001[Music] my first meeting before. Good evening to everyone tonight. Hope y'all are doing well. Uh reflecting back on my day. Um I had a chance to hang out with some amazing educators and students today. Uh we wrapped up our prize patrol. Yes. So um I'm confident that and you know we did finish with the the best district one today. So I'm confident in district one. So um I would like to wish everybody a warm welcome uh this evening, Tuesday, September 30th. The board superintendent and I uh were pleased that you have joined us as we celebrate student achievement. Uh we always review information. We work towards these policy decisions. We do have um a brief meeting tonight. We do have a few action items to work through. Um and it's really for the effective operation
002of the PK County School Board. So uh I would like to call the September 30th, 2025 special school board meeting to order. Um I would now like to ask board member Keys to lead us in our invocation. If we could all stand and please remain standing and I'll lead us in our pledge. this evening. >> Let's all bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for bringing us all here safely tonight. Lord, we realize that all these things are in your control. And we pray as we continue tonight's meeting, Lord, that we follow your guidance. Lord, we do those things are only exercised under your will. Lord, be with our students, be with our teachers, be with our administrators as they go about their duties and go home this evening. and um help us
003to always be reminded of the blessings we have to serve under um such a great leadership Lord in this district and um and to always look to you for guidance. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. All right. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, we can all be seated except Superintendent Hyde and then we'll have a bunch of questions for you. Oh, just kidding. So, uh, we will now transition to our acceptance of the agenda for tonight. Uh, Superintendent Hyde, are there any revisions to the agenda as printed? >> Yes, sir. Mr. Chair, members of the board, there are two amendments. Um, item D number four,
004resolution 2526, an attachment was updated. And item D number five, varsity tutors renewal for three years. Description was updated and attachment was added. That concludes amendment, sir. >> All right. Thank you, superintendent. So, at the time, at this time, the chair will entertain a motion to accept the agenda for September 30th, 2025 with the noted revisions. Do I have a motion and a second? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> All right. All right, Mr. Keys made the motion and Mr. Sharpless second. Any discussion, board members? Seeing none at this time, I'll call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? And that motion carries. Give you a chance to cast your vote there on our system. All right. Next up, we have public comment for items on the agenda
005to be voted upon as adopted at the start of this meeting. So, before we begin, I'd like to welcome the public and go over our public comment process uh and our opportunities for this evening. We'll have uh just in general two opportunities for public comment. uh one for items on the agenda and then we'll move to a later in the evening opportunity if you want to bring any other comments forward. So uh to register to speak we actually do have some bright new cards now but you need to fill out a speaker card in the lobby prior to the meeting. All speakers will be given 3 minutes. Uh the light will turn yellow when you have 1 minute left and you'll hear a beep when your time is concluded. All comments should be directed myself
006as the board chair. As a reminder, public comments uh are an opportunity for us to collectively hear your thoughts and comments. This is not a question and answer session and comments are not to be directed at individual board members. However, if you're seeking add additional information, uh we're here and I encourage you to contact any of us or superintendent's office outside of board meetings. We'll be happy to have those deeper conversations. So, the first person that I would like to call up would be Brandon Lane and then on deck would be Christy Kirkland. So, if Miss Kirkland, if you could come stand. There's a red line there right behind Mr. Lane. And Mr. Lane, you are recognized. >> Thank you, Chair Allen. Uh, Brandon Lane, Davenport, Florida. Um, I'm here today to speak on action
007agenda item D3, the referendum ballot. Um, I had the privilege to work for Pulk County Public Schools for 16 and a half years and I loved almost every minute of it. Um, unfortunately um because of finances I was no longer able to continue working for P County Public Schools and that is a story that I hear time and again in my new role. Um, in January of 2020, uh, about 500 teachers, paras, and secretaries gathered just down the road at Barto High School. And a lot of us urged at that time to put a millage on the ballot. And for whatever reason, that wasn't the right time. And subsequent years were also not the right time. Um, this is past time and I applaud the leadership of the folks on this board and I would
008strongly urge each and every one of you to vote affirmatively for it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Lane. Miss Kirkland, you are up. And then Cat Nickel, you are on deck. >> Good evening. I'm Christy Kirkland. I teach at George Jenkins High School. I've been teaching for the district since 1999. So, I've been around for a while. I've gone through periods and years where I didn't get a raise whatsoever. I would like to say thank you for the military referendum. Please consider it. Please approve this. This is something that we desperately need. CTE teachers are leaving the field like flies. It's crazy because we can get hired doing our actual profession at a much larger rate. So if you would like to keep the teachers and keep a strong workforce program, the referendum is
009going to be needed. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Nickel. Europe. And then we have Nadia Hernandez, >> Cat Nichols, speaking as a teacher as well as an officer of our teachers union and uh support staff union. Um so first off, I want to thank the board tonight for finally coming around to getting this millage referendum on the board. Um as I am sure you've heard the last few years, it is much needed. Um, I'm also going to reference just a moment as we hopefully y'all pass this millage and the voters voted in. Um, the current situation because this money doesn't start coming in until 2027. Um, so I'm also going to encourage all of you to put pressure on your negotiating team. Uh, they are currently >> this is not related to >> it's
010actually is stay on course. Thank you. We need the millage referendum because we currently cannot provide better raises or any raise for our ESPs, paras, and very small raises for our teachers. I would also encourage you to look at your other agenda item, varsity tutors. While I'm sure there is a lot of value to this program, you're looking at spending $2.5 million this year, $4 million, $4.4 million next year, and 4.4 million the following year. That's more than your teacher salary increase allocation. Um, so that money, while there's value in a lot of the programs we have, what you need are teachers, paras, and ESPs to keep your schools running each and every day. That's my strong encouragement. Pass the referendum and take a good look at what you're offering your employees. Thank you. >>
011Thank you. Miss Hernandez is up next and Tony Mononttoya, you'd be next. >> Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you guys in regards to the milit referendum. Um I worked for B County Public Schools for about 5 years. Um and now I'm speaking to you as a resident of P County Public Schools that um I will definitely be willing to go over and pay a little bit more on my taxes just so that teachers could get a bump in the race um that they deserve. And when I say teachers, I mean teachers, paras, and secretaries for the district. So, please vote yes on this referendum because um the staff really needs it. Thank you. >> Thank you. And Miss Montoya, you were up. >> Hello. Thank you for um hearing me
012speak. I am Tony Montoya from Winter Haven, Florida. I'm speaking as a teacher. I've worked for Pulk County for almost 17 years in various positions. Um this is my fourth career in life. I came from the corporate world where I made a lot more money um with a lot less responsibility. I went back to college to pursue my dream career which was to be a teacher. Um 6 months after graduating college in four years um dedicated to being a student while working for Pulk County full-time, uh I lost my husband. So now I am a single teacher living on a teacher salary with all the financial responsibilities and in that role I have seen very little in the form of raises. It's the only job I've ever worked my entire life where we are not
013valued financially for the the job we we do on a regular basis. This millillage would be almost life-changing for me. It doesn't sound like it, but $5 to $7,000 extra a year would really help me pay my bills. Um, to keep my house and my home that my husband and I worked our entire lives for, raised our kids with, my kids went to Pulk County. I've been invested in this county for almost two decades. I literally sacrificed four years of my life that I could have been enjoying my husband um to pursue higher a position in Pulk County and to be here and almost be forced out for financial reasons when I've dedicated so much is heartbreaking. I love what I do. Like it was my dream job even though it's one of the hardest
014jobs I've ever done. Please vote to pass this refer referendum. Excuse me. Sorry, I'm emotional. We need this. Your staff needs this. They are struggling. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh those are all the public comments. Board members, uh we will now need to approve three sets of minutes that are before you. The first set of minutes is for the September 2nd, 2025 special work session meeting. The chair will now entertain a motion to accept uh those meeting minutes as written. Do I have a motion and a second? >> So moved. >> All right. Mr. Sharpless made the motion. I need a second. >> Second. >> Miss Wyatt has seconded that. Um, any discussion on those sets of minutes? Seeing none at this point, I'll call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying
015I. I. >> I. Any opposed. And that motion carries. The second set of minutes is for the September 9th, 2025 work session meeting. The chair will now entertain a motion to accept those meeting minutes as written. Do I have a motion and a second? >> Miss Fields has made the motion and Miss Wyatt has seconded. Thank you all. Any discussion? >> Seeing none, I'll call for a vote now. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? And that motion carries. The third set of meeting minutes is for the September 9th, 2025 regular board meeting. So, the chair will entertain a motion to accept those meeting minutes as written. Do I have a motion and a second? >> Some moved. >> All right, we've got Mr. Sharpless that made the motion and Miss
016Wyatt has seconded. Any discussion? Seeing none, I'll call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? >> And that motion carries. No consent agenda tonight, board members. We'll move right down to our action agenda, uh, which is letter D. And the very first one is the, uh, entitled committee reappointment. Um, and this, uh, basically the suggested action is to approve three separate appointments to fill the gap for former board member Rick Noli. Uh, you have in front of you details that you asked for last meeting. Uh, in regards to dates, I'll just set up a couple things here. Um, as we look to have some nominees brought forward on this, uh, the dates that are present, you can see some of them have way more details on dates than others.
017Um, so it might be harder to choose on some of those. Um, but in general, we're only trying to fill probably uh all the way to the mid November meeting dates. And that's because the reorganization will take place in middle middle of November. Uh enabling the new chair to then uh work through those appointments. Okay. So that's the context. There's the data that's in front of you. Uh we'd love to have some nominees on these so we can then move forward. So if you have some availability, could you please uh express your interest? and if somebody would like to maybe nominate um from those that had brought forward some uh opportunities to serve. >> All right, stand by. So, Miss Wyatt, you are recognized. >> Thank you. I just wanted to make a point of
018noting that it says November 27th on Head Start. That is totally my fault. That is Thanksgiving Day and they have moved that meeting to the week before which would be November 20th. Um, I did attend the September meeting to make sure we had someone there. If you haven't sat on that one before, it is inspiring. Um, having really super engaged parents of three and four year olds is really cool. Um, especially looking at the future of, you know, how do we move some of these parents into SAC committees and things like that. Um, I called Superintendent Hyde afterwards and had a very lengthy conversation just over my excitement um because it really is an inspiring committee to serve on. So, I probably should not volunteer for the next two months, but I would be happy
019to be an alternate or if there is an alternate that could be on standby. Um, it really is an inspiring committee to serve on. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Wyatt. Mr. Keys, you are recognized. >> I was going to note that I would be willing to serve as the board's representative for the Central Florida School Boards Coalition. Um, I believe I can fit that into my current responsibilities and schedule. All right. Thank you, Mr. Keys. Uh, anything else? All right, Mr. Sharpless, you're recognized. >> Um, with it being on the Thursdays, um, I'm able to do either Head Start U liaison or alternate. I'm willing to do either one of those, but I cannot do the Central Florida uh, schoolboard coalition. >> Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. Miss Miller, you're recognized. >> Thank you. I
020didn't realize we were doing the all these together. So I just want to confirm chair that you're only currently trying to seat October November. Um you do not need to look beyond that. Is that what you're saying? >> That is correct. Yes. >> Okay. Because I am not available October, November for Head Start. I do I've served on that polic on that uh policy council. I do want to ask you know this information you got added to the library recently but this is part of the grant um that a board member sits on this which has been vacant for so long. So maybe in that draft manual that we're creating of procedures for our office that we have some kind of time frame set so we don't run into this issue again of not having
021um you know we hate to have these kind of circumstances especially uh with the Head Start committee but um maybe we have as a suggestion in that draft proposal of some kind of time frame so we don't let meetings go unattended for as long as we did. Thank you, Miss Miller. And um our attorney, we can make note of that. Uh just as a reminder, when we do our reorg meeting, that would be an opportunity for us to reassess our values and things like that. And we can look at that board manual at that time as well. And that would be a good addition um for our attorney to consider adding to that manual. All right. And Miss Fields, you're recognized. So the only committee that's that's in question is the junior achievement and it
022looks to me like there's just one meeting uh before November. >> I think that's >> that is correct from based on the data that's been collected is that's the only information that we have at this point for future meetings >> and there's no specific day that they meet it looks like is at random. It it seems to be on Fridays um from my experience serving on the committee in the past and uh Mr. Sharpless you can. Yeah, >> it is on Fridays. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Would you have any interest in serving in that one uh date that's available, Miss Fields? >> To be honest with you, I haven't looked at my calendar, so I'd have to look. >> All right. >> Miss Wyatt, you're recognized. I say I didn't realize we were doing
023junior achievement too since it's the next item, but I would love to do the junior achievement one. Um, and I think I can make it the next nine days. So, >> all right. Thank you, Miss Wyatt. And Mr. Sharpless, >> I move to appoint um Travis Keys as the representative for the Central Florida School Board Coalition. >> All right. So board members, we have a motion and a second at this point to um accept the nominee that was brought forward from Mr. Sharpless. Any discussion? All right, I'll now call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? And that motion carries. All right, we are sitting on the same D1. Um, and I'll look for a motion for committee reappoint for the Pulk County Head Start Policy Council liaison.
024>> Chair, I have a question. >> Yes, ma'am. You're recognized. >> Um, since it's having us vote on D1, it looks like it's having us vote altogether. Do we need to vote separately for these or do you want us to make one vote on this as D1? >> I think at this point we'll just go ahead and move through each one. So, we're going to have D three votes on D1, >> correct? Yes. >> Okay. Because it doesn't work that way. Okay. >> All right. Again, looking uh for another motion to approve the committee reappoint for the PK County Head Start. And Miss Fields, you're recognized. >> Okay. I nominate uh Mr. Sharpless for the lay zone and Sarah Beth Wyatt for the alternate. >> Are we doing it like that? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Take
025that motion. All right. So, we have a motion on the floor and a second. Miss Fields has made the motion and Mr. Keys has second it. Any discussion on that? All right. I'll call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> All right. Now, we have um all of those filled at this point. So, thank you board members. So now we'll move to D2 which is the committee alternate for the junior achievement. So I'll take a motion and that's Mr. Sharpless. >> I move to appoint Sarah Beth Wyatt as the alternate for junior achievement. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. So we have a motion. I'm looking for a second. >> Second. >> And Mr. Keys has second that. Any discussion board members? All right. Uh, thank you
026all for stepping up to fill the gap here until our November reorg meeting. I'll now call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? And that motion carries. We are now down to the referendum ballot. And this is something that we have uh worked on extensively. I think it's um a good opportunity for our attorney uh to give some um direction here to us and just giving us some context and then from there I'd like to hear from superintendent if you would like to speak to this before we have a chance to uh get to board member comments and then we'll go from there. So you are recognized. >> Thank you. I just wanted to give a little procedural history of how we got to where we are tonight.
027If you recall, uh, back on August 12th, I had, uh, requested authority to advertise, um, public hearing to solicit input. Um, that was for the September 9th meeting. Uh, due to an inadvertent oversight, that item didn't get placed on the meeting for the 9th. Um so there was a second advertisement on September 17th properly noticed and that was for uh the discussion tonight which we received that public input tonight the special meeting. Um so just wanted to walk through that we've didn't initially um have it on the 9th but we properly revertise and sought that input and receive that input tonight. >> All right very good. Thank you Mr. Green. Superintendent, uh, did you have any comments that you would like to share before we begin? >> A couple things. So, I do want to
028say thank you to the board. I mean, this has been a long protracted conversation. One that for some of you started well before my arrival and then CO interfered with that conversation and kind of delayed it even further. It's a tough conversation to have within your community, but one that quite frankly has to be had. The reality of it is we don't receive adequate funding to cover the expenses of our schools and and beyond that we don't receive adequate adequate funding to ensure that our teachers can earn a living wage and not just our teachers but all of our employees regardless of the work that's been done over the last 5 years which I think those of you who have been on the board and those of you recently have have said truly incredible what
029we've been able to do with the limited resources that we have and yet we lag every other district. And so if we're truly going to continue to be competitive and and I give a lot of credit to our staff um for the hard work and dedication they put in last year in particular. We're a B district. We're not a B district because of luck. We're not we're a B district because of the hard work and dedication of our employees. And this board, I do want to give you credit because a lot of people don't realize the difficult position that you find yourselves in both personally, politically, and philosophically when it comes to issues like this. You know, in this economy, asking taxpayers to basically supplement our revenue sometimes can be a tough ask and not
030politically, but the reality of it is everybody's struggling in certain e economic times, but it is a question that needs to be posed and the polling two polls um show very favorable support for a referendum. I also want to thank pea recently. They brought a consultant in. I've shared that information with you and as a result of their findings that this consultant does is they specifically look at ballot language and other issues to make sure that we put the best possible ballot language forward that's going to have the most positive and highest return response rate as we possibly can. Um so I provided you with all that information and so again thank you to them. Obviously they have a vested interest in seeing this happen but it's not just about giving their staff raises. It's
031really about how do we offset the revenue deficiency that we currently face. There are tougher conversations to have in the future as we look forward. I think I've already apprised many of you that we're going to have to look at some significant budget cuts um in order for us to maintain our fund balance expectations and stay minimally above the 3% and then hopefully continue to maintain that 5% fund balance for the board. So, a lot of things happening, a lot of moving parts, but again, I'm very pleased with the fact that both polls um showed very favorable support for this, and we thank all of our partners out there who support this initiative. Um, and we'll see what the voters decide. So, I'm I'm again, I'm proud of the board for your initiatives here and
032your effort and your willingness to address this. And again, as you know, it's been months in the making. So, thank you. Um, and again, thank you to PEA for their work and their support for this initiative as well. Thank you, Superintendent. Board members, any other comments that you would like to add at this point as well. Mr. Sharpless, you are recognized. So, um, I'm just going to start out by saying that I enthusiastically support this referendum. Um, it's certainly a a difficult conversation to have, but whenever your surrounding districts are passing referendums like this and you don't, you're not competitive. And I want to see our staff compensated for the hard work they do. And if we aren't competitive, then we're going to lose staff to surrounding districts. Um I think the way this is
033worded um certainly helps us to be competitive. Um it gives us options as well that um again lends itself to being uh how do I say this easily supported by the public. We have um language in here that discusses early learning which we know is critical to uh students being on course for their education. Um we have discussions in language in this referendum also on fine arts, career technical education, um school safety which I is paramount to me as well. um someone who has three small children in our schools every day. Um parents that are in our school every day, a wife that's in our schools every day. We have to have school safety measures and I think this referendum will help address that too. So it's again number one and and most importantly is
034to help us stay competitive as possible but then also the additional things that are in this referendum are only going to help us to be more competitive um with other districts. So I fully support this measure. >> Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. Miss Fields, you're recognized. >> Thank you. Um Mr. Lane made a very strong point earlier. Uh we've been talking about this for a while. and the timing never seemed to be right. And I think that the timing is right now. And u I think that we need to move forward. We've talked about it for a while as Superintendent Hyde referenced. Um I know that PA has shared that they will be supporting and helping with a lot of the uh things we're going to need to do to move this forward. We were blessed
035to be able to to do the sales tax referendum and we've done it a couple times and the community has been supportive of that and when we had a leadership Lakeland at Kathleen High School education day maybe last year. I don't know if any of the board members remember me asking the uh class if they felt like we needed to uh have the referendum and they all raised their hand and said yes that they were in support of it. So, I think that goes back to what Mr. Hyde said as it relates to the survey. The community is ready. Um, times are hard, but we have to do what we think is going to be best for all of our employees. And so, I I wholeheartedly support this and I wait to see uh what
036the strategies are going to be and and um and we'll take it from there. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Fields. And Miss Wyatt, you're recognized. >> Thank you. So, I think it speaks volumes when we look at the counties around us that have have all successfully passed a referendum that their constituents have opted to tax themselves because they know that's what's best for public education. Um, and I think that it is far past time that we let our constituents do the same. Um, I'm excited to to be able to go out for a referendum. Um, I think this is as as Miss Field said, it's something that we've been talking about since well before COVID started and we've we've had a lot going on the past past 5 years. So, I'm I'm thrilled that
037it's finally um seems to be the right time to to be able to take this to to our electorate and and give them the opportunity to to support put put their money where their mouth is and and support public education. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Wyatt. And Mr. Keys, you are recognized. So, the slow finger again on um being the last in line, but I I will say this is that um this has been spoken about almost since I've been on the board. And so, I first want to say thank you for those discussions beforehand before I was able to come on to the board, the meaningful discussions get us this point. It has been a lot of hard work. We've had some changes put into place. We've refined languages, but that's only because
038of the diligence of all of us sitting here tonight and making sure that um that was well thought out and well intended. Um we spoke to the nature of competitiveness, right? How it makes us more competitive, how this language refer the referendum language is wellrounded, touching all points, not being careful not to limit us and the services we can offer. Um, but I would also say um to those who still have questions about it and especially to that population maybe is saying why more taxes? Well, because that student or that teacher who we're potentially funding raises for or those programs we're putting more money into, that's your cashier at Publix. That is the plumber that's, you know, fixing the plumbing your house. That is those individuals that service this county. These they are students first
039and beforehand. So when you say why does it matter to me matters to me because these are the people in your community offering those services and servicing you as you go upon your life in the community. So that's one thing I would say and then um also speaking to something that Miss Phil said about the sales tax that we're able to do. If you want to see success in these measures, look at the schools we're able to build, the improvements we're able to do, things like Elbert Elementary, you know, um and and revitalizing that school. Um, and I just this is something that's long overdue and I am in full support of it and happy that um, we were able to come together and and work hard on it and um, present this to the
040community. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Keys. And Miss Miller, you are recognized. >> Mr. Keys, not exactly last. I think I was that one. Um, I again want to thank Mr. Lane and the teachers that came um, today. And this is a stories we hear often. I want to say thank you to Mr. Lyn Wilson that was on this board who we've had long conversations about the Florida Education Finance Program and how FEFP works and how deficit has been in pulk for a very long time for a lot of the reasons that we cannot control um which is the rural and expansiveness of this county. Um I think this will be decided obviously by the voters but we have been um behind other counties doing this and as much as we promote choice for
041our students um that is also making us very competitive on the education side we have to become competitive with employment because at the same time the teachers that are in these classrooms a lot of the time with the students who have minimal choice um because of their needs those are the teachers I think that you know are doing the work that many of us could not do that we have to start thinking how do we retain them? And so I know it's been a long time. I appreciate that we have done this administration in the past um has worked to have evaluations done from our business community. We've had people come in uh Mr. Wilson referred to it as the blue ribbon committee. We've had people come in because what you're going to hear is
042that PK County overspends, doesn't spend, is over inflated. And we have done a lot of work to show that that is not the case um compared to districts our size. Um, and so a lot of this will be through messaging and our and our community advocates telling the stories, the teachers telling the stories and I appreciate that you're willing to do this today and I will happily support this. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Miller. And I'll conclude with some of my thoughts as well. I'm definitely going to be in support of this tonight. Uh, but when we speak about timeliness um on the heels of us voting on this referendum language, um, I'm deeply concerned. I I need to raise the concern that I have that the release of the teacher allocation pay raise
043has been blocked. Superintendent, you sent the communication out today and I appreciate the sternness on that. Um but on the heels of us voting on this referendum language, the TISSA dollars were blocked. The rules aren't vague. This money has been uh allocated for a purpose. It has a deadline, which is tomorrow, by the way, and we're not meeting it again this year. Um, meanwhile, we're voting tonight to ask our communities to support a referendum. Um, last year we didn't vote on the bargaining agreement till March. Those dollars weren't released until nearly the end of the fiscal year. We barely made it before we roll into the next fiscal year. That's far too long. And I said it too long last year. And I'll say it again. Um, I don't like the pattern. Withholding pay while
044asking taxpayers for more doesn't look good. and it undermines trust. That's my position. Now, to turn to this uh this evening, that's before us. It's not about me, right? I mean, I have my views on taxes, but I'll not take away the voters's right to do that. Um they'll have an opportunity to decide how their hard-earned dollars uh are spent, and that's their choice, and I'll defend it. Um so, for me, uh the referendum is really a promise. Um, we've promised strong oversight and I appreciate the work that we've done to talk about that. Uh, there's been clear academic performance measures um that we we work and we strive toward. We have phenomenal educators. I say it every time that we start this meeting. I mean, we are humbled to serve along the most highly
045educated workforce in America, and I believe that. So there's transparency and accountability that we're striving for and I agree. But I think the timeliness of blocking those TISSA dollars is not good. Now it's about supporting our teachers because strong teachers mean stronger classrooms, stronger kids, and a stronger community. So um those are my statements tonight. I appreciate everybody's work on this. It has been long and um I'm glad that we're here tonight. So I appreciate the work on that. So, at this point, board members, thank you for all the work that you've done on this as well. Um, I'd like to call for a vote at this point. >> So, move. >> All right. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. All those opposed. >> Motion. >> We did have a motion and
046a second before we went into discussion. >> No. No. >> All right. So, stand by then. >> I'll reverse. So, Mr. Keys has made the motion. I'll take a second. >> Second. >> All right. Mr. Sharpless. So, we got the motion in a second on the floor. I'll call for a vote. Those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? And that motion carries unanimously. We are now down to D4. This is the referendum ballot language. So the suggested action is to approve the referendum ballot language. The chair will now entertain a motion and a second. So move. >> Mr. Keys has made the motion and Miss Fields has second it. Any discussion on the ballot language? All right, Mr. Sharpless, you are recognized. >> I'm uh I'm just a little confused. Um
047and Superintendent, maybe you can clear this up for me. Um I you know we just we just passed the referendum ballot language and then when I look on the draft resolution it doesn't on the second page it doesn't seem like the ballots the ballot summary not the same as the language >> doesn't have to be sir >> okay that's that's why I want to make sure >> two different entities the resolution goes to the county ballot language goes to the elections office to put on the ballot >> okay >> and so again the changes to the ballot language were reflective of the surveys that we've responses we've gotten back. >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> There was one edit though in case someone looks at the attachments.
048We did make sure that um educational support staff who were previously left off the resolution. That language was added and you'll see a red a red underlined version of that in that document for the resolution. That was the change I announced at the beginning of the meeting. >> Thank you, Superintendent. Anything else, Mr. Sharpless? That is it. All right. Thank you. Seeing no other comments at this time, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? And that motion carries. We are now down to D5. This is varsity tutors renewal renewal for one year. The suggested action is to approve varsity tutors renewal one year. So the chair will now accept the motion. >> Stand by. No, I I was correcting staff. So, it is a one-year
049renewal with the option for two additional years. So, it has moved to a performance-based contract. So, I I wanted the opportunity to clarify that based off comments made earlier. Um, several board members, you are very well informed as to the success we've had with this program and the success our students are having primarily for our enrichment and acceleration students, not just for remediation. Um and so we did look at it that cost that you see for this year is very much reduced from prior years and again the out out projected forecasted costs do not incorporate performance aspects. So we've moved to a performance contract versus just a standard pay per license contract. So we're very excited about that. But those renewals are not guaranteed nor are they automated. The board would have to vote on
050those. >> Okay. Thank you for the clarification, >> sir. >> Board members, I'll take a motion and a second on this. >> So moved. >> All right, Mr. Sharpless has made the motion. I'll take a second. >> Second. >> Miss Wyatt has seconded and I'll take some comments now. Mr. Keys, you're recognized. >> So, um, appreciate the superintendent bringing that up. Um, if we look at the addendum that's included in the agenda items, um, there is language in there allowing us to look at this every year. Um, and for me personally, it's going to always go back to efficacy. Um, I want to make sure that we're getting the most bang for our buck on that. So, I would I would be remiss if I didn't say that if we don't see those continual gains
051that we have in the past, we always do have the option and it says 45 days out to the second the start of that subsequent year that we have the availability to look at that. So, um I'm glad that there's leaves in this language. Although I am supportive of it and glad to see that it's been um a success uh the option to be able to continue to look at um from the coming from the the corporate side of things and the business opportunity to be able to review and I think that all those lie in efficacy. So, I'm I'm excited about that. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Keys. Mr. Sharpless, you're recognized. So, um, you know, looking at the data, um, from varsity tutors, uh, it's very clear this program, um, is certainly
052impacting our students. Um, you know, I I would go as far to say as it has made an impact to increase our, uh, district grade to a B, which is something we're celebrating. This is a component of that. It's not everything, but it's a component. Um, and so I also like the fact that we can, you know, we're approving up to three years, you know, with one year for certain right now. Um, you know, I I like the fact that parents are empowered through this as well. Parents are empowered to um, you know, if they, of course, teachers are empowered to assign students uh, through varsity stu tutors. parents are empowered and this is, you know, I think of my time in the classroom and now that we're onetoone, being able to not have to
053stop the entire lesson for remediation for a student, I think is critical. Um, and you know, having that option there for with varsity tutors is super important. Um I I would like to see and this is just um you know for future I would like to see uh this for year two and year three for us to have these the discussion whether we're going to approve this early on in the summer so that way whenever we're starting in uh the beginning of the school year we're we're rolling with this um if it again meets the metrics that we need. Um, but it's there's it's undoubtable varsity tutors has made an impact on this district and so I will be fully supporting this measure. >> Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. Miss Miller, you're recognized. >> Thank you.
054Um, I just want to address this program from speaking to staff that have used it and thought it was very helpful. Um, as well as parents. I will admit that I think when we roll out projects um especially tutoring and and um programs that are supplemental to what we're already doing that the message takes a while to get to everyone. Um I would like to go in and say you must do this and then the superintendent reminds me that is all not how things work and you can't demand that all of our staff use any programs. But we are highly encouraging the the students that need it the most to have access to these programs especially varsity tutors. Um the current mechanism of paying for performance I think is how we should approach any contract
055for these kinds of programs so we know that we're getting a return on the money. Um I think we've seen it with this. I think we'll continue to see it with varsity. I know that um working with our students in the ESC world um is a whole new application for a lot of our teachers but it will be helpful to them as they continue to move forward with it. So I look forward to this increasing our student outcomes for all students of all abilities. Thank you. >> Thank you Miss Miller. Miss Fields, you're recognized. >> Thank you. Superintendent Hyde and I had a conversation about this a while back and um I was concerned that it might be discontinued. So, I started talking to some of the uh leadership at some of the schools in
056my district and they were all positive about the uh the benefit of having this program for our students. Um and a a great example is of one of the students that was really struggling academically and the principal was actually u willing and did bring the child into our office and uh was able to use uh this method to bring up his his grade. So I know that there's benefit in it. Uh, I think the only thing that I want to make sure and I I read the order form and superintendent how can can confirm this is basically one year and then the two and the three is there as well but we can opt out in 45 days and beforehand. I believe that's what it says. >> That is correct. And those costs we would
057obviously renegotiate based off performance again. >> Okay. Thank you. So I will I will support. >> Thank you Miss Fields. Uh yeah, I'm definitely uh in favor of this. Uh I I appreciate Mr. Sharpless's comments in regards to the timeliness. I know we're seven weeks into the school year. Uh this is critical time for our FAFSA uh college applicants and so forth. And I think we could have gotten ahead of this a little bit more just to roll out some of the tutoring options for ACT, SAT. uh that's critical and those for for our parents and families to have opportunities for students to to push those AC ACT SAT scores is very very important. Um I think um for for my kid in particular, my son uh who did, you know, scored really well, but
058his first round of ACT was not quite there. We paid lots of money for tutoring services. Uh and you know, for our students to have access to that um is very very important at no cost to them. So, um, you know, right now we're doing a lot of FAFSA training, uh, across the district. My hope, superintendent, if we vote in favor of this tonight, we can jump on this immediately and get great communication out to our families that they have access to ACT, SAT tutoring. Um, then on a side note, I serve on the AI task force um, across the state. Uh, that's um, that initiative by UF, University of Florida. Uh, and it's good to see varsity tutors present. They're there at the forefront of technology and what's happening and um I believe in
059their product and it's a great product. So, um I will be voting in favor of this tonight. All right, board members. Uh I'll call for a vote now. Those in favor signify by saying I >> I. Any opposed? >> And that motion carries. We are now down to the superintendent's report. Superintendent, you have a report for us tonight? >> I do, Mr. Chair. Uh, the next work session will be held on October 14th, 2025. The work session will begin at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will be held at the district office located at 1915 South Floral Avenue in BTO. All right. Thank you, Superintendent. We are now rolling down to board member comments and I will start lowest number and work my way up. So that means Mr. Keys, you would be first. >> Uh, thank
060you, Dr. Allen. just say that um a lot has been going on. We've been very busy and I know that um we everybody has places to be tonight. So I thank everybody for being here. But um recently got uh the ability to participate the most recent and inside PCPS and as a board member to be able to sit amongst those community members is definitely eye opening and and um to be able to answer questions as they have and they arise is is very helpful. So thank you to the school's partnership with Pulk Vision and making that program available. I will tell you that it is um something that I look forward to continuing doing because it's good to have those stakeholders involved in the gaining knowledge of the school system. Also, two recent trips um
061the the latter being um FSBA sessions on policy and governance and bargaining. Um very informative. So, appreciate being able to go to those. And then of course um our COSA trips to DC to be able to advocate and I believe and very effectively um to make sure to ensure or let our representatives know um the vital importance of these federal fundings that come down to us um in the in the the form of title one, title two, title three dollars, idea and giving some real world examples. I know as as a board member sitting on a school board the massive amount of things that we have to consider um and I can only imagine that's multiplied to the nth degree to a lawmaker who doesn't just focus on education. So some of the stories we're
062able to share with our representatives was absolutely um eye opening for them I think to see that some of these real world examples that we're able to provide. So appreciative for the opportunity to do that and I just you know want those watching tonight to know that and Dr. I'm sure you would echo this that that we work hard advocating for the students of Pulk County, even if that takes us to the the halls of Washington DC. So, thank you. >> And Miss White, you're recognized. >> Thank you. I hear that you also ran into some PK County students while you were in DC is the word on the street. So, um, Randy Roberts Foundation had their annual trip up there and I've I've heard from a couple students that were there how cool it
063was to see people from P County like in the middle of of the Capitol building >> talking about >> probably probably um but so thank you all for for your work and going up there. >> Um, it's been a little bit since we've had a meeting. So, um, since our last meeting, I had the opportunity to attend the CFDC annual meeting, um, last week out at Camp Margaritavville, which is just exciting to see some of the growth in specifically some of our highnew wage industries. Um, and just talking to some of the people in the room who are excited to be getting our students. Um, just in their work withmies and and seeing what our P County Public School students have to offer, um, was very inspiring. Um, just want to give a reminder that
064our last community meeting for resoning is this Thursday night and it's virtual. Um, I had to the opportunity to attend the one in Winter Haven since our last meeting. Um, the turnout was not as incredible as I think we all would hope. Um, I'm hoping that that means it's because everyone's thrilled with where their their child will be zoned for high school. Um, but just as a reminder, now is the opportunity to give us your feedback. I encourage anyone and everyone to go and look at your neighborhood. Make sure that your neighborhood makes sense. Um, you know, we've we've brought I know several of us before um it even went out to the community looking at our own districts and making sure there were no neighborhoods split, no apartment complexes split, those types of things.
065Um, and our our team has done a great job explaining that process um and really helping families navigate that process. But um just want to make sure everyone knows that we have one more opportunity um to hear the presentation. Um and we would love to get your feedback now. Um because your feedback is going to be very very difficult for us to take after it's implemented. Um so we do really want feedback on what those neighborhoods look like today as opposed to next August when your child is starting high school. And that concludes my report. >> All right. Thank you, Miss White. And Miss Fields, you're recognized. Thank you. I'm going to save my information until uh the next board meeting. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Fields. And Mr. Sharpless, you're recognized. >> I'm
066only going to mention a few things. Uh first, I want to thank Superintendent Hyde for attending the Poke County Youth Fair Taste of Agriculture dinner. Um where he uh purchased a really nice chocolate cake that went to uh feed some of the staff members in his office. Um but in in all seriousness, thank you for supporting our students that participate in the Poke County Youth Fair. Um it's uh something that's near and dear to my heart as well as many many students around the county. Um I attended the halfsent sales tax committee. It's part of my um appointment here on those the school board. Um, we met at Elbert Elementary and to see the renovations and and just the whole all the the construction that happened there because of the halfsent sales tax was really
067um uh just eye opening and it was it was a great uh meeting and kudos to uh Josh Mackmore for all the work that he did um in in uh leading that meeting. Um, also last week I attended the um the reasonzoning meeting uh for my area at Mclofflin Middle School. Um, it it addressed Mlofflin as well as Frost Proof Middle Senior. Um, and from what I was told by some staff members there um had some of the the most amount of questions that was asked, most engagement. And so that really um excited me. Um, and having said that, I appreciate um, Superintendent Conrad for being here tonight as well as attending um, that community meeting. Uh, Superintendent Conrad, the new superintendent of Lakewell's charter schools. We appreciate you being here and your collaborative um,
068uh, attitude and uh, work with with Superintendent Hyde uh, to to educate all the all the children in Lake Wales. So, that being said, that's all I have. >> Thank you, Mr. Sharpless. and Miss Fields or rather Miss Miller, you're recognized. >> Thank you. I have two events that I wanted to share with you. First, Auburnale High School did their career academy. Um if you've not visited Auburndale High School and um seen what they're doing there, their culinary academy is superb. But I was excited to find out they have the academy of their graphics academy that can for the community make all kinds of signs and they do that regularly. Um stickers, all the things that you'll need to promote your business. and they came together there in Auburndale at the civic center to share
069with those um those opportunities with the public. So that was great to help share our story. I also want to mention that we have I was able to attend and give comments at New Beginnings Charter School as we renamed the campus the Sam Kilibru campus of New Beginnings along with Sartha Tinsley's innovation lab and what that means to the community and those two very strong leaders um people who support all students in education and their vision for students there at New Beginnings. And so I'm so excited that Miss Wright, Ashley Wright, was able to honor them in that way and it was a beautiful day for them to understand that their life, their legacy has been supporting students. Um, that is all my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Miller. And I was going
070to save my information as well for our next um but since uh Mr. Keys mentioned the DC trip and Miss Wyatt had followed up on that as well. Yes. Uh it was Commissioner Sarah McCarly that called us out. Uh basically as soon as we walked in the Ray Burn building our very first day to have our congressional members that's that's the first interaction we had with anybody was our PK County public school students. That just really set the frame right uh and what we were doing up there. So it was quite humbling. Uh the Lakeland High student uh man he had his folder. He opened the folder up. He's like I want to talk to you about this policy I've been thinking about. It was amazing right there at that moment. So, uh, really cool
071experience. So, uh, anyway, that's, uh, all I have for my comments as well tonight, and I'll bring more back to us, uh, during our next regular meeting. At this point, board members, there's, uh, no other business at this point. I guess the next order is adjournment. Actually, we have public comment, but there's no no cards. Nobody signed up. So, we're moving on to adjournment. We are now