001[Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] good evening I will now call this board meeting for November 15th to order if you could all stand stand and join us in the invocation and pledge and if I could call Pastor Andy Whitaker from first United Andy Whitaker Smith from First United Methodist in Lakeland to do the invocation do not believe she is here and Dr Wilson Dr Allen would you like to lead us in the invocation all the energy in this room on just to really pour into what matters most and it's kids that we serve so well and help us as we serve them to be wise in our decisions tonight your son's name amen
002amen and if you would please stay standing I'd ask Jordan Manning to come forward to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible thank you you may be seated not quite you Jordan how are you doing today good did you have a good Tuesday at school so where do you go to school and oh very nice so you are 10 years old and what grade are you in fifth grade so and I hear that you're a safety patrol what's your favorite part of being a safety patrol I guess just helping out the kids yeah that is awesome so what is your favorite subject in school I like EMA and social studies very nice and what do
003you want to be when you grow up want to be a lawyer very nice there's a lot of reading in that so I'm glad you like Ela awesome well do you have any special guests with you this evening well I have the best principal and vice principal of Polk County and my favorite person in the world my mom very nice well thank you guys so much for bringing Jordan Jordan thank you for leading Us in the Pledge of Allegiance this evening we appreciate you and hope you have a great rest of the week at school and some great Thanksgiving break next week thank you [Music] thank you all right in our first order of business will be to accept the agenda for the school board meeting for this evening I'll hear a motion to accept
004the agenda for the November 15th school board meeting Miss Cunningham 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 will turn it over to superintendent hide for special recognitions Madam chair members of the board staff and community members thank you for being here this evening we had Jordan Manning and so I'd like to now recognize Auburndale High School who's here to sing the national anthem in commemoration of Veterans Day I'd like to ask School Board member Lori Cunningham to please step down for special recognitions immediately following can you see by the doctor [Music] and the rockets [Music] for the land of the free I know [Applause] beautiful job I don't have anything to read for Lori something Let Me
005Wait foreign at this time I'd like to ask Lori Allen senior director to come forward for the positive behavior interventions and supports recognition hello thank you so we have um a lot of people you want to recognize tonight our schools in the past year for 21-22 piled up the PBIS Awards so we had a total of 42 Polk County public schools that earned the model School status for this past year the good news is that more than ever we've had seven of the 42 that got Platinum award and we have two that have won Gold so to give you an idea of what what that is the PBIS initiative promotes good behavior Student Success positive safe environments all through a multitude systems that is implemented at the school level our model schools use PBIS practices
006at a very high level to meet the discipline goals serving as examples for other schools we want to publicly recognize our nine schools the principals the school-based point of contacts for their hard work and follow-through and building successful systems at the school level so I would also before we get started I want to introduce my team they're going to help pass out the awards that we've made for them um Charles Morrison I'm Kristen Hewlett Mandy Sean Rock and Lydia Taylor Heather catchment and Lydia Taylor who is not here with us tonight she is out ill so I'm going to call name the schools and the people who are here to represent them so we're going to start with our gold Awards Brigham Academy and today we have Lynn Bolin and Lori May principal and assistant
007principal [Applause] foreign our second gold recipient is Louis Anna Woodbury Louis Anna Woodbury Lewis Elementary never say that right and Mr wise is awesome because he recognized that these are the ladies that did the job last year Beth Wilkin who was the AP and Leslie Belcher who was the counselor [Applause] do something right all right so let's talk about our Platinum winners our first Platinum winner is Cumby Academy of Design and Engineering principal Tammy ferens and behavior interventionist Michelle styron [Applause] [Music] one two three all right our next recipient is Griffin Elementary principal B.J Stinson and point of contact behavioral interventionist Janelle Brown all right next we have Lake Alfred Elementary principal Matt Burkett and point of contact Jennifer Crowley Brown who's also the dean [Applause] foreign next is Lincoln Academy Lincoln Avenue Academy principal
008Antoinette Kirby and point of contact Casey Wills he's also the AP [Applause] foreign Oaks Elementary principal Sarah stoker and point of contact arnetta Hunter the AP [Applause] ril okay thank you next is Southwest Elementary with principal Julie Sloan and point of contact and counselor Kelly Leonard [Applause] thank you and last but certainly not least is Juanita Elementary with Princess principal Nilda Caraballo and point of contact Maria Smith [Applause] yes you did so the last thing that I wanted to say is that we haven't done this in the past but we know how very hard it has been through covid and everything else we've been through the last two years and the fact that we have higher numbers than we've ever had before this is a real Testament to what these ladies and gentlemen have been
009doing on their school campuses because this is outside and Beyond what they have to do every single day and the last thing we went to is acknowledges that Polytech the students at Polytech created these awards for us we told them what we wanted and they designed them for us yeah so thank you [Applause] okay next I'd like to ask John Miller curriculum specialist from the office of acceleration and Innovation to please come forward for the presidential Scholars recognition do you need help good evening thank you superintendent Hyde and school board members and District staff for this opportunity I know this is a packed room but appreciate the opportunity to recognize some of our academically outstanding High School seniors tonight so thank you as part of the United States Department of Education presidential Scholars Program each
010state department of education is asked to select a limited number of current High School seniors from that state to receive this National recognition in September the Florida Department of Education sends us a memorandum of the guidelines describing the state process for selecting the presidential Scholars from Florida according to the guidelines each state was to select only each district was to select only two seniors to be the state nominees from that District along with several other criteria one student was to be selected based largely on high academic achievement which includes sat or acts assessments and one student was to be selected based largely on academic achievements in Career Technical education in Polk County we asked all the high school leadership staff to select the one to two students from their school that they felt were most
011worthy of consideration at the district level High School submitted names to The District in late September we received 39 names of students from our schools a committee of District curriculum staff reviewed the submissions and academic histories of the applicants to determine the two names that we would provide to the Florida Department of Education I want to thank the school administrators who are super busy with all that they do for their time there was I think a hurricane at that time too for them to get us names and and go through that process and also the District staff that helped us review all of the submissions we greatly appreciate this opportunity to publicly recognize all 39 students and the fact that leadership staff at their school specifically identified identified them so congratulations to all these students
012at this time we'd like to call this 39 District finalists to the front to receive their certificate we are not going to stand for a group photo we did that in before the meeting because it's there's not enough space uh but if you could audience hold your applause until we go through everybody and then I will announce the two nominees who will be representing Polk County so the students will be coming in behind me from Summerlin Academy in the area of CTE Benjamin Alfaro from Davenport High School in the area of CTE Alexis and stat from Kathleen senior in the area of academics and assessment Kiara RC from George Jenkins senior in the area of academics and assessment Tegan Baker okay from Bartow IB in the area of academics and assessment James Berrios I don't
013think he's here tonight from Harrison School of the Arts in the area of academics and assessment Susan Elizabeth Braswell from Polk Virtual School in the area of academics and assessment Darcy Brooks foreign City Senior in the area of academics and assessment Schuyler Ryan Cabrera from Lake Region senior the area of academics and assessment Alexander Cannon from Haines City IB in the area of academics and assessment Sim Noel de Jesus from Kathleen senior in the area of CTE Jensen Dix from Lake Gibson senior in the area of academics and assessment Tavion dujay from Frostproof middle senior in the area of CTE Autumn Ellis from Tenoroc High School in the area of academics and assessment Arleigh freyas from Mulberry senior in the area of academics and assessment Trent Hare from George Jenkins senior in the area of
014CTE Kylie Hess from McKeel Academy in the area of academics and assessment Evan Tyler hoe from tenerock high school in the area of CTE Caleb Hudson from Davenport High School in the area of academics and assessment Cullen Hughes from Fort Meade Middle senior the area of CTE Gracie Johnson from Haines City IB in the area of academics and assessment Payson keown from Auburndale senior in the area of academics and assessment Megan Knowles from Summerlin Academy in the area of academics and assessment Jaden Looney from Frostproof middle senior in the area of academics and assessment Morgan lucky from Lakeland High School in the area of CTE Colin mank from Auburndale senior in the area of CTE Tessa Mullis from Fort Meade Middle senior in the area of CTE Dakota Newsome from Bartow IB in the area
015of CTE Samantha Patty from Winter Haven Senior in the area of academics and assessment Juan I Rodriguez from Harrison School of the Arts in the area of CTE Barbara Rosencrantz from Bartow senior in the area of CTE Jamie Deanne Rulo from McKeel Academy in the area of CTE Joshua Daniel Santiago from Haines City Senior in the area of CTE David Joseph Scruggs from Mulberry senior in the area of academics and assessment Rylan stennick from Polk Virtual School in the area of academics and assessment Mackenzie Thomas from Lake Gibson senior in the area of CTE Berlin Val D Viet ESO thanks they're from Lakeland High School in the area of academics and acceleration academics and assessment Cullen J Wyatt from gauze Academy in the area of CTE Victoria Youngblood yeah and from Lake Region senior in
016the area of CTE Delma Zarate Chavez I want to thank the audience for your patience in getting through all these students in this photographer we could give all these students a round of applause you know it's very difficult and again I pre we take the names off of the students when we give it to The District staff we have a student that's the the two names I'm about to announce do not include a student with a 15 40 SAT score and does not include a student going to a Naval Academy so we can't we can only send two to the state but I appreciate I know this took a while the opportunity to recognize all these students but the two State nominees who will be representing Polk County are Colin J Wyatt from Lakeland High
017School in the area of academics and Berlin Val dvso from Lake Gibson High School and the area [Applause] are they not with us this evening they may have did Belen step out she was so excited I pronounced her name correctly foreign come back up front please they deserve that recognition as they're taking it there we go I don't know if can I read a little bit of your bio that's on your certificate you have this windshield congratulations to both of you outstanding job one of them is a National Merit semi-finalist Colin and one of them I don't have the paper in front of me but you're a ckg ckg EKG and the medical was and has a lot of Industry certifications already I think that's that's on the certificate that they have that I don't
018have that congratulations [Applause] thank you congratulations let them clear we'll let the room turn for a second and then we have one last recognition for this evening Miss Wyatt chair at this time I'd like to recognize you I know that you have two remaining special recognitions for this evening I do and I just want to take the opportunity to thank a couple of our colleagues that will be this is their last board meeting they have contributed so much to the board over the past several years Miss Fortney who can't be with us this evening but she's served for the past four years and then Dr Wilson who is with us this evening thank you for all of your service for the past eight years and we have a lovely plaque for you in commemoration we
019did not get a clock because Ms Miller said you didn't need any more clocks so you can take that up with her but presented to Lynn Wilson School Board member in grateful appreciation for your years of outstanding service and Devotion to the children and citizens of Polk County 2014-2022. so [Applause] smile big now he can hold it and we have one from Miss Fortney as well and we'll make sure we get that to her and that concludes my special recognition members of the board community that concludes special recognitions for this evening attendant Hyde next is public comments for items on the agenda to be voted upon as adopted at the start of this meeting before we begin I would like to welcome the public and go over our public comment process and opportunities for this
020evening we have three opportunities the first will be for items on this evening's agenda to be voted upon the second will be during our public hearing portion of the agenda for public hearing topics and at the end of the meeting we will have an additional opportunity for public comment on items that are not on this evening's agenda 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 sound when you have one minute left and when you have 30 seconds left please give your name for the record 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
021comments this is not a question and answer session however if you are seeking additional information I encourage you to contact any of us or the superintendent's office outside of board meetings and we will be happy to happy to have deeper conversations before we begin the on Deck line is just behind the podium and so I'll call whose next step to speak and then who's on Deck so if you want to make your way to the on Deck line and that way we can move through a little quicker so I have for the public comments on agenda items Emmett Purvis and I believe all the others are for policies for the agenda items forward number I have a lot on my mind to talk about my family you know and I still do look prior to
022coming into this room I talked to another individual and he explained a lot of the things that I was going to discuss tonight but what I would like to do in this time it was talk about those people in the school board that come to work every day they do their job their unsung heroes and I know this because my daughter is a product of Polk County schools in Bartlett High School and she's a high school math teacher so I can talk with some authorities for what they go through but what I'm concerned about is the grade levels that Polk County is not achieving is it motivation or is it leadership nobody's going to answer as I realized this is not a question and answer session I'm well aware of that ma'am but there's one
023other thing that's in my crawl tonight and that's a proposal to extend the superintendents time period as superintendent of the Polk County Schools as far as I'm concerned nobody on this board deserves a raise we just went through an election but things are going to change and that's why he wants this race and he knows it and he's padding his future and that's all I've got to say thank you thank you sir just to confirm there is a no superintendent's contract on the agenda tonight but B the superintendent's contract proposal from the work session does not include a raise because he has been very public about not wanting a race thank you next on our agenda will be the approval of minutes the first set of minutes is from October 25th 2022. and I will
024hear emotion and a second any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be the approval of the minutes for the October 25th 2022 work session so moved second Miss fields and Dr Wilson 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 agenda will be the approval of the consent agenda and I'll hear a motion second fields and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed and the motion carries superintendent Hyde would you like to introduce us to some new administrators yes ma'am Madam chair I would at this time these are new administrators so
025if they are in the audience and if they are joined by family loved ones or significant others we ask that they please recognize them as well because behind every great leader is an incredible team of support and that starts with their family and their loved ones at this time I'd like to introduce Charles Davis Senior Legislative Assistant from the Florida Senate he is our newly hired staff attorney foreign [Applause] er's office Rachel Barnes who is my colleague and Senator stargell's office she'll now be working for representative Jennifer Kennedy Denise dubo who is also my colleague in Center stargell's office and she'll be working for Senator Colleen Burton and Karen Whaley from Senator Ben albritton's office I really appreciate you being here thank you so much for your support and I just want to say what
026an exciting opportunity I've gotten to know most of you actually all of you I've worked with you over the last eight years um on education and I look forward to continuing to support public education our students their families and our teachers and staff in this new role so thank you very much congratulations thank you [Applause] [Music] come up and take a photo come on ladies so impressed he's already working shall miss Dodge thank you sir Mr Joshua McLemore senior coordinator for facilities and planning has been promoted to director of planning and following his Marathon presentation at the work congratulations first off I would like to first off thank my wife and our daughter for allowing me to continue to move into this role again uh thank you uh to Ms Usher and the superintendent I
027definitely look forward to continuing to work forward working together with the board as we try to come to more innovative solutions toward the challenges that we're going to have tomorrow so thank you again congratulations [Applause] Mrs Hamilton Abreu operations manager for Countryside mall is the newly hired senior director for facilities and operations oh my God I want to thank Ms Usher for giving me the opportunity I feel honored to be able to join the team and thank you I hope to work for everyone here and looking forward to it thank you sir [Applause] we have a handful of administrative transitions or administrative moves Leslie clay assistant principal at Stambaugh middle is transferring to now be the assistant principal over DJJ with specialized student services are they here okay Karen Phillips dean of students at Crystal
028Lake Middle has been promoted to assistant principal level two at Stambaugh Middle School please join me in congratulating both of them thank you [Applause] Madam chair that concludes administrative changes or administrative Employments and we have one item on the action agenda and that is our 2023 Polk County Public Schools legislative platform and I will hear emotion move approval second Miss Cunningham and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed oh I am so sorry I'm still getting used to the technology Miss Fields your mic is hot now I just wanted to commend Miss Dodge for doing such a great job of presenting the platform and the format and everything I think it's going to serve us well so I just wanted to make sure that she
029was acknowledged thank you Miss fields and Miss Miller I just want to agree go along with that we have in the past had a much smaller platform but I like the way this time it's divided up into sections um so you can see what's affecting the global the students and the state as well as local and I think that's a much more effective way to help Lobby for that so I appreciate that Wendy Wherever You Are thank you Miss Miller and next on our agenda will be we will open the public hearing I'm sorry all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries and now we will open our public hearing so we will start with comments for items on the public hearing for those for those who
030have registered just as before speakers will be given three minutes the clock will give you a warning sound when you have one minute left and when you have 30 seconds left we will now begin with our first speaker is Debra bublitz and on Deck will be Robert Goodman County over 20 years I'm here to voice my concerns for the recent revision change that the Polk County school board has made to policy 2417 which is the Comprehensive Health education abstinence as the expected standard but first just so you know this isn't my first time at a meeting although it's my first time to speak I have attended several of them over the past year but admittedly before 2022 I've been assuming that the school board has been making decisions in the best interest of the children
031and was listening to both sides of the issues with respect and fairness but I deeply regret that I've been making that inaccurate assumption I've come to the realization that I need to pay closer attention to all of you and your decisions and it speaks to your character when you disregard the opposing viewpoints that are coming from your community apparently over the last few years of policy changes the school board has seemingly been dismissive of the majority of opposing comments from the public and there seems to be a strong push encouraged by the school board to sexualize children in the school system it doesn't seem to matter that voices in the community are trying to reach out to you about how you are changing our children's State of Mind with these choices I'm very concerned about
032the future generations of our children due to these drastic policy changes will they be exploited and abused or have respect for themselves and Humanity I feel as do many other citizens in the community and I have talked to several that education is important when teaching impressionable Minds young children are already getting exposed to sexual content when listening to music and watching TV also the internet of course is full of this kind of illicit behavior and it's quite easy for them to access it and be exploited we've heard of that many times abstinence has many strong benefits like eliminating teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases it should remain written in the policy removing this language from the policy would make it easy to overlook somehow we want to make sure that teaching absence is not forgotten
033about or for it only to be mentioned as a last resort instead of the expected standard sexual abstinence is part of the educational method should be left in the policy not just the curriculum we want to make sure that the Polk County School Board as well as the instructors who are teaching this topic have an appropriate standard to meet in the policy towards abstinence and that everyone is held accountable for this content so I urge you to keep abstinence in the policy as well as the curriculum so I thank you for your time and for giving me the opportunity to comment and you'll probably be seeing me again for now on so thank you very much for your time appreciate it thank you ma'am we'll have Robert Goodman and on Deck is I believe it's
034Virgil William when you're ready Robert hello I'm Robert Kidman from Lakeland tonight the board is being asked to consolidate uh the language of policy 9130 and move it all to policy 2522. as written 2522 is in violation of the Florida State Statute 1006 283 sections 2B and 8D that states a parent of a public school student or a resident of the county has input regarding materials in classrooms libraries and schools words matter and in the language of 2522 that states for a challenge it says that it must be made by a parent of the parent of a student in the district and a resident of the county that is against that is against State violation that is against State policy any Resident or parent can review and challenge library books curriculum whether in book form
035or on one-to-one devices 2522 as written would exclude parents of children who do not reside in the same county as their child a great example of this would be a parent who lives in Osceola whose student Goes to School in Polk County this is also a violation of HB 1557 the parental Bill of Rights any taxpayer or resident could have input to the curriculum in schools also in the policy as written 2522 States in Clause G that appeals may be made within 15 and then in parentheses or it says 30 and then in parentheses says 15 days it can't be both so it's the policy contradicts itself on September 20 September 6 ccdf filed an appeal to challenge the opt-in opt-out switch that was done in violation of public school policy which would have required
036you to take a public vote this appeal was used following 9130 this change would not have any effect on that because 9130 was the law of the land when we filed the appeal it would be in the board's best interest to hold the move to 2522 until the language that violates states that statute 1683 is resolved thank you and next is Virgil and I think the last name is William Babson Park you have to do things different my name is Virgil Alum and it's a real honor to stand before you this evening thank you um I'm here to deliver to address the issues of policy number 9130 25 22 and 2417 24 17. fundamentally these policies deal with the issue of pornography the decision before you is what is best for the students what is
037the most loving decision you can make for our students our Founders helps us and answer this question in the Declaration of Independence we read we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal they are in by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and when your rights come from God that's a moral pursuit of happiness America was built on a strong strong families strong marriages porn is destructive porn should not be any place in our schools it is immoral to take taxpayer money and use it for anything that's immoral God clearly forbids adultery and fornication absence is the best policy abstinence helps prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases many sexually transmitted diseases are difficult or impossible to treat God tells
038us to love him and to love one another porn is not love porn promotes destructive sexual practice Thanksgiving is next week we can be thankful to God for marriage thankful for God's creation of sex children are wonderful God's ways are wonderful next month we will celebrate Christmas we will celebrate Jesus birth Jesus who came because he loves us we need a savior those ways are good thank you thank you [Music] we'll vote on each of the policies before us stated as the expected expectation on page one of two item or line item seven C or excuse me 7B for students in grades seven through excuse me first it's seven d or C and D for students in grades 6 through 12 and awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and subsequently
039consequences for teenage pregnancy so it is contained within policy moving forward it was not stricken from the policy thank you it was it was moved from correct because we're consolidating policies but it was not stricken from its totality from policy and I think that was one of the express concerns from the original from the initial speaker this evening thank you Dr Allen are these can we do them when we talk about the specific motion about these specific policies thank you so the first policy is policy number 2215 program of instruction and I'll seek a motion to approve it's Cunningham discussion Dr Wilson thank you madam chair and as the superintendent indicated that is a concern of mine abstinence and abstinence is in in teaching abstinence is a concern of mine and you know again would
040just like to reiterate although it was stricken from 2215 it was added to 2417 so it's still a part of our policy and I appreciate the superintendent clarifying that uh so I'll be voting for this policy change thank you thank you Dr Wilson any other discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed in the motion carries next will be policy 2410 school health services and I'll seek a motion to approve Miss Miller and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be policy 2417 Comprehensive Health health education and I will seek a motion to approve approval second Miss fields and Dr Wilson any discussion Dr Allen yeah I just wanted to reiterate that
041as well again the abstinence did move to letter D on that and an important thing to remember as well in regards to this policy as it relates to our sexual reproduction curriculum as noted in that policy it says the board shall annually approve all instructional materials used to teach reproductive health or any disease including HIV and AIDS in an open noticed public meeting so I really appreciate that and we we listened um very cutely as we heard from our public as it related to this rotation of curricular changes and I think our staff did a great job on that but again this is something that will come to us annually and then accessible and open to the public and that's all I have thank you thank you Dr Allen Miss Fields I was basically going
042to say what Dr Allen said but I also wanted to have superintendent Hyde to kind of give a very brief summarization of the input from the community so especially last school year we had concerns as related to the inclusion of topics that were not outlined specifically in statute or excuse me in the Core Curriculum by the state of Florida one of those if you recall was HIV AIDS education in grades three and four so we did strike those we ensured that all of our curriculum was realigned this summer there was there was we reconvened the committee inclusive of local Health experts the health department and others as well as our own curriculum teams to completely review and revise and address any lingering or remaining concerns that may have been or areas where we may not
043have been fully compliant with the state requirements or under for benchmarks and standards so at this point we are and I'm pleased with this and what you're seeing here a lot of these is this is cleanup um we're moving things to where it's more appropriate so they're not stated in one area but they're missing in another um and so that's really what you're seeing here as a reaction to that or the way we adjust to ensure but again with the reassurance to everyone that throughout the policies especially those that pertain to human growth and development or or sexual education or health education it clearly also states that we will be compliant with Florida Statutes that does list those statutes so we we constantly review that curriculum to make sure we're in we're in alignment with
044State expectations just to clarify One Last Time school districts do not create the human growth development curriculum the State of Florida adopts that curriculum and then mandates that the school districts to infuse within their instructional day and so that's what we follow and I think we've been very responsive to date especially in this regard and we allowed public review we took a lot of public comments and in fact if I recall correctly we had numerous people come to the podium and praise us for the work and a collaboration that we demonstrated as a result thank you yes ma'am thank you superintendent Hyde all right all any further discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next we'll have policy numbers 12 13 32 13
045and 42 13. student supervision and Welfare and I'll hear a motion move approval second Miss fields and Miss Miller any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye in the motion carries motion to approve the policy numbers 1590 3590 and 45.90 Personnel files move approval second Miss Cunningham and Dr Allen any other discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed and the motion carries next we'll look at policy 5335 krf students with chronic health conditions Miss Miller and Dr Wilson any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next is motion to approve policy 5780 students parents rights move to approve second Miss Miller and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in
046favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed in the motion carries next we'll look at policy 6233 District budget move approval I can't Miss Cunningham and Miss Fields any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye any opposed in the motion carries motion to approve policy 6661 instructional material sorry I'll hear a motion to approve policy 6661 instructional material allocation move approval second Dr Wilson and Miss Fields any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next is new policy number 6700.01 overtime pay during emergencies move that we approve 6700.01 second Dr Allen and Miss Cunningham any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed and the motion carries Madam chair
047if I could just clarify for the community because this is a new policy um notwithstanding this is a requirement of FEMA so anytime we are going to seek reimbursement for our employees who have to work overtime post storm in order to get our schools prepared and ready to accept students and staff we have to have a policy on the books that allows us to do that and that's a FEMA requirement and it's one of the reasons why during a previous storm a number of years ago we were not fully reimbursed for overtime charges because we did not have this policy on the books and approved so that's the purpose and and the impetus behind this policy thank you thank you superintendent Hyde Mr Bridges and one step further having the policy is not a guarantee
048that we will be reimbursed for that over time if we do not have it that is a guarantee that we will not be reimbursed so A very wise move thank you good point and all in favor post and the motion carries sorry foreign motion to the next one will be our interlocal agreements policy 8100 move to prove second Miss Miller and Dr Wilson any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries next will be policy 8141 mandatory reporting of misconduct move to approve Miss Miller and Dr Allen any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed and the motion carries policy number 8405 School Safety and Security of approval Miss Cunningham and Miss Fields any discussion
049seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries policy number 8407 safe School officers thank you Dr Allen Dr Allen and Miss Cunningham any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed in the motion carries and last but certainly not least policy 8420 Emergency Management emergency preparedness and emergency response agencies move approval second Miss Cunningham and Miss fields any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries and we will now close the public hearing and re-open the school board meeting and we will now go to our superintendent's report superintendent Hyde and Madam chair the next board meeting will be held on November 22nd 2022 the board meeting will
050begin at 9 00 a.m this meeting will be held at the district office located here at 1915 South Floral Avenue in Bartow it is a special meeting that will focus on swearing in our board members our newly elected board members or re-elected board members thank you superintendent ad does that and if I may clarify one last time um I mister I did not for the record ask the board for a contract extension it was something the board volunteered um Nord when the board offered a salary increase I deferred that increase asked if there was a mechanism for us to actually have that funding donated to the Polk Education Foundation to be used for student scholarships we were not able to successfully find a mechanism thank you to the IRS um that would facilitate that transference
051so I declined any pay raise so contrary to what you heard earlier today I can assure you there is no Feathering of my Nest I believe that I make a fair salary I work I work hard and diligently to improve outcomes I think our academic track record this year shows that I think my evaluation in the comments by the board reflects that I seek to continue to serve our community and our students but I can assure you I'm far more altruistic than that and I am not seeking additional compensation in any form thank you madam chair just to confirm if you win the lottery you're still donating that I will donate my salary for student scholarships yes ma'am it's got to make sure that one's on the record thank you superintendent next we'll go to
052our attorney's report tonight both of these are our proposed settlements of lawsuits the first one is a proposed settlement in the case of Richard arzillo versus School Board of Polk County Florida which is a federal case case number 821 CV wfj AEP and the recommended action is a motion to approve the proposed settlement agreement in the case of Richard arzilla versus School Board of Polk County Florida and to authorize the chair of the superintendent The General Counsel to execute any and all related documents to effectuate settlement and release of the claim thank you Mr Bridges and I will hear a motion for the settlement and release agreement between Richard or Zillow and the school board of Polk County Florida move approval Miss Cunningham and Dr Wilson any discussion seeing none all those in favor please
053signify by saying aye aye any opposed in the motion carries thank you ma'am second matter is Brandy Blanchard versus the school board of Polk County Florida which is a tense 10th judicial circuit case Florida case number 2019 ca001818 and the recommended action is motion to approve the proposed settlement agreement in the case of Brandy Blanchard versus the school board of Polk County Florida and authorize the chair superintendent and general counsel to execute any and all related documents to effectuate settlement and release decline thank you Mr Bridges and on I'll now hear a motion to approve the settlement and release agreement between Brandi Blanchard and the school board of Polk County Dr Wilson and Miss Miller any discussion seeing none all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed and the motion carries
054thank you ma'am that is all I have I would like to wish all of you and everyone out there the very best wishes for Thanksgiving I wish you Joy of the season thank you Mr Bridget thank you Miss Matthews and we will start with district one for board members reports so Dr Allen [Laughter] we know that education is probably one of the strongest pillars of Hope in our community and I will always hold to that and so my comments just really relate to all these things that contribute to that pillar within our community and I'll try to keep it quick had a chance to participate in the Junior Achievement golf tournament if you don't know anything about a Junior Achievement it's a very uh foundational organization it's the National Organization we've got some great things
055happening with Junior Achievement at Polk County and I can say I played in a golf Scramble with two high school students and I can say that I did not contribute one stroke at all to that scramble because these two high school players man they knocked it out of the park and one of them was our superintendent's son and he was an incredible young man to play along with and really helped us sustain we actually took a third place in that tournament and he earned I don't know if he's going to share that with you but he earned a 50 gift card to a steakhouse so oh he did you did I I did um yeah what kind of steak would you get that's the question um so Marissa green I just want to say thank
056you as well she organized the teacher of the year and school related employee of the Year banquet you know spent a couple years on that banquet and it was the opportunity for us to to get together and to honor those from the past and we look forward to December an opportunity to honor those for this year and if you really want to see some really fun video footage go watch some video of Dr Wilson I think Lori Cunningham as well they're just getting crazy on this like 360 camera that's spinning around this um this man it looked fun um Mr Central Florida I was really disappointed superintendent Hyde was was filling a little under the weather that night because I wanted to see him strut on the catwalk for Mr Central Florida uh he was
057considered the goat that little campaign that they did was it was quite awesome but I just want to say thanks for raising some dollars for Mr Central Florida as well a really good friend of mine as well Brian Stevens wanted to give him a shout out for taking part in that event uh last weekend went out to Harrison they had an amazing performance Mary Poppins and this is High Caliber entertainment for us in Polk County if you have not had a chance to go visit Harrison School of the Arts and take in one of their Productions it's incredible um so just want to say thanks to Harrison for putting on an amazing performance and and then dittoing that idea of the Arts we did have a ribbon cutting at Polk Museum of the art and
058of the Arts at Florida Southern College I wanted to say thanks to superintendent Hyde for being present at that ribbon cutting as they look to expand and that is a great thing for our County if you have not been to the Polk Museum of Art it's an incredible establishment um and and again that really connects with our vision of shaping the whole student and the Arts very critical to that and then lastly I wanted to shout out to Crystal Lake Elementary and if you don't know much about what's going on at Crystal Lake Elementary uh this this school has been doing some amazing things over the last couple years and reshaping what they're doing there but they're basically celebrating a major Milestone that's just taking place uh and if you're not familiar UCF has certified
059them as an official Community Partnership school there's really only 14 of these in the state and we have one right here in Polk County and basically Crystal Lake Elementary was selected to host the First Community Partnership school program in Polk back in 2017 and now working through that process to officially be certified with UCF and the school basically offers students their families and surrounding neighborhood access to a variety of Education Health Care and social service resources so just wanted to say thanks to the staff and the teachers at that and our Community Partners doing some great work there at Crystal Lake Elementary and that's why that's all I have chair thank you thank you Dr Allen and Miss Cunningham thank you madam chair I have a few items as well I want to give a
060shout out to um The Early Learning Coalition of Polk County I attended a wonderful evening their Gala fifth annual Gala and it was fabulous and it was such a such a wonderful opportunity to provide funding for what they do in our schools well I shouldn't say our schools what they do for our schools because they truly work with our youngest children in the county and provide opportunities to them to learn prior to actually coming on board into school they sponsored a video a few years back that was absolutely life-changing for so many and so I have a warm place in my heart for Miss Debbie Burdette Dr hutek and the whole team there at the Early Learning Coalition so I just want to say thank you for all that you do and we're so excited
061to continue to be a partner with you additionally I attended at Davenport School of the Arts The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and it was fabulous kudos to Mr mosenberg and Mrs Kane and the whole production team for an outstanding job with that production from costumes to lighting to the set it was just fabulous those kids are so talented it's hard to believe the children quite frankly are in middle school and the cast was great we really enjoyed a fun evening there and just it continues to be one of our crown jewels in our County additionally I attended Mary Poppins at Harrison School for the Arts on a different day than you but it was fabulous I want to extend a congratulations to principal Levine I know Miss Cauley was the director Mr flights
062was music just great great talent as we move forward those kids are unbelievably talented and sometimes you just want to pinch yourself and say really am I out of high school or am I someplace in a Broadway Theater watching these children perform so they just did an outstanding job so kudos to everyone involved at Harrison as well and I would like to say I would like to finish with this Dr Wilson congratulations on your retirement from Polk County School Board you have admirably shown your servant leadership throughout your tenure it has been a pleasure working with you and learning from your business Acumen and your accounting knowledge my colleagues and I have totally enjoyed your wonderful sense of humor and your ability to offer a calming perspective during complex discussions Dr Wilson thank you for
063your faithful service even through covid you showed up to all our meetings for the past eight years many blessings for God's continued Grace upon you and your beautiful family my family and I wish you the very best as you begin this new chapter in your life it's been a pleasure and best wishes as you start a new chapter in your life and that yeah and that concludes my report Madam chair thank you Miss Cunningham Miss fields yes I have a couple of things I wanted to thank um Nick and Moe's for the community appreciation day that they did this past Saturday they have a program that's called Eight Spirit pumps and when we pump gas from their uh business proceeds go back to certain elementary and middle schools in North Lakeland and those schools would
064be Sleepy Hill Middle Sleepy Hill Elementary and then kiss pack Griffin Elementary and Kathleen Middle I wasn't able to attend I'm not sure miss uh Miller might have I don't know how much money each of the schools received but I'm sure that whatever they received was a blessing and will be a blessing for them and their students and I wanted to congratulate Chad Davis I'm very excited about Chad coming on staff and I think that he's going to really do good works for us and I wanted to thank Mr Wilson for his service on the school board eight years and your ability to continue sometimes probably when you didn't want to um is admirable and we hope and pray that you will enjoy your next uh path whatever that might be and we wish you
065and your family the very best and I also wanted to send out a message to Miss Fortney she's not here tonight but I could not uh leave the meeting without thanking her when Miss Fortney first came on the school board she and I were on the opposite end of the spectrum and I think over the last four years we have come together and at the end of the day we might not always have agreed but I know in my heart that she was all about what was best for the students and so I'm going to miss her and I wish her the very best and whatever she pursues in the very near future and God bless her and her family and then I want to congratulate all of the 39 presidential Scholars that were recognized
066tonight that is just amazing what we're doing some folks say we're not teaching our kids anything some people say that our educational system is dumbed down well I have to stay there or not aware or they were present are they weren't watching to see what we have before so I'm very proud of the work that our teachers and our staff do each and every day and the families and the students so congratulations to them and to many many more that we're not recognized here tonight and that ends my report thank you Miss Fields next I will go to Dr Wilson thank you madam chair um it's probably never a good idea to provide an open mic to an elected official who's on their way out uh and who's an accountant and in my case someone
067who doesn't have any prepared remarks that's never a good thing um you know elected officials can be rather verbose at times and accountants can be rather dry at times so that's probably not a good combination but I'll be brief as brief as possible it has been um an incredible honor and privilege to serve this community as a school board member you know I think the the from my perspective the one thing that I would ask of an elected official is that number one they listen that we listen to all of the interested parties in any particular matter do our homework and then make a decision that is in the best interest of our constituents and I hope that that is my legacy I hope that folks will say you know he listened he paid attention
068to us he went out and and did his homework and then he made a decision that was in the best interest of our school district and that meant putting students first all the time I want to say thank you to my colleagues on the board I have had the privilege of serving with um remarkable colleagues over the years and and you know we've not always agreed but we've always found a path forward you know we've always found a way to build a consensus and and get things done this is a big ship I mean it's one of the biggest school districts in the country it is a it's a monster to move and it doesn't happen overnight and I know that frustrates teachers and and it frustrates students and parents and constituents and staff members
069because they want something done they want it done today right and it it takes time to get things done but I think we see a ship that's moving and it's moving in the right direction and I'm very proud of that and proud of the folks I've worked with and I know you all agree with me that we have an exceptional superintendent here and so this goes out to our new school board members I hope you will realize that and and make sure that we keep him on board for for many years to come I want to say thank you to the staff here in the school district it's a tough job when you're a staff member and you you get a call or you get a request from a school board member I've been in
070that position I've worked in organizations as a staff member when a school when a board member not a school board member but a board member would reach out to me it's a tough position to be in you know sometimes they're just asking questions sometimes they're trying to influence and exert influence right and and so um it's a it's a difficult it's a difficult situation but I want to say this all of the staff here during my time here have always been professional and responsive and in my case I always Endeavor just to ask questions just trying to find answers so that I can make the best possible decision and they they've always in every case responded to me you know they responded quickly and and we're always exceptionally professional I think that says a lot
071about our school district and last I'd like to talk about my doctor just for a moment you know we do and when I talk about K-12 education I'm not just talking about here in Polk County I'm talking about nationally we do a remarkable job of educating those students and I refer to them as our our traditional college-bound students it's incredible I mean I have a daughter that went through this system has a PhD from the University of Florida is doing some incredible things Ms Cunningham has a daughter who is just just doing some remarkable things and she's a product of this school district as well but we fall well short quite honestly and frankly on an international basis with those students who who are not who are non-traditional college-bound students I refer to them as
072at-risk students but uh in in that's and that was my dissertation by the way it was interesting because I'm a business major my dissertation is in Business Administration and I tried to find an institution that would let me work on that particular issue I found one in Indiana and they were rather Progressive and they said no you know you're a business major this is a business program you can't you can't write a dissertation on K-12 education but I said what if I do it what if I address it through through funding and budget and they said okay I mean if you can tie it to funding and budget we'll we'll go with that and they were kind enough to let me work on that and we we have a lot of work to do we
073we really need a pathway for those students who who are not traditional college-bound students and I I think we want to push everyone towards college and not everyone wants to go to college not everyone is interested in that so that's my passion and I'm going to continue to work on that and what that means is I say all that to say this although I'll be leaving the school board I'm still going to be involved in education and and so I hope each of you know that you can reach out to me anytime you have my number and if you need help with some research on something or if you need if you need someone to advocate for something you're doing I'll be here I came here in in to Winter Haven in 1975 on a
074baseball scholarship at the time it was Polk Community College and I fell in love with this area and I've been here since I'm not going anywhere I'm sure that I'll spend the rest of my time here uh in in Polk County so you know I'm I'm going to be around and I'm going to do everything I can to continue support K-12 education so please and this offer goes the superintendent as well please don't hesitate to reach out to me anything I can do to help I'll be here to do so so with that I'll simply close by saying it's been an honor and a privilege and thank you for allowing me to serve [Applause] thank you Mr Wilson and Miss Miller I'll let you follow that that's a tough one to follow I'll start with
075um I'll start with recognizing Mr Wilson in our relationship he was as I've said this before he was my accounting professor and I knew very quickly that was not the field I was going to be in and when I started to run for office I was clearly embarrassed that this the class I had to drop because I was not good at it was my colleagues um but um and on the campaign Trail Mr Wilson has always been a professional who has dealt with people with that open heart of listening and transparency and I used to tell him I need to be more like Lynn Wilson Lynn was the calming voice and sometimes what is chaotic even in the community and on the board so I appreciate all you've done Mr Wilson and what you've taught
076me along the way even though it wasn't accounting because it wasn't my thing um and I will be one of the people reaching out and now that you're not on the board we can talk a lot more so it's even better um I will recognize Miss Fortney which is another leader who I when I say lit LED with her heart I have never met someone so giving of their selves and their soul to the to the students of Polk County we could be anywhere we could be in Tallahassee people would come out of the offices and say that's Miss Forney she taught me or she taught my cousin literally someone who suffered for people like if a teacher had an issue or a student had an issue she took it home with her and I
077and I watched that in awe because that's difficult to do in advocacy and being in leadership so the work she's done here will not will be missed um you can tell that she crossed the lines of every political Spectrum when you see the margin of that race less than one percent people knew she was transparent and she was authentic you know they say people good leaders lead with I said this earlier with a compass in their head and a magnet in their heart and that was Fortney and so and I appreciate Mary the fact that Mary what she had to deal with through this last campaign I want to thank them for for not giving up and and staying connected to this district and being an influence because I think they're they're great people and
078I was so honored to work I had not known Miss morning I joked whether or not I went to the school across the tracks she taught at the fancy Denison and I went to Westwood and back in the day that was our rival um so I didn't get to meet her until I was an adult but when I would name a friend she would tell me where they sat in her classroom because that's how much she paid attention to students so um I want to I want to thank her for the time she spent here and I'll say real quickly yes Nick and Moe's which is a guy you think it's just a gas station on the North side a few fancy Southsiders want to drive down to visit us way out in the country
079you'll learn that it's a community store they care about their Community or not a number you're a person they call you by name when you walk in and they do a phenomenal give back to the community on their Community appreciation day and I want to thank kylia Carswell our community liaison that help connect the schools to that organization I wasn't there for the check presentation so I'm not sure but I know our schools our principals were pumping gas you know I drive up and Sheila Gregory is on a gas pump it was really about making those relationships with our community and and benefiting from that so I appreciate what they were doing I did 10 of both shows that were already recognized here my first show at Davenport School of the Arts and I was
080so um in awe of those kids and I can tell you Harrison I've sat in many Broadway shows and when I can tell you Harrison puts on something that is what you would see in New York you know Not only was Mary Poppins flying across the stage they had one of the characters upside down tap dancing as he flew across the stage which I've never seen our kids are very talented and we have multiple programs across the district what we're doing here you know you don't get to hear about that if you don't have kids in our district or you don't visit our schools you never volunteer you might only you know hear things on social media or maybe in the press and you don't know what we're really doing here so I invite everyone
081to get involved because our kids are amazing they will Amaze you not only in academics but what they're doing on their on their own time so um that's all I have Madam chair but thanks for letting me go on further than I should have probably thank you Miss Miller um I'll have some just some brief comments I've gotten to opportunities in the past week to spend all day with students which if you know me that's my favorite thing in the world um so on Election Day Randy Roberts Foundation hosted their Community classroom so they started with Congressional classroom and Congressman putnam's office used to do it and when he left office they took it over so they've been doing it this was their 13th class but they realized very quickly we take these kids to
082DC but they don't really understand how the community is affecting them locally and so they recently started a community classroom they got to hear from Community Advocates from Mayors from city government all polka commissioner Martha Santiago so all levels of government locally just to to understand how that affects them sometimes more than than what's happening in DC or Tallahassee because if your water doesn't come on or your trash doesn't go out it starts to pile up but so it was a great time just to spend spend the day with students and really learn the issues that they see in our classrooms you know I often tell the story of the sporks and one of the students texts me afterwards and he was like hey who do we if we we have an issue at our
083school who's the first person we should report it to um so I apologize to Ryan van because I'm pretty sure he's coming coming to talk to you um but that's important when students see something learning who they should go to to talk about it to make sure that that the adults realize that it's an issue um and then yesterday I got to spend the day with our youth leadership Winter Haven class and just hearing what they want to be when they grow up um and just the different opportunities seeing we had a student that had never been kayaking before that got to go out with our natural resources team and he's like you can do this for a living you can actually go out and explore our lakes and learn about what the quality is
084and there's somebody who does that was just really exciting to see our students engaged in the local community I know that you guys are sick of me talking about lip sync battle but we just finished and I know you want to know how it went um so we raised 39 000 for 39 000 in one dollar for the public education Partnership of Winter Haven um superintendent Hyde was one of our judges um and we already have a date for next year so mark your calendars for 2023 it will be on November 9th at normal Hall superintendent Hyde and I may both be making appearances because it is the last one so they're bringing back all of the old contestants for a battle of the champion so we look forward to seeing you then our goal
085is to raise the most money ever so we look forward veteran sorry not not the gold contestants the veteran contestants those of us that have done our time and and then just I want to highlight real quick we have two Winter Haven alumni that are doing great things um so the first is Trey Mancini is a Winter Haven graduate and just won his first World Series on the Astros um you may have if you watched the games you may have seen his catch in game five um so I just want to give a shout out to Trey and then also Winter Haven graduate T Michael stavers was named the Winter Haven city manager last night effective in December um so very proud of our Polk County Public School products that are going on to do
086great things and lastly I just want to make a couple comments about some of our colleagues but more than anything to say that this board especially the past two years has truly been a joy to work on we may not always agree we often disagree but it has been very collegial and even when we're having our worst days I know that everyone that that sits at this diet truly is out there for kids so thank you Mr Wilson for always putting the students first and Miss Fortney as well I know she couldn't be here this evening but just kind of echoing a little bit of what Miss Miller said it's amazing to be in Tallahassee and she can look at somebody across the hall and say that kid he was in this year in this
087class he sat between Johnny and Sue oh it's Chad she knows every student she's ever taught and truly loves all of those kids and so just thank you for her years of service as well yes and and Mr Wilson would like to request a short break so we will be back in five minutes to conclude with public comments and so this meeting will recess for five minutes [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] superintendent for Polk County Public Schools and we have some exciting news about a big change coming to our schools that will help improve learning for our students this year Polk County Public Schools will be providing each student with an internet accessible device the district was recently awarded a 28 million Federal grant which along with other funding is making this a reality providing
088a device to each student our one-to-one technology initiative is a very important step for our community we live in a digital age to best prepare our students for success in the classroom and Beyond we must provide them with convenient access to technology and help them understand how to use it safely and effectively our educators will also be able to develop engaging lessons that take advantage of these devices and maximize instructional time using these digital tools teachers can identify student-specific areas of need and assign the appropriate resources to assist them keep in mind that these devices are not the only way that students will be learning it will still be reading books and participating in traditional classroom activities younger students in elementary schools will be issued iPads and older students at the middle and high schools
089will have laptops all students will be able to take the devices home to continue learning outside of this normal school day before taking the devices home students will first learn how to be responsible for them and maintain them you will also provide information to parents and Guardians about proper care of the devices and options for accessing the internet from their home we will be releasing more information in the coming weeks please continue to look for updates on our website polkschoolsfl.com your child's school will also share important updates on this initiative throughout the school year thank you [Music] thank you [Music] the pilot season of the Polk County Public Schools Esports league has come to a close with a fantastic championship tournament six high school teams battled out in a single elimination track Vine to be
090the first pcps Esports champ [Music] foreign middle senior that took the top prize beating Ridge Community High in overtime Foster hitting it to the net for the Finish By Frost through to win the championship I mean I'm shaking right now that's crazy we've been working all year for this and we finally made it to find out more about our Esports League visit polkschoolsfl.com Esports [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] it's early morning at Union Academy but that doesn't slow down the Bluegrass band as they serenade the Gathering crowd in the cafeteria [Music] they're all here to celebrate this man JJ Corbin one of the first black paratroopers in World War II and longtime teacher coach and School Board member at Polk County public schools in honor of his years of service Union Academy is naming
091their media center after Mr Corbin we have a very unique setting here at Union Academy and it's only based in our history with Mr Corp being here today and US naming the media center after Mr Corbett specifically we're putting his name on the building to represent that history I want to thank all of my friends who were here look at this honor and I look back and wonder do I deserve it I hope that I've lived the kind of life that this honor could be in my name to find out more about the dedication check out our news story at polkschoolsfl.com news [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign we will now call this school board meeting back to order and we will start with our public comments for the non-agenda items just as before to
092register 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 sound when you have one minute left and when you have 30 seconds left 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 the agenda at a subsequent meeting in accordance with school board policy so first will be Octavio Hernandez and on Deck will be Megan Lester my name is Octavio Hernandez I'm a teacher at Davenport high school thank you very much for having me back and I just want to say thank you
093uh last time we were here you guys were so receptive to our students I don't think you understand the energy that they took back man all of a sudden other kids are coming we have other kids coming they're involving their parents and that's what it's about and I just want to say thank you for being so receptive and positive because too many times I feel like it's just aggression and people just come in here to complain they're coming here with the positivity and you guys were so receptive of it thank you so much and I just appreciate that tonight we have two of our students Megan Lester and Elias Aponte so they're going to be speaking now they come up with some ideas um this is what we do at the club I you know
094we come up with solution but I tell them you know what now go research it and find a way to do it find a way to solve the problem that we're having whatever it may be don't just sit there and complain don't just look at everything's wrong your homework tonight is everyone's going to go home and try to find a solution research how everything is because you guys can do everything and believe it or not some of these kids come up with some great ideas and just to give you a quick example um the Wi-Fi issues at our school you know some kids want to get the Wi-Fi password and every week you know we get a new one because somehow they get it but um you know one of the students come up to
095me like Mr Hernandez why don't they just give us our own password that has a firewall that way we can still use it and use it at the school and that way we stop complaining because the kids always find a way they're very very smart but that's the kind of thing so looking for solutions to the problems that we're having and you know because you guys were so receptive I honestly I appreciate it because it has made other students come forward students that normally wouldn't be as engaged and they're not doing it and and that kind of energy is just fueling me to keep going forward and that's what it feels you see me everywhere because I'm just trying to be a good role model for my students so thank you very much I appreciate
096that thank you thank you Octavio next will be Megan Lester and on Deck is Elias Aponte whenever you're ready okay good afternoon nice to see you all again I am Megan Lester from GSA gender student Alliance the bus transportation is dangerous for the students not just at my school but all over Polk County the students are often squished together the law for a safe drive is two students a seat but we have two to four students to see due to this the students are prone to getting hurt overcrowding is a huge issue on that point students get home around 4 pm the latest or even later depending on the route depending on their bus the buses have to do two rounds which which brings the kids home late that makes the kids hungry hot and
097tired that affects physical and mental health in the year 2035 it is supposedly the time for all vehicles to be electric buses spend at least four thousand dollars on gas a year take that and multiply it by the hundreds of buses in both in Polk County if we use that money towards building electric buses that would give us bigger and better buses that would result in less students at harm the money can go towards bus drivers pay as well biggerpay gives us more bus drivers the issue of limited space on the buses will only get worse the more time we wait to solve the transportation bus bus issue thank you Megan and next is going to be Elias Aponte and on Deck is Ree McKinney my name is Elias aponta and I'm the president of
098North Stars Moses americanas or our American voices uh Paul Camp of of Time For Eyes of high schools and middle schools have 20 to 30 minute lunches and they need longer lunches research shows that longer lunches helps kids mental and physical health they they have to scarf down the food without even digesting the food and that will result in the body lowering the metabolism keeping more nutrients in the thus overweight um it gives it also gives time for the students to have social interactions and not have constant instructional time it also gives time for the lunch workers time to prepare for the next lunch they get so overwhelmed that they rush to get the food out without even checking if it's cooked they need time to prepare and check the food to see if it's
099good and cooked a solution to this is to make lunch a class period it would give this it would give the students time to do what they want for the period they can go to the library do homework and socialize with the other kids that is all thank you for your time thank you so much you guys are both great thank you very much thank you next is Mr McKinney and then on Deck is Bernard Wells good evening I'm Ray McKinney retired from the schoolhouse 2008 but I didn't retire from education I'm still involved I still serve I want to thank the board and superintendent Hyde turning Bridges some of you I've known a long time some of you I've known a short file but all of you are to be thanked for your commitment
100and dedication to the students of Polk County and to the employees that make education happen your task is tremendous asset for all that are involved with our students the last few years have been tough with covid and all that it entailed for our students and you have continually demonstrated patience with those attendees some of whom were not from our County and some who demonstrated a lack of Civility but your actions spoke louder than their words thank you to Lynn Wilson Lynn as you leave the board a special thanks for your many contributions but I especially want to thank you for the work you did on the referendum it was a tough sale but you sold it beautifully and we all benefit from that thank you and God bless you and thank you for not retiring
101from education just from this board and to Sarah Fortney I'm going to talk to the empty chair a special thank you for coming to the board straight from the classroom you brought with you a total commitment to students our students and you demonstrated so many years in the schoolhouse that commitment it is a great loss for all of our students and our staff that you will no longer serve on this board I have known you for your entire career in Polk County Schools and I am sure you will find ways to stay involved and continue to serve again I thank each of you for your dedicated service thank you Mr McKinney next is Bernard Wells and on Deck is pamloose foreign my name is Bernard Wells and I just have a couple of concerns one
102to say that it was good to hear the superintendent say that he did not again he rejected his raise but he did not ask for an extension that it was the boards decision to do that but push it to the board would be what within less than two years can you put your fingers on that the superintendent has accomplished even if he has instituted some policy a change of any kind within a year and a half has that been enough time to see the fruits of that labor have have that time being qualified to see any of that my guess is not because uptime okay so I would expect two with the extension with less than two years on the job would you afford any other school-based Personnel debt offer would you extend that contract
103after only a little over a year maybe a year and a half on the job but you're extend them that contract there is a lot of talk within the community about uh jobs and Physicians teacher shortages particularly within the ESC Department the thought that I give to that is the talk is there is a number of ESC positions that potentially going to be cut with that shortage how can it be justified since the superintendent has been in this position superintendent Hyde has been in this position what I can see from the outside looking in has been uh of a great concern that it seemed like the district is becoming top heavy it seems as if there is a large amount of nepotism that has taken place under the superintendent tulitch meaning that with positions that
104were vacant or positions that were created at a top level which means they get top salary in a couple of years the district's going to have back problems because they are so tired but they're going to be leaning forward that's an issue especially when it comes to teachers raises the other thing is when you put people that's my time yes sir thank you for your comments next will be Pam loose and on Deck is Jeremy Knowles and the interlocal agreement first of all last week there was a there was an item on the agenda that had a contract on on the attached to the item for the property on Hatch the Hall Road the Baxter property after I sent an email to all of you to try to inform you of the site selection committee
105and the public contacted you suddenly that agenda item disappeared and there was a PowerPoint on there I've downloaded both so I have that um the developer donations are usually contracted for impact fee credits I have yet to see one in my ears here wherever a developer actually donated if that's the case here wonderful that's great um the it was also said that donated sites don't have to um be taken to the site selection committee section 389 of the interlocal agreements has negotiated sites or donated sites must meet the basic criteria for any site considered and shall be considered generally feasible by the school board staff prior to further review and inclusion in the site selection process and then it goes on about an expedited process but it all involves Our Community Partners our County and
106our cities in doing this and we're neglecting that when we don't do it I cannot tell you whether the site selection committee referenced by Miss Usher that she tried to to do is real but I can tell you that when I attempted to schedule any of them I was told that it was no one's business what property the school board purchased there were three other school sites purchased or donated for impact fee credits with no site selection committee but the site selection committee is just a tip of the iceberg I have evidence that the interlocal agreement is not being followed period especially in the area of concurrency evidence I took first to miss Usher and then to Mr Hyde on September 10 2021 and then to Mr bridges in a three-ring a three inch binder
107on November 9th 2021 and discussed it with them and showed them that evidence I am so disappointed that there seems to be a circling of the wagons here even after I've attempted to reach out to you thank you Dr Allen for for bringing up and having a discussion about it and I do hope you do um a presentation about the interlocal agreement and find out what your responsibilities really are I tried to let you know about this problem without making it a public spectacle but only one board member reached out to me to ask questions thank you Miss loose Jeremy Knowles and on Deck is Thomas Gill ette I've had on hatchney Hall Road a brief overview of why I'm here tonight after the September 6 board meeting adjourned our group met with superintendent High
108to discuss alternate sites for the proposed High School to accommodate the overcrowding of Haines City High School which was discussed earlier that day in the work session from this discussion Mr Hyde agreed that him and staff would review alternate sites that we brought forward brought forth to them we spent countless hours researching property making phone calls emailing and even using personal contacts with landowners to gather properties that we seem desirable for a new High School in that look in that area on October 10th we submitted the three properties two of the properties were considered not desirable they were referred to as the Henson Avenue properties they were out too close to the Hank City High School now I guess but the third property the Lorenz property um the owner or the estate attorney for the
109owner were never never received a phone call email nothing no type no type of contact and I confirmed that earlier this week with them and this land is available um but but as I stated that the the staff never contacted them to discuss anything with this property um earlier today it was mentioned that that property May uh have sand skinks on it and it may uh but the thing is it's highly unlikely because this is an active Citrus Grove right now so that's highly unlikely and another thing was the road issue with it um it's on a clay road so it's it's basically a ground zero to do whatever you would like to do as far as turning Lanes access any of that type of stuff um so I believe this property should be reconsidered
110uh because like I said it is available but no one's reached out to the landowners um second the Smoky Grove property that was mentioned uh there was so much misinformation on that property there there was 80 acres that said available there's 144 Acres available this uh site is already permitted to be built on with houses also the uh the uh it was considered a package sewer plant that's not true it's a full operational power uh septic plant that can be used for the school and accommodate it uh again there was the due diligence was not thank you sir Thomas Gill on Deck is Glenn Lawhorn whenever you're ready thank you madam chair I would like to point out an article written in 2006 by Tom Palmer and the reason I'm pointing this out is if
111the school is built on the Baxter property that lays the groundwork for his I believe 3 000 home development and the same thing was attempted to be done in 2006 and it was stopped because it is next to a state park the county planners also recommended it to be stopped because the traffic would overwhelm the surrounding rural urban roads if you go down the two-lane hatching Hall Road there isn't room for 6 000 cars it's not possible your school would give him the power to do that and that would be very bad because there is no infrastructure for that in that area and another issue I would like to point out is the fact that that school if it was built there it's on the edge of the county line if you walk much further
112through that cow pasture where it's going to be built you're in Osceola County you're on the very end of the county line so instead of being able to bring students in from 360 degrees you'd only be able to bring them in from a narrow plane just to benefit the Baxter development and a future fire tower development because where it is its location is not ideal for anything else it is near Poinciana other than that most of those kids go to Osceola County and due to the fact that it was originally supposed to be purchased for 12 million dollars and it is now a donation should raise a red flag as Mr Allen has pointed out because he would be getting a tax break from that and possibly some mitigation credits that is not something we
113need at Lake action Hall and that is not something we need in general you should be able to take that school somewhere else to the land that we've proposed to you and at the fire tower meeting Mr Hyde said specifically that he is open to new proposals and would research them any of the land that has been proposed to him has not been followed up on thank you left you are last but not least we saved the best for last I don't know about that I'm Glenn Lawhorn I live in Haines City and um I just want to thank you for the opportunity to come and speak for y'all tonight we're part of a very large group doc uh Mr Hyde has been out and met with us individually at FFA Center knows our concerns
114and knows that we're dead serious about our concerns and uh in our area out there we don't want our world changed and that's what's going to happen if we do this you're going to turn our world completely upside down not for just a little while forever and it's not going to get any better ever now one of the things that I researched was the roads we talked about that there's no plans anywhere at all I have a letter from the county road administrator that says there's no plans whatsoever for any improvements to hatchimal Road in the next five years no budget plans so unless you all got money heading out somewhere to change the roads out there that's going to be a big concern but I digress we're really concerned more about the impact that
115it's going to have on our lives and everybody's lives that live out there it's going to be a very dangerous road that's already bad now I know the county is coming in and trying to put a new road at Sand Hill Elementary I'm not real pleased about how that's working but we'll see um the environmental hazard that's going to come from this is bad what is that noise the environmental hazards that's going to happen is bad it's going to affect Lake hatchton Hall in a very negative way and once you start that gear rolling it's never going to stop and it's just going to March right on through all through the Bowen properties and everything down Fire Tower Road and you know we're just surrounded so we're here to fight back and tell you that
116we don't want this out there there's many other possible sites that we can do I know I spoke to a couple of landowners today and I will talk to Mr Hyde about that um but there are other properties that are available for less money and that already have infrastructure in place so um I hope that you will keep in mind that we don't want our lives changed out there you know I'm all about the students finding somewhere to put them in school but if we're going to read district for Haines City High School and possibly Poinciana or Liberty whatever is out there that needs to go further up into Poinciana that's what I think let me know your thoughts thank you for hearing me thank you [Applause] with no further business to come before the
117board I want to give one last big thank you to both Dr Wilson and Mrs Fortney for their years of service and with that we will adjourn this meeting