001[music] hear this. I think Good morning and welcome to the Poke County School Board's work session. We will now call the work session for January 13, 2025 to order. Thank you to our staff who are available and accessible to help and address any questions that we may have. As a board, we strive to work with you to ensure that 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 on providing a highquality education for all students. The
002four 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 we will 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 disparrage 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 community of lifelong learners. At this time, I would
003like to turn it over to Superintendent Hyde to lead us in our work session. >> Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board, members of staff, and faculty. Thank you for being here today. First items on our workshop this morning are related to charter schools. So, I'd like to bring up to the podium Miss Candies motto. Miss Amato, >> good morning and happy new year. I know we're already in the middle of the month, but happy new year anyways. [laughter] So, before you, item number one is Cypress Junction Monastery's contract extension. They are just seeking a one-year extension to their current contract that is set to expire in June of 26. uh they are requesting this because they are currently building a new facility and they also want to add a high school component and
004have a stream a seamless K12 monastery program. So we felt it would be best for them to get a one-year extension, get the building complete, and then submit a renewal application that includes uh a K12 program. All other terms of the current contract will remain um in place. Mr. Motto, one of the questions I received from a board member um prior to today's meeting when they saw this item was uh did the original contract submission include high school? If not, will they be required to now submit a high school contract or an amended application? >> So that is what the renewal process will be. So actually they submitted a renewal document to us with a K8 program. Their current contract allows them to add additional grades, but they have to include almost like a mini
005application. What does how does the staffing change? How does budgeting PL change? How does the building capacity? So, since they wanted to add the high school component, the school and I talked about it and it would be easier to just amend their current renewal document and submit it fresh um in the fall. >> Miss Miller, >> good morning, Mr. Amato. Um, I just want to speak in favor of this. I have an appointment to go and um tour the building that they're that they have started and Winter Haven is very receptive of this school. It's been well supported throughout the years under this leadership. It's been more inclusive than it's ever been before. Um, and I'm I'm glad to see that they're growing. Um, because I know when we have these partnerships, when we have
006people that we are that are good partners with us, it makes it a lot easier for us with families. So, thank you, >> Mr. Sharpless. I also want to uh speak in favor of this. Um I actually was able to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for for their new building. Um leadership at the school was tremendous. Um the community definitely desires this school and the monastery model in general and so I think um it just makes sense with the new building to grow into additional uh grades. So if you're if you're listening Dr. Newman Lake, keep up the good work. Mr. Keys. >> Yeah. Well said by the other two board members and I was just saying, you know, I want to speak uh in um in favor of this as well. >> No further questions
007or comments. >> Okay. So, the contract extension will come to the July board meeting and then their new charter renewal document will come to you next spring. So, okay. That's it for item number one. Can I move on to two? Okay. All right. So, item number two. I know you have seen Mackielle on the agenda quite frequently um over the ca course of the past semester. So what you have today is the actual brand new charter application that they submitted to the district to open a K6 program on the Kingsford campus. I know you've seen Dr. or you've seen Mr. Black up here several times discussing [clears throat] um their program and what they're looking to do. So this is a report out of the actual application that we received from the Mackielle. So, as
008you know, Mackielle is a high-erforming uh charter school and they are proposing to open a middle or excuse me, an elementary school in August of 24 to serve approximately 434 students. As with all charter applications, the charter review team conducted a comprehensive review using the state's evaluation instrument. Um, we did keep this process streamlined and to replicate what we do for other charter applications, although the facility was a previous PK county schoolboard building, but we wanted to make sure that we were consistent and fair through the whole process. Um, we used the state's evaluation instrument, which encompasses 12 different sections. The CR the charter review team met multiple times over the course of the review with area of expertise sharing insight about the application. The application was rated based on the findings from the charter
009review team using the state's evaluation instrument. Uh the application received a rating of meets the standards on 11 sections and a partially meets the standard on one section. Overall, the charter review team felt confident in recommending to the board and to the superintendent the approval of the Mackielle Academy Malberry and voted unanimously 16 to zero uh to bring to the board. I did provide you in the agenda as the attachments the actual completed evaluation instrument as well as a summary of the application should you have additional questions. >> Dr. Allen. >> Thank you, Superintendent. Uh Miss Mono, I was curious on the uh executive summary. This is a new look for us. Um can you give a little background on that? So, we um have an outside consultant who thought that this would be a
010great way to break down the application in an easier format for easier reading. >> All right. Very good. >> And we totally supported that. >> Yeah. Uh I I again I I like the way this was organized and I just thought it was a strong application and um so great work by the review team. >> Mr. Keys. [clears throat] >> Good morning, Mato. Thank you for that. Um the question I had is the one on the review on the partially meet standard. I kind of looked at that and um the nature of it obviously in my line of work sparked my attention. So I want to know in the and this is just I'm not worried all at all about the financial um um I guess uh position of that school. Did they do very
011well? But did they ever get that issue resolved with the interest rate on the note? I'm curious because it was partially meets and wondering if because I don't you know I know they there's contingency plans for it laid out but I want to know if it was ever resolved. Do we have any idea on that? >> So uh basically what's going to happen is more than likely the schools of Mackielle the actual parent organization will forgive the loan. >> Okay. >> So there will be no interest rate. Um it won't matter. >> Okay. So thank you. >> There is nothing further miss. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. This will come before the board for a vote um the end of January. Thank you, Miss Motto. Next two items are under Miss Pasco's purview.
012Um, both are related to our SAP upgrade and they're essentially changes in or the addition of an additional they call it a mock cut over and then the second one is an alter a change to our go live date for payroll. Miss Pasco. >> Hi, good morning. How is everybody? [clears throat] I have with me Diane Rivera. You can't stand behind me. There you go. Uh Diane Rivera is our senior director of SAP, our software development team. And she's with me in case you have any deep technical questions. She manages the technical team. Plus, I also like for you to know all the other people that work on these since you hear so much from me in so many areas. All right, so let's give a big let's start off quickly. Um, one more thing
013had some things going on. I left my hearing aids at home. So I apologize I might be a little slow with some processing. So mock cut over essentially data migration is a challenging thing to think about. [clears throat] This is as simplified as I can make it in an example and feel free to ask me any questions. Uh, I believe Mr. Mr. Hyde and Miss Winchester have presented previously to the board about all of our board documents that we had in paper and we want to digitize those. When that presentation was made, they went through a pretty complex discussion about making that into a digital format and how you have to store that data. It's the same application here. Although we have our data in our current SAP system, it is built and was built
014back in 2011. So, the architecture was different in 2011 than it is today. Part of this upgrade is getting us into a new cloud-based system that has security protocols, compliance regulations, and so the structure is different. We actually have to pick the data up from one system and move it into the next system. Everybody with me so far? Okay. The second piece to that is the data isn't holistic. Meaning when you look at a database, I might have Mr. Hod's personal data. Well, we've got to look at pay information, employment information, addresses that is stored in different places. So, we actually pick the data up piece by piece and move it over and then check that if it's correct. It's a fairly complex system in the backend that involves extracts, imports, checking of data errors,
015looking at what's occurring. When we started this the first time, we ran into some challenges. One is structure of making sure we're tight there. We're also working with people offshore, so we have the complexity of different time zones. some people doing the work at night while we're asleep and then having to have that communication connection. We also ran into some challenges of institutional knowledge. I know that many of you have talked at recently within my purview, my timeline here, the last three years about wanting to have procedures and processes to ensure that we keep that institutional knowledge. Well, we ran into some of that. Some of these records date back to 2011. And so we might have questions of an employee and we needed to check something. Um when we looked at that, the timeline
016of how long that took us meant we were going to have a very long cut over. Basically that data migration was a practice for when we go live in March and we cut over. Well, we want that to be as short as possible. We want to make the cut over to be quick, efficient, accurate, and I'll talk about that in a couple minutes. And so we needed to have another practice. In order to have another practice that lets us clean our data, it lets us process this. It lets us make sure we have tight communications. And it gives us the confidence level when we go to our actual cut over that we will be good. Our data will be clean and everything will be working as it should. Mr. Hod, any more explanation you want
017me to give? >> Any questions from the board? >> There are none. >> All right. I'm going to move on to the second one which is um an extension aligning our cut over with payroll. So as you know payroll is extremely important. Everybody wants to be paid accurately. We want our staff to be paid accurately. Um, that's where all of our data lives. And what we learned through this upgrade is our timing of our HR data and timing that with the payroll cut over is extremely important. So if you think about it again in two systems, if we take one payroll period in one system and we tie it up with a bow and people get paid and we pick the data up and move it to the next system and then we start a
018new payroll period, we should be clean. Well, to do that, we have to align with our payroll cut over or our payroll timelines. So, we had a choice based upon the contract we originally signed, which at that time we did not know the payroll periods. We could either move up the timeline and cut off two or three weeks or we could move it back to be the week after uh spring break. So the recommendation is to move back after the week of spring break because of the complexity of this time. Cutting off the time of all the teams to work probably would not serve us well because we want that payroll to be clean. >> Any questions? >> Mr. Sharpless. >> No question. Just comment. Um this [clears throat] is a heavy lift. >> Obviously
019this whole thing has been a very heavy lift. Um it needs to be as clean as possible. Um, the last thing any of us board members want is our emails flooded with uh upset employees saying that our they their pay was not correct. So, if we have to take I think adjusting it the week after spring break and this is my opinion is probably a smarter move uh get as much time as we can to get it right. So, I'm all for it. Let's get it right and let's get it done and let's update from 2011. >> Yes, sir. >> So, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Mis, >> um, >> thank you so much. the update is long overdue. I think Mr. Sharp has just stated that. Um but I just want to say
020thank you to always um keeping us updated, I think. And it is a it is a huge enormous task, but I think that the benefits we're going to see afterwards are well worth the work, but I'm always amazed by um how much work you and your team do with such little resources. This should take a lot more individuals on task than than you have um and constantly battling um industry demands. Um you truly have to have a staff that's dedicated to the mission we have and I think that you at the forefront of that helps out a lot. So, thank you for the the work of you and your team and constantly pushing forward on this because it's it is a big lift and it's vitally important though. Thank you. >> Welcome. If I might
021add, I would be remiss if I didn't say that this is a truly operational collaborative effort. Um, on this front, phase one, HR, staffing, budget, employee, labor relations, certification, risk, it have I missed anybody? I hope not. Um, for our last the training that we did, I want to give a shout out to the principles. We did training within their schools. They went above and beyond. The tech leaison presented, the network managers, support services has been involved. It truly has been the most collaborative effort I've ever seen um from a group of people where you have to know when to lead, when to follow, when to ask questions, when to not. Um it's something I'm very proud to have said, I've been part of PK County Public Schools for this effort. So, I want to
022make sure that they all know that they are they might not be standing here doing their other work right now, but they are truly represented. Thank you. There are no further questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> At this time, I'd like to bring up lawyer Laura Sawyer and Tammy Williams to talk about Translate Live pilot program. [clears throat] Hi, good morning board chair Sharpless, board members, and superintendent Hyde. So, uh, we wanted to make sure that you were aware of a a pilot that we are implementing called translate live. It will actually provide real time deaf interpretation on an asneeded basis. So, the additional option, it will be an additional option for for providing sign language interpreting services and we will be using technology device for that. It's a free program um as far
023as the pilot goes and it will be 60 to 120 minutes of interpreter services that will be no cost for the district. And then I'll let Mrs. Pasco speak about the actual training aspect. [snorts] Mrs. Sawyer is actually working on some SAP training so she asked me to step in for her. Um this is a pilot as Miss Williams said. It is at no cost to us. This helps us determine how does it work in the classroom? What are we doing? are we making some of the right decisions and then it helps us determine the proper pricing going forward. So there will need to be significant amount of training that also lets us determine how we would roll out the training other things we would do and determine if um this is something that she
024and the team want to proceed with and get that information back to Mr. Hyde so that he can make the appropriate decisions. >> Any questions? >> Miss Miller, >> good morning. Thank you um for presenting on this today and I appreciate what we've done to listen to the community and talk about the needs um of our students and we've we've talked about this before but I think the board um and the public need to understand that this is one of many. This isn't going to replace our interpreters and these decisions are made on an individual basis. We have students who need live interpreters um and we have other students where this will be significantly help them access curriculum. So, I appreciate that we moved quickly on this to improve services that we're providing to students.
025Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Sharpless. >> I have quite a few questions. I'll probably email later. Um, but I do um I'm curious. I first of all, I appreciate the fact that this is a free pilot. I always like those that word free. That's important. Um I looked at after reading through the document it said that um there's a bundled minute pricing model after that after the free pilot. And so my do we have a cap on that or is there going to be or is that going to be negotiated in the contract that comes forward? Like I'm just curious how that's going to work. >> If we decide to move forward that will be something that we would address at a later time. It is a monthly expense as far as the
026bundle goes, but I think it's in advance, but we will have to find that out and make sure we're clear on that prior to moving forward. It will be outlined in the contract very clearly if we choose to move forward. >> Okay. Excellent. And I'll have some other questions that I'll that I'll just uh send your way and then um certainly look forward to some answers. So, thank you. It's it looks but overall really excited about the program. So, >> thank you, >> Miss Wyatt. >> Thank you. Can you talk a little bit about how we're planning to pilot it as far as in individual classroom? Like is are we picking a school to pilot it at? Are we looking at specific types of classrooms? >> So this product is designed for individual [clears throat]
027needs. Um so we've worked with Mr. Hyde to look at individual students that we'll be piloting and that is part of the discussion. Anything you do, anytime you do something like this, you want to talk about what's the environment? How do we do that? How do we meet the need of the individual student? As Miss Miller said, one size does not fit all, especially in this area. So, it's a small footprint of minutes. So, we won't be doing it in a whole classroom. Plus, it wouldn't be indicative for a whole classroom. So, that's part of the process now is identifying those students. You also have to identify the teacher that can um really get in, ask some critical questions, and be comfortable to say, "This isn't working, this isn't working." You know, part of a
028pilot is determine what doesn't work as much as what does. So, you kind of want to think through that a little differently than we do normally. >> Awesome. Thank you, >> Mr. Keys. >> Thank you. I think um Mrs. White actually just, you know, asked one of my questions first, but the other one is I'm want to make statements saying, you know, we we received a lot of concerns from our DHH community on a recent board meeting. So, I'm I'm happy that we're looking at this and I'm pleased to hear that. Um, but one of my questions and I may have skipped over it so I forgive me if that's the case. The training period, we always worried about time and and I know this is an individualized approach, but we have a a pilot
029program that's free to us, right? But then if we say, okay, this is working. I'm wondering the time frame of training and the cost of training. Um, because we have our billable minutes, right, as a package um, when using those services, but I'm worried about, not worried, I'm just curious about the cost of training for this and taking time away from those. Well, I'm going to address that because I think what we're losing is the context of how how few students are involved in this. It's less than 100 students across the entirety of the district. So, there is not going to be a significant impact across the district on all classrooms, all areas. This is a tool, as was indicated that will be used with a certain demographic of our students that can demonstrate competency
030within the or within the system. It's also intended to help their parents and guardians to be more communicative during meetings and other things who may struggle with ASL issues themselves. Um, and our ability to ensure that we have interpreters. The other thing I just wanted to point out is this is not in response to that board meeting. This conversation's been going on for over 8 months. Um, and we've been looking at a variety of products and companies to help fulfill this because we've been talking that as AI tools have become more impactful and are creating opportunities for us, we were missing out on the core benefit of AI and that is to allow us to individualize supports for our students. And so whether that's translation services that happen in real time because we can't find
031a Haitian Creole translator, but that family wants to be engaged and have an IEP meeting or a 504 meeting or just a regular meeting about student behavior, discipline, performance. um we we we no longer have an excuse that the lack of an interpreter is no longer the excuse that we can justify because there are tools out there and in this situation these tools have been out here now for a couple years evolving and this was the best but it's also the priciest. So we want to pilot it. When the team first approached me, and this gets to Miss Wyatt's earlier question, when the team first approached me, because I was insisting that we implement something, we pilot something so that we could show that we're making progress towards this issue. Um, the question was, well,
032we'll just pick one or two schools initially was the proposal. And I said, absolutely not. We will go broadband all grade levels and develop our student profile where it best fits that student as far as their ability to interact with the with the software in an appropriate manner. Um pair of educators and teachers will have to be supported as well as our own ASL staff. Um so I'm excited but this is something we can easily do and support. The question will become as more of those students in the future no longer are restricted to what classes they can attend because they don't require a one-on-one ASL interpreter, then we'll have to just simply expand the training to expose other core content area staff or other staff to this is the device, this is why they
033need it, they're not playing games, they're need they require translation services. So it's it's an educational piece, not a utilization piece. So the training is very different for that group of individuals. Well, I appreciate that, Superintendent Hayden. Maybe I should have better defined is that the cost I'm not too concerned about is more of the time involved, the cost of that because we want to make sure that those educators who are going to be using the system are topline, top of the line in our staff because with the induction of AI, right, and we're seeing more of those tools, I am thrilled to know that we're branching out on that because it is something that's probably to this point um up to this point underutilized, right? So, I'm really really excited that we're taking those
034tools because I think ultimately what that's going to do is save time from those staff members for that being able to utilize that technology. So, my apologies for not probably forming that better, but um I appreciate that the time that we put in on it and the amount of research we've given to it because I think again we're talking about the use of technology especially in this particular area. I think it benefits us greatly from a cost perspective cost meaning more not monetary dollar amount but the time cost of our of our educators. >> Yeah. And I don't think you you you said it differently. It's just a matter of clarifying. We're not talking about 14,000 staff that have to be trained. >> It's a very small targeted group initially and that can be done
035through their existing professional development opportunities. So there should not be any additional cost for training other than if there's a need to bring in a trainer from the company. Um and but typically that's negotiated in the contract and we don't typically pay a fee for that um with contracted services, but every contract's unique and we'll work towards that goal. >> Thank you, sir. Yes. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Hod, if I could just add, when you both talked about this, you also want to consider the training for the technology support in the building. The network manager needs to be trained. Um there needs to be some understanding. And so that's our footprint that we use, the IIQ knowledge [clears throat] base so that we have all that information. and the help desk knows and to
036your training. One area of support that we do with all of our digital tools is we try very hard not to have only the outside person training. We pull somebody in from here so that we make sure we're giving our educators the full experience to know this might be something from the vendor, but these are things we do to support as well so they're not having to get pulled from multiple people. >> Excellent. Thank you, >> Dr. Allen. >> Yeah, I mean I think the context [clears throat] was much appreciated, superintendent. I think you answered quite a few of my questions. Um I mean it is a it's a piece of software right and you know I think of you know our uh elementary schools are um Mac based or Apple based and middle school
037high school are PC based so just deployment I was thinking about some of those things I mean I think the context answered most of my questions um but I mean it it does seem like a very innovative tool um implementation of AI just been following that with um just the most recent release of AirPods and integration within uh the Apple ecosystem as well. So yeah, so I definitely think that we're at the right at the cusp of some really interesting things in this. So I'm glad that we're there with it. So but I don't know if you want to speak to a little bit of that and and >> the the soft skills with AI are a little different. So when you think about um well let me think let me this morning I checked
038my bank balance. There's no AI using that. I know. I log in, I look at the balance, I see my transactions. The only AI component I might have is if I go to a chat and I talk to a bot. Well, that's not giving me a personalized experience. What we're talking about right now is using digital tools for a personalized experience and the AI responds to the student. Well, that's a different skill set. So, it's a different skill set for the teacher. We have to train them a little differently about how do you how do you understand when the student says I I'm not sure this is right or I need help here. They can't go back and they can't look at a checklist. So you want to grow that skill and the capacity and
039that's one of the reasons also for going slow to go fast is it's that problemolving skill and empower them to know it's okay we're going to go through this problem solving and here who can here's who can help you. So Dr. Allen that's always changing. You know, you and I have talked about AI, and that is one of the challenges with AI is it teaches itself. It's always growing. It does that exact process. So, if we as the human aren't thinking that way, it's kind of hard to engage with it. So, we want to make sure that we're supporting those teachers so that they understand how to problem solve and we can get that problem solving to them quickly so that that student is supported in that moment. And as Miss Miller says, still providing
040the human component that needs to with students that that's where it's more appropriate. >> Great. Thank you. >> No further questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Board measurements. The last item left under the superintendent report is an update on the steel program and our intent to expand the program. >> Good morning, board, and Mr. Hyde. Thank you so much for having us today. Today I'm really going to turn it over to Laura Webster and Dr. Hodgeges who've been um important part of writing the grant and getting the program off the ground. So they're excited to share how well it's going and to expand. So >> we should maybe I don't have a presentation. >> You should have a presentation and thank you for allowing us to um come today to present. What we wanted
041to do is update you on the Ridge program that started this year in August. We're in year two of the grant. It's a three-year grant cycle. We're in year two, year one. We did not have students, so this is our first year with students, but you do have a um presentation that has some of this information in it. The STEAL program is a 2-year comprehensive post-secondary program designed to prepare adults with intellectual disabilities for independent living and employment. The program at Ridge Technical College is an approved Florida Postsecary Comprehensive Transition Program recognized by the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities. and this program and that organization provides the program grant funds and the student scholarships. Participants in this program exit the program with employment, independent functioning, communication, and daily living skills necessary to be
042an active participant in their community. Right now at the steel um program at Ridge Technical College, we have students participating in the culinary hospitality program. These students um are participating in an inclusive environment with other students enrolled in the program. They are provided with accommodations within those classes as needed, but they work alongside the students that are also participating in that program. The steel program also provides the students two classes in which they work with the steel program teacher to um have specific instruction and evaluated on their soft skills which is done daily from the work inside their steel program classroom and the culinary hospitality classroom. Um daily living communication skills um self advocacy and self-determination skills social skills budgeting and housing. Um the connection with the appropriate state agencies is also um part of
043the um program and all students are currently connected with vocational rehabilitation. This program is all about our relationships that we have helped build for the students and with the students. It's very collaborative. It starts with the um individuals at the college, but in the community, we have worked um specifically with vocational rehabilitation um and they have worked with us and have designated a specific um VR consultant to work with our students. All of our students that are currently in the program are connected with VR and are um have a plan of service with them. They're going to be an integral part of their um journey through the program and after the program. We also have partnered with Citrus Connection which is our public transportation provider to work closely um with the mobility manager there and
044we provide transportation for our students if needed to the campus. We have one student that is currently participating in those services. We have advisory council members from around the community to support the students in their work and to provide um collaborative expertise in what they're trying to do and what their ultimate goal in their position or job is. We have ESSE staff that are working with us um throughout the district. Um the transition team, the ESSE facilitators, the ESSE specialists, they're helping to identify students and share program information during IEP meetings with students. These are the students that will be our applicant um recruiting applicant pool for future um program participants. We have several goals that we have to report for FCSUA each quarter. The first goal is still students will increase their academic and
045occupational skills in their selected program of study. We um adhere to a person- centered approach. So each student is um talked to and worked with individually and worked with them to prepare their individual plan of what they want to do and in order to do that we need to understand what they are wanting to do through data. The data includes multiple career interest inventories and assessments. Um we facilitate every nine weeks after every nine weeks we have what we call data chats where the students schedule those meetings with the individuals that we call their success team and they talk about how things went, what um they need to work on, what specific um accommodations they need to add, what additional support we as the steel staff or the culinary staff needs to provide. And then
046um we actively participate um in their courses. So they have to have attendance and punctuality. If they um are having attendance or punctuality concerns, we work with them. We have a social worker that is assigned to our program that will help us um address any concerns that we have with those students. Goal two is still students will earn a meaningful credential industry certification relevant to their career goals and program of study. Our students are just laying the foundation of learning the material necessary to do that. However, um in the steel program, um our students are going to be working for with the Florida Ready to Work um credentiing to earn the soft skills credential. And in the culinary hospitality, we're going to work with the safe staff, serve staff, and the serve safe manager um
047as um the student progresses through that program. But currently all of our students have achieved the um safe staff sanitation and crosscontamination training credential which allows them to participate in food handling. So they've already earned that. Those students earned that credential within the first nine weeks. So we were very proud of them with that. Goal three is still students who successfully complete the program will obtain employment aligned with their area of career preparation. The students in year two of the program will participate in unpaid internships. These internships will allow them to work with their hopefully the um job and the company that they're wanting to work for. And so that um at the end of that 2-year period or that end of that second semester, they will get hired by that company because employment is
048what our intended outcome is. Students will participate in practicing the application process, resumeé creation, application completion, mock interviews, and one key element of this program is that students once they're employed and exit the program, we follow them for 5 years and we gather the information of how they are doing for 5 years. We also would provide any type of reconnection to VR if necessary, but we want our students to succeed and we will be following them for 5 years. And our first program completion will be in May of 27 for the program at Ridge. So, our next step at Ridge Technical College is that we want to add an additional um students to enroll in new cohorts next year to have up to 10 students in the program um in the culinary hospitality. But we
049also want to have a new program offering um there next year which is called specialized career instruction and it would start in um August of 26 for with up to five students because that would be year one of that program. We're also here to talk to you about what we want to do with a program launch at Travis Technical College. Um, within the Ward doc information, we provided the draft application that we um have prepared for the Travis Technical College program. We would like to request review and approval of the FCSUA grant application for the program at Travis Technical College. And the program would be scheduled if everything is approved and the timeline is followed. We want to start that program in August of 26 and that program would be um specialized career instruction with
050also a CTE program of auto technician and our initial enrollment would be up to five students. The program application process instructions is congruent to the Ridge Technical College and I'm happy that um I've been asked to oversee pro both programs um at both institutions. So what's the next steps for the Travis Technical College application? Once we submit the um application to FCSUA, we have to provide in that upload um a copy of the board agenda in which this application was discussed. We have to provide a signed letter of support from the superintendent, provide a signed letter of board um support from the board chair, and we're hoping that we would um if we follow all the processes and get everything approved all along the way that um we would get our grant award letter in
051April, and if not in April, it would come in July. But we're very excited about this opportunity. >> Great job, Dr. Hodes, Miss Miller. >> Thank you, Dr. Hodgees, for presenting today. And this is something that we've, you know, talked about for a long time. This originated was going to be at Travis and it was delayed and now we have it at Ridge. So, I'm so glad to see that it's expanding to Travis. Um, when I met Dr. Andrew Andrews, I think with University of Central Florida, um, he was a great support. So, I'm glad to see that they're very engaged still with your program. Our biggest goal is gainful employment, independent living and gainful employment. So I would like for you to talk a little bit about how you know when I think I
052asked this while I was visiting you know who are you working with to meet those business leaders from the area to to employ our kids like is it are we working through CTE in the workforce are we going through community liaison like who is charged are we sending Dr. are we sending Dr. Hodge is out like who is in charge of connecting the business community to your classroom for students. >> The first thing is is that we have to understand the student need because it's based upon the student need and their desires. So we're working directly with what the student wants to find more information about. So, I've been reaching out and then I've also been working through our advisory board to help us um with that information. And Laura's also been very very helpful
053in giving me contacts of other business information from other leaders in the community that can help us. And our advisory board members have been great to provide information as well. >> And will you have a separate advisory board for Travis or is it the same board? >> It will be a separate board. >> Okay. So, we can look for the community around Travis to help ensure that. That's one of the requirements of the grant is that you have an advisory board meeting every nine weeks >> and it's a different program. So there's two different grants. So it'll be two different advisory boards. >> Thank you. And my last question is um we talked about who's eligible for this program. Um when we took when there's no longer a a uh secondary diploma and all of
054our students have diplomas, we do there are people who still have uh certificates of completion that would they be eligible to return to this program? We look for completion of graduation. So transcripts have to show that the student um was completed the program. But the big thing that we use to um determine initial eligibility is the psychological evaluation. So the student has to provide that and copies of information showing that they graduated and the initial IQ that they have to show is at least 70 or below. And then once that information is provided and we determine initial eligibility, then we continue to meet with them through the application process to get them ready to um begin to come be a part of our program. >> There's not an age limit for this program. >> Correct.
055>> Thank you, >> Mr. Keys. >> I want to say um [clears throat] thank you Dr. Hodgers for coming presenting today. Miss Webster, I think, um having been around and seen the effects of the program thus far has been absolutely amazing. So, you're doing excellent work there. Um, small but mighty, right? Um, and I was think if if you ever have an opportunity at the board members to see the impact that it makes on these transition students. It's absolutely fantastic. And Miss Miller hit the hit the nail on the head. You know, the the goal is gainful employment and a sense of independence. Um, and you see it in the other programs we offer when you go in the presentations of the students. We did that success seminar back in May. and just to to
056see [snorts] um the excitement and going through the journey, the things they've learned going out to these different employers and opportunities. Um it's just absolutely fantastic. So, great job to your team and everything you do there. And like I said, small but mighty. It's it's it's a it's a small group of students and a small team, but wow, the impact they make is is phenomenal. I'm happy to see the program expand. So, thank you for your hard work. And I last I'll say, you know, and it's amazing too, is that this isn't something that you guys are doing alone. the community partnerships with UCF and Citrus Connection Publix um and the communities who port around we have it is integral to making sure this is successful because in these opportunities they're this isn't for every
057every you know small business you know this isn't for every employer and to so finding a niche um these students can explore um and just you know and have the opportunity is fantastic so thank you to those community partners as well because without them we couldn't do it either All right. So, thank you so much. >> It's all about the relationships. >> That's right. Thank you, >> Mr. Sharpless. >> Um, going off kind of what um previously was asked, I was just curious what um do we have a list of uh of community partners that have committed to offering internships at transition in the job for these students. >> Right now, we have um commitments. Two of our students want to work at Publix. Okay. >> So, we have commitments from Publix. Um their um
058person at the corporate level is on our advisory committee. So, she has worked with us closely on that. >> Um, also one student still not totally decided because culinary hospitality has such a wide variety. Um, right now they're thinking that they may want to work at a theme park or at a um resort. So, we're trying to um niche down um get it tighter down with through interest inventories, assessments, using um products like Zello to see specifically where the student wants to um explore more and then we'll be um working with um that as well. >> And my only other question is um I saw in there that it's currently five students, but they're going you're going to uh increase to 10. >> Yes, sir. Um, I kind of already I have an idea that
059what the answer is going to be to this, but is is that capacity serving the need of our district or are we needing to expand this program? >> The it will grow exponentially after each year and after each grant cycle, each grant cycle is three years. Um, so um we're initial um enrollment is five, but we can have up to 10 students per in program. So that would be the culinary program and the specialized instruction. So there could be at least after we get off the ground, there could be at least 20 students at each of these institutions based upon their CTE programming. >> Would that serve our district's need or will we need to increase that number? >> We will be looking to increase that number in the different programming that will be offered
060and open to our students at each of those institutions. But there are plans to exponentially um create additional programs after each grant cycle. >> Thank you, sir. >> Miss Fields. Thank you. This is a great opportunity for kids that sometimes are just forgotten. >> Absolutely. >> Uh I wanted to know if you can kind of explain the process for application for the application process. I know you said they have to have a IQ below 70, but what's the process? How are students identified and how do you promote the the program? >> Um let's start with the marketing and recruitment. What we do is we um have had brochures, website, Facebook page, um Instagram, all of those components to help promote the program. We've also um provided information to all of our ESSE facilitators and program
061compliance specialists at the high schools so that they have this information. We've also reached out to the ESSE um Dr. Bruno, which is the ESSE um director of instruction. It sits on our advisory board, so she is aware of what we're doing and promotes it through the ESSE um department. Um we are asking that our um facilitators talk about this at IEP meetings as a transition option. And then the um once the student is identified, what we do is we ask them to send us the application, the um psychological evaluation and the um transcripts to um determine initial eligibility and then after they meet that requirement, it's a personalized approach where we call them, ask them to come into our office and we work through them to complete the application for the institution. we talk
062um we have an additional application um that's electronic that we ask them to complete to um [clears throat] help us understand their level of independence and the support that they may need to provide um and then um we continue to work with them individually until the day they start >> thank you >> Miss Wallace >> for u it's nice to speak for the first time so thanks uh I was just curious in terms of the there's you cannot put a price tag on a lifetime of dignity and independence and the innumerable benefits of of the family members and everyone involved and the community. Um I always feel extra blessed when I get to interact with someone with um a disability who or an intellectual disability who's out in the workforce. I'm always blessed. Um, I
063just was curious about the economics of this, like in terms of what how much we are being awarded over a three-year period where we get to to get to this award and then how much the district has to step in to make all of this possible. >> The district is um the district support is vital in order for to do this. Um, we as a grant, it's a three-year grant and each year you can get up to $500,000. So, $1.5 million. Um, that's one pot of money. That's the grant side. Then the scholarship pot of money is for the students for tuition fees and um transportation, meals. We try to eliminate all the barriers in that scholarship pot of money for the students. So we're trying um they can get up to $15,000. Right now
064the award amount is $9,500 per student per year. >> Right. >> So So then with a half a million over three years or you said per year, half a million per year. >> Yes. Yes. >> So it's $1.5 million plus >> for three years. for three oh for three years to serve 10 students >> or more because you based upon what your application is saying. >> Okay. >> So, our initial application is going to be two programs and we're um increasing the um program offerings next year at Ridge as well. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Does that answer your question? But my job is a blessing every day. Coming to work and working with our students is a wonderful opportunity every day. And this is something that our district's never had as a post-secary opportunity. and
065I'm thrilled to be a part of it. >> Yeah, you actually by mentioning that and I know that there are people in this board who are way more knowledgeable than me, but being new, I'm learning uh things all the time. But you know what? If if I'm a young adult who's just come out of our system >> and and looking and has an IQ in that range and looking to continue to build my skills and hopefully become more independent and working, what is out there right now were we not to be offering this? this has not been offered except at um South Eastern University previously and that's a private institution. So they had their program um but previously the only offerings was students to go find their own program or be connected with like um
066organizations the but the big connection that needed to have been made is vocational rehabilitation. So vocational rehabilitation can work with the student create a plan and then work with them to create their whatever success looks like for them. And that's what should have happened. But now we're going to have this program as an option where um students would flow out of the um traditional 912 transition programs or high school programs and be able to participate in this where we continue the work. We get um much more into what the student wants and desires and help them meet that goal, whatever success looks like. That's when we call the people that come together to work with the individual student a success team. >> And do sorry for my bullet questions. Um do the does the program
067in terms of instructional time for the students if is it a full um school year where six seven hours a day like that? >> Yes, they have the same schedule as um Ridge right now. >> Okay. Thank you. Oh, sorry. So, last question. It sounds like that the district would not have to step in any financial resources that the grant pays for the whole cost. >> Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. There are no further questions or comments. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you all very much. >> Board members, the next item is under budget and staffing. It's the FFP Florida Education Finance Program Explanation and we have Miss Jenkins with us today. Good afternoon. Today we're going to talk about the FEFP, which is a little bit complex and exciting as
068part of our budget series. Um the purpose of the FEFP is to ensure equitable funding across K12 education um for all Florida school districts. The formula uses weighted FTE enrollment program costs and it used to be called district cost differential to allocate the funds fairly. The FEFP recal recalculates funding multiple times a year. Um there are five calculations, four which we are paid on and the fifth is a true up at the end after the fiscal year's completed and it's a recognized model of equity. This is how it's it's published. um unweighted FTE and weighted FTE. You calculate unweighted FTE as total student enrollment. Then you apply things that are called cost factors. We're going to get into this a little bit more in depth. I just wanted to provide an overview. Um it's then
069multiplied by the base student allocation, which is the amount of funding for each student. There are adjustments for regional and special factors and there is an annual recalculation process. This is a diagram of the funding formula. Um it's extremely complex. I've talked to DOE a few times and they've attempted to explain it. Um but it shows you all the different areas that we're funded on and the amounts. Um if you go through you can also find this in our budget book and we republish it every year for the specific factors. When we talk about program cost factors these are the multipliers that are multiplied against the base student allocation for each different program. So as you can see K through 3 4 through 8 and 9 through 12 each earn a different rate. What I
070find interesting is high school is actually below 1%. So when you multiply that by the base student allocation, you're actually receiving a little less for a high school student unless you have additional things to apply to it like ESE, Esau, or varying other factors. Special programs for atrisisk students, ESAU and intensive English for grades K through 12, you get a little bit more than one. You see our higher highest funding levels, our ESC supports level four and level five. And then there's also an additional multiplier for career and technical. The base funding supports your core instructional programs and is essential to the educational system. Categorical allocations are funds that target things like class size reduction, school safety, mental health allocation, and transportation. Special allocations are for items such as ESSE and the family empowerment scholarships.
071And all of these comply with specific rules and regulations. So categorical expenses, we used to have um many more than we have today. And as you know, several years ago, those were rolled into the base student allocation. Many of the funding challenges for the FEFP are due to variances in local property tax base, cost of living, student needs, geographic factors, and enrollment trends. In 2324, the categorical funding was rolled into the base student allocation. Um these items included turnaround supplemental services, the teacher salary increase allocation, reading allocation, teacher classroom supply assistance, and instructional materials. What that means is the funding for those items have been rolled into the base student allocation as part of that calculation. By statute, we're still required to provide these services, but there's no specific carveout for that funding. So it's
072no longer evident. It comes from your base unrestricted general allocation. I wanted to share with you all what what this looks like. So in 2223 um when we still received funding an example for instructional m materials we received $10 million. That year we spent 19.7 for our adoption to be able to get the materials that we needed for our students. In 2324 we received no allocation and we only spent4 million. The reason for that is we leveraged ESSER dollars when we had that federal funding [snorts] to um beef up our instructional material purchased that year. In 2425 the ESSER dollars had waned and we spent 12.4 million. This year we have 14.5 million budgeted with no specific carveout which means these dollars come from our general pot of general funds. The mental health allocation tells
073a similar story. Um we received 4.2 million in 2223. That year we spent 19.7. There were additional requirements that we had to meet which is why our expense is so large. In 2324 we again leveraged Ezra dollars to help with this allocation. 2425 our spend was 12.4. The amounts you see for allocations in these areas are roll forward dollars um and um funds that we had set aside in prior fiscal years to come forward. Reading allocation um this allocation is no longer given as well. tells the same story that we no longer have funding specifically carved out. School safety, this is one of my favorites. So, these funds pay for our SRO's and um the allocation we receive is not enough to to actually pay for the expenses that are required to make sure our
074schools are covered. So this year we're spending about $10 million more than what we're allocated to ensure our school safety requirements are met. Transportation. We're spending $17.3 million more than our allocation. This is largely due to the fact that Pulk County is so big. We have so many schools. Um we have to to structure our routes to serve both elementary all of elementary, middle, and high. So we do have a funding shortage in this area as well. >> Our reimbursement rate as I shared at the retreat averages about 62% from the state. >> Turnaround supplement. This is to serve our schools um that are struggling and having difficulties. This was rolled into the educational enrichment fund this year which is formerly known as SAI. Um so it's no longer a specific carveout. However, they do
075specify how much of that educational enrichment goes to turnaround and this year it's 93,000 and there are two schools that are included. Teacher classroom supply assistance. By statute, we still provide $300 per teacher to aid in their classroom supply purchases. It is part of the base student allocation. Um the amounts you see for expenses are calculated at $300 per teacher. This year we have $2 million budgeted. Um and again no specific funding for that ESSE guaranteed allocation. A lot of folks believe that our ESSE teachers are paid from the idea grant which is a federal grant when in actuality they're paid from the general fund. IDA covers special services. So we're receiving 544.5 million. We're spending almost a hundred million which is 44.5 million over our allocation. There's also an additional component. Whenever you spend
076a specific amount in any given year for ESC, you're required to meet that same amount in the following year without unless you can provide a detailed um description. It's called maintenance of services. So if you have a drop in students that have IEPs, then you can justify that area. But if there are no changes in your population, you're required to expend at least what you did in the prior year. The reason I tell you all this today is um the total amount that comes from over our funding is $96.4 million. So that doesn't mean that we're overexpending our budget by 94.6 million. What it means is from our general pot of discretionary funds to meet these unfunded mandates and the needs of our schools, we have to take the funds from the same pot that
077we pay for our salary increases and our health insurance, our utilities, um, and all our other operating expenses. In order to apply it to these Um, another area that [clears throat] has affected how we budget is the family empowerment scholarship. It took effect in 202021. Prior to that, it was the McKay scholarship. Um this chart which you can look at in detail um at your leisure has our forecasted FTE the family empowerment EO FTE which is equal opportunity [snorts] fua FTE which is unique abilities and the total amount um in the first three years that we received the allocation the FTE was not available to the districts but we did start receiving a little bit more detail in 2320 24 7,917 students accepted the family empowerment scholarship in 2324 resulting in $57.5 million of funding
078being diverted from the district to those scholarships. In 2425 11,000 almost 11,300 students um which resulted in 79.6 6 million being diverted. And this year, 16,296 students have taken the scholarship, which equates to about 117 million in funding that has been diverted to the scholarships rather than the district. Um, I accidentally included this slide, but um, as part of the FTE millage rates, um, we've talked before, we have something called a required local effort, which is the amount you're required to levy in order to receive your state funding, which is what the FEFP is. And this shows you a history of Pulk County property taxes as compared to our millillage levy. Um, and the way the chart reads, as our property taxes increase, the required local effort decreases. It operates at an inverse. Um, this
079takes us to a look at the roll back rate. Um, in 201213 is where it really became evident. You all may have heard this from Mr. Pittz. This is one of his favorite areas to speak on. um our had we been left at the constant level of funding and had our required local effort not been taken back to the roll back rate, we would have received an additional $200 million in funding. So every year the state calculates the roll back rate. They calculate the required local effort for all districts and they generate the amount that you have to levy in order to receive your share of the state funding. statewide and Pulk County data. Um statewide per FTE the average that everyone receives for the base base funding um with their factors is $9,123. For
080Pulk County, we receive $8,837. So we are lower than the state average. And then I included sources and documentation if you would like to look up some additional things related to the FTE and FEFP. >> Seeing the absolute excitement and enthusiasm in the room, I will open it up for any questions. This is one of the most difficult things and and I have really pushed on Miss Jenkins and the team to provide some form of information about Florida finance and school district financing in the state of Florida and and to chunk it in a reasonable manner. It's it's it's not sexy. It's not. But at the end of the day, it is so vitally important to what we do. And this is not done for your benefit, as you know. This is largely done to
081ensure that the community at large gets to hear this information because as you know we publish all of these videos. And so the reason why we do this with a high level of transparency is we have an obligation to educate the community so that there are no false assumptions about a how much money we receive and b how much money we spend. Um many of these categories as Miss Jenkins highlighted we exceed our overall general allocation for uh school safety is another great example. We expend on average about $15 million more per year on school safety than we're allocated. And that's simply to ensure that we have an officer or a guardian in every building and to make sure that we're meeting and complying with all the other needs of our school district to ensure
082that our campuses are safe and conducive to teaching and learning. So again, not the most entertaining information sometimes, but again, vitally important to our community, vitally important to our our operations um because again, we don't want anybody to be misled or misconrue how much money we receive, how we spend it, and it is important to explain categoricals. It's also important to explain and it's it is an explanation. I want to clarify this a little bit further. It's we can complain about state funding, right? And we always advocate for additional funding to make us whole. But at the end of the day, in the absence of change, we have an obligation to explain to people, this is how much money we get. This is how we spend it. This is why we can't spend more. And
083and that's an important thing that I think people need to understand. And especially with recent events of the board taking a position on placing a referendum on the ballot, this is part of that education process. We wanted something throughout this year that the community could look to and we'll be pulling snippets from these presentations and placing them online for our stakeholders to view. So important information for us to share with everyone. Miss Wallace, >> I happen to think this is all very fascinating. So I happen to have a quick list of questions um mainly for clarification. So and I wrote them down in order. So, first when and I think Superintendent Hyde, speak up if you feel more comfortable, but when you mentioned that we get 62% of the funds for our overall transportation costs
084and we are a we are a district, I assume that has some of the highest mileage per student given our size and how spread out we are. How does that what's the tip what would a typical district in Florida say in terms of here are our costs and here's what the state pays us. Where are we on that bell curve? >> I couldn't tell you that. >> Okay. >> We'd have to research that. >> Okay. Cuz I think that that would tell a story about how um >> but no one is funded even close to 80. >> What? Right. Right. What it actually cost, right? Um and I will mention too that I happen to have a really great conversation with a nationally prominent researcher whose work was recently highlighted in the Wall Street Journal
085about the impact of cell phone bands on student learning. And they're um finding an increase. And one of the and this is I don't want to name him by name right now, but um uh a lot of the data they were citing was from a district in Florida, but they weren't allowed to talk about it. But one of the things he shared with me was uh you know, this is somebody who's been doing research for 2530 years on the impact of policy and student learning uh coast to coast. and he said he doesn't think there is a larger district than Pulk County in the United States that does not have an urban center. And so um because we are a bunch of ex- urban and rural areas, we don't have an urban center that brings
086the density and the tax base, but we have all the costs that come with a large district that has an urban center. And all the other large districts in Florida have an urban center. all the large districts in the United States that are our size or have any of our enrollment, you know, close to or above us have an urban center and we don't and that's what creates um that challenge where we're we're unique and there's not a funding formula to kind of account for that and so therefore some of the story you're telling. Okay. So, I thought that was a fascinating observation that we may be the largest district of our of our very size and in terms of lacking an urban center. So, I'm going to continue to to to see if there's
087any other districts like that. All right, going back to we don't have to but in slide eight when we were talking about the categoricals that got rolled into our base student allocation coming from Tallahassee over the years I've heard that this was something districts wanted because if the state said you had to spend X on turnaround supplemental services and our um our bills had varied districts across the state were saying you know everybody has different allocations that they want to spend from year to year. So if anything, this might have been perceived as a gift to us because then if when on years when a an um a categorical went up, as we saw, there's been fluctuations. It gave us more latitude to spend fluctuating costs. But one of the things that I didn't understand
088is if we had a categorical and then we didn't have a categorical, that doesn't mean we got zero, right? doesn't like if like on instructional materials we had $10 million given to us in a categorical and then in 232 24 that got rolled in. Well, was there evidence that the state gave us an extra $10 million in the base student allocation or did they just cut it outright? >> So the formula um yes it does give us added flexibility and the formula was adjusted to roll these categoricals in. Yep. And if you look at the calculations um which are all available on DOE's website in any given year it appears that the funding has has increased but one thing that we do and provide the superintendent with which we've provided you all with I can
089again is a comparison. So we look at lineto line and when you look at the overall base student allocation and you subtract things out like the family empowerment scholarship which show up as part of our whole funding. However, those funds are diverted where they never come to the district. >> Charter schools, they show up as part of our revenue, but we're a pass through. So we don't receive those funds either. So yes, we have increased flexibility. No, we didn't receive the whole entire $10 million. But we do still receive funding as part of our base student allocation. It's just up to the districts to budget. It's like a giant puzzle piece that now they're cut out a little bit differently and you have to put them together. So in other words, it would be fair
090in your opinion or in your professional judgment to say that when all of these areas were separate categoricals, we were generating more funding overall per pupil. >> In some years that's correct, and in others it's not. >> So it it it has varied year to year. it's just easier to see um it's easier to see that those funds are to be specifically used for this. So when they're all rolled in, it's um at times it's difficult to explain to our community >> that yes, we now our discretionary pot has increased by this much and our categorical pot is down here, but we still have to buy all the things that were part of that. But I'm going to jump in here because that's that's while Miss Jenkins is describing it accurately, the part that's missed
091is the statutory requirements for those categoricals did not change. And so while the money appears to have shifted, the responsibility is still in a district. So while what it has allowed is remaining funds, there isn't a school district. when you look at textbook adoption, when you look at school safety, when you look at those types of categoricals that we now have flexibility with, I I I challenge anybody to find a school district that's not maximizing those dollars um based off statutory obligations um and based off their own needs. And so at the end of the day, I think at times it inflates that budget line item and makes it look like there's more flexibility with our revenue and there isn't because again those statutory requirements for those categoricals remained in place as as they should.
092However, what it does do is in the instance on any given year, you may spend more, you may spend less. in those years where we spend a little bit less, we can shift those dollars for one-time costs because the problem with that is if it's a reoccurring cost and we shift that revenue, then now that revenue is never available to cover that initial budget line item. So, while it's in our overall budget, as Miss Jenkins pointed out, we still very much have to treat it like categoricals so that we can ensure we're meeting those statutory requirements. And I just want to provide that com that clarification for the general public who are listening or may be watching this at a future date because that's an important thing to to clarify. We appreciate the flexibility, but
093the next step really is talking about the statutory flexibility that we need so that we can make decisions and flex those dollars in a more meaningful way. >> Yeah. And the line of my questioning is more to understand if that was a net benefit because I wasn't when they made these changes in 2022 23 or you know around around there I was under the impression that the FSBA was all over this that they wanted this change that this was you know a frustration that there were too many categoricals and so if if in fact it's having a negative effect I wanted to understand that. So, um, and then the next quick question I had was of the 16,296 students that are on, um, family empowerment scholarships, um, do we know how many of those 16,000
094plus were former PK County public school students? >> We have an idea. I don't have that number with me, but >> Okay, I can provide that because we track this pretty closely. Mhm. >> The overall increase that we've seen over the years are not necessarily traditional public school students withdrawing and taking advantage of the scholarship. The overwhelming majority of those who were previously homeschooled students who are transitioning over or charter school pri students who may be transitioning over to a private setting. Um, I think most recently some of the news, like here in in PK County, we know there's a a pretty fairly large percentage of families that were awarded the scholarship uh in the grants but have never taken advantage of them. And then there are those like last school year coming into this
095year the board approved for us to become a vendor because at the high school level alone based off the number of students who were on a scholarship and taking at least one course at high school we never build them for that. Now that's comes as a cost to us. So we we basically lost almost a million dollars last year in potential revenue. And then the board I brought that to the board. The board passed that. So now we're an approved provider and we notify families as soon as they receive that scholarship that not only class but any services because this specifically applies to students with exceptionalities as well that once they choose to take that scholarship we are no longer obligated to provide those services because they can use those dollars to pursue those services
096elsewhere. If they choose to engage the district there's an entire fee structure that we provide them. So, >> and yeah, the well there I kind of found that in part to be good news because that means we're not bleeding thousands of students that were formerly ours that because that would register parents preferring something that's not us. So, if we're generally retaining the students that were here in the first place, that's good news to me. Um, so that number, the reason why I asked that question because that number means we're increasing the number of students where we're serving as a financial pass through. But it sounds like at least for now we're not losing enrollment and shrinking the size of who we're serving um for now. Um I hope that stays that way and I'm just
097glad to hear that. And then my last question had to do with the property tax observation. Um I think on slide 20 is um you [snorts] know we've got I just want to say for the record that I I support keeping our millage rates under control so that um I don't think there's anybody here or in PT County who goes man I really wish my property tax bill were higher you know. And so when we say things like, "Well, if this weren't in place, we would have $200 million." We're we're kind of alleging that all of the Pulk County property taxpayers owe us $200 million. And I just don't feel that way. I feel like we should really be careful about our rhetoric around this and we should be very clear that we're grateful for
098what the taxpayers give us. And I'm not saying this to you personally, Mrs. Jenkins, but more just as a district and how I plan to carry carry myself around this is um I love that when it comes to the millillage proposal, we're giving our voters and taxpayers a very specific opportunity to voluntarily contribute to us, but I don't want us to imply that we have a problem with the the general millage rates or that our property taxpayers aren't doing enough. Um because as we've all seen, we literally have across the state people uh on fixed incomes who are wondering how they're going to be able to pay and stay in their homes. And then this slide says, "Well, as great as you're doing, you weren't paying us enough or we should have been paying you
099or we should have been charging you more." And there's there's a lot of opinions about that. And and I'm not saying that in certain isolation it's wrong to say that, but more I just want to make sure when we're having these conversations with the public that we're not implying that they didn't do enough or that, you know, that we resent tax cuts because that's not what P County people vote for or ask for. They generally support tax cuts. So, I'm glad I just wanted to just make that for the record that um cuz I'm a property taxpayer and when I bought my house in 2019, my property tax bill setup from the previous owner yet my impact on the world hadn't changed and I I think I'm very I feel like I've stepped up my
100game and I'm paying a lot more than the previous resident, you know, so I'm not looking at this and going, "Yeah, I wish it were 20% higher." You know? Anyway, thank you for um the detail. Well, thank you for taking the time to explain all this and to make sure we're having these discussions with the public. And I want to be a great advocate for us and continue to help um Tallahassee understand our unique position and challenge and to continue to get the funding we deserve. >> May I provide um an additional little bit of clarification? I may not have explained or or conveyed this properly. So, thank you very much for those comments. Um often times we receive questions from from folks that are um paying their different paying their taxes and one of
101the perceptions is that because our property values have gone up so much why you know why is our millillage revenue remaining constant or consistent. So my intention which I did not achieve was to explain that our millage rates remain constant because of the the inverse in the millillage rates as compared to our property tax values because we've gone from about 200 million in tax revenue 200 billion to um about 600 billion and our revenue from that has increased but it's not increased exponentially. So thank you for those. >> Yeah and Mr. Superintendent, may I ask one more question? >> Um um I I think that then the next or the other contextual piece is our state made this policy change in 2012 with the purpose of keeping things more level so that if god forbid
102we have another great recession, we don't see a 30 to 40% decline in revenue and then we're laying off teachers and other essential staff because those costs never go away. So, it's certainly a trade-off. Um, and I feel like the public needs to understand that, too. Is that while the state was trying to make sure that revenues for essential services stay level, then when costs go up, we're not able to catch up. But when revenues go down dramatically, we're always insulated from seeing a dramatic falloff, which is ultimately, you know, the goal. Is that your understanding? >> Okay. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Oh, no. Or no, no, I'm wrong. Okay. Please. I'm not No, I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying we have a difference of opinion. >> Oh, okay. >> Um
103I do not believe it was done for that reason. >> Because if it was done for that reason, I would argue and contend that the state would have put a restriction on the amount of decline or increase that property tax revenue could result in each year. They did not do that. They set a flat rate. And as a result, as property tax revenue and value has skyrocketed in Pulk County due to growth, due to any number of economic factors, our overall picture has not improved. And part of the importance of sharing this slide is not to say you're not paying us enough. It's simply to say the state needs, and we've advocated for this now for two years, the state needs to modify that statute and allow high growth school districts to adjust that millillage
104and not receive less money as we're expected to build new schools, improve schools, because that infrastructure aspect for capital revenue is is a huge piece of our of our budget each year. And so I believe >> when I look at it and I read up on it, I believe it was done to ensure that we would not styy growth in the state of Florida. That's my personal belief. Um, but I don't believe, you know, I'm not going to ask staff to respond and take a position on things. you know, that's for the board to do, that's for me to do on occasion, but I I I would not like to put staff in the crosshairs on those types of questions because really their job is to fulfill the obligation of their role and meet the
105statutory requirements of our school finance. Um, but I think there's a lot of discussion around that point in particular and and I think you phrased it very well because I every time I'm asked about the referendum that's the exact very close to what you shared is the exact statement I share with people. This we are not imposing anything on anyone. We are providing an opportunity for those who wish to invest in traditional public schools the opportunity to do so. And and I think that's the best way for us to phrase that because it's an opportunity, not a requirement, not a mandate. But we have an obligation at the same time to show because as property tax revenue has increased so significantly in Pulk County over the last 10 years, I think there's the misnomer out
106there. Well, you're getting all these impact fee dollars and you're getting all this tax dollars. No, we're not. And I, you know, when when conversations first began, when the board started exploring the possibility of a referendum, there was some public push back saying, "Well, you get all these impact fee monies. Why can't you use those for raises?" Because it's not allowed. Um, there are restricted dollars. And so, this is part of that campaign to make sure that we're informing the public and giving them the background that they need. Um, happy to discuss this with you further. It's just a difference of opinion and and I have a different perspective as probably a as a superintendent um because I look at the overall impact and the potential there and I think the opportunity still exists for
107the state to say that in a a fast growing and we can define that or a fast declining school district or or county that the millage rate should not adjust positively or negatively more than two percentage points um or or some other factor. I think there's a way to calculate that rather than just saying this fits everybody because that's simply not the case in fast growing districts. We end up paying the price for that. Um so >> and that's fair. Thank you. And I just wanted to say I didn't mean to put you on a or ask you for a specific position but more of out of valuing your opinions and professional judgment. So thank you. >> Thank you >> Miss Fields. >> I wanted to thank you for this presentation. I think it is
108a great reminder of the uh conversation about rolling back uh the taxes. I don't think that there has ever been a point, not in my history, where we have not been appreciative. We have not been grateful and we've verbalized that uh many times uh we appreciate what we were able to receive. But if you look at the uh the slides that you presented, it's quite obvious that if we had some additional resources, we wouldn't be in the predicament of 96,000 I think as a deficit is what you're showing here, I believe. I don't have it right in front of me. And I don't think that we're asking to increase uh the taxes. We're just saying to keep it where it was and not lower it. and we've always to my knowledge had that conversation for
109a long time. Uh the question that I have is are you able to uh tell us not today but the family empowerment scholarships are we able to know where those uh scholarships have gone what uh what schools or what organizations have benefited from that and how many of those kids are at each of those schools. I don't know if that's if that's available. I I will work with student information services to see if we can provide you with that information. We have had it previously, but some of the reporting has changed over time. So, I want to check with them and absolutely if we can, I will get that for you. >> I think that'd be very beneficial. And then the other thing, uh, Superintendent Hyde, for me, I love the slides where it shows
110the categorical allocation, expenses, and the deficits and all, but if we could have it like on maybe one or two pages for each area and maybe just one general statement defining what it is so that we can have that, especially as we're getting ready to start uh the work, the heavy lift that's going to be required of us. I think the more uh knowledge we have, I think the better we'll be able to uh present when we were asked, but I think great presentation. So, thank you. >> Welcome. >> Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. >> Um I have questions on two different things. Um first, the family empowerment scholarship impact. Um looking at the data you presented here, it's about $17 million impact this year. Um, uh, is that a projected or actual? Just curious. >>
111That's actual. >> Okay. And so I'm curious, how are we adjusting, and [sighs and gasps] you may or may not have the answer for this right now, but how are we adjusting our fixed costs? Things like facilities, staffing, things that we have to do to remain as efficient as possible with this loss of funding. Like how are we adjusting to that? So what actually happens when we receive our calculation, our our final budget that we present to you in September is based on the second calculation and this number is fixed as of the second calculation. So we we start building our budget now and I I can speak to the prior year. We start building it based off of what our current expenses are and then we look at how our our projected enrollment increases
112or decreases and how our funding is affected by that. Therefore, as Superintendent Hyde said about um our total number of students did not decrease. The number at district schools did decrease. um I want to say I don't want to give you a number and it' be incorrect but it's around 2,000 kids for the prior year. So when that number decreases we look at what schools they were at. We look at um and we we provide our funding to the schools based on the FTE they earned. We're going to talk about sitebased budgeting in one of our next presentations, but we we adjust it at the final budget. So it's not as if our funding has been taken away. When you look at the overall picture, we're more consistent with increased expenses. So we look at
113per the superintendent's direction, are there contracts that we can decrease? You know, are there areas that we we can tighten up? Are there things that need to be looked at? So it's an overall management of the budget. Does that help >> somewhat? Yeah. Um the second one is about that roll back rate slide. I think it was 21. Um we looked at the total loss the total revenue that we did not receive based on the roll back uh potentially could have been you know uh $1 billion basically. Um so I'm just curious what specific programs or projects uh do you think that have been potentially deferred throughout the years or canceled because of the loss of these funds? Like how has it impacted our district? programs weren't cancelled um because of this. It we would
114have had increased revenue had the roll back rate remain consistent. And with that increased revenue, we could have provided additional salary enhancements. We could have provided additional programs. We could have provided additional benefits that we weren't able to because we didn't have additional revenue. So, we've maintained our level of service. we [clears throat] we have just missed opportunities to to do more because of the level of funding we received. >> So, it's safe to say that it has impacted us um well the salary salaries of our staff potentially um from what you're saying as well as uh increased academic programs or offerings that we could have had. Okay. >> Could have. >> Fair enough. Thank you, >> Miss Miller. >> Thank you. and I appreciate the time you took with me to walk me through
115some of the um dollars following the students as it involves the empowerment scholarships. I have a couple of things. Um one just in that alone the comparison I think we need to make the public aware of and I've talked about this before in all of this. I love that we're going to take short clips because no one's going to watch this. No one watches these videos but staff. I'm going to be very honest with you. That's just fact. Um I mean a few people do but it's not widely spread to our constituents. Um, but if we could take short snippets and almost make them, you know, keep the credibility obviously and the professionalism, but make them easy to understand, I think is going to be helpful and do it in short in different categories. But
116starting with the empowerment scholarship, and I want to preface this because the public knows I work to implement the gardener scholarship with John McCay and everyone who knew this was a good idea for students who would benefit from being educated in a different environment. what it is today is not what we designed in 20 in the 2014 13s. But I just want people to know and compare when you say t your dollars follow your child. My home is above average for this county. I pay a little under $3,000 to the school in school tax. My son receives $30,000 in the empowerment scholarship. It's gone up 11,000 since we left the school system. The minimum scholarship is around $9,000. I don't pay anywhere close to that. So, it's not I think people think they don't understand
117the nuances of how the funding has changed. When it started, it was a tax shelter. When you bought a car, you could write in, please give. And it was a way for corporations to save money and they and they could they could use it to fund these scholarships. It has since changed. So I think we have to be very in the most basic form for people who are not educators to understand how these dollars come and go from the district. That's one thing. Um the other part that we talked about is you know I've been advocating a long time. You can advocate for something without discrediting or saying you know it's not a personal issue. So I think it's okay to say for someone who was in real estate when it plummeted that what happened
118then and the dollars that are missing have been felt because there was no there was no stop to it. There was no limit on what we could have done there. And for years people campaigned on I won't I'll bring it back or I will stop rolling it back. So there's an understanding of what it did to the district. And it's okay to say with facts what it was doing without being perceived as criticism. I think it's important for us to tell the facts because asking for a referendum is asking for this community to believe in public education and to believe that we're responsible with their dollars. I have watched realtors say they're not going to support this because we're building all these houses. You should be getting the money from there. They don't even understand
119how those dollars are attached to strings. It is on us. If we cannot tell our message, which I think, you know, is a timely factor, and do it in a manner that our constituents can understand, it's going to be people just voting for the knowledge that they have. And they're not doing it even in a disservice or in a malicious intent. They're voting with the knowledge they have. And it's our job to to give them the facts of what we're dealing with. So, I appreciate you coming and explaining publicly and I hope that we can take these short snippets and make them easily digestible to the public and push them out and then it's really just left to the public whether we take as a seven of us or some of us take a position
120on it. It's going to be left to the public value public education with understanding how it's currently funded if they want to invest in more. Um, so I appreciate today's discussion. And I hope we have this at each work session so we can just keep giving these numbers and giving these facts out because I think the public is interested in it. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Allen. All right. Thanks, Superintendent. Uh, great discussion. Um, Miss Jenkins that you've set up. Uh, it wasn't like this glazed overlook for us. I mean, this is something that's very important to us even at this early morning. And I would go back to superintendent's comments. I would agree uh with him and this is on our uh legislative platform as it relates to the adjustments for high
121growth districts and I've mentioned this before and I'll just say it again that if you look at the state's audit highlights from last year it notes the top you know 25 districts and their growth patterns over the last 5 years and if you extract all districts outside of just the top 10 and look at us comparatively within that top 25 list. Um we were sitting at close to 14% growth within the last five years. Um the closest to us would have been Duvall that would have been at around 6%. So we would be in that category that superintendent's describing um and there's no adjustment. And um think about the amount of teachers, the infrastructure u facilities, the impact of that and the growth of students within that five-year period. So, I I appreciate that statement.
122Um, now I I think when I go back to our referendum language, it's so so important to recognize that um we're focused on recruitment and retention of highquality teachers and that's uh very very important and that ask to our community. Um but then on top of that, right, we're looking at um you know 80% of that and then 20% around the expansion of CTE uh workforce development programs, the improvement of school safety as well. Um so if we come back to the presentation from Miss Jenkins here, the thing that captures me is the program weights, right? So you you noted the variation between um a high school basic 9 through 12 program weight at 972 comparative to career education uh 9 through 12 at a 1.08. So if we look at the formula which I
123I value the formula I understand uh to equalize across the state um and understand that but what um strikes me is areas for improvement would be in the FTE collection of that and then as we translate to the weighted FTEES right um and I've said this all along that our ACE IB industry search the AP AB uh AP diploma IB diploma and our career techerts contribute to the growth number of the weighted FTE. So I mean those to me are the important things to to capture in this and as we experience and we can grow our um CTE areas. We're going to increase those weighted FTE counts which would then benefit us not only you know the student and that's the most important thing is we want the students to be career ready um but
124when it comes to our budget we're going to benefit when u our students benefit as well um so I I think that's uh important to me um and in areas for growth uh opportunities. So I appreciate the formula um you know I I appreciate superintendent's comments as well uh on that. So, thank you, Miss Jenkins. >> Miss White, >> thank you. Um, this is more for you, Superintendent Hyde. I shared a beautiful handout from Winter Haven several months ago. It's Have we looked at doing anything similar that's um more visually appealing to really be able to tell our story? >> Yes. >> Easily. We did the state of the district um which will become an annual report that consumed a great deal of time um for staff but we can move on to do something
125similar within the financial piece um because it is important for us to provide a very clear concrete explanation of school finance and expenditures. >> Awesome. I think it's something that once it's built out, updating the numbers each year becomes much easier. Um, you know, until they change all of our categoricals every year. But for the most part, you know, just being able to show, you know, how much of our dollars goes to staff, how much goes to transportation, how, you know, really being able to visually see that. Um, I think we had shared the link before with the full board so they can see it, but I'll make sure Kate with you as well. Please remind me, did all board members get a copy of the state of the district? Okay. I just want to
126make sure because we're getting ready to run copies um for dis to disperse across the county. Um all of our county commissioners will receive them and staff, all of our city commissioners will receive them. Rotaries, chambers will all receive their copies, individual copies. Um and then obviously everybody in inside PCPS will receive a copy. So all all of our significant leadership in the county, we want to make sure and this comes back to what Miss Fields often says is it's a poor frog that doesn't >> doesn't celebrate its own pond. I may not have said that completely accurately, but I try praise his own pond. Thank you, Miss Fields. Um but so we do need to take the initiative. So, I think Miss Wyatt, if we can get that financial one developed, we could just
127simply incorporate that into this overall document as our financial picture and um be happy to do that. Um and then this document will evolve each year. But that that's that was our intent is to create a document that can simply be updated each year um to celebrate P County Public Schools and inform our stakeholders. Absolutely. I know how much we like spreadsheets and um finance, but the pictures and graphs that they have in the Winter Haven one is what I think makes makes sense to people that aren't >> easy to read, easy to >> Thank you. And Mr. Keys. >> Oh, yes. The last one. Um Miss Jenkins, thank you so much um for presenting this. And I think when we piece out the categorical and showing what the significant um expenses compared to what
128we're funded tells a great a great story. But I think ultimately and I don't know what the superintendent is talking about saying this isn't sexy. I love this stuff. >> So um you know banker I eat it up. But but all that being said I think and and Mrs. Miller said Miss Wyatt said it. I think the big picture for us, right, is being able to tell our story in a way [snorts] that's easy to consume. Um because it is the premise is on us and it is our responsibility to say, "Hey, we we we consume this data multiple times, you know, over the year and [snorts] we see it all the time." But I think being able to relay that into a position to where we can say, "Hey, these are the needs that
129we have and this is why we have those needs." um is really is what's going to determine whether or not we're successful in any initiatives going forward. So again, thank you. I think and again we need to keep doing this as much as we can showing these significant um deficits that we have and the way that we are funded and the way what we have to spend some of these through I would say probably not a popular statement but unfunded mandates and responsibilities that we have to do. But again, thank you for your presentation. Let's keep let's keep doing this so we can keep telling our story and um appreciate you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Jenkins. There are no further questions or comments. >> Board members, the next item um actually I'll turn
130it over to the chair. We have unfinished business. We have update on the new high school which will be led by staff. Mr. McLemore unfortunately is not able to be with us today, but there are staff in the room. And then Mr. drink. >> Okay. >> We're receiving documentation right now. Um >> Mr. Green, everything that you requested was attached and updated. >> Yes. Yeah. the So, what you're receiving now are going to be the signed versions of uh the documents that were originally uploaded and unsigned versions. Um just last night we received the signed copies of these. >> Yes, please. So um today's session is a followup on the overview I gave at the retreat of the timeline some of the things that are coming up. Uh the primary task I guess or or
131next step in the process has to do with the the land contract. So, with the new high school that um is projected to be built, um part of the interim contract included, um a land deal. The original land deal was between the seller, uh there's an agreement of sale in the in the packet that you received. It's fully executed. It's between the seller and fortress. Since that time, um, there's been a transaction that amended that sale to reduce the acreage and the corresponding price to match um, another document in your in your um, package of materials, the donation agreement. So, the seller um has donated I'll just give round round figures here approximately 8 to 10 acres to the school board because of that donation there. This agreement of sale was amended and you'll and
132you'll see that in your your documents. Those are all sort of the foundational documents to the final and most important which is the assignment of this this land deal. So the assignment would be between the board and and the seller. So that instead of the seller selling to Fortress, the seller is now assigning that that agreement to the board and the board steps in the shoes of Fortress to purchase this land. So that's all contemplated in I want to say section three of the interim agreement that um this assignment would happen within roughly 6 months of the execution date of the agreement of sale or I'm sorry of the interim agreement which was April of 2025. Um in addition uh as part of um the due diligence of Fortress uh there have been a number
133of appraisals that have been concluded um one of which was uploaded last um recently to your material. So there's a total of three appraisals that have been obtained by Fortress and two independent appraisals from the district. Um, as mentioned briefly during the retreat, um, the two appraisals by the district, you'll notice are different in price. And part of that reasoning, the methodology um, for those particular appraisals looked at the land and their ASIS value versus um, taking into account all of the due diligence um, that had been done by Fortress. So, the district is asking those appraisers to update their work, which they're they've uh pledged to do um sometime in the next week or so. So, you'll be seeing those updated appraisals um in your well, as soon as you rece I receive them,
134they'll be forwarded to you for review. So just to summarize um all the materials that um you need to review related to this uh land land deal um they're for review now. If you have any questions of course ask away. Um, and these were put on today's agenda so that the board could take action on January the 27th at the next board meeting to decide whether they wanted to proceed with the this particular prerequisite um to this new school being built acquiring the land. Excellent. So now I think it's appropriate for board members if they have questions uh about the documentation that has been provided to us um certainly to uh voice those questions. So is there any please signify by the s by your speaker button? If not I I have some person I
135have some questions. Um I'm just confused when you were talking um and maybe you can explain this. Um, you talked about how now the agreement is going to be be between us and the the property owner instead of Fortress and the property owner. I thought the idea of the P3 is for the P for the the company to handle that and not the school district. I'm just I got confused there. >> Yeah, sure. I my apologies. Um, so the there's the underlying land on which the school will be built. That fortress is still building the school. The underlying land though will be owned by the school board not by fortress. So the uh initially the land to hold it to make sure that something else wasn't built on it. There was an agreement between fortress
136and the land owner to basically retain that piece of property so that at some point in the future a school would be built. Um that's been done. and there was an agreement, but then it's um a portion of it was being donated and there's been an amendment and now we're at to the point of uh fruition of having that land deal assigned, the underlying land and the contracts that go with it that will be assigned to the school board again to step into the shoes of Fortress to purchase the land um that the school will be built on. So that Fortress isn't owning the underlying land, the school will be. >> Okay. And then eventually that building that the school is the school itself that also transitions over to us too. So in the meantime
137while they're building it, we own the land is what you're trying to say. >> Correct. Yeah. At basically we could be the owners as so >> we're owning the land whether or not the building is being built there is what you're saying. >> Well the the that that all those documents are going to be ready for approval on the 27th. So you could you could sign them. we would own the land and then at that point um we're going to be very close to completing the design phase of this project at which point the construction begins. >> Okay. And so if you also can just explain the the discrepancy between the different appraisals and why that happened. I I I didn't quite understand that. >> Sure. I'll do my best. >> There's like a $10
138million or $9.5 million difference in some of these appraisals. I was just wow. I mean we talked about a little bit at the retreat but I just want to understand that. I'll do my best. And we have uh Peggy here from the district. We also have um the representatives from Fortress as well that can fill in any gaps. Um so I'm make it very clear I'm not an appraiser. Okay? I don't have a I don't have that certification. Um but the the five appraisers who were retained, three by Fortress, two by the district, have a state certification to do this. Um the best way I can describe the discrepancy is that Fortress as part of its due diligence uh it was required under the contract um to obtain two appraisals. That's actually in a state
139statute that the board has to get two appraisals for an amount um a transaction that exceeds a certain amount of money. $5 million I think is the the amount you need to get two appraisals in the contract. Fortress stepped into the shoes of the board and took that took on that requirement to get those two appraisals. So they were doing that on our behalf because um they they want to complete this project. So they got the appraisals um and sort of in sync with doing that on the same sort of parallel timeline they were doing the all of the due diligence the surveys the environmental studies on whether there's any endangered species etc. So all of that is kind of under the the term due diligence. So, the survey, the title report, make sure that
140the title is um as it as explained, there's no easements, there's no um burial grounds, that sort of thing. So, all that due diligence was done. And those appraisers took into account all of those due diligence documents, which does impact an appraisal. It can have an impact. [snorts] Unbeknownst to the two appraisers that were retained by the district, they didn't have those document. They weren't given those documents partly because they weren't completed. Um they had yet to be shared with the district. So roughly September, I think it was late October, we hadn't received all of those due diligence documents. So at the time the district requested that their appraisals be done. our appraisers didn't have those documents to so they they did their best they could. They looked at the ASIS value on public records.
141>> From what I'm understanding is that our our district appraisers didn't have all the information they needed. >> Correct. They now have it and they're >> but at the time >> correct >> uh those appraisers did because they were in that process. >> Correct. It makes sense. I just wanted to know the discrepancy. I was kind of confused. Um, two other areas that I would just want to make sure I'm clear on. Um, how much property are we actually getting? Because I I saw one says 62 1/2 acres, another says 75 acres, another says 72 acres. I'm just confused. >> Yes, 62.5 acres is is the current amount of land and that's reflected in the amendment of sale agreement. >> So why so why was the other ones more? I mean, >> um, that was
142the So, you also have to add in the donation agreement. >> Okay. >> So, the the amount we're purchasing is 62.5. We're also getting at a donated amount. So, if you add up those two, >> they add up to roughly 70 acres. >> Gotcha. That make that makes more sense. I was just confused. Sorry about that. The last thing [laughter] >> I So, the flood planes, right? I'm one says there's no issue of flood planes and another uh appraisals say that there is flood plane issues like where are we at on that? I was just it would seem like we're kind of over the I just want to make sure that all that is buildable acreage. >> Yes. And um on that point um we have some experts here that can answer that. I I
143was told an explanation but I don't have the expertise or the background to know that. Um Mr. gota because when I was looking over I made some notes when I was looking over the >> Mr. provided he he uploaded a PowerPoint that has some graphs on it. I think you might even >> Yeah. >> pull that up. Is there a way to pull that up? >> One reported a 45 and a half 45 acres within the 100red-year flood plane. Another one had 65% was in a special flood hazard area. So I I just want to make sure we're clear on that. Thank you, Mr. Roda. >> Absolutely. I very much appreciate the opportunity to uh come come before you this morning. Um there is a presentation that's up that that is on there. I don't
144know if we were able to >> I got to work with the team and they got >> Yes, ma'am. That'd be great. Just kind of in the meantime, um this is a huge huge project that our county is undertaking, our district is undertaking. And I just want to give you the assurance that at every single turn, at every decision, at every single thing that has happened, great the greatest possible care has been taken by all of the experts that that have that our team has hired and working with the district staff and what they have done and that every single time that anything has gone on, it has been positive. Things have moved forward. Um, and really in my in my opinion, this project has gone even better and smoother than I think we were
145all even hoping for, which we had high expectations to begin with. So, real quickly, I just kind of wanted to give everybody um an update of where we are because there this this is a very large undertaking. It's a very complicated process and so I wanted to spend a couple of minutes talking through each of the kind of things and the progress that we've made to date. Um, first is the property entitlements and all the land use and zoning. uh this this project originally did not have the land use and the zoning that would be required to build a high school on it. And so we have our team has undertaken all of those efforts and as of last week we 100% have all of the entitlements necessary to be able to build the school
146from a zoning perspective. Um, so that entire uh piece has now been checked off the list. in talking about a lot of this site environment and due diligence and I can flip to a slide at the end to kind of graphically show this, but we on uh in in May, we had a full um environmental report done that did in fact confirm that there are zero flood plane issues on this property whatsoever, that there are no negative wetland impacts to our site as well, and that there are no protected species on this property. Uh and then we subsequently have even had some follow-up studies done that have confirmed that there are no sand skinks and bonnetive bats which have the sandskinks especially have come back to you know to bite us in the past and
147that we uh we we have confirmed that we do not have any issues with those on this property. We've also conducted an extensive traffic study. Um those results were all within the expectations of what we had and we're working with the county staff uh on that as well. We've done the geotechnical reporting and have found that all of the soils that are there on this site are more than suitable for building this school and there are no uh concerns there. And then we also have had all the extensive surveying complete typographical where things are, what things look like and that ultimately is what has created the purchase parcel of the 70 of the uh 62 1/2 acres and then the donation parcel which is just under 10 acres. uh and those are in in the
148documents that you've got there. So, at the end of the day, all the due diligence that is required to be able to start this school has all been completed and has all been 100% positive from a project design process. Um, as you can understand and and appreciate, any any building you undertake has a massive uh design process that happens. Um, this was a prototype school that's being that has been proposed based off of Davenport High School. And so we obviously had a great start there but have done a lot of uh up updating to that. So we submitted the phase one drawings back in uh June that led to some really extensive meetings between the facility staff and their teams and in all the different departments. We had meetings and meetings and meetings to make
149this school be exactly what the district needs in that area. lots of work with the CTE groups and um with all the different programs of athletics and fine arts and performing arts and all the different components that it's going to take to make this school great. That then led us to the phase 2 submission which has already been submitted uh back in October which actually was submitted uh several weeks ahead of what we had originally planned. We had two full days of total review with the district staff to go over those things and that right now we are just about done. We're about three and a half, four weeks away from turning in the next big huge submission which will be the phase three submission which will ultimately be what we um you know kind
150of take out uh as for kind of the final review set uh and as we bring it in. So so far all the design submitts have been completed ahead of schedule and speaking to some of the issues with the uh appraisals and I I I kind of created this slide knowing that would be there. Um Mr. Mr. Green did did a great job of explaining that. Uh the three appraisals that you see listed there are the ones that that Fortress uh uh took into account um those each uh average up to about a $12 million purchase value for this property which the district right now um would be purchasing for 10 million. That averages out to about $192,000 an acre. Whereas the purchase price that you all are contemplating is 160,000 an acre. So, the
151appraisals that were done with all the due diligence materials that that I referenced earlier have the values uh that are actually pretty significantly higher than what the current purchase price is. And as Mr. Green said, uh the two district um appraisals that were done did not have any of that uh information. And so, you know, inherently the information they were relying on didn't look all that great. And again, I can kind of show that um uh there later. He he's already gone over the kind of the three different pieces that you've got there, but what I want to just kind of reiterate is that all all the necessary pieces for land use, for due diligence, for the design submitts, and for this land closing, everything has gone to schedule and ahead of schedule and has
152gone uh extremely positively throughout this entire process. um all of our collective teams along with the district staff have I feel like really have had a lot of synergy to undertake this project and do it in a manner that has been efficient and quick and positive and that we've all worked together. And so I just to follow up then on that. Um the two the two appraisals that the district did were the ones that had the you know the cleat one said that there was 45 plus acres that are potentially in a flood zone. And then the other one was the uh is it the the other appraisal that the district did. And so I guess they didn't have all that full information that you guys did. So that's why it makes sense that you're
153saying there's no flood plane issues, but the district appraisals did because they might not have had the complete set of information. And so that's where I got confused. >> Totally. >> So thank thank you for explaining that. >> Yeah. And ple please don't look at the highlighted yellow. I said that it is not in the flood plane. That is a typo. None of this is is in the flood plane. But you can you can see from this slide. I saw it this morning. So I apologize. You can see this would have been the publicly available information up until recently that based on estimations from kind of aerial photos and basically just just guesses that showed you can kind of see in the hatched area there almost all of this parcel would have been in the
154flood plane and so it would have not been all that usable otherwise. And then kind of along the same vein, what's to the left there is what was ultimately originally assumed to be wetlands based on all the publicly information or publicly available information through the GIS and through the county systems. And if you look to the right, this is the actual delineated wetlands areas on this site, um, which if you kind of look back to where our school is going to go, those are none of those are in the area where we're going to be actually constructing the high school. So again, it kind of was, if you look at the information that was available, this property did not look great. It looked like the vast majority of it was unbuildable. It was in flood
155planes. It was in wetlands. And that in reality, through all of our due diligence, we've determined that there really is very minimal. There's there really is no wetlands or um flood plane impacts at all. >> Thank you for explaining that. And makes sense. Now, um, board member keys, I'm recognizing you. >> Thank you, Chair Sharp. So, uh, Mr. Rada, I you guys do excellent work for the district and you've always you've always um done so. And I would just say, you know, this a lot of this transpired before me coming on the board and my my brain explodes trying to keep up with what we started with, what was kind of in the middle, what we have now, varying appraisals. And I do this for a living, you know? I I eat, breathe, and live
156commercial real estate. Um, and I can't understand it. So, to be able to connect the dots where we started, where we were, and where we are now, I [snorts] I simply can't get there. Um, and the state and thank you so much because a lot of my questions just got answered when you said there was a typo on that because in reality, none of the site is in is not in a flood plan. It's like, whoa, that stop stop the press right there. So, thank you for clarifying that. But, you know, and then on the subsequent slide, it said the district isn't purchasing any wetlands. H whether we're purchasing or they're being donated, they're at the front of the site and they're on our site. So, we are in some way, shape, or form purchasing
157wetlands. Although it's not on the workable site, it's still our land and we paid money for that area. So, I don't not a big issue because it doesn't affect. But again, your statement kind of answered a lot of my question because one of my questions just so you know, was going to be what are we required for insurance-wise long-term being that a lot of that was in a flood plan, but if it's not, that's great. I just again and I'm rambling here and I realize that but it's it's I'm just if I can't follow it as a professional that lives this every day, I have a hard time of thinking how the public could follow this too from where we started to where we are now and the amount of time it's taken. But I
158guess my only thing that makes me feel okay about it at the end of the day is that you have done great work for us. Your word is valuable to me. Um, and and I don't I can't I can't name a single project you've been on that hasn't been successful with the district. So, I do take comfort in that. But again, I stated this in our our strategic planning main our board retreat that not excuse me, our board retreat that um this is such a a great example of how we can probably do better for the process um throughout because of and the superintendent correct me if I'm wrong. Different appraisals, different values really at the end of the day doesn't mean that much because we had a baffo. is that not correct? And we
159adhere to that complete price on it. So, we can sit here and talk about appraisals and values all day long. At the end of the day, we have an agreement that we've said the project's going to cost this much. We've agreed to it and we're going to proceed as such. But, I just I think this is a great opportunity for us to after it's all said and done to kind of analyze and see how we do this process better. One last thing in in doing this and I'm more of a question I guess maybe Mr. Green loop in on this is the why aspect of why we're taking ownership of the dirt first. Um because of my agreement and part of this process and I think Mr. Sharpless touched on this is we would retain
160ownership of the dirt upon CO and now we're taking ownership of the dirt first and my I guess my question is to why >> why is that so instrumental that we do this? >> Because that's what the interim agreement that that we signed says. Um again it's in section three and it talks about exactly what we're talking about here is um the assignment of the the land contract. It shall occur within I want to say 180 days 6 months of the signing of the interimm agreement which was April. That puts us around Octoberish of 2025. Um that assignment is is nigh. It's it's happening now. So it didn't say the assignment will happen after the school's built. It said approximately 6 months after the signing of the interim. So >> and that and thank you
161for clarifying because that was I guess my misunderstanding and the scope of the project. You know I I was under the impression that once a co was obtained then ownership of the dirt and the structure on the dirt would be would be be ours. But if that was an initial agreement that that answers my question. >> Okay. And if if if I may, there there actually are a couple of additional benefits to that as well. Both from a you were able to save the sales tax on the on the prop on the project materials as they go as the property owner. And there are also some advantages from a permitting and inspection as as though you know the building the uh the school district has their own building official and are able to you know
162issue their own permits, do their own inspections, things of that nature. So, it's it's kind of inherently beneficial for the district to be the owner of the property, you know, from from some other perspectives. >> And and from from from a cutting the red tape, I understand that process too where it makes benefit to us. And I would I would think also on a liability standpoint probably makes more sense to have it on our side too is for that. So, um again, I think, you know, overall this is listen, this is a need that's far overdue. Um, I'm happy that we're really starting to make some, you know, steps forward to see this come to a realization. Um, I just think that, you know, again, and sound like I'm beating a dead horse here, I
163think it's a real opportunity for us to go back and analyze the way this was done, the way we do them in the future and kind of refine the process. So, right, thank you, board member Keys. Uh, board member Fields, >> thank you. U, I wanted to kind of reiterate what Mr. Keys said. This is a new process. We've never done this before. So, we have lessons to learn and I'm sure that we will make notation of that. Um, I would say from a historical perspective, Roder Construction has been working with the school district for gosh, as long as I've been on the school board and it's been a minute and always excellence. Excellence has always been your mission from what I can see. And so I think that uh we've got some hurdles that
164we've had to climb, but coming today and presenting I think it helped me a lot. I think the biggest question that I had was similar to Mr. uh uh Sharpless was the appraisal, the confusion there. But again, I think lesson learned, we need to make sure that going forward if we do this again that those things need to be ironed out from the front end of the of the process. But thank you for coming in today and helping to clarify it in my mind. I see no further questions. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> The only thing related to that item, um, Chair Sharpless, if I may. >> Sure. Miss Baner is here because during the retreat there was a question slashconern about the pricing and the pricing seems to have changed from when
165the board initially approved it. Um so Peggy, do you want to come up and explain the pricing the difference between the projected price and where we feel will fall? [cough] And if you're not prepared to answer that today and you'd rather submit it in writing, that's fine. and I just figured you were here and that was a retreat question the board had had. >> Um I would like to pres uh do [clears throat] some reporting um research on that. But um what what we bought was a prototype of Davenport High School. And not having seen um well we we probably thought that well I'm speaking for myself. I thought that um there would be money within within that price or that range. um to to do um changes cuz even though we're using Davenport as
166a [snorts] prototype, we have program differences and site differences. So that what that means are that the um the architect and and the contractor, we all need to do some more work that changes things. And so I I we we kind of stopped in the middle of it. So I'm not sure where we're not sure where that is. Uh we had a meeting and we started looking at line items and um so that discussion hasn't finished yet. >> All right. So Peggy, do me a favor. work with your team and draft a summary >> explanation for the board with the projected anticipated costs and any explanation for any deviation from the initial costs. I explained to the board during the retreat that basically based off the way we initially contracted for this project, we are
167responsible for any cost changes that we incur because of requested changes on our behalf. Um and then other costs are typically handled through the BAFO and they have to assume those costs. So, if you'll provide that summary and then I'll share that with the board. Uh, board members, I will make sure that this is either an item on January 27th or the next workshop in February so that you can ask any questions that you may have at that time as well. >> Thank you, Peggy. [cough and clears throat] All right. Next up, we have uh the employee assistance program. So, >> board members, you'll recall um a little over two months ago, we had a conversation about the underutilization of the employee assistance program. Um based off conversations, based off your comments and based off
168of additional research, um we decided to go back and restructure and retool, I should say, how we communicate and train individuals on EAP. Um, I know there was an initial request from the board, I think it was Miss Fields, to say, "Can we come up with a better acronym other than employee assistance program?" And the recommendation was, "That's not where your issue is that we got from the private sector." Um, just so you understand, we meet with a collaborative council of over a hundred individuals from across all of Pulk County who specialize in mental and behavioral health. Um, Pulk Vision assists us with that. We meet quarterly and the the feedback from them was you need to emphasize more the training of your middle managers because they're the ones who are in direct contact with
169employees who may be struggling and they need to better identify employees who may need assistance and make a personal referral with them. And so we kind of took that information. Miss Rouse was also in attendance at that meeting when they gave us that feedback and that as a result when they had retoled their process, they saw a pretty dramatic increase in EAP utilization. Now, I need to clarify for both you and for everybody else listening. EAP is not just about behavior and mental health. It includes financial assistance, family planning, all kinds of issues there. Um, and when I talk about family planning, we're talking about how to be a good parent, good parenting strategies, those kinds of things. We're not talking about anything else. And so, I don't want to get any angry emails about
170how that term could be misconstrued and nor do I want you getting any. So, I'm going to turn it over to Miss Rouse because I think we've had a great deal of success and and they're here to share that. So, Miss Rouse, I'll turn it over. Sorry if I stole 90% of your talking points. >> That's okay. Good morning, Chair Sharpless, board members, and Superintendent Hyde. um here to provide a brief overview of a portion of our employees um benefits campaign around the communication and amping that up specifically around employee assistance program. I'd like to give a huge thank you to our risk management and our employee benefits team uh specifically Lisa Hollis, director of benefits and one of her benefits coordinators, Jordan Schultz, who were instrumental in making this come to life. Um, also
171a thank you to Melinda Carden, our print services senior manager, all of our principles, and all of our executive staff for leading this work. So, quick overview of what it has occurred this month and will continue to occur in for some groups um through the month of January. Um, all of our executive staff and our principles were given numerous options for virtual meetings in the month of December. they needed to join one of them and it was led by Lisa and uh Jordan and they provided them everything they would need to hold a very brief meeting with their staff to explore EAP and all that has to offer for our our employees. So we explained that initiative to them um and prepared them to conduct their own meetings. They were given guidelines for their staff
172meetings with the expectation that the supervisor was to lead their own meeting. they were not to delegate that to someone else. Um, kind of ties back to what Mr. Hyde was just saying about we wanted them to be knowledgeable about it as well so that they could refer um employees as needed. It has to be completed this month. Every employee despite position should be in attendance and it needed to be a live meeting. Of course, it could be virtual in some settings, but it needed to be live virtual. They were provided a meeting guide that Lisa and her team created. was very organized, easy to use with video links provided so users could prepare themselves ahead of time, make themselves um familiar with the websites so they could navigate them with their team. They received
173uh printed and digital resources and a courier envelope with everything that they would need. So there was nothing that the leader had to really do except facilitate and prepare uh for the meeting. So for their staff meeting uh we navigated every employee to where they can find their health and wellness section on our pain our main web page. We directed them to that specific page and their benefit place here. You can see in their staff meetings, they were told that yes, you could um access digitally, but you could also use a phone number that's uh 247 there for um accessible services. And we also uh Lisa and her team created a short video explaining how to find all these things on our website as well. And so that's the video that you see there with
174the image um tells them how to log in. So if I forget, I can always go back and watch that. And then the main bulk of the meeting was um watching this 10-minute video. And the expectation was everyone watched it because it does an amazing job of doing an overview of all of the services provided under EAP. >> Do you ever feel like you could use >> I'm sure we could watch it, but I'm sure you could watch that on your own, but all of our employees watch that in their u meetings. Afterwards, we explained to them about how they can explore their benefits further on the web page. Um, told them where they can find this video later on if they wanted to rewatch. Other links that aren't necessarily involved in the meeting, but
175you could go back later. Um, several topics here that you can see besides behavioral and mental health. Everyone received this one-page flyer. um in print. The expectation would hope was that they would hang it at their home on their fridge or something like that or in their office where they could be reminded of the 20 different ways they can use the employee assistance program. And you can see there um this is where we got the most feedback from employees. They're like, "Oh my gosh, I just didn't understand that all this was available." So things as far as planning for your estate, um balancing life and work and even helping care for elderly family members. Those are some of the things that um are available. And then every staff meeting concluded with some key takeaways and
176discussion. Here are a few that we wanted every manager to point out that every employee has up to seven counseling sessions per issue. So um if I'm seeking help around a certain topic, I can also get help around a different topic and get seven more sessions around that new topic. So that was a a big takeaway. We have 247 emotional well-being support available. Counseling options in every format possible. We talked about dependent children up to the age of 26 can access all these services as well. Um and then of course we have website access. We give them the PCS easy for everybody to remember and use um moving forward. So with that um are there any questions around the campaign? So before we get to questions, board members, just a little bit more background information.
177Part of this again, we were very intentional in making sure that those mid-level um managers, administrators were given talking points, that we talked with them about the meeting process. um ensuring some empathetic approach to these types of things because what essentially they're being put in a position to do is someone comes to them or they learn about something and recognize that somebody may have a need, they then have to initiate a private conversation with that person saying, "Hey, just want to remind you, you know, if you need help, we have help and here's here's things that can help um or resources for you." Next steps for us as we continue down this road is identifying key stakeholders or employees who are willing to speak about one of the service areas that they've taken advantage of.
178I'll be doing one. I just filmed something for PC. Is it PCGTV? I I always >> PCGTV. >> Sure. Um I just filmed something with them about me mental health. um and my own person shared a little bit about my own personal experience with that and some of the perceived stigma that I felt around seeking opportunities for support and you know it's important um for us to share those messages but again our goal here is to continue with this process and keep educating and keep reminding our employees of what resources are available because it's a very comprehensive list and and again as Miss Rouse pointed out we got great feedback from staff about I I think this was part of your shared concern is do they really know about it? Do they know what's available?
179And we realized through this process that you know we could do more to continue to keep this in front of our employees. It's part of our newsletter. It's part of our reoccurring communication with staff. Um and board members, you should have received they received their stickers. >> Yes. You have a a small QR code sticker at your seat. Miss Vega put right prior to our meeting. Um, all staff members were asked to place that on the back of their badge. So, you scan that, it's going to take you to uh resources as well where you can access all the information that we just discussed. You also receive that onepage flyer on the 20 ways to use EAP along with a business card. >> Oh, they're in the back. So, we have >> Yes. >> Yeah.
180And the business card >> will provide you the sticker to put on the back of your ID badge. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> Right. All right. So, thank you so much for this time. >> Miss Fields, >> I just had one question. The um the flyers that you gave us. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Are we going to put those in on big posters and have them throughout the district? How are we having it where it's a constant presence for the employees? >> That's actually a good idea. We haven't discussed posting them permanently. We just printed them for every employee to have a physical copy. Um, but that's something we can definitely take back to our team and look at putting that into our communication campaign. >> I think that would be good. >> Okay. >>
181Thank you. [snorts] >> You're welcome. >> I don't see any further questions or comments. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You did great, Miss Rouse. Thank you. And Lisa >> and her team. >> And Lisa, thank you very much. >> Now we are transitioning to new business. Um, and that is around the discussion of travel reimbursement. I know we dis uh we discussed it uh slightly um before, but I the whole new process, Mr. Green, if you could just discuss kind of where we've been and and and what the new process is going to look like for us board members. >> Can do. >> Thank you. Um so was getting some questions about the process and um looked into sort of the underlying document. Um over time um the process changed and the board was the
182the district form that was being used which is known as a TDA temporary duty assignment. um that document um was being was carried over and used by board members as the document. When looking into the statute and the administrative code, the policy, um what what was revealed was that um that form didn't quite meet the needs of the board. It was really intended more for um district employees. So what I went to uh started doing was creating a a more unique uh specialized form just for board members so that um it it was more directed toward the needs of the board for out of county travel. it it tracks the policy and the statute and um basically makes the process more efficient so that your requests for you know official business aren't being reviewed by
183three different levels of persons that don't need to look at in the first place. So bottom line is um the the form was shared with you. It's um it's called out of county travel prior authorization form and it it cites and tracks uh policy 0147.1. Um if you look at that policy which I think is also attached on the documents there's um three paragraphs that deal with outofcount travel. Um the final two talk about basically how um their prior approval is required and um in the introduction to the that policy it says that um members of board seeking reimbursement must utilize district approved forms. So the whole genesis of why this form because the other one wasn't didn't really fit right. It was that was intended more for district employees. So, the district needed to
184have a new approved form and that's what that's the purpose that this form serves. >> Excellent. Thank you, sir. Um, now we're going to open it up for any questions from board members. Mr. Chair, if I may, before you transition to that, board members, on the 27th, you will also see a revised or a suggested board policy for adoption >> um specific to travel, and you will also see procedures um that help outline travel, travel reimbursements, what is allowed, what's not allowed, um processes as far as ensuring to uh the district and to our taxpayers um that we are booking trips as far in advance with some guidance as far as which types of hotels, what rates we're we're reimbursing for. So, there's a lot in there. Um, so I'll be forwarding that to you
185in the next 48 hours for you to begin your review, but that will be on the agenda during the workshop for discussion about the policy because it has to follow the traditional policy strate process and then a public hearing and the board can choose to adopt it [clears throat] at a subsequent meeting. But the procedures, I think all of that will give you really good guidance and understanding and and some assurances based off some of the concerns or questions that you've expressed before. Sorry, Mr. Chair. Thank you. >> No, it's completely Thank you so much. So, um so board members, are there any questions over um any of the documents that Mr. Green has provided you, the forms or anything that uh related to board travel that's not policy or procedures that we'll be talking
186about on the 27th? Yes, Mr. Green. I >> I received a a follow-up question. I think it's uh going to be covered by the new form, and that is sort of how the mileage in the past has been reimbursed. Um again, I think because it was um looked at under the lens of district employees. Um the short answer is the administrative code says mileage will be reimbursed at rates authorized by law. Okay. And what's the law? It's 112 uh section 112. So when those uh when those requests are submitted and you know determining is it from your home is it from you know point A to point B that'll I think maybe either that guidance will be provided or we can even add um some new language to the form just to specify what that
187calculation is so that it's express and and more explicit. That makes sense. Yeah. >> Right. I see no uh speaker requests. All right, I think we're good there. Um, now we're proceeding to the uh part on the agenda uh for board member comments. Are there any board member comments? Speak now. I'm sorry, I thought I saw a speaker. Speak now or forever. Hold your peace. [laughter] Okay. Um, seeing none, I now declare this board session work session adjourned.