001good evening ladies and gentlemen we are ready to begin this evening's board meeting sergeant-at-arms has a front lobby been attended to thank you at this time we request all electronic devices be turned off or put in silent mode also we ask that you please refrain from using flash photography except during the special presentations portion of the meeting I am pleased to welcome you on March 28th 2023 school board meeting the time is six o'clock P.M and this meeting is called order it is our privilege to hear one more song all right prior to start of this evening's meeting we've enjoying Music performed by Cypress Lake High School saxophone duet the duet is made up of Cypress Lake students Brendan Boggs and Carly Carey Brendan is a member of the Naples Jazz Philharmonic youth ensemble Carly
002has received a superior rating at this year's District solo and Ensemble Festival please help me thank these two outstanding Young Musicians for performance tonight we would like to take this opportunity to remind the members of the public of the district's mission which is to ensure that each student achieves his or her highest personal potential and the district's Vision to be a world-class school system this evening's agenda includes the invocation presentation of colors and Pledge of Allegiance recognitions one item under public information public comment consent action items which include three items under Board office one item under executive services three items under academic Services seven items under Human Resources one item under Information Systems 15 items under operations we will then recess for the Lee County School Board leasing Corporation and four items under the good
003of order of other business board members is there a motion to adopt the agenda I'm moved to adopt the agenda okay Miss Fleming moves to adopt the agenda is there a second Miss Jordan a second thank you for members there was a motion adopt the agenda and a second it was moved by Miss Fleming and seconded by Miss Jordan please record your vote foreign I will give the invocation after which Miss Morgan would lead us in the presentation of colors and Pledge of Allegiance please stand let us pray father God we grieve at the tragic loss of life yesterday at the Nashville Covenant School we ask that you comfort all the families and stay very close to them in their sadness and loss and to give them peace father God we ask for your protection
004for every one of our students we ask for your strength and wisdom for all the teachers support staff administrators and elected officials as they provide a safe and healthy environment for all the students to learn we ask this all in your name amen introducing the cadet who is presenting the national colors for our Pledge of Allegiance tonight is first sergeant Don Anderson JROTC instructor from Lehigh Senior High School first sergeant Anderson served 29 years in the Army and retired from Fort Bragg North Carolina in 2017. this is his fifth year as a JROTC instructor in the district thank you for your service to our country and to our district for sergeant thank you presenting the national colors this evening is Cadet first sergeant Jay Miller he is the commander of the Lehigh Senior High School
005color guard and the exhibition drill team which by the way just qualified to compete at the state level competition next month he also serves as the first sergeant of foxtrot company which is part of our Regiment of cadets first sergeant Jay Miller planning on attending basic training this summer as part of the split option program with the National Guard he plans on attending college I think graduate in 2024 at this time would you please join me in inciting the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under the indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you please be seated this evening student representative is Alice Bernal she is the chair of the student advisory committee Ali is
006a senior student from North Fort Myers High School notice she's wearing red she serves as the executive council president of The Red Knight Student Government Association she also serves as chair of the Cape Coral youth Council parliamentarian parliamentarian of the National Honor Society and Secretary of the trium musical Honor Society she is the founder and president of lead like a woman club and editor of the Key Club Ali has a strong academic curiosity and at the conclusion of her junior year earned the credits required for her Cambridge Ace diploma as well as pursuing her elective interests in music and Leadership Ali currently carries a 5.33 GPA After High School Ali will pursue a career in nursing starting at Longwood University in Virginia in the fall having been accepted into the Khmer Honors College receiving the
007pillar scholarship in her free time Ali enjoys hiking the outdoors Wildlife advocacy and historical preservation upon upon starting her college career Ali will be joining the team at the Appomattox sorry Courthouse National Historical Park in Central Virginia where the nation reunited ending the Civil War to further pursue these interests she's excited to join us this evening please welcome Allison Allison when you please read our recognition for the evening music educators Educators Association All-State recognitions elementary and middle school students introduced by board member Jada Langford Fleming board members please join me in the pit for recognition thank you good evening I have invited Dr Jason tomaszewski coordinator of fine and Performing Arts am I on microphone okay each year the Florida music educators Association holds Statewide auditions to fill the spots in their 23 different All-State
008performing groups the student musicians accepted into these groups are considered the best of the best at their particular level and instrument the students submit blind video auditions that are compared with those of hundreds of other students this year 56 Lee County students were selected as all state students out of over ten thousand Statewide entries these students represented our district at the FMEA All-Star Music Conference this past January in Tampa when your name is called please come up to receive your certificate and join the board members and superintendent in the pit tonight we recognize the following Elementary and Middle School All-State music students Allen Park Elementary principal Melissa Booth music teacher Sue fliss awarded the award would go to Elizabeth Lane foreign if their music teacher would also join them in the pit sure you want
009me to okay Challenger Middle School principal Stacia Winfrey teacher Kevin Devitt and the student Brennan Foley please come on up Diplomat Middle School principal Maura Bennington teacher Mark Dahlberg and the All-Star student Jonah Bill Horn from Edison Park creative and expressive arts school principal Sherry whip teacher Samantha O'Brien and the wonderful student Madeleine Rowe eriner Middle School principal Mason Clark teacher Darren nolfe and All-Star student Carly crane thank you North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts principal Andrea guns and the teachers Christina Moffett Stacey Mcdonald and mitsu Schmidt a list of All-Star students come on up as your name is called Kaylee darington Isla Roland Alexis hauledaway Ava Drury Adeline Rosenberg Luciana Mendez Cadence coltis great job Ashley Everett Carl Pickard Cody previst and Cason Dobson great job thank you so much thank you wow
010this is a big crowd I love it all right from Paul Lawrence Dunbar Middle principal Trent Eckard teacher Catherine May and the All-Star student samadi Salazar thank you also joining us tonight from the Sanibel School principal Jamie Reed teacher Joey gangreco hope I did that right but our All-Star students are Alexandria Broadwater Emma Murray Delaney shankster and Josh Schwartz and last but not least we have with us tonight Tanglewood Elementary School principal Linda Buckley teacher Jonathan Lawrence and All-Star student alethia Nicholson thank you the school board and superintendent are pleased to recognize and extend congratulations to all of these musically talented students teachers and staff can I have this problem thank you thank you all right that's good though that's positive next on our agenda is the hurricane Ian recovery Community update Dr Vernier would
011you please provide the update yes Mr chair school board members members of the community again a reminder our purpose of this update is to provide update related to the district's recovery efforts following our Acadian we're reminded today that we are six months since the storm hit it seems like it's been a little bit longer than that in terms of the amount of times taking us to recover the immediate the immediate aftermath was sort of the easy part the hard part now is the permanent repairs which I'm happy to say when I visited a school building today I got a chance to see some of the new carpet and the fresh paint so I'm glad to see some of the permanent repairs going on as well we're going to talk a little bit about Fort Myers
012Beach Elementary School Hector cafaretta Junior Elementary School those are two of our buildings that are still been significantly impacted and have not found a way back to their permanent homes yet and then also give us an update on long-term projects Fort Myers Beach Elementary School we are focused currently on trying to create a path board for a fall 2023 return we prior we provided Direction and presented today to the board regarding the way we believe we can move forward and grow the school building as the community grows back we are in the process of defining and building an interlocal agreement which will speak to enrollment numbers at Fort Myers Beach Elementary and what we promise to do as enrollment increases but also that other Avenue for the community to understand if they don't reach enrollment
013there will be other triggers and other options that we'll need to take to either Drive enrollment to that building or make some difficult decisions as we move forward that interlocal agreement will also be combined with our current Ila that we have there and that revolves around Bay Oaks Community Center so we're bringing those into one the ad hoc committees will continue we will be meeting with members of the ad hoc tomorrow and our hope and our plan is to bring you a final decision regarding Fort Myers Beach Elementary in April Victor cavaretta at tonight's agenda if you approve the consent agenda you will approve the process for us to begin in Earnest on building the permanent facility for Hector a cafaretto junior as we've mentioned and we provided that recommendation on March 7th the community
014meeting was held on March 27th to update and provide project direction to the community and gather input from them they are excited I'm sure they're watching very interestingly tonight to ensure that their their school building has that opportunity to move forward for those who have not been party to all those meetings we are looking at a piece of property located in the central Cape Hector cafaretta will be rebuilt as a K-8 school that will house the 700 students who attend elementary and give the cape some necessary space as we look for more and more Middle School seats in all of our communities that are growing long-term project update we do have an update from FEMA we got our first Project funding status our first award letter for our 10 million dollars worth of our initial
015efforts to do the immediate repairs following the hurricane the quick remediation teams that came in we are beginning to receive our money for those those plans and we are hopeful this is the beginning of that funding stream that will continue to flow from FEMA which allow us to continue work with our highly impacted buildings speaking of Highly impacted buildings and we often talk about Fort Myers Beach we often talk about Hector but we should always be cognizant of schools like Diplomat and Lexington Lexington that were hit very hard by the storm in very different ways all those highly impacted school buildings were evaluated over spring break with the FEMA organization walking our buildings and checking our documentation and records and the procurement processes of moving forward and more projects are on what we refer to
016an expedited list with FEMA but I will tell you that expedited by the federal government standard is sometimes defined a little differently than most of us would think in our Webster's Dictionary that's tried and true at home the only other eye response I had was a great opportunity to be out at North Fort Myers I'll explain why in my evening comments but I had an opportunity to interact with some of the students and got a chance to walk into some of the classrooms there that have were impacted over spring break new carpet was installed paint was done the students feel like their classrooms are coming back and we have many more of those stories to tell over the next several updates as we not only make progress with our most heavily damaged buildings but we're
017also making progress to all the parents who are still wondering when ceiling tiles are going to be installed they are on their way and I remind everybody to please take a look at our website and please track your child's building or the building you're most interested in we have an ongoing update located there that provides the community with an update on each individual School building and how things are progressing this time Mr chair I'll turn it back to you for any questions or any discussion Dr Bernier is there any discussion about either creating a new committee or continuing the ad hoc committee after the board has made a decision regarding Fort Myers Beach and the reason I ask is because I'm concerned that once the approval takes place perhaps those goals over time and those
018benchmarks might be forgotten and we want to make sure that they are very much in the front of everyone's mind and I think meetings do that I think there'll be an opportunity of us to make sure we formalize and continue our engagement with the Fort Myers Beach Community of Learners through their sac ptsas and their school leadership but also keeping those lines of communication with open with mayor allers and his team so that we stay on top of it and I will get with my chief of staff who's running the ad hoc committee currently and we'll make that an order of business to talk about how we'd like that to look post post the decision of of regarding Fort Myers Beach thank you thank you any other questions or comments next on our agenda is
019public comment Mrs dupe Bruno would you please address this item thank you Mr chairman and good evening School Board 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 complete 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 comment 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 to remarks made by speakers concerns will be addressed by the superintendent or his staff as necessary and the chair May comment as deemed appropriate at the
020conclusion of public comment 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 decorum be kept in respect be shown which is what is expected when a government agency conducts official business therefore abusive language such as cursing insults derogatory language levied against an individual or a class of people are prohibited further personal attacks such as name calling are prohibited in addition clapping hissing and booing or a display of temper during public comment is prohibited speakers who fail to follow proper decorum in the chambers will be ruled out of order by the board chair or the parliamentarian any speaker continuing with such remarks will be required to relinquish the microphone
021per board policy 1.11 and may be removed from the chambers by the sergeant-at-arms for board policy 1.11 the time for speakers three minutes if there are 20 two minutes if there are 30 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 elapsed the microphone will automatically shut off please state your name when you approach the microphone I will call you five speakers at a time please follow the staff's direction when lining up Mr chairman we have 11 speakers for this evening three minutes per speaker thank you is there anyone in the audience who wishes to address the board but did not fill out
022a comment card please raise your hand anyone right here we have one foreign I want you to go ahead and proceed thank you Mr chairman well the following individuals please line up Sharon McGill gwinnetta gittins Claudia Valencia Robert Daniels arlise Williams thank you good evening board Sharon McGill as it relates to the hurricane Ian recovery I'd just like to follow up and find out for Hector cafaretta and the beach School are the equity and diversity committees and the construction advisory committees being included in the loop as to what's going on with these schools because it specifically says in their description of their responsibilities that let's see for the equity it's shall provide review and input concerning any construction or abandonment or acquiring a new school site and then for the construction advisory committee it says
023that they will also review proposed new construction and renovation projects and review plans for compliance with safety to life issues so I just want to make sure that those two committees are being included in the loop as to everything that's going on with these two schools now as it concerns the audit that's been offered to the district by the clerk of the courts Kevin Carnes anything free that somebody's willing to give you is great and if the district can get some use out of this as the superintendent said it might help you know just understanding processes and things like that but it's going to come with some kind of a cost might not be Financial for the district but it's certainly going to be time of the employees of the district when they're pulling reports
024and they're pulling information for these Auditors so it's free but it really isn't because it's going so that needs to be taken into consideration and as a stakeholder in the community I don't know the District does business with the county we piggyback contracts with them and we also I believe have a separate contract for schools to be used for emergency services during hurricanes so from a transparency standpoint in my in my feelings that really isn't as transparent as it could be so I would not when you talk about being transparent and upfront that's really not what I would consider transparency and lastly I want to shout out to academic Services they were amazing last night the curriculum advisory committee and some of you were there and academic Services had a huge crowd last night at
025the meeting and they handled it so professionally because I think they were probably a little cut off guard but they handled it so professionally thank you good evening Lord and superintendent I want to speak briefly about the naming of schools policy and I'm going to start with a with Kudos and saying thank you for following the process as you all know we can't make all the people happy all the time and however following the process is a really good start but I do have a suggestion you knew I would the first suggestion is that you really don't need an ad hoc committee and if you do have an ad hoc committee it should seriously be ad hoc and not a refurbishing of the same people over and over and over again this a third party
026does the survey anyway so all you need is the results down by the third party a marketing firm or whatever and at the end of the first survey the top six automatically just go on to the second survey and the end of the second one then it just goes to the board the top two unless it's an overwhelming vote like Mr teal got 1800 votes the public spoke and when the public has spoken it's representative of our free and Democratic Society Miss and to those in the public that are concerned that they don't know who he is I guarantee you that he exemplifies the goals of the Lee County School District to be a world-class school system because he was a world-class educator in the Lee County Schools thank you my name is arlese Williams
027I am the President and a proud member of spouse first of all I want to thank you guys in advance for can you name me okay first of all I want to thank you guys in advance for what I know you probably are going to vote Yes for our contract we would like to say thank you and we appreciate it I know that's going to come later but at that time I won't be speaking I am coming before you this evening to let you know that it is a major major issue in transportation transportation is for example our employees are getting emails saying that if they missed all day are part of the day on March 17th that they will not get paid so let me kind of explain to you when it is a
028high absenteeism absenteeism day the directors and the supervisors in transportation will tell the employees they will not get paid that's against federal law if they have sick time and they're not at work they supposed to get paid so what happens in transportation is the directors give a directive to the supervisors to make sure certain people are not getting paid that's why there are unbundling the driver's bus our drivers bid on their buses every single year which when covet hit our drivers went to just like the whole world went to zoom covet is over everything is back to normal they refuse to put bidding face to face and the reason why we need Biden to go back face to face is because in our contract book it says if a driver bids on a bus once
029you go to that table and you have given out your advice number that's it that's your bus this past fall what we experienced directors will literally stop the bidding in timidate the drivers to be it at their compound our bidding need to go back face to face where drivers can have the opportunity to bid on the buses that they want our contract book is our contract is being broken federal law is being broken they are forcing drivers to work overtime federal law states you can't make people work overtime and last because I'm running out of time we have a labor management team we meet once a week now for weeks I am EX in the district to give us a labor management team that is willing thank you ma'am thank you will the following individuals
030please line up Jerry Ware Lou Navarro Dr Anthony Jewett Joe Phillips foreign Daniels I'm back again I'd like to start off by reminding you that last time I spoke I invited all of you to contact me if you want to know more about how Lee Virtual School worked a number of you expressed interest but at this time three weeks later I've received zero contact I am the third person with the most experience in the Virtual School you probably want to talk to me if you want to know why things are done the way they are done being said I'm here to talk about teacher pay once again I'd like to take you back in time with me a little bit 20 years ago when I first decided I want to be a teacher at the
031age of 15. I was living in a trailer in a trailer park son of a single mother with two brothers we worked I was 15 but we still worked we helped pay the bills and for our labors all combined we got to live in about 160 square feet in a neighborhood riddled with meth heads and drug dealers here I am 20 years later I finished high school with more than a 4.0 GPA like I was doing representative here still had the bright idea I was going to be a teacher I finished FGCU with a 3.75 GPA I could have done anything other than be a teacher I was so good you guys used to pay me extra money to the tune of three thousand dollars a year for being part of the district best and
032brightest which was my that was taken away from me when everyone else got the raise to the basic sum so today with all the sum of everything I am paid and all I have done and all the potential I threw aside to be a teacher I today live in a house that's 860 square feet and I have methods to the left of me next door and I'm in a neighborhood overrun with drug dealers but it's okay they feel sorry for me tell me every day I'm a teacher I should be paid more but I'm not here just because of me I'm here because this district has such a reputation for reprisals to those who speak out that my co-workers and my colleagues are afraid to speak to you 've noticed probably very openly that I
033am nervous when I am up here I know every time I come up here I'm one step closer to be in fired but I plan to come up here until that day comes because somebody has to speak out and it just so happens that I am best positioned out of so many of the teachers to where I can come up here and say these things because even though I can only afford to live where I live that is something I can achieve outside of this District just as securely I don't have to worry about what's going to happen to my children as I do not have any should I be fired tomorrow over speaking out and getting out of flying so again I would like to invite you one more time to examine the budget
034that has increased by 85 since you hired me and ask yourselves if maybe the teacher-based salary should not be more increased because well the bonuses are wonderful there's always next year and more bills to pay thank you good evening board superintendent and attorney Bruno I'm Jerry Ware my advocacy this evening relates to transportation for the after-school students that attend the Stars complex coming from James Stevens and Franklin Park as we assisted those to complete the enrollment due to the proximity many of the parents asked the question will they still have transportation for those children that attend the after-school program so we do need Clarity for the for the parents for that and last but not least but most important I want to thank the community for voting for Limited let me tell us a dear
035friend of mine and was a dear friend of my husband they attended College together and I urge you all to continue with the voting the choice that was made thank you good evening members of the board Mr chairman Mr superintendent I'm very honored to be with you once again on behalf of the teal family I was honored when my aunt Mrs Susie teal called to share with my mother that she'd like for me to address the board on behalf of our family once again to principally say thank you for your consideration we are elated that the public spoke in such a resounding manner they too recognize the legacy of service that Mr teal has rendered to our community and we want to in advance of your vote say thank you personally I'd like to remind
036you once more that the power of a name does speak so deeply powerfully over a place over what students and teachers and staff members do together every day and Mr teal for the 30 plus years that he served our school district and the 80s Ahmad years that he lived here in Southwest Florida exemplified what it means to live a life of service and so I urge you to vote for the naming of Middle School QQ as Lemuel teal middle school but principally want to say thank you for your consideration thus far thank you shut up good evening superintendent Board lunvar 38-year District instructor 30-year test member and Jasper My Pal here service dog I've been out of town but I'm back now I had been away to see my family and they were happy to
037see me come but toward the end I could tell on that second trip it was you know a little more like happy to see you go no problem I'm used to that guns in schools more guns absolutely not I guess I missed that you know schools are for education so they're not for males they're not jails who's going to carry the guns that bothers me principles the superintendent he might even have a concealed weapon permit for all we know the custodians the teachers aren't going to do it I don't even think we need police in the schools because what has it done not much all we're doing is glorifying killing and now we moved when I was a teacher from bomb threats to killings and the police can't cope with an AR-15 at least when
038you were in the army they gave you a rifle to compete with the Enemy I firmly believe if you examine the people the perpetrators they're either from broken homes and the people then they're perhaps suicidal and they expect the police to kill them just like Nashville yesterday and God Rest those people so Debbie I have the info on the headlighting program that we spoke about if I'll leave it here I presented this several years ago but it's all falls on deaf ears my women's parody 60k and the men too beginning teacher plus guaranteeing longevity that the gentleman was talking about I want you or Debbie in our phone conversation to make a motion this very night to look into this for next year you did the gun thing let's do something else you all get
039well paid for doing a job as a board member which is really a civic duty think about that just kind of you're focused on everything else but the real thing teaching children eventually will probably have virtual school and we won't have to worry anymore from eighth grade I have one gift tonight and that goes to Robert dudich my friend and we have solved his problem and the boards you're gonna love it buddy thank you Mr Navarro it says Thank you Mr Navara thank you well the following individuals please line up Hamid Hunter and Fred Atkins since I identified Smoking Joe's as well as oh not oh no not him again I filled out two comment cards so I prefer I will finish my entire statement unless you want me to go back and change my
040shirt and get back into queue the truth that and everything I've ever said I take full responsibility for my actions are mine and mine alone and should never be used against any other human being I always check the receipt of my content and yes I use them to prove with a humorous Flair so that at least unlike others my message is heard I asked the board if the Sunshine Law had been violated yes I made a parody of it was what the board's attorney called it not until the legal department had spoke to the Larry last member on this board and they had accident was when the developer in question messaged me coincidentally he divulged how could we ever had not heard of me before that moment I've got that a message the very basis
041as you said my case didn't stand Merit to proceed because my parity and public comment his comment discredits your reasoning so who's the habitual liar here next level of coincidence I spoke out about the transportation department last meeting May I add to the ineffectiveness of Roger Lloyd's leadership a parent of a child I had previously addressed to the board about an email through the school district only no parody no mention of the child's identity publicly which I've never done awakened by the sound of fear in the voice of the said parent in a call to my producer about the family being associated with me hmm coincidence as to the extent of my association with this family is only that I spoke to the district to remedy the issue of bullying previously the problem was solved
042so nothing more was needed for me the parent called the transportation to inquire if the bus stops had been changed he had to drive her child to school for the past three days and there was nothing nefarious here she just wanted to know if maybe after spring break the route had changed the parent was am I asked their name and the child's name to me immediately but he said oh you're associated with Mr Phillips she knowing me only as smoking Joe she informed them we had no knowledge of who they were speaking of this was the depot under Roger Lloyd's management the same one I had copies of certified receipts that seemed the superintendent and the chair didn't share with all the members of the board or at least if any okay but no problem
043Sharon my emails as an advocate for children coincidence again I don't know back on Mr Phillips your time has elapsed Mr Phillips your time has expired Mr Phillips your time your time okay leadership Mr Hunter Mr Atkins that's a tough act to follow so I'm going to say the funniest thing that you all have heard all day I'm a lawyer but I'm going to keep this short ladies and gentlemen of the board Mr chairman Mr superintendent Miss Bruno it's always good to see you and Madam student representative it's good to see you my name is Hamid Hunter and I'm the proud and humble pull Mark of the Fort Myers alumni chapter of cap offici brother Lemuel teal was a member of our chapter I was here about a month ago or so and I told
044you some things about Mr teal brother teal and I'm not going to repeat myself I talked during my last visit with you about the difficult decisions that folks in public service have to make sometimes we make these difficult decisions and do difficult things and people don't always say thank you and we don't get into public service to hear people say thank you we get into public service because we want to serve the public I want to say thank you I'm going to say thank you ahead of time I heard there were 1800 votes in the favor brother teal I hope that you will ratify that vote and name Middle School QQ after brother Lemuel to you now I'm going to thank you for what's doing right what you're doing right the 11th chapter Paul Mark
045of our chapter brother Fred Atkins who is one of my predecessors will be here to tell you a little bit more about brother teal thank you again for your time and thank you again for making QQ let me Lemuel teal middle school thank you my name is Fred Atkins and as brother Hunter said I was an I was the 11th poll marker the Fort Myers alumni chapter Kappa facade and what I'd like to do tonight is just give you a brief history of brother teal in reference to the Fort Myers alumni chapter of cap Alpha Psi in 1978 Mr Lemuel Tia was not just one of the finding member of the Fort Myers alumni chapter Kappa Alpha Psi but a driving force and it come into life he was initiated into the Beta Road chapter
046of Allen University over 60 years ago his love for Kappa Alpha Psi was unsurpassed and through the years he steadfastly maintained his love and dedication for the fraternity Kappa South fundamental purpose is achievement in every field of human endeavor during his time as a member of the Fort Myers alumni chapter he proved to be the consummate brother and live his life as an achiever which is evident by his success as an educator who touched thousands of life as a member of the fraternity and brother Tia served as the past Hallmark which is another name for president of the Fort Myers alumni chapter he was also honored by our fraternity with varies award including being selected as brother of the year he also represented our Fort Myers chapter at various Regional and National Kappa meetings brother
047till epitomize Brotherhood as was a constant source of encouragement to others as he possessed the strong and positive spirit of Eternity that still resonate in our chapter today in Kappa Alpha Psi we have five objectives and brother Tia reached those objective one to unite college men or cultural patriarism and honor and a bond of fraternity and brothers and brotherly love two to encourage honorable achievement in every field of human endeavor which I have already covered to promote the spirit of spirit the spiritual social intellecture and moral welfare of his number which any member who knew brother Tia would Vice for him for to assist to assist the aims and purpose of college and university which brother Tia did as a supporter of our local College Chapters at Florida Gulf Coast University and finally to inspire
048to service in the public interest and not only did he support the public interest or activity for Kappa Alpha Psi to scholarships and community service but he was involved in other organizations that supported public interest he is so deserving of this thank you Mr Mr chairman that concludes public comment I want to thank everyone for the decorum they showed all but one but we did hear you tonight and thanks again for your comments next on our agenda is the approval of consent action items 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 an opportunity to speak with a superintendent with any questions we may have regarding the recommendations some of these
049items have also been briefed or workshopped with the board in advance of appearing on the action agenda board members are there any agenda items which you wish to pull for discussion under unfinished business tabled items portion of the agenda Mr Fisher no items chair this is juvenile I have none thank you no sir thank you okay thank you Miss Jordan I have none thank you Mr slack for plumbing I have none Miss Morgan I have none and I have none is there a motion to approve the agenda's consent action items with the tonight Miss Jordan I move to approve the agenda items as written is there a second I'll second by Miss Morgan the motion to approve the agenda items was moved by Miss Jordan and seconded by Miss Morgan please record your vote here
050the motion carries 7-0 Dr Bernier please introduce any administrators in attendance with a new assignment that was approved on their consent agenda Mr chairman members of the board members of our community we're pleased to announce two changes of assignment today one is Lauren Robinson who will become the new assistant principal at Cypress Lake High School foreign ing the administrative team would be Samantha Hower at harnes Marsh Middle School as the new assistant principal chair those are all of my appointments this evening except to remind everyone who just stood up and waved remember this is a symbol of a board's trust in you and your ability to lead and be great examples to our students and great assistance to your principals so thank you for your choice of this career I'm really excited to see where
051this job takes both of you have exceptional talent and I know our school buildings will be a better place when served by you so thank you Mr chair thank you attorney dupe Bruno please introduce your new hire that was just approved under consent thank you Mr chairman chairman with pleasure for us to introduce to you our new assistant school board attorney assigned to HR Horace McIntosh we're very happy to have Mr McIntosh he brings some additional skills will deepen the legal services bench and so welcome aboard to Lee County School District next on the agenda is the Lee County School Board leasing Corporation meeting we will now take a recess from the regular school board Action meeting to attend to this matter the time is 6 58. as president of the Lee County School Board
052leasing Corporation I would like to call this meeting of the Lee County School Board leasing corporation on March 28 2023 to order the time is 6 59. P.M next is approval of the agenda first is public comment three secretary recommendations other business and adjournment directors the president will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda is there a second motion Miss Jordan I moved to adopt the agenda as written second I'll second Miss giovanelli absolutely there's been a motion to adopt the agenda by Miss Jordan and seconded by Mrs giovannelli this will be a roll call vote those in favor signify by saying yay or yes those opposed by saying they or no Mr Fisher can we take him okay thank you ladies and gentlemen if you can finish exiting the building so the board can
053go back to their normal business please all right you can make another announcement I don't think ladies and Gentlemen The Board needs to resume its normal course of business please if we can have quiet in the chambers all right we'll do a roll call to approve the agenda Mr Fisher aye this is giovannelli aye this is patrika please please Miss Jordan aye it's like for Fleming hi Miss Morgan aye and I am and I motion carries seven zero is there any public comment anyone wishing to speak saying I will move to the secretary's recommendations Dr benir police state your first recommendation sorry Mr chair my first recommendation is the approval of the minutes of the last Lee County School Board leasing Corporation meeting held on December 6 2022. I will now entertain a motion to
054approve the Menace of the last Lee County School Board leasing Corporation meeting held on December 6 2022. Mr Fisher motion to approve the minutes from the December 6 2022 Lee County School Board leasing meeting all right is there a second Mr Flynn okay yeah yeah Miss Fleming on this one the secretary's recommendation has been moved by Mr Fisher executed by Mrs Langford Fleming is there any discussion by seeing none this will be a roll call vote Mr Fisher aye Mrs juvenile aye Mrs Patrica yes please Miss Jordan aye Ms Langford Fleming aye Miss Morgan aye and I am and I motion carries seven zero Mr Bernier would you Dr Bernier would you please excuse me do your second recommendation Mr chair of course the second recommendation is approval of the resolution authorizing the issuance of
055certificates of participation Series 2023-a in aggregate principle amount not to exceed 150 million dollars for the purpose of financing all or a portion of the cost of the construction and equipping of a monastery Elementary parents J the cost of demolition construction and equipping Franklin Park Elementary as well as the portion of the Lehigh Middle School Edition perens mm the sale thereof of the negotiated public sale execution and delivery of a series 2023-a ground lease in schedule 2023 a to the Master Lease and execution of related documents in connection with the issuance issuance of the series 2023-a certificates director you have heard the secretary's recommendation to approve the resolution authorizing the issue of certificates of participation series 2023-a to finance all or a portion of the cost of construction and equipping the Amana sir Elementary the
056cost of demolition construction and equipping Franklin Park Elementary as well as a portion of the Lehigh Middle School Edition mm and authorizing execution of related documents in connection of the issuance of the series 2023-a certificates I will now entertain a motion Mrs Patricia I move that we accept the secretary's recommendation has clearly stated by Dr Bernier and the chair second I'll second my name is adoption of the secretary's recommendation has been moved by miss Patricia consecutive by Miss giovannelli is there any discussion saying none this will be a roll call vote all in favor we'll say aye when your name is called all posts say name Mr Fisher aye Mrs giovanelli aye Mrs Patrica yes please Miss Jordan aye Ms leifert Fleming aye Ms Morgan aye and I am and I demotion carry 7-0 Dr
057Bernier please State your third and final recommendation Sir Mr chair the final recommendation for this evening is the approval of the amendment and partial release of series 2004 ground lease in series 2004 lease to remove the series 2004 facility site initially designated as high tech North staging area now known as the site of Hector cafaretta Elementary School and thereby release the parcel and the improvements from the lien of the series 2004 ground lease in series 2004 lease directors you've heard the secretary's recommendation to approve the amendment and partial release of the series 2004 ground lease in series 2004 lease to remove the series 2004 facility site initially designated as high-tech North staging area now known as the site of the hector cafaretta Elementary School and thereby release the parcel and the improvements from the lien
058of the series 2004 ground lease and series 2004 lease I will now entertain a motion emotion I motion to approve the secretary's recommendation of the approval of the amendment and partial release of the series 2004 ground lease and series 2004 lease all right is there a second Miss Jordan adoption of the secretary's recommendation has been moved by Ms Langford Fleming and sected by Miss Jordan is there any discussion seeing none this will be a roll call vote all those in favor signify by saying aye and all those opposed by signify by saying they Mr Fisher aye this is David Nelly aye Mrs Patrica yes please Ms Jordan hi Ms Langford Fleming aye Ms Morgan aye and I am an eye third motion carries seven zero we will now move to the good of the order
059business please note that comments may be only made into capacity as directors or officers of this Corporation does anyone have any okay seeing none Dr Bernier do you have any no sir all right at this point having no other business to come before this body and seem no objection this meeting of the Lee County School Board leasing Corporation is now adjourned the time is seven oh nine I will now reconvene the regular school board Action meeting of the March 28 2023 the time is 7 10 pm next we have our attorney recommendations and then this evening sir none we have no public hearings good at the order of or other business Mr Fisher I have a little bit of public comment or word comment on me excuse me so a couple things went in toured
060both Patriot and Pine Island Elementary recently a great time over there especially out in Pine Island Elementary they even brought me into some of the classrooms to answer some impromptu questions I really enjoyed that and the spirit there especially after everything Pine Island Elementary School kids have been through was amazing so appreciate that I had an opportunity with member juvenile to go the Learning for Life talent show a little while back really enjoyed that so it was amazing to see you know just some of the performances it was really uplifting so I went to the guardian angels special pops fashion show that was a great time and I'd recommend anyone to attend that next year it's a really great event for a great cause enjoyed as well I wanted to take an opportunity to thank
061staff the superintendent as well as the rest of the board when we had the Tanglewood Elementary Honor Society students here for kind of a mock board meeting I know it's the first that's been done like that in this area I really do appreciate that I appreciate everyone being involved with that and I hope we can do some future ones like that was a really neat experience and I enjoyed that one so last thing I have is I attended the all-county Jazz concert at Cape Coral high school about a week and a half ago that was really great I'm I'm not you know I didn't grow up with musical instrument anything but I really really enjoyed that and they did a great job that was fantastic so that's my comments for tonight thank you next we're
062going to let our student representative Ali bernoff speak I guess I just kind of want to take my time tonight to say thank you for this opportunity I see some new faces on the board but I also see some mentors and amazing people that I've learned to really grow and respect over the past few years so I'm really appreciative appreciative for everything that you guys have shared with me just this like designated spot in this place that you share with students is so important and I'm so grateful that I'm just here and that you guys have kind of allowed me to you know sit here and learn from you I'm super excited for the things that are to come in the next few years I know a friend of mine Christian wish came and talked
063to you guys a couple meetings ago or a meeting ago and I just know that the future of our school district is going to be so bright so I'm just really really excited for everything that you have coming so I just I'm really appreciative for everything that you guys have let me do here and my time here has been amazing and I just really appreciate everything that you've done especially in light of Hurricane Ian and everything that's been coming your way so yeah thank you for this opportunity and I'm gonna finish out the year I'm not gone yet but I think I've been here since like 7th or eighth grade and I just you know every meeting has been so helpful and I get to hear so much about it my community and I just
064I can't imagine it any other way so I'm really really thankful thank you for giving kids a voice thank you I don't think we've ever been thanked that much this is giovanelli well thank you Ali actually I just want to thank you because you've been an asset just every time you've been on our board with to us I mean we've been lucky to have you so it's really the other way around so because and I'm actually a little envious because Virginia is lucky to get you so good luck in Virginia do you have senioritis yet I hope not yeah so how is your sister doing not the same change but we love your families though oh she's doing great great great anyways real quick I just want to congratulate and I'm going to say this
065right the meal teal middle school l-t-m-s so congratulations to the community for that I can't wait to see that school and can't wait to break this sand on that one and the dirt or whatever we do Christen it whatever I'm excited so in that grand opening day and especially if Mrs teal I'm hopefully she will be there to cut that ribbon so I look forward to that really important through the chair Dr Bernier regarding the transportation I think that was a spout president I'm not really sure exactly I think that's there's been some issues and ongoing there for transportation I am asking that you look into that I think it's really important about the speak up listen up I think we need to listen she's been she spoke up I want to make sure that
066there's no retaliation for any bus drivers for speaking up I'm I was unaware of the bidding issues and all the things going on there but I think we've got some some issues in transportation all the way around including getting there through Transportation so I think that's something that needs to be looked at thank you for bringing up the talent show for Learning for Life they also have a banquet and I hope that everybody comes because you still get to see the sample of the talent that we had that was really awesome for judging that and real quick we had a great attendance last night from the curriculum advisory thank you Dr Spyro and his team for heading that up they had the room set up with chairs and it was actually set up beautifully and
067they really thought through what they did for it to accommodate the attendance because it we even they even had to get additional chairs so I'm not really sure exactly how many people were there but we had it was greatly attended and they had over 18 speakers that actually spoke for three minutes each so I just would like to bring that attention also you may hear about The Miller's test that was something that came up as questionable regarding the Miller's Miller's test and literacy my notes literacy Oh serious literacy value those are some questions that are that are coming up regarding the process but overall I think majority was happy over what the district has put together regarding the documentation process in someone that wants to challenge any book and I so I appreciate all the
068work that the district did on that because it's definitely been a Hot Topic so that's all I really have I just wanted to bring up how important it is to speak up and listen up again I want to reiterate that and really let the community know as well as staff we will be listening thank you Ms Patricia I am glad I did not have to follow Ali because you're a tough act to follow I'd like to say that I've enjoyed watching you grow and mature but you have been incredibly mature since the very first day you sat at this days I think that I've seen you grow up but you've always had such Poise about yourself when you've been here and I'm really gonna miss you I mean you're always like a bright spot when
069I walk in and I see you here it's a really bright spot in my day you inspire me to be better and I appreciate that your future patients are incredibly good hands and if there's ever anything at all that you need please do not hesitate to reach out to me best of luck to you those are my comments Miss Jordan I'm just going to follow right along with it so yes so I've known you for four years now and you are probably the you have the most energy more energy than I've ever seen ever ever and every single person that's ever walked into student advisor advisory you have always welcomed them with open arms and created a great environment for them so thank you for that's really important for me and so and I'm so
070happy that you're going to be graduating this year I'll be at your graduation so I want to see you again but I really want to congratulations to the teal family this was really exciting and I and I wish we could have said that when they were all were here the community was here I really wanted to just say something but I wasn't able to do that so please share that I am really excited about that the community and the family I mean they have spoken that was a lot of votes I think that's the most I've ever really seen since I have been here so that says a lot and I know the principal is excited so now he can get his business cards and really start promoting and I think that the name and
071even with the principal it's a great match for who he is as well so I'm really excited for for Lehigh I wanted to say with Miss jiminelli spoke about again speak up listen up totally with you with that if we're going to keep on saying that and using the terminology we need to make sure that we are doing exactly that so Miss Williams I appreciate the fact that you were here today to speak up for the drivers we don't often have the representatives coming here and speaking for them so I really want to thank them on that our new board attorney welcome appreciate you know we'll be seeing you congratulations Cypress Lake High School the saxophone do it they did a great job and this was the first time that they ever played together so
072they never played good thing I was thinking good I was telling Ally this good thing they both know how to read music because they were able to put it together for us and I just you know I appreciate everybody who comes here and shares with us and speaks because we are here to work for you and also Ellie's dad's in the audience so hey Dad your one of her daughter here so thank you for sharing her with us thank you those are my comments it's like your plumbing I'm really sad that you're graduating because I'm new and I won't get to know you as well so it sounds like you've left quite a legacy congrats and I have no doubt you're with your 5.3 GPA you're gonna be a star wherever you go so yes
073thank you to Cypress Lake High School and just you know I've often talked about how wonderful the Talent is here in Lee County and especially all at you know 56 students in our audience today taking a picture in the pit before we started so that's those jazz band concerts and things are we love coming to those so thank you for inviting members to that I did want to reiterate what Mr javanelli had talked about with Mrs Williams coming and speaking up as well as Mr Daniels you know we mentioned something about feeling like he might be fired tomorrow and that is that is definitely not something that I believe that this board we're so far away from that and we truly do feel and are trying to be an example of a listen up speak
074up culture so thank you for being brave enough and speaking on behalf of other children and I most certainly would love to hear more about our Lee County virtual school as well and Mrs Ware has brought up something about Star Transportation so if we can have a follow-up maybe with her on that make sure students are being able to get to their after school programs and then proximity plan won't hurt that too much yes congratulations to the new teal family it's great to see your numbers grow every time we have a meeting you fill up more seats and I just love it so thank you for that and what a legacy he has left I do believe that the person that's at the helm of that school now will will do his very best to
075fill those shoes so thank you for sharing that I do want to add and I wrote some notes down because I didn't want to kind of go off script in my head but the one thing I do want to add tonight is as we all drive home and we're going to talk our own children in bed hug them tell them good night our husbands our wives or whoever you know our family there are three sweet little children that will not be in their homes tonight and in their beds and those families are hurting as well as three special adults the Nashville shooting that occurred at Covenant Christian yesterday's just another reminder to me about how precious life is my thoughts and prayers go out to those families I will continue to pray for the children
076the families the Educators the staff those of us those that are at in first line and that everyone is always kept safe and free from violence this is yet one more reason why safety of our students will always remain my number one priority so those thoughts are and my prayers go out to those families that's all I have tonight thank you Miss Jordan Morgan it's been like four weeks since I did it I know I know it's okay excuse me no no I with what's been said about the bidding the bidding process and the other questions is falc raise with respect to federal law so I look forward to hearing more about that I also want to compliment you on your long service Allison as a student representative it was just a treat to see
077you outside my door today and realize oh my gosh you're grown up wow so good luck to you I also want to compliment or at least thank everybody who attended everybody who attended the curriculum advisory committee meeting about the book challenge process I know it was a handful for the academic team but I think it was really really really important to get a broad spectrum of the community speaking about what is a really important topic for this board to have to discuss or vote on going forward so I want to thank everybody who participated in that meeting and those are my comments for this evening thank you thank you yesterday and this is happening too often I got to go to the southwest Florida Public Service Academy as they added their 45th Memorial brick an
078honor of a fallen officer Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commissioner officer Julie Keane was honored there if any of you all have never been there for these brick legs it's really a sort of a moving moment and I think it means a lot to their family to see all the law enforcement and other people that come there as they solemnly put that brick down and it's there forever actually that's all I have to say at this point Mrs debate Bruno do you have any just congratulations Ali I know you're going to do great things going to Virginia that's one of my favorite States you're gonna love it and I know you're going to you know just soar in your profession so good luck best wishes and also congratulations to the community for the naming of
079the new school I know that's going to be great too and produce students like Ali so thank you well there's not much left but I guess I'll start this way and just group people together and thank Allison for her service but also certainly how our meeting began and Alice's presence here at the dice really gives us really great sense of hope about who our young people are that the arts and arts education in our community is alive and well and just like sports and other emotional hooks that draw children to school singing and playing instruments and being that sense of belonging and that sense of creating smallness out of business our schools are large and our students belonging to committees our students belonging to Fine Arts programs drama programs chess clubs mock trial teams all
080gives them a sense of a smaller Community within that school and I would encourage any parent listening who who's concerned about their child both before after school and maybe where they're hanging around to encourage them to contact their school counselors to contact their principals and determine what's available for them at their school because there's so much to belong to there and it's really a safe place for a student to be after school despite Ms Langford Fleming your wonderful comments regarding what occurred in another National tragedy in Nashville to the Lemuel teal organization congratulations it's been a pleasure to get to know Mrs teal through this process I believe the Hallmark is absolutely correct I think this will be an aspect of a name well received by a community and a message well delivered to Hector
081cafaretta Elementary School people who may have been listening to the leasing Corp I want to make sure they understand there's a difference between what the board did tonight in consent which was give me the authority to begin move forward to establish the construction process and continue to bring documents back to the board as we build Hector cafaretta that was one aspect of tonight's meeting another part was the leasing Corporation the removal of those leases gives us the final permissions that we need to begin the raising of that building tearing it down making sure that that site no longer becomes as Miss Patrica sometimes call it is it an attractive nuisance is that the legal term for it's an attractive nuisance at this point it's fenced off and secured but it being raised to the ground
082and then that property being leveled and will also be a signal to the community that while we're taking it down one place we'll be building it back in another finally I'd like to well a couple other things I'd like to let you know that the teachers ratified their contract this evening while we've been sitting here 92.4 percent in favor of the contract so we do have a contractor negotiated with our negotiated agreement moving forward with our teachers before I end on a really happy note I'll go back to the Transportation Robert not only is the board in a non area where we believe retaliation is an appropriate way to deal with our employees but so is your superintendent Robert does not need to be worried about coming to a Podium speaking as poignantly as he
083does as respectfully as he does and have to worry about retaliation and if he has any problem with that I know he knows how to get a hold of me so he can he can do that but I just don't perceive that's the direction that this board wants to go it was not the direction you hired me under for those of you who are at the seats when you hired me it's not the direction we'll continue to move in it will take time to seem to change some of this culture but we've already been working with transportation and we are aware of some issues and I appreciate your ability tonight to make comments to our spouse Representatives because it's important that they hear but it was also really well tempered from some of these are
084negotiated items and we need to be careful with with that relationship so I will get with Mr doting the negotiating team Roger and we'll begin Earnest looking in because some of these things are the first time I've heard them as well so it wasn't it wasn't like I had this information prior to this evening I'll end on this happy note today we had the opportunity to award two of the golden future scholarships one went to Leah basora in North Fort Myers High School she received a four-year scholarship from the foundation to attend FGCU she wants to be a music educator and that's what these scholarships are for these are these students will be highlighted at the Golden Apple award but these are young people who are choosing the education profession and Leah Barossa was one
085at North Fort Myers High School and Annabella Phillips at heida Baker High School was the other recipient today and she'll be attending fsw and again that aspect of how do I pay for college and then how do I give back to my community as a teacher all those worries have been taken away from them now I just told them they have to hurry up I'd like to see them graduate in three years because we could use them couldn't we Mr donut so we're we're excited for them and their families and another great opportunity for us to celebrate our young people who are choosing to come to work in this particular profession that's all I have this evening Mr chair thank you our next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday April 5th there'll be a board workshop
086at 12 p.m and on Tuesday April 11th there will be a board Workshop held at the collaboratory at 9 00 a.m followed by board Action meeting at 6 pm at this point having no other business to come before this body and seem no objection this meeting is adjourned the time is 7 31 pm