001good evening ladies and gentlemen we're almost ready to begin this evening's board meeting at this time we request that all electronic devices be turned off or put on silent mode we also ask you please refrain from using frass flash photography except during the special performance we just had prior to the start of this evening's meeting we have been enjoying selections from the hit Broadway musical Little Shop of Horus performed by the students of the Ida Baker High School drama Department under the direction of golden apple finalist Sarah Jones they were featured they were a featured group at last Friday's Lee County Arts walk and we'll be presenting this musical as a whole on March 30th March 31st and April 1st can we give them another round of applause I'm pleased to welcome you to the
002March 7th 2023 school board meeting the time is 6 p.m and this meeting is called to order we'll now take a brief pause to clear the performance area did you have one more song oh okay I'm sorry please one more song thank you so much again that was the Ida Baker drama Department and under the direction of the golden apple finalists Sarah Jones thanks again we would like to take this opportunity to remind members of the public of the district's Mission which is to ensure that each student achieves his or her Highest Potential and the district Vision to be a world-class school system this evening's agenda includes the invocation presentation presentation of colors and Pledge of Allegiance acknowledgments recognitions one item under information public comment consent action items which include two items under Board office
003one item under academic Services five items under Business Services one item under human resources one item under Information Systems seven items under operations one item under resolutions and one item under attorney's recommendation and four items under good of the order Business board members is there a motion to adopt adopt the agenda Miss Jordan I moved to adopt the agenda as written is there a second a second that's giovannelli board members it's been moved by Miss Jordan and seconded by Miss giovanelli please record your vote the motion carries 7-0 Miss Jordan will lead us in the invocation after which Miss Patrica will lead us in the presentation of colors and Pledge of Allegiance please stand good evening Reverend Carlos Caster from the Pentecostal Church of the god of international movement was to be here with us
004this evening but unfortunately he could not make it so you are stuck with me please bow your head God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change courage to change the things we can and wisdom to know the difference amen amen introducing the cadet who is presenting the national colors for our Pledge of Allegiance tonight is Lieutenant Colonel Mario a Johnson senior Army instructor from Island Coast High School Lieutenant Colonel Mario Johnson served 24 years in the Army in numerous assignments and retired as the professor of military science for the University of Central Florida this is Lieutenant Colonel Mario Johnson's eighth year as the JROTC instructor in the district thank you sir for your service to our great nation thank you I will presenting the cut national colors tonight is Cadet Desmond
005Goodman the cadet commander of the island Coast High School Junior ROTC Cadet Goodman was recognized by the district for receiving a perfect U.S history EOC score and he currently has a weighted GPA of 5.04 he is actively involved in Junior ROTC teams and is currently the drill team Commander Captain competing at the district level Cadet Goodman was offered a three and a half year ROTC scholarship from the University of South Florida and is currently competing for a national four years ROTC scholarship please join me in 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 God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you please be safe this evening student representative is Julia Juliana bendick the current
006Secretary of the District student advisory committee Juliana is a sophomore student at Bonita Springs High School she is heavily involved in the community this year she founded Bonita Springs High School's chapter of the interact Club a volunteer service organization Juliana carries Juliana cares deeply about the law as a member of her school's mock trial team in addition to being a Teen Court attorney during Teen Court sessions Juliana argues on behalf of the state or the defendant in real misdemeanor cases among her peers her age she is also a member of the national English Honor Society and enjoys writing in her free time Juliana also plays the clarinet and participates in the school's marching band as a part of the marching band Juliana was recently marked has recently marched in the Edison festival of light parade
007she cares deeply for her education having enrolled in many college-level courses between her freshman and sophomore years all by maintaining a 4.0 unweighted GPA lastly Juliana has recently placed as a finalist in the Thomas Alvin Tom Salva Edison Kiwanis Regional science and engineering fair for her Research into altruism and was chosen to participate in the rotary youth leadership award conference later this week please welcome Juliana bendick Giuliana Juliana please introduce this evening's acknowledgments and recognitions our character word for the month is courage as Mark Twain would say courage is resistance to fear Mastery of fear not absence of fear the design you see currently displayed on the screen was created by Abraham redis a 10th grade student at from Mariner High School the school board of Lee County acknowledges the following events for the month
008of March 2023. read Across America day on March 2nd 2023 national day of unplugging March 3rd 2023 National foreign language week March 7th through 13th 2023 National sleep awareness week March 12th through the 18th 2020 2023 art in our school month Irish American heritage month and the national women's History Month this evening's board members would like to recognize the following 2023 FHSAA girls weightlifting state champions presented by Miss Jordan and the Mariner High School JROTC Marksmanship team presented by Mr Fisher board members please join me in the pet for Wrecking pit for recognitions thank you thank you foreign okay I would like to invite David LaRosa director of athletic Athletics and activities to join me at the lecture thank you for joining me you're welcome you're welcome the school district of Lee County is proud
009to recognize the 2023 Florida High School Athletic Association girls weightlifting state champions the competition was held at RP funding Center in Lakeland Florida on February 18 2023. when your name is called please come to receiver's certificate and join the board members and the superintendent in the pit the following students are the state champions and the respective weights class with their total scores being a combination of their snatch and clean and jerk Olympics which I was trying to figure out what the heck that was and bench press and clean and jerk traditional senior Julia nuller from Fort Myers High School Olympic state champion 350 pounds total I know you couldn't get through security I always thought I had to arm wrestle each of you that's okay I don't have to thanks thank you congratulations the next
010is Junior Julian Jacobs from Fort Myers High School traditional state champions 315 pounds total congratulations senior Cassidy Emerick from Mariner High School Olympics a champion 285 pounds total and Senior Elena cook from Riverdale High School traditional state champion 400 pounds total wow foreign the school board and superintendent are pleased to recognize these athlete athletes along with their coaches for their commitment determination and hard work that led to this outstanding accomplishment thank you that would sound like okay I would like to invite Lieutenant Colonel Donald Barnett director of army instruction to join me at the lectern o how you doing sir yeah Mark's Marksmanship competitions are an NCAA Sport and an Olympic event in fact 32 division one two and three universities offer full athletic scholarships for their markmanship programs what's most important often overlooked is
011marksmanship's athletes learn critical soft skills that will help carry them through life After High School such as concentration self-control discipline focus and teamwork over the past nine months Mariners Markman Marksmanship team has achieved remarkable results back-to-back District Championship 2023 Florida State JROTC Champion out of 206 teams and 2023 American Legion Florida state champion out of 85 teams in National level competitions Mariner has placed ninth in the Civilian Marksmanship Program National Championship ninth in Junior Olympics eighth in the U.S army youth air rifle Championship ninth in the army JROTC national championship and number one seed in the southwest U.S for the Junior Olympics job when your name is called please come up to receive your certificate and join the board members and superintendent in the pit so first up Mariners markmanship Cadets individual highlights include Cadet
012Nathan crockstrom 11th grade one is third consecutive individual District Title One of second consecutive Florida State individual championship and placed overall at the army JROTC national championship Cadet Leland Aldrich placed second in district 6 overall in Florida Erica Vasquez plays fourth in District and fourth overall in Florida and qualified for the three National Championship matches in the Junior Olympics Cadet Alyssa Vasquez placed third in District and 11th in Florida and qualified for two national championship matches Cadet Trent Olson plays six in District and qualified for three National Championship matches in the Junior Olympics foreign Cadet Tyler dernard qualified for three National Championship matches in the Junior Olympics okay but the most important results of Mariners team are a few quality indicators that translate in classroom performance and success the team's weighted GPA is 3.8 students
013athlete attendance is 97 zero disciplinary referrals in the past two years great job thank you the team is led by Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Elena Cardenas Cruz and the executive officers Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Kayla Berry the only seniors on the team both have met the qualifications for a Civilian Marksmanship Program a thousand dollar scholarship great job the school board and superintendent are also very pleased to recognize Mariner High School Marksmanship team under the direction of JROTC senior Army instructor major Brian Williams at Mariner High School and his wife coach Mary Beth Williams one of the only female coaches in the U.S for their success and wish them the best of the upcoming National Championship matches in Ohio in March and against and again in June great job oh okay this is Alex Walter who qualified for
014a national championship okay we have another Cadet Alex Walter that qualified for another another state championship congratulations Cadet thank you thank you foreign recognitions next on our agenda is the hurricane Ian recovery update Dr benir would you please provide the update Mr chair members of the board I'd be happy to as again to remind the community the purpose of this update is to continue to provide information regarding the district's recovery and the efforts we're putting in to recover from Hurricane Ian the agenda is getting a little bit smaller we still have Fort Myers Beach Elementary is one of our remaining named schools long-term project update as well as the permanent tracking repair system which has been updated and on our website Fort Myers Beach Elementary School option after the work session the other day option
015b is under development that utilizes the historical building for the current student population with a potential build as we move forward as enrollment increases therefore we are working right now to develop an interlocal agreement both with the town and with the district the ad hoc committee meetings are ongoing and they are supporting that Ila development and a board briefing will be coming forward on March 28th regarding our progress and potentially a recommendation for a future board meeting long-term project update today Hector a cap Renner Jr Elementary Schools recommendations were provided to the board on March 7th we have recommended that we build on an existing piece of property that we own in the Cape Coral area and that we restructure Hector a caparetta as a K-8 school we plan to bring that School building to
016a school board vote as soon as possible I want you to know that 71 percent of the maintenance service requests related to damage sustained during the hurricaneian have been completed and finally we want to talk a little bit about our permanent repair tracking system for those of you comfortable with our website just below the banner page to the far right hand side you'll see the removal of a former thermometer from a former crisis it's been replaced by a hurricane symbol listing hurricane Ian that particular symbol if you click on it leads you to vital information regarding how we reopen schools safety projects information about our indoor air quality tests our safety checklist for reopening our schools and now provides you information regarding what is the transpiring regarding permanent repairs in our school buildings it also
017is not included here in the far right hand column will list the contractors who are local who've been awarded that work so that they can move forward and we can spend our dollars locally those are all my that's all my information today Mr chairman standard ready for any questions or discussion thank you any questions or discussions from the board seeing none we'll move on to public comment yes I would like to make a motion if I may given the interest and the significance the significance of the Guardian program I move that we allow additional public comment for the maximum time allotted pert board policy 1.11 after the resolution on school safety is read but before the board discussion and votes on this matter has been made by Miss Jordan and seconded by Miss juvenile is
018there any discussion on the motion to allow public comment after the resolution is read this will be a roll call vote so we'll have to please signify by saying I or nay when your name is called Mr Fisher aye Ms Mrs giovannelli yes Mrs Patrica no thank you Mrs Jordan aye Mrs likert Fleming aye Miss Morgan aye and I am an eye the motion carries six to one attorney to pay Bruno please address the item of public comment 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 given the board's vote with the addition of public comment prior to the resolution these rules
019will apply at that time as well 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 conclusion 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
020shown 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 is 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 for 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
021time a lot of for public comment is one hour per speaker this will be the exact timeage for the comments about the resolution you will find a countdown on the big screen 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 and I will call you five speakers at a time please follow the staff's direction when lining up Mr chairman there are 20 speakers that will like to address the board this evening three minutes per speaker thank you is there anyone in the audience who has not filled out his car and wishes to speak seeing none attorney Bruno now I will remind you if you're going to speak on the resolution then you should hold your public comment until
022that time period this public comment will be for anything that is not related to the resolution thank you well the following individuals please line up Noelle hercheck Eric theofalletti Dawn theophiletti Ron weekly and if your name was not called us because you signed up to speak about the guardian program my name is Don shuffling and I'd like to begin by stating that I am proud to be a teacher in Lee County specifically at Lehigh Senior High School I truly believe that being in education is my calling however I believe that my calling is also to be a mom my husband and I have struggled with infertility for almost a decade I could go into great detail but for the sake of time suffice it to say I live every day with the fact that our
023official diagnosis is unexplained infertility female and that it is my body that is not capable of sustaining a healthy pregnancy last summer my husband and I ultimately decided to adopt that was our path to Parenthood and we began the process we worked with an agency we completed our home study and just last week we were notified that we were selected by a birth mother to adopt a baby boy who was due in mid-april as soon as we found out we were selected I did what I felt was proper and I sat down with my Administration and our school staffing specialist to make sure that we were doing everything that we could to prepare for my leave when our son was born the following day we found out that the teacher contract forbids the use of
024accumulated sick days for adoption I spoke to our district HR Personnel specifically and I requested that I could use the days as extended medical leave since our son will be an infant we were told that since there is not an illness and as a result any time that I am out once my personal days run out will be unpaid due to having to be out and meet with adjusters regarding hurricane damage to our home I have three personal days and my husband has four personal days to use when our son is born and after that I'm being told that my time will be unpaid I feel that the district policy is biased against mothers who cannot sustain a healthy pregnancy while I might not be able to give birth to him our baby will be
025my son and he deserves to have the constant care of his mother during the first six weeks of his life I'm not asking for anything special but I am asking that the policy be looked at and revised so that adoptive parents can use their sick time that they've been saving for their entire teaching career to be able to stay home with their child for the first six weeks of their life thank you thank you hi good evening I'm Eric schaafaletti proud teacher at Lehigh Senior High School I'm Dawn's husband the previous speaker from the verbiage of the contract the teacher contract that we saw my wife and I believe the Clause is in place in the event that staff Foster to adopt take over the care of a child from a loved one adopt a
026child older than several months and so on in those events we would agree that the ruling that maternity leave would be inappropriate we would agree with that however since we are adopting an infant through an adoption agency who will be coming home with us directly from the hospital we hope our case might be heard when researching the teacher contract we also went to the School Board website and found information for a board Workshop that is scheduled for tomorrow March 8th the agenda for this Workshop states that among other things FMLA personal leave and benefits will be discussed in reviewing the available documents it appears that the use of sick time for adoption purposes is specifically stated we sincerely hope that this protection is put in place for adoptive parents and that changes can be made
027by the time our son is born just to State we've always been supporters of Lee County School District we take pride in the fact that our district leadership has always determined to do what is best for our kids during covid and any other time if it's best for our kids it's worth doing is a Doctrine my wife and I follow to the letter in our lessons and work life under the same principle we believe that our infant son requires constant love and care from his mother in the first six weeks of his life we're not asking for any special treatment and only wish to be afforded the same usage of Dawn's personal days that a birth mother would be granted under similar conditions thank you for your time thank you all the following individuals please
028line up Madeleine Stewart Andrew White I'm sorry Mr White you wait until we go to the resolution Tara Jenner Nancy toreri as it relates to books Sharon McGill as it relates to books all right good evening I'm Madeline Stewart those standing behind me in purple represent just a small the tip of the iceberg of what has been until tonight a silent bipartisan unseen majority in Lee County we are the majority who understands the importance of the American public school as the Bedrock of our democracy the majority who supports educational professionals not those with a narrow agenda to make the important decisions for our students education we're the majority who support an individual parents right and responsibility to make decisions about books for their own child but not to make decisions for other people's children I
029want to focus tonight on the book challenge procedure and process that implements policy 2.18 the book challenge approved in February of 2022 is rigorous and objective and it appears to be working an ad hoc book challenge committee made up of professionals meets for an in-depth discussion of specific books parents have requested be reviewed the committee applies legal criteria and at a decision about the educational value of the book is reached by those who understand the curriculum the developmental level of the students and the context in which the book will be taught individual parents have the right to withhold a book that they do not approve of for their own student sounds okay right now we move to the draft of the new library media process found in your board Docs we have serious concerns about
030this draft which provides an additional step so that the ultimate selection of books for an entire school or an entire grade level is left up to that school's PTA or sac any additional step like this would violate the board's book policy and perhaps even the intent of HB 1467 passed last year We Believe book challenge decisions that affect the teaching and learning for an entire classroom school or for an entire District should only be made by educational professionals when another group becomes the final decision maker it opens the door to political interference and it takes away the rights of all parents thank you Miss Stewart to support you may I ask the audience to please be seated thank you my name is Roy Weekley and I want to talk to you about school safety and
031I'm very concerned about the number of children and teachers that have been killed in these schools I've met with Carmen marcino several times and we've come up with a an idea was so unique we were awarded a U.S patent for it's a bulletproof Shield that would give the students the teachers the staff immediate protection if an active shooter entered the room and it would have an audio and video chip on it so that the police that responded or the other people from the school resource officer the guardian people responding they would know where the shooter was at I talked with the kayakani sheriff and he said to me the biggest problem they have when they arrive at a school where there's an active shooting going on they don't know if the shooter is there still
032in the school if there's one Shooter two shoes or if he's taking hostages and so what this shoe would do would give immediate bulletproof protection to the staff and it would give the police that audio and video information they need so they could respond properly when they arise almost guarantee you if like that Aaron feisty was killed in Parkland if he would have had a bulletproof Shield he would have stopped that shooting right there in the spot and nobody would be killed he threw his life in front of the shooter and was shot and then the person was trying to protect it was then shot afterwards so this is a shield I've talked to Carmine about it several times and it was not funding available for it I've met with Florida state representatives if Lee
033County requests these bulletproof Shields the State of Florida will pay for them that's all good I'd like to okay leave this information for you yes secretary please over here thank you good evening Tara Jenner I wanted to speak about two things oops yes not I wanted to speak about two things tonight and since I have to leave early one of them is on the guardian program so I'm speaking out a term but I won't double dip so the first thing is I'd like to mention as many of you know I was active duty military for a couple of days shy of 10 years and I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States it is my position that and I think it's the position of our founding fathers and our
034Constitution that our rights come from God and not from government or man as such our right to bear arms is something that is protected from the government's interference by our Constitution and I am therefore in favor of the Guardian program especially in light of the fact it does not force individuals who are uncomfortable or unwilling to bear arms to do so but it opens up an opportunity to those who feel confident and confident to do so as well as those who have received the requisite training in order to give those in their amidst confidence that they are going to be qualified and capable of addressing the needs that they're charged with in that capacity the second thing I'd like to mention is the fact that history is something that we look at regularly in our
035schools and we want our students to be aware of our past history but there's also ongoing and current history that is available and at our fingertips here in Lee County and so coming up on April 21st there is a Lincoln Reagan dinner and the 45th president of the United States is the keynote speaker it is not a political rally it is a keynote speech that is being presented by him and a couple of other of our elected officials including Byron Donalds and Greg stuby and I would just encourage not just the board but everybody in the audience and listening online to go to lead gop.org and learn about what this event entails and how you can purchase tickets and details about that so I just wanted to share that because anytime we have an opportunity
036need to hear from either a current or a previous president it is history in the making and something that I think is of import to our students and to our community thank you foreign good evening I'm Nancy toreri I'm here this evening to stand with those who are talking about supporting our teachers our curriculum Specialists and our Librarians as the most qualified members of the school Community to decide on the books and the content of what's in our schools and our libraries in line with your current policies these decisions should not be made by a small group of individuals without the requisite skills I think as we I heard from Maddie Stewart it's right for a parent to question what their child is reading and it's up to them to decide but it's not up
037to them to decide what all children read parents rights should not mean that any parent can push their opinion on all children in our schools thank you well the following individuals please line up Mary Ann Wilbur Joe Phillips Bobby delisandro Denise Nystrom and just reminder to keep your comments relative to the agenda as well as to anything that's regarding the operation of the school district and if you're going to talk about school safety relating to the guardian program or guns in schools or anything like that please wait till the resolution is read and then you will have additional public comment time that is solely focused on that issue please thank you times but tonight it seems like I have my tribe with me I've been up here so many times talking about policy 2.18 and
038how it needs to be reviewed and I just want you to know that it wasn't just my single voice there are many many voices who may not have been in this Auditorium but who feel the same way I'm speaking out of respect for our teachers and Librarians who are trained professionals and who decided to spend their lives dedicated to our students and the fact that they're being disrespected by their opinions not being taken into consideration is really sad and it I'm not quite sure how to say I it just shows such a lack of disrespect and I hope that as we're developing as you're developing policy 2.18 and as I've discussed before needs to be separated into two different policies for instructional materials and one for media and classroom materials because they're two totally separate
039things and are evaluated differently but you need to respect the teachers and the Librarians and use them in why not get their opinions on the policy who better than to help structure it then the teachers and Librarians and I just hope that going forward you will take that into consideration questions hello my name is Marianne Wilbur I am here to discuss the guardian program and I want to make sure that I show respect for the rules so is it acceptable for me to talk about it now because we would prefer if you wait till the resolution is read and that way everyone who wants to talk about that I apologize I don't know thank you foreign I'm smoking Joe corruption can only exist having an equally corrupt legal system to protect it this becomes evident
040in my correspondence with the board's attorney I would like to note before we began our interchange I proposed what I believed and still believe is evidence that a sunshine violation occurred to attorney friend of mine he drew the same conclusion that it would appear Sunshine had been violated board attorneys stated that each board member was questioned and had no knowledge why Mr Allen stated that he had a quorum so who's lying the board's attorney proceeded to claim that few members were familiar with Mr Allen and have spoken with him on General topics including Fort Myers Beach however there was no indication that two or more board members met with him and discussed the claim of an under market exchange of the beach property or anything else that might come before the board the claim that
041a few members were familiar with Mr Allen implies that he is not known to all of them seven sentences into your response the email shows a willingness to be untruthful how does one propose possibly believe that a person who has been a campaign contributor in attendance at many political and social events even proposed a socialist style housing project to the district as early as 2017 to imply that only a few members was Mr Premier Mr Allen is a provable lie you continue to provide me with the definition of the Sunshine Law and quoted a case referring to a reporter and accounts remember remember Mr Allen is not a reporter developer with aspirations of creating income through the district superintendent Bernier was clear that the beach property would not be brought to consideration on March 7th
042you stated considering that I ripped the Cherry off the top of that cupcake at least At The Last Action meeting I'd guess not attorney Bruno also said that the members denied talking with Mr Allen about the sale or leasing the beach property the record should show that the entire board has called Mr Allen a liar a pathological liar that's going to make for great conversation at the next Gala I continue to request that an outside investigation conducting forensic audit let's start with procurement procurement and maintenance so you know you have trouble there if the board is truly shifted to a speak up listen up culture is you consider not replying with BS most swimming and if you think this is a personal attack I can assure you it's not I believe you're just a perfume
043surrounding the color of ease the board has proven to be nothing more than kitchen midden thank you have a great day good evening board I'm Dr Bernier my name is Bobby D'Alessandro I appreciate the time given for me to speak tonight to policy 2.1 review to me that the current policy is working however the policy is under revision here are some things for you to consider perhaps there should be two boxes one for instructional materials and one for Library classroom materials as they're both very detailed such should not be included in the policy unless mandated by law since this policy does not mandate by law I suggest the process guidelines should be visibly visibly footnoted in the in the revised policy the difference between policy and procedure a process is clear policy direction is set
044by the board according to law the process of procedure is developed so that those goals can be reached and should be developed by your professional staff they are the ones who have the curriculum and instruction of knowledge this is a best practice that's been used by Stellar districts and supported by the professional organizations forever I understand that our professional educators are working on the revisions with parents and community members and I agree with this however the policy and process should not be dictated by private interest groups this is too important to be dictated by private interest groups it seems that the current policy is working well and allows parents to make good decisions for their children from my read parents rights are not being violated as the Miller process is used when a challenge is
045brought forth and looking at the new draft appears to be a bit confusing and somewhat conflated I respectfully ask you to consider these points during their Vision review thank you for your time tonight I thank your staff as we're work they're doing on the revision have a good evening will the following individuals please line up Robert Daniels Gwen gittins and Sergio Cruz good evening Denise Nystrom good evening board members Dr Bernier and attorney Bruno on two occasions I emailed all of you to make you aware of the social studies textbook review that I conducted as the project leader on behalf of Florida Citizens Alliance because within the next few weeks the school districts will receive a list of books that are available for adoption School District Personnel will begin the process of textbook adoption and
046purchase the textbook review was conducted was extremely comprehensive 69 reviewers from throughout the State of Florida reviewed 39 books of the 39 books 37 of them did not meet the individual Freedom Act of 2022 and corresponding education rule 6A 1.094124 and state statute 1003.42 the textbooks were littered with factual inaccuracies Slants and biases in other words the books were filled with critical race Theory and social emotional learning if the textbooks that contain crtr purchased they will remain in the hands of our children for a minimum of four years you have in your possession the executive summary detailing the social studies textbook review and corresponding laws that were sent via email but I will enter them tonight for the record as a school board it is your prerogative to purchase textbooks that are not on the
047textbook adoption list you have it within your authority to purchase textbooks from any entity you see fit while you might be told that it would be more costly to purchase other materials that is not correct but whatever the cost the textbooks must be in compliance with state statute you may be aware that the individual Freedom Act was co-offered by our former Senator Ray Rodriguez of Lee County now Chancellor of the State University system and signed into law by our esteemed Governor Ron DeSantis who had the confidence to endorse Mr Sam Fisher and Mr armor persons appendix a of the executive summary provides an extensive list of factually correct curriculum materials that utilize primary source documents and are free from critical race Theory I ask that this board remains steadfast regarding adhering to the state statute
048and seek to purchase the instructional materials found in appendix a thank you very much have a good night thank you all right I am Robert Daniels I've been teaching with the district for 10 years specifically at Lee virtual school I was watching the workshop this afternoon I just want an extended invitation I've given previous boards that if you would like to know more about the operations Lee virtual school I'm more than willing to host you in my house while I work or to go to your place of wherever you would like me to be and work there with you for the day so you can see what it is the virtual teachers do and better understand our system that being said I've come the previous week's meetings to talk about teacher pay and I've established
049that you know the teacher pay has not gone up and adjusted for inflation since I started and a number of other concerns including the fact that when we open the teal Middle School there might not be teachers to staff it because who are you going to get to come to the county to teach for the current pay rate when I first moved into Fort Myers proper eight years ago my one bedroom apartment went for 865 dollars a month I could afford that on teachers pay that same apartment today goes for Seventeen hundred dollars for less than 700 square feet the cheapest apartment I could find when I looked earlier today was a thirteen hundred dollar 400 square foot studio apartment downtown that's not a tenable place for any teacher to move in there's not going
050to be people who are willing to come here for what we give our teachers to start to fill those empty positions and when I last checked on the website we had over 200 empty positions still Something's Gonna got to give with the teacher compensation and unfortunately I'll be the second teacher here tonight well third to discuss about discriminatory compensation packages the board has done wonderful things with trying to get the teachers bonuses things they've never done before you're breaking new ground and I appreciate that however the four thousand dollars of compensation in medical benefits that are being given only to teachers with dependents the rest of us that are teaching for you that do not have those dependents we also have medical bills and expenses there's no reason why I should be receiving zero dollars
051at all into my and I'm on the HSA health care plan but as a bachelor with no children I received nothing out of that meanwhile people have simply made other lifestyle choices that I have who have not had their children eliminated by other individuals or still in the womb should be compensated at a higher rate so again I would invite you to contact me about the virtual school I promise I will not jump topic and ran to you about the pay rate while we have those discussions thank you good evening gwinnetta giddens and you all don't have to stand the whole time I just enjoy seeing somebody standing out there supporting what I'm saying so you can actually sit if you like first of all I respect the voices that of the purple voices that
052have spoken this evening I wrote an article several months ago about a choir and I said when you have a choir and all you hear are the Altos it's a pretty dull chorus when you don't hear The Sopranos and The Tenors and the bases and all of the musical instruments you don't really hear the beauty of the choir and I relate that to listening to what people are saying and hearing all of the parts of the choir not just the Altos on a couple of other things really quickly regarding the ad hoc committee I hope that you all have had an opportunity to read the email that I sent with the details explaining how I felt about that but basically we in three weeks I think it was still don't know who the ad hoc
053committee is and if we wanted to speak to them who are representing us there was no opportunity to do that and after the second survey there's no need for a committee the people have spoken about the six final names that were up there so I really don't see a necessity for a committee to go to go over what the majority of the people have stayed at that you will listen to us that you will hear us that you will be our voice you will be the voice of the voiceless a few months down the road there's silence people come come people go people pour out their hearts and their requests and their thoughts and they're met with silence followed by the dreaded the next item on the agenda is followed by additional silence people who
054come to share their thoughts and the thoughts of others the next item on the agenda is represents saying thank you for letting me out of the campaign promise that I will listen I will hear and I will let you speak and I will speak for what it is that you need poor to listen it's not a chore to include all of the choir you need The Sopranos the Altos The Tenors the base and the musicians thank you good evening school board members faculty and staff and general public before I begin I'd like to ask the board members to just pause and consider what they might consider to be an appropriate and effective collaboration between parents districts and their child's school also I like to charge the district to consider the spirit of transparency amongst parents
055districts and schools I'd like you to think of the current level of that transparency and think if the current level of transparency and if all the necessary information is available for parents and District staff to Be an Effective and meaningful participant in their child's education my name is Sergio Cruz my son Elijah and I live in Lehigh Acres Florida and he attends Oak Hammock Middle School he's in seventh grade in a self-contained ESC classroom and over the years of being a father and Advocate on behalf of my son Elijah I have encountered many challenges obstacles smoke and mirrors and false red tape in regards to acquiring support services or accommodations or even obtaining a pre-written notice when those services or accommodations are denied oftentimes I'm given the run around and pass the Baton approach from
056responding to a request for services or to even locate a district policy I am left in the dark as a parent in regards to how to effectively advocate for my child when the proper information and documents aren't readily available which is why I beg for a more thorough policy emphasizing and expressing the importance of transparency amongst the classroom school and home out of an abundance of caution I have reserved my concern to one subject matter in particular tonight that I believe is hindering and preventing the ability for myself and his mother to effectively participate and help direct my son's education and his IEP he as afforded within the guidelines and spirit of several federal state and District policies or statutes therefore I believe that my son is effectively being denied access to a free and
057appropriate public education I'm seeking response from the go from the board in regards to clarification and any relative District policy State Statute federal law Etc pertaining to a parental request for classroom observation I believe that the current legislation the current literature and the current best practices are pretty straightforward in regards to classroom observations and the afforded right of a parent to observe their student in the classroom to be a meaningful participant in my son's IEP and help direct my child's education when a school administrator takes an adverse position to parental requests it creates an appearance of three things and all are bad one the curriculum program and setting is clearly not appropriate and I will quickly discover this too the schools attempting to keep important information from parents or three which may be the most
058disappointing is a combination of incompetence and aptitude and ignorance I asked for some assistance to resolve this issue I can point you to some direct statutes like the every student succeeds act section 116 and even the Oak Hammock Middle School Parent School compact that was signed by the principal and under the principal responsibilities clearly states creating opportunities for a classroom observation I yield my time thinking and there is one more person who wanted to speak Chelsea about books hi my name is Chelsea I'm brand new to Lee this is the first district meeting I've been to or have actually been here for I moved from one of those States to find solace in Florida and their education I fled California for a better education for my children so I came tonight I am late but
059I came tonight to see what was going on I've actually had the opportunity to speak to my board member which was awesome he was amazing but there are certain things that I mean all of a sudden immediately I did a book request just to see a public information request just to see if certain books are available I had to pay for it I just paid for it tonight don't think that I should have to pay for 21 minutes of time for looking up to see if certain books are in this District books that we had in California that basically teach children the difference between spitting and swallowing in middle school when my children are inching up to that age where they're going to learn about this we just don't need to make these books available
060but having listened to the actual last gentleman that came I am all about the children listening to that there's a problem with transparency and IEPs Etc I'm and he's having a hard time getting information I will approach him and tell him about public information requests under the foia I will explain to him the information that is available federally and help him uncover ways to solve problems within the district I am very concerned about fixing things making it better for our children I don't have a speech prepared usually I do I wish I did but I'm very concerned about making parents aware of how they can go about getting information but you know me getting charged 15.75 to look up seven books I think is ridiculous you guys should not charge parents to do that and
061if I talk to him and he has to spend a whole bunch of money looking up these public requests I think it's ridiculous I think that in the spirit of transparency then you guys should be transparent and but I'm also solution based and I'm going to tell you right now with my last 26 seconds at the school that my children go to Gulf Elementary I personally take my kids to and from school every day but every single solitary day there's one bus that never has a bus driver and kids get home an hour and a half to two hours late that's a problem I understand you guys might have a shortage but there's a solution that we can do within the PTO with the parents with the bus drivers and there's a solution that could
062be had thank you ma'am Mr chairman that concludes public comment Mr chairman there was there does seem to be a little confusion with regards to House Bill 1467 if I may have a moment just to explain that a little bit to those who spoke about that this evening please do thank you with regards to the Sac or other constituents or community members involved in securing books in the purchase of books I want you to know that house bill 1467 actually requires that community members and it could be through Sac it could be through PTA or other avenues are supposed to be involved in that process however the ultimate decision in terms of how those books are purchased and which books are purchased lies with the media specialist so I heard some confusion about that and
063I wanted to clear that up and with fee guards I don't see Mr Phillips here but as I stated my correspondence to Mr Phillips if he disagrees he is welcome to contact the State Attorney's Office the Florida Commission on ethics or the office of the governor thank you thank you before we move on I do want to say that I know I will go out on a lemon and speak for the whole board we do listen to y'all when you talk we don't usually respond at that moment because that's not our policy during the good of the order we often do and I'm sure we'll be doing that tonight but we hear everyone who speaks every evening at the board meeting and we will take action as we are able to we'll now move on
064to the consent action items the document 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 the material and we have an opportunity to speak with the superintendent with any questions we may have regarding the recommendations some of these items have also been briefed or workshop with the board in advance of appearing on the action agenda board members are there any items you wish to pull for discussion under unfinished business or tabled items Mr Fisher I have no items Mrs giovannelli I have two F2 and L seven this is Patrica no thank you Miss Jordan I have none thank you this is Langford Fleming I have not done Morgan I have none foreign I have none is there a
065motion to approve the agenda the agendas can send action items with the exception of the pool items F2 and L7 Miss Jordan I move that we accept the agenda items with the exception of F2 and L7 is there a second Mr Fisher second it has been moved by Miss Jordan and seconded by Mr Fisher please record your vote motion carries 7-0 foreign ER would you like to introduce any administrators at this time or should we thank you Mr chair at this time I'd like to recognize Bridget Adcock whose location of work is in Human Resources she'll be accepting this evening with your action the coordinator position for human resources and the Information Systems Department congratulations we'll next move on to unfinished business and tabled items we have two items pulled to address Dr benir would
066you please read your recommendation for item F2 item F2 which is under the board office is the approval of the reimbursement for legal fees incurred by board member Chris Patrica to defend herself against several complaints filed with the Florida Commission on ethics is there a motion to adopt Dr veneer's recommendation for F2 I move we adopt the superintendent's recommendation for L2 oh sorry sorry thank you Miss Morgan is there a second I'll second it Miss Jordan the item has been moved by Miss Morgan and seconded by Miss Jordan is there any discussion Mrs giovannelli yes thank you I'm the one that actually pulled this I would like to have Mr Dupree Bruno please read the law on this please for the for the public with regards to a public official's ability to get reimbursement it
067is well established in Florida law both in common law meaning laws created by written opinions of Judges as well as Florida statute 10 12.26 that public officials have the right to legal representation at the expense of the public when defending themselves if the incident occurred while one they were performing their official duties and two served a public-purpose public interest these factors what we call a legal test are established in Ellison versus Reed 397 Southern second 352 Florida first DCA 1981 Thornburg versus City of Fort Walton Beach 568 Southern 2nd 914 Florida 1990 Malloy versus Board of County commissioners of Leon County 946 Southern second 1260 first DCA 2007 as well as in the attorney General opinion 91-58 issued in 1991. the board's decision has to be based on the factual evidence that the board requires
068to make its decision if the board determines that both prongs of the legal test have been met the official's legal fees must be paid pursuant to attorney general's opinion 91-58 page three as well as the cases that previously were recited thank you unfortunately we have to have this discussion but I feel it was necessary to do so for the Public's sake as well as I want to acknowledge that I believe that these invoices do meet the two-prong law to be in to be legit in review of the complaints there was one in particular that I was concerned with regarding an ongoing investigation that the information was actually in this complaint and at this time I was actually going to divide them but at this time I've changed my mind and what I want to do
069is move to accept all three invoices at this time but with the exception of an ongoing because of the ongoing investigation of any malfeasance if Miss patricus has any part in that she will reverse and reimburse the district so I'm gonna re-read that so because I'm kind of didn't say it very clear I think so I want to move to accept and pay all invoices at this time but with the exception of the ongoing investigation of any Amalfi since that's founded and that Miss Patrick will play a part in that she will reimburse the district if that is founded so let me let me see if I can assist Miss Jason So currently there's a motion on the floor to accept the recommendation that all four invoices all the invoices related to the four cases
070be paid and with seconded I Believe by Miss Jordan are you asking that be amended to say that if there is any indication that there was any wrongdoing relating to one of those particular cases that Miss Patrica will reimburse the board for that for the payment that is being made yes so is there a second to that limit so I will second the amendment okay discussion on the amendment and so for me for discussion on it is really clear that the governor holds school board members accountable and I think it would be prudent for us to acknowledge this at this time and make you know have the public aware that we are watching and we are doing trying to do better as public officials our elected officials that we will make sure that we're not
071spending money that we should not be doing so I'm trying to be physically responsible and we there in the past there has been many investigations that should not have happened and I want to make sure that we're on the right path that we've turned this page as a board to make sure that our community is aware that we are going to be transparent and be accountable ourselves and so that's why I'm bringing it up like this today Mr Fisher thank you chair and okay thank you chair thank you Miss juvenile so in looking at that I would argue just based on what I've seen that is overly speculative at the moment for that as a Florida licensed and practicing attorney how I've read the investigations I do not believe that from my readings of it
072that I would see that come out a rise out of that at the moment I would argue that we're really trying to jump ahead at that point if there is any issue in the future yes I believe we need the address at that point but there's nothing within that I mean I'm just like you I am big on transparency I agree with that I'm looking at you know this I'm looking at the prongs remit I'm looking at you know the fees were reasonable I'm just you know based on prior board precedent as well in paying these past fees I'm looking just within the lines of the ethics complaint and I believe that's what we need to be looking at when we're analyzing this if there's something else that arises from that I would absolutely entertain
073and agree on the transparency part if there's something further with that I would absolutely support moving forward but on the amendment I would not support that at this moment thank you thank you any other comments I just want to confirm that it's okay for me to vote because this does not this is not an economic benefit to me this is just a reimbursement is that correct please through the chair to attorney Bruno foreign out there from the attorney general that speaks to this specific situation out of a governing body I want to say in the Tampa area this is not an economic benefit this is just a reimbursement and thus there is no conflict of interest so I'm thinking of the bylaws that the board kind of gave the thumbs up to move forward in
074your new policy that's going to be coming forward would limit it to economic benefits so yes you can vote thank you I would like to add I read the complaint that Mr giovanelli is referencing and I also read the investigation that's going on and she is not named specifically in that investigation so I see no reason to withhold as far as the way I look at it at this time yes Mr Fisher and it also re-emphasized with this it's not about an individual person what I'm looking at this is each board member and whatever their duty is based on the complaint so that's how I'm looking at I'm not looking at an individual person of anyone on this board I just want to make that clear okay any other discussion before we vote on the
075amendment I just want to say that I seconded so we would have a conversation that's why I asked I could do that okay thank you okay we will do a roll call vote on the amendment at this time to the amendment well you have the comment on the first part which was because this was already part of the agenda it's just pulled it's not a new motion that's being brought forth I mean they're they're and I understand Miss kittens what you're saying but this is a this was already on the agenda so sorry Mr chairman thank you all right the motion that we're voting on right now the amendment we're voting on right now to the motion is to pay the fees for three of the four the amendment was I believe how it was
076amended is that we were going to pay all four with the understanding if that something came up that would require us to revisit that there would be a reimbursement that is what the amendment is thank you all right we'll now vote on that Amendment Mr Fisher no this is juvenile yes that's Patrica no thank you Miss Jordan no that's like for Fleming nay and Miss Morgan no and I am a no the amendment fails six to one now we will vote on the main motion here approval reimbursement of legal fees incurred by board member Chris Patrica to defend herself against several complaints filed with the Florida Commission of ethics we'll do a roll call Mr Fisher aye Mrs giovanelli no this is Patrica yes please Miss Jordan aye Mr Langford Fleming aye Ms Morgan aye
077and I am an eye the motion carries six to one now Dr Bernier would you please read your recommendation for pooled item L7 yes sir Mr chair approval tool I'm sorry item L7 approval to award ITN n227-439 mg for program management oversight of permanent facility repairs to answer advisory Consulting LLC in an amount not to exceed 2.332 million dollars as indicated on the attached tabulation sheet the total amount includes a 10 contingency for services that the district may require as ITN will be effective for three years beginning March 7th 2023 through March 6 2026 with renewal options for three additional one-year periods upon written agreement of the vendor and the district for up to 2.33201100 for the first year of the base contract period March 7th 2023 through March 6 2024. the ITN will be
078utilized to manage and coordinate the permanent facility repairs sustained from Hurricane Ian approval authorizes the superintendent to execute the all related documents foreign is there a motion to adopt Dr veneer's recommendation for L7 approval to award ITN number n227-439 mg program management oversight a permanent fill facility repairs is there a motion yes Morgan Ms Morgan I move we approve the superintendent's recommendation to award ITN number n227-439 mg program management oversight of permanent facility repairs is there a second a second Mrs giovannelli the item has been moved by Miss Morgan and seconded by Mrs J vinelli is there any discussion it's giovannelli thank you okay I pulled this item and I just wanted to talk about it a little bit we actually had Ecom program management right excuse me the superintendent had hired them during the
079emergency order after Hurricane Ian and I think I mean I know we need program management and I know we need oversight and we don't have we're understaffed in construction and so I think that's really what I want to talk about is that we could save this two million dollars if we had enough employees and staff in construction and had project managers that could manage some of this business that we're going to have over the next Actually I don't even know I mean I think it's going to be longer than three years personally but because there's a lot of things that we have to do and plus build schools so I am going to support this evening but my concern number two was I believe in keeping business local and using our local vendors and our
080local people this vendor is coming from Longwood Florida which is over in Seminole County and I'm concerned over the extra expenses that they'll have to be here in Lee County when this is not really where they are normally I want to I really like the fact that if we had local vendors doing these jobs or or oversight a local vendor overseeing these jobs and projects that it would keep the business local and our economy local now we're going to be feeding longwoods economy versus Lee County's economy so I think that's really what was important to me and I wanted to have that discussion and the superintendent and I have had several discussions about this and he understands you know my feeling on it but and I'll let him explain it a little bit more but
081I know he felt like this was the better better opportunity to have a better what's the word I want to say just that it's a little bit cheaper than what the e-com was really it was more feasible I should say so Dr Bruner through the chair yes please just as a piece of advisement for the public AECOM is the company that we're speaking about AECOM was hired to work on the remediation and stabilization immediately following the hurricane as you saw in my hurricane update today we are still involved in that process but that is AECOM scope of work when we put this itm this invitation to negotiate out on the street Acom did bid so did answer advisory as well as to other companies a local company started to bid but never submitted their bid
082one of the reasons that we believe this may have occurred but since we're in a cone of silence I've not contacted any other construction sites construction companies within the area because right now we've not approved a bid it would be inappropriate me to speak with them that there was more money to be had in the 230 to 300 million dollars worth of repair than there was in a two million dollar oversight of the work to be done so better to be involved in fixing the roofs fixing the schools and putting the permanent repairs together as well as continuing down the process of getting new schools so they didn't wind up in what we believe so they didn't wind up in a conflict of interest regarding overseeing work while at the same time wanting to construct
083work can't do both that's what I believe occurred I've expressed that to miss giovannelli but until such time as we make an approval we're not really in a position where I can contact the previous vendors AECOM we were in the public record is very clear they came in exorbitantly high in comparison to where they bid the remediation and stabilization I suspect that as soon as we take action the aacom representatives will be in touch with me we can have some discussions about why their pricing went where it went specifically around local vendors again I encouraged as I did in my end of my presentation tonight on the hurricane update on the far right hand column of all the work for each one of the schools we've listed the primary generalized contractor for roofing tile acoustical
084tiles all those things that we need to replace at our schools those are all local companies and that's where the vast majority of our money is going to be spent so as to the aspect of additional staff if I could get planners I would we have three currently we've done the interview process for our fourth that will fully staff out what we've been budgeted to put in our planning office the reality though is this work is not going to last forever my suspicions are is it won't even go a full three years in our con our contracts will allow us to stop Services when the work is done but if these company was to get involved for instance with Fort Myers Beach and Hector cafaretta as we build those programs out they could be here
085for three years the reality is this is a staff augmentation I don't have the staff right now I have a considerable amount of repairs that need to be done and I need to make sure that the planning is done appropriately with our team but also the work following repair where somebody actually goes out and puts eyes on it to and to ensure that repair has been completed and completed correctly is incredibly important we could hire people but in two years the work will be over and what what do we do with those people then right I that's why cons that's why I've expressed that's why Consultants exist so I think that touched on Miss Gianelli's points thank you any other discussion seeing none we will do a roll call vote to adopt Dr benir's recommendation
086for L7 Mr Fisher aye this is Jay Benelli yes this is Patrica yes please Miss Jordan aye it's Langford Fleming aye Ms Morgan aye and I am and I the motion carries 7-0 next on our agenda is the resolution for School Board of Lee County Florida regarding school safety we'll be having public comment on this after the resolution is read whereas the school board of Lee County Florida the school board consisting of seven elected Florida constitutional officers is the governing body for the school district of Lee County Florida the district whereas the safety of all children is the highest priority of the school board and as such the school board is deeply saddened by any tragic event at a school including but not limited to the tragic events of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
087Parkland Florida on February 14 2018 Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas on May 24 2022 richnick Elementary School in Newport Virginia on January 6 2023 and the recent events at Michigan State University on February 13th as well as many others whereas the district has experienced social media threats of violence against schools students and staff and weapons have been found on school property whereas recent swatting threats at some of our schools have raised concerns locally and nationally whereas the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School public safety act requires each district school board and superintendent to partner with law enforcement agencies to establish or assign one or more safe School officers at each school facility within the district by implementing a combination of options that best meets the needs of the school district or as the school has
088school resource officers and desires to have a force multiplier for additional protection enhanced safety and to add another layer of security in our schools whereas the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School public safety act enacted in 2018 Florida led by the Florida legislature established a coach Aaron Feast Guardian program known as The Guardian program to Aid in the prevention or abatement of active assailant incidents on school premises whereas the school board May Implement and the Lee County Sheriff Carmen marcino May establish a guardian program whereas there are very specific legal requirements to establish a guardian program a candidate of the Guardian program must undergo extensive training that will be provided by the sheriff's office which includes 12 hours of certified nationally recognized diversity training and 132 hours of comprehensive firearm safety and proficiency training for a
089total of 144 hours of extensive training candidates must also pass a psychological evaluation than a drug test in accordance with the statutory requirements in addition candidates are required to compete ongoing training weapons inspection and Firearm qualification on at a minimum and annual basis whereas in keeping the school boards Paramount concern for the safety of District students the School Board desires to be memorized memorialized its position on the importance of school safety and to enact a guardian program within the district therefore be it resolved the school board adopts the following resolutions in support of school safety as follows the school board supports and will adhere to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Service Act the school board intends to utilize the options available to meet the requirements of section 26 of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas
090High School public safety act for the protection and safety of students staff visitors and property number three the school board desires to implement a guardian program to serve as a force multiplier for additional security and safety the school board directs the superintendent to work closely with the Lee County Sheriff Carmine marcino and other local law enforcement agencies and Advising and implementing a guardian program the safe operation of the program shall be the Paramount concern as well as compliance with the Pacific statutory requirements noted in the Florida statute 1006.12 which includes extensive training psychological evaluation and drug testing number four the sole purpose of the Guardian is to prevent or Abate an active assailant on school premises as such the Guardians shall have no authority to act in any law enforcement capacity except to the extent
091necessary to prevent or Abate an active assailant a candidate for the guardian program shall be a volunteer Candice must be a full-time must be full-time employees of the district who are in good standing further candidates shall not be employees exclusively performing classroom duties such as teachers as defined in Florida statute 0.01 to a any candidate of the Guardian program that fails any part of the application process including the background check and any part of the training psychological or drug test is automatically barred from the program the superintendent is directed to draft policies and procedures to effectuate this resolution at this time is there a motion to adopt the resolution on school safety Mr Fisher motion to adopt the resolution as spoken and written a second okay this is Fleming it's been moved by Mr Fisher
092and secondly by Mrs Langford Fleming prior to the board's discussion we'll open the fourth floor for public comment under the same guidelines as previously advised by attorney Bruno is there anyone in the audience who wishes to address the board but did not fill out a comment card okay yeah Mrs Brenda we have a list of we do we have 10 individuals who wish to address the board with regards to the resolution the time is three minutes per speaker thank you I'm sorry about the timing I did not realize that my name is Dr Marianne Wilbur I have two children in this school district I've never spoken at a school board meeting before because I've never felt the need I have tremendous faith in the system I love my schools my children's teachers their principal and
093our superintendent who visited my first grades my son's opening at the Sanibel School recently thank you so much for what you do and thank you for taking the safety of our children seriously okay I really really appreciate it however I am very very concerned about this resolution right I'm a physician I have two Public Health degrees one in Social epidemiology the other in health administration and public policy I am facile on the data that comes with this so when it came across my desk it jumped out at me this is very very concerning there are very little to no data that such a guardian would actually be prepared to stop an assailant it's the chances are infinitesimally small however the chances of an unintentionable unintentional firearm death of a child is exponentially higher than the
094chances that an armed New Zealand is actually taken down exponentially there is significant data I have lots of citations and I'm happy to share them I gave my contact information all right we even know so much about this that I could predict what would happen okay it would be a male because males choose to carry these weapons the male would it be completely accidental he would probably be using the restroom he would take his holster and hang it or put it somewhere he knows he's not supposed to but he just once and he gets called away he's probably the janitor statistically speaking he is called because a child is vomiting in the cafeteria he forgets he runs to the cafeteria the gun is left in the room the restroom a child just like my first
095gray boy who is curious and smart and capable would walk in the bathroom easily unsnap The holster easily undo the safety pointed at a friend think he is kidding and shoot his friend statistically that is what would happen if you pass this resolution the only thing that changes is that instead of this child's death being on the hands of a mentally ill stranger the death of that child is now on the hands of the people in this room please whoever put this in front of you tell them you're sorry you know that they're dedicated to child safety but you just can't support taking responsibility of a dead child well the following individuals please line up Noel hersick Amanda bury Johnny streets Nancy toreri Sharon McGill hi I just wanted to say I've been a teacher
096in the Lee County School District for 23 years I'm also a parent and I've never come to talk to you guys or done anything like this but as a parent of and a teacher for the Lee County School District I'm here to ask that you please vote down arming more people on school campuses this school Year my son was at Mariner High School during their swatting call as a parent this was very real fear for me and the long 10 minutes that it took until I heard from him was the worst 10 minutes of my life I was terrified I was sick after I finally reached him that fear spread to the many students that I know at Mariner I'm an itinerant teacher and Mariner is one of my schools I want to publicly thank
097the two trained officers at Mariner High School officer Lucas and officer Perez the school staff and all the First Responders that cleared that high school that day many of the staff in my own son in particular that I spoke to after this experience said they felt relieved with the speed and manner the response of the of the trained officers I only tell you this story because it's an example of how a crisis plan worked all the hard work that the people have put in it worked that day my son feels safer because of that experience none of the officers hesitated they followed their practice and rehearse plan I do think it's critical that we maintain having trained school resource officers who not only have prior training but are required to complete ongoing rigorous training to
098ensure that they are equipped to protect our students and staff allowing more guns on campus does not make me as a teacher or a parent feel like a campus is more safe the opposite is true I find it alarming to allow any person who passes a drug screening in a psychological test who completes a 144-hour training to carry a gun on a school campus consider it the minimum to table this and take a poll to determine how your teachers your students your staff and the school resource resource officers feel about this if you're not willing to vote no at least pull us every person I spoke to about this today didn't feel like this was a good idea my son his friends other teachers administrators it in my opinion it is a really bad idea
099and I think that other people have talked about the shortage of teachers it is going to increase this makes us feel very very unsafe thank you ma'am could you just state your name please it's Noelle hersick thank you thank you next speaker please good evening my name is Johnny streets and to The Honorable chair and The Honorable members The Honorable superintendent and The Honorable attorney I am not an activist or an advocate but I do have some concerns that I hope your decisions tonight will be based on your conviction and not your consensus there's much work to be done I applaud you for at least making an attempt to make our schools safer but there's another adage to that it's also my concern that I work with my constituents in my communities to educate them
100to educate their children the dangers and the catastrophic that could happen when things are not thought out well there is no guarantee that anything will stop anything if it's going to happen but along with what you may or may not pass I think you also need to go a little bit further and look at School social workers we need more of them metal detectors we need more of them clinical psychologists to hear the referrals to them that may be made by the school of social workers other teachers to probably Rectify problems before it happens so I'm asking you to make sure and one of the other things that concerns me is that is there a rush to do this tonight if so that's your decision but I'm concerned about we have not even passed the
101bill in the state legislator in regards to open carry because that may be some concerns in that bill that may have an impact on what you may or may not pass tonight so I thank you for your time I hope that you look at this carefully because just like an email to a certain extent once you've sent it you can't bring it back thank you very much for your time good evening board my name is Crystal ciscon and I'm here speaking against this I want to say that I as a parent have a real problem with any person being in the school with a weapon I in my faith choose not to have weapons choose to a path of peace and I try to teach my children that I understand after the law was passed
102that we had sros installed into the schools for safety and I have had my children through many times as another person said where the procedure worked and the students were safe and I also am a victim of gun violence a family member of mine and I have to tell you that I 100 do not agree that we should be empowering a group of individuals determined by the police force after 147 hours to have a weapon around my child I also would like to point out that a lot of people and cultures and groups in our County do not look at that as an added layer of safety they in fact look at that as making the situation more unsafe and that this resolution doesn't have to be determined tonight and my personal opinion is if
103you do this also in light of this new open carry legislation that is coming I will not send my children to school because it will not be safe and I am not the only parent who feels that way and I hope that you really take some time to do some some deep investigation in the different committees that you have on the ramifications of this and and why we would bring the police in to keep us safe rather than investing in mental health teachers and social workers thank you well the following individuals please line up Andrew White Mike deck Gwen gittins hello my name is Amanda Berry I'm a former Lee County student and Lee County Parent my student graduated last year of course I'm always concerned about my sun safety and was while he was
104in school and of course still am I've had many concerns about his education and his safety over the course of his K-12 education but I was never concerned whether I was never concerned once whether there were enough guns in school I have friends and family who were teachers many of them are concerned about their students mental health living conditions and rigorous testing schedules but not a single one of them would feel safer knowing that their staff and colleagues could be armed I believe that this is resolution is unnecessary I believe that schools already have trained and armed Ros in every school an entrance barriers to every school which does work I believe that it's ineffective and causes more harm than good for the reasons that the doctor stated earlier the risk of accident unintended consequences
105or weapons getting into the wrong hands is a much greater risk and I believe there are the far more effective methods of intervention that don't endanger Children's Mental Health there is as I'm sure the doctor could speak to a correlations between mental health and just proximity to gunshots whether or not a child actually even sees a gunshot so yeah I just would I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to voice my concerns thanks thank you good evening board my name is Andrew White I'm actually looking at the student representative right now because to come full circle I was the student representative for my school completes board during Columbine it was a horrible horrible experience I rise today to speak out against this resolution and the reason why I have a four-year-old who is
106in pre-k at Orangewood and my wife is a teacher out at Veterans Park Academy I know for an absolute certainty the heart of teachers you will find people who will gladly throw themselves in front of a bullet if you ask them to so I'm saying to you know that's the case you are now asking them to if we are at the point where you need to call up the Posse and throw more guns at the situation you are absolutely escalating this you are saying to the teachers please be human Shields please accept the responsibility that you will have to shoot a child in your care go ahead train for 140 hours on the realization that the kid you failed in math class that you had such high hopes for you will need to drill them
107through the head with a 38. I can tell you from Uvaldi more guns does not equal better control body armor coordination skills all these things we train and train and train far beyond the standard that you're giving and our law enforcement struggles with this matter I say to you bring more law enforcement in don't bring teachers in don't destroy the faith and trust that they have in their students don't turn them against each other and secondarily don't put Targets on their backs because there are kids who will steal anything from a teacher there are kids who will assault a teacher and there are kids who if they decide to snap will go straight for the teacher who has a gun in their desk and take them out first this is full of peril what is
108being considered I ask that you accept and look at the human consequences that could happen if you ask a teacher to carry a gun thank you Sharon McGill since I attended the briefing in December regarding the guardian program I had been anticipating that something was going to come down the line I assumed that you've been having executive sessions all along but the word transparency has come up multiple times tonight and this was not transparent I saw this on the agenda last week because I look at the agenda every time there's a meeting but but notes are more concerned with looking at focus and what's going on with their kids but when I read they were appalled they had no idea that this was going on it's just wrong that this wasn't brought before the community
109before bringing it as a resolution for a vote one of the most important things a district can do for the safety of our children is to mitigate and intervene before an act of violence takes place that isn't the guardian program that just isn't they're already in the school by that time and who knows what could have happened by the time a guardian even reached that person you've talked about scanners and metal detectors in the schools that's a proactive measure you're keeping the weapons out of the school where the children can go and be safe this is your opportunity to reach out to the public and really find out how they feel about this before you take a vote and make a decision and as much as I respect Dr benir and his ability to bring
110this for a vote before the public even has an idea what the policy or the processes would be regarding it I mean I was getting tons of questions like do they take the guns home do they bring them back to the school the next day are they locked up at school what happens people want to know the answers to questions before they make decisions inform decisions so I really ask you that you table this resolution for tonight and get more Community input thank you well the following individuals please line up Heidi chrisenstein Ron Rankin Robert Daniels good evening my dad was a police officer I'm ex-military and a BFW lifetime member I have a concealed carry and I think other than a highly trained resource officer in school this is a very bad idea I'm
111not going to give you any more reasons Annette thank you for your time hi my name is Heidi krassenstein I want to give you a little Heidi yeah there you go sorry when I was 18 years old I started a job as a prison Garden in Wisconsin prison every year we had to do weapons re-qualification we had to do drug tests and we had background checks done and I can't load a gun I can't shoot a gun I passed out weapons recall every single year for three years they were short staffed they passed me through because it was friends of mine that were doing the weapons re-qualification so you guys will say they have 144 hours they go through these tests don't trust me with the gun I went through the same exact test that
112you guys are probably going to put these people through you also said earlier after someone spoke saying that we might not comment on what you guys say but we hear you we listen and all of you guys shook your heads we do you don't have one person backing this up right now so if you really are listening to us you'll do the right thing thank you good evening again Gwen giddens 144 hours of which 12 our diversity equity and inclusion I recall recently diversity equity and inclusion being taken out of schools off the list out of our minds away from children so my question is what kind of cultural diversity and competency is going to be in these 12 hours 144 hours 12 diversity 132 I guess in gun safety and all that the psychology
113part is a test not a training that says like others have said are you going to be willing to shoot and kill a student that you just spoke with in the hallway that can create PTSD to the hilt so more than just a psychological test to see if you pass the test there are ways that you can get around that the cultural piece I really do worry about especially with the demographics of the students that may be involved in this I would like to know what are the results of the student pair surveys in the town hall discussions that were held regarding this topic I don't think there were any unless I just missed it I can't understand how you went directly to a resolution and not to a policy which would allow three public
114at least three public comment sessions and I was told by someone well but this is just to make sure and to see if it works and then we'll do the policy your resolution says the sheriff May establish the program that is not a wait and see that is a program that will be in place when I spoke before I did not mean to offend anybody by saying that you don't listen and I apologize if you took it that way but what I did say if you hear me there's results I know that you heard me because either if I if you're walking and I say stop and you hear me you stop because you don't know if there's danger ahead if you hear me it results the litmus test is something happens thank you Robert
115Daniels I'll be the person out speaking in favor of this 14 years ago when I was in college studying to be a teacher I lived in a guns free Department Zone down behind the Target by FGCU on Super Bowl Sunday that year I got to stand there and watch somebody try to come through my front door with an ax and me and my roommate said nothing to defend ourselves we were there but the guitar held upside down the kitchen knife that's all we had eight years ago I moved into the city seven years ago I was living across the street from Franklin Park Elementary when about one o'clock in the morning somebody tried to break into my house through my bedroom window I wasn't honorable that time I drew a gun I pointed it at
116them and the attack stopped instantly when I was on the phone with 9-1-1 the first time I was told it would be 20 minutes for an officer to get to my front door I had a roommate considering jumping out of a third story window we hear talk about teachers being willing to die for their students give me the shield give the administrator the gun if you have people who are willing to live and protect the students then yes they're also going to be willing to live with the PTSD of taking out one child to save 30 40 50. those who are here who have expressed their fear of people having guns I covered my first gun when I was five I've never thought they were a toy I was properly educated properly trained by my
117parents my family if our students are being properly told and educated about what guns are as they used to be back in the 60s and 70s they're not going to accidentally shoot someone I've been in possession of a gun for the better part of the last 30 years of my life especially since that night I had the first break in attempts I've never had a single misfire the gun has never gone off it's a machine I can with my single action throw it across the room fully loaded it will not go off unless someone pulls that trigger this can be done safely you're worried about the kids picking up a gun somewhere in the school keeping a biometric safe that needs the guardian's fingerprint to unlock it instead of carrying on their person when the
118lockdown goes down they arm themselves and they're instantly there that's a way a lot faster for the resource officers to have the backup they may need then the two three four five thirty minutes that it might take to get enough officers there otherwise depending on where they are and if you would like me to illustrate plans on how somebody could make it take 30 minutes do a school attack I'll do that privately because I would hate to be the person to plant the idea in someone's head and how they could successfully pull off a shooting with our current security practices thank you good evening hi Dick here I am a resident of Lee County I'm a father and I serve with the US Army in operation Iraqi Freedom 2008. we have heard a lot of
119feelings here but the reality is that feelings do not stop criminals and criminals do not care about your feelings there are a few facts that we should have cleared this evening number one country songs do not work how is it that criminals have figured this out and gun control Advocates have not do you know where my shootings do not happen in police stations in the gun range in gun shows you know the places where everyone is on every qualified staff member should have the choice to protect our children and themselves and have complete immunity against prosecution if they eliminate a school shooter teachers should should also be included on this number two we have plenty I've already Transit listens combat veterans and former law enforcement teaching our children and working as staff members in schools
120today now it is appalling to me that the same group of people praising staff members and teachers are smart hero heroes are the same group of people vilifying them claiming that armed teachers and staff members to manage a firearm number three the police are scared of School shooters and will not protect our kids these have been evident in the past few things like Parkland school shooting here in Florida where they assign School deputy walked up to the hallway door and when he heard the gunshots he retreated back to safety with his firearm also the Uvalde school shooting in Texas where multiple Law Enforcement Officers waited over an hour in the school hallway with the Rio gear long rifles while the innocent children were being slaughtered 20 feet from them they literally waited until the gunman
121ran out of ammo before they confronted him this is not my opinion these are facts and were cut them videotape and presented as evidence in court the Parkland assigned Deputy was taken to court for these actions and was exonerated after the defense quoted the Supreme Court case the shiny bit versus Winnebago of 1999 where the Supreme Court ruled that it is not the duty of the police agencies to protect citizens from criminals meaning that not a single law enforcement in this room and in the United States has a duty to protect citizens within their jurisdiction the teachers that died in this in the shooting of Parkland High School did so when they acted as human Shields to protect the innocent children in their class I didn't know any of them but as someone who has
122been shut up before I can guarantee you one thing I bet they wish they had a gun when they saw the shooter coming into the classroom literary Mr chairman that concludes public comment thank you and thank you for your comments board member Mr Fisher has made a motion to adopt the resolution on school safety and it was properly second by board member Mrs Langford Fleming at this time the floor is open for any discussion Mr Fisher thank you chairpersons I want to thank everyone for coming out for their comments for their emails I really do appreciate it as those on the board know outside of being a board member my other job is a father of three young kids in this District security and safety is something that is in my mind every day in
123fact I'm always checking between these meetings the briefing and the Action meeting on what's going on with my kids it's a constant fear and it's something as one of our jobs up here is to keep my kids safe and everyone else's kids safe there's a lot of things going on right now I want to remind everyone first this is a resolution we're still working on stuff in regards to this program it's a state program that's been implemented in I believe 46 out of the 67 counties so this is not anything that is unique or novel within this state so this is a tested program so our Sheriff supports this program has been very supportive of it and something that I believe we have a lot of faith in this sheriff in this County these are
124highly trained again we talk talked about the hours but one of the things is when regards this program law enforcement still has to sign off on a person even if they get through this program in regards to all the training the test they still have to sign off if there is something one little thing that is not proper they will not sign off on that and I expect that of them and they have relayed that to us so I think that's a very important factor so as well volunteer you know as I said I'm hoping I would guess the rest of the board feels like this but this is volunteer only nobody should be pushed into this it should be only people that want to step up and do this I want to make that
125clear there will be no pressure from anyone up here in order to do that so as I said you know security is something that is Paramount is one of our top duties up here I fully support the guardian program I fully support our law enforcement and our Sheriff's Sheriff that will be implementing the training in regards to this so we welcome any further feedback on this again this is a resolution so this is just the beginning of it thank you for listing and thank you for everyone's comments Mrs Jay vanelli thank you I have actually been championing this guarding program since the governor asked for it to after the investigation the governor put it in an order and brought the guardian program made legislation I actually spoke to a widow and a parent of their
126daughter that was lost in Parkland and I asked them just over the summer no excuse me December I asked them what would they do they support the guardian program and they both told me they supported it they told me that the one a widow she said if her her husband ran back in to the to to the shooter to try to protect the children and with no weapon no defense if he had had a gun that day he would have been able to take the shooter out that was very compelling for me because I've been championing it but I was concerned over it as many parents and other individuals are and I think at this we've since then even in our own Lee County kids are scared every day because they don't know when it's
127going to be a swatting or if the swatting is really happening because it's happening often so that extra shield of protection to know that there's somebody else there is a determined that is really greatly needed I do support and I've been advocating since 2017 a year before Parkland for metal detectors 2022 or excuse me 23 and we still have metal detectors so it's scary because we need them I know it's I don't I don't agree exactly how this resolution came about exactly because I do feel like that we needed to have more conversations and the community community needs to be aware of it and that was something I did bring up actually the night before I think Sunday night I sent an email asking wait are we circumventing the option of how we have policies
128and reviews three times and and thank you Miss Jordan for bringing up actually having the conversation so the people could have public comment on this because I was very concerned over that I think we do we need to have more conversations but safety is the in the foremost the first thing and the most the most important thing that we have to do is keep our children safe and if this is one extra little piece I'll feel better about that because I don't know that we can put a price again like I said on safety and this keeping our students students safe and I thank everyone that came and spoke against it and for it I do understand where you're coming from but I think that we have to do what's best for all students and
129I think and it is a choice no one has to wear a gun teachers are not going to be made to carry a gun it will be a choice and I think that's really important it's a choice thank you thank you I don't see the mom here from Mariner did she leave the one who was talking about the swatting incident hopefully she'll watch later because this is sort of in response to her the very first swatting call that we got was at South Fort Myers High School my son is a sophomore at South Fort Myers High School I was on social media and I saw a post that said 21 dead active shooter on campus at the same time I was receiving a text from my son that said mom there's 21 Dead on Campus
130and there's an active shooter on my campus and I terrifying absolutely terrifying so I sit here as a parent that's been in those shoes thinking that my kid was in a building with shots and other dead kids sorry there have since been other squatting incidents and other incidents on that campus and I'm not nearly as afraid as I was before why because I guess you know I'm I'm not I've been conditioned and unfortunately you know contrary to what Miss giovannelli just said the kids are conditioned too and I'm not hearing fear from them I'm hearing oh boy this is annoying it's happening again so I do think we need to address that and make sure that the kids are paying more attention what I can tell you is every time I've seen the reaction and
131the response from law enforcement in this area I have been incredibly impressed it is the complete opposite of what we saw at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas and it is the complete opposite of what we saw in Uvalde I see our sheriff's deputies running through halls with long guns putting themselves In Harm's Way to save our children in the same way that training is taking place for our sheriff's deputies it would be our Sheriff who would be training our Guardians and I have I have a lot of confidence in our sheriff and his ability to train people for this role I have gone through an evolution in in my thinking on the guardian program I was initially against it when it came out when it first came out why because local law enforcement leaders were against it
132we did not have a sheriff who supported it and we did not have ah Chiefs of police that supported it that is different we have the support of our Sheriff now number one number two what I'm hearing is that our Chiefs of police will get behind it depending on what's in the policy and I am going to listen to our local law enforcement experts I am not a law enforcement expert I don't know how law enforcement works I need to rely on Experts when I'm making decisions and if it is their sense that our schools will be safer with a guardian or Guardians in our schools who am I to say no to that because I'm afraid fear should not drive my decision making anecdotal stories like the one I started my comments with also
133shouldn't dictate our decision making I told that story so that people in the audience understand I'm a parent too I'm not just making this decision without knowing what it feels like to have kids in our schools I will say that on a slightly different subject hearing your comments and agreeing with them are sometimes different things if this board decides differently than what the majority of the public comment is that doesn't mean we didn't hear you it means we don't necessarily agree with that finally I don't know yet that I fully support this why because the policy has not come in front of the board I don't know the details of the policy the devil will be in the details if a policy is written that I can support you'll have a yes vote if the
134policy is written then I can't support and law enforcement leaders can't support I will not support that either so right now all we're doing is directing the superintendent to write those policies and much of the conversation regarding transparency I don't know how we can be more transparent than this we're putting it on the table Lee County this is what we're doing and there'll be all kinds of opportunity for public comment as the policy process plays out there will be decisions that will be made in executive session we cannot tell the public everything we're doing because if we do it will frustrate the purpose of the policy and the program in the first place so I'm sorry I got emotional that is so not like me but obviously it's an emotional topic for the for the
135community I wanted you to know where I stood on it thank you those are my comments I'm sorry I went so long thank you Miss Jordan Wow first of all I don't believe that we did bring this to the public soon enough I felt that was my question continuously when do we bring this to the public when do we have this conversation I know this is inevitable I am very much aware of that and yes there are many counties who actually do have the guardian program a lot of the most the majority of them are smaller counties that do have them but it is it's very hard this is very very hard for me not because I'm afraid of guns I do know that we as a district adhere to the statute like we have
136these fine gentlemen up here in our room the sros are in our schools they're protecting our children and when we did have those swatting events at our schools they were there they were there to make sure that all of our children were protected and it was not just the Sheriff's Office it was this the cape police it was all of them Fort Myers PD everybody works together to make sure that all of our children are safe so we do have those we do have that going on in our schools so I do feel very safe and I'm speaking as they were you know everybody else was saying their kids they have children I have tons of grandchildren as well as you know nephews and nieces and of all colors so you know and everybody looks
137at it in a different manner we have to make sure that we are listening to what our constituents have to say and the community have to say because it does matter it does really matter and I know to me this resolution is we're putting this resolution bringing it on to start working on that policy and procedures but I believe that we need to make sure that in doing so that we do go out there and we get the information from the public on how they feel about about this about what we are doing up here because we represent all of them you know over a hundred thousand children we represent them and even with you know so I know that the public is concerned I have you know my angst is about this I but
138I do understand that you know the resolution stated that it is you know it is for the School Board places the safety of our students and staff as the highest priority but we need to make sure that we also include the parents in this as well and the community because it's all about parental rights so we need to make sure that everybody's rights are being heard and we cannot you know of course we cannot ignore the fact that there are you know there have been shootings there have been tragedies we get we hear it on the radio we hear it on the TV we hear it everywhere and we're not immune by it so we have to do the best that we can do for this the guardian program is going to serve as a
139force multiplier not taken away you know the gentleman and the women that we have protecting our schools right now and our children this individual volunteer and again when they keep saying there's no price on safety well then let's pay let's continue to pay people however ours is you know again it's it's the force multiplier of the protection to enhance the safety and other layers of security in our schools to protect their children and staff and not everyone's gonna you know can be a guardian they have to go through all the training they have to pass all these evaluations these testing that one lady that was out here spoke about that how she passed it multiple times and how she passed it which was kind of scary to me but again the guardian is not that
140person is not a law enforcement so they have no arrest Powers they are just they're there if and when a active shooter were to come on that campus that's the that's their only purpose there and I know that you know the superintendent and the team is going to work closely with the with the sheriff and the local law enforcement agencies and I truthfully I would love to hear them tell us tell the public that they are on board as well that to me is really important that we know we're sitting here saying that they're on board but I would love for them to come out and say yes I'm on board with this so that way we all are on the same page with this as we go forward and again you know the sole
141purpose of this Guardian is to prevent or Abate the active assailant in on School premises so we are going to be charged with making sure that the policies and the procedures are where they need to be and look at every single aspect of that and if by any chance that is not what we as a community as a board how we believe that it should be then that will be the time to make a decision whether we I personally would vote for it or not but again I apologize to the public that we did not come out ahead of time before today to have these conversations thank you it's like for funding without risking repeating all the things that I agree with up here on the board I too am a parent of three children
142and every day I'm reminded I wish that this wasn't even something we had to talk about I wish this was not on the table I joke often with my children and tell them oh I wish that you could grow up in the 70s like I did and we often have conversations about safety not just in school but their day-to-day life going to the mall going to the movies getting out of the gas station it's incredibly unfortunate that this is the world that we are living in and it's not our children's fault but as a board member and as a parent and as a an elected official it is my job to make sure that what I spoke about for 18 months is still my number one priority and that is student safety it's also staff
143and faculty safety and I and I was a teacher for 20 years and I can tell you that there were times that doing the duties that I had as a teacher there were many times where something could have gone awry and thank God it didn't but it could have I just want to reiterate that tonight is a resolution and I will think long and hard about the policies that will be put in place before I vote on anything regards to the future of this program I think that Miss Jordan was correct when she said we have to work together with law enforcement I agree with board member Patrica I am not I neither I am not a law enforcement agent myself these wonderful men and women that protect us day in and day out are
144and I will be relying on their expertise when we move forward with this I don't want to go any further I know that we're going to have many discussions I do want to just say one more thing and that is as these discussions happen and occur please please know that we are listening to you when you come to the board meeting and we are hearing you and I welcome public comment and I welcome constituents coming so whether you agree or disagree please listen to the board meetings as we proceed with these ideals please talk to community members please encourage them to email us with their concerns I welcome all of that's all I have thank you thank you Miss Morgan I was not going to support this then I was going to support it I
145think the the it is a resolution it's not a policy I'm not happy that it's come to this that we have to put people in the school we are even talking about putting people in the school with guns I think that's all wrong I think the focus is wrong I think the focus needs to be on all of the preventative strategies particularly with respect to staff training student training hardening and providing us the appropriate software in schools I have not liked this program from the very beginning but I understand that it is a referendum I understand that I will have another opportunity to vote on this and that opportunity will be with the policy so I will support it but I want the public to understand that I am very uncomfortable moving forward with this
146resolution thank you a couple of things that probably should be addressed in addition to what everything has been said one everyone says we're having great response from the sheriff's department yes they did come but it still takes a few minutes not having the force multiplier to back up the sheriff the SRO that's there it's like not having a defibrillator when someone has a heart attack and say well the EMTs they'll be here very shortly you know minutes count a lot of kids can be hurt very quickly in just a few minutes having that extra person might stall might be able to not even if they don't take out the shooter they might be able to contain him for a short time until let's just call them the reinforcements arrive and that could be huge I
147think if I was a parent at any of these schools where the shootings have happened I think if you pulled all those parents I think you would find that the majority of them said we wish we'd had something like this in our school as far as the transparency all of our safety is done in shade for various reasons that's how it works the best you're aware there's things going on and there's but there are a lot of other things we're working on I know we're also working on the social workers aspect there's bills and the legislature this year to increase that and that is very important so I'm in support of this program are you we've all had our discussion the motion was made by Mr Fisher to accept the resolution second by Mrs Fleming
148we will now vote my screen went off so you will yes time to vote please is this a roll call Vote or no sir yes I am an I vote thank you the motion carries 7-0 thank you next on our agenda is the attorney recommendations attorney to pay Bruno please present thank you Mr chairman this is for the approval of the settlement offer for government entity claims against Jill Labs Inc and authorization of the school board attorney and general counsel to execute all documents necessary to finalize the settlement due to ongoing negotiations we cannot disclose numbers at this time numbers will be available once the negotiations are complete and the court approves the overall settlement as this is a class action and this recommendation is to allow the board to move forward in the settlement
149process for final approval of the Court thank you have heard the attorney's recommendation that the board approves the settlement offer for government entity claims against Jewel Labs Inc and the authorization of the school board attorney and the general counsel to execute all documents necessary to finalize this settlement board members is there a motion to approve Miss Jordan I moved to approve sorry the settlement offer for the government entity claims against Joel Labs INC now second thank you second by Miss Morgan is there any discussion saying none if you will record your vote motion carries 7-0 thank you we'll now move to the good of the order I'm going to let our student representative go first thank you I'd like to start by thinking my school The District student advisory committee and all the board members
150present at today's meeting for allowing me the opportunities to speak on behalf of myself and other students my name is Juliana bendek and I'm a sophomore at Bonita Springs High School something I love about both our district and Bonita Springs High School is that it's very conductive to the needs of our students being a student who seeks to challenge myself academically my school administration has been nothing short of supportive of me seeking out to take classes like regardless of their level whether they be AP Ace or even dual enrollment I'd also like to touch on some of the issues mentioned in today's meeting number one it is in my opinion that the media which a miner consumes should be an issue between the parent and the child by intervening with a third party whether that
151be our school's Administration or government government or governor this right is inherently being violated second of all I also feel that students have the right to be seen in curriculum as someone who has a who has Hispanic this as someone who is of the Hispanic descent on my father's side a middle eastern descent on my mother's side I have very rarely been felt have ever felt included in our school's curriculum through our readings even speaking personally I feel that if I were to give someone a map whether that be like a fellow student or maybe even some of the adults here and ask you to point to where the Middle East was is I don't think a lot of you would be able to and I think that says a lot about how our education
152system works I feel would be in our best interest to support introducing the idea of diversity inclusion to students whether we were talking about different cultures from Europe Asia Africa and everywhere because everyone really deserves to be to be seen thirdly I'd also want to I also wanted to touch on the issues presented by the guardian program it is in my opinion that the program is ignorant of the issues which result in gun violence it's ignorant of what actually causes gun violence at our school we're ignoring the issues we're ignoring mental health we're ignoring discrimination we're ignoring gun control we're not addressing issues which are which are bringing gun violence to our schools with this program I argue that we are rather bringing the guns to our school you've been told here today that you've
153been told Anna we've been telling anecdotes that's not true a doctor during the public speaking came out and gave you a list of Statistics she even offered to show you her citations there's been concern in regards to the Second Amendment and this program teachers have the right to bear arms right however we all have the right to the Second Amendment but the Supreme Court has shown time and time over again that the constitution is able to be changed to be adapted to meet what our society needs today Marbury V Madison judicial review judicial activism those are all things that should be considered it's not a black and white issue it's not the Constitution says that or this it's a document which is can be adapted to meet our needs I ask you one final question
154what school shooter is going to wait 144 hours for the guardian program thank you for your time I really appreciate being given the opportunity to speak today thank you Mr Fisher thank you chair thank you Juliana for being here thank you for your viewpoints if you choose to be an attorney in the future I think you'll be excellent at closings too so I do appreciate that so as I mentioned I went to read Across America days at Hector cafaretta and Trafalgar had a great time reading some students also as many of my board colleagues attended the golden apple social that was really cool I really enjoyed that was my first we had some various legislative luncheons with colleagues and I'm excited to see where where things are going and I definitely feel that we as
155a district are being supported so I do appreciate that with our legislature so also real quick I did my board member message and I kind of went down memory Memory Lane it's for this new board it's been about 100 days and I kind of went through some of the things on there and to reflect and it feels a whole lot longer than 100 days so but I do want to thank my colleagues here on the board the superintendent the administrators the staff the teachers everyone so it's it's been a lot thrust upon this board to start with and I think everyone has really worked their tail off I really appreciate it I appreciate you know as I said the the how how our board is acting as I said we don't always agree on everything
156and that's all right I love the diversity of opinions up here and I think we're all really trying to do our best to better this district and to better everything for our students so I just want to say thank you to everyone and it's been a great hundred days so far and I'm looking forward to the next hundred days and so on thank you this is giovannelli I'll keep mine short too I just want to thank everybody that came and spoke today and tonight I think it was important that you were heard and we did hear you and so I respect that and I respect the opinions of the community congratulations on 100 days in your anniversary of that I just didn't realize it's been 100 days so congratulations and I still actually have a
157couple more readings to do for I don't know why it's they're a week late from the Dr Seuss I am birthday but I still read the end of this week so going to another school on Friday I think it is so I already said some of my comments earlier today I just wish thank all the staff and all the hard work it is almost nine o'clock twenty till nine so I'll end with that thank you miss Patricia Juliana wow that was really very moving and very you made me stop and think so thank you for being here and thank you for your willingness to speak openly in a room full of adults which a lot of kids don't not all kids feel comfortable doing so just thank you may I direct a question through the
158chair please yes so is there a way that we could I could ask the board attorney and the superintendent to somehow be prepared for tomorrow to discuss the adoption time issue that was raised today I believe that's going to be part of our policy discussion tomorrow and I would just I know that it's super short notice but is there any way to determine how other districts are handling this what is the law on it is this in Private Industry I think the notion of not offering paid time for an adoption is kind of antiquated but in term I don't know what it is in the public sector so if there's any way at all for us to be prepared for a discussion on this I thought the person that came in front of us the
159people that came in front of us today were I thought they raised a really good point so if there's a way we can talk about that tomorrow I would appreciate it those are my comments thank you Miss Jordan I probably said enough but I just want to say thank you so much I felt every single thing you said I really appreciate you thank you and I also want to thank Ida Baker Ida Baker and Miss Jones who also has a beautiful voice and is a golden apple teacher I really appreciate what she does with the with the kids all right thank you Miss life for Fleming Juliana thank you for being here tonight you're I would I would definitely not want to close against you like board member Fisher said I wanted to say what
160a tremendous job Ida Baker did this afternoon and their performance and hats off to the female weightlifting team I asked one of them I won't say which one because I don't I don't want to embarrass anybody but I asked her what her clean and snatch or clean and jerk was and she said she just did 185 so that's you can go look that up and see what you what you think that would feel like but and I'm always so impressed by our JROTC and it's just such a great way to start the program so thank you for that yes I look forward to Dr Seuss more Dr Seuss reading this week and thank you for all of the people in the community that came out on all the different topics tonight thank you to the
161staff Lee County School District for all that you do and that's all I have tonight thank you Miss Morgan actually I have no comments this evening other than to thank Juliana for her comments thank you and I too would like to thank you did a great job the only comment I wanted to make was I got to read also to a bunch of kindergarteners and first graders and they were very attentive very well behaved and they can't guess age at all when they asked me how old I was I said take a guess a couple of them said a hundred so but other than that they were great and I'm looking forward to reading some more also and that ends are that part board attorney Bruno any comments thank you Mr chairman Juliana I think
162I had an opportunity to see you at the Mock Trial Competition I have a feeling and I know that assistant school board attorney Shane azuki definitely saw you because she was part of that organizing of the Mock Trial Competition so you guys did an awesome awesome job and I would love to have a conversation with you about the Constitution and Marbury versus Madison I think I will learn something from you so I wish you a lot of luck and best wishes in your career and we're always a phone call away if you want to ask us any questions about the legal field thank you thank you Mr chairman thank you Dr Bernier any comments Mr chair I'll try to bring this together by starting with I too had the opportunity to read my thing was
163The Lorax so The Lorax has the line of I am Lorex I speak for the trees Juliana thank you for being on behalf of the students of this District I know there will be other people in the community that have a difference of opinion but you have the seat and you have the microphone and you spoke your mind and that's what we need is positive and reflective input so that you can impact the decisions both that we make together and that we make separately in our own lives so thank you for those comments this evening to our board members requesting just to swing back through the earlier part of our meeting I had Mr dodic and Mr Ramirez go out and meet with the adoptive parents their staff from our human relations human Human Resources
164team going out tomorrow to meet with them to miss is patrika's comment we will do our very best to bring something forward keep in mind though that this is a collective bargaining agreement so we have to be careful and I need to converse with Mr dodic and the union but I'm going to ask Mr dodock to reach out tonight to prepare a conversation tomorrow there are booking curriculum materials people I know they're not here well some of them are still here some of them make it to the very end first of all to all the speakers including Giuliani thank you for Lending your voice there's a curriculum board advisory meeting which we'll be discussing this policy for public input on March 27 2023 I also had Dr Spyro speak to several of the people who
165spoke tonight provided that information he has follow-up numbers to talk with them tomorrow Mr Cruz who spoke about a student who has an IEP was visited after the meeting by Jennifer Cooper McCoy the principal of that school building which has been identified now is already reaching out to the parent this evening Chief Newlin took care of the shields information I assume he has contact information regarding the person who was talking about bulletproof Shields and to our teacher who is still here I do want to remind the board I do remind board that there still is a zero option for single employees that they don't have to pay anything because you pay into that system on their behalf I know that not everybody chooses that option but there still is a for a single person there
166is still an option of which you pay the entire process and premium for that insurance last but not least I would talk about proximity selections time is time is moving we're still about 30 percent of our talented community that we still really need to reach out and reach what I mean by talented is they're difficult to reach so we're getting very creative ideas for Mr Malloy I have to applaud our executive directors our school principals they're doing everything they humanly can to get a hold of these parents before the decision before the close of the window this coming Friday I mentioned the curriculum board advisory and then I would also just say that part of the voice of this meeting is listening to the voice of the people who come to the podium this board
167has been very reflective and very good about listening to people I think a very important piece was said today about listening doesn't always equate to agreement I just have been out on meeting with spelk talc administrators in separate groups small groups and this started my process of meeting with our students for student voice I've been out of stero and Mariner under the belt with more to come and in the conversation with the students about building the ideal school system what would they build there have been opportunities where I've heard but in my head I know that there's just right now no possible ability was statute and rules that we could do those types of things that they're suggesting doesn't mean that it won't come to fruition over time so just really appreciate the opportunity this
168board has afforded me to be out of this office in our school buildings interacting with our children our employees to blend that voice and help all of us bring that voice to this table and into our private one-on-one so thank you for that opportunity I hope everybody has a great evening and if you're here please drive safe on Wednesday March 8th there will be a board workshop at 1 15. on Wednesday March 22nd there will be a ward Workshop at 12 p.m followed by a board special meeting at 1 15 and on Tuesday March 28th there'll be a board briefing at 1 pm followed by board Action meeting at 6 pm seeing no other business come for this body and seem no objection this meeting is adjourned the time is eight fifty thank you