadership that is believing in students and that's doing whatever it takes so that our students are successful so if it's approved here which I'm not sure about this chair I will be recommending that Jessica vises becomes the permanent principal of Stark Elementary and her effective date would be July 1st 20124 very very early Jessica like you you've been doing all right thank you um you've heard the superintendent's recommendation for Miss Jessica a I'm sorry AZ as the principal for Edith I Stark Elementary do we have a motion I'd like to make that motion and do we have a second second all
072right very good I'll call for the vote all those in favor oh do we have any discussion first I'm sorry I'd actually like to say she started her career as a teacher at Enterprise Elementary teaching fourth grade so um I wanted to add that because that wasn't on here and that's when I first met her I met her all those years ago when she was teaching in fourth grade and I've watched her learn and grow and develop and I have to say thank you because you walked on to Starks campus and every time I'm there you're out and about and you invited the community in immediately to get to know you and I have to also give a shout out that you know we get several of us signed up where we get the phone
073calls you know over the weekends from our schools or the emails or everything but I love the way that you and your assistant principal who's hiding back there in the corner do your message together and because it shows that you're working together and so if I know you guys don't get their message but basically when they do their message each week out to the families they do it together they're on the message together and they each do different parts and I can't think of a better way for a principal and assistant principal to work together and show their community and show their teachers and you know the parents and students that that's what they're there for and that they have respect for each other and that you can reach out to either one of them
074and they're going to be there and so I'm excited about this evening for you any further discussion uh I just wanted to say I I had the honor of serving as the principal of Stark for a short period of time in my life and I'm and I'm so happy that uh you love the school um the way I did and the way I know Miss Hayes does and really all of us here it's just a special place I see your assistant principal back there he's he's smiling during this whole presentation and there's just a lot of joy and I and I can see it in your face that that this is a good location for for you and uh I'm I'm happy for the students and the families at Stark because I I recognize a
075good leader when I see one and I think you're the right person for the job congratulations to you all right I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I I any opposed all right it passes unanimously congratulations [Music] [Applause] good afternoon Schoolboard chairman Mrs Haynes Vice chairman Mrs Bernett Mr clone Mr persus Mrs Thompson and Dr Balaban it is hard to believe that I sat before you only a few short months ago as I was named the interim principal at Edith istar Elementary and that time I have learned so much about the amazing students staff families and community at Stark Elementary first opened in 1956 as Parson Street school and was named Edith I Stark Elementary in honor of Mrs Stark who had a significant impact and was the first principal
076of Parson Street school over the years they had many additions to the campus and I do look forward to opening up its doors in 2025 20 25 26 school year where together we will build a school where we will honor the traditions of the past while welcoming our future Leaders of Tomorrow In My Time at Stark the students have shown me how caring motivated and capable they are many of my young koalas have shown resiliency in the face of adversity the staff truly knows every student who enters our campus and is vested in their success helping them reach their full potential while teaching them our koala Pride expectations the families of our students care deeply about the Student Success showing up for conferences Awards ceremonies and school events to show their support our community members
077are truly amazing Angels who pour into our school providing our student students and staff with school supplies food donations organizing spaces reading with students and volunteering for events as well as running our koala store and so much more together we have worked for a common vision of creating a positive climate and culture for everyone at Stark Elementary as I continue this journey I will continue to be 100% committed to my koala family ensuring that we continue to grow leaders in every size I promise to listen to Advocate to support each person who enters our campus leading with that koala Pride thank you to my family and my husband who is here today who has been my biggest support as I moved along my journey with ficia County Schools thank you to my many mentors who
078have believed me providing guidance and encouragement as I navigated my new role thank you to Dr Balaban and Schoolboard members for the opportunity and Trust you've placed in me to continue this journey as the leader of edth th Stark Elementary appointment number seven I'd like to ask Miss Amy Richardson to join us Miss Richardson has obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida a master's degree from the University of Central Florida she holds certification in the following areas Ed leadership Elementary Ed reading English speakers of other languages exceptional student education she's been with valua County Public Schools since 2010 and started as a teacher at Indian River Elementary in then Spruce Creek Elementary went on to become the teacher on assignment at beide elementary and then became the assistant principal at Spruce Creek
079Elementary she's currently the assistant principal at Riverview Learning Center and with your approval here this evening I'm recommending that Miss Richardson uh becomes the new principal at RJ Long Street Elementary and her effective date will be July 1st 2024 okay board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that would like to make a motion move to approve thank you Mrs Bernette do I have a second I'll second that motion thank you Mrs Thompson any discussion Mr persist I well I know I ha I'm so old I've been everywhere but Long Long Street was my first assistant principal position and I love the school my nephews nieces they all went to Long Street I I love going to Long Street I still go to Long Street School that for media days
080or reading to kids and everything it's just such a we only we only have two two schools on the beach side you know one kind of the North End and Long Street down at the South the south end but you'll be embraced by the uh Day Day Tona Beach Shores commission Pon Inlet uh commission too uh everyone just loves the school down there so uh you're in you're in good hands this teaching staff's awesome uh yeah it's just a it's just a place that not many people pass pass by because of where it is but it's it's just beautiful and uh uh and I know um you've had such a great mentor at Spruce Creek uh where you were how many years were you at Spruce Creek I taught there six years and four years
081as an assistant principal yeah so wow so uh yeah so you have such a great background and uh yeah you you're going to love it at Long Street and going to love you I know that I look forward to it yeah all right board members we have a motion and a second I'll call for the vote at this time all those in favor of Amy Richardson being the principal at RJ Long Street please say I I any opposed it passes unanimously [Applause] [Music] congratulations good afternoon superintendent Balaban Madam chair and board members I'm very humbled and grateful to be sitting here today as the newly appointed principal of RJ Long Street Elementary my career has taken me on many different paths and I'm fortunate to have the support of many different people both personally and
082professionally and I would like to take a moment to thank them first and foremost my husband Phil for his continuous support and encouragement to be the best person I can be he has always been right beside me pushing me to the best person I can be and for this I'm forever grateful to my kids Nina and Luke you inspire me in so many ways and I'm proud to be your mom you both make me want to work hard and set a good example of how to keep a goal and how to obtain that in your life no matter where your journey takes you to my parents Heidi and Mike who have modeled what hard work and dedication means and to always go after your dreams now to my former principles who have helped me grow
083into the leader I am today I would like to thank you Rachel Hazel Lyn Bruner Andrea Hall and Tom suley for seeing the leader in me and pushing me to this next step in my career but behind every leader is a staff to make them want to work hard and to support them daily to all my colleagues I've worked with at Indian River Oola Spruce Creek Elementary and riview learning center I'm so grateful to have worked alongside you you are all amazing and I know you will continue to work hard and do what's best for kids and finally to the students staff and parents and community members of RJ Long Street Elementary I am estatic to become your new principal I can't wait to meet each of you and begin our journey as Cardinals together
084we'll ensure that caring Cardinals Thrive by the Sea thank [Applause] you thank you so now we have two transfers uh Miss Amanda WS she will become the new principal at University High School and her effective date will be July 1st 2024 I don't believe Amanda could make it here she is okay great great hey [Applause] Amanda I will ask her if she she would be interested in saying a few words and in a little bit it was Mr West that told me you were not here so I [Laughter] apologize you can't trust you can't trust that guy I know I know thank you board members you may share a few words I appreciate that um I wasn't expecting to have to talk but um I am very excited this is my 27th year in valuchi
085County Schools um I've not been at many different schools but the schools I've been at it really has been the the the joy um being at the ESC executive director has been challenging it's been rewarding I've been very lucky and blessed to work with the most dedicated professionals um working in the exceptional student education department takes a love for what you do and they all truly love what they do and I I really do want to take time to thank all of them I'm excited to get back to a school I cannot wait to get started I've already spoken with Karen at University um I told her she needs to get some swag really soon so I can start dressing the part um and I really do look forward to getting back into that Community
086I was at River Springs Middle School for four years and really do love that community so I'm excited to be there and work with those students get the opportunity to participate in you know the sporting events and and all of those fun things that come along with high school so I do appreciate your confidence and letting me get back to the school and um get to know kids and make a difference um where it really matters and and and that's with the students I really look look forward to that so thank you [Applause] yay and Amanda I'm going to say this the ESC department is a very large department and we've been through a lot lately but you've always risen to the occasion and for that I want to say thank you and I want
087to wish you the best and I know that you're very eager and excited to be back in a school working with that community and I know you're going to do great things for University High School and that community so thank you [Applause] great and the second transfer and the last transfer of this evening is a gentleman that doesn't need a whole lot of introduction because we all know who he is our very own Mr Robert seems kind of strange to call him Robert right Robert vogus BJ BJ yeah come on up come on up uh [Applause] BJ he's also very excited um to be joining as the coordinator for planning planning and business services and I know that BJ will do great work in the in this new role as well so BJ would you
088like to say a few words I sure will and I see I have three minutes which is just what I need um person laughing over there my my new boss just said I have 30 seconds okay you started the clock um um Madam superintendent members of the board um thank you I appreciate the trust youve put in me and and my unique leadership abilities um I didn't expect to be back up here quite this soon um but I learned a little while ago that it's not always my plan and sometimes there are higher powers in order and um we end up and we Bloom where we're planted um I've had the distinct pleasure of serving with the families of Holly Hill over the last two years um my time at Holly Hill K8 has come
089to an end and that's okay because we move forward Holly Hill Elementary 3.0 is going to be fantastic we put some structures into place we've got some teachers that I believe in and most importantly believe in our students at Holly Hill School those nights are in good hands it's been an honor to serve with Mr zablo Miss glener Miss Campanella all of whom are fully capable of continuing the good work at the hill our strive towards early literacy has begun we're on our way to 80% Literacy for all of our students at the hill and even though I may not be in the captain's chair I will do everything I can to make sure that that school is successful um I look forward to the opportunity to to have some of the good relationships like
090I've had with the city of Holly Hill um the Holly Hill commission and the folks here I I look forward to having those relationships with all of our municipalities and getting an opportunity to work um in a slightly different manner with board members and with you Dr balaman um and I'm looking forward to the future and being a part of the vision that we look at on that wall every day and really creating some lifelong Learners and having an impact on society so thank you for the trust you put in you in me um thanks for everybody who help me get here let's go do some good work yeah [Applause] at this time we're going to do the photos so if we can have you and whoever is here with you come forward we'll do
091them in the order um that we named them this evening but so we will start with um Dr Tamara Baker Dron and her family then we'll move on to M jaquis Copeland then Mr Michael mallof Mr Madison ghi Mrs Jessica ois Mrs Amy Richardson Mr BJ vogus and Miss Amanda WS I know it is I saw you there [Music] thank you so much this way now goate that's what we're going do [Laughter] okay over there it's in that chair with Mommy stuff get congratulations thank you together thank you how are you I'm old I'm [Applause] everyone up a little yes please thank you so much no I know [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] congratulations have a great one take care [Laughter] to touch [Music] congratulations [Applause] Amy and [Laughter] and H stay St she follows my
092she followed my lead [Laughter] from my teacher to principal okay good got do [Laughter] the's alive that's a good thing [Music] so where where is yeah help me with all these yeah oh he gets to go okay at this time I'm going to make this statement one more time please if you are not here as part of a student or teacher or staff recognition piece if you're here because you're just here to attend the board meeting and speak later on I'm asking that you please exit out to the Overflow area so that we can get all of these students and their families in please if we could just please have you wait until we get through all the student recognitions I would appreciate it all right if there is a chair open by you a
093seat please raise your hand because we have some students and parents that I see that are still standing please raise your hand if there is an open seat next to you I've got two up front Mr story thank you how many more seats do I need for families okay then Dr Babin we're ready to go on to 5.01 thank you madam chair board members this is your favorite segment I believe one of your favorite segments we have five recognitions this evening and as you know it's all about the people that we serve and we're here to serve our students and our families so with that said as you know during the month of March we had our superintendent's spring reading challenge our students love to read here in vucha county and I want to thank
094all of our parents who encourages that that love for reading because we know that when our students have a strong reading Foundation it transer refers into every subject area so we had 344 students oh 344 students I'll give it to you in a second that read between 400 to 559 599 minutes those 344 students earned a $2 gift card for Daytona Lagoon we had 1,000 1,487 students who read over 600 minutes and they've earned themselves two um waterp Park tickets to Daytona Lagoon as well we are thankful grateful with the for the partnership that we have with Daytona Lagoon so thank you for sponsoring this program and you will be hearing more about my next reading challenge but I will give you a tip it's all about the superintendent's home run reading challenge and that's
095coming soon um so here are the winners by level students when I call your name please stand and remain standing because we would like to congratulate you for the elementary division deari brocha deari please stand and darari is from Blue Lake Elementary she's one of our winners lenon Kavanaugh is from Spruce Greek Elementary and Bron win bnot is from Blue Lake Elementary remain standing Communications please take a picture of the students in the audience come to the front take a pick thank you Middle School lenisha Torres from Galaxy Middle School Mia Lael from Hinson middle school and Lily CET from new samna Beach Middle School [Applause] High School winners eth santiso from Deltona High School Desmond from pin Ridge High School Janna Rose holon from Spruce Greek High School [Music] we are also recognizing our
096top performing school with our traveling trophy guys it's it's so big that I had to put it at the bottom here this is our traveling trophy and this year the school that has won the traveling trophy is Orman Beach [Applause] Elementary beach has had the top participation in our reading challenges this year and principal Shannon Haye who's in the back along with her team they're here to receive the trophy instock has also recognized them as the reading culture Trailblazers of the year so far wow chair would would you would we like for them to come up so we can recognize them and here are the certificates [Applause] here we goat all you me that okay good J Elementary are you going do all of them good [Music] that's awesome okay everyone fits so parents you're
097welcome to squeeze in here and try and get yourct as well the truck oh yeah oh that's for the next oh it is heavy everybody look this that's a wonderful picture the paparazzi social media as conratulations [Applause] how about Orman principal hey first one and she's to awesome awesome tropy [Applause] nice that's awesome that's awesome wonderful [Applause] [Music] I know yeah look at that right we are now moving on to item 5.02 schools of character self-control Dr Balaban thank you madam chair board members as you stated you're correct uh the theme for this past month was self-control and um I'd like to recognize two members of our VCS family who have exemplified exceptional self-control so the staff member is no other than Michelle far Michelle far is the register at South Daytona Elementary Michelle please
098stand where are you there you go I will tell what her principal said about Michelle she said that Michelle shows self-control in every facet of her daily work she has this SP with empathy the way she greets her families this dedicated register never succumbs to frustration or panics and models resilience from the entire for the entire School Community Day in day out in the storm is of situ ations Mrs far Remains the steady anchor of South Daytona Elementary her unshakable self-control provides stability and reassurance to everyone around her please give again once again a round of applause to Miss Michelle far I will tell you that everything your principal has said about you I have witnessed it every time that I've visited that school so thank you um our student is no other than nania
099bar Miller and she is a student at University High School n please stand there you go the ran not only have self-control but and smart but she's also beautiful so this is what was said about you nania nania is a hearing impaired student athlete who usually places first in track races nuran exemplifies the character trait of self-control on and off the track by doing her very best when she experiences adverse conditions at at times track meetings presents technical difficulties during races that makes it even more difficult for hearing impaired uh individuals to participate in them usually sometimes Runners are being called back to the starting line but nania uses self-control always to regulate her response and shows great maturity she maintains her composure always during difficult situ situations and you know as as as stated
100you see a person's true character when during difficult times yes so nania you are a star your your your principal and the staff there they have said that you are you exemplify truly what self-control is all about so we want to give you again another round of applause well deserved [Applause] here I believe principal low is here yes she's here here here there she is and Karen chenowth she's not feeling well she's not feeling well thank you board member colong so if you can join us so we may honor you principal yeah exactly there you go come on up so we can take a picture with you here you go sp there you go B sparker jacket same color come on you principal Mom you can come D brother brother there you go that's very
101nice this is her congratulations [Music] this one's back this one's back we're rocking look this way [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] we are now moving right along to item 5.03 the Environ winners this is exciting as you know each year our science department they host a regional Environ at Rose Bay where Luis Chapman are very famous Luis Chapman and will Hopson are the co-chairs so Environ not only occurs around the globe across occurs around the globe it's not just here in the US um the Florida andiron is an outdoor for those of you who may not know an outdoor natural resource education program and a competition for all of our high school students in in Grade 9 through 12 they are able to participate students from all over Florida the entire Florida they join they join why
102because they get to explore the environment in five disciplines that focuses on environmental issues such as forestry Wildlife Aquatics soils and current events so we couldn't do this without our sponsors and I'd like to acknowledge our sponsors for their dedicated support of this wonderful program that's so handson for our students that's Duke Energy Futures valua Soil and Water cons Conservancy District Riverside Conservancy Marine Discovery Center Luchia County Environmental Management and luia County Parks Recreation and culture now they won first place at Regional and then they Advanced to the state where the advancing glaciers from Spruce Creek High School led by their Coach Josh Platt they won second place at state in viron and the team members include Jacob fredman Jenny Lou Mina Tanner Sydney Mount Castle Chase axer and the Alternatives was Jordan Platt and
103insha Majid we're so very very proud of all of their hard work and look forward we really look forward to next year's competition as well because I know we were gonna be we're gonna be up there right guys yeah [Applause] yeah didn't miss this because the principal is in the house um our very own Dr Todd sparker always with that full spirit and pride we also have some other key staff members here with us in the audience Luis Chapman who is a research teacher stem the key ambassadors of this program Amy manahan our specialist for secondary stem Jennifer Taylor or mad scientist she's the coordinator for science gate through 12 and if I've missed anyone I apologize but we have a phenomenal team coach Josh you're back there coach is there right here can I
104miss anyone else all right so this is the team and this is the team that will be taking us to state every single year so thank you guys and we do have a recognition for you so chair here if you will please come up and join us [Applause] awesome [Music] [Laughter] didic you should be up there all right everyone gonna everyone stay there your parents are gonna jump in parents are coming good all right I'm going this side to come on come on over here that Jennifer you in the photo everybody [Music] ular [Applause] it's congratulations congratulations molecular biology and environmental policy we are now moving right along to 5.04 our Science Olympiad winners thank you excited about this as well because we're going to be celebrating these scientists and the goal of the Science
105Olympiad is to improve the quality of Science Education through competitions um just the students train and they play for sports this is the science academic team competition where a team of scientists athletes they train and they compete in 23 different events so a school team consists of 15 classmates and a school may have multiple teams competitions they're held at the regional they're held at the state and they're held at National levels so this year vucha County Schools Science Olympia teams competed in regionals hosted by Embry Riddle University volia County students won multiple Awards during regionals in multi multiple events in the end Galaxy middle school thean high school Spruce Greek high and Delona high they qualified to compete at the state level we are so so proud this evening to recognize our state first place
106winners from Galaxy Middle School [Applause] oh the first place in Dynamic planet planet goes to danan pulley and Leela d stand please if you're [Applause] here stand first place meteorology goes to Mitchell horkheimer and Ben kin and couldn't be here this evening so I want to thank um our galaxy Science Olympia coaches Mr Jeffrey crob and Mr Brian in who have worked with these students all year and have been champion in Science Olympia for the past 15 years coaches if you're here stand as [Applause] well there are our coaches so again congratulations to our galaxy middle school science Olympia team job well done guys and thank you for representing so well at the state level and I we have here certificates come on up come on up so you can join us [Music] [Applause] go
107to the left everyone everyone scooch tiny bit to your left not not the people on this end just the people on this okay there we go this forette is a little bit we don't want you to can you f all right you're good you're good there we go that's perfect thank you thanks beautiful thank you so much [Applause] f I have the robotics now please hold we are now moving on to item 5.05 our robotics com competition winners Dr Balaban thank you madam chair this is exciting board members this is very exciting so we have one particular team and it's from no other and Taylor Middle [Applause] High We would like to recognize this team tonight so let me share with you a little bit the first ever ladies and gentlemen Taylor High School robotics
108team team Dumba team Dumba they won a district to qualify for to compete for the state at state level okay they were featured also they're very famous this team Dumba they were featured on Spectrum News 13 originally originally they named the robot that they build in meaning it's no go [Laughter] well you ready for this in not only made it to the district Championship but in qualified for the state championship as well teams Dumba won three awards at the district Championship a design award look they're showing it to you the the sponsor innovate award and also at the state championship they won the judges Choice Award for their feris wheel design that was no like no other robot in the whole entire competition wow so these individuals here Christian din denap denapoli who's a senior
109Emily IM braglio junor Zach Goodwin a ninth grader Sebastian Kavanaugh an eighth grader and Zach Hall Paul eighth grader Armando de denova Paulino ninth grader and Coach coach Jonathan hurin Algebra 1 robotics teacher they were all a part of this celebration and recognition along with the entire Taylor Middle family so it's the first and you did it and you did it right guys so congratulations [Applause] I see our principal in the back there Mr Jonathan Pierce I see our very own some of our science folks that are in the back who am I missing they're on the side amen okay they're all on the side they're going to be joining us up here and here you go chair all of the Louis men you can join us too that's one way to do it no
110one's ever done that all right everyone there we go you Dr B can you guys squeeze a little bit to your left on [Music] [Applause] [Music] can youuu stay there stay there stay there [Applause] our science is rock and rolling always I want a call Coach share something thanks Ruben thanks coach Haren please join us up at the podium here please so I will share with you because I don't want to Short change this team and in a quick conversation that I had with Coach he was sharing with me some of additional um awards that this team has received and I did not mention that so coach share with us the two additional all right so the the awards that we really recognized for tonight were from a organization called first FTC they have three
111different levels Lego FTC and F FRC we did FTC um and that was obviously the big main one that we did the other thing that really got this thing started valuchi manufacturing association does a robot brawl every year and they are super super supportive um not only just in the background but monetarily as well and we did the robot brawl at the beginning of the year and uh Zach Hall and Sebastian Kavanaugh worked together to get a second place Victory they would have won first but they'll talk about that another time um and then we also I did a program called SE perch over the Thanksgiving break and we entered that but we only had about week and a half to work on the stuff because we they did so well to get us to
112to district and to State um but just in the little bit of time Zachary hollan and Sebastian Kavanagh went to the backyard pool and they practiced a underwater drone and they won first place in the obstacle course and they won second place in the uh Mission field so they literally had to stand outside a pool never having done this before and they absolutely crushed the competition so um also to mention one last thing that couldn't have done with the support of the parents obviously um some local sponsors Spartan a young gentleman from an Orlando High School who was a senior with f FTC that wanted to become a mentor for a for a team and also just the group work that they have in FTC that two other teams chose these guys to be partners
113in the final competition the district competition and had they not had confidence in this team we wouldn't have accomplished all these things so a lot of lot of outside help as well yeah thank you coach thank you for to our principal who's standing in the back there he didn't joed us for a picture but thank you he did thank thank you thank you to the entire Taylor Middle High family thank you for all that you do for our students in that wonderful Community thank you board members at this time we're going to take a break and we'll be back in the boardroom at 710 for public input e e e [Music] welcome back it is 7:14 p.m. we're going to continue on the next section is 6.01 public participation concerning items on the consent agenda
114I believe I have a student card is there a student that filled out a card to speak this evening is your name Olivia okay all right um do you have do you have someone with you okay and your name is and you filled out a card also okay we're gonna start with the student and I'm assuming you're her mother all right we're gonna start with Olivia Whitaker followed by Aaron Whitaker Olivia oh miss Hazel it's welcome Olivia um I spoke to you at the last meeting um after I spoke however several people came up to me and made several excuses regarding the Performing Arts so I will be addressing those today first off I was told that I personally will have all of my classes for next year so I shouldn't worry or even be
115here uh that's plain shortsightedness I am not here for me I'm here for the other students coming behind me who will not have the beauty of Music in my schools second excuse was that you inherited all the budget issues and it's not your fault it's the people who came before you even if that were true I don't think that I don't think it would be accurate even with a simple Mis a simple understanding of economics and finance you'd be able to address the remedy and address and remedy that problem without cutting any existing programs the money was mismanaged in everyone knows it thirdly someone said that the programs being cut would be reinstated after a couple years anyway how that makes sense I do not know because that means that you are not only expecting
116more funds meaning tax dollars but also that also means that the teachers who have already worked so hard to build the program have to start all over again and that and that's only to say St say if they're in the country or in the county I don't think you quite understand how hard it is to build these types of programs up for one th with this modern society many children aren't exposed to the Arts which means we have to start them as beginners that that means that we have will not have a quality orchestra that in turn means less student interest and you get to say goodbye to something that you would wanted to cut anyway you have to keep the music interesting or the students will lose interest our teachers coordinate field trips to
117see different orchestras they work hard to better us for mpa in all County not only that but if we can't find a piece to play our teachers will create an arrangement themselves you treating the teachers and principles like pawns do not try to put the blame elsewhere we all know you fumbled and are now floundering while you do that please reinstate the important programs and manage the money responsibly for the good of the students coming behind me thank you thank you Olivia next up is Aaron Whitaker welcome Mrs Whitaker I guess I should say good or good evening at this point um at the April 23rd meeting you mentioned that you attended a finance training so let's give an analogy of the current financial situation someone leaves you an inheritance and you decide to start
118paying your mortgage with it you realize how much money you have every month so you hire a pool guy in a Lawn Company and a housekeeper several months in your inheritance runs out and you have to either fire all the people you hired negatively impacting their family's finances or tell the housekeeper she can stay on if she wants to go outside and help the lawn guy pull Wheats no one with a grain of sense would handle finances like this yet Mr perses declared in an interview fuchia County chose to use the temporary funding for Staffing rather temporary funding comes your way you continue to pay your mortgage with your regular income and with the windfall you might update and renovate an outdated room upgrade your daughter's instrument or in the school board's case update buildings
119buy new equip for existing programs buy new instruments or here's an idea buy books for schools and pay the teachers to teach what they're certified for your misuse of funding demonstrates your lack of understanding at best and your total irresponsibility with taxpayer money at worst your poor decision-making is forcing the best teachers in their fields to other counties or out of teaching alt together Mr UE was on Facebook a few weeks ago telling people no teacher in Valia county has been let go that's a quote in the meantime a highly trained and Brilliant Orchestra teacher Kate Gooden was told she could go teach sixth grade math but she would no longer have a place in the field she trained in she's looking at orchestral positions in Orange County semantics doesn't solve the problems you are
120creating with your short-sighted decisions by shifting teachers into areas that they are not trained or certified in and have no passion for you fail the teachers the students and the parents who pay taxes with the reasonable expectations in those elected positions of trust will make the most sound decisions for their children you owe the students long-term Solutions you owe their parents better stewardship of their money study after study proves how important the Arts are for mental and emotional well-being increased numbers of students suffer from anxiety and depression in direct correlation with increased testing and decrease of play art music and anything that relieves the drudgery that is the regular school week you have designated mental health days in schools but all you would have to do is allow Elementary children more than 20 minutes of
121recess a day give children back their art classes build up rather than slowly Whittle down the orchestra and coral programs in schools crushing everything beautiful and fun out of schools is not the answer and we have to do better this is that thank you that's the petition I told you about I'm getting some traction thank you thank you next up is mallerie Smith welcome good evening my name is mallerie Smith and I am a second generation valuch County grad and I am now a proud valuch County educator and proud Union steward I believe that people's perceptions are their reality and at the start of this school year my perception of the school board was relatively neutral however it has certainly changed since attending the last two Schoolboard meetings and listening to comments made by members
122of this board in regards to providing quality and Affordable Health Care coverage to the workingclass employees of this school district as well as some of the actions taken against now the only Union and the only voice for those employees in the school district these events have changed mine and many others perceptions driving home after the meeting held on April the 9th the words make less claims rang in my ears I did what most daughters did in times of emotion and I called my mother I readied myself to share the frustration I felt after attending the Schoolboard meeting that night and she stopped me because she couldn't talk because she was getting ready to attend a fundraiser for her workout buddy who had brain cancer a Luchia County teacher make less claims you can see see
123how this comment as well as the dismissive tone as well as the reminder that 5% increase could have easily been an 8% increase in a time where insurance companies and corporations are making record profits and the average VCS employee is struggling with inflation this board created the perception that they do not serve the employees the students and families of this school district especially those working class ones this is our perception this is our reality what is going to be done to change it thank you next up is Lauren bashard good evening my name is Laura bashard I'm a Community member a taxpayer who happens to be a teacher and I have a few concerns that I would like addressed number one I know that the all doors locked is a law to be effective July
124the system we currently use at Taylor is untenable students are locked out of buildings and can't get to class I can't get to the office students can't get to the nurse we don't have enough people to just monitor doors the district's response was to just assign a student to man the door and it's beyond ludicrous we would be making students The Gatekeepers and putting them in the line of fire and what if students locked out of a building with an active shooter you need to do better or let someone else try number two I am still waiting to hear back on the number of District positions that were created post 2020 as well as District displacements number three with regard to this whole Esser funding issue and it being an inherited mess I'm not sure
125I understand Fritz was hired as superintendent in December of 2019 Dr balamin was hired in January of 2020 as Deputy superintendent by July 20120 Dr balabin was named interim superintendent February 2021 Fritz returned from medical leave and Dr balabin assumed her previous role of Deputy superintendent March of 2022 Dr Balman left for unspecified reasons she was rehired as superintendent in May of 2022 starting July of 2022 the board wanted her to return so no other candidates were interviewed um a 51822 newsjournal article quoted a board member saying we probably saved ourselves 25,000 or 30,000 on not doing another superintendent search and not only that but the institutional and Community knowledge it'll take someone a whole year to even get Dr Babin's coming in that's also an opportunity there if you want to talk about cost
126savings a board member also said Dr balabin was present during the creation of the Strategic plan and hearing her speak about the district's accomplishments made him aware of who was doing the work the current superintendent was either the deputy superintendent or the interim superintendent when these decisions were made in May of 2022 two years ago the school board was told Esser funds were being used to fund recurring positions I failed to see how this was inherited and how any board member can act surprise you need to do better or you need to let someone else try thank you and the final one at this time is Karen weinrich welcome good evening um I've been thinking about teacher appreciation week and all the appreciation we were shown last week and I started to think about how
127we could be shown that appreciation all year so I spoke to some teachers and my own ideas and um I came up with some ideas of ways you could show us appreciation all the year first of all you could start by making all of our district tests optional say my students spent hours taking a 47 question Ela fast test you know what they're so over tested I'm not sure they took it as seriously as they should speaking of testing another thing you could do that would show us appreciation would be send out some County workers to the schools during fast to help administer the tests with so many children with ESN 504 students we need all hands on deck and it'll be grateful it be very helpful third thing it's time to start bargaining make
128salaries a priority we know health insurance has gone up our salaries have to too speaking of bargaining we feel very appreciated if you listen to our concerns protected planning time less meetings things like that and then agreeing to them I would also feel appreciated if when I go to work outside of school hours go to workshops in the summer work on testing committees I would be pay my hourly wage not 15 or $25 an hour we'd also feel appreciation if we could let our kids be kids again bring back some playing kindergarten classes let us teach a develop mentally appropriate curriculum and stop stressing these children out and lastly we would really feel appreciated if we could just be a team again what happened to team valua this year it seems like every single thing
129has been a fight hear us work with us be kind to us we all want the same thing we want to make our schools and our students the best they can be that's what we all want your employees are here to do that and we want to be heard and respected and be able to do our jobs we can all shine together thank you thank you at this time we're moving on to item 7.01 removal of items from the consent agenda Dr baman do you have any items requiring removal from the consent agenda no Madam chair I don't board members are there any items on the consent agenda that you would like to remove for further discussion none okay then I need someone to make a motion to approve the consent agenda cards well hold
130on I've got public input on the consent agenda so let's hear the public input and then we will make a motion in a second and vote um item 11.02 if you'd like to scroll down to that item Miss Elizabeth Albert you put in to speak on 11.02 welcome all right good evening Madam chair members of the board superintendent Dr Balaban uh members of the audience as uh chairwoman Haynes mentioned I am going to be addressing item 11.02 which is your financial statement so I've been spending a lot of time recently uh going through the consent agendas looking at all the wonderful items that are tucked in there so nicely and these financial statements are so fascinating to me uh there is a plethora of information that you can glean when you take a look at
131them um some really cool information pops up specifically on this report that you have I believe it's your page eight of 25 I want you to take a look at that if you if you wouldn't mind uh we're going to be looking at the general fund Consolidated uh monthly financial statement and I want to draw your attention to the total uses line you with me Mr CE total uses line on that page the coolest part about all of this is that we can do a year-to-year comparison and then if you're really diligent you can go back into board docs and you can pull the one from uh 2023 and you can actually look at uh 2022 as well so that's a beautiful part of this tool so what we're noticing is that um in so
132right now in March we have um 61.5% of the money that's spent when we compare that to the year prior we spent more 63.7 and when we compare that to 2022 and I know some of you will actually go back and do the research we were spending 64.7% at this moment in time so what this shows is that we've reduced spending over the last couple of years it's only 2% but 2% with the budget that we have is the equivalent of approximately $12 million so you're doing great appreciate that my question to you is where are we going to spend that $12 million so Karen just made some really good um suggestions and hopefully when we get to the bargaining table we can talk about that 12 mil thank you can I have U Mr
133CE come forward because our budget two years ago was not as large as our budget is now so we're comparing two different amounts that were received and the amount that we spent Mr CE CE good evening board members superintendent okay so you heard um the description that Miss Albert gave can you please explain the difference between the years immediately my thought was we received more money this year the student you know per student money went up so we received more money so to you can't compare one year to the next you can compare the percentage you received from that year but you have to actually do the math and say we spent this much last year out of the budget we had and this is the amount we spent the year before do you have
134anything else you'd like to add to that no I think the um item she was actually referring to to is under other financing sources and that's really that transfer in from Capital um I did share that with um you Miss Hayes um chair regarding the transfers um where we're covering um more of the maintenance cost that's in excuse me I have a little bit of um um we're covering the maintenance costs right now and how we do that is a transfer in from Capital so that's why you see that Capital um transfer increasing to cover more of those maintenance items because the cost of maintenance is going up right but what she's referring to is actually page eight of 25 which if you're scrolling on what you have it in front of you she's looking
135at the total uses which it actually starts on page seven of 25 so it's the use expenditures it's the salary column how much has been spent as of the end of March because when you're doing this you're doing a close out from a previous month to show the amount that was spent and how much is still remaining but she's looking at the total uses piece to say that the prior Year's budget we spent 30 63.7% % but it's 63.7% of the budget a year ago which was less than the budget that we have this year and this year we're at 61.5% so she believes you have $12 million hidden for salaries well well we don't have anything there's nothing hidden I know so you know you know I I appreciate actually um the overview in
136um people are actually reading the financial statements because it's is a wonderful thing for me because we put a lot of work into make sure we get this right but as as we know too expenses don't know necessarily hit every year at the same exact time so so there's certain things where where we might be paying something out um this upcoming for like um A+ money when we receed that we could pay it out there's a certain time frame we have to pay it out it it could stagger between um reporting periods um between years but you know those are like little um examples I would like to say on it's not exactly the same every year but we try to get it as close as possible um exactly as we can see expenditures have
137increased over the current um over the prior year and um that was about $16 million from what I'm seeing here it the percent might be 61.5% but I'm anticipating that we're just going to have some more out lace of expenditures coming up as you know we had to increase um some items here um because like speech services are going up so we had to pay more more it's going to be paid out there so um I really don't have any further to comment unless if I a question but um when it's all said and done you know we have a certain budget that we're living in with on the general fund side and you have what what do we call recurring and non- reoccurring your recurring is your new money a re a non recurring
138source of funds is that rolls forward um that didn't get used so for example like a categorical expense like we'll say reading in as an example you might not spend all the money so you roll that forward so that's a non- reoccurring um roll forward but then you would get new money in the new year so that's a reoccurring expense I'm going a little deep here but um your your the financial statements yeah it's a couple percentage difference but we are spending more than we did the prior year and I can't really sit here and explain just by looking at this I mean I would have to do a deep dive yeah I will ask you one question though did I not call you in January though and ask where you came up with 1
139million where a decision was made to spend $1 million on additional Staffing salaries and it never came before the board to be voted on nor did we know that the money was there you you asked me you asked me that question correct and I and I and you got my answer correct because in January an additional $1 million was spent but it never came before the board to be voted on and yet anything $50,000 or above should come to the board but nobody's talking about that piece so that's all I have for you this evening on this thank you very much okay all right next um item on the consent agenda for discussion before we vote item [Music] 1303 Mrs Elizabeth Albert good evening again Madam chair members of the board superintendent Dr balabin members
140of the audience we was just kind of waiting for you guys to get ready we're going to talk about um 13.03 this is the job descriptions change Edition item I want to draw your attention to the one at the bottom uh just pointing out that we had a successful round of impact bargaining here and we were able to agree on uh language for what was formerly called the teacher assistant position and now it is going to be uh par professional general education so because those uh job expectations so closely aligned with a par rooll we figured why create a new uh animal let's just call it what it is uh so we are very appreciative of the work that was done with the impact bargaining team uh to reach that resolution I'm excited about that
141then I do just need some clarification if you could see to do this for us at some point in the in the evening I noticed that there is a Futures position on here and I just I've never understood fully how Futures is funded I don't know if it is fund I know it's a 5013c it's a nonprofit so if you could explain to at least me in the audience um how Futures is funded I know that the folks that work there are considered valuch County school's employees at least they're on the contact information as such but are they purely funded through uh donations from contributors or how does that work I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't know thank you thank you next up is item the job description for the attorneys in
142that item so we'll have to make a to approve it minus that job description hold hold for that um next item on the agenda is 13.04 Mrs Albert you're back up okay because you're going to withdraw from speaking then okay Dr balaman is there someone that can explain how the Futures individuals are paid I am not sure Mr West come on up I know that most of the their budget comes from partnership donations but it's actually Todd you know anything else regarding that come on up um Mr CE and I thought we don't answer questions with these okay the problem is we've got to vote on this and so when people pose questions on it these are voting items not general interest what do you know about the the position from futures what is the
143title my understanding was that it was a it was an update because it's a position they already have correct and the person that was in it left and they ran a new advertisement and in doing so were updating this I wish we had shamine here and and what we know from their financial reporting of us both of us attending those on a monthly basis is that it's all donations that they receive from and matching grants correct okay all right thank you all right the other green cards I have are not until we get to um Standalone actionable items so um on 1303 for just a moment there was some discussion right there at the end Mr psus this morning of the workshop is that about the job description about the job description so let's pull
144it as a standalone item is that okay sure all right so we're going to pull out the new um board attorney position out from the consent agenda as a standalone item is anyone disagree with that huh I'll pull it okay so it's we're not pulling all of 130 um three we're just going to pull that job description so out of Po 13.03 we're pulling the school board attorney job description and we're going to vote on it as a standalone is everyone okay with that all right so now what I need is I need someone to make a motion to accept the consent agenda as written with the exception that we have pulled out the Schoolboard attorney job description from item 13.03 move approval of the consent agenda um minus the school board attorney job description
145from item 13.03 thank you Mr persus I need a second I'll second thank you Mrs Bernett all right any further discussion on any of the agenda items other than the one that's been pulled [Applause] hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving the consent agenda as it's written with the removal of the Schoolboard attorney job description from under item 13.03 please say I I I any opposed all right it passes unanimously now we're going to take that item as a standalone item so Mr persus you brought up earlier in the workshop today that you were interested in going ahead and putting it out yeah and the reason for that Madam chair is I I don't really know what we would do to change it I mean I don't know I
146understand where we're kind of little squirly on who reports to whom and all of that part but as far as the duties which is what this is the qualifications and the duties I think you and Mr West have done a exemplary job with this and I I I wouldn't know where to start I wouldn't want to recreate and this I mean this this this represents a great deal of work so um I'm I'm satisfied with this job description and I would really like to get it out there Miss Thompson I agree on getting it out there and what you said at the workshop earlier that we'll have a bigger pool Now versus waiting until August and I also agree with Mr persus that the job remains the same I do think we need to figure
147out like in a concrete fashion what it's going to look like but I how long are we going to be putting this out there for is it a 30day is it a 60-day because I don't believe we discussed that in the workshop right because we kind of got derailed a little um may I say something too brette go ahead because I don't think that the changes that we ask for with the pref preferred being in there is on this job description either oh that would be one change that we would add as the preferred to that recommended part of of that spot there and I can with with the board's approval I can go ahead and do that on the job description and upate needed the what there was two spots right it was already
148there okay that's right yes ma'am on that one thank you it just had one place it needed to go all right how many days are are we going to decide that because that I'm looking at the calendar right now is that an uh arbitrary number can we just pick any number we we can select whatever 20 days whatever we want we want um I was trying to think back what purchase was saying when they were looking at it um my thought is what if if it were to go be sent out to go live starting tomorrow yeah all right then we could possibly have it what's tomorrow I'd like for I'd like for it to close if you guys will look at your calendars by um either Wednesday the 5th which that's three three full
149weeks of it being advertised or no later than Thursday the 6th keep it in mind though people are off on Fridays so that's why I was shooting for Wednesday the 5th so it would run for three weeks and if we put it out on all of the different Avenues and channels that we have which um you know Mr West and Miss Workman have a lot of you know Avenues along with Miss Fuller to get things posted out there and we could even have fsba share because you know they share the superintendent searches and things like that with us all the time um how do you guys feel about three weeks because then I support June 5th I think that's ample time sounds good anyone else have a different thought on it when does uh Aaron's
150contract expire it goes out the end of the month so ideally the end of the month would be Friday the 28th but we don't work on the 28th so it' be Friday the TW Thursday the 27th is when it ends okay um but if they if if it closed on the 5th people could go ahead Mr West and his team could go ahead and get started because that's what they you know that's that's the group that handled Mr penley being hired you know with Mr West and his team they could go ahead and get started on you know because as they come in they're already going to have them okay so what you understand is like if it goes up on the 15th and somebody applies by the 17th they can already review that entire
151person do you know what I'm saying and even start checking things it would be whoever comes in last at the end of the day on the 5th that they at that point would have to check you know start checking that person reading the resume reading what qualifications they have and start checking references but my thought is they could have it checked that maybe by the time we come in on the 11th because they'll be checking them as they come come in you don't have to wait right till the last day I mean that's what you did as a principal sure as people applied check them out you checked them yeah um and then we'll discuss it at the workshop on the 11th how busy does that Workshop already look because I feel like this is
152going to take we have the fiveyear work plan on that day but look what we had today I mean we may have to come in earlier like 10:00 a.m. again but I you know but we got to do okay so Mr West you'll make the one if we agree on this you're going to make the one change the word preferred will be added you'll post it starting tomorrow which is the 15th of May it will close whatever time you choose to set you know on Wednesday June the 5th you know if you choose noon that's fine with me I don't that's your preference and the results can come to us on Tuesday June the 11th during the workshop and Madam chair do we uh did you all have a recommendation on the salary range or
153how are you going to address that I'm sorry I it's fine so after today's discussion I might be bringing that back as a suggestion since I I believe actually you Mr persus did bring up the point that um you know we currently have that as a cabinet level position that's at that level um since the board is there it's your employee you actually negotiate individually with that that person when they come in kind of like you do with the superintendent as an individual contract so that I'm going to say is kind of flexible on your part well I mean when you're advertising they currently have they currently level 15 it'll be a range so could you kind of tell us then in dollar amounts what the range would be Defan will pull that up but
154it's it's probably between I'm guessing to 30 or so 140 which is I I realize that might be a little low for even when you're on a level there's a range on the level because it's years of experience or you know and sometimes correct I can bring experience with them we go through this with every yeah so there's a negotiation is that what you're saying yes sir I think in this particular aspect and I'm I'm feeling like that um since it's your employ employee you have that opportunity to kind of sit down and do a contct so could we just say that on the job description salary negotiable we would I would suggest that we probably give them a range or do we have to put range not a person you have to give a
155range so the the range currently is between 115 approximately 115 up to I would say the 14 132 and what's what's the range on level 16 um6 to 145 and 17 is 139 to 1 about 160 what I'm sorry 139 to 160 done research on what attorneys make since we're making this decision and that's what we haven't done and that might be something to give me an opportunity to do between now and then that's a good point Mr colum well we did look at some of what the other districts we did and that was a range as well so but I mean I'm okay some information I personally am okay if you did a 15 like a range from the 15 to the 17 okay looking at what what kind of experience that they bring
156and what knowledge they already have and you know if they've already done litigation especially general liability I think that is a positive and if they have several years of general liability then that's better than somebody that's coming in with I have the ability to do it but I've never done it right yeah big big difference yes and you can do that because even when we put out jobs now there's a range on jobs yes ma'am we'll put that range on there level 15 to 17 as you is everyone okay with that when you heard the amounts yes I don't know I haven't done the research on what attorneys make we're making this blind well you can look at it at terms of what we've spent what levels Mr what level is our current District Attorney
157at Mr penley is on level 17 so we're putting that within the range yes but we're only asking for five years of experience preferred that but that doesn't mean that doesn't mean and that was in that one category that doesn't mean somebody's G to not come with more I mean I will be honest with you we'll put this out there and we'll get somebody with a high school diploma that will even apply and then we may get somebody with a doctorate degree but nothing to do with law I mean we will get a variety it will We Will and it'll be weeding through on the their their job's going to be weeding through for who actually has the qualifications and that's what they they along ask a principal out there that's what happens every time
158they put a job out there's an attorney in Michigan right now just waiting for this it's a range 62 years old range and he's ready to come to Florida he wants to come to the sunshine C right it's just AR range we can we can discuss that you know it's true okay any other questions all right Miss Thompson did you have another question no um yeah if we could just also discuss maybe in this wonderful Workshop um see the the different models from the other counties and discuss maybe the range and by then we'll probably have see what we have as far as applicants well typically we put a range when we put it out because that's the first question people ask like when they go looking for a job they look for a range
159so they're going to put out a range from 15 to 17 so from the low end to the high end and the person can fall anywhere amongst that they can ask for range 20 if they want I mean I mean the bottom line is if you go to select someone they actually can come back and say I'll take it if it's $5,000 more I mean that's the kind of position it is all right Mrs Bernett you have anything else Mr colone are we gonna add an aster to the bottom of this saying uh may change after you get hired haven't figured out the structure of how this is going to look well the beauty of this advertising the beauty of this is we don't we don't we're not implying any structure no we're not we're
160just they won't be hired until after anyway they won't be hired until after we Workshop it yeah we'll figure it out okay would someone like to make the motion to move forward on on the job descript the approval of the job description and posting the job description starting tomorrow with it closing on Wednesday June the 5th I move we post the job description for the Schoolboard attorney starting tomorrow ending on June the 5th all right do I have a second I'll second thank you Mrs Bernett any further discussion okay then I'll call for the vote all those in favor of moving forward with the job description that has been written for the Schoolboard attorney and the posting of it starting tomorrow on May 15th running through Wednesday June the 5ifth please say I I I
161all opposed I okay it's four to one we move forward with it all right then at this time we are moving down to item [Music] 19.1 that was removed that was removed all right sorry we removed I apologize we are moving to 02 Dr balaman thank you Madame chair at this time I would like to ask Mr Kevin pendley our general counsel who will be presenting a series of um policies that has been updated based on our current legislation or legislations that will be going into effect Mr pendley all right Mr penley I need you to know I have three cards on item 1909 I have one card on 1914 one card on 1915 and one card on 1917 thank you Dr Baba Madam chair board members um for purposes of speeding things up since
162there is no public comment on certain items that uh are only legal updates there's no substantive changes to items 1902 19 1903 1904 1905 1906 and 1907 um as let's just do those as a block if I may Madam chair uh those policies have all been individually advertised in accordance with chapter 120 Florida Statutes I also don't have any for 1908 are you wanting to I'm going to we'll just go in order just for sake of keeping it well my first one's I understand that so I'm I'm saying 1902 through 1907 are all legal updates with no substantive changes and no public comment so at this time um I would ask the board's Indulgence to accept those uh as uh advertised and approve for adoption tonight okay superintendent is that what you like to recommend
163yes Madam chair okay the superintendent is is recommending that we go ahead and vote 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 and 1907 as one vote because they are only legal update all right we at the point these have already been discussed in workshops these have already been discussed in board meetings they were put out to advertise there's no unless somebody got some type of feedback there was not any feedback on these um after they were advertised for the minimum amount of days and they have no substantive changes to them so if you agree I need someone to make a motion motion to approve 19.02 through 19.07 I second that okay all right any discussion on any of those anyone okay then we're going to call for a vote and by voting in I you're voting to
164approve 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 and 1907 all right at this time I'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving 1902 through 1907 please say I I I any opposed all right that block has passed unanimously good all right Madam chair at this point we're up to item 19.08 which is the board's adoption of policy 319 promotion and graduation exercises there were some substantive changes there um changing the language from 12th grade students to broaden it to those students who have achieved sufficient credits for graduation other than that one uh change in paragra paragraph 2 there are no other changes and we have updated the uh laws implemented in that policy it has been advertised for the required statutory time and stands right for adoption tonight okay Dr bam you have a
165recommendation for 19.08 I do Madam chair I recommend adoption of the proposed amendments to school board policy 39 which is promotion and graduation exercises hey board members you've heard the recommend recation of the superintendent do I have someone that would make a motion to approve um adoption of Schoolboard policy 319 promotion of graduation exercises move to approve thank you Mrs Bernett do I have a second I second that motion thank you Mrs Thompson any discussion just want to point out that I'd love to see this come back I did approve vote the last time to see but I'd like us to add the language that uh refers to the uh ability to wear their cords that they've earned in stalls according and so we said we would let this go but I'm going to ask
166that we bring this back for discussion so that we can take what is current practice and cement that in policy for the future thank you okay do we have any pro have we been alerted that there's anyone this year that's not going to follow that Mr clone I haven't heard but I think we made it pretty clear to high school principal that the expectation was that if the students earned it they could wear it hope all right any further discussion okay then all those in favor of approving item 1908 adoption of school board policy 39 promotion and graduation exercises please say I I I all opposed okay it passes unanimous ly now Mr penley I have three cards on 1901 you want to have them speak first 199 sorry 1909 um well I'll if you'd
167like I can introduce it and set it up and then okay go ahead entertain your your public com so board members item 19.09 request the board's consideration for adoption tonight of amendments to policy 320 which is the media selection of print and non-print materials policy this is the library book challenge policy that we've dealt with several times in the recent past these changes were brought forward at a workshop at the board's request back in March um we changed the section five uh Provisions at 5B to allow for an initial conference by remote means and some other language there we included the language for uh time specific uh for reviews and appeals that the board requested at 30 and 15 days and there are changes uh specifying that it is uh the dates are calculated based
168on school days rather than working days and there was a provision for district appeals of the superintendent decision could be appealed at the state level in accordance with applicable state law and those were all of the changes that had been workshopped that policy was advertised in accordance with chapter 12 Florida Statutes it stands ready for adoption tonight thank you all right we will do public input on 1909 first up is Miss Debbie Parker followed by Jennifer Kelly and the third speaker will be Christine serier welcome Miss Parker good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak I'm speaking for myself and thank you Mr cologne for your courage tonight at the risk of being told I'm a smartass I'm going to try and explain my concerns about policy 320 using the saying jumping through
169hoops respectfully state law 1000 6.28 requires certain steps to be taken in the book challenge process we'll call these hoop number one related to the required objection form and hoop number two the necessity for meetings to be publicly noticed and include parents Lucia County schools has created many pretty Hoops mainly in the early stages of a book count challenge in valua County perhaps all these hoops are making the process much more confusing than is required by state law back to hoops no matter how many you've jumped through the only ones that are required by law are hoop one and hoop two valua County Schools still have to do that hoop one and hoop two you can't avoid hoop one or hoop two also to better better clarify in align with Florida statute 1000 6.28 it
170should be explicitly written in policy 320 and I quote from 1000 6.28 meetings of the Committees con for the purpose of resolving an objection by a parent or resident to specific materials must be noticed and open to the public in accordance with statute 28611 any committees convened for such purposes must include parents of students who have access to the materials that takes place after an objection form is used and again I'm quoting the objection form as prescribed by the State Board of Education rule and the district school board's process must be easy to read and understand and be easily accessible on the homepage of the school district's website but as I referenced earlier policy 320 is beyond complicated it's not easy as it's required to be and we've heard many times over the past couple
171months discussion and confusion on and on about policy 320 it's not easy please vote no on adopting policy 320 please table the vote until each board member has a clear understanding of the requirements of 100628 thank you thank you Miss Jennifer Kelly welcome thank you um good evening board members superintendent uh chair Haynes I too am here tonight to ask you guys to vote no um on this policy changes I think it still needs some more work um I agree with the previous speaker that it is confusing uh but I have been going through the challenge process uh with the books so I want to share with you two of the um issues I've come across with so far so far just so I can say how it's been done with the forms and everything
172that were mentioned earlier is I sent objections on the books to the district and the principles and then I set up meetings with the principls to meet with them and the media Specialists to discuss what we wanted to do with the books I let them know my concerns and then we discussed removal restrictions wanting to send it forward for a official challenge um and I've had all of those experiences when we don't agree at that meeting and the challenge needs to go forward I fill out that form that has to be easily accessible on the homepage of the website which it is and I turn those in and that's where I am now from those a committee a school-based committee will be set and I was told by the district those are um put in
173place by the um the principles so that's where I am in the process so far I have met with all of the schools principles except three and I have a couple of those meetings that will be within the end of this month um the first issue though I want to bring up up is in one of the proposed changes it is in uh under challenged materials letter b and it's the first uh sentence in red and it reads the initial conference level meeting may be conducted via electronic means at the party's Mutual consent the mutual consent piece has kind kind of become an issue because some have of the principles have said they just want to do virtual and some said that they want to meet in person and I'm being very flexible because I
174know we're working through this for the first time and trying to figure out the best way to do everything um but in that situation if we don't mutually agree who wins and in the next issue I have is something that wasn't addressed in the changes that I had brought up previously it's in the makeup of the Committees and I know we did change them there's seven members total the principal the media specialist uh curriculum supervisor and four parents that aren't um valicia County School Employees the problem I'm having now is I met with the principal and the media specialist at the schools if it's moving forward that means we didn't agree but they're on the committee they're two of those seven people on the committee they've already made a decision everyone knows where the complaintant
175stands the complaintant shouldn't be on any committees District level or school-based either so those are the two um issues I've hit so far I just wanted to share those with you so please vote no on this and let's take another look at it thank you thank you Christine ser welcome good evening here I am again policy 320 and don't worry Dr Balin you don't need to look up anything I promise you're not going to have to go looking up any policies I want to say first thank you for adding some timelines into policy 320 they needed to be put in there thank you very much but the policy please vote no on this um it is not Forward Thinking new new rules keep coming out we all know that there's a new rule that to
176come out that puts all the onus on the principal if they keep books so our policy will need to be changed then again so we really should be doing this beginning of the year or summertime so you know what the the changes are um we have asked several times for several changes I know Miss Kelly just came up here and spoke it's rare that we actually agree on something but something that we can agree on is that transparency is not happening it is not happening here in Belia County Schools so Dr Hazel and the district media office has told us repeatedly we do not have to put out what books are being pulled that we report that to the state at the end of the year and the answer is no you do not have
177to but it shows good faith that you want to be transparent and what books are being pulled um we will keep asking for public records requests but we shouldn't have to um we keep paying for these public records requests but we shouldn't have to we just want to know what books are being pulled off the shelves and hundreds and hundreds of dollars has gone into just finding that list so I ask you the district office is not going to start publishing and being transparent about what books are being pulled unless you've asked them to do that please put that in policy thank you Mr penley okay I have one question yes me to start with um so when they keep saying the policy is not being followed in this state because you've got it yes
178go you want to go hand it to him um I love how people pick in shoes which part they may wish to read or not to read but does he know which part he's you point to him which part he's going to read oh part from earlier and Celeste can you please stop the clock you wouldn't be that lucky want to know I guess um was it what so it's this part um part of what part of under four the unnumbered paragraph under four you want me to read that one again because you didn't get Sub Sub sub paragraph B enough last time yes I'll ask again all right no no M Mr penley the question that keeps popping up in emails or they're saying that we're not following the policy is the part where
179people came forward and read books and we stopped it and so they don't believe that that's part of what I mean it's we don't even have that part in our policy we did not spell that out in the policy but it's in the law it is a state statute under 2A subsection four and it is an unnumbered paragraph that reads any material that is subject to an objection on the basis of Sub Sub sub paragraph B1 or Sub Sub sub paragraph B2 which are the pornography and the sexual content designations must be removed within five school days of receipt of the objection and remain unavailable to students of that school until the objection is resolved parents shall have the right to read passages from any material that is subject to an objection if the school
180board denies the parent the right to read the passage due to content that meets the requirements under Sub Sub sub paragraph B1 the school district shall discontinue the use of the material if the district school board finds that any material meets the requirements under Sub Sub sub paragraph a or that any other material contains prohibited content under Sub Sub sub paragraph B1 the school district shall discontinue use of the material material if the district school board finds that any other material contains prohibited content under Sub Sub sub paragraphs B2 through 4 the school district shall discontinue use of the material for any grade level or age group for which use is in appropriate or unsuitable thank you all right can I it's my understanding Madam chair that the only materials that have been removed there
181is no provision in the state statute for returning those materials that have been read and the school board has stopped a parent from Reading from being returned to the Shelf the only materials that I know that have been removed from the Shelf are those books that the chair stopped individuals from Reading passages and in accordance with State Statute we have removed those books from the shelves Mrs Bernett thank you so I just want to ask a clarifying question with all of that verbage there yes so maybe the interpretation from someone is that there needs to be a challenge form because that is mentioned in the beginning but on the other side there it's the perception that if it was read stopped there there is no challenge form needed can you clarify that we had them
182fill out forms that evening we got hung up initially on whether it had to be a because it says material subject to challenge when did that material become comes subject to challenge the state legislature I personally spoke with legislators individually uh took the position that if the for any reason is material whether it was on the shelf or not if the chair or the board School Board stopped the parent from reading the passage it had to be removed okay end of story didn't matter whether there was a challenge form filed or not to them they were in fact very adamant that we take that position Mr colog is there any new legislation that's going to require this to come back before us for revision there were some uh provisions and statute but they don't require
183any changes to our policy they're they're reporting requirements to the state okay any other questions Dr bam would you like to make a recommendation yes Madam chair I recommend adoption of the proposed amendments to Schoolboard policy 320 media selection and print M print and non-print materials all right board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent you have had an opportunity to ask Mr penley addition questions this policy has been advertised for the full amount of time that it needs to be advertised I believe this policy will probably keep coming back up at some point you know and over the years there's been some policies that have come back and forth um because the state does one thing and then makes a change in it um but do I have anyone that would like to
184make a motion to approve this policy this evening I'll motion to approve the policy thank you Mrs Thompson do I have anyone that wants to Second it I'll second it thank you Mrs Bernett I have a question if go right ahead Mr person Madam chair uh is there a a somebody said that we are not um posting what which books were pulled so the state stat statute says that we have to submit them to the district I mean to the state at the end of each year we have to submit them to the state there is no other requirement okay but I guess my question is is there a reason why we we are not I think we I know I'm not sure we didn't make we don't make that decision it's it's an operational
185decision yeah I'm and I'm not sure where we'd post it I mean I don't you don't know but I I uh it does have to be submitted to the state I mean we have to submit to the state just as every other district has to sub and we do it at the end of the year that and that was a new piece that they put into place okay that we have to do because last year when the list came out I think we only had what one or two books on it I don't remember it was a very small number that blouch County had right Madam chair if I might just for a point of clarification pursuant to this statute has gotten rather lengthy it's I can give you it's paragraph two at the end
186says the department meaning the Department of Education shall publish and regularly update a list of materials that were removed or discontinued as a result of an objection and disseminate the list to school districts for consideration in their selection process it's on an annual basis based on the reports that all districts submit to the Department of Education for those books that were removed or discontinued it's just a matter of how often they update that list and how it they have to collate everything that comes in from all 67 districts and the state department is charged under this statute with publishing that list annually I see that's how we knew last year yeah because it was released for the first time and we could see what we did what happened in valua compared to the other districts
187is there anything in the statute that has changed uh in regard to how we select books to be in the libraries it is still the responsibility of the school principal and the media specialist at each school that has not changed they still have to follow what the law says about what can be purchased and what can't be purchased absolutely yeah but the mean that's why that's why we put that part of the statute in this policy which has upset a lot of people I'm now thinking we probably need to put you know on the next revision down the road put in the part about that they keep ignoring about that if someone comes up and reads there's no Challenge and they and they are stopped that there is no challenge but whether that's in your
188Pol again I I go back to writing policy that doesn't if it's in State Statute we have to do it whether it's C our policy or not it was a state statute that no sexually explicit books pornographic books should have been purchased and put in our school libraries and they were there so Mr col oh miss Bernette thank you um I I would believe that we could have the list of pulled books on our website I honestly do not see an issue with that um I see that as us being good stewards and I just don't don't know why we couldn't do that and if it needs to be in policy in order to happen I have no problem with that that's my opinion Mr col I agree with Miss brunette the only thing I
189would say is the part about the initial meeting would it be a substantial policy change if we struck out at the party's Mutual consent because I think it should be available it's yeah you know right teams is teams Zoom is zoom you know to say Mutual who's going to decide who wins that that's a good point like if the principal says I don't I want you to come in so would that be considered a substantial policy change as advertised yes I believe so I think so yes the two of you know better than us so this is just never Mr Wolf Mr you said no I think it would you think it would be okay Mr penley what do you think consent I'm trying to so statutory construction dictates that you go from the specific
190to the general so that that would be at the party's Mutual consent would be going from the general to this less specific which doesn't change the outcome of anything I would still want to read advertise it just to be safe the cost if we're going to read advertise I suggest that we put the um what I mentioned a minute ago in there um about about um I mean if we're going to make changes let's make the changes say but we're you know we're here every July yeah and then I will say I will say that when it's pointed out about the committee Gathering um and there's already somebody on the committee that you know has a preconceived um plan or thought of the book I I I mean it doesn't mean it's not an equal
191it's not equal then you already know who's going to be on there or you already know what somebody's going to say so either party yes or no on either side of it shouldn't be part of the committee that's what I think that's my opinion M Madam chair you do have a motion on the floor I know I have a motion on the floor we're having discussion right now that we lowed Mr colone the only thing I would say to that is the principal and the media specialist are the ones responsible so to what you're saying is that they wouldn't be a part of the committee but they are ultimately responsible for it and the the thing that I think of is when they do that initial review are they required to read the entire book
192where where a committee is required to read the entire book so is it different in context where those folks are now two of the seven or do we just want a fresh set of seven I say it's a fresh set of seven and those two and anybody who already the complainant or the or the respondent aren't the voting members of it right but your principal and your specialist okay your principal and media specialist what they are charged with and have always been charged with is the the media specialist with a media committee that's supposed to be made up of a variety of people selects the books that they want to purchase for the next school year they are supposed to vet those books following the law and that list is to go to this to
193the principal because the principal is the person in charge of that school and the principal is supposed to sign off that those books can be purchased therefore that makes them responsible for what's coming in they're not there're there is nothing saying that they have to be responsible on the committee piece of when it's being challenged I actually think it brings I mean here's where I'm at if I I actually feel probably everybody involved in the first initial piece the you know the meeting whether it's electronic or whatever I don't have a problem with them being at the meeting but I don't think any of them should have a vote in it because they've already cast their vote which has pushed it to the next level I I could agree with that they'd be non- voting
194members right that means you're suggesting that we take this back for draft and bring it back based on your recommendation Madam chair here's the thing we already H this okay here's what I need people to understand there is a policy that already exists so what I feel like sometimes is people keep wanting to push this even last spring when we voted on the initial changes they keep wanting to push it thinking therefore it doesn't have to be followed well it doesn't matter because their state statute and the state statute has to be followed you don't get and and I love the group that was well write a policy that doesn't follow the state's statute and follow your policy legally we can't do that we have to follow the state statute so whether this goes forward
195tonight or not the state statute overrides everything else and it still will be so right now this is the time of year where media Specialists and media committees are supposed to be meeting and selecting the books for purchase for next year whether we make these updates tonight or not they still have to follow the state's statute and the principal then has to sign off on what's going to be ordered and they must follow the state statute correct absolutely correct I still have the floor so with that being said I I do like some of the things in here uh because of the timelines and so I we'll vote in favor of this but this is certainly going to come back it's coming back because I think there are some missing elements and you know it's
196easy to say it's in state law but if it's in our policy then someone can look at our policy and say you know if something is read out loud and you're made to stop and so that way it's so and this is what we've talked this is pages of State I think there are good things in here but I still think there's work to be done and so I'll put this right there with my graduation policy I think it needs to come back I think it will come Madam chair if I might be heard on just one point the the way that the challenge material section of the existing policy 3 20 is set up you have an what you may call an informal or an initial conference the language used here is an initial
197conference um that is a less formal than a school level appeal that this policy predates changes to the statute so some of the changes that were made were a direct result of trying to incorporate statutory changes into your previously existing and long-standing policy so so when we added we did not change paragraph D that says the procedures followed for school level appeal the principle of the school where the material is challenged shall convene the school's instructional Review Committee that's a standing Review Committee that already existed and existed prior to any changes to this policy as a result of we actually changed that last spring when we spelled out four parents or citizens who are not employed and then we you you're correct mam chair we go on in the um District level appeal to specify
198that the principal immed and and it's a principal not the principal of the school a media specialist a curriculum supervisor or instructional staff member and for parent citizens who are not employed full-time by vucha County Schools make up your District level appeal committee so all of those so if we go back and change the school level appeal to specify something other than the instructional Review Committee we're just going to be adding another layer of complication of who is supposed to be on that committee and then we're going to have the committee to appoint the committee to appoint the committee and how how far back do we go those are the Hoops they were talking about I think those are Hoops they were talking about yesterday yeah maybe we just need to have a have a
199district committee I'm I'm just saying looking ahead when this comes back for another change it just needs to be maybe there needs to be like for a year for rotating District committees do you know what I'm saying that are made up of you know and they're on standby and the event a book comes to it and we can cut out and just have one committee because then if it doesn't pass the committee it comes to us Miss Thompson thank you um I was I agree with you I it's gonna come back and be redone but I would love us to consider at that point because our principles are extremely busy and I like that they meet you know in the beginning but then once it goes to the committee does the principal have to be
200in there since they've already gone through the review process and all that I'm just they're running to school and trying to educate kids so it just it's redundant right so the one thing Mr penley said that I need you to all take into account we changed this last spring and there are some changes in here that are based on the change of the law okay and there's probably going to be another change um Mr persus yeah yeah I was thinking that but we're not suggesting uh correct me if I'm wrong any changes other than the school days to four what is that 4 e only what's in red section five challenge material section 5e includes uh could that part that that says uh if the complaintant disagrees with the principles proposed resolution then the following
201procedure shall be followed and so forth and so on and then it says the superintendent shall have the authority to determine the material to be consistent with the requirements of section 1000 6.28 without establishing a Review Committee review where staff presents information that the book in question is widely accepted and used by school districts in the State of Florida and has been recommended by national literacy or educational organizations I mean have we ever gone that route um or have we usually gone the root of um if there's if the principal if the complaintant disagrees with the principle we go right to the district Review Committee I guess that's the other I think Dr rinsky would have to that's what I call at least in in my thinking about it the the district level appeal yeah
202um so you're going from the this informal hearing to the school level appeal to a district level appeal and I don't know that we've had any reach that level to this point in in recent time got you years ago a long time ago rin's here she had a couple did you hear what she said last year we had a district but not this year had a district committee for last year we had 18 books that went to the district level committees this year we have not had any that have come to the district level committee as Miss Kelly referenced we currently have have four that are at the school level and we have additional books that um are objected to but are still um at the conference level with the principal okay those meetings have
203not are are scheduled but have not been held yet okay you heard the recommendation of the superintendent we have a motion and a second there's no further discussion we'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving the adoption of school board policy 320 with the current changes that do bring it up to match some of the changes in the law please say I I I if not please say Nay n okay it's four to one it'll be back it'll be back an hour it's back every meeting isn't it it's going to be to the point we just need to all memorize every word of the law on that one okay Mr penley we're moving on to 1910 yes Madam chair items agenda items 19.10 and 19.11 concerning policy 322 and um are legal
204changes only there have been no substantive changes to those policies they were workshopped changes made in those legal descriptions were approved and have been published they stand ripe for adoption tonight okay so board members what your hearing is Mr pentley wants us to vote on 1910 and 1911 um together so Dr baman is that your recommendation that is my recommendation okay so the superintendent is recommending that we bring forward to vote on 1910 and 191 with one vote do I have someone that would like to make a motion for us to vote on 1910 and 1911 move to approve 19.10 19.11 thank you Mrs Bernett do I have a second second is that you Mr perses yes thank you all right any discussion on items 1910 or 1911 okay then I will call for the
205vote all those in favor of approving 1910 and 1911 please say I I I any opposed all right those two pass unanimously all right we are up to now 1912 Madam chair board members item 1912 request the board's adoption of a new policy three 25 web management this policy was workshopped in Dr Coon's team uh uh pulled this together there have been no uh comment cards submitted it has been advertised for the required statutory period and stands right for adoption tonight okay Dr bovan we're on okay web management Mr Bley I already talked about it I recommend adoption of proposed School Board policy 325 web management he you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that would like to make the motion to approve for 1912 School Board policy 325 a motion
206to approve thank you Mrs Thompson do I have a second second thank you Mr colone any discussion hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now up to 1913 Madame chair item 1913 on tonight's agenda request the board's adoption of amendments to policy 409 duties of principal again this is one that there were no substan of changes we have updated the legal Authority and laws implemented this policy revision was advertised for the required statutory period and stands right for adoption tonight okay Dr recomend Madam chair I recommend adoption of proposed amendments to school board policy 49 duties of principls you heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have a motion to approve move to approve thank you Mrs Bernett
207do I have a second I'll second Madam chair I I did notice that item number 11 is still there perform other duties assigned by the superintendent that will always be there you can delete the first 10 but you'll keep that one in there that one's not going anywhere that one's not going anywhere okay that's legal protection right there yes yeah all right if there's no other discussion I'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving policy 409 duties of principles please say I I any opposed all right it passes unanimously we are now up to item 19.4 Mr penley do you want to lay the groundwork and then we have public input thank you madam chair yes item agenda item 19.4 request the board's adoption of amendments to policy 4:15 conduct of employees
208regarding illegal drug or alcohol abuse there were substance of changes to be in compliance with state statute and we have updated the uh statutory authority of legal statutory legal Authority laws implemented and the uh Florida administrative regulations applicable in this area the policy was duly advertised in accordance with State Statute and stands right for adoption tonight okay we have one person to speak on that welcome Miss Albert thank you madam chair members of the board superintendent Dr balabin members of the audience so I want to ask for some clarifications regarding the changes in this policy but I need to preface this by first saying in no way do we support the lack of sobriety uh in our workplaces we fully Embrace and uh stand behind the drug-free workplace so I want to put that out
209there completely 100% however with the change in this policy and the change in the language I wonder about um the reference to um the board activities where there there is not going to be um dispensing or possessing of alcoholic beverages I do know that the teacher of the year celebration and certain Futures events do involve um adults having access to you know drinks and we're all grown up so I don't know how that's going to affect that but most importantly I want to draw your attention and ask about the Professional Standards process when an allegation of insobriety in the workplace takes place um currently they work under the provision of reasonable suspicion and there is actually a document I don't know if any of you have ever seen it on the Professional Standards website that
210articulates some look fors if you will that could indicate that someone is impaired things like drowsiness agitation anxiousness hostility flushed complexion sweating um excessive talkative louder or boisterous well you know on any given day depending on what's going on in your classroom one might exhibit these behaviors and I I know that's kind of funny haha right but believe it or not we actually had a situation this year involving an elementary school teacher on the west side with there where there was an allegation of insobriety they went down um they go in pairs they went to the school site engaged with the individual face Toof face and there was a determination that Reasonable Suspicion existed to have this individual load up in the car and go to the lab and so we tell our members go
211we'll meet you there if you need us there but go because if you refuse to test that's a whole different situation again we support this policy um drug- free workplace but the the individual took a breathalyzer test passed so that wasn't good enough so the folks in Professional Standards your friends and mine said well let's go one further Let's do an uh let's do a drug test where there's the urine test well that takes several days or at least 24 hours to process so they take the individual back to their home the person's car is left at school and now they're they're there with no way to get their car turns out the person was clean having a bad day and so their car is now stuck at school they've gone through this whole process
212for no reason whatsoever is this going to uh is this document something that we've generated or is this something that law enforcement uses I just want to make sure that when we're changing excuse me that polic this policy that we have some guard rails in place thank you Mr penley my question is when you're looking at paragraph number two and it says an employee of the school board shall not manufacture distribute dispense possess and then we what's been added to that is the red having their system or use alcoholic beverag is on school grounds on Schoolboard property or at a school board activity on or off school board property everything in Black has been in the policy correct that's correct here okay and then you struck through at which students are present and then or
213illegal drugs at any time and place yes ma'am so I think where we have an issue um because there there is alcohol H that can be purchased at the Teacher of the Year banquet um problem is even there had you left in at which students are present there are times that people bring their children to that banquet okay now the other part though um I don't think I've ever seen any kids at the future's Caribbean party I I've seen him at the Teacher of the Year banquet but I don't think I've ever seen him at the Futures Caribbean party um is that a Schoolboard activity yeah it's a Schoolboard activity though there's a difference between the sponsoring so that is not a district sponsored activity that's true the same way I've I've had Danielle state
214that for um teacher appreciation last week she remember there was a statement there please know this is not a district sponsored at the baseball game yeah oh at the baseball game yeah yeah because there were kids at the baseball game but that was not that was not we weren't sponsoring that activity right like like teacher of the year we're not sponsoring that either right well I guess that's true we don't sponsor F of the Year future future sponsors at admin Health SP there's a whole list of sponsors but that that is the one spot where there are children at that event here's my thing is there a reason why we took out at which students are present this is a Personnel policy and Professional Standards requested reduction okay redaction of that language okay I mean
215the rest of it it's been there all along the only addition is have it in their system so be under the influence of uh is an addition but everything else is the same all right anyone else have so so we're saying that the Futures event and the teacher of the year event are not Schoolboard activities because they're sponsored by someone no the statement is they're not District sponsored events meaning we are not putting those on as long as we can speak to that well you can research other counties for example other counties where it's not District sponsored they may have it but they would limit like the alcohol you know like for example when I was in Orange County I believe there's like one ticket or two tickets that's given something like that but here
216it says it's no use so and if it matters at the Florida Department of Education teacher of the year event uh alcohol there is beverages available for purchase Coke I Coke Captain Morgan we've we've been to those events too and so yeah anybody else have anything to say about this recommendation okay would you like to make a recommendation I would like to if you are ready I recommend adoption of proposed amendments to Schoolboard policy 4:15 conduct of employees regarding illegal drugs and alcohol abuse all right you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent for approval of scor Schoolboard policy 4:15 do I have someone that would like to make a motion move to approve do I have a second second Madam chair yes m i I can understand the addition of the have in their system
217I'm thinking of uh a football game high school foot football game and an m and employee uh comes to the game maybe been drinking a lot before he or she got to the to the stands to watch the game but was acting belligerent you know just crazy and uh yet he he or she did not manufacture distribute dispense or possess anything but had it in his system or her system so I can see adding that because I could see where that may have been a problem in in the past I I just I'm still questioning was there a good reason why they um Wanted the scratch out at which students are present uh because students are present at high school football games and just about every school board event I mean I'm just trying to
218think of you know where I'm the most concerned what huh where students are present during the day because yeah I mean stud personally saw people drink during the day oh yeah well don't I can give you lots of examples of that but I'm I'm just saying um but they're they kind of took took that out so that would mean uh even when students are not present right and I'm and I'm just trying to think of in in example of a school board activity students aren't present or I don't know I guess that would work for a board meeting yeah they decided to present well not always disclaimer before we uh it must have been some incident or something from Professional Standards I I'm just trying to think of what because it was their recommendation right
219for this this is entirely their recommendation so I would say that in past this policy read an employee of the school board shot manufacture distribute dispense possess or use alcoholic beverages on school grounds on Schoolboard property or at Schoolboard activities on or off Schoolboard property at which students are present or illegal drugs at any time and place so that was the prior language I mean I'm trying I'm trying to think what else there would be what if they're at a workshop and their students not present at the workshop or if they're at a training meeting or pre-planning kickoff meeting where students aren't present I mean I'm trying to think of is that not still on Schoolboard property though it is on Schoolboard property it's a school board activity on or off Schoolboard property yeah so
220that you would be in trouble if you consume too much yeah okay here's here's what I'm think about are you not on the clock it's very it's very common for uh schools to have um holiday party let's all go to soand so restaurant last day before the winter break it's not it's not sponsored by the district but it it well that's what I'm trying to decide if is it District or is it just I mean if it's a if it's a School faculty party is that because students are not present at those the attorneys to tell us just as no lawyer left unemployed statutes um or at school board activities I would read the term at school board activities to mean something that was sponsored by the school board by the school board correct okay
221well that's very that's very limited that's very limited because we don't please M Mr Rolf interject I'm not aware of any school board activities I will point point out that that's lowercase School Board not the school board so the school board good thing I'm getting off then I don't know it's I mean when we go to Florida Schoolboard Association act activities isn't that a school board activity I'm sorry Mr person I said when we go to Florida School Board Association uhuh that's a isn't that a school board activity that's there entity we're talking here about Vala someone else correct and usually it's it's it's partners that SP sponsors those you you know that here's the thing I'm I'm the wrong person to ask any of this of I don't drink so and I don't take
222drugs and I think it's beyond your work hours too your meeting hours Madam chair if I might Mr West might have some insight into how this came about he has ping on Mr I just I'm just wouldn't want any employee to get into any trouble when you know to be very candid mam chair if I might the I think that this came about because someone was severely Under the Influence at a school on on official business let's call it outside the district and got caught that's why this language yeah that's what I'm trying to get at um and and I mean this policy has been in place we have reviewed this it really is just to clarify of and and looking at this after talking with Mr Hovis um you know to make sure that
223we've got our policy very clear for our employees so um so explain explain it to us so that we clearly understand what it's saying if it's if you're under the influence what the viol if under the influence the blood here says in the system that is the key have in their system in regards to um alcohol or drugs but that part hasn't changed official event has not changed right okay let's move on can can we add the word can we add the word can we add the word word open to alcoholic beverage so you bring a coito a bottle coito everybody knows coito here your board members foring I'm just I'm just saying somebody bring somebody a bottle of something you know Merry Christmas and that happens all the time yeah but that's it's not
224in your system if they hand you a bottle as a gift of something you are possessing it that's it you're in possession at that point so I mean I I I think the whole idea is that um this this is just to clarify in the system because of the um I I I get that part in in the system I'm I'm I get that but I don't know about what difference it would make if um if this was off school grounds and students weren't present okay here's the deal we're going to move forward on a vote on this let's do it call the vote call the vote we're going to call for the vote all those in favor of approving the minor updates to policy 415 please say I I any opposed there you go
225all right passes where now up to 1915 if you'd like to lay the groundwork then I have public input thank you madam chair agenda item 19.15 request the board's adoption of approved advertised changes uh actually this is a new policy uh 428 staff and student use of artificial intelligence uh this policy was workshopped uh in accordance with the recommendations brought forward by the uh technology department and was duly advertised it stands right for adoption tonight okay Mrs Albert thank you madam chair members of the board superintendent Dr balamin members of the audience so policy 19 or policy number 428 um staff and student use of artificial intelligence AI I just have some questions on this page one uh second paragraph in part two of the introduction it talks about AI undertaking routine tasks uh freeing
226teachers to invest more time in direct interpersonal interactions with students uh the potential for improving assessments providing immediate personalized student feedback and delivering valuable implementable data to teachers to improve instructional Effectiveness blah blah blah so what I'm asking here is for some explanations of the expectations and most importantly the restrictions for the use here uh when we move down to the final paragraph in section two the last sentence however the essential value of human wisdom judgment and connection remains at the heart of our instructional practices whose judgment will that be when we go into section three staff uses of AI under allowable uses I want to know what training we have planned for the implementation of this policy and the use of AI in our classrooms both at all levels of instruction I also do
227want to point out that I've spoken to you in the past at board meetings regarding prioritizing our training specifically um you know the doj trainings and the the the importance of making sure that we are all things correct with doj and now we're rolling out additional um items that we're going to need to train on when we move to page two I look at the fourth bu it down and it talks about an allowable use of AI as lesson planning uh when we move down a little bit further uh we talk about augmented feedback and Grading as an allowable use but then when we get into unallowable staff uses the first bullet talks about decisions with significant impact and if you look on the second line such as report card grades a little contradictory there
228moving to page three uh the last bullet on page three talks about submitting uh generative AI writing as original writings as a Prohibition but then when we go back into uh page two there is a an allowable use that talks about um Pro use AI assistance to provide personalized feedback on student writing code and projects freeing up educator time for deeper interactions to me that's a little bit confusing um and then finally on the uh page four of this policy we talk about staff consequences most particularly towards the end of the second line violations are investigated by the Professional Standards office and may include law enforcement agency invol and involvement so I uh ask that you work with the district very closely to provide clear explicit communication and written guidance that can be distributed and
229referred to um over and over again by our instructional staff so we don't have issues with this thank you thank you Mr penley Madam chair is there a question I would have to defer to Dr Coon's office on all of this my my I I would like to know the question first because we are trying to go what is the question chair I don't have a question because parts of this is about as clear as butd maybe I I wrote it I don't mean any I think the question was um will there be adequate training on on this absolutely now let me be clear with everyone here we have weekly meetings that are scheduled with the union we have monthly meetings that are scheduled so if these are topics that we would like to discuss
230further I would be more than happy to add them to those meetings great now if any of you have any questions here regarding the policy I'll be more than happy to answer that that's what I wanted to hear thank you thank you all right so I guess I do have one question for Dr so Dr can there be a simplified bulleted or numbered document that goes out that makes it just very clear Madam chair I will answer that question okay absolutely this is the policy that Dr kuna has collaborated with several districts such as Miami dat Palm Beach and a few other districts that we have generated which is the very first step as I've IND at to each of you in your one and on is that during the um Institute there will be
231full training for the administrators and during the valua uh um um training that will be taking place for teachers this summer they will be training there as well now currently without a policy just so you know AI is being utilized it is being utilized by staff and is it is being utilized by students currently so we're putting this policy in place which is suggested clearly suggested by the Department of Education to protect the work that we're doing teachers and students so again I'll be more than happy to add this to the weekly discussions M uh Dr Hazel please add that and we will be training our staff as I've indicated before and all of our teachers sounds okay you've heard the superintendent's recommending the approval of Schoolboard policy 428 staff and student use of artificial
232intelligence which is already being used as we know do I have someone like to make a motion to approve it move approval of item 1915 is it yes yes Ruben had a oh Mr cologne has a question sorry this is no different than books no this is a moving Target no matter what and so to say that you know I watched a congressional hearing on this and even to the experts it was a moving Target so uh I think there are questions some can be answered some can be answered today and we'll be different tomorrow this is changing faster than we can ever catch up so I think it's good to get something on the books y uh and for that reason I am supportive all right Mr persus is a made a motion do
233I have a second I'll all right you're good right I'll second that motion okay we have Mr persus making the motion Mrs Thompson seconding the motion any further discussion all those I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now up to item 19.16 adoption of Schoolboard policy 506 for warehousing and distribution Madam chair item number 19.16 requests the board's authorization to adopt amendments to policy 506 uh there were no substance of changes requested by warehousing and we have updated the legal Authority and laws implemented this those changes were duly uh advertised and the policy stands right for adoption tonight Dr bman do you have a recommendation yes Madam chair I recommend adoption of the proposed amendments to school board policy 510 Safety
234and Security of students personnel and property no Warehouse dist Warehouse 506 506 506 I recommend adoption of the proposed amendments to school board policy 506 warehousing and distribution okay school board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have a motion to approve move to approve thank you Mrs Bernett do I have a second I'll second that motion thank you Mrs Thompson any discussion hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now up to item 19.1 17 would you like to lay the groundwork Mr penley thank you madam chair item 19 17 tonight's agenda requests the board's authorization to adopt amendments to policy 510 which is the safety of students Personnel property and law enforcement guideline uh
235there were substance of changes made to this policy at the request of our uh school safety Specialists and those policy Amendments have been duly advertised this policy stands right for adoption tonight okay um Miss Albert you filled out a card to speak on 1917 so good evening again Madame chair members of the board superintendent Dr balaman just a point of clarification before I start as the only President of a union existing within valua County Schools I'm not exactly sure what weekly meeting was being referenced when we talked about policy 428 uh if the reference is to Labor Management that means meeting is twice a month at best when we can get those scheduled and there is a monthly standing meeting that typically occurs between our our uh office and the office of the superintendent of
236which of course you were very sorely missed at the last one Dr balabin but we were grateful that you were there Dr Hazel but to the point of what we were discussing tonight with policy 510 I want to refer you please to page five uh this is a page where there is some language about the U members of the school Lev threat management team formerly known as the threat assessment team in section A1 I've highlighted the underlined section that it states where the team shall also include a member with personal knowledge of the student of concern who is the subject of a threat assessment have including information about the students manifestation of disabilities and their relationship to the alleged threat I'm very concerned that a predetermination of a manifestation of the disability is going to
237um be the result of this language um and then further down under B2 the if the student presenting the alleged threat is a student with a disability determine whether the student is actually posing a threat or Simply Having a disability related episode that can be mitigated with the provision of reasonable modifications if we're talking about following the guidelines of a bip that's absolutely understandable but what I know is each and every week we hear from teachers and support staff in our schools that come to us with stories real genuine stories of violence that is incur that is being um that is happening in our in our schools in our classrooms so we we want to make sure that when a situation occurs that we're not predetermining that it's a manifestation of a disability that we're
238looking at every situation um with a a blank slate we give kids a fresh start every day when they come back if they've had a bad day the day before but what I'm looking for is just some assurances that we're not going to say oh that's Johnny Joe he has a disability it's a manifestation after he's broken a finger or done whatever and of course that's a hypothetical but we we have to make sure that as we are moving to protect the rights of our students that we are also protecting the rights of the teachers and the support professionals who are doing the work every day thank you Dr P when you have a recommendation 510 policy 510 yeah uh chair I recommend adoption of the proposed amendments to school board policy 510 Safety and
239Security of students personnel and property board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do I have someone that'd like to make a motion to approve the adoption of Schoolboard policy 510 Safety and Security of students personnel and property motion to approve thank you Mr I'll second that thank you Mr persus any discussion uh I'd like to make a comment Madam chair um I think the the point first of all like i' like to commend the um Captain and everybody else who contributed to this uh because it is our number one issue uh Safety and Security and I think it's it's a it's a very good it's very good policy uh uh the but the point that Miss Albert brought up is is a valid point too and I know there's a fine fine line
240some sometimes um with uh behaviors and is a student having a bad day is it a man a manifest festation of their disability um um however physical harm is physical harm physical injury is physical injury uh and uh I I think uh teachers should not be afraid to ask for help when an episode is is coming on I would rather the teacher eror on the side of the safety of all of her or his students um protect him himself or or or herself um we can deal with what was the cause of the behavior perhaps afterwards but the immediate concern is to protect everyone and not be afraid to protect everyone because it oh it's just a it's what this student does um you know we we just can't can't turn the other um away
241uh because oftentimes if we don't ask for help and decide what have other people come in there and take a look and decide you know is this the right placement for for this child and so forth so uh we do hear stories like that and um I just want to make sure that teachers know that that we want to protect them and other students too and it it's not a sign of weakness when you're just not sure you know how to interact with a particular student and those of us who've been in classrooms we you know we all know and um and I'm not you know I'm not trying to be harsh on this on the student with the disability but we do got to protect the teacher and the other students as well any
242other discussion okay then I'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving School Board policy 510 safe and security of students personnel and property please say I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now moving on to 19.18 Madam chair agenda item 19.18 request the board's adoption of advertised amendments to policy 522 staff use of school district cellular telephones although this policy was last updated in 2006 uh 2007 technology the pace of improvements has changed and this policy aligns with those uh those changes we eliminate things like pagers and and things that are no longer pdas that are no longer in use uh other than that we updated uh well the law was updated so these changes have been properly advertised the policy Amendment stands right for adoption tonight okay Dr bin
243Madam chair I recommend adoption of the proposed amendments to school board policy 522 staff use of school district seller telephones okay board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to have someone that' like to make a motion a motion to approve thank you Mr Thompson do I have a second a second thank you Mrs Bernett any discussion I'll call for the vote all those in favor of approving the adoption of Schoolboard policy 522 staff use of school district cellular telephones please say I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now on to 1919 Madame chair item agenda item 19.9 request the board's adoption of advertised amendments to policy 7 10 direct support Foundation annual budget and audit review the only substance of change here was to include reference to the American Institute of
244certified public account its auditing standards the legal Authority and laws implemented were updated those changes have been duly advertised for the required statutory time and the policy stands right for adoption tonight Dr pabin yeah Madam chair I recommend adoption of the propos am amendments to school board policy 710 direct support Foundation annual budget and annual audit review school board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent do have someone that like to make the motion for school board policy 710 move to approve thank you Mrs Bernett do I have a second second thank you Mr cologne any discussion hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor favor of approving the adoption of Po Schoolboard policy 710 direct support foundation's annual budget and audit review please say I I anyone opposed it passes
245unanimously we are now up to item 1920 Madam chair agenda item 19.20 requests the board's authorization to advertise proposed amendments to policy 702 this has this is a first read of changes that essentially align the purchasing policy with uh current electronic publication standards for solicitations it includes uh Provisions for piggyback contract and spending analysis proposals um and I believe Mr ce's department is here could answer any specific questions but essentially it aligns the uh purchasing Authority that we have been following in practice with current current policy um so if it meets with board approval it would be advertised for the statutory period and brought back at a later date Dr B Madame chair I recommend the authority be granted to advertise the proposed amendments to school Schoolboard policy purchasing okay board members this is one
246is different this is we're advertising this and so it'll be advertising the proposed amendments to Schoolboard policy 702 for purchasing do I have someone that like to make a motion that this be advertised move to approve thank you Mrs Bernett do I have a second I'll second that motion thank you than Mrs Thompson any discussion hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I any opposed it passes unanimously we are now on to 1921 not me you have to have another victim for that one no no on 1921 it says presented by Kevin penley in my script oh I'm sorry it's not in my red notebook I have to go to a different notebook this is a uh approval of a sale of surplus uh property at University High
247School to the county for fair market value okay is there anything else you'd like to say okay this is a arms link negotiated that the county wishes to use a portion of property that we own for a lift station I believe or sewer Improvement and this was negotiated with the facilities department and uh it meets with board approval it would be sold at in receipts taken by the general fund okay Dr b i I just want you to know that um a few hours ago we also uploaded uh to this um 1921 which is the appraisal for the property okay so my recommendation is that we recommend approval of the agreement for parchase and sale with the valua county with with the county of Valia for the sale of a portion of the University High
248School property as indicated on that attachment okay all right board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent this is a small piece that the county is wishing to purchase from us to put in another lift huh I believe it's a sewer Improvement yeah a lift that's what a lift station is we need another one into Barry yes pat patty core and I know all about it so this is to put in a lift station do I have someone who'd like to make the motion to approve this contract for the purchase and sale of a portion of the University High School property which is a very small portion to the county for the purpose of having a lift station put in I will gladly make the motion to have them purchase this for more than
249the appraisal came out for sh okay thank you there's some things that okay all right do I have a second second thank you Mr persus any discussion all right then I'll call for the vote all those in favor of the contract agreement for purchase and sale of a portion of the University High School property please say I I I anyone opposed it passes unanimously now we are on to number modification MSA 22-13 LS okay I know how to say it I'm tired tonight um Sage learning and MSA 220 d013 LS advanced placement social studies materials is Dr robinsky Mr P oh Mr penley walked away and I had him but you're gonna come come on we'd like to hear from you Dr rabinsky sure these um this is for the mod modification to Sage which
250we already have a district contract they are approved vendor this is for the potential purchase of advanced placement um materials for human geography and American government all right superintendent thank you madam chair I recommend approval of the modification of sage learning MSA d22 d013 LS advanced placement social studies material for fiscal year 25 thank you board members you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to have someone like to make a motion to approve motion to approve thank you Mr clone do I have a second a second thank you Mrs Bernett any discussion hearing none I'll call for the vote all those in favor please say I I any opposed it passes unanimously okay we are now back up to public input item 20.0 one on our agenda I have one two three four five six
251seven cards we will take them in order so up first will be Jennifer Watley followed by Christine Ser welcome Miss Wat good evening Madam chair ladies and gentlemen of the board Dr b bobin um I stand before you tonight to address a critical issue that calls for your immediate attention the importance of continued funding for our pedals case managers these dedicated individuals play a vital role in assessing homeless high school students graduation Assurance grade promotion good daily attendance and essential support with fundamental needs as esteemed members of this board it falls on you to ensure that every student regardless of their circumstance receives that care needed to succeed academically and emotionally homelessness is a harsh reality that more than 6% of fuchia County students face daily and impacts more than 950 high school students these
252young individuals already burdened with the challenges of adolescents find themselves without a stable home and struggling to meet basic needs in such Circ circumstances it becomes excessively difficult for them to focus on their education let alone Envision a brighter future however our pedals case managers have made a tremendous difference over the past two years they've provided a much needed support system guiding these students through the complexities of their academic journey by working closely with these students case managers have ensured that they have the necessary resources and guidance needed to graduate successfully graduation Assurance is a fundamental right that every student deserves regardless of their housing situation the pedal's case managers have worked tirelessly to identify and address barriers that may hinder progress towards graduation and as a result they have not noticeably increased homeless student
253graduation rates districtwide but their impact goes beyond graduation Assurance pedals case managers monitor academic success provide individualize tutoring and facilitate communication with teachers and counselors by focusing on individual needs tailoring support case managers have empowered these students to overcome academic challenges and Excel in their studies furthermore good daily attendance is another vital aspect that the case managers address they have worked diligently to address the barriers preventing students from attending school regularly ensuring that every student has equal access to education the role of the case managers in supporting homeless high school students cannot be overstated their dedication compassion and expertise are essential in uring ing that these vulnerable students have every opportunity to succeed academically by continuing to invest in case managers for the pedals program the board will demonstrate the district's commit commitment to educational
254equity and social justice together let us make a difference in the lives of our homeless students and pave the way for a brighter future I urge the board to reconsider the decision to eliminate these positions and allocate the funds necessary to continue providing support to high school students known to be homeless thank you for your time Christine sir I have you for two um things so are you doing one for yourself to start with or are you doing the one for Pam on me it doesn't matter I just need to know so read for myself first okay thank you and welcome all right good evening board members uh Dr bin chairwoman Haynes again um I'm pushing back on educational censorship and book Banning that is occurring right here in our schools due to what seems
255to be a failure to adhere to instructional policy number 320 books addressing social justice family Dynamics acceptance and recovery from trauma are being taken out of our vucha County School libraries with no guarantee of return even if a student requests it public records indicate that all boys aren't blue was one of 14 books challenged for pornography this year all boys aren't blue is a powerful book written for 14 through 18year olds that addresses childhood bullying and encourages readers to think about the impact of social influences the New York Times calls it an exuberant Unapologetic Memoir infused with a deep and cleare eyed love for its subject the author George M Johnson wants the reader to know that the book was crafted with care and love but most importantly to give a voice to so many
256from marginalized communities whose experiences have not been captured between the pages of a book last year all boys aren't blue went through a district review uh reconsideration committee they determined that the book was grade and age appropriate it was suited for student needs and it was not pornographic that committee overwhelmingly voted to retain the book in high school libraries and Dr Balaban agreed with that decision at the beginning of this year like I said this book was uh objected to with a reason of pornography and the book was immediately removed from All vucha County Schools without any due process so despite being deemed appropriate for reconsideration committees and the superintendent last year it was still banned from our schools this year respect and follow your own instructional policies number 320 bring back all boys aren't
257blue to vuia County School libraries where it belongs I have another minute so I'm going to take this opportunity so a comment was made that um where would we post these books about being transparent thank you thank you for for those of you agree that we need to be putting that out there um I will be more than happy to share with the board members I know I've shared it with District staff before on several other districts who post what is being you know worked through what has been pulled where it is in the process um and very transparent about that so I will I will definitely be following up on that um and uh there was one other thing guess that was all but I want to say thank you for your Time Dr
258balgan I do want to address something that has bothered me all evening I pardon I'm going to stop you have you would you like to read that again that statement about public comments because I don't think it's being understood can we stop the time no okay so speakers shall not engage in personal attacks abusive language or other conduct which interferes with the meeting I I wasn't it wasn't a personal attack Dr Raman I was just going to make a comment on something that bothered me okay go ahead okay thank you um when a speaker is up here speaking I know Mrs Haynes has said before that she Tes she is taking notes it is you have done a good job the second round but in the beginning in the first round and some of the
259other you you weren't even looking up and so just making that point that you know giving the respect so let me address that for you I do have a staff member that's taking notes of every speaker and every comment as a matter of fact it's done after every board meeting I didn't say you weren't taking notes I was just saying your attention so if you're not taking notes I was saying Dr uh Mrs Hayes says she Tes taking notes so you're not taking notes but you are looking down at your computer or phone or something and you're not giving the attention is all I'm saying thank thank appr night okay well no you still have to read for Pam that's how you turned them in I have them numbered okay all right I am reading
260for Pam crowl she couldn't be here tonight good afternoon at the last school board meeting I spoke to support a challenged book The Upside of unrequited a sweet and humorous book written about high schoolers to read for enjoyment with themes of lgbtq and racial diversity body image and self-confidence when I returned to my seat a person in the room let me know that a mom's for Liberty member had been furiously Googling on her phone during my three minutes sure enough that moms for Liberty person spoke to me spoke after me to add to her original marks and cite page numbers of dirty words and incidents of teenage drinking and talk of sex in this particular book nothing new to teen behaviors and actually showed Lessons Learned by the main character this person could not know
261what I would be speaking about yet she employed a tactic used by anyone seeking to challenge books for those who are not aware there are online resources such as book looks which cites out context content and even the number of times certain words are used evidently th those who use these sites don't trust the expertise of media Specialists and teachers let's reestablish a fair system to properly vet books rather than random websites one parent person or group should not respect their own personal values to dictate those of the community thank you next up is Elizabeth Albert followed by Debbie Parker welcome back Mrs Albert good evening Madame chair members of the board superintendent Dr balabin members of the audience I'm going to start with a quote by Angela Davis I am no longer accepting the
262things I cannot change I am changing the things I can no longer accept sometimes the truth is difficult to hear and often hard to accept but it is what we must commit ourselves to if we want to address the issues within our district and work to make positive change as I listened to comments made earlier this evening from various individuals I heard statements that included human and personal connections matter collective experience moves us forward uh we need to make a difference where it really really matters which is with our students yet there has never been a time uh where this board and District leadership has been so disconnected from the needs of the teachers and staff doing the work to educate our students teachers and staff do not feel valued respected supported understood nor heard
263as a matter of fact when issues are brought publicly in this forum we know that efforts to censor or squash our voices result by putting pressure on principles or supervisors to keep the disgruntled employees quiet this form of intimidation may work for some but it will not work on all of us there was a time that teachers and staff needs were put last but now we seem to have fallen from last To None the climate in our schools and work site is becoming dangerous I feel like we've lost all the good we've known the change has been slowly creeping forward there was a time when a few of you welcome public input but now it's like watching a tumor grow and the issues and concerns that are brought before this board are are ignored the
264priorities are wrong the focus should not be on censoring the voices of the workers or trolling social media to shut down those who tell the truth about testing student behaviors failures in communication micromanagement reductions in allocations and the list goes on and on silence is not the answer transparency and reflection is needed the time has has come to listen to the experts in our schools and work sites the teachers and the staff if you are committed to Student Success then you must also be committed to the needs of the adults in this District thank you thank you Debbie Parker I have two cards for you you want to speak for yourself first Miss Parker I'll speak for someone else first if that's okay okay is I just have that the other person's name is BB
265ba Bach what books I I'm speaking for someone in the ctj group who is not speaking for herself tonight okay and it's about bring back books um first though I'll just really quickly thank Mrs Bernett for being courageous earlier tonight with the vote on policy 320 I'm pushing back on book Banning and educational censorship that is occurring in valua County books addressing social justice family Dynamics acceptance and recovery from trauma are being taken out of valua school libraries with no guarantee of return even if students request them it seems likely students will want to access Tony Morrison's The Bluest Eye a book that focuses on themes of acceptance and Trauma themes of lack of acceptance as well as well in fact it's been returned to shelves and other Florida school districts Tony Morrison has received
266acclaimed award such as the Nobel Prize in literature the Pulitzer Prize and the national book critic Circle award the New York Review of Books describes Tony Morrison as not just an important contemporary novelist but a major F figure in our national literature The Bluest Eye was one of 14 books that was challenged for pornography and read during the September 2 6 2023 Schoolboard meeting the reading of the excerpt was stopped by the chairperson but at no time during that meeting was their discussion of a school board vote for these books to be removed from valua County Schools only one board member expressed herself and I have the same policy or or law that came out of the book that you had Mr penley read from earlier I'm just going to read a real smart portion
267of it for a reason because I can't read all of it right now if the school board denies parents the right to read passages etc etc etc if the school board denies I I don't think the whole school board had a any any consideration it was just one person media specialists in Librarians got it right when they originally approved this book The Bluest Eye for age appropriate students respect and follow the law bring back The Bluest Eye to valua County Public School libraries where it belongs thank you for acknowledging the likelihood that policy 320 will be repeatedly returned for revision please please please also keep in mind that the effects that removing these books can have on All vucha County students thank you yes yes you may good evening and thank you for the opportunity
268to speak for myself tonight first your jobs the jobs of all Educators and School staff is difficult thank you for the jobs that you do it seems quite frequent lady that lately that a legal decision or settlement or challenge is trying to send bla County a message about book removal Publications organizations Grassroots groups are pointing out the proper reading of laws such as 1557 and 1000 6.28 Maybe This Time valua County School Board will be convinced to move in a different direction and to act with foresight and courage this just yesterday National Women's Law Center filed two complaints with the public with the office for civil rights against cob County School District in Georgia and ker County Public School District in Florida both school districts are systematically marginalizing lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer interex and
269asexual students in violation of Title Nine of the education Amendments of 1972 and students of color in violation of title six of the original of of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 class libraries and media centers have been decimated teachers and other school staff who seek to provide safe environments for students have been driven away from schools there is a PA of fear over the educational environment for lgdp qia plus students and students of color I won't read from it but there's also the settlement from March 11th this year Kaplan heck Hecker and fin LLC and the national Center for lesbian rights reached a historic settlement agreement resolving the challenge to Florida's don't say gay laws that sends a strong message too or at least it should send a strong message big picture here removal
270of books is equivalent to efforts to erase the truth in history and the realities of so many individuals in this diverse world all students deserve a safe education including lgbtqia a plus students and students of color thank you thank you next up is Laurel Robinson yes I'm uh good evening I'm Laurel Robinson I live and vot in belalia county in Orman Beach Madam chair members of the board Madam superintendent the public professionals and most compellingly students have reached out to the baloa County School Board its Administration and staff to voice their concerns regarding the misdirection this body seems to be taking people have spoken eloquently at meetings written emails to staff used all manner of communications as they seemed to find the clarity in the muddle of school policy options that seem to progress without
271a well-defined content text confusion rather than Enlightenment seems to be the order of the day as an example when those of us at ctj or the people that have been working to uh instill the appropriate reading materials back into the schools when we POS questions to staff regarding book removals we were met with very circular answer as a case in point when we ask for an explanation of whether staff makes a distinction between pornography and sexual content when removing books due to an ejection as required by state law we were told quote make a public record request when we asked if there is a recordkeeping process it would make it easy for the public to track the fate of books because of an objection we were told again quote make a public record request this
272flippant remarks was not only non-responsive to our questions but it smacks of a political Dot like an elected official who will deflect questions from an investigative reporter or making a simple request Mass a hidden agenda I shudder to think that our school system has come to this point with the citizens of vucha County those of you on the dis have some very big fish to fry in the coming months but I encourage you to Beware of the little things that can change the public perception of the school district from one of Public Service to one of political operation I am still in awe of the young scholar who stood in front of you and ask questions it was his determination that led me back here today so please all of us want nothing more than
273honest unfiltered answers to that end please schedule a town meeting public Workshop prior to the beginning of the new school year with the board staff members of the the public in attendance with the ability to ask questions and the ability to receive answers that we can understand these un unnecessarily complexities that seem to be piled on you and us and on our students bring this issue into the sunshine into the sunshine please don't allow the political double speak to continue unabated thank you thank you Miss Johnson do you have any more cards thank you all right that moves on to item 2.01 items from board member superintendent or the school board attorney Mr persus I see you trying to tap it go ahead I'm trying to tap it um I'm about tapped out I think
274right now but uh um Dr balaman I know you got a an email and it was copied to us from a Lauren Hogan I believe she was addressing the same issue that one of the speakers about the uh about the uh pedals case workers I don't I'm just asking you if you can kind of review that and maybe bring it back to us at our next meeting or with direct report or or something it it's it sounds like a worthy program and has done a lot of good yeah it was those were Grant paid positions and the grant has expired yeah we'd be more than happy to look at it again but okay okay great and then the only other thing uh Madame chair is um uh again I'm just asking if if we can
275get a u Workshop uh agenda item for Vaping about that whole policy where going with that thank you that that's it Madam chair we think it's already scheduled okay but we will look you you had that on the books correct Ving yes double check okay we discussed that a at a previous board okay all right um anyone else I I have an item okay go ahead and then I have an item okay so Madame chair board members I want to make you aware that I have approved an outof field outof State field trip for two students um these two students uh to attend an IB competition that took place this weekend these two students are presenting a project at the international science and engineering fair in Los Angeles California wow and that will be from
276May 12th May 12th to the 17th so there was not enough time to give notice to the board for approval but this is pursuant to policy 3:15 um section four paragraph D where the superintendent must report approval at the next regularly scheduled board meeting which is this meeting so it's a it's a uh a brother and a sister and they are going to be part of this um international science engineering fair in Los Angeles sounds great thank you hear about it yeah well they sent me pictures share thank you awesome I want to clarify um back on one of the speakers that spoke tonight may I have um can I have did Miss Workman leave can I have Mr West come forward absolutely Mr West yes ma'am okay I want to clarify about um the
277insurance piece all right because someone stood up here and spoke this evening and most of the information was inaccurate at best so Mr West there is an insurance committee correct yes ma'am and on that insurance committee there's representation no I mean no one on the board School Board it's on that committee correct but there's representation from the different parties of employees correct yes ma'am all right and each year that committee even if someone changes on the committee that committee meets to oversee the selection of what they want to recommend for insurance each year correct correct okay we each year put out for RF we put out an RFP to try to get insurance companies to apply to Ure them employees in valuch County we work with our thirdparty vendor to do so yes ma'am right
278but basically we go searching each year yes at the end of last year in order to get the price that we did for last year we made an agreement with Florida healthc care that this year's prices could be 9% yes that is correct that was part of the agreement that had with Florida Healthcare okay and I stated very clearly that when I went into an agenda conference the current what I was told on the agenda conference was I think it was 88.1% and reminded that we had agreed by taking the discount the previous year that it could go up to 9% for this year you were on that meeting correct yes ma'am on the agenda conference yes yes okay so then by the time the agenda got published it had gone down to 5 point
279whatever percent because I wasn't happy on that agenda conference I'm never happy when we talk to the insurance group I I don't mean our committee I mean the people representing the insurance you know of what we're looking at each year correct yes all right I was told on the agenda conference when I asked once again why that it was because we had some very high claims in Valia County because I asked why we couldn't have the same insurance as the county has or some of the state groups in valua County have and Mr Colon's talked about this many times about what we ask for and um and I I was told in that that it was because we had a large amount of high claims so then I asked for that information not sharing who
280it is what it is because we're never going to like if people have insurance and they're paying for the insurance they can whatever claims need to be submitted are going to be paid for and so the night that the board meeting happened and Brown and Brown um brought forward because there are there are thirdparty negotiators for that they brought a document that night and that's the first time in here that we had seen that document and we asked that it be uploaded for everyone else to see it and it said the top 100 individuals with claims cost us 18 point some Million last year is that correct that's accurate yes all right at no time did we say we didn't want people to have claims I mean it's a fact of life we have people
281that are sick I mean we can't if you're paying for your insurance you know yes please use it but that that's the reason why they give us that we can't get anything cheaper and then my question now hold on a moment so there's a perception out there that the way the vote went down that night that it had to do with two board members voting against the 5 point whatever perent but I asked each of those board members why they voted that way and so I'd like for them to State why they voted because I was not told that they were voting against the percentage so Mrs Bernett yeah I voted that way because it's not a valua County Schools issue that's a that's an everywhere issue I can tell you where I work it's
282an issue and I'm grateful to have insurance to be honest with you and that's my personal opinion I am not trying to speak about anybody here it because I know that it's very costly and I feel bad for people um but my reasoning was because all of the um staff wasn't represented okay Mr cologne that's exactly what I said and you said it that night I said it that I always say it you did clear both of you said it but it was printed differently in the news and it was a spin put on it that said you voted against it because of the percentage of it not because because what we talked about that night is that someone had been removed from the committee and they had been replaced and we we talked about
283you making the committee larger to Encompass more people you know but keeping in mind the people that serve on that committee volunteer their time to serve on that committee and I've said every year that I have been on the board this is personally what I've said is whatever that committee's recommendation is to us that's what I'm going to support I'm going to support their recommendation because they're the individuals that get together and take the time to figure this out and sit through the meetings and ask the questions so when they bring us forth a recommendation I'm going to support their recommendation I'm not going to go off and come up with my own recommendation and the bottom line is I mean a year ago our only other option was Etna and I can tell you
284we all asked a lot of questions about Etna over Florida Healthcare the committee went back and held I think two more meetings because we asked them to and and we said to them we asked them to come to the meeting so that we could talk to them and thank them but we also said to them I mean I said to them what whatever recommendation you bring back is what we're going to go forward with so my thing is if you're going to speak speak honestly and truthfully and stop spinning whatever the story is to whatever narrative you want I personally have the Schoolboard insurance and I have for over 37 years I'm coming up on year 38 okay I don't have any special Insurance there's no different insurance for us because we sit on the
285board I don't know which insurances my colleagues have but I have the same insurance that everybody that's employed by valuch county has each year I have to go through the process and select what I'm going to choose and if I'm going to choose Vision Dental all of those things and that's what I carry and so I would never want to give anyone why would I want someone to have something worse I mean I'd love to have great insurance I wish we had better options I wish more companies would apply you know and bring us something to the table but I wanted to clear up this because the two of them didn't vote about the percentage that night because the truth was we could have been faced with 9% and not had any other option I
286mean I truly when they told me 8.1 on agenda conference I was mad and I don't get mad very often but I was and then I was reminded well this is what it could be and the bottom line is when we have people that do have health issues that I mean 100 individuals over $18 million that's a lot of money just for a hundred individuals because we're we're ensuring how many employees thousands of employees so I just wanted to clear that up this evening and I would encourage anyone that is not happy with it volunteer to be on the committee next year serve on the committee learn what the process is and ask your questions up front and be a part of the solution that's what I have to say about that tonight is there
287anyone um Dr vaman I already spoke okay anyone else forward to graduations all right we're yes we're looking forward to graduations this meeting is adjourned it's 10:02 p.m. e