the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 2 minutes please take your seats again the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 2 minutes e the school board meeting will begin in 1 minute please take your seats again the school board meeting will begin in 1 minute e e [Music] good evening everyone the June 25th 2024 meeting of the Maran County School Board is called to order mirroring and modeling the way our students begin each day I ask that we observe a moment of silence at this time would you please join me thank you I'll Now read our board commitment statement we are the Maran County School District leadership team when we come together to work we are efficient effective and productive our three most important characteristics are dedicated transparent and individually responsible to work well together we must demonstrate respect confront reality and be accountable we will always put students first and we will leave a legacy of success for the courtesy of those listening to the meeting I'm requesting everyone in the audience to please turn off your electronic devices or put them on vibrate later in the meeting up to 30 minutes will be provided for individuals to address the board on matters concerning the operation of the Marian County school system or the school board only present ations to the board are limited to 5 minutes and are televised if you wish to address the board regarding a regular agenda item or matters on which the board customarily takes action you must first complete a peach colored form located in the lobby if you wish to address the board regarding a public hearing or a student discipline matter please complete a lime green form these forms must be fully completed and received by the board clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. the procedures applicable for each are on a separate sheet board clerk good evening please call the roll Dr Allison Campbell district one here miss Lorie Conrad District Two here Mr Eric hummings District three here miss Nancy thrower District Four here Dr Sarah James District 5 here Dr Diane gullet superintendent here Mr Jeremy power Schoolboard attorney here thank you Dr gullet please share more on the team member who will help us this evening with the Pledge of Allegiance and inspiration good evening good evening Madam chair members of the board I'm really pleased to have Miss magal from our public education come forward with a special guest who is none other than our rookie Teacher of the Year we're so glad to have them here tonight thank you good afternoon chair thrower school board members and superintendent Dr gallet it's always a pleasure on behalf of the public Education Foundation to be here and introduce our rookie teacher of the year for 2024 Miss Carly scrimshire from element Greenway elementary school I will share our foundation is one of only a few in the State of Florida that has a teacher recognition recognition program and award for our rookie teachers of the year so we have our teacher of the year and you had the pleasure of meeting Miss Jennifer Brown tonight you have the pleasure of hearing inspiration from Miss Carly scrimshire um it is a lengthy and competitive process starting in September of each year where our rookies submit their portfolio they go through an interview process a surprise observation on their campus to then be named The District's rookie teacher of the year so congratulations again to Cari she is here on her summer break to share inspiration with all of us well we will give you a round of applause for that ma'am welcome [Applause] good evening Dr golet and Maran County school board members um it is truly an honor to represent Maran County Public Schools and all of the rookies in our district um they really are some of the best here and I'm excited to see where they go um I am a product of Marian County Public Schools I went to elementary school at Greenway I went to Fort King Middle and then I graduated from Forest High School and through the public Education Foundation um I was actually awarded the teacher to be scholarship I was local here at CF doing my college um experience there and they helped me not only get through college in my final internship but they help me get back to the school that I love which is Greenway um the golden apple class of 2024 truly is the best I believe we have created a strong bond between one another and they truly are fabulous Educators and not only that but they're fabulous people my heart is working with other passionate Educators to reach the goal of ensuring the best for our students this is happening through working with the gold golden apple committee my colleagues and everyone else in our district being a rookie surely is not an easy task it comes with many challenges lots of overtime hours and a tremendous amount of support from others I would love to see even more support for new teachers especially those coming from out of field speaking of support through the foundation our golden apple Academy is currently planning in the planning stage of launching a new Initiative for teachers developed by teachers similar to the concept of Ed Camp um we have named the teacher Development Day apps Apple paper scissors and during this day we will have Educators surrounding one another discussing all kinds of topics whatever they need help with no matter the experience all teachers will be invited to fill up their toolbox using ideas from one another kids deserve to have a passionate teacher who lights a spark within them and to further that teachers deserve to have passionate people to support them I hope to be that light with within the county and the school that I work in and now I would like to have ask everyone to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all and we definitely want to come down and take a picture with you so well thank you again for supporting rookie teachers and also the golden apple program thank you for everything that you do yes we definitely want to come down and take a picture and on behalf of the Maring County School Board congratulations all over again on your accomplishment at such an early time in your career it's very commendable and pretty amazing as a young person that started as a student in Marian County Public Schools finished as a student in Marian County Public Schools and now you're here with us and when we come down to take a picture we actually have a student intern here tonight so I would like for her to join us for the picture because who knows maybe one day soon you could be the next rookie teacher so let's all come [Music] down I don't have to take I would okay very good very [Music] good you do me a favor take your name which train them early we go two three couple more one more thank you [Music] it's not mine I'm let them talk nice you're so sweet all right that was awesome [Laughter] bye all right um moving on Dr goet would you please make a recommendation on tonight's Schoolboard meeting agenda absolutely thank you uh members of the board I recommend approval of the agenda for the June 25th 2024 school board meeting with the materials in the board packet those materials distributed to board members at the meeting and the audio recording included as part of the official record of the meeting with the exception of the following items and there there are a few so bear with me d 26.1 d 26.2 d 26.3 d 26.4 d 26.5 d 26.7 d267 d 26.8 forgive me d 26.9 d 2610 d261 D 26.12 d2613 D 26.4 d2615 D 26.6 D 26.7 D 26.8 D 26.9 D 2620 D 2621 D 2622 and D 2623 that have been placed under discussion did thank you Dr go yes I was a mouthful may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second by board member Cummings all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 28th 2024 school board meeting motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously may have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 28th 2024 board of directors leasing Corporation organizational meeting so move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 30th 2024 special school board meeting motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously thank you Mrs grey bill would you please provide the proof of publication for tonight's Schoolboard meeting the notice for the June 25th 2024 board meeting ran in the Okala Gazette on June 14th 20124 the proof of publication has been attached in board docs under proof of publication thank you ma'am we'll now move on to persons requesting to address the board and I'll ask the school board's attorney to explain the rules governing persons who wish to address the school board this evening good evening attorney Powers good evening thank you madam chair in compliance with Section 2860 one14 of Florida Statutes the school board has adopted uniform procedures for public speakers who wish to speak at this evening's meeting either regarding one of today's agenda items or a matter relating to the operations of the school board these proced procedures will ensure the public has a reasonable opportunity to be heard on school board and School District matters a written summary of these procedures is available from the table in the lobby public speaker forms are also located on the same table the completed forms were due to the school board's clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. this evening speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of receipt by the school board clerk before you begin speaking please State your full name for the record record and spell your last name each speaker will have 5 minutes of time however if there are more than five persons who wish to speak the board May seek consensus to limit each speaker's time to 3 minutes when the speaker has one minute remaining the speaker will receive a visual notice to complete his or her comments speakers may not yield their time to other people speakers and meeting attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner therefore verbal attacks and profanity are strictly prohibited pursuant to the procedures for public comments item six speakers are not to identify specific individuals other than themselves or their child unless the statement is provided 24 hours in advance the board is here to listen to your comments only you may be directed to an administrative staff member following the conclusion of your comments for further assistance to address your concerns if there are matters dealing with student discipline including expulsions they will be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of the meeting parents May address the board regarding a discipline matter at that time to ensure student privacy only a parent or Guardian May to use a student's first or last name identifying references to or identification of students or their families is also strictly prohibited a speaker's speech does not reflect the endorsement sponsorship position or expression of the school district thank you for your attention to the board's requirements Madam chair that explain that concludes my explanatory remarks thank you thank you attorney Powers M Mrs greyville do we have any speakers this evening yes Madam chair we have one Mr Keith fa excellent good evening sir good evening uh Keith Fair Ki F AI R Okala Florida uh 230 Northeast 25th Avenue Suite 400 and uh if I may I'd like to hand out some folders to for each of y'all we're going to talk about or what I want to talk about and visit with you about is uh Workforce housing that's affordable uh we have a real issue in our County and uh it's a real Challenge and uh so I just we gathered some information for y'all to be able to review actually the conversation and what I'm going to go through it's literally going to be word for word because I feel that important about being able to have it where you can reference back and look back at what we said and um so first of all I just want to start out by saying good evening Madame chair other board members and superintendent gullick um the Housing Finance Authority of maring County the HFA was commissioned by Maring County Board of Commissioners and 1980 under State Statute there were several apartment complexes built with Bond financing located over by CF uh cfcc the Housing Finance Authority has the ability to offer Bond financing developers that contracted and stated in their in their contracts with the apartments to remain affordable for 20 years um well the those agreements expired properties are still there they're now at full market rate so they're no longer affordable for the workforce um the HFA was reinstated a little over five years ago and with a mission to create essential housing in Maring County that is Affordable I'm here today to share with you an opportunity on how to create sustainable Workforce housing that will be affordable in Maran County there's a major shortage of housing in Maring County for our Workforce like your teachers and your staff that can afford to be able to live in a home or an apartment the housing numbers from a study that was done two years ago showed there was a shortage of 6,000 units just to fill the growth Gap that we're having in the county the good news is we're growing the bad news is we need house in today the workforce shortage is closer to 8,500 units the affordable Workforce has been an issue in Maring County since the public policy Institute study that was done back in 2006 if you note here's a card um it gives a good quick reference you can scan it and learn more about the Housing Finance Authority but the picture is what is what shows the need this is the workforce that we need housing for the legislators in tasse created a new law called the live local act which has established the meaning and guidelines for affordable housing these affordable guidelines are determined by the area medium income or the Ami and the um the increases in the last four years has been close to $20,000 in the area of medium income in our County if you took a salary of first year teacher to a 25-year experience teacher their salaries would all qualify for a live local act affordable rental guidelines if you see in your packet there's the teachers chart salary chart but also there's some budget numbers there and I'm not going to take time to go through them but if you would just look at the the bottom line there's one there there's a uh one of the she if you look at the top says a family size of three I think we're pretty moderate about every every expense there's no real Splurge but this particular family maybe would be a mother and two children um money left over every month would be in the whole $355 that's based off gross income so they're already in the hole if you looked at the next page it's based on a family of four you have one minute remaining and it would be um they have $174 remaining the difference is an 80% Ami and the other would be um 120% Ami both of those qualify under the uh live local act do you know the number one Catalyst for creating a healthy successful home life housing that is Affordable for a family the HFA would like to offer assistance to the Maring County school board with the issue and a challenge other counties like CER county has dedicated land resources to build affordable housing that was marketed to the teachers the challenge for the new impact fee that is to start July 1st 2024 this fee just adds additional cost to housing that is trying to make an affordable for teachers staff and hourly workers we know what happened over the last few years with the increased interest rates and the higher cost in building materials a developer will tell you it costs the same to build affordable multif Family Apartments your time has expired for the workforce that it does in the rate many times this impact fee makes it extremely difficult to build the type of housing that is Affordable for the workers if I may please sir I need one minute you can finish your sentence but your time expired I have to be have to be consistent I really need one minute sir please sir um if you would go ahead and bring it in for a landing we do have your detailed folder which we will definitely be reviewing so I I will do that very quickly we're going to be working with the city and county in vetting affordable multif family developments and with this application which we have is 23-page application we would propose that we would bring to the to the school board vetted developments that would be meet these guidelines for affordable housing okay than in closing look at the statutes because stat closing was done okay thank you sir thanks I appreciate it it's it's it's it's nothing personal but we have to I have to keep consistent with all the people that come and tonight you're the only person I understand I appreciate that please read through your packet because there's valuable statute information there for you to learn thank you thank you sir appreciate you um providing this material to us for the board members to take under advisement okay are there any more speakers tonight no Madam chair okay thank you all right we'll move on to the one informational item we have for this evening and this regard is regarding um a grant and it's the federally funded subaward and Grant agreement for the number is dr- 4734 Hurricane Adelia this Grant was presented to the board on May 14th 2024 on May 16th 2024 the district received an email from the Florida Division of Emergency Management informing us that the sub awward period of performance start and end dates um were entered incorrectly and the sub award and Grant agreement therefore um needed to be corrected so the correction has been made on the federally funded sub awward and Grant agreement for dr-4 734 hurricane ad Delia which was regarding the performance start and end dates so that was our one informational item for this evening and we'll go ahead and move on May I have a motion to approve consent agenda items c9- one through c251 with the exception of items d 26.1 d 26.2 d 26.3 d 26.4 d 26.5 d 26.6 D 26.7 D 26.8 D 26.9 D 2610 D 2611 D 26.12 d2613 D 26.4 d2615 D 26.6 D 26.7 D 26.8 D 26.9 D 2620 d26 point21 and d d 2622 and d26 6.23 that have been placed under discussion you can all now be confident that your chair can count to 23 all right may I have a motion please so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell all those in favor say I I I motion passes 5 Z we'll now move on to student disciplinary matters and alternative placements before addressing expulsion matters I wish to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement lists for students through May 23rd 2024 therefore may I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD 24-38 JD 24-39 jd24 d310 JD 24-31 JD 24- 313e JD 24- 314 jd2 24- 315e jd2 24- 316 jd2 24- 317e JD 24- 318e JD 24- 319 jd2 24- 320 jd24 d321 jd24 d323 jd24 d324 with Educational Services for the remainder of the 2023 2024 school year and the entire 2024 2025 school year may I have a motion please motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z we'll now we will now move on to our discussion of our regular agenda items May I have a motion to approve the first renewal agreement with hotton Mifflin hardcourt publishing company motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Cummings Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item I do thank you madam chair uh board with your permission this item will cost $2.5 million but this is a request to uh renew the data share agreement so that our schools can purchase the uh reading and Mathematics licenses and also provide resources and professional learning um at our school sites for the 40 24 25 SCH year thank you Dr gullet that is a hefty price tag um is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the district's comprehensive evidence-based reading plan motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item yes thank you this item is just over $2.5 million and board U now the state requires that the board approve the K12 comprehensive evidence-based reading plan annually uh which is what this does and this includes our comprehensive plan for reading instruction and we talk about the base funding in here it does address students from prek through 12th grade um and of course involved in all of this would be not just salaries and benefits but professional learning materials incentives and and tutoring provided through this plan that we've we've uh adopted so with board's permission we would move forward with this reading plan thank you Dr goet is there any discussion from the board just a brief comment yes for your comment um I just want to say as I was looking through um this reading plan it really makes me proud of the work that the district is doing um there's so many accommodations embedded in this plan to help our students move forward and we were just talking last week about our legislative agenda and reflecting on all of the things that are going on at our elementary schools our middle schools and our high schools and I just wanted to reiterate that our students have to show up to receive these Services all of the great things that are going on on our campuses you have to be there to receive them so I just want to thank our team for the work that they're doing a lot of time and effort um at least looking through this plan I thought um very comprehensive lots of accommodations and so I just want to say thank you uh for the work in putting this together and helping our students succeed one thing page 18 is upside down don't know if that matters or not um but anyway just thank you again for the work that uh you all are doing each and every day on our campuses thank you chair thank you Vice chair is there any more discussion from the board I certainly concur with by sh Conrad's um comments the all it's so comprehensive and and so many embedded accommodations like you shared okay if there's no further discussion all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the special data share agreement with packback Incorporated motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item yes thank you madam chair uh board with your permission this item would cost just over 330 $6,000 and this would enable our our secondary students to utilize uh artificial intelligence under through monitoring of course but it allows our students to receive online coaching and assistance one-on-one um with critical thinking and their writing skills and so um this is again to support our students in the secondary programs thank you Dr G is there any discussion from the board just a brief comment sorry please um just as right I was reviewing this it's really exciting um when I stepped away from the classroom there were not there was not a resource like this available to help our students and as you follow what our students are expected to do in the area of writing uh it continues to be very rigorous and so I'm just thankful uh that we have this opportunity to use this program and I look forward I hope that I have the chance to see it being used thank you Vice chair Conrad yes using technology for the good is always the goal is there any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z and we do have the representative from pacb uh joining us tonight so thank you for being here appreciate your commitment to Maring County Public Schools all right moving on May I have a motion to approve the special data share agreement with learning 2020 Incorporated doing business as penda learning Mo to approve motion by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr go you have information you would like to share regarding this item I do thank you again Madam chair members of the board this item would cost just over six I'm sorry $761,000 and this would allow us this is a for a three-year agreement um and it would provide online resources and science but not just online also Hands-On learning which is also very important so it would provide those Support Services um including our Curriculum maps for this item thank you thank you Dr gullet is there any discussion from the board all right hearing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z sounds like we're going to have signs covered all right may I have a motion to approve the First Amendment with power school Group LLC motion to approve motion by board member James second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you like to share regarding this item yes thank you this item is nearly $2.3 million I'm rounding up quite a bit but um this would allow our schools um staff to continue to access um critical uh dashboards and databases this includes True North logic performance matters and our data dashboard unified Insight so that our staff can access the data um necessary to help students be successful thank you thank you Dr go is there any discussion from the board hearing none I will just say that um the amount of money that we are mandated to invest in technology let alone the money that we want to spend on programs that we believe will help every student succeed is really in the astronomical numbers um it's important to bring these numbers forward so that the community the Greater Community understands um the investment that everyone is making in public education today um so if there's no more discussion we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- z may I have a motion to approve the grant applications Perkins V SEC V secondary motion to approve motion by board member Campell second second by board member Cummings Dr G do you have information you would like to share regarding this item yes thank you board you're probably familiar with the Perkins grants and Perkins dollars so this one would um allow with uh the cost about $718,000 provide for our um our students to receive uh CTE program support in middle and high schools and this actually would um reach about 15,000 of our students so helping to pay for industry certifications testing uh professional learning for for for CTE which I know we um think is very important for our students thank you Dr gullet um is there any more or is there any discussion from the board on this for myself I'll just say I love seeing Middle School being included um more and more that's really such a critical time for our kids and um it'll be nice to have this in place um we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I i i i motion passes unanimously 5 Z moving on May I have a motion to approve the renewal agreement for NCS Pearson Incorporated motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item I do thank you the cost of this is uh just $74,000 and likewise we were just talking about certifications this item would allow for the certification for us to purchase industry certifications again for middle school and high school and MTC students and I wanted to share some data regarding this as of the be as of June 12th uh this is one of the questions I asked we have the following we have had students we have 3,51 industry certifications attempts already made 1,893 industry certifications earned and that is a net increase of 19% increase in Industry certifications that have been earned compared to last year so a year later as you know we've doubled in dual enrollment for career dual enrollment and so we're seeing quite an increase in the certifications that are actually earned and so um we are tracking that and wanted to share that with the board good news thank you yes that's very very impressive is there any discussion further from the board I'll just say I love the direction we're going with this um you know it's been well established that not every child is interested in going to college at least at the age they leave high school and don't always see that connection to the next step but if we can grab those students starting even in elementary school in my opinion and begin to uh help them focus on their passions and the things that they're really interested in um it's only going to serve them well in making their decisions for what they really want to do with their life so um I do remember a time when this budget was just decimated and it is the I think this crosses all political lines what what I hear in the Greater Community is we need vocational we need more vocational what are you doing with vocational and so it makes me really happy to see all of these coming across okay if there's no further discussion all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5 moving on May I have a motion to renew bid 3933 a food service large equipment term contract motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item I do and um board with your permission I have Miss Ramona Belcher who's going to come forward and present on this item and she is going to present information that addresses the next four items so for clarification that would be 26.8 26.9 2610 and 2611 when we get to those items I'll give you the cost individually but she's going to present items that addresses all of those with your permission okay great so when you're done with your presentation we can ask questions about any of these and then we'll vote on them separately need to vote on them separately all right perfect good evening good evening um Dr goet did you want me to address um d26 13 or wait because I also have that item as well it there's a skip there's there's a skip in the order I would I would wait if that's okay I don't want to if that's okay that's fine thank you good evening good evening chair thrower Vice chair Conrad board members and Dr gallet so it is the time of year where many of our bids are up for annual renewing renewal so I'm here this evening to discuss the budget resources for several of the bids that are utilized for the food nutrition service services for the 2425 school year so food and nutrition service is a self-supported program we're separate from District funding and we have a mission to provide nutritious meals to boost student performance in the classroom as a student centered program food nutrition services has served over 10,773 th000 meals yearly and 62. 23% of students in our district are directly certified which qualif qualifies Maran County to participate in the community eligibility provision that allows us to provide free meals to all students regardless of their income as been discussed in previous board meetings the population in Maring county is experiencing rapid growth thus creating the need for increased resources to operate our programs so I'm going to give you a brief overview of each item on the agenda tonight the first item d268 is the renewal bid 3993 ah large equipment this request requ requires I'm sorry provides details regarding the need for large equipment and it's essential to maintain and replace old and outdated equipment to avoid equipment failures and impeding meal service to the students aside from equipment assistant grants our food service department hasn't purchased any new equipment since 2020 so we're a little behind on getting our equipment updated I've also added additional funds uh for purchasing new equipment for the two new schools um kit uh kitchens um W and X so that's why the budget for this is large at $4 million the next item d26 point9 is our bread bid and um it went out again for bid there are regulations surrounding the type of bread that we serve and as well as the quantity of grains that we provide at each meal so this bid is for fresh Bak break prod fresh baked products with whole grain breads that are delivered to schools fresh we offer a variety of milk which includes the 1% white fat-free chocolate and fat-free strawberry by renewing this contract um it um ensures that Maring county is meeting the required federal guidelines the amount for that um bid is 2, 362,552 611 is the renewal option second year for our juice bid and all of our juices are 100% juice in the Child Nutrition program juice in the Child Nutrition program so we have it on the menu daily because it is a student favorite I do want to note that the bread the juice and the milk when I budgeted I did increase 5% to account for the rising cost of food and then the rising cost I mean the rising population of students in Maran County and um I will open it up for any questions if you have any thank you very much is there any discussion or comment from the board okay hearing none I don't think I've heard the uh cost of the juice and juice products the cost of the juice is uh 1,000 uh 1,57 75,000 wow yes a lot of juice food is 40% of our budget and it's slowly increasing um remember James if you do do you have an update on the use of the share table and if I take a juice and I don't drink it and I don't open it is there are we using the share table can we put it back into yes um most um some schools when they when they have an interest we do have a policy for a share table policy as as long as the products are unopened and unused um they should be on ice and you know a temperature control for the whole entire time and then after each meal service it's left out for a very short period of time and then we discard it um for safety reasons but um share tables are uh welcome at each school for those who so who want it so we are discarding it though if kids do not at the end of the lunch service whatever is left in the share table is discarded correct it can't be donated it it can be if it's kept within temperature we can donate it typically don't so if we worked with a nonprofit to pick it up and we do have a organizations that we work with to pick up um products especially when we're closing out the school year and we have items left or if um let's say we had a field trip that a manager didn't know about and she prepared too much food we do reach out to we have a certain list of people that we donate to um that are approved so how would we go about expanding that narrative because the last thing I want is perfectly good food being thrown away well the the main reason why we don't usually donate it after it's been out on a share table is because someone does have to monitor the temperature of that the whole the whole entire time um and so for food safety reasons we prefer to discard it rather than take the risk but if we had some agreement that was created that the person receiving it yes is taking on the liability or whatever with the temperature or the and all of those things I just think about like boys and girls club we have us we have multiple Boys and Girls Club locations in Maran County and our students get served at those locations and when I toured Boys and Girls Club the um director spoke about the fact that they often are looking for donations of food so I'm just wondering you know maybe this is someone we already work with but as an example if boys and girls club was willing to come pick up the food um from some of the local schools that are close by where the clubs are I just don't want to see food get thrown away if we have so many people in our community who are um very very very needy so it would be my request that we figure out how to partner with more nonprofits or partner with more ways for that food to land in the homes or the bellies of hungry people in our community we do um have a waiver when we donate food taking the liability off of us and putting it onto them so if anyone um um is interested in picking up leftover products all they have to do is just reach out to you yeah they can reach out to me um if we identify a school or two that's doing share tables or has leftovers and wants to donate we usually put them in contact with the manager and they coordinate from there are there are there schools not using the share table you know I couldn't answer that um there may there possibly is some schools that don't want the share table um because sometimes it does it creates issues but for the most part if someone's interested and we don't we don't stop them from participating in the share table we just share the policy with them to make sure that they are following the procedures okay thank you you're welcome thank you so it sounds like it's a school-based decision it is okay um I agree with um board member James um the devil's always in the details and also in getting the word out there and highlighting it and and amplifying it um Dr gullet with um with Mr Christians and others you know whatever we can do to help support this and attorney Powers I don't know if it would take some sort of contract beyond what you already have which it sounds like you already have a waiver in place so that's there but just to just to make it more widely known um yeah there's there's no point no point wasting food yes chair thank you I I completely agree that we don't need to be wasting wasting food I I do agree though that it does still need to be be maintained at the school-based level because I'm thinking of some of our school cafeteras and the space that they have may not be conducive to having anything extra being used for anything extra and so I don't know if there is another way that it could be accommodated in the kitchen or something like that but I I I still agree that it needs to be a school-based decision just based on C certain School space constraints y there's like I said there's always the details that you have to figure out but it seems clear that there's at least three board members sitting here that uh want to make sure that you know waste not want not right if we can figure out a way to share it sharing is caring well that's our business we're in the business of feeding people so that's right thank you for bringing that to our attention because I I know from experience that we had the share tables and then you know throughout the pandemic times that went away and and sometimes things they come back it's not it's just cuz no one thought of it so glad to hear I have had a couple schools reach out they were asking and they wanted it back um I can't remember off the top of my head which ones they were so there there is a need there is a desire and there are students that are still hungry and um definitely take advantage of those extra items absolutely well thank you very much for the presentation and also for sharing the cost of of what it takes to make sure that our kids will get what they need so hopefully they can be the best students they can possibly be thank you appreciate it all right so we'll go ahead and vote on the first one this is um d268 for those keeping track at home and we have a motion and a second is there any more discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously -0 the next one 26.9 may I have a motion to approve bid number 4025 ah bread and bread products for food service term contract so move moveed by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet we've already had the information is there any further discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z moving on to d26 point10 may have a motion to approve may have a motion to approve renew bid 3811 ah Food Service milk and milk products three-year term contract Move Motion by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 50 D 2611 may I have a motion to renew bid 3930 a food service juice and juice products term contract motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Cummings all those in favor say I I I I motion passes 5 all right we will move on to D 26.12 may I have a motion to renew bid 3999 GM Door Hardware motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by board member Cummings Dr G you have information you would like to share with regarding this item thank you madam chair this item I think is pretty self-explanatory it would allow us at a cost of $250,000 to purchase door equipment and locks all right is there any further discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z glad I don't have to purchase $250,000 worth of door locks from house all right when when you look at this stuff at scale you know you begin to realize how much it costs to run our business all right um now we will get back to some food service we have a motion to request to join the north Florida buying group known as nfbg for main food and Supply items and USDA commodity processing via the alacha County Public Schools RFP 2324 may I have a motion please we move move by board member Cummings second okay second by board member Campbell Dr gullet you have information you would like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair U Miss Belcher was referencing this earlier this this cost would be 12 approximately $ 122.5 million and what this request is is to allow us to join with with El latcha County public our work session um and you may recall that there was a presentation that included a price uh change was which is reflected in your attachments today and it's just under uh $4 million and uh if you have any questions we're happy to answer thank you thank you Dr G um is there any discussion from the board this is dollars to the good correct yes that's correct and how much was that again the total ended up being 3.9 23 3. 3,923 884 okay and it was revised uh just today because we received the R ision Miss Boston has received the revision that was addressed at the work session great all right thank you very much if there's no further discussion all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously may I have a motion to approve the agreement with tpg cultural exchange services LLC motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice shair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes thank you madam chair so miss paig zadnik is going to come forward on behalf of Miss Morant tonight and she is actually going to provide information on this item and the following item okay thank you good evening Miss adet good evening chair thrower board members superintendent gulet it is a pleasure to be here this evening on behalf of Miss marant we are pleased to request renewal of the district contract with tpg cultural exchange services LLC tpg provides opportunities for educators from around the world and school districts in the United States to participate in a mutually beneficial cultural and professional experience through the temporary placement of Educators in schools in the United States to further those goals tpg provides for a temporary stay in the United States of 1 to 5 years for educators after the completion of their stay Educators return to their home countries to share the cultural and educational knowledge they gained while in the United States the typical period of stay for an educator in the United States is 3 years for the 2024 2025 school year Marian County public schools has 11 tpg teachers returning of these 11 teachers one teacher will be in their fifth year six teachers will be in their fourth year and four teachers will be in their third year additionally we are thrilled to have seven additional teachers joining our team the contract allows for up to 30 Ed Educators and we are currently working with tpg staff to hire additional teachers for the 2024 2025 school year as we prepare for the upcoming school year the tpg staff continues to provide support for our current and incoming tpg teachers as well as the administrative teams supporting these teachers we greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with tpg in this unique and valuable experience for both our schools and students and look forward to the 2024 school year ahead thank you thank you is there any discussion from the board I just have one go ahead board member James the 400 the $45,000 doesn't represent their salaries right um it no that is for the um the administrative cost so it's 13,500 per educator and we can hire up to 30 okay and that's where the 405 comes from yes ma'am okay okay because I was trying to do quick math and it wasn't math so yes ma'am thank you thank you board member James any more discussion from the board I'll just say I remember hearing from a school um because they one of their tpg teachers was running their visa was running out yes ma'am and maybe some of you remember getting that email as well you know what can we do anything to help this teacher extend because if they're with us 5 years obviously they they're embedded you know in that school and and no one wanted to see them go so as I heard you say that we have teachers that have been with us four years and then some of them that fifth year it might be a good idea to make sure that the the principal tells his staff that it it just stinks but let's celebrate them all this year and the next year for the four-year ones um because they they truly are missed and it sounds like they're doing a great job absolutely our schools are sad to see them go unfortunately we don't have an option um but they are certainly sad to see them go and it is a great experience for them to be here with us is there amount of time and this is just my own curiosity is there amount of time where they would go home and then they could come back does that vary by cont there is a stipulation to that but I I can't speak to it in the moment but I can certainly follow up on that for you okay that would be great yes ma'am thank you all right if there's no further discussion from the board all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the Second Amendment to agreement with ESS Southeast LLC motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Cummings Dr goet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes Miss adnik has a lot of information to share on this thank you yes ma'am thank you so much um we are pleased as well to request renewal of the district contract with ESS Southeast LLC we have now completed the initial semester with ESS providing substitute services for our schools the current staff for ESS supporting Marin County Public Schools includes 291 employees who were mcps substitutes and chose to apply for esss and 229 new hires to ESS for a total of 520 substitutes this is a 79% increase in the substitute pool in the first five months during the spring semester with ESS the fill rate for absences was 87% this is a 10% increase from 77% for the fall semester when substitutes were employed by the district ESS has a three-person team providing daily support to our schools and maintaining the new hire and onboarding process the team supports our administrators and school secretaries with training filling long-term substitute positions and any needs that arise two of the team members are regularly visiting campuses to provide onsite and Hands-On assistance these team members also directly support daily and long-term substitutes a third member of the team maintains the new hire and onboarding process and is continually available to answer questions and provide assistance for the hiring process new hire sessions are held in person on a weekly basis the onboarding process for ESS includes in-person training and classroom management currently the ESS team is working with the Marin County Public Schools exceptional student education department to create a monthly training offered for substitutes interested in learning more about providing support in the classroom in addition to the Daily support of schools and substitutes the ESS team can be seen at school and District events as well ESS has attended three Family Focus events held at school sites a school family night and the Sumter Maran County uh retired Teachers Association meeting the team will have also attended two mcps Career Fairs held this spring and summer recently all Sites were asked by ESS to complete an annual report card covering four key areas to include ESS substitutes arriving on time and checking in with the main office ESS substitutes being prepared dressed professionally and interacting with students and staff in a positive manner the ESS management team being responsive and attentive if an issue or concern arises and the ESS management team being visible and active in the school ESS received an overall rating of Na comments included uh on the report cards from the school teams included shoutouts for specific substitutes appreciation for the increased fill rate and gratitude for the ESS management team recognizing their responsiveness and quick action we are looking forward to continued work with ESS for the 2024 2025 school year we will begin the year with an established way of work an established Rapport across the district and a foundation of collaboration on which we will continue to build for the benefit of ensuring daily support when needed in our classrooms for our students thank you thank you miss adick any discussion comments from the board just a com go ahead Vice chair and then okay um Miss agnik I just want to tell you thank you um every time I visit a school they are so grateful and so happy for this system it's been one of the fastest turnarounds as far as going from something that our staff were they were really struggling with and now they are just so they're elated um it's just really been a positive experience I personally have not received one negative comment um it really has filled the need um it's been a morale booster and so thank you and your team for the work in getting this um together and moving it forward thank you it's been our pleasure thank you Miss conr thank you sh board member James my only question because I think it's all it all is great the program is great I'm only wondering why we're budgeting less than we spent this past year um we we spent 5 311 million this past schol year and have budgeted 4 million and if we go over this 4 million where is that coming from yes ma'am Dr James I I don't believe Miss Boston Ellis is here this evening to speak but I would oh is she here oh miss Boston Ellis would you be able to speak to that a question y thank you so much she can answer it all I know she can she carries the money bags in her head thank you so much not really but thank you so even to see you miss Boston it's it's good to be seen but um to address that that question from a fiscal impact I think the information that was provided to you included the costs that we pay for our own employees that are subbing um whether they're non-instructional or instructional as well as the one semester uh for ESS um we are looking to take a deep dive into that program to make sure that we are maximizing um uh that service for ESS that we are encouraging our schools to go first to ESS um before they um uh before they get the the volun told employees at the schools so we are just looking to tighten up the process and just but from fiscally um our sub cost has increased exponentially preco it would be 1.5 million 2 million for subs and during covid we saw an an It just blew out of the waters and then there was additional uh agreements with the Union to pay for um our non-instructional or instructional to sub as well so we've seen these costs um increase exponentially so we're just looking to be fiscally responsible in addition to providing the resources that the schools need if I answer that well where's the money going to come from if we go over the 4 million like everything else Dr James it would be fund balance uh we will also look at long-term Subs if we have a a long-term sub in a school we would look at reducing the Staffing at that school in terms of budgeting so we would reduce that that Staffing and if the principal decides they they found someone to hire then we would restore that budget for hiring that so if you think about it these are duplicated costs so we've we've staffed budget-wise for whatever the school needs and then on top of that we are budgeting for for um substitutes as well so there is a delicate balance between the budget for our um substitute costs as well as the budget for Staffing okay understood I um my My worry is that with ESS which I wholeheartedly agree I'm just only worried about what we're budgeting for this so I'm completely on board with the program I think the program is great my concern is that taking out what we paid people to cover classes peras non-instructional and teachers we still spent $4.3 million just in sub costs this past year um aside from the 331 for um instructional support and 669 for non-instructional support so my concern is that our V while we're while we're trying our our vacancy number stays pretty consistent in that 115 to 130 range and we had 729 resignations and retirements this year which is our second highest pretty much third highest in the last six years and so my concern is that the vacancies are still going to be there and I don't think that that issue is going away and I just worry about budgeting not enough money for this this this critical need that we all agree is very important and then pinch coming to shove and trying to figure out how we're going to cover it so that's my only hesitation is the number I think you will find what we do every year is we are measuring a cost versus the need and the need is the priority and if there is a need for additional funding we'll have to make additional adjustments in the budget and we do that all the time but the point that I was trying to make is that we we have a budget for subs and we have a budget for Staffing and if if we are using Subs then the budget for the full-time Staffing doesn't need to be as high so we will make the adjustments if there is additional funds needed for substitute then we will make the appropriate adjustments and we will come back to you okay thank you thank you Miss Boston Ellis is there any further discussion or comments from the board hearing none I'll just say thank you as always for the great work that you do and The Balancing Act that you somehow managed to not only perform a complete pretty much on a daily basis it's definitely a team effort thank you absolutely thank you all right if there's no further discussion all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 moving on to item D 2617 may I have a motion to approve the construction of a new Aviation and diesel auto mechanic program building at Maran Technical College known as MTC this is Project number 24-10 may I have a motion please motion to approve motion by board member Campbell emphatically second second second by Vice shair Conrad and I see uh um superintendent um do you have information you like I do Mr Mr smallidge can make his way down and he is going to present board I don't think I have to say again out loud and we're all very excited about for the first time ever in our district that we received an appropriation from the state and legislature of $ 5.57 million and Mr smallidge is here with us tonight to provide an update on this first phase of construction proposed to you board thank you good evening sir good evening chair thrower Vice chair Conrad board members and Dr gallet it really is my pleasure to be here tonight because we've been waiting for this night for a long time at MTC we're here to seek your approval to move forward with the actual construction and the real groundbreaking on the building that we've been talking about for over a year and a half and Dr gullet did allude to the fact that this is the first appropriation requests that Maring county has received from the state legislature so it is special and it is a big deal so this first phase that we're asking your approval tonight and every bit of it's funded through that appropriation request and uh while I'm thinking about it I do want to thank the board especially um Dr Campbell because she pushed this a lot and Dr gullet was really on me about hey let's do this and we it's started out as a conversation a little over a year and a half ago about what programs would we need and chair thrower you said bring more vocational well this item is bringing you more vocational so bring it yeah we're bringing it so um it started as a conversation we pulled out an old file of some plans that Mike Kelly had from before I got to MTC and CF kind of beat us to the health science building that they got some funding for by the state so so we revamped it talked about what does the community need the state needs Aviation mechanics and we definitely need diesel mechanics in this area so it was a no-brainer we came up with the idea of of doing a a smaller appropriation request it's not small because it's 5.57 million but the original ask was 20 plus million so we broke it down into kind of some stages and we we went to Tallahassee many of you went with us and and had good trips met a lot of legislators legislative people and um we got the approval so here we are we went through multiple meetings with tech services I wanted to thank tech services because they did a great job with the plans um we had to go back to the table change plans to save some money and we separated the building from one big rectangle to two kind of squares with a Breezeway in between and that saved money on some of the sprinkler systems and things that would be required because the square footage was lower so thank you tech services appreciate appreciate you guys for the support and um we're ready to break ground for real this time hopefully I think Talon Builders is ready to get going as well so with your permission um we'd like to get started so any questions thank you Mr small Ridge any questions from the board board member Campbell I don't have any questions I'm just ecstatic it's time we we've been waiting um it was so great to receive the appropriation and now it's like okay now let's actually see the shovels in the ground ground and really make the the building come to life and so I'm just super excited it's going to be a wonderful opportunity for our community and for future students that will be there and future employees that will be employed all throughout this community and Beyond the state so speaking of that we just heard our Aviation instructor terrific thank you I'm just super excited I'm ready to vote but y'all probably want to say something too is there any other comments or discussion from the board um for my piece I'll just say thank you so much you know Mr smallridge all that it's it really is historic for for this district and and a first and it warms my heart especially because of of my commitment to um career in technical education it's it's how I came up I tell everybody all the time if it weren't for horses I would have never agreed to go to college and um so that was the hook and it is so worthy of of Celebration and the fact that we received it really is um considered an extra $5.7 million but but all of that money you know comes from each and every one of us as as taxpayers and the fact that the legislature saw fit to believe that we were going to be great stewards of this money and that it was going to go to directly benefit children is a tribute to Dr gullet a tribute to you and a tribute to everyone on the team that worked so hard to make this happen and including the school board that came went up and advocated to Tallahassee and shared the importance and our passion um for career in technical education in Marian County so thank you and I didn't even throw in there that we're going to open those programs up for dual enrollment as well fantastic starting in middle school they're going to start picking up their skills in middle school all right thank you all right thank you guys all right um I think we're ready to vote you ready Dr board member H all right all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z fantastic may I have a motion to approve the agreement with the national Center on education and the economy so move moveed by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gulet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item certainly for this item the cost would be $16,500 and Bard I think you're well famili with the national Center for education and the economy known as nce or or forly as nissle National Institute for school leaders um providing an evidence-based program to help support our Pipeline and growth um professional learning for our our leaders and Future Leaders and so this would uh allow us to purchase the materials curriculum so that our our team could continue to participate thank you and did you share the dollar amount yes 106500 what was that that again 10 16,500 all right thank you all right is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously may I have a motion to approve the master Services agreement with Upland software Incorporated motion to approve gosh uh Mo motion by board member Campbell second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you would like to share regarding this item that was a tie yes thank you madam chair Mr Ben vudi is going to come forward and we have yet another presentation tonight uh the cost of this item is $300,000 and Mr Ben ven is going to provide some additional details for this uh three-year contract and and what that looks like in our district thank you all right good evening board chair thrower superintendent gullet and board members filebound is an Enterprise content management software that aids The District in managing documents it provides tools for digitizing storing organizing and accessing documents key features include document capture indexing secure storage retrieval and integration with our Skyward systems currently we're seeking approval to enter into a three-year contract not exceeding three 100,000 per year for a total of 300,000 by committing to a three-year agreement this vendor with this vendor the district stands save about $6,000 per year in rate increases as the vendor has agreed to a 3% annual rate increase rather than a nine thank you it's not as sexy as the other programs but still necessary that's right still needed all right is there any comment or discussion from the board on this item for Mr Ben vudi sorry sir hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 all right moving on to D 26.2 may I have a motion to approve the districtwide high school football stadium lighting replacement project 24-13 motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr goet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes board as you can see it's quite costly to replace the lights in our stadiums at a cost of $2.25 million approximately so this is just to replace all those lights and um we're happy to answer any questions you may have any questions from the board board member James go ahead my only question is in September of 2023 we had a work session on the the the plan and it included and I only really remember this because I I spent all fall going to high schools and I think Dr Campbell did too and we were like you're getting new lights you're getting new lights and so I remember having that conversation so I went back to look at what the meeting was and so in the total funded projects for 2324 school year for the September 7th 2023 work session these were in here and they were listed at $150,000 per stadium so I honestly thought it had already gotten done I I didn't know it hadn't gotten done so then when I saw the item for tonight I was wondering my first question is what happened when happened from sep out oops I think you're going out I'm live so you're good board member Cummings are you good Vice chair your sure so my first question is just what happened from September until now that it it's not and the narrative it's not going to be done until the end of the football season I think is what I read or maybe I read that in the contract I don't know but yes completion honor before November 5th 2024 so what what happened from September 7th 2023 until now miss dobins do you want if you want to if you could address the um what was done then and what this request is tonight that would be helpful thank you good evening Miss doin yes as we present the fiveyear plan it's always estimates that we do and we're having to replace the drives and the balles for these lights as well it includes all eight stadiums we will start with lakew high school and Forest High School first because they have a whole stadium poll out um we have a contingency plan and we cannot get those two stadiums lit before their first home game but we are hopeful that they are lit as we move through that process after we complete lakew high school and Forest High School we then schedule the next High School based on their away game and then we complete that Stadium during the week of their away game and then we hope to have all Stadium lights done by that by that November time we then take the lights that we are removing and we are using those lights to make sure our baseball and softball fields are able to use those lights we are looking at also the potential to scrap metal the old lights and if they're working looking at selling or auctioning those lights if they're still usable so I I'm I'm completely on board with replacing the lights that's not my question my question is what happened from September in the work session until now that that we're just I I was just under the impression that this was all going to be done before football season this year it was part of the 23 24 school year so that's just my question construction is a process we have 81 projects being done in this District this year so it takes time to get to those 81 projects when you are a very small Department it will be done in the fall of this year and most of these schools will have LED lights for the majority of their home games Okay thank you um Miss dobins um is there any further questions from the board regarding this item because it certainly sounds to me like um we have how remind me again how large our staff is in [Music] facilities So currently we have one construction coordinator that oversees the gmps and I know I'm getting back down here that's re uh oversees the gmps and the projects we only have one uh con uh project manager that also oversees and three inspectors but we just now got our third inspector so we went without an inspector all year as you approved recently we are adding staff um because we are booming in the construction business okay thank you very much um and and please keep the board posted on facility needs you know that you have I know we're going to be um discussing them a little bit tonight and then also moving forward but we definitely have entered a new era of a lot going on in a department that had virtually nothing going on for a very long time and I don't want to say nothing what I mean by that is we weren't building anything new we were very limited in the amount of money we had to even maintain at a basic level um but now you know we're fortunate that we do have some money flowing so that we can get some schools built and your little department is going to need some boosting I'm that's that's what I feel like I'm hearing I don't know what the board sees on that okay all right thank you anything else all right all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z all right moving on to to d26 point21 this is the discussion of the report um on facility policies and procedures recommendations um attorney Powers you have information you'd like to share regarding this item that's operations it I'm sorry I lost my mic again it's a this is an operations item I believe the superintendent was planning to address this to you okay thank you thank you all right Dr goet thank you madam chair uh members of the board I have several things I'd like to bring to to your attention as it as it um references this consultant report so bear with me um so after review of the Consultants report that you see before you tonight it's clear that the district is in full compliance with applicable Florida law administrative rules state requirements for educational facilities known as esref and the terms and conditions of the solicitation documents the consultant found the process and procedures including the current scoring criteria to be legal and appropriate I am pleased the changes we were making to the process specifically which were already being implemented when we attempted to redo the interview are the same as the recommendations made essentially by the outside Council and the experts so specifically the consultant also provided 10 recommendations which you see before you tonight for the district to consider as to recommendations one 2 and six the district is already in the process of implementing these changes as to recommendations four five 7 and 10 although the consultant provided model scoring criteria for us to consider they suggested convening a committee so local stakeholders could provide input to ensure that the process reflects the values of our local community in Maran County I agree with that recommendation and we will be moving forward accordingly as to recommendations 8 and nine the district will will bring proposed policy to you the board for consideration at the next policy review cycle as to recommendation three that is something that the board will need to determine how to move forward the recommendations for the operational audit items I also asked for them to take a look at items specifically three through five from the um operational audit we're consistent with our responses and actions so there's an update on progress outlined above that will be shared in more detail when we have our July 11th work session it's already on a topic and we will be providing an update on the items I've just referenced for the board and we'll have more conversation on that but finally uh a more time-sensitive decision needs to be made tonight uh regarding um High School CCC we need to move forward without further delay in my opinion and therefore we may proceed in one of the following ways I'm going to Outline Three board for your consideration and feedback the first one is that we could post an RFQ this week using the same scoring criteria with an updated procedure found to be appropriate this would give us the ability to open the main buildings for the 26 27 school year which is what the estimate was to begin with however some aspects of the project such as the auditorium gymnasium and athletic fields would likely not be completed in time for the first day of school and again this is an estimate based on what we think the timeline's going to be but the construction would continue while the school is in session in other words it would allow us to have school open for instruction with those other pieces being added another option option two would be that we can proceed with bringing forward the results of the process as it was conducted and this would provide a better chance of having more of the construction project completed that I've just outlined open for the 26 27 school year and more of those um ancillary buildings would be completed and yes ma'am sorry would you please repeat the second one the first part of your statement I I just had trouble hearing of course we can proceed with bringing forward the results that we have left off um in this process as it was conducted and we would just move forward with what we have we would take the scoring results as we have them and move forward that would entail that we would bring that to the board okay so and that just for my own understanding so there would be no repeat of interviews just using correct that's an option okay as it was completed because the results found those to be uh legally sound okay another option would be that we could move forward after the committee that I've referenced earlier had that they've provided recommendations on another review of the scoring criteria and processes if the board prefers this option understand that the school would be further delayed and certainly will not open in the sixth 2026 2027 school year and we will be looking at an opening in 2027 2028 and as always um I believe that our students should be at the Forefront of those decisions and actions and I look forward to your feedback thank you Dr goet out of the three um do you have specific recommendation you know or or your own rating of what would be your recommendation on these if we go with the final the third option we will delay our students having building a school and having it open for another year which impacts our current students and overcrowding um so I think the middle option of just moving forward based on the consultant report the experts report inclusive of the first investigation uh would allow us to have the most complete school open in the 2026 2027 school year okay thank you I appreciate that clarification does that M chair um just a second does that conclude what you had that's concludes my comments thank you I didn't hear the first one I didn't either I wish I wish that we would have had this in writing um before this meeting so we cuz I I need you to review them also are certainly so the first option is that we are um it's an option to move forward with the process but we would start the process over from the beginning essentially so that goes back to the RFQ which we could get out this week and that would start the process all over again that would be the same scoring criteria that has been reviewed with the updated procedures I've outlined essentially going back to what we were doing when we were redoing the second interview those recommendations were directly in line with what we were doing and that would give us the ability to open the main building buildings so instructional wing and we do anticipate likely and I can't promise but anticipate that would of course involve um and include the cafeteria but none of the other buildings athletic fields um Auditorium we we don't think my team does not think we can get all of that done with the time frame so but that would be starting over from the beginning but more construction occurring while the students are in session which is not ideal which is why I go back to reminding the board that everything we do needs to be in what's best interest for our students and the conditions for learning for those students none of them are perfect but here we are so with all of that said I do um think it's important that the board provides feedback on these items Dr gullet um if I if I um summarize my understanding for the board would would would you please correct me if that if my understanding falls short um the three options you're being presented with board appear to be um number one uh the completely new RFQ basically taking the process we just did redoing it number two um the since the investigative reports and the the investigative report and also then the Consultants report found the process was not flawed um except for things that essentially didn't matter to the outcome that we simply adopt the original bidder on on that contract and and move forward in that direction anyway and the third would be we start completely over have a committee analyze the process figure out if we want to change our waiting scales or other items within the process which page 31 of the report says um was not necessary it says based on a review of the facility policy and procedures manual and Schoolboard policies related to procurement of construction and construction related Services mcps is in full compliance with applicable Florida law administrative rules ssrf and terms and conditions of its solicitation documents goes on to say on page 32 we concur um with the substantiated fundings I'm sorry that was this other section I'm looking for here we go back on number skipping my quote sorry the study also found that um in addition to um there being no here we go at the time of our review the bottom of page 31 there was nothing to indicate that MCA ps's processes were arbitrary capricious clearly erroneous or contrary to competition so you got three options one of them being the most clean you redo the process since they found that the process was correct in the way it was done um we just restart that process with new people or that that has the advantage of being clean or number two you go with the original um process results because the both reports indicated there was nothing wrong with the process and anything that went on that was uh not the way we would have lik to have had it with the process did not have any any impact in the ultimate result uh or number three restart with new criteria which has the advantage of being consistent for the future with any other um any other rfqs that we seek any other bids we we enter into any process as we go forward so each of them has their advantages and disadvantages what they boil down to is time um one is going to make sure that we've got a school that's in the best interest of the district the school is is open as quickly as we can possibly get it there and probably complete if estimates are correct by the 26 27 school year the next one is the school is partially complete by 26 27 school year probably will open but may still need some construction the third is we're not going to get there it's going to be another year push back so uh the that those are the factors for you to consider given those factors each has its distinct risks and advantages so that's uh if if I if I did an okay job of summarizing that that's kind of that's kind of my that's what I'm trying to understand as well so from my garnering what I've read from the reports that's that's the directions thank you oh oh now you're the victim huh now I am there we go thank youne it's all coming and going you're good now okay I'm gonna give it a try thank you attorney Powers I concur with the summary absolutely and I just want to make a footnote that with regard I mean do you want me to stop your microphone board member Campbell just because she's cutting in and out it makes it really hard I just want to make a footnote with regard to the committee that our plan as I've referenced at the beginning that we do plan to have a committee and include local stakeholders moving forward regardless so that's why we have the issue right now the timeliness of the high school but regardless of the feedback tonight for the high school project CCC we do plan to move forward with having a committee to look at all this entirety and give um feedback on that the question question is whether we do that now which will delay a year due the timely nature of this project thank you okay um I do have a quick question um so number three is going to happen regardless the committee will will occur regardless if we do it and we wait until the committee convenes we get input we do all of that we cannot open for another year because we're already very close to being able to be open at all okay all right thank you for that clarification board member Cummings this is this is a lot to try to make a quick decision on I think this is something that we need to be talking about a little bit more in depth I think we probably need a workshop to have the conversation on this to make sure that we're doing what's best for students what's best for our community and making sure that our we get the right Community input that we need to get in this I'm I'm not I'm not seeing us moving so fast on this tonight um for this situation sh com um I agree um I I wish we would have had a little bit of this information uh ahead of time it would have made it a little bit easier um to process and reference um I actually it was on my list in my closing comments um to request a work session on the procurement process I I personally feel if we would have done that upfront if we would have been um it would have if the process would have been presented to us we could have avoided um a lot of these pitfalls so I also would like to have a work session um if Miss Dobbins and her team would uh grant us the opportunity she can walk us through uh how this works um before we decide how and what we want to do uh with this contract chair go ahead chair I'm going to respectfully disagree with the fellow board members here uh in our previous board meeting we had conversation about an investigative report and we have also received this detailed investigative report that has outlined our process wasn't wrong and frankly that's what has been at question all along so I could easily say that option three is not is a no starter for me we have to get this moving I could be onard board with either a phased opening or a completion as closely as we can get it which would be options one and options two respectively option three is a non-starter for me and frankly if we have another work session that has to have another 10 days of of uh publication and we're already going to be at a non-starter if we don't at least start to have real conversation tonight because we we all received the same report at the same time with the same information in it that says our process wasn't wrong correct but we did not have Dr gullet recommendation until just this minute and and I understand that but perhaps I was just reading too much into it because I was thinking in our last board meeting I know I specifically said the thing that hurt my heart the most was that we're delaying potentially the opening of this high school so I guess I just made an assumption without anyone else telling me well it seems like we have a couple of options maybe one of the recommendations would be just go with the original chosen group that's what we had a big argument about the last time about uh actually The Chosen contractor on our Liberty Middle School we just had that debate because there was a chosen one and then there's not and so I was thinking well maybe that's going to be a recommendation or we might have a recommendation to start the whole process again so I'm prepared to have that conversation tonight without even speaking with Dr gullet because we have to get this High School moving that's what we've told our community we're going to do that's why we've borrowed $330 million because we have to have a high school in Mar and Oaks sooner rather than later and we said that timeline was going to be August of 2026 have we had some delays because of these investigative reports absolutely but I came tonight prepared to have a conversation because I anticipated that there would be one so I'm sorry that I made that assumption obviously we can't call each other and say hey this is what I think we're going to talk about tonight but I came tonight prepared to have that conversation so that's where I sit here Madam chair may I I just I just what I heard a conversation about a topic I I want to reiterate that I thought I shared earlier we already have a topic scheduled for July 11th work session this consultant report was received and therefore that's why it was posted to the board for for discussion and feedback not an item to vote on attorney Powers I'm going to let you weigh in on that but with expediency to bring forward a document that we had I think was our duty and responsibility to bring it to the board and have public conversation we've had extended conversation with what does this look like what does it sound like which is why we're having this conversation now not to press anything not to rush anything um but I think to have an opportunity for the board to have public discussion but July 11th is our already our work session but just know because of the timing and the delays again I'm looking for your feedback board we already have that scheduled but just know and I'm I'm being as honest as I can we will not have options the first two options if we wait until then which is if I hear the board saying well wait we wait just know and the public needs to know we will not be able to open until the following school year I just I'm trying to be as direct and clear as I can um and if I may I don't know if you want to wait uh chair and members of the board I think Miss Dobbins has some additional items we also need to address the certificate of part participation where we are with the build and the funding because I know that that has been asked of my team I don't know if you want to wait and I'll let do it now question about the work we need actually it is related so I think it is important and I am going to ask um Miss doin to come down and it'll just give us more content to discuss had an opportunity to say anything yet well it's coming I promise you I haven't either good evening again I'll start with the cop so the certificate of participation as you know is the loan we have received um loan is what we call it even though it's a cop um the high school is funded for that when we do the loan we do a a schedule of draw so it outlines when we're going to draw the money for the different projects so this High School is one of those draws as you know that was a a $330 million loan and as we've solicited and received that loan which is is tremendous for our district it comes at a price just like if you buy a house you owe a mortgage and when you owe a mortgage you pay interest amortised over years so tentatively as we're working on this upcoming Year's 5-year facility plan we are estimating that that loan in this first year is going to cost us roughly $26.3 million in debt service that $26.3 million is going to come from our capital outlay budget that same budget which we maintain our schools and we used for constructions so we have as a board and a staff worked very hard to get impact fees if we estimate impact fees estimate impact fees to be received in the upcoming year of 12 to 15 million that leaves us in a deficit of over $1 million to still have to pay on The Debt Service but you also have to account for the expenditures that have increased we have increased Le our busing Fleet need from 1.2 million to 2 million that's $800,000 we have a need for portable Leasing and portable purchases and portable installations of over $3 million our property insurance has gone up that comes out of our capital outlay and when you take the expenditures we are expending this year we are seeing almost a $4 million increase in expenditures so now you're looking at if you take the just over $1 million because impact fees is going to pay some of that on that debt service for for the localized overcrowding but then you add 4 million to that and exceeding the expenditures from this current year just on things that aren't construction you're back up to still a $15 million debt not Debt Service but deficit so then off of all the property taxes we receive 15 million is going to come right off the top to continue to pay for that debt service so we are in a a situation that we have to have the school tax coming up in November we have to have the half cent sales tax if we don't get that then that means another $15 million estimated off of our main maintenance and new construction we're going to Cease the ability to build anything beyond what we said we're going to build with the loan so I wanted to paint that picture very very clear and as we've procured that loan there is Miss Boston Ellis and her team is amazing and I know you know that but the work between her team and my team to get that loan prepared and to then continue to monitor that loan and get the accounts all in line and the draws all in line it's a tremendous amount of work but it's work that we do because it's what we need for our schools so that's my comments in regards to the cop M doin may I ask um just for the board's knowledge as well as mine the 330 million that's going to build what schools all right as you can see I didn't bring my notes up here so the two elementary schools the high school the replacement for Lake Weir Middle School and four wings Liberty Horizon Academy hamt Bowen and Marin Oaks but if you recall we continue to have to assess also to see if those ones on the end of this recommendation is still wor where we're going and we continue to have those conversations okay so we have the money through the loan to build what you just shared yes at this time at this time and the Oola gy is that included in the loan as well yes thank you thank you for that reminder okay all right thank you I appreciate that um board member James thank you I I appreciate Miss doin sharing about the sales tax because I've sat here and been an advocate for creating additional Revenue streams since I've been on the board what I know about the sales tax is that it takes a community support to pass a sales tax and as a board member what I want to see and hear is what does our community want to see us do in our process to represent our community's needs which is why my question to Dr gullet is is there a specific um title or contents for the July 11th work session that you guys have have included what exactly is the topic of conversation on July 11th so I can best understand that I'll pull up the topic title just give me a moment I don't have my calendar up but I have it hold on well you're pulling it up um did you have a comment I mean I I didn't want to cut you off but she's she will have the floor but as as the regardless if the board doesn't come to some consensus I believe tonight on what process we're going to entail or and take on and we don't have a special board meeting either on July 11th or before from what I gather if we wait till July 11th to have this conversation at all then we'll have to be delayed another 10 days before we can have a special board meeting and that puts us in 2627 or 2 excuse me 2728 that's how I understood it but Dr go so our topic our draft topic title is procurement procedures followup which addresses everything I shared tonight with regard to all the recommendations what our next steps will be what we've done so far staffing needs uh we have recommended policy um items that'll come to the board for consideration all of the above will that include also the committee members and the recommendation that you're making no we're not going to be able to have the committee done by then that's why it's going to take a while we've got a we've got to get a committee together we need to pull that together we need to advertise that and get an input that won't happen by then not with July 4th week well as a board member um based on the options that were provided I don't feel comfortable proceeding until the we offer the community opportunity to at least publicly participate and give voice to this process so that's where I stand chair I will say that we've had a couple of board meetings and we've been discussing this for the past few weeks so there's been a lot of opportunity I don't see anyone from the community here tonight um you know most people watch it from home and are following it so I don't think that um I don't think we should be delaying it all because what I feel like I've just heard is that we spent $23,550 of taxpayer money for a situation that never should have occurred and that has been proven by two different reports from experts that didn't have a dog in the fight that our process was legally sound that it matched the urgency that we as a board said that we had to get schools started that timeline for this high school was pretty darn ambitious and there were several of us leing that charge so to me it's disingenuous to all of a sudden wanting to be pump pumping the brakes especially since we just now we're going to question two reports that taxpayers paid for as as not being enough you know what is there really left to talk about as far as the high school is concerned and what I will say as far as the high school is concerned is that we need to get that place built as close to our original timeline of August 2026 as as we can the need has not changed and 3,500 students and families are counting on us to get this done not to continue kicking the can down the road over something that we have given deep due diligence on already I can totally get behind waiting to establish waiting to establish until the July 11th work session you know whatever that process is going to take for for a committee for forward planning um but but honestly Bor we don't have the luxury to do that with this high school it's already been established that the perpetrator of this whole thing has bowed out we have that in writing we have all the evidence we need and I would encourage the board to remember why we're sitting up here in the first place which is to help the whole Greater Community and students putting students first getting these students into this school relieving the pressure on the principals the principal at Westport the principal at dellen you know I could go on and on but I am 100% in in support of option to it has been proven that we had a legally sound process it keeps our house just as clean from what I can see and it is the least amount of delay I could get behind option one for a little bit of extra cushion sure why not I guess but that's right I am u m doin if I can speak frankly please so at the end of this week I will have completed 30 years in education and every single day of my career I put forth what is best for our students what is best for our district what is best for our staffs our parents for our community I have I believe a good working relationship with each one of you we have an investigative report by an outside attorney we have a consultant report by a different outside attorney who says that the facilities departments processes and procedures are valid and legal valid and legal since April 23rd I have been under attack by community members by staff about these processes I have had to answer many many records request and answer many questions and my answer today stands no different than my answer on April 23rd is the process is valid and the process is legal and as I said then there is always room for improvement but what that selection committee decided that committee decided even if you remove the local points or excuse me the preference of work the amount of work done in Maring County even if you remove those points Wharton Smith had the most points wardon Smith has built this prototype six times six times the person the company that continues to attack and and question the facilities department has not built anything close to that and so I stand by a selection Committee of a principal of an area superintendent a facility staff of a Community member that selected Wharton Smith as the winner of this selection and if we want to do the right decision for our students it is to go with option b get going get past this get moving and get the high school built as much as possible for the August 26 opening I am sorry if I'm loud it's not at any one of you it is because I'm passionate I am tired and I am fed up we should not still be debating this and pushing this off we are here we need a decision fa stands ready to work with whatever company we select but we have to move and we have no more time to waste thank you thank you Mr doin CH yes go ahead Vice chair um Miss tobins I want to thank you for the work that your you and your team do um I know there's a lot of talk about how things are going on it's being investigated I just want to say publicly I'm am proud of the work that you do and I support you in the work that you do and when I look at this process um to use a term we use in the classroom I see it as a growth process and in this process when I read this report I read it a little differently than what everybody else has shared and so I just want to share that with you when I read over this report I agree it says that we are legal and we did everything on the up and up but it also says in the P report when we are compared to Miami day County Public Schools their procedures for the selection of construction management yada y reveals a simal scoring process anyway it goes on and on to say when I reference and look at that Miami D's procedure manual is 61 pages long not their policy but their procedure and this board member is having a hard time filing where our procedures are and when I look back in this report it's saying we have a lot of room to improve our procedures and this board member wants to have the opportunity to address those before we are building another school I want to make sure that we are doing it right so I I do have an a question for attorney powers where can I find our procedures for the procurement process I cannot find them and I desperately would like to read over them the all district procedures would be something that just like District policies you can find online um that you can find when you search for just as you would search for board policies now it's my understanding that those procedures have not been updated or that is my understanding too draft form so um as to what policies currently exist I I I wouldn't know because I don't that would be a question for each department to tell you what procedures they have in place because I can't view them if I may Madam chair Miss doin could you speak to where those are found I know because we're as we're migrating to SharePoint and those sites are being built by um the technology team yes so we have a 5in binder of procedures for facilities and no it's not Missin I can't hear you we have a 5in binder of procedures for facilities so we do have procedures and they're quite lengthy no they are not on board docks because procedures are operation and we have not uploaded them to board docs we are going to the SharePoint the webbased SharePoint and we are working to put them publicly on the web page but they're an internal operational document if you would like an electronic copy I can zip file that electronic copy to you but it is our working procedure document for the facilities Department which contains our procurement guidelines and so the first difference I'll I'll share is if I go to Miami data I can publicly pull up all of their procedures and so is that not something that we offer to the companies that we're doing business with do they not have access to our procedures as well as our policies like I mean if I can't access them then who get who can access them procedures are for the Department's operation not necessarily for a business I'm sorry I disagree because in this report almost every item shares how we need to improve our procedures it says there's room for improvement and again I I am looking at this through the lens of a growth process I am I'm not trying to attack you I am just saying that we as a district have not done a lot of building in a long time and we have room to improve what we're doing so before we build1 130 million High School dollar high school we need to make sure that we have every single one of these things worked out and in place so we are not in the same position a in a couple months from now may I respond yes ma'am I agree we have room for growth I imagine multiple procedures and multiple districts would have room for growth the same procedure is what selected the companies that are currently building our two elementary schools are aola gy and our other areas so tonight is about what are we doing for the high school kids and for the students in the overcrowded areas that are moving into that high school that we are going to improve upon those procedures but tonight we have an opportunity to make a decision on moving forward to high school that we could open for August of 26 that's what tonight is about are we going to give kids a high school in August of 26 we will change our procedures based on those recommendations based on what we take back to a committee like any good practice would do is to review revise Implement review and revise but tonight I implore you the same procedure that selected the construction companies for our two elementary schools and other construction that's going on in our district over 4 million is the same process that recommends Wharton Smith to build our high school I implore you to let's do that for the opening of this High School in August 26 let's make the decision tonight for our students to move for it and let's get back together let's talk about it on July 11th and then let the committee do the work and bring back what the committee recommends the committee is going to look at what was offered in that report they're going to look at Lee County Miami Dade bravard and all the other counties they're going to look at Lake County's unique implementation and that diverse committee will bring back the recommendation to the superintendent on what our operational procedur should look like and then moving Fort any new construction over 4 million past this point then becomes part of that process but for this high school for this moment we need to make the decision ision to move forward that is my professional opinion that is what our students deserve that is what our district needs and again it's the same process that we've used to put osley in place for school X ad Morgan in place for school W other school other construction companies and other construction Fields projects that's that's one I'm not I'm not denying that there's not room for growth there is tonight's a different decision in my opinion okay and I know I stated this last week but I just I want to share again publicly you know when you know better you do better and and that is true for me in this particular situation the LA the first couple of contracts that came through I had no idea I saw the final scoring sheet we were getting some local business was getting an opportunity to participate that was okay with me but as we uncovered or as I learned more and more about this process and even though it's legal and it is okay it doesn't represent what this is what is important to this particular board member and so I would like to have a presentation about this process I would like options uh presented which I actually in my defense asked for very early on because I knew that I personally felt very very strongly about local preference and I actually I asked Dr gullet early on when is the board going to have an opportunity to share what's important to us because and I'm speaking just for me when I look at this board there are a lot of business owners on this board we are very community-minded I am very community-minded and when I look through the lens of this sales tax that is so vital so vital to the development and building of schools in the near future we need to have everybody on board as we move forward and so that's I'm just sharing with you my point of view and and my feelings on the process again the process is legal um there was no wrongdoing finding in the process it's just it doesn't meet what I hoped we would be able to do thank you madam chair may I just I just want to make sure to address we were very specific Vice chair Conrad to um ask for the local vendor preference which is on page 17 and that to be included in the consultant report and so that's also what the committee will get additional um options weigh in from the stakeholders on just to come back to that point thank you Dr glet other thoughts from the board go ahead board member Campbell um first of all Miss Dobbins thank you for your passion for your transparency and for your ethical fortitude to continue to stand on the work that you've done because it is done appr and now you have outside validation on that by two different attorneys um as I previously stated I I've I've heard a lot tonight um from fellow board members I I've heard comments about I need to wait and hear what the community has to say about this decision we didn't involve the community in the selection of them in the first place and to chair thrower's uh comment about we've had this on our agenda a couple of different times and no one has ever come and spoken about any of our construction when we have special board meetings when we have no one has come and actually offered Community feedback to us um I I've heard from you loud and clear that we really do need to make a decision tonight I am prepared to do that based on the information that we've heard tonight and what should be done from a consensus standpoint because again we're not voting on anything tonight we have to have a special board meeting to bring this to us I guess because we rejected all bids so we're not actually unless we have a motion to approve and we'll have to have the contract before us and they'll have to be a special board meeting but there would be a need for a consensus tonight so we can then call that special board meeting and I am prepared to move forward with the recommendation I've heard mam chair thank you board member Campbell board member cumnings um Miss Dobbins and to the facilities Department um Let me let me thank you as well for the work that you consistently do on in in this area um I don't me personally as this board member I've never questioned your motives and I've never questioned your your work or whether it was done in appropriately or not um the process but I do feel that um to be given three scenarios tonight and to say this is what we have to do tonight I that's that puts me in in a very bad situation when I look at this whole report both reports there is room for growth there's a lot of room for growth and this affects my district district 3 this directly affects the people that I talk to on a on a consistent basis and they want it done right but they also want it done um with us being good stewards and not to rush to do anything that's going to jeopardize future projects so my my my my decision my mind has not changed I asked for a work session to discuss the superintendent um to let's get the clarity of these scenarios um if we have to have a special work session special board meeting whatever we need to do we're available to do that but that means we have to do the work what we were elected to do and we have to be good stewards in this whole process so miss Dobbins no reflection on you or your staff or your team highly respect you but we have to do this right because if we don't do it right now it's going to Contin if it's I've always believed if you start off wrong it's going to end up wrong and this started off wrong not based on anything that you did or anything that uh that uh that any of your people did but once you add something sank to something it still stinks and that's that's the process let's get it clean let's let's not go for it with a shadow of of Doubt or anything over our head let's move forward with the the right way and that's all I'm saying Madam chair I'm sorry to interrupt again um just want to reiterate we don't nothing has to be done tonight this is just informational to get input just for clarification because the we posted this report when we had it to allow time for sufficient notification to the public and for the board to have conversation so there's don't have to do anything it's just providing information and scenarios with which we see based on the timing of where we are um as we are June 25th so something I can propose and I I hear the board discussing the July 11th work session was something we already had scheduled it was already noticed we' already agreed to bring this to a work session um and I did hear the board say when is the report going to be out when's the report going to be out so we didn't hold off and wait until then so that we could be as transparent as possible Bring It Forward if the board would like what I may be hearing is we do an additional work session earlier cuz we I can already tell you the 11th wasn't going to be sufficient to cover all of this we're going to start with where we are today what our update is on July 11th and what the next steps are with a plan to come back at a follow-up date here's where we are as we continue to progress through this right so is it is what I'm hearing a request to have an additional work session before the 11th I would app appreciate that greatly I think with publication deadlines I don't think that's a possibility yeah that's the problem with right go ahead yep I'm sorry what did you say attorney I I think that with publication deadlines I don't think we can make that yeah well and I I hear what the board is is saying I understand um something that I'm having trouble understanding is we made it clear as a board what our priority was and that was to have a high school open for all the right reasons by August of 2026 that need has not changed I felt like I heard you asking Vice chair for reassurance that nothing's going to go south two months down the road in terms of legality um I don't mind hearing that reassurance again I'm not sure what more reassurance we need when we've already spent $23,000 on reassurance um that our process was sound passes muster room for improvement as a teacher for many many years I'm all about that too but we have got to be able to separate one thing from another we put it on ourselves and we put it on our staff to move quickly to bring us biders that could commit to getting this school opened that's how according to my understanding Wharton Smith really Landed It because they had according to my understanding were able to commit to three shifts working 24 hours to get this done am I correct on that they are they also because this is a prototype they've built three times they also have the 3D model already built that will tell you you could put the Scupper here even though you can't see it we can move forward with this construction because we know exactly where the Scupper is going we know where the drains are going we know where the pipes are going we know how this wall worked because it didn't work in this prototype so I believe and I can't speak for the other selection committee members those are the things that for me sold it when you already have the 3D model and you can tell us exactly how you can troubleshoot things that if you haven't built it before you're going to run into that's a head start and I believe it was every committee member's um intention to make sure that they were doing right by our district and selecting the the best person for the job based on the very ambitious timeline that this School Board needs to take responsibility for setting out and now we're walking that back and I'm having trouble understanding for what reason you know um I am all about moving forward for the the next build and updating our procedures and all of those things I noticed even on it was uh um leading the state and raising student performance and I know we need to to change that to helping every student succeed but those those that's the minutia that has nothing to do with the Fallout of not addressing this need all I really need to hear is that we are on legally sound ground we can move forward and I'm going to sit up here and pray that we can get who was selected as the best person for the job back to the table and let's break ground on this thing and get going and get it built you know we sit up here and we talk about how principles are dying you know everything is so overcrowded and we need to get this done and now we're walking back our our own word for for reasons that to me are extraneous from the mission that's what I'm really struggling with and that's something that this Board needs to give serious consideration to well chair throw i'ms I'm sorry that you feel that way um I feel just as strongly um that having these procedures in place and available for the public to view are also equally important and it it does break my heart that we are going to be behind on the timeline but I can in good conscious move forward feeling like that we have not done everything that we need to do and so I you I still have the same stance okay well we went we went forward I guess from what you're sharing not doing everything that you felt needed to be done because you didn't know it needed to be done yet I you know we could go on back and forth about this all night but the only thing we didn't do is put a local preference where it was wanted and now we're going to not build a school for our kids in time that is what we're saying chair go ahead but regardless so at this point I understand what the concern is about local preference but the only local preference contractor has already withdrawn from the process we've all received that communication so regardless of what goes forward at this point the local contractor is not going to even if we went with a new RFQ they've already said they're not going to put in for it so I don't I I'm not certain if that's the whole hold up if the local preference is the hold up we don't really have anything holding us up additionally procedures we have countless policies in this District that we have approved as a school board over the past two to three years that don't have procedures out yet and procedures at all are not public in a lot of ways so there it absolutely is there a lot of ways that we can improve on those certainly some of our procedures are out sure procedures are a matter of public record yes they are so they are but what we just approved tonight one of the things we approved earlier with Mr B vui was to make sure that we had the ability to go digital on all of these documents that we have just like what Miss dobin said I mean she can send us a zip file but actually it being uploaded on the website that's not there yet like there's we're behind on a lot of that and a lot of that is just document technology work to get actually put it yes it's public record but there are countless procedures that we don't have actually done yet that align with policy this happens to be one we have I I just still stand firm that um we have got to move forward and if we're walking that back that is not the direction that I as a board member believe that we should be taking I I think that we were all elected to do a job and I'm not waiting on someone else to tell me how to do that job thank you madam chair we keep kicking this down this just call a vote and move on a vote really vote there's no vote nobody's changed their mind on where they're at no there there's five of us up here nobody's changed their stance we going to sit here to 12:00 tonight and keep saying the same thing over and over can we call a special board meeting on July 11th like we have a work session scheduled can we call a Time certain special board meeting at 1:00 to make a decision on July 11th because it would be public noticed and that would be a time frame and if we were to move on either option one or option two we could make a vote and move forward from that point on and that way we would already have the availability to make a decision after we've discussed it in a work session so I have the work session first and then the special board meeting right afterwards you know um I'm I'm fine with that I think I open with my comments that you know the the local and you know I just don't like how this is devolving because it's making it sound like that there are some of us up here that don't value local preference well excuse me I've lived in this County since 1991 and have been a business owner in some way shape or form since that time so local everything means the world to me I had a lot of choices of where I could put my money when I was building things and it all went to a local local business so I think we just need to make sure that we're all clear as far as that is concerned and that um I believe I shared earlier too that why are we waiting because if if the concern which we all do share at some level is about local preference we're going to be discussing that but as board member Campbell just reiterated that's not an issue in this piece of this so I'm not sure why we're continuing to talk about it and because it's not relevant to this particular project but the procedure that didn't happen in this contract process is important and there were a lot of important pieces left out and I don't want to do that process again without those things corrected I don't want to go through this process again and have 10 or 12 recommendations on how we need to improve our process I want these procedures fixed and corrected before we do it again all right and and that's the choice that we're making we're we're going to I'm sorry board member James um well just as a point and correct me if I'm wrong attorney Powers we have a special board meeting to hear or something about discipline on the morning of the 11th could we go into recess and then resume at resume that meeting at the end of the work session and then there would be proper time because otherwise we have to adver advertise by tomorrow at noon which is going to be hard considering our clerk is not here but we already have a special board meeting scheduled so can we can we put an agenda item on this meeting I'm not sure how it would be properly advertised if the decision is being made on the 11th but that can be for someone else to figure out I'm just suggesting that can we take an intermission in the special board meeting at 7:30 when we finish discipline and then resume it at the end of the work session so then we don't have to work or worry about advertising because we've already advertised that special board meeting yes you can do that um I will warn you that when you have the special board meeting in the morning that portion is is um is off air because that's that's student discipline you would recess and then you would uh have the work session at 9: now remembering that that work session also on that day of that work session I've I've scheduled to have Mr McGraw here yeah that's fine we're here until timb two we're here until and So then whenever that is all concluded then we would need to go into the uh we would need to go into the to the final um board meeting board meeting so that would just be my solution I think that would meet what Dr Campbell is trying to accomplish and then we wouldn't have to advertise again fine with me my only question would be how are we what are we advertising forward I don't have to have an answer today but what are we advertising forward- facing to the public as the item for that meeting right because basically we're looking at a trade-off here is we're either going to get this High School open on time and you know and I'm not going to go back into all the reasons why and or not that's that's really what it is so um if the 11th yes I'm sorry go ahead so basically we at that board meeting we will be just approving or disapproving one of the scenarios that Dr G presents that's what it would be about correct no I don't think that that's a board voted item though or we be that's what I'm trying to figure out is what we're voting on what action is being taken in that meeting because there won't be a contract there wouldn't be a contract to vote on the next step in the selection process would be for the recommendation to be made if we choose option one or option two if we choose option two let's just go there if we choose option two The Next Step would be that we would need to officially bring the recommendation to the board for approval of Wharton Smith to be the contractor giving staff the permission once approve to negotiate the contract so that's the item that would be on the board meeting is the recommendation from the committee is that what we all understand and then presumably if the work session goes differently then then the board will vote however the board votes on that item based on how the work session went I don't think we're going to have a committee by that time though no no I'm referencing the committee that I sat on option b right for option for the option b or option two the second option is just it would be to accept the committee's previous findings of Wharton Smith uh without any further Ado and that one would be um for you've got a situation here where you don't I mean operations I'm sure doesn't want to bring something to the board without board input and board you know with the board uh U not having opportunity for discussion and potentially making it unclear as to what the next steps that operation should take and so to the degree that there needs to be a voting item I think it just needs to be something that I mean it could be even a consensus item I mean if this board sat here tonight and said as as a voice of five and said collectively um Madam superintendent Dr gullet here's what we want you to do um this is not an item that requires a board vote at this point when you know the selection of the contractor and the and the uh the finalization of contract those things do require that the board you know vote because of the budgetary item but giving the direction for how they're going to move forward from here is not something that necessarily requires a board vote but it is something that the Board needs to weigh in on so that the superintendent has clear Direction well that's exactly right and and in my mind you know based who knows what's who's where our minds are going to be after that work session but right now we're talking about option one option two or or option three so in that case would we then be voting on them as separate items you know it voting on option one it goes up or down voting on option two it goes up and down voting on option three it goes up and out I mean I don't I don't want to take the time and waste the time to bring something to the board that they've already shared that they aren't going to agree with so what's the point of having a meeting unless you think that having a work session to talk through a few more things and then wrapping it up then makes you feel more comfortable maybe two more weeks to process would give us all an opportunity to have clear minds and ask more questions you know uh my mind's not going to change but I'm only one vote you know um I may be the chair right now but I'm I'm a leader of among equals and someone else will be sitting here in November if I Madam chair uh to attorney Po's point I I don't I do not hear that the board is ready to provide a consensus of Direction and so therefore I was going to ask the question what is it that the board is asking us to bring forward for a vote because again tonight's discussion is based on the receipt of the consultants's results um I'm sharing um on behalf of my team what we consider to be options open for feedback there they weren't we weren't fixed in a box but these are options as we see them um it's a lengthy report we've spent a lot of time on this that's why we have this is meant to be discussion and to get some feedback as I reiterated earlier but I do not hear that there's a direction to bring back a particular item so we already had scheduled the work session agre sounds like we can't do another work session prior to the 11th therefore I don't hear Direction as a consensus from the board unless I'm missing something so I believe that's my interpretation as well the board does not have a an overall consensus as to what uh direction to take at this time and um as far as a work session goes obviously a work session would be needed in order to bring the board into uh to provide the board with information so the board can be brought into hopefully a consensus of Direction and if consensus of Direction fails then it would have to be a matter of you know a a board vote in order to gain that direction um because obviously the superintendent in operations is going to look to the board to find out what what among those options even as I my my very crude summary you know outlined is each has advantages and each has disadvantages and expediency expediency is is a big advantage of one and and you know achieving a a lot more Community input is an advantage of another but th those are all those are value judgments it can't say one is better than the other one is one is faster and achieves a goal one is slower and achieves a different goal which goals does this board want and that's something that that be fair I can't there we go maybe the batteries are running low too much talking tonight so to be fair I can't you know I can't guide you legally here because the fact is that this is one of those situations in which there are multiple legal Avenues you can go in it's not a matter of a it's not a matter of legality it's a matter of a decision for the board as to as to the directions taken and and frankly I think you've each board M should be commended because tonight you have given your opinions and input as to which as to which items are giving you pause and giving you concern and that doesn't mean that I mean the board should not be a board which always agrees with each other on every item I mean the Board needs to talk these things out and get some some idea of why you may want to see more or you may want some aspect to be done better or you know valid concerns because if you don't raise we can bet someone else will so it's a very good idea to to do so mam chair go ahead I'll tell you what I want to see I would like to see all this is me I would like to see all the three options that the superintendent put out tonight I'd like to see him in some type of format seeing the pros the cons the time frames and all those things together so that we can discuss it um I don't like something just kind of given to me on this forther moment and saying this is you got to do this or this or this because it's going to cost us EI any way it's going to cost us so I'd like to see a a presentation with those three options in it this is Cummings and I like to see the pros and cons I want to see why um we recommend a or why we recommend b or why we recommend C that's what I would like to see thank you board member coming so I'm hearing you say that you would like something in writing that shows basically the three scenarios and the pros and cons of each sent to um each board member you know as as soon as possible and that will guide the discussion part of the discussion anyway at the work session on the 11th and then with the hope and the prayer hope is not an strategy but prayer is in my opinion um that we will be able to come to a full consensus at that point on one two or three and I honestly think that we would be able to but I think we need to vet this whole thing all the way out I personally I feel that if I have the correct information in front of me I can make a better decision and that's when I'm on the board for to make the right decision for the people that I represent and I'm hearing you say that you just don't feel like you have enough time and and opportunity to digest the information that's been presented at the moment that's exactly what I said for we good okay all right um just finishing this thought um in order to avoid having if we if we come to a full a full consensus what I want to avoid is not coming to a full consensus and then not having the opportunity to vote you know and just we need to make a decision and if it's going to be on July 11th it's going to be on July 11th because that will give us it it puts us out a little further but maybe not too far to where then one and two don't even apply I think for me if I get the information that I'm looking for and I get the opportunity to ask all the questions that I need to ask I would be prepared to make a decision one way or the other but I not going to make a decision if I don't have those information okay that would be unjust okay so attorney Powers would we then need to be on the safe side um if we can't come to a five member consensus to still have that as a board meeting where we would then take it to a vote I would say yes and what I and when I say yes here's why it's important this to why this is not an item that requires a board vote okay however this is an this is this is something that's an operational control it's and and and the superintendent and her staff have to make a decision her team they have to make a decision they don't want to make a decision that is not agreed to by the board I'm sure that the board does not have a a clear sense of direction so if we did not have a vote afterward and having heard everything we had today I would have to if I were in those shoes I'd have to sit here and say okay I think I have one person I really don't know know what they think and two people that have been very expressive and one that and then you're playing a guessing game and and that's really uncomfortable position for operations person to be in um a vote gives Clarity in the event that there's not consensus now I will tell you that in in a situation where there is not a board vote required as to direction to move forward then there is not a um there's not an absolute requirement that there be um that there be consensus if one board member vehemently disagrees and four members four board members find it to be you know then of course everybody can count we we know we know the direction that is to be sought however the board making it a decisive action on it then removes it from um removes it from an unknown or a question or a guess that operations team has to make and and clearly puts the board's will out there so at that point the board is essentially voting on what its Collective voice is they're not voting on necessarily what exactly must happen moving forward but they are voting on collectively as a group here's what we say consensus is the best way to do that but consensus means everybody says might not be exactly the way I do it but H I can live with that that's consensus but a board vote gives you an absolute it says this is our Collective Voice by a 3-2 by a 4: one or by a 5 to zero it's our Collective voice now ultimately and Miss Dobbins can add any context she wants to here but ultimately yes the board has to do some acceptance of the contract and some factors like that and so those are factors that I don't even know that we have to decide on we don't have to bring that forth to the board on the on the 11th I wouldn't think but um you want to add anything there yes we would have to bring that recommendation to the board for a vote if we are expecting to open that school in August of 2026 okay in July and so you would be prepared then to have something like that for July 11th or or or or subsequent to July 11th what is that what you're telling me that's not what I'm telling you I'm I'm saying that eventually the board is going to have to approve a recommendation if if we go with option A okay option A can I just step back I know we've been here a long time but let me just step back when we RFQ this four companies submitted their books we interviewed three of them the fourth one did not have the bonding capacity to get the job so we interviewed three of them I think you're all aware of those three they all receive the criteria of what's going to be evaluated and so forth the categories we review their books in their books if they're a local company they get preferential points during that process we rank the books we then select the top books to move on to the interview since the group was so small all three actually all four moved on but the fourth one was removed so after that process of reviewing the books and selecting the top books to move forward with a minimum of three we then hold the interviews then based on the interviews that interview is ranked and we apply in this current past practice we've been doing we apply the amount of work that they do for Maring County because that is very specific in statute then we get a total ranking and then we bring it to the board and we say the district is recommending in this example Wharton Smith to be the CM the construction manager to build this high school and once you approve that we then go back and negotiate the contract once we finish the negotiating negotiating of the contract which is a template that's approved by legal once we finish that we bring the contract back to the board and say okay board we've negotiated with this construction company and here's the contract and we asked for approval of the contract once you approve the contract that company then gets all of the design and they go out and price the entire project whether it's in phases or whether it's the whole project that's the GMP and then we bring the GMP to you and say okay construction company has priced the project this is how much it's going to cost for materials and and and things and you approve the GMP ultimately when all is said and done at the end of the project whatever money isn't spent on that GMP is unused funds that come back to the district so to your question if we decide to accept the scores our next step would be to bring to the board for board action the approval to move forward with negotiating a contract with Wharton Smith if we choose a to go back through the process and the board does nothing and we go back through the whole process taking more more time and later we would bring losing days of construction whatever that decision is made through that RFQ using the same scoring and the same procedures with the implementation of some of the procedures that are mentioned like the recording and the tabulations being um recorded in front of the committee and an in independent moderator once that happens once the books are submitted and we go through the whole process we then would bring back to the board August maybe we would bring back to the board the recommendation of that new selection committee with who was the highest scor score based on the same scoring criteria same question same everything and then ask the board for approval to negotiate the contract that's option A so for option one you're looking at option A or one you're looking at basically an overall 30 to 60-day process at right and then option two you're looking at a rather immediate process and you'll be able to uh bring that to the board for them at any if we have a desire to move forward on this through option two then we would bring at the next board meeting that isn't published if it's approved to add to it which could be the July 9th board meeting 11 11th thank you I knew I was right fishing for that date somewhere up there to the J July 11th the approval recommendation for the board to approve waren Smith thank you that and then they could immediately move into action with negotiating that contract if we go to option C then we have to wait you're looking at several months you're looking at months right we will not so option so for for option b then that tells me that provides some clarity as to what I would need to put on as a uh voting item uh what we would need to put on as a voting item for a board meeting on on the 11th because at that time then the voting item would not be vote on one two or three it would be vote on two right or V or B essentially B to what we've been calling it we had one two and three right we we wouldn't have to put all three on the vote because we'd have to just at that point we'd say B and if B fails then you know right then we then then that was the that was the one then we're going to move on to move on to a or C and we're done attorney Paris I may I Madam chair for clarification is that before or after the work session conversation well we have the work session conversation and the fact is that during the work session conversation the board May provide consensus and completely completely clear this path for you so there's no need for uh anything further except a vote on cuz you're saying at that point we we do proceed to vote on Wharton Smith if we are choosing to go with that as the option right that's option b correct correct correct okay that has to be voted on we're getting closer closer I have a ask also for the work session um Miss Dobbins I'd like to know um where we are with our procedures and I know you said you have a binder i' just like to know which ones are in draft form form which one we're using if if you can I'm not sure how that would be presented but I just would like an update on what we have what we're working on updating um how we are coming along I know Dr goet mentioned at the beginning several of these were all you're already working on um making adjustments to so I would be interested in that update as as part of the presentation thank you thank you okay any other comments all right well let's summarize then so we know our next steps and I feel like what I've heard the board say is that we will have a special board meeting on the 11th scheduled we'll open that board meeting we'll go into recess which no one will even know we're really doing because we're going to be off air we'll have to come on air I guess to do that right yes I mean let's just talk about the logistics here because I'm going to have to know when to drop the hammer um well you can actually start the meeting on air then go off air to do the discipline yep then come back and then come back after we do the work session and then um we'll finish and have the rest of our board meeting after the work session after information has been presented on items one two and three along with any other items that you had already planned to share with us so that we can go ahead and wrap this up on the 11th which means that there will need to be for expedien sake any other supporting materials contracts uh anything that the board would need to vote on available even prior to that time I guess for the board to review if if it's going to be a published meeting go ahead board James the only thing that's being attached is what would normally have been attached which is the committee's the recommendation from the facilities Department with the committee's decision there's no contract attached there's no nothing else that is correct okay that's right thought and then we'll have to have depending on how this goes then we're want to have a meeting pretty quickly to get the contract up for a vote I mean they got to negotiate but yeah yes right yes we we cannot negotiate the contract during the selection process and that's statutorily driven right okay I just want to make sure we had all the the bases covered so that if we're going to spend this time together and this time doing this that we're as efficient you know as we can possibly be anything else that anyone's thinking of so for the for that second portion of the school board meeting the one that's going to be on air after the work session um what I'm hearing is is would miss Dobbins would that be you that places a an item on that agenda the voting item to bring that to the board on a work session or on the board meeting following board meeting the board meeting that immediately follows right yes if if that is I look I'm asking because we're all Dr golet if that is the direction of operations then what would need to happen is facilities would place a board dos item for the recommendation to approve Wharton Smith as the construction company being selected to negotiate their contract for approval if after the work session the board decides that they want to approve option b or option two as we also know it and if I may add so and also what I hear is at the work session if that doesn't occur then we will be removing that item yes we'll right right just for clarity okay yes I'm sorry board member James it will be AO it will be a hold there and posted as such based on conversation if anything changes it will be removed it'll be pulled and then the second part of the board meeting is moot correct then correct don't need to proceed provide Clarity is always a good thing thank you I I mean I think I'm certainly in agreement with everything that's been said I think we can work through the the details the chair and the superintendent can work through the nitty-gritty off air like they normally would and we can move on to the next item okay I wish we could um you know I I feel like we're at the point where we have two reports sitting in front of us um it continues to be important I know we have a fiscal and ethical obligation to keep our district house clean um I've never known on my time as a board member this almost six years I've had the honor and pleasure of serving on this school board to not be committed to doing this um these two reports are now public record and if any board members sitting up here thinks that if we don't finish the drill and send these reports to the authorities where following proper channels indicates that we should I would say that you're grossly underestimating the will of we the people who are expecting us to do the right thing and see this through I have have no doubts that if we don't that someone else will and that will make us look very weak as a board very hypocritical and will lose us any opportunity to weigh in with any credibility on decisions that may need to be made it's distressing to me as a chair and as a longtime board member to be in this spot said from the beginning that we paid over $223,000 to address something that everyone involved I believe knows never never should have happened maybe I need three absolutely never should have happened so we were put up here for a reason and it's not to let other people take care of our business that's all I have chair I made the recommendation in our previous board meeting that we submit the investigative report to the governor as we have in Prior precedent of other investigative reports and my recommendation stands I'm back I think certainly gives me no pleasure I can't stand this to be perfectly honest with you it's a Madam chair stain on our board Madam chair if there's not a second then it dies am I I can't hear you I can't hear you if there's not a second then it dies and it could we move on am I correct attorney Browns that'd be correct I haven't heard a second I I didn't make a motion sir I just made a recommendation I thought I thought no I I did not make a motion I made a recommendation's pleasure we're we're having audio problems if yes we are what's the view of the board I think we've already heard it I think we've heard it we've heard we've heard from from Dr Campell Dr C for you nobody say anything what are we still talking about all right because we've heard Dr Campbell statement let's move on please let's move on I would like nothing more um so I'll take changed your mind I'm not asking anybody to change your mind but I feel a little uncomfortable taking silence as a since there's no motion it is simply a recommendation if the recommendation is not to send I think it's important for that to be articulated and then I will happily move on I Rec anything to the governor chair with all all due respect no one has to give any verbal response to that okay all du respect all right respect yep I've heard from Vice chair Conrad I've heard from you I'll I do not want to misinterpret anyone's silence or for for lack of a response so whatever we shall move on all right we are on item D 26.2 two may have a motion to approve the annual pre-qualification of contractors General and building contractors for 2024 2025 motion to approve motion by Vice shair Conrad second second by board member Cummings Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair hope you can hear me Miss tobins is actually still close to the podium and she has some additional items um to share with the board for for these two items for 26.2 two and 26.2 3 thank you yes thank you so for this first item statutorily through the selection process that we've been discussing we have to pre-qualify Construction Company companies General and building contractors by approving this tonight this would be the list of companies that that in the 2425 school year starting July 1 starting on that date these will be the companies that are the only companies eligible to submit through the RFQ process for any construction project over $4 million so when we go to build a school or Wing or any project an HVAC project over 4 million this is the list of contractors that will be allowed to submit their books for consideration to move through that selection process the second one which is the extension of continuing contracts for the same group of companies essentially is for projects under $4 million so we don't come back to the board and say that hey we have a a project and you know we're asking for this company to do that project you approved tonight the companies that we're allowed to select through review to do projects under 4 million what we then do is bring that GMP from that company to you to approve for that project to be completed so that's the difference between these two on continuing contracts we do roll those over uh each year uh up to three years but prequalification is annual okay thank you is there any discussion from the board CH I'll be Rec using myself from this item okay or member Campell has stated that she's going to be recusing is there any other discussion from the board call the vote all right all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously for zero with board member Campbell desent uh recusing moving on to uh item 26.2 3 May I have a motion to approve extension of continuing contract for construction management services for 2024 and 2025 may have move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell Dr G you have information you'd like to share regarding this item nothing additional thank you okay anything from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously -0 we'll move on to board committee reports and concerns we start with a couple of meeting reminders this is a special there is a special school board meeting scheduled for July 11th 2024 at 7:30 a.m. the next administrative briefing and work session has been scheduled for July 11th 2024 the following administrative briefing and work session has been scheduled for August 1st 2026 and we'll move on to uh board committee concerns and comments U Miss graille just say it was very nice to have you with us tonight is there anything from your chair that you'd like to share I can pass the mic okay thank you anything from legal I just wanted to report that um I've spent a a busy Friday there in truancy Court uh and I know that that the chair was there with me and and various board members have been at other truancy hearings uh over the last few months and I've greatly appreciate that and that your support is noticed uh within the courthouse um we're making I believe substantial and significant progress and I like the direction that we're going um and it's it's showing when some of the worst of the worst are getting um they're getting they're they're noticing what what happens when they're when they're not helping their kids get to school when they're not doing what they need to to do when when students are missing 70 days out of you know 110 you know that that it's it's it's it's really it it makes it very impossible and highly improbable for them to to learn well and um um it's also I mean there's a carrot and a stick approach it's definitely been helpful with what judge king is doing um there is certainly consequences if either students or parents aren't complying but at the same time um it's it's been a really positive uh program and I've seen a lot of I've seen a lot of families for the first time in their academic careers getting their kids consistently to school with just a monthly monitoring that we do and it's really a a a it's really a win it feels like after three or four months in a row of them consistently doing what they're supposed to do to say okay we're going to kind of we've given you the the wings now let's get out there baby bird and do this on your own and and uh and it's it's worked it's worked well so far and we're hoping that we continue to see those kind of results um and uh I think there's a lot of people with their passions in the right place in the projects that we are doing right now with treny and uh and I hope it continues so thank you very much and it's an honor to represent you in treny court board thank you attorney Powers Dr gallet thank you members of the board I just have two brief items and both were referenced in context tonight uh the first being our inspiration and pledge um by our Ricky teacher of the year and the golden apple Academy is supporting the um professional learning opportunities by teachers for teachers what I call Ed camps um I wrote that into the Strategic plan at the beginning and had conversations so I want to thank the public Ed foundation and the academy and conversations I've had with them to take this on as as a project for them so I think that's going to be a really great opportunity for for all of our teachers and I want to thank them for that publicly the other item is with reference to something that Mr small wige U talked about um and we we you voted on tonight board with regard to our uh legislative appropriation uh for expansion of the aviation Wing which is very exciting at at MTC which you may not know and those of you who did attend the recent um uh c um breakfast meeting uh that Colonel Robert long who's the CEO of space Florida spoke as the guest speaker I spoke to him after because he was talking about how this impacts our economy Statewide um and what I shared with him and shared with Mr Shey also after is that we already have this well underway we already have plans in place for our our new high school for this to be an Academy of of um regarding space Florida it includes a number of certifications as you've approved a lot of that uh progress tonight but it will include very specific certific such as Logistics and and other um um ways that I think will have great benefit to this community in our Workforce and so I wanted to just circle back to say that that's already underway um both with our high school and our plans in our schools and I mentioned to the space Florida um uh folks today when I had a follow-up Zoom call with them um about our MTC expansion they were very excited so there's a lot more to come they're very excited about us being a district that is um being very Innovative and in the Forefront of this work so uh we'll be bringing some more items back to you shortly thank you thank you Dr goet board member James nothing further all right um board member Cummings thank you are you live something tonight it's off and on off and on um but I guess this this is just the time we're in um we we we had some um interesting things tonight I want to uh talk about the Aviation Academy and the aviation and the diesel mechanic program that's going to be at MTC I I am excited about that program truly excited about that program one reason I'm excited about it because I recently talked to some some young people that are planning to take up that field and for them to take it up they have to go to uh emry rle riddle they had to move and to know that that program is going to be here in Maran county is as is a plus one of those one of those kids was my nephew so I'm excited to know that um it's going to be here he may not be able to get into that program because he'll already be gone but however to know that that that is another option that Maran County now has in its midst is truly great so um we heard a lot of lot of we we passed a lot of things tonight concerning um Food Service as far as the food uh I hope people don't think that um The increased cost is something new if if if it cost us more to go to the grocery store surely it's going to cost the school district to go to the grocery store and basically that's what I saw on in in those approving those items and then finally um tonight U we just got through a long discussion about some long passionate conversation about um some processes and things about building school um I saw in this I saw and listened and heard in this conversation all of our uh board members being passionate about their stances I heard our staff and miss doas and her facilities Department being passionate about their stance and I heard the superintendent being passionate and and and that one thing I believe is that everyone up here um everyone at this diet everyone in the in the audience all have pretty much the same goal and that's to do what's best for kids to do what's going to be um good for our community to make sure that things are done right we may not have the all we may not all agree on how we're going to get to those goals or have the methodology of how we're going to get there but I truly believe that all of us have the same uh intent and and and doing what's right so um I I pray no one is leaving here angry or upset tonight because things didn't go the way they may have particularly wanted to go it didn't go any way any of us wanted to go to be honest with you but we are we we're in a better place to move forward we talked it out until we got to a point where we said okay we going to come back and make a decision that's the Democratic process that's the process of talking that's the process of of different minds and different various um experiences coming together and having a real conversation so um tonight was productive it may not have seemed productive but I believe that it was productive I believe that we're going to get this this school built again it affects my district hardly hard most the most because it's it's a high school that's in that affects dun High School a high school that's going to affect Westport HIgh school so I'm looking forward to us getting this done but I just want to make sure we get it done right so I thank all of you for for your input I thank the community for not the community Miss doin and her team for input I thank the superintendent for bringing some some options and I I do believe that in the next few weeks we will have a decision moving forward so thank you thank you board member Cummings Bo member Campbell thank you Reverend Cummings for your statements because as I sit here and consider the past couple of board meetings that we've had it it has appeared that there's been a clear division within this board and my hope is that we all are here for the right reason and that is to help every student succeed from this seat I continue to be impassioned about understanding what stewardship means and that includes when we delay construction costs just continue to increase so the dollars that we are going to be investing in those schools are not are going to have to stretch a little further it it's going to be an an interesting Dynamic if we continue down the pathway that we're on U but I am grateful for your words that uh the belief that this conversation though without an outcome has still been productive I can accept and that concludes my comments thank you board member Campbell Vice chair Conrad thank you chair oh I just have a couple things I'd like to share um visiting some high schools over the summer I just wanted to give a shout out to our custodial services oh sorry sorry everybody um just visiting high schools and our custodial teams are really working hard um cleaning up and Hauling off and uh making everything look shiny and new getting ready for the new school year um so just wanted to give a shout out to them as they are they are working every day to get our schools in the best shape possible um for next year so thank you um to all of them I also wanted to give a shout out uh Miss rle is attending the horse Alliance event this evening we were all unable to attend because we were here at work at our board meeting um but just am so grateful for the work that that um group of people is doing and tonight they're fundraising for more books for next year's fourth graders uh which having the privilege of participating in that program is very special to me it's very meaningful to the students um and teachers that are able to participate in it so I just wanted to say thank you um you know that we have the opportunity to to be in Partnership uh with the Okala horse Alliance and for miss rle taking time to go out there and represent us this evening while we are here uh Mr Ben vudi I had a name for you tonight for audio um equipment but then Mr Christian said somebody's coming tomorrow to work on audio so there was a little delayed but I didn't get it till this afternoon so I'm looking forward to that both of you on some improvements on our audio equipment so thank you um I want to reiterate again uh I'm grateful for the commitment of Miss Dobbins and her team and sometimes it's hard to Hash things out publicly it's the only opportunity we have and so I just continue um to be grateful and appreciative for her years of service and her commitment to this District uh and I to Value her recommendations and her input so I just wanted to say that publicly as we we wind up um for our teachers it's been mentioned a couple times about the Ed Camp that's coming up this summer and I just wanted to share as I sat in on those conversations it's something very different uh a different kind of opportunity that it's long as I've been a part of the education system here in Maring county has not happened and so I just wanted to encourage teachers to check into that um it's going to be a teacher teacher-led group um which is really exciting so I just hope um that you'll take take the chance to investigate take the time to learn about it and and hopefully we'll have a good turnout for um this first shot at our at our own Maran County version of Ed camp and last but not least I I did want to ask uh to request a safety shade session I just have con some concerns that have come up uh for me recently and um I'd like us to have the opportunity to talk and visit about them and that's all I have thank you chair okay thank you um Dr gullet you'll take care of yes I I will do that thank you Vice thank you very I do know that some of the concerns that raised should be discussed and appropriate for shade thank you thank you great thank you very much and um yes it's uh been a busy summer so far and I had the pleasure of being at uh Maplewood Elementary School recently and uh it was shared with me that they still had about 200 prek evaluations left to do um and to identify the kids early that really need extra support um in terms of services is is the name of the game so they're all uh working hard and as I was leaving there was a mom coming in with a pair of identical twins and they were just so little and so adorable and so much potential and they were everywhere and I thought to myself okay a couple six months from now they'll probably be different kids you know but just as as cute as as buttons um tonight we did I they were on consent agenda this time because we've talked about it a lot under discussion the last few meetings there were another 13 agenda items for contracted service providers um again and and these are for kids with um exceptional needs including speech language occupational therapy Physical Therapy deaf and heart of hearing services um and these services are required um to Ure full implementation of student individual education plans um tonight the total cost of of these Services came to over a million dollars so I'm pretty sure we're up to at least $8 million just in the last few meetings of of services that you know are mandated um once they become part of a students's individual education plan um so I just think that it continues to be important to illustrate to the community our commitment to serving every single student um in as any individual and unique way as we possibly um can reach them um I too am uh appreciative of of all of the conversation tonight I'm appreciative of of the passion um I it's hard for me to appre to be appreciative when I feel like you know our we've been derailed um that makes it tough and when I begin to uh sense that what I do for myself is try to Circle my head back around to okay you know what is it that is going to continue to be my Guiding Light so I can continue to be of best and highest service on this school board and I think the my guiding principles you know I'm a Christ follower so it's definitely the Holy Bible um I also believe deeply in the Golden Rule and I also um deeply believe in the legendary football coach Lou Holtz do what's right do your best treat others the way you want to be treated and that's what steadies me that's what continues to fuel my passion to continue to be of best and highest service of this district and I look forward to continuing to keep my eye on the ball and do everything together with a highly functioning board to keep those statements at the Forefront of of everything we do to help every student succeed so that's all I have for tonight um and if there's nothing further I need a motion to adjourn to motion by board member Cummings by board member Campbell all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 0 we are adjourned at 8:49 p.m. thank you [Music] all the school board meeting will begin in [Music] 5 e