e e e the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 2 minutes please take your seats again the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 2 minutes the school board meeting will begin in 1 minute please take your seats again the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 1 minute e [Music] everyone the May 28th 2024 meeting of the Marian County School Board is called to order mirroring and modeling the way our students begin each day I ask that we observe a moment at moment of silence at this time please join me thank you board member Cummings would you please read our board commitment statement yes mam chair we are the Marian 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 together we must demonstrate respect confront reality and be accountable we will always put students first we will leave a legacy of success thank you board member Cummings 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 Maran County school system or the school board only presentations 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 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 sep cheet board clerk please call the role good evening Elena good evening Dr Allison Campbell district one here Mrs Lorie Conrad District Two here Mr Eric Cummings District three here Mrs Nancy thower District Four here Dr Sarah James District 5 here Dr Diane gullet superintendent here Mr Jeremy power Schoolboard attorney here thank you good evening Dr gullet would you please introduce the person on your team who will share inspiration and help lead us in our Pledge of Allegiance this evening good evening Madame chair members of the board great to see you this evening it's my pleasure to have either miss Ben Bonz or Miss Hamill either one of them are going to come forward we are going to be recognizing some students that participate in the regional stem fair so glad to have you here and our students as well thank you good evening thank you Dr gallet I'm Aon Benitas resource teacher out at Silver River Museum and the director of The Big Spring stem program and we have had an amazing year this year year so not only did we host a Regional Fair with 164 projects where we awarded $45,000 in cash prizes and all expense paid trips it was also an inaugural year for our lab at the Silver River Museum featuring bsl2 level research which is Collegiate level research that we're doing right here at airing County Public School site we have 32 projects from our region attend the state science and engineering fair in Lakeland where the region received 22 Place Awards nearly $95,000 in scholarship opportunities and nearly $1,000 in cash prizes and then we had three Maran County students recently attend the international science and engineering fair in Los Angeles California where they won a total of 27,000 in cash and one of our students won an all expense pay trip to the London International Youth Science forum and all of this was made possible by our sponsors of course Maran County Public Schools we're also a region with Sumpter County Public Schools the public Education Foundation of maring County Silver River Museum and the felburn foundation so it is my distinct honor to introduce our students who participated in the state science fair and then also our International Fair and then we'll have an inspiration and a pledge so if you guys will come on up I will have them tell you the title of their project so you can get to know them just a little bit all right Delany Peterson who attended um our international science fair from Bellevue High School tell us what your project was um my project was the effect of aggregate size on oyster spat recruitment at the International Fair these students are doing graduate level research that is fantastic and I just want to I know it's going to be hard to recognize everybody individually once you've gone through so I just wanted to say Delaney you know a lot of us in here really love oysters so thank you for your research on that and it's just so exciting to have all of you here but we'd like to personal acknowledge each of you as you share what your project was so we can keep good track great job Miguel ciciliano who placed fourth in his category at the international fair over 1700 projects from 67 countries so my project was basically it takes in like webcam input and then it looks at the hand shape and it converts it into an actual like sign so it's like an ASL translator tool how cool is that and just at at the international level too I'm sure that was a wonderful experience yeah definitely that is great thank you for being here our next two were a team project at our state fair who won a special award of an amazing technology package both from Vanguard High School Karina carva and Angelina kavalek hi I'm Karina and Angelina's and I's project was um characterizing the neurotropic constituents of The Lion Man Mushroom so basically we took The Lion Man Mushroom which was basically under this huge scientific Spotlight for the past decade or so and we found the compounds in it and we found which ones could be used to um be effective in a treatment against Alzheimer's disease wow so so amazing and you two did this together as as a team it it really is overwhelming to think of the opportunities that not only you you have but that you took advantage of you know to do this and you were interested enough in the future of people's Health it's just really commendable thank you leading us in our inspiration we have Rishi Shakib um who recently graduated from Vanguard High School I know you guys know Rishi he attended ISF where he placed third in his category and we'll be headed to London this summer oh jolly good good evening members of the school board it is with great pride and enthusiasm that I stand before you here tonight to introduce a group of exceptional students who have represented our district with distinction at the state science fair and Beyond I am honored to be among these students and to have the privilege of recognizing their hard work and dedication here tonight each year our students take on this immense challenge often developing projects that require them to push beyond their limits and experience that was no different for me as I began my project last year my mind buzzed with long names of bacterial species and statistics on nosocomial infection I was determined to conduct my own research study investigating how commensal proteins could combat antibiotic resistance yet sitting there staring at the blank pages of my research plan the magnitude of the challenge that I had taken on truly hit me I had no idea how to even pour a petri dish let alone how to design and build a microbiological project from the ground up yet I wasn't one to back down from a challenge I realized that I would be fighting an uphill battle learning not just how to be conducting my experiment but how to advocate for myself to win the money I needed in scholarships and to make doe with what I had I would spend hours before and after school every lunch period And every weekend battling lastminute equipment shortages incomplete culturing and the clock having to learn and adapt to every single challenge these challenges were not mine alone and the experiences are common to all of the students that you see here before you tonight yet my greatest achievement was not an international award in fact it comes from right here in Maran County I knew from my experience that constrained resources directly limited the opportunities of our students and I hope to use my journey to provide students with these same opportunities that I wish that I had thanks to the support of the felburn foundation the Silver River Institute the public Education Foundation of Marian County and of course the school board as well as our dedicated Educators and students Maran county is now home to a one-of aind highlevel research facility accessible to all students to conduct their own independent research accessible and completely unparalleled in its potential anywhere else in the state I urge the board to continue this crucial investment in our students your support has enabled Marian County to compete on an international stage and has created opportunities for hundreds of our students across all levels the work of our students here today has changed our world from developing new technologies for the impaired and to fight Coastal degradation to new treatments for Alzheimer's and antibiotic resistance tonight we celebrate the work of our students an inspiration to the many young boys and girls just like us who aspire to change the world one project at a time thank [Applause] you and finally one last student Miss Mega Sandra Patti of Oola middle Mega go ahead and tell us what your project title was and then please lead us in the pledge I'm optimizing the design of a piso Electric hydrophone for the best underwater sound detection I pledge allegiance us a second to get up please stand for the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic of which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we definitely want to come down and take a picture with you so don't run away we'll be right down down your their pictures all right can we get you guys to move in and test a little bit closer yes I don't thank you we can't see Miss sorry there you go she's trying better thank you [Music] [Applause] is he here take take one peppermint oh think what a great way to kick off the school board meeting um all right now we have to take a break and uh conduct a little business here so I'm going to call a brief recess at 5:44 p.m. for the purpose of requesting authorization to sell the old Central Ware W house located at 506 Southeast 3rd Avenue Okala Marian County Florida as well as a vacant lot located at the 200 block of southeast 6th Street Maran County Florida if the school board approves by resolution to do so in the future so we'll go ahead and recess now at 5:44 p.m. and then we'll go right into our leasing Court meeting e e I call to order the special meeting of the board of directors of the Maring County School Board leas incorporation at 5:46 p.m. let the minutes reflect that the following members of the board of directors are present Dr Allison Campbell District 1 Mrs Lori Conrad District Two Mr Eric Cummings District three myself Nancy thrower District 4 and Dr Sarah James District 5 also in attendance is Dr Diane gullet the superintendent of schools who serves as the secretary of the Laing Corporation and attorney Jeremy Powers the Schoolboard attorney who serves as the attorney of the leasing Corporation let the minutes also reflect that a notice of this meeting was duly published in the Okala Gazette and that this notice was provided to each board member I direct the board clerk to please attach a copy of the notice to the minutes of this meeting I will now call upon the lacing corporation's attorney to advise the board concerning the following subject properties the old central warehouse located at 506 Southeast thirdd Avenue Okala Marian County Florida as well as the vacant lot at the 200 block of southeast 6th Street Okala Maring County Florida over to you attorney Powers thank you chair thrower at its meeting earlier this afternoon the school board of Maran County Florida recessed to obtain authorization from the board of directors of the Maran County Schoolboard leasing Corporation to sell that certain real estate identified as the old central warehouse house and a vacant lot across from the old central warehouse if the school board desires to do so thank you attorney Powers if you wish to address the board regarding the sale of the real estate being discussed tonight anyone here you must complete a peach form located in the lobby does anyone wish to address the board concerning the sale of the subject properties the names and locations of which are the old central warehouse at 506 Southeast 3rd Avenue oala Marian County Florida and also the vacant lot at the 200 block of southeast 6th Street Okala Maran County Florida Miss Martinez do we have any citizens that would like to speak no Madam chair okay hearing and seeing none we'll move on the purpose of the board of directors Maran County Schoolboard lacing Corporation meeting is to authorize a school board to sell the old central warehouse property and vacant lot across from it should the school board desire to do so in the future may I have a motion please motion motion by board member Campbell second by board member Cummings is there any discussion board seeing none all those in favor say I I I all oppose same sign the vote is unanimous five votes to zero in favor of selling these properties the board of directors Maran County Schoolboard lacing Corporation has approved the sale of the real estate identified as the central warehouse 506 Southeast 3rd Avenue Okala Marian County Florida and the vacant lot locate located at the 200 block of southeast 6th Street Okala Marian County Florida should the school board desire to do so in the future there being no further business may I have a motion to adjourn Move Motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Cummings all those in favor say I I I I the motion passes unanimously and this meeting is adjourned at 5:49 p.m. thank you okay the school board meeting is called back to order at 5:50 p.m. to note on the record the board of directors of the Marian County school board lease Incorporation have voted unanimously five votes to zero and approved that the school board to sell Surplus real estate attorney Powers now that the board of directors of the Maring County School leasing Corporation has approved the sale of the old Warehouse property in the adjacent vacant lot and the board has approved a previously a resolution declaring the real estate Surplus and recommending it for sale to the public the administrative staff will work with outside Council to present a timeline for the next steps of this process which will be presented in at an upcoming work session thank you attorney powers and now we'll get on to our recognitions Dr gullet I understand we also have one recognition this evening we certainly do thank you madam chair I am very pleased to have Dr Talbert Irving come forward and as she does uh tonight board we're going to recognize the second class of leadership mcps you may recall that when I came to Maran County this is one of the first things that I said I wanted to make sure we put in place because it allows our community members to come into our schools and our departments and be able to see firsthand the work that we are doing for students each and every day the commitment of our employees um have had great interaction with this class as I did last year I appreciate their Insight their feedback and their authentic participation and in working with us to uh improve our outcomes for students and just be great Partners so just incred L proud of this class and appreciative of the time they've committed with us uh to learn more about how we support students so thank you Dr tber Irving good evening chair thower Vice chair Conrad board members and superintendent gullet leadership mcps is an opportunity to learn about what it takes to educate roughly 46,000 students daily from Peaks into the classroom to learning how funding public education Works leadership mcps participants gained a new appreciation for how a public school district runs and the people dedicated to the students it serves I'm pleased to recognize the leadership mcps class of 2023 2024 Dr gwendelyn Dawson [Applause] might as well come up and stand to the front because you're going to get your picture taken anyway Ash [Applause] Dar Julie [Applause] favorite Sarah Kyle com Amy mat [Applause] congs thank you Debbie matchell [Applause] Debbie Mel Dana [Applause] Parker Peggy renzone [Applause] Carol [Applause] Todd Joseph [Applause] pahasa L Monica Samuel [Applause] Parish Tanner Betsy Weber and Reverend Reginal Willis senior [Applause] a round of applause for our leadership and CPS 2023 2024 graduates and if you wouldn't mind just uh turning and facing the board for a second um on behalf of the Marian County School Board uh we just wanted to extend our thanks and gratitude to each and every one of you whether you're physically pren present or with us in spirit tonight um you dedicated and chose to dedicate voluntarily your time talent and treasure to learn more about the inner workings of Maran County Public Schools and you know what it takes to run our district um on the dayto day so thank you very much for your willingness and and passion for for doing that and I recognize most of you I think a lot of you I saw at Hillcrest School and over at Maplewood and and I know that you got just such a wonderful overview of our school system so we'd like to come down and take a picture with you to to celebrate your your completion your graduation good timing okay let's see here we're going to have to scoot in a little bit and see everybody's face all right great smile sure some of these folks want to take pictures too okay all right great stuff and we're now going to continue um at this time we'd like to recognize donations um to the district like to recognize uh donations the district recently received received consisting of $1,000 to Belleview Middle School from Serenity comics and games LLC to be used for the robotics Club $250 to bellw high school from mid Florida Regional manufacturers Association known as mrma to be used for advanced manufacturing technology rad Academy class $1,000 to denell and Elementary School from Maran Soil and Water conservationist District board to be used for items for Karen Bird's classroom for winning the environmental educator of the Year award this these Awards or these donations have a total value this evening of $4,050 we're always eternally grateful for the donations and and support that we receive from the community which is so incredibly generous um we have foundations from all over the country that support us as well so our continued thanks for helping us be the best we can be all right moving on Dr gullet please make a recommendation on tonight's Schoolboard meeting agenda good evening happy to do so Madam chair I recommend approval of the agenda for the May 28th 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 d 22.1 d 22.2 d 22.3 d 22.4 d22.5 D 22.6 D 22.7 D 22.8 d22.9 D 22.10 D 22.11 D 22.12 D 22.13 D 22.4 d22.5 d2216 d 22.17 D 22.8 d22.9 and D 2220 that have been placed under discussion as well as item c9.4 that has been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items thank you madam chair thank you Dr gullet we have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell prior to the vote um I've just been I was informed that um there's a note on item 19.1 um regarding uh notice to the board and I'll allow the as to when that notice occurred so I was just informed of that so I'll let my concern is just that the item attachment was not uploaded until wasn't even available for upload until 1: p.m. today which means that the community did not have proper notification of the item and thus doesn't have the ability to make public comments on it because they the the community was not made properly aware so at at a minimum I'd like that item moved to the um discussion uh where we could have further discussion about it I don't have a problem with it yeah that's good boarding consensus sounds good okay so we're just going to do that d9.1 placed under discussion yes ma'am okay all right so we'll go ahead and have a we have a motion in a second on the superintendent's recommendation it was by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Cummings all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the April 23rd 2024 school board meeting motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second by Vice chair Conrad are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none I'll those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5-0 may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 2nd 2024 special school board meeting moved 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 motion passes unanimously 5- z may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the May 2nd 2024 administrative briefing and work session motion to approve motion by Vice shair 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 5 Z Miss Martinez will you please provide the proof of publication for tonight's school board meeting the notice for the May 28th 2024 board meeting brand in the Okala Gazette on May 17th 2024 the proof of publication has been attached in board docks under proof of publication thank you I will now ask the school board's attorney to explain the rules governing persons who wish to address the school board this evening thank you madam chair good evening ladies and gentlemen 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 regarding either one of today's agenda items or a matter relating to the operations of the school district these procedures will ensure the public has a reasonable opportunity to be heard on Schoolboard 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 meeting in the order of receipt by the Schoolboard clerk before you begin speaking if you would please State your full name for the record and spell your last name each speaker will have five 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 a 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'll be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting parents May address the board regarding a discipline matter at that time to ensure student privacy only a parent or Guardian may use the student's first or last name identifying references to or identification of other students or their families are 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 Ward's requirements Madam chair that that concludes my explanatory remarks thank you you attorney Powers Miss Martinez do we have any speakers this evening yes Madam chair we have six speakers okay Mr Dr Jerome gamble Dr Jerome Campbell Campbell Campbell I heard Campbell and I'm thinking I don't think that's his name since there's only one more over five we'll stick with the three three minutes right five five minutes or three or five minutes five minutes okay yep good evening you may GBL chairman Thor members of the Maran County School Board superintendent gullet to each of you in your respective positions I am the President of Maran County branch of the NAACP and the moderator emeritus of 45 churches of the second Bethlehem Baptist Association with me today are the chairman of our education committee Miss Donna Wilkerson our vice president and other officers and members of our Branch we understand that superintendent gullet performance is being evaluated by the board and wanted to appear in support of her work and accomplishment over the past four years I met Dr gullet following her appointment as superintendent and at that time I was convinced that she was a leader with a specific experience vision and tenacity to address the problems and conditions in our school system that evolved under the leadership of others I've been a keen Observer of her progress her struggles and her accomplishments over the past few years she took on this responsibility with a vision to elevate the level of student achievement and School academic performance as key objectives Staffing assignments organizational structure and facility deficiencies were all before her do during her tenure Marian County Schools have earned a BG grade from the Florida Department of Education for 20223 school year the district's score improved from C to letter BG grade is leading the county and and state and other areas as well no school in Maran county has received a failing grade for this year five schools have received an a rating under her leadership VPK has been added to elementary schools in Maran County and Marian County VPK students are outperforming their peers in other school districts in Florida student attendance across the district has improved tremendously these are just a few indicators of progress growth and development in the Maran County School System these developments are not being made by osmosis but in large measure can be attributed to the dynamic style of leadership and the organizational skills and the team that has been assembled under the leadership of our superintendent Dr gullet like we take note of the impact of our superintendent progress others across the state and the nation are also cognizant and appreciative of her Visionary leadership she has been appointed to the board of the Department of Juvenile Justice she's been appointed to the board of the Florida Association of District school superintendents and is being recognized by the magnet schools of America for implantation programs Maran county is blessed to have Dr Diana gett giving leaders to its Public School administration we have no indication of impropriety or Prejudice in her work but with high moral character integrity hard work she has Maran County schools on a trajectory headed for a brighter future Dr gullet has demonstrated her competency and has earned our respect she's deserving of the opportunity to complete her work and to lead us to higher Heights chairman thrower I pray that you and this board will see the wisdom of giving what has been planted in our midst an opportunity to grow to fruition under Dr gullit's leadership Dr gullet congratulations on the success that you and your staff of 6,000 plus employees have achieved the accolades your way as you lead us into the indefinite future God bless you thank you sir Melanie Slaughter Melanie Slaughter s a u g h t e r I'm also here uh this evening in support of Dr gullet um I would direct you all to the Okala Gazette who did a wonderful article about Dr gullit's leadership and what she has brought to Maran County public schools that was published on Friday May 25th 2024 I would ask those who remember remember what it was like before she got here because I remember I remember the waste of money from our community the lack of ability of teachers to come before this board and express that they didn't like something because they were afraid of being fired if they did and they were fired and they were demoted and they were transferred not under Dr gullo's leadership they were not they would have the ability to talk parents the ability to come up here and complain about things and say you know what Dr gullet I don't like what you're doing and she doesn't say go home I don't want to hear it she listens to us she sends us to her staff whose ability to help us to do things and what does that do it buys in the stakeholders it buys in the parents it buys in the students it buys in the staff it buys everyone in to what she's trying to do which is to educate every child and that is what I have seen while she's been the superintend of this County she does not have a fancy office she didn't spend a million dollars to revise her office and bring new furniture in and paint the walls pink that's not what she did she walks down the hall they have to go to the bathroom because she was in an office that had mold in it because she didn't want to waste taxpayers money to redo an office she doesn't allow people that work for her to use Maran County resources for private things to compel people to give them things that they're not supposed to have to give them because they're in power and they're in control of their promotions and things like that we have had a school system that is focused on children who is focused on educating children she had to fight the Maring County Commission quite frankly who is owned by the developers in this County who want to build build build so I can't drive onto the Interstate and bellw without waiting for an hour because of the traffic I can't drive down 200 and they want to build all of these things and not pay for the roads and not pay for the schools to be built and not pay for anything they expect us to to basically have to pay for it through taxes through everything else when when I built my house before the impact fees went away I paid an impact fee and guess why I paid an impact fee because I got four kids going to school here and so I paid the impact fee and I didn't complain about paying 10 grand when I built my house because I knew my children were going to be educated here but now nobody wants to pay for it the County Commission doesn't want to pay for it the the the the the dev development doesn't want to pay for it nobody wants to pay for it well stop building here then because we don't have enough space to educate our children because you keep building and building and building and you don't want to pay impact fees it is totally ridiculous but Dr gullet you had a creative way of doing it she had a little bit impact fee and then she's trying to get other sales taxes to pay for for the other part of it she's trying to build schools to educate our children she is trying to educate every child no matter where they come from no matter what their socio anomic background is and she has done a fantastic job for the children of this County the parents of this County and the teachers of this County and if there's any question whether she should remain as superintendent of Maran County Public Schools go back to what it was like in 2000 and if you want that you shouldn't be on the board thank you thank you Miss Eleanor Truman good evening she says I have to go first uh Bonnie Heath H state your name for the record for us and here on behalf of the Okala horse Alliance in the black right your name is Bonnie Heath correct it is Bonnie Heath okay for the record thank you h e a t um gosh this is fun this is really inspiring I I've been going to a lot of County Commission meetings lately and this is a lot more fun uh that's that's just like that lady said that's awful but anyway uh we're here for for one reason and one reason only uh we're here on behalf of the black stallan reading project and the last time I saw you all together you were on Horseback and you you're you're almost as happy tonight as you were then not quite not quite not quite anyway uh this project we're in our fourth year and it's been a huge success and I think if you talk to the the kids that have been through the program you talk to the teachers uh have you been to the schools where the actual the horses come to the schools if you have hav't been to to a school when the horses show up make it a point next year to go because when that horse I don't care what's going on who's talking doing what when that horse gets off that trailer it's a whole different ball game it really is and it's very very special and we're bringing uh we're teaching you know giving the Black Stallion book to every fourth grader I think 3,400 this year something like that and it's required reading which is really special and it's not just the reading the reading is is probably the mo it is it is the most important part but the other part is is to let the kids and their parents and this and the community know that there's an industry here that includes everybody and I had a a a great discussion with Dr Cummings about this couple years ago and this this is for everybody and it's not just riding by on a highway looking at a fancy Farm saying no that's not for me anymore because this this industry includes everybody and I've been banging around in it for a long long time and this lady right here is responsible for it I thought she was nuts when she started talking about the black stallion I said you you got to go somewhere else and no we're we're getting ready to go for five more years so I'm going to give you Ellie Truman thank you Ellie Truman Tru M I'm very thrilled to be here tonight this is year four we just completed and I think it was five years ago that I met with several of you individually and talked about the concept of doing the black stalling and reading project and there was great enthusiasm but the common question at that meet at those individual meetings were it sounds great who's going to pay for it and we said you know what the equestrian community in Marian County will pay for this and I'm here to report they did they have stepped up we have delivered over 14,000 books to every to every fourth grader in Maran County to keep we've delivered tack boxes medals we instituted um a black Stan metal project this year we've done materials for teachers bookmarks journals and a host of other materials that'll help enhance this program and as Bonnie mentioned one of the most important things we bring to this is the horse to see a child's expression when they get to pet a horse for the first time is almost Indescribable there's just this great smile that comes on their face what amazes me is less than 40% of the students from our calculations have ever been near a real horse there are 75,000 horses in Maran County and with those horses come a number of jobs that all these students can participate in that economy that's what's very exciting to us this program is first and foremost A literacy project but it's also a project that brings to um students and their awareness both available to them as for careers and um things that they may not go to college but their careers such as black smithing um professional braiders horse masseuses horse nutritionists a number of careers that are available to them and as we do more career days at schools we hope to bring that awareness to that we're very thankful you have been there with us from the beginning you have dawned hard hats you have ridden horses some of you in trepidation um and you have competed at the world Equestrian Center I hope that goes on your resume that's a significant accomplishment you are one of an elite group that has competed at the world equestrian center but thank you so much for your support and I want to say um we have an expression that we use a lot with um when we present this to the horse Community who have really stepped up every school all 33 elementary schools are partnered with a farm a horse farm and it ranges the a diverse range of um people and and and disciplines and breeds Association so the students get a full array of what's available to them in terms of breeds and disciplines of horses and it runs the gamut but we have an expression that um that we use in our literature often this is our community these are our children and this is the future of the horse industry in Marian County and the horse industry has I think appropriately stepped up and we are so thankful to partner with you and I hope you'll put January 13th on your calendar it's a Monday we hope to be have we hope to have all 36 or 700 fourth graders at w for horse education day we will have stations of different occupations there and we'll have a full array of breeds and disciplines and we also hope to have the school board right in just before the Black Stallion makes a great entrance so thank you so much for your support we're very thrilled you'll be seeing a new Five-Year Plan in the very near future and we hope to partner with you and Gallop up to the um to the coming years thank you thank you Vicky trb good evening Bor when I transferred to North Mary Middle School two years ago no one told me that I would find my family but that's what happened I work with a tremendous group of people whom I've grown to love and I'm forever grateful for their strength and kindness principal Matt Johnson was a godsend for North Maran from my understanding he completely changed the culture of the school he values his staff and believes in them he works hard to build relationships and values the opportunity to create Unity for his campus it takes time to turn around a campus last Wednesday night our school went through a trauma that no school should ever have to face a selfish man murdered another during our award ceremony our precious students bore witness to this event along with their families and along with my staff many were understandably shook to their very core haunted by nightmares it remains unseen how deep this devastating consequences of this event will run but it is not an event that is easily shaken off or forgotten then less than 48 hours later it felt like you literally ripped the foundation out from under my staff many were ready to leave with their Captain while I understand that principal placements were emotion before the events took place announcing a complete change seemed insensitive and unappreciative of what staff did to represent your school and this wasn't the first time it's happened I was at Forest High School when the school shooting occurred there this is the second time I've had to hold fellow staff members and comfort them because a gunshot shattered their sense of safety this is the second time that I saw the world around me crumble and fall apart the staff at FHS needed their leader and the staff at North Maran needs their leader as well as previous mentioned it takes time to truly turn a campus around and make an impactful change 2 years is not long enough for this to happen we were doing great things at North Maran and we were going to continue doing those but it seems like that didn't matter the absence of this consideration made my staff also feel like they didn't matter when they absolutely do matter to me and to the almost 800 students we teach on a daily basis I am thankful though that this oversight was brought to your attention and you decided that our interim principal Mr Corley would continue as principal next year the staff's fears were calmed a little the sense of fleeing was reduced you see Mr Corley was there when the shooting happened he bore witness and helped the staff through it while we as a campus are still processing the trauma that took place we at least were given back some small sense of security having Mr Corley as our principle when his appointment was announced the staff sighed in relief and told me how they would be staying you saved over half of my campus from leaving because of this change and while it still feels painful that you stripped us of the leader who has turned things around and was leading us in a positive direction we will hopefully be able to gather our emotional pieces and move forward and for that I thank you you m so that conclude our one more Miss Nella Haynes good afternoon navela Haynes n a r v is and Victor e l l a hannes h a y n s good afternoon to chair Thor board members James Campbell Conrad and cumins Dr gullet attorney Powell and Miss Lopez first I would like to thank I would like to start off by thanking each of you for your hard work and dedication to the community while serving approximately 4,651 students and 6,600 employees after watching the last board meeting I found it very disturbing for a number of reasons one knowing where this school district was and the pain and suffering we have gone through from the former Administration I would say Dr gullet came here 4 years ago and stepped into the lion's den Dr gullet came here reaching out to the community her Works dedication and commitment has reunited Us in spite of the dysfunctional organization and the low morale she started putting it back together she has brought healing to this community and staff Bard Bo meetings have been running smoothly with integrity and professionalism but the last board meeting was a flashback of where we should never want to go again I am not saying Dr gullet is perfect and has all of the answers but we cannot go back to where we were board members we are we the people fored to allow you to appoint our superintended and remember we voted for you there have been so many positive changes under her leadership and to make a rash decision of determination would be a big setback for all we speak of training good leaders to be professional we must stay professional ourselves in the process of bringing her here the community had input and I know you all will be discussing her evaluation tonight and if there's a hidden agenda to end her contract I ask that you remember that this is not a personal item this is about the community and the decision you make will be remembered by the community thank you thank you Miss hes that concludes our speakers thank you all for um Coming forward tonight and we're now going to move on to some informational items uh the first one is Florida Department of Law Enforcement safety and awareness and education grant and for your knowledge the Maran County School Board police department has applied for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement safety and awareness and education grant to purchase bulletproof vests for the officers in the department and promotional items designed to educate students staff and families about the dangers associated with alcohol drugs threats and other concerning behaviors the next one is heating ventilation air conditioning HVAC Chiller systems replacement at Howard at Horizon Academy at Maran Oaks change order number one work authorization number 22 project 23-14 the superintendent has signed and approved the change order per board policy 6345 the superintendent is authorized to approve and execute any Construction contract change order that will increase the Construction contract by $25,000 or less or that will decrease the Construction contract amount provided that approval shall be in her judgment in the best interest of the board the next one is the Palm Beach State College cost reimbursement subrecipient award agreement expenses in the amount of 2 $ 53,6 32 will be reimbursed from Palm Beach State College to cover the cost for 1,716 students to take the ACT the CLT or Ace test being administered at all seven high schools in Maran County throughout the end of the 2023 2024 school year all right we're going to move on to our public hearings I declare a public hearing is there anyone present who wishes to address the board regarding any of the get ready for it 16 titles for the 16 courses recommended for adoption this evening and that we will be voting on separately per statute hearing none superintendent colet thank you madam chair instruction materials are adopted according to a process defined our Florida State Statute 1000 6.28 as well as board policy 2521 16 titles for 16 courses are being recommended for adoption this evening thank you thank you Dr gullet so let's get started may I I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for kindergarten science may I have a motion please moved by board member Cummings second by Vice chair Conrad is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5-0 may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for first grade science motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member James any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for second grade science motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second by Vice chair conad is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for mathematics for third grade that's wrong for instructional materials for third grade science I'm sure there's mathematics embedded in there but that's not what we're voting on move move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5 may have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for fourth grade science 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 5-0 may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for fifth grade science motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member James is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously may I have a motion to approve the hearing the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for Middle grades 6 Earth space science motion second motion by board member James second by board member Cummings is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5-0 I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for middle grade 7 life science move by board member Cummings second by Vice chair Conrad is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instruction materials for middle grade 8 physical science MO approved motion by board member Campbell second second by board member Cummings is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instruction materials for high school biology mot approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member James is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for high school chemistry motion motion by board member James second by board member Campbell is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- z may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for 2023 2024 adoption of instruction materials for high school physical science motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Cummings is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- z may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for high school environmental science motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for high school anatomy and physiology 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 0 may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for high school physics move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z and the last one may I have a motion to approve the public hearing for the 2023 2024 adoption of instructional materials for high school Marine Science move by board member Cummings second by board member Campbell is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z i' would just like to take this opportunity to thank Kelly Brower and her team and everyone in the community that helped review books textbooks and to Dr gullet for her recommendations for these state approved instructional materials thank you all all right moving right along may I have an motion to approve consent agenda items c2.1 through c2.1 with the exception of items d22 2.1 d 22.2 d 22.3 d 22.4 d22.5 D 22.6 D 22.7 D 22.8 d22.9 D 22.10 D 22.11 d2212 D 22.13 D 22.4 d22.5 d2216 d 22.17 d22 8 d22.9 d222 and d9.1 that's correct that have been placed under discussion and item c9.4 that has been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items May I have a motion please motion to approve second motion by Vice chair Conrad uh second by board member Cummings all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z you were nipped at The Wire by a nose board member comings all right moving into our discussion items May I have a motion to approve the First Amendment with Community Rehab Associates Incorporated so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member James Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item I do thank you madam chair members of the board I'm going to draw your attention to the first nine discussion items I know there's a long list tonight they are grouped accordingly because these first nine discussion items are all annual contracts that support the needs of our students who receive ESC exceptional student education support programs the total for those first nine is 5.72 million and as we move through each item uh Madam chair I'm happy to provide the cost for each item as we move through first one 22.1 is at a cost for should the board approve it for um The Rehabilitation Associates thank you thank you superintendent goet is there any discussion from the board regarding this item um I will just confirm what I think I know Dr gullet that these therapies are individualized for students that have been identified with a special need and have an individual education plan therefore we're obligated to provide these Services is that correct that that is correct we must provide those services that are identified in those individual plans for each student okay thank you very much all right ready to vote all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- z may I have a motion to approve the First Amendment with Einstein Therapy Center Incorporated doing doing business as fundamental Therapy Solutions may I have a motion please 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 thank you madam chair the cost for this item should the board approve is $293,200 May I have a motion to approve the First Amendment with Talk of the Town Speech Therapy LLC motion motion by board member James second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding ing this item yes thank you the cost for this item for the speech therapy would be 236,000 may I have a motion to approve the independent contractor agreement with Citrus hearing impaired program Services Incorporated motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gulet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you again Madam chair the cost for this is 1.3 million and this also includes 14 sign language interpreters to support students across our district thank you thank you Dr gallet is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously - Z may I have a motion to approve the independent contractor agreement with Florida visually impaired and blind Services LLC motion motion by board member Campbell I think I heard board member James is a second um Dr gullet you have information you would like to share regarding this item thank you for the visually impaired and blind Services the cost for this item would be $329,450 thank you Dr gallet is there any further discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the independent contractor agreement with Leaps and Bounds pediatric therapies Incorporated moveed by board member Cummings second second by board member James Dr go do you have information you would like to share regarding this item yes for 22.6 the cost of this would be 187,188 the therapy this um is inclusive of serving over 5,400 students for the um therapists that recommended through the IEP process thank you thank you Dr gallet 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 independent contractor agreement with special Communications LLC motion motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member James Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item uh certainly again this this cost is 1.5 million do to be able to provide these services to our students again under that same umbrella as the previous item serving more than 5,000 students thank you Dr gullet is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the Second Amendment to the agreement with Princeton Staffing Solutions LLC motion motion by board member James second by board member Cummings Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item again yes just Madam chair uh the cost for this would be $778,000 I motion passes unanimously 5 Z and the last one of the group uh may I have a motion to approve the Second Amendment with alied instructional Services LLC so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell Dr gallet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item thank you yes as you said Madam sherff final one in this group this uh item would be at a cost of $235,400 gullet is there any discussion from the board okay um Dr gullet just again to confirm it's 5.2 million total let me go back to or 5.7 5 I'm sorry 572 million I got the 5.72 million okay and I'm noticing that all of these are independent contractors does that mean these are local folks yes that would I would say with pretty certainty because they need to be able to access our students okay in the area yes well it's great to have that support from the community especially on behalf of our children with the most um in many cases significant needs all right if there isn't any further discussion all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z okay moving on May I have a motion to approve bid 473 GM make up air units move move byard mem Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you would like to share regarding this item certainly so this item would be at a cost of just over $670,000 and the purpose of this with your approval would be to provide cleaner fresher air to um and improve air quality at three of our schools including 8ighth Street uh Hammet Bowen Jr and Maran Oaks Elementary School and this also is being paid for out of the remaining um Esser dollars so those federal dollars that were um left over from the co relief thank you Dr goet any discussion from the board I just have one question chair okay I see dobin Miss dobbin's here just a question it's a little bit a little bit off topic but um how are we on the air conditioner for Ward Highlands the media center I'm going to have to go back and check I don't okay that's fine if you just what this made me think of that and I'm like they've been for without air in there for quite some time so thank you I'll the board with that update thank you any other discussion from the board on this topic hearing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the piggyback agreement with 34 Ed LLC doing business as CICS may I have a motion please move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information that you would like to share regarding this item yes thank you this would be a cost of uh just over $2.3 million board um this comes from our safe schools allocation and would include a safety platform to ensure that um our staff could immediately um our First Responders would be able to um be notified immediately of situations in our schools so immediate response that would be necessary in case of any emergency so uh I think much needed um Improvement of communication to get the help that they need thank you Dr gallet is there any further discussion up from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously - z may I have a motion to approve renew bid number 3980 GM gasoline Diesel and biodiesel joint entity term contract may I have a motion motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member James Dr G do you have information you would like to share regarding this item yes so this item is a little bit different Madam chair this is at a cost of $3.5 million and it's a uh a joint bid with the city of Ocala we appreciate the partnership with them to provide fuel um for our district so great partnership opportunity thank you hopefully brings the price down volume buying all right is there any other discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 0 may I have a motion to approve renew bid 4001 MF OEM International and Detroit Allison Automotive Parts term contract motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by board member Cummings Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you this call cost would be $300,000 if the board approves uh this would allow us to purchase the original equipment needed for our Fleet for our vehicles so uh original parts from the for the manufacturer keep them on the road thank you is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may have a motion to approve the third amendment with Davis claims North America Incorporated formerly known as John Eastern Incorporated so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member James Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes this comes from a risk management shair at a cost of $243,000 for a third party claim 243,000 uh that is correct just almost $243,000 that's rounded up okay thank you is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5-0 we have a motion to approve the educational plant spot survey survey 6.3 to modify usage for various facilities including the central warehouse forom Early Learning Academy the Phoenix Center the Maran superintendent's office Maran Technical Institute Oola middle school and the Support Services Center so move move by board member Cummings second by board member Campbell Dr G do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes thank you madam sure members of the board we are seeking your approval to update the school plant survey and Miss Dobbins is going to come forward and provide uh some additional information on this request thank you thank you Dr gullet any discussion from the board oh sorry you get to talk first survey says yes good evening as you might know we do an educational plant survey every 5 years we completed that survey in 2021 so any time we have to amend the survey it has to come back to the board this survey Amendment will also allow us to update the fish reports for these areas and they include the relocation of the warehouse to the Phoenix Center the demolition of the old cafeteria at the Phoenix Center in preparation for the Technology Center the converting of two wings at PM Early Learning into the district office for mental health and wellness moving the superintendent's office and the boardroom to MTI and also the demo of Oola Middle School's gym thank you all right any discussion from the board now chair yes I just wanted to say thank you because sometimes we look at that fish report and we're like okay some of these changes need they're almost feeling long overdue so I'm grateful that we are taking this work forward now and and actually putting on paper what we've been doing for quite some time more to come thank you thank you board M Campbell sure anything yes board member Cummings also for clarity I do want the community to know that these some of these things have already taken place and that this is not something new that's coming forward correct miss dobins that is correct uh some of those we had to wait for because we needed the fencing in place to be able to then update the fish right thank you board member Cummings thank you any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price for cafeteria ceiling and lighting replacement at BW Santos elementary school project 24-14 may have a motion please motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Cummings Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair I think the title speaks for itself but the cost is just over $178,000 and those lighting fixtures are over 30 years old point of information they' lasted a while thank you is there any discussion from the board just very quick cheer I just want to say I'm excited about this when we did our facilities tour um it was very dark um the lighting is very old so I'm just excited to see this move forward thank you thank you Vice chair Conrad yes good for the kids and everyone that works there any further discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the contract for architectural design and contract Administration services for new high school CCC amendment number one project 24-105 may I have a motion please so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair yes the cost for this item is $367,000 and this would provide the opportunity for us to customize that prototype model for the new high school and for Maran County needs for our students thank you Dr gullet any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z we have a motion to approve the construction easement to commercial Industrial Corporation for temporary Road and laydown area related to widening of Southwest 43rd Court move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice Sher Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you again Madam chair yes this is a request from the city of Okala to provide an easement near Saddlewood Elementary School Miss doin has some additional information uh regarding this item and the temporary access that's needed thank you before we discuss it we'll hear from you thank you again this is a great opportunity in working with the city of Okala as you know they are widening the road in front of saddle Wood Elementary School we are working to have the majority of that work done through the summer but again that hinges on weather and Florida in general um however uh the city of Okala has asked to use a portion of the wooded lot across from the parking lot for the staff that wood at lot is a restricted lot that we own we will provide them 05 acres in which they will clear that 0.5 Acres pack the land and be able to lay down their equipment and supplies and that will leave us with potential for parking on packed uh soil in the future fantastic sounds like a great collaboration is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z we're going to get to one of my personal favorites now may I have a motion to approve the apprenticeship agreement with Florida electrical Association Incorporated so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member James Dr G do you have information you would like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair very exciting that we're able to support our students in apprenticeship pro programs and this would cover the cost at two just over $25,000 for those who are participating with the Florida electrical Association and um appreciate your consideration of this item thank you Dr gullet is there any discussion from the board hearing none I will just say that I'm very grateful to see this come across I'm a strong believer in apprenticeships I think it just gives kids that Avenue um into the workforce and to immediately have a strong skill a solid skill and a marketable skill at an affordable price chair uh just for the note of for transparency sake I I believe the agreement itself will be an estimated $237,300 if I'm looking at that correctly on page three of the agreement that we're potentially going to be approving it's the estimate for the 2024 2025 school year so just for transparency sake I'm still all in favor of this item but the note in board docks has it a little bit less cost even better all right thank you any other 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 guaranteed maximum price for Oola Middle School New gymnasium project 24-10 n so move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item certainly once again Madam shair members of the board the cost of this is at 9.8 million would allow us to start the construction of the new Oola gym in those related areas uh we anticipate a substantial completion uh date of August 1st 2025 thank you Dr gullet is there any discussion from the board chair I'll I'll be recusing myself from this vote okay thank you board member Campbell any other discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 4 Z with board member Campbell recusing all right moving on to our added discussion item that's item d19 1 administrative Personnel items 2024 2025 fiscal year need a motion please motion to approve motion by board member by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Cummings Dr G you have information you would like to share regarding this item no additional item yes to be added thank you thank you Dr gullet any discussion from the board I do um so my concern is that the public had I'm sorry about the feedback the public had four and a half hours at Best to be notified of this item so this item was not uploaded until 1 p.m. today and that's because that's when our board clerk received it so we were briefed I think on the 21st which would have been one week that's when the meeting was published this meeting meeting was published the and in that briefing we were notified that there was a notification timeline which would have all notifications done by Friday I was never under the impression that this Personnel item was going to be on this agenda I thought it would be on our next agenda seeing as the effective date is not until July 1st at the earliest I really don't understand what the rush is um and my concern is that we have not been transparent with the public about the item they have not had proper notification and so they did not have opportunity to come before the board and share their concerns Praises any thoughts at all so my request would be that it get moved to either the 11th or the 25th board meeting agenda so that it can be properly advertised and noticed and whatever concerns the public may have they or praise they will be able to share in a timely fashion does that conclude your comments yep okay any other discussion from the board I just I have one small comment um just looking at social media which I know is not always the best um but there was a lot of chitchat uh about a lot of these moves um today particularly and I just wanted to remind our staff that that these moves are strategic um we have assistant principles that want to be principles and um um they need new opportunities so I just ask that you take a minute when you look at at the moves and where people are placed I know it's hard not to look just at your own position and what you're dealing with on your campus but to look at it globally and what we're trying to accomplish here in Maran County so thank you thank you Vice chair Conrad board member camp chair I I just wanted to say um first of all thank you that it is on this agenda and the reason for that would be because there are a couple of principal positions that will need to be and and assistant principal positions that will need to be published to uh be recruiting new leaders for some of these schools because of the um opportunities that some of these individuals are having moving into different locations and so I think that with the expedience of the end of the school year and heading into the summer what better opportunity to start filling those voids throughout the summer so that each school can have a new leader if need be whichever school might have vacated a leader at this point um but they'll start the school year fresh and new with the new leadership in place so many of these positions again if our community really sees it looks like a lot and I understand it looks like a lot but the decisions were made very purposefully uh from what the briefing that I received each one of these was intentional uh to Vice chair Conrad's point uh some of these individuals have opportunity for advancement but need a new experience before that would occur and so I'm just grateful with for the team's work on this to ensure that it is purposeful and intentional and while it may feel like um remembrances from the past that's not at all what this is each one of these moves is purposeful and intentional and I'm just grateful for the work thank you board member Campbell any other discussion from from the board okay um I don't have any further comments I think you what you shared board member Campbell was pretty succinct I don't know that there's a whole lot more that I could add to it other than according to my understanding well we all know Monday was Memorial day so that was not a business day this week we also know that we had a murder that um upended a school and there were some decisions that were made to stabilize that school Under probably the worst arrest that anyone could ever think of um and then I think I also understand that there may be a retirement that uh long-term principle um but not really totally expected so that's what we have um if there's no further discussion shall we vote all right all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay nay motion passes four votes to one with board member James dissenting all right moving on to our one pulled agenda item may I have a motion to approve the superintendent's evaluation motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell Dr James you pulled this item and would like to have f discussion yes thank you good evening tonight this item was originally placed under our consent agenda I ask that the item be pulled because I knew that my evaluation had ratings that were less than satisfactory and wanted the opportunity to discuss my concerns with you all for goal one Student Success as a district we are still in the bottom third of the state for overall student achievement I remember a time about a year ago when it was mentioned that our teacher evaluations should reflect their student data if that's the case why is our super superintendent highly effective for goal one have we made improvements overall in our student achievement absolutely but we are not highly effective for goal three talent management this year alone we have had 544 resignations as of last Thursday and the fiscal year isn't over yet we currently have 360 vacancies on our job board 320 which are school-based student facing positions that do not include summer school positions we have two principles stepping down to work in a non instructional capacity fellow board members have you all looked for the why behind their stepping down why they feel serving in a non-instructional capacity is the best thing for them I recommend you ask why if you haven't already overall has our talent management department seen improvements yes absolutely but we're effective I don't believe so for goal four two of our five board members believe item 4.6 procurement of goods is effective or highly effective yet we have spent taxpayer dollars on an outside County Council investigation on a whistleblower complaint and have been notified an individual from that department has been non- reappointed in addition all of my fellow board members believe that our facilities have healthy and safe physical working and learning environments item 4.4 yet the ceiling leaks on a rainy day at many of our schools a few months ago we spent hours as an organization taking stakeholders around to our failing facilities and painting the picture of how unsafe they are rotting pipes failing infrastructure but three of you think they're highly effective they have fences they have cameras they have door buzzers but they aren't healthy I certainly do not believe so every board member has sat on this stage this stage and shared their concerns regarding communication time and time again yet all of my fellow board members provided overall ratings for goal five above a 3.0 the constant emails we receive about poor communication the complaints we have made about our presence on social media and telling our story and most most recently the fact that this board and the public were notified that our work session for this coming Thursday was cancelled after the agenda was supposed to be published these demonstrate effective practices I don't believe so finally goal six professionalism I have had such a clearly unique experience over the last six weeks and you all can't seem to relate to it and that's fine what I do hope you all know though is the staff attorney who we hired to support the work of the district and whose job description says nothing about serving as the personal legal Council for our superintendent against a board member from my experience is doing just that I don't recall the role ever being a part of his job description and I feel strongly that the use of him in this manner does not contribute to a positive relationship with board members or a best use of taxpayer funds collectively the rest of the board gave our superintendent an almost perfect highly effective score for goal six however for me in my experiences I do not believe they are regardless of our differences of opinion we have the facts presented Ed before us in the Strategic plan presentations and we have our public conversations from this stage I want to leave you all with this we have leaders in this District on coaching plans where their supervisor documents their efforts and successes or lack thereof with the ultimate goal of seeing improvements or they'll be out of a job for far less than the things we have shared to be concerns of our superintendent the collective evaluation of this board does not truly represent the content and opinions we've shared publicly I stand committed to representing the taxpayers and being transparent and honest I stand committed to holding all individuals in this District accountable to the same standards this Collective evaluation does not do that and I do not believe it is a reflection of the work being done thank you any other comments from the board hearing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay I voted I excuse me I voted with the rest of you okay I'm sorry I didn't I just wanted to confirm M may make a comment oh yes I'm so sorry I asked for discussion and then I didn't turn your way I'd like to share something with the board and the public if you don't mind please as the first appointed superintendent I came to this community four years ago committed to serving all of our students community and taxpayers of Marian County I knew this would be hard work and I knew the challenges the district had faced as the largest employer of maring County we serve as the economic Engine with 6600 employees and our work has a direct impact on our local community I accepted the role knowing that we must confront our reality to prioritize educational opportunities for all students while implementing systems to improve efficiency the role of an appointed superintendent is to oversee the operations of the district as the chief executive officer and I am proud of the work I have led as outlined in our strategic plan updates provided annually and publicly we expanded Choice programs for our students aligned Pathways for their career and college ready Futures and obtained the first multi-million dollar allocation from the state and leg legislature to expand technical education opportunities for our students and the community we reinstated impact fees to support news schools for our growing Community accelerated school safety measures instituted paid Pathways and research-based professional learning to support our employees put practices in place to deeply engage our families and created a first of its kind Choice program in the State of Florida among many other things most importantly however we have a laser sharp focus on highquality foundational learning in all of our classrooms beginning with the ear earliest years and are now seeing the student outcomes improve from that investment I am confident that this trend will continue for years to come if the focus remains on the core high quality teaching yields improved student outcomes for all students however there is still much work to be done I look forward to continuing to serve together with board members who are committed to a high functioning School District which is what our students our staff our community and most especially our taxpayers deserve from the superintendent and this board thank you thank you Dr gullet all right we have recorded the vote it was um five votes to zero so it was unanimous on Dr gullit's evaluation all right moving on to um some meeting reminders there's a special school board meeting on May 30th please note the time is 7:30 a.m. not 7: a.m. then there the next administrative briefing and work session has been scheduled for June 20th 2024 and we'll go ahead and ask Miss Martinez anything from your seat board me board members I'll have your packets ready for your conference on Thursday so I will be giving your packet for your conference at that time thank you thank you attorney Powers just briefly um board members I wanted to inform you Mr hurle and I have been in communication with uh John McGrath our outside council is going to be handling our um sales transactions for the warehouse um he's we have received uh appraisals in discussion with uh Mr McGraw attorney McGraw uh we'll be providing those appraisals uh public public L um we also have discussed sale options and process and he's going to be coming here in the near future for a work session with you all at the board to discuss further next steps um we have discussed uh establishment of a timeline and we'll be providing you with weekly reports uh of how that process is going as it um as it concludes now uh when I get a work session organized to get Mr McGraw here any questions that the board has he'll be able to answer or take under advisement so he can provide answers and we'll include those with future updates among those will be uh what type of sale the board wishes to engage in he has some ideas we discussed that a bit um that he'll share with the board as to our best options and the best outcome overall to maximize the benefit to the public and to taxpayers as well as to the school district so looking forward to working through that process with all thank you thank you attorney Powers glancing This Way Board member James uh only one um commissioner um McAn reached out to me this afternoon there is a campaign by the do called The 100 days of summer uh the 100 deadliest Days of Summer and um they are going to be um unleashing a campaign along with the city of Okala uh and I was going to speak with Mr Christian tonight but he is not here this evening and so I wanted to make the board aware and if we would like to join in in those efforts we just need to connect with the appropriate individuals um with the county and the city so that we can find out when they're launching their campaign and what that looks like but the statistics um some of them that he shared with me and if you just Google uh 100 days of summer the website will come up and um it's pretty discouraging how um how deadly how deadly teen driving can be in the summer so um just my advisement to the board that if we wanted a campaign to match the county and the City uh this would be our time to do it thank you thank you board member Cummings good evening everyone um tonight I do want to um uh give my my sympathy condolences and empathy to the north Maran Middle School family we know last week uh during our graduation at Vanguard that um something tragic happened in that Community um something that should never happen anywhere but I do want to commend our staff that are out there that have um WEA this storm in a great way um we know that it's hard to come back from something that you saw um that is lifechanging however we are in prayer with you we are we understand Miss um trul Le's comments when she made about the changes at North Maran Middle School um those changes were planned before that ever that tragic incident ever happened so North Maran Middle School we ask that you continue to be North Mar and strong and continue to um keep putting students first is something that should not have happened um with that being said we have been in graduations past few days today was the final one I thought the final one was this morning at Westport realized it was here this evening with the uh leadership class and so uh uh graduations have gone well we have graduated a number of students this morning 715 from Westport in the rain in the rain and so um congratulations to all the graduates of 2024 um as I've said before and y'all know this is my personal personal um belief about graduates that I I follow the 1890 rule that once you turn 18 and you graduated you got 90 days get a job go to school or join the military you ain't got to get out but you got to get one of them three so uh my son is officially on notice so um I I congratulate all of our graduates as we move forward into summer vacation parents if your child or students need summer school please get them into summer school school please make sure that they get the resources and the the uh things that they need so they can be successful coming back we know that this summer is going to be a little bit different we'll have a school that will be starting early this summer that's uh why I'm Ina park with a yearound school that's going to start early so we want to be prepared parents please make sure you do those things and necessary so your kids will be successful and as Dr James just said U the report is that the 100 most dangerous days for for uh young people is the summer so we want to make sure that our kids our young people are responsible over the summer please drive safe please be responsible please do the right thing and for everyone else have a safe summer thank you board member cumings board member Campbell sure thank you chair so tonight during the consent agenda we approved a lot of new job descriptions and the board knows that that is one of my favorite spots to dwell on and I just wanted to say thank you to the team for their work on so many new job descriptions some brand new some adjustments to current job descriptions and somewhat allowing me to be a thought partner on a couple of them because otherwise I would sit up here and pick them apart so I'm just grateful for that work there is a lot of good happening in this district and the job description really does align with what folks are going to be doing or need to be doing and so I'm just grateful for that uh also during our discussion items our manyi discussion items the first nine were all from the Special Education team so thank you for that work as well I remember distinctly last year making a request that we would have as many of those in a batch as we could so the board would be approving many many of those contracts all together and so having nine of them together is a f as a representative fact of of that work I know there'll be lots more contract renewals coming our way but the more we can get done in lump sums it better shows the community just how much work how much money how much uh we provide for the students that have expect exceptional uh needs and so I'm just I'm grateful for that uh Reverend Cummings mentioned graduations I too want to mention graduations my first uh item though board is something that I would like for us to potentially do so as each one of us saw a different student representative to the board in each of the today we saw Caitlyn kovak uh today at Westport she was our last one but uh as we were noticing each one and we all gave them a hug or whatever each time we would see them because this was the first year we've done that I would like to request us to possibly get a pen that we could give to those student Representatives we could probably do a you know some kind of design whatever it would look like we could buy a big bulk of them and we would just give out seven or eight a year and but we would have them on hand I think that would just be one added bonus and benefit to them because there is only one per school that is going to be in each graduating class I just thought that would be something that um I don't know how you feel about that but I thought not like a stole or cords or I don't want to take away from all the other things they're doing but several students did have pens whether it's an FFA pen or something that they had pinned on their gowns uh so perhaps for future consideration but that was a thought that I had I think that was the very first at vanguard's graduation I think uh when ad Divia was I looked back at Dr girl and said they need to have pens we need to have something that acknowledges them um but then today at their graduation this was the last High School graduation that we have of the season and it's always fun for me to stand by Vice chair Conrad because she's taught so many students through the years and so many students are hugging her and they're standing heads above her and she had them as kindergarteners or something so that's always fun but today was an opportunity that I had where two students that I taught this year at the College of Central Florida that were dual enrollment students and I had the ability to actually it was something that I don't feel like you always feel uh when we have graduates come through and and that was just a really unique experience that I am grateful for grateful for the opportunity to be an adject faculty member of the College of Central Florida but one of those students this afternoon sent me an email afterwards and just mentioning about how impactful my lectures had been and helping him grow into adulthood and it just really was a powerful moment for me and it just is the compilation of all the work that teachers do every day that are impacting students and graduation is that culmination it is that event that we can watch these students pass into adulthood even if they are on that 1890 plan of Reverend Cummings but um regardless I I just I love graduation season and I love all that it represents the the end of one phase of life and the stepping out into new beginnings and so I'm just grateful to be a part of the team that can see that happen thank you thank you board member Campbell Vice chair Conrad good evening um I'm just this wasn't on my list um but I'm going to share because I just think something that's special about Maran county is the relationship piece especially when it comes to graduation because many of us have been here for a a long long time we won't say how long but at graduation today um Dr living good was on one side and she had connections with a lot of students um Dr Campbell was on the other side and she had connections with students I had connections with student and I just I think that's so special um I don't know that you get that everywhere and so I'm just thankful to be a part of a team where that relationship continues to be important and so thank you for that opportunity and thank you for our administrators for allowing the board to be part of the graduation ceremony because it really is very special um I wanted to highlight just I continue to be amazed at the opportunities um that our students have here in Maran County and we we started this evening with stem presentations um and awards that our students had participated and it's just amazing the things that they're doing in high school and so starting off with that and some activities that happened um at our schools Stanton we had a World's fair that was F just fantastic um we had a We the People event at College Park um that Mr Oswald organized for us which was phenomenal um the fourth grade literacy project that was mentioned earlier which is near and dear to my heart um there's just so many diverse opportunities for our students to participate and I'm just extremely grateful um for that thankful for the team that works on U continually providing um exceptional opportunities for our students um I do want to ask about the high school graduation because we we really did get soaking wet today we were really wet and so I just down down the road I'd like for us to have some conversation about how can we do that better for our students and our families um how are can we provide uh a ceremony where we are undercover and have plenty of space and and what's available in our community for that what does it look like what is the cost um is there a way that we can look at doing that like in the inside part of the of w um so anyway not a conversation for today but it is something I'm interested in at least exploring um for our students and our families because I Believe Miss Cruz shared today that they were also rained out last year um and the year and the year before so just uh would like to entertain the conversation see if there are any um other opportunities available for us and um see if we can't improve on that just a little bit thank you thank you Vice shair Conrad and I can't help but think with you know three out of three years um of rain at at westport's graduation it's I don't know maybe it's a good omen maybe it's God watering his flowers they got watered today that's right that's right try to see the the silver lining in the clouds years oh yeah I think there was some lightning too I think there was a little bit of a a little bit of a struggle going on um but yes uh other communities have you know convention centers or whatever to use and and we just don't have that here and and I think I remember asking well you know wack has Arena you know AB BC D all the way to Z I think but but I don't know that they have enough room and enough viewing capability especially for a graduation like like westporter or we would already be doing that um but it certainly is an opportunity to continue to discuss and see how we might be able to collaborate and and and get something going and obviously not just use it for graduations but for all kinds of other um things so I will have to stay tuned on on that one um we also have a Marian technical colleges graduation here at MTI that is June 13th at 6m so I think that that one really does culminate in the end of our graduation um season and I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone that is involved with helping our students get from point A to that coveted graduation stage and I've been in this community for 33 years and so yeah I'll just say it I am getting old because when I was at for the other day I was sitting next to one of my all-time favorite students and her daughter was graduating from first grade so that was pretty special to um sit next to this dear student and and really experience that with her and I can say that the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree so she's going to have her work cut out for um but it was just great and I also wanted to um thank Dr gullet for your um for your intensity and your your focus on doing the right things for the right reasons um and as as I reflect I realize as a board one of the hardest things I always say to do but necessary is to sit up here when kids haven't done the right thing and follow through as as board member James is so adamant about you know following the code of student conduct you know that's what it's there for and and we don't really waver on that and as we continue to move along I would like to make my commitment clear that I feel the same way about not just the kids' behaviors but everyone that is tasked with guiding them everyone that is tasked with developing them everyone that is tasked with developing our what we need to keep moving forward with our with our building and and construction and uh beginning to repair and hopefully finally get ahead of our aging facilities having the resources to be able to do that and having the people representing every single project that has anything to do with the mission of helping every student succeed in the most upstanding commendable and hopefully not supremely disappointing manner so I just wanted to provide some reassurance from my seat anyway as an individual board member as this is my personal comment time that I see the passion I see the good work I see the white hats being worn and those are the folks that I am always going to defend and lift up so that concludes my comments for tonight all right and then to deflate the balloon before addressing expulsion matters I wish to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement list for students through April 25th 2024 Miss Martinez are there any parents who have submitted a timely request to speak on their child's disciplinary matter no Madam chair thank you may I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student jd24 d28e jd24 d285 jd24 d286 e jd24 d287 jd24 d 288 jd24 D 289 jd24 d290 jd24 291 jd24 - 293 and jd24 294 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 CH 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 there being no further business may I have a motion to adjourn motion by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z thank you all we are [Music] adjourned e e e e e for