001[Music] Good afternoon. I would like to call the school board meeting to order for today which is September the 7th, 2021. And the first item on our agenda is invocation and following that would be a pledge to allegiance. So if we would please all stand. I've been asked to bring the invocation for today. I want to do something a little bit different. I would like to honor and memorize some of the staff that we've lost over the last month due to CO. And we've also had two students, one that was injured very seriously over the weekend and another student who passed away on Sunday. The names I will read and after that we will just have a word of silence. Erica Miller, Chain of Legs Elementary music teacher. John Croy, one of our bus drivers.
002Kelly Peterson, Lakeship Elementary teacher. Norma Riaz, Purcell Elementary, Parah Educator, and her husband who was not an employee of ours, but he passed away a few days later. His name was Ilio Riaz. I believe that's correct. And then the recent passing of Elizabeth Mendez. She's from Cotton Palmora ES inclusion teacher. And we thank each of them for their service to our school district. And we pray for their family during these difficult days. And prayers to the 11-year-old young lady who was shot over the weekend. And prayers to her family for the family members and their dog who was killed as well. And prayers to the senior from Hayne City High School who was killed in a vehicle crash Sunday morning. And I would say Lord have mercy upon us. So let us have a word
003of silence please. Thank you. You may be seated. Well, don't sit. I'm sorry. Where's Mia? Here she comes. She's so cute. Hi, Mia. How are you? I pledge of aliance 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. Let's give her a hand clap. You all may be seated. Hello Neil. Hello. How are you? Good. How is your day? Good. How is your school year going? Good. Oh, wow. Everything is good. I like that. And what grade are you in? Um, third grade. Third grade. And where do you attend school? Um, central. All right. And what is your favorite subject in school? What do you like most in school? I I like math, science, and PE.
004Wow. I like those subjects as well. And I know you have someone here with you. Who do you have that came with you today? My mom. My Where's your mom? my um right over there. Well, have her to stand so we can see it. Next to my mom and all the best principal in the whole world, Miss May and the best principal in the whole world. Wow, that's great. Well, thank you for coming today. You did a very good job and we hope that you have a great school year. Thank you. Thanks again. [Applause] Well, she's not shy, and that's a good thing. And I would like to call the schoolboard meeting to order for today, September the 7th, 2021. And the first item on our agenda is to accept today's schoolboard agenda. Superintendent Hyde,
005do we have any revisions? Miss Fields, members of the board, members of committee and staff, thank you for being here this evening. First and foremost, item K4, organizational charts and job descriptions. There's an updated attachment. Item M1, M as in Mary Boon Middle School, naming of the band building. There was an item added or the item was added, excuse me. And for item R1, the 2021 2022 financial budget and millage rates, there was an attachment added. Those are the revisions to this today's agenda. Thank you, Superintendent Hyde. And now, uh, I would, uh, like for someone to move for acceptance of the agenda for today's meeting, please. So, second. It's been moved and seconded that we accept today's agenda with the provisions that were read. Is there any discussion from anyone? If none, all those
006in favor of the agenda signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. And Superintendent Hyde. We have quite a few of special recognitions tonight. So, I'll hand turn that over to you, Vice Chair Fields. Thank you so much. It is my pleasure at this time to invite M. Schoolboard member, Miss Sarah Forney, to step down to honor the Barto Rotary Dictionary recognition. I'm going to turn it over to Steve Gibbons. He is the chair of that committee for the Barto Rotary, which is a fine organization in the city of Barto, in which I reside. Go ahead, Steve. Thank you. And I couldn't help myself. I brought along a box that's half full of dictionaries for you all. One of them happened to go into the hands of a third grader who was walking out
007the door with a big smile on her face. It just happened to be um this this program is very near and dear to my heart and and thank you all for being here. I forgot to say thank you all for being here. you all are spending your time and effort and resources on doing stuff that's very important um not just today but but tomorrow and and we really appreciate the time and effort you all take every day and and everything you do because you make such difference and I just can't say how much I appreciate you. Thank you. um this program fell into my hands as one of the Rotarians um said, "I'm just going to take them the dictionaries out and just drop them on the counter of the schools because I don't have
008enough time." And I said, "Well, we can't do that." This is about seven or eight years ago. So, at that time, we were only delivering to like three schools. I think we did Bella Baru Elementary Academy. We did uh Floral Avenue Elementary. We might have done Gibbon Street and we were doing James E. Stevens. Not very many. So we were doing fifth graders at that point to to give a dictionary into their hands. And this dictionary includes the United States um Constitution. It it contains Declaration of Independence. It has a periodic table of elements. It has a biographies of all of the presidents, a write up of the states, of countries, of planets. I mean, you name it. It's a little reference book. It's a great little book. So at that time we found out
009that third grade was where we were supposed to be delivering these to. We didn't know this but we were delivering them each and every student in fifth grade. So we came out one year and we raised additional monies and these are practically all uh individual donations. Um and we we collected money for fourth and third graders in those schools and we started expanding our schools. So now we go to third graders and this last year we were unable to go in any schools. So we raised money last summer 2020 to buy dictionaries and then we never did buy them because we weren't allowed into the schools. This year raised the money again said I think we're going to get there this year and I think we are. So we will be in schools in Barto
010the ones I named. We will go to to Fort me uh Lewis and Woodbury. We'll go to Malberry for both uh PCEL and to um Willow Oak. We'll go to Highland City to Spessert Holland and Highland City Elementary. We'll go to Alurus to Alurus Elementary. We'll go to Eagle Lake for Eagle Lake uh Elementary and um Pinewood. And then we go to five in Winterhaven as well. So, we go to Garner, Inwood, uh, Lakeship, uh, Snively, and Wanita. So, we go to five schools there. We're a little bit out of our lane really when it comes right down to it. We're a civic club. We're supposed to be doing stuff for whatever. Well, in this project, we decided to get big and go bigger. And so, now we're going to about 16 schools every year
011and presenting dictionaries to all of those students in the third grade. Last year, we missed the third grade. So this year we're going to hit hit third grade and fourth grade. Couple of weeks ago we received 3,000 dictionaries um from the dictionary project out of Charleston, South Carolina and it cost us $9,000. We're not asking for any money here. We had all this money donated by individual donations and also by public supermarket charities and Pulk Education Foundation. We can't thank these people enough because it really makes a difference. And you're saying a dictionary. What does a dictionary do? Well, the dictionary in and of itself doesn't do a whole lot. It's the spark that it makes within the student to have them actually pick up this this dictionary and to start to learn how information
012is categorized, how knowledge is available in the printed word. And to to see that spark take place in the student, in the individual is is very neat. And at the end of the process, I asked them all to write letters of thank you to the the people who donated the money. And one year, I got all the d all the thank you notes. And within all those thank you notes, we had about 43 misspellings of the word dictionary or dictionaries. And the next year, I presented all that out to people and saying, "This is why we need this program." But it's so cool and and to have the access to the like the young lady you just saw. For me to walk into a school and to present these dictionaries for free to your third
013grade and fourth grade students now this year is really a special moment. Um and I just can't thank you enough again for what you do. Um this is something that we don't we don't look for any of your money. We don't look for any anything back from the schools. We just try to get the knowledge into the hands of the students and to hopefully see a spark that they're going to go forth and start to make a difference in their lives. So, thank you all very much. Thank you very much. Was that enough, Sarah? That was perfect. I want to thank uh Marissa Green for getting this certificate of appreciation for the Barto Rotary Club uh ready for us. Here you go. want to get a dictionary. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you get an honorary dictionary.
014I don't even think I'll hold it. All right. Great. Thanks so much, Steve. We appreciate your group and your effort. Thank you. At this time, I'd like to invite school board member Dr. William Allen to step down to assist us with recognition. Also, will Mr. Dan Talbot, the district's athletic director, and Mary Joe Costine, principal at Lake Region High School, please come forward. They will be recognizing two of our employees for their truly heroic efforts of late. All right, Dr. Allen. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair, Superintendent High. We appreciate the opportunity to come here. Um, I do I'm the director of athletics for Pulk County Public Schools. I have one of the greatest jobs in the district. I get to witness miracles every Friday night and every Tuesday and Thursday night with our young student
015athletes participating in athletics and being able to achieve their dreams. But unfortunately, with the good, unfortunately, there is a bad side to our business. And on August 20th, we had a student athlete uh seriously injured in a football game out of town on Friday night. And with some circumstances, we couldn't get a hold of the parents um to notify the parents of the of the injury. The student athlete was transported to one hospital. They could not help this student athlete and we had to transport him to another hospital out of town. And with the actions of two schoolboard employees who I'd like to call up right now, Samantha Bangley and Coach Jeff Bangley for their actions, uh, the student athlete received the proper care that they needed and to explain what happened. Um, Coach Bangley
016is the head football coach at Lake Region High School and was actually coaching the game and a true definition of a coach's wife um stepped in, rode with the student athlete to both of the facilities uh was giving all of us update as the nights were going on and then immediately following the game after coach secured his team on the bus to get him home. He then uh the athletic director drove him to the hospital um waiting on the parents to arrive in unfortunate situations they could not get there. So coach and his wife, we do appreciate you. They stayed with the young student athlete till 1:00 the next day, did not sleep, and stayed by his bedside to ensure that he was loved for, he was cared for, and that he was going to
017be okay. And obviously to understand the culture at Lake Region that Miss Costine's trying to build, the student athlete was more concerned about getting back to school. And obviously they were in school on Monday when they probably had every right to stay up and take the day off, but they didn't. But Coach Samantha, we appreciate your dedication to our student athletes, to our students, of our community, and what you did is went above and beyond, and we certainly do appreciate it and wanted to recognize here today. So, thank you very much. [Applause] Thank you so much, coach and Miss Samantha. and I spoke to them the next day and I was worried that when I was calling them they'd want to be asleep, but neither one of them were. They were still awake. So, thank
018you. It means a lot. Next, I'd like to ask Miss Susan Copelan, executive director of the Pulk Education Foundation, to come up for her scholarship donor recognition. talk about each of you. Good afternoon, evening board members, Superintendent Hyde. Thank you for allowing us to be here. Special recognitions are always a fun part of what we get to do and showcase um our community that helps support the work of the education foundation. So, most of you know uh we were created in 1988 as a vehicle for scholarships. We've grown to do so much more, but scholarships still are our largest program. We have about 150 individual donors. Couldn't bring them all here tonight, but I do have a small group uh to share with you. Thanks to the these folks and others like them in our
019community, individuals, families, businesses, civic groups, organizations, we were able to provide 347 scholarships. Last year, it totaled $839,000, all to help our Pulk County graduates go to college. So, as I said, we have lots of donors that help support this program, but a few tonight just to show you uh the variety of things that are offered. So, first we have Brokers Realy of CFI. Their scholarship is offered to students at Auburndale High School. It was started in 2015 and since that time they've awarded $6,000. So, Kayy Farmer is here. If you'll come forward, Mr. Allan has the certificate of appreciation for you and she's here on behalf of Renee Butler, excuse me, and the Butler team from Brokers Realy. So, thank you very much. Next, the John and Jana Livingston Trust Scholarship began in 2016.
020Students have to have a Winter Haven address to apply and Mr. U Livingston and his late wife designated $4,000 a year for a student when they graduated. Over the past years, he has awarded $96,000 in scholarships. So, Mr. Livingston, thank you. And we have a certification as well. The Lakeland Electric Steam Scholarship began in 2018 and was created to assist assist students from Lakeland area high schools who plan to study in a steam field. Today they have awarded $19,000 and we'd like to thank their manager, Mr. Joel Ivy from Lakeland Electric. And he's got a marketing manager back there, um, Katherine, who's taken pictures. So, if you'll come forward, we thank appreciate you very much. And last, but certainly not least, is the Ask Me Local 2227. They provide a scholarship opportunity for their members
021children. This award began in 2013 and they have awarded almost $5,000 since that time. Several members are here tonight to be recognized and I was told they also have an announcement. So, if you'll come forward, get your certificate of appreciation. We thank you very much. And I'll let uh one of you make your announcement. And if anyone else would like to speak after that, you're welcome to. But we appreciate you all so very much. Okay. Um I'm Larry Milhorn. I used to be the president of asked me. Um I retired this year. But when we started this scholarship, Tony Blair was the guy that actually got it started with us. He had the idea first. Tony passed away this year. So we want to honor him by naming the scholarship after him. So from now
022on, it's known as the Tony Blair Aspie Scholarship. Um Tony was a great guy. This is his wife Kathy. Um, this is hard for me because Tony meant a lot to me. And we didn't expect him to go when he went and uh this is a small thing to honor him in this way, but I'm telling you, he was for the kids and the people of this county and this district. and he always did what he could do for all of our members and all the children that he came in contact with. And I want to thank the local and Jeremy Walker which suggested naming it after him which didn't take much to do because soon as he suggested everybody said yeah. Um, but I want to thank everybody for doing that and God rest
023Tony and I hope this honor brings his family some comfort. [Applause] Anybody else want to say anything? You wouldn't like would you like to? So I'm a firm believer Joel Ivy Lake Electric by the way. I'm a firm believer in the the whole notion that a rising tide floats all boats. I think with good corporate participation, good civic organization participation, we can help you all continue to raise the level of of our school district and that that is what we should all be aiming for because we need these kids be coming back and working for us and then eventually taking over. So we're happy to participate. We're just basically throwing money at this. You guys got the hard jobs and the hard decisions to make. We totally support you all and we hope that this
024helps in some small way. So, thank you very much. Thank you. I'd like just take a a second. Um back I don't know whenever it was that we decid when the wife and I decided to do something u we didn't know where to start. We, you know, we've both believed firmly that you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but you teach him how to fish and you feed him for life. I I called, and not to shed any disfavor on them, but I I called the Boys and Girls Clubs because I thought that might be a logical logical place to start. And they all have a gatekeeper. I don't remember the executive director's name at the time, but I asked for him and was told that he wasn't in. I
025told the gatekeeper what I wanted. Called three times. Never got a never got a reply. Then I tried the YMCA. Same thing. You know, why do you keep doing the same thing and expect different results? But what I'd like to say is you you need to get more publicity about what the Pulk Education Foundation does because I'm sure there are other people in this community that would be glad to step in and donate. That's all. I'm done. All right. Come stand in the middle. Yeah. One, two, three. Thank you all. At this time, will Janette Crowley, senior coordinator of strategic partnerships, please come forward for the focus on excellence campaign. Well, good evening. Thank you all for the opportunity to um shine a spotlight on our employee appreciation cam campaign. So, Focus on Excellence is
026a year-long campaign to spotlight the important contributions of all Pulk County Public School employees. Each quarter, the program will accept nominations for a different group of employees. A committee will select five employees per quarter as honores to receive prizes from our generous sponsors as well as attend a special lunchon. In addition to being recognized at a schoolboard meeting, they will also be highlighted on the district's social media channels, website, and internal external newsletters. Over the course of the year, we will recognize and highlight a total of 20 employees. Our first group of nominations within the clerical, custodial, maintenance, and warehouse departments were submitted and have gone through a committee selection process for we just launched this this year um with this new uh nomination and committee process and we had 377 nominations that went down
027to 92 and then went down to 21 and then it went to five. I'm excited to announce our first group of five winners. Each of our winners will receive a plaque that was produced by the students in the fabrication lab under the direction of Mr. Mike Bastido at Daniel Jenkins Academy in Hayne City. Representing our clerical group is Shannon Degraph. She's a principal secretary at Laughman Oaks Elementary. She could not be here tonight. However, Mr. Victor Duncan will come forward and accept her award on her behalf. This is the nicely created award. That's for Shannon. Thank you. Yes. Um I would just like to say a few words from Shannon's nomination so people can get an idea of how excellence excellent Shannon is. From her nomination, Mrs. Degraphth is a team player who works to
028make sure everyone feels acknowledged. She started a yearly breakfast and lunch to honor her school's facility staff. Mrs. Degraph is a loving human and is always demonstrating kindness to her school's students. Everything she volunteers to do to make sure her students feel safe and loved. Congratulations to Mrs. Degraph. Our second um employee representing the clerical group is Linda Griggs who is with us tonight. She is a secretary at Barto Middle. Linda, can you please come forward? Right. I believe uh Mr. Roberts is here too. Come on. Her principal. Also, Miss Tracy Collins is here too. Tracy, are you in? Come forward. Yes. Congratulations, Mrs. Griggs. I'm going to say a few words. Uh Mrs. Griggs Griggs has created lots of masks for anyone who needed or wanted one at no charge. She always has treats
029and is never too busy to lend a helping hand. She does all of this with a smile. She makes the school run so smoothly. Yes. Our next our next honore within our clerical group is Heather Manley. She is principal secretary at Dr. Annie Roberts. She could not be with us tonight either. However, Dr. Dr. Ben Henry will accept her word award on her behalf. Award. Ms. Manley is always smiling and helping everyone at her school. She will come in early and stay late when others are absent. She is always supporting students and celebrating them. She is in charge of the school's student of the month recognition program. So congratulations. [Applause] Representing our custodial group, we have Debbie Vernoi. Come on, Debbie. Come on, Mr. Deal and Mr. Osborne. Come on. They're being shy. So Debbie,
030let me tell you about Debbie. Debbie has worked, Miss Venoi has worked for PK County Public Schools for 35 years. Do y'all hear that? 35 years. And as Miss Vo Vernoy is nearing retirement and while her body is starting to slow down, her spirit is not. And I know that she has always gone above and beyond. She does everything that is in her control to make sure that her school is clean and appealing. She lives close to the school and has had many answered um late night phone calls to answer the alarm and to help out in numerous ways ways after school hours. Even when she did not have a car, it didn't stop her. It wasn't a problem. She jumped on her bike and rode it down the street to check on her school.
031Wow. When Mrs. Vin Vernoi's own children were in school. She was a well-known figure both at school and in her neighborhood. She would frequently work with a school counselor to help identify students for her from her own neighborhood who needed additional support that the school could provide. Congratulations. And our fifth honore representing our maintenance group is Alonzo Lynch who is a painter in the LW9 service area. He could not be here with us tonight, so I'd like Dwight Marsh to accept his award on his behalf. A few words from the nomination form about Mr. Lynch. Mr. Lynch is always professional and courteous. He takes his job seriously. Mr. Lynch had an opportunity to work around students to paint some cabinets. He wanted to make sure that no one would be distracted, so he waited until
032the planning period and when the students were in specials areas. He always put so much pride into his work. So, I want to say congratulations to each of our honores. I also want to thank our generous sponsors. We were able to um give each of our honores, our winners, and our nominees some gifts, appreciation gifts. A huge shout out to the following that have come on board with us. Chick-fil-A, CPS Investment Advisors, Fitness Running and Fitness, Hand and Sewed Massage and Facial Spa, the Lakeland location, Image Depot Express, Lakeland Magic, Logo Out Loud, and Public Supermarkets, Inc. We look forward to honoring each of you at a special lunchon coming up later this month where you'll receive numerous additional gifts from our sponsors as well. So, it is our hope that with this program, we
033will inspire others within our organization to stop and simply say, "Thank you for a job well done." We all need to hear it, and when we do, we're better equipped to give our very best back to our students. The nomination window for our next group is October 11th through 22nd, and the employee group consists of our pair of professionals, our professional technical, and our administrators. I'll be back in December highlighting that group and then from there we'll have our additional groups go forward as well. So, um I just want to thank all of you again um and just say congratulations for everything that you do for PK County Public Schools. And I'd like to see if you'd like to say a few words. [Laughter] Okay. Okay. No problem. Debbie is one of the unsung heroes.
034Cat has her tongue today, but she Debbie is one of those the unsung heroes of the school system that every school has. They just quietly do their job. They clean up when you call them to clean up the vomit or the bathroom that the kids made a mess in. They do it without hesitation. Then late night alarm calls. She's been there. She's chased water moxins, alligators, possums, you name it, she's done it. So, uh, hats off to Debbie. [Applause] Okay. Okay. One, two, three. Congratulations and a big thank you to everybody. Thank you, Dr. Alan, at this time I'd like to ask Lisa Miller to step down and she will present this evening's disability awareness month's proclamation. And will Miss Kitchens, ESC senior manager, please come forward as well for the recognition. Okay. Whereas 2021
035marks the 31st year passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the 76th anniversary of the National Disability Employee Awareness Month. And whereas the theme for the NDAM 2021 is America's recovery powered by inclusion. I love that reflects the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from CO 19. And whereas employees and students with disabilities are of all racial, ethnic, educational, social, and economic backgrounds and are all valued members of the Pulk County Public Schools. And whereas Pulk County Public Schools encourages partnerships between the district, post-secondary institutions, and the community at large to promote inclusion as well as equity in the hiring practices for people with disabilities. And whereas Pulk County Public Schools transition services provides post-secary educational opportunities for students
036with disabilities between post-secary institutions, local technical colleges, and district work study programs that lead to internships and paid employment. And whereas there are more than 14,900 students with disabilities enrolled in our K12 system to include our post-secary schools. And whereas early intervention, education, and employment are considered vital to enabling our students with disabilities to enjoy the rights of citizenship. And whereas all PK County public schools are committed to promoting the four principles of the American Disabilities Act by providing instruction related to disability history and the disability rights movement through school curriculum and other school related activities. Now therefore, be it resolved that the school board of PK County do hereby proclaim October 20 21 as disability awareness month. Thank you. And now board member Miller will read the proclamation for Pardon me. Hi, I'm sorry.
037My name is Shandra Hall. I'm the um senior director of equity, diversity, and management. I would like to present the proclamation uh to Miss Carly Jackson, one of our transition students in the district. And Mrs. Kens is here with her and so is Miss Chris Newman Lake. Um, I've heard so many wonderful things about Carly, but I'm gonna give y'all an opportunity to say a few words if if you don't mind. Thank you. To share how well she's doing on her position. Thank you. Hello, my name is Kari Jackson. I am very excited to tell you all about my experiences at the transition program. During my time with the transition program at George Jenkins High School, I gained a lot of useful experience. I learned to count money, cook meals, and made deliveries all over
038the school. I was able to see friends and teachers all around the school. During my last two years, I went to to the Central Florida Aerospace Academy located at the Sun and Fun campus. I really enjoyed working there. At the Sun and Fun office, I was able to use my artistic abilities and create posters for their events and did the artwork for a children's book. The book was called Roger that. I was also able to put my skills to use when I career experience at Fish City Grill at Lakeside Village. I was able to draw the menus on their chalkboards while also helping with table setup. One great thing about being at Fish City Grill is that I got to eat for free. My final year with the transition program was awesome. Many things had
039to be cancelled because of co but we finally got to go back in career shadow in February of 2021. That's when I started working at the schoolboard office in BTO. There Mr. Jeff taught me how to use Adobe Illustrator. Once I got the hang of it, I designed all the gift cards for the Pulk County Public Schools website. I also designed the new mascot Berry for a new elementary school. Plus, I drew some caricatures for the teacher of the awards. I feel very blessed to have worked with such great people like Mrs. Schultz and Miss Sterling. They helped me to build my resume and we practice interview skills. Because of their help, I know now know work in the information services department of the Pulk County Public Schools in the Jim Mouse building. Plus, I'm
040very thankful everyone at Sunf Fund and Pulk County Public Schools. God has been wonderful to me and he tells me that we are all special and have gifts in our own different ways. Mine is art and I love it. I'm so thankful I was able to use my talents in the transition crow. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Um, not only is she a transition student, but she's a part-time employee for Bolt County School. So, thank you a part and she did a great job. She did fantastic. Good evening. I'm Tiffany Kitchens. I'm the ESC senior manager for transition services. You have to excuse me because I get a little choked up because I hear stories like Carly and it really um touches my heart and she's just one of many students that have
041been able to be employed or to volunteer in a in a setting that is perfect for for every student. That's our job is to carve out the perfect setting for each one. I have with me tonight Chris Newman Lake. She's another ESC senior manager. So, thank you for being here tonight. Um, in my role, I have the opportunity to educate and inform schools, staff, stakeholders, work with students, and parents to help them um, see and get access to what post-secondary opportunities they have for them. It's not only in a work setting. It could be at Pulk State College. It could be at Ridge Technical College, Travis Technical College. Um, we also have seven sites located throughout the district with a team of teachers, paras, employment specialists, um, that really help provide hands-on experiences for students
042as well as help them gain employment that can be from resume writing to job applications to mentoring them during um during during job interviews. Um, this year alone, we've had four students hired with more on the way. We're super excited. We're changing lives in young adults. Parents are excited, but what's most important is the students are excited. They feel like they have purpose and they're moving forward. Um, our goal this year is to partner with our community late liaison, Steve Warner, so we can really get the word out and let people know we're here and we're here to help students. Um, and thank you for tonight. Thank you, Miss Miller. Thank you, Carly Jackson. And thank you, Miss Neman Lake, for being here. Have a great evening. One, two, three. Now, I'd like to ask
043board member Miller to read the proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month. And Miss Shandra Hall, senior director of diversity, will come forward to accept the proclamation. She has a group she'll bring. She is bringing the Hispanic Club of Lakeland. We're presenting the proclamation to them tonight. Yes, ma'am. We'll read first and then Okay, we're so excited. This is a night of proclamations. Whereas the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Congress has authorized a designation of National Hispanic Heritage Month. And whereas PK County Public Schools embraced diversity and promotes cultural awareness within our organization for all students as well as staff. And whereas Pulk County Public Schools recognizes that diversity and inclusion is one of our biggest assets as a school district that serves more than 106,000 students. And whereas the school board of
044Pulk County currently has 38.8% of students and 14.3% of instructional employees of Hispanic descent. And whereas Pulk County Public School recognizes the Hispanic culture as an attribute and acknowledges that many contributions made to our school's community and our country by Hispanic stakeholders. And whereas the school board of pole county also recognizes the businesses and economic development of the Hispanic community as a link to the educational advancement of our Hispanic students. Now therefore, be it resolved by the school board of pole county hereby proclaim September 15, 2021 to October 15, 2021 as National Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank you so much, Miss Miller. So, tonight I have with me Mrs. Susie Ais and Angie Ellis. Um they are a part of the Lakeland um Hispanic Club of Lakeland. I've had a chance to meet them maybe two
045years ago. They don't remember, but I served um at one of the booths. I had to work that night and it was raining, but I enjoyed it. So, I stayed after my shift and I got all wet, but I enjoyed the festival. So, each year they uh put on a festival. October the 23rd this year will be um and all of the proceeds go to scholarships for our students. So, please go out and support our Hispanic festival in Lakeland, in the city of Lakeland this year. And if you would like to have a few words to say. Yes. Hi, I'm Susie Ales with the Hispanic Club of Lakeland and um on their behalf um thank you so much um for the opportunity. Thank you, Miss Hall. Thank you to the board members and thank you
046to um all the the teachers. We believe in um education. We believe in the power of knowledge. We believe in um higher education, not just your traditional four-year college, but we're big on trade school, um public safety, careers, and um we believe if you have a trade, you have a job for life. So, um we have awarded over $100,000 in scholarships and um and thank you so much for the proclamation and for um acknowledging us. So, thank you so much. Thank you, board member Miller. At this time, I'd like to invite school board member Sarah Forney to come forward and she will read the LGBT history month proclamation. Shandra Hall, our senior director for diversity, will accept the proclamation. And we have guests. Yes, we have our GSA club of Lakeland High School and Harrison
047School of the Art. I see their guidance counselor here as well, Megan Sims, Pope Pride. We have Ace and Riley. Thank you for joining us. uh proclamation school board of Pulk County, Barto, Florida. Whereas lesbian, gay, by and transgender LGBTQ Americans have made and continue to make lasting contributions to our society. And whereas LGBTQ month reminds both the LGBT and wider communities of important roles that LGBT people have taken in creating the social, legal, and political worlds we live in today. And whereas this month we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans and we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT students and staff. And whereas LGBT educators, students, and families should be supported to live an affirmative life with dignity and respect. And whereas 18.2% 2% of students in Florida
048identify as LGBT or unsure and 1.5 identify as transgender are more likely to be bullied at school compared to their peers. Whereas the Pulk County School District appreciates and recognizes the importance of LGBTQ history month as an effective means of educating and calling to action the stakeholders to work together to pro promote equal protection of all Pulk County students and staff regardless of orientation, gender identification or expression. Now therefore, be it resolved that the school board of Pulk County do hereby proclaim October 2021 as LGBTQ history month. Thank you. Hello, my name is Megan Sims and I'm the advisor sponsor of the Gender Sexuality Alliance Club, also known as GSA, at Lakeland High School and Harrison School for the Arts. My pronouns are she, her. With me today are two of the officer board members,
049uh, President Riley, uh, Schwarz, pronouns he, him, and board member Ace Hudson, pronouns they, them. First, I would like to thank the school board on behalf of the GSA members and myself for recognizing the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, interex, and asexual or LGBTQIA history and presenting us with this proclamation. Having our history highlighted is important for LGBTQIA representation in education. The GSA at LHS and Harrison has grown from a small group of kids to a formidable contingency of 30 plus students on any given week. The club is incredibly important to students as it provides a safe, welcoming space for them to be themselves and be with those who understand the struggles that often comes with being otherred. We spend time discussing LGBTQIA history and queer representation in the media, working on arts
050and crafts, and more. Ultimately, the club is a supportive environment for the creative and emotional output that these students might not otherwise have. So, why do these students attend GSA? Well, many lack support at home, and some even experience the same thing in the classroom. During my 11 years as a PK County educator, I've been tremend I have seen tremendous strides made with acceptance of these students. However, there is still more that can be done, and the students of this GSA hope that the school board and our new superintendent will continue to strive for better for these students, especially our transgender students. In a 2019 study, the Center for Disease Control estimated that 2% of the school age population is transgender. For Pulk County, that would equate to approximately 2,000 transgender students. In fact, statistics
051show that positive support is in school is crucial for the mental health of transgender students. For example, using their chosen name results in significant reductions in depression symptoms by 71%, suicidal thoughts by 34% and suicide attempts by 65%. It is imperative that we all work together to provide the safest, most inclusive environment that we can for our transgender students because it can literally save lives. It is never enough to be content that what we have accomplished thus far when those accomplishments only meet a minimum. the students of GSA and I implore all of you to do what you can to implement stronger LGBTQIA inclusive policies and also better as training for administrators, teachers, and staff. Let what we do now lay a strong foundation for a near future where all our students are first in
052Pulk County. We sincerely thank you for this recognition and your time this evening. Thank you again, guys. And as they're gathering for their picture, I would like to say um as a part of my role, this is one of the most uh pleasurable opportunities for me to amplify community organizations, staff members, and students that are promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in our district. Um so, thank you so much for participating tonight, all of our uh groups, and uh we will continue this work. I want everyone, staff and students to come to work or come to school and feel wanted, valued and included. So, thank you again and thank you for this opportunity. [Applause] Two, three. At this time, I'd like to ask Miss Forney to please come forward and read the proclamation for Red Ribbon
053Month. Miss Janette Crowley, senior coordinator strategic partnerships, will come forward to accept the proclamation. Yep. All right. Proclamation school board of P County, Barto, Florida. Whereas substance abuse is the most common risk factor impacting youth and society and the prevention education programs offered by Interact Alliance have proven to be effective tools in reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors with recent research showing that 84% of PK County students in 6th through 12th grades chose not to drink alcohol. And whereas Interact Alliance has been providing prevention education to youth and adults in Pulk, Hardy, and Highlands County communities since 1985, working diligently to reduce the abuse and underage use of harmful substances along with the involvement in risky behaviors through community awareness, involvement, pres prevention, education, economic support, and leadership development. hand. Whereas Interact Alliance serves
054as the fiscal agent for the standup pulk adultbased and uh of impact youth impact youth oh youth impact uh youthbased coalitions for a drug-free pulk and works in collaboration with the county and law enforcement to host the annual own the upside prevention summit medication takeback events and establish permanent prescription depositories. ies to safely and properly dispose of unused medications. And whereas the 36th annual red ribbon campaign will be highlighted by the red ribbon run and challenge presented by Interact Alliance and title sponsor Public Soup Markets on Saturday, October 16, 2021, creating a community event in which elementary and middle school students participate in a race heat and families can run or walk in a family fun run around picturesque Lake mirror and participate in weekly online health challenges during October to support the prevent prevention
055education anti-bullying and encourage healthy life choices. Heck of a paragraph there. Whereas each citizen is encouraged to wear a red ribbon to symbolize our commitment to a healthy and safe environment for each citizen and participate in events during the month of October and throughout the year that support a positive healthy lifestyle. Now therefore, be it resolved that the school board of Pulk County do hereby proclaim October 21 2021 as National Red Ribbon Month. And I read red for real. There we There you go. All right. And then we have All right. So, um, I'm Janette Crowley, as all of you know. So, in addition to my role here, I also serve as president of the board for Interact Alliance. So, I just want to thank my fellow board member, Captain Seymour, for also being here
056with me along with our staff at Interact Alliance, Sam and Angie Ellison. Also, Kamaya along with the students from Youth Impact. Um, I appreciate them being here as well. And Kamaya is a 12th grader at Winter Haven High School and she'd like to say a few words on behalf of her leadership class. Hi, good evening everyone. I'm a class member um of 11 of Youth Impact and we are a coalition of teams from all over Pulk County who work together to make real change in our culture and I want to thank all of you guys for your efforts in supporting us. Thanks, Kamaya. [Applause] Okay. Ready. Thank you all for being here. Thank you so much. And we love the keychain, madame vice chair. That concludes recognition this evening. Thank you, Superintendent Hyde. We want
057to congratulate and we want to thank all of the uh different groups and individuals that were recognized tonight. We thank you for your support of our students and our staff and our school district. The next item on our agenda is for public comments on agenda items. Uh I want to um have Mr. Bridges to make comments before we have anyone to speak during our meeting. Mr. Bridges. Thank you, Madam Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder to all speakers addressing the school board this evening, uh there will actually be three opportunities to address the board tonight. at the beginning of the meeting before any official action is taken on the agenda for any speakers wishing to address items that are on the agenda for action. Again, at the end of the meeting for any speakers
058wishing to address matters that are not on the agenda for action and today there will also be public hearings scheduled. So, comments addressing the subjects of the public hearings may be delivered at that time. When you're recognized by the chair, please give your name and address. If you're affiliated with a group, you may announce that as well. If you wish to speak, please fill out a speaker card which is available at the entrance and each speaker will be allotted three minutes to speak. Please direct all comments to the chair and refrain from making personal attacks or using profanity. Also, please do not stand or otherwise block the vision of those behind you. Ladies and gentlemen, those are the rules. Thank you, uh, Mr. Bridges. And I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we
059have nothing on the board agenda tonight that relates to mask. You're more than welcome to have comments about mask. That would be at the end of the meeting. As we hear the board members report and after their report, if you have filled out the blue card, that's when you get a chance to speak for your three minutes. And then if you filled out the yellow card, this would be related to something that's on the agenda for tonight. And I have two cards. Two people that have asked to speak related to an item on the agenda. And the first person is Betsy Gotwin. Miss Gotwin, you can come right up here and just give us your name and your address, please. And you have three minutes to speak. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. My name is Mary
060Biker Godwin, also known as Betsy. I'm a 29y year veteran teacher and school counselor, licensed mental health counselor, and a master's level addictions professional. I'm here to voice the same belief I shared with Superintendent Hyde on Friday, a strong and firm and reasonable objection to the promotion of Barry Marbut to the director of employee and labor relations. Thinking of Mr. Marbut leads me to think of the term moral turpitude. Not only have I and my friends, colleagues, and family been subjected to his lack of confidentiality, bias, and harassment in his current position as a personnel investigator analyst, which the title has recently changed. He seems to be extremely narcissistic as is his predecessor. The position he is being promoted to requires absolute honesty, lack of bias, appropriate knowledge, and be above reproach. Barry Marba does
061not meet these requirements. things such as a DUI while a Lake Wales law enforcement officer driving the city vehicle and getting into an accident and resigning in lie of termination, a bankruptcy, a chapter 7 bankruptcy, lack of HR credentiing, um possible conflict of interest between his personal business and life and employment as a Pulk County Public Schools HR uh person and difficulty securing ing his credentials on the Department of Agricultural's uh licensing um board suggests he is not an appropriate candidate for this job. It leads me to be um to an interesting perspective as we watch questionable personnel decisions being made within the last month or so. I would like to see Superintendent Hyde do a better job at vetting and think about moral turpitude when considering the decision of hiring and placing personnel in
062certain positions. Thank you. The next person is I hope I pronounced his name correctly. Vessel Docker. If I messed it up, I apologize. Thank you, Madam Chair. It is Yel Dur. And my address is uh exempt from the public record, so I'm just going to say P County, but was on the card. Uh thank you for giving me the opportunity today. I want to talk about the consent agenda uh items in the H you know four five six or the items about the money basically I add them up I guess four says 4,700,000 roughly five is 2,785,000 and the six is 5,49,000 so when you roughly at these three it makes, you know, more than $12 million. And you had other bid items adding maybe more than $2 million. And earlier during the work session,
063I heard one of the uh board members uh being more transparent about the uh high price items like million dollar. So, it was good to hear that. I hear I'm here to comment on the general budget. I recently learned that even though I live in P County long time, uh, P County school board's budget is over $1.5 billion or maybe $1.8 billion. That's a lot of money. And I heard learned that school board is the largest employee in the Pulk County. That's very important status. I thought Publix was apparently not. So you all are here. have a great responsibility and community service and I thought P county commissioner board budget would be more than school board. I don't know their budget but your budget this you know amount of money being trusted gives you a
064lot of responsibility and accountability. One other thing I heard about is that budget and the deficit like every year there is some kind of shortcoming that there's not enough funding. Maybe that short is being paid to the reserves that were supposed to have or maybe programs being cut. And I also learned that the millillage the main funding for the school board is going down. What are we doing? Oh, we're not increasing people's taxes. We're not increasing, you know, real estate tax. If it's going to help the school board get its budget into them and and serve better to the society, I'm personally willing to pay more for my real estate taxes. How we can help? My question to school board is to come up ask public how we can help school board to you know
065have a better budget and that fully supply fund our students and staff whatever they need. So thank you for your time. Have a good day. Thank you sir. Okay. Now we will move to the approval of minutes. We have three sets of minutes to approve. The first set of minutes is to approve the minutes of the August the 24th, 2021 schoolboard meeting. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that the minutes for the August the 24th, 2021 schoolboard meeting be approved. Is there any discussion? If none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next act would be to approve the minutes of the August the 24th, 2021 grievance hearing. I need a motion, please. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded
066that we approve the minutes of the August the 24th, 2021 grievance hearing. Is there any discussion? If none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. The last set of minutes will be the approved minutes of the August the 24th, 2021 work session. A motion, please. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the minutes of the August the 24th, 2021 work session. Is there any discussion? If none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next item would be the approval of the consent agenda. Does anyone want to remove anything from the consent agenda to the regular agenda? If not, I need a motion for approval of the consent agenda, please. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that
067we approve the consent agenda. Is there any discussion? Mr. Wilson. Thank you. Um, Madam Vice Chair, I Yes. Earlier today, I asked that uh Superintendent Hyder staff discuss I items H4 through H6. Those are the um high dollar value items. Yes, sir. So, for clarification, these are not high dollar priced values. These are not purchase services. Um we had a speaker a moment ago. These are federal funds and grants that are afforded and allocated to our school district. These are renewals. For example, number one, title two part a supportive effective instruction to the tune of $4,713,86.93. That has four primary objectives and goals to help develop and implement initiatives to assist with recruiting and hiring effective teachers. to increase the effectiveness of all teachers through the evaluation and highly qualified personnel professional development strategies. Increasing
068the retention of effective teachers, principles, and other school leaders and prioritizing the effective teachers of for high need students, particularly those in lowincome schools with high percentages of ineffective teachers and high percentages of students who do not meet the challenging state academic standards. The second item before us uh this evening is a title 4 part A grant for student support and academic enrichment totaling $2,785,369. This grant in particular targets our migrant Esau families and will place 54 former migrant um agricultural workers in career path employment opportunities which will allow them to sustain themselves and their families and continue services for the 152 future completers as well. The program works to assess the needs of each participant and creates an appropriate career path with a primary focus on literacy skills, developing or attaining a high school
069diploma or GED equivalent and providing occupational skills. The final one is the UNICEG which is related to school improvement and that is to the tune of $5,49,000 $18122 that will target 20 schools who currently qualify for UNICEG and the goal of those dollars is to ensure that we provide all of our D and F title one or non-title one schools with additional funds to help address the needs within that campus. There is an application process that goes along with UNIC for approval. Miss Barnes and her team do an excellent job of managing that process for us and working with our federal program staff as well to ensure that we're coding and um tracking those dollars and expenditures appropriately. The schools that will be involved include Alta Vista Elementary School, Frost Proof Brenhill Griffin Elementary School,
070Crystal Lake Elementary, Dennis Middle, Dixie Land Elementary, East Side Elementary, Fred Garner Elementary, Griffin Elementary, Inwood Elementary, James E. Stevens Elementary, Jesse Keane Elementary, John Snively Elementary, Laurel Elementary, Mclofflin Middle, Oscar J. Pope Elementary, Palmetto Elementary, Philip O'Brien Elementary, Purcell Elementary, Spook Hill Elementary, and Tenner Rock High School. It is important to note that there several of these schools actually exited DA criteria based off their significant improvement last year. However, because of the way Florida and other states were managing um COVID when it rel as it relates to statewide assessments, the federal government and the state will not produce a new lowest performing schools list because there were still choice options afforded to each school district as to whether or not they would accept the grade um in the midst of COVID testing environment. And
071so, as you know, we accepted the grade for six schools that improved. Very proud of their accomplishments. However, they re they remain on the federal list. So, they continue to be entitled for those dollars as they should because the needs will persist in those buildings and we're excited to be able to do that. So, that's a summary of the three items um that exceed a million dollars as requested by the board. Thank you, Superintendent Hyde, and thank you, Madam Vice Chair. You're welcome. And thank you, Superintendent Hyde. And we had discussed that during the work session, and we might need to consider having that on the regular agenda. Yes, ma'am. Uh for the future, just just for proof of thought. Certainly will. All right. So, the there's a motion on the floor to approve the
072consent agenda. And if there is no further discussion, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. And superintendent Hart, I know that we have uh two new administrators and I did not know if you also wanted to introduce uh the new deputy superintendent. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I would. Um this evening uh first and foremost was Barry Marbut personal investigator employee relations being promoted to director for labor and employee relations. I don't know if he's with us this evening. He is. Mr. Marbut if you'd like to approach the mic and say a few words. Congratulations. I'd just like to thank Super Hyde and the board, Mrs. Portius and Mr. Kirk for the opportunity to continue to lead uh the uh labor and employee relations department. Thank you. Thank you.
073We also have Miss Stephanie Huber, assistant principal too at Lakeland High Lakeland Highlands Middle School, who is now being promoted to the assistant principal at Lakeland Highlands Middle, fully assistant principal. Thank you very much, Superintendent Hyde, distinguished cabinet and board. It's an honor to be here tonight. I thank you for this opportunity to continue to serve because we truly have the most amazing students and staff here at Pulk County Public Schools. And not everybody gets a chance to see it, but I do. I also wanted to say thank you to Miss Collins and to my principal, Miss Wright Gainor, for their unwavering support. Um, and of course, most importantly, my family and friends because they have truly started to learn what it means to put students first in the time that it takes. And I
074could not ask for a better group of individuals to support my passion and what I do. and I am privileged to move forward and to have the opportunity to work in the greatest field that is available and that is to educate the young minds um who will become our positive contributors to society and take care of us. So So Miss Collins motto is you got to go to grow and so you got to go within the same building though from one position to the next for now. Okay. I don't know how to take that Miss Collins. Um, congratulations. You know, I'm I'm a rarity and and I appreciate the opportunity to grow with him. Thank you. And last, but certainly not least, uh, Mr. Wayne Green is here. He is our new deputy superintendent. So,
075I don't know if you have any words to say or you just want to do a wave. Uh, Vice Chair, Vice Chair Fields, board members, Superintendent Hyde. Uh, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to serve Poke County. Um, it is my hope that I will bring nothing but pride and appreciation for the work that I will do on behalf of the students and the school community and the families and the taxpayers. Um, I can't thank you enough for giving me this opportunity. Uh, my welcome last week has been fantastic. The staff has been great. Um, they've really answered every question that I've had. Um, including where should I buy lunch? Um, and other things. So, I I'm really excited about being here. I'm ready to get to work. Um, I can't thank you
076enough, uh, Mr. Hyde, for having me here. Um, and I look forward to working with you all. I look forward to working with the community. And again, I look forward to making making everyone proud of the work that we do here and um, serving the community. And um I can't say enough um as my father would say, thank you for allowing me to serve. Thank you. And madam madam vice chair, if I may, just before we move on, it has been requested of me um as to what will the timeline be to start scheduling meetings for the new chief of staff and for the new deputy superintendent to start meeting with board members. So we will begin scheduling those probably starting next week. Okay. Thank you. So thank you. We would like to congratulate those
077with promotions and we would like to welcome uh Mr. Green uh to the school district. We look forward to working with you. All right. U now we go to our action items and we have two items. Uh, first item is the naming of the band building at Boone Middle School for Shereice Harris. And Miss, uh, Cunningham is not here, so Miss Forney is going to do that for us. Please, ma'am. Thank you, uh, Chairman, uh, Fields. uh the community recommendation to name the band building at Boone Middle School in honor of longtime band director Sherice Harris. Miss Harris began her teaching career at Boone Middle School in 1988 and has faithfully remained there for 33 years as the band director. The recommendation was presented to the school sack committee and the committee voted in favor
078of the request and recommended it be forwarded to the school board for approval. I would like to make the motion that we name the Boone Middle School band building for Shereice Harris and her years of love and dedication to that school and that community is uh is to be commended. Thank you, Miss Forney, for doing that. And do we have a second? Second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. Is Miss Harris here tonight? All right. [Applause] I don't even know what to say. This is a great honor. I hope that my name will always be um a proud one for you to keep on a building in P County schools. It's been an honor to serve. Thank you, Miss Harris. We appreciate your faithfulness
079and we appreciate your hard work. The next item would be the 2021 annual financial report. Mr. Hi. Who's going to do that? That is going to be Miss Jenkins and Mr. Pittz. Thank you. Good evening, vice chair, board members, Superintendent Hyde. Every year we present you with our annual financial report. It's due to the Department of Education on September 13th. You have received two forms, the ESC 145 and the ESSE 348, which are still in preparation. Uh we are completing those items and we'll submit them to DOE. But we do bring it to the board to let you know that we have closed the year. Um, the one very important piece of information I want to give you is our total fund balance in the general operating fund increased from 56.2 million as of July
0801st, 2019 to 99.7 million as of June 30th, 2021. And the final ending fund balance is 8.1% for fiscal year 2021. And I will tell you a little bit more about that when we get to our next item, which is the budget. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. All right. So, we have a motion. We need a motion rather to approve uh the 2021 ESC 348 report of the financial data to the commissioner of education and the ESE 145 superintendent's annual financial report to be to be transmitted by the deadline set by the LDOE September the 131. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the submit the submission of both of these items. I'm not going to read it again. Uh does anyone have any questions? Any discussion? If not, all those in
081favor of this motion signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. You can just stay right there. I will. All right. All right. And now we now go into our public hearing. We have two items on our public hearing today. One is the 2021, excuse me, 2021 2022 final budget and millage rate. And uh Miss Heather, you're going to take us to that? Yes, ma'am. Um for our 202122 budget, you have um received a budget book and several different documents. Our total budget this year is $2 bill248,680. That does include um our federal funding, our ESSER dollars. On Tuesday, July 20th, 2021, the board approved the advertisement of the fiscal year 2122 proposed millage rates, which we ran um on July 24th, 2021. In accordance with the trim calendar or truth and
082millage requirements, the board held a public hearing on Tuesday, July 27th to discuss and approve the tenative budget and tenative mill rates. The board then adopted those rates and announced the time and place of this public hearing. The required local effort for 2122 is 3.581 mills. The discretionary operating millillage for 2122 is 748 mills. The local capital improvement mill for 21-22 is 1.5 mills for a total of 5.829. that is negative.106 less than last year. However, it does exceed the roll back rate by 2.76%. Within this budget, um we anticipate that our ending fund balance for 2122 based off what we've included thus far will be around 4.32%. That does include various operating increases of $3 million which we will continue to monitor throughout the year, $3.6 6 million in FRS, Florida retirement system increases,
083$5.7 million, which is an increase in board contribution of $40 per member. And we also have our recently approved ABSME salary increases budgeted. Do y'all have any questions? What's the ending fund balance? We estimate it to be about 4.32%. That's the um budgeted ending fund balance, Mr. Wilson, not the actual. So that amount does not include any attrition or lapse, which we do know we have every year, but we don't budget for that. We um update the board in our forecast as we go along. Thank you. Yes, sir. This is a public hearing. So if anyone in the audience would like to have comments concerning the budget, the proposed budget, this would be the time for you to come and make your comments. Yes, sir. Come back. Thank you, Madame Vice Chair. I want to
084say I'm first shocked because earlier I took about 1.8 billion. Maybe that was last year's budget. So hearing 2.2 billion is again while my question is I'm looking here the mill rate that minus one.106 and it says required by state law. So what is this? Can can we expand on that and understand? So this is something mandated by the Florida state. Thank you. Are you going to answer that for him? Yes, ma'am. If you'd like me to, I most certainly will. Um, the required local effort is the amount that the district is required to tax in order to receive the funding from the Florida Department of Education. Um, the required local effort will generate about 167,440,942. We receive um our total K12 funding is $828,447,080. Our net state FEFP, which is our Florida Education Finance
085Program, is $518,375 375,831. So there is a law that in order to receive our Florida education finance program funding, we have to assess the required local effort millage and that rate is set by DOE. So that's why it says required by state law. Thank you for answering that. You're welcome. All right. And now I would open up the floor for the board members if you have any questions or any comments. That would be the time. We have six uh motions that's going to be coming before us for approval. Yes, sir. Come on. Scope. All right. So, in regards to the budget increase that's expected, how much of the percentage is allocated towards the paychecks of staff, board members, administrators, and how much of the percentage is being allocated to student programs that actually goes towards
086the genuine education of our children or items such as school supplies, uh, things that the children need? That's my only question. Yes, ma'am. um 60% of the budget is allocated to salaries and benefits. However, if you remove the charter school funding, we are a pass through for the charter schools, it comes out to almost 80% is salaries and benefits of our district budget. Close to 95% directly and indirectly um benefits students actually 100% benefits if you look at the indirect costs. We have included in that salaries for teachers. We have instructional materials. We have technology and equipment. We have different types of supplies for our specialty classrooms. We we have lab materials. Um everything that is essentially needed by by our students comes from our funding. and we receive about $7,567 from the Florida Department
087of Education for per each student. However, we contribute much more to that. Um, our general balance, we talk about overflows. We have things such as categoricals and um we hope to to make a video for the community to explain this in further detail. But um the district uses its discretionary funding to pick up the difference from our categoricals and those are the things like instructional materials or our transportation allocation, our ESSE funding because we always spend more than what we're given. Thank you for answering that and thank you both gentlemen for for for wanting to uh ask those questions. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Come out, please. So, I didn't realize we were answering questions. So, I do have a question. I know that we received our SR1 funds. I know that we've received the majority
088of our SR2. Have we received any of the funds from the American Rescue Plan which the state had 60 days to pass through and we finished that deadline? No ma'am. Um we have received our SR1 funding. We have submitted the application for our SSR 2 funding but have not received that yet. And um we have recently received guidelines on the ARP or American Rescue Fund but we have not received those either. Has the state given you a reason why they did not meet it at the deadline? They have not. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. All right. So, we have six motions. Uh and I'm going to need someone to make a motion for each one and quite naturally second and then we'll vote. First motion is to adopt the required local effort millage
089of 3.581 mills. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we adopt the required local effort millage of 3.581 mills. Is there any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. The next motion is to adopt the discretionary operating millage of 0.7480 mills. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we adopt the discretionary operating millage of 0.7480 mills. Is there any discussion? If none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next motion is to adopt the local capital improvement the capital outlay millage of 1.5 mills. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we adopt the local capital improvement the capital outlay millage of 1.5 mills. Is there any discussion? If none all those in favor signify by
090saying I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The next motion is to approve the resolution 2021 2022-03 determining revenues and millage lever. So move. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the resolution 2021-2022-03 [Music] determining revenues and millage levit. Is there any discussion? If none all those in favor signify by saying I I. Any oppose? Motion carries. The next motion is to approve resolution 2021/2022-04 adopting the 2021/2022 final budget and millage rates. So moved. Second. It's been moved and second that we approve resolution 2021/2022-04 adopting the 20221/2022 final budget and millage rates. Is there any discussion? If none all those in favor signify by saying I I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The last motion is to adopt resolution 2021 22-05 approving categorical allocation flexibility for fiscal year 2021/2022. So moved. I need a second. Please
091second. It's been moved and seconded that we adopt resolution 2021/2022-05 approving categorical allocation flexibility for fiscal year 2021/2022. Is there any discussion? If none all those in favor signify by saying I. Any oppose? Motion carries. That concludes the final budget and millage rates. And our next item would be policy updates. And I would assume that uh Miss Dodge is doing that. Superintendent High, is she are you doing that? No, that is Miss Dodge. Good evening. Um the policy updates before you um this evening you originally heard at the July end of July work session. I believe it was July 27th. Um they are generally um policy updates where we are um updating our staff policies regarding discrimination, anti-harassment to ensure that they are aligned with the federal changes that have been made to federal regulations.
092And then there is an investment policy that has been that was recommended by Miss Jenkins and our staff who were just here a moment ago and um and our professional adviserss um made those recommendations for changes. Thank you. So, we have quite a few policy updates as Miss Dodge just referenced and I will just read them for the public knowledge. 2260, non-discrimination, equity, and access to equal educational opportunity. Policy 31:22, non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity changes will be replicated in number 1122 and 4122. Policy number 3122-0, excuse me, period 01. Prohibition against disability discrimination and employment changes would be replicated in number 3122.01 and 4122.01. Policy 3362 anti-harassment changes will be replicated in number 1362 and 4362. Policy 5571, anti-harassment number 2450, adult and community education. Policy 5724, preparation for voter registration. And the last
093one would be 6144.01 investments purpose. And these are the policies that we are updating. And now if anybody from the public would like to come and have comments on any of these policies, now would be the time to do that. If no one's from the public, I would like to have a motion to approve the following policy updates. Motion to approve. Second. It's been moved and second that we approve the policy updates that I just read. Is there any discussion? If none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. The public hearing is now closed. And now we're back to our regular meeting. And the next item on the agenda is hearing from our superintendent of schools. Superintendent Hyde. Yes, ma'am. Madam vice chair, members of the board, the
094next work session will be held on September 28th, 2021. The work session will begin at 9:00 a.m. and it will be held at the Jim Miles Professional Development Center located at 5204 US Highway 98 South in Lakeland. Thank you, Superintendent Hyatt. And uh school board attorney, Mr. Bridges, do you have anything? Yes, ma'am. A request authority to advertise a public hearing to be held on October 26th, 2021 during the regularly scheduled board meeting for policy updates. Policies are numbered 8450.01, uh which is protective facial coverings during pandemic epidemic events. Delete. Uh policy 2260.01 01 section 504 ADA prohibition against discrimination based on disability policy 5350 student suicide prevention awareness and screening and policy 7540.04 staff technology acceptable use and safety. Thank you, Mr. Bridges. And we need a motion to approve to advertise a public
095hearing on October the 26, 2021 for the policy updates that we just read. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we approve the advers for a public hearing on October the 26, 2021 for policy updates. Is there any discussion? If none, uh, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? Motion carries. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Bridges. And I don't believe we have an report tonight. And now we go to our board members reports. and we'll start with Mr. with Dr. Allen. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Uh very short and sweet tonight. Um think about the beginning of our meeting. We had the focus on excellence which is an opportunity to honor our staff members and then there was this uh element of supporting effective instruction through this
096continuation grant and a high dollar there. That is just really a slice of what was just uh recently recognized in Forbes. Uh they released its list of best employers by state. Um surveys were conducted on a rolling basis from October 2020 to June of 2021 and were anonymous targeting about 80,000 Americans working for businesses um with at least 500 employees and allowing participants to freely share their opinions. So in Florida, uh, in Florida's top 100 best employers, Publix obviously being up there at number 31, GEICO at 92, and then the Pole County Public Schools number 52. Um, so that says a great deal uh about our human resources area and the work that's being done all across the district. So, I just wanted to give a shout out to Miss Porius and um what she's
097doing to to lead us in that area. So, I think that's a great accomplishment to note. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Allen and Miss Forney. Yeah. Uh speaking of HR, what was it? 50 pages of instructional and non-instructional uh changes. Uh how you keep up with that, I have no idea. But I noticed a couple of names on there. Happy retirement to a uh bunch of people. Uh but one in particular I wanted to call out is uh Mrs. Trish Butler. Uh she has served this district well and I wish her nothing but the best, her and her husband. Uh I did uh not I was physically ill after our work session last time. So uh I did want to mention uh Beth Cummings, Alex Rich, and u Nancy Pereé. uh for uh doing heart
098for art and uh it's always nice to go and uh give out those awards uh from our classrooms and our classroom teachers. We actually purchase that art. Uh I you know I went to all the uh bus drivers uh uh and food all the food service uh things and watched our employees get their free set of shoes. And I don't know if y'all are aware how happy that makes them, but uh they are on their feet a lot. And uh you know, I just went and kind of watched the process and I I want to be very thankful of that. Uh the school supplies and the food g giveaways uh that we do. Um the new school, Michelle Townley, out at Willow Oak, I wanted to give a shout out. That is a big lift
099along with Barto High School's edition. Um, and I want to thank Miss Usher and our warehouse crew. Um, there was over a hundred pallets in that cafeteria the Saturday before teachers showed up and we put them all out there. Uh, still a lot to do, but uh, uh, I want to do a shout. I went to the uh FAMU uh picnic for their scholarship recipients and uh out at uh Lake Parker and uh they they just really uh never cease to amaze me. Uh more community support for our students. Um I also attended the language and literacy academy uh modular classrooms uh over in Winter Haven. Uh that school does amazing things with kids and um it was very nice to be invited and to be able to attend. Uh I want to thank uh
100Miss Usher again uh for helping us get uh Floral Avenue cleaned up before parents and kids showed up and the community. Uh Trish Feifer uh and some of the Rotarians came out and uh cleaned that campus up. Uh Lakeland Youth Alliance did a scavenger hunt downtown Mun Park which was really cool for our kids. Uh yes, the new teacher reception um was very nice. Uh I want to thank those sponsors. Um to all my schools, I I know I've tried to visit every one of y'all at least once already and I know it's a heavy lift. Just hang in there. Uh we are trying. But the main thing I wanted to thank Miss Usher and Superintendent Bird, former Superintendent Bird and Dan Talbert for is the Malberry High School turf field because that is the
101jewel of Malber's community and it will be forever treasured and it will be taken care of and uh it was a act of love and I I do know that Jackie Bird and Miss Usher and Dan Talbert played a big role in that and I want to thank them from the Malberry community and they had uh they had their first win on it so it was awesome. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Forney, Miss Reynolds. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Um going off of a little bit of what Mr. Allan said I also had Miss Portius on my list tonight because I believe today is her last official board meeting um as she'll be leaving our district at the end of September and just to say thank you for all of the work that
102she's done um over the years. 52 on the Forbes list. I have not seen that yet, but um that's fairly impressive. Um, next, Malberry High School football field is it was a joy to be there and just to see how excited not only their football team, but the entire Malberry community, I'm pretty sure, showed up Friday night um to christen the new field and it was just such an exciting event to be a part of. Um, after Malber's game, I shot over to etch the rest of Winter Havens because they had a lightning delay and went very, very late. Um, and I just want to give a shout out to all of our high school administrators who get the privilege of having game duty on Friday nights and start their mornings at 6:00 a.m. when
103um, students start arriving on campus. And for many of our schools in Florida where you have rain delays go until well past 11 o'clock and into the wee hours of the morning on Friday nights. Um, making sure that the students get to play and have um, a safe environment to do so. So, just thank you to all of them. Um, last but not least, you only have two more months of these. Celebrity lipsync battle is November 4th at Chain of Lake Stadium in Winter Haven. If you have not heard yet, our very own superintendent, Mr. Fred Hyde, will be a participant. I did learn his songs today, and I am sworn to secrecy, but I promise you, you do not want to miss this. I hear that some fine gentlemen sitting on the front row
104may be backup dancers. Not sure if any of you knew that was in your contracts yet, but that's what I'm hearing. Um, but also we will have it's in the fine print, Mr. Green. Um, also our teach P teacher of the year 2021, Miss Mod Graham, will be competing as well. So, if you haven't gotten your tickets yet, they're only $25 and it's at celebrity lipsync battle.com. and all of the funds go to help um public education in Winter Haven. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Miss Reynolds. Mr. Wilson, thank you, Madam Vice Chair. A few minutes ago, we had a gentleman come up and ask what I thought was a very good question about our our budget and the breakdown of the budget. And I know Miss Jenkins did the best she could
105given a limited amount of time uh that, you know, she had to to uh answer that question. But I also heard you say that we we're producing a video with a detailed breakdown. Is that correct? It is. Well, thank you for that. I think that's that is incredible. It's a it's a tremendous step forward, not only from a transparency perspective, but also from the perspective of facilitating conversation between us and between our community. And so I think that's um a great step forward. How will the public view that once it's available? Where will they be able to find it? Okay. Well, maybe initially we could put it on the main page and not put it in the budget and finance page. Um, so anyway, thank you for that. We appreciate that. And that concludes my
106comments. Thank you, Mr. Wson. Um, Mr. the pits used to go around and do a lot of educating our community about our budget and how it worked and his his tool was very useful and helpful. So, I'm sure that them working together will be something very good for our community and for just everybody to understand it better and uh might be something that can go on the uh YouTube uh channel as well. I'm sure you guys will work through that. Um, Miss Miller. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I just have a quick report. First of all, the work sessions contain much more of the meat and of the budget and everything else. So, I appreciate that we do have them on YouTube for people to watch at their convenience. It's still a lot to learn
107and I think that this video will be very helpful. I would like to go around and make videos of all the departments eventually um because the community needs better, you know, better explanation and understanding of what exactly what we do. Just have two quick things. I did get to meet I like to meet with our community. We have a lot of community partners I have not met with or did not do not know what they're doing. We have a lot of people invested in kids in this community and I just want to say how much I appreciate that and I hope we can form or help develop um our relationships so it's easier for other people to get involved whether um you know different civic community or faith-based community. There's a lot of need here
108in PK County and we have some people really working overtime to help kids and I want to acknowledge that. I got to meet with Tim with H Heartland CEF which is an organization that provides free child care after school and a few of our schools. Um it is a faith-based connection and it's in North Lakeland Elementary I know and a couple other schools and it helps out families. Um and it's a you know they do the process with the parents of the staying after school letter and they they help the kids and they're there just to give of their time to better kids' lives and we need more of that and for the people doing that they get little to no recognition. So I want to I appreciate what um his group is doing. I
109also got to meet again I like to visit our Citrus Connection folks and remind people that we do have the Colts program. So if you have a high school student um please if in need of transportation for after school activities or um even if they're working you know in PK County we haven't always I didn't grow up I grew up in Winter Haven and the bus transit wasn't it was there but we really didn't have to use it like you would have to use in a bigger metropolitan area. But we have advanced so much here locally with our bus routes that I think we need to help make another good video to let people know what's available so kids can be involved when transportation is an issue because of the size of our county. Transportation
110is always it's always an issue. Um the Freedom Tour, we had Mr. Williams, Bobby Williams here a c a couple of sessions ago still living um to do the work of feeding Pulk County and doing it at an enormous scale. and I I want to recognize him his work again because I know a lot of our students benefit from that and our families. Um but that's the end of my report. Thank you. Thank you. Uh I had seen something on Facebook and I thought that it was very relevant to where we are today within our school district. And I just wanted to thank the different layers of our school district that's working extremely hard during a very difficult time and probably sometimes not really sure whether they're going or coming. I want to thank our
111teachers. I want to thank our substitute teachers, our students and their family. I want to thank our custodial workers, our school nurses, our food service workers, our bus drivers, our bus attendants, our administrators, our resource officers and guardians. I want to thank the sheriff department for always being here and taking good care of us. I want to thank our secretaries, our librarians, our guidance counselors. If I missed anybody else, credit it to my head and not to my heart. But we really appreciate what you all do each and every day. And as Miss Forney said a few minutes ago, we realize it's a heavy, heavy lift right now, but we believe that it will get better in days ahead. I also want to read a letter, an email that all of us received from a
112doctor here in town and he's with Lakeside Pediatrics. We all received actually two emails from him, but the last email I wanted to read it and he said it's from Dr. Matthew Corey. Dear Po County School Board member, I'm writing to follow up on my previous email. I'm not going to read that email. The situation for children, this was dated, excuse me, August the 29th. The situation for children and staff in Pulk County schools remain dire and the response of the adults in charge has been inadequate. Our pediatric group is ordering between 60 and 110 COVID tests per day. Most of these being on patients in the school system. Our case positivity rates is around 20%. We know it has gone down a little bit since then. We have a large number of our staff
113out of work because of school age children who are either infected or under quarantine. What follows is a partial list of some of the problems I have witnessed. Schools don't understand or simply decide not to follow the FDO quarantine protocol. Some school administrators can't seem to count the requisite days before advising testing. Some schools are just not requiring quarantine at all, even in cases of exposure to infected family members. inservicing and supervision of these guidelines has apparently been inadequate. This puts us in the regrettable position as pediatricians of having to explain to parents that their child's school does not know what they are doing. And those have been exactly my words. Some children have been allowed to remain in school despite having symptoms, testing positive several days beyond first onset of symptoms and after exposing
114large numbers of students. One school recently required an unvaccinated teacher with an infected young child at home who was unable to isolate from her to come to work unless she developed symptoms. In her case, the CDC guidelines would have recommended 24 days of quarantine from the child's first day of illness. And I could go on. What has been allowed to occur in the first few weeks of school is horrible and was unavoidable. The current burden being placed on the health care system in our county is overwhelming and is not sustainable. I would ask that you follow the advice of the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics and immediately institute a mass mandate as allowed by the recent court decision. Please continue this until the case positivity rate falls below 8%. Please drive in your lane
115and let the public health experts do their jobs. and please provide the necessary oversight and ensure that the FDO guidelines as as inadequate as they are are enforced. Dr. Matthew J. Curry, Lakeside Pediatrics, Lakeland, Florida. I just wanted to share that. And so now we get to the part of the meeting where we allow public comments. And one of the things that I would say as we are coming up to make our comments, and I've said this many times before, we're not always going to agree, but we can be respectful and courteous of one another as we come up. Mr. Bridges read some expectations as we started our meeting tonight. We ask you to come up, give us your name, your address. You have three minutes to make your comments. We know that some of
116y'all are passionate about how you feel and that's fine. All we ask is that you be respectful with it. The first person that we have, and if I mess up your name again, I apologize in advance. Abbrina Kriscus. I'm not going to even try your last name. Miss Sabrina. Thank you. Hello all. Hello. So, as I said, my name or you said my name is Sabrina Kravski. I look at live at 2777 Summit Drive. Um, thank you for allowing us to speak this evening. I come to you all a little bit different than most people here in the sense of I not only am a mother of six children in the Pulk County School Board, I'm a former Pulk County School teacher of inclusion students as well. I've lived here for 40 years as of
117August 20th. So, if anybody can speak to Lakeland, it's going to be me. So, I have a couple notes. I'm going to try to keep in my time. So, as I mentioned, uh I've been a teacher here. I taught for many, many years. Southwest Elementary, I heard mention Miss Townley, just amazing. Some of the best teachers in my life came from my peers and colleagues. These are the same people now who are promising us that they have nothing but our children's best interest at heart. And I personally and I feel in our hearts a lot of us may be seeing that come to fruition. At this point, we've been told in my lifetime of 40 years, we've had AIDS, SARS, swine flu, H1N1, aven flu, and now COVID. At no time has there ever been
118a request for this type of uh strategy. Yes, I understand it's unprecedented, but we have seen throughout the last two years that this is not a killer as was projected and we can all admit that we made a mistake and that's okay, right? I can speak to my children that I have right now. My son is autistic. He is on the spectrum. He has a sensory disorder. Why is his least restrictive environment not someone else's? Right? It doesn't matter. My other son, he was in speech from the time he was three with child fine here in Lakeland. My son was taught the cues of watching mouths, watching the signs and the speech. My son is now in the gifted program here in Lakeland. He's 11. My other daughter, she's 14. She went from Khloe's crew.
119She was the leader of her news program. She's now turned into your typical teenager, hiding behind the mask, afraid to go out in public. I've tried everything I can to show her the science, the data. Just as you, Miss Fields have said the sad and the terrible things that have happened. I can give you five million good things that have happened. We have had more people live through this virus than we've had die. We are killing our children in the sense we are losing them to this land. And if we do not put our foot down now, it is past the point of a medical concern. At this point, it is emotional. We can put all the funds that we want, Mr. Wilson, into a suicide prevention program, but taking children and putting them in
120isolation repeatedly because of a case, these are not deaths. No one wants ill will for a child. I promise you, I know I don't. Before I taught, I was a substitute teacher. Before that, I was a preschool teacher. Before that, I worked at the family fund center. I was 15. I have lived for children my whole life. And I promise you, the science is there. It's the other doctors. Dr. Corey's one. I can give you 50 that aren't. I'd love to have a conversation the next work session. I wake up every morning at 3:00 a.m. and I read right now a 528 page document on my cell phone. That's what I do for fun. I promise you there is opposite data there. I leave you with this guys. As I mentioned, we talked about the
121the time frame of this. It's gone from the two weeks to the two months. Now we're going on to two years. And I ask you think of yourself in this meeting. I have been taking notes. All of you have taken mask off. You have all breathed and you have all touched other things. And we're all going to be okay because that's called living. So thank you for your time. We cannot stay in fear any longer. [Applause] All right. Thank you, Sher Sheffield. Miss Sheffield. You can give us your name and your address, and you have three minutes, please. Okay. I'm probably not as animated as she was. Uh, my name is Sheri Sheffield and I live at 4047 Cypress Landing East in Winter Haven. My husband John and I have five grandchildren in different schools.
122Regarding the masks on children, there's been report after report that masks do not deter a virus from flowing freely through the vast majority of masks worn by not only adults but our children. The masks are breeding grounds for bacteria as reported recently by University of Florida. When six masks from six kids were sent there to be uh researched, they found eight bacteria including staff and strep. And this week I watched a doctor on the news put five masks on and then he took his glasses and he held them up to his mask and he breathed through the mask and it fogged up his glasses. He said virus particles are so minute that there is virtually no stopping COVID or any virus while wearing masks. children have wonderful immune systems and it's I mean that's just
123a given that's known. Um I know some of you want to mandate masks. Can anyone show proof that masks work? It uh last time that I was here I believe I forget who it was over here talked about the fact that with or without masks we're getting the same stats. Um, I also read about the the emergency relief fund just today and one of the qualifiers for schools to get that uh money was that they um children have to be masked per the CDC guidelines. I don't know if that's true for this for this board or for this uh for Poke County. I don't know. But one could quickly surmise masks on kids equal money in the coffers. I would like to briefly mention the critical race theory that has been banned in Florida by
124our governor. I read a report stating there are two teachers in Poke County, Virginia Teaper and Winter Haven and Rubiana Perez in Lakeland who are continuing to teach CRT and insist they will continue. I would hope this board will address this quickly. We have great teachers in Poke County and kids are excelling. However, we also have kids graduating from high school who can hardly read and spell. They don't know American history. They haven't a clue about our constitution and there's so much for them to learn. So for many years we trusted that our children were being taught and like we were like I was we were wrong. We were clueless as subjects were slowly removed from textbooks. But this is now and you're seeing across the country a giant who is waking up from a
125deep sleep to the fact that we've been complacent all too trusting. We should have realized something was drastically wrong when a woman named Maline Murray O'Hare almost single-handedly had prayer removed from schools. Shame on us for not paying attention. Today, as you watch schoolboard meetings across the country and parents showing up and speaking up, it stands to reason woke parents and grandparents will know from now on who to vote for based on voting records and what candidates stand for. Thank you. Ray Ryan. Is there Ray Ryan? Yes. My name is Ray Ryan and I live at 1548 Cardinal Street in Auburnale, Florida. 33823. I basically I've seen you guys numerous times now. We keep hashing this mass thing out. I'm not really sure why we keep hashing it out, but um there's only a few
126left on the school board that seem to want to put mass back in place. Miss Fields, with all due respect, I watched the work session today like I do every time you guys have one, and you said you have always been for mask, since before school, during school, this whole time, and you're one of the main ones pushing for mask. You're a hypocrite. You held a girls club gala where you posted pictures on Facebook for all public to see pictures of you and other people gathering without masks. So, I find that a little odd that you're wanting kids to walk around school for eight hours a day with the mask on because you said so, but you're not even doing it. You're doing it now. It's a show. This is a show. I'm done with
127it. And I really hope we still have the support of the other ones that spoke last week. I really wanted to give Miss Cunningham props, but she's not here. So to the rest of you, Miss Reynolds, thank you for your opinion. Dr. Allen, thank you for yours. Wilson, thank you for yours. The mask, there's no difference. The there's no there's no information to show that the masks work or don't work. I mean, it's it's the same thing. So, that's all I got to say. And I would say that I'm not a hypocrite. And you can and you can look at the pictures. Go back and look at the pictures. The next person is Ren noty nervous talking powerful people. Uh last time I was here I spoke it was on 427. Jacqueline Bird was still
128our superintendent. I wanted to welcome uh Mr. Hyde to the table. Um I only hang out with super intelligent, highly motivated teachers, educators, business members, and people around the county. They all seem to really like you. Um I've listened to the work sessions. I think your nickname should be the machine because you've always got what you need in front of you. You speak eloquently and you just keep the machine rolling. I hope and pray that no other big county will come in and try to steal you because I think you guys all made a wonderful decision. So, thank you, Mr. Hyde. As far as the mask and the safety procedures and all that cool safety stuff, um I'm a teacher. Um I Ren Noly 1235 Kendallwood Drive, Lakeland, Florida 33813. I'm in my 12th year
129teaching. I've always worked with ESE students. I'm always told to talk about stuff, you know. Okay. I know my students. I know my own children. Uh, Miss Fields, I know for my ESC students, the masks were not a good idea. For my daughter, she got uh topical dermatitis behind her ears. She It was like razor cuts behind her ears from the mask. My son started uh Lakeland Highlands Middle School last year. He was terrified just being a middle school student. The the mask called caused him so much anxiety between his glasses fogging up and just being like an awkward middle school kid. They're all awkward at that age. It really messed him up. the these kids are on track this year. Uh, as far as my ESSE students, um, uh, listen, if a kid has
130autism sensory disorders and you're trying to put a mask on him, um, Miss Forney or Miss Fields, that's child abuse. Um, if I have a mentally handicapped student that is muffled through his mask and can't speak to where everyone can hear them, we can't hear you in the back, Miss Field sometimes. Um, that's child abuse. If I can't hear that student, guess what? He's not wearing that mask this year and I can understand him. What wasn't off of his chest last year? Okay. I I am passionate about these kids. I've worked with deaf kids and heart of hearing kids. They read lips. Try reading my lips. That's child abuse. Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety. The media doesn't want to put out the depression numbers are lower and that less kids are killing themselves. Right? Why aren't they
131putting out this data? They put it out quickly. the last few years. Yeah. They're putting out because it's political. They don't want you to see that the depression numbers have gone down and the kids aren't killing themselves anymore. It's political. Unless you're wearing an N95 mask right now. You're making a poor fashion statement or a political one. My job I was hired to teach, not police. I go to Publix. I don't wear a mask. My children don't wear masks. I don't tell my other students to go inside Publix, Home Depot or Lowe's, and put on a mask. I want to teach those kids. I want to be one of your best teachers. I don't want to police them. They don't want to wear it. I want their parents to have a choice. Let their parents
132believe them. Thank you. Your fear shouldn't take away my freedom, my students freedom or my children's freedom. Thank you for your time. Raymond Johnson. Raymond Johnson, esteemed members of the Pulk County School Board and Mr. Superintendent. My name is Reverend Dr. Raymond Johnson and I live at 5042 Yellowtop Loop in Lakeland. I've been an ordained Baptist minister for 43 years and for the past 14 years I have served as the state coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida and the Caribbean Islands, a small Baptist denomination that tries to live up to its name, cooperative. I think it's important to say that I speak as a Baptist uh not for Baptist, but I speak for myself. I also want this board to know that my wife is a retired Pulk County uh public school teacher
133who taught Pete the Cat and critical race theory to kindergarteners and first graders at Blake Academy. Pardon me if I seem a bit annoyed. When I tried to check in this evening, the spoons that had stuck to me kept sending off the metal detector. If I'm less than lucid, it's because since my wife and I have received the vaccines, we've been having a difficult sleeping because we both glow like the northern lights. Still, I will trade in my annoyance with being magnetized and bioluminescence for the more annoying side effect of being unvaccinated, namely death. I will confess, however, that I will miss the collateral benefit of being free of worms had I opted instead for the Ivormectin protocol. I never would have dreamed that it would be necessary to stand before a school board anywhere
134in this country to make the simple case for wearing a cloth mask to protect our children, their teachers, and the support staff from a deadly virus that has killed more than 630,000 of our fellow American citizens. The current surge in deaths here in Pulk County is so great that the Lakeland Regional Hospital has had to bring in a portable morg to accommodate all of the dead. The greatest percentage of whom were unvaccinated. Last month's schoolboard meeting honored Kelly Peterson, the fifth grade teacher who died of COVID and who was unable to be vaccinated because of her immuno compromis. Yet here I am tonight making a point which seems so obvious were it not for such unmitigated selfishness and brutish recalcetrance on the part of our fellow citizens. That point being that mass should be mandated
135because the lives of children, their teachers and their families are more important than selfishness masquerading as freedom. My father used to say when we were upset about eating the broccoli, "Sit down, quit your whining, and wear the mask." Listen, sit down, cut our whining, and wear the mask. It's simple. [Music] [Applause] Okay. Now, everybody had an opportunity to sign up. Everybody has their own opinion. If you don't agree with it, please be quiet and let them speak. They listen to you and you need to listen to them. Willwood. Good evening y'all. My name is Will Wood. I live in uh Frost Proof, 626 East 9th Street in Frost Proof. Both my parents were Pulk Pulk County school teachers. They have a great retirement thanks to everything you guys do. Grandpa was also a a teacher
136music in Winterh Haven High School. Roy Wood. I was a veteran Air Force pharmacy. So I know a little bit about the medical. I've got things here with masks. And this is 20 seconds of breathing with a petri dish. Most of you guys understand petri dishes and science. I don't really want to focus on that so much. That maybe a later date. One thing I can't stand is uh theory of evolution. Okay. It's racist. I've got the old evolutionary charts. We got black people at the bottom right after the aboriges. Okay? And that's taught for all these years now. It's never been proven. Missing links are still missing. Many of them are hoaxes. And I'm just tired of my fellow black man being labeled one link above a missing link. I think that's wrong. I
137think we should repent as a country. This the uh evidence for that was one single tooth from the from uh Nebraska man. Seven years later they found that same tooth in an extinct pig and changed our entire laws. Anyway, I want everybody to understand the pharmacy part of this. I wish I had a lot more time but I don't understand who it's coming from. Look up the Jesuits. Okay. The Jesuits are the whole reason America was formed. They were killing all the Anabaptists, all the Protestants in Europe. One of their chief modes of execution was the poisoned cup. Dr. Fouchy graduated from a Jesuit university and his mode of execution are these vaccines. I was in pharmacy. I wouldn't take these vaccines to save my life. Case in point, man who got up here and
138says he glows in the dark now. He's magnetized. That's all over the the world right now. A lot of these numbers are fudged. People have skydiving accidents, murder, etc. But if they had COVID, they died of COVID. Okay, this is nonsense. It has a over 99% u rate of survival. And Dr. Fouchy along with Bill Gates, you have to understand their entire agenda uh is all about world depopulation. Ted Turner, okay? Look, look them up. Don't think I'm some nutcase. Uh the Georgia Guidestones in Elbert County, Georgia, talks about keeping the entire world population under 500 million people. Ted Turner, who used to own CNN, he's he says 250 to 300 million tops. That's over 95% world reduction in population. Henry Kissinger, he's still alive, almost 100 years old, and he's talking about world population
139strategies. The United Nations is part of this, the World Health Organization, the CDC. Okay, everybody thinks it's an independent government organization. It's not. It's largely funded by big pharma. I got out of big pharma because I saw all the corruption on the backside just like George Soros is buying our education system, our news media, etc. Big pharma bought a lot of our education, our media, they won't report on it because they're largely funded by big pharma. I'm just warning everybody. Please wake up. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Yes, sir. Thank you. Britney D'Vor Brittany D'vor 30005 East Lake Cartridge Drive in Winter Haven. Florida statute 3, excuse me, 683.1455 designates the month of September as American Founders Month and Statute 10003.421 designates the full last week of September as Celebrate Freedom Week and per Florida
140Department of Education, September 17th is designated as Constitution Day. This time should be used to study the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the founders who wrote these documents. Board members, data shows that 90% of public schools do not follow these statutes. I'm asking you to please support your schools in the best way you can to help them uphold these Florida State statutes. Parents, this is an important issue to discuss with your children. Please take time to talk to your children about the founding of our great nation. Even if it's as simple as reviewing American symbols such as the bald eagle, the flag, or the pledge of allegiance, there's some big words. Actually, this past week, I worked with my second grader on words like liberty and um allegiance
141and republic. Like those are big words for a second grader. But we went through them and defined them and what does that mean? And it helps give her some understanding of what the words mean and then also some better understanding of what the pledge means. A lot of our students recite the pledge every morning. But do they really know what it means? Maybe, maybe not. But I would encourage parents to do that. And I'm asking the board to maybe support your schools the best way you can to help um endorse or um support them in the constitution day. And um Miss Fields, I also want to say that during the work session, you mentioned you wanted to hear from a health professional regarding mask and I did send you an email from an actual mask
142expert and I invite you to view that video and I thank you for your time. Thank you, Sarah Maynard. I live in Winter Haven. Um, my issue is not political. Yes, my issue is a mask. As you guys school board have the responsibility um and the power and the choice to control what goes on in our schools. I have a second grader at Lakeship where Miss Peterson died. One week after that, you guys as a school board still voted against mass. and you look at the public county pulp county public schools your website says about the meeting today this meeting will be structured according to CDC guidelines yet our schools are not structured why is this meeting where a room full of adults is structured to meet CDC guidelines and we're worried about safety and
143mask and limiting room capacity but we're not doing the same thing in our schools my child's in second grade 7 years old she's not eligible for a vaccine there's no social distancing. There's no type of of prevention, no safety protocols, none whatsoever. Her teacher's been quarantined for 2 weeks now. So, you guys made a decision as a school board to do in-person learning. Yet, nobody made decisions and policies to kind of back up your employees and district personnel when the virus attacks. And now we're substitute shortage. There's people filling in that aren't even teachers. I've had many, I want to say three or four people in my daughter's classroom that are not teachers. She's not following any type of curriculum. So, how beneficial is it for her to be in school when her teacher's not
144there teaching her? When there's empty students and they're sick right now, according to Pulk County websites, not the CDC, Pulk County website, there's 11,000 students and employees quarantined. Is that what you guys prepared for or wanted when you voted for in-person learning without any type of safety protocols? Masks aren't on the agenda today. You guys started this meeting with a moment of silence for teachers who passed away, students who have passed away. And then you go on about your day like nothing has happened because it's not your family. It's not your daughter. It's not your mother. It's not your aunt who passed away. I wonder will a light click on and something change for you guys when it is your family member or it is your daughter or your son. That's all. [Applause] Aaron Stucker
145So, I want to start by thanking you for allowing concerned parents to speak out against the things they view to be harmful in schools. Excuse me, Mr. P County schools have adopted what Excuse me, Mr. Stucker. Can you give us your address, please? Oh, no. I don't want my address on the public record. So, P County schools have adopted what can only be interpreted as a get the vaccine or don't get an education policy. If a student tests positive for CO 19, all other students that person sat near over a 15-minute period and less than six feet must be quarantined except students that have provided proof of vaccination. There's a huge issue with this practice. Every single option for vaccination is an mRNA vaccine. The co 19 mna vaccines have been observed to lessen the
146symptoms and individual experiences and displays on a personal level. However, nothing suggests that that person who has gotten any one of the multiple vaccine options for CO 19 are actually immune from contracting it or immune from spreading it. And that is information directly from the CDC. Don't argue with me, argue with them. The decisions around CO 19 in the PK County schools have been are currently and I feel fear will continue to be in the future completely focused around a political agenda because it is obvious the policies in place are inconsistent with science and public well-being. Let's pretend for a moment that the Pulk County School Board isn't trying to remove parental choice from moms and dads when it comes to the health and well-being of their children. The current mortality rate for CO 19
147fluctuates within the 1 to 2% range. H1N1, also referred to as swine flu back in 2009, had a mortality rate of 11%. I don't remember these draconian practices being implemented back in 2009 with a virus that was far more deadly than what we are focusing on currently. Even to this day, H1N1 continues to circulate as a seasonal flu with a mortality rate of 1 to 4%. And yet, no one speaks a word of it. The Florida Education Association for the 2020 election endorsed 11 Democrats and two Republicans for Senate. 46 Democrats for Florida's House of Representatives while only endorsing five Republicans. Lastly, for the United States House of Representatives, 15 Democrats were supported and only one Republican received support. Article 9, Section 1, Subsection A of the Florida Constitution starts by saying, quote, "The education
148of children is a fundamental value of the people of the state of Florida. It is therefore a paramount duty to the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. The Constitution of Florida does not have an exemption clause for non-vaccinated students for CO 19. Stop breaking the oath you swore and revoke these damaging quarantine procedures. My child has missed over 30% of the school year to date because of your policies. He deserves an education. And to your point, you mentioned that the um co testing sites are being overburdened, but yet only 20% of them are actually popping positive for CO 19. Maybe you should stop sending them to mandatory uh quarantine processes where they have to get a a a clearance, right? Maybe you should stop overburdening them
149and actually do your job and teach. Thank you, Joelen McPeek. Good evening. I'm Joelen McPeek. I live at 4911 Celia Circle East, Lakeland, Florida. I am a parent of a student. I am also a teacher at Lake Region High School. Um, and I have graduate students. My parents live here. We've lived here for 40 years. Um, I listened to the work session as I always do and two things struck me today that I just felt I needed to come and talk to. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you whether I think we should have a mask mandate or we should not have a mask mandate, but I think we should have a discussion about a mask mandate or whether not to have one because it really is a local choice based on
150what our local numbers are doing. So that was the problem with the mandate from the governor's office was it took it away from the locals. We have a problem here in PK County. We have a hospital that's overburdened right now and we have people who can't get into elective surgeries. We have people who can't get treatment for things that their doctors would recommend they get treatment for because they can't get into the hospital. That's a problem. And we have students who are missing, let's see, we've been in school 20 days today. I think it's 20 days, maybe it's day 21. Um, and we have schools, students who have already been quarantined for five or more days. And at 90% is our cap when we go into that early warning system that kids are missing 90%,
151you know, they're below 90% attendance. That's when the early warning system kicks in and we need to pay attention to that because we're not getting our kids educated. They don't have an option. Um I believe in the work session it was mentioned today that we're sending kids into quarantine and they can't access the school. Okay, they can't access their school um unless they have a device at home or something like that. We don't seem to be really be prepared to have students quarantined and that's a problem because they're not getting what they need. They can't sit in a classroom and get what they need. Every child deserves the opportunity to be in the classroom and get what they need. And we've taken that away from them. Um, and we don't have an option for them
152otherwise. And that's a problem. And I'm concerned about the safety and health and well-being of our students. And I know every single one of you are also concerned about their safety, health, and well-being. We need to have a meeting. It's been talked about. It's been said that we want a meeting, but we don't have a meeting. We need to pull in the local talent that we have here, our medical professionals, our scientists, and hear out what needs to be done at a local level and worry about what our students need so that we can meet those needs and educate our students in the most healthy and safe environment that we can. [Music] David Lagan. Hi, my name is David Lian. I live at 6027 Creek Water Drive, Lake, Florida. H never been in front of
153a group of people like this before, in front of a board. Kind of weird. Um, when I was sitting here listening for the last uh two and a half hours to y'all talk about your budgets and stuff, uh, what went through my mind was that the local people who send their children to school, including me, uh, we don't have the luxury of sitting around, you know, discussing million-doll budgets. We live on small amounts of money. We do the best we can with our children and we want them to be healthy but we also want to be their parents and as their parents we have a right to say what happens to them and CCDF the part of the the organization I'm a part of is insured to letting people in P County who are parents
154and you know in various other ways make sure they get the freedom that they deserve. I used to live overseas. I lived in Africa for uh the first part of my life uh for 20 years and on one occasion I went to a leprosy colony and we don't even know what those are here but over there all the people who have leprosy get thrown out of their village and u put on the streets with nothing the village will have nothing to do with them anymore because they had leprosy they would go to leproserium and they would get treatment and and they would get cured of the leprosy leprosy it's a spyroet they can be cured of that Um, but because they've been cast out and treated like that, they're never allowed back to their village.
155So, the Leposarian would teach them a new skill or something they could live on. Um, watching people lose their freedoms overseas uh made a huge impact on me personally. And while I understand you guys have a job to do and that you're doing it very hard, it seems like you guys are working hard uh just from listening to all of you. Um, part of the job you have to do as an American is you have to let people make their own decisions and have the freedom to do so. And at CCDF, that's what we do. We want people to be free. And we don't we don't go by local bylaws or by local leaders. We look back to the Constitution and what the Constitution says that we should do or what we're allowed to do.
156And any laws that interfere with that, we uh deem hostile. And one of those things is masking up kids without parents approval. We think the parents have ultimate authority over their kids. That you guys have zero authority over the children and we're going to make sure that uh that remains the case. They're not your pets. They're not animals. They're our children. And we refuse to let you treat them any way we deem as parents be unacceptable. So my my thoughts were that from growing up overseas, I saw people's freedoms taken away. It only happens a little bit at a time and then pretty soon it's all gone before people know it. Oh, now the state controls us and tells us what to do. And CCDF, we're not allowing that. Thank you, Anita Carson. Um, my
157plan today is not to talk about masks because I feel like it's been talked about to death. Um, as most of you at the board know, I am a middle school teacher. I'm a middle school science teacher and my main concern right now is my students that are quarantined. Um, my high mark last week was 80% of my students quarantined at home. So, I had classes of one and two kids. 50% of my students do not have devices or internet at home. And this is Lake Alfred. This is not Fort me. This is not areas where we know there's not connectivity. Um I feel like we do not have it set up appropriately for kids to be at home on quarantine, but we also don't have what we need as teachers. I like to go
158above and beyond. I teach technology along with um sixth grade science integrated. And so I wanted to make u videos of myself teaching my information to my students. went to upload it into Schooly and my three minute instructional video was too big of a file. So, I cannot get it to my kids. So, I decided to put it on YouTube and make a YouTube channel and link it. But kids that do have school devices are not allowed on YouTube. I'm blocked from doing the things I need to do. So, if you could please work on giving us the tools we need so we can get the education to our kids. Thank you. Daniel Krueger. Bobby Shields. uh Lakeland, Florida 6328 Christina Parkway. Um starting off with a medical department from MIT says remember since the
159virus is spread through respiratory droplets and since people are most contagious in the 48 hours before symptom onset, our cloth face coverings are meant to protect other people, not ourselves. There's steadily accumulating evidence that cloth masks perform that function as well by containing respiratory droplets before they can be expelled into the air. Evidence for the efficacy of the mask comes both from laboratory studies and real world scenarios. I mean, you guys have it up here that CDC recommends that we wear masks. Mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask, mask. Majority of you here must have some belief that it's doing something because none of you here are required to be wearing it. You know there's a purpose for it. I mean it's if you look at the numbers from the
160pulk uh dashboard shows between 6,500 and 9500 absences per week for the last two weeks. And you have roughly 100,000 students. That's six to 10% of your students are on are absent on a regular basis this year. I don't know if that's normal, but that sounds like an excessive amount. You have I thought it was 8,000 students quarantined last week, but somebody else out there updated saying it's 11,000. We've had 1300 plus cases for I believe three weeks in a row now. Um, it's you just got to remember we're here to show the little kids what, you know, what we can do to help others in this situation to get out of this scenario. You were one of the guys back there is mentioning about swine flu. You look it up on the CDC web
161page. The death rate, the mortality rate on that is 0.2% where this is 2%. That's 10 times greater. And Whatever. And sorry, I'm just it. You can hear what I'm saying just fine. Okay. Okay. Keep your comments to yourself, please. Anyways, these people have talked with their mask on all night. You can hear what they're saying. Sorry, I'm not talking to the m the microphone for you. But anyways, we got to consider the children. It might only be 2% of mortality rate, but it's still over 600,000 people. That's not nothing. And now that the Delta is coming down to affecting more of the little children than the adults for whatever reason, now it's our time to protect them. So, I don't know what it takes to get a mass mandate to be go up to
162a vote on the board, but please have that discussion between now and your meeting next month and just put it up for a vote. See where everybody stands again. I mean, it it's not going to hurt. The worst that happens is you have a piece of cloth on your mask or piece of cloth. Thank you. Lola Smith. My name is Lola. I'm from Winter Haven. Thank you for caring, Miss Bear. We owned a litter when I was little. His name was Puff, and I remember one day seeing Puff's skin all flaky. He kept rubbing against the rocks in his cage and soaking in his little pool. And my mother explained that his skin was shedding because he was growing. And I thought it looked awfully uncomfortable. And my mother said, and I never forgot, growth
163is often uncomfortable. It is. As a child and as a student, I can attest that we've been uncomfortable since 2020. We've been scared. We've been confused. We've been very uncomfortable. But we are growing. We are learning in these moments to be the caring, responsible adults we will need to be to save this planet. The planet your generation is leaving us. But only if we live long enough to inherit it. Children are getting sick at higher rates than ever. Onethird of those sick with co and flu are children. While the alpha variant is infecting one to two people per room, the delta variant is infecting five to six. My classmates are more than percentages. They are potential and talent. They are the future and they deserve the same protection you offered the adults before the vaccine
164were available. We can survive the discomfort of a mask. We may not, however, survive co. I'm asking you, please allow us the chance to grow, have faith in our abilities to overcome, and provide us with the resources to survive. In short, give us the same respect I give it a bearded dragon when I was six. I don't think I'm asking too much. Please reinstate Max mandates in schools. Thank you for your time. [Applause] And thank you, Lola. It takes a lot of courage to come up and thank you for your words. Those are the speakers that have signed up and if there is no other business. Did you sign up, sir? Yes, I signed up for nonenda. I'm sorry. Yes, I signed up for nonenda. Come on up. Yeah, thank you madame vice chair. My
165name is Wayel Dour. Address is exempt. So maybe some of you remember I was here last last time also that time I was reading you know Kelly Peterson's name. Before I read a name I want to read this article to you all. This is from Lakeland Ledger published this morning 6:00 a.m. How many people have died of COVID 19 in Florida? We know the numbers. Last week it was 2,345. It was in the rate of one person every four minutes last week. That was that was the peak. How many in Pulk County? We don't know. That data is not available. I want to say thank you to superintendent height for putting the dashboard out there. We have some statistic at least for public schools but it is missing the information from charter schools. Hey we
166pay for them you decide here for their budget. I remember last time there was something you approved for makil again and their numbers should be posted there. I want to know what is happening in MQ even though they're telling me stuff. I think those should be included like the budget numbers you have put the charter school in. You take this out. We see both of them. So this is something we should see also. What is happening there? Oh, if they have the liberty to put the mask mandate, our superintendent should have that liberty also. I think he's been handling the cases very well and that authority should be left with him. So don't take that part from him. I heard that public hearing 26 Mr. Bridges said this is not good. Remote education option is
167not available because the governor that sentis oh I'm sorry governor desantis took it away. You cannot teach the children if they are in quarantine. How many children we have? I think it was over 8,000. Those people are not learning. Those children are not learning. You don't have any way to teach them. But what happened? Judge throw away the his mask mandate ban. People are supporting you. You're not alone. A lot of people coming here. I don't know how many they they have this. His name is Kenny Terry. He was 44. He died last week. He died last week from COVID at Lakeland Regional. Bring an expert from Lakeland Regional here. Not only the health department, let's hear from Watson Clinic. Let's hear from Lakean Regional Hospital. Let's keep our children students safe and healthy. Thank
168you for your time. I appreciate it. [Applause] Thank you. If nothing else, this meeting is adjourned. [Music]