001Good evening everyone and welcome to the Orange County School Board's regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 9th. Thank you all for joining us tonight. We have present vice chair Bird, member Salamanca, member Fanton, member Douglas, member Vanos, member Felder are present and member Gallo is joining us for part of the meeting telephonically when we hear from her. John, if you will let us know, then we'll recognize her attendance. Thank you. Yeah, she's not on yet, but she will be on very shortly. All right. Thank you. As a reminder, board members will not be engaging in outside electronic or digital communication during the meeting so that we can focus on the matters in front of us. To my fellow board members, district staff, and members of the public when speaking, please make sure your microphone phone
002is turned on and you speak directly into it so that our YouTube and Orange TV viewers can hear you clearly. We will pause for a moment of silence and after that, I'll invite you to join us for the pledge of allegiance. But before doing so, I have some sad news. And many of you have probably already learned this, but Ma Mabel Butler passed away just a few days ago, which was announced by her family on Saturday. For those of you who don't know, Mabel Butler was the first African-American to serve on the county commission. In a few minutes, I'm going to call on member Felder, who I think probably of all of us here knows member or well, Commissioner Butler better than the rest of us. Just one thing, one short story I do want
003to share because this was the first experience I had with member Butler and something I always cherish and kind of always reminds me of who she was and how she served. So, many of you have probably heard I initially got involved with county government when they decided to put a road through my neighborhood. obviously I wasn't happy. I reached out to they hadn't voted on it yet. It wasn't final. I reached out to all of the commissioners asking them if they would come out to my neighborhood so that I could show them the impact it was going to have. Seven commissioners, my own commissioner being one of them. one showed up. Mabel Butler, the only one who came out to my neighborhood, walked the neighborhood with me, met all of the neighbors that were wandering
004around. And, that's Mabel Butler. So, with that, if you will join us for a moment of silence and of course, please keep Mabel's family in your prayers. Mabel was a woman of great faith as her entire family is. But we all we all need support in these difficult times. Thank you. And now for the pledge. 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 all. Member Felder, you're recognized. Good evening and thank you, Chair Jacobs. To whom much is given, much is required. Commissioner Mabel Butler epitomized this very saying. 98 years old and she would celebrate the entire month for birthday which was in May. with her passing we have lost a legendary community
005leader. She loved her community and with relentless resolve she championed the people who she loved and represented. She was a supporter of Orange County Public Schools where her children all attended the great Jones High. She was the first black woman, as Chair Jacobs mentioned, elected to serve not only on the Orland Orange County Commission, but she was elected also not appointed, but elected to serve on the Orlando City Council. Her leadership in fight and tireless work made our community stronger. Her sense of humor I will always remember was unmatched and she was in she impacted everyone who came in contact with her. She was down to earth. She would tell you exactly what was on her mind. And I remember during her early years as our city commissioner, there was a skating rink on West
006Colonial where children skated, you know, and on Saturday evenings, it was considered soul night, you know, black folk going to the skating ring. But the after 11:00, the children, they had what they call something called the skin to win. so stripping and I was like, "Oh my god." Commissioner Butler was an avid bridge player and she played cards and and she played cards. So I went to her house and I knocked on the door and I think one of her daughters asked I said, "Where's Commissioner Butler?" There she playing cards. I said, "Where is she playing cards?" And they told me exactly where she was playing. Said, "What's wrong?" I said, "I got an issue I need to go talk to my commissioner about." They said, "Okay, go ahead." So I walked in this big
007building. some of her friends were there. Commissioner I think Linda Carter I think she was there and a lot of folk they were playing cards. So I said Commissioner Butler she said yes baby how can I help you? I said they get neaked down here on West Colonial. I said I need you to do something. She says what what happened? So I told her everything but my point is she was the you know the commissioner and you could touch her, you could go to her, you could talk to her. I remember she told me when she first got on the city commissioner, people would call her and say, "They don't have enough money for grocery." Maybe say, "Okay, come over to the house. I got some money. You can buy some grocer." I mean, she
008was just so down to earth. She was one of the first persons to really zero in on making sure senior citizens in the Washington shores area got treated fairly and that she was instrumental in making sure El Claudia Allen was a senior citizen building that was suitable for people to come in their older age to exercise. And I try to do that as much as I possibly can to go to exercise. And she was never too busy for anybody to talk to. And I just remember I was running against her at one time in 2006 for the city commissioner in district 6 and her because her family my family and her we're close and so her daughter I'm running against her mom and she said go down and let Roy make you some shirts. I'm
009I'm competing with her and she instructs, you know, tells her daughter, "Make Vicki some shirts." Because when I was 25 years old, she came to my house, grabbed me and told my mom say, "Listen, I need this girl to be in politics. Come on, go with me. I want you to join the DEC. You need to be in politics. I need you to get yourself prepared to run for political office." I mean, nothing was too far-fetched for her. She was a really, really, really hands-on person and I'm going to miss her. But, you know, her work 98 years old, that's a long time to be living and to and to be as feisty as she was, but her her work was she it was well done. You know, I'm going to miss her, but it's
010it was she deserves the rest now. She deserves the rest. So, her guidance I needed and I appreciate it. She introduced me to so many things in politics and I want you to know to Commissioner Butler's family and those that loved her. We will always appreciate Commissioner Butler and her contributions to our community. Thank you for this time. Thank you, Member Felder. I knew you would do her breath. Thank you. Thank you. All right. we are going to move on to the agenda. Let me Dr. Vasco, do we have any changes to the agenda? No, Madam Chair, we do not. All right. With no changes, I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda. Motion by member Fon. Do we have a second? Second by member Felder. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Motion
011carries unanimously. we have no recognitions for this board meeting, but I believe we may have introductions of newly appointed administrators. Is that correct? yes, Madam Chair. We have one appointment this evening. Mr. Antonio Earl Cunningham is going to be the new assistant principal at Wolf Lake Middle School. Good evening. thank you school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Arm Brewster and staff for this opportunity to serve at Wolf Lake Middle School. I also want to thank Dr. Fritzler and Dr. Stany from the middle school office for their support. I don't want to offend anybody, but I must give the Lord thank you because he simply has been good to me. I want to thank all the athletic mentors who have encouraged me to step outside of the box and take this next step. Coach Jino
012Luben, Scott Williams, David Bailey, Mark Grik, and while she is no longer with us, Tammy Lafayette. Thank you to all the instructional mentors who have poured into me to prepare me for this moment. Mr. Andy Leftis, Miss Jackie Ramsay, and Miss Chang. A wise man once said, "I had not if I had not gone to East River High School, I don't know if I would be here." And I echo that statement. Thank you to my Falcon family, Mr. Anthony Russell, Miss Jennifer Fugate, Miss Jessica Atkins, Miss John, and Miss Nikki Campbell for always being a phone call away. Thank you to the fine folks from Wolf Lake who came to support tonight. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support and guidance. And to my best friend, thank you for all
013you have done and you will do for me and Kai on this journey. I'm excited for the next chapter and look forward to the ride. Well done. Thank you. Yes. Come on forward for a photo if you would. Congratulations. Yes. All right. Come on up. Come on up, Cindy. Everybody come on up. Oh my god. Nice support. It's not your fault. Just keep No, you can put your hands behind it like you care, but not too much, right? Oh yeah. Good, good, good lesson next week. Congratulations. Hey, how you doing? How's everything going? I know. That's good. That's good. All right. At this time, I would like to acknowledge elementary level principal representative Desiree Hotton, who is representing the Orange County Association of School Administrators this evening. Welcome. How are you? Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent
014Arbert Brewster and staff. My name is Desiree Hitchman H. Hotton, the proud principal of Shannondoa Elementary School and the Okasa Elementary principal representative. On behalf of the members of Okasa, we are proud to announce that we are united in purpose. As we continue to explore the power of common planning and guiding coalitions, it is a privilege to stand before you as a representative of educators who show up every day with heart, grit, and a deep belief in the potential of every student who walks through our doors. We love the commitment that the district has made to our students by providing schools with a strategic way to implement PLC's that have learning focused improvement targets. That means that students and staff are learning at higher levels. Today, I want to say thank you for providing us
015with a plan that provides a blueprint that transcends lesson plans and curriculum resource materials. You have given us something that defines the soul of a school. Common planning, shared goals, and the culture we build together. When we plan together, set goals together, and build culture together, the impact ripples far beyond the classrooms. Students feel it, families feel it, the community feels it. Because a school that moves in unison is a school that moves mountains. In an elementary school, PLC's can look several different ways depending on the planning of the guiding coalition. For each school, it depends on their needs. Our principal leaders have made themselves a valuable resource. For example, for me, Kadre 3, Mr. Lynlaw, and Cadre 7, Miss Davis Wilson have a vested interest in our schools doing well, and we often collaborate
016on best practices and how to truly think about collaborative team planning. Their teaching has been to remind us that the school is the professional learning community and that the instructional family inside is the collabor is the collab is to collaborate during common planning to keep our vision, mission and goals alive in every classroom. We all know that teaching is not a solo sport. It's a team endeavor. And when we engage in common planning, not just as logistical exercise, but as a strategic collaborative process, we unlock something powerful. We create alignment. We create clarity. We create momentum and this leads to student success. Thank you so much for your continued commitment to our students. I would also like to say a special thank you to my board member Alicia Ferrron and Nancy Conover. They really support
017the students of Shannondoa. Thank you so much. Thank you, principal. And I don't know how you nailed it to the second on your remarks, but that was pretty impressive. Any thank you so much for being here. And u Miss Diaz, it's always wonderful to have you in the chamber. She's the executive director for Okasa. Just a joy to to know and to work with. All right. we are going to move on to our public hearing. Before doing that, Mr. Almarini, do we have any speakers? You have four speakers, Madam Chair. All on the budget. Okay. So, we are on public hearing 3.01. And let's take our first speaker. First speaker is Jason Souza. Welcome, sir. Thank you. I'm gonna see if I can It takes a second, but if you'll just a little patient. It
018will go eventually. Or maybe not. There we go. That a little better. All right. So, yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. Okay. All right. Good evening. thank you for hearing me tonight. board members, I'm I'm a teacher at Timber Creek High School. I've been before this board a few times and, I'm speaking on behalf of CTA among, you know, our other interests. so on July 30th, the Florida's Commissioner of Education sent out a memo. It's out of the amount of money that's been committed to teacher raises and you know promising us this much needed much well-earned increase in pay and then in the same breath blame teacher unions for withholding you know that money for for for prolonging negotiations. I want to be careful how I address this. And we came to work. This was
019this was this is how we were greeted back to the school year. we dealt with parents coming to classrooms meeting teachers. we dealt with delays. We dealt with campuses that were in some cases not ready. we dealt with bus passes not being distributed to students. We dealt with resources that weren't ready. And still we come to work. You know, we get the job done. we start the school year. So, fast forward to the most recent bargaining session. and we're anxious to see the district's proposal on salary. We've heard that there is money ready for us. and news comes out that the district has shown up and they didn't do their homework. There was no there was no proposal. so we we think, okay, well, what gives? We're told that there's money for us. what is
020what is the truth in this situation and I know that there are reasons there was a you know after I have written my notes for tonight a news you can use went out talking about the amount of money that's allocated for teacher raises and you know there there will be discussions about this but my sentiments are that blaming the union when when that happens it others the union as some other entity we are the union. I am a teacher. I'm a CTA member. You know, I I represent the people at my school. I go to work. I do the work. And it seems as though the only people out here fighting for our livelihood, fighting to maintain teaching, particularly in Orange County Public Schools, as a viable career path, as as a valuable component of
021our school system, that we're the only ones out here. So, I want to borrow a phrase from Mike Leech, the a sound bite. and he and he said at one point, you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen. And that applies well in a classroom. And I believe it applies to this board when you look at your budget and decide, are we coaching our district to value educators or are we just allowing things to happen? There is no other option in my opinion. All right. Thank you, sir. Should I put it back down? I think I might be Your next speaker is Stefana Ferrell. Thank you. Not quite so tall. Yeah, that works. Hi again, Stefano Frell 34787. so I am here to speak on the budget and you know me, I have been
022advocating for four years and I will wholeheartedly put the blame where the blame is due and the state has underfunded our district for a number of years. we have not kept up with the cost of living inflation. we have made record record revenue and while they can say they've given record money to education, we know that it is not actually translating to our public schools and I appreciate you all providing that information in the budget presentations. but I will say we can't just say again throw our hands up in the air and say we can't do better. and we can't we can't do what needs to be done in this moment to make sure that our teachers are taken care of. because they are the reason why parents commit themselves to our public schools. Let's
023not fool ourselves. we love our schools because of the teachers that are in them. And while we spend a lot of time catering to the minority of people that have already fled our public schools for their own personal reasons, I don't think we do enough to think about what is really drawing parents to stay in our schools. And when that comes to, you know, our the amount of money that we have, I know it's hard to work with. I know it's hard to make sure that all of the different programs are funded and taken care of. my own students have lost, especially my middle schooler lost a number of classes that he really loved. I know that, you know, we're piloting cutting back on on sending K through 8 home with computers because my kids
024are one of those schools. I know that you're looking at ways to save money. we just got to do better and we can't blame our teachers. we can't we can't direct the blame at the unions for fighting for a livable wage because they absolutely wholeheartedly deserve it. And we have to be careful in this moment. the state's gonna scapegoat them, escape goat them, but y'all have to be better. so I just wanted to share that. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Frell. Next speaker. Your next speaker is Anna O'Brien. Forgive me. This is my first time speaking at a school board meeting. I don't have written notes, so bear with me. Absolutely. I wanted to come and talk today because I there was a principal round table at my school today. Alicia Ferrant was there representing
025district 3. And one of the issues that was brought up was school lunch. I'm a high school junior and since going to Boone High School, entering the OCPS, I've met a lot of different people, including people like athletes. And the specific issue I wanted to bring up today is school lunch. Because sometimes I go to I go to the cafeteria and see what's in line and it looks like strings of plastic over synthetic chicken. And I know that sounds ridiculous, but that's the reality. Like some students rely on what's provided that day for breakfast, lunch, supper. And then there are some people with like athletes. I've might remember this, but there was one guy sitting next to me. He had like 30 40 lbs on me. He says that for his nutrient requirements as an
026athlete, he sometimes has to grab grab lunch three times because a small piece of chicken on bread might not be enough. So, I this one I was just wanting to bring up if there could be any adjustments made in order to make sure that students have a nutrient enough lunch or that there's like there's enough calories, nutrients, what have you. But, I mean, I some people rely on this stuff. I mean, I don't, but I obviously make that choice to have school lunch instead of bringing my own just because of like that personal like expense side of it. So, thank you for your time. Thank you and thanks for coming. You did a great job. Yeah, you did. Good job. Our next speaker, next speaker is Clinton McCracken. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening,
027Chair Jacobs, members of the board, Dr. Vasquez, and community members. I've said this before and I'll say it again because it remains both true and urgent. A budget is not just a spreadsheet. A budget is a statement of priorities, a reflection of what is valued most. Every line item tells a story. We know that Tallahassee continues to underfund public schools. But even with those constraints, our educators are asking you, our local leaders, to send a clear message that you value the work done in our schools above all else. Does this budget reflect that? Will it invest in educators or layers of administration? Will it deepen trust in teachers or grow more resentment? Florida ranks 50th in the nation for average teacher pay. That number isn't just abstract. It's the teacher grading work until late and
028then driving for three hours each night for a ride share instead of spending time with his family. It's the veteran teacher who can't qualify for a mortgage, can't keep up with rent, and has to move back in with her parents. It's the brand new teacher who's already making a difference for students, but is questioning how long she can afford to stay in this profession. And it's the teacher who recently shared that she is selling her plasma to make ends meet. These are not outliers. They these are passionate, highly trained professionals who pour themselves into their students and their schools every single day. Many hold advanced degrees. They serve as mentors, advocates, and often lifelines. They should be able to pay their bills without side hustles. They should be able to afford to take a vacation
029every once in a while, afford to buy a house, build up a savings and a retirement account. They should be able to have their weekends free so that they can contribute to other aspects of our community that they care deeply about instead of having to go to their second or the third job. And yet many of them are barely hanging on. We are proud of this district's achievements, our A rating, our commitment to equity and excellence, but none of that happens without the educators who are making it possible. A strong budget begins with investing in the people who do the work. Pay shouldn't be treated as what's left over. It should be the starting point. When you prioritize fair and competitive compensation first, you create stability and commitment. From there, the rest of the budget
030can be structured to support programs, resources, and long-term goals. Budgets speak louder than words. Please let this one say, "We value our teachers. We're listening and we're acting. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. McCracken. Mr. Palmer, Madam Chair, there's no more speakers. All right. Thank you. just checking. Have we heard from member Gallo? She's on with us. Okay. Yeah. I don't need her to speak. I just wanted to recognize for the record that she's engag engaged in the meeting. All right. that completes our speakers. We're now on to adoption of the millillage. Dr. Basquez, any comments from you? thank you, Madam Chair. It's time for the board to consider final adoption of your budget for the 2526 school year. Dorian Concalino, our chief financial officer, will walk us through and then the board will take appropriate
031action. As a reminder, the task tonight is to adopt the total millage and then approve the final budget. Miss Concalino. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Jacobs, board members, Superintendent Vasquez. Tonight, I bring to you the 2026 final operating capital and other budgets. With me is Judith Padres, senior executive director with the office of management and budget and she will present the general fund portion of the presentation. Also with me is Ernes Baptiste, director office of management and budget and he will be presenting the capital portion. The slides are not updated. There here we go. Thank you. Here is our agenda for today's presentation. We will review the proposed mill proposed budget and ultimately you will need to adopt the total millage and then approve the budget. When we're talking about millage rates, you're talking about
032property taxes. And property taxes impact both residential and commercial property. who is responsible for each component that determines your property taxes. Just value or a property's market value comes from the property appraiser. The save our homes cap is established by the legislature. The legislature also establishes exemptions such as the homestead exemption and they determine the millage rate which is then approved by the board. Here are our property tax values to help fund the current school year. These dollars benefit both the operating and capital budgets. Last year, we had a 4.56% increase in taxable values. The current projection published in August by the Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimates an escalation of 6.34% in 2025 and further increases of 5 to 8% per year over the next 5 years. The required local effort or RLE
033is a specific amount that we must levy to receive state funding. This is equalized statewide so that if our assessments go up, our state revenues go down. Discretionary millage is the maximum amount allowed by law. Because we levy the full amount, we receive 18.3 million in additional state dollars to get us up to the state average per student. The additional voted millage is the amount overwhelmingly approved by the voters in August of 2022 and will continue to provide muchneeded operating funds in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Capital projects millillage is the maximum amount allowed by law to support the capital program and is now shared with charter schools. Overall, there is a rate decrease of 0015 mills or 23%. This is the history of Orange County Public Schools millage rates required local effort set by
034the state is the red rate in the middle of each bar. You can see that the RLE has decreased by 2.224 224 mill since 2010 and that the current school tax rates remain at historical lows. The legislature sets the millage rate school districts are required to levy. The rolled back rate is a calculation that eliminates the impact of increased valuation. It is only used in the advertisement of the budget and in the millillage adoption language. The required local effort is 4% over the roads back rate and the total millage is 4.24% over the rolled back rate. With Save Our Homes, residential property can only increase at 3% or CPI which is consumer price index from December to December whichever is less. CPI is 2.95% and therefore 2.95% is the maximum increase for applicable assessed values.
035With the increase of 2.95% in assessed value and a decrease in the tax rate of.23% the homeowner of a $355,800 home will pay $56 more in taxes. Commercial property is not limited by Save Our Homes when the increase in property values are combined with the 23% decrease in the millage rate. The change in taxes paid for the owner of a piece of commercial property valued at $1 million is an increase of $262 for the year or about $22 per month. As you can see, the budget process is continuous year round. Remember the budget is a plan for the year. We must adopt a millillage and approve a total amount for the budget. How the dollars are spent is not set in stone and it can be amended throughout the year. The budget summary identifies items
036that affect the district budget. Uncertainty around the 2026 federal funding has largely subsided. The release of federal grant funds is essential to preserving federally funded staff and programs without relying on temporary support from oper operating fund reserves. Still, Title One funding adjustments resulted in a reduction with OCPS absorbing a 3.2% cut or approximately $2.3 million. The Florida Department of Education has released has yet excuse me to release the 20254th FEFP calculation typically issued in April which outlines the final district funding. Despite this, districts must adopt a balanced budget without knowing their starting balance. There was an unexpected reduction to the fiscal year 2025 final FEFP dispersement of $4.1 million. Continuing with the budget summary, there is an incremental increase in the teacher salary increase allocation of nearly $7.5 million of which the district will realize
0376.7 and charter schools will receive their proportionate share equal to $750,000. Although safe schools funding remains flat for fiscal year 2026, the district negotiated a 1.39% increase with our law enforcement partners to secure SRO's for all of our schools. Mental health assistant dollars also remain flat for fiscal year 2026 and will be used for direct mental health services and resources for students. A new categorical fund named academic acceleration options was established to replace the previously weighted FTE model for acceleration programs such as AP, IB, ACE, CAPE, and dual enrollment. The purpose of the fund is to incentivize and support academic acceleration. The allocation is not additional dollars, but rather funding that was carved out of the base student allocation to support academic acceleration. The opening of one new school in August impacts the operating budget
038and these costs are folded into the general fund. As a reminder, this budget includes funding for traditional schools, charter schools, and scholarships for students in private schools. Statewide for fiscal year 2026, 72,653 more scholarship students were added to the FEFP. The increase to family empowerment scholarship enrollment is evident along with the decline in traditional school enrollment. Charter school students and scholarship students combined are comprising a larger portion of the total budget. And this budget maintains focus on the district's strategic plan. Here is a summary of the five major funds that make up the operating budget. Each fund has unique types of revenues and appropriations designed to accomplish specific purposes. This budget includes carry forward projects within the capital projects budget. In the tenative budget, capital projects was 2.1 billion and now we are at 3.7
039billion. Special revenue includes our food service program as well as other special revenue. And now Judith will present the general fund. Good evening. And now the general fund. The general fund is the operating budget of the school district. The primary source of funding comes from the Florida Education Finance Program or FFP. Per student funding is equalized statewide. Equalization means that increased revenue from local sources does not necessarily cause an overall increase in funding. For instance, an increase an increase in required local effort revenues is offset by a reduction in state revenues. The additional voted millage is not equalized which means we keep the revenues generated to benefit the students of OCPS estimated revenues. This slide shows actual FTE for past years along with the projection for this year as well as a breakdown of FTE
040by traditional charter and scholarship students. Total FTE reflected in the to in the top dark blue line incorporates all K12 students. However, it does not include VPK. Our current projection for fiscal year 2026 is 230,961 FTE, an increase of 3,354 FTE over the third calculation of the prior year of 227,67. Based on projections from student enrollment, traditional schools, as reflected in the orange line, are expected to decline in 2026 by an estimated 3,000 FTE to 180,649. The light blue line highlights the steady increase in scholarships FTE. Family empowerment scholarship FTE was folded into district counts starting in 2019. Scholarships are forecasted to increase by 5,154 FTE to 30,617 and charter schools as reflected in the green line are forecasted to grow by 837 FTE to 19,696. This chart shows per student funded funding from the
041second calculation since July of 2007. We use the second calculation because that is a calculation in effect when the budget is adopted. Using the same data point each year allows us to track long-term trends. Even though funding has increased over time, the district still has less purchasing power than in 2007. The line above the funding bars reflects the effect of the annual increase to the consumer price index when applied to the 2007 funding per student and demonstrates that FFP funding hasn't kept up with rising expenses. For this year, FFP funding will increase by $138 per student or 1.55% bringing the total to $9,012. This is a positive step, but still doesn't restore the district's purchasing power to pre-recession levels when adjusted for inflation. The special millage shown in dark blue generates $1,217 per student. When
042the FFP is combined with the special millage, total per student funding has increased by $210 or 2.1% compared to last year. However, even with the additional funding support, the district still has about $1,374 less buying power per student than it did in July of 2007. Thank you to the voters of Orange County for supporting the special millage, which helps tremendously to sustain the programs in our schools. Total state appropriations. This graph represents the total state appropriations as a percentage of the total budget over the last four years. For 2026, the total state budget comprised of all funds increase by 19.4 billion or about 20%. The first grouping education includes early learning, public schools, community colleges, and universities. As you can see, the percentage of the state budget assigned to education decreased from 30% of the
043budget to 27%. Although education and human services constitute the largest portion of the state budget, the legislature prioritized an investment in transportation estimated at 15 billion. As you can see in the fourth grouping, this investment includes major highway projects including the I4 and beyond project. Represented in this graph is all education general revenue appropriations as a percentage of the total budget over the last four years. As noted earlier, education includes early learning, public schools, community colleges, and universities. This graph separates public schools into two categories, reflecting family empowerment scholarships separately from traditional and charter schools and highlights the increase in funding for schools along with the corresponding decline in funding for district traditional and charter schools. The data compares the first calculation to the first calculation except in 2023 when the se second calculation is
044used. Traditional schools and charter schools combined reflect reflect a decline in general revenue funding from 63% in 2023 to 52% in 2026. While fees funding for private school scholarships steadily increasing from from nearly 7% of general revenue in 2023 to 17% in 2026. Legislative efforts have contributed to the increase in fees funding as well as enrollment shifts away from traditional schools. In the early years of the Florida lottery, 60 to 70% of lottery dollars coming to education were for public schools. That number is now only 30%. Of the 30%, nine of these dollars would be considered educational enhancements. 82% supports the regular FEFP funding and 18% is for the district's post-secondary program. The school recognition program which could be considered educational enhancement is not funded not funded through the lottery in 2026. Again this year
045the program is funded using general revenue non-FFP funds. The orange color bars at the top represent 30% of lottery funds and is funding the bright future scholarship program. Now, here's the breakdown of our estimated revenues by source. There's very little change in this percentages. The small federal slice represents what we get in Medicaid reimbursement and ROC funding. Board priorities. The board has prioritized safe schools and this budget includes funding to secure SRO's for all of our schools and to pursue other initiatives and strategies to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Competitive wages are vital to recruiting and retaining employees. Recognizing that employee competi compensation is a board priority and given limited funding coupled with the district's existing financial obligations, it has become necessary to implement budgetary adjustments to afford a salary increase within
046the constraint budget. Slide 26 includes other budget items to consider. The teacher salary increase allocation requirement will cost the district 7.5 million. The new Florida retirement system employer contribution rates will cost 4.9 million to OCPS for all funds. The 1.39% rate increase for the school for school resource officers will cost the district 310,000 more in 2026. This budget includes funding for traditional schools, charter schools, and scholarships for students in private schools. For fiscal year 2026, OCPS is estimated to have 30,617 scholarships going to private schools to the tune of 211 million, which will reduce the district's final state revenue appropriation. Teacher classroom supply assistance funds have been rolled into the base student allocation. Yet, there is still a requirement for districts to allocate dollars for the program. For fiscal year 26, districts are required to
047allocate $300 per eligible classroom teacher to fund this program. The estimated cost to OCPS is approximately 3.6 million. Healthcare costs continue to rise at a pace that challenges the employee benefits trust financial sustainability. Despite stabilization efforts, the employee benefits trust fund remains structurally imbalanced. The current deficit already reflects nearly 30 million in negotiated savings from new contracts with Sigma and CVS. To preserve the solvency of the trust, the board will consider transfers totaling an estimated 54.5 million or more across fiscal years 2025 and 2026. General fund reserves are no longer sufficient to absorb recurring transfers, prompting the need for a long-term sustainable solution that balances recurring revenues with projected obligations. This slide also highlights spending litigation between Walt Disney World and the Orange County Property Appraiser, which will likely impact the district's property tax revenues.
048Current estimates suggest a potential annual revenue reduction, ranging from 6.5 million to 13 million. However, the final financial impact will remain uncertain until the litigation concludes and property valuation is adjusted. As a reminder, the board previously approved a $119 million transfer to the Orange County Tax Collector. These funds represent the estimated combined traditional and charter school repayment obligation for tax years 2015 through 2025. The funds are currently held in an interestbearing escrow account on beha on behalf of the school board of Orange County and will be applied towards any repayment determined necessary. The district will collaborate with our charter schools to establish a repayment schedule. This transfer was funded through a combination of general operating fund reserves and capital improvement tax reserves. Functional appropriations remain fairly constant with 76% of all appropriations in in the
049instruction and instructional support functions. The district continues to have the lowest administrative cost per student among large urban districts in the state. This concludes the general fund portion of our budget presentation and Ernest will take you through the capital slides. Good evening. Capital projects fund. The total capital budget is $3.7 billion. This budget includes carryover funding for projects that are in progress. This budget relies on local funding sources as state level contributions remain limited. The district's capital program is supported by three main revenue streams. Sales sur tax, property tax, and impact fees. These funds are primarily allocated for comprehensive renovations, district-wide capital projects, debt service, and transfers. This chart shows the 5-year forecast of capital revenues. The light blue line represents the state appropriation for capital outlay and debt service. This budget projects the allocation
050of at $8.6 million which is the proport which is the portion of state funding designated specifically for our traditional schools. The dollars are earmarked for safety purposes. The purple line shows the funding the state provides for charter capital called PICO funds. As we have mentioned before, these are pass through dollars that flow directly to charter schools. For fiscal year 26, we anticipate charter schools will will receive 11.7 million, but the final allocation will be determined by the state later in the fiscal year. The gold bar shows the sales tax revenue projections. These projections are based on current collection trends, the latest forecast from the office of economic and demographic demographic research, and the recently approved sales tax extension, which takes effect in January 2026. For this fiscal year, revenues are estimated at $383.7 million, reflecting
051a modest increase over the last year's collections. The dark blue bar shows the projections for impact fees for fiscal year 26. An estimated $59 million is forecasted. This projection is based on the previous year revenue collection. As you know, we are in the process of updating an impact fee study. Once that is completed, these projections will be updated accordingly. The orange bar represents the revenues for the 1 1.5 capital mill funding source and is based on the district's property valuation for fiscal year 26. The district is anticipating to collect $363.5 million of which approximately 16.5 million will be shared with charter schools. This graph illustrates the recommended capital projects use of funds for fiscal year 26. Carry forward funds are incorporated into the budget. The largest portion of our budget is used for comprehensive needs
052at 58%. This includes the schools in the sales tax list, the pre203 schools, schools that are that based on the age of their buildings are scheduled for a renovation, and schools that are being repurposed. This is followed by district-wide capital at 20%. Which includes appropriations for district-wide construction, capacity enhancement, ancillary projects, capital renewal, painting projects, and site improvements. The third largest recommended use of funding is debt service and transfers at 8%. These are appropriations needed to cover our debt service obligation, the sales tax transfer to the capital renewal fund, and a transfer for maintenance and transportation purposes. The long-term adopted capital plan also includes funding for the following comprehensive renovation projects, including schools in the original sales tax list, the pre203 schools and schools that based on the age of their building require a renovation.
053There is funding to build 13 additional relief schools, nine elementary, two middle, and two high schools. This is based on the recommendation from the advanced planning committee and the approval of the capital program steering committee. Capacity enhancement projects. These are projects primarily intended to add permanent instructional space and reduce some portable instructional spaces. Funding is also included for repurposing projects at Orlando Gifted, Cherokee, Esteem Academy, and OCVS Virtual Gateway. Capital renewal. In accordance with the referendum, a portion of the sales tax revenues is transferred to the capital renewal fund to cover major system replacement needs. This plan continues to fund that transfer. These are the funded five-year new school openings. There is one new elementary that opened this past August. Next year, we will be opening two elementary schools as as shown on this slide.
054While this slide highlights only three new relief schools, additional relief schools are included in the overall plan. However, they are scheduled to open beyond the current 5-year window and are therefore not shown on this slide. Comprehensive projects are in construction. In this slide, we show all the schools that have a comprehensive project that is moving into the construction phase this fiscal year. Chain of Lakes, Esteem Academy, North Lake Park, Oakshshire, Okoy Middle School, and Palmetto are all entering the construction phase in fiscal year 26. All of these schools, with the exception of Esteee Academy, are part of the pre203 sales tax list. As you know, we have other projects that are on their second year of construction that are not shown on this slide. Comprehensive projects in design phase. Bay Meadows, Boone, Bridgewater, Colonial 9th
055Grade Center, Gotham Middle, Lakeville, Lockheart Middle School, Odyssey, Piedmont Lakes, Pinewood, Robinswood, South Creek, Southwood are entering the design phase this fiscal year. This long-term capital plan also includes funding for the continuation of district security enhancement and life safety projects, school bus vehicles and equipment replacement, including school video equipment upgrades at our schools, funding for portable moves, and leasing to help manage population fluctuations. Charter school funding includes the funds that the state appropriates for charter maintenance dollars 11.7 million their share of the 1.5 capital mill as required by house bill 1259 and projected to 16.5 million and their proportionate share of the sales tax 3 program 14.1 million. There are also dollars included in the plan for ancillary projects as well as for technology infrastructure and equipment refresh and upgrades. And now the debt service
056fund. This fund is used to retire retire the indebtedness the school district has incurred for construction projects. The primary source of funds is a transfer from the capital projects fund. The special revenue fund. The special revenue fund includes the district's food service program and special revenue other funds. These other funds are primarily school internal accounts and extended day programs. Other federal grants such as title one and IDA are amended into the budget as approved. The food service program is supported primarily by federal reimbursement, USDA commodities, and also from fees charged for adult meals served. For the 2026 school year, all OCPS students will receive free meals regardless of income. This initiative is made possible through the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision or C. Our four most recently opened schools, three of which opened last August 2024,
057as well as the one school that opened this August 2025, cannot yet participate in the C program. However, we've derived a strategy with FNS to order meal offer meals at no cost at these four schools. C is an option for school districts operating child nutrition programs and is administer administered by the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA. The C provision ensures all students have access to nutritious meals at no cost removing the stigma associated with receiving free or reduced priced meals. The special revenue other fund funds restricted or committed for are restricted or committed for specific purposes. School internal accounts are used to account for monies collected and dispersed by each school through fundraisers and other student related extracurricular and co-curricular activities. Extended day accounts are used to account for all monies collected and
058dispersed in support of the program. The extended day programs before and after school activity provides a safe and supportive environment for children. The main source of revenue is user fees. Now the internal service fund. The internal service fund accounts for the district's employee benefits trust fund, property casualty loss fund, and printing services fund. The employee benefits trust fund revenue comes from board contributions for employee coverage and deductions for employee and dependent coverage. The expenditures of this fund include payments for medical claims, prescription claims, and mental health. The board contribution for employeeonly coverage is $10,555 per benefited employee at a cost of $27 million to the operating budget. As noted earlier, health care costs continue to rise, reflecting national trends and placing added pressure on the employee benefits trust fund. We've taken significant steps to stabilize
059the trust, including securing new medical and prescription contracts at substantial savings as well as the implementation of people one health. Still, a structural imbalance remains as contributions are not offsetting claims costs, thus necessitating a transfer from general fund reserves. The district offers four plan options. The short shore fit plan offers a nocost option for employeeonly coverage. People want health, the new health care option available to employees enrolled in an OCPS medical plan and their eligible family members has been positively received. Enrollment in People One Health provides access to highquality primary care with zero out-ofpocket expenses for employees and eligible family members. The property casualty loss fund includes payments for property liability and workers compensation claims. Revenues for this fund are from charges to other funds. The printing service fund is self-supporting and receives revenues from
060charges for services to schools and departments. Now, this concludes the other budgets. I will turn it back over to the superintendent for comments and discussion. Once discussion is complete, the total millage must be adopted and subsequently the 202526 budget will need to be adopted. Dr. Vasquez. thank you Miss Conalino, Miss Padres, and Mr. Jean Matis for your work and diligence regarding this budget. members of the board, as required by statute, I present to you a balanced budget for the 202526 school year. As mentioned by Miss Concalino, our budget remains fluid throughout the years. We make necessary amendments when required. For members of the public who may not be aware, we work on our budget from January until this time, and the board has had numerous work sessions and discussions, one-on-one meetings, and the tenative budget
061hearing in July. We request your adoption of the millillage and your approval of the final budget. We certainly are ready to answer any additional questions and hear your comments. Thank you, Dr. Vasquez. Member Salamanca, you're recognized. thank you, chair, and thank you both of you for for the work you do on this. I know that as we know we've been frustrated with how long the state took to give us some of the numbers and I think it was a historic delay on Tallahassee ever giving a budget. and so I share some of the frustrations on our inability to provide numbers in a variety of different ways. I don't know if we even have gotten some of the calculations for fourth calculation. We have not gotten the fourth calculation. I did mention that some place in
062the presentation, but we have not received that yet. So there there are still even numbers that we have not received that kind of play into how we think about this budget and so I appreciate one how quickly you turned this around. and I know that we still have some numbers that are not even as final as we would like them to be. a couple of questions. So in slide number four where we are talking about the taxable values. okay. So I I generally if if folks have been watching the news, there's been some early signs that there's some real belief that we could be entering a recession. And I believe at least in home values, we've started to see some markets in Florida already drop in home value, especially in South Florida. And I guess
063one of the questions I had and it's unfortunate because this chart doesn't go back to ' 08 on how much or this if we went to go back to 0807 when things went down. Do you have a sense of what those numbers were or like the decrease the de the decrease in the property values at at that time? I would have to get back to you on that number. Okay. It would be it would be great to have. I know that I was doing some research from the Orange County tax collectors on the historical data of '08 all the way to 12 and basically every year from 08 all the way to 2012 the tax collector lost seven and up to 19% per year on this side. I don't know if that's how we saw
064it at Orange like from our end on the board. but I think one of the concerns that I have long term is in the case of a recession and long-term property values once again dipping. I mean, we saw in Florida, I think it was 40 50% drop in property values back in those days. I don't think that we will get to that terrible of a place in the economy because it won't be a mortgage bubble this time. but I am afraid that's going to impact us. And so I think in general when we're looking at some of these projections and my question is how much of these projections account perhaps on the variability versus not the variability of a recession. I personally was surprised at seeing the increase that is reflected from the off from
065the August analysis by the econom the office of economic and demographic research. I think personally that the next five years property value increase is high. Yeah. I guess from us and we have to do most of our projections based on these numbers as well, right? Correct. So we can't use our own adjustments. I mean we could but but in the end our budget has to match the state and the property values. Got it. Okay. Well, I'll just put it on the record. are very concerned about what the underlying data that we do a lot of our projections even begins with because I think we as a board and I think staff and teachers and folks that are impacted by the budget are frustrated when we miss out net on projections but I look at some
066of these numbers and I worry what we're projecting based on because I do think those those chances are really high on on the properties themselves if something were to happen and Florida is uniquely vulnerable when it comes to all of this. and if I might add, this also at this point there's the assumption that we continue to get the property tax. We're not sure what Yes. Not not even to mention that. which is a good question and some a question that we get from the public a lot. So, I'm going to ask it, which is if we remove property taxes from the state of Florida, how does that impact us as a district? So I would say from the FEFP assuming all things remain the same the FFP is equalized. So what if if property
067taxes go down then state revenue would go up to that to that per student dollar amount. However the additional voted millage comes to us of course we share proportionate share with charter schools. If there were no property values, the additional millage is not equalized. I I can't foresee what that would look like for us. Got it. Helpful. Okay. And then on slide 26 is my next question. So the $211 million here are So this accounts for money that goes through us but is for charter schools and scholar scholarship students. Is that right? Just scholarships and it actually is reflected in our total revenue but it doesn't even run through us. So at the end of the year, so we have the 211 shows up on our books correct as revenue but at the end of
068the year we never get it and then it is not reflected but initially when we submit the budget it must be reflected. Got it. Okay. I want I want also that's one of the frustrating parts when when you look at your budget and your bank account and you have potential income of two and 11 but it actually never is in your bank account. That's a little tough. okay. The other one was the teacher classroom supply assistance. So, can you explain a little bit of what happened there on how it got rolled in and kind of the requirements just a little bit further. So, three years ago now when with the overhaul of the FFP, there were four I believe it was four categorical funds that were separate funding sources that got rolled into the base
069student allocation. this being one of them, but the requirement did not didn't wasn't eliminated. therefore, we're still required to to pay this amount, but I mean, we can make an assumption that the dollars are included in our BSA, but there's no transparency there. So yeah, I think you know this is probably one of the most frustrating parts of the past year with the budget that I will say when I was talking to to families and teachers about the BSA, right? And I think this one's a good one to clarify and I'll I'll wrap up after this one, John. for all of us, you know, we manage, you know, the budget in terms of let's talk about our personal budgets. This would be the equivalent of if let's say you have budget A for item A
070probably food, budget B for you know clothes, budget C for transportation, right? Let's say we have $10 dollars allocated per each of those. And the next year you decide you're only going to have allocation $10 for part A, $10 for part B, and your general budget is supposed to absorb that, right? So you would imagine that $10 gets taken in by the general budget. That's not what it is. That number isn't going up proportionally by that, right? So say your fund money instead of the, you know, budget A is $10, budget B is 10, C is 10, and let's say you have fun money of $10, and you're like, okay, I'm actually just going to put everything into fund budget. You still keep A at 10, B at 10, but your base only goes up
071by 15, right? So the question is, well, where did the other five go? If you add them up, right? We're not at $30 anymore. We're at 25. So, we have three budget lines, but there's $5 missing. And so, it doesn't add up. And I think one of the most frustrating things from Tallahassee is that they keep telling us the BSA is going up. So, your general budget is going up. But when I track every single budget line that is getting rolled into the BSA, we call it my discretionary money. The money doesn't add up. Correct. What's being subtracted here isn't showing up in the BSA. And so I get questions on why we have less money when the BSA is going up. And the thing is that it's not going up proportionally to what the
072budget line is decreasing as. I don't you know I want us to be able to communicate this a little bit more broadly because my frustration there is that it's an increase in percentage or in dollars but it's not really proportional. and so for this one, I I don't know. I know the teacher classroom supply assistant is one of those. It disappeared as a budget line. It supposedly is now in the BSA, but we don't we don't know where that came from, right? But we're still responsible for that. And of course, we will have it. so I will express that as as I go through the budget line of last year to this year and I try to literally just track the dollars, they're not there in the same way, but we're still responsible for the
073same amount. And so I will share that for the public the BSA is not always reflective of actual increases in education budget. Sometimes the BSA is just reshuffling of money to a new budget line but actually it is by less amount of money than that. the teacher classroom supply was one of those. I will say we were very successful and thank you to the community that advanced studies right it was AP ACE was also going to be rolled into the BSA but we were not able to track that budget line and increase the BSA by that much. So we knew that was at risk. A lot of parents and students and teachers stood up to say don't do this. And I think that was a successful a way to do that. But in the future,
074I think this is going to be a continued tactic to roll things into the BSA and say there's an increase in that. and so I urge the community to stay mindful of what an increase in BSA looks like when the state talks about it. and I will just say I'm I'm very concerned that is a new tactic. Thank you. Thank you, Member Salamanca. Member. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for this presentation. you all communicate so clearly. I really appreciate it and I know we've had a lot of time to talk through it so I only have a couple of questions. one thing actually just building off of what member Salamanca said the academic acceleration options that actually currently is a categorical which was saved in essence but I think the fear is that
075it could be rolled into the BSA. Correct. The academic acceleration is actually new this year as a categorical. Yes. And that is the concern that board member Salamanca is speaking up. Okay. so my question is let's see I'll start on I just wanted to start on page 12. and I think this was an update from the last time, but in the you indicated that there was a reduction to the 25 fiscal year 25 with a $4.1 million. What was that? Do we know what that was the result of? that is the situation and and I'll say that's likely why although we haven't gotten any firm communication but likely why we have not received the fourth fep calculation is because there were dual counted scholarship students both receiving scholarship funding as well as being on district
076rosters. and we have we are being withheld dollars because there was not enough dollars in the total appropriated FEFP to pay out all the districts. So it was like a proration. I'll say we're still waiting to find out if we'll get paid for those dual counted students. I don't know that. Okay. So, so in essence, it's money that went to like taxpayer funded schools, but the students are actually educated in Orange County Public Schools. Yes. Okay. Thank you. okay. Okay, the second question was on page 15 or I'm sorry on page 20 and I see that as and you mentioned that the funding for education decreased but the funding for transportation significantly increased and I'm wondering giving given all of the transportation issues that so many of the districts across the state are facing. Did
077school districts did get any of that money that was funded for transportation? No, these are road projects rail, airports, and port terminals I believe are included in the transportation. H interesting. Okay, thank you. and my last question today is on page 26 when we're talking about the Disney funds and we had talked about this before the Disney litigation and the amount of money that the charter schools will also have to repay. I just wanted to confirm that there's no agreement of a repayment schedule. They but they know that the money is due and we have not decided how that will be repaid yet. Right. Correct. Okay. May I? Yes. Sorry, Dr. Basquez. You're recognized. So they have been notified of the amount that they should be reserving. in order to pay back the debt. If
078they do not have the money, some or all of it, then my understanding is that any future revenues they would be getting would be withheld until the total amount is paid back. Okay. So, that would just be withheld from the tax collector. Correct. Okay. Okay. I just want to make sure that we're not you know that we're not fronting any money for anything. No. Okay. Great. Thank you so much and thanks so much for the presentation. Thank you member Vanos member Fant. Thank you madam chair and thank you team for all your hard work. I know it was not easy. I know we were kind of scrambling here you know a few weeks ago just trying to make sure that all the you know account for some of the decrease we've had in students. so
079I appreciate all your hard work. my question is also on this page the 26 really when we're talking about the employee benefit trust that is one that I am definitely concerned about because I do feel like we are losing a lot of money it seems you know as we look the last you know three years if you will just since I've been on the board we are definitely pushing a lot of extra funding into the benefit trust so that's something I think we really need to look at how we can stop that. I feel like it's I guess in medical terms it's bleeding and so we got to you know stop the bleed and figure out how we can you know help that whether it's you know adding a different plan or I'm not even
080sure but that is something I think we definitely need to be looking at so we're not doing this every year because that is funds that we could be using for teacher pay or or whatnot. so I guess my question is what can we you know, if we were to continue to have to put money into that, what does that look like long term? So we can't continue to take from fund balance because we're getting to levels now where what is remaining in our unassigned contingency we need for hurricanes or pandemics or whatever things things happen. a few years back it's reflected in in the book we paid $12 million I think it was in 2023 for hurricanes. So we need to have access eventually we get FEMA reimbursement but that could be 3 four years
081out. So we need to preserve some of our unassigned fund balance for contingencies. in terms of the employee benefit trust we have to in increase revenue. We have to decrease claims cost to bring it in line. So, increasing revenue, board contributions, employee premiums in decreasing claims costs, we can make plan changes so there's a higher out of pocket so the trust doesn't begin to pay maybe at at $300, it begins to pay at $750 or $1,000. so we have to make those adjustments both increasing revenue, decreasing claims costs in order to be structurally sound. Okay. It's going to be a lot of talking here soon, I'm sure, to kind of figure that out and see what we can do to help our employees. the other thing is really just a comment. I think, something that,
082you know, I'll be advocating for in Tallahassee is trying to get this family empowerment scholarship off of the books for any public school. I think all of us have, you know, I think we feel the same way. It's the same thing in our own family. Like, if I knew, you know, if there was always a line for $3,000 a month that I had or a year, whatever it was, and that money actually wasn't for me, it was just there. It's for somebody, you know, my neighbor. I don't want it on my books. I don't even want to see it like take it off. and so I think that would be really beneficial and maybe something that you know back when the family empower empowerment scholarship was maybe more minimal, maybe it didn't really matter, but
083now that more families are taking advantage of it, I just don't even think it needs to be there. It makes it creates more confusion than anything. And so, that's something that I'll be, you know, advocating for to get, pushed out. And I think there are quite a few things that would be, it sounds like in Tallahassee, maybe it sounds good at their table, but then when it's implemented, it isn't working as well. And so, definitely things that, you know, as schoolboard members, we could be advocating for to to help. completely agree with you as does the other 66 districts in the state of Florida because that is one of the items that as a finance council across the state and CFOs across the state are championing to champion to move that off of our and
084create a separate district like FLVS. Thank you so much Dorene and your team. I appreciate your Thank you. Thank you, member Fant. Member Salamanca. Okay, last two questions. Sorry, you know, budget's my thing. notes. Okay. back to 45, which is the employee benefit trust. So, a couple of things and speaking to the last slide, which we'll maybe talk about the FEMA one, and then we can talk about the slide 45 when we get there. You mentioned that in the past when we go through disasters and we have to tap into some of that's where we sometimes FEMA used to give us and reimburse us. Is that would they always do the total amount like what what historically first hour our insurance we have to pay we have to pay our deductibles and then like hurricane
085time. So hurricane comes, we pay our deductible for the damages and then whatever we pay that does. So is it that the insurance gets paid back on by FEMA or how does just like the cash flow of that in the past? So we will pay insurance and anything that's not covered by insurance we'll submit to FEMA for possible reimbursement as well. so we just finished Hurricane Irma which is 2017. So, it's not quick on getting the reimbursement. Okay. How All right. how much did we get reimbursed for that for Irma was just a little over $5 million. I think when we had Ian hit a few years ago, I think between the insurance and FEMA, I think right now we've been reimbursed about $18 million. Wow. Okay. But now that's that's that's stuff that we
086had paid out of our pockets that we were hoping to be reimbured for or the over insurance or insurance paid. So that's the total that's the insurance paid. They reimbured us and then also FEMA reimbursed us as well. We have a deductible. Yeah, we do have a deductible. It's a million dollars unless it's a name storm or it's 5% per building the value of the building if it is a name storm. Okay. I guess my concern is that President Trump wants to get rid of FEMA. I think that this was recently stopped, but I know that as of maybe two, three months ago, Trump administration was attempting to reallocate the 4 billion budget that FEMA has and not use it for that. So, I don't know where that ended up. I know a judge paused
087that order. I know that's going to be a bit, but I if we don't have FEMA to reimburse us for I mean these are pretty big numbers. That's 5 million 5%. I mean, so we do have a loss fund on the next slide, I think, is the loss fund, and that's property liability, workers compensation is all in that $78 million that we keep a loss fund for for those. some of those claims are already earmarked. Yeah. So these are the reserves. So in the case that FEMA was not there to reimburse us on any of this, we would come from the loss fund. It would come from the loss fund insurance and insurance ultimately. Yes. But but yeah and I think I was just trying to understand how much we how comes out of us
088eventually versus insurance versus other and we don't have 78 million in reserves. We have about 20 million in reserves. But still still because there there are other factors or other costs that are in that fund. But 20 million is in the loss fund reserve. Got it. Okay. But initially we do have to dip into our general fund contingency as events are unfolding. Yeah. All right. All right. Well, I'll probably be asking for more of those numbers because I'm very curious on how that will go. I don't know that hurricanes are going away anytime soon, but I'm worried that FEMA might. okay. So, for the employee benefit trust, we there was a point where we talked about there was about $37 million that we are projecting in savings. That is a combination of CVS plus Sigma
089savings, right? 30 million in savings plus the premium holiday was going away which was bringing in which will bring in an additional $7 million in revenue. So that is I think where you're getting your 37. Okay. So I'll just focus on the $30 million in savings. So these $30 million of savings that we're projecting are over how many years or just the upcoming year? Just the upcoming year. Upcoming year. Okay. But these are savings we are projecting, not savings that we actually have at at this moment. No, because it's part of the negotiating with the new contracts and we have to see how that all how it all washes out. okay. So, I guess my concern is that as health care costs continue to climb, it eats up into these savings, but we are still
090projecting. Is that a possibility or like how sure are we of these savings? So it is based on our projections based on hospital utilization prescription drugs and we'll see the savings in increased rebates in maybe better contracts with the vendors. So we're not paying as or our TPA is not paying as much for services. Yep. but it is only for a one year because there could be spikes, there could be changes, there could be a COVID year and it changes everything. Okay. Yeah. I think I as I was going through all of this, I know some of the numbers that I'm pointing out here today are numbers that we have, but feel a little shaky to me and not because of anything we can control. but as I think of a budget long term, those
091are the areas where I personally have concerns on the numbers where I think I get really frustrated when we miss projections and then suddenly we have less money than we did. We go back to moving money around. We end up having conversations where I mean we're constantly having really hard conversations because again we're vastly under budgeted for what we need in in in public schools in in Florida. But yeah, I'll I'll spend more time with you all on some of these numbers. So, I will will just add publicly one other thing. The $30 million is not revenue. The $30 million is like a reduction to claims, correct? Right. Okay. Yeah. No, I got that. Okay. Thank you all so much. I appreciate Thank you, Member Salamanca. Member Felder. Thank you, Chair. again, Darene and company,
092thank you so much. And you've been with me at some of these questions that I've asked and tried to get some clarity in listening to my colleagues on the board. This is extremely it's beyond frustrating. It's I just don't have words and I'm an English teacher. I cannot find the words to explain this frustration. but let me just make sure I'm clear because I know there are people listening. so the funds we have in contingency, I'm looking on page 26 because we talked about a lot of that. will this the contingency fund, will this ever affect our ability to pay teacher salaries? Because I do understand that when you have a savings, a lot of people we say we have savings, but if you keep going into savings every month or whatever, you don't have
093any savings. So when a real rainy day comes, and actually the rainy day is here, but if it starts coming, we won't have anything. And it's always been this board's concern, the teacher salaries and plus to be able to function this district to function like we should. We are high functioning board. This is the fourth largest district in the state, the eighth largest in the nation. And we're struggling with this money. This whole thing about having money on paper but not really having it. That to me is so deceptive and it's just it's just wrong to do that. So I don't you may not be able to answer this but right now seems like we're you know doing what we need to do having it but will there ever be a time we have to
094do that. So, so two things. Contingency is like our savings account. So, that's nonrecurring, right? Those are dollars we have for emergencies, rainy day. We've contributed to the employee benefit trust numerous times. Teacher salaries are a recurring as our benefit costs are a recurring cost. Okay. that is paid for through the FEFP as well as the special millage is more than 10% of our of our total operating budget right now. certainly with declining enrollment we are we're concerned about getting the money because we don't have the students in correct. Correct. Correct. And therefore we have to we have to look at preserving resources because we don't have enough funds in our rainy day fund to be able to continue to pay people when we're not getting the revenue. When you say remaining resources, could you
095give me an example? What what what are the remaining resources? So re resources are for the most part people staff okay teachers support staff okay etc. If the students are not here then we have to reduce staff because we have to reduce our recurring costs. Okay. So, some of the board members said, that we need to revisit with the with the state, how we're having to, I think, board member Verant talked about, maybe we need to, you know, instead of asking us to give that money, you know, we need to keep the money they say is our going into, I think you said to not private schools, but what what did you say about the was the private schools that money, the scholarships. Yeah. I think the public need to, you know, just like they
096rallied as board member Salom Monica said, going about those AP classes, make sure that's that's they stay. I think the public needs to understand the dire straits that we're in and deal with their representatives and go to Tallahassee. We're fighting, but we need more fight from the people because if you challenge them, your seat is going to be taken. I'm going to run for your seat. You're going to get out of this position because you're not doing what's benefiting the whole of the people in the state of Florida. especially when it comes to education. I think that's that would be a big help to us because we are seriously robbing Peter to pay Paul and Peter is running out of money. I because we don't have it. You know, we're just trying and your group
097your your department is doing very well and our superintendent at daily is trying to talk with budget and talk to us and see how we can move things around because nobody wants anybody to lose their job. I believe most of our teachers that are here, they're here because they want to be here. They're not drawn by the money. and they're here. They're drawn by a passion that just is unescribable, indescribable for them and they want to do it. So, I just think that okay, we have everything enough right here, right Dorene? But we don't know about next year or do we know about next year? Well, th this year is a bit uncertain, too, because we have to wait for the October survey to truly see the students that we have here. We've just done
098the 10-day enrollment which has given us a snapshot. it's not encouraging. and it definitely reflects less revenue coming in. Okay. All right. I just want to be clear. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you, Member Felder. Member Ferrant, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to clarify to help maybe help you member Felder with the family empowerment scholarship. If you look at it at like FLVS for instance so we never say that we're losing money in our budget because students are going to FLVS right or that FOVs is stealing from the public schools. so in the same way the scholarships, it's similar if you will to like an FVS. and that's where I think we need to just advocate for that to be its own separate entity, if you will, like FLVS.
099because those students, the 30,000 plus students are not part of they're not attending a public school, but for some reason the states well just like FLVS students are. so those students are not attending the public schools. And so that's why we're asking for that entire item to just be removed from our books because just like FLVS isn't showing up on our books because they're their own entity. That's I think what we're, you know, for myself that's what I would like to advocate for that it would be its own entity. Thank you. Uhhuh. Absolutely. Thank you. All right. Thank you, member. Member Vice Chair Bird. Thank you. yeah. I Can you pull up slide 21 real quick? Because I can tell you right now why the state does it this way. because if they didn't do
100it this way and they pulled the Family Empower scholarship out like they did FVS, then they would have to actually show the public their the way they're funding public education in the state over the last four years. Oh, yeah. And if they went to the public and said, "Look, we're we're decreasing public education every year, people would be outraged." But because they throw in the family empowerment scholarship in our budget, then they can go to the public and say, "Hey, look, we're the greatest we're we're the greatest administration for education ever to be in Florida. Look at all the money we've put into education in the past four years. That's exactly why they're doing it. And if if you were to magically somehow talk them into pulling it out, it would be a miracle. And
101I think the only way that would happen is if somehow somehow they would fund traditional and charter schools again. and that doesn't seem to be likely, but anyway, that was just my little tidbit on that. because it's a perfect I mean if you put that graph on top of the other graph it perfectly illustrates where our money is going. So Oh never mind. I thought I was we were ready for a motion but I guess not. That was all I had to say. Thank you. Thank you vice chair. Member Douglas. Yes. don't remember which slide it is. but I just would like to you to notice the numbers. I think it's 16 with the Florida Empowerment Scholarship. The numbers. No, that was 26, right? 26. no, it's not. This the one with the different but
102that's one that one. I just would like you to notice the numbers. the family empowerment scholarship $211 million when you compare to all the other t money that we spending teacher salarying 7.5 Florida retirement 4.9 and we have this amount of money just for the vouchers $211 million that money can make so much difference in our for in in in public schools. $211 million. To me, it's outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. And they want us to put it just like member Bert said, 211 million. It looks good. Oh, we are spending so much money on people in Florida, but that's not public school. These are not our kids. This is outrageous. The problem is not us. I would love to have this money coming to public schools. Please, we need to to to advocate at the legislature
103in Tallahassee for these type of issues that we having right now. I just don't understand. it's outrageous. It's I forgot my other questions. It's just outrageous. I'm sorry. I'll come back when I remember. Thank you. Thank you, member Banos. Thank you, Madam Chair. I I just I just did want to want to just take this opportunity just to respond about the about FVS because FVS does in fact decrease funding to our public schools. and I don't think a lot of people understand that. I just want to give a quick example because it's this issue came up and I just want to clarify it so that our public understands but if you have a high school student let's say that takes a full seven classes at their high school and then they take an additional class
104at home on FLVS well FLVS gets funding and even though they're taking a full load of classes at their high school their high school funding gets pulled to reflect that additional amount that went to FLVS you are correct I believe where board member Ferrant was going was the dollars that go to FLVS are not then reflected as part of our revenue. Yes. And separating or removing family empowerment scholarship from our state revenue such as with FLVS. I think that's that's where you Yes. And I and I totally agree with member FRA. It should be separated. I do agree with that. But I just wanted to point out that FLVS actually when a student does take an FBS class, even if they have a full class load, it is decreasing our funding to our school district.
105Thank you. All right. Thank you, Member Vanos. just a few observations. member Fant brought up the issue of transparency with respect to the family empowerment funding. And I think it's one thing that I would hope regardless of which side of the aisle you're on that everybody should be able to agree that transparency is better than the opposite. And the same I think would be true when it comes to whether you're talking about teacher salary increases or you're teach talking about the classroom supply. All of that being now merged into the BSA, as member Salamanca so eloquently pointed out, is a great way of hiding the ball and being able to say we've increased this or we've increased that, but you don't look at you don't see the whole picture that you used to see with
106these different allocations. And it and it's I struggled to understand why they started merging those but it's starting to become the reason if if if I may I believe was to provide districts more flexibility. Okay. Except for they tell us how to spend. Exactly. Okay. So that part kind of went out the window. Well, that's what I do remember hearing that. It just doesn't it seems like an oxymoron to say we're going to give you more flexibility, but we're going to tell you exactly how you have to spend the money 100%. Where and before they started doing that, we actually had flexibility in the BSA. We have less flexibility in the BSA. but more confusion and with more confusion it's it's highly detrimental to trust and not just the trust between the district and the
107state but the trust between the district and the employees. And the most harmful thing I think you can do to morale is to build distrust between employees that work here who have elected people to serve on this board to fight for them. That would be to me very demoralizing. And I can tell you sitting in this seat, I can speak for I think every single one of us, it is a painful experience to not be able to fix the problem you ran for office to fix and to see year after year the cost of living go up more than the revenue. who we take in or the salaries we're able to pay our employees. Now, I will say there are times when we have exceeded the cost of living. We've had several years where we've
108done that, but we have not had that revenue coming from the state. And so I the bigger problem than transparency is just the simple matter of not funding education. And this board has worked very hard as has CTA, our employees, to advocate for that funding. And one of the sad realities is that we're pretty powerless because right now our legislative delegation are hugely supportive but unable to turn the tide. So that's all bad news and I apologize that I don't have good news except that the only thing that we can do is to stay to stay in the arena and keep fighting and fighting together and doing everything we can to make sure that we are as transparent as we can be so that we do everything we can to maintain the trust. We may
109not be able to turn the tide tomorrow, but we cannot we cannot sacrifice the trust. So that's that's what I'd like to see us continue to work on as we continue to work on changing the state, changing the leadership, changing the values. I I hear conversations and I understand the concerns about what you value, you fund. What you value, you measure. And I just don't see that happening from the top down right now. But with that said, Dr. Basquez, you're recognized and then I think we'll take up the vote on the board. thank you, Madam Chair. Board member Gallo was I believe on and had to step step off, but she has asked that this comment be read into the record. I continue to be concerned about us floating the money for charter schools in
110reference to the Disney money. as we look to the future and determine how we're going to save money. It will include reimagining schools and this will come at a cost to our students. While this is unfortunate as a board member, I continue to prioritize teachers and teacher pay. I'm supporting the budget this evening, but we'll continue to look for ways to pay our teachers what they deserve. Thank you. Okay. I'm going to recognize vice chair for a motion. Certainly. Okay. Whereas section 2000.065 Florida statutes requires that the school board adopt a total millage to support the final budget and notify the property appraiser of its action. And whereas the 202526 final budget is based upon a total millage of 6.449 mills which is more than the rolled back rate by 4.24% 24% as computed pursuant
111to section 2000.065 Florida statutes. Now therefore, be it resolved by the school board of Orange County, Florida, that the board does hereby adopt the following total millillage to support the final budget for the 2526 fiscal year. Require required local effort 3.201 basic discretionary additional voted 1.0000 capital improvement 1.50 for a total of 6.449. Be it further resolved that the superintendent immediately inform the Orange County property appraiser of the action of the school board in the manner prescribed by law. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second by member Felder. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Do we don't have member Gallow on the line. She Okay. Motion passes unanimously. Vice Chair, I'm sorry. We are now on item 3.02 and I don't think there no further comment from Yeah, chief financial
112officer. Go ahead. Thank you. Okay, here's the motion for the budget. to approve the 202526 budget for the general fund 2 bill819,200 I'm sorry 641,38 approve the 2526 budget for the special revenue fund of 340 million234,735 approve the 20 202526 budget for the debt service fund of 223,810,93 approve the 202526 budget for the capital projects fund of 3 bill735,929,315. Approve the 202526 budget for the internal re internal service fund 413 million 80,418. We have a motion. Do we have a second? All right. Motion by vice chair, seconded by member Felder. All in favor, please say I. I. Motion carries unanimously. Do we have We already have member Gallow's vote. I'm sorry. Thank you. Okay. we are now on the consent agenda. We have any comments speakers on the consent agenda? Mr. Pomearini. All right. Thank
113you. If there's no comments from the board, I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. Motion by member Vanos. Is there a second? Second by member Salamanca. All in favor, please say I. Opposed. We have member Gallow's vote on that as well. Okay, motion par carries with all members present voting in the affirmative and that brings us to the superintendent report. Dr. Basque, you're recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. I have three items that I would like to report out today. As was mentioned at the last board meeting this year, we've experienced a more significant decline in enrollment than anticipated. We projected a decrease of approximately 3,000 students, but our 10th day count shows a drop of more than 6600, including a decline of about 2500 students who are immigrants. this unexpected shift has a
114direct impact on our school resources. And so every year at this time our schools go through the recalculation process which allows us to readjust enrollment based on projections. Those schools that have gained more students than projected receive additional dollars and allocations. And on the flip side, those schools that have come in under enrollment lose dollars and allocations. So within the next few days, teachers and support staff will be notified of any reassignments due to the recount process. while the news is never good when you have to cut individuals, we are looking at 1616, excuse me, 116 instructional school-based positions that are looking to be reassigned and we have 157 vacancies. Part of that is due to the fact that we put a freeze on we put we froze any of the positions that we were
115in the process of hiring which allowed us to retain more of our existing staff. And while we hope that it's a onetoone match, it will depend on the certifications teachers have. Additionally, and so teachers will be notified on the 12th of their reassignment. On the, 19th, they will begin their new assignment. Our support, staff is also going through a similar process. we do not yet have all of the numbers, but we will notify our principles on the 18th of any classified staffs that need to be reassigned. the personnel will be notified on the 19th of September and they will report to work on the 29th and so we are we're hopeful that we are going to be able to keep most of our staff pending their certification. We will also be notifying our families tomorrow
116as they may see an impact either their their child gets a new teacher because there's been a reduction or their child gets a new teacher because they've had an increase and they are creating new classes. this has been a busy couple of weeks. so, we heard the news about the state of Florida and vaccines, and I want to make sure that our community, our, parents, teachers and staff understand where we are on this. And so, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the health, safety, and academic success of every student. And as changes to Florida's vaccinations laws unfold, we want to reassure families that we will continue to follow both the science and the law in guiding our practices. Immunizations are a wellestablished tool for preventing the spread of disease, reducing disruptions to learning, and
117protecting the broader school community. While we respect individual health choices, we will strongly encourage our families to consult with trusted health care providers and continue providing recommended immunizations for their children. As state guidelines evolve, our staff will promptly update district protocols to ensure full compliance. We will also continue working closely with local health agencies to provide families with accurate information and convenient access to vaccinations. Together, we will continue to build a healthier, more resilient future for our students and our community. And finally, as you know, Dr. Bridget Williams has been working steadily on attainable housing. and it's amazing how she continues to find, partners that want to assist. And so our continued goal is to partner with community stakeholders to expand access to attainable workforce workforce housing opportunities for OCPS employees. We are pleased to
118share that OCPS and Concord Rents have joined forces to support OCPS families and staff through affordable and attainable housing solutions. Yes, good. The they have the display up on the screen. The information displayed on the screen is designed to help ensure our employees are well positioned for success in securing housing. Concord Rents currently manages manages 22 apartment communities with at least one located in each board members district. We extend our sincere thanks to Concord for proactively reaching out to OCPS to initiate this partnership. As part of this collaboration, Concord Rents will offer the following benefits to OCPS employees. A 50% discount on application fees, a $250 off moving cost. If the selected property is already offering promotional pricing, OCPS faculty and staff will receive both discounts. Select units are reserved based on income eligibility, ensuring
119access across income levels. and a coupon code will be distributed through school principles to distribute to their staff. Employees should use this code when completing their application to receive the exclusive discounts and promotions. And I believed that we are joined this evening by John Michael Fernandez. Thank you. The director of local government affairs for the Florida Apartment Association and a member of the OCPS Workforce Housing Advisory Board. John Michael played a key role in connecting OCPS with Concord Rents and we thank him for his support. Mr. Fernandez, thank you so much. And you have a few minutes to say a few words. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Superintendent Chair Jacobs, members of the board, as you already know, my name is John Michael Fernandez, director of local government affairs for the apartment association of Greater
120Orlando. member of the school board's housing advisory board and also chairman of Orange County's affordable housing advisory committee. so we're pleased to see this great example of a public part public private partnership with OCPS and Concord Rents. This agreement provides priority to OCPS teachers and staff at over 20 apartment communities across the community with added benefits of application discounts and move in assistance. the apartment association was pleased to connect OCPS with Concord Rents and we hope to emulate this effort across the board in the future with other members of ours and we appreciate the steps that OCPS has taken to address the house housing affordability challenges our community is currently facing. We look forward to continue our work with OCPS and other members to ensure more housing options are available to teachers and staff. to
121put this in perspective, according to research from the Florida Apartment Association, Orange County is in need of over 57,000 apartment homes by 2030. you can find that at build florida 2030.com. Sorry, shameless plug. U but we appreciate your work again that you do for Orange County and our schools and look forward to working further and a special thank you to Deputy Superintendent Bridget Williams for all her hard work and getting this done. So, thank you so much. Thank you so much. That's my report. Thank you for the partnership and thank you for all that support. We do appreciate it and our families and teachers do as well. Mr. Pomerini, do you have a report for the board? I'm going to thankfully for the board say I have no report tonight. Bless you. Thank you, Mr.
122Palmeri. I do have one report which the board is familiar with. The superintendent's evaluation has been completed. The recommendation of all members of the board was to renew her contract. Therefore, her contract is hereby renewed. Do we have any other board members that have either committee reports or issues they'd like to put in front of the board for future discussion? Okay. All right. with that this meeting. I'm sorry. Thank you, Member Banos. Thank you, Madam Chair. just a couple of things I wanted to bring up. First of all, I just want to say I appreciate the superintendent's comments about the recent news regarding vaccines. I think it's really important for our community to get accurate information and to make sure that we continue to provide our community with access to vaccines. So, thank you for
123making that statement. I also wanted to comment. There was a student who came up during comment and as she was commenting I made an audible noise and it was because the way that she was describing the food is the same way that my children describe the food. so I was just sort of laughing at the at the commonality. and so I in case that student is watching, I just wanted to say thank you for for coming and for speaking tonight and for speaking up on an issue that you care about. and I'm really thankful that we are able to provide free breakfast and lunch for our students. hopefully the quality and quantity continues to improve over time. But I just wanted to make sure I that student knew that I was relating to what she
124was saying in my response. I also wanted to one of the issues one of on something on the consent agenda that I wanted to raise was the statewide assessment calendar. And I would encourage parents to to take a look at that. It's linked in the agenda. There are our students spend a lot of time testing. I think I had I think I noted that fifth graders spend about 21 hours doing standardized tests a year. Seventh graders spend 29 hours doing standardized tests a year. and I'm hopeful that some of that comes from state requirements. The assessments went from once a year to three times a year. And for some of those statewide assessments, there are third graders that are spending 90 minutes on a test. fifth graders who are spending 120 minutes on a test.
125some of those requirements are from the district and I hope that over the next year we can work with our CTA and our teachers to hopefully decrease some of those district-wide tests and the CFES. there was a lot of talk today about transparency which I agree with and I am glad that we have board support for some of those measures. I would also like to again just say that something that I will personally be pushing for is that all schools that receive public money should be subject to sunshine laws so that we can see what they're doing. Everyone deserves to see that information. The last thing I wanted to bring up was to end on a really positive note which was also in the consent agenda. There was a grant with the Winter Park Health
126Foundation. And I just wanted to call out and thank the Winter Park Health Foundation for being such a great partner for Orange County Public Schools. this foundation provides nurses in four schools in my district. Ottabon, Glenidge, Hungerford, and Winter Park High School. as well as some mental health counselors. So, I hope that their financial contributions and help in our school inspires other health organizations and local businesses to do the same. So, thank you to Winter Park Health Foundation. That's all. Thank you, Member Vanos. one I'm glad you brought up the young woman who was here. I was I don't blame her for leaving, but at the same time, I felt bad because there wasn't an opportunity. she got applause, which I was I was appreciated everyone in the audience who recognized how difficult that was
127for her and how proud we were of her standing up and speaking. And I also want to recognize when you talked about testing, you got a strong affirmative from the young woman in the back. at the same time, that was a and has been an important issue to the board. and I know the superintendent will enjoy being able to give a presentation on progress we've made and where we are with regard to testing. the one question I think I had though on the food service I'm not sure if you had an opportunity to attend but food nutrition service does a pretty amazing job with this event and they bring all these chefs that are competing to be able to provide their food service and it's I don't know how to describe it. I mean, you
128go and you test at each table and we bring kids from elementary, middle schools, and high schools through. And they all get marbles, like a red marble, a green marble, if I'm getting this right, and they go to each station and they can give a marble to indicate whether they like or don't like the food. And I've gone each year, the food's like pretty incredible. So based on that, I was surprised to hear her comments. And it's not the first I've heard that, but I do I'm trying to I'm trying to figure out the disconnect there. Dr. Vasquez. Well, the disconnect is that we all have different tastes. And so while some individuals love vegetables and could eat vegetables breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there are some that they don't want anything green on their plate.
129I do think and I do have her name so that we can reach out to her and Roberto's team I'm sorry Mr. Pacheco's team does a great job of getting feedback from from students but they have done a lot to incorporate student choice and taste as part of the of the menu items. and so we'll continue to, you know, accept their feedback. And sometimes, you know, it's they they might have had a cold meal or they have they may have something that they really have not found an acquired taste for. I've had school lunch on a couple of times. In fact, our the school board has on occasion had lunches or dinners that FNS provides. And so it certainly has improved. they do have certain requirements that you may or may not agree with and
130I'm sure all of that contributes to it but we'll follow up. always want to hear from our kids and I love that they are advocating that they are coming before us to let us know how we can make their experience better and you know what a what a great testament to public education and I'm going to recognize member FR in just a second but I don't she probably filled out a speaker card so we have an email address most likely so that the board members can reach back out to her because we didn't have that opportunity to thank her individually. Member Fon, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. yeah, I'm actually so surprised. I was surprised to see her because we did this little town like a student town hall at Boone High School today.
131really amazing, great group of kids. you know, backgrounds, everybody there sharing just their thoughts, things that they thought were going amazing. which something that you they felt was really going amazing is that they felt like the there was a lot of support from the students like SGA and come to find out that of for Boone High School it's been typical to have maybe you know 50 or 100 students in SGA and this year they have a little over 200 students involved in SGA which is really really incredible super cool and so they've got I They said they had 12 different how do you say it like subgroups? Yes. committees. Thank you. and so within those committees they're meeting and that has been you know the students really reflected on that and said that it's really
132helping to bring that unity and help kids feel like they are understanding. and so when this young lady had brought up I don't even know that she brought it up. I think it was the boy next to her that was saying he was an athlete. and really needs to eat more which okay just teenagers in general need to eat more than adults like my kids eat me out of the house and home my 10-year-old eats way more than me but you know when you look at athletes as well it is something I would love to see because we've got kids that are I mean they're like starving just in general and then the portion size we're giving is like maybe for me and not really for like a big football player kid. So, maybe to
133see if there is a way, if there's extras, are they able to go back and get seconds? those are some things that I think would be great to look at. but super proud of this young lady for coming. I know it's so nerve-wracking to speak in in front of everyone. But I love that, you know, they right afterwards they said, "So, you know, could we ever go to a meeting and share about this?" And I said, "Absolutely. There's one tonight." And she said, "Well, where is it?" And here, lo and behold, she showed up. So, really really cool to see them advocating for their for their peers. Super excited. And I will note it's kind of like picture. So when you ask like what's the difference between that special event, it's kind of like when
134I ask for people to come over and I'm like, you know, I want to host somebody. I'm going to like prepare my best meal. but throughout the rest of the week, I'm serving stuff that's like maybe quick and easy and things that might not be as, you know, glamorous as the meal that I serve for people that are coming. and so I think that can be part of it. Those meals are served because I know my kids would come home and say, "Wow, I really love maybe like there's an Asian dish that they make and the kids love it." but they can't serve that every day. And so some of the other ones that they serve, which seems to be like the chicken patty or the chicken nuggets, they serve like you know a smaller
135portion of that and the kids are you know still hungry. And so I think if there is a way like rice is to me rice is cheap and easy like a you know Spanish rice or is it yeah rice and beans or you know there's maybe different things that we could look at that could be more of an abundance and kids could go back up for seconds for something like that's cheap spaghetti is one that's I mean it's a staple in my house cuz macaroni you can go back and yeah macaroni and cheese like those types of things that u Maybe we could give seconds to kids who are hungry for seconds. I see Dr. Vasquez taking it all in. Members Thanos, you're recognized. And I just needed to say that all of the food
136that I have had from FNS has been amazing. I wanted to make sure I said that. It's been very very good both at Leadership Orange and through here. So, it was I I was just recounting I think some of the recognition that we've had with some of our student lunches, but I need to go eat lunch with the kids and then I can, you know, Yeah. have a better idea. So, thank you. Yeah, like a secret shopper. There you go. Okay. any nothing further from the board? Then this meeting is now adjourned. Nobody. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.