001Good evening and welcome to the Orange County School Board's regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 12th, 2025. Thank you so much for being here with us tonight. We have member Salamanca, member Ferrant, member Douglas, member Vanos, member Gallow, and member Felder all present, and Chair Jacobs is absent tonight. As a reminder, board members will not be engaging in outside electronic or digital communication during the meeting. To my fellow board members, district staff, and members of the public, when speaking, please make sure that your microphone is turned on and speak directly into it so that our YouTube and Orange TV viewers can hear you clearly. And again, I want to thank you all so much for participating or attending tonight's meeting. We have a great group out here. we're going to start our meeting tonight with
002a moment of silence and then the pledge of allegiance. Now for the pledge. I pledge algiance 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. Dr. Mr. Vasquez, are there any changes to the agenda tonight? thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. agenda item for this meeting was published last Tuesday, August the 5th, 2025. Subsequent to the agenda being published, Anita Rose for the district to procure on an emergency basis to companies for the purpose of performing construction plan review, permit, and inspection services. I ask that the chair find good cause to amend the agenda to allow a change to the procurement recommendations attached to agenda item 11.01 for the purpose of adding the two companies to provide
003construction plan review permit and inspection services. Thank you. and that's the only change I thought we had. No. Okay. Sorry. Never mind. okay. So, I find cause to amend the agenda as requested. Do we have a motion to amend the agenda? Motion by member Gallow, second by member Vanos. All those in favor, please say I. Motion carries. I will now entertain a motion to adopt the amended agenda. So moved by member Ferrant, second by member Douglas. All those in favor, please say I. I. Motion carries. Okay. Good evening. It is now time for the recognition portion of our meeting. And tonight we get to celebrate the 10year anniversary of the OCPS District Police Department. And that is why we have them all up here in the front. It's so nice to be able to see
004all of you in one place. Oh yes. And our absolute no offense. We love you all. We love you all, but Coco is our favorite officer of all. Oh, and she's just so resting, so peaceful. Okay, so sorry. Let me get back to my script. so this is a really big milestone. It shows our dedication here at OCPS to keeping our schools safe. 10 years ago, district leadership wanted a single entity leading our safety efforts. Having our own district police means that we are proactive in maintaining a positive climate and safe environment for working and learning in our schools. Chief Brian Holmes has been with us since the beginning. And the original commanders were Mark Clayman, Randy Derky, George Impki, and Norman Emval, who is still with us as a captain. They laid the groundwork,
005set the expectations, and trained countless others. We are thankful for their work and vision. The department has grown a lot over the past decade. It now includes specialized units such as our intel and compliance and a new family of leaders such as Deputy Chief Reinhardt. Today, we are even more strategic and engaged with the community. But what has always stood out to me has been the kindness of every member of our district police team. And yes, Coco, that includes you. this anniversary honors a decade of vision, perseverance, and service. And I'm I'm so glad that we that you all got to celebrate together on Friday. The OC OCPS school board would like to thank every member, past and present, for their lasting impact. Congratulations on 10 years of extraordinary service. Your legacy is strong and
006the future is even brighter. And at this time, I'd like to invite our chief operations officer, Roberto Chip Pacheco, to the podium. Chair Bird, Superintendent Vasquez, board members, appreciate the time to allowing us to celebrate our district police today. As you as the vice chair mentioned, we have the privilege of recognizing a remarkable milestone in our in our district journey. The 10 year anniversary of the OCPS district police. 10 years of unwavering service, dedication, and commitment to the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community. In 2015, OCPS took a bold and visionary step by establishing their own district police force. The mo the move like you mentioned reflected a deep commitment to creating a safe and secure learning environment tailored to the unique needs of our school and I think that's key a
007unique needs of our school district. The district police was developed based on a recommendation from a security assessment conducted by a wellrespected consulting firm specializing in school security safety and emergency management. So from that is where the district police came about. What began as a small team with a big mission has grown into a trusted and essential part of our district operations. Over the past decade, the OCPS district police district police have not only helped us protect our campuses but all but also have built relationships and foster trust among our school district. The portfolio like you mentioned it has expanded but they all are correlated to each other and they all support each other. Their achievements have been many for implementing cutting edge technology or safety protocols, but they have always done it consistently and
008they have always gone beyond the call of duty. In every endeavor, they have demonstrated an unwavering dedication to the safety, growth, and well build well-being of our school community, setting a standard of excellence that resonates across all aspects of their service. They have helped us navigate crisis and everyday challenges and all the demands that schools might have, but they always do it with with professionalism and you mentioned compassion. Their creation has brought a peace of mind to families and staff alike and their lead and their leadership has set a standard for school based policing. As a chief operations officer, I have the honor of working closely with this team and I have firsthand their I have seen firsthand their dedication, their courage and their heart. Whe whatever it is a late night call, a school
009event, even here the board meetings or any other moment that we need them, they always show up ready, capable and committed. They are more than the that the police department for us. They have they have become educators, advisors, and school community builders. So today we celebrate the 10 years 10 years of impact, 10 years of making a difference. On behalf of the entire operations team and the district police, we thank you for your for your continued support and gratitude for supporting their endeavor. So with that, now I'm going to introduce our chief of police, Brian Holmes, who is going to introduce all his team members. Thank you, Roberto. I'm so excited about talking about these these guys because they're just an amazing group of people. I'll keep it very short. former Deputy Chief Randy Derky,
010will you please come forward? If you would stand up there, we want to get a picture with the board. Okay. unfortunately, Commander George Limbsky, comfortably retired, is on his way back from Nova Scotia. but he is again one of our pioneer members. former commander Mark Clayman. And we always knew Mark would be really good at being retired, so he's over in Bvard County. you know, taking advantage of some of these people on the golf course. I'm going to say he's really good. Yeah, for sure. Captain Norman Neville, he is actually committed as always out on a call at a school. He was on his way back, but he couldn't make it in time. But again, one of our pioneer members. And then Commander Jamie Albertie. Now, Jamie was the youngest of us, youngest of us
011all, and he's still in the workforce currently serving at Indian River Schools as their school safety specialist. So, we've we've birthed a couple of those and really really proud of them and we just love for Frank to come up take a picture of us and then after that we'd love our entire team to come up and get a picture with the board as well. Okay, great. Thank you guys. You just block the whole board. Oh, let me get out. Yep. I'm out. Let me get it. Just got a ticket. Hold on. Hold on. There we go. No, no, no, no, no. There's a work. Or no, there's not a work. It's just a tall and good looking. Look up. Look happy. Look up and look happy again. Hold on. One more. And three. Good. One,
012two, and three. Thank you. So you guys back up a few people in the front and shingle. How about this one? Yes. And then back all the way up to the dice. as the princess should be. Good. And get in a little bit tighter. Tighter. Tighter. Tighter. Tighter. Still. There we go. Good. Good. Good. Great. Good. Look up. Look happy on three. Good. One, two, and three. Stay there. Look happy again. One more. Excellent. Thank you. And Coco and Brian. Hold on. Can't have both. We can't have both. Coco. All the adults look toward me. Congratulations. I know. I knew better. I knew better. Oh, wait. Before you guys go too far, we do have a couple board members that just wanted to make some comments. Member Salamanca's going well. Yes. Before folks head out,
013I just wanted to say thank you all so much for everything you do keeping our schools and our students safe. you all the work you do really shows because this community, the parents, everybody has such strong respect and support for you being in our schools. and that really speaks to the relationship that you form and encourage across the entire district with our students, with our staff. You make them feel safer. You make them feel like you're part of their team and that it is a very positive relationship where we all work together to keep everyone safe. and so that it really is part of the work you do and it is seen every time. You know, we've had conversations when we talk to parents, when we talk to the community, they don't want you to
014go anywhere. They want you to be here with us. and this board overall really has always been so supportive of the work you do. And so, thank you for that. we're we're grateful every day that we're here in honorable board meetings, too. Thank you, Member Salamanca. Member Fant. member Salamanca might have said it all, but I just want to say thank you as well. really the work that you do is so valuable for our students, our staff, and just the way that you treat everyone with such kindness, respect, and caring. Every time I see you, you got a smile on your face and ready to go, ready to work. and just when you know looking back at some of the things we've had to do in our schools to keep them safe, you have made
015sure that your staff is right in there helping our schools to figure out a way to you know, beef up whatever we need to do inside of our schools. And so I thank you for that. Thank you for your leadership and we appreciate you. Thank you, Member Fat. Member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want I'll just echo what they said. Thank you so much for everything that you do in keeping our schools safe, for the guidance that you provide to our schools and our students every single day. We're so lucky to have our own internal police department guide us. I know that y'all work hard. I know it isn't always easy, but I just wanted you to know that we appreciate you, but nobody more than we appreciate. Coco, I'm just joking. No,
016seriously, thank you. I was I was going to schools and I saw all the safer signs and just the work and the commitment to keep our students and faculty safe. I think bar none there is no better police department than what what we have here at OCPS and it's headed by Chief Holmes who does a great job. So just from the bottom of my heart thank you for everything that you do daily. Thank you member Gallo. Member Felder. Yes. I'd like to echo some of the same sentiments in my former my present board members. policemen keep us safe and I am so grateful that we have the type of rapport that we have with our police department and the board. And I remember Sharon when I first got on the board and I said, you
017know, we have our own police department. Are they real? Well, I said, "Baby, they're not no Robbo cops." Yeah, they real. They got real guns and they'll shoot you. Yeah, they real. So, I do appreciate the fact that you all are so accommodating to the board members. We had some issues during the first time with the COVID and each of us had a police officer assigned to us to walk us through our car. You know, it was just, you know, I thought that was so thoughtful and, you know, I'm just I'm just so grateful that we do have our own department because I don't know if many districts across the state can boast of that and I'm so appreciative and we have this one little black woman on that and I'm so happy for her,
018Francisca, that we have and I'm just so grateful for all the work that you guys do and Chief Holmes has always been more than accommodating to all of us whatever our concerns are. I thank you also, Roberto, for your job and what you're doing to with our police department to make sure that not only are the board and the district, but the children in our district, they're safe. Thank you for all that you do and your work is appreciated. Thank you so much. Thank you, Member Felder. And I'll just say that another thing that I think people don't realize is the amount of compliance work that we have to do for the state for the safety of our schools is enormous. And because we have this police department with uniformed police officers who have expertise
019and experience in law enforcement, we are at a much better place than if we had just if we just had regular staff trying to understand the safety of the schools and the laws that come down from the state concerning policing our schools and working with our municipalities. And we're so fortunate that we have this team of experts in law enforcement that work with our schools because it's an enormous job of training all the staff that have to do all the threat assessments and you know it's just it is a such a huge job and we're so lucky that we have you guys to help with that and do all that work for us. I think someone else oh member Douglas. Yeah. I just want to say thank you so much. I've been working in school
020for 25 years and I've always been amazed at the relationships that you built with the kids. I see them coming and hugging you and want to speak to you. I'm a little bit jealous sometime. I was like, you know, I wish it was me. But thank you so much. You are more than a police officer. Just like someone said, you are the adviser. You are the comforter. You are the person that is there for the kids when they want to speak. And thank you. Thank you for what you do and we appreciate everything that you do. Truly, thank you from the b bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for what you do. Absolutely. Thank you guys again. Everybody, let's give them one more round of applause. Thank you. Could we bother you for
021one more photo? Norm just showed up and we got our pioneers here. If Norm will come forward. Okay, come on. We'll all get a picture together. It was my fault. I forgot to put film coming up. Let's get the pioneers up here. Go again. Pick a side. Hold on. Hold on. Good. Look happy on three. Good. One, two, and three. Stay there. Look happy on three. Perfect. I lied. One more. Good. Everybody else remembers good. We got it. Thank you. Beautiful. Dr. Vasquez, do we have any newly appointed administrators this evening? Yes, Madam Chair, we have four. so our first newly appointed administrator is Raina Dagel and she's going to be the new assistant principal at Avalon Middle School. Good evening. Thank you. You all board members, Superintendent Dr. Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Am Brewster,
022Dr. Frixer, executive leader, Dr. Trimble, principal leader, and my mentor and principal, Maris Sol Mendes, for this incredible opportunity to serve as an assistant principal at Avalone Middle School. I want to thanks God for guiding me, my steps, and opening bridges and doors that have led me here today. I am also deeply grateful to my husband, my children for believing in me and to all the principles, assistant principles, teachers, clerks, custodians, and every OCPS employee whose support, encouragement, and collaboration have shaped my journey. Thank you all. Christina Duggins is going to be the new assistant principal at Dom Elementary. Good evening. I am so thrilled to be here. I'd like to thank first school board members, superintendent Dr. Vasquez and Deputy AR Dr. Arm Rooster and staff. I appreciate everything you do for the county
023that I grew up in. Next, I'd like to thank Mr. Hanahan, principal leader of Kajre 1 and Dr. Martin, principal of Domick. Thank you so much for this opportunity and leading as AP at Domak Elementary School. I'd definitely like to thank all the staff, parents, and children at Dominic made me feel so warm and welcome. I couldn't have asked for a better start. My husband, two children, and I moved here one year ago from Tampa. And after serving 10 years there or two years as an assistant principal, we moved back to Central Florida to have more support for our son who's on the autism spectrum. And with that, I must thank God for showing us the way back home. My family and husband for all of their sacrifices and support and the integral people who
024have supported my son within this past year despite some of his challenges. It is clear that I am where I'm supposed to be. And I can't wait to help Dom soar to even higher heights alongside Dr. Martin and our team of excellent educators. Christina, we're so grateful you're back in the best district in the state of Florida. and speaking of individuals that are coming from another district, we have someone that crossed the line and is now also in the best district. We have Ashley Sessions from Oyola County school district and she's the new assistant principal at Metobrook middle school. Greetings and thank you school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Arm Brewster and staff for this opportunity to serve at Melebrook Middle School where I am returning back home because initially that was where I got
025my start. Next, I would like to thank my savior, my heavenly father, my lord and savior for the gift to educate, to inspire people and children, and also the wisdom to assist principal Miller to greatness. Thank you, Mr. Bond, our executive leader, Mrs. Flores, our principal leader, wherever she wherever she is. Mr. Miller for sure. Thank you. You two have already encouraged me more than you know. oh, to my favorite aunt Marie, she's here today. Thank you for every piece of advice. Thank you for letting me cry to you even before knowing how your day was. To my parents, my family, my friends, thank you. My former students from Metobrook who's here tonight to support me. And finally, my mentors Christy Ray and also Michelle Wiggins who's here tonight. And thank you to anyone that
026has ever poured into me. that has encouraged me in my professional educational journey. And again, I also want to thank OCPS again for recognizing my talents and allowing me to serve the students of Pine Hills. Thank you so very much. And I look forward to this pursuit to greatness. Thank you, Asha. Make sure they give you the new t-shirt. It's a It's a very cool t-shirt. They were all sporting them yesterday. Okay. and then, last but certainly not least, we have Trevor Thomas, who's going to be the new assistant director at Orange Technical College South Campus. Thank you, school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, and staff for this opportunity to serve as an assistant director on Orange Technical Colleg's South Campus. I'm extremely excited and grateful for this opportunity. First, I'd like to thank God for
027his blessings and also my wife and my family for supporting me and helping me reach my career goals. I would like to thank Dr. Arm Brewster for implementing his vision which has expanded career and technical education opportunities for all students in Orange County Public Schools. I would like to thank Dr. Rosa Grant for her effective leadership and for having the confidence in me to appoint me to this position. I would like to thank Mr. Alex H Highleberg for giving me the opportunity to serve as an administrator on his dynamic leadership team. And I would like to thank Dr. Felicia Boyd for her support and guidance and leadership throughout this process. Thank you. Thank you and welcome. And we are so excited for you and happy for you to be serving our students in OCPS. And
028thank you to your families for all of your sacrifice. It's a lot, as we said last time, it's a lot to have a family member who's an administrator. Takes a lot of time away from your loved ones. So, we appreciate your sacrifice as well. if you'd like to come up, we would love to get a picture with you with the board. you know, Dr. Vasquez, I did my junior teaching internship my junior year of college at Dar Elementary. No. Well, we have to see if we can find a picture in the archives. That would be so wonderful somewhere. What grade? What grade? second grade. Yeah. Yeah. anyway, thank you again. And as much as I'm sure you would love to stay for the rest of the meeting, you are more than welcome to go and
029celebrate with your family members. And at this time, I'm going to call on our, our advisory councils. We've got our president of the Orange Educational Education Support Professionals Association, Mr. Ron Pard. Are you coming to speak tonight? No. He is waving that. All right. Next. I would like to invite Clinton McCracken, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. Oh, he's waving, too. All right. Well, how about Sanjay Brown, K8 Middle School level principal representative for the Orange County Association of School Administrators. Oh, we have a winner. It seems to have a fan club here, Dr. Arm Brewster. good evening, Vice Chair Melissa Bird, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent, Arm Brewster, staff, and esteemed guest. I am Sanjay Brown, proud principal of Persian School and the Okasa K8 and Middle School principal representative. It is an
030honor to celebrate our assistant principles whose leadership shapes every classroom decision and student success across Orange County Public Schools. Tonight, we are joined by some of these remarkable leaders. And so I'll ask that they'll stand at this time so you can join me in recognizing them. Now, if we hadn't let the other four leave, I would have had some more members here. But if you could sit for me on behalf of AASA, I extend heartfelt gratitude to this board for the market differential provided to assistant principles and KA principles. This support strengthens our leadership and fuels our commitment to our students and community. At OCPS, we are united by five core values: safety, people first, integrity, collaboration, and excellence. Assistant principles embody these daily. They champion safety, creating supportive environments through emergency preparedness and crisis
031response while fostering emotional security so every student feels ready to learn. Assistant principles put people first, building trust with students, staff, and families. Their empathetic, compassionate leadership creates a culture where everyone feels valued. With integrity, they make datadriven decisions, monitoring progress, and addressing gaps with transparency, ensuring every action aligns with our mission. Through collaboration, they lead by listening, fostering professional communities, and engaging families and partners to shape an inclusive future. They pursue excellence as a standard, supporting rigorous instruction, promoting equity, and elevating school culture through mentoring and strategic leadership. Our assistant principles also live our district's commitments, setting high expectations for student mastery with tailored support, cultivating safe, thriving environments, leading student centered teams with clarity, managing resources for efficient operations, and building bridges with communities for strong partnerships. Board members, assistant principles are the
032pulse of our schools and the promise of our future. They inspire us to reach higher, dream bigger, and achieve more for every student. Okcastle looks forward to our continued collaboration, uniting to empower these leaders and elevate our district to new heights. Together, we'll shape a brighter tomorrow where every child thrives. And I will leave you with this. At Persian School, we have a very simple saying, and that is, at Persian School, you are loved, cared for, and supported. And there's nothing you can do about that. We extend that support to you as you continue to lead our district. Thank you for your time. Thank you. What a great message and way to use that brand new strategic plan in your message. Scott, did you put him up to that? That was fantastic. Thank you so
033much. all right, we are going to move on to our strategic plan update. Dr. Vasquez, you are recognized. Thank you, Madame Chair. this time of year, we are starting school, but we're also implementing many of the new rules and laws that were passed during the session, which this past year was longer than expected. and so I am pleased to ask Maris McMiller to our legislative liaison to update us on the changes to expect as a result of the last session. Right. Thank you, Dr. Vasquez. good evening, madame vice chair, members of the board, madam superintendent. Appreciate that. I am Maris McMiller, senior director for government relations. Here to provide a brief summary of key legislation from the 2025 session that will have the most significant impact on our district. As many of you know, this
034year's legislative session extended beyond the usual 60 days, lasting a total of 105 days, concluding on June the 16th. As such, I will be covering bills within three C three labels that we will go through this evening. The first of which will be our impactful laws that fall under the budget and conforming bills. The CFO has already addressed the budget and the FEFP. So my focus will be on the policy implications from the conformant bill, Senate Bill 252, specifically the preK through 12 education portion under Senate Bill 2510. One major change was the repeal of the added weights FTE and in its place the legislature created a new categorical within the FFP called the academic acceleration options supplement. Under this change, it preserves funding levels for APIB, ACE, and CAPE programs. But going forward, the
035funding will no longer increase in line with the base student allocation. Instead, at the FTE weights for accelerated accelerated programs have been standardized to align with legislative priorities. Districts are now also required to report enrollment and other data to the DOE before the FTE amendment deadline. specific additional information about the acceleration option supplement is included in your packet. But something else that came out of the conforming bill was that the DOE is directed to develop a title one performance-based reward system by 2028. And this system will be modeled after the performance-based funding system that the state university system has specifically geared towards title one schools. Additionally, the legislature also expanded access to schools of hope. key provisions of this include the right to operate outside of opportunity zones if no underused, vacant, or surplus property
036is available. additionally, collocation provisions, which I believe are the most consequential, these allow schools of hope to operate within underused areas of traditional public school facilities. The state board of education will establish rules for this implementation. it's importantly import more importantly districts will receive capital outlay funding for each enrolled student to help offset help offset operational costs related to this change. The next group of bills will fall under student health and athletics. Specifically, Senate Bill 248 is in line with the legislative priority of expanding choice options and expands athletic choice by allowing home education students to try to find I mean to try out for any school athletic program in their county. Additionally, students in non FHSAA private schools will have that same opportunity. If the program extends to a curricular course, that curricular course
037will be allowed for those students to participate in. As well, eligibility is subject to academic performance and prior year evaluations. Under Senate Bill 1070, which will be effective next year, it mandates electroc cardiograms or ECGs for high school athletes. Currently, the district does require ECGs. However, effective next year, districts must partner with vendors or provide ECGs at a cost not to exceed $50. also, the law offers optouts for religious or medical reasons, which if a parent chooses to opt out under those conditions, it will wave liability in the event of anything tragic for the district. Next we have Senate Bill 1514. in the past few sessions there have been a rise of authorizations by the legislature for districts to provide certain reactive health care related services within these past sessions particularly diabetes treatment and among
038others. And so I decided to include this bill because of the specific mandatory requirement that passed with this legislation. So this legislation was sponsored by our delegation member Senator Carlos Germo Smith and Representative Rita Harris and it requires training for school personnel in grades K through 8 on recognizing and responding to allergies and anaphilaxis. for those who may not be aware, anaphilaxis is a type of shock that can be triggered by an allergen such as food, medications, latex, insect bites. and they manifest themselves in a number of symptoms which the training which the training will teach the personnel to respond to be able to identify and respond to to reduce the number of otherwise preventable tragedies. Additional information about this bill is also included in your packet. Continuing on, we have HB16007. it mandates first
039aid, CPR, and AED training for students in grades 6th, 8th, and 9th, as well as 11th grade, and as well as for school personnel in contact with students. OCPS already complies with the AED requirement of having at least one AED in each school facility. So, we're already ahead of the game on that. Finally, I'll cover the last two bills under what I call credentiing and reporting. Starting with HB875. It's a comprehensive reform bill overhauling the educator preparation and certification process. The legislative intent of this bill, now law, was to modernize Florida's teachers preparation and certification system to ensure consistency, quality, and alignment with evidence-based practices. So, specifically, the changes include there will be a new set of accomplished practices that have to be in place by August of 2026. I guess that's next academic year.
040additionally, a new certification exam, which will be called the Florida Teacher Excellence Exam, will begin development in July of 2027. Furthermore, this bill also provides for new certification components for supporting students with autism. And additionally, it includes alternative pathways for performing arts teachers as well as substitutes to put them on a pathway to educator certification. Next up, we have Senate Bill 1374. this bill provides relief for our additions program which is run by the foundation. allowing us to continue current screening methods instead of transitioning the volunteer portion to the AKA clearing house system. this saves the districts hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. and in addition to this bill that came with this bill, we secured a one-year extension for screening athletic coaches under Senate Bill 1546. we want to give a special thanks to
041our foundation partners because they brought this to our attention right before the start of session and we were able to successfully advocate thanks to senator state senators Yarborough and Gro which helped us advance these priorities to passage this year. Lastly, new employee reporting requirements mandate that all instructional and administrative staff self-report felonies and certain misdemeanor arrests or or indictments. the law requires for the temporary removal of staff under investigation, notification to parents of students who who have had contact with that individual, compliance with sealing and expungement orders, which I'm sure this general counsel monitors closely. And that concludes my legislative update. If the members of the public or staff have additional questions, my contact information is provided on the screen. I'd like to say, and I didn't start it off, but although I have a
042JD, I am not a certified bar passed attorney in the state of Florida. So, if you need legal assessment of these things, general counsel is there. Madame Superintendent, that in that concludes my legislative update. Oh my god. Oh, that was great. Marquee, I do want to say thank you. last session was a whirlwind and you were so responsive and we had individuals that were, you know, trying to get up there and talk about impact of some of the legislation and I think at one point you were in three different states, three different days, but you were a real trooper. So, we appreciate you and all that you did to really help advocate for our district and our children. and now you're going to help us with the implementation of these. So, thank you so much,
043Madam Chair. We're ready to take on any questions or comments the board may have. Thank you, Superintendent. thank you, Mr. McMiller. We're going to open it up to Member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for this presentation and for all the work that you do in Tallahassee. I know it's not always easy being up there. I do have a couple questions. I know in the budget there was a student authentication number that would be assigned to all students receiving receiving taxpayer funded dollars which would help us actually have the money following the child because right now we were just shorted $4.1 million in our last FEFP dispersement because of students that we have that are also enrolled. led in an SFO. So, do you know I know it was removed late. Do we
044know why it didn't make it across the finish line and what the issue is and if it'll be back next year? it's the politics between the chambers. a very prominent state senator did get it to just about the finish line and so I anticipate that it will be brought back again next year. it is still a priority of the boards to push that along with other districts I know want to push that as well and so we anticipate that we'll be advocating for that again the student ID number or some tracking number that follows students in the state of Florida. Yes. Okay. And then thank you. And then with the I just lost my train of thought with the is there any chance that we will be revisiting the below the line for the step
045up for students for the voucher dollars so that they're separated from our budget? for the past two sessions that I've been with OCPS, it's been heavily pushed and it gets into one chambers's version of their FEFP run. And so we will continue to push it and advocate even harder. it will just come down to very intense discussions with both chambers to try to bring that to fruition. I know it typically stalls out on the excuse me stalls out on the house side and so we are going to work aggressively with our house members and members in other districts to see if we can't bring that to pass. Sometimes it takes multiple sessions but we'll continue that work. Thank you. And then with the facilities that we have to share with the school of hopes, you
046said that we will get funding for that if they come in and share our schools. you how much funding are we what are we talking about here? the capital outlay funding. I don't have the specific dollar amount right now, but I'll be sure to provide that. But it is capital outlay dollars that we get per student. it's not it's capital outlay. So, it could only be used for the building. It can't be used for any of our operational expenses that we'll experience with others being in our schools. That's my understanding, but again, I'll verify make sure that's correct. And you said it's going towards the board of education has to create the rule. Do we know when how what kind of runway were they given to create a rule? Well, there was a bill that
047well that's law now that requires state agencies gives them a strict timeline for rude developments. They do have an exception. I don't know there it's supposed to be within 30 days. You get the initial notice that there's supposed to be a rude development after a law is passed that the legislature specifically directs an agency to create a rule. But then there there's an exception that I'm not familiar with off the top of my head. So I don't know the specific date that they will be implementing starting that process. All right. Perfect. And then I know I think it was this year or maybe it was last session that for social workers that they removed the requirement for them to take the teacher certification. However, it's my understanding that they still have to take the knowledge
048test, which really is the one that provides a lot of issues, especially if you're switching careers or you didn't go to school for education. That general knowledge test is extremely difficult to pass. Is there going to be any movement, you think, to move the remove the general knowledge test? cuz I don't even know why our social workers have to take it. But will there be any Well, I know that there was discussion about, you know, de part of the deregulation and also as far as lessening the requirements to expand opportunities for specific roles within districts to be filled. while they removed that, I don't know what the legislaturator's intent is for this year. I haven't heard any murmurings about that particularly, but I know that's along their path. You know, their priorities has been to
049for certain roles to make it more accessible. Yeah. 875 is kind of building the plane on the ground. Yes. Which is good instead of in the air. So, that's good news. And then finally, I'll just say that we've been working with who we play for, which is really the people behind who pushed the EKG bill. And we've been doing it, I think, for three years. And we only charge $20, right? We still only charge $20. We don't charge 50. And I know that we get help that they help us when when we have an underinsured or an uninsured student that needs services. And it's been a great program. and we have found so many students that had issues that they didn't know that it's literally changing lives. And so I'm so thankful that Orange County
050had the forethought to get involved in that and have that be part of our policy several years ago. So those are all my questions. Thank you so much again for all the work you do in Tallahassee. looking forward to another session coming up quick. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Member Vanos. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. McMiller. notwithstanding the bar, you sure sound like a lawyer. so I just had a couple of questions. The first one the first thing I just wanted to note was on this presentation, I just really appreciate the medical bills, the anaphilaxis, and the cardiac bill. I think they're so important and I'm so glad that they made it through this session and I think they will help our students. So, really
051grateful for both of for those those bills. I have a question on the schools of hope slide be this one. All right. you I so Who determines whether a school has availability? Is it the school itself or is it the district or does someone from outside of the area determine whether we have room in our schools for a charter school to come in and take over part of the space? So, there's a fish report that the district completes. I don't know the particular details. that's out of my wheelhouse, but it there it complet it lets the state know what our availability is in terms of resources within each facility. I guess I'd have to defer to someone else maybe in facilities to be able to give specific details to that but that is how they
052assess and know there's an exemption where we can put if we're using the facilities for like VPK and other things that may not be on the initial report to inform the state but it's through primarily that fish report among maybe other things that I may I think general counsel can answer that as Well, thank you, Madam Chair. So, the Department of Education has already adopted or published a rule development, notice on this, and they've got, text of the rule, and it says by January 1st of each year, the district must publish a preliminary list of all unused, vacant, or surplus facilities, which must include the following information for each such facility. Number of classrooms, student stations, administrative spaces, the number of full-time equivalent students, a floor plan that includes the dimension of each room of
053the facility, information such as size and capacity for shared spaces such as gym, cafeteria, auditorium, and any other available information regarding school building usage. And then after they receive that list from us on January 1st, the department shall f publish a final corrected list of unused, vacant, or surplus facilities in response to any comments it receives from districts or hope operators as well as to reflect any changes in enrollment at the facilities by April 1st. So, it's a two-step process. We give them our information. Somebody may comment that, you know, our information's great or it's not so great. They'll go through a whole process of reviewing it and then publish a list by April 1st. Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. Yes, thank you for that information. my second question is on page
054seven. this was about the sports. okay. my question is so it said on the slide that students in homeschool or in taxpayer funded voucher schools, private schools can come and play sports at our public schools. So it's it's it allows them to what is it? Not audition, but try out. It doesn't guarantee a spot on a team, but access to trying out. So, and then if they do become part of the team, how is that like paid for or how how do they pay funds to help support the team or the coaches or how does that work? That I cannot speak to right at this time. I can definitely get that information to you. I don't know. Dr. Vasquez, I and I believe Dr. Bran Cannon is here may be able to add to what
055I'm going to say, but we are not charging students from private schools that are participating in the sports and that direction has come from the Florida High School athletic association. and we'll continue to monitor that through the upcoming year because that question was raised by several several superintendent. Dr. Brown Cannon, is there anything else would if you'd like to come up or is did I cover it? Okay. Thank you so much. Definitely something to keep track of. I appreciate your report. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you to the team. Thank you. and I'll just wrap it up by thanking you for bringing that question up because when that bill came through, that was my biggest concern was it let's just get this straight. I am all for, you know, allowing all of our
056community children the same opportunities, right? But they're taking a voucher. So they're taking their students money which is following them to their home school or their private school. Those those schools are getting that money. Then the student is going to come and play a sport at our public school for free. And the coaches have to be paid. The lights on the field have to be paid. The maintenance on the fields have to be paid. The equipment has to be bought. And they don't have to pay any of that voucher money back to us to pay for all those things. So that's my concern about that one. That was just a little commentary. Sorry. I think we are done with all of our questions and comments, but I again want to echo my fellow board members
057that we thank you for your efforts in Tallahassee. I know that was an exhausting session and you did a great job up there advocating for us and for our needs and working with all the legislators. we really appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Thank you, Madam Superintendent. Have a great evening. Okay. Okay, let's see where we're at. All right. we are on the consent agenda. U, Mr. Pomeini, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on any items on the consent agenda? I don't believe so. I have one speaker who has signed up to speak about school safety measures for arrival and dismissal which is not on the consent agenda and it's not 17. So that I just wanted to make that person aware that if they
058come up it's the school safety measures for arrival and dismissal isn't on the agenda on in any topic. So they wouldn't be permitted to speak to that. Okay. So we'll just move ahead as not that we do not have any speakers. Okay. Okay. Seeing as there's no member of the public who wishes to speak or to provide public comment. we will move on the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion by member Salamanca. Is there a second? Second by member Ferrant. All those in favor? I. Motion carries. All right, we are on non-consent. Mr. Pomerini, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on item 1701? Yes, Madam Chair, we have 17 people checked in and that includes the one person I just mentioned
059that doesn't seem to be speaking on that issue. So, we have I think 16 wishing to speak to this agenda item. Okay. So we are going to give everyone two minutes. That is correct, Madam Chair. Okay, two minutes. And this is on the approval of the 2526 schoolboard observations and celebrations. when when you come up, we just ask that you give your name and your zip code for the record. Mr. Palmerini, you want to call our first speaker? your first speaker is Melissa Graham and then followed by Jonathan Graham and Amir Roy. Good afternoon, good evening. thank you for having me here this evening. My name is Melissa Graham. I'm a former educator and parent of OCPS students. I'd like to thank the vast majority of the board for their continuous support of the LGBTQ
060plus community and any associated proclamations. When we unite to understand the history and the journey of our fellow community members, we prove diversity makes makes us strong. But today, I'd like to be very clear. Any attempt to remove October's LGBTQ plus proclamation is a voice of homophobia. It is a silencing, one that reaches toward the dark pits of judgment and bullying. It is a self-serving attempt to manufacture and perpetuate a culture war for the sake of gaining political points or a sound bite. Removal of this proclamation serves no real world problem solves no real world problems in education. It offers no solutions. It saves no money. I've recently been reading u a book called Love is the Way by Bishop Michael Curry. He writes about agape love, sacrificial love that seeks the good and well-being
061of others. With this sentiment, he argues that the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is selfishness. And although we have to witness selfishness with the removal of this proclamation, I still see it in moments in OCPS. I see it on the marquee when we show awareness and history of LGBTQ. I see it when we read books that show children what different families look like. that promotes diversity. When we teach students empathy and compassion, we give them more than a basic education. We ignite wisdom. And when our rainbows provide comfort and safety for LGBTQ plus students and staff, community members and families, we outwardly show that their unique challenges matter. Those are actions of love. Thank you to the board members who will vote in favor of this proclamation. You are on
062the correct side of history. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Jonathan Graham followed by Emir Roy. Hi, good evening to the board. my name is Jonathan Graham from 32806 and I am a proud parent of an OCPS graduate and current senior. I am disappointed that the continued rhetoric and focus surrounding LGBTQ inclusion defaults to the sexualization of the community from the MAGA Republicans and Mom for Liberty groups. Recognizing that OCPS students may have two moms or two dads is not a lesson on sexuality just as having a mom and a dad is not a lesson in heterosexual sexuality. The LGBTQ community is deeply embedded and woven into the fabric of Orlando and Orange County. The tragic events at Pulse ultimately created an irrevocable relationship within this city. Removing LGBTQ history and pride
063month sends a dangerous message to our students. For LGBTQ students, it enforces mainstream rejection that results in bullying and suicide. For non-LGBTQ students, it perpetuates this notion of marginalization and ignorance. And we all saw the ignorance, the result of ignorance on June 12th, 2016. Please continue to affirm students, parents, and teachers at OCPS with these recognized proclamations that teach tolerance and acceptance. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Next speaker. Your next speaker is air Roy and Morangi Medina is after her. Hi, I'm Imar Roy, zip code 32833. I'm back. Somebody up in the board keeps smiling the whole time, no matter how worrying the things come on, and I find it very triggering. speaking of which, the attack on the proclamations against specific LGBTQIA students alliance with schools having been under relentless attack. I, Barren and
064OCPS stand against fascism. And I ask you, the board to be brave with us across Florida today. None of our communities will be wiped from books, from existence, from restrooms, or from public life. I'm encouraging board members to be brave with us by not enabling intolerance by paradoxically not tolerating in tolerance. This is a call with love to continue the prior year's proclamations and with books on and on campus hold the line and keep not complying in advance. at the front on queer and immigrant students who simply exist authentically as themselves. Transgender people have always existed. Transgender students will always exist. Transgender students have love on their side and 95% of parents who are sane. At the start of the nation, true Native Americans honored twospirited people as key and revered in their societies. At
065the start of this school year, especially with every student's success in mind, we can't proclaim our support enough or too much. No matter who in the Florida de department of eds a letter. no human in life or in books is inappropriate just as no human is illegal. But these actions and other directives from bullies in Tallahassee are illegal, inhumane, and anti- student as their party strips funding from public schools to private private schools that can can and do reject ESse students with disabilities. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Your next speaker is Morangi Medina, but this was the speaker on school safety measures for arrival. I just wanted to make sure she didn't want to speak on this topic. She's still here. All right. Next speaker is Fawn Goldstein, followed by Cecil Stone. Good evening,
066everyone. My name is Fawn Goldstein. I live in zip code 32822 and I have been a middle school counselor in Orange County Public Schools since 2017 when I completed my M's program at UCF. As a millennial, I have experienced firsthand what it was like to attend public school during a time when being different made you a target for bullying and harassment. However, I have also been fortunate enough to witness that pendulum swing over the years and watch as society began to recognize the contributions of the LGBTQ plus community and award us equal rights and legal protections. I remember when the don't ask don't tell policy was repealed only 14 years ago. I remember when same-sex marriage was legalized only 10 years ago. And witnessing these historic milestones as a college student made me feel as
067though society was moving forward and the world would be a safer place for people like me. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. Before I worked for Orange County Public Schools, I worked at a nightclub, as many college students do. But please understand, this was not just a nightclub. This was a safe haven for LGBTQ plus people in Orlando where we were free to be ourselves away from judgment and persecution. In 2016, one year after same-sex marriage was legalized and one year before I graduated with my master's degree, a gunman entered that safe space and brutally murdered 49 people. I was at work that night and while I hid under a table with two other people lamenting the fact that I was going to die before I could graduate, I promised that if I survived, I would
068dedicate myself to creating safe spaces for LGBTQ plus students in any capacity that I could. You may be asking yourself what this has to do with the topic at hand. Well, this is just one example of LGBTQ plus history that occurred right here in Orange County. And if you were moved by my story, then surely you can appreciate the importance of recognizing such history, especially here in the city beautiful. I don't have enough time to finish the rest of this speech, so I would like to leave it on this. In a time where the rights of LGBTQ plus students are being ripped away from them, and their very existence is being buil as inappropriate at worst and insignificant as best, please allow these kids to feel celebrated at school, even if it's just for one
069month. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Cecil Stone, followed by Debbie Smith. Hello board. my name is Cecil Stone. I didn't know this thing had wheels. Sorry about that. I live in 32806 down right off Kayley Street, very close to Pulse. Pulse was a big part of my life and part of my walk. some of you may remember me from many of the construction projects we've done throughout Orange County. We've built many parks, many schools, etc., etc., etc. I was superintendent on a lot of those jobs. but since 2007 and until recently, I've been the leader of an 18,000 person community that includes many folks that live alternative lifestyles. As an old straight white guy, I have learned so much from my time leading this alternative community about how it is to
070live an alternative lifestyle. There are so many challenges that alternative folk face that we can help with by just recognizing that they exist. Just simply saying you exist and you're okay. It's such a small thing to recognize the their existence and it's so very impactful. I have seen lives changed by this more times than you can possibly imagine. Being a young person is hard enough. It is my opinion that we should be doing all we can to ease struggles, not create more. Recognizing LGBTQ plus history month is one small way that we can ease the struggle for students as they grow into who they are. It's such a small thing, but so important. Everyone deserves to be celebrated for who they are. I stand here today to urge you to continue to recognize LGBTQ plus
071history month and Pride Month as the bare minimum that we should do to help those students and educators know that they are seen, wanted, and appreciated as an integral part of our community. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Debbie Smith, followed by Matthew Geski. and I'm sorry for butchering that. Hello board members. my name is Debbie Smith and I live in 32 803 in District 6. Previously, the Orange County School Board made a proclamation recognizing the 2024 National Day of Prayer. and it read, "Now therefore, the school board of Orange County, Florida, does hereby proclaim May 2nd, 2024 as National Day of Prayer in Orange County Public Schools." What is the National Day of Prayer and who organizes this religious event? The National Day of Prayer is
072a task force is a American evangelical conservative Christian nonprofit organization which organizes, coordinates and presides over evangelical Christian religious observances each year like the National Day of Prayer. That was like a mouthful. But there is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the establishment clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion. So there's a difference when the county does it, and an individual does it. Orange County Public Schools recognizing, proclaiming, observing, celebrating a National Day of Prayer runs counter to the establishment clause. Clearly, so common sense says the National Day of Prayer should not be included in your 2026 list of proclamations, observations, or celebrations. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Your next speaker is Matthew Grocheski, followed by Kip Murphy. Okay. He's out of the room. He's out of the room. If the
073board's desires to circle back to him, I have no problem. Yeah, we can do that. Okay. next speaker after that is Kitten Murphy followed by Coulson Fry. Hi, I'm Kit Murphy and I need you to understand that if you give an inch on this issue, you would make yourselves bridgebuilders with an artificially fermented cultural reaction with no next to no reasonable basis that is in every sense the enemy of the educational system. Queer students have specific needs that are not addressed by the policies that serve only the general student population and necessitate specific recognition. This includes bullying and measures to prevent bullying including celebrations which ser serve as a point of cultural unity and celebration and subvert the idea that these are some sort of foreign these queer students are some foreign product of manipulation
074that they their existence is inappropriate because there's no way that these people could be queer on their own. You must make a point of recognizing their particular interests as a vulnerable segment of the student population or abandon your jobs for these students. The notion that queer the notion that the queer students and staff in your county are political and a source of controversy is only true in so far as every struggle for recognition is a struggle against the society that excludes these populations. The question is whether you side with that exclusion or with the struggle for recognition. It is a question of whether you seek to exclude or include these students. The notion that recognizing celebrations and showing administrative support for your queer students is inappropriate falls apart when we think for a moment about
075it. This is not some foreign external body imposing itself. Queer people are a concrete segment of the student population with specific needs. They are segment of your faculty as well who may face bullying from reactionary students. and to revoke recognition on the grounds of inappropriateness would be a clear message that these people are foreign and external to the student body that they by virtue of their identity are somehow inappropriate. This would be a clear statement that the board no longer believes queer students deserve recognition. Please hold the line on this. It appears you already will, but do not move an inch. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Coulson Fry, followed by Sean Crumpacker. All right. Good evening, superintendent, members of the board. My name is Coulson Fry, zip code 32792. I'm a member of
076the C Alliance, and I'm here today because our district must support all students. Tonight, you may vote to remove Pride Month and LGBTQ plus history month from the list of proclamations. That is inconsistent with how OCPS already honors other communities. The arguments that these proclamations are repetitive fall apart when you consider we also recognize overlapping heritage observances like Jewish American Heritage Month along with Holocaust Remembrance Month and Black History Month with June Junth. LGBTQ plus students routinely face hostile school climates. Many reporting hearing homophobic remarks and feeling unsafe in schools because of their identity. Those who attend schools with GSAs experience fewer threats, miss less school, report better mental health, and a higher academic performance. Harassed students often earn significantly lower GPA, while those in supportive environments do better academically. Inclusive representation and curriculum improves
077belonging and academic success. When schools combine inclusive curricula with policies, GSAs, and supportive staffs, LGBTQ plus students thrive. While I didn't grow up in the Orange County public school systems, I was still an LGBTQ plus student navigating Florida public schools. So, to be clear, without the support, resources, and acknowledgement that holidays like this were able to provide me, I would most likely be dead at 16. Once I was given the support network and a community to feel surrounded by, I was able to excel and continue to excel through our education system. The inclusivity fostered by holidays and acknowledgements like these got me here today. Before I was given a chance to understand that innate part of myself, I would skip class, perform poorly on my tests, and let myself fall behind. I had far too
078much anxiety to be able to cope with any of those things. Gaining that language and that understanding of who I am allowed me to grow into much more successful portions of myself. I graduated from the Cambridge program. It gave me full bright futures to get to UCF. I took my LSAT last week and I'm getting ready to apply for law school. I recently got a legal internship at a firm I really like. But I wouldn't have been able to get there if that really really sad 16-year-old kid didn't get the chance to learn about his history or be proud of who he was. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, Sean Crumpacker, then followed by Stefan Frell. Hello and thank you. my name is Sean Crumpacker and my zip code is 32817. Personally, I am a
079queer man who has done work with disabled youth in the school system as a pediatric therapy aid, and many of my friends are substitute teachers. Florida schools have seen enough attacks on the queer community. I honestly just think that it is shameful that in 2025, we are still putting things like harmless LGBTQ plus proclamations up for debate. Our county bears some of the heaviest LGBTQ plus history in our nation. And rather than uplift a marginalized community that makes up the backbone of our county, rather than spending valuable time prioritizing the safety of our county's children and the quality of their education, some of the members on this board would rather waste that time feeding into the hatred and cultural divides that are sinking our nation today. I urge the members of our school board to
080vote rationally and reject this frankly disgusting attempt to erase our county's history and further disregard our county's queer youth. That all said, this board has shown up for our community time and time again, and I'm sure that many of you plan to stay consistent with the values you have demonstrated in the past. So to those of you, thank you so much for all the work that you do. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker, Stefan Ferrell, followed by Stephanie Arguo. Hello again, Stfana Ferrell 34787. So, I don't need to share a story. You all heard some wonderful and heartbreaking testimony from a number of people throughout the community. I think the fact that one board member in particular, member Ferrant, thought it was appropriate to pull this out and possibly try to again remove
081these recognitions, these proclamations. just goes to show why they are so necessary. you have a community here that stands behind all of our students that recognizes the fight for equality and and civil rights is still ongoing. The fact that there has been a lot gained but a lot to lose and a lot continuously at stake. And so I hope that you do continue as you have in the past to recognize October as LGBTQ plus history month and June as Pride Month. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Your next speaker is Stephanie Arguo followed by Laura Vale. Hello again, Stephanie Arguo 32703. And again, just following what everyone has said, what I want to talk about with proclamations is how powerful words can be and the potential that they have. They have the power to hurt
082or heal, the power to divide or unite, to silence or celebrate. And proclamations do matter. They matter a lot. Sometimes we may think in the name of belonging, we don't want to single out a certain identity because other people might feel left out. But I just implore you, our board, to really think about what it does mean for that person who maybe is not seen on a daily basis and has very few opportunities to be celebrated, especially in this current climate. And when we do se take time to celebrate others, it allows everyone to celebrate themselves and celebrate the unity that we have as one community because regardless of if we have all the same ideals and same values, we are one community. and as a proud millennial mom, according to my daughter, I she
083considers me a boomer. It doesn't matter. You know, our kids, this that's just the truth. And our kids are here to push us further. you know, the generation that's in school now is experiencing things that we never experienced at at the pace that they're experiencing it. And so, it might be hard for us in our generation and our from our perspective, to still connect with what our kids are experiencing and what they're doing. But it is so important for us, especially in positions of leadership, to be willing to lean into supporting kids on their journey, even if it's not the same journey that we had, even if it looks incredibly different from what we experienced ourselves. And so I just want to encourage the board to really just reframe we all have our personal values
084and those are extremely important. But when we talk about the importance of proclamations and celebrating and celebrating history that can be extremely painful and difficult, it's because we need to always remember the things that have happened, how we the resilience of our community and those opportunities and moments are what bring us together. So sometimes it might feel like it's separating, but it really is an opportunity to bring us together and celebrate even if it's not what you personally believe. So, just implore you to continue to keep that in mind. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Laura Veil, followed by Jack Hayes. Hi, good evening. I'm Laura Vale, zip code 32812. I'm an alumni of OCPS and also I have a son in fifth grade at Dover Shores. I know this is the
085second time that member Ferrant has brought removing Pride Month and LGBTQ plus history month from the list of proclamations before the board. It's sad that we're here again having to waste everyone's time in an attempt to hurt students, faculty, and staff that identify as LGBTQ. I live in member for district and she does not speak for our community as a whole. Now more than ever, we need to stand up for our marginalized students. With a concentration camp now operating in our state and people being kidnapped off the street and deported, all reasonable people, all reasonable people on the right side of history must do what we can to push back against silencing the marginalized and oppressed. As leaders of this district, it is your job to support and protect all children of OCPS, not be
086complicit in silencing and trying to erase them further. As we've seen from history, othering people and trying to erase them is a very slippery slope. Today, it's removing proclamations for Pride and LGBTQ plus history month, but what's it going to be tomorrow or next month or next year? Would it be removing proclamations for Black History Month or Disability Awareness Month? Or perhaps requesting approval to go back to segregation? You can't give bigots an inch because they'll take a mile. Keeping these proclamations hurts no one. It shows that in an increasingly hostile state, OCPS is a safe and accepting space for everyone. Pride is important because someone tonight still believes that they're better off being dead than being queer. Last year, this agenda item didn't pass and we're putting our faith in the rest of the
087board to vote against it once again. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Jack Hayes, followed by Judy Hayes. Hi there. sorry. Hi there. Jack Hayes 3286 and I'm the president of the QAA at my school and we try and foster an inclusive place for everybody regardless of identity. And I'm here to talk about the removal the prop proposal to remove the Pride Month recognition. QA is designed to foster welcoming spaces for all students, in particular those that are traditionally marginalized. this is not the time to be sweeping them under the rug as LGBTQ plus kids suffering mental health crisis. they suffer in larger numbers than general population and we should be cognizant of that and we want to do whatever we can to improve awareness and provide emotional support and this is
088just not that. stripping the pride and LGBTQ plus recognition month only serves to further ostracize these kids and make this less of a welcome place. We've heard a lot of stories, so I'm going to kind of keep it brief. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Judy Hayes, followed by Rachel Gardner. Thank you all. I don't know that I can improve on what he said. I'm very proud of my child. but and I want all other parents to be able to experience that same kind of pride that they have in their child. Of course, I think that mine is Thank you. Who did that? Who's Thank you. Appreciate that. I was just going to leave it. Thank you very much. but I do appreciate the opportunity to be heard on
089this issue and I appreciate your willingness to hear from my child and I want every parent to be able to experience that. And I don't think that this is the time that we should be othering people. we're all familiar with the Neimler poem. Maybe we're not. first they came for and then they came for and then they came for. and I just don't think that this is the time that we need to be chipping away at individual rights and freedoms regardless of what our intent is. it's very obvious what the intent is here. We did it last year. It passed. We're going to do it again this year. It's going to pass again. Probably gonna do it again next year. I'm still going to be here. He's graduating. But I have another one. There's another
090one. And he's going to be here for a couple more years. So, I'll come back every year if we're going to do this because eventually you're going to get around to the disabled kids. I know you are and that's my other child and you'll have to get through me first. so we see what's going on here. You're trying to wear us down so that eventually board members and parents will just throw up our hands in exhaustion and say, you know what, we give up. But we're not going to do that. And we are Legion. There's so many of us. You can see how many people come in here to speak on this. We're not going anywhere. And we're here. We're proud. and we are going to stand up for our children, for everyone's children. And
091that's what it's all about. They're all our kids. And we just have to understand that it doesn't matter if we are just completely flammixed by what what's the L, what's the G, what's the B, what's the T, what's the Q, what's the I, what's the A, what's the plus, what's the minus. We don't have to understand that. They're children and they're growing into adults and they're people and they all deserve dignity and respect. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker. Next speaker is Rachel Gardner. And then we would circle back to Matthew Gchesky. Good evening. My name is Rachel Gardner. I live in 3283. I have something to say that I've written down, but I think everybody has done a really good job representing. I am a boomer and I am a proud out
092lesbian in my family. I have great nieces and nephews who look up to me as the person who paved the way for them in a hostile environment. My dad was a Christian minister. He was a loving Christian minister before politics entered into Christianity. I'm here to tell you that not saying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, interex, or asexual. And the plus for me stands for everything we don't know yet. I'm old enough to know that I don't know everything, and I'm going to have to continue to learn as the kids teach us. I'm looking to them to teach us, but I'm looking to you to keep them safe. And we know that having these words and these proclamations in schools help to keep our si kids safe. There is proof. There's data. I'm happy to
093share with it with any of you at any other time. But I'm here to ask you to continue to do what you started out this meeting talking about was keeping our kids safe. All of our kids, they matter. Thank you. Thank you. and the final speaker, Matthew Grchesky, back in. No, left. He left. Okay, then then that is your last speaker. Okay, that is our last speaker. we have board members queued in. Member Gallow. thank you, Madam Chair. I just queued in because I have a constituent that could not be here tonight and she was upset that she couldn't be here tonight and I told her that I would read her into the record. So, that's what I'm going to do. it's from Jen Cousins and she lives in 328 28. it says, I know
094I'm because you can time me, John, because I only get two minutes. Glisten's research has long de demonstrated that LGBTQ plus students who attend schools that are inclusive of LGBTQ plus people, history, and events experience a better school climate and improved academic outcomes. When queer and trans students see that their school district recognizes and validates their identities, they feel safe and welcomed. OCPS also recognizes Black, Hispanic, Jewish, and Native American related months as well as National Day of Prayer. Recognizing Pride Month and LGBTQ plus History Month is no different. Our queer and trans communities have contributed a wealth of positive impact, not just on the world, but in our own OCPS community. Taking away these proclamations is robbing this community and our students of their personal pride and moments in history. We trust the rest
095of the board to vote with the queer and trans community as they have in the past and retain these recognitions for the 2025 2026 school year. We also welcome the opportunity to educate member Front on how best to serve the LGBTQ plus students and families of her district. Thank you. Thank you. I'm cute and next and I was just going to thank all of our speakers tonight for coming and for your bravery and for your words. and I was just going to say that I have absolutely no intention of changing our proclamations or celebrations at all. So, that's where I stand. Next, we have Member Vanos. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. And I would also like to say thank you to everyone who showed up today. I know it's not easy. It's not convenient
096to show up on a weekday at 5:00 to speak. So, thank you for showing up and thank you for speaking. thank you to the students. thank you to C Alliance for being here. thank you to everyone from our youngest to our boomers. You're all important and your input and guidance is super important. So, thank you for for sharing and I'm so proud to be part of this community. I did note all of the 3283s and 32792s. So, thank you District 6 for really showing up. really proud to be part of this community. Proud to be a part of this board that in the past has has voted and has included this proclamation. And obviously I stand I stand with that. But I think it's LGBTQ history is important in in this community in Orlando in
097particular. And I think it is so important that we have this proclamation and we make all of our students feel valued and seen. And like one of the speakers said, we cannot proclaim our support enough. And so I am in support of retaining that proclamation. Thank you. Thank you. Member Salamanca. thank you chair and yeah, I wanted to thank everyone who who came to speak today. We will continue to have this discussion. We will continue to have this debate and it's it's unfortunate but I believe you know member Fon really represents a part of our community who has those beliefs and not saying it's the majority. I'm not saying that's what I believe. I'm not saying that's what the majority of this board believes. but I respect your free speech to say what you want
098to say and what you believe. and you know that goes both ways for how we think about our students, how we think about freedom of speech for books, how we think about a variety of things. And so, I'm grateful that your voice is still being heard. and that you do represent voices out there of of your own community as well. because it just it reminds us that there's a lot of work that we have to continue doing. And I'm grateful because as parents and students said, we're just going to keep showing up, right? Like I am who I am. I married who I married. I love who I love. It's just I just exist. I'm not going anywhere. and so I don't think I acknowledging the history of what my community has endured or what
099my identity represents is necessarily I think someone said it really well, which is just because you talk about a heterosexual couple doesn't mean you're sexualizing a student just by telling them what a heterosexual couple is. And so I'm grateful for everyone who showed up. I think that the fight's not over. I think that we continue to remind these students that the work is still ahead, that they are seen, that they're safe, that we will do everything we can to protect them and that they're not different and that their history and who they are is important. And that is why we acknowledge it. That is why we have a proclamation because the point of a proclamation is to acknowledge that fights and battles have been won towards a form of equality. And it is a reminder
100that we continue to believe that and it's still okay for folks to disagree and challenge those views and have their voices represented. it's not easy to hear. It's not easy to read. but I absolutely respect your right to do so. So, that'd be all, but I really, really appreciate everyone who was out there, as a LGBTQ student who grew up in OCPS with religious parents. Yeah, it wasn't always clear if if we were accepted. It was a, as some of the speakers said, a hard time where you were bullied, if you were different, where you hid who you were until it was accepted. I did not come out of high school. did not I was not part of a place where I felt safe and not because I didn't have people that didn't love me.
101But we have a loving community and everyone has their own journey. and I will for as long as I'm on this board continue to support the acknowledgement, the proclamation, and the work that we do to make sure all of our students are safe, that all of our students feel that regardless if they're different, it doesn't matter because we're here to educate everyone. We're not here to single anyone out. That's not what we're here to do. so thank you all for for being here and as a student of this district back in the day, your voices matter and they'll continue to matter and ahead we go. Thank you. U member Fant. Thank you, Member Salamanca. That was I always love hearing your perspective and your thoughts. and I think one of my favorite things is that
102we're always able to have a great conversation. I think we represent really a great way to you know, we have differences. but still are able to laugh and have fun and really be focused on what matters most. the reason that I had brought this forward was because we have a proclamation on the same month that is for bullying and I want kids to understand that bullying is for all kids. and so the LGBTQ plus history and awareness, the proclamation itself talks a lot about bullying. And when we single one community out, it can make other students feel that if they're bullied, it doesn't matter unless they're part of the LGBTQ community. and you can laugh and that's totally fine and you can think what I'm saying is silly. but I represent a whole another group
103of families of parents of children, students like yourselves who actually don't want to come and speak at a board meeting because when they do, they're bullied at school and told that they're bigots, that they're homophobic, and that they don't care. And so what you have to understand is when I represent a community, obviously not everybody who is in my voting district voted for me, so maybe I don't represent you. but I'm here to fight for your kids still. and so that's why we have a bullying prevention month. we also have in honor of your community there's a pride month in June as well as a pulse remembrance month. And so you know I have a few a few things that come to mind and it's just you know parents are wondering why are we having
104multiple months for one community and singling out one community. And I think in order to build unity and stand for all of our chuh children and our students, our staff when we're continually singling out one community and giving honor and proclamations to one community more than another, it can make it look like that is our sole focus. And so we want to really show our students that we care about everyone, that we're here to make sure everybody, I wouldn't want any of you to feel bullied at school. Not one of you should ever feel that way. No one should ever call you names or talk rude or down to you. That's not the way we show kindness. And so for that reason, I think we, you know, we have our bullying prevention month. but a
105question that I had for the superintendent when we have a proclamation like this to me for an entire month it isn't just like a day but for an entire month to me I believe it welcomes teachers and to have discussions in their classrooms to bring up the history and awareness and I want to make sure that we aren't putting our teachers and staff in position where they're going against state statutes or against any kind of state laws. Madame Chair, may I Yes. Yeah. first of all, thank you for the thoughtful conversation. I always do feel highly privileged that a diverse board as yourself always handles topics in a respectful manner and I can't say that is true of all boards. and to the question board member Ferrant has posed absolutely not. teachers understand what they
106are able to teach. We teach to the standards and we have been having this proclamation under the new rules for I believe now it's been two or three years and we don't have any reported instances of a teacher crossing the line and not understanding what the law allows them to do. I am going to echo that we are in a time where there is so much stress on our children and I do understand your concern that not you know some children would feel less I think the more our board can do to show all of our children that they are supported that they are loved and that our schools are safe places for them the better humans they're going to be And so I can assure you that none of our teachers will be doing
107any type of instruction or or violating the law. and I will make sure we also share or have already shared at the beginning of the year with all of our teachers guidelines and refreshers as we do every year. And I believe that information was included. I'll verify with general counsel and if it was not we'll make sure that we send it out again and I'll copy the board on that. Okay. member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. and I want to thank also everybody that came out today to talk about this topic and to urge the board to keep the proclamation. I think it was Mr. Fry that pointed out that we do have several resolutions that are duplicative in nature. Like we celebrate Jewish and Holocaust. We do. So we have we have other items
108on here that are duplicative in nature. so I don't see a reason why we would not keep I'm in support of keeping all the proclamations in in the one in October for a lot of the reasons that were cited. I agree with Dr. Vasquez that I'm very proud of this board for behaving I don't want to say rationally because I feel like we do a better job than that but respectfully respectfully when we get a topic that not everybody agrees on. but yeah I just wanted to say thank you. We do live in in times where I especially believe that the LGBTQ plus community feels attacked and they feel like they're being dismissed and we are here for all students. And if by leaving a proclamation up for the month of October and doing two
109more in June says we hear you, we see you, we care about you, we support you, you are safe at OCPS. I will do anything to ensure that every single student feels safe and welcomed in our schools, every single one. So, I will be voting to keep this proclamation. Thank you. Thank you, member Douglas. I just want to say I am so proud of all these young men and women that came here and actually you know just you know stated what they believe and they are strongly position themsel in what they believe and I'm so proud of you to know that you are ready to advocate for yourself and advocate for others very your parents have done a great up. Thank you so much for being here and I'm very proud of you. I just
110wanted to say you know we are all God's children and children are children. Okay. they are all our children and they all deserve respect and an acknowledgement and just like some people in here I believe that we need to keep October as pride month. Okay. Thank you, member Vanos. Thank you so much. I also appreciate the conversation today. but I did also want to say although most of the people who came to speak were speaking about one of the proclamations in particular. I know there was a question about the National Day of Prayer and so I just wanted to make sure we addressed that speaker's comment as well. So, I don't know, John, if you can just so we can provide some just transparency and just to address the concern that was brought up. All
111right. 36USC19 says as follows. The president shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first third Thursday Thursday in May as a national day of prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals. So, it's a statutoily or congressionally mandated proclamation that the president has to issue. just for awareness, the speaker referenced whether or not it was constitutional under the establishment clause. It was in fact challenged under the establishment clause by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The courts have uniformly rejected the challenge to it saying that the Freedom from Religion Foundation doesn't have standing because it didn't prove injury in fact. So, it is constitutionally or it's statutoily mandated. There is no constitutional issue with having it. Okay. Thank you.
112I appreciate that. member Felder. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair. I do appreciate the hearty discussion that comes from members of our constituency and of course this very diverse board. But I just want to just share some of my thoughts because of my background and my life experiences. I'm 68 years old. So I grew up in segregation. I will always vehemently go against any kind of law or that will just attack a person's personal belief even if I don't agree with it. I Volater said something very profound. and he said, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it." It's interesting that the thought about law and what is the law and what it brought to my remembrance my teaching of MLK's letter from a
113Birmingham jail. The law stated there was a certain type of well the rights of of black people were taken by law. Segregation was forced in America by law. So the clergymen from Birmingham, they got together and sent Martin Luther King a letter. And it took him some time, but he responded. He said if man's made law goes against the moral law I would be rather I would rather obey the moral law. And if you are a reader of Greek tragedy you know the story of antiggonine. She says to cran I would rather obey the moral law than man's law. So my point is this. Sometimes when you look at law, you have to contemplate that purpose of law because there are laws that are written, there were laws written in the 30s and the 40s
114that said a board looking like this would not have existed because you could not be with someone who was not locking to your ethnicity or your race. Certainly. And if you were a woman, no matter what your race was, white, black, green, or polka dot, you would not be leading a school district, the law would not allow that. And I often say to my students, and I don't know whether I'm right or wrong, but I'd say to them, when I teach the Declaration of Independence, I teach the Declaration of Sentiments because I believe that women must have whispered to the husbands of those that wrote the Declaration of Independence. You need to say all men are created equal. Why they need to say it? Because we're talking about women. My point is this, the law,
115sometimes the law will cause you to contemplate its validity. And again, I applaud I applaud those of you in your bravery to speak out your belief. And what I like about this board is that we can agree to disagree. This is a very diverse board in terms of what we believe and what we think. But I just wanted it to go on record. As a black American, I will always vehemently go against anything that will cause any group of people to be denied their right to believe how they believe. because I grew up in a environment and a society where people were lynched, hung and murdered because of what they believed or how of their lifestyle. So, I just wanted to share that with you and to let you know that I may not agree
116with what you say or what you believe, but I will defend to death your right to say it and your right to believe it. Thank you. Thank you, Member Felder. Member Gallo. I always dread going after member Felder when she's when she's gotten on a roll. You missed your calling. You should have You should have been a reverend. You should have You are. So, for all you out in the audience, she can marry people. If anybody's looking for someone to to do that to officiate. I just have a couple of questions regarding the the day of prayer. First, do we still are we still required by law to do the moment of silence in the morning? that one minute. And do all the schools do the moment of silence? There is a requirement in the
117law to do a moment of silence. I operationally I defer to the superintendent on that. I'm pretty sure that they all do, but I'm so sorry. Watch. Sorry. and then my next question is when we did the national day or day of prayer that there was no curriculum being taught on religion. It was just like during that minute of silence if they choose to pray for the school district they could but there was kind of like there was there was no curriculum that went along with that. No there was not. Okay. thank you. That's all that I had. Thank you member Gallo. Member Ferrant. I think it's pretty obvious where the board stands. so I would like to see if there's a motion or I'd like to make a motion to see about removing just
118the LGBTQ October history proclamation and we can vote on that separately and because I have no problems with the rest if we can just vote like that. because for me to vote no on everything seems kind of silly. I have no problems with any of the others. I just think we're being redundant by celebrating three times which we don't need to continue to go over. But so member Ferrant is asking you're are you asking for a motion to remove? No, just to separate it out like remove it from the not remove it. I guess that's a bad word. just separate it so that we vote on well you have to make a motion if you want to make if you That's what I just asked. I said I'd like to make a motion to like
119separate it separate the LGBTQ IA plus history and awareness month and we'll vote separately on that just that proclamation and then the rest of the proclamations. Okay. Do we have so we have a motion to remove just that one or separate it. Proclamation to separate to vote on it separately. Do we have a second to remove it to vote on it separately? Okay. There's no second. So, right. It fails. I just want to see clarification. Make sure I understand what you were asking. So you are requesting to have two votes. One vote to to have all the proclamations except for the one on LGBTQ plus and then have a separate vote as to whether to include LGBTQ plus as part or not part of the proclamation. Correct? So two separate votes. Okay. Thank you. I
120was trying to get that in my head. General Counsel, do you feel like that needs to be a motion for a separate thing or is this just something we should get a consensus if we want to do two separate votes? There's there's a couple different ways you could do it actually. One, you member FRA can make a motion to approve all the proclamations as listed except for LGBTQ plus month history month in October. She could do it that way and she could put that motion on the floor and if there's a lack of second the motion would die. she could also move to separate the LGBTQ plus month history month in October and have a separate vote on that if she could do that as well. She could put that motion on the floor. If
121there's a lack of second, it would also die and then you would be back to the main question of approving the agenda item as is. So I as if I saw your headshake in the affirmative, I believe she's asking to move to have a separate vote for to on just LGBTQ plus month history month in October for the rest of the board to have a separate vote on that. Is that is that correct madam or member front? Okay. Okay. So that was corrected and we did not have a second. Correct. No second for that. I second. You second that to have it separated. Okay. okay. All those in favor of having pulling it and having two separate votes. I Okay. All those not in favor? Nay. All right. So, the motion does not carry. So,
122we are going to I'm going to ask now for a motion to approve the entire 2526 school board observations and celebration as published in the agenda. So moved by member Gallow. Do I have a second? Second by member Vanos. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed Okay, motion carries. Thank you, board. And thank you for those of you that came out. superintendent, it is time to hear from you. thank you Madame Chair for, we had a great first day of school. I want to say, you know, thank you to, all of our teachers, our support staff, and our administrators, that work so hard to ensure we were ready to open our doors. Monday. there we had two schools that we it was close and so I am extremely thankful for the
123extra work and also the collaboration with the classroom teachers association because there were teachers that were impacted and not able to get into their classrooms. but I had the chance to visit the school on Sunday. they were so excited so positive and just ready to open the doors. and our visits yesterday, I know that several of you were with me and then you had other schools that you visited. everybody seems so excited to be coming back to school. I feel that it's going to be a wonderful school year and we look forward to collaborating with our families. for those families that still have not heard, we have parent square, the new tool that's we are hoping is going to make communication easier more transparent and we have had positive feedback about the new tool. So
124if you have not heard about it, you can go on our website. You can also sign up to customize how you get your messaging from parent square. currently it has taken all of the communications from the school classroom and district level and put it on one platform. and then it allows you to customize if you only want to get a text message at the end of the day with all the information. It allows you to do that. So we're thankful for the new tool. Additionally, we have implemented an AI tool on our website to assist in stakeholders finding information. it's called Let's Talk. It's a little chatbot that when you go on, if you ask it a question, it will give you the response and give you the link. if the answer is not on
125our website, then it's going to connect you with an adult. So, we're very excited about those two pieces. And finally, we've officially launched our strategic plan. I just absolutely love our strategic plan based on the portrait of a graduate where the focus is on preparing, inspiring, and empowering all of our children so that they are successful. As I've already celebrated, we received an A rating from the state again. So, it's two consecutive years. and we received if I could have the two slides please. We received information from college board and u you know some of the metrics are lagging but we want to point out some of the data so you can see the comparison. So, I want you to see that last year we had 4,841 AP scholars and this year we have over
1265600. So, just again a testament to our teachers our students and families working together. you can also see the diplomas and certificates went from 249 to 441. So, we are so thankful for the hard work of all those engaged with the advanced courses as you know with AP classes when you're transferring to colleges and universities those equate to college credits and so for many families that's a nice cost savings. So, we're excited for a great year and looking forward to all of the outreach and collaboration with our community and families. Thank you, Superintendent. Mr. Palmarini. Thanks, Madam Chair. just a couple things. the superintendent talked about guidance that we've previously given on what's permitted classroom instruction or not. we put that out in March of 2024. I've been talking with the superintendent very briefly. We'll
127go ahead and put that out again just as a reminder for everybody. I generally put out a few memos at the beginning of the year, just a reminder on various topics. We will just add that to it. So, you will see it. I reforward it to you all actually today so you have it. So, you've seen it in the past. It's the summary of what came out of the settlement agreement that arose from the litigation over House Bill 1557. So that's number one. Number two, as by your action tonight on the consent agenda, we entered the final order in the Delta dental bid protest. I put in the resolution. We had previously moved for attorneys fees and cost and based upon what we thought was a lack of legal and factual foundation. there's also a
128protest bond that was issued by Delta Tentle. I just want to make sure I the protest forfeite of the protest bond. I think that's the whole purpose of putting up a bond is if you protest and it's unsuccessful that forfeite of that bond because it delayed our proceeding and getting you know this RFP issued and getting the delta our dental program out. So, I'm going to seek the forfeite of the bond because I think it's appropriate unless there is objection from the board for me doing so. I don't see any objection. So, I will go ahead and do that. finally, one of the perks of the job is actually going out on the first day of school. I was able to do that yesterday. I hit five schools, went to Apka High School, and you
129know, mess with my daughter because that's what fathers do to their daughters. visited my wife's school at Wolf Lake Elementary was at Wolf Lake Middle School, Zelwood Elementary where I went to school in Kelly Park, K8. It was wonderful seeing teachers there. Is wonderful seeing students engaged in learning. It is a refreshing reminder of why we do the work we do. So, thank you. And that's all I have. Thank you. member Faron, is this the Not quite, but Okay. No, give me one more. Okay. we have reports. Are there any committee reports? No, you don't have to if you don't want to. Okay. Member Salamaka. We did have two committees today, so it's been a long day. we had the opportunity to meet at the budget committee to do a review of the latest on
130the budget. We did have CTA and OSPA members represented. It was just very similar presentations as we've had in the public about what the budget looks like. It was an opportunity for folks to ask questions about the budget, including the board as well as as members of of the both unions. and I think it was just the board's intention to have a different setting and format for where both unions could also ask questions because when we're up here and a presentation happens, it's it can be difficult to ask questions. it's just not the format for it. And so we want to do that. I think we had a really good conversation in general. it was not meant to be in any form bargaining but just a better format for questions and answers on the budget.
131a lot of work ahead for sure and I think we're just trying to have a good kind of brainstorm as we go in through upcoming troubling budget times ahead. And so thank you for both unions and representatives who were there. it meant a lot to this board to have you all there and we just look forward to kind of thinking through some of these questions and we'll absolutely be following up with some of the questions that were asked on all sides from staff. Thank you, Member Salamanka. Yeah, that was a great meeting. And then right after that, we had a very brief communications meeting because we didn't have a lot of time, but we were able to go over a few marketing marketing plans ideas that we're working on to help market our schools as
132we've spoken about, especially with our, you know, choice options for parents. we want to make sure that our community knows all the wonderful things that our public schools are doing. So, our communications department has been working on some communication ideas doing they showed us a great video they made at Lake View Middle with students showing the great things at Lake View Middle, a little promotional video that they're going to roll out in some other middle schools this year as a pilot. we had some great ideas about using students to help make those videos. and then we also talked about they gave us a great handout for leave behinds when we have meetings with the community to let them know, you know, kind of where we're at this year, the struggles we're going to have with
133the budget and what they can do as community members. So, it was a good meeting. And I think that's it for committee meetings. Now, we are going to invite we're going to in a minute invite board members to if they have any policy level issues you'd like to discuss in the future. But before that, I believe we have member Ferrant who queued in to say something. And then I believe member Felder has something that she wants to share as well. Go ahead. Yeah, I just wanted to say also happy first week of school. It was amazing. It was really fun to go out and visit schools with you, Dr. Vasquez. And something that I have been hearing the buzz all over really OCPS, but of course district 3 is that the first day of school
134went incredibly smooth. just the everyone getting into their classes, the scheduling. the school that we were at was South Creek Middle School and I need to give another shout out to their their entire scheduling team. it was a whole team of them that worked so hard over the summer to make sure that their students were in class on time and with a schedule that made sense. I think we arrived at the end of first period or beginning of I think it was just starting second period and there wasn't there I think maybe one kid was there trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. So that was it. And just really awesome really really proud of the team and you know all the hard work. I know there's a lot of behind the
135scenes that happens especially over the summer and so really proud of you all for that. but just wanted to ask a couple questions or see if we can get the first one is about the science of reading and how are we promoting that again this year and what types of training are we doing with our with our teachers for the science of reading? Great question. We are continuing with our focus on the science of reading. our ELA results show that it's working and so we will continue to provide professional development opportunities for our teachers. I will have Dr. Brown Canon email the board the specifics and dates that are already scheduled so anyone that wants to pop in is able to or as you're engaging with teachers if they're interested in learning more you can
136also then share with them. So, we'll get that planned to all of you. Awesome. Thank you. And just one last thing, as far as the Quesa K12 that we hired to help us bring students back, I know there's been a lot of questions in the community. We spoke a little bit, earlier about this. but how is that going? And then when will we get more information on kind of their efforts and maybe I'd love to see kind of a side by side of maybe the last couple years that for that you know 10 day first 10 day window to see kind of how that looks for this year. It's a great question also and so for those that are listening we engaged with a company called Quesa K12 and they recruit former OCPS students based
137on our declining enrollment. we are trying different strategies. You heard about our marketing strategy. this is a company that goes out and speaks to former OCPS students and they recruit them for us. If they register and are here with us for at least 30 days, then we pay them a portion of the FTE that we earn. We earn a little bit or close to $8,000 and we are paying them about $900. We will have the data for you in a couple of weeks. right now typically the first two weeks of school were kind of settling in. families that maybe for some reason or another didn't start on the first day of school. Schools and teachers start calling, "Hey, you're on my roster. We miss you. Are you coming?" And so by the 10th day, those
138rosters have been cleaned out. And so we'll be able to give you a snapshot then. But really, it'll be after that 30-day mark because that's when they will count and we'll be able to share with you. I can say from the visits we had that some schools are up in enrollment and we don't know that's necessarily going to be attributed just to Quesa, but we did we did see some of that. across the district. And of course, we also had some some schools that were underenrolled or under projections. So, hopefully we're going to end up on the upside with a plus, not not not a decline. Sure. Thank you. member Felder, did you still want to do Okay, because I had you next and then you buzzed. Thank you. I just wanted to say on
139Saturday this past Saturday the district has you know been working with outside entities in support one of which is the children's home society and so they have committed a partnership with Carver Middle School they have also had a partnership with Jones High School and Eckleston and ACE and those are all of those schools on my schools. And so I'm so excited. We cut the ribbon on Saturday and I'm so excited for what they're going to be doing with the children in our community and with the families in terms of helping argument some of the cost like dental and medical and just you know around a roundabout services that they provide for our schools. So, I wanted you all to see what I did on Saturday. So, I'm so excited and I appreciate the district's support
140and work with Children's Home Society. And I want to thank Sher Gonzalez, who is the senior executive who was there. So, I just wanted to share that board members, that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing. Great pictures. Member Douglas. Well, since we are all bragging a little bit about our schools, I will continue by saying that Sun Reach Middle and Sun Sun Reach Elementary, we had a back to school event that was absolutely wonderful. I mean, people showed up, student had backpacks. parents and staff were relaxing talking to each other and getting to know each other. It was such a wonderful event. We really didn't want to leave this event. It was absolutely well attended and successful. I just wanted to say thank you to the community that supported the event. and from the West Orange
141Chamber to the West Orange Parks to OCPS teams, we were all there. It was great. And I hope next year you will come because we will also invite not only elementary middle but also high school will be there. So we are so excited and congratulation to the first day of school. Apparently it's been very successful and keep talking about OCPS and the great things that we're doing at OCPS because parents you are the great voice out there and you can talk about OCPS. Thank you so much for being here again. Thank you, member Douglas. Superintendent, am I the last one or is there someone else? No, I was going to say something when everybody was done, but you can go ahead. Oh, you sure? Okay. So, I don't know if Caleb is back there. if
142Caleb, if you are back there, do you mind coming out? So Caleb is our young man from graduate of Jones High School that has been helping us for about a year. He's he's been the voice of Mondays with Maria. today is his last day. He's off to college and so I wanted to send him off wishing him well. There he is. We're so excited for you and we know you're going to do amazing things and we want you to stay connected so we can hear all that your future has to hold and I know your mom is super excited too. Yes. Yes. Well, good luck. Thank you. I actually, you know, I actually think, Caleb, that you should, since you have an experience with all the video, that you should make us a video after
143you have settled into college and send it to us and we'll play it at a board meeting. Yes. Because you have nine mothers that'll come and put them in their place. Yes, Dr. Arberster. So, so yesterday, we worked him right to the end. Yesterday, he spent he spent six hours with me at six different schools videotaping and editing and making fun of me and making me say things I have no idea what I said about being sus. This is fire. Ate and left no crumbs. He made me stand in front of the Jones senior class and say some expression I've never heard of. So, I want to thank you, Caleb. But more than that, really do appreciate you as a human being. Enjoyed lunch with you and I wish you all the best, man. Thank
144you. Oh, I love it. He educated you, Dr. Armster. Lingo, all the lingo. Best of luck, Caleb. no. Real quick, I just wanted to say and what reminded me of it was in our communication meeting when one of the things that we want to ask the public is to volunteer in your local schools. And I'm actually doing I write a weekly column for our local newspaper in my community. And so over the next few weeks, I'm writing about volunteer opportunities in our local schools in the Apakka area. And so I have some of the schools sending me things that they need volunteers for. So I just wanted to throw some of these things out here, you know, like of course with our high schools especially and our other schools for the SAT committees, joining your
145SAT committee, joining your PTAs and PTSAs, you don't realize how important those committees are, especially the SAC committee in every school is really important. And if they don't have quorums at those meetings, they can't, you know, make decisions where they're using certain funding that they're allocated or they're making the school improvement plans, you know. So, it's and some of my schools really struggle to get those parents out for those. So, definitely join those. one of my high schools is looking for parent volunteers to serve as testing proctors. They need they train the volunteers to come in and help with testing. all the performing arts, all the bands and the choruses, they all need volunteers and volunteer support. All the athletic programs need volunteers and support. and then my, you know, we all know elementaryaries classroom
146teacher support. They need it. Media centers need help with kids checking out books. cafeteria supervision. I was a lunchroom mom. I know many of us up here have been lunchroom moms. Every lunch needs lunchroom moms and dads to help open those milk curtains. So, you know, there's just so many teaching, career day presentations, campus beautififications. There's so many opportunities to get involved with your local school. You don't have to be a parent. You can be a community member. And it's so important to help our schools. and you know, we have to remember that the our public schools are the cornerstones of our community and they need our support now more than ever. and I just really encourage you to do it. And if you are a parent, there is no better way to get connected
147and to understand what's happening inside your child's school than to get involved and volunteer. So, that was just my little words of wisdom for the night. And I think that might be the last of our business tonight and we are ready to adjourn. Have a good night everyone. Thank you for coming. Excuse me. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.