001Good evening. Wow, we have a full house tonight. Welcome to the Orange County School Board's regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 29th, 2025. Thank you so much for being here with us tonight. I believe we have Chair Jacobs and Member Salamanca both joining us telephonically on the line. Member Salamanca, are you on the line? Yes, I am. Good to hear from you. Chair Jacobs, I'm on the line. Thank you. Thank you. and all other board members are present. To my fellow board members, district staff, and members of the public, when speaking, please make sure that your microphone is turned on and you speak directly into it so that our YouTube and Orange TV viewers can hear you clearly. And again, I want to thank all of you so much for being here and participating in
002or attending tonight's meeting. We're going to start the meeting with a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. And now for the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Dr. Vasquez, are there any changes to the agenda tonight? There are no changes to the agenda. Okay. In that case, I will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda as posted. So moved by member Gallow, second, second by member Douglas. All those in favor, please say I. I. And motion carries. Chair Jacobs I. Member Salamanca. I. Good. good evening everyone. It's time for recognitions. Our favorite time of the meetings. I'd like to share with you some national awards won by
003our communications division. Our dedicated team has recently received significant recognition from the National School Public Relations Association or ENSPRA, an organization that sets the standard for excellence in school communications across the nation. First, I am thrilled to announce that Orange County Public Schools has been awarded a prestigious 2025 Golden Achievement Award for our communications around the extension of the halfsent sales tax which passed very well. So, we are very happy about that. This national award recognizes outstanding strategic work in all aspects of school public relations, communications, marketing and engagement. This recognition is a testament to the public relations efforts that clearly communicated the importance of the halfsent sales tax to our community that helped secure continued support for our schools. And that will mean that we are able to repair air conditioning systems, update bathrooms,
004and keep our schools secure and up to date over the next decade. Additionally, communications received three 2025 NPRA awards of excellence in its publications and digital media excellence contest. The first award of excellence recognizes our read to read to succeed enrichment program. This award highlights the outstanding branding and imaging materials developed for this vital program. The second award of excellence is for a special purpose publication. It recognized our code of student conduct activity booklet for 2425, which I am a huge fan of. I think that this is just so innovative that we have these little coloring activity books for our code of conduct for our littlest learners. So, I'm so glad that got recognized. it helps our students learn and understand and uphold the behavioral expectations that create a positive learning environment. The third award
005of excellence recognizes our 2024 2025 pocket guide. The pocket guide provides key details about the district, including our mission and vision. It's a hand it's a handy place to find facts about the students we serve, our programs, operations, and budget. In fact, I just took a whole stack of them to a to a Rotary meeting and handed them out to the Rotary members and they were very excited about having them. it has a lot of great information in there. Could the PR team involved in these awards please come up to the front? Gosh, there's so many of you here. It's so exciting. Now, I'd like to recognize Scott Howard, our chief communications officer, to introduce the public relations team behind these efforts. Thank you, Madam Chair. We really appreciate the kind words and honored that
006you spoke there for us. just to give you a little background. So, last November, as you mentioned, the Orange County voters passed the extension of the half cent sales tax by an overwhelming 72.06%. That was the highest approval rating in the entire state of any such effort. So, round of applause for that. The Orange County Communications Division halfent sales tax continuation education campaign was a key part of that of that effort. as you mentioned, Chair Burton, the campaign had been recognized nationally and it was honored at the state level first before that. So, the Sunshine State School Public Relations Association or Sunsp had awarded the campaign a radiant award medallion as the top bond and finance campaign in the state. And it also won a comp the competition's highest award, a supernova medallion award of
007excellence, receiving a unanimous perfect score. So that was at NSPRA. The campaign won a golden achievement award. The award was for campaigns that exemplify the impactful, innovative work shaping the future of school communication. In recognition of the awards for this campaign, it is my great honor to acknowledge the following members of the team who each played a part. I will I'll call out their names and let them step forward. first name Jason Smith, our director of PR, could not be here. He was under the weather today, so he couldn't be here with us. I'm sure he will be filled in afterward by the communications team. Lauren Roth, assistant director, Carlos Hernandez, assistant director. David Jones, graphics. Andy Orel, facilities, Sam Weiss, social media, Sher Babinsky, director of media relations, and Lisa Bourne, who scheduled all
008of those meetings along with Janine Gonzalez that we attended. So in addition to the award won by the sales tax campaign, I would like to also acknowledge members of my team who won three ENSPRA national awards that the chair referred to earlier for Reed to Succeed the Enrichment Program. again, Jason Smith, Carlos Hernandez, and Lindseay Luxa, who was responsible for all the graphics, did an amazing job for the award of excellence for the code of conduct activity booklet. I would like to acknowledge again Jason and Carlos and Lindsay who designed the book and put those graphics together. So, let's acknowledge them. for the pocket guide. I'd like to acknowledge Jason Smith, Carlos Hernandez, Lauren Roth, who was responsible for all the content that was in that the guy the code of con or I'm sorry,
009the pocket guide as well as Kim Bullno who is responsible for the graphics. So, congratulations to you all on those awards. We are madam chair we're going to transition to tell would you like to get a picture with those from sunsp our nationally renowned photographer Frank Weber center going still go still go any people here can help graphics what are you trying to communicate to I'm not good good yeah we're opening If you want it, open it. Good. Big smile. Look happy. Big smile. Look happy. And is Lindsay's favorite husband here? There he is. All right. Good. One more. Thanks. Congratulations. Back to you, Madam Chair, for the next Thank you, Mr. Howitt. and again, I just want to reiterate how exciting it is that the team got this all these recognitions. and I know
010we still have some more to celebrate, but I just want to say real fast, you know, in this in this climate of choice, which, you know, we're all fans of giving parents choice. It's becoming more and more important for us to communicate with the community around our schools and the public how great our schools are and the wonderful job that everyone is doing and all the exciting things that we have going on. So, I appreciate the team just the fantastic materials that you continually put out and spreading that message. and I continue to encourage our public to share how great our schools are doing. Absolutely. With that, we are going to congratulate some more of your team, Mr. Howitt, I'm thrilled to announce that another part of our communications team has won a prestigious Teley
011Award. The Teley Awards are a highly respected national competition that honors the best in video and television. Members of our media relations and v video services teams were recognized as a bronze winner in the family and parenting category along with special guest star Josie Medina. Our senior executive director of multilingual services. This category acknowledges online shows or segments created to explore family and parenting topics. The winning entry was one of the Mondays with Maria, our favorite segments featuring our own Dr. Maria Vasquez. It focused on the OCPS Global Family Welcome Center. I love it. Which is located on Magic Way. The center offers opportunities for families new to the United States to receive support with enrollment interpretation services and academic guidance. Its dedicated staff ensure that families have a positive experience as they transition to
012a new culture and a new educational system. This telly award is a welldeserved recognition of hard work, creativity, and commitment by our media relations and video services team. Could all of you please come up to the front so we can recognize you? And then I'm going to have Mr. Howitt again introduce the team behind these efforts and then we'll have Dr. Vasquez go down for a picture in the front as well. I believe some of the team is in the back. Oh yes, some of our team is back. They may come out. It depends on Let's go ahead. You want to do our picture first since Dr. Vasquez went out and then you can introduce them all. I don't Let's see. Vic and Chris, can you come can you come out in the team? Don't
013act like it all. I know the truth, man. Getting closer, kids. Good. Stay there. Hold on. Getting a little bit tighter. Look happy and say telly on three. Good. One, two, and three. Telly. Yeah. All right. I didn't get a chance to introduce the team, but let me go ahead and do that while we're at it. So, just in case the audience hasn't heard of the Telly Awards, they are a big deal. They honor they do honor television, online shows, commercials, marketing, social, immersive, branded, and more shows that are that are out there. Of course, the one the episode that we did on the global family welcome center won the telly. Some of the biggest celebrities compete for these awards. Oprah Oprah Winfrey wins tellies. We've seen her on the list. some of the some
014of the biggest celebrities that you've heard of. So, we're fortunate to have won a previous telly for Mondays with Maria. This is our second telly. It is very special because it is centered around and recorded on the road at the global family welcome center. for the telly award in the family in the family and parenting category. I would like to acknowledge and I know they were already up here but let me go ahead and just read through their names because as the proud executive producer of Mondays with Maria I want to make sure that we recognize them all. Of course our host Dr. Dr. Maria Vasquez, our producer Sher Babinsky, director Scott Carico, editor Jav Monscu, came Carlos Chev Chavez, Chris Moyahan, and Brie McNot. audio Vic West who who joined us earlier and then
015the production technician we had Nathan Lord who was the production technician and then of course Josie Medina was also featured. Janine Gonzalez I believe was in that episode as well and the rest of the Global Family Welcome Center team that has joined us today. So the entire team I saw that. Can the Global Family Welcome Center team stand up too so we can give you a round of applause? Would you guys stand so and turn around so everyone can see you? Congratulations to all the winners. We're just so proud of everything. that you do you know every time we turn one of these shows in order to share important information with our community and we do it through the platform of Mondays with Maria. It's meaningful. We try to do it in a fun way.
016We try to include on the road segments. We're going to do more of that this year. We're going to we will Mondays with Maria will be back. So, we've we've eclipsed our 100th episode and so we're looking to the beginning of season 4 on August 4th. So, anyway, we're looking forward to that. Thank you, Madam Chair. We appreciate the Of course. Thank you. and again, please let's join me in congratulating them on all of their outstanding achievements. Thank you. It's good stuff. Dr. Vasquez, do we have any newly appointed administrators to present this evening? We do have several this evening. So, I'd like to begin with Joel Milton Brown, who is going to be the new assistant principal at Washington Shores Elementary. Thank you. Thank you. school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Hruer, and
017staff for this opportunity to serve at the mighty mighty Washington Shores Elementary School. Okay. I'm grew up in church and I'm the son or grandson rather of a preacher. However, I was able to turn five minutes of a Easter sermon into one. So, I promise not to be long-winded as they say in church. to my Washington shores family, thank you to Dr. Wendham, Miss Kimell, and Mr. Bond. Thank you for this opportunity to opportunity, sorry, to serve in a leadership role. They've already taken me in and made me feel like I'm a part of the family. So, thank you to Miss Laroo and Mr. Kohley, to my Union Park family, Mr. Oski Malik Brown, Mrs. Falipa and Dr. Gaspar, your guidance, support, and encouragement gave me the confidence to shoot for the star stars. So,
018I'm very thankful for all that you did for me to get me to this point. in her absence and the reason that I am an educator in Orange County, I would like to recognize and thank Miss Isoda Antonio. to my biggest cheerleaders, my children and future fiance. She didn't know that until tonight, so we'll see. She's so we'll see how that goes later on. However, to my children, Jaylen and Joel III and Marquita, thank you for believing in me. And I will end I will make this short that I believe that there's someone or something that's greater than myself. I believe there's a greater force. So, I would like to thank our creator, the Almighty, and the universe for my parents. I'm pretty sure that they are still watching over me. I'd like to thank
019the almighty for the strength to face t tough challenges and for the new relationships and connections I am going to experience. I'm deeply humbled and grateful for this opportunity. Thank you. Next we have Korea Allison who is going to be the new assistant principal at Cypress Creek High School. Good evening everyone. school board members, superintendent Vasquez, Dr. Brewster, and all the staff at OCPS. I am very grateful for this opportunity to serve at Cypress Creek high school. I also want to thank Mr. Martinez and principal lead Martha Chen of quadrant 1 for the high school office for their support. I want to thank my family. They have always cheered me on and my husband that is back there somewhere for putting up with me cuz it's it's not it's not easy. And all the u
020friends that I have here supporting me. Also, I want to give a well and thought out thanks to Principal Fontaine that has always believed in me, Dr. Robert Walker that led me on to and pushed me forward to be an AP. So, I'm very grateful for their support and for their encouragement. and I am so grateful that I'm going to be under the leadership of Principal Korn. I know that we are going to do great things together at Cypress Creek and go Bears. Thank you, Mr. Paul Faircloth III is going to be the new assistant principal at Water Spring Elementary. Hi. I just want to thank the chair and the board along with Drs. Vasquez, Arm Brewster Jones, Mr. Lyn Laauo, Miss Ziza in the back there for this opportunity. Very very excited for it.
021As well as like to give a lot of thanks to those who got me to this place and mentored me along the way. Principal Sims from Riverdale Elementary, Principal Charlton from Dearwood Elementary, Miss Tate from Riverdale Elementary as well. wouldn't have learned as much as I have along the way and gotten here without all of their advice and mentorship. and I want to thank my wife and son in the back as well for supporting me along the way and making sure that I got here. Chaquisha Hannah Franklin is the new assistant principal at College Park Middle. Thank you to the school board members, Superintendent Vasquest, Deputy Superintendent Arm Brewster, Dr. Armster, Dr. Fitzler and Jenny Gibson for the opportunity to serve at College Park Middle School, aka the pride of College Park. Thank you, Doc,
022Mr. Fontaine. I just want to say thank you to Mr. Fontaine for giving me the opportunity. I want to go ahead and thank my mentors, Dr. Lee, Miss Faithia Carpenter Brown, and Hel Helena Gonei for, getting me to this moment. I also want to thank my husband in the back who's babysitting my three boys back there, who's actually quiet. and just thank you to everyone in OCPS for the opportunity. I know. Carla Hammond is the new assistant principal at Lake Weston Elementary. Thank you, school board members, Superintendent Bazquez, Deputy Arm Brewster, and staff for the opportunity to serve at Lake Western Elementary. To Miss Irving, my mentor, and Miss Pam Moore, thank you for your unwavering support. The STTO team, Mr. Bond, Miss Flores, and Dr. Windham, thank you as well. Principal Rivera, thank you
023for your for consistently pushing me and supporting me beyond the classroom. To my family, my parents, sibling, and sister friends, thank you to my biggest supporter, my amazing children, Dylan, Hannah, Hayden, and Caleb. I love you to the moon and beyond. And lastly, thank you to my Lake Weston family. The true work continues. Thank you. Amanda Kicklider is the new assistant principal at Ora Vista Elementary. thank you to the school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Arm Brewster, and staff for this opportunity to serve at Orla Vista. I want to start by thanking our executive leader leader, Mr. Bon, my principal leader, Miss Flores, and my previous principal leader, Dr. Windham, for their support and guidance. I'd like to thank my families who who's here, my uncle, Rob, and my husband, David, who has never said
024no to me when I've asked for help on a school project for when I've asked for help for a school project at 10:00 at night. I also want to thank the rest of my family, my colleagues, and my colleagues that have turned into family. finally, I want to take a moment to thank someone who's shaped my journey in profound ways. my principal, my mentor, and my dear friend Patty Harelson. Your guidance, your unwavering belief in my potential, and your ability to lead with both strength and heart have been transformational. You don't just show me what leadership looks like, you live it every day. I'm so excited for ne the next adventure to lead by your side. Caitlyn Glenn Lamos is going to be the new assistant principal at Eagle Creek Elementary. Thank you, school board
025members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Arm Brewster, and staff for this opportunity to serve at Eagle Creek Elementary. I am honored to be given this opportunity to begin my journey as an administrator. I would like to thank Dr. Osborne and Miss Bradford from Hamlin Elementary for their guidance and support for these past few years. I would also like to thank the leadership team and staff at Hamlin Elementary for they have helped me grow as a leader. Thank you Dr. Dawkins for having me at your school. I am excited to start this journey with you and look forward to serving our teachers, students, parents, and community. lastly, I want to thank my husband and my children who supported me through this whole process. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you. Rachel Marie Maloney is going
026to be the new assistant principal at Hospital Homebound. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the school board, Dr. Vasquez, Dr. Armburster, Miss Ivory, and Dr. Gazutite for trusting me to support our most medically fragile students at Hospital Homebound. I owe a huge thank you to my parents and sister who can't be here tonight for their love and encouragement throughout the years. I would not be standing here without them. I want to acknowledge my daughter and husband. My husband being my rock and I don't know if he's made it, but I see my daughter waving at me. they, you know, I couldn't have, you know, I would not be here without their support and love. Additionally, I want to acknowledge Miss Ortega for recognizing my potential when we worked together at Michael McCoy Elementary
027and asking me to be her reading coach. Lauren Watson, principal of Lake George Elementary, has been a pillar of strength for me over the years, always providing kindness and support. When I needed a mentor as an AP, she stepped up and provided that for me. And every time I see her, she always reminds me, I am here for you. Thank you, Lauren. I sincerely appreciate Dr. thesis who was my principal for four years at hospital homebound. she exemplified leadership through love and compassion. she is just a example of what it is to be a leader that leads with compassion and love and support for our hospital homebound students. I stand here today largely because of Mary Callaway, the principal of Chickasaw Elementary. Mary has been an incredible support to me throughout the years, encouraging me
028to take challenges I never thought I could tackle. I can't thank her enough for her contributions to my growth over the years, and I appreciate all her kindness and love. I am thrilled to assume to assume the role of of assistant principal of hospital homebound. I am committed to creating a learning environment founded on compassion and trust where students and educators strive together. I'm also very eager to collaborate and I know my principal's here with my new principal, Miss Kayo, because I am confident that work that us working together will make a positive impact on the hospital homebound community. Thank you. Michael Meechum is the new principal of Winter Park High School. Thanks to the school board members, board member Vanos in particular for coming out to my principal meet and greet. I appreciate that
029greatly. superintendent Vasquez, Dr. Arm Brewster, Mr. Martinez in the high school office and my principal leader, Martha Chang, who's been there every step of the way since I've come on board. I appreciate their support. it's moments like these that you get to remember leaders that have really poured into you. so I'd just like to shout out OciOla County former superintendent Dr. Deborah Pace. Dr. Scott Fritz as well, who has guided me and mentored me along the way. and then Dr. Bill Gordon, who served on my dissertation committee at UCF, but now whose chair former chair I sit in at Winter Park, which is a pretty full circle moment for me as well. I also have some pretty rockstar teachers with me. my first teacher, who's my mom, is here tonight. my mother-in-law, who's a former
030teacher, and then my wife, who's an OCPS teacher, are all here, with me tonight. So, we keep it in the family. And also my kids, Jack and Kennedy. it's a lot of sacrifice to be the kid of a school leader. and I appreciate, all that they allow me to do, in this work to support other kids throughout OCPS. and I'm really excited to be part of the family. So, Winter Park's positioned to do some really great things. they're already doing some great things and I'm looking forward to supporting the work out there. So, thank you very much. Stephen Patrick Powers is the new assistant principal at Sunidge Middle. I'd like to I'd like to thank the school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Armburster, Executive Leader Fritzler, Principal Leader Gibson, Principal Leader Tremble, and Principal
031Male for the opportunity to serve at Sun Ridge Middle School. also want to show appreciation for all the people that have mentored me and encouraged me along the way to get to this point, and most of all, my family. Thank you. Shaqula Prosper Lami is going to be the new assistant principal at Lakeville Elementary. Good evening. I stand before you filled with gratitude. First, I want to thank Dr. Jones, Dr. Armbster, Superintendent Vasquez, and the entire Orange County School Board for entrusting me with this honor. As a proud product of Orange County Public School and a first generation high school and college graduate, this moment carries so much meaning for me. It was my grandmother's dream to be an educator, but she was pulled out of school to work in sugarcane fields in St. Kits.
032So much of my journey has been about carrying the dreams of those who came before me. Being the first to do something often comes with weighted questions like can I do this? How will I do this? But I stand here as proof that when you stand on the shoulders of giants and strong women, you can. I am here because of the village of people who poured into me. First my very first teacher, my mother. She is my rock, my cheerleader, the one who caught the lynx bus with me, sat with me in the public library until it closed and never let me give up. to Miss Jennifer Bond at Evans High School who led Future Educators of America and took me to Rolling Hills Elementary, a school which became a big part of my career.
033She planted the seeds in me about loving this work. To Vanessa Marorrow, who offered me my first teaching position, to Margaret Talbert Irving, it's back there, former principal leader who showed me what it means to lead with vision, to think outside the box, and to be fearless. to Farah Henderson who taught me the importance of balance. To Kimberly Hankerson back there who showed me how to build a positive school ch culture and get results. To Shereice Hurdle who showed me the weight of leadership and how to carry it with grace. To Lkesha Miller, to my friends, my family, my former colleagues who turned family. Thank you for showing up for me through every twist and turn. I also stand here as a mother, a surviving triplet mom. My children came into this world fragile, but
034with early interventions and support, they are thriving. They have solidified why I do this work. Every decision I make as a leader, I make with my children in mine and children like them. I am proud to pave the way for them. Mr. Jackson, thank you for trusting me to serve beside you as Lakeville and at Lakeville, excuse me, and for already making me feel like family. So, when I ask how will I do this, the answer is clear. I can do this because every step of my life has led me here. I come from a long strong line of people who have shown me that I can. It can be done and now it's my turn to do the same for others. It truly is an honor and I'm here to serve. Lula Lita Steel
035is going to be the new assistant principal at Jones High School. Thank you school board members, Superintendent Vazquez, Dr. Arrewster, and staff for this opportunity to serve at the great Jones High School. I also want to thank Mr. Martinez and Dr. Despensza from the high school office for their support. I would like to thank my past leaders, Dr. June Jones, Mrs. Allison Kirby, Dr. Coleman, Dr. Jackson, and Mr. Korn, and my current leader, Principal Orlando Norwood, for mentoring and supporting me. Lastly, I would like to thank my four beautiful children who continue to support and encourage me. my mother, sisters, and extended family for always showing me love and support. I am so excited to be a Tiger and supporting the students and staff as well as the high school office committed to serve. Amy
036Henselmeer is going to be the new assistant principal at OCPS Academic Center for Excellence. Thank you. Thank you, school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Arm Brewster, and staff for this opportunity to serve the OCPS Academic Center of Excellence. There have been a lot of incredible people in my life that have made this possible for me. I want to thank my husband, John, my son, Finn, and my mom, and my mother-in-law for supporting me unconditionally through this journey. There's no way I would have been able to achieve this without them. I want to thank Charles France for always believing me in me and always pushing me to be the very best version of myself. I want to thank all of the amazing women and leadership that have mentored me along the way, including Jessica Smith,
037Maria Caliari, Alicia Dewarte, and Andrea Hail. They all showed me how to lead with heart and grace. I also want to thank people that have believed in me and provided me with the opportunity to lead at ACE. I want to thank Dr. Windham and Dr. Bone. I want to thank the school transformation office. Lastly, I want to thank Miss Pender for welcoming me into the Lion's Den and guiding me through this pivotal time in my life. I look forward to learning from you and serving the Paramore community by your side. Thank you and go Lions. Barbara Verity is going to be the new assistant principal at Evans High School. Okay. As Mr. Norwood said, I went old school with the with the paper. So, Okay. Of course, I want to thank the school board members,
038Superintendent Vasquez, Mr. Martinez, Dr. Dr. Arm Brewster, Dr. Padawano for this opportunity. but I also like to thank people that helped pave the way. starting with Dr. Williams at Jones. She really started me on this leadership journey. Dr. Bailey, Mr. Truit, Miss Nelson Warren, thank you for fighting for me to stay a Trojan. my girls, Casey Wah, Lata Smith, and Dena Tolbert. I can't thank you enough for your encouragement. my family, as it's already been stated, you know, moving forward in this role takes a lot of time away from our, close family. So, I thank them for, all of the late nights and watching my kids and everything else. I know you will continue to do so. and I am just excited to continue this journey as a Trojan, where I can support the student
039and staff I love, in the pride of Pine Hills. Congratulations to all of you. I have to share that this really was a group that had some incredible speeches and I hope that speaks to your incredible commitment to our children and I welcome you to the ranks of leadership with OCPS. So have a have a great great day. Oh okay. Okay. So, I apologize. I'm missing one. Okay. Natasha Edmonson, Castle Creek. That's all me. That's all me. So, Natasha Ed, is it Edmonson? Edmonson. Yes. I am so sorry. That's okay. So, we're going to give you if you want more than a minute because No, I don't need more than a minute. I'm good. save the best for last. Maybe not really. good evening everyone. And I'd like to express my thanks to our school
040board members, Superintendent Vasquez, Deputy Superintendent Rooster, Executive Leader Dr. Jones, and Cadre 2 principal leader Mr. McClo for the opportunity to serve as the new assistant principal at Castle Creek Elementary. We all know it takes a village to inspire and empower our students, and the same holds true for our developing leaders. I'm deeply grateful to the mentors and leaders who have invested in me, especially the amazing team at Avalon Elementary and our Cadre 5 principal leader, Dr. Leeus. I also wouldn't be here today without the constant support of my incredible family who have cheered me on every step of the way. A special thanks to Dr. Melanie Oh, a special thanks to Dr. Melanie May. I'm so grateful for our relationship so far in such a short time. I've already learned so much from you.
041And another special thanks to Miss Jessica Swain who gave me so many opportunities to stretch myself and grow in confidence. Thank you for being my mentor, my friend, and my biggest cheerleader. I'm sure with Dr. May and our team, we will ensure that all our Dragons and Castle Creek community soar to success this year. So, Natasha, Natasha, I want to make sure you we set the record straight that Dr. Armster did have your name on the list. I accidentally just skipped over it. I think I'm going to I'm going to blame general counsel. He must have distracted me. So, my apologies, but welcome. Wow. You should have just let you should have just let our person take the blame. Come on. Dr. Brewster was taking the heat over. I know. Now I got to try
042to get that text back from Elizabeth. Oh my goodness. All right, we have a couple of board members that would like to share some comments. So, Member Felder, thank you. good evening. I am so excited. we have this opportunity often when Dr. Vasquez will introduce to us new leaders. But somehow tonight, what I heard tonight, because you all know what we have been going through with public education and funding and just a lot of things just to send you on a drinking spur, but you won't be drinking. but the enthusiasm, my God, the enthusiasm that is coming from those of you that are going to be serving as our leaders and the fact that you remember the people who have gone with you through this journey. As an educator myself and having a mother who
043was an educator, I am so grateful. I it's a bright future for us because of the way you sign your enthusiasm and I want you to know as a board that we are here for you. I think it's on purpose that this board is all female because women are nurturers. We are no shade on guys but women are nurturers and we are here and I want you to know it's been a journey this past year and it's going to be a journey this coming year. But if you can remember the excitement and enthusiasm you had this night when the storms come to catapult you to move forward and say I know what I committed myself to do. I'm not a lone ranger. I have help because you do. And I'm so excited for each and
044every one of you because you sound excited. And this is a wonderful thing for our children. And thank you for choosing choosing public education. Thank you. Well said, Member Felder. Member Fant. Thank you. I just wanted to say also how incredibly inspired I was by each of you. We, you know, this it's about every quarter maybe or every twice a year that we see people coming through, principles, assistant principles. but there's something special about this group. almost like you figured out found the cream of the crop. so each of you, I feel like it could make me a little emotional, but I feel like you, each of you in your speeches showed me that you care about our kids, that you're here to serve. So, I thank you. Thank you for, you know, putting sacrificing
045your own time and time with your families and looking towards the future and what can you can do to better the future of of our students. So, I thank you. and miss in and your orange jacket. I wish I would have remembered your last name, but you really do inspire me. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for sharing. and it's incredible how when we push through all that adversity and all the things we push through. You know, sometimes we feel like what are we doing? How are we even making a difference? And one of my favorite verses is don't grow weary in doing good for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. And so I encourage each of you with that. But thank you
046again for serving in OCPS. Thank you member Fant. Yeah, my board members just said everything that I wanted to say, but you could really feel your heart for leadership, your heart for children, your passion for education, for public education. Your excitement was just palpable in every word. it was exciting and inspirational and I tell you, I've been excited before. I always get excited right before the beginning of the school year, but, I'm really excited the beginning of this school year, superintendent. especially after our results from last year, and I feel like we are just poised for just something amazing that's about to happen. And, and you all just confirmed all of that with me. it's this it takes a special person to be an administrator. It takes, as everyone said, sacrifice and time away from
047your families. And I appreciate all of you family members that are out there that give up your precious family members to lead these schools because it's not an easy job. It's really hard. Lots of hours and lots of stress and you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. And but I tell you what, a good leader and a compassionate leader, an empathetic leader and a joyful and excited leader in a school makes all the difference for everyone in that school building, the children, the parents, the staff, the teachers. You are changing lives every single day. So, thank you for your willingness to serve in OCPS and we are excited to have you. and now if you would all come up, we're going to get a picture with the board. Are we doing alphabetical
048order? I don't I don't think I didn't want to say something, you know. But you're all good. Thank you. Good, good, good. Nice big smile. Get it a little bit tighter. Single. Remember from choir. Good. Big smile. Big smile again. Hold on. Can look at my assistance. Hold on. Everybody get them. Good. Yes. They'll be on Flickr. We have Flicker now, kids. We and as much as I'm sure all of you would love to stay to hear the rest of the business and work of the school board, you are more than welcome to leave at this time if you were here for recognitions. Thank you. Sorry about that. I don't know. on the ground. Hallelujah. handle Happy job. Yeah, I'm telling them to leave. They don't have Okay, those of you in the back of
049the room, if you and try to move out as quickly as you can. We've got a lot of business we have to take care of, so we're going to go ahead and keep on with the program. at this time, I would like to call on Amy McCale, president of the Orange County Association of School Administrators to come forward. Welcome, Miss McCale. You have to just speak up. pull the microphones a little closer to you. good evening, Chair Jacobs on the phone. board members, Superintendent Basquez, Deputy Superintendent Arburster, staff and community members. As mentioned, I'm Amy Male, the Okasa president and proud principal of Sun Ridge Middle School in Winter Garden. As president of the Okasa Orange County School Administrators, I'm honored to speak with you this evening. On behalf of our entire membership, I want
050to sincerely thank you for your continued support, especially at this time for providing registrations to the professional learning communities conference that we just recently attended. OCPS's investment in our leaders is an investment in every student, every classroom, and every school across Orange County. The PLC conference has been a powerful catalyst for growth. It has equipped our members with strategies to foster collaboration, strengthen instructional leadership, and build cultures of continuous improvement. Thanks to your support, our administrators are returning to their campuses energized and ready to lead with purpose, as well as many of their teams. As we look ahead to the new school year, we're filled with excitement and determination. Our goal for the goals for the years are for the year are clear and focused. We're going to lead with collaboration and communication, ensuring that
051every voice is heard and every team is empowered to work together for student success. We're going to promote unity across our district, aligning our efforts to meet the evolving needs of our members and the communities that we serve. We're going to support support the growth of our members profess in their professional practice providing opportunities for learning, mentorship as well as innovation in their roles. We're going to represent the educational interests of our membership by advocating for policies and practices that reflect the realities of school leadership. And finally, we will engage in advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, ensuring that the VO voices of Orange County administrators are part of the broader conversation shaping public education. As we stand on the threshold of the new school year, there is palpable sense of excitement and
052purpose. Our administrators are ready. Ready to lead with vision, ready to support our teachers, ready to engage our families, and most importantly, ready to ensure that every student in every school has the opportunity to thrive. We know the year ahead will bring challenges, but it also brings incredible promise. With your continued partnership, we're confident that this school year will be one where where we are committed in our shared goal to prepare, inspire, and empower all students. Thank you again for believing in the power and the promise of strong school-based leadership and for helping us grow stronger together. Let's make this an extraordinary year together. And thank you. Thank you so much. next I would like to acknowledge Clinton McCracken, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. Thank you. Good evening, board members, Dr. Vasquez,
053and our entire school community. This Friday, our educators officially begin to prepare for the school year. And in about two weeks from now, students will fill our schools again with fresh backpacks, wide eyes, and all the promise of a new year. There's nothing quite like the excitement of welcoming students to a new year. Many teachers are already working hard, of course, organizing, setting up their classrooms early, and planning for the possibilities each learner brings. That moment of connection when a student walks in and knows they are seen, valued, and safe, and yes, that all are welcome here. That's why we do this work. But we also returned during a time that continues to be deeply challenging for public education. Pay that hasn't kept up with increasing costs of living, increased workloads, larger class sizes, and
054a lack of respect for the profession have made this work harder than it has ever been. That's why our union is here. Orange CTA, fighting for you. We're fighting for a better life for every educator, for every student, and in the end for a better Central Florida community, and that is made easier with leadership that supports and empowers educators. We must continue to do everything we can to help our teachers do their best work. That means letting them be the professionals they are. Teachers don't need micromanagement. They do need trust. They need the space to do what they do best, teach and inspire. We call on every administrator to remember that they have the power to create an environment that lifts people up, one that inspires, motivates, and builds lasting relationships. We thank the many
055administrators who already lead this way, who understand what a difference a positive school culture can make. To every educator, you are not alone. Your union is your voice, your advocate, and your support system. We make OCPS an even stronger school district. If you're not a member, now is the time to join us. Together, we are reclaiming hope for our profession and for our schools. We all know that any movement is more capable the more people join in it because we can accomplish so much more together than we ever could all alone. We also know that this is a career where you often need support. We are in your corner when you need us the most. So, I encourage you to take the two minutes to join at joincta.com. To our students and families, we can't
056wait to welcome you back. Let's make this year a year of growth, joy, and real progress together. Thank you. Thank you. I do want to just acknowledge Mr. Pard in the audience. He right back there. He's not speaking tonight, but he is the president of the Orange Education Support Professionals Association. Good to see you. All proclamations were adopted by vote of the board during the August 27th, 2024 board meeting as designated celebrations and observations. The list will remain on the agenda for the entire school year. Next, we have our strategic plan update. Dr. Vasquez, you are recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. It's that time of year when we get to hear from our audit committee and our auditor on what the plan is for this upcoming year. I would like to introduce our new auditor
057at the district level Alpa Vias who will introduce the is it the chair from the audit committee. Alpa the floor is yours. Thank you superintendent Vasquez. good evening vice chairp and board members. We are here to present internal audit annual updates. I would like to introduce Tammy Campbell. She is the chair of our audit committee and has been a member for eight years. Tami is a CPA and a partner at the local CPA firm MACD Davis LLC. She works mainly with the public sector entities. Tami is responsible for overseeing and managing the firm's governmental audit services for various municipalities and special districts. I'm pleased to turn it over to Tammy for the inter audit updates. Thank you. Good evening. We're here to present our annual internal audit report to the board. First, a few overall
058objectives and highlights. One thing to point out about the OCPS internal audit department. The internal audit department provides independent objective assurance services that add value and enhance the district's performance, accountability, and transparency. So that summarizes our overall objective as internal audit. Internal audit does follow many professional standards guiding independence, objectivity, and professionalism. The internal audit committee serves to supervise the internal audit function. The board has delegated that oversight to the internal audit committee. This helps to maintain that independence which is crucial for any audit environment. And again mentioning the independence that's always very important for objectivity. So our role as the internal audit department, we oversee internal audit as the advisory committee and report to the board. As the internal audit committee, we have several responsibilities. We work with the school board as you have
059noticed very much this past year as appointing and interviewing for the chief internal auditor. And that's a reminder that position reports directly through to you through the internal audit committee. Again, not going through management to keep that independence in their reporting. And this presentation fulfills our annual report and required presentations. We previously did this report in January. We moved it to this time of year. So it encompasses a fiscal year. thinking going forward. You'll get this report in around the same time frame. July every year will be a summary of what happened the past year and what's coming in the next coming fiscal year. The internal audit committee has a very diverse set of professional experience. I'm an external auditor by trade, so I have that knowledge. We have several internal auditors, IT auditors. So,
060we have that broad range of professional experience to help guide the internal audit department. Some of our activities over this past year, we always review and assess the annual audit plan, keeping in mind that audit plan is focused on higher risk areas. So, the internal audit department tries to target areas of high risk to provide the best information to the school board. And this annual audit plan was approved at our last meeting in June. We also perform the annual review of the chief internal auditor and we also perform annual internal self assessments and reviews of our charter. We had a few changes in the previous years for some new standards but this coming year has been pretty standard. No changes. We also meet with the CIO usually annually. That helps us address any IT risks
061and again with that IT expertise on our audit committee. They know the right questions to ask to see if you're on track, any questions or concerns they may have. And again, this year we also had significant focus on that interview process looking for the chief internal auditor. A few takeaways again, independence is always very important in audit and we clarified this with the new reporting relationship that was approved back in January showing that there isn't that kind of indirect report to management through the chief counsel. Now it's going directly through us to the board keep and document all that independence and again the annual audit plan also focuses on those higher risk areas. We also oversee that audit function and we review the audit plan and the audit progress against that audit plan at each
062one of our meetings to make sure if there are any changes in staffing levels, any changes to that audit plan, we can help guide the internal audit department to see if we need to make any amendments, if there are any projects that are pushed to future fiscal years. And once again, internal audit does align with all of the county of great city schools best practices. Again, doing everything that they can to be the best of the best. The internal audit team, and we've got a few of them with us as well tonight, they have the several certified internal auditors, certified information systems auditors. So they bring a great deal of expertise and history with the district as well. And once again the internal audit strategy we focus on those high-risk areas and internal audit is
063also working more to use technology and le leverage AI and see how that can improve and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of those audits. And following that efficiency, once again, OCPS does more with less. Very few internal auditors per general fund budget, but still managed to get all of the audits done. And the recommendations that were open as of June 30th, there were 34 open findings. 62% were significant. This is lower than past years. And one highlight is there are no findings that are greater than 6 months past the target completion date. So we review this as an audit committee at every one of our meetings to see are there any outstanding findings. Is there anything internal audit needs to do to keep following up to make sure that management is addressing and closing out
064findings or if there are findings that they're just willing to accept the risk on. Maybe it's too cost prohibitive to implement everything that they're willing to accept some level of risk. And if there are any questions, we'd be more than happy to address them. No one yet. I think is that the end of your presentation? Yes, that is. Oh, okay. no, we don't have anyone queued in to speak, but I did want to just give a quick word of thanks. as you said, we met with you a lot when we were looking to fill our internal audit position this year and so there was a lot of extra time and I just wanted to thank you and the committee members for your commitment to Orange County and you know, this is just a volunteer job
065that you all do for your local public school district. So, we appreciate you and we the work that you do is so important to making sure that we're doing everything we can do for the kids. So, thank you for all of that. member Gallo, thank you, Madam Chair. And I'll just reiterate what member Bird said. We appreciate your service and the time commitment to OCPS. it this is probably one of the most important things we do as a board is to look at the audits to make sure that everything runs smoothly. so I'm happy to see that we've gone down in numbers for for the high. so I'm really appreciative of that and I want to welcome our new our new chief what's it's chief chief auditor. So welcome to the position because we did
066look high and low and we had it's not easy to find an auditor for public schools with the limitations that we have. so I appreciate you stepping up and taking on the position and I think you're doing a great job and thank you for all that y'all do. Thanks. Thank you, Member Gallow. Member Felder. Thank you, Chair. I too would like to reiterate our gratefulness and we're so thankful because it was extremely exhausting for us to try to find an auditor to come in. as member Gallo said, it's one of the main things that we do to make sure we're doing the right thing. And we're so grateful. We remember seeing you on those many occasions. And of course, we all had an opportunity to meet our new auditor. I enjoyed having to get to
067know her, finding out she was from India, and we shared our trips and my time being in India. So, we had a lot to talk about. So y'all will see us in our little saris in April and May to celebrate Asian-American, you know, Asian awareness month. But thank you so much for your work and just coming aboard and helping us with this. This is a prayer answered. Thank you so very much. We look forward to working with you, Alpa. Thank you so much. Thank you, member Felder. I think that's it. Dr. Vasquez. Good. I too want to say thank you so much. nobody really wants to be audited. but we really appreciate the time and the dedication the audit committee has to Orange County Public Schools. it has been noted how we have be been
068able to become better as a result of the collaborative relationship. And so we are also very thrilled to welcome Alpa into her new role. We're excited to be able to continue to work with her as we look you know to improve our practices, our efficiencies, and to narrow the risks that are posed within our district. So thank you so much to all of you. Thank you. Thank you all. Okay, we're at our public hearings. So, in order to provide governmental transparency as well as reasonable opportunities for the public to access and participate in the decision-making process, there are various methods by which the public can provide input to the schoolboard on an agenda item. Those include coming to speak to the school board in person and via email in advance of the meeting. These methods
069are all published on the district's websites and in board docs. Mr. Pomearini, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on any of the items under the public hearing of the agenda? Madam Chair, you have one speaker on item 3.06. That's the adoption of the budget item. Okay. Would do you recommend that we take our public speaker now before we start the public hearings or would you prefer that we do each one? I would prefer we do Am I on? Yes, I am. I would prefer we do each one and then when we get to item 3.06 before we take up a motion, we can allow the speaker to speak at that point. Okay, good. That's what we'll do then. all right, then we're going to move to 3.01 01
070public hearing request approval of the revised board policy BEDH public input at schoolboard meetings. Dr. Vasquez. thank you, Madame Chair. we as a board had a work session on February the 13th as well as May the 8th of this year to have discussions related to this policy. as we were revising it, we made notification to both CTA and OESPA on the 17th of June. we published the changes we published on the 22nd of June. We had the rule development workshop the 8th of July and now we are seeking final approval of those modifications at today's board meeting. Thank you Dr. Vasquez. Doesn't seem to be any discussion from the board. Okay. So, I'm asking for a motion to approve the amended policy. moved by member Gallow, seconded by member Ferrant. All those in favor, please
071say I. I. Chair Jacobs, I. Member Salamanca. I. And the motion passes unanimously. 3.02 O2 public hearing request approval of revised board policy KCE ethics and lobbying. Dr. Vasquez. thank you Madam Chair. This was a policy that the board had a lot of discussion related particularly to alignment with state statutes and requirements. we had work sessions on the 13th of February and the 8th of May. We made notification to CTA and OESPA on the 17th of June. we published on the 22nd of June. Rule development was held on the 8th of July and we are seeking final approval at today's board meeting. Okay. Do I have a motion to approve policy KCE? So moved by member Gallo. Oh, member Vanos, my apologies. Second. Second by member Ferrant. All those in favor, please say I. I.
072Chair Jacobs. I. Member Salamanca. I. Motion carries. 3.03 public hearing request approval of revised board policy JCA assignment of students to school. Dr. Vasquez. Thank you, Madam Chair. The board held work sessions on the 11th of February and on the 8th of May. We made notification to OESPA and CTA on the 17th of June. published on the 22nd of June. Rule development workshop was held on the 8th of July and we are seeking final approval at today's board meeting. Thank you. member Gallo. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to say because I know we're taking discussion on this policy that this is one of my favorites like I think what this has done to open it up for students and to provide more customer service and to open up our fish capacity which allows
073students to go to their school of choice just brings more choice and hopefully more students into OCPS. And I think these are the type of decisions as a board I hope we keep making to try to get some of those students back that we've lost to the taxpayer vouchers. I think if we just highlight all the great things that we have, we're going to get those students back. And I do want to give a shout out. I was just told that there's some Boy Scouts in the audience that are watching us today. There you are. Welcome. Welcome to OCPS. We're happy to have you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for letting us know that, member Gallo. Nice to have you guys in the audience. member Ferrant. I also wanted to say that I'm extremely
074excited about this as I had a really a big group of parents who were dealing with some issues here that we addressed where the siblings weren't able to transfer when a student was entered in and then siblings weren't. And I think this just shows that we really are for families staying together, helping families find the school that works for them. And it makes it in such a competitive environment. I think this really just keeps pushing us up a notch and helping the community to see that we care about our families and want to make sure that the whole family is getting the education that they need. So, I'm also thrilled about this policy. Thank you. Yeah, great points. there's we've made great changes here, so I appreciate the staff that worked on this as well.
075I'm asking for a motion to approve the member Gallo and seconded by member Ferrant. All those in favor, please say I. I. Chair Jacobs, I. Member Salamancco. I. Thank you. Member motion carries. We are at 3.04 public hearing. Request approval of revised board policy IIA student progression plan. Dr. Vasquez. thank you, Madame Chair. this is also a policy that comes to the board yearly. any revisions that are required by action taken at the state level need to be incorporated into our student progression plan. The board had a work session on the 24th of June. we made notification to OESA and CTA on the 17th of June. publication was done on the 22nd of June. The rule development workshop was held on July 8th and we are requesting final approval at today's board board meeting. Thank
076you. and I'll just say on this one, I really appreciate the work. Every year it's gotten better. This year it's even better and it's user friendly and I love all the links the parents can click on to get more information. So great job by staff. is there a motion to approve this the student progression plan policy IIA? Member Ferrant. Second by member Gallo. Oh, Vanos. Gosh, you never know. You two sound exactly alike. All in favor, please say I. I. Chair Jacobs. I am glad somebody else is having a problem with that, though. Thank you, Chair. Member Salamanca I and motion carries. Okay. we are at everyone's favorite 3.05 public hearing request approval of adoption of millillage to support the 2526 tenative budget. And I'll go ahead and turn it over to Dr. Vasquez. thank
077you, Madam Chair. To say that this has been an unusual budget cycle doesn't begin to explain what we have been dealing with over the last several months. I do want to point out that I am so grateful to our team that has worked under the leadership of Dorene Conalino that is bringing forth to you a balanced budget. we have all have had conversations. We've seen the news about the declining enrollment due to birth rates and the Florida empowerment scholarship. We have had discussions about the federal hold and thankfully those were released last week. But given all of that, you are going to see that we have fewer dollars to be able to continue the great work in Orange County Public Schools. And so today we're going to ask the board to consider the adoption of
078the tentative budget for the upcoming school year 202526. Dorian Conalino, our CFO, will walk us through the presentation and then the board will have an opportunity to have discussions and then take appropriate action. just as a reminder, what we need from the board tonight is to adopt the total millage and then the tenative budget. with that I am going to turn it over to Miss Concalo. Thank you, Superintendent. Good evening, Vice Chair Bird, board members, and Superintendent Vasquez. Tonight, I bring to you the 2026 tentative budget. With me this evening is Judith Padre, senior executive director with the Office of Management and Budget, as well as Ernest Jean Baptiste, director with the Office of Management and Budget. Judith will be presenting the capital projects fund this evening and Ernest will be presenting the other budgets
079fund. Okay, here is our agenda for today's presentation. We will review the proposed mill proposed budget and ultimately you will need to adopt the total millage and then adopt the 202526 tenative budget. We will also establish the date for the final hearing. When you're talking about millage rates, you're talking about property taxes. And property taxes impact both residential and commercial property. Who is responsible for each component that determines your property taxes? Just value or a property's market value comes from the property appraiser. The Save Our Homes cap is established by the legislature. The legislature also establishes exemptions such as the homestead exemption and they determine the millage rate which is then approved by the board. Here are our property tax values since 2011. These dollars help fund both the operating and capital budgets for the
080coming school year. Last year we had a 4.56% increase in taxable values. This year, our taxable values increased by 5.94% based upon the certified tax role calculated by our property appraiser. The current projection, as you can see, is fairly steady growth of nearly 6% per year over the next 5 years. The Office of Economic and Demographic Research or EDR meets again in August and the estimated escalation may be adjusted. This graph will be updated for the final budget hearing based on the new estimates. The required local effort or RLE is a specific amount that we must levy to receive state funding. This is equalized statewide so that if our assessments go up, our state revenues go down. Discretionary millage is the maximum amount allowed by law. Because we levy the full amount, we receive 18.3
081million in additional state dollars to get us up to the state average per student. The additional voted millillage is the amount overwhelmingly approved by the voters in August of 2022 and will continue to provide much needed operating funds in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Capital projects millillage is the maximum amount allowed by law to support the capital program and is now shared with charter schools. Overall there is a rate decrease of 015 mills or 23%. This is the history of Orange County Public Schools millage rates. Required local effort RLE set by the state is the red rate in the middle of each bar. You can see that the RLE has decreased by 2.224 mil since 2010 and the current school tax rates remain at historical lows. The legislature sets the millage rate school districts are
082required to levy. The rolled back rate is a calculation that eliminates the impact of increased valuation. It is only used in the advertisement of the budget and in the millillage adoption language. The required local effort is 4% over the rolled back rate and the total millage is 4.24% over the rolled back rate. With save our homes, residential property can only increase at 3% or CPI which is consumer price index from December to December whichever is less. CPI is 2.95% and therefore 2.95% is the maximum increase for applicable assessed values. With the increase of 2.95% in assessed value and a decrease in the tax rate of 23% the homeowner of a $355,800 home would pay $56 more in taxes. Commercial property is not limited by Save Our Homes. When the increase in property values are combined
083with a 23% decrease in the millage rate, the change in taxes paid for the owner of a piece of commercial property valued at $1 million is an increase of $262 for the year or about $22 per month. And now the proposed annual budget. As you can see, the budget process is continuous year round. Remember the budget is a plan for the year. We must adopt a millillage and approve a total amount for the budget. How the dollars are spent is not set in stone and it can be amended throughout the year. The budget summary identifies items that affect the district budget. Uncertainty around the 2026 federal funding has largely subsided. The release of federal grant funds is essential to preserving federally funded staff and programs. Still, Title One funding adjustments resulted in a $28 million
084statewide reduction with OCPS absorbing a $4.5% cut or approximately $3 million. The Florida Department of Education has yet to release the 2025 4th FEFP calculation typically issued in April, which outlines final district funding. Despite this, districts must adopt a balanced budget by July without knowing their starting balance. There was an unexpected reduction to the fiscal year 2025 final FEFP dispersement of $4.1 million. Continuing with the budget summary, there is an incremental increase in the teacher salary increase allocation of nearly $7.5 million of which the district will realize 6.7 million and charter schools will receive their proportionate share equal to $750,000. Although safe schools funding remains flat for fiscal year 2026, the district negotiated a 1.39% increase with our law enforcement partners to secure SRO's for all of our schools. Mental health assistance dollars also remain
085flat for fiscal year 2026 and will be used for direct mental health services and resources for students. A new categorical fund named academic acceleration options was established to re to replace the previous weighted FTE model for for acceleration programs such as AP, IB, ACE, CAPE, and dual enrollment. The purpose of this fund is to incentivize and support academic acceleration. The allocation is not additional dollars, but rather funding that was carved out of the base student allocation to support academic acceleration. The opening of one new school in August impacts the operating budget, and these costs are folded into the general fund. As a reminder, this budget includes funding for traditional schools, charter schools, and scholarships for students and private schools. Statewide for fiscal year 2026, 72,653 more scholarship students were added to the FEFP. The increase
086to family empowerment scholarship enrollment is evident along with the decline in traditional school enrollment. Charter school students and scholarship students combined are comprising a larger portion of the total budget and this budget maintains focus on the district's strategic plan. Here is a summary of the five major funds that make up the operating budget. Each fund has unique types of revenues and appropriations designed to accomplish specific purposes. The capital projects fund does not include carryover project balances. They will be amended in September at the final hearing. Special revenue includes our food service program as well as other special revenues. And now the general fund. The general fund is the operating budget of the school district. The primary source of funding comes from the Florida Education Finance Program or FEFP. Per student funding is equalized statewide. Equalization
087means that increased revenue from local sources does not necessarily cause an overall increase in funding. For instance, an increase in required local effort revenues is offset by a reduction in state revenues. However, the additional vote in millillage is not equalized, which means we keep the revenues generated to benefit the students of OCPS. And now our estimated revenues. This slide shows actual FTE for past years along with the projection for next year as well as the breakdown of FTE by traditional, charter, and scholarship students. Total FTE reflected in the t top dark blue line incorporates all K12 students. However, it does not include VPK students. Our current projection for fiscal year 2026 is 230,961 FTE, an increase of 3,354 FTE over the third calculation of the prior year at 227,607. Based on projections from student enrollment,
088traditional schools are reflected in the orange line as excuse me as reflected in the orange line are expected to decline by an estimated 2700 to 3,000 FTE in 2026 to 180,649. The light blue line highlights the steady increase in scholarship FTE. Family Empowerment Scholarship FTE was folded into district counts starting in 2020. Scholarships are forecasted to increase by 5,154 FTE to 30,617 and charter schools as reflected in the green line are forecasted to grow by 837 FTE to 19,696. This chart shows per student funding from the second calculation since July of 2007. We use the second calculation because that's the calculation in effect when the budget is adopted. Using the same data point each year helps us track long-term trends. Even though funding has increased over time, the district still has less purchasing power than
089in 2007. The line above the funding bars reflects the effect of annual reflects the effect of the annual increase to the consumer price index or CPI when applied to the 2007 funding per student and demonstrates that the FEFP funding hasn't kept up with rising expenses. For the upcoming year, FEFP funding will increase by $138 per student, bringing the total to $9,012. This is a positive step, but it still doesn't restore the district's purchasing power to pre-recession levels when adjusted for inflation. The special millage shown in dark blue generates $1,217 per student. When the FEFP is combined with the special millage, total per student funding has increased by $210 or 2.1% compared to last year. However, even with the additional funding support, the district still has about $1,374 less buying power per student than it did
090in July of 2007. Thank you again to the voters of Orange County for supporting the special millage, which helps tremendously to sustain the programs in our schools. This graph represents the total state appropriations as a percentage of the total budget over the last four years. For 2026, the total state budget comprised of all funds increased by 19.4 billion or about 20%. The first grouping education includes early learning, public schools, community colleges, and universities. As you can see, the percentage of the state budget assigned to education decreased from 30% of the budget to 27% of the budget. Although education and human services constitute the largest portion of the state budget, the legislature prioritized an investment in transportation estimated at $15 billion or about 19% as seen in the fourth grouping. This investment includes major highway projects
091including the I4 and beyond project. Represented in this graph is all education general revenue appropriations as a percentage of the total budget over the last four years. As noted earlier, education includes early learning, public schools, community colleges, and universities. This graph separates public schools into two categories, reflecting family empowerment scholarships separately from traditional and charter schools and highlights the increase in funding for scholarships along with the decline in funding for district traditional and charter schools. The data compares the first calculation to the first calculation except in 2023 where the sec second calculation is utilized. Traditional schools and charter schools combined reflect a decline in general revenue funding from 63% in 2023 to 52% in 2026. While family empowerment scholarship funding for private school scholarships is steadily increasing from nearly 7% of general revenue in 2023
092to 17% in 2026. Legislative efforts have contributed to the increase in fees funding as well as enrollment shifts away from traditional schools. In the early years of the Florida Lottery, 60 to 70% of lottery dollars coming to education were for public schools, as seen in the green bars. That number is now only 30%. Of the 30% coming to public schools, none of these dollars would be considered educational enhancement. 82% supports the regular FEFP funding and 18% is for the district's postsecary program. The school recognition program, which could be considered educational enhancement, is not funded through the lottery in 2026. Again, this year, the program is funded using general revenue non-FFP dollars. The orange colored bars at the top, which represent 32% of lottery funds, is primarily funding the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. Here is a
093breakdown of our estimated revenues by source. There is very little change in these percentages. The f the small federal slice represents what we receive in Medicaid reimbursement and ROC funding. And now, district appropriations. The board has prioritized safe schools and this budget includes funding to secure SRO's for all of our schools and to pursue other initiatives and strategies to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Competitive wages are vital to recruiting and retaining employees. Recognizing that employee compensation is a board priority and given limited funding coupled with the district's existing financial obligations, it has become necessary to implement budgetary adjustments to afford a salary increase within the constrained budget. Slide 26 includes other budget items that we need to consider. The new Florida retirement The new Florida retirement system employer contribution rates will cost
094$4.9 million to OCPS for all funds. The 1.39% rate increase for school resource officers will cost the district $310,000 more in 2026. This budget includes funding for traditional schools, charter schools, and scholarships for students and private schools. For fiscal year 2026, OCPS is estimated to have 30,617 scholarships going to private schools totaling $211 million, which will reduce the district's final state revenue appropriation. Teacher classroom supply assistant funds have been rolled into the base student allocation. Yet, there is still a requirement for districts to allocate dollars for the program. For fiscal year 26, districts are required to allocate $300 per eligible classroom teacher to fund this program. The estimated cost to OCPS is approximately $3.6 million. Healthc care costs continue to rise at a pace that challenges the Employee Benefits Trust financial sustainability. Despite stabilization efforts,
095the Employee Benefits Trust Fund remains structurally imbalanced. The current deficit already reflects nearly $30 million in negotiated savings from new contracts with Sigma and CVS. To preserve the solveny of the trust, the board must consider transfers totaling an estimated $40 million across fiscal years 2025 and 2026. General fund reserves are no longer sufficient to absorb recurring transfers, prompting the need for a long-term sustainable solution that balances recurring revenues with projected obligations. This slide also highlights pending litigation between Walt Disney World and the Orange County Property Appraiser, which will likely impact the district's property tax revenues. Current estimates suggest a potential annual revenue reduction ranging from 6.5 million to $13 million. However, the final financial impact will remain uncertain until the litigation concludes and property values valuations are adjusted. As a reminder, the board recently approved
096a $119 million transfer to the Orange County Tax Collector. These funds represent the estimated combined traditional and charter school repayment obligation for tax years 2015 through 2025. The funds are currently held in an interestbearing escrow account on behalf of the school board of Orange County and will be applied towards any repayment determined necessary. Once once the litigation is resolved, the district will collaborate with our charter schools to establish a repayment schedule. This transfer was funded through a combination of general operating fund reserves and capital improvement tax reserves. Functional appropriations remain fairly constant with 76% of all appropriations in the instruction and instructional support functions. The district continues to have the lowest administrative costs per student among large urban districts in the state. This concludes the general fund portion of our presentation. And now Judith will
097present the capital projects fund. Good evening. The total capital budget is 2.1 billion. This budget does not include carryover funding for projects that are in progress. It relies on local funding sources as state level contributions remain limited. The district's capital program is supported by three main revenue streams as we note on the slide. And these funds are primarily allocated for comprehensive renovations, district-wide capital projects, dev service, and transfers. This shows a 5-year forecast of capital revenues. The light blue line represents the state appropriation for capital outlay and dev service. This budget projects the allocation at 8.6 6 million which is a portion of state funding designated specifically for our traditional schools. The dollars are earmarked for safety purposes. The purple line shows the funding the state provides for charter capital. As we have mentioned before,
098these are pass through dollars that flow directly to charter schools. For fiscal year 26, we anticipate charter schools will receive 11.7 million. However, the final allocation is expected to be confirmed in the coming months. The gold bar shows shows the sales tax revenue projections. These projections are based on current collection trends, the latest forecasts from the office of economic and demographic research and the recently approved sales tax extension which takes effects effect in January of 2026. For this fiscal year, revenues are estimated at 382.9 million, reflecting a modest increase over the current year's projected collections. Once the fiscal year closes, these projections will be updated to account for the final revenue figures from the prior year. The dark blue bar shows the projections for impact fees. For fiscal year 26, an estimated 57.5 million is
099forecasted. The projection is based on the previous year revenue collections. As you know, we are in the process of updating our impact fee study. Once that's completed, these projections will be updated accordingly. The orange bar represents the revenues for the one and a half capital mill funding source and is based on the district's property valuation for fiscal year 26. The district is anticipating to collect 363.5 million of which approximately 16.5 million will be shared with charter schools. Slide 31. This graph illustrates the recommended capital projects use of funds for fiscal year 26. Carry forward funds are not incorporated into the budget. The largest portion of our budget is used for district-wide capital at 42%. This includes appropriations for district-wide construction, capacity enhancements, ancillary projects, capital renewal, and site improvements. This is followed by comprehensive needs
100at 30%. covering schools in the sales tax list, the pre203 schools, schools that based on the age of their buildings are scheduled for a renovation and schools that are being repurposed. The third largest recommended use of funding is dev service and transfers at 14%. These are appropriations needed to cover our dev service obligation, the sales tax transfer to the capital renewal fund, and a transfer for maintenance and transportation purposes. Now on slide 32, this long-term capital plan also includes funding for the following comprehensive renovation projects including schools in the original sales tax and pre203 list and schools that based on the age of their of their buildings require a renovation. There is funding to build 13 additional relief schools, nine elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. This is based on the recommendation
101from the advanced planning committee and the approval of the capital program steering committee. There's also funding for capacity enhancement projects which are projects primarily intended to add permanent instructional space and reduce some portable instructional spaces. We also included funding for repurposing projects at Orlando Gifted, Cherokee, and OCVS virtual at Gateway and capital renewal. In accordance with the referendum, a portion of the sales tax revenues is transferred to the capital renewal fund to cover major system replacement needs. This plan continues to fund that transfer. Five-year new school openings. There is one new elementary that will open this August in a few days. Next year we will be opening two elementary schools as we show on this slide. While this slide highlights only three new relief schools, additional schools are included in the overall plan. However, they're
102scheduled to open beyond the current 5-year window and are therefore not shown on this slide. Now, these are our comprehensive projects that are entering construction. In this slide, we show all the schools that have a comprehensive project that is moving into the construction phase this fiscal year. Chain of lakes, Steam Academy, North Lake Park, Oakshshire, Okoi Middle School, and Palmetto are all entering the construction phase in fiscal year 26. All of these schools with the exception of Estee Academy are part of the pre203 sales tax list. As you know, we have other projects that are on their second year of construction that are not shown on the slide. Comprehensive projects entering design. Bay Meadows, Boone, Bridgewater, Colonial Ngrade Center, Gotha, Lakeville, Locker Middle School, Odyssey, Pitman Lakes, Pinewood, Robinswood, South Creek, and Southwood are entering
103the design phase this fiscal year. Now, this long-term capital plan also includes funding for the continuation of district security enhancement and life safety projects, school bus, vehicle vehicles, and equipment replacement, including school video equipment upgrades at our schools. There's also funding for portable moves and leasing to help manage population fluctuations. There is also funding for charter schools, including the dollars that the state appropriates for charter maintenance, their share of the one and a half capital mill as required by House Bill 1259, and their proportioners proportionate share of the sales tax 3 program. And we also include dollars in the plan for ancillary projects as well as for technology, infrastructure, and equipment refresh and upgrades. Now Ernest will take you through the rest of the slides. The dead service fund. This fund is used to retire
104the indebtedness of the school district as incurred for in construction projects. The primary source of funds is a transfer from the capital projects fund. Special revenue fund. The special revenue fund includes the district's food service program and special revenue other funds. These other funds are primarily school internal accounts and extended day programs. Other federal grants such as title one and IDA are amended into the budget as approved. The food service program is supported primarily by federal reimbursement, USDA commodities, and also from fees charged for adult meals served. For the 2026 school year, all OCPS students will receive free meals regardless of income. This initiative is made possible through the USDA's Community Eligibility Provision, C. Our four most recently opened schools, three of which opened last August 2024, as well as the one school opening this
105August 2025, cannot yet participate in the C program. However, we've derived a strategy with FNS to offer meals at no cost at these four schools. C is an option for school districts operating child nutrition programs and is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, the USDA. The C provision ensures all students have access to nutritious meals at no cost, removing the stigma associated with receiving free or reduced price meals. Special revenue other are funds restricted or committed for specific purposes. School internal accounts are used to account for monies collected and dispersed by each school through fundraisers and other student related extracurricular and co-curricular activities. Extended day accounts are used to account for all monies collected and dispersed in support of the program. The extended day programs before and after school activity provides a safe
106and supportive environment for children. The main source of revenue are user fees. The internal service fund accounts for the district's district's employee benefits trust fund, property casualty loss fund, and printing services fund. The employee benefits trust fund revenue comes from board contributions for employee coverage and deductions for employee and dependent coverage. The expenditures of this fund include payments for medical claims, prescription claims, and mental health. The board contribution for employeeonly coverage is $10,555 per benefited employee at a cost of 207 million to the operating budget. As noted earlier, healthcare costs continue to rise, reflecting national trends and placing added pressure on the employee benefits trust fund. We've taken significant steps to stabilize the trust, including securing new medical and prescription contracts at a substantial savings as well as the implementation of People One Health. Still,
107a structural imbalance remains as contributions are not offsetting claim costs, thus necessitating a transfer from general fund reserves. The district the district offers four plan options. The Surerfeoot plan offers a nocost option for employeeonly coverage. People health, the new healthcare option available to employees enrolled in an OCPS medical plan and their eligible family members has been positively received. Enrollment in People One Health provides access to high quality primary care with zero out-ofpocket expenses for employees and eligible family members. The property casualty loss fund includes payments for property liability and workers compensation claims. Revenues for this fund are from charges to other funds. The printing services fund is self-supporting and receives revenues from charges for services to schools and departments. This concludes the other budgets. I will turn it back over to the superintendent for comments
108and discussions. Once discussion is complete, the total millage must be adopted and subsequently the 2025-26 tentative budget must be adopted and establishment of the date of the final hearing. Superintendent. thank you. for first of all both to Miss Concalino, Miss Padres, and Mr. Jean Batist, thank you so much. this has been an unusual budget cycle, and we appreciate your time and diligence to making sure we were able to meet the timelines required. For members of the public who may not be aware, we work on our budget for many months until this time and the board has had work sessions and discussions as well as one onone meetings related to the budget. I generally want to thank the board for their diligence and attention to a very tedious task of having the budget presentation and making
109sure that we meet your priorities for the district. As mentioned by Miss Concalino, our budget remains fluid throughout the year as we make necessary amendments as needs may arise. Members of the board, as required by statute, I present to you a balanced budget for the 2526 school year, we request your approval for both the total millage and for your tenative budget. We certainly are ready to answer any additional questions and hear your comments. Thank you, Dr. Vasquez. Member Gallo. We're still doing 3.05. So, right. Yeah. Thank you, Madam Chair. where do I begin? First off, I'll begin with thank you because it's been it's been a hard year. it's been a hard it's been a hard year to be a board member during the current conditions because as you pointed out, the last time we
110were where we are right now was in 2007 and we were facing a recession. We're not facing a recession. We're not in a recession right now. And yet the dollars that we're receiving are more troublesome than what we were talking about in 2007. And if memory serves me, the reason that we have the extra 1 mil was because of the 2007 budget when we were afraid we were going to be cutting sports and arts and everything else that kids love. And we recognized or the board at the time recognized that they couldn't that we couldn't continue to operate this way and that we had to go out and find ways to fund what we prioritize on our own. and I'm afraid that we're right back where we started almost 20 years ago. the first thing
111that I want to discuss because it is upsetting to me is the insurance because we've had so many conversations about the insurance. We went to Impass over the insurance. we did direct negotiations and we got great pricing through those direct negotiations and now we're $40 million. we're going to have to shore up our insurance trust by $40 million. So, I'm just trying to understand how the trend analysis could be so off and did our actuary inform us that this was going to happen because I don't I would as a board member I was not told two years ago that what we were doing at the time would not fix the problem. And now here we are two years later and we're still shoring up a trust that I thought had been stabilized. So to your
112point, we discovered or were made aware about three or four weeks ago that the that we could we would have completed or finished well let me let me start with this. Sorry, we haven't closed out fiscal year 2025 yet. Correct. We have not closed out fiscal year 2025 yet. That does not occur until the third week in August. Right. However, we did know and note over the previous year of trust meetings and recognized at the end of 2025 that we did not have enough dollars in the stabilization reserve to for the 60 days claims that we're required to have. What we did not realize and not until we got the actuary projections for 2026 was that the claims costs the trends had skyrocketed had skyrocketed. So they skyrocketed beyond what our actuary told us they
113were going to do. Well, when we went to impass in 2023, we had proposed changes in 2023 that we were using rates from 2122. So in 2023 based on their projections, we made adjustments to the board contribution. We made adjustments to premiums. We did minor adjustments to premiums and we tweaked the plan slightly, but bottom line is we do not have enough revenue coming in. Thank you. I'm just and first off I asked John so and John could correct me if I'm wrong, but the our policy I thought dictated that the stop clock stopped when a board member wasn't talking so that we could have more time to answer questions and I was I was glaring at John He didn't know why I was glaring at him and that was why. okay. So, I I
114guess I'm concerned that next year, instead of it being $15 million for that year, because it's 20 million this year, 15 million next year, I'm concerned, what are we going to do differently so that 15 million doesn't turn into 30 million. I feel like we're just bleeding money into this insurance trust, and I'm not confident that we'll be able to stop it. First, the general fund cannot continue to absorb the transfers to the employee benefit trust. That I want to make very clear to the board and to the public. Yes. secondly, we are going to we're we're we're going back to our actuary. We're actually requesting a fiveyear projection so that we can look out much further. And we're going to have to have conversations with our unions determine what it is that the general
115fund can afford because it's going to be recurring moving f forward. We have to increase recurring contributions to the trust and then we'll have to have conversations with our unions. Are we looking at other actuaries? I feel like my confidence in our current actuary is kind of lost. So are we looking at other actuaries? Are we looking at bidding that out? what are what are we doing here? Because I feel like I can't trust the trends analysis that they're giving us. So, so first of all, we will be going out for an RFP for for our service in the spring, but in addition to that, we're going to ask for a 5-year revenue estimate revenue and claims projection, but we are also going to utilize our independent actuary that helps us with the FS12 filing
116in December. and we're going to ask him to run the same illustration for us and we want to see how close they come and our insurance trust committee do they have any input in the trends like is this something that is discussed where they say hey I don't agree with the actuary I think it's going to the trends are going to be higher I don't think that this is a good number is that something that they discussed during those meetings I don't recall us nec necessarily having those discussions during the trust meetings, but we do discuss for sure the overall loss at each trust meeting and then the stabilization reserve and how many days we have in the reserve as well as how many days we are short. Okay? And that's at each trustee meeting.
117Okay. Thank you. I do have questions, but I'm probably going to run out of time, so I'm going to I'm going to ask maybe a couple more questions and make some comments. my first question is with the Disney dollars that we turned over to the property appraiser. I know that we're going out to the charter schools, but being that we've already given their proportionate share to the tax collector to hold in that trust until we figure out how much money we're going to have to pay back Disney, can we get their money now? Like, can we say hello? I mean, I'm I'm not kidding. Like, can we get our money? because we're fronting money for the charter schools and we're in the tightest budget year that I've had as a schoolboard member and so I
118would really like that money back. So we madam chair may I? So we have made the transfer over to the tax it's the tax collector if I'm remembering correct. Yes. Sorry. Yes. So that's based upon an estimate of what we think the judgment's going to be. Nothing has gone out yet that to Disney to pay is my mic not on or I want to talk and frankly I'm not sure that's the actual rule in the past go back and look at the meeting. I'll go back and look at the policy. But having said that, we have not transferred money out of the tax collector to Disney at this point in time. It's just sitting there. It's basically like an escrow payment. I'm uncomfortable pulling anything from the charter schools at that point until we have
119binding judgments that have been upheld by the courts to pull money away from them because I don't know the 119 that we transferred over. It may be that's what we estimate the number to be, but I'm not sure. It could be plus or minus any amount of money. So, I am uncomfortable withholding money from the charter schools until I know exactly what the judgments are, exactly what they are going to owe, and then we can work with the charter schools, but I mean, at the end of the day, we've told them and we've informed them on numerous occasions that we are going to withhold the proportionate share from you once we get the final judgments coming in. I'm not but I'm not comfortable pulling money out of their coffers now because we don't have a
120judgment to tie it to. I understand that. I would argue then why are we holding the money? like if we don't know but yet we've just transferred close to hund00 million over to the tax collector for our share and that money does include the are we going to stop giving them like their proportionate share now or I just I'm concerned that we're making really hard budget decisions that are going to impact everybody at OCPS and yet we're fronting dollars for charter schools. I like I just that's the business side of me says that who does that? Are we going to charge them interest? Like who does that? Who fronts money? We're not in the loan business. May I? So, it isn't an interest bearing account. they have been made aware that they will owe money
121at the time that it's determined how amount what amount is owed. then if they are not able to pay which we have no indication that all of the charters will not be able to pay. the same thing I think would happen would happen with us. Any future dollars that would be coming to them would be withheld until they pay that money back. So currently it's in an interestbearing account. We are generating that interest. So if by any chance it's less money or they decide, oh, we love OCPS and we're not going to collect all of it, that money would return to us as well as the interest. Thank you, Dr. Vasquez. And I love our charters. I respect our charters. I just don't love our charters more than I love OCPS and our employees. And
122so that's why it's kind of a sticking ground for me because it shouldn't be at the expense of OCPS. and then I'm going to wrap it up. I have other questions, but I'll come back around if they're not asked by my fellow board members. But I do want to thank you really. I mean, you we don't have the fourth calc yet. We're short four $4.1 million. We don't even know why we're short why they the last FFP distribution was four short $4 million. the state's $47 million in a whole because of the taxpayer vouchers. They didn't have enough to support it. and the lack of accountability with these funds. I mean, that's it's 25,000 students that they're looking at as being in a voucher program and also in a public school and they're trying to
123figure that out. So, the lack accountability for taxpayer dollars, regardless regardless of where you are in your position for taxpayer vouchers, that should bother every taxpayer out there. That's $200 million. 25,000 times 8,000 is 200. Is it 200 million or is it more? So, anyways, my point is that's that's real money. This isn't monopoly money. That's taxpayer money and that's taxpayer dollars. That not is just not going to public schools. It's not going to any other services. It's not going to our police officers. It's not going to the fire departments. It's not going to affordable housing that we have a lot of areas of needs and yet we don't know where $200 million are in the state of Florida or how it was used. Thank you. Thank you, Member Gallow. Member Vanos. Thank you, Madam
124Chair. and also thank you so much for the work that you've done. I know it's there just been a lot. So, thank you. I really appreciate all of your work and your explanation. before I go to to some of my points, I just wanted to to go back to the questions about Disney. So, I don't know, you might want to sit down, John. all right. I guess I'll come back to that. can you just So, I wanted to go back to something that member Gallo, she was talking about on page 12. and you say in this budget description that we are required to adopt a balanced budget without knowing our starting balance and we don't know the starting balance because the forest calc has not been released. Can you explain why the fourth calc has
125not been released and why it's taken months longer than normal? It is my understanding as board member Gallow mentioned it has to do with the uncertainty of the 25,000 scholarship students that receive scholarship funds and also return to public school and the DOE is trying to work through that. and at this point we don't know how that's going to how that's going to end up. Okay. So essentially the Florida Department of Education kind of lost track of 25,000 students in connection with the taxpayer funded voucher program. Them or the step up for students I think somewhere between the DOE and the scholarship program. Yes. Got it. Okay. So we're all sort of in this position of not knowing what the starting balance is because of this. Correct. Okay. I'll I'll I'll move back to Disney.
126another topic. So, are lawsuits like in the public record or is it publicly available knowledge? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Madam Chair, I'm sorry. I'm just answering. Yes, they are public knowledge. Okay. So, as as some people might like to say, the charter schools were on notice that these lawsuits were pending with Disney. This lawsuit was pending. we told them that these were publicly available lawsuits that while we've been following it, you know, it's been in the news. There have been various news articles about the nature of the litigation between Disney and the property appraiser about the valuation of their property. So, yeah, it's something that even if they didn't go to the public records, the clerk of the court's court filed to look at, it's something they should have been aware of, through news media reports.
127Okay. Thank And also if I might add through all of our board budget work sessions as well as the tenative and adopted here final hearings over the last number of years we've been speaking of it. Okay. So just as we were having to withhold funds for salaries or programs they too could have been doing that. Of course, charter schools are run by independent governing boards that get to make decisions about how they choose to budget, what they choose to put in reserves, etc., etc. but that is a choice they could have made. What we don't control the choices they make with their independent governing board. Got it. Okay. so if a charter school were not able to they basically flaked and just said we can't pay back this money then and we said we're not
128fronting the money then what would happen? So if a charter school says we're not repaying the money I just want to make this clear just so everybody understands this. There is a statute with respect to the tax collector that says when these judgments are entered and they're final, they can withhold the distribution to us. So there would be the situation where if we didn't transfer that money over to the tax collector, they could have just withhold withheld the distribution to us altogether and not sent the money over to us. So I just want to make that clear for everybody. However, to your question, to the extent a charter school says, "We're not going to pay the money," that would be the evidence of them not paying their debts that have been determined by a court
129of competent jurisdiction. At that point, we could look into measures such as closing them for, you know, failing to meet the requirements of fiscal management. There's various statutory provisions under the charter school statute that we could utilize if they don't pay their debts. That's one of the big areas where we do have the authority to close. If they don't pay debts, that is financial mismanagement and that's an area where we could close. Okay, got it. That's good to know. Thank you so much for explaining that. all right. Okay. My next question was on page 14. and I believe this was for the capital budget. there's a big decrease and I think it's because you note that the capital projects fund does not include the carryover balances. So, is that what is that why that 1.3
130billion that's what that is? So, okay. That just stood out to me. I wasn't sure if that covered it. Okay. Thank you. That'll be adjusted at the final hearing. Okay, perfect. okay. My next Oh, we did that. Okay. I'll just My next question was on page 26. and so I know we've seen a couple of different estimates, but it's now looking like there will be about $211 million of funds that will be sort of diverted to the taxpayer funded voucher program. So, if we actually I mean I just think it's it's worth noting, you know, if we were to take that number and we were to divide it, you know, by the number of students in our schools, that would be like about $1,25 extra per student. So, you know, as we're talking about these
131shortfalls and we're talking about where we are with respect to inflation, which I think was about 13 $1,300 below, I just think, you know, just putting a a point on how much money that could mean to our schools in our district is important. How much that would be per student. my question though is okay, we did 30 is on page 30. when we're talking about okay we're talking about in point you mentioned that for the capital outlay and debt service that public schools would be getting about 8.6 million and that charter schools would be getting funding for the state for charter capital in 11 for an amount of an 11.7 million. I'm curious how many charter schools are there in our district? 40 40 40 about 40 I don't I'm I'm sorry I don't have
132the exact number and then our traditional schools were at about 213 now or something like that. Yeah. So for about 40 charter schools they're getting 11.7 million and for about 213 traditional schools we're getting 8.6 million. Right. Am I Am I reading that right? Right. So from the state, charter schools get 11.7 million. That's that's that's gross receipt tax on utilities. In addition to that, we also starting January 1st of 2026, we will be sharing our sales tax revenues with them and that's based on their FTE proportionate share. Mhm. In addition to that, they also get get a portion of our one and a half capital mill revenues that it's again based on their proportionate share. And a few years ago, I want to say maybe two or three years ago, there was a bill
133that was passed, House Bill 1259. And what it does is that it's based on a five-year formula where you take their FD proportionate share and if it grows 20% every year it's incremental. So I believe we have what two more years? Two more years. We're on year three. So, from our one and a half capital mill, they'll be getting I want to say it's $16.5 million this year, but then they'll they'll it inc it will increase next year and then the following year as well. Okay. So, so it's three sources. Okay. So, sort of phased in. Correct. Okay. So, so basically we're sharing the sales tax with the charters. We're sharing the capital mill with the charters plus the plus the funding from the state that it's just a pass through. Okay. So plus the
134so plus so they're getting their proportionate share for those two things plus they get additional funding actually more than traditional public schools from the state even though they have many fewer schools. Okay. Thank you. I have one more and then we'll come back around. the last question is on page 40 and you talk about the federal grants such as title one and IDEIDA are and it said you say that they'll be amended as they are approved. When do we typic when do we expect approval of those fun you that comes to you as an agenda item throughout the year. Okay. So it's okay. Got it. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time and work. Thank you, Member Vanos. Member Ferrron. Thank you, Madam Chair. and thank you team for all your hard work.
135I know this is not easy. I was, you know, laughing beforehand about when when I would fully understand this budget. all the acronyms and everything. you know, I feel like the public, if they, you know, sit and actually listen to any of this, have got to be their minds are spinning. with all the F FTE, FEFP, FES. so my first question is on page 19. just could you help me understand again what the current FTE is per student? It I from what I was calculating, is it really 10,229 per student that we receive or is that not correct? $9,012 per student is the state funded FEFP. The FEFP. Yeah. The additional 1217 is the additional voted millage and still we have purchasing power equivalent to a disparity of $1374. Okay, got it. going back to
1362007, you can see with with inflation, although we're definitely receiving quite a bit more if not, it's quite a bit more that we receive from the state than we did back in 2007, but just but our purchasing power has has gone down. I No, I understand. I think all of us feel that when we go to the grocery store. so I was just curious just seeing what the you know family empowerment scholarships receive is definitely less than that. So just kind of looking at the difference between the two. I believe they receive around 7500. let's see page I wanted to look at page 26 again. just to touch again on the I know a lot has come up on the family empowerment scholarship. I do think we need to, you know, continually remember that, there's
137a choice here because in the state of Florida, we want to make sure that students have that power to decide where they would like to go, no matter what their economic status is. And when we're looking at the family empowerment scholarship, one of the big things I think, you know, as a board, we should really go to Tallahassee and be advocating for that scholarship to be its own entity. The same way that FVS is its own entity. We don't see any of the budgeted items or how many students are running through FLVS or how much it costs or any of that type of thing. We don't blame FLVS for lower funding, but there's I How many of our students have gone to FLVS? and so the 211 million is going to the family empowerment scholarship,
138but those are families who have decided OCPS is not the best place for their child for whatever reason. Out ofund I think we're at 180,000 students, we have had a decrease. it does hit us because we have to, you know, juggle things and figure things out. but I think, you know, what we really need to do is make sure that we are not blaming the family empowerment scholarship for shortcomings in our budget. That's not what is causing it. We need to look and see what is it, what is the actual reason. and let's look at the root and see what is the reason why are parents wanting to choose a scholarship to pull their child from their own public school that's easy and convenient that's right there it's free they don't have to do any
139kind of reimbursements to try to get the funding from the scholarship and so those are the things and I think we are on the right track we're focusing on the science of reading and we're you know focusing we just brought in an incredible group of APS and principles and who are focused on education. So that's the part that 211 million we can't really divide that up amongst our students because it's money we that doesn't come to us. If those students were coming to us it would be a different story but those students aren't in with us. It's just for some reason the state has it where that money is showing up in our budget. It bloats our budget. it has nothing to do with what we're doing. There's just a separate entity and for some
140reason the state has it in there. And so I think that as a board or myself, that's something I'm committed to doing is you advocating with our state reps and seeing how we can get that removed from the local budgets so that isn't bloating the local budget and making it look like we have all this money or that it's being taken from the public schools. and then my last one is on the free meals. It's page 41. my big question here that I've had quite a few parents ask Oh, I'm already out. Darn. That went way too fast. I can come back. Goes really fast. You just push your button again and we'll put you back in. No problem. How about that? general counsel, are you in for the chair? Yes, that's correct. Chair Jacobs,
141thank you so much. where to start? Question on, let me start with Disney. So, are we absolutely certain that the charter schools are going to have to pay their proportionate share if the property appraiser loses that lawsuit? Madam Chair, may I? Yes. Yes, Madam Chair. That's weird saying two madam chairs at the same time. Yes, we are certain because we what we do is we're the pass through agent for their portion of the funding. So as we get hit for the fund the decrease in property revenue just like we have to pay charter schools their proportionate share on various Yeah, I I know I know that, John. I'm sorry. I don't mean to cut you off, but I'm thinking of that clock that might be running while you're talking. and I think you might be
142the one who's supposed to stop it. Oh god, what a mess we have here. Anyway, no, I understand why that definitely should be the way it plays out. I will tell you if I thought that was ironclad and there was no possibility that at some point in the in the future if money does have to be paid out, the state doesn't step in and say, "Well, wait a minute. The charter shouldn't have to pay that." I mean, I know that's ridiculous, but I think it could happen. if I knew it couldn't happen, I really I kind of am with member Gallo, I think, on this in that we are holding operating dollars up that we will never owe. And our budget is so tight that us essentially fronting this money for the charter schools doesn't
143seem like the right thing to do. The only thing that scares me about just saying, you know, we're gonna set aside our portion of that risk is that fear that it might not play out the way it should and we expect. Thoughts on that, John? So, yeah. No, I was I was pondering what to say. So, my thought on that is under my reading of the current view of the law, these charter schools would have to pay it back. It would have to require some sort of either change in law or direction from the state board of education to say that we couldn't require them to pay it back. I don't know what basis there would be for that kind of direction. And quite frankly, if they attempted to pass a law, it would be
144exposfacto in my view and not applicable to debts that are already owed. But that's my thought on it. It would require some sort of change in law or some direction from the state board of education to not have them pay it back. But at the end of the day, I'm sorry, go ahead. so this is our tenative budget, but between now and our final budget, I I would like the opportunity to sit down and discuss how much money that is with with the superintendent and our CFO and yourself just to think through whether that's the amount whether we need to be setting aside their money that comes out of our operating budget. So I think I think member Gallow has a point on that could use a little further evaluation. regarding the actuarily the act
145yeah the accuracy of the actuarial projections we with that insurance benefit trust committee that we have. Dorene, is this something I know you just said that it's not something they look at, but is this something that we could ask them with looking into in terms of should the projections have been different? What have others in our market projected and how accurate those are? We will certainly incorporate that into our next our next trust meeting. Okay. Thank you. regarding the member far comments or questions about the no I comments about the amount of money for the voucher. How much are they receiving each year? I thought it was I thought they got whatever the average of our FFP is, but is that not accurate? that is accurate but it actually is it is actually based on
146the program of the student. So your ESSE your more heavily weighted more severe students get a much larger scholarship dollar amount than your basic K3 or 48 student. Okay. Thank you. I was yeah I was misinformed and thought that they got a standard rate and it averaged on the higher side. in I also I want to res respond I don't mean to be confrontational but when we talk about what the problem is whether the problem is vouchers or the problem is how we're spending the money the money that we have I really think taking vouchers out of the equation altogether the problem is that the state has not given us enough money year after year just to keep up with inflation. That's the bottom line problem. No matter how fiscally responsible we are, if we
147are not taking in enough money to have the same buying power as we had last year, then we have a problem with the incoming revenues and we have no control over that. The only thing we have control over is the hope and prayer that our citizens renew our millage and our sales tax. But beyond that, we rely entirely on what the state will allow us to collect. So, and the issue goes beyond just not keeping up with inflation. If you go back to 2000, go back to 2007, if you'd asked anybody then, were teachers receiving a an adequate salary, the answer would be absolutely not. And so what they're receiving today, admittedly, I think this board has done absolutely the best they could with 9% raises one year, I think 5% another. We've done everything
148that we can to push all of our money into salaries that we can reasonably do without affecting the resources that our students also need. So just I don't want to lose sight of the fact that the problem is not how we're spending the money. The problem is we don't have enough money. And the reason that public schools point to vouchers is because if the state has that much money for education, the question is why aren't they putting it into public schools? for those of us who believe that public schools are superior. I know a lot of people don't or they wouldn't be taking vouchers. But the other thing that this board from the time I joined it have pushed for is transparency with regard to private schools. And there's a great lack of transparency and
149the legislature has never supported what we call the parents bill of rights to know if they put the child in a charter in a private school, are the teacher certified? What are the grades of those schools? How are those students performing? That information is not readily available to parents. So while parents might think their child's getting a better better education, they don't actually know it. And that as a you know parents right, I think parents ought to have that right and it shouldn't be something that they have to guess about or or ask about. It ought to just be as transparent as public education if you're going to put private dollars into it. That's enough on my soap box. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Jacobs. member Salamancaka. Remember Salamanca? She's on the line. Okay. Okay,
150we're going to go ahead and move on to member Gallow and then we'll come back to member Salamanca. Thank you, Madam Chair. so what what is the average rate that the taxpayer pay the taxpayer paid vouchers students get? Like I know it's averaged out. Is it is it the same as our average rate that we receive? Because I was like the chair Jacobs. I was under the impression that their FTE was similar to our FTE. It's it's similar. I mean, their average is for 2026 is 8,800 8,800 where for the for us for the tradition traditional schools, it's it's $9,60. So, they're close, but again, it it depends on your weighted the weighted effort. They're they're weighted just like our students are weighted. We get weighted. We get more money for our higher need students
151as well. Correct. so, that makes sense. I want I just want to be clear. I don't have problem with school choice. I do have problem with not knowing where my taxpayer dollars are going. I do have a problem that we have 1,714 students that we don't know if we were paid for. And we don't know that because we haven't received the fourth calc. All we know is that on the last FEFP distribution, it was short by $4.1 million. That's $4.1 million that according to our records, we had students in those seats and we should have gotten paid for and we did. We didn't, to Chair Jacob's point, because there's no accountability system. That's what I'm upset over. upset that there's no accountability that actually follows the money with the child. The money goes to these
152taxpayer funded vouchers and then they go back to public schools and there's no tracking system. There's no way to know. I heard a superintendent up north said that they literally had to send a picture of a student and send it to the Department of Education to prove that student was sitting in that classroom. We shouldn't have to do that. like we we shouldn't have to beg to get paid for students that we are teaching. So that's my was my point about the voucher students. and then I just want to was RLE RLE rolled back this year? It was not rolled back. It decreased but it was not rolled back. Okay. Thank you. and then I know we've can you just Well, actually I'm going to come back to this in a second. I know that
153we're looking at the capital funds and I know that we're looking at declining enrollment and I know that as a board we've had this conversation, but I'm assuming the capital budget will change and we won't be building schools if the need to build those schools is not there. And we are getting ready to have a workshop on reszoning and what that looks like across the county. So, we are being Prudent. Thank you. Yes, we're being very prudent and responsible with our taxpayer dollars to ensure that we're using them to the most effective way possible, to the best of our ability. And the advanced planning committee every year provides us based on student enrollment where they think the growth is and where we may need where we may need schools. But it's a 10-year plan that's
154revisited every year. Okay. So what we're seeing today may or may not correct happen. with that being said, we still have a lot of buildings that are under renovation and we are doing comprehensive renos on let me look. I asked you about the capitals. We know what the board priorities are. can you just briefly explain the TSIA allocation on page 13? So we were given 7.5 million. So that 7.5 million is that an incremental increase in the salaries and can you explain? Yes. So for the public that's the growth dollars not the maintenance dollars. That's the growth dollars. So that $7.5 million is Can that go towards salaries? Can that go towards it? It is for salaries, but charter has to get their proportionate share. But yes, we only have 6.7 million. We have 6.7
155million for instructional salary increases. Okay. So that money can only go to instructional salary increases. Correct. Or can it can it go to the classified? Not the teacher salary increase allocation. No, those dollars are specifically for instructional staff. So that 6.7 million would be Do you know like what percentage of increase it would be for or is that Am I getting in trouble? No. Okay. So compensation did work that out. That's a 65% salary increase for instructional staff. So the state gave us a 65% increase in salary just for our instructional teachers. Correct. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. member Felder. Oh, sorry. Let member Felder, can we wait and go to Member Salamanca because I think she's back on. Member Salamanca. Yep. I'm here. I think district one muted me so I
156didn't get a chance to chat. I heard everything and then it was my turn and it was complete silence. So I I don't know. I don't I think we needed to look into that. but I you know I think a lot of my board members asked a lot of of the questions I had. But I did have the same concern that member Gallo brought up around us fronting some of those dollars at the expense of some of the operating budget liquidity. So I also would want to have that conversation because it is their money to pay back. and so I also would support spending a little bit more time thinking about that. I understand, John, what you mean that they legally have to pay it back, but I don't know that's necessarily a given. and
157I wouldn't be surprised if if something changes there as well. The other thing was I share the frustration that other folks brought up on the healthc care numbers going out of the projections by law. And so I'm I'm glad that we're going to be kind of going out to an RFP for this because it's really it's not something that this board has an easy time doing when we have to relook at the at at the healthcare and every year or every other year is it's a really tough conversation and I'd like to believe that we have the right numbers to start making some hard decisions from that if that's what it is. But if if the target keeps moving, then we're also not going to have a lot of credibility when we say that this
158is, you know, one time adjustment or or the second time adjustment giving the budget. And so whatever we can do to either project out better or work with better folks that we can rely on as a board, I think that it is really really frustrating to not have reliable projections. and then with with healthcare in particularly, I think we're not the only self-insured district or large entity out there. There has to be benchmarks that are not being missed by that much even in the context of inflation and the high cost of healthcare today. So, I think that those were my two big concerns from the budget. I realize that it is tight. I think to member Fon's comment and some of the conversation on the family empowerment scholarship, it's, you know, I am very much
159supportive of families having a choice for their students to go to the schools that they want and get the education that they want. The main problem is that if every student in Florida were to or every family in Florida were to go to the state and cash in their scholarship fund, there wouldn't be enough money for that. And so like what that tells us is that there isn't enough funding realistically for a universal voucher system which is you know this promised ideal version of a free marketplace of education. And so you have folks advocating for something that sounds great in theory but there isn't enough money for that. And there's definitely, I think, what we're seeing in the budget, not enough money for the two systems to coexist together. So, at this point, it's very
160clear that the voucher program and the scholarship fund is coming and existing at the expense of public education because it's all one bucket of of money. I think the that the folks on the board are just commenting on the frustration that you can be supportive of this program and be supportive of families having choice, but you need to fund it. And you need to fund either both systems or realistically be able to track the dollars so that there is accountability to the taxpayer of where this money is coming and going to. Because whether folks like to admit it or not, the real benefit of some of these large school systems is that because we are so large, we also can get better pricing from things. And actually, it is really difficult to scale charter schools
161and private schools and charter networks because it is incredibly expensive to operate them. And so they actually require more money to truly fund the ideal of what it looks like to have this voucher marketplace. And so I think it would just the conversation is very complex in the budget. And I think the reason why the budget is so confusing is actually on purpose so that the taxpayer doesn't know that there actually isn't enough funding for what is required for our state to have a high quality education. And so those those were just my thoughts and really wanted to support us spending a little bit more time talking about the fronting of the charter money. and yeah, that's it. Thank you, member Salamanca. Member Felder. Thank you. Most of u the board members have sort of
162kind of expressed some of my thoughts. I just had just a question on page 35 and you probably have answered it once before. I just want to get some clarity. We talk about the comprehensive projects. I don't see Jonesai. Is it was it on one for 2425? because I know we're doing working on a comprehensive project in October. we'll be meeting for 30%. So is that a part of this superintendent? But I don't see their name. No, it's it's funded under this year's project. So it' be the 2425, not 2526. Okay. That was that was a question I had. Okay. And I just, you know, I do want to first of all thank you all for the work. And I know it's been very difficult for you all Dorene because we didn't have we didn't
163know what we're going to do monies and we just did not have but for you to do this comprehensive report as you have done the guy you guys have done I am so very grateful and we you know you've talked to each of us and a lot of the questions that you answer for me you know I I have an understanding but I just do want to register my concern about the fact and I've said it before with you privately the fact that we have to fund the money for charter schools, you know, to if something happens and John has explained that, you know, that is something that we have to do. and it's my hope, huh? It's May I Yes, please. So, I want to clarify. Okay. And Dorene, please if I'm wrong. Okay.
164The prop, we get the money from the property appraisers. It's not OCPS and then the charter schools get the money. Correct. It's one lump of sum and then we distribute that correct to the charter schools. We get the revenue. Correct. And then we give them their share. That is why we are the ones that the property appraiser is going after will ask the money. Then if for some inst for some instance and I have no reason to believe this a charter school is not able to pay then when we receive the revenue for this upcoming year we would then be able to withhold the funds that would have gone to the charter if they had not paid okay back the amount owed. And we're not anticipating that's going to happen. We're hoping. I would not.
165But I just wanted to clarify that. Okay. It that's how the process works. And we would have a an avenue to recoup dollars by withholding their dollars for the for the next dispersement. All right. Thank you for helping me clearing that up for me. And hopefully we don't anticipate that's going to happen. the other thing is that I think it's so imperative that people come to the board meetings and listen to this especially parents families so they can really understand about budget and what's what's really going on and what we are really doing and I certainly am going to be visiting members of my constituency with this information and sharing them so they can really understand how all of this is working because for For the most part, people don't understand. They just think we're
166just sitting on a pot of money and picking and choosing. But we are really literally robbing Peter to pay Paul. We are doing that. and but if they see it in black and white as it is, then perhaps, you know, they'll be motivated to go and vote and make some real changes so that laws and legislation could could be adjusted because, you know, we are inflation is coming. I mean, you look at 2007 and where we are now in 2025 and nothing is getting cheaper, you know. But I just wanted to I was my concern was about not seeing Jones High and I understand what that means because it was on the 2425. So I'm good for that. And most of the board members have just shared some of the thoughts that I have too.
167So thank you so much for your work. Thank you. Thank you member Felder. Member Douglas. Thank you so much for the work that you're doing. It's a lot of money and you have to make magic to make even more to help all the kids that we have in Orange County Public School. Thank you so much. I just wanted to say that $211 million. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money diverted from, you know, public schools to go to the voucher pro program. It's a lot of money. We cannot deny that that is taken away from you know from us from our kids and that's very sad because we could accomplish so much more and done so much more for our student and our teachers. thank you so much superintendent for clarifying because
168that was actually my question that I was going to ask you. So if they're unable to pay and they close who's going to pay for the money but you it's not the money that they have it's the money that they you know we withhold we withheld from her okay withheld from them thank you so much also I agree with Chair Jacob that the state does not give us enough money okay that we again not only they take money from us with the vouchers Now we do not get enough money for the kids and it's just it's such a big problem. It's a big huge issue. So I just want to say thank you so much for the work that you're doing and we appreciate you and keep continue to make magic. You know, at least
169try. Thank you. Thank you. I'm ceued in next and I just wanted to if we can just turn to slide 21 where we show the education appropriation general revenue and the changes over the last four years because I think that, you know, this speaks very highly to, and I love that we separated it for this graph, but it speaks highly to the to what member Salamanca was saying that these two systems can't can't exist together and that's and you can see it right there in the picture when we say it's money being taken from public schools the evidence is right there. our the funding for traditional and charter schools has continually gone down and actually significantly went down last year where when you look at family empowerment scholarships they inc they significantly went up every
170year. So, it's it's obvious, you know, that this is a priority and I understand that and I think that it's terrific for some families to be able to have that choice, but at the end of the day, it shouldn't be decreasing what the public schools are getting because our costs certainly are not decreasing every year and we saw that we've seen that in so many instances. And the other thing too, you know, that I think is important to keep in mind, while a voucher student takes, and we've talked about this before, too, takes that $8,800 and we get the $9,000. We have so many more regulations and mandates that we have to provide out of that $9,000 that homeschool student or that private school student doesn't necessarily have to private schools don't have to provide
171transportation. Private schools don't have to provide ESC services. Private schools don't have to provide a guardian or law enforcement officer in their school. There's just so many things that we have to do that we have to pull out of that one but pot of money that we get for that student that they don't have to do. So it's just so much it's so much more taxing on our funding because of the mandates and everything that we are required. So it's it's just not equal. There's no way around it. There's no there's no equality there. It's not the same thing. It's not just your tax dollars or you're using your tax dollars. and the non-accountability and the fact that we are not ensuring that our funding is going to make sure that we have an educated
172populace. That's the whole point of having a public education system to make sure that the children in this state are getting appropriate education, are getting are going to be knowledgeable citizens to carry on the next generation. and we're giving tax dollars to people that we have no accountability for to make sure that they're getting that education. and that for me as a taxpayer is frightening and concerning and I'm and quite honestly I'm very very concerned about all of our the homeschool children that maybe that no one has eyes on too. That's the other thing that makes me really really scared and really nervous that how do we know all of these children are getting taken care of are getting an education are meeting the standards that our department of education have put into place saying
173this is what children should be learning every year. How do we know that all these kids now are getting that education? We don't. So you know if that those are my comments on that. and I am also in favor of of the discussions around the money because I agree with everything else that's already been said on that. okay that's it for me. next step member fant. Thank you madam chair. Okay. So, we'll go back to page 41 on the free meals, which has been awesome. It's like it's a you know, great help for our families. but I am curious, is there any kind of strings attached to this? Excuse me. Is there any kind of strings attached to the free like the grant money that we get for the free meals or is it just
174trying to be May I Yeah, there are no strings attached other than you know we have certain you know foods that can be purchased. I see Roberto is coming up. So Mr. Pacheco go ahead. but we're not I mean there's required not paperwork but documentation of the students that are being you know served but it's we're not owing them something in return. Mr. Pacheco. Good evening board members. Yeah there's no there there's no different requirements per se as far as the meals that we have to provide is the same requirements that we had even before when we used to do the lunch program. So there's there's no strings attached. The only things that you have to apply. So we apply for a period of four years. We just finished the second year. We're going to
175start the third year right now. And then we when we finalize all four years is when the district will have to determine if we want to reapply it again based on the numbers that we have that we will have at that time based on direct certification which is our families that receive any type of assistance. So, but the district has been doing C since 2016. We just were adding more and more schools every year till we got to to have them all but the more newest ones from the last two years. Yeah. Wonderful. Do you know one other question, Mr. O, do you know were we bringing in more funding when parents were paying for the meals or are we bringing in more now to provide for everybody? You know, when we when we made
176the analysis in order to move to entire district, we knew that we needed to up our participation in order to break even. 2% for breakfast and I believe it's 4% for lunch, but don't quote me on that. but we're we're we're solvent. we actually I just I was just looking at the numbers with the team a couple of days ago and we are we're solving. We're able to break break even and a little bit to our reserve. So we're we're well financially on the FNS side. Perfect. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I also just wanted to you're good. I'm Thank you. I won't talk anymore about food and nutrition, but I appreciate it. just to chime in on the actuary. the actuary is one that were they part of I'm trying to
177remember now. all the discussion on that. Were they part of the like the Etna group or is this like the actuaries like somebody set aside somebody else separate person? Okay. because yeah, I think I would be curious to see what maybe that fiveyear would look like, but also have somebody separate, which you said you were going to do. I think that'll be helpful to do, you know, get the second opinion, if you will. because it is something we need to really make sure we're figuring out how we can help. I mean, I think it'd be awesome even just to have if there was ways to help. maybe even with education and I don't know not something we would I guess spend money on but maybe if there's something online or free information out there that
178we could give to our employees that would help them in more like homeopathic ways or natural ways to stay healthy and get healthy like that kind of thing and so that we're not spending maybe so much I don't know what the costs are from but to really help people to get to get on that like healthier side, I guess. which I know we have some things within there to we have a very robust wellness program. Okay, perfect. So maybe just continuing to encourage that and whatnot, but I appreciate that. I feel like there was one other question I had. hold on. Oh. with the, back to the money with the charters that we're, you know, receiving from the tax collector. Okay. So, we received that from the tax collector. Every year he's still continuing to
179give us the funds. Correct. Because there's been no settlement. Okay. Excuse me. but then every year we've been receiving the funds that we can't use and we're giving a portion still to the charter school. Is that correct? But we don't know what that settlement's going to be. So, right now we're estimating around 38%. But we've been told it could be as high as 50%. We don't know. But once Disney and the property appraiser settle the litigation, then at that point we'll know. In the meantime, we took advantage of Asser and we took advantage of our fund balance over the last three years and we started setting dollars aside because the tax collector told us two years ago or three years ago. I can't recall at this moment exactly when he came and told us that
180once the litigation is settled, we are the recipient of Disney's tax dollars and if they get a judgment in their favor, then we have 30 days to pay that back. So, we began being proactive and setting the dollars aside because charter or not charter, how could we how could we come up with a hund00 million, you know, immediately or more? I see what you're saying. I know that is hard because it's in some ways you want to just save it all and or, you know, at least save the 30% and let the charter know. But then at the same time, I can see where John, you're saying they are their own entity. and but I mean, I guess for I don't know. I think it is frustrating. I think it is something that maybe we
181could discuss more or maybe something that we could discuss with the charter schools and ask would you like us to just go ahead and we'll save that in this account so that they don't even see it because in the same way I think if the tax collector asked us, do you want us to just save this aside? We don't even see the funding. In some ways, it's sort of nice to just we don't even see it, you know, and if it if it comes in our favor, then we would receive it as like a bonus. But we did, if I may, we did we did give charter schools an approximate per FTE based on about the 38% and using whatever their FTE is currently as just a placeholder or a starting point letting them know
182it goes back to 2015. We're 10 years in right now and our Scott Howitt with Scott Randolph from the tax collector. We had a meeting in here with the charter schools, I don't know, nine months ago, a year ago now, and our Scott Howitt suggested they start being proactive and setting dollars aside because we are going to have to come and get those dollars if not withhold because at least we've been upfront and they know about it. They're very well aware. So, I appreciate that. Thank you again for answering all of my questions. and I appreciate you. Thank you. member Vanos, thank you. just a couple of questions just to close out the Disney conversation. and definitely want to have more meetings about that. But what happens if during the course of this years yearsl
183long litigation a charter school received some of the money but then they closed as they like to do. Mr. Bamarini money's going to have to be repaid back and ostensibly that's going to be on us. Okay. So, we're already having to pay back money. Like assuming what we're assuming about the lawsuit, we're already going to have to make up this money that a charter school owes is closed. Okay. on page 27, I just had a question just because I I get asked this question a lot for the it's the chart and it's for the school administration. I know it says here that the district continues to have the lowest administrative costs per student among among large urban districts in the state. And do we use large urban districts? like are they the best comparison just
184because it's kind of the same type of job or would it be would it make more sense to look at a district that's closer to us? Like I'm just wondering about how you use how you determine who to compare us to. Well, as an overhead administrative cost, the size of your district would dictate what those overhead costs would be. Whether you're you're overseeing 50 schools or you're overseeing 250 schools, your overhead costs are a lot more and ours have always been the least of all the large districts. But if you look at us just in total, we're 11th in the state and the first two are Gatston and Jefferson that are stateun. the others are 1 2 3 4 5 6 there there's eight Santa Rosa Pasco St. John's Marian they're they're Citrus Henry they're
185less than us. Got it. Okay. Okay. and then has that generally because I look at these four year I can't see anymore. Sorry. So, I look at these four years and it's pretty looks like it's about the same percentage. Has that been the generally the case in OCPS? Yes. But when you're looking at So, you're looking at our general administration and board costs. Is that what you're looking at? This the school administration. Oh, the school administration. Yes. I'm sorry. Repeat your question. Oh, no. I'm sorry. The Yeah, like the district administration like the cost, let's say, for people in this building. Yeah. General and I'm sorry I didn't catch the question. So be general support general administration board. General Okay. General Oh, okay. General administration and board. Okay. Got it. Got it. Thank you. I
186appreciate that clarification. And so has that pretty much been about the same over the last 10 to 15 years. The these really the all of our funding really goes into instruction and instructional support. Got it. Okay. Thank you. I think that's really all I have for right now. So, thank you. Thank you, Member Vanos. Superintendent. I remember what I was going to say. I want to go back to an understanding of why we are feeling the pinch with the federal dollars that I do that I don't believe any board member has mentioned. Yes. if they're not coming to us, we're not generating the dollars. So that's that's a given. What I explain to people that ask me is that there were many items including SAI that was used to fund reading interventions that were categorical
187and the state says they roll that into the BSA but if you do the math it doesn't equate to what we were So by saying that they're rolling things into the BSA if it were onetoone then the argu we wouldn't be having this argument because yes those students are coming they have a choice which I don't know that there's anyone here who doesn't agree parents should have a choice but that's what we've been seeing over the last several years that these categorical dollars have been rolled in to the BSA. And when you look at the amount of money we were getting, you do the math per student and then you look at what we're getting for the BSA, it just doesn't add up. And so I think that's the other piece that I think we
188have to advocate when we're talking to Tallahassee that when you look at what was funded, regardless of what the enrollment is, those categoricals have not transitioned on a one:1 ratio and are causing us to have to do or provide the same services with fewer dollars and that's something I don't think we focus on enough. Thank you. No, thank you. That's a great explanation. Very helpful. and I agree that needs to be shared more often. Yes. And u member Vanos has another comment. Thank you, Madam Chair. And just and just one more comment on the superintendent's comment. is that when a new categorical when when funding is shifted around and a new categorical is created as it was this year for the academic acceleration option. I am glad that we have the funding this year, but
189I am very nervous that it was shifted into a categorical so that it can be collapsed into the BSA. And so just want to you know amplify that and make sure that we stay on that because I am very worried about that move. Thank you, member Vanos. Okay, at this point the board is clear. So I am ready for a motion on two on 3.05 request approval of the adoption of the millillage to support the tenative budget. Ah I got it. Thank you. I move to adopt the following resolution. Whereas section 200.065 065 Florida statutes requires that the schoolboard adopt a proposed millillage for funding the tentative budget and notify the property appraiser of its action. And whereas the 202526 tentative budget is based upon a total millage of 6.449 mills which is more than
190the rolled back rate by 4.24% as computed pursuant to section 200.065 Florida statutes. Now therefore, be it resolved by the school board of Orange County, Florida, that the board does hereby adopt the following proposed millage to support the tentative budget for the 202526 fiscal year. required local effort at a rate of 3.201 basic discretionary at 748 additional voted at one capital improvement at 1.5 for total mill at 6.449 8449. Be it further resolved that the superintendent immediately inform the Orange County property appraiser of the action of the school board in the manner prescribed by law. Second. Thank you. Second by member Gallo. all those in favor please say I. I. Chair Jacobs. I. Member Salamanca. I. And motion carries. That puts us at 3.06. 06 public hearing request approval of adoption of the 202526 tenative
191budget. and I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Vasquez. Madam Madam Chair, we have I know we have a public speaker. I had Dr. Vasquez first before the speaker, but I don't know if Do you want to do the speaker now? Okay, we have a public speaker. the speaker is Robert Quite. very patient. Thank you for waiting. All right. Hello. thank you for creating space for public comment tonight. my name is Robert and I want to say that I know that the district is already working through the challenge of declining enrollment and the tough decisions that come with it. That's hard and I appreciate how much thought and effort it takes to navigate that in a way that protects both students and educators. at the same time, there's another piece that deserves attention. the
192federal education budget that is currently being debated, it does include cuts to several programs that our students and staff rely on. And I want to clarify something. This is not the $6 billion that was just released. There is a proposed cut right now of $12 billion to the 2026 fiscal year federal education budget that's currently in Congress. And just to people listening, that's like a big number. it's hard to like comprehend, but that is like teacher training after school support services for English learners and multilingual students. So, it's essential funding yeah I just want to make sure that we're ready for that and because if these federal cuts move forward on top of state level funding shifts, I know it could add pressure on like every part of our district. so tonight you received earlier
193like a resolution. I have another copy if I can hand out but it focuses on planning transparency and continued collaboration and I want to voice my support for that resolution. And I also want to ask the board to just to consider the possibility of of hosting a public town hall so that families and staff can stay informed and also just feel a part of the solution if if something like that were to pass and all that funding is lost. but thank you for listening and for your continued leadership through all of this. Thanks. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for your advocacy and for coming to share those thoughts. And I think the idea of a town hall around the budget and around funding from the state and federal is a great idea. I think the
194more we can get the community involved in that, the better. Thank you for that suggestion. Dr. Vasquez. thank you, Madam Chair. item 3.06 is the request approval of the adoption of the 202526 tenative budget. if the board has any other comments or questions, we'd be happy to entertain them. But if not, we are looking for your approval. Thank you. And I don't believe we have any further questions or comments. member Vanos. Yes. I move to approve the 2025 tenative budget for the general fund in the amount of 2 bill786,651,168. and to approve the 202526 tentative budget for the special revenue fund in the amount of 317,11,631. to approve the 2025-26 tentative budget for the debt service fund in the amount of 258,86,138. to approve the 2025-26 tentative budget for the capital projects fund in the
195amount of 2 billion70,611,542 to and to approve the 202526 tentative budget for the internal service fund in the amount of 412,788,31 and to approve the date for the final public hearing for the fiscal year 2526 budget for 501 p.m. on September 9th, 2025 at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center, 445 West Amelia Street, Orlando, Florida. Thank you, member Vanos. Good job reading that. And we have a second from member Gallo. all those in favor, please say I. I. Chair Jacobs, I. Member Salamanca, I. And the motion carries. Yay. Thumbs up. Absolutely. Mr. Palmerini, do we have anyone that's come to speak to the board on any of the items on the consent agenda? No, Madam Chair. Okay. Seeing that there's no member of the public who wishes to provide public comment, we'll move on the
196consent agenda. Asking for a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. Was that you? Was that you? Oh, okay. Member Ferrant. Moved by member Fant. Seconded by member Gallow. All those in favor, please say I. I. Chair Jacobs. I. Member Salamanca. I. Okay. Motion is approved. we have no non-consent agendas. Correct. Right. superintendent. thank you, Madam Chair. So, it's the end of July. The summer has flown by. but we are we are ready to open our doors to our teachers. Some of them as was mentioned earlier are already or have been even during the summer as we visited schools still working to get everything ready. and so we are just so excited about this next school year. we are very thankful for the hard work of our students, our teachers, our employees and our
197families that resulted in our district receiving another A rating as well as the increases almost across all topic all all the categories. Given that we have also had a great deal of conversation around choice, around marketing, about being more responsive to our community, and we're also rolling out a brand or have rolled out a brand new strategic plan. And so I have asked, Scott Howitt to, briefly speak to the board on two topics that, really are going to drive a lot of what we're doing next year. number one the strategic plan and just give you an overview of what some of the tools are. And then the second item that he's going to speak to you about is Parent Square, our new communication tool that is making communication easier and more transparent. And then after
198Mr. Howard is finished, I have just one more small topic to discuss. Scott. Thank you, Dr. Vasquez, Madam Chair, members of the board. wanted to talk a little bit about the official roll out of the strategic plan. We know that it became official on July 1, and wanted to show you some of the assets and things that we're rolling out as part of the strategic plan to our schools, to our district administrators as they're sharing with their teams, with their staff, with their stakeholders. this is a copy and I'm I'm not going to go through the whole presentation. It's a 20 to 25 minute presentation. I'm just going to show you some of the assets and things in it. Tonight you've actually seen the slate that we the new board slate that is aligned with
199the brand for the district the new 2030 strategic plan. You also even the phone slate. And so some of the other graphic elements and things that we've put together are starting to roll out digitally and will roll out physically as well as we move into this school year. So this is the OCPS 2030 strategic plan template that has been sent out to school principles and district leaders. Just roll through it. this is what they will go through with their staff background in development of the strategic plan what you all the process you went through there's scripting that goes with it we want to make sure that every single leader is consistent as they're talking about the strategic plan in the background. So plan overview connections to the plan resources questions and contacts. So just to
200show you talking about the different kind of strategic plan that was developed and where the focus was the timeline of that development when we started the process when Dr. border had started that process and going through that taking you all through that with Curium Solutions and that process. So walking through the adoption they'll give that overview talk about portrait of a graduate as being the north star the driving force behind the strategic plan. you can see the elements prepare, inspire, empower and how they align with academic foundations, essential skills and workplace readiness. The plan overview. You all are very familiar with the vision, the mission which includes the prepare, inspire, empower words, those very strong words, the value statements that you all adopted that are part of the strategic plan. The principles and district leaders
201will walk through those. The commitments. Here's some of the commitments that are reinforcing that work behind the strategic plan. Our market differentiators as were determined through the process, key performance indicators, those five areas that are the major areas of focus that will be forwardfacing and the public will be able to see connections to the plan. This is the part where we draw in our employees, our stakeholders. How are they connected to the strategic plan? When you talk about strategic plan, it's a statement on a wall or it's something that's being talked about in a boardroom or at a board meeting, but how does that connect to every employee? So, talking about that prepare, inspire, empower. here's some of the examples, some of the ways that principles will and district leaders will talk through how we
202connect as far as preparing our students. So, examples of a teacher, of a bus operator, of a custodian, and how they would prepare a food service employee would prepare our students, how they would inspire our students, how they would empower our students. Now there is a QR code in there that we'll offer out where they'll have an opportunity to provide feedback on how they feel that within their roles they prepare, inspire, and empower. And so walking through that, we'll be able to gather that information both for the school leaders and the district leaders from stakeholders, employees just to get that connection and even build out farther on how those connections are made. this presentation will include resources, the OCPS 2030 website, the public KPI dashboard which will be out there that has those five commitments
203that are outlined there. it'll be that'll be part of it. The OCPS again deeper into the website explaining each of those elements within the strategic plan. it'll talk about the touch points, communications throughout the year, models of of great work that's tied back to the plan, changes to strategies and things, measures of success that'll take place as a result. So, bringing that really home for our employees is going to be part of it. It's part of we started with state of the schools. We've continued to roll in the language around the strategic plan. the they'll they'll share the contacts both their information email will be inserted as it was in the first slide and then the strategic improvement. So Casey Liverstats who's the director her contact information will be there for any any feedback or
204additional questions. This will all be scripted out. Like I said they'll have the exact script. They have it already. It went out in the deputy superintendent's memos last week and so they're incorporating that into their back to school start of school presentations. So that's the strategic plan presentation. I'll talk about I can talk about the other one Dr. Vasy. Yes. thank you. I have I have the other two slides. So we are we also rolled out our new consolidated mass communication tool platform. as of July 1, the mass communication was rolled out. We held back on the website roll out until we until really after the July 4th break. So it gave an opportunity for schools and departments to go through and update their their portions of that. So the parent square platform it's one
205platform for all communications. So when we push out a communication we used to have to do it in different locations when we use school messenger we were doing text or email or voicemail. With this, we can simply just have a communication, push it out, and it goes voicemail, text, email, website, wherever it's clicked to go, and it can go as a post, which we recommend for general information. It can go as a smart alert, which is something that you would get if we were using say a weather advisory or something like that. maybe not severe, but you know, letting parents know that you know, a general issue. If we were using our standard response protocols like a lockdown or a secure, then we would use an urgent alert, which would go to all contacts regardless.
206So the nice thing about this communication tool and it really aligns with what we learned through the first year of town halls and also through our surveys is that parents want the information. They appreciate getting information from the district from their schools. They were getting it in many different places, many different times and in various ways. And so this was a way to address that, listen to what they were asking us for, and then allow them to select along with our employees how they want to receive the message that's not an urgent alert. Do they want it immediately? any message, any post, do they want to wait, which the default is a is a digest of information that happens at the end of the day at 6 p.m. So they would get a digest. they
207can go through the digest at the end of the day or they can get it throughout the day. So their phones aren't ringing, they're muting, texting, all of that. They can decide. So it gives that it empowers them to be able to do that outside of an urgent alert. we do have the two-way communication which would be classroom to parent that is optional for teachers to adopt. They they communicate with their parents. they can use this tool in order to do that as part of that process. There is a mobile app. we strongly recommend that people download or parents or employees that want to stay connected download that app if they choose. they can district and school websites are available and are mobile friendly which is great on on this new platform because it was
208not on the previous platform. why register? and and have the app personalized communications digest mode you can get at the end of the day. if you don't not registering would would not allow you to do that. And then you get customized text email notific phone notifications. And then you can set office hours. So if you're an employee, you can set it so you're only getting notifications during from this time to this time and then you won't get them until the next day. So it gives a lot of power to parents and to employees when it comes to utilizing the platform. So continuing to roll this out and provide we're going to send login information. We have a checklist back to school checklist for parents of the diff about five different things that they should be
209registering for or logging in. So, we're going to put it all in one communication and send it out. parent square will be part of that along with Zello, along with find your bus transportation registration. so, we're including those things in one and we're strongly recommending that they do that. So, we're very excited about this. the I think the website looks amazing. It's it's much more dynamic than it was before. And so my team has worked very hard on this along with it and and other stakeholders in launching this and it's been a journey and it'll we'll continue to tweak it and work through it. But I appreciate your time. Thank you, Madison. thanks Scott. And you know, anytime you roll something out as carefully as you plan, there are you know, some bumps in the
210road. And so we expect that's going to happen. So if you hear of first of all, we need your help in pushing out that we have launched parent square and what a valuable tool it is. But as you're hearing of any, you know, glitches, please let us know because our goal is to increase our transparency and communication with all of our stakeholders. And thanks so much to Scott and his team because it's it's been a labor of love. I'll use that word, love. Sometimes love, right, over the over a year in trying to get everything aligned. additionally, you know that we worked with Quesa K12 in our attempt to re-engage families who may have left. We are excited to see our 10day count numbers to see if we were able to recover any of those
211students. Additionally, they gave us some great information that is going to help us to provide better customer service when families are coming and inquiring about the school. and part of that includes offering tours to families, making sure that one pagers that every school has that highlights programs and things that they want to tout about their school are included in the enrollment package. And we are offering three additional because we just held our first training for registars and front office staff to help them be able to have those tools and skills at because they're the first first ones that are interacting. Dr. Armster and I were at the first one. It was great. They were very excited. We explained why we were doing this. why it was important for us to engage them. They're the first
212individuals our parents engage with and it was a packed house. the trainer was wonderful and so we're looking forward to again more positive feedback about how we're engaging with our families. We are also piloted last year let's talk which is a platform that allows our stakeholders to access information more effectively more efficiently and more accurately. we piloted with transportation last year and the transportation team loved it. it allowed for parents to get questions answered more quickly because a lot of the questions are on our website. and then only those that need that direct interaction were connected to a live individual. So, we've launched that. we get metrics on customer service. We get metrics on the questions that they ask. Those will be discussed at cabinet. We'll also be sharing some of that with you. So
213you can also see within your schools how the communications are going. I'm really excited that stakeholders have an opportunity to be positive about maybe an individual or customer somewhat how they interacted with an with an individual so that we can then also celebrate them and thank them for the positive customer service. for this next school year you know that we are continuing with community town halls. Our high school principles will be hosting four student town halls. I will be engaging in middle school town halls, student town halls this upcoming year. We're going to do half this year and half next year. U we'll have those posted so that board members can attend as well as the community town halls that we're going to be engaging. we're also, based on feedback we received from our students,
214allocating dollars to each school that's going to allow them four times a year. and this is coming from the vaping money that we received as part of our lawsuit to host club events four times a year during the day. So for those children that don't have transportation and can't participate and connect more at the school, now that's being taken away. And so I'm very excited to get feedback from our students and from our principles related to that. and then we're also launching some teacher tools. Maurice and his team have been working on reports again optional but that will allow teachers to access data for their own students in a friendlier way that will allow them to have up-to-date data data at their fingertips and that will hopefully help them with the planning and of course
215we're excited about launching more work in the area of of PLC's We had a great turnout at the conference this summer. I know some of you attended. So, we're so thankful. I know it's you guys have a busy schedule, but anytime you pop in to a district training or an event or a school event, it just means so much to everyone there. Number one, they get to see you and interact with you, but then it also sends the message that we're all working towards the same goal. So, I can't be more excited for the start of the school year and looking forward to some some amazing things occurring in our tremendous schools. So, that's my report. It's a great report. Thank you, Superintendent. member Vanos, thank you. and thank you for the presentation. I have
216a question about Parent Square. I'm not saying that any parent would do this, but if they if they didn't create an account, would that mean that they don't get information or No, the information would go would be pushed out anyway through whatever means that it's sent. They just won't be able to see it on a dashboard because creating an account and logging in, they'll get on a dashboard. Otherwise, they just get it as though it was a connect orange message like we've done in the past. Oh, okay. So just be the same as it could be a call or a text. Okay, got it. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that people can't escape the messages. Yeah, it just enhances the experience. Thank you. and I'm assuming you're going to have a little
217more explanation because like I just downloaded it, but you have to do an email or cell phone. So I'm assuming or you can do Google or Microsoft. So, I'm assuming I would do like my work email or do I need to register somewhere first before I No, no, no. It'll go through your work. It's It's an authentication through Okay. through through that process. So, we've been working that's one of the things that Dr. Vasquez was alluding to was dealing with single sign on and authentication and so we have that resolved and so you'll be able to do that through Microsoft or through so yeah, we've been working through. Thank you. And I did just want to say the websites look great. the school websites are just terrific. Yesterday I needed to find some open house
218or meet the teacher dates and times and I was able to go to the school websites and they all looked every single one looked the same and I knew exactly where the calendar was right on that first page and no I didn't get Harry Potter. But anyway, they all look terrific. and I think I think that's going to be a huge a huge thing for to have these updated websites for our schools and it's just everything just was so much easier to find and see. So, thank you. Good stuff. All right. next we have a report by our general counsel, Mr. Pomearini. thank you, Madam Chair. There's going to be a few things. I apologize. first, in line with the discussion that we were having about charter schools, I've forwarded you some documents that we
219had previously sent. I've bombarded you with stuff, so I'm sure that you didn't remember it. it was 10 the charter school portion of the money that's owed out of the Disney litigation is 10.7 out of the $119 million. So, that's the number that we're talking about. I mean, it's going to, as Judith is like giving me the old, it's going to continue to accumulate the longer the litigation goes. As we sit here through 2025, it's 10.7 million out of 119 million that charter schools have. So, just want to give you that information. sent you an email earlier today for those of you who were seeing vision 2050 and what, you know, we had discussions on that. the Florida Department of Commerce sent a letter to Orange County saying that under the recently passed Senate Bill
220180 that you cannot make changes that make it more ownorous as far as comprehensive planning. So they have invalidated Orange County's vision 2050. So it's status quo. So just wanted to make you aware of that. So, we had a whole bunch of discussions that, you know, they were fruitful discussions with the county and we eventually got to a place that of understanding. Unfortunately, that has gone out the wayside. So, we're back to the status quo before vision 2050. with respect to Delta Dental, the challenge to our the dental contract that was done by Delta Dental, as you remember, I sent you the decision. we were upheld by the administrative judge. They had 10 days under the statute to file exceptions to that. That 10-day period has expired. They have not filed exceptions. So, you will
221be seeing a final order on August the 12th that says that their bid protest is dismissed and that the contract is awarded to Sigma as a result of the RFP process. So, that will be on your next schoolboard agenda. I sent you an email earlier about folks going to our facilities and recording. we had that again today. as a matter of fact, the person who recorded previously, my understanding from our facols is that he was going into non-public areas like the work bays for the, the buses. I really think that as this continues we need to have a policy that talks about security you know how we're going to deal with visitors on campus and you know that we're not going to allow recording when they go to the various facilities. there is a policy
222out of the city of Puna Gorda that was challenged and it was upheld by the courts is not violative of the first amendment. If the board would like, I could set that issue for a work session for discussion and bring a proposed policy revision if you all think that's something that you want to do. So, I'm looking to you all for guidance on that. board, are you in favor of him working on that policy and bringing it forward for us? Yes, I think you have consensus there. Okay, very good. I heard Okay. Yes. Yes, you did. and somehow I'll move along from that. I with respect to the clock and the look I got from member Gallow, I went back and looked at the policy. There is nothing in the policy that speaks to the
223policy proper. There's nothing in the language that says to speaks to am I stopping the clock or not during question and answers. Now when we did impass when you all asked a question we stopped the clock for when the parties were answering it and then we restarted the clock when you all started asking questions again. What I'm asking from you all is consensus. Do you want me to stop the clock when answers are occurring or do you just want to have the five minutes run including the questions and answers and I will be more than happy to do it. I will tell you having to stop the clock during these things especially when there are times when Dorene and you all were speaking and you were speaking over each other so I don't know when
224to stop and when to not stop. So that becomes somewhat difficult but if it's the board's consensus that you want me to stop during the answers I will most certainly do so and we will do that going forward. So do I have that consensus? Yes. Got it. I understand my direction and I will effectuate it at the meetings that go from here on out. Thank you very much. That is the end of my pleasures of working with this all female board, Mr. Pomearini. It's why you get paid the big bucks. All right. reports by school board members. do we have any committee reports? Yeah. Oh, hold on. Hold on. I forgot. There was one last thing. And member Gallo, you suggested that I know. Can I suggest we delay it? Yes, you most certainly can
225suggest you delay it. That we delay it. That's fine. Can we delay it to next board meeting? Sure. Okay. Thank you. It would it was part of the legislative committee. we were going to discuss about adding a student to the board and we ran out of time in the legislative committee, but we could we could address it. So, my report is short. We had a legislative committee meeting today. We went over the platform for federal and state. Scott's team did a great job. They're going to kind of tighten up some of the language and send it back for us for us to get approval, I think, before October. And then if any board member has any suggestions based on our platform to give to FSBA there'll be something that will be transmitted to you all
226an email that will come out asking for your input. and we did discuss the increasing the 1 mil. So that's going to be ongoing conversations. I think Scott's going to do a poll on it. I'm not certain when. But that was basically our meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Member Gallo. any other committee meetings, reports? Nope. any policy level issues the board would like to agenda? None. Seeing no further business, this meeting is now adjourned. Hey, hey, hey.