School Board Work Session | February 10, 2026

001Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Happy. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Good morning. It still is morning. Uh welcome to the Poke County School Board's work session. We will now call the work session for February 10th, 2026 to order. Thank you to our staff who are available and accessible to help and uh to address any questions we may have. As a board, we strive to work with you to ensure we achieve our mission to provide a highquality education for all students. I would like to start by reading our who are we statement. We are the Poke County Leadership Governance Team. If we were to pick one phrase to define us, it would be student centered. Because when we come together to work, we lean on our diverse backgrounds and experiences to ensure that our decisions are focused

002on providing a high-quality education for all students. The four most important things to our governance team are operating with integrity, respecting our students, staff, families, and each other, establishing a culture where stakeholders feel valued, supported, and have opportunities for personal and professional growth, and supporting an approach of continuous improvement to ensure student outcomes. Collectively, we need to work on behalf of the children we serve and find avenues of agreement so that we can govern the district in an effective manner. There is no acceptable alternative. We will always collaborate in a respectful manner in order to enhance opportunities for each student and staff member. We will not disparage others. Our students will thrive because we will remain committed to supporting the whole child. We hope to engage and empower our students and stakeholders to create a

003community of lifelong learners. At this time, I would like to turn it over to Superintendent Hyde to lead us in our work session today. >> Good morning, board members. Good morning to staff and any community members that are also here with us today. Um, at this time, we have a short agenda today for today's workshop. Uh, the first item before you is a historical marker to be placed at Union Academy. uh Miss Nave, our regional assistant superintendent will be the one sharing all of the details with you. But board members, just for your background, in particular for Miss Wallace's background information, this follows a very different path than the renaming convention. This is why you don't see a board support letter for this. This is also why you don't see an a SAC committee approval.

004That is not required because this is a again a historical marker. It is has nothing to do with the naming of the school, a facility or the building at this time. Board members, you will als you may recall that I also provided you with a detailed summary as to the historical significance of this site and the historical marker being placed there. Um, given that it's a Rosen Wall School, um, out of 140 original sites across Florida, I believe there's only 22 or 24 left. Uh, Union Academy being Union Academy being one of those. Um and those schools were built. Um Dr. Rosenwald was with Sears and Robuk and he w worked directly with Booker T. Washington and they invested across our nation to ensure that schools were comparable for African-American students as well to be

005comparable and equitable to their white counterparts. And so again, that's the history behind and legacy behind Union Academy. We're proud of the facility. We're proud to continue to maintain it. Um but at this time I will turn it over to Miss Nave who will give you additional details. >> Good morning Chairman Sharless and Board Superend would like to have your support. So that's why we're here today to discuss the historical marker addendum at Union Academy. Just to give you a little bit of background information, the Union Academy historical marker addendum was added or not the addendum, excuse me, the actual marker from the historical commission was made on July 26, 2019. And they located the marker right out in front of the school in the grass area that you can see here on our slide.

006One of the things that they found was not included was how the school was named. So, what they are wanting to do is ask that we recognize um that the Union Academy alumni has requested to add an addendum plaque on the school wall to name Miss Longworth um who actually was significant in determining the name of Union Academy. She also happens to be Commissioner Leo Longworth's um from the city of Barto's great-g grandandmother. So, I thought that was a nice um fact to learn um when we went through this process. But, Miss Lula Marian Simmons Longworth named the school Union Academy coming from the old Union Academy Loaded in Gainesville, which was her alma moater. And so, you'll notice here that we have the back of the picture. She also taught first and second grade

007at Union Academy. This is an actual letter that she wrote on behalf of naming uh the school back in 1897. I thought it was fun to look back at the type script because, you know, in high school, I'm that old that we did regular typing like this and it's what it looked like. And I'm not sure the kids today would recognize what typewriters look like. That was just for fun. And this is the actual plaque that um the committee has looked at and gotten a proof for. And so we would like to ask that you accept their addendum. They are going to locate the plaque if approved to the left of the entrance going into the school. So you have the marker in the grass and then it would be kind of reflective to the

008side going right into the building. And at this time I'd like to ask Miss Bentley to come up. She is from the um Greater Let me get this right. Exactly. The Greater Union Academy Alumni Association and was going to provide a little background and provide some words on her part. >> Good morning and thank you for having me. My name is Joyce Bentley and I serve as the treasurer or the assistant treasurer for the Greater Union Academy Alumni Association. And one of the things that we've been working on is trying to make sure that our history is out there. In researching the plight uh the current marker, we found that the person that named the school was not on the marker. So, we get we rallied together and to gather that information and make sure

009we had all the facts together and decided that maybe we could just put a second marker up to add them to that marker. Um, we spoke with the Longware family, they were excited about it and said, "Wow, of course." Me and my small brain being a graduate of Bart High, I said, "Well, the best time to do this would be for the month of March because it's Women's History Month." and she being the lady of the hour, we wanted to do it in the month of March. Uh the Longworth family has supported that. Um we've paid for the marker. We've ordered the marker and we've asked them to rush the marker so that it will be here by the March 6 deadline. Um any questions about this, >> Miss Fields? I don't have any questions,

010but uh I I am happy that someone discovered that Miss Longworth's name was not a part of the the marker, the initial marker. Uh and I I thought that uh Miss Longworth might be Miss Commissioner Longworth's grandmother. >> No, it's her it's his great grandmother. >> His great-grandmother. I knew there was some some um some family ties there and I think it just goes to show the strong legacy that she has left behind. Yes. >> That her great grandson is now a part of the city of Barto commission. And so I think this is very much appropriate and uh I support it uh wholeheartedly and thank you all for bringing it before us for consideration. My pleasure, >> Miss Wallace. >> Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. Hi. Um I don't think we've met before, but um

011I look forward to joining. Um and I'm also a friend and longtime admirer of Commissioner Longworth, so it's extra special um to see the family tie, a former Union Academy student, too. So um to come back uh home will be great. And three, I also had the privilege of having Commissioner Longworth's wife as my teacher at Barto High School. Um, so it's just I just it's a triple honor just as a longtime BTO and um admirer and friend of many alumni prior to Union Academyy's integration who understood um uh its significance prior to the Union Academy we know it to be today even though that's also significant. And um three, for for us to have that rich history right here in BTO and PK County and to honor that legacy and for everybody who walks

012on campus to see who and how that name came about and the type of individual that was there from the beginning is so special. So I look forward to um joining you and other alumni. >> Right. Thank you. Yes. And the Loneworth family will be there. His sister will be coming in from Gainesville and I think she's bringing her grandchildren and her child. Mr. Longworth has invited his children and grandchildren as well to to attend. So, we're looking forward to this. This is really this really means a lot to me because UA was the school of choice forever and I was there in the seventh grade when the school closed. So now to go back and make this permanent marker there is really a tribute to the community >> and her legacy is a long

013list of educators. So, it's remarkable what she did and we appreciate her efforts and >> and naming of this and we appreciate Miss Bentley, Erica Morse, and Jason Gary as well. They've been instrumental in getting this project together. >> Okay, >> Mr. Keys. >> Um, thank you, Miss Bentley, for being here today. That's absolutely awesome. And I I just get so excited when we talk about preserving the history of our communities. And at least for me, um, what I think about is as we pass by those markers, especially for students, it intrigues them and it brings up something. I wonder what that's about because I know at least for my my two daughters, this is what we've taught them. They're my oldest is just an avid, you know, um, student of history. And when she

014sees something like that, she wants to dig deeper. And I think what an awesome opportunity to say, hey, something of significance happened here. This is a part of history. and it provoking thought and remembrance and so really really excited about this opportunity to to honor Miss Longworth because wow what a what a contribution to the community and and we should remember those things and honor those things. So really excited about this and then and as Miss Field said that somebody recognized that that that she wasn't a part of that and so what an awesome opportunity and I'm fully behind it and and excited about this ceremony and and to be in attendance. It's awesome. >> Thank you >> and Dr. Allen. Thank you, Superintendent. Yeah, just as Mr. Keys is noting there, the symbolism and

015so forth behind this, I'm just I'm looking at the picture, the front entrance uh of Union Academy, and I, you know, a flood of memories. Uh the bus drop off was right there. I remember uh in my seventh grade year, standing in front of the flag pole there and playing taps at one point in my seventh grade year and you walk in the entrance, go to the left as was the band room. So just this flood of memories um from that particular school site. So um you know this is an important location as well as everybody's coming into that space. So I appreciate the work done on this and we'll be happy to support this. So >> thank you so much. Thank you. And on behalf of the Greater Union Academy Alumni Association, we have

016uh regrouped and we're really ready to work more with the school to provide additional services to the school. So, just let us know what you need and we'll work with you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Miss Nave. Board members, just a couple quick final comments on this. Um, first and foremost, this will not be the last time you hear about Union Academy or this issue. Um, there is there will be a request in the near future for capital improvements. The second part of that building is currently housing Aromark staff and other staff. Um, it does require some maintenance. It will definitely require some uh upgrades uh to it and repairs to its roof and to other parts of the facility. Um potentially some asbests abatement, but at that time part of that

017request for capital improvement on that facility may also include sectioning out a portion of that building to create a museum um in honor of the legacy and history of that school, the Rosenwald aspect and other individuals. Um, presently there's if you if you walk those halls, there's a very long hallway where they do celebrate all of the prior principles and those who have had a meaningful impact on that school. Um, and there's a great deal of pride. So, it'd be nice to be able to relocate that to a more appropriate location on the campus. And so if we're going to renovate that space, if the board approves that, part of that renovation, I will request include an opportunity for us to section off a portion where we could actually have a small museum to house

018those artifacts and and create opportunities for the community to come out and visit. Um, and so in addition to that, as I mentioned, on March 6th, this event, um, you were sent calendar invites. Again, a little bit of background information based off what we were able to to research. I I know some of you had indicated that there seemed to have been two conflicts on your calendar, but I believe those have been resolved. Uh there was a a save the date on there previously that I think has been rectified. Um and if not, I'll follow up with staff today because you should not have two conflicting appointments on that same date. But again, I'll follow up and make sure that those things have been clarified because I know some of you were concerned with the

019travel time between the two events. And so we would love for you to be able to participate in that and create the opportunity for you to do so. Um so thank you all very much for that item. Miss Nave, anything else? >> Just want to um share that we are working on getting some other schools in the area to be there to have some music played and different things um for them to share with you as well. So Erica is working with Summerland and some other schools that you've asked about to be there. So, we're going to make a big hurrah out of it. So, we hope you can join us. So, >> I I look I hope they're middle school >> group performs. So, Bluegrass, the only bluegrass band in the entirety of P

020County. Yes. >> Uh they are truly fabulous. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Next item, board members that we have is uh title one part A allocation projections and school eligibility. Um the federal government establishes a minimum threshold for distribution of funds based off qualification and that threshold typically is 50% or above and then school districts can independently beyond that adjust that level so that they can prioritize funding to go to specific schools. So based off of information related to this this coming year's allocation um and based off a review of school and district finance, there is a recommendation for a modification. So I'll invite the team up to the podium so they can walk the board through this. Um it's my feeling that this requires board approval um or

021at least notification and allow you to ask any questions. As you know, this is a workshop. There is no board meeting to follow. So there's no vote today. So you have plenty of time over the next two weeks to formulate any questions you have and submit those to me prior to the meeting. So thank you Mr. Baldwin. >> Thank you. My name is Andy Baldwin. I am the senior director for federal programs. I have with me today Ally Dort who is our director of title one programs. Um I wanted to give you guys an update or uh some information about the timelines that we're looking at. Um the reason that we're bringing this information to you right now is that uh this is the time of year that each of our schools are planning their

022staff for the next school year. So each school will receive something called a sitebased budget where they will identify all the staff that they want to have for next year. And included in that process, we provide them with an estimated title one allocation so they can determine what type of staff that they would like to have to support their school for the next year. In order to do that, the schools need kind of an that estimated allocation this time of year in order to make those uh determinations. Reappoints occur in the early spring. So, it's important to give the schools this planning time right now to make those decisions. Um some of the things that will change though, um the survey data that we use for our final title one allocations, those surveys are not

023completed until midappril around April 15th. Um, and then the federal budgets, whenever we submitted this uh, presentation, the federal budget for education had not been finalized yet for next year, but now um, as of February 3rd, that budget has been approved and so it was signed into law. So, what has changed over the previous years and why are we bringing this to you now when we haven't in the past? As Mr. Hyde has mentioned, some of the allocations have changed and some of the thresholds may need to be adjusted for our title one schools. Um, in addition, we have seen a trend in the state of Florida and Pulk County schools where our title one allocations have decreased for at the federal level. So, the Florida title one allocations have decreased and the pulk allocations

024have decreased as well. In addition to that, uh, our PK county enrollment counts have changed, not necessarily less students, but the demographic makeup of those students has changed, which I'll show you in just a minute. You can see our title one part A allocations for the past uh three years. You can see that while there hasn't been a huge change at at the pulk level. You'll notice that in the state of Florida from 2324 to 2425 there was a rather dramatic shift and we are anticipating a similar shift this year and a little bit downward direction. So we're thinking that that will cause uh an additional decrease for PK County as well. In addition to the allocation, we're anticipating that we are going to spend more money this year than we have in the past,

025which will cause us to have less money to roll forward for the next year. In the past, we've been able to roll forward approximately $15 million each year, and this year, we're anticipating we'll only have about $10 million to spend because our schools have done a great job this year of spending their money and providing services to their students. Um, there school enrollment and cliff changes. Cliff stands for children of lowincome families. That's the title one jargon for students that are in part in poverty. As you can see, the trend in Pulk County is that our percentage of children of low-income family has actually been decreasing over time. So, that's a good thing. Our students are not in in poverty as much as they used to be. Um, but that does impact our title one

026allocations because then we get a lower percentage of the money compared to other other school districts at which have a higher cliff percentage. As Mr. Hyde mentioned title one. The title one law in the statute has specific requirements for which schools we must serve with our title one funds. Any school that is 75% or higher with their cliff percentage must be a title one school for the next year. Any school that is below 75% us the LEA B county schools can determine who we want to serve below that 75% threshold. Currently um based on our projections for next year. Again, survey 3 is not going to be done until April, but we can use survey 2 as a good indication of what that data is going to look like. So, based on our analysis of

027survey 2 data, right now we will have 111 schools that are above the 75% threshold, meaning that we must serve them for as title one schools. And then under 75%, we can grade span group and choose different thresholds for each different grade level. So, our proposal is to have a 73% threshold for elementary school. that would allow us to keep one additional current title one school. Setting the middle school threshold at 70% which would allow us to keep uh one current title one school which is a middle school and setting the combination. So that's if it's a K through 8 or a 6 through 12 and any combination of those and that would allow us to keep one additional title one school for next year. In addition, there is a provision that allows us to

028grandfather a school if there is a reason that we would like to grandfather them as a title one school, meaning that they don't necessarily meet the threshold that we have set, but we can keep them as title one for the next year because we anticipate they may jump back on title one the next year after that, which presents kind of the up and down of getting funding and losing funding and getting funding and losing funding. So, what could still change? I mentioned that the federal budget has been approved but and that most of our programs including our title one programs um were approved for level funding for the next year but that doesn't necessarily mean that the allocation provided to the state of Florida and then to our our district is going to remain the

029same. It will definitely change. Final survey 3 enrollment and cliff counts we won't know until April. And then we always have the question about new or expanding charter schools. if a new charter school was to open up, then we have 90 days to start providing services to them. So, we kind of always have to keep that in the back of our mind that we may have to allocate additional funds that we've already budgeted for other projects to a newer expanding charter school. Because there are so many schools that are title one schools, we thought it would be easier to show you a list of the non-title one schools that we're proposing for next year. It's because it's a much shorter list. We've separated up into um three different categories. is our traditional public, our alternative

030public, and then our charter public. As you can see, there are three charter schools which are currently title one schools, but their um enrollment and cliff percentages fell so much that we would not be able to serve or we could serve them if we chose to, but we felt that it would be better to not serve them because it would drop the threshold down so far. So, um that's pretty much all I have for my presentation. Does anyone have any questions? Yeah, there are a couple questions, but before we get to those, I want to clarify for both the board and for those watching. There at times there is confusion between how we're identifying schools for title one eligibility and that's often times confused especially now given that all schools qualify for free for free

031meal service. So Allison, could you or Andy clarify that for the board? How are we tracking and determining a title one status for a school? What data are we using? >> Sure. >> The the survey data uh represents um a measure of poverty. So we have to choose which measure of poverty we want to use for P County schools. As the vast majority of our schools are C or community ele eligibility provision schools, we use the direct certification data from our schools in order to make those determinations. In the past, before C became a thing about seven or eight years ago, all stu all students had to submit surveys or income surveys, income applications for free and reduced lunch. We don't have those anymore because of the community eligibility provision, which allows us to provide

032free lunch for all the students in a specific area that meets a certain poverty threshold, which is about 40%. Um, so that is a completely different process than the title one allocation process. So for title one, we look at those percentages of students that have a direct certification, meaning they participate in a benefit program like SNAP or identified as homeless or migrant. And there's several other factors, but we look at those percentages of students in order to determine title one eligibility. >> Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. >> Can I have a question in the same vein? Um I'm I was looking at the um the slide that talks about the cliff changes, right? The children from low-income families and the the decline from February 2024 of 64,000 down to February 2025 of 58,000. Right. And some

033change. So I I guess is that stating that we have less students in poverty? Is that what it's that that's representing that we have especially because so many of our students are direct cert direct certification that means that we have many less students that have been identified as eligible for direct certification we have less students that are eligible for SNAP or that have applied for SNAP it doesn't necessarily represent that that we have less students in poverty it's representing that the data that we are provided by US department of agriculture shows that we have less students so >> so my big question my big question is there actually a change in demographics and I'm not asking you to answer this question. This is like, you know, a 50,000 foot view. Or is the data or

034is there an issue with the data? Like, so again, we we don't control that's USDA um collected, but um man, it seems like a a significant drop in the number of students that would qualify. >> It just it just it just raises a flag to me. >> I will caveat that the qualifications for SNAP have changed over the last year. Um, so there may be a change due to who the number of our students that are eligible even though their income has not changed. Their their eligibility for the SNAP program and other benefit programs that cause direct certification may have changed. >> Thank you. Appreciate that, >> Miss Wallace. >> Thank you, Superintendent. I I kind of had a question may have been answered through this conversation is I come from the school of FRL

035being the acronym but it sounds like that cliff is a newer acronym to capture since we're not having a specific measure of who applied for free or reduced lunch. Is that right? Is that a >> I'm not really sure why they changed that nomenclature but it was about four or five years ago they changed it was about the same time as C became a thing. So, I'm not sure if that's the reason, but I I remember it when it was free and reduced lunch and now it's mostly C for the majority of our schools. There's a handful of student of our charter schools that still do the the applications. They don't participate in the C program. So, they still do the free and reduced lunch program um through applications. >> Right. And so, but materially

036speaking, we're talking about the same population that the FRL measure used to capture. >> Yes. >> Okay. And then my second question is um just for the benefit of the public and my knowledge being my novelty to this board um could you just quickly describe what schoolwide programs this funding um provides for? >> Sure. The the vast majority of our schools choose to use uh a large portion usually 90 to 95% of their title one allocation to provide supplemental staff for their schools. Most of the time that looks like a reading coach, sometimes a reading interventionist, math coach, science coach, um sometimes pair educators. Um each school is able to do what's called a needs assessment this time of year where they look at their school improvement data, identify the needs that they will have

037for their school for the next year, and then um align those resources. In addition to staff, some of our schools do special activity or additional payroll for staff so that staff can come in after hours and do training or some uh curriculum planning across grade levels. Um, some schools provide additional summer school units and some summer programs. Some pro uh purchase additional supplies and materials or uh online subscriptions to support their school. So, there's a vast array of things, but the majority is full-time staff. >> And then one last question, and it's okay because I think this might be an data point you may not have handy, but do we as a district are a pass through for these dollars to private and charter schools in our district? Correct. I hate to use the the

038term pass through because that's a specific term. We provide a um >> for title one part A, it's a little bit different than the other entitlement programs. We identify charter schools in the same way we identify all of the other traditional public schools. So we just look at their cliff percentage and do the same thing that we're doing for the traditional public schools. For private schools, they receive an equitable amount of service. So, we have to take into account their total enrollments, determine the eligibility of their students based on income and um and then provide an allocation to each school. But we don't ever pass through the dollars to private schools. That's actually specifically um limited in the in the statute. So, the private schools let us know what they want to do with the

039money and then we make the purchases on their behalf. So, just a little bit of nomenclature. I'm just a little touchy about the the word pass. >> Yeah. No, thank you. I I guess but I'm glad you clarified that because we don't write a check and then they spend it and I'm learning something new. So it sounds like if I am a private school that's serving a low-income population in the district, then I'd say I have these X approved uses per my eligibility and then we would help process those reimbursements. Is that what you're telling me? >> That's correct. And Okay. And uh typically we make the purchase on their behalf. We do do some reimbursements but it's to specific staff at the school. We can't reimburse the school. We can only reimburse the staff.

040For example, if a private school um staff member wanted to attend a training in um like Tallahassee, we would be able to reimburse that staff member for any um travel cost that they incurred, but we can never make a payment directly to the private school. That's prohibited through statute. >> All right. Okay. Thank you, >> Dr. Allen. Thank you, Superintendent. I appreciate the update. Uh Mr. Baldwin. Uh I know um the FSBA had um posted out on February 3rd some of the updates on the federal budget when it was approved. And I know our legislative priorities at the federal level were um you know meeting with our congressional members was to at least stay at or above within all uh categories. So, um, looking at all categories, they stayed at funding levels, uh, excluding IDA,

041which had a $20 million increase. Um, and then Title One had a 20 million increase as well within the budget. However, um, hearing this report, right, it's not like let's celebrate um because we I'm just seeing, you know, some of the trends here going down. So, then I was wondering, you know, what's prompting that? So when you mentioned that Florida may not have uh as many dollars that are being dispersed down had me wondering why. So you know besides student counts and you had mentioned you know a change in the qualifications for SNAP benefits and so forth. I don't know if there's any other touch points that would determine those funding levels sort of on on the decline. um just if you can speak to that, but then is there anything in particular that Florida

042would be doing differently than any other states uh in regards to those federal dollars coming down? >> The the pass through from the federal government to the states is fairly prescriptive, meaning that states don't have a wide variety of options to choose. One thing that the state of Florida could choose to do is to change amount the amount of uh school improvement dollars that they are required to withhold. Currently, the state is required to um withhold 7% of their total title one allocation for school improvement. That's why we get the UNICE grant, a couple different UNICEG grants, and why the state has some staff to provide some support for our UNICEF or turnaround schools. >> Um in addition, this the states can choose how much of an administrative cost they want to withhold before they

043provide the allocations to the district. Those are really the two main areas of flexibility that I know that the states have. There may be others that I'm not aware of. Um, as far as the allocations for the state of Florida, um, those are also prescribed at the federal level, there's a very complex formula, but it's all based on enrollment counts, cliff, and, um, different thresholds that have to be met for different um, Miss Mr. Hyde mentioned that you have to receive a different am or at least a certain amount each year. So, there's a 90% um, continuation of funding requirement at at the federal level. So, it's a very complex formula that I am not an expert in. Mhm. Um any take on I mean that 6,000 count in regards to from you know 2024

044to 2025 that's a pretty significant number and you know just looking at at it from an economic standpoint not necessarily seeing this um rapid increase of you know um economic improvement you know I So, I don't know like what's your take on why there's that that dramatic number um of drop? >> Well, I'm going to jump in here, Andy. Um so, part of it too, as we've already shared, there was a change in eligibility criteria, but what we've run into of late and and I I would if you wanted to, I think you could do a search. Um, Lakeland Ledger actually ran an article not too long ago that based off salary increases, you may not you may just fall outside of eligibility. And so, yes, while the overall economic climate may not be um

045favorable for all these people, meaning that all these people moved out, they may no longer qualify because what they earn >> just exceeds that threshold because that number does move. >> Um, and so I think it's a combination of factors. We've also seen um about 50% of our migrant student population has left Pulk County this year. Um that's a statewide figure. They're seeing that across the state over 50,000 students less in in Florida. They're projecting the potential for another 70 75,000 students lost next year um due to a variety of situations and conditions. So, I I think it's a combination of issues. Um, you know, and if you'd like us to, I I'd rather have the team research that a little bit further than than attempt to speculate here. But I do know that based

046off the changes in the criteria, but I also know that if people's salaries have gone up, they may now just barely exceed that threshold to qualify. And that's the that's the that's the group of people we worry about the most because now they're receiving no additional benefit and yet they probably are less than a paycheck away from poverty. Um and that's I think that's also why you're seeing a bigger push across Florida and other states to start using more of the Alice figures for poverty versus a national average. Um but that's a longer conversation for another day. So >> yeah, thank you. >> Yes, sir. But we'd be happy to pull some more information to see cuz several of you asked the same question. So be happy to see if we can come up with

047any other explanations for why there may be a change. >> Mhm. I see no further questions or comments. Thank you. >> Board members, the next two items are mine. Um so wonder here. You've already seen their presentation. I've attached their draft contract for you for your review. It is a two-year contract not to exceed $130,000 a year. That's for their consultation services, for their curriculum resources, and also for their site director. If you, as you recall, students would remain in within the PK County Public Schools FTE and the staff would be our staff. So, there's no FTE loss for us. um those staff would be selected and interviewed and trained because again there's a very specific philosophy and pedagogical approach to this program and so we want to make sure that we pick the right

048teachers to work with them and these students in particular. Um so that's what you have before you. Again there's no vote today but it will be coming back at the next meeting in February and the 24th for us to have further discussion. will be on the workshop and on the vote that evening just to make sure I provide you or afford you additional time to ask any questions you may have. Um, but the contract has gone back and forth between Mr. Green and I. I will apprise you if there's any further red line or strikethroughs. It's also been vetted through the wonder here staff and team. So, I believe that we're in a good place which is why you have this contract um before you. So, I'll take any questions that you may have. Miss

049Wyatt, >> thank you for the wonder here. Um, if you look at their timeline towards the end, it talks about other schools. At what point are you going to share where they're looking to expand beyond Philip O'Brien? >> I don't think we'll have that conversation till we get close to the end of the second year of their pilot. >> Okay. Um I I I really want to make sure we get through at least PM2 data of the second year so that we can show and then that will also include because again parents may choose not to assess and that is a parent right. Um but we also want to do parent surveys, staff surveys and and and things like that. So all that information I I anticipate bringing before the board no later than January

050of that second year of their contract so that we can make a decision. And then based off that if the board if the recommendation based off their data is to expand or at least minimally rec expend their current contract into an additional grade level and let them roll up um with space permitting and then look at other sites because a lot could change in two years as far as enrollment. um and and capacity on some of our campuses. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. Sharpless, >> in that same vein, I just had a question on uh just some scalability. Um you know, the presentation said potentially two to three more um you know campuses, but in the contract it specifically says that there is and I quote no expectation of renewal or continuation

051beyond the stated term, right? And so we don't there's no expectation of that but the you know the goal is you know potentially to do that right um and so I was just wondering what specific lessons learned or data points are we going to look at on the pilot to see if we should consider expanding like is there a specific uh like what are we going to be looking at for that >> largely uh parent satisfaction and their feedback as to the instructional model we'll look at in assessment data we'll look at progress monitoring data to the extent that we have all of that um because they're starting in early primary grades. So there there's a little bit of uh of uh data flexibility there as far as what we look at attendance, discipline, those

052types of things. Um persistency within program meaning of the original cohort, what percentage of that cohort persists into the subsequent year. So if you have 26 kids or 25 kids in that first grade class, how many of them now are in the next year's second grade class? Those types of things. Uh demographic data. Um and that will include where those students come from. Some will come from obviously from the zone school. Others will be through an application process. But um once the board approves if if and when the board approves the contract, let me not project that uh because ultimately that is your decision. If the board approves that contract, we will have a complete timeline and process for recruitment, messaging, all of those pieces that I know we've talked about briefly before, but I

053want to outline those for you. Um, but I think moving forward, those are the data points that we would feel most confident in in in measuring so that I can give you that feedback. If there's another data point that the board feels is relevant that we should consider, um, I would ask you to please share that and I'd be happy to see if we can include that. as long as we can objectively measure it. >> Excellent. I I have one other question. Um and so one thing that I'm very happy on about the contract, it says that in the fourth section, it says that the board shall retain full authority over control over student enrollment. That's one part and that's a big to me that's a big deal. Um the fact that this is not

054a separate why it's a separate group coming in. We are we have control over that. we so I'm just curious how are we going to select the students in that is this a demographic uh or is this a lottery like how is that going to work >> so that ultimately will come back before the board okay there's I think there's >> two interests depending on which board member you speak to I I would like it to be a traditional school choice magnet application lottery system but I know that we've had recent I know that we've had recent conversations about having a dedicated attend group, but I do believe we're going to have to at least afford a percentage of those seats for lottery interest because it is limited. And and I don't know since this

055is going to be specific to parent choice, I do believe we may have to we may have to look outside just that school boundary to fill a class. Um may maybe not, but we'll we'll see. But I'll bring that back to the board again and I'll be prepared once once the board revisits the contract. I'll actually actually I can I can probably provide the board a draft before that or as an attachment to that meeting that outlines all of this. Well, I just want to just tell you I'm I'm very happy that again that we control that student enrollment piece and so I think it's it's an important part of the contract >> and we had to provide some asurances to wonder here because I think they had some initial concerns about some of the

056language some of which you've cited and it's it's not about not being collaborative not being partners but at the end of the day if there are students we are ultimately responsible right they have to go and focus they have to be in our school choice mechanism they I mean we have to follow our our traditional procedures and practices and not just relegate that to the school because that's when we get in trouble um and there are issues with you know first in line kind of approaches. So no we we will apply all of our current procedures and policies and that's what's really meant by that but also to stress and emphasize the fact that the FTE remains ours that this is a partnership moving forward in in a very different and unique collaborative way. So

057>> that and that's all my questions. Thank you sir. >> Dr. Allan, >> thanks superintendent. Uh I mean very exciting new uh innovative thing that we're doing. So I appreciate it. Um and but I do find it interesting that we're running parallel with all the you know co-location discussions that's happening at the state level and that we're having to deal with. So I think you know the same questions come up you know is it shared drop off you know uh for parents that are dropping off for that particular for the wonder here or is it going to be a different drop off are we sharing cafeteria um how about the administrative load um you know how does discipline work um does the director handle the discipline so I mean those are the the questions that

058more you know um what you're going to deal with and work through. Um but definitely things that I'm hoping that we've we've worked through and considered um you know along the way. And then I think the next question for me too is you know and I think I noted this last time. I love that we you know resurfaced Philip O'Brien as far as their parking area. Looks great. you know, we've done a lot of tree trimming, uh, and appreciate how responsive you were to that, um, you know, before students arrived. We've done that extra sidewalk area, uh, for a little drop off in that sort of side area. So, we've done a lot of capital improvement on that campus. Uh, the big one for me is the bathrooms, right? You know, I' I've shared things

059with you along the way. So I I don't know do we see any type of uh capital uh improvement there especially just more infrastructure related but the bathrooms in particular. >> Yeah actually the answer is yes. >> Okay. >> Uh let me address the first part. So this is so a lot of the concerns that you mentioned that we had uh rightfully so with a shared facility do not apply here because it's our students, our administration are they're simply providing the philosophy and the resources and the support for the teachers to implement their program model. Outside of that, everything else is ours and and so we don't have those inherent conflicts as far as drop off, school start times, those kinds of things. So, we're in a really good place here um with at least

060eliminating those as potential barriers to programmatic success. Um as it relates to Philip O'Brien, this has been an ongoing conversation since our last Datacom to talk through facilities issues and needs. Part of Datacom, um and for those who aren't familiar with Datacom, again, not our concept. We stole it from Miami Dade. I stole it years ago. um Miami Dade stole it from the city of New York because it started as a way for local police departments to address local issues and then the city and the mayor's office would assign additional resources based off the needs crime rates, public perception, relationships within the community and then Miami date county public schools um Dr. Carvalo um stole that concept and used it to drive school improvement. Um and so having sat in and observed it many times

061when I worked for the state um decided to go ahead and implement that. I've had it in every school district I've been in. We we emulate it here. And so we identify and bring those schools in. They have a standard uh presentation that they go through. Um primarily focuses on attendance, discipline, academics, where are you now compared to where you started the year? But then they're asked what do you need? And and a lot of times it does come back to technology or facilities issues, not because, you know, they're not adequate, but they may have gaps, right? Security cameras, things like that that come up or they'll ask for additional uh staff support. For example, you know, we need another dean or I need a reading coach or I need an additional instructional position because

062I'll give you a good example. If you only have one corrective reading teacher, your ability to move students with the fluidity that's required as students progress is limited because there's only one section being taught per level during the day. So, they may ask for a different for an additional resource and we provide those and and the entire of the executive cabinet staff is in there because and it is an entire day. Um, but the the value of it is allowing schools to share where they're at, how they're progressing, and what their needs are. But then the right people are in the room that I can ask, I need you to follow up on this. I need you to do this and we drive those things together. So long way to get back to Philip O'Brien

063brought up their restrooms. Um and so yes, we are not only exploring options for that school but for others because the issue is the age of those facilities. Um epoxy coating is something that we have typically done. The Santa glaze you see it in the restrooms here. the the the concern that uh Mr. Fix and his team have expressed is that and and Airark have expressed is that with the deep cleaning that takes place in restrooms um it does start to chip and peel. So, we're out exploring to see if there's other products that we need to consider. And given the expense or potential expense of having to treat it on a regular basis and and and sanlaze it, it may just be more cost feasible for us for to go ahead and just address

064those restrooms, chip everything up, retile them, um, moving forward or or find an alternative product. Like I said, you could just go down to concrete and just do an epoxy coating, which may make more sense, but they'll come up with those plans, but that is already in the plan. And and Harry, I saw you lean forward, so I don't know, Mr. Fix if you want to come up and share anything else specific about Philip O'Brien. >> The only thing additional I would add, superintendent, is as we're getting in the reports from the facility assessment, we're going to be looking at all these facilities. Again, >> one of the things at the very least that we thought about doing is as the superintendent said, at the very least we may move forward in unless we can

065find something quickly that will uh take the place of Santa Glaze, at least get in there, get it cleaned up, Santa glaze, which we know only give really a couple of years and a and that kind of a setting, but then look for a more permanent solution as we start going through that whole facility assessment. But as the superintendent said, a lot of those issues that fall through the cracks or that we're not always aware of when they come up in that dataccom, then that gives us um an at least me an impetus to jump on those things. >> Mhm. >> And and I I'll clarify a little bit what what Mr. Fix is talking about when he says in those settings in particular with elementary schools, the amount of sand that kids drag into

066our classrooms and into the restrooms just it just becomes sandpaper. So, while that Santa glaze provides a great protective layer and it's great against chemicals and it encapsulates any smells or those kinds of things that may have been there for years, um it's the wear and tear and then the high pressure washing, the scrubbing machines that come in, all those things just compound the issue and we found some instances of chipping. So, again, we're going to make sure that that's the best possible product for us. It's the most economically feasible. It is fast and as Mr. Fix pointed out um you'll be seeing the master facilities deferred maintenance plan in the very near future. They're wrapping it up now. We'll see it probably in March and then we'll have to start making some decisions. So,

067at least for the short term to address those campuses that have these legacy issues, encapsulating them does a lot. It it stabilizes them. It prevents and it really does minimize odors and it minimizes, you know, loose tiles and other things that we're constantly having to deal with. But there there's a lot of advantages to it even if it's a short-term benefit. So, but we will provide the cost analysis so the board's familiar with that. So, thank you. >> Right. And that for example that Santa Glaze, we've used it in a couple of bathrooms here in the district building and when you have adults, it'll hold up pretty well for quite a while, but >> our schools get a little tougher >> with sneakers that have sand on the bottom of it. It's just the wear

068is pretty significant. So, Miss Wyatt, >> thank you for and most of my questions were answered, but I just want to confirm with um a couple of them. So, right now this the contract is coming back to us or >> Okay. So, when the contract will come back into February, >> February 24th. Yes, ma'am. >> So, then that is after school choice, >> which I'm hopeful that means that this is not school choice for this year. will be Philip O'Brien students for the 2627 school year. >> That ultimately is going to depend on the board's final decision as to student enrollment because I will be more than happy to reopen it just for that specific program if needed. >> Okay. Is that going to come to us as part of because I you'll see that

069on the >> Okay. I am um not supportive of putting great programs in schools that need great programs and then not letting the kids zone there go to the school um because we've struggled with that a lot over the years. Um so I want to make sure that those students zone to Philip O'Brien have access first to those seats. Um but so what does that will be coming back on the 24th? >> Ma'am. >> Okay. That's part of that draft document I'll provide you because I'll develop the draft document based off the assumption and the comments that have been made by the board the last few times. There seems to be a very positive trajectory amongst the board. But I won't make any assumptions that it's going to ultimately pass in case something were to

070arise. But at least you will have that information. I I think the only concern that I have is ensuring that because this is a very unique, very specific pedagogical approach to instruction. It is not the typical school day and so parents will have to be informed of that and so this may not be a fit for everyone and and we recognize that and that's why we're doing it. It's it's outside of what we normally do. Um but parents find value in it and the students are successful. So what I don't want to do is not create the opportunity to maximize occupancy and and participation is probably the better word by just restricting it to Philip O'Brien. I think we'll approach it the same way that you and I have had discussions and we had them

071here publicly about creating those zones to see, okay, who else might make sense to attend or do we just open it up as a school choice option? But that will all come back to you in a draft document that we I'm happy to discuss. This will be both on the workshop and on the board agenda for the vote on the contract, but I do want to bring it back to the workshop pending any questions the board may have. >> Okay. Thank you. My um you know my because it's we won't see it until the day that we vote on it. My strong preference would be that we open it up to the students that are zoned to Philip O'Brien first. Um and then if we can't fill 30 seats with those students that then we

072open it up for um to choice in. Um, beyond that, I want to make sure too that if we have students that are moving into that zone down the road and when they have first second grade classrooms that those the students that are zoned are able to to opt in if their seats available in those classrooms as opposed to um opening it up to anyone in in the Lakeland area. >> Yes, ma'am. >> First Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Miss Fields. >> Thank you. Um, I did know what Miss Wyatt said when it was presented. I thought it was for the uh the O'Brien students. So, definitely I think that we need to make sure that they get priority and have some spaces available for the late comers and then open it

073up if there are seats for the surrounding community or however we we need to do it. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Mr. Keys. >> That's what happens when you're slow to the draw. Um, echo Mrs. Why Mr. Fields that was my concern is to make sure those students of Phil McBride had first choice but then because I always think of it from a financial standpoint is if we have seats empty if we're you know investing in the program that we do open it up and I would say at a limited area to surrounding those that it makes sense because what I don't want to see is although we open it up you know gosh how do I put this in a way where it doesn't sound silly students driving from Davenport port

074because it's a new thing. Although we want to open that up opportunity, I want to give those in the surrounding areas that it makes most sense for that first. But but I I I do understand the choice and I wonder after it's opened up if if we don't fill the seats from Philip O'Brien first and we open up the choice, I'm assuming it would be the same as the others, there'll be a a level or like a first round, second round kind of deal. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Thank you. So, the only thing I I want to bring back before the board given the comments when this concept when I first brought it before the board, it was very intentional to recruit people back to Pulk County Public Schools. So I I I hear

075what you're saying and I don't disagree, but at some point this conversation needs to shift to this was intended to create a competitive advantage for us because now we're offering something instructionally that parents are looking for that we traditionally have never offered. And so yes, I think for the purposes of the pilot, it makes sense to go ahead and see if there's a cohort there. But I think I I'm just and I'm not asking for any any projections or or commitments obviously, but I'm just going to ask you that over time I need you I would ask the board to please consider the future of what it was intended to do and how then do we fulfill that because this is one of many potential micro school options that we're going to be exploring. And

076the intent is to provide choice for our existing families. Absolutely. but also for those who have opted out who now see that as a great opportunity to come back into the school system and participate that was the that was at the core and the heart of this and and teacher innovation and and letting us honor their craft and and their abilities. So, I think there's a lot to this conversation and obviously one that we can have much further down the road, but for the purposes of the Philip O'Brien, yes, we'll we'll create and see how many families there want to commit to that program and then any remaining available seats will open up to school choice. Um, one of the things I'd like us to require is any parent who wants to choose that program

077must attend an in-person meeting and then and sign basically affirming that they understand it's a very different model. Now, obviously, they can transition back out into a regular classroom um if they attend there, but I think there's a lot to this. So, I would just ask the board just keep that in the back of the mind of your minds because again, that was part of the intention was obviously innovate as we should create but create opportunities for us to draw students back into our schools. Um, so thank you for that >> and and that's fantastic and my hope is that it's immensely successful and that we get to replicate, you know, programs like that all across the county and in those smaller settings. That would be great. >> Well, you all get to decide that

078because if the vision comes to fruition and we develop this leadership pipeline where they will develop a program application and a program concept and we will h hold their hands as they go through the whole process, but then at some point they're going to pitch. It will very much be a pitch before the board and we'll see if one or two ideas a year moving forward becomes the norm for us to consider piloting in our schools. And I think, you know, why wait to let somebody else innovate when we've got great people who would love the opportunity to do it within our current school settings in and school school classrooms. So, there's a lot to this, right? And and I'll share a document with you that I've been reading. Um I won't ask you to

079reach read teacher prneur but it is it is an interesting conceptual approach to shifting ownership and um beyond just the principal's office beyond the superintendent's office. How do we have a shared sense of ownership and commitment to our to our instructional model which right now it just isn't the model we have regardless of pole county it's just not the national model of distributed leadership. So >> so stay tuned Shark Tank PCPS edition. That's exactly what it's going to be. Sure. I use Shark Tank as the example all the time. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Allen. >> Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I think where the conversation was going, I I u I would be in favor of your your position. I think that's what the rationale and I remember very much so that conversation of

080um recruiting um students back to our classroom and I think that's very important uh to this um model. Uh, I was curious what what what kind of waiting list do they currently have? >> Wonder here. >> I don't know that. I do know that they have a waiting list. I can find out because it probably varies by grade level. >> Um, but let me ask Tiffany and the team if they could if they wouldn't mind sharing that for us. >> Yep. Um, so I I would be interested to maybe have a couple ideas from you uh as far as percentages of because Yes. I mean to me first of all when I wonder you know and wonder hahaha when I roam the halls of Philip O'Brien you know we've got some great things happening on

081on campus there. Um but I I I think you know yes I'm I'm in favor too that uh enable uh students that want this you know innovative um teaching model from Philip O'Brien for them to engage that as well. I'm in favor of that. Um, but I'm in favor as well as a recruiting mechanism. So maybe there's a couple different models that could be presented to us. >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah. Thank you, >> Miss Wyatt. >> Thank you. Um, and I appreciate that clarification because what I took recruiting kids back to our schools to mean was recruiting them back to their traditional schools so that we're not blessing them all over God's green earth. Um because I do think that there's a cost when a student leaves Philip O'Brien to go to Lincoln because

082we're now blessing them to Lincoln. Um and there's just I mean there's a million studies on why home schools and being closest to your home is is beneficial to students are when we start to look at enrolling obviously the um choice will be closed. So many students will have already applied to go to other schools. Will even if they have been accepted to a Lincoln or another school in the magnet zone, will they still be given the choice to participate in Wonder here because that is their zone to school? >> Yes, ma'am. And I know Miss Everett's going to be upset with me. Um I'm just glad she's not in here shooting daggers at me with her eyes right now. >> You can blame it on >> the process will be a little bit complicated,

083but yes, we will. We will notify families that there's a new opportunity. There are limited seats. Please apply. Um we'll follow our traditional true lottery process random selection and then as happens every year students have been accepted to three programs and then they basically start making their choices and then as students settle into whatever school they've selected new opportunities are created for others. So yes ma'am that would be the process and the intention. But I it's interesting the way you approached that um and and your understanding and so I I apologize I wasn't more clear but it's I could definitely see what you're what you're saying as far as is it an opportunity to bring them back to their zone school because now there's a program of high interest high high rigors absolutely um I

084still think that's a win for us too um because now we have a savings on the side of transportation um and then if that program again is as successful as I think we all anticipate replication becomes the focus as we have done with CFA and we've done with other programs. So, um I think we'll have to strike a balance there. Um and we'll see. >> And then my second question is when we have more than 30 kindergarten families that opt in for next year, does that become a lottery process as to which ones get to participate? >> Yes, ma'am. It'll have to be it'll have to go through our traditional random >> Okay. >> lottery process. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Miss Wallace >> just been waiting a few minutes to say among all

085the great comments and conversation here here superintendent. That's all I wanted to say is and uh a public speaker at our last meeting looked straight at me and talked about how I mentioned that there are ideas that would have been radical 5 to 10 years ago that people are open to. This is a prime example of what I was talking about in that interview is is that we are now think about that just as a as a board. We're now looking to partner um with a a very different model. A model maybe a number of us may not even be that comfortable with but know that there are parents as you said who want this. And I'm excited because there are a number innumerable number of micro school models just right here in Florida. I

086encourage anybody curious, Google Broward County micro schools. I think it's the capital in our country right now for micro schools here in Florida um of all the models and they can't get going because if they want to meet at a church building, they have to have a traffic study done or they have to have all of these city and county regulations for zoning start to hit. And so that what a shame that you know there's some great models out there that aren't coming to fruition because of all those barriers and that we're helping work with this organization to remove those and and meet more parent needs and student needs ultimately. So thank you and I'm excited to see where this goes and what this leads to. >> Absolutely. Seeing no further questions or comments. Thank

087you all very much. The next item, uh, board members, I had committed to providing you an update on housing options that we have been exploring. Um, I will provide you in in the near future with copies of submissions that we have received. Last year, when Dr. Allen was serving as chair, he had the opportunity to join me to hear um, from Upward Homes um, which is a development company based out of Texas. They are currently finalizing a contract with school district here in Florida. Um so that's one of the models which is interesting. Um what they do is they build a mixeduse community. So it can be a combination of apartments, town homes, single family homes and then those are leased to our employees at a market rate competitive rate. Um and there's no home

088ownership in it. in there initially when they first started building these communities and again I'll send you a link to the company because I think it's important that you see all of the places where they have been doing this I think Dr. Allen, you know, I'm I'm not going to put him on a spot to ask him to share anything, but I I was struck by the fact that it's a very altruistic approach. Um, and and I think I kept leaving the conversation saying, uh, how does this work for you? How do you make money off of this? Cuz everybody wants to make money. Um, but this is a company that has shared their commitment to supporting teachers and supporting supporting municipalities because they realize how difficult it is for workforce housing. And and so

089basically um their model, the premise is again they they establish very affordable I'm not going to say market rate because the market rate in Pole County can be quite high for two and three bedrooms, but um they establish a rent the tenants can stay there. There's no term as far as you're only allowed to be in one of their homes or one of their uh condominiums or town homes for just two years or three years. It's however long you want to stay. Um they they they take all responsibility for maintenance. They take all responsibility. Um there's no financial obligation on behalf of the district. There's so for example, if units sit empty, there's no impact to the district. We're not paying for an empty facility. um they assume that they actually put a buffer um

090aside um each each month so that if those instances do happen that they can cover any costs that they have. They seemingly um make their revenue off of a town center kind of approach where they they build this community around a town center but then they lease the town center to corporate entities like your your large supermarkets and and others. I I won't name any names. Um, I don't know if that's their model. So, end of end of the day, it's a model worth exploring. We did send them a long list of questions based off of the contract that was recently shared with us. I will provide you their responses. Um, so the questions are in black or comments are in black and then all of their responses were submitted in red. Um, so it's

091a model worth considering. The next one is a land trust. So, let let me differentiate one more thing about the workforce housing um with upward communities. The the difference there is they can build larger scale. Um as I shift to option number two which is the land trust. The land trust typically is a much smaller development 2030 units at a time. Um essentially what we do this is different because this allows individuals to build equity. Um so what they do is they build homes like I said 20 to 30 homes. um you know, they build them right around the appropriate price point, maybe $275 to $350,000. Here's the fascinating part. When individuals apply, they their mortgage rate is not set by the cost of the home they build. The mortgage rate is set based off

092no more than 20% of that person's annual salary. That's how they come up with the mortgage rates for that individual. So bus drivers, custodians, teachers, administrators, all have an equal opportunity for home ownership and equity development. Um, essentially they own the home, but then when they sell the home, they sell it back to the company. The company sets a cap, so you can't make more than 20% equity off the original purchase price of the home. Um, so unlike a lease or a rent, the owners or the the tenants actually develop equity over time. They have some I'll send you um one of their breakdowns so that you can see I think rough I'm just going to give you some rough numbers paraphrasing their presentation recently out of let's say somebody sells a home after 10

093years of home ownership and the amount of equity is 60,000 based off fees and everything else they typically would walk with about 42. Now, if you have a 10-year rental agreement, you walk with zero. Um, so it's an interesting concept, but it's much smaller in scale because their their ability to build large numbers is just going to have to take time, but it it is potential that one or two of these options could be used in combination with each other. Um, you could do a large residential development for workforce housing and do something like land banking or excuse me, the land trust, which is which is quite a fascinating process. There are no existing land trusts in Pulk County right now is my understanding. Um, and this concept, I want to thank Kim Long with

094Pulk Vision. She knows that we've been looking and so she's out there and she brought the concept to us and brought a developer to forward that that does this. And I'll provide you again with some information that gives you details as to their background. But I found it very intriguing that they established the the monthly mortgage rate based off of the annual salary for the individual or family and it's not just set in a traditional manner that makes it unaffordable, unattainable for for individuals. So a very interesting process. The last ones obviously there there's kind of there's there's two additional ones. One is converting existing spaces and Penllis County did that about a year ago. They started renovating one of their district buildings to allow for workforce housing. Um, multi-story facility. I believe that they

095have a traditional rent structure for 60%. I may have the percentages backwards and I'll have to provide an update to you, but I believe 60% of the building is traditional rent for any resident within Penelis County. 40% is set aside for workforce housing for their employees. Um, so it's an interesting concept. um we're reaching out to them to find out the financial structure. How did they approach this? How did they finance it? What are the strategies that they use? What resources did they access? Um and I do believe some of that is in partnership with their local municipality, the city. Um the last one obviously is looking at available space and working um there are several school districts right now that as they build new schools they are setting aside acreage on those school campuses

096um where they're putting duplexes or quadplexes and then they're using those for workforce housing. What I don't know yet and I'll know more after the fads meeting. What I don't know yet is if if they're giving priority workforce access to the individuals who work at that school or if it's more just open and generic like a lottery process for the whole school district. So I'll know more after the next upcoming FADS meeting. So, I'll keep this at the forefront, keep providing you options, but I will send you some resources and information that I've received um that you can all look at and review so that you can keep up to speed and up to date on this. As you talk to your colleagues, if you're hearing about other options, please don't hesitate to share those

097with us and we'd be happy to do our due diligence and explore those as well. So, Dr. Allen. >> Yeah, thanks for uh bringing this to us. Um, I know several of the board members here were at the FSBA event that was in uh Orlando, downtown Orlando. And it was really fascinating to hear from their deputy superintendent uh at that time and this was just a couple months ago that AL actually has a pretty heavy allocation of their time that's dedicated to workforce housing specifically and building partnerships with uh future developers that are coming in apartment complexes and carving out specific spaces uh dedicated to um our teachers and first responders. ers and so forth. So, um you know, so as far as a resourcing standpoint, if you're looking to, you know, build your database

098of information around this as well, um Orange or rather, uh the deputy superintendent in Orange, uh but also Marian County is aggressively moving this way and Lee County. So, I know we all have, um connections with other board members there. Um would encourage you to reach out to them as well. Superintendent, thank you. Um it's uh top of mind around the state as well. >> Yep. >> Well, if you can't do something on the salary side, is there a way for us to make to address affordability? Maybe that's an option for us to explore. Board members, that concludes workshop top topics for today. There is a remaining item on today, today's agenda. Um we have budget and staffing. So, Miss Jenkins, and I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, that was yours to do. I apologize. >> No

099problem. >> Oh, >> good morning. How are you all? Good morning. >> All right. Today we're going to talk about timelines as they relate to the budget. The first piece we'll discuss is the trim calendar. So the truth and millillage process was established in 1980 and it was um it's made to ensure transparency whereas the taxpayers are notified in any change in their taxing rate. So in order for us to levy a millillage and also be eligible to receive state funding, the funding from DOE in the form of the FEFP, we have to follow this trim calendar. So this year what it looks like is July 1st, the property appraiser will certify the tenative millillage um tenative taxable value. So we get an idea at that point of what our taxable value is. um July

10020th within 20 days 24 days the superintendent sends the budget to the school school board. So by statute on July 19th DOE is required to tell us what our required local effort is. We don't determine our required local effort. It's prescribed and stated. So we receive that actual amount which we then put into the tenative budget around July 26th. Um, we've scheduled on Sunday to run the ad in the paper for the trim ad. July 28th, we will have our tenative public hearing. Um, by Saturday, August 1st, the property appraiser will notify the community members of their tenative millages. um within 65 to 80 days which falls on September 8th we'll have the final budget hearing and then three days after that we are required to submit all our documents to DOE and also um

101within a month of that the department of revenue. Do you have any questions about our trim timelines? >> Seeing none. All right, the next um set of timelines are our FTE survey dates. So, our funding is based um off of our FTE. This chart outlines uh this is the current year. So, because we still have a little bit remaining, I wanted to include this so you could see what survey 4 looks like for this year. Um survey one happens July 14th through the 18th. Survey two is October 6th through the 10th. Three is February 2nd through the 6th and four is June 15th through the 19th. We've done a lot of talking about our sitebased budget. Those budgets are based off of survey 2 because we do have the finalized data in time to give

102the um tenative budgets to our principles. We do a couple adjust of adjustments during the year and we'll come back and do a full presentation on sitebased. Um this chart again shows you what what's really involved in each survey. So each one covers a little bit of um different items. Survey one collects data on DJJ and Florida virtual. Survey two um is an FTE recalibration. And what that means is you can only earn one FTE. So for example, if you had a student that was in our school 60% of the time, yet they took half load at Florida Virtual, that would be above 100%. So DOE recalibrates it so that you can only earn one in total. Uh survey three generates reports and highlights. Um it's also FTE recalibration and then survey 4 is kind

103of a final um it's non-funded summer schools general reports and highlights FTE recalibration um and then those numbers go into your final calculation. This is the FEFP schedule. So it shows how the surveys translate into the different reports we leave or we receive. So the legislature when the legislaturator is finished we get what's called a conference report. Um and the data that they use to build that conference report is what's in the data source column. It is a projection. So you'll see that the the conference report is primarily made up of projections and they combine survey 1 2 3 4 and five of the prior year to come up with that conference report. The second calculation is what we receive in July after typically after July 19th and it's made up of again projections with

104the prior year estimate but the difference is you have your finalized millage rate. The third calc um is received after survey 2 somewhere around December 15th or later. Um these dates aren't guaranteed. Sometimes depending on what's going on, we get them at a different time. And this is the first survey that you actually have actual data. So survey one and two plus an estimate of what you'll have in three and four makes up your third calculation. Survey four, you have three sets of actual data from survey 1, 2, and three. And then an estimate for survey four. And then your final calculation is where you have all actual data and that's your true up for the year questions. Do you all have any questions? >> There are none. >> Okay. This is our budget calendar.

105Um I took the one out of our budget book and added some detail. I rearranged a little bit um so that you can see what happens in the different periods. November, December and January, we begin our budget process. Uh we receive the third calculation which gives us an idea of where we may end with the current year fund balance. We get finalized data for our add-on FTE and survey 2 data is available for us to begin building our sitebased budgets. In February through March, we build our budget adoption calendar. We get survey 3 FTE. Our sitebased budgets are distributed to our schools. We submit the indirect cost plan to DOE. We hold department budget meetings with myself and the budget department to look at what are your current expenses, how did that line up with

106what we budgeted this year, what are your projections for next year. Um, our sitebased budgets are fully approved during this time. In April and May, we receive our fourth calculation which helps us uh further true up our our existing fund balance. Florida Retirement System releases the new retirement rate which goes into calculating what our our benefit expense is next year. Uh we finalized preschool budgets, workforce budgets, district staff budget changes. We're going to be bringing that to you um in April, end of April, and then for approval in May, and we create our department budgets. In June, we work on our debt service budgets, our food service budgets, technical college, ROC, miscellaneous funds, our sitebased budgets are then loaded. Um, and the rest of our budget is is loaded at that point. July is when

107we we receive our second calculation and our final millage rate. We actually know at that point what our funding will be for certain. Charter school budgets are finalized because they receive a portion of our FEFP. At this point, it's about 19%. Our capital project carryovers are completed. So if you budget for a capital project in the prior year, we have to evaluate, reconcile and carry over whatever budget is remaining to the next fiscal year. And then we hold our public hearing to adopt the tenative budget and proposed millages. In August, we finish closing the books in the accounting department. We prepare our carryover worksheets for the general fund. Um what that means is if you have any budgeted expense and general fund that crosses fiscal years, we carry that budget as well and our schools

108are able to carry a portion of their holdback that would be included in those funds. Um our packet for our final public hearing is prepared and we complete and print our budget book to bring to you in September at the final budget hearing where we adopt the final budget in millages. We then upload everything to DOE. We certify what's called a DR422, which is a form um that certifies our millages. And then the DR487 and trim packet is our final packet sent to the property appraiser, tax collector, department of revenue. So those are our general timelines and um I wanted you to see the different budget budgets that we put together. Often times we talk about our general fund because it is our primary discretionary operating but we have a lot of other um budgets

109that go in as well. There are no further questions or comments. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Superintendent. Um the next item of business uh for us is under unfinished business, Northeast Pulk uh county growth discussion. And so, Superintendent, I'm going to turn it over to you to update us on where we are with our process on that. >> Yes, sir. So, prior to that, I wanted to go ahead and give the staff another opportunity. I've sent you all the link already this morning um to information that we actively track and monitor as far as growth. Um so, I'm going to go ahead and let them summarize for you first what information we're going to be providing and updating you with and then I'll segue into that topic. Sir, >> thank you, Mr. Fix.

110>> Thank you, Superintendent. I first wanted to give a little background information and then Mr. McLemore will come up here and show you exactly the product or the tool that his team has put together that you'll any one of you will be able to access online and and really see it. But in the state of Florida in most jurisdictions, we have a a two-tier level when it comes to growth management. We have a future land use map which is supposed to be a guiding document as to how this community may want to look in the future and then usually there's a zoning map. Now in unincorporated Pulk County they actually just do everything by land use but then they they they have a they don't call it a zoning map but sort of zoning map

111that goes with their land use. My point is is a land use map will have often a lot of density on that map and often um that density then is either brought down or readjusted when they come into the zoning category and at that point it's when they start going through when a developer starts going through the process that Joshua and his team get notified and they start tracking it and they start having it on the radar for development. I only say that I only say that to say this. There are developers out there who have bought land and purchased it and they have not yet come through the process and they'll they have an idea of how many units they want to build on that land and it may be from the future land

112use map which is generally overprescribed or they may want to go through a um a land use change. Either way, Joshua's office will get notified of that and then their review will kick in and the information he's going to show you then starts coming into play as part of our capital planning process. And um I just wanted to give that broad overview picture. Joshua or Mr. Mackmore, excuse me. So, another way we like to look at it too, not to get too urban on this, is when they're underlying land use. Um, with how the county and cities look at it, um, think of those as like your your skeleton. That's where the the cities and the county are planning. Hey, this is the area where we're willing to expend capital dollars to extend a utility

113line in this kind of an area. In this kind of an area, okay, we're okay with extending utility lines and sewer lines. Once you have those two uh components along with roads, that's when you'll start seeing a lot more residential intensity and density at. So, think of it almost like uh your infrastructure. How are you going to build out? So, you need to have some of your your skeleton system in place before you start bringing on the houses. So, to what Mr. fixes alluded to alluded to earlier. And if I can open up the keyboard, maybe see if I can jump out of here. There it goes. So on the screen before you is a public uh viewable uh dashboard that our department has created. Um, as some of you are aware, the Pulk County

114School District operates in collaboration with uh various municipalities in the county in the form of an interlocal agreement for school facilities planning. And a part of that that's outlines our process for how we help we collaborate between each other and how we implement school concurrency. School concurrency is an optional uh it is not required by state but it is one that has been optionally entered uh locally uh based off of its value and how we grow and plan for our future schools. So with that when developments start coming into uh Pulk County and again our purview and jurisdiction is not just unincorporated Pulk County it is literally everything within PK County. Uh so we have pretty much we our viewpoint is the entire county. We're not limited just by one jurisdiction, not just one city

115limit. So any growth that occurs within Poke County in terms of residential growth, it comes across our desk at some point in time. Um so we break it up across in two C broad categories. Those that have binding concurrency development entitlements, those pretty much have uh those projects that are already gone through a county process or a city process that they've had plans approved. They've been reszoned and they are ready to start turning dirt and start building homes vertically. Now on this dashboard here as as the number indicates and this is a live it updates as soon as we get applications and we start issuing letters. This is an updated real life real time dashboard. Um so right now we're tracking 329 developments that actually have uh secured their school entitlements. Another part that you

116can then transition to are those that have non-binding. Non-binding are those that are very early in their um planning process. They're speculative in nature. Those are those that have already developed residential projects that have met with city staff or county staff to where they are they've just initiated very early on discussions with, hey, this is what we're thinking about doing in this area. How does that line up with your uh zoning code and what do we need to do in order to make this make this happen? So, again, we're tracking 70 of those. Um below that is a list that again we can go by name and if you know a project by name you can actually click on it and you can actually zoom right to it and the map will zoom into it

117and you'll start getting real time u background details on it on the details pane on the right hand side you can get more into the weeds probably more so than you ever wanted to. Um uh but what I do like to highlight is uh we also include copies or attachments of the actual document itself that we review the actual application we received the binding concurrency letter we issued along with the site plan that we were shown and provided. This is actually a very integral part. This ensures that what we are being shared matches up and lines up with what the county and the cities have also been shared. So, so again any residential growth that is occurring in P County at some point in time does come across our desk. Uh in addition to just

118uh applications and this dashboard, we also as a school district have a seat on all development review committees in the county and all the cities. We review all their level twos, their residential uh site plans. Again, we are reviewing all of them. So in terms of looking at future growth or speculative growth, that's when I would start looking at those projects that are deemed as non-binding concurrency. Now, it's not to say that there are even some that maybe they're still having internal conversations to where they haven't approached the city or county, but at least at the non-binding letter uh level, uh that's when they're actually starting to have some a little bit more serious conversations. And that's where we start looking at, hey, okay, based off of this non-binding project, what is it going to

119be its impact in this area? And based off the density and frequency of these uh project that we're seeing, how's this going to impact a school district on a regional footprint both at the elementary, middle, and high school level? That then ties into our demographic projections. And that starts feeding into a 5, 10, and 20-year capital plan. Sorry that was a lot but um again uh this is this helps provide additional transparency but another feature we we we are bringing online um and again this is more at a request from our city and county partners is then um the jurisdiction side panel here you can actually start clicking on the actual city itself and it'll actually start filtering out and zooming in exactly okay just those developments within the city limits of Barto proper it'll

120actually start uh filtering it out and you'll seeing just those projects. So with that, turn back to >> Thank you. >> Uh so board members again the intention here was to provide you with that information as a reminder but also to provide you with some level of assurance that we have some minimal forecasting capabilities. Um and then again ongoing monthly conversations and meetings um with the county. But uh to this specific topic um we will be scheduling for a board retreat. we will reach out. We're trying to make sure that we have at least three different developers, land owners, um who can come and kind of speak to what they see, what potential areas we want to make sure that we're paying particular attention to. Um and then again, I'll I'll ask you for additional

121questions prior to that meeting um so that we make sure we get your questions addressed. But I think a retreat is probably the most appropriate venue for that conversation simply because it provides you the most flexibility and we're not timerestricted um at that time. So I'll obviously build the agenda based off other topics, but this will be a primary area for us to focus on as well as goal setting for the upcoming school year. So that being said, I see Miss Wyatt. >> Thank you and thank you for sharing the the tool because I do find it incredibly useful. Um my question is when I was looking at it today when you sent it, it looks like some of the Winter Haven developments have fallen off. Um and their developments that are either currently in

122process or very recently if I'd be shocked if they if every building has their CEO already. Um so at what point do they >> fall off? So what we're doing too is another section within the facilities department is uh more of a real estate component to where they are uh scouring the property appraisers office website in terms of okay have they uh in terms of home ownership are they still being listed under a home builder or they have they transitioned into a corporation or an individual and that's how we then use that metric to then start updating okay based off of let's use for example uh Seventh Street multif family well actually multif family different project Alfred Ridge. Um we're projecting it to be a 177 lot subdivision, but based off of uh pulling the

123plat and the property appraisers data, seeing all right, who owns all these properties? How many lots have transitioned from Dr. Horton or Lenar Homes and which ones have been listed as an individual entity and then we'll start updating. Okay, we can see that we have transitioned. We're at about 90% built out. We still have some additional remaining. And then we'll update our hey at this point in time, how much longer do we think it's going to take for the subdivision to build out? We just our demographics uh enrollment projection and we we keep following that. But to answer your question, when do they fall off? Once we see that all the lots have been have transitioned from a home builder into an individual entity's name. In some instances, I will say that there are some

124subdivisions they that we are still going to be tracking them. They may only have one or two lots that have yet to been built out. and we'll still carry them because they still have uh secured school entitlements, but we still track them. >> I guess my question is because for example um Harmony at Lake Eloise has fallen off and that's one that if you drive through it, there's several that have not been built that it almost concerns me more that they've bought the property and it's in their name, but there's no one living there yet. So, as soon as they finish all of those homes and people are actually living there, are they coming from other places in Winter Haven that we're just moving them now to a Winter Haven school or are they coming

125from out of state that all of the sudden we're going to have 500 students that live in the county that we didn't? >> Yeah. To your point with with Harmony again, all of our partners at the city level, they have the same information. And when we meet monthly, we're we're we're we are vetting this information. And so if they're seeing something different, I mean, we're updating our database accordingly. >> Okay. I guess my question, and we we can talk more offline if needed. My question would be at what point because my thought would be that we're monitoring them until the students are actually here um or families are living there and they may not have students here. Um, but it does concern me a little bit that it's because this is an incredibly useful tool,

126but if we have places that we know that students are going to be moving in in the next several years that aren't on here, then it can that we're not >> So that goes back to our demographic projections. And so we're we're how we are projecting is based off of our student generation rate that was adopted as a part of the impact fee study. and that okay that is pretty much an X variable that we use to determine based off of 100 single family homes this is how much you can reasonably expect in terms of students at the elementary middle and high school level you should you could reasonably expect now in terms of absorption that's where it goes back to okay well how many homes have been seed this year that then we start

127seeing that as an absorption rate of the school's year-to-year enrollment figure >> okay thank you >> Mr. keys. >> Thank you so much for that. And I I agree with Mrs. Wyatt. What a valuable tool and and me I like to dig into the weeds and I find it so remarkable when you look at um the data on concurrency and how that that's formulated. It always it always tickles me. Um and I know it's not us and it's the rules, but one of the ones I looked at for instance was very northeast part of the county. I'm talking about way up um on 27 and what was the adjacent high school after the ones that are listed there? Abundale which was 45 minutes away and over you know almost 30 miles. So I I say

128all that to say this is thank you because data is important and I always I always love looking at that and kind of crunching it and scratching my head and think wow this is amazing. But anyways that's all just general comments >> and Mrs. fields. >> Superintendent, this question is for you. I was wondering, do we have any update on when we're going to be able to meet with some of the county folks? >> So, I put in a request about a week ago. I'll have to follow up. Um, and I think at this we're at the point where I probably just need to submit it officially in writing rather than making phone calls. Um I have expressed the board's concern that while that first year I think we'd all reached kind of a tentative

129agreement that since staff meet monthly the requirement in the interlocal agreement for an annual meeting may be a bit of overkill and I think we reached a tenative agreement unofficially to meet every third year unless conditions warranted but we're beyond well beyond that date. So, um, I'll reach out and inquire and I'll copy the chair on that request. Um, and just simply say the board is looking to schedule that meeting. So, but it has we have requested multiple times. >> Yeah, I know you have and I don't know >> been reaching out to staff. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Dr. Allen, >> that that was a question that I had as it relates to timing. I don't want us to be behind behind the ball. Um, so

130that retreat date, do we have it locked in already? >> Um, I believe April is the next rescheduled retreat. >> April 10th. >> Yeah, it's pretty far out. Um, I know there was discussion around this being present in our work sessions moving forward, but if there's information the board would like, um, again, knowing that the retreat is that far out, and that's that the intention of the retreat is to have them be able to speak and and not belabor an issue when you feel pressed because there's other competing >> topics on the agenda, plus a follow-up meeting where you have to vote. I I want to give you the opportunity and the latitude to have as much flexibility with your time as needed um with those individuals to ask whatever questions you may have. So,

131if if the board would like us to explore an additional retreat date between now and April, um happy to provide some some dates and times that may work. I just know that with spring break and some other commitments that are on the horizon, it it may be difficult to find that, but we'll do whatever the board's interest is as far as trying to expedite that. I'm sorry. >> Wait, sorry. Active. Yeah. May I think we've got three work sessions before uh the April might be good to just give us bits of information along the way and then allow us to have that um more thorough conversation in the retreat. >> Yes, sir. >> Is just a recommendation. So you all can decide on that agenda item as far as the chair and you >> Mr.

132Chair. >> Yeah, I would uh echo uh board member Allen's comment that you know maybe we could do something be prior to that. Let's explore some uh some potential options and see. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. concludes the unfinished business. >> Thank you very much. Um I at this time um our next item of business is sorry is our board member comments. So um open it up now for board member comments. Um and I recognizing um Mrs. Board member Fields >> and uh Superintendent Hyde uh I think it might have been at our last board meeting we voted on the student progression plan but we didn't discuss that. So I was wondering when are we going to be able to have that before us because there were quite a few changes

133on the plan. >> So we will add that to the workshop for the 24th. >> Thank you. >> Yes ma'am. Do I have any >> Are there any other uh board member comments about from any of your committees or anything? >> Board member Wyatt, you're recognized. >> Thank you. I think you all received an email on this as well, but for the calendar committee, it was brought to our attention late last week that there was a miscalculation in how many days were on the calendar. Um if you look at your calendars in the top right corner it says what day number it is. Well there was uh the 31st of August got left out in that count. Um so a survey has been sent this is for the 2627 school year. So a survey has

134been sent to the calendar committee um as of late last week to with three different options. Um they did add the additional option that we heard from a community member on um and so that we should have those results in the next few weeks and I'm assuming superintendent Hyde will bring that to us because we'll need to read it. Um, I'm hoping by the March meeting. If not, >> that's planned to be on the February >> February. Okay. Meeting. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you, board member Wyatt. Is there any other uh board member comments? >> Seeing none, I now declare this work session adjourned.