001[Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] good evening I would like to welcome everybody to our January 24th 2023 school board meeting if I could have you all join me for the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance and Bishop mincy if you would lead us in the invocation and we're back here kind father in Jesus name we are thankful for the gift of just another wonderful day God you're so good to us that you blessed us last night while we stumbled while we slept while we were unconscious to the world you suffered no hurt harm or danger to come to us neither to our dwell in but early this morning you touched us and started us on this day and we
002want to say thank you for it thank you o God that we are so blessed to be gathered in this room again this school board Polk County Public Schools thank you for the superintendent or his Deputy thank you for all of the staff thank you oh God for every School in this District every teacher every principal every pairer every lunchroom worker every custodial worker every bus driver every bus aide we thank you oh God for all of the students and their families we ask you Lord Jesus for your mercy and for your strength and your guidance and your protection thank you for all of the things that you've already done for us and we look for greater things as we go forward in this year of 23. now Lord I ask that you would be
003in this meeting let everything that we do today bring Glory bring honor to your wonderful name and we will tell you thank you for all things and the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen whenever you're ready I 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 you may be seated except for you how's it going today good and I just want to make sure did I say your name right Kalani yes awesome so I hear that you are a student at bellacita elementary what school are what grade are you in fourth fourth and what do you want to be when you grow up do you know yet what do
004you want to be a teacher a teacher awesome superintendent Hyde can we get her to sign a contract before she leaves tonight what do you know what you want to teach science all right there you go and what I hear that you also have a passion for art what type of art do you like um I don't really know like drawing and painting or singing and dancing I like drawing and painting very nice that's awesome I do not have any art skills so I'm always very impressed with those who do and what is your favorite subject in school science science there you go superintendent hide I think think we got one so did you bring any guests with you tonight yes can you introduce them to us my grandma and my principal your grandma and
005your principal stand up well thank you so much for bringing this beautiful student to come in and lead us in the pledge tonight in Kalani thank you so much for helping us out tonight we hope you have a great rest of your school year thank you and you can sit down now [Applause] first order of business will be to accept the school board agenda superintendent hi do we have any revisions yes ma'am Madam chair uh several revisions this evening Item B as in boy number two Black History Month Proclamation items were added to that item item F1 new administrators attachments were included item F2 administrative moves an item was added item I to Civic literacy Excellence Pathways to Public Service Federal grant sub award from Polk State College attachments were updated item I5 insurance and
006risk management to FEMA grant for federal assistance for Hurricane Ian items were added item K2 McLaughlin Middle School name Amendment moved from consent to action item P1 purchase of what called qualtrics LLC teaching and learning items temporarily removed and would come back at a subsequent date item Q7 pending 2023 2024 2024 2025 instructional calendar for teachers students and para Educators was added this evening that concludes the adjustments or amendments for this evening ma'am thank you superintendent Hyde and I'll hear a motion to accept the school board agenda for this evening to approve D agenda with revisions for January the 24th 2023. thank you Miss Cunningham can I get a second Dr Allen any discussion yes ma'am Miss fields I don't remember if action agenda seven was that discussed in work session or it's just something
007that we had to put on the agenda for to expedite things uh we were we were working to expedite that it goes through the formal approval process prior to the publication of the board agenda however due to illness of one of our senior administrators it was delayed in its posting So based off the advice of legal counsel we will simply hold the final vote for that until the subsequent meeting we became aware of concerns with this from the community between our meetings okay I think she's were you talking about the calendar I'm talking about this the calendar she's talking about Q7 which was I apologize Q7 Q7 it had been discussed that this item would be brought before the board if you recall from our last board meeting I had promised bringing this there's only
008one part remaining in this that does not impact the calendar and its totality it only impacts the first week of pre-planning for teachers that item will be finalized by the 30th of this month so the board in essence is pre-approving the calendars moving forward with no further modifications with the exception of that first week flexibility for teachers as to which days will be teacher planning days independent and which days will be directed professional development provided by the school district okay thank you for the clarity any other discussion see oh Miss Cunningham wait till we get to the item thank you thank you any other discussion on the agenda seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next on our agenda will be special recognitions and
009I will turn it over to superintendent Hein yes ma'am Madam chair members of the board members of community and staff thank you for being here this evening at this time I would like to ask respectfully that school board member Dr William Allen please make his way down to participate in special recognitions at this time I'd also like to ask Steve Cochran senior director of multiple Pathways in education to please come forward for the Career and Technical Education Month Proclamation we will respectfully ask Mr sharpless board member to read the proclamation Proclamation Career and Technical Education Month School Board of Polk County Bartow Florida whereas February 1st the 28th 2023 has been designated Career and Technical Education Month by the Association for Career and Technical education and whereas Florida requires a skilled Workforce to meet the
010rapidly evolving demands of our current Workforce which provides essential services and ensures future growth and Economic Opportunity in our state and whereas Polk County Public Schools provides robust Career and Technical education programs offering students opportunities to gain the academic Technical and employability skills necessary for True career readiness and whereas students in Career and Technical education programs participate in authentic meaningful experiences that improve the quality of their education and increase their engagement and achievement and whereas Career and Technical education provides students with career exploration opportunities earlier in their educational experience which enables them to make informed and beneficial decisions about their academic coursework and pursue an established programs of study and career pathways and whereas leaders from business and industry Nationwide report an increasing skills Gap and challenges connecting qualified professionals with available careers in critical
011and growing CTE related fields including Health Care energy Advanced manufacturing cyber security and information technology and whereas Polk County Public Schools supports the Career Academy model which prepares students for fulfilling careers by integrating traditional academic coursework with Career and Technical education programs that link secondary and post-secondary education and lead to the attainment of Industry recognized credentials and whereas Career and Technical education programs ensure that employers have access to a qualified and thriving Workforce ensuring America is a strong and competitive economy now therefore be it resolved the school board of Polk County hereby Proclaim February 2023 as Career and Technical Education Month in Polk County Florida and urge all citizens to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by the Career and Technical education programs in this community and to support and participate in these
012programs to enhance their individual skills and productivity [Applause] next I'd like to ask Mr Herbert Dixon to please come forward to receive the proclamation for Black History Month we will also ask respectfully Miss K Fields board member to read the proclamation for us at the same time Chandra Hall senior director of equity and diversity will share some words about the accomplishments of Mr Dixon if you go it's okay do we have a mic it is an honor and a privilege to be able to read the proclamation for Black History Month and in addition to that it's an honor and a privilege to honor Mr Herbert Dixon and I'm sure that Miss Hall will give some information on his background but I want to just um thank God for Mr Herbert Dixon whereas February Black History
013Month is a time to set aside to honor the legacies and achievements past and present generations of African-American citizens and their roles in shaping our American history whereas Polk County Public Schools acknowledge and celebrate African American history during this month and will continue to embrace opportunities to celebrate and acknowledge local and National contributions throughout the year and whereas Polk County Public Schools serve over 107 000 students and employ over 13 000 workers we recognize that African American students make up 20 percent and employees 17 of our population respectfully that are making ongoing contribution towards history and whereas the Polk County School District will continue to encourage all stakeholders to celebrate our diverse Heritage and culture while continuing efforts to create a world that is more Equitable peaceful and prosperous for all through education and now
014therefore be it resolved by the school board of Polk County Florida that we designate and choose the month of February 2023 as black history month thank you foreign thank you so I could not um Congratulations by the way Mr Dixon this is such an honor um again my name is Chandra Hall I wanted to share a few things about Mr Dixon and his accomplishments uh by the way he's been with us for 103 years so I can't get it all in but I'm certainly going to stop and then I shuffle my papers up it is our honor it is a pleasure to honor and recognize Mr Herbert Dixon for all of his accomplishments as we approach black history month of February 2023 Mr Dixon has accomplished is an accomplished and esteemed golfer who has made
015history locally and Beyond at the young age of 103 he has made and continued to make history Mr Dixon was born in 1919 on September 16th in Dade City Florida he's a product of Polk County Public Schools graduated as valedictorian at Union Academy he was a truck driver for many many years but when he retired guess what he came back to work at two of our local magnet schools as a security officer so Lincoln if you have anybody here from Lincoln and Rochelle he was a security at that school for quite a for quite some time first I want to point out that he is a father and he is a grandfather a great grandfather and I might leave out some great great grandfather and he loves his family dearly Mr Dixon has been playing
016the game of golf for over 80 years that's eight decades he received his first Golf Club at the age of 15 when he was working as a caddy at the Bartow Golf Course while prior to desegregation he was not allowed to play on that course but he took the opportunity on that one day that they allowed the caddies to practice and he honed his skills since that time he has won over 55 tournaments he has been inducted in the black golfers Hall of Fame to name a few West Palm Beach in North Carolina he has also been presented the key to the city of Bartow in the City of Lakeland and just recently Mr Dixon had one of the the and I might get it wrong the driving ranges is that right one of the
017driving ranges that Bartow Golf Course named after him in his honor and finally there is a golf tournament that happens annually in Lakeland um in honor of Mr Dixon and we give out scholarships to students in our local community so it is indeed an inspiration to us all and it's a true Testament to see how hard work living healthy and being positive pays off it is our honor to honor him for black history month thank you Mr Dixon foreign thank you and I just couldn't hold it Mr Dixon is also my granddaughter's great great grandfather so I'm so pleased this is extra special for me today so thank you and now may I have Mr Naya McAllister from Harrison School of the Arts come forth and as she's coming I just wanted to share Mrs
018McAllister has been so gracious every time I've invited her out to speak or perform She's Come Out Mr Hyde had a pleasure of hearing her sing at the annual MLK essay contest at border County commissions and she has such nice and inspired words to share about Polk County schools and how she's benefited from being educated in our school district and he wanted to invite her out to share a few words with you all so Janaya Mr Lavon has shared you with us today um so if you would like to have a few words please yes first I would like to say thank you so much for inviting me here again Mr superintendent and I would just like to give a big thank you to Polk County schools for caring for the Arts and for allowing
019students to see the changes that it can make in your life I wasn't really exposed into the Arts until I auditioned for a Davenport School of the Arts and that was where my art it's and the my love for art to really started and started to bloom I started in chorus and they do musicals and that's where I did my very first musical and it has brought me very very far it was the launch pad for me auditioning for Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland which I now attend I major in musical theater and I feel that Polk County is really the reason that I was able to fulfill a lifetime dream I had this summer which was performing on Broadway for the first time in my life at the age of 16 years
020old before I turned 17. so I just am extremely grateful that we have a board and a county and everyone who cares and truly has a passion and is willing to you know push for the importance of the Arts and acknowledge the change and the positivity that it can bring to our world which is something that we of course really need now and I'm just extremely grateful and I just can't see it enough and it's such a great honor to be a student at Polk County schools and to be a student leader and thank you again so much [Applause] members of the board if you have not had the pleasure and opportunity to see this young lady perform you are truly missing out and you need to get to Harrison to see something that she's
021in she performed not only written pose prose but she also sang for us at the NAACP event um in honor of Martin Luther King Jr day and what an amazingly talented young lady and what great grace employees I mean to stand up there and speak as eloquently as she did clearly we're doing something right so thank you for being here this evening and I have to throw a plug Winter Haven theater she is currently performing in Dream Girls he steals the show it's amazing [Laughter] so talented could listen to her sing all night Madam chair for this evening sorry I got so excited and distracted by Janaya that I lost my life all right next section of our agenda is public comments this will be the first opportunity for public comments this evening we will
022have three opportunities and the second will be during our public hearing portion of the agenda and then at the end of the meeting we will have an additional opportunity for public comment items that are not on this evening's agenda as a reminder to register to speak community members must fill out a speaker card in the lobby prior to the meeting all speakers will be given three minutes the clock will give you a warning when you have have one minute left all comments should be directed to myself as the board chair as a reminder public comments are an opportunity for us to hear your thoughts and comments it is not a question and answer session however if you're seeking additional information I encourage you to contact us or the superintendent's office outside of board meetings and
023we'd be happy to have deeper conversations before we begin there is a little yellow line over here so I'll call the speaker and then the on Deck person so if you are on deck if you could make your way over to this side that way we can keep it moving smoothly so first will be Glinda White and on Deck will be royal Brown evening everyone may I just say that young lady that was just up here has a serious radio voice she is amazing okay anyway okay I'm getting ready my name is Glenda white I'm a Polk County resident and I'm speaking regarding item q6 on the action agenda I'm asking the school board to please table this purchase of the books until all have been reviewed and approved or removed where needed the two
024new schools have been approved and in the construction process for a long time and I feel the book list should have been put out for public inspection long ago since it's 37 000 books I feel like poor planning on the part of the Polk schools is not the fault of the public but it is the fault of Polk schools if the schools have to open without books in their Media Center the fault belongs to poke schools proper prop project managers and they should be held accountable for this if necessary I have no doubt that the vast majority of the of the books will be fine however we've reviewed about 4 000 of the books on this list and we were already finding uh titles that are going to be problematic um last year the school
025board minus our two new board members proved themselves untrustworthy with the safety of our kids from harmful materials so the public has stepped in the month of January is being used to train media Personnel to review books and approve them according to Florida's standards so I'm asking that each of these books be used or reviewed by trained staff who can be held accountable if they allow harmful books into the media centers if they have to review all 37 000 I'm sorry but the public has to as well and one month is simply not enough time to review 37 000 titles the school board has an opportunity to allow volunteers to assist in reviewing and in the process save thousands of man-hours and dollars to allow us to help you and I don't mean a Review
026Committee that did not work out well the first time please do not approve the purchase of these books until each book has been reviewed and approved by trained media personnel and until the public has had a fair chance to review the books I realize the policy allows 30 days for the public to review the books but for this many titles it's simply not enough time so we're asking you please to put this on hold and allow us some time to really review these books thank you so much thank you next is Royal Brown and then on Deck is Lola Smith and just to clarify the little yell there's a yellow line on the side too I did not realize there was also one on the center so I apologize good afternoon my name is Royal
027Brown III of Winter Haven I'm a retired Polk County Public School teacher former teacher of the year at Winter Haven High School and finalists for Polk County teacher of the year Florida State Board of Education approved a rule to carry out a new state law requiring School library employees to complete training sessions as part of an effort to increase scrutiny of library books and instructional materials this was deemed necessary based on numerous challenges to books containing sexually explicit content Governor DeSantis last year signed into law House Bill 1467 requiring school boards to adopt procedures that provide for the regular removal or discontinuance of books based on factors such as a as alignment to state standards the rule modifying Library employee training stems from this law Paul Burns Deputy Chancellor for Education quality with the State
028Department of Education recently told members of the education board and I quote we have seen time and time again questionable and inappropriate materials that have entered our schools the required training focuses in part on content that would be considered harmful to minors under a separate Florida law for instance all library books and learning materials must be free of pornography and appropriate for the grade levels and age groups of students to which they're made available additional guidelines for employees that Center on the selection of instructional materials library books and reading lists require avoiding unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination indoctrination includes teaching Marxist critical race Theory which is based on the false premise that our American society including our Public Schools our practice systemic racism that there are no absolute truths and that individuals
029are either oppressors or victims this is not State sanctioned censorship nor is it about banning books it's about ensuring minor children in our public schools are not being provided books and materials that are simply AIDS inappropriate as our elected school board members you must ensure these thirty thousand plus books being purchased for these two new school media centers as well as those already in Polk County public school media system are in compliance with these rules requiring training to scrutinize library books and instructional materials for age appropriateness and to ensure they meet State Standards thank you thank you Lola Smith and on Deck is Emmett Purvis I'm 11 years old and I go to Denison Middle School here in Polk County when I saw that you would be discussing library books today I felt compelled to
030come and speak to you this subject is very near and dear in my heart my own Elementary School librarian mythbarton played a huge role in my love for reading and I'm eternally grateful for that in the book Don Quixote the hero has created an entire world in his mind in this world he is a traveling Knight he invites Sancho to be a square Sancho however thinks he's crazy because he believes himself capable of anything when Sanju turned down his offer Don Quixote points out that many Knights are rewarded by Kings of Kingdoms of their own and their Choir they're often made Governors Sancho basically replies me I could be a governor and Don Quixote respond Kian Lo dudaria who would doubt it this basically means why not and that is the underlying message of the
031story Don Quixote's inexhaustible belief that all things are possible despite all the evidence to the contrary and that is what students need today they need books that represent them that tell them all the things that they can accomplish all the things that they can be with the state passing laws that tell lgbtq plus youth we are not valid with white watching and removal of real history from our classroom so much evidence is telling marginalized communities especially young people here in Florida that we don't matter that we can't do things we need to believe in ourselves now more than ever kien Lo dudaria why not and nothing teaches us that quite like books books to represent us books with black and brown Heroes gay and trans Heroes poor disabled female and marginalized Heroes the school board
032websites lists its Vision as the following all students will receive the Knowledge and Skills necessary to be productive citizens and maybe that's the problem we're not mean the production we are people we are dreamers we are being bursting of all the potential in the universe please don't stifle that please don't tell us what we can't be in times when the very State we live in living is telling us all the things that we can't be book shout back Kian Lo dudaria why not ironic considering Don Quixote is one of the many books being banned in schools and libraries around the world Polk County student deserve better which is a representation in our library please don't let us down thank you foreign next is Emmett Purvis and on Deck is Bobby D's good evening Madam chair
033person school board members superintendent Hyde I'm Emmett Purvis and I live at 655 East Stewart here in Bartow I'm here this evening to thank the school board members and especially Mrs Cunningham for extending the time for reviewing the 37 000 new books for the new schools libraries however we still need more time and I would especially like to thank Pam loose for taking the lead in volunteering volunteers from ccdf and the Winter Haven 9 12 project and any others that I may have missed I sincerely hope and ask that this board will extend the time for this extremely important part of a child's development education and moral character again thanks for all involved in reviewing these books thank you thank you Mr Purvis next is Bobby D's and on Deck is Jeremiah githu my name
034is Bobby Dees and I'm from Winter Haven the process of this book review not only removes inappropriate subject matter but it lets us know that our children will be using quality books of academics that will enhance their education instead of dragging them down in the name of equity you paid people to conduct this book review and paid for their training to do it let them complete their job it's good to know that ccdf County Citizens defending freedom has volunteered to review some of these books and have already found some containing CRT critical race Theory by pushing the vote now would be negating your responsibilities to the public next is Jeremiah gethu and then ondec is pamloose hello there my name is Jeremiah ghetto from polka from Polk County we have seen in the recent years
035where Ron DeSantis has been cracking down on anything not straight or white from HB 1557 dubbed the I don't say gay bill from the recent ban in medical transitioning by the Florida score Board of Medicine here in here in Florida in December for anyone under the age of 18. I am here to speak on behalf on the community that you continue to censor oppress ostracize and eradicate that when you say books like these that are targeting lgbtq people in the marginalized Community is only harm us more I can confidently say within my limited years of 17 years and the public education system that I've always been taught age-appropriate material in school maybe instead of focusing on this hypothetical issue maybe Wonder or our disc education great education rate has dropped within three percent in the
036last year or the fact that my brother has had three different teachers in his first semester of school because the teachers are underpaid overworked and underfunded if our literature is banned why not restrict our speech why not disband our gay straight Alliance clubs why not force lgbtq youth to hide who they truly are and out them to their parents and why not subject them to the abuse and harassment from their peers and with your help raise a suicide rate and equal it to the dropping grit to the dropping graduation rate because I still have a bit more time I'm going to read off recent legislation from the most recent year 2023 regarding transgender people including transitioning all the above which by the way Florida has not opened up their um legislation meetings yet so there's
037much more to come in Alaska HB 27 designate sex for school appropriate sponsored Sports basically means gender sex equals biological sex Arizona women's shelters no employees liability Arizona pronouns biological sex school policies every person has to be referred to by their biological sex and biological sex only which is extremely discriminatory towards I don't know if someone wants to be named if someone wants to be called Mike instead of Michael we can't do that easy as that they're banning drag shows we have seen recent attacks on drag shows from over in Lakeland very local of alt-right and neo-nazis attacking and if we let this happen here it will get worse and it will keep progressing thank you next is Pam loose and on Deck is Robert Goodman good evening I too want to say thank you
038all so much for allowing the the extra 30 days for the book review this last month it was very much appreciated um we got through we've gotten through about 15 000 books and 7 500 I've I've reviewed those myself so it is a very very daunting task um we understand that or I hope you understand that we still have a lot to go um I don't know what you can do about that but um I did send you a list of some of the ones that that we have found and they're not only just about trans or or um they're not only just about CRT but some of these things were just abhorrent to me for a child to read Elementary School a child violence of child trafficking Slaughter demon possession a father dying after
039having an affair you know does a does an elementary school child really need to be reading that um murder of a baby a capture of an eight-year-old girl in Stockholm syndrome in an elementary school girl the ship attacked and girls and parents are gruesomely murdered and she's taken as a slave does an elementary school really need this child really need to be reading about that I mean there's there's so much more and we do have to protect our children we do have to watch out for what they're what they're seeing and and this is this is about parental rights this is what this is about this is about my right if I were still a parent of young children or even just being a grandparent that we have concerns about what our our children are
040are seeing and hearing and as I said before as I used to say to my youth group what you see in here is there forever so we've gotten to guard our children's hearts and their minds um so I appreciate very much what what you've done but um one of the things is when these books came out the training for Library Specialists media Specialists had not come to fruition yet I sat in on all of the state board meetings on the library books and the the media specialist conversation with you all about possibly a rating system maybe this is a way that that parents can say well I don't want my child to see fours or five anything rated four or five three four or five or and I only want them to see this this
041is a conversation that we would love to open up with you to see if we can come up with a solution where we where you'll stop seeing us at these meetings thank you so much thank you Mr Goodman okay I'm gonna try not to take up the whole time because a lot of people have said the same thing I do want to thank each and every one of you for tabling the over 30 000 books from last month and I also request that we have 30 more days to review we've reviewed fifteen thousand books in 30 days we can easily review the other twenty thousand in another 30 days if you could just table this for that amount of time but I want to thank each and every one of you for allowing us to
042have that extra 30 days so far we found about 20 books in violation out of fifteen thousand which is not a huge percentage but it is some um we are happy to help we're happy to be you know we're happy to help you do your job there's no way as board members you can go through 37 000 books yourself so we will get volunteers and we offer to help you with that and we want to be an asset to you um I also do want to celebrate that you're applauding black history this month but I want to remind you that black history should not be relegated to one month we should celebrate Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King every single month black history is just American history so though I do like that we do
043Black History Month I think American history needs to just be American history and it needs to not be so divisive Frederick Douglass is something that you shouldn't have to study in February you should study him in September October November and December as well we did review several book rating systems that are out all of them have their pros and all of them have their cons we're trying to work with the different companies and get some assets together and I would love for Pam and I to have the opportunity to meet with you individually and show you some of those things I think there was a board member and I that discussed that if there was a rating system it would take a lot of pressure off you and you wouldn't have to see people complaining
044about them all the time so we're trying to find that so that it can help you so thank you for letting us help you and please give us an additional 30 days to review thank you thanks for the minutes to approve today the first will be for December 13th 2022 school board meeting and I'll hear a motion Miss Miller and Miss Fields any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be approval of the minutes for the December 13 2022 work session Miss fields and Miss Miller any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed and the motion carries the third set of minutes is we'll seek approval for the minutes from January 10 2023 work session
045Miss Miller and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye foreign carries next we'll move for approval I'll seek a motion for approval of our consent agenda move to approve second Miss Miller and Miss Fields any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed and the motion carries superintendent hi do we have some new administrators you'd like to introduce we do Madam chair please welcome Miss Tina Chapman assistant principal at Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin Elementary who's now been promoted to acting principal at Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin Elementary is she with us is there she is you want to come say a few words or you have family with you who's with you well congratulations you've done an outstanding job and thank you
046for supporting her appreciate it a great deal that's what happens when you sit in the middle I wouldn't have come up to the microphone Miss Tasha Baker Cunningham curriculum specialist in curriculum and instructions being promoted to director of magnet schools [Applause] please come to Mike and please don't forget I always remind you don't forget if you have family and loved ones here to recognize them because I will Polk County Public Schools and my entire educational career has been here at Polk County Public Schools and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity um I have with me my husband Mr Warren Cunningham my mother-in-law and my father-in-law Miss Vivian Browning and John Browning my mother Margaret Baker and in the back I have my sister Nichelle Baker and our dearest family friend Mr
047Samuel Bryant oh congratulations and I do see our next administrator in the audience Mr dartmeyer is principal at Frostproof Brent Hill Griffin Elementary School is being transferred and he will be the new principal of the new 21c site congratulations sir it doesn't think uh super didn't high and Deputy superintendent green for this opportunity uh lived in the Winter Haven area for 20 plus years and back in that school and I think Miss Barnes I worked with her this past semester in her leadership and I like to look forward to working with Miss Nave she's been back there under her region as we worked together and getting to school open in August to get started there so again thank you do you have any family with you this evening well my wife Amy heisen Myers principal
048Horizons Elementary with schedules she's able to be here plus her grandmother's 95s in the hospital but because I'm excited for my assistant principal and move up to the principal at Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin geometry school so I know some that came with her got Deanna and Alice they're still there secretaries they're kind of here for both of us so okay thank you congratulations sir [Applause] and prayers to your family Miss Melanie Oglesby math coach at Wendell Watson Elementary School is being promoted to assistant principal at our Bruce Wagner Elementary [Applause] I would like to thank the board and superintendent Hyde for this opportunity I'm very excited my current leadership team and administration Kelly Burgess and Ms Tanya polybird uh also I'm excited to continue working with Dr Ben Henry and um with Mr Miller continuing
049to grow as a leader in the Polk County Schools I have with me my three children now you guys can make noise and my mother-in-law and my father-in-law are with me also congratulations outstanding job next Miss Lydia Roberts PBIS facilitator for preschool programs is now being promoted to director over mtss multi-tiered systems of supports and thank you for having me here this evening I am very grateful for the opportunity and I look forward to continuing the work and expanding the work of multi-tiered systems of support and academic behavior and attendance here in Polk County schools pre-k through 12. um with me this evening I have two of my amazing teammates Heather Catra and Mandy Sean Rock in the back I'm also my mother is here somewhere who also works for Polk County Public Schools Barbara
050Allen and then my daughter is Nadia and Jasmine who attend the Cambridge program at Winter Haven High School thank you congratulations thank you next is Sarah Van Hook assistant principal at Willow Oaks School who's being promoted to principal at Bartow Elementary Academy [Applause] hi and I prepared a little tiny speech but I'll keep it free um I have a little background in this situation so I'd like to First say that I'm humbled to accept the physician so I'd like to thank superintendent Hyde and board members but to accept the position of principal at Bartow Academy the school's got a piece of my heart I'll try not get emotional as both my parents my siblings and I attended excuse me Midway through my elementary years it became a magnet school and my mom began working there
051as a para educator throughout middle and high school I spent countless years there volunteering and spent the first eight years of my educational career there as a teacher two of my three children were Bea Knights and now my third child will attend when he starts kindergarten there in the fall in 2019 the technology lab was named after my mom excuse me so sorry who dedicated her entire career to the students of art to Academy so to say that my connection hmm excuse me with it and the Bartow Community is strong would be an understatement thank you um so Bartow Academy is a part of me because it's a large part it made me of what made me who I am oh I told myself I was gonna I was like I'll just read that one
052part and it'll be fine so it made me who I am I was very fortunate to even work with some of the teachers who taught me so um it is it does have a big piece of my heart so as its principle I do vow to commit my time and energy to every Bea night to ensure that each one has the opportunity to thrive in a safe supportive and engaging learning environment so thank you Mr Hyde board members Dr Henry for giving me this chance my former administrators including but not limited to his borders Miss Jones Miss Butler Miss Weingartz travels um Miss Townley for teaching me how to be an organized dedicated and above all kind and student-centered later so tonight I do have several of them here with me Allison Amy Miss Townley
053um Dr Henry I've got my husband Blake my dad my aunt Danny my mother-in-law Kim who used to be a Polk County Administrator Kim Van Hook Keith and then my kids Cadence Kelly and Cannon all back there as well so thank you again so sorry I took up more of our time tonight but I look forward to it and thank you again for giving me this clearly we picked the right one okay thank you [Applause] foreign Webster trst's program specialist for multiple Pathways is being promoted to assistant director for multiple pathways [Applause] thank you I also wrote something down because I was afraid I was going to forget um so superintendent Hyde Madam chair board members I just want to thank you so much for this opportunity to serve our students and our district I
054am of course thankful for the lifelong guidance of my parents two of whom were lifelong Educators I wish they could all be here today to see me but they're with me in my heart and the unwavering support of my family and friends who are in the back Noah Charlotte that's my son and daughter my husband Brian my stepmom close friends and um and also for the mentorship and encouragement of my boss Mr Stephen Cochran um I I can honestly say I would not be here today if he hadn't pushed me um and encouraged me so I thank you all thank you so much proud to be here great job Miss Cunningham oh we wouldn't let her get out of here without getting a picture felt like she needed to get her pictures but we'll bring
055her up right now and get it to get it taken care of Madam chair that concludes new administrator reports administrative appointments this evening thank you superintendo Hyde this is the part where everybody leaves and I don't understand why nobody wants to hang out and have fun with us but it's the way it goes right yeah it does [Laughter] oh my God thank you [Music] Fred all right so next on the agenda is our action item q1 which is the McLaughlin Middle School name Amendment and I think this is also an exciting announcement Madam chair members of the board as you recall there were three names that were submitted one came from the community favorites one came from the staff favorites um of the community names that were being submitted and then the last one is
056our traditional naming convention which is McLaughlin uh it's not high school but Gotham Middle High 612. um the name that I am putting forward as a recommendation will be McLaughlin Academy of Excellence would be the recommendation I think that most closely resembles the recommendation of the community we had some concerns with using the pluralized version of academies it it quite frankly as that school continues to grow and they do have a few academies that they'll be that they will be supporting I think it's important to singularize that and make the name have a little bit more um more appropriateness so it allows us a little bit more flexibility so that is the recommendation before you once again McLaughlin Academy of Excellence but we're single we're going to singular yes they're all under one Academy correct
057sorry I've been instructed to turn all mics on when we're voting so all your mics are on now so I will hear a motion to approve the recommended name Amendment from McLaughlin Middle School to McLaughlin Academy of Excellence so moved second Mr sharpless and Miss Cunningham any discussion I have a question Miss fields uh superintendent can you tell me which of the names the parents supported uh is that a part of the staff favorites no the staff favorites were also one of the names that were submitted by the community so when the staff looked at it they tried to find one that closest the closest resembled what we typically do with the naming convention for that typical structure of a school 612. in this case the community feedback was the number one recommendation from the
058community stakeholders number two was still a community in the recommendation but the staff favorite all right I got it thank you any further discussion oh sorry Miss Miller I just have a comment I think this is um part of a great legacy that we're going to see at McLaughlin Middle I'm so proud to see um Dr Deborah Hudson Wright or yes I have it all right Hudson um and I can't wait to visit your school when all this is accomplished I always I'm very welcome there and and feel the energy so thank you for coming and I'm glad the community is supporting this game change well get them a new sign yes yes ma'am I'm on it thank you Miss Miller Mr sharpless I just have to say as a alumnus of McLaughlin back then
059McLaughlin Middle School and a former teacher at McLaughlin this excites me and I'm glad to see that um we're using the word excellence in there because I know Excellence is going to be what happens at McLaughlin so thank you Mr sharpless any further discussion all right seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye hi any opposed and the motion carries Miss Deborah Wright Hudson would you like to say a few words I know you hate speaking in public so that's awesome we're gonna have to start sectioning this like they do in the Sea World so that if there's a likelihood that you're gonna be out on the end of the aisle stand before you as a principal who can say that we've done so much transition in a little bit of time
060I remember standing before you saying hey we're going to get a c or higher and to stand and say we've gotten the sea and we're going even higher it's got a great accomplishment it is a school of excellence and it's only our best is yet to come thank you superintendent high for never wavering in your support of me personally as well as professionally but also your commitment to all students in Polk County and we really appreciate that thank you board members Mr sharpless I've seen you so many times at the school and I appreciate you all board members are always welcome anytime any day to see the excellent education that we're providing at McLaughlin so thank you so much thank you [Applause] all right the next item on our agenda is Q2 and that will
061be Janie Howard Wilson Elementary School charter renewal so I'll seek a motion to approve the charter renewal for Janie Howard Wilson Elementary for five years so so moved second Mr sharpless and Miss Cunningham any discussion Miss Miller I just want to recognize that Lake Wells showed up tonight I'm I'm this probably went longer than they expected but I saw the superintendent here at one point and at least one of their principals so I appreciate them coming and supporting um what we're doing here thank you thank you Miss Miller any other discussion Miss Cunningham I just want to take a moment and um do a shout out to principal Griffis for the work that she has done this year she's done an incredible amount of work working with her staff and her students and we're thrilled
062about that and I knew that they're going to continue to present with great knowledge confidence and passion they have already made great strides and appear to have procedures and plans in place that will move them closer to their goals I'm so excited and obviously I'm going to support this as I seconded it thank you madam chair seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed in the motion carries next will be Polk Avenue Elementary School's Charter renewal and I'll seek a motion to approve the charter renewal for Polk Avenue Elementary for five years move approval second Miss Cunningham and Mr sharpless any discussion Miss Cunningham thank you um I just want to commend Miss barcenus she's with us here tonight thank you for the work that you continue to do
063um at Polk Avenue Elementary School you have worked really hard in overcoming many of the barriers and you make Community leaders out of every one of your students several times throughout the years I've been to the um is it leader in me yes and what an inspiring time with those children I love coming and I love being a part of that so thank you for all the work that you've done we continually have we know that you're going to continue to raise the bar and we're here to support you in every way so thank you ma'am and I will support this as I made the motion thank you madam chair thank you Miss Cunningham any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries
064next will be Q4 Edward W Bach Academy North Middle Schools Charter renewal and there's I'll seek a motion to approve the charter renewal for Edward W Bach Academy North for 10 years so moved second Mr sharpless and Miss Cunningham any discussion Miss Cunningham okay hold on thank you I'm not on again somebody turned me on all right probably didn't come out right but anyways turn my mic on please thank you um in reviewing the charter review team's recommendation to the board um for the 10-year versus five-year contract I will be supporting the 10-year contract I feel very strongly that Mrs drisdom um wow she's overcome an incredible amount of obstacles this year when you think about a principal having children in different schools because of construction and on and on they continue to to meet
065the challenges and raise the bar and I'm very proud of what she has accomplished and her team at Bach Academy North so I want to approve their 10-year contract that means a lot when a principal knows that they've got the school board behind them and we are a hundred percent because those kids are thriving every single day so um Madam chairman I will be supporting a 10-year contract for Bach Academy North thank you all right any further discussion sorry I have to get the mics back on because they got messed up all right seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be Q5 Lake Wales High School charter renewal and I'll seek a motion to approve the charter renewal for Lake Wales high
066school for 10 years so so moved second Miss Cunningham and Miss Miller any discussion Miss Cunningham okay this one's near and dear to my heart oh my goodness well can't tell you enough um what a great job Mr Saran has done at Lake Wales High School he had humongous shoes to fill When Miss Dunson left this summer he has done a tremendous amount in continuing to keep the Legacy alive that Miss Dunson started and continuing to weave his own personality his own desires into that I am so very proud of him and I think I can say in my heart that Miss Dunson would be so proud of him if she was sitting here tonight so it is my desire that we continue that we show Mr Saran the support that we have for him
067and all that he's doing to continue that and then build upon the Legacy that Miss Dunson started so I will be supporting once again 10-year contract for Lake Wales high school thank you madam chair thank you Miss Cunningham Mr sharpless hold on just a second Mr sharpless I want to thank superintendent rodolfits for being here today in the back there um you know as Lake Wales High School class of 2002 I can say Hail to the Highlanders um but also as a former teacher there I taught the first year that principal Dunson was at Lake Wales high school and I can tell you the the culture the change the culture when she took over to eat to even to now is tremendous so I Echo your comments board member Cunningham she would be very proud
068of principal Saran as well as principal barcenus who was an assistant principal at Lake Wales high school and now is the principal of Polk Avenue Elementary so I'm it it just Thrills me to support this thank you Mr sharpless any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next on our list will be item q6 Library collections to be ordered for Scenic Terrace K-8 and Elementary 21c and I will seek a motion to approve the library collections for new school Scenic Terrace K-8 and Elementary 21c so moved second Miss Miller and Miss Fields any discussion Mr sharpless I think that was still on there but I will tell oh sorry um you know I just I since I've got the floor um uh
069if I can ask Wes um a question about this can um can you tell me if any of the books being considered at all for these collections violate any state statutes and was the prom process used to select these books consistent with our board policy and State and State statutes and superintendo Hyde you can jump in there too I can affirm that yes we followed the protocol while uh the point was made several times tonight this evening that media specialist training was not concluded it was concluded as of last week however the individuals who served to review a school that does not yet have assigned staff in a Traditional School setting these books would be recommended by both the media specialist and reviewed in accordance with State Statute policy by their hired staff in addition
070to their their administrative team and then a recommendation would come forward this is not the case in a new opening school where the catalog is much larger as we shared it is a comprehensive list but every book with the exception of those we provided a highlighted list of are existing books within Polk County Public Schools you will also note that none of the previously challenged books were included in these titles at this time all of these books meet all of the criteria in addition to which the 14 books that were submitted late this afternoon as having raised concerns you have comprehensive summaries with at least three reviews conducted on each to justify their presence and or inclusion within this purchase and you have that document this evening that's all thank you Mr sharpless and superintendent
071Hyde Mr Bridges was there anything you needed I'm just going to say that the question of whether of whether they if there's anything there that violates Florida law um you know once you've completed the process you have determined that nothing violates Florida law but the individual individuals who are interested have the opportunity to challenge subsequently any any books with which they disagree thank you Mr Bridges and Mr sharpless and Mr Hyde Miss fields so I was not at the December meeting because I was sick so I have a couple of questions directed to the superintendent can you explain for me and for the public who might not have been at the summer meeting what the process is and what happens if we don't approve the books tonight how does how does that impact the new
072school being able to start when school year 23 24 comes and then um the last thing is it was stated that we didn't have training staff to review the books well if we didn't have trained staff to review the books who reviewed them senior administrative staff in the media collections department reviewed the books in accordance with all the requirements outlined in both statutes and in our school board policy that's where all of this resides as an extension of that on our media website we delineate step by step all of the things have to be taken into consideration when a book is being reviewed for its inclusion and or removal we also outlined the court as it was mentioned earlier this evening we've been compliant with the statute before it was a statutory requirement that we
073have a published process for removing books from our library if they're not frequently utilized and so that has been clearly delineated as well so the individuals involved in this are district level administrative media specialist staff whose Duty and responsibility is to support this again they went through comprehensively looked at existing catalog titles of which no concerns have been expressed to date over multiple years in addition to which they provided a highlighted list of new titles at the last board meeting I shared that publicly I shared it with the board all of those titles nor let me rephrase that the overwhelming majority of those titles were science themed or social studies themed titles they talked about insects they talked about weather they talked about those types of things so we did not anticipate any challenges for
074those materials at all um in addition to which um the books that were submitted earlier or late this afternoon to me um I shared with that same team to make sure that they double checked because there were some concerns about whether or not it was appropriate for middle school or elementary schools and they went back and provided all of the analysis to reassure me that they all fall within parameters the concerns that were raised last time um and there was a lot greater discussion about it is there is no protocol to remove books prior to their adoption the state did not provide information or details as to how that was to be done as well and so the whole point was the same 30 days have been provided thus far are already included within statute
075and procedure and we try I tried to clarify that last at the last meeting that that same 30-day extension is already there that we can adopt something the board can approve instructional materials it still provides the general public up to 30 days in which to submit a challenge even beyond that 30 days and again that would preclude its purchase at that time because we don't take action on that item until after that 30-day window closes in addition to which had we actually gone through and approved the procurement of those materials at the last meeting we'd be at the 30-day Mark now they still have every opportunity to challenge the book at the individual School level which is clearly Delaney within our policy and again expressly delineated within statute and Rule as well so there's a
076there are multiple safety safety cards and safety nets in place to ensure that we are compliant with the expectations I think the other question I had was about the timeline of the opening of the school and the books the second part you know the media center is going to take time to pull together regardless there's a lot of things that people don't understand all the coding that has to go with it the ISBN numbers loading all of that into Destiny at the end of the school section putting it on shelves so would it would it be harmful if the school opens on day one and we're still putting the library together because it's going to ship in bundles anyways um no we would still be able to sufficiently address the needs of our students during
077the first few weeks of school because at that point we're really focusing on classroom instructions and policies and procedures at that point anyways and we're using our Core Curriculum adoption for the most part these are supplemental materials that students access at their own free will or during scheduled times during the school year so but it would delay us another 30 days again if the board were to review that document that I provided for you which was with response to the 14 titles that were initially challenged or I would say that there was initially some voice concerns about I think you'll find that the staff addressed them fully and I would continue to support their inclusion I can't say Miss fields that there's going to be harm or damage if the board tonight were to say
078we're going to extend another 30 days to allow further review I I would say I do take issue with the commentary that the Board needs additional assistance with reviewing materials that is what the School District employees are here for and the School District employees do not operate in bad faith to put inappropriate materials in front of students and that's why I asked you because I I believe that wholeheartedly and the last question that I have to your knowledge are we in other books that are being recommended for us to vote on tonight have anything related to CRT in them oh ma'am that's the first I heard of that because even in the comments that were submitted with the 14 titles that they initially took issue with of this new collection that was never mentioned not
079once was that mentioned thank you that would also point out that the the statute requires those books to be reviewed by District employees thank you thank you next is Miss Miller I just want to I think Mr Hyde covered a lot of it but I can tell you from what other districts are doing we're being asked about our processes because it's working and creating these policies and creating what we do here other districts are wanting to replicate that um I think we're going over and Beyond what's required and we work very closely with the state to make sure we're following guidelines and new legislation uh Wendy right now is in Tallahassee this we get regular updates on things that are happening our staff is more than capable of reviewing books this is what they do
080this is why we hire them and I agree with the superintendent that he you know to go out and make sure that when questions are asked they have those answers and we still have the policy in place that if for any reason that you want to challenge a book or add a book to a series that your children are not exposed to whether it's portals in a kid's book or if it's holidays your family may not celebrate that's your right to do and we hope you um you do your homework and your due diligence this is on the parents to inform themselves on how to take efforts on their behalf and their and their child but each parent gets to make that decision we don't make that decision for you thank you thank you Miss
081Miller Dr Allen yeah I was just curious so if we do approve the books tonight the review process at that point would be um accessible there's a 30-day window that then gets triggered in which they anybody can submit a request or concern related to one of the instructional materials beyond that even if the 30-day window is not achievable or we don't receive any concerns within that 30-day window our board policy and statute allows for those materials to be challenged at any time post that 30 days so it's really an open revolve it's open it's an open challenge period in essence if they were to challenge within the 30 days and the board were to uphold those concerns because we would have to then go to it we'd have to formalize a review and go through
082the review process if the book was recommended to not be procured and the board agrees with that then within that 30-day window we would amend our purchase with the vendor so that that book would not be purchased at that time but again beyond the 30 days the book would be in the library then it's a request to remove the book from the Shelf okay and then in general just a comment here you know media literacy media literacy skills are are critical right I think we can all agree uh on that in a sense and look you know you you have poured right our general public has poured a lot of time into this process and I would say thank you right and one one resource that I have used over the years our family has
083used is plugged in it's a great Outlet that's uh initiated by focus on the family and they've actually started reviewing books at this point as well and it gives us an opportunity to have dialogue within our household I think it's a beneficial thing to all households so you know here's an opportunity for to really take all of this uh data that you know you've turned on and um open it up to the public right I don't think that's a bad thing um so I appreciate the work that was being done by ccdf on this and thanks for the discussion look forward to voting on this tonight there um just a couple comments uh first of all one of our speakers indicated that out of the first 15 000 books there were 20 that were maybe
084questionable or once that they would like us to look at so I would simply request that those 20 and that first fifteen thousand be provided to us at some point in time uh to give us an opportunity once again the clock doesn't stop tonight we still have another 30 days and I would love it if they would let us know which 20 of those first 15 000 and essentially you really do have another month as you've heard tonight um and I think you know what is 20 out of 15 000 well I can do the math it's a very low percentage we have kids to educate in our schools and we're opening schools so I feel that we did our due diligence we extended this 30 days to today and now we actually have 30
085more days um to look at it and I feel that everybody's wishes can be granted if we're all a little bit patient with one another and if the folks that can identify the 20 books if you can get those to Mr Hyde soon where our group can evaluate those specifically for the areas of concern and then for those that will be reading the other group in the next 30 days to give us back information on that and then if it needs to be challenged so be it I'm all about you know freedom of speech and being able to do that and so I will be supporting this vote this evening thank you madam chair let me clarify Miss Cunningham I apologize if I was not um explicit enough board members you have an Excel file
086that I sent to you about an hour ago that contains the first group of books that they took that they had concerns with out of the fifteen thousand there were 14 titles there were not 20 based off what I'm seeing there were 14 titles our group went back in and addressed their specific concerns and I'm happy to provide a copy back to miss loose and I apologize I had thought that the board had received the original list it was forwarded to me through chair Wyatt and so that's my my fault I did not forward that out to all of you so I'll forward both I'll give you again the staff's responses and I'll provide you with the original list of concerns that were shared with us but it was 14 you do have those yes
087ma'am right and next will be Mr Nolte I didn't get a chance to look at those 14 but uh me being an ex-physical education teacher I know that if I'm hump me or you know officiating a basketball game and one one official might call it a palm and one might call it a travel and one one might not call anything um so I'm I'm torn about this uh again I didn't see those 14 that you sent out late and uh I apologize for that but a lot of this is Judgment calls which which is great to one person might be brown to another person and uh I know we've got 30 days that they can also make a uh another call on it but uh we've got so many good books out there that looks
088like we don't really look as close as we need to like uh not really books but declaration independence constitutional those good things and we're debating over some books that are marginal so I don't know it's going to be interesting you Mr Nolte thank you any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed Nate and the motion carries six to one the next item on our agenda will be action item Q7 this is the pending 2023-2024 and 2425 instructional calendars for students teachers and para educators before we go for a motion I'm going to ask superintendent Hyde to talk a little bit about this because this was added re-added this afternoon yes ma'am um Madam chair members of the board um you're being asked to provide essentially your
089approval for the two calendar years um this is typically the timeline in which we bring calendars forward so that families can begin the process of planning vacations other types of activities and so I know several of you have reached out with concerns that they hadn't yet been published and we typically do so between January and February um at the end of the day nothing on here will change unless the board provides directive to change the calendar committee met and it's a very large calendar committee and I commend everyone involved met and reviewed both calendars in their entirety there were minor changes made and I can explain to you some of those changes that took place December for example there was a half day early release that was I think it was at the second week
090of December we moved that to be immediately in front of the winter break so that we would get two weeks or two and a half weeks of consistent instruction without one week and then an abbreviated week and then again we're going on holiday break so we learned from this last year based off the feedback how do we move those we also created more and as an effort we created more five-day work weeks because the four day work week creates an issue especially for our elementary schools anytime there's a four day work week it'll it reduces the amount of planning time for those individuals to work with their school administrator so we found a happy balance between the two those things being said I believe the only other change that was substantive that I believe it's
091in year two was moving an early release to a Thursday immediately before I believe believe it's the Veterans Day Holiday because again we I'd rather have a three-day work week rather than have a four day week and a four day week and again continuous disruptions to our learning environments so we tried to move those around we got great feedback about Friday early releases from both staff from students from parents the only frustration we've ever heard is from my own son who doesn't believe he should have to go on early release Fridays but he does um and we got great feedback and I and I'm gonna this is kind of I'm gonna I'm gonna talk out of both sides of my mouth for a moment here we got great feedback about the two planning days upon
092return from winter break that staff did not feel the need to have to plan during the holiday break and take time away from their families in order to prepare for a return of students so we got good feedback about that the counter to that was we need to do a better job and I know Ms Fields and others have spoken to me about this we need to communicate to our parents more readily and more transparently because it seemed like a much longer holiday break and it was it was almost three full weeks and so we have to be prepared for that and we talked about that in the calendar committee and then how do we create better opportunities so we felt that creating more consistency in the calendar elsewhere helps alleviate some of those concerns
093and we were we were it is somewhat problematic because we can't start until the 10th as you know by Statute and we were trying to create calendars I think we were successful in one year to get it out before Memorial Day because going to Memorial Day and coming back for one last day is problematic for staff and others so we wanted to be respectful the only thing that's not before you that's finalized is the first week of school nothing will change as far as the number of teacher planning days or School directed professional development days the only thing that the committee is still working on and will finalize on the 30th of this month is what that structure may look like meaning we have discussed and they were charged with coming back with several options
094they were asked to come back and say can we do a half day of professional development in a half day of classroom planning that stems from a conversation from the union group in particular who said that they'd rather have the first uh planning day with their school administration so that they don't spend time setting up their classrooms only to go into a meeting with the whole school and find out oh we're changing directions we want to focus on this this and this and now they have to go back to their classrooms and reorganize how they're approaching instruction for those first few weeks of school so we're trying to find that happy medium between giving teachers time to prepare their classrooms and get ready for students and also make sure that we're doing the school culture
095building activities introducing new staff making sure that they know who to go to if there's problems questions or concerns so that's all that's going to change in that first week and I think again that's been that's been a really good dialogue pea has surveyed their staff and we're very much aware of any concerns there so we're taking those in consideration but before the board this evening or just the two years and we will probably bring a third year to you in short order as well so but thank you for allowing me to clarify that first week thank you superintendent I and I will seek a motion to approve the calendars where we're not to discussion yet we've got to get a motion first I will seek a motion to approve the calendars for 20 23
0962024 and 2024 2025 for instructional calendars for students teachers and para Educators pending final approval from the calendar committee so move second Dr Allen and Mr sharpless and first on the list is Miss fields okay I've been on the school board now for 22 years and I've never known us to have the calendar to come to us without having discussion in a work session uh I have not had time to review it I trust the work of the committee I was appointed to that committee at the December meeting I believe but I did not know about the meeting until the day or two before which is neither here nor there but I will not support this I don't think that as a board member I should vote for something I have not had time to
097review I have not reviewed it and I'm just not going to vote in support of it thank you Miss Fields Miss Cunningham so my question is in looking at the calendar for August of 2023 what you're saying then is it may not necessarily be exactly as is listed here but my question is will school start because people are trying to plan vacations and will it start no matter what on August 3rd that's really the question is whether it's is what happens on each day and well it's so loud in every school okay that was my question and then if let me reiterate though and clarify if the committee were to come back and say oops we made a mistake we want to change the start date it absolutely nullifies anything the board's done and taken
098action on and we would have to bring it back to you um so that's that's there's a protection inherent protection in there okay and then secondly we're really starting a first day of school on a Friday yes ma'am that was recommended from Transportation Mr Davis was insistent that we start school on either Thursday or Friday because they need more time and they need the weekend in particular if you if you give me a moment to explain what ends up happening is we we schedule Transportation based off the Assumption of everyone who qualifies during those first few weeks we then readjust all of the transportation based off actual ridership Rob Mr Davis and his team were adamant Mr Hyde I really got to start on either Thursday or Friday so I have the weekends for my
099team to make adjustments in our routing times to make sure we can get kids to school on time and if you recall at the beginning of each school year for the first weeks of school in my weekly updates in in fact in transportation in specifically transmission I almost provide you daily updates of the timeliness of arrivals and departures so that if you're dealing with concerns with the community you can say no we have a 90 on-time delivery for our schools today and so we try to provide you that information in real time and you see a steady Improvement each day so that's the reason why they've requested a start date on a Friday because I mean I would understand if it was Thursday and Friday but this year we have six teacher days not five
100like we usually have and then only starting on a Friday but if that's what's recommended and it's been vetted I I will support it and part of that Mis Cunningham was to take a later professional development date I believe was in September again to create more consistency and less disruptions to calendar we move that to the start of the school year so we get a better Continuum with fewer disruptions and breaks that's great okay sir thank you very much thank you Miss Cunningham and superintendent Hyde Ms Fields and that's why we should have had a work session on this because of the questions that's been presented um and I have heard from the community and I've shared this with superintendent Hyde a lot of parents are concerned about uh like going back to school after
101the holidays been out for almost three weeks and some parents are saying well if they get out of school every other Friday to have a minute every three weeks I don't know how many weeks it is in between when the early release is well why even bother for them to go to school and so I think Mr Hyde said something that was interesting that his son wasn't excited about early release on Friday he wanted to stay home well most people would want to stay home and then starting the first day of school on the Friday how many kids are going to come to school on the first day of school on a Friday I wouldn't but again that's just me I asked Mr Hyde what would be the uh problem if we waited and voted
102on the calendar in February and he said that it would not be a problem but people are planning their vacation and all that and they need to know I think is what he said but uh if it's normally done in January or February I don't see what the difference would be thank you Miss fields any other discussion not seeing any other speakers I Just Want to Thank You superintendent Hyde for making sure this got back on the agenda for January I know we had talked about it coming and I'm not sure how it got dropped um looking back typically it comes to us in January or February but typically we've already approved for two years last year I think is the first year we didn't approve for two years which is why I want to
103make sure we get this approved today if possible um just to make sure that families can start to plan because August 11th is only about six and a half months away which is a little terrifying but um so with no further discussion I will seek um Miss Miller um I this and Rob's not in the room has there been discussion with the start date on Friday that people won't come so they'll make adjustments that are just going to be because I mean I I understand that point that a Friday is difficult for parents for the younger kids I think it's great because they get one full day of practice um but if it's going to mess up our counts I don't want to do a bunch of work and then have to do a bunch
104of work later I I would respectfully disagree that starting school on a Friday is going to have any detrimental impact on our attendance that week we also have two orientation nights the first day of school hands down is one of the most exciting days on our campuses where students get to come interact with their peers get their schedules you know travel around the campus get to catch up with each other and I I don't know that the actual day itself is going to have any adverse impact on on attendance I can't say that for sure um but I would be surprised given that it's the first day of school if you're any other day of school you you might be able to make an argument that after spring break when we're in a long stretch
105before the end of the school year if there were an opportunity to miss a Friday somebody probably will and take advantage of that and um and remember this is this will also signal the board had only tentatively approved the inclusion of three additional half a day early releases for a short period of time so at the conclusion of the second year that you're approving today that topic will have to come back before the board we previously had seven we increased it to ten for the sole purpose of providing professional development as we transition to one to one so that our staff would have plenty of time to get that training on how to use schoology how to use their devices how to problem solve technically you know get the technology assistance and so we've been
106steadily chipping away and working at that so this is to Mrs fields's point and I think some of the concerns for for our community members the early release is may or may not get shortened in the future depending on the feedback that we get we will survey staff and share that with you so you can make an informed decision at the time thank you superintendent Hyde seeing no further discussion all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed no and the motion carries six to one and superintendent item assuming that once that is approved by calendar committee on the 30th that will be posted publicly for on our website and everywhere I'll send the final versions to the board and then we will post those yes ma'am thank you right we will
107now close the school board meeting and open up the public hearing and first item on our public hearing is R1 the attendance boundary committee recommendation for 21-c boundary and I apologize I did not call up any public comments but that's because there were no public comment cards for the public hearing so I will seek a motion for the to approve the recommended boundary for 21-c so so moved second you're sharpless and Miss Miller any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries the next item on our public hearing will be our two attendance boundary committee recommendation for bellacita K-8 boundary the recommended action will be a motion to approve the recommended boundary for bellacita K-8 I'll seek emotion so moved second Miss Cunningham and
108Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be R3 which is the attendance boundary committee recommendation for McLaughlin Middle and it's McLaughlin Academy of Excellence expansion boundary so moved second and any discussion that is Mr sharpless and Miss Cunningham any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries all right policy updates we have several policies coming before us this evening so the first will be policy number 2605 and I'll seek a motion to approve policy number 2605 research and evaluation hmm move to approve second Miss Miller and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed will it
109pop up for these windy in a vet or just go through them okay in the motion carries next will be a motion to approve policy number 2111 parent and family engagement in the school program and I will seek a motion so moved second Mr sharpless and Miss Miller any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next I'll seek a motion to approve policy number 6110 Grant funds move approval second Miss Cunningham and Mr sharpless any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be a motion to approve policy number 6114 cost principles spending federal funds any discussion sorry I'll seek a motion so move second Dr Allen and Mr sharpless any
110discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed in the motion carries next will be a motion to approve policy number 6152 student fees fines and charges move approval second Miss Cunningham and Mr sharpless any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next I'll seek a motion to approve the policy number 6152.00 sorry .01 waiver of school fees so moved second I believe that was Dr Allen and Mr sharpless any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries motion to approve policy number 6325 procurement federal grants funds so moved second Miss Miller and Mr sharpless any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by
111saying aye aye aye any opposed and the motion carries and that will conclude our public hearing and we'll reopen the school board meeting we'll now move on to the superintendent's report superintendent hide today I'm Madam chair I have several items for you um we kicked off literacy month um and I had the opportunity to read a book about an octopus that actually Inky the octopus it's actually a true story in New Zealand a number of years ago the staff came in and noticed some strange marks and footprints on the floor the octopus had actually figured out how to escape got into a drain and got out to the Bay um and so they wrote a story about this and it includes some fun facts so we actually did that as a read aloud the team
112videotaped it it's amazing I I do not do it justice as a reader but I will tell you our Tech Team and everyone else did an amazing job with the graphics um so that we could we could make it interesting for our students we've had great feedback from our elementary teachers and um I have an email I have to read from this evening as part of the superintendents report but it we were so satisfied with it we're going to add more books and so quite frankly there may become maybe an opportunity if one of you wants to read we would provide you with a material of your choice the only thing we ask is at the end you come up with some interesting facts to challenge the kids with and that was really nice about
113this book is it had a lot of great scientific facts at the end and I did Issue a challenge and I want to give a shout out to Michelle Williamson from Bartow Elementary Academy because she wrote to me and she said Mr Hyde my kids really love the story you read this morning we did some research and my kids wanted to share the these fun facts back with you the arm of Pacific octopus when stretched all the way out is as long as a minivan and that came from Paisley not only does the arm of an octopus move but the suckers move as well and that's from Javion octopi our masters of camouflage said Jace after the blue ringed octopus gives birth she dies Luke the blue-ringed octopus is a very small octopus it's the
114one that's so toxic to human beings it can actually cause you to die and go into shock and it's quite interesting but it's very small but after she gives birth she dies it's beautiful colored octopus octopi are thought to be one of the smartest creatures on Earth that's from Lawton and if an octopus loses an arms they can grow it back and that's from Matthew and they said thank you for the story to kick off literacy week we really enjoyed it Shelly Williamson Bartow Elementary Academy third grade teacher I also have some other good news with superintendent's report we're working currently with the Florida Prepaid scholarships organization they will provide I believe it's twenty thousand dollars in scholarships for our students more information will come they're going to provide us with two eight thousand dollar
115scholarships and we will get we will have the opportunity to develop the criteria select the students that we will award that to I believe that those go to kindergartners and then there's four one thousand dollars or two one thousand four one thousand dollar scholarships that go to other students Pre-K kindergartners as well and so we'll develop the criteria for that so you'll hear more about that in an upcoming meeting and then finally I will be traveling this week um we have been asked interestingly enough after tonight's topic um I have been asked to present in front of the house education quality subcommittee because they have been very satisfied with our book process and they're very excited about our video that we put together and how well it walks parents through the process of opting their
116child out of books so I will be presenting to that committee later this week so it's an exciting opportunity for us to get our information out there and we're one of I believe three or four school districts that were invited to present on our processes and finally Madam chair which is typically the order of business under superintendents report the next work session will be held on February 14 2023 the work session will begin at 9 00 a.m this meeting will be held at the district office located at 1915 South Floral Avenue in Bartow and that concludes the superintendence report Madam chair thank you superintendent hide and next we'll go to Mr bridges for the attorney's report the Florida statute 286.011 authorizes the board to meet privately with a council to discuss matters about litigation strategy
117and settlement negotiations provided that I notice you in public that I need your advice on on such a matter and that such a meeting opens and closes during a regular public meeting of the school board the entire proceeding will be recorded by a court reporter and the transcript will become a matter of public record at the end of litigation and we'll set that up for the next for the next school board meeting or board or work session wherever it fits best and I'll provide for the notice but I did need to advise you that in a public meeting thank you thank you Mr Bridges all right next will be Miss Cunningham for school board report I'm ahead of you Doctor oh no he got bumped on the line oh no okay so I just have
118a quick thing I just wanted I know most of us received the state of the Arts report um from our wonderful staff and I just want to do a shout out um to Beth Cummings our director of Fine Arts to Nancy Perry our senior coordinator of Visual Arts Jessica Fredericks our trst Elementary music Chuck Fulton trst secondary instrumental music and Stacy Mallard Fine Arts specialist and I'm just as you sit back travel the district go to the different Arts oriented um plays musicals chorus performances guitar and on and on band please we just had the band it's amazing and I'm so grateful to be part of a district who continuously understands the need for the Arts and I would love to say this but I found this quote and I think it really exemplifies where
119Polk County Public Schools lies and let me read it it is imperative that all students have access to an equitable delivery of Arts education that includes dance media arts Music Theater and visual arts that supports their educational social and emotional well-being taught by certified Professional Arts Educators in partnership with Community Arts providers and that's from Arts education is essential from the national Arts organization in the United States I just felt that that really kind of summed up why the Arts are so important and I can honestly say we're really blessed I can you know having been on this board now over 18 years we have never ever looked at removing Arts from schools all we've tried to do is continue to provide that for our students because as some as a teacher educated me years
120ago when I first got elected to the board she said to me come into my classroom and let me show you the difference that art makes and there was a child there who could not connect with the other kids that young lady was non-verbal that young lady wasn't sure why she was sitting actually in that classroom and when she handed her a piece of paper and a pencil or a crayon that child drew some of the most beautiful pictures that I had ever seen for a child in the third grade so we learned Math Science and different skills and we learn them in different ways and if we can positively impact a child by finding a place that they belong in our system through all of the Arts programs that we offer I consider that
121we've done our job so I just want to complement those folks that work in those departments and offer that to our students around the county it's just a shout out and a thank you and that concludes my report Madam chair thank you Miss Cunningham Mr Nolte yes thank you I agree with everything Mrs Cunningham said that's really beautiful about the Arts I attended the Bartow Academy community meeting where they went through different items that they were looking for in a new principle and it looks like they definitely found a good one tonight um I also attended the Polk State College they had a panel discussion several of us were there and that was uh that was quite interesting I remember back today it was this what poke CC right yeah yeah Poe Community College also
122I attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at Bartow High School it's amazing when I used to drive past Bartow High School 30 years ago on my way to Bartow Golf Course and then I've played some golf with a gentleman out there that we celebrate it tonight a great man and then when I drove up there the other day I couldn't believe how the uh it looked like a little University part to high school looks incredible they've done a great job on that and uh I really appreciate uh all the things that's bored and our superintendent has done to improve the schools in Polk County and I look forward to working with everybody and doing bigger and greater things thank you thank you Mr Nolte Miss fields I just have a couple of items on one of
123them is just basically congratulating uh Mr Dixon on being recognized in observance of Black History Month and black history month is very important and um I'm not sure if you are aware that there was an effort by the College Board to have an advanced placement African American studies class available to our schools and it was rejected by the Florida Department of Education with no reason for that so black history is history and it's important and we need to celebrate we celebrate others during the year and I hope and pray that we will continue to honor and celebrate February uh as a month for black history month and the other item that I have is Kathleen High School is making a conscientious effort to invite alumni and the community to an event on February the 17th
124they're looking at uh not necessarily revising their logo but maybe making some adjustments to the logo and they want feedback from the community and from the folks who are graduates of Kaplan High School so it is February the 17th at 6 pm at their Auditorium so we want to get the out to all the communities so we can hopefully have some good discussion and then they'll be able to move forward with that and that's my those are my comments thank you thank you Miss Fields Dr Allen I'll go last so as we continue to build more Choice options and rigorous pipelines I just wanted to draw attention and congratulate principal Saloon at Southwest Elementary for her passionate pursuit of building our very first ever pre-academy at the elementary level and then on top of that
125it's in digital media which I'm very excited about it because it's a very highly stem oriented option for our kids pretty exciting opportunity there at Southwest Elementary next I wanted to say go jackets yeah as Bartow High celebrating obviously my alma modern class of 1992 just celebrated 30 years but they celebrate the completion of their phase two modernization and that was a more than 60 million dollar uh investment to complete their master plan pretty exciting for Bartow and just in general Polk County Public Schools um and then also I just want to say a job well done to our newest board member Justin sharpless early this morning early this morning he was out in the arena at the Polk County Youth Fair um just working hard and serving our district very well his his voice
126just echoed very loud and clear over the PA as he was announcing each participant at the pig sale this morning and I would just say by the way you have a great radio voice Justin um and then lastly I don't know if you'd celebrate it this week but it was National handwrite handwriting day in my hand this evening I do have the Blackwing Palomino and if you did not know that they originally had a patent on the adjustable eraser so I'm going to leave you with my pencil stat this evening did you know that pencil users are 22 percent more likely to bike to work than gel pen users did you know that Wendy um so let's study there you go that concludes my report [Laughter] Mr sharpless I want to start off my report
127by thanking all the individuals who attended my district 6 listening tour um there is one stop we are going to reschedule and that's frost proof it was the first day back for students and so it just really wasn't good Logistics um and bad planning on my part to have it that day so we're going to reschedule that but all the other ones I you know it's great to hear from my constituents um got to say Dr Allen and I attended the reception and awards ceremony for the new student exhibition of artwork at the Polk Museum of Art which is entitled Transcendence I also saw superintendent hide there as well um I was gonna say we have some talented artists in our district truly they were also very respectful students and just academically uh just great
128I also enjoyed meeting with the recent leader a class of leadership Lakeland in a panel with four other of my school board members here um I gotta say our community's in good hands with these leaders and along with Dr Allen and Mr Nolte and superintendent Hyde I was able to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony as well at Bartow High School's phase two modernization and the dedication of the Bartow High School Veterans Memorial um it came away very impressed with both the modernization and the memorial I want to give a huge thank you to all the Legacy next partners that are involved with that project but specifically a special thank you to the Howe and Jenny Wallace family and the John and Terry Frost family for the significant impact they made on those projects but last
129but certainly not least Dr Allen did alluded this earlier but this week is the Polk County Youth Fair one of my favorite weeks in the entire year as a former AG educator myself here in the district um I got to say these students put in a lot of hard work and it's great to see that work come to fruition go out and support it it's located at 1702 Highway 17 right here in Bartow um they auctioned 402 pigs off today 402 students ahead of pig um that was great as well as cakes and on Friday they're going to auction off plants so some of our our Green Thumb uh horticulturalists in the district as well as some steer projects so please make sure to get a chance to go out there this is not a
130traditional Fair where there's a Midway this is solely focused on the students and that's what I love about our fair and so yeah I just encourage you to go out and uh support thank you thank you Mr sharpless Miss Miller thank you chair Wyatt I just have a couple of things first the last couple months um personally have we've had a lot of struggles and um Health struggles and stuff in my family and I want to thank chair Wyatt and board member sharples for reaching out in support of that that's great when your colleagues are interested in you beyond this desk so I appreciate the camaraderie here um I have Polk Education Foundation is where I serve and I'll be missing the meeting tomorrow I'm going to Tallahassee on some disability work which is my
131other life other than education but their first our first board meeting for the year is tomorrow but I do want to let people know that if you have a senior go to our website and search pef and have them fill out the scholarship information it's not one scholarship they fill out the information and if they need to stop and come back it saves it they can come back when they get all them whatever they need but they can apply to lots of scholarships and there's money left on the table sometimes with these scholarships please make sure that your seniors no matter what their interests their academics there's always something um for students so check out you can find out you can just search Polk Education Foundation or you can go to our website and search
132pef and they will it'll come up and you'll be able to fill out those scholarships also I cannot wait for March 31st that is the second annual night shoot where we're going to sell out and raise lots of money for kids the board is welcome to join I I did for the first time shoot Clays last year with the superintendent and his family and it was a good time I think we did better than than I thought we would but we'd love to have a board team we've talked about in the past so I'll throw that out there for anybody who wants to shoot Clays or learn to shoot um it's five it's at 5 30 March 31st also on the Polk Education Foundation website you can sponsor that as a corporation we have a
133lot of community support that come out and I'm really surprised how some of our financial advisors are great great Marksman so um come out and support students on March 31st the Polk Education Foundation and I just want to say to parents mentioning tomorrow I I didn't mention it earlier and the superintendent has already mentioned it he has been invited to come and present based on the programs we do here for parents giving them the rights with the books and and just being involved in their students education if we were for one second violating State Statute or doing something that was not appropriate I guarantee our superintendent would not be asked to come to Tallahassee so I want you to know to have you know I want you to feel confident in what we're doing here
134in the professionals we employ and we're always here for questions and I think you're going to find that what we do here is probably more extensive than other districts are providing and we're proud of that as a former parent advocate who set through IEP meetings and tried to inform parents this is the first time in the last 20 years I've seen this District so involved with trying to partner with parents and so thank you for the superintendent traveling to Tallahassee I wish I could go see that but I'll be doing other work and again well some of us will be returning for Polk days in March which is scheduled in the middle of spring break so there are some dedicated board members that will that will leave their families to go represent you in Tallahassee
135to help share our story and our legislative platform um but I think that's all I have thanks so much chair Wyatt thank you Miss Miller I'm really glad you've decided to go to Polk County days I was nice for hanging out with me thank you all right and so see this is why I go last because most of you have already said the great things happening um so we got to speak to leadership Lakeland which was just cool to hear some of their questions um I think the best way to find out what the real problems are in the district is to have a conversation with parents and community members or to have a conversation with students um so we get to learn a lot of the things that are going on that we just
136don't get to see every day um next I just want to make sure all of you are aware superintendent Hyde will be speaking at a lunch and learn for the Winter Haven chamber on February 6th I just want to read you the reviews he is expecting so finally I feel good about public education again from the New York Times making lemonade out of lemons the evolution of a public school system from the Chicago Times and Excellence requires risk and honesty this presentation has both from The Lakeland Ledger so I've been told it will not disappoint I highly encourage you attend um and then last but not least I just want to say thank you to the board members who have signed up to go to Tallahassee in March if you are considering going and have
137not already signed up please make sure you've talked to a vet um so that she knows she'll be attending and that concludes my report we'll now go on to public comment for non-agenda items so just be just as before to register to speak community members must have filled out a card in the lobby prior to the meeting all speakers will be given three minutes the light will turn yellow when you have one minute left and you will hear a beep when your time is concluded please note that although the board encourages Community participation no immediate action will be taken on items presented during this public comment portion of the meeting if follow-up board action is required then the matter may be placed on an agenda at a subsequent meeting in accordance with school board policy
138so first will be Bernard Wells and on Deck is Bishop Willie mincy Wells inquiring minds would like to know that if parents have been made aware that there were students with disabilities at a school that did not receive ESC services to the tune of 18 000 hours it is dial for dental school districts has granted these students with compensatory services that is due to them because of the services not being provided superintendent has contracts section 4.5 states that it is his duty to ensure that faculty parents and students receive timely information about students learning requirements academic standards and all other local state federal administrative requirements and decision the key word here is timely information it is questionable that compensatory services to these students has been in a timely manner also there are students that are
139not receiving speech and language services with some schools not having a speech and language special colleges to serve these students and there is no known comprehensive plan in place for these students receiving compensatory services in addition knowledgeable ese Personnel are leaving the district in record numbers unlike any prior years seemingly because of lack of knowledge by and because of leadership an example of this would be a recent Channel 8 on your side news report that provided misleading information about ESC initial evaluations that was disseminated in the viewing community furthermore the outside leadership that has been brought into Polk County gives the impression that there was no one within District that was qualified for Upward mobility and further adds to the already existing low morale also there is a concern that within the behavior units that
140are set up it appears to be a school-to-prison pipeline it is everything anything but creating a portrait of a graduate how many minority students how many students will be locked up in the legal system uh continuing continuing this pipeline within five years I suggest you check your data thank you thank you sir and Bishop Mincey I haven't been before y'alls in about six or seven months or more so to all of you board members tonight I come to bring warning to you because I see you sit on the kiosk and you all look glamorous and you see a lot of glamorous things but we're in trouble and the Judgment of God is going to come to Polk County Public Schools now you may not agree with me but there are things that are happening I've
141talked with Mr Hyde and I don't know if he listens to me or not I don't talk to you all because I don't believe y'all believe in me but I come because I'm concerned about all of these children and you board members listen at me well you need to get out and go to your district and see your people and listen at what they say you hide superintendent to hide super to the hide hide people and you all are hired by us we voted for you and I'm going to tell you the truth get ready now people will show you what they're doing old mother in my church told me years ago people would show you better than they can tell you so when election time comes don't cry don't cry just know that somebody
142have seen something about you that they didn't like so they're gonna go get somebody else and put them in your chair it's time out people are hurt people are hurting and it's sad some of you all don't go nowhere I go to these schools and I'm listening and I'm hearing from teachers from principals it hurting all they need is just for you to come there and say a word of encouragement it's a struggle yes it is a struggle some of them being cursed out by parents and teachers and you all don't even think of right in your town somebody could go right down the street and and see something about but you don't care about it you it's glamorous to sit on the podium but the Judgment God would bring the Judgment I I know
143I'm not I'm gonna stay on my knees like I told you all I'ma stay down there and I'm gonna keep telling them about it and one day soon watch my word and see what will not come to pass to Polk County public schools because God is not going to allow this to continue God bless you thank you Bishop Mincey seeing no further business to come before the board this meeting is adjourned