School Board Meeting | March 25, 2025

001[Music] we get you to [Music] [Applause] n [Applause] [Music] good evening good evening yeah okay I just want to test so good to see you uh I wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone present uh the board the superintendent and I were pleased to have you uh and we're here to celebrate student achievement we have a special guest we're here to honor you and the work that you're doing uh and then collectively across the district we're going to review some information tonight um we actually do have some policies in our consent agenda that we're working through as well uh and and these are all things related to the effective operation the P County School District um so I would like to call the March 25th 2025 a regular Schoolboard meeting to order now if

002we can all stand I would have Bishop miny come forward he's going to lead us in our invocation and then if you can remain standing as well now we pray kind father in Jesus name we're thankful for the gift of this wonderful day this is the day you made we will rejoice and be glad in it thank you oh God for this time that you blessed this school board to meet again in this Auditorium thank you for the chairman thank you for all of the board members superintendent all of the staff at po County Public Schools thank you oh God for each and everyone that have come here today to be a part of this meeting I pray for Mr noty wherever he might be and whatever he's going through you know about it we

003give it to you and we ask for your strength and your power to bless his life thank you oh God for all that are here today and all that will be done and said it and we let ask that your whatever we do whatever we say will bring glory honor and praise to you and we will continue to give you the thanks for all things we ask it in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen amen amen thank you Bishop meny uh now if M Hernandez if you want to come forward and lead us in the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to a republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right thank

004you everybody everybody you can be SE seated now accept our guest we are so thankful that you're here um I was talking to our superintendent just a moment ago and he asked if you were nervous and apparently you said no I'm a news reporter I don't ever get nervous I don't know if that was true or not so we are so thankful that you're here um so first things first if you can introduce yourself and anybody that you have as a guest with you tonight so my name is Natalie Hernandez I'm from Southwest Elementary and my parents are here with me too and I'm and I'm very proud of myself for this position yeah indeed um okay so you're at Southwest Elementary and do you have anybody from Southwest Elementary with you tonight yes there's

005my there's my um there's my Digital Academy teacher Mrs care my principal and Mrs sidge all right very good if y'all could just please just stand for a moment so we can recognize all of you that are here as a guest tonight just stand and let's give them a round of applause tonight oh you the parents yes yes thank you thank you so much we are so appreciative of you being here tonight thank you all right so we have some questions we've read your bio I mean this thing is thick uh you are so talented you're involved in so many things but maybe just talk a little bit about your hobbies some things that you're interested in before we ask all the hard questions oh okay so as I'm 11 years old and I my

006favorite subject is science wow and I'm very interested in as in astronomy my dad is a math teacher and also and I have many I have many cousins and I don't know what to say no that's amazing I mean you g you've given us so much we can ask like all kinds of extra questions here um so tell us a little bit about your work with the Southwest Elementary Digital Academy so I'm an anchor and I'm an anchor and a news reporter I'm working on editing and I've done many segments since I've joined like a shark howto a shark drawing how a a shark drawing howto and I've also and done many solo announcer solo announcer videos to to give in the comp in competitions amazing so I mean thinking about your interest in science

007you talked about astronomy yes um and then I'm thinking of editing like is there anything mathematical about editing video um no I don't know I'm trying to well because you have a really nice balance of the Arts and the Sciences which is so good together which is pretty amazing um okay so I've read something that and you mentioned it I believe this piece that you've been working on um it's like a how-to and drawing yes um which I hear that like you like to draw too mhm okay um with with a pencil yes do you have a favorite pencil um not really as long as it works all right um as it works I like long as it works that's a great answer um um now did you get a chance to okay so your

008work actually went somewhere right outside the classroom you working in that beautiful lab that you're working in by the way at Southwest Elementary is incredible um but the work it went Way Beyond just that classroom can you tell me a little bit about that about the drawings yeah that piece that segment that you were working on oh the drawing of the shark so I had to bring the tripod into my home I filmed everything and then I drew at a very bad angle with I I don't really really recommend it it was pretty but I'm still pretty nice with the results I I brought the footage in and I edited it all by my well I did have help I had help of course yeah but I did do most of it by myself very

009good um like give us a glimpse like what do you what was the story like when you pieced it all together in your editing platform and you're editing with Adobe Premiere um it's Final Cut Pro oh Final Cut Pro okay okay okay um great so you're working on Max um I know I could ask a lot more questions here um but yeah what's the story what was the story so I decided to do a shark because of my love of sea creatures yeah and I decided to and I decided to make it coming out of the shark the sorry out of the of the water because doing the splashes would have and the Shadows would be a very fun part and that's also something that I'm very confident in so I drew the teeth I

010drew the shark I tried to give it gills and then I did a fish because it looked too odd with its mouth like that so I gave it something to bite on so that it would make a bit more sense I love it okay so we're we're not really phenomenal artists up here so if we were to watch your howto video could we draw a shark um probably yes yeah I definitely see as Jen nodding over there um okay and this piece it went to a film festival right um yes it went to it went to pul to pul County um video awards and it also went to Jim Harvin wow which is incredible uh did you get a chance to go when it screened and the screen yeah like when when your film played

011at the film festival were you there okay um it's wait has it happened yet has gone oh it hasn't gone so it's been selected that's incredible well congratulations I mean first of all being accepted into a film festival is an honor I mean your work has been curated by judges um it's going to be shown to an audience and there's going to be dialogue around your work so congratulations to you on that that's amazing um okay so I mean there's so many other things in your um bio that we love maybe give us your future your dreams and you know we can hear a little bit about your your interest but what are your dreams um I would really love to be a wait a pediatrician or an animal trainer of some kind not the

012puppy trainer not the puppy trainer maybe um dolphin tiger lion something like that I don't like the small things all right are shaking their head that's awesome it is so good um okay so I you know we read that you were the anchor as well on the new show at Southwest Elementary Digital Media Academy is there like an opening line or something that you can recite that you've memorized in the very beginning or something just give us like a lead in yes in the morning show we normally Say howdy Spurs welcome back to another great day of learning and then with the other anchor that which is my partner because there's we have groups and we normally go with Partners when we do the morning show then we'll present our names the date my partner

013will say the DAT in English I will say it in Spanish because of the variety of languages that we have in our school oh I love it indeed I I appreciate that in a big way so we are so happy that you're here uh and you've joined us we loved hearing about your academic background your passions your interest so if you could come to the center we're going to get a picture with you and your family if y'all could come forward and as she's making way and her family's coming this way if we can give her a round of applause the work that she's doing in the [Applause] classroom so he can give some direction to you he's the photographer there perfect all right thank you so much for being with us today and I'll

014just give a shout out to Southwest Elementary they were doing some amazing things in the school district uh one of our very first pre uh digital media cies uh in the school district so well done so glad that yall are here all right board members uh we are going to now transition to the acceptance of the agenda the first item is our agenda tonight is to accept it uh superintendent are there any revisions to the agenda as printed Mr chair members of the board item G number one board items board member travel for Mr Keys was added item K number four Addison Four Corners apartment mitigation agreement item was removed item l number two administrative Personnel actions attachment was updated that concludes any adjustments sir thank you superintendent so at this time the chair will

015entertain a motion to accept the agenda for the March 25th 2025 uh with the noted revisions do I have a motion and a second second all right so I heard Mr keys made the motion and Miss Wyatt second it uh any discussion board members all right so the motion on the floor is to accept the March uh 25th agenda as noted um all those in favor signify by saying I I I I any opposed and that motion carries the next item up is new administrators superintendent high would you lead us through our next item yes sir Mr chair members of the board members of community and staff thank you for being here this evening the first recognition goes out to Diana Rivera director for software development who's being promoted to senior director of software development

016I have a headshake okay next is Miss KD Taylor director for school nutrition being promoted to senior director for school nutrition another headshake okay next is Laura Sawyer senior manager for School Technology being promoted to director of instructional technology okay it's all yours okay thank you yes ma'am they said the red line um I'd like to thank you Mr Hyde and members of of the school board it is truly an honor to be here for 24 years I've had the privilege of learning from amazing leaders here in P County Schools I'd like to thank some of them Dr Flora ha and Bryant Joiner of Union Academy taught me that students are always at the very center of the decisions we make Tracy Collins at Lakeland High School taught me what it means to be a

017truly brilliant leader and how to grow People Christy Dain and kitty Sawyer taught me leadership with Grace compassion and laughter and Ann Pasco has is currently teaching me what it means to have Brave leadership I also thank her for sticking with me and I don't know if she's here but thank you I want to thank my team Randy Jennifer Jen Kirk Jenny Angie and Patrick you are among the very best of P County schools and it is a joy to work with you every day and finally to my family and my tribe you are my treasure and my life I am truly blessed thank you congratulations please come forward your family and loved ones should please join congratulations [Applause] again next we have Alba sostre senior manager for risk management being promoted to director of

018risk management good evening good evening evening it is an honor to be here today I would like to extend my gratitude to superintendent Hyde the pohan school board and our CFO Heather Jenkins for the trust and confidence you have placed in me I also wish to express my deepest appreciation to those who have been instrumental in my journey to my mentor Miss Linda ke thank you your guidance and wisdom has been invaluable um to my family thank you so much for your support and to my team thank you for the dedication and hard work you demonstrate every single day as I embark on this role I am filled with excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead I look forward to leveraging my skills and experiences to build upon the strong Foundation that has been established

019my aim is to lead with purpose and contribute to a culture of Excellence together I believe we can reach New Heights overcome challenges and create a better future for our organization once again thank you for this incredible opportunity and I look forward to working with all of you thank you congratulations family friends loved ones please come forward Linda let him take one with her family and then you can jump in next we have Joana Rizzo senior manager for Behavioral and mental health being promoted to assistant director for behavior and mental Health good afternoon um I would like to thank you all for this opportunity to come in and speak with you all today and to all of you for your support um I am truly dedicated to the mission of always putting students first and

020I am so so thankful for the opportunity to help students be their very best every day and to support our schools thank you so much thank you [Applause] congratulations love it now how how about one with just dad and his daughter how about or any other family member you never know can somebody grab the camera okay you're getting close all right very nice [Applause] congratulations the last one will not be joining us this evening it's a trans it's administrative transfer uh Mr Art Martinez former principal at Lakeland High School who's now a principal on assignments being transferred to be director of Support Services assisting Mr Rob Davis all right that concludes administrative appointments for this evening great thank you superintendent the next item up is our special recognition superintendent uh again lead us through this

021uh special recognition for it is my pleasure at this time I'd like to invite Mr Travis keys to please step down and assist us with tonight's recognition and next I'd like to welcome Janette Crowley director of strategic planning and Partnerships to present the recognition of our focused on Excellence winners chair Dr Allen Schoolboard members and superintendent Hyde it's my pleasure to be here with you again today as we continue highlighting the important contributions that all P County Public School Employees make for our students through the focus on Excellence employee recognition campaign this campaign honors staff members from different employee groups who might get overlooked among the hustle and bustle of keeping one of the nation's 26 largest school districts running efficiently each quarter the program will recognize a select group of employees through the nomination

022and committee process 12 employees are selected as winners and will receive prizes from our generous sponsors as well as attend a special appreciation luncheon and be honored at a Schoolboard meeting they will also be highlighted on on the district's social media channels website and internal and external Communications our employees are providing exceptional public service and make the model students first their mission now in our fifth year we keep making positive additions to enhance the program the most important benefit is bringing encouragement and appreciation to our employees and impacting their lives in a positive way I want to share a winner testimonial from one of our previous winners with you on just the impact that receiving this recognition means to her she said thank you so much for making the focus on Excellence award a wonderful

023experience you and your team went above and beyond to make me and everyone feel honored and appreciated the luncheon the pictures the gifts the posts on social media and congratulations email the custom Polo the Schoolboard recognition plus so much more she appreciates pcps and all the sponsors for their generosity and time and gifts she also appreciates others joining in on her recognition as well So speaking of our sponsors we could not do this program without them and we are so blessed here in P County to have so many great sponsors that support the work of P County Public Schools so I would like to give them a quick shout out idx formerly image Depot Express Mid Florida Credit Union public supermarkets Inc sign gypsies chick-fil ad Morgan Central Florida Development Council CPS investment advisors connect

024ed pulk formerly Lakeland leads Dixie Southern Industrial Inc Orlando Health and the club at Eaglebrook thank you to these business partners who constantly support the work of our school district and who have graciously come alongside us making this campaign successful due to their financial support we can give every pcps employee who is nominated through this program a special gift as well all right let's get to know our winners more and we're going to learn about why they love working for pop County Public Schools so each of them has a story and each of them shares with me the impact that the school district and the work that they do for our students so our first winner when I call your name please come forward if you have anybody with you you're welcome to bring them

025with you as well so our first winner is Misty banan a reading teacher at Fort me middle Senior High so come on Misty yay [Applause] all right I'm GNA have you stand right here while I read about you before we get a picture okay um what Missy loves most about her job is the satisfaction is seeing her students put in the hard work to achieve a goal and then being able to celebrate their achievements with them she is their biggest cheerleader thank you so much and you have some cheerleaders right here in the crowd with us too so we appreciate what you do let's have your family come up following each announcement and recognition please family and friends please come down and join us for a photo [Applause] Lauren Yuri Lauren is a science teacher

026at dundy elementary academy what Lauren loves most about her job is the love for AG agriculture that she's able to instill in her students agriculture plays a vital role in our everyday lives but all too often it gets overlooked she has watched her students desire to learn Blossom this year in her classroom she is so thankful to work in a county who understands and values the importance of teaching youth about agriculture congratulations [Applause] that's awesome our next winner within our teacher group is Jessica Casey is a kindergarten teacher at Sleepy Hill Elementary [Applause] Jessica says as a kindergarten teacher she loves making her students first school experience fun and engaging she loves when they realize they are more capable than they imagined she wants to give them all the confidence to Dream Big Dreams and

027try hard things congratulations that's awesome [Applause] Tanya Ramirez Tanya is a teacher at Citrus Ridge a Civics Academy Tanya said the best part about teaching in P County Public Schools is the connection she makes with her students she is fortunate to share in their successes and achievements in the classroom and Beyond and she loves celebrating their growth and accomplishments congratulations [Applause] great job Britney Keller Britney is a fifth grade teacher at Lake Alfred ment Britney says she loves igniting excitement about learning and teaching and her students and co-workers by making learning fun and getting to be their cheerleader as they grow and overcome their goals she loves getting to form a real class family each year to love learn with and laugh with and she loves when she hears from her past students about how

028they are advancing on their Journeys and what they remember from her class she loves how every day is a new learning adventure for herself and students in which she gets to serve the Lord and see his goodness as she has the privilege of positively pouring all she can into their lives every day academically emotionally socially physically mentally and Etc [Applause] congratulations that's awesome [Applause] Trey Stokes yay thank you all right Trey is a teacher with Career Technical and adult education programs specifically he teaches in our P County jails Trey says he loves making a difference with students who are trying to better their lives as adults he also loves collaborating with the Career Technical and adult education staff and how they move to make everything about his job operate smoothly lastly he loves working in

029conjunction with the staff of the P County Sheriff's Office as they also move diligently each day and making his teaching position an effective one while on their campus congratulations yeah [Applause] Mary deal Mary is a kindergarten teacher at alura's elementary she is absolutely blessed that she can teach her kindergardeners how to read and lay a strong foundation for their future she's always felt that kindergarten is a miracle year they learn so much thank you for what you do [Applause] they're [Laughter] twins a twin I love twins too much all right Haley keing third grade teacher at chain of laks wooo Haley said the best part about teaching third grade is being able to witness the AHA moments and help to shape their academic foundations she finds it rewarding to be part of a school and

030District that values education and strives to meet the needs of all students congratulations [Applause] Simone lamera bonad Diz wow Simone is a visual arts teacher at Rochelle School of the Arts hi she said what a great surprise she is honored to be selected among so many amazing pul County Educators she is passionate about proving that every child can succeed when given access to a quality education working for p County Public Schools is a journey of growth where her students Inspire her and they evolve together congratulations a smile what a great smile instr [Applause] got [Applause] itute Courtney Upton is Upton with us awesome Courtney said the best part about best part about working for p County Public Schools is helping her students feel loved and helping them grow personally and academically she cherishes the opportunity

031to build a space where students feel comfortable safe and empowered to explore and grow she loves celebrating her students successes all of all sizes even if it means a pie in the face all [Applause] right she's adorable your sign up they got their hands full she is too [Applause] much Denise Williams Denise is an ese inclusion teacher at syes elementary the thing she loves most about her job is that every day she can help equip her students with the building blocks they need to learn and to be successful citizens she loves working for some of the best principles and assistant principles in P County they help her be the best she can at her job daily congratulations [Applause] good [Applause] job Gabrielle [Music] Roman Gabrielle is a fifth grade teacher at Speer Del Holland Elementary

032what Gabrielle loves most about her job is the opportunity to inspire and shape young minds helping her students discover their strengths and potential teaching in P county has given her a supportive community of Educators who are passionate about making a difference every day she sees the impact we have not just in academics but in the confidence and curiosity we nurture in our students congratulations [Applause] good [Applause] job if we could have each of our winners come back up here so we could just do one group picture with Mr Key's um School beard Schoolboard behind us um I want to just say you know huge congratulations to each of you it's um a big deal to get the focus on Excellence award and so um it's been a pleasure highlighting you right take a step on

033the Step Up on the LED yeah there you go that way nobody has to duck make sure everybody has a window [Applause] I just want to say congratulations again to our winners you're certainly deserving of this honor soon we'll be spotlighting um you on our social media channels as we continue to put the focus on you I Empower each of you to continue um being the amazing leaders you are and Pay It Forward by nominating another P County Public School employee during the year the nomination for our fourth and last group for the 2024 through 2025 year is April 7th through April 20th during this time we will be accepting nominations for employees with within the positions of custodial maintenance warehouse and professional technical for our audience and those watching online please visit polkschoolsfl.com excellence

034and I'll leave everyone with this quote a person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected this concludes my presentation thank you not not necessarily so miss Crowley cannot leave yet couple things those of you who saw her get all excited cuz there was another twin in the room if you have not and I had the pleasure of meeting her twin for the first time just before spring break the fact that the Lord made more than one person with this level of energy she and her sister are exactly the same every mannerism their speech pattern I couldn't stop laughing because but I tell you it's it's amazing Janette pours her heart and soul into this program she was challenged to expand it years ago she did it with Grace and and and

035a willingness that we've never seen before I've seldom seen before so I'm very appreciative of that and I'll wrap this up by saying what she doesn't also acknowledge today was I got to be present this morning when she reach received her 10-year service pin for being with pamy public school so Jette again publicly thank you for all that you do thank you pleasure to serve I really it is such a pleasure to serve P County public schools in our community um we have great leadership and we have such a great Community I mean so many generous people here that want to help support our kids and our families and our students and you know so it's a pleasure to serve so thank you all thank you great job thank you thank you yeah that concludes

036special recognitions this evening Mr chair thank you superintendent uh it was great to hear the giggles in the audience and those little baby noises as well it was it was great um so again thanks to everyone that joined us this evening and took time out of their schedule uh to be with us moving down the agenda at this point we have public comments for items on the agenda to be voted upon as adopted at the start of this meeting so before we begin I'll just set up the parameters as noted uh within our policy statements so I'd like to welcome everyone that's here with us today and go over these public comment um opportunities for the evening typically in a meeting we have three opportunities for public comment which uh is unusual actually comparative to

037other boards across the state so uh the first one is on agenda items and then we have when we have public hearing you have an opportunity to speak then and then we uh also have um an opportunity to speak on non-agenda items at the very end of the meeting so um to register to speak community members must fill out that speaker card in the lobby prior to the meeting all speakers will be given 3 minutes the light will turn yellow when uh you have 1 minute left and then you'll hear that beep uh when your time is concluded all comments should be directed to myself at this time as the board chair and as a reminder public comments are an opportunity for us to collectively uh hear your thoughts and comments uh this is not

038a question and answer time at this point however um you know our staff is here ready to respond to any High need areas uh if you're seeking additional information I encourage you to contact any of us we're uh you know definitely access via email or all of our contact information would be on the website as well and we would love to have that deeper conversation uh the first uh person I'd like to call up would be Stephanie Yokum you'll have those three minutes to speak and then uh on Deck would be Bobby D and you can come over to the red line and be ready as well miss Yokum you are recognized all right Stephanie Yokum uh president of the pul Education Association I have some of our bargaining team with us here tonight as

039tonight you are voting on our contracts um and many on this board were integral behind the scenes to get us to this point where pulk educators will realize historic raises and fantastic wins like 300 more minutes of self-directed plan time secretaries will now receive supplements for higher education credits and everyone will start receiving a 30 minute consecutive lunch at least uh in the 2627 school year as this contract is being ratified tonight we are also already looking ahead to full book negotiations in the fall this board must be willing to seriously address the critical Staffing shortages by prioritizing their budget in a way that allocates money for staff raises first this board must vote to put a millage referendum on the 2026 general election ballot so that we have locally controlled money since the state

040refuses to fund public education appropriately this board must be willing to address class size and case load ratios so our students have the best learning environments and receive servic that meet their needs the quality and future of public education in P County will be on the table in the next election or the next negotiation cycle and this board must be ready to stand up for all students and the staff who serve kids every day students deserve a world-class education and every employee who delivers this worldclass education deserves to live with dignity and respect where one job should be enough especially when their job is the most important career one can occupy to every teacher clinician par educator and secretary in P County while this board plays a part you are all equally accountable to making

041the quality and future of public education in P County a bright one your engagement and efforts during this negotiation cycle was the GameChanger let's continue building the power necessary to hold this district and board to Industry standards that we set and that only happens through your constitutional right to collectively bargain through your union join today become active and engaged in your union so we can fight for a better better life through our Union and with our district thank you thank you Miss Yokum up next would be Bobby de and on Deck would be Glenda white Mr de you recognized hi I'm Bobby de from Winter Haven speaking on action agenda s subject one paa collective bargaining and agreement 2425 basically the poke Education Association is seeking approval by the board to revise contract language and

042increase salaries and benefits for teachers par Educators and clerical Personnel totaling 26,4 182,000 33 I think teachers deserve a raise and praise for the good job they are doing especially considering what they have to work with they are trying to prepare our kids for life and have the knowledge to be a productive member of society it's a tough job because the way I understand it teachers have to use the curriculum approved by the state counties are given a choice and they don't always make the best choices judging by the way po schools are failing our kids this modern style curriculum is not effective our kids are not graduating with the life skills needed to live work and function in society our kids can't read write or do simple math for example making change for a

043dollar the old style curriculum was much better it covered your basic academics indepth Civics and history and provided critical thinking skills and it contain no socialist agendas or Dei it's also tough on teachers when there is a lack of discipline and no consequences for Bad actors in an already crowded classroom and campus that have has a negative impact on the teachers ability to teach effectively because public schools are failing to educate our children properly school choice is on the rise more more parents are turning to private or micro schools which are popping up at many churches our homeschooling to ensure a better education for their children parents that need financial assistance should Google scholarships for school choice for example Hope Scholarship this state sponsored voucher allows students in public 8 through 12 schools to transfer

044to a private school if they are experienced in bullying experiencing bullying harassment hazing kidnapping robbery or other incidents there are other school choice options available to students through the State of Florida there's also information about school vouchers up to 8,000 a year for private schools that accept vouchers thank you Mr de we have Miss White you recognized good afternoon my name is Glenda white resident of Winter Haven I'm here to address the Pea collective bargaining agreement executive summary a 98 page Behemoth that would likely take the average citizen several weeks to read and properly comprehend yet we're given seven days to review and ask our questions the Financial impact of $26 million if distributed equitably would amount to about $250 per month raise per teacher par teer and clerical persons about 9,144 persons from what

045I've read of the executive summary that will not be the case in my opinion teachers should be some of the highest paid people in our society if they're effective the Poke school budget of 2.5 billion amounts to $221,000 spent per student the Pok School website doesn't discuss budg budget or amount spent directly on students that I found nothing regarding numbers of Pok School Employees actual instructors admin or other employees a quick internet search States the average Florida school voucher amounts to about 7,700 not fair when compared to 21,000 spent per kid in Public Schools especially given the fact that Pok schools remain rated at 57th out of 60 counties in Florida for student performance PK schools are celebrating the fact that we've reached 80% in graduation rate okay what is their reading grade level at

046graduation do they have basic knowledge of the Constitution can they find America on a map create and manage a household budget balance a checkbook we're never given outcomes 20% of our kids will not graduate is this really something to celebrate we must examine why it's costing $21,000 to educate a kid in pul schools and we still get dismal results 15 kids in a classroom of a school choice teacher at $ 7700 per kid could result in a salary of $75,000 per year for the teacher while the remaining amount 40,500 would go to other expenses if there were 60 kids in an entire school like this each teacher could be paid 75,000 a year while 202,000 202 $500,000 would go to other expenses do the math from there school choice is the answer to this problem

047thank you thank you Miss white board members now we need to approve four sets of minutes rather three sets of minutes the first sets of minutes uh is for the February 24th 2005 special work session board retreat meeting uh the chair will entertain a motion to accept the February 24th special work session board retreat meeting minutes as written do I have a motion and a second so move all right so Mr keys made the motion and Miss field second it I'd like to call for a vote at this point if you have any discussion let me know give you a moment all right so I'll call for a vote those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed and that motion carries the second set of minutes is for the February 25th 2025

048Schoolboard meeting uh the chair will entertain a motion to accept those meeting minutes as written do I have a motion and a second Miss Miss Miller made the motion and Mr Keys second it any discussion Miss what did I say Miss Miller oh boy Whoa see you're missed Miss Miller Miss Fields made the motion and Mr Keys second it um at this point I'd like to call for a vote those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed and that motion carries the third set of minutes is for the February 25th 2025 work session meeting so the chair will entertain a motion to accept those meeting minutes as written do I have a motion in a second second Miss Fields made the motion and Miss Wyatt second it any discussion all right seeing

049none I would like to call for a vote those in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed and that motion carries the next item is the approval of today's consent agenda the chair will now entertain a motion to accept the March 25th 2025 consent agenda as printed do I have a motion and a second all right so I heard Miss Fields uh strike the motion and or make the motion and Mr Keys second it any discussion on our consent agenda Mr sharpless you were recognized yes I mentioned this in work session earlier today um and so I have a couple questions on uh consent agenda item R1 so if the appropriate staff could come forward to answer the questions Miss Bennett and Miss Webster please come forward thank you um so um the

050grant uh first one who is the target population for the grant Target population is adult students with disabilities with intellectual disabilities and so these C uh these are not current students correct no students who have completed their High School requirements perfect okay and then um is there a goal for the number of students for this grant the grant was written with a goal of 10 students in mind and we're taking a tiered approach so we're going to start with you know maybe two or three and then we're going to add a couple and then we're going to add a couple so it is a three-year Grant so it is over a period of three years that we're going to build up to that right that's all my questions thank you thank you thank you all

051right thank you for being with us tonight any other discussion board members on the consent agenda okay so we have a motion and a second uh now I'd like to call for a vote those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed and that motion carries moving down our agenda we have the action agenda tonight and our first item on the agenda is S1 it's entitled executive summary paa collective bargaining settlement so the suggested action is to approve the Pea collective bargaining settlement for 2425 school year the chair will accept a motion and a second so move second Miss Wyatt made the motion and Mr sharpless second it any discussion board members was that a carryover it was a carryover but I would like to speak so I'll be at the okay so superintendent

052uh you sir um Mr chair members of the board you were provided the information you requested earlier the average salary um with the additional Revenue that was brought to the table to finalize our agreement brings the average increase to 4.9% that was the information you requested earlier thank you perfect thank you superintendent Miss Fields you're recognized thank you I want to thank the superintendent for getting the additional information um that's very important to me we had a lot of discussion we've had a lot of uh conversation about the um the need to do better with our employees and I I I want to commend the staff and the superintendent for going back and back and back and back and coming back with uh what they felt like was doable and I I I want to

053say that one of the things that I had said when we were having discussion and and I thank superintendent H for bringing something today to show that with these um salary increases it will impact some of our programs and we're going to have to be prepared for that um so I just wanted to uh publicly say that's one of the reasons why among many other reasons why I am comfortable uh voting in favor of of the salary increase cuz we know that all of our employees deserve more than what we were able to pay and there are some things that we've been discussing and I'm excited about uh the conversation that we had today doing work session Mr uh Murphy and uh Mr Crawford are working real hard to um give us a very detailed

054summarization of what a millage reform would look like so uh I'm feeling real comfortable at this point in time so I will be U voting and support of this thank you Miss Fields Miss White You're recognized thank you I'm excited to vote to support this but I want to give a huge shout out to especially superintendent Hyde and our finance team who continued to go back to the table um after and find find more and more dollars um looking at programs that that maybe it's time to Sunset and some other opportunity so I'm excited that we're able to offer the highest raise since I've been on the board um so for at least eight nine years now um but I'm excited to to vote to support this tonight thank you Miss White Mr sharpas you

055are now recognized thanks for your patience all good um I just first want to say that um I'm going to Echo the sentiments of some of the other board members we can't pay our employees what they deserve I just want to First say that um we're doing our best as a board I feel um those that are watching this at home and those here present know where our board's heart is um know that we want to offer our employees as uh as much as we can uh being fiscally responsible um this is historic it's not enough but it's historic and I think we need to celebrate that um and we also understand we have to tighten our belts a little bit too um and make Cuts where we have to um I will also Echo

056the sentiments of uh board member Fields I was very happy with the discussion earlier today as well in our work session um and we're going to have to show uh part of that discussion was we're going have to show how how we're using public dollars efficiently and we are but it's it's time to show that to the public and to show them that we are doing what we can to provide for those that are closest to our students in the trenches every day doing the work that um that is so needed um if we prioritize and say student first then we need need to show that um in our budgeting and in our um basically put our money where our mouth is and so um I'm wholeheartedly support um this agenda item and I look

057forward to our teachers and our other uh employees that are represented by pea um getting a historic raise that'll be it thank you Mr sharpless and Mr Keys you were recognized thank you chair Allan I will tell you that um you know coming on to the board um kind of and you know in the middle of this was happening was was an eye opener um but I am pleased that we gave it a lot of effort and diligent thought and I will say that you know there's nothing more important than the education and safety of our our young children and our Educators on the front line of that they they are there in the classroom every day make it happen so um digging into what we're allocated for in funding and finding the necessary ways

058to make room to offer more to our teachers is is such a hard task to do but it's necessary and I'm glad that we're able to do that and um as we spoke about early in work session and Miss field said it we're going to have to make some hard decisions coming up because we've just chipped you know kind of the tip of the iceberg and and our teachers deserve this and I think it's um you know this was probably overdue but we do have to be fiscally uh responsible and and with the allocated monies that we have but um excited that we're able to come to an agreement kudos to the superintendent and his team and and everybody that was involved but um we've got we've got some work to do and um I'm

059pleased to say is everybody on this board it seems like we all have um that interest in it and it's a pleasure to work with everybody and to hear their opinions and the effort everybody has given to move forward so um this is an awesome thing I'm fully in support of it thank you Mr Mr Keys and uh I'll just give a couple thoughts here and then let superintendent give a nice uh conclusion and wrap to this as well uh we made it to the finish line and this is a great thing for our staff um and our our teachers um and the work that they do um we want you to feel honored um you know and and from my perspective it was a marathon I wish it was a 5K and we could

060have got this thing done earlier um I don't feel comfortable leaving the money in our wallet when it should be in our teachers wallets um so and I think superintendent Hyde has heard that I think there's a I think in our negotiations in the future when that teacher salary allocation is released in July that needs to go right to our teachers and then we can bargain um from there um but you know waiting and holding on to that money uh is not a good thing for taxpayers to see that um that money is there the taxpayers have allocated it let's let's get it into the pockets of our teachers I think that's extremely important um because we're a year out you know so it's definitely been a marathon but we've got to the finish line

061and I think that is critical um you know I think looking back we uh were're one of the first districts especially in the coalition to get to that 475 um we celebrated that now we've addressed compression but I think we're now behind again right we're behind again as it relates to that first year teacher pay uh we are the lowest starting salary in the Coalition um so hopefully we will make that adjustment next year and I think that's important especially if we're going to address the shortage so I'm happy that we made it and um let's hurry up and get this in the wallets of our teachers superintendent board members thank you board members thank you for the comments staff you know truly work very hard and diligently to help address these issues and move

062them expeditiously to the extent we can um but I I need to also extend a thank you to pea um you know their partners with us in this we we may not always agree but we find a way to make it happen this was a little bit more protracted than any of us kind of anticipated um but it was a little more complicated this year there's a lot of there's numerous factors at play right now um you know again historically I said it earlier during the workshop over four years we've given great raises um we really have and we've moved as aggressively as a school district can to move the base salary to the state's required level so that all additional dollars could be used to address compression I think we satisfied that this year

063um there's still a little bit of work with one of the groups within paa but for teachers You by and large we've done a great job moving that the real issue though that many of our teachers and others will will continue to struggle with is just the economy um housing costs inflation are outpacing our ability to adequately generate Revenue um in our current Revenue model to to address these needs um I will be sharing with you a link um called the Alice link and and what it does is while there's a national standard for poverty level right for a minimum threshold that's established Across the Nation it does not take into consider into consideration local factors Alice does Alice looks at the cost of housing in Florida Alice looks at those ties and it looks

064at it regionally it looks at it at the county level so I sent a quick snapshot to uh Dr Allen cuz he and I were talking about this a little bit earlier because it's important to note that while the federal level is in the $20,000 Mark area for Florida it's 50,000 and so we have to be really really intentional on how we do things and so I was very proud of the board um for remaining as flexible as they did um allowing us the opportunities within the operating parameters that were established to do some things I've provided you with some information so that we're not deficit spending moving forward and that we operate fiscally responsibly um but addition to that I was very pleased with some of the other conversations that stimulated as part of

065this as far as other benefits that we may be able to look at for our employees um so those are exciting conversations I look forward to having that conversation with paa in the near future I want to thank each of you for pushing those issues um you know and and right now we're looking at what are affordable housing options that we could explore for staff and and those conversations are very very initial um but is there an opportunity for us to explore those with Partnerships within the local community that doesn't mean a district has to assume costs associated with that but there may be partners who are willing to come in and do some things and and there are Partners who have approached me based off my interest to have this conversation so that's exciting

066um we do have some properties that we might be able to flex to do some of those things but all of this will come before you I don't want to put the cart before the horse and say too much I I admitted to doing that earlier with the Paras um but I I think we continue to thrive I think we continue to strive for excellence I think we continue to demonstrate to our staff our sincere commitment to all that they do and I appreciate each of you who commented today there's never going to be enough money there never will this is the world's best profession it's the one of the world's oldest professions you know and it's the extension of our families they trust us they value what we do 100 almost 119,000 plus students

067are served every day in P County whether it's in a public school a traditional setting you know and elsewhere and and at times unfortunately some of our data is misrepresented we don't have an 80% % graduation rate as you well know we're at 82% If you eliminate charter schools from that calculation we're at 88% graduation rate our teachers are doing a fine job you know and I I would I would rebuff anyone who says that we graduate kids who are illiterate and can't function within Society um and that's one of our primary goals if you recall for those of you who have been were on the board when I first arrived we went through that strategic planning process and we asked the community what you wanted to see in a graduate that's where we started

068tell us what you expect when that kid walks across stage when we have a piece of paper what does it mean what should it mean what skills and attributes should that child have and they did that and they gave us their feedback and we worked backwards from there and I think we're achieving that um each and every day so I want to say thank you to pea and their leadership again tough conversations these are tough decisions have to be made but I think we through in the end I think everyone benefited we're all lotting you know something that we've never been able to do before um but it's the it's another step in the right direction so thank you for all your continu support and again hopefully I gave you some information tonight that's going

069to help you really feel good about where we are and we look forward to this year's budgeting cycle you know there there there should be an increase and but the only question mark out there is federal revenue um which comprises about 18% of our overall budget so they'll be interesting to see what if any impact there may be there but we'll keep you and staff apprised of that we we're going to be putting out some memos now to staff um to keep them a breast of the things that I'm becoming aware of um so that they have to worry or have any fear or concern going into a new school year or an end of a school year as far as the what if scenarios that may play out because you know in the absence

070of information people will fill that void sometimes with misinformation and we don't want that so thank you for your support thank you to pea and thank you to my staff who did an Absolut amazing job throughout this process so thank you Mr chair all right uh thank you superintendent Hyde thank you for the work that you've done on this as well and your passion is clear and evident EV and your vision is still as just as strong so thank you thank you for being our superintendent all right I'd like to call for a vote those in favor signify by saying I I I any oppose all right yes all right before I say the motion carries Miss Fields you're nice I I wanted to go back to what superintendent H said and it troubles me

071when folks come to meetings and make out like our staff aren't doing a thing and our kids are not learning a thing that is not true uh and it's like putting everybody in the same pot we are not in the same pot and so I'm I'm happy that superintendent Hyde made his comments uh concerning the graduation rate but we're doing uh better in many areas uh do we have work to do surely we do but it is very concerning especially as hard as our staff work each and every day for someone to come and say that our kids are not learning that's just not true uh and I know that for a fact with my work at Girls Inc I see what the girls are learning I see the academic gains that they're making and

072not just girls and girls but just students in general so uh I think we need to make sure that we are affirming out employees supporting them as we are and um praising our own Pond and when folks come with I call it foolishness that we don't accept it and we let them know that what they're saying is not what we see what we know in black and white so I could not let this meeting go without saying that because it's just not fair not fair for the folks that work each and every day hard starting early in the morning going late in the evening working at home working on over the weekends and and and our kids working hard that's why they had a spring break they needed a break because they're working hard academically

073and and even mentally they're working hard so um I'll be quiet thank you Miss Fields Miss Wyatt thank you and superintendent hey I know we've talked about this previously but the timeline for seeing these raises in paychecks so June 30th correct okay I just wanted to make sure it was on the record this evening well and I should clarify a bit I think there was some conversation about how to process those raises from a programming perspective there were two options available to us one would allow us potentially to expedite that timeline I I'm hoping that that's the one we agreed to I I'm looking I don't see my staff here I don't know so I'm going to trust Miss Yokum on this one oh there's Miss Pasco [Music] mhm the problem the problem for us

074is sap is and everything that we're going no Miss Pasco I don't miss Pasco is going to give you 45 minutes of sap upgrade um I love her so so I can tease her like an older brother I'm glad that's on the record now but that that's kind of where we found ourselves the timeline at this point but we are processing the information as quickly as we can and there there's one way to programmatically address this that was faster than the other and we can always make the the the the more detailed Corrections later so I I'll turn it over Miss Pasco um to your point Miss Wyatt I'll I'll say this publicly because it was stated Miss Yokum at negotiations and I think it's important that everyone including all of our stakeholders know so

075the down and dirty of the process to do raises is actually a three system process there are three systems within sap there's a development system and that's where you actually configure en code the raises that system has 37 steps that you go through including putting in the raises running the raises testing them and making sure all the tax calculations everything goes in remember that when we do anything we retro back to the beginning of the school year so it's got to go through and it's got to process every single action that occurred to employee and it's got to do those those calculations financially then we take that and we do something that's called a trans transport this is common sap language and we transport all of that configuration over to our um Quality Assurance which

076is exactly what it means quality assurance let's make sure it's working right and we redo the entire process again and then once we're ready we then pull that over into our production system and we redo the entire process again this involves HR it involves manual work which is part of the sap upgrade to remove as much manual possible it involves payroll processing to do it it involves it from a ba business and analyst perspective and a programming perspective you also have to time that because as much as we say okay we would like something to be in let's say by the end of the month we would like something to be in a paycheck by the end of the month when we have monthly employees and semi-monthly employees that actually may mean that needs to

077be done by the eth of the month because then we have to have all that time to process things so I just want some clarity on that and yes what we want to do what we need to do what we must do for the best of our employees the best of our system to best of everyone is that to make sure that is processed before the end of a fiscal year and the end of the fiscal year is June 30th so that's that's what we are with that's what we're working on and that's what we're trying to um that's what we will make sure happens thank you Mr hod was that might have been under 45 minutes maybe just a little a little bit okay that help okay okay thank you thank you Miss Pasco

078and I will now state that um the motion [Laughter] carries all right we are now moving down to superintendent report yes sir Mr chair uh the next work session will be held on April 8th 2025 the work session will begin at 9:00 a.m. this meeting will be held at the district office is located at 1915 South Floral Avenue in Barto um and I want to say thank you to the board um I want to say welcome back to all of our staff and students it's nice to get back into the Rhythm as we look at the next nine weeks or actually you know as as of tomorrow we're halfway through week nine with the countdown I've seen the countdown on social media some of our staff has said we have nine Mondays left that kind

079of thing um if you have a senior in the district it's it's six Mondays left because of final exam schedules and everything else um but I'll be the proud dad of a graduate this year so um I trust P County Public Schools so thank you very much and uh appreciate all of your continued support thank you board members thank you superintendent and I would just say thanks to Mr Murphy for being president with us tonight I don't think you have a report for us and uh then moving down to our Auditor's report uh she does not have a report for us Miss Matthews however I did want to note that uh since our last meeting you've received received uh meeting minutes from the March 11th audit and finance committee uh meeting uh the M mberry

080middle school and Albert Elementary payroll audits so those have been in your email feel free if you have any questions to take those to Miss Matthews next uh we come to the part of the evening where we hear from you in your board member report so I will start with uh District Two and work my way up in numbers is that the that's okay Mr Keys you would be recognized now thank you chair Allan um wow um we've been busy and we're constantly busy so um had a great time uh going to Bellis for their ribbon cutting of their expansion uh Mr McDougall runs a beautiful campus and to see us increase density on property that we already have to fulfill the need just warms my heart so it was a pleasure to go um

081to that uh followed up with P County days um I joke I've been doing that for about six years now and you you go up to Tallahassee to see all the same people that you see here but what a um helpful exercise to go and visit and and speak with your legislators and get the opportunity to sit in front of them and let them know what's important um to you in your and in your area and and the areas you serve um very productive there and then back up to Tallahassee again for Florida Schoolboard Association to um do new Schoolboard member Academy 2.0 and just the amount of information we get is is fantastic a lot to um digest but very helpful and then meet with our legislators again and I will I will say

082that you know government sometimes gets the um I guess reputation of being slow but to see some of our legislators you bring up and I I won't I won't um I will call out representative Kennedy we had an issue we wanted to address and she immediately got on her phone and started texting other legislators asking what we could do to move this forward and I my jaw dropped I had never seen efficiency like that in attention to a need so um kudos to her for for helping out with that um then was able to rush back from Tallahassee for something I'll try not to get emotional on is um the memorial service celebration of life for Mr Kevin Kiddo who was um had run for school board at some at at some point but was

083a supporter of Education in our area him and his family and they do so much behind the scenes and never look for any recognition so um what a great man and a legacy he left um and look forward to his son Allan and his wife Jill to continue to support education efforts in our area um and that was just it was a special time and then I'll follow up with a little bit of bragging we had the um Susan Copa Memorial clay shoot there with Education Foundation and the district uh did enter two teams into the competition um the P County Public Schools Sharpshooters and the P County Public Schools misfires misfires that's right I was going to let you say it superent hide um and and and I I I would I would I

084would love to you know thank you to Steve and to Dave and to Jody and and who were on the Sharpshooter team along with myself because I am I am very happy to announce that we did live up to our name of the Sharpshooters and beat the misfires um it was a commanding lead he says was at a PE symbol plays um the number is not important here but but I I I will I will I will I will say this is um thank you to Pete glatco and what he did that to if you get a chance to go on social media and look at that the time before La last year was a shoot at night with spotlights but this year they shut off the lights and and installed black lights so the

085Sporting Clays were gloin the dark and what an awesome event and a fun time but let's keep in mind that that was Susan's that was her that was her baby and she had Invision doing that and what an awesome event to raise money for something that's so important and so thank you to PF and Tracy and her team excellent event thank you to Mr glco for allowing us to use that facility and all the those who participated um what an awesome event and I look forward to it now every year um where the Sharpshooters will come back again and be victorious that's all I have very nice thank you Mr Keys and moving to miss Wyatt you recognized thank you um I have a couple that Mr Keys didn't already cover because apparently when you

086let him go first he steals all the good stuff um but I had the opportunity just before spring break to talk to pulk vision's newest Public Service leadership course um which I believe some of you may have had the opportunity as well it's a great um group of those that are interested in getting into public service whether that means through committee work through running through for office um I would encourage you as you are looking out to fill committees to connect with P vision and see if they want to send out your hey I have this position open because it has been a great resource for me and finding people that are are genuinely interested in in giving back and serving um as opposed to you know conning everyone who complains to you about something

087into to serving on your committees as I know many of us do um but it was a great experience they had lots of great questions um this was their second year doing the program and this class seemed very poised to to get involved today um so it was exciting to see their interest um the most exciting thing that's happened in P County this month I will leave you on is the lady Blue Devils are the state champions for basketball so that um City Proclamation will be in April I think you all got an email today to recognize them it was an incredible game not going to lie towards the end it had a little bit of a feel of our boy state championship a couple years ago where we lost at the buzzer um but

088we came out on top um I will also mention that superintendent Hyde did not make it therefore he is never invited back because we won so but congratulations to the girls basketball team at winner Haven very good thank you Miss Wyatt Miss Fields you're recognized thank you uh just a couple of things I um I wanted to commend superintendent Hyde and his team for U the U board retreat that we had um was it last week my weeks are running together a couple of weeks ago uh I um I appreciate you covering some of the things that I wanted to make sure that I was included in since I won't be attending the one on April the 10th uh I don't remember and might have it might have been given to us as far as

089what's going to be on that agenda uh but I would hope that the organization of the board is something that can be uh available when I'm available because I really would like to have some input on that um and it's my understanding that we're getting ready to um start the Hall of Fame again I believe so I'm very excited about that and what that's going to look like I'm also excited about about about the about face award that's coming up on Friday I believe Thursday or Friday my days to run together Friday okay I'm excited about that so we have a lot of things going on this month uh we're very busy um but I think that it's good it's good busy so that's that's all going I have all right thank you Miss Fields

090Mr sharpless you recognized I'm glad I went after uh board member Wyatt uh because I had on my list to congratulate the the Winter Haven lady Blue Devils but I feel like if I would have went in front of her and said that I might have had flat tires when I left this place tonight because you certainly bleed you certainly Bleed Blue and Gold Winter Haven Blue Devil um however I do want to make sure that the lady Blue Devils know that I congratulate them um on their state championship that's something that I know has been um desired for many many years and I'm I'm glad to see that you finally have have achieved that um you know I I truly believe Athletics is is one of the vehicles that help change kids lives um

091along with other other uh extracurricular activities but um achieving at the highest level is something that will be a memory I'm sure those uh young ladies will be talking about for many many years to come and so I want to make sure they understand that I congratulate them a couple other things uh that I got to do since last board meeting um I want to thank uh personally thank uh tax collector Joe G tedar um because of the investment that um through a program he started uh has really impacted Arts education here in pop County um Arts another one of those vehicles that can really help uh Foster um the whole child and and help give students self-confidence but the the program is kids tag art um I was able to along with a board

092member Wyatt able to attend the kids tag art uh ceremony where they awarded um a a lot of different Awards um you know we had a superintendent pick we had all sorts of different ones but just being able to be there and see all those students um being proud of their uh their kid tag art um we even had um the mascot for Legoland was there even I mean all sorts of stuff um a dog showed up I mean um but in all seriousness uh thank you if if you're watching um uh tax collector Joe G tedar uh thank you for your investment into our youth um in this community and thank you all um for any kind of donations you're giving towards the kids tag art because it's um truly a uh a great

093program um last thing and uh on my agenda um last week I was able to uh join uh chair Allen and uh board member keys in Tallahassee for the Florida school board association's day in the legislature um you know I I've mentioned this on so my social medias many times but my number one priority was Senate Bill 296 and House Bill 261 which directly uh impact our school start times um I do believe that the legislators have a had a good um well-intentioned bill that went through session last time um ma making mandatory our school start times of uh 8:00 no early no earlier than 8:00 for Middle School 8:30 for high school however when we get down to actually um you know the implementation of that it would be um very difficult for our

094district and I will tell you on the on the Senate side it has passed all three committees on the house side is passed two of three committees um and so it it most likely will be uh take on to the floor I think it's a good thing that we G that the state will give us more flexibility in our school start times um I actually was able to go to a committee in the house as well as the Senate and waved in support of this legislation and as well when we met with our Representatives um making sure they understood where pop County Public Schools stood in this um in this legislation I just um want to make sure that uh it is noted that we advocated for that and um you know again part of

095that bill also is making sure we we teach students about the um the dangers of SLE sleep deprivation uh making sure they get enough sleep all that's really important uh however giving us our district more flexibility in the start times you know um the later high school starts that means the later your Athletics will start after school the later kids can go and uh and and students can go after school and especially in the high school and and get jobs um you know some of our students are helping to provide for their families I mean all sorts of things um it's just a lot of unintended consequences and and I just want to thank the legislators for um advancing it through committee so far and I am confident that we will see this legislation passed

096so um that's all I have thank you very much all right thank you Mr sharpless I'll keep my comments brief and I'm just reflecting on Miss Fields uh comments and her sentiment and some of the messaging we heard tonight as well and you know if we juxtapose that in the context of the way that we started our meeting um is how I I interpret this is we saw Student Success we heard Student Success U from Miss Hernandez and Natalie Hernandez and the incredible work that she's doing I mean when you read her bio it is it's stunning you know just her engagement with the The Sciences and her passions around that but then uh her ability to work in the art um as well and you know we we talk a lot about literacy um

097but we don't look at it from a technological standpoint we're always looking at it from you know just written language and you know physically writing ideas but in essence her literacy skills go way beyond that and the fact that she's engaging with these software platforms and you know there there's multiple languages inside that that she's learning and obviously she's d anguage student as well but she's learning new languages she's engaging in the software platforms and the ability to story tell uh in that space is pretty incredible um so to me that is that's Student Success and that's what we're we're all about so that to me is the value um that's brought um and then I just want to transition you know obviously was noted about our fsba engagement uh commissioner Manny Diaz uh was

098there with the fsba um school board members from across the state I think there was approximately 125 school board members in attendance and launched us into our lobbying efforts um this past week and it was great uh opportunity to collaborate really look at our legislative platform unify it and then uh collectively work to create change and advocate for our Public Schools I want to say thanks to um state board chair U Ben Gibson who came in and spent some time with us as well my daughter um was with me as I scurried around the halls in the capital and um she's our artist I've got two uh engineerm minded um kids and then my youngest is a brilliant little artist so she was there advocating for art in any way that she could um which

099was pretty amazing and then I want to say thanks to Wendy Dodge uh Wendy Dodge is really what made it happen and the work that she's doing um continued work that she's doing for the School District uh is is amazing and um commendable so thank you for that um I do serve on the Florida School Board Association board of directors I did enclose a bunch of documents in our work session and I just want to draw attention to those and make sure I've shared out some of these valuable documents that came forward uh during that meeting the first one um was the Florida policy Institute document and this was the basically the most recent U Florida child well-being um index and I've I've had several people ask me about there was two Lakeland now articles

100that were shared um that had some statistical data in it and they actually pulled it from the Florida poly uh policy Institute document so that one's there um I haven't had a chance to dig in to see you know how they they built their instrument um to to come up with that data but I think that's a really good article for us or research um and then basically was noting the overall child well-being and then secondly the county bycount uh educational ranking uh also the Florida chamber document noted the migration Trends in Florida would highly encourage you to look at that one uh and then I enclosed several AI documents one from the UF University of Florida K through2 AI task force um that one's really guiding a lot of the principles that's attached to

101the fsba AI it educal uh educational ad hoc committee um so blending those two together um could really help us uh shape what we're doing with our AI policy work uh again miss Pasco thank you for the work that she's done um around this and working with the Florida School Board Association ad hoc committee um that's been valuable as well and then lastly I transitioned from Tallahassee to go to Atlanta which was the National Conference and that's the Coalition um or actually the Consortium of school board um the state school board associations um and that was amazing as well um there's another document in there that has basically educational legislative bills that are cropping up all all across the state this legislative session um really good one just to see you know what's interesting to

102States um so those are my comments and I appreciate all the work and the decision making we've made tonight and now we will transition to our public comment our last item on the agenda um just as noted before there's an opportunity to sign up out front you've got 3 minutes to speak I will call your name and you can come forward we are here to hear from you uh so Mr Willie miny you are First bishop miny and then Victor Chandler you would signed up second before yall in a while good to see you and uh I just want to say uh tonight that um old say say don't bite the hand that feed you you know cut off your nose despite your face you need you need it the next thing I like to

103say is that I think that you all didn't thank ke for CH Allen uh back when y'all uh new members and all all of y'all knew except Miss Phil she she's yall longest member she got the most experience y'all didn't think about that she could have navigated y'all through a lot of stuff because she been around a long time sometimes our pride get in our way and it blinds us to the realities of things that could help us along the way some of the stuff y'all I come here y'all know I sit here every board meeting y'all go around and around and circles on a lot of stuff that I think if you had to her to kind of help you along the way she could kind of get you through some places and uh

104she donees dealt with a whole lot of superintendant and uh she got she got some some stuff that would have uh hope you out a whole lot but uh it's done now and uh I don't know how much longer she going to be around here she may be getting her bag packed she might want to let y'all have it praise the Lord but whatever but she's she's been a a great woman Amen in this District to help um and the superintendent uh sometimes I uh my heart goes to him sometimes I don't know if y'all I want him to be everything and some more too I guess I told him and I keep telling him don't let y'all kill him now cuz y'all y'all get rid of him and get you another one that's how

105people operate but he's done he's done a lot of work and he's doing a lot staff doing a lot of work and as was said tonight the people that come here y'all have to listen at all what they say and they say some crazy stuff sometimes and I don't I don't appreciate because I go to schools and I know what I see in schools I don't go on by what they say and as uh being an advocate for the district I come to him with certain things because I want to know what is the truth because when I say something I want to be able to say this is the truth I got it from this Source not from what I heard on the social media or whatever last thing I want to say to

106you all is this uh all of these legisl y'all to tellas you need to see them wherever they is around here call them and say I need to have a meeting with you and take some of us with you so the people in your community will be able to say to these men and women that have been elected we need this to happen thank you Bishop meny next is Victor Chandler Victor Chandler elect Florida now I don't want you to get me wrong this may be a very good contract and I don't doubt that at all what I'm asking you to do is simply tell the public the truth don't use an accounting procedure don't use a procedure to calculate the cost from last year uh by removing all those that didn't return including those

107that retired and replacing their salaries with beginning salary or or any other salary the thing that I I'm asking you to do what I'd say a financial procedures tell the public how much you actually spent on teachers based salaries in 23 24 the projected amount spent on teacher salaries 2425 you do those two subtract them you have how much new reoccurring revenues you have to set aside for raises actual The increased in cost of 23 24 due to hiring additional teachers don't use beginning salary don't use average salary there's better methods the increasing the cost from 23- 24 due to the increase in the salary schedule that's important the percent increase in the salary schedule from 23 24 that is the most important number that you can name because if that salary schedule is not

108increased by the cost of living then the pay for that position loses to the cost of living never announce a pay raise without giving that number the actual average base salary of a teacher in 2324 the projected average base salary of a teacher in 2425 subtract those two and you got the increase the projected dollar increase in the average teacher Sal based salary from 2324 the projected percent increase in the average teacher salary I heard 4.9% be used is the salary schedule if I look at it going to increase 4.9% and you know I know no it is not I heard $26 million are you going to set aside 26 more million dollar than you actually paid last year and you and I both know the answer to that is no I'm asking you to

109tell the public out here the truth you can't use that when you get into trouble is when you use that 4.9% to justify our raise for the superintendent or Senior Management they are not calculated the same and I think it's a felony to use those two without telling the public the truth thank you Mr Chandler all right board members next order of business on our agenda is adjournment yes sir okay there being no further business this meeting of the pole County School Board is now adjourned thank you for