001Good evening again. Tonight we proudly recognize the Mariner High School Army JOTC marksmanship team, the newly crowned Florida State JOTC champions. This victory marks the team's third state championship in the past four years, an achievement unparalleled in Florida JOTC history. Mariner also swept the American Legion and the Civilian Marksmanship Program State Championships, securing the prestigious Triple Crown. This is the second time in just three years the team has achieved this feat. No other program in the state has reached this level of sustained success. This win adds to a remarkable legacy that includes seven Florida State titles, six national championships, firmly establishing this program not just as a success, but as a dynasty defined by consistency, discipline, and excellence. While the trophies are impressive, the program's true impact is found in the classroom. The team maintains
002a 3.45 45 cumulative GPA, a 97.97% attendance rate, and zero disciplinary referrals across the entire roster. Of the team's three seniors, two are on track to earn Army ROC scholarships to Embry Riddle, Aeronautical University, and the University of South Florida. While the third is pursuing a career as a neestologist. All three are expected to earn collegiate shooting sports scholarships. The team is led by Major Brian Williams and with volunteer head coach Mary Beth Williams. Coach Williams was recognized with the 2024 Lee County JOTC Superior Citizenship Award and received a presidential citation for citizenship in 2025 for logging more than 10,000 volunteer hours in our county. Championships may capture headlines, but this program's true legacy is measured in scholarships earned, discipline maintained, and character forged. These cadetses are a model of student success for our entire
003district. When your name is called, please line up at the ramp on my left side of the boardroom where Colonel Rodney Robinson will present your certificate certificates. Good. Okay, first up is team commander and senior Zoe Enselin. Yeah. Next up is team commander and senior Alysa Vosquez. Okay, next is brigade commander and senior Jacobe Changani. Good to see you again, superstar. Okay, next up is junior cadet Manami Pinkard. Congratulations. Congratulations. Great job. Congratulations. The school board and superintendent are proud to recognize these students and their coaches for the hard work and dedication led to this historic accomplishment. Congratulations and go Tritons. Get up in the middle and go for it. My Good evening. The school district of Lee County is pleased to recognize schools that have earned certification through the Marziano High reliability schools framework.
004These certifications reflect a strong commitment to building positive school cultures, strengthening instruction, and ensuring high levels of learning for all students. Level one certification, safe, supportive, and collaborative schools. Level one certification affirms that a school has established a safe, supportive, and collective collaborative culture, the essential foundation for effective teaching and learning. With these recognitions, Lee County now has 77 level one certified schools joining 872 schools nationwide that have reached this milestone. School te teams engaged in professional learning, gathered feedback from students, families, and staff, and implemented targeted actions to strengthen their school communities. Their work was reviewed by an independent expert to verify compliance with certification standards. When your name is called, please line up at the ramp on the left side of the boardroom. Kendra Pennis, coordinator of organizational development and retention, will present
005your certificates. We ask that you remain in until all levels are recognized. Eststerero High School principal Jennifer Sulac, Fort Myers High School Principal Christian Inglehart, Hector Caparetta, K Junior K8 School Principal Dr. Jason Curts, vis Villa's Elementary School principal Shane Musich. Level two certification, effective teaching in every classroom. Level two certification affirms that schools have established the systems and instructional practices needed to ensure effective teaching in every classroom. Lee County now has 28 level two certified schools joining 467 schools nationwide that have reached this milestone. Teachers and school leaders participated in professional learning, examine instructional instructional practices, gathered stakeholder feedback, and implemented focused action steps. Their work was reviewed by an external expert to confirm that the certification standards were met. East Lee County High School Principal Tony Allen, Heights Elementary School Principal Doug Palao,
006Mariner Middle School Principal Dr. Mason Clark, and North Myers High School princip principal Debbie Diggs. Level three certification guaranteed a viable curriculum. Level three certification signifies that a school has established a guaranteed and viable circ curriculum and consistency implements practices that ensure high quality instruction across all classrooms. Lee County is proud to have level three certified schools, the first in the state of Florida, joining only 100 schools nationwide that have earned this distinction. This achievement represents a s sustained commitment to aligning standards, instruction, and assessment so that every student has access to rigorous and meaningful learning. Evidence of this work was reviewed by an external expert to confirm compliance with certif certification standards. Cypress Lake Middle School principal Matt Miller. Hancock Creek Elementary School principal Dr. Denise Phillips Luster. The school board and superintendent are
007proud to recognize these schools and their principles on this outstanding accomplishment and for their continued dedication to ensuring every student receives high quality learning experience. Congratulations to all schools. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. accomplishment that reflects professional excellence and deep commitment to student success. These teachers joined a distinguished community of fewer than 600 educators nationwide who have earned this recognition. High reliability teacher level one certification represents an important professional milestone highlighting educators who demonstrate a strong understanding of effect effective instructional practices engaging in international professional growth and consistently monitor the impact of their instruction on student learning. To earn a certification, each teacher voluntarily participated in specialized training, completed rigorous application requirements, and submitted evidence of their instructional practices for review by expert educators. Their dedication to continuous improvement reflects the high expectations we hold for teaching
008and learning in our district. Tonight we celebrate not only this achievement but also the positive difference in educators that make the students everyday successes. When we when we name when your name is called, please line up at the ramp on the left side of the boardroom. Kendra Pinnacle, coordinator of organizational development and retention will present your certificates. We ask that you remain until all participants are recognized. Those being recognized. Anthony Alvido, peer collaborative teacher, St. Carlos Park Elementary. Janet Bernard, peer collaborative teacher, Horns Marsh Middle. Kylie Boberg, second grade teacher, Horns Marsh Elementary. Luigi Colardo, math coach, curriculum and instructional innovation. Sophane Deichel VeZ, fifth grade teacher, Treeeline Elementary. Brittany Gardner, peer collaborative teacher, Oak Hammock Middle. Christina Gazar, peer collaborative teacher, Ammeritance Elementary. Julie Hanser, language arts teacher, Lexington Middle. Alexander Hernandez, ESC teacher,
009Buckingham Exceptional Student Center. Caitlyn Caitlyn Lindon, gifted teacher, Allen Park Elementary. Jonathan Moosey, peer collaborative teacher, Lehi Senior High. Damas Patel, peer collaborative teacher. Dr. Dr. Carrie D. Robinson, Littleton Elementary. Rebecca Polland, peer collaborative teacher, Lehi Senior. Christine Sanders, gifted teacher, Lehi Elementary. Carolyn Still, resource teacher, Alan Park Elementary. Christina Toro, peer collaborative teacher, Sunshine Elementary. Christina Valent Lopez, kindergarten teacher, Hornsme Middle School. Marissa Zenis, math coach, Varsity Lakes Middle. We'd also like to recognize the following educators for learning high reliability teacher level two certification. Michelle Lewis, peer collaborative teacher, Lehi Elementary. And finally, we recognize one educator for the exceptional accomplishment of high reliability teacher levels two and three certification. Christopher Morales, biology teacher for Meyers High. Christopher Morales was previously celebrated for learning for earning level one certification. Since then, he was advanced
010even further, completing levels two and three of the high reliable teachers certification. This remarkable achievement places him among just 48 educators nationwide and who have earned level three certification. His dedicated to refining his instructional learning and pursuit of excellence exemplify what it means to be a high reliability teacher. His commitment strengthens its practices of positly impacts on colleges and collegebound students. On behalf of this school board superintendent is an honor to recognize these outstanding educators. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. I am going to apologize in advance for mis pronunciating your name. Just Good evening. On February 7th, 2026, students from the school district of Lee County participated in a regional competition hosted by the regional Edison fairs. This included the Thomas Edison Kowanas, Regional Science and Engineering Fair, Thomas Edison Festival of Lights, and the Regional Inventors
011Fair. These annual events have been rooted in the region since 1958. They provided students with opportunities to engage in scientific research, engineering designs and innovation. Science and engineer fair recognition from 2026 Thomas Edison Kuanis Regional Science and Engineer Fair Senior Division best affairs. The following three students were named best affair. they will represent our district at the state fair in Lakeland and at the international fair in Phoenix, Arizona. We may have some recipients who are not able to join us tonight. They will still be acknowledged during this recognition portion. When your name is called, please line up on the ramp to my left on the board. Danielle Knap will present your certificates. Please remain until everyone is recognized. Nashini Fernando, grade 12, Dumbar High School. Project title, Investigating the Apic. Mason Huffman, grade 12, Cape
012Carl High School. Project title, strengthening middle school mathematics. Dara Sharma, grade nine, Fort Myers High School, project title, adaptive ripamatics. These kids understand better than I. actual variation, Camber Wing, Junior Division, first runner up. Joining us from the junior division, first runner up, Alisa Louu, grade 8, Cypress Lake Middle School. She also is representing the district at the state science and engineering fair project hydrogen. Regional inventors fair recognition from 2026 Thomas Edison festival lights regional inventors fair. The following students will advance to the invention convention Florida Gateway Charter School. Olivia Aurula, hairband bumper, which is pretty neat out there. Aaron Nan, grade one, safety sidekick. Lucas Stevens, grade two, smart bin. Zerion Luzada, grade three, EC Banana, Pinewoods Elementary School. Sidarththy Remedas, grade two. Zooi Broomie Magdalene Gerald, grade two, Easy Jelly. Hadiline Gilchrist, grade
013three. Pora Papa Popper Tropagar Middle School. Aaron Castillo, grade six, Safeep Smart Mats. Muddy Holly No Belelffor, and I apologize. Grade seven, drone. Lillian Kuzzan, grade seven, allergy apparel. Emily Souo, grade seven, stylish safety. James Tervaris, grade 8, bio water. Michael Smith, grade eight, ocean sport wets suit. Mariner Middle School. Elijah Marx, E, grade eight, Echo Crush, Fort Myers High School. Derry Daria Sharma grade nine smart morph Fria Shaw grade 10 Sergeisk Dumbar High School Nashi Fernando grade 12 baby beats 3.0 Zero. Closing. These students exemplify curiosity, perseverance, and innovation. Their work reflects academic rigor and the commitment to solving realworld problems. The school board and the superintendent proudly celebrates their achievements. We thank the teachers, the mentors, the judge, and the families who supported them. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding students. Congratulations.
014Get out. The same size. All right, last but not least, tonight's recognition of the Lee County AI HI Innovation Challenge was launched through a collaborative partnership between the Lee County Economic Development Office, the Horizon Council STEMtocore Connections Committee, and the Horizon Foundation with additional awards supported by the Career Source Southwest Florida and hosted by the Edison Awards. These partners came together to create a virtual competition for the local high school students focused on addressing a real world challenge facing our community. Lee County's future is in your hands. Hurricanes, housing, health, and economic shifts demand bold solutions. So, students were challenged to combine artificial intelligence and creativity to design a product or service that strengthens the community resilience and positions Lee County to adapt, thrive, and lead into the future. At this time, we're proud to
015recognize the following students teams for their outstanding achievements in the 2026 Lee County AI innovation challenge. When your name is called, please line up at the ramp on my left side of the boardroom. Danielle Knap, coordinator of teaching and learning, will help you will help present your certificates. We ask that you remain until all participants participants are recognized. First place, Lee Connect nonprofit volunteer matching app and website. The team name, Tech Tigers from Dunar High School. Sponsor, Denise Spence, IT programs manager. Please join me in recognizing Nishini Fernando, Diet Gojanini, Maya Zang, Lucas Sumi, please join us over here. Thank you. In second place, Safe Lee, hurricane preparedness and mapping app team solvability strate strategists strategist, excuse me to at Dunar High School, Belinda Bell and is the technology teacher. Thank you for your sponsorship.
016Please join me in recognizing Sheregna Madashidi, Hudson Belker, and Alicia Satir. Third place, resilient AI infrastructure planning platform team TWWG Island Coast High School sponsor Sha Pearson, testing coordinator and senior sponsor Lauren Capoti, Deana Cruz Santiago, Christopher Tala, and Dreisen Fortunic. The school board and superintendent proudly recognize these students for their innovation, creativity, and meaningful contributions toward addressing the challenges facing Lee County. We commend your accomplishments and look forward to the continue impact of your work. Congratulations. How do I get it The next item on the agenda is public comment. Mr. Dodie, please address the item of public comment. Sure. Schoolboard policy provides the opportunity at this point in the meeting to address the board concerning any matter on this meeting's agenda or any other matter relevant to the operation of the school district. Please
017complete a public comment card and put it in the basket provided. If you need a public comment card, they are provided by our staff. The rules concerning public comments are posted in the back and will be made from the podium in the front center aisle. Please be advised that the board will not respond during public comment term remarks made by speakers. The purpose of public comment is to provide feedback on district issues such as duties, responsibilities, decisions, and the general operation of the district. The school board is viewpoint neutral during public comment. We ask that the quorum be kept and respect be shown, which is what is expected when a government agency conducts official business. Therefore, abuse of language is prohibited. In addition, clapping, hissing, booing, or a display of temper during public comment is
018prohibited. Speakers who fail to follow proper decorum in the chambers will be ruled out of order by the board chair or the board attorney. Any speaker continuing with such remarks will be required to relinquish the microphone per board policy 0169.1 and may be removed from the chambers by the sergeant-at-arms. Per board policy 0169.1, the time per speaker is three minutes if there are 20 speakers, two minutes if there are 30 speakers, and one minute if there are 31 speakers or more. The maximum time allotted for public comment is 1 hour 60 speakers. You will find a countdown on the big screens in the front of the room. Once your time has elaped, the microphone will automatically shut off. Please state your name when you approach the microphone. I will call your names five speakers at
019a time. Please follow staff's direction when lining up. Mr. Chair, there are nine speakers that wish to address the board this evening, which means three minutes each. Is there anybody that still needs some time to fill out a public comment card that hasn't that wants to speak? Okay, please move on. Mr. Dodie. Sure. The first speaker is India Palencia and then would Cynthia Allen, Carrie Faith, Moreny Ortega, and Kiara Busher please line up. My name is India Palencia. I'm here tonight because I'm concerned that the way our district is spending money does not reflect the values of the community that it serves. Recently, the district sent promotional mailers to more than 280,000 residents encouraging enrollment in our public schools. At first glance, that may sound reasonable. But when people started receiving these mailers, something quickly
020became clear. They were not specifically targeted to families with school-aged children. Homes with no school-aged children received them, and in some cases, households received multiple copies. A public records request revealed something even more concerning. The target of this mailing was voters, not families of Lee County students. The district spent more than $64,000 on postage alone for this mailing. That doesn't include the cost of printing, design, or the mailing list. That raises several important questions. Why was a purchase exceeding $50,000 never brought before this board for approval? Why was this expenditure not put out for bid as district policy requires? And why are taxpayer dollars being used to send campaign style mailers to voters? Because when we look at what has been cut in recent years, it's hard to understand these priorities. Last year, the district
021cut vaping and smoking prevention positions despite having funding from the Jules settlement. We've lost teachers and support staff in our right sizing initiative and gained more administrative positions in every board meeting this year, including this one. We have critical shortages in our ESC services, forcing the district to contact those contract those services out as will be voted on today. Critically, our budget is being cut by more than $3.7 million. We need more bus drivers on our roads. We need more pair of professionals in our classrooms. And in some schools, including my own children's school, we don't even have a media specialist in the library. Those are real needs in our schools. And every penny counts. So, when the district spends tens of thousands of dollars mailing promotional materials to voters instead of investing directly in
022students and staff, it sends a message about priorities. Our community values strong public schools. We value teachers, support staff, and the resources our students need to succeed. Our budget should reflect those values. If we have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on mailers to voters, then we should have tens of thousands of dollars to invest in the people and programs our students rely on every single day. Thank you, Cynthia Allen. Cynthia Allen. Thank you. Good evening, board members. My name is Cynthia Allen and I'm here to represent concerned parents at Sunshine Elementary. I'm here because every morning our children face a preventable safety crisis during dropoff and it's getting worse. Every morning the front entrance becomes dangerous. Cars stopped abruptly in the roadway. Parents block traffic while children exit. Others make U-turns directly in
023the front, cross, crossing children. Parents park in no parking zones. All of this happens as hundreds of students arrive simultaneously. This isn't inconvenient. It's unsafe. I've reached out to every agency responsible for students safety. Here's what I found. DOT says the sheriff's office is respons responsibility. The sheriff's office says they can only provide sporadic coverage. DOT won't install a crosswalk because there's no sidewalk. There's no sidewalk because there aren't enough registered walkers. There aren't no there are no flashing school zone lights because the district never requested them. There's no crossing guard because there's no crosswalk. The school says they cannot act beyond the front gates. The SRO is limited to the grounds only. Every agency is pointing at someone else. And the in the middle of all this fingerpointing are our children walking through traffic,
024stepping out of cars and roadways, navigating an environment that is objectly unsafe. This problem escalates escalated when reszoning increased enrollment. What was already a concern has become a daily hazard affecting 825 plus students being dropped off and their families. Just to note that Sunshine Elementary is the largest elementary school in the district with 1,390 students. I'm speaking to the board tonight for two things, please. Proactive action and leadership. No excuses, no fingerpointing, just proactive action and leadership. We need coordination between the district, DOT, and the sheriff's office and the school. We need concrete plan to to be in to be implemented. Traffic study, flashing school zone lights, which can be requested immediately, a safe marked crosswalk with crossing guard coverage, traffic control during peak hours, redesigned vehicle flow using the existing school property, which we
025have suggestions, a joint safety task force to oversee implementation. We need action before a child is seriously injured, not after. Our children deserve to arrive to school safely. Not that's not negotiable. That's not optional. The basic expectation is safety. I'm asking you guys to take ownership tonight and create a real solution. Our children are counting on you. Thank you, Carrie Faith. Good evening. My name is Carrie Faith and I'm speaking to you today as both a parent and a member of the school community. I witnessed the same dangerous conditions described just moments ago and I see them every single morning. Let me give you the numbers that should alarm us all. Sunshine Elementary serves 1,390 students, making it the largest elementary school in our district. Every morning, 825 of those children arrive by parent drop
026off. That's 825 children funneling through a single front gate at exact at at the exact same time. That volume alone should make safety our top priority. But right now, those 825 children are navigating cars stopping in the in the roadway, parents making U-turns in the entrance, and vehicles unloading in the no parking zones. These are not rare occurrences. They are daily predictable hazards happening at the exact same time every morning. What concerns me the most is that parents have done everything right. We have contacted DOT. We have contacted the sheriff's office. We have contacted district safety. We have contacted the school and every single agency has pointed to someone else. Meanwhile, the number of students has increased due to resoning, but the safety measures have not increased with them. In fact, they haven't increased at
027all. We are not asking for anything unreasonable. We're asking for coordination. We're asking for leadership. We're asking for action. We need a traffic study. We need flashing school zone lights. We need a safe crosswalk and sidewalk access. We need consistent traffic control during peak times, specifically 7:45 to 8:45 in the morning. And we need clear, enforcable procedures that protect children, not just traffic flow. These are not complicated asks. These are standard safety measures that exist at schools across the country. When 825 children are funneled through one entrance every morning, safety cannot be optional. It cannot depend on which agency feels responsible that day. It must be a shared priority and it must be addressed now, not after a preventable accident forces action. now through proactive planning before a child is seriously injured. Thank you for
028your time and taking this issue seriously on behalf of every child who walks through those gates. Thank you. Myini Ortega and I apologize if I mispronounced your first name. Would Lewis Novara, Anthony Call, Lette Kitston, and Todd Dooenberry please line up. My name is Marie Ortega, a third grade ELA teacher at Franklin Park Elementary, a risk level four school. I was supposed to be getting an incentive for not only teaching the grade level that I teach, but also for teaching where I do. But all of that became a thing of the past the moment that I had a baby. See, as you know, it was decided that if a teacher was on approved leave, we wouldn't get paid. We wouldn't get any funds. As if having a child made me any less of a teacher.
029Approved leave covers maternity, medical, bereiement, all things that we cannot control. If approved leave results in disqualification for an from an incentive intended to reward teacher dedication and impact, it sends an unintended message that life events carry professional penalties. How can we say that teachers are deserving of extra funds, but not if they are mothers, if they give a kidney or lose a loved one? Your teachers are feeling targeted and not well represented. This incentive was supposed to help with teacher retention, but instead this loophole has only made teachers feel like any form of appreciation comes with some sort of butt and we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop. My students never stopped learning while I was gone. Even with it being an unexpected delivery. And if you think otherwise, I ask that
030you ask any of my students if they ever felt like I stopped being their teacher or if they ever stopped learning. They didn't. I am also not the only teacher affected by this. There are several. and even though it wasn't maternity leave, it could have been medical and so many others. It should have never happened in the first place. I kindly ask that you revisit this matter as a form of good faith to the teachers of this district whom are feeling like their hard work is being overlooked. Thank you. Thank you, Kiara Busher. Good evening. Can I adjust this? Okay. Good evening. My name is Kiara Busker. I am the teacher who subbed for Mrs. Ortega's classes during her maternity leave. When I discovered she wouldn't be receiving the teacher incentive because she was out
031on leave. I was disappointed to say the least. I've witnessed firsthand this woman's dedication to her profession and the fact that she didn't receive her bonus because she was on approved leave during the week the bonuses were calculated, it just doesn't sit right with my spirit. So, I decided to voice my opinion at tonight's meeting. the work that Mrs. Ortega puts into her job and her students surpass any teacher's job description. She may not have been physically present, but her presence was felt every single day during her leave. Every day we were in contact regarding the students and instruction. She was there to ensure that the pace of instruction continued as planned and she modified lessons needed as needed based on the student data. She facetimed with her students regularly, giving them pep talks and
032encouragement before assessments. She monitored assessments in real time while in her bed healing from her delivery. She would FaceTime to speak with individual students about their test results, about their behavior and their attendance. During Christmas, she went all out for her students, dressing up as an elf, decorating the classroom, and bringing all of her students gifts. Mind you, this was only two weeks after delivering her son. After each PLC, she would call to see what was dis what was discussed. There was never a time when the students felt that their teacher was out of the loop. And that's because she wasn't. The teacher incentive should be awarded based on performance and value added, not on whether the teacher was present during a random week in November. I'm speaking on behalf of Moreni Ortega and many
033other educators who gave their all to this profession but were but were robbed of their bonuses because they were out on approved leave. These teachers have been wronged by LCSD. The process of delegating teacher incentives, they need to be revised because the current process is inequitable. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Lewis Navar, you're next. Mr. Navar is just hearing a sorry. Good evening, board superintendent Lun Navar, retired lead teacher. The board came down hard, I thought, on student protests in the First Amendment. Show no mercy board received no mercy. In ' 62, we had a walk out at Sarasota High. We protested the firing of our principal. Well, times have changed. I see that the student body is more political. That's a good thing. They're more mature apparently. the outcome was that we
034got to graduate. We weren't penalized. They let Howard Sherman do our diplomas at Ringling Museum in ' 62. But the board had some compassion. That's the point. But our school board punished students with ALC zeros. I put in a request to see how many troublemakers there were to deserve to go to the ALC Success Academy. I got back a notice that they can't observe my public records request. That ain't right. The press carried it. Let's look at the board or audit. Gave away 78,100 bucks to Dr. Bernie or my pal. Big shots on our money. Davejriple dippers.org is not happy. Are you recovering the cash? Are you Why did you show leniency for inappropriate administrators with pay? Why did you fail to report teacher firings to the DOE? Other misappropriations of funds. Discipline for the
035Lee School Board. The superintendent should resign. The board needs to apologize to all the good students and parents. The board needs to place on the ballot and go back to an appointed superintendent. too much politics and I've seen the roles of the principles that donated. This is why we did away with it in September 1972. Go back to two meetings a month. You're making as much as a starting lee teacher and you want one meeting a month. You're overcrowded with accolades. You made the teachers teach another 18 minutes for the in addition to the 7 and 1 half hour day which we started at 7-hour day 45 years ago. You know folks, you point a finger at me or the people and the voters for point back at you. I still think we're moving too
036much to radical right and fascism and your pals at the city of Cape Coral, they love you. I'm surprised they haven't gone to one meeting a month. Oh, they may have quote me now. All right. Thank you very much. I hope we see some improvements. Thank you, sir. Anthony call. Hello, my name is Anthony Call. I come again today because obviously nobody listens. Our wonderful attorney sitting across from the table told me rules are rules. Well, what you need to do is get on the phone to these principles and tell them the five kids or six kids on the bus that constantly get referrals should get suspended, not keep putting them on the bus. I had a little girl cry to me because I had to go take over a bus because the kids were
037that bad. She cried and she said, "Thank you for coming on our bus and settling it down because they're like this every day. I had to go upstairs and throw a fit about another bus I take after the driver." Numerous drivers have not wanted to do that route when the driver's out. The driver doesn't even want to do that route. So, somebody needs to get on the phone and start telling these principles the reason the kids are the way they are is because they have no structure in school. They have no structure at home obviously because they get on the bus and they act a fool. And when you tell them to sit down, they look at you and go, I don't have to. Nothing's gonna happen to me. And then you wonder why you
038lose drivers. You wonder why buses are crashing because I know the crash rate is up on the buses. I see them every day. That's because we're so upset and so tied up. We're not paying attention because we have to worry about who's going to hit what kid with a seat belt, who's going to jump from seat to seat. If I have to slam on the brakes, who's smashing their head? Because as I well know, it's the driver's fault because he's the captain of the ship. So, something else needs to be done. We have our executive director sitting back here. So, I know he's hearing this. It this is complete and utter craziness. Craziness. And parents, some of our parents are really wonderful. Some of our grandparents are really wonderful. But it's nothing's happening at school.
039Nothing's happening. Is it because we need the money? We got hundreds of thousands of dollars in cameras on the bus. We write the referrals, you pull the cameras, and nothing happens. Why do we spend the money on the cameras? Why do we spend hundreds of thousands on a GPS that only works half the time? cuz they updated it now and it keeps skipping, dropping our students off that we don't know is not on there. We go to the bus stop. How are we supposed to know they're on the bus? Cuz they're not on the tablet. It erased our whole tablet one day. Every kid on the bus, thank goodness I subbed the route and thank goodness I've done it long enough. I know every kid's name on the bus. Made sure they got off the
040bus. But how is it when a parent sees that you drive five stops down and you didn't let their kid off cuz he's sleeping but the tablet says he's off the bus? You know it this is this is utterly ridiculous that we've spent all this money and we still have the same We're also the sports staff is also the one, believe it or not, who gets a graph to figure out how our paycheck runs. That's amazing. That's amazing. We can't look at our paycheck and go, "Oh, I yeah, I got paid for everything." No, we got a graph because we did a field trip. We got overtime. We got our regular pay. And it's they pay us all different. And we have to look at that chart. And people are like, "Well, why are you
041so angry?" Well, I don't know. I was expecting a $1,300 paycheck and got a $700 paycheck. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. Lette Kitson. Hi, I'm Lette Kitson and I'm here to bring forth a concern on the recent approval of the 2026 27 student enrollment plan. and how this affects some of the students enrolled in the schools. I visited with student enrollment. I've spoken to Samantha Fields with student enrollment. I've spoken to transportation as well as had a lengthy conversation with Kevin Beckman at the student or at the superintendent office. I've been told numerous times there's nothing that can be done in our situation. which I believe is unaccept unacceptable. This affects my daughter who is currently in sixth grade. the middle school zoning changes that went into effect on January 6th are
042forcing us to move her schools yet again. The same thing happened back in 2022 23 school year when she was attending Koo Elementary. She was forced to move schools to Patriot Elementary and was not given the same options as an enrichment program that she was in at the time. Right now we are in the same boat again. She will be having to attend a fourth school in five years for middle school. We are at Kousa Middle School and a Cambridge program and these three schools in our new zone which is Hector Cafaretta, Challenger as well as Mariner are not offering a Cambridge program. There is a gifted program. However, the gifted program is ran differently and my daughter does not qualify. her scoring from second grade are just barely under the requirements. I believe this
043is very unfair to these students. her especially she's a straight A student. She has really grown academically. She is also in another special program for steel drums. And both of these have really allowed her to develop academically as well as develop her creativity skills, her teamwork skills and her discipline. one of the questions I had asked for transportation is because we are so close to the zoning for us to allow to drop her off at a current bus route for next school year. We would drive her there. We are both working parents. We are not able to take her to school every single day and pick her up for the next two school years cuz that's what we are looking at. I was told no, we are not able to make any exceptions in order
044for me to put her on the bus. this is unacceptable in my opinion. There's many other students involved and I believe when these decisions are made by the by the school board that these kind of situations need to be looked at and maybe a phased out approach would be more appropriate so that these students could remain in the current schools. Thank you very much. Thank you, Todd Duenberry. Hello, my name is Todd Denbury. I teach at Cypress Lake High School and on Monday I was looking at the Google Docs for the meetings and I saw the ESC restructure that was coming up. I have a lot of questions. How will you pick which school gets what ESSE program? Watching the meeting before, I got picked up a little bit, but not enough information. and they're
045already going to start contacting parents tomorrow. Transportation, I know it's going to be longer because every one of my students are going to be going past Cypress to go where they need to go. Are you looking at teachers records and what they've done for placement of programs? All I heard was we were looking to see what the facility offered. What happens to a teacher that no longer has a program they have worked in? Do you transfer them? Will this go by seniority? What if they are coaching, run a club, are involved with other activities at the present school? There's a shortage of ESSE teachers already and this will create even more openings in ESSE. I've already talked with several of my colleagues in the district. as a teacher for 23 years at Cypress Lake High
046School, someone who started the high school Special Olympics, the club Beabuddy, which was copied to Best Buddies several years later. started the Unified Sports, which is an FHSAA program. helped create a scholarship at Cypress for future teachers, people involved with students with disabilities. I have coached every year at this school, sometimes two sports. I drive 21 miles each way every day to go to Cypress to teach life skills. If we do not have life skills in the future, I don't see myself in ESC or in Lee County. I have dedicated my life to this school, to this program. I have not asked for any fanfare. I have not made it known that I've done all these things. I've done all this for the students. If I end up with life skills, there's going to be
047some other teachers that are not. There's very few teachers that have 20 years experience left in ESSE. The majority of them are five years or less. At Cypress Lake, we have always had a behavior specialist. We've always worked as a family. When we have other teachers out, we pick up everything for the others. We also have many alumni that come back to teach special needs. The BAB body program at Cypress has produced over 200 teachers in my lifetime. Most of them came and taught in Lee County and they have left over the last 5 years. They have left teaching because of things like this. You add on so much documentation and extra work. Sir, your time's up. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That concludes public comment. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Dodie. Next is the approval of
048the action items in the agenda under consent. The documentation for action items listed under consent is made available to board members seven business days prior to the board meeting. We are expected to review all the material and we have the opportunity to speak with the superintendent with any questions we may have regarding recommendations. Some of these items have also been briefed at workshops with the board in advance that appear on these action items. Board members, are there any agenda items that you wish to pull for discussion this evening? Mr. Fischer, no. Chair. Mr. Chie, I have none. Thank you. Miss Jordan, I have none. Miss Fleming, I have none. Miss Shioano, I have none. And I have none. Is there a motion to approve this night's tonight's consent agenda? Mr. Fiser. Second by I'll second.
049Motion to approve the agenda. Okay. Please record your vote. Okay. Where we at here? Do we want to do a roll call vote or No, you got to get back out of there. Yeah, you need to get up. There you go. Okay, we are. Okay, the vote carries 6. Thank you. Dr. Savage, please introduce any administrators in attendance this evening with new assignments approved under the consent agenda. Yes, chairman. It would be my pleasure. I first like to acknowledge Lori Tant, senior coordinator in budget. I'd also like to recognize Scott Cook, the deputy chief of school operations. That's all. Okay. All right. Good. Thank you. Okay. Next is good of the order. Board members consent comments. Mr. Fischer. Thank you, Chair. first off, congratulations to the Golden Apple winners. I can't wait to celebrate them
050next month. Some amazing people. just like you. just like the rest of the board, I was able to participate in ReadAcross America, which is one of my favorite time periods. I think from some of our elementary schools, expect some perhaps letters or emails asking about you know, code of conduct and dress code and those things. They're really kind of inspired, you know, we talked about what what they want to be when they grow up and then what a schoolboard member does. So, that was always a fun time. and some of the questions I got are always insightful and hilarious. So want to also recognize I was at the Cape Coral High School for the preIB career expo. That was amazing. a lot of students just with some fantastic ideas and really have a good understanding
051of amazing at that age what they want to do. So congratulations as well to Alva High School Principal Restino. thank you to everyone that was in attendance and everyone that set that up. it looks like it'll be fantastic. So want to take a personal point of privilege and follow up with the chap chaplain and acknowledge the loss of Judge John Carlin. he was a lion not only of the legal community but this community. So I don't think you can find a place in this county that he didn't impact somebody. especially adoptions. I mean, everywhere he turned, there's so many stories of the adoptions that Judge Carlin did, the boards he served on, and the mentorship he's provided people. I know when I got in the board, having known Judge Carlin from years before, watching how
052he ran his courtroom was one of the people that inspired me of how I handled things. And he is fantastic member and we're going to miss him. One of the one of his highlights was the law week awards and I know we got a letter talking about those and that was really one of his highlights. something he's been doing for a long time in combination with the Lee County Bar and law enforcement and very touching as well that he always made sure that there was a law related teacher at everyone. So, I just want to send out condolences and best this our colleague and our friend Superintendent Denise Carlin and her family. So, we're all going to be here for you and just want to say rest in peace, Judge Carlin. Thank you. Hey, thank
053you, Lisa. H I just wanted to say the Franklin Park singers was really really precious today. and I enjoyed them. I It's hard to follow that a little bit. my s sincere consolences to Dr. Carlin and her family. I do have a question because I know Mr. the persons is out tonight, but I thought we were going to be we would talk about or get the resumes for a board attorney and that's not been discussed anymore. So, I don't know. We'll get an update on that soon. Please, if if someone could address the concerns at Sunshine Elementary School, I'm hearing the parents they have me concerned. I'm thinking 800 students that I guess walk are basically live within two mile radius or their walkers are you know dropped being dropped off. That's alarming. So that
054I hope that Chief Nulan will look into that and if they want a traffic study, whatever that would help with that. ReadAcross America again I brought that up earlier was great. I enjoyed it. probably one of the highlights as I told my husband after last Friday that it's probably one of my highlights of being a school board member and just actually getting to go to the schools. Thank you all for for that in those invites and I wish I could have been at more schools. someone brought up the Alva High School that was the groundbreaking that was really great and congratulations to Principal Rino for that. teacher the teacher regarding the matern maternity leave bonus and incentive. I would like an update on that and like explain to me what happened and why and what
055were the rules and policy in place for that and how we could our hardest working teachers be overlooked even if they were on maternity leave. That was planned. bus safety Mr. called always. We can count on you for speaking the truth and I would like to know how we're not how we're going to support the bus drivers with student behavior because he's mentioned this and this has not been the first time that they receive a lot of be you know the code of conduct and how we are we addressing those those behaviors, those student behaviors. are, you know, are they abusing the, you know, the privilege of riding a school bus because it is a privilege and our drivers work very hard every day and we want to make sure that we have their back
056and I actually am concerned over the GPS and like what's the status on the up getting that updated and I saw that Miss Kiten got was someone went and approached her regarding the enrollment and so it addressing her concerns. So, thank you for that. I believe that Mr. Dooenberry from Cypress High School came and talked about the ESSE cluster and his concerns. And I believe this is going to be the start of many and I need for him to be reassured that first of all, his 20 years of service did not go unwarranted or noticed and that program that he has at Cypress Lake High School is amazing. So, I would like an update on that and making sure that's not going to fall apart or change. and I this is the question through the
057superintendent or through the chair to the superintendent. Who is actually the principal at Riverdale High School these days? I have not been updated on that and I ask it all the time and I know they say there's an interim and the AP's doing the work, but is that really fair at this point in time? they've been doing doing the work for a very long time and so I don't understand that delay and why that's not being addressed. and the Golden Apple winners, congratulations to those and I am just going to send positive vibes to chairpersons and we missed you today. Thank you. Okay, Miss Jordan. Well, thank you Miss Janelli. So ditto on everything she asked for. I would love those as well. Please thank you Mr. officer for speaking on Judge Carlin. And again,
058there are so many things that happen that take place between our one meeting to the next meeting and just so many wonderful things that go on in the community. and when the people were up here speaking on the cars going into Sunshine, I actually had heard that from several other people regarding that this week actually and had been asked to come out there to actually look at that. But I know that's not the only place that this is happening because I speak on it all the time regarding North Fort Myers Academy and just sidewalks which it took us from 2018 till today to get a half a sidewalk on Fort Meyers middle school. Also, I mean, we really need to figure out how do we come together as a community and make this happen for
059our families that the kids because we always speak on safety. You know, safety is our number one priority. We need to make sure that we are we are, you know, trying to make sure that everybody is safe and that kids are not running across the street. And I get the sidewalk thing. I've been working on that for like a year now. So, I understand that you have to have the cement to draw the lines or and all of that, but hopefully we can come to some kind of solution on that collectively. So, I really want want that to take place. But, I've had the opportunity this week to to attend a lot of like Black History Month events at GW Weaver Hip, Fort Myers Middle School, and just being out there and seeing what our
060kids are doing. They had a Black History museum at Fort Myers Middle School a couple weeks ago and just the kids and the knowledge that they have on their person that they're speaking on and even the little tiny ones were able to share with you who these people are that they're they're speaking on and just the excitement in their in their their face and they actually knew what they were talking about. So, I just really loved that. That was great. And then of course we've had several things that we have been invited to lately to be judges for it. I am the worst judge because everybody's a winner to me. And so learning for life, you know, was excellent. We did the learning for life. We had the judging for those two things at the
061GW Weaver hip and Fort Meyers Middle. And then our golden apples. I am like so excited because the golden apples, you know, from Ty Franklin Park Elementary, she had her entire family there to to to witness that. It was it was just beautiful. Santa Bell and then two from Diplomat were the finalists and I just, you know, out of all of them, three of those were my in my districts. I was really excited about that. And then Hence Marsh, they had their, you know, spring fling open to invite all the new incoming sixth graders and they showed them just a little piece of who they are and what they have to look forward to just like we've seen today with the CT. But this was about everything that they do with music and everything. The
062families, the kids were excited about thinking about the possibilities of going there. And then Northers, the Janelle, I mean they did a excellent job with the newsies. you missed that. That was not a good thing to miss, but those kids just rocked the house. Take stride, we participated in that. and that was, you know, over,300 people attended that walk and that was for Take Stock and Children. So, people are paying, you know, attention to, you know, the needs of our kids. Read across America. I was in multiple schools like all of us were in. and then actually Miss Gatson at Peligan, her children came in and actually did a performance for us and which was wonderful because they were reading the books but doing a show as well. And then Hector Caparetta when I was
063there, the students that took us like the escorts, they knew everything about the school. It was like insane. And I did hear that the one child had said that they wanted to be a school they after speaking to Mr. Fischer, they wanted to be a school board member and that but they were just excited about being able to be a fifth grader moving into their new school as a sixth grader because the Franklin Park children were not able to do that. But now they still will have three years to to move forward. And again, I want to thank Franklin Park elementary for that. And I do want to say with Mr. Duesenbury at Cyprus that unified sports Olympics that he has created there and the best buddy that is huge. Everybody comes from all over
064the city to participate in that program. And when you see the students and their best buddy and they're working together to create this beautiful I don't even know how to how to say that, but it was just it's worth keep making sure that we keep that. So I hope we don't lose any of any of those things. And yes, an Mr. Paul, I always appreciate him coming in speaking about the safety and just everybody, our teacher who came. Thank you, Miss Juvenelli. So, hopefully we'll get all that and we can see, you know, how all this is taking place and actually even with the spending of the money, too. It's like follow up on everything that was spoken about tonight. I really want to make sure that we get that back and regarding that list
065as well, the mailer list of the voters. So, thank you very much and thank you chair. Okay, thank you. so a couple of things. Obvious I always really appreciate any public input. that's how we get to know. So, thank you for those of you who took the time out of your evening to come share with us. we do follow up with on our own. and I and I appreciate you bringing those things to our attention. I do have a couple of things. I'll start off first of all I had asked about the mailer since you just mentioned that. about two weeks ago and I asked for some information on how do we go about mailing these out? How where do we get the list from? How you know where how do we dig in here?
066So, unbeknownst to me, the typical practices you, with not just us, but any corporation industry, they do pull off of the voter registration. Doesn't matter what political party, just voter registration. And, that is a typical practice. So, I was told that the original list had 400,000 on it. and our team went and dug through and made sure that we were not I mean to the best of their ability, not repeating, making sure that students who were unenrolled or had moved counties or districts. So, I do think they combed through that list the best of their ability, those and I'm and I'm and Dr. Savage, please feel free to interrupt me. I had just already asked about all this information before today anyway, but they these flyers were printed in house on our already printed budget.
067So that part was not some kind of expenditure and obviously my question about postage was the same concern I've heard up here today and postage is you know fluctuates and I do you want to clarify Dr. Savage or I can clarify for about that particular number that postage is considered a single source, right? item. In other words, the only folks that can offer postage are those that contract with the postal service or the USPS themselves. So that takes it out of public bidding because it's a single source. Perfect. Thank you. Now, the reason why I asked about all of this was I was so impressed with the mailer because our communications team I just don't think are getting enough accolades. I am in the grocery store, at the gym, with my children's families. They I
068hear all the time about how much they're seeing online and then we go put a mailer in. Well, I've gotten mailers from the local private schools and we are in the business of having to sell ourselves. we are not only in customer service but with other opportunities in school choice. We it is it is time that we kind of step up or become innovative and think outside the box. How can we get our message out there? So, I applaud the communications team for thinking outside of the box and to do it as fiscally responsible as possible. they I know that they've hit on many points on those mailers and I'm not sure if you all got one. I asked for one cuz I didn't get one in the mail, but I asked to see one.
069And I I applaud the creativity and being, you know, I'll get three or four mailers from one private school during the summer or in the spring when it's time to enroll and parents are shopping. So, I think that it's important that we put our message out. So, I applaud our communications team for doing that. and if you want any more information, I'm sure that they'll share it with you as well. I also wanted to just a question because I'm not sure when this happens, but I know we are approaching summer school you know, curriculum and where kids are going. I know that information is probably going just because I was in education, so I know it was always about March, April. Dr. Savage would through the chair. Would you mind letting me know unless you
070can answer this right now? Where are summer how are summer school sites chosen and when are they chosen? Well, your timing member Fleing is actually pretty good. We're we're going to be actually doing a board workshop specifically for all things summer. Not just all the summer sites and everything and a comprehensive dive into that process, but also just all the summer offerings we're going to have. So, it's just a great time to be bringing that up. I know that's scheduled up in the next I believe it's the month the following month here. So, April, I believe. April, is that right? so we're actually going to get our cabinet view of of that. So, we'll get a chance to be able to see and kind of dig in, but you all as well. And they've been
071hard at work long before that just kind of getting all those ducks in a row, but it's a great preview of that information to come. Okay. Thank you. I just the I asked about that as well because you know just like the parent that came up here and offering opportunities for at all of our schools for every kid and then obviously offering summer school to every child that needs that in every single zone, transportation, the whole I mean it's a whole gambit of things. So I just wanted to ask about that. I wanted to wish our teachers an amazing spring break and that everybody stays safe and especially our students that they get to relax and have fun with families and make memories. and then there's that push all the way to summer and I
072can't believe we're entering into fourth quarter. So, that's that it's crazy how time flies. I couldn't have said it better how Mr. Fiser talked about Dr. Carlin and Judge Carlin and their family and that they are definitely in my thoughts and prayers. So, thank you for those sentiments. I couldn't have said it better myself. It's just they're just an amazing family and just let them know and their children that we're here for them in any capacity that they need to be. thank you to our SRO's and our officers this evening for serving us and serving the community and what you do every single day and I appreciate it. Thank you. Have a great night. Good. so, I know we talked about student code of conduct in our workshop. We've had student guests speak last meeting
073kind of sharing some of their pieces and the one thing that always stuck out was the consistency and the discipline or at least the follow through with the action. And so again, yes, shout out to Mr. Call. I appreciate when you come here, but it's a little I think discerning on this part when we take the time to really make sure that we are dialing in our student code of conduct and we leave it on our leadership to make sure it's being enforced. And so hearing the voices of our students saying we want that transparency, we want to make sure that it's equal across the board and that it's fair. We need to make sure that we're doing that and that's from the top down. So I have my followup on that. in regards to
074that because yes, thank you to our teachers who do everything, but it's our bus drivers that get them there and our, you know, attendants in the kitchen who feed them. there's a lot of things that happen behind the scenes and for sure the respect piece is important because we've seen with you know yes different citations earlier on safety and there's different things that are happening but it starts at home and we maintain it at the schools. So, I'm asking for, you know, our parents that, you know, you have your kids. It's it starts at home and, you know, we're putting them on the bus and we're sending them into school and, you know, we want to keep our teachers here and there's a lot that goes into that. and I hear discipline quite often and
075that's a little frustrating. so I want to continue to thank our bus drivers and our teachers for doing the work because I know it's not easy. I've I've not been a bus driver, but I've been in the classroom and I understand. My hats are off to you always. and everything else that I think Miss Juvenelli touched on, ditto. and yeah, so you know, my thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Carlin and her family. thank you that Armor is doing better and we'll be back. all of the things. But, you know, yes, with spring break coming up, I hope everyone is going to take the time to disconnect and rest and I don't know, put your feet in the grass and get some sun and just kind of take the time to reset. That's for our
076parents, that's for our teachers, that's for our staff, that's for everyone. because time is short and you have to enjoy what's here. So, just spend that time with your family and your friends and thank you for everything. That's all. Okay. Thank you. and I'll wrap up comments from board members. real quickly, as you know, invocation is always a big part of our meetings each and every week or each and every time every month. Exactly. But I wanted to thank our sheriff, Carmine Marcino, because he made it known that they have a quite a few chaplain in his department. As you know, that's one of the largest departments or employers here in Lee County. And I thought the chaplain did a great job tonight. We talked about Judge Carlin this morning. So that's why we start
077out with the moment of silence. Everybody I know is feeling the pain and standing by the family for our great superintendent Denise Carlin. And I know she'd be honored tonight to know that we talked about her at the West Central Region FSBA meeting last week with our regional brother and sister districts and we're bragging about what a great job she's been doing with the data reviews. I know when we pull into some of the schools, some of the principles aren't welcoming us with open arms because they know they're going to be asked the hard questions. But believe it or not, I think each and every principal has bought into the process and they are seeing the gains being made. So, we talk about student achievement. I think we're going to be driving the numbers. We
078did a few visits two weeks ago, as I reported earlier, and I was quite pleased with the response of not only the teachers that we visited with that were being tracked, but also the principles the school. Exactly. But I I just want to make it well known that when folks come to public comment, you don't have to worry about us following up on these things. We take notes. We know the names. We have our headtoheads or one-on- ones as they call it in the district. We talk about these things. So, some of these comments we've heard from from bus drivers. I know it's it's a situation. We talked to some of the, SRO and some of the schools who bring up some of the very same comments. So, this isn't utopia. We do have some
079shortfalls, but I can assure you that our hearts are in the right place to follow up to make sure that we make the gains. I think if you sat in our code of conduct review today, to me it was second to none. That whole group has come so far and the application of discipline, I've really been impressed with what they've been doing. So, we are following up. I did hear a few new things tonight that kind of concern me, but I know they'll be addressed. So, I don't want to embarrass anybody by going back over it again, but you do have our ear and we do follow up and you do have the right staff here in the district to follow up on these things and make it the best school it can be. You're
080up, Dr. You can call me Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Don. That's right. Now, I just want to join the board in the condolences towards the Carlin family. I've known Judge Carlin and Dr. Carlin for 21 years and he was a great judge, a great person. The one thing that has given me peace over the last four or five days is knowing that he always wanted to see her be superintendent and that did happen. And so with that, I'll just say rest in peace, Judge Carlin. Thank you. Yeah, just to close out on the items, you know, one of the benefits of having our speakers leave their name and their contact information. Some of them staff has already actually engaged with and already had their number even before they made their comment. We still want you
081to hear whatever they say. In some cases, they've done some preliminary engagement. For others who didn't, we'll have the opportunity to follow up with them after the fact. But for the board, certainly we will provide the full context of information. in some cases, you know, you're you're you may not be hearing necessarily all the details that you probably need to have to understand, just like anything. that said, we want you we want to encourage people to always speak their truth, their personal perspective. We want to hear it. We want you to hear it. That's important. because that's the voice of our customer, whether it's our workforce or whether it's our students, whether it's their family, that is a voice of our customer. And so just really appreciate the comments on all those aspects as well
082as we'll get you either in the board weekly or certainly even more context in your next one-on-one. We can always kind of give you a little bit of more detail and ask any follow-up that you may have. We'll have all that material ready for you as soon as we possibly can. just on on the one personal note, I just have to mention because it's it's a very unique opportunity to do so. you know, obviously my being here tonight is only because Dr. Dr. Denise Carlin is in the proper place being with her family. you know, I will tell you as a person who served as superintendent here twice, it is a very consuming endeavor. And so the amount of service that not just she but her entire family puts into this role, this investment in
083our community. it's something that very few can ever really appreciate. and so it is with deep gratitude that I get to be here tonight as just a small token of appreciation and service to her and to this board. because I know she's very deeply appreciative of each and every one of you as board members and just know that we all are leading as she would want us to. We're going to continue to keep this work going on her behalf while she takes this very needed time to put her family first. That includes her both her boys. And then just on the unique story of John Carlin. So I knew John Carlin long before I ever met Denise Carlin. he was judge John Carlin to me and he I was one of the very first people
084in a teen court program because he was one of the younger judges in the area and he brought this unique program that apparently was her idea that connected him to that. So behind every good what I thought was a good idea by that judge actually was his wife. she had gotten back from something and then he brought this program here and it allowed us to help for juvenile offenders by students and I was one of the attorneys and so I had a chance to defend you know folks sometimes even people I knew to try to help them through some of their early misdemeanor offenses that they had and he was really a special guy for me back then because he that's my father was an attorney and that's how I met Judge John Carlin. However,
085years later, my wife was he was her college professor for school law. And so, not only that, but so when you talk about all the ways in which Judge John Carlin served our community, he did all those things. And he also happened to be the one to swear me in both times that I was superintendent. So, he's been a huge part of my family's life and just to think about the way he served all the lives he touched is just an incredible thing and what an incredible human being he was and how lucky we were to know him. but also just our thoughts and prayers are with the Carlin family and as they move forward as a family to honor his legacy and to keep healing and then we're just really we're thinking about them
086through this difficult time. That said, those are all my comments for this evening. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Savage. The next scheduled meeting of our board will be Tuesday, April 14th. The workshop will be at 1:00 followed by the board action meeting at 6 o'clock p.m. At this point, having no other business to come before this body and seeing no objection to this meeting is now adjourned and the time is now 7:46 7:46 Six.