##VIDEO ID:_mKDJimPFHw## [Music] good evening everyone the September 10th 2024 meeting of the Maring County School Board is called to order mirroring and modeling the way our students begin each day I ask that we observe a moment of silence at this time please join me thank you I'll now ask our school board Vice chair Miss Conrad to please read our board commitment statement thank you chair we are the Marian County School District leadership team when we come when we come together to work we are efficient effective and productive our three most important characteristics are dedicated transparent and individually responsible to work well together we must demonstrate respect confront reality and be accountable able we will always put students first we will leave a legacy of success thank you Vice chair Conrad for the courtesy of those listening to this 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 Maring County school system or the school board only presentations to the board are limited to five 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 separate sheet good evening board clerk please call the role Dr Campbell district one here Mrs Lorie Conrad District Two here Mr Eric Cummings District three here Mrs Nancy thrower District Four here Dr Sarah James District 5 here arish bani biew high school here adalis Diaz Westport HIgh School here Dr Diane gullet superintendent here Mr Jeremy power Schoolboard attorney here thank you Miss Martinez and we're also very grateful to have the honorable Stan mlan with us in the audience tonight welcome sir all right Dr gullet oh that's please stand for the pledge well we're not going to do that yet right jump in the gun Dr gullet good evening please introduce the person who will be leading us in our Pledge of Allegiance this evening good evening Madam chair members of the board happy to do so I'm really privileged to have Dr Brewer come forward who is going to introduce to you uh none other than our wonderful principal at uh lakew High School Mr mcer with some special guests from the construction Academy thank you yes good evening um chaired thrower board members and superintendent Dr goet I um have the privilege of bringing Mr mcer to the podium this evening we are excited um for him to be here tonight and for his special guest and I will allow him to share their accolades and all of the great things that they are doing at lakew high school this school year so Mr mcer please join me awesome good good evening Mr mcer good evening what up guys so good evening board through CH chair rower Vice chair Conrad members of the board Dr gullet attorney Powers Miss Martinez and our student Representatives I am very pleased here to be here tonight representing the teachers and students of lakor high school we have three other hurricanes that I would like to introduce this evening Riley Smith who teaches English and Leadership at Laker high school as well as sponsors of our student government govern Association which functions as the group that develops and plans most major student events on our campus we also have senior Whitney gluton who is our Student Government president and Senior Jacob Cooper who is our Student Government vice president these two students are outstanding students in the lakee Cambridge program and also involved in a large number of activities on our campus in fact Jacob is missing football practice to be here this evening one of the most things important that are most most important to me as a school leader is to provide opportunities for our students this year at lakew high school we have introduced a seven period day which allows our students the ability to take electives that they previously would have been able to enroll in and many of our programs have benefited from our new schedule including our construction Academy and one of our new courses is leadership skills in which Whitney and Jacob are among the 25 students enrolled at this time I'd like to turn it over to Whitney who will share a little bit more and give this evening's inspiration and then to J who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance Whitney good evening my name is Whitney Glon and today I'm representing Lake G High's Student Government Club a quote I would like to share tonight is student leaders are not born rather they are formed by their experiences and the decisions they make as Mr ma here said lakew has switched to a seven period day this change allows students to experience a wider range of elective classes leadership skills development is a brand new class tied to the student government Club within this class students are learning how to communicate organize events and work together while this additional period is a small change it is making a tremendous impact on creating student leaders of the future now I would like to turn the mic to Jacob who will be leading Us in the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you and we want to definitely come down and take a picture with you and before we do I just wanted to thank you for for coming to the Marian County school board meeting tonight and and thank you Miss Smith for everything you're doing to guide the adults of tomorrow so well and I hope you don't have any um extra laps that you have to run or anything and um thank you again for for being here it really means a lot and and for being the role models that you are for other students and I know your families are really proud of you so we'll come down and take a picture thank you another you so so much thank you of you all right Dr gulet I understand we have some more special recognitions this evening we do thank you madam chair members of the board and so the first recognition is related to the last one Lake Weare High School I'm happy to have Kathy AI come forward from career in technical education who's going to introduce some very special members of our community and a a very one wonderful partnership has taken about a year in the making so we're really excited about tonight so bisi thank you good evening chair thrower Vice chair Conrad board members and superintendent golet over the past year she just stated we've been working really closely with the Marian County building industry Association to start our first first ever pre-apprenticeship program at lakew Weare High School in the carpentry program thanks to the support of the Builders Association this year we are already right now enrolling students in that pre-apprenticeship program this program will allow students to participate in work-based learning and earn hours towards a full apprenticeship program once they graduate high school the Builders Association has been the driving force in getting this opportunity off the ground for our students they've donated time equipment and funds to help make this a a success we are extremely grateful for this partnership and our excited to offer this opportunity to students in addition to the countless hours they've spent on this endeavor they also recently donated $5,000 to Lake Weare High School construction program tonight I'd like to recomend uh recognize some people that are here with us from the MCB board we have with us tonight mcbi president David tman of Tillman and Associates MCB CEO Denise Alexander mcbia Workforce chairman Scott oleski of Keystone construction and also with us is representative Stan mlan who's been helping to get this off the [Applause] ground these are just a few of the people on the board that have been working to make this a reality and we're just really excited to get this program started and to give them a big thanks tonight absolutely thank you again [Applause] really appreciate you guys being here and um you know when anyone is willing to spend their time their talent and their treasure on behalf of kids you have my respect and admiration and from the whole rest of the board too so thank you very much for working so hard together with um Dr gullet and the rest of the team to get this pre-apprenticeship program going is it's so important um we know our community needs these workers and we know our kids need the opportunities to be able to learn how to do it so thanks again and of course we want to come down and take a picture with you and um so we shallbe the kids from like please have the kids from Lake Weir join us as well yeah you should go get in there go for it I'll take pictures all right looking this direction and one two three couple more and good to go [Applause] I do I do maps like that all the time all right and we'll just keep it going Dr gullet what else thank you so for the final recognition tonight I have the pleasure of introducing board to new two of our newest members of our team and when I call your names if you all would stand up please Kelly James who is the new assistant principal for instruction at Horizon Academy at Maran Oaks she previously served as the instructional coach at Horizon Academy pleased to have you at our te you already have fans ma'am he has supporters that's right congratulations and another person who is not unfamiliar to you board Kayla Johnson who is our new director of finance and budgeting you saw her just a bit ago and as you well know she served previously as the senior accountant in finance and budgeting Department pleased to have both of them on board fantastic and I know tonight's a great night for you we just approved the budget earlier all right wonderful and that concludes our recognitions correct that concludes that for tonight thank you all right thank you well we will move on to something else very positive which is recognizing some donations and we graciously acknowledge the following donations made to benefit our school students and staff members including 5 ,000 to Lake Weare High School from the Maran County building industry Association to be used for Lake Weare High School's construction Academy to pay the Academy of Construction Technologies Incorporated fee so that students may be offered apprenticeships through the program and $1,875 to hamt L Bowen Jr Elementary School from Okala West United Methodist Church to be used at the principal's discretion to support the staff and student body $1,000 to Liberty Middle School from the Florida FBLA pbl Foundation to be used to support the Liberty Middle School FBLA club we also have school supplies and books valued at $4,365 from the enchanted backpack to Greenway Elementary School to be used to support student needs and parent invol involvement events we also have school supplies and books valued at $4,365 for from the enchanted backpack to bellw Santos Elementary School to be used to support students and teachers in the classroom we have backpacks and school supplies valued at $1,200 from Dita to Fort King Middle School to be used to support students we have $1,500 to Stanton weirdale Elementary from the puck puggy chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Incorporated to be used to restock the book vending machines for student incentives all right wonderful Dr goet we'll move on now to the board um business for the evening if you would please make a recommendation on tonight's Schoolboard meeting agenda thank you good evening again board I recommend approval of the agenda for the September 10th 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 d25.1 d2.2 d2.3 D 25.4 D 25.5 D 25.6 and D 25.7 that have been placed under discussion and item c23 point2 that has been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items also item D 25.7 has been completely with withdrawn thank you Dr gallet um board may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by board member James all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the July 30th 2024 special school board meeting motion to approve motion by Vice shair Conrad second second by board member James are there any any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the July 30th 2024 special Schoolboard meeting motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell are there any additions or corrections to the minutes here I believe this item is actually for August 1st special school board meeting if if I'm looking at board docs correctly so rather than July 30th I believe it's August 1st there one for both MH there's two meetings on August 1 and only one on July 30th okay so we're approving the meeting minutes for July 30th and then we'll be moving on to the ones for August 1st right but we just approved July 30th so we have two different meetings for August 1 and only one meeting on July 30th okay I see because up top we did July 30th if so uh we will say then uh may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the August 1st 2024 special school board meeting yes motion motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the August 1st 2020 24 administrative briefing and work session motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the August 8th 2024 special administrative briefing and work session motion to approve uh motion by board member James second by Vice chair Conrad are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- z may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the August 13th 2024 school board meeting motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by board member James are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z all right thank you uh Miss Martinez would you please provide the proof of publication for tonight's Schoolboard meeting the notice for the September 10th 2024 Schoolboard meeting ran in the Okala Gazette on August 30th 2024 the proof of publication has been attached in board dos under proof of publication thank you Miss Martinez we'll move on now to persons requesting to address the board and I'll ask our school board attorney to explain the rules governing persons who wish to address the school board this evening good evening attorney Powers good evening thank you madam chair in compliance with Section 2860 one14 of Florida Statutes the school board has adopted uniform procedures for public speakers who wish to speak at this evening's meeting either regarding one of today's agenda items or a matter relating to the operations of the school district these procedures will ensure the public has a reasonable opportunity to be heard on school board and School District matters the procedures are available from a table in the lobby public speaker form 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 school board clerk before you begin speaking 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 three minutes when the speaker has one minute remaining the speaker will receive a visual notice to complete his or her comments speakers may not yield their time to other people speakers and meeting attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner therefore verbal attacks and profanity are strictly prohibited pursuant to the procedures for public comments item six speakers are not to identify specific individuals other than themselves or their child unless the statement has been provided 24 hours in advance the board is here to listen to your comments only you may be directed to an administrative staff member following the conclusion of your comments for further assistance to address your concerns if there are matters dealing with student discipline including expulsions they will be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of 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 a student's first or last name identifying references to or identification of other students or their families is also strictly prohibited a speaker's speech does not reflect the endorsement sponsorship position or expression of the school board thank you for your attention to the board's requirements Madam chair that concludes my explanatory remarks thank you attorney Powers Miss Martinez do we have any speakers this evening yes Madam chair we do Mr James shat thank you good evening sir evening James shot 1425 Southeast 11th Avenue Okala Florida I thank you uh for time tonight I am here to speak to you about rail to Trail um I'll start by saying John Barber is the driving force behind this Trail he asked me to get involved probably close to a decade ago um so that we know what we're talking about you should have a handout in front of you that traces uh a rail line that runs from uh the train station in downtown Ocala uh to the South generally crosses State Road 40 uh then Transit 17th runs behind uh St John's uh The Brick City Park over by South oala uh continues on behind Forest after transiting through a number of residential neighborhoods crosses the Florida Greenway and then continues out and terminates uh at Lake we High School the rail to we see as an opportunity for there to be an alternate uh form of transportation for students who either haven't reach the age yet where they can drive themselves to school uh or uh want to avoid traffic on some of the more uh packed arterial roads in our County um it would be a multi-use trail it would not just be a bike trail or a walking trail um that's in concept so we wanted to bring it to you um there is is an issue though uh that has increased the need to discuss this with you uh before we can get all of our ducks in a row and that is on September 17th a week from today at 2 pm the County Commission will evaluate a special use permit uh relating to the future use of the certified grocer property on Baseline Road the project itself uh is a drainage pipe manufacturer who would like to uh invest a significant amount of money in our County to retrofit that building uh hire a good number of uh people from our County on its surface it is a fantastic project and I applaud the C uh for their efforts to try and bring a publicly traded company to our community my problem though is the project is rail dependent so the rail line that we're talking about which is a remnant of a rail line that was laid down prior to the 1900s in fact if you uh love your Okala history the Okala fire uh that took away a large portion of our downtown and gave us the designation as The Brick City uh this is the rail line that everybody was out at Lake Weir uh while the fire was going on so this is a part of our our past uh the County Commission will evaluate whether it's going to be part of our future and I say that because this rail line uh is expected to increase in in traffic by somewhere between 12 rail cars per week at the beginning uh and increasing to 48 rail cars per week um the issue that I uh raised my hand and questioned was what impact is this going to have number one on the residential neighborhoods uh but number two the traffic did anyone evaluate this additional use on traffic on our arterial roads as I said it crosses 40 it crosses 17th 31st 36 then Baseline uh for your purposes and I know Forest well my son having just graduated from there uh my question is if you have a rail stoppage uh at the Crossing on 31st to where no one can make a left-hand turn lane at the same time that Forest is letting out what is Mary Camp going to look like in front of forest I don't know the answer to that and I do know this TPO was not asked to evaluate the impact on our roads and the county did not evaluate the impact on our roads uh the county has said we looked at Ingress and egress from the property onto Baseline we did not look at rail it's scheduled as I said for a hearing a week from today um the concern that I have is we haven't had time to properly vet this project so I'm here to ask two things the first is does the school board see value in a rail to Trail project that would provide a means of Ingress and egress for those students who cannot get bused because they're within two miles um and don't necessarily have a uh ride to school um I see value but I'm hoping you will as well and the second is if you see value that you ask the County Commission to Simply press pause on the project for a moment to allow the community to engage in a discussion of whether that rail is best used used uh for future development in that area um this is a special use exception so once the county approves of it there is no guarantee that rail will be limited to 48 cars per week or that the same strain schedule will be um adhered to uh the railroads can run trains as often as they want in the numbers that they want and need so this is our one opportunity to determine whether that rail line is going to uh be a future part of our community or not not I thank you thank you Mr shot for bringing this to the Maran County School Board appreciate it Miss Martinez do we have any other speakers tonight chair Melanie Slaughter thank you good evening Melanie Slaughter s l a u g h t r um I will be back in two weeks to speak about Vanguard and the need for booster Stadium but for purposes of today what I'd like to address is the value of sports and education um after the pandemic there were a lot of school districts that had students who were 40% of the students had emotional problems because of the shutdown and because of the pandemic and they tried to take a holistic approach and recognizing we have to look outside the box to get these students more engaged in school by doing social and emotional learning and that is naturally done through physical education and sports so they encourage students to work outside the classroom work as a team learn the teamwork skills that you learn through Sports how to be a leader and how to be respectful to one another the Baltimore School District which is a majority minority School District um and a began a project that culminated in 2023 which was just last year to improve academic outcomes through the power of sports students who participated in sports all four years in that program had a graduation rate of 98.5% students who did not participate in any sports had a graduation rate of 62.9% this is the power that Sports can do in academics and and having academics and Athletics go together I've been before the board before to talk about the things that coach farmer has done at Vanguard High high school and the power that Sports has had to transform the lives of student athletes this board I would suggest should look towards Athletics as a basis to pull in students who are in the bottom quartile and who need something to draw them to school who don't naturally like school who don't naturally like to study who don't naturally like to do these types of things but they can be encouraged to do things through Sports because Sports will teach them discipline it will teach them that they have to be somewhere when they're supposed to be it'll teach them that they have to attend practice like they're supposed to and if the coach has them study for practice because I'm heading over to work with some mcfl kids after practice uh on their academics then those things help students do better in school it helps students that would normally not stay in school be in school if you want to engage the community go to the sporting events because that's where the parents and that's where the students are they will be there you you will have Mr Carl ill he knows he tried his hardest when he was at Vanguard High School to get the community involved and they did not come but when he came to football games everybody knew he was there it was all over social media that Mr Carly was at our football game he was standing on the sideline supporting our student athletes everybody knew he was there everybody knew he was involved everybody knew he cared about the students at that school that's the difference between academics and Athletics for kids that aren't normally involved in it and I would suggest to the board that we need to look at the academic and athletic component because Vanguard last year had the highest GPA of any football team in Marian County the highest one and that is because coach farmer and Mrs farmer and kids like my child who was an IB student at Vanguard High School who's now at the University of Florida did every one of his community service hours tutoring children on the football program every single of the 250 hours he did in community service was done with 10 Chromebooks that Mr Carlile donated to the football team and working with those children on academics and it transformed the football team in the in the five years since I've been involved with the program and transform those kids who are leaders in the school and people want to be involved with and respect and think that they are really great role models and they think academics are important and so I would encourage the board to think about when you're thinking about funding things to think about funding Athletics because Athletics will transform the lives of children we cannot reach any other way thank you thank you m slaugher I always appreciate your passion and involvement with our students does that conclude our public speakers yes Madam chair thank you Miss Martinez all right and and board just for your um information we'll be discussing booster Stadium at the upcoming technical working group on um Friday and just talking about you know potential so all right we'll move on to some informational items the school district used a construction management delivery method including a guaranteed maximum price known as GMP to perform construction work on the following projects there were unused funds on these projects since the projects were delivered using a construction management delivery with a GMP format unused dollars regardless of the item are returned to the owner the unspent monies will be returned to the owner via change order which will close the financial books on these projects the superintendent has signed and approved the change orders 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 his in her his in her judgment in the best interest of the board such change orders shall be binding upon execution by the superintendent the superintendent shall report each change order that she approved to the board at the board meeting that follows her approval the superintendent's approval of the change order shall be entered into the official minutes of the board meeting amendment number one to the construction manager contract phase one guaranteed maximum price for HVAC replacement at North Marian Middle School change order number four amendment number one project 22-00 next one is the district threat management coordinators dtmc Grant the district threat management coordinators Grant is sponsored by the Florida Department of Education this grant provides opportunity for school districts to repeat to receive funding support for the state mandated position of district threat management coordinator this position was established in July 2023 to help districts identify students exhibiting threatening or other concerning behaviors gather information to assess the risk of harm to themselves or others and identify appropriate interventions to prevent violence and promote successful outcomes that concludes our informational items we'll now move on to the consent agenda may I have a motion to approve consent agenda items C 11.1 through C 23.1 with the exception of items d25.1 d252 d 25.3 d 25.4 D 25.5 D 25.6 and D 25.7 that have been placed under discussion and item C 23.2 that has been pulled in placed under discussion pulled agenda items also item C 25.7 has been completely withdrawn from the agenda may I have a motion on the consent agenda please motion to approve motion by board member James second second by board member Campbell all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z before addressing expulsion matters I wish to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement list for students through September 10th 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 Miss Martinez we'll move on now to our discussion of our regular agenda items we'll start with d25.1 may I have a motion to approve naming the field at Mike Kelly Stadium at Forest High to Jim Simmons field may I have a motion please move by board member Cummings second second by board member James Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to chair regarding this item thank you madam chair members of the board just briefly under the school board of policy 7250 the Forest High School Community has requested it that it's the field portion be named um of the Mike Kelly stadium so just want to make sure we're clear it's the field of the stadium thank you right yes thank you is there any discussion from the board remember comings there is there is um I want to thank um principal remember uh scroggy and uh coach Tony KAS for bringing this one forward this one is is um meaningful to me personally because I played for Coach Simmons um for several years um our uh 85 86 team was the only team I think that he had that lost one game and we lost that one game to Pensacola scambia and if anybody know a thing about Pensacola scambia the running back for that school at that time was former current NFL Hall of Famer EMT Smith so that was the only game we lost so uh he must have been out injured no he played he actually played but coach uh Simmons and his uh coaches did a tremendous job of preparing us and um I think it's a great honor for him to have this field named after him so kudos to him and to the everyone that that came from under him cuz I think most of us are pretty successful based on some of the things that we learned from him on the field so I'm ready to vote on this one unless there's any other discussion from the board all right hearing none I think that's pretty impressive that you played with em against EMT Smith but you played with them yeah he played with us he played with you guys we were winning to halftime but things changed yeah and Coach KAS was our quarterback so it was this is good to see this one come forward so sure is that's great thanks for that background that's really cool all right if there's no further discussion we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z all right moving on to our next item D 25.2 may I have a motion to approve the Grant application for Florida Diagnostic and learning resources system associate Center otherwise affectionately known as Fiddlers motion to approve motion by board member James second by board member Cummings Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair this item brought to you for your consideration tonight is approximately $1.2 million and we do serve as the Fiscal Agent um for multiple districts including Mary including ours Marian alacha Dixie Citrus Gilchrist Levy and the UF laboratory school so as you may well know and as you said Fiddlers is um how we often know this um this agency and they provide a lot of training and support services so uh just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that we serve as the Fiscal Agent on this item thank you thank you Dr gullet is there any discussion from the board all right hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z moving on to item d2.3 may I have a motion to approve the Grant application title two part a supporting effective instruction for 2024 2025 I have a motion please motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr G you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes I do thank you actually board the the next two items you're going to have a PR presentation on both we put those together on purpose to large ticket items for federal dollars the first one is the title two for training at approximately 4.5 million the second item you'll vote on separately of course is approximately 517,000 and en title $3 so you're going to have a presentation Now by Miss Hughes um and I know you'll need to vote on that separately thank you thank you Dr G good evening Miss Hughes good evening chair Thor Vice chair Conrad board members and superintendent gullet so for title two the primary objective of tit the title two Grant is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of teachers principles and our district leaders this fund allows the district and charter schools in Marian County to offer comprehensive professional learning aimed at strengthening best practices in instructional delivery additionally title to supports efforts in the Recruitment and Retention of Educators contributing to the sustainability of teacher and leader pipelines the grant also focuses on ensuring that high need students have access to effective teaching teachers Key activities include professional learning initiatives tailored to support diverse student populations particularly multilingual Learners and our students with individualized education plans I thank you very much appreciate the details anything else Dr gullet nothing additional thank you okay thank you all right we'll move it to the board any discussion on the first item the grant applic title two part a supporting effective instruction all right hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 0 moving on to D 25.4 may I have a motion to approve the Grant application title three part a English language acquisition language enhancement and academic achievement Act of 2024 2025 need a motion motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Campbell um Dr G anything additional nothing additional thank you okay thank you very much all right any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z moving on to D 25.5 may I have a motion to approve the third amendment with power school Group LLC motion to approve motion by board member James second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes thank you madam chair this item cost um with your approval $955,000 and we are looking at um extending this to a three-year term for power school Power School um then would be on a contract through June 30th of 2027 this includes our data dashboard it includes professional learning that is internet based uh as well as our assessment platform so certainly very comprehensive um item here that covers a lot of ground happy to answer any questions you may have thank you Dr gullet is there any discussion from the board on this item okay hearing none we'll go ahead and vote on $955,000 worth of Technology support all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 moving on to D 25.6 may have a motion to approve the fresh fruit and vegetabl program Grant award motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes happy to bring this back um with another item related to the food that we surprise that we Supply to our students and this uh pertains to the fresh fruits and vegetables program of course at a cost of $824,000 proximately Miss beler is back again tonight with another presentation that provides some additional information on this so welcome back Miss Bel thank you thank you good evening thank you good evening Madam chair thrower Vice chair Conrad board members and Dr goet it's a pleasure to be here to talk about the fresh fruit and vegetable program also known as ffvp it is this program or programs such as this that we credit for assisting us and enhancing participation and meeting our strategic goals to date yamina park has had 36 servy days while the rest of the schools have had 21 serving days and in that time frame we've already served over a million meals to students we're closing in on our Target of 80% participation we're currently at 78% of our participation this year 18 elementary schools are participating in the usda's fresh fruit and vegetable Grant and this is a 50% increase from last year the grant provides funds to qualifying elementary schools to introduce students to Exotic fresh fruits and vegetables while supporting Healthy Lifestyles and local farmers elementary students will have the opportunity to try dragon fruit star fruit rainbow carrots hikma and pine strawberries just to give a few examples this year I'm pleased to announce that we have a new partnership with edable arrangements to provide fruit bouquet for each fruit and vegetable classroom in the month of September the goal of this partnership ship is to not only get kids excited about fresh fruit but to also increase access um consumption and the love of fresh fruits I can't think of a more exciting way to get the kids um interest peaked in ffe program this agenda item supports our e efforts to educate the minds and expand the pallets of over 11,000 elementary students thank you and I'm open for any questions thank you very much appreciate the information is there any questions or discussion from the board while we have her up there I'll just say something brief um I love the idea I love that you guys are getting our kids to have try things that they may not try at home I'm always surprised because my kindergartener who's my probably my pickiest eater she eats school lunch every day and it's she never knows what it is and she eats that's what she eats her lunchbox I send it every day but it comes back full because she's enjoying the school lunch every day and so um I think it's wonderful that she's getting to try a variety of foods I don't know if her school's participating but it would be awesome if they are because I'd love for her to come home and tell me she wants to try star carrots or whatever you just said that sounds wonderful so um I just wanted to say continue the good work it's um my household approves thank you we do aim our menus geared tour students favorites that's we do taste testing and we try to put stuff on the menu that we know that they that they want to eat but we do also throw out some some things that maybe they don't want to eat and encourage them to try it yeah Publix's popcorn chicken is the favorite in my house which is isn't at mcps is lunch line but she seems to still eat and pizza Friday or whatever day Pizza is is a hit for sure so thank you awesome and thank you for sharing that you know board member James it's it's nice to hear you know um authentic experiences from from a mom with kids in the in the school system and I don't know that I would know what a starf fruit was if it bit me so I guess I'll have to look for the opportunity to bite it um thanks again for your presentation they're always very informative all right any other discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z all right moving on to our pulled agenda item C 23.2 may I have a motion to approve the minor Renovations door and window replacement at North Maran High School change order number one work authorization number six project 2 3 -107 May I have a motion please motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell board member James you pulled this item and we to have additional discussion yes ma'am thank you so board we received an email from Miss dobins maybe about two weeks ago regarding this item um specifically the project and the scope of the project was Windows but also doors locks um and I don't know if any of you have ventured out North Maran High School since the start of school yet but they have plywood for Windows um and I was out there last Tuesday having lunch with my minty um I believe it was last Tuesday and uh got a chance to really go take a look and so I wanted to just ask the board and have an opportunity to have a brief discussion about um how we hold contractors accountable who are not doing the job that they were hired to do so on the 27th of February the board approved the 1. n98 million for this project and the expected completion date was $ 8:31 the substantial with the final completion date of 9:30 so on 71 July 1st there was an email chain that came through that basically said oh no the part is not going to be in it's delayed and um instead of arriving on 82 it was going to arrive on 10:11 which is essentially a 70-day delay important to note that that part was ordered on June 21st so the project was supposed to be completely done by 8:31 and the part wasn't even ordered until 6:21 so we're talking about a little over two months um and I I don't know what their traditional lead time on this item is um that's not my area of expertise my point is that when I kind of backwards playing the math I can see it as they were already delayed they were they were behind schedule and contract um attorney Powers you can tell me the exact I don't have that email up it's um um in the in the contract paragraph page nine paragraph f c basically indicates that for every day past um until substantial completion is done the contractor owes us a thousand essentially they give us a credit of $1,000 doar a day and so I'm bringing this item before the board because there is um not a consensus from staff that I have received on who is responsible for why this project isn't done but I I would like to get there because a th000 a day at 45 days is $45,000 which I would love to capture any amount of money that we are owed back to us in the form of a credit for a project not getting done but what I know is that by September by 8:31 which is about 15 days past the start of school this project was supposed to be substantially done and now they're not going to have Windows until Christmas and so that's a problem for me and if the contractor is responsible for the delay which I realize it's the subcontractor but as someone who runs a business if my teacher at my school doesn't do what she's supposed to do it's my problem because ultimately it's my responsibility so while I can I can appreciate that the subcontractor has been put on the not preferred list the CM should be responsible for the subcontractor not doing their work and ultimately someone needs to be held responsible for the fact that there's no windows at North Maran high school because they replaced some of the frames but then the drop ceiling tracks had to be removed so there are huge gaps in the drop ceiling completely missing so hot air is pouring into the classrooms the rooms are not temp controlled with one hand I can push on the on the plywood and it literally comes off the the screw um the the Loof I I won't even go down the the rabbit hole of the lock situation so someone needs to be held accountable for this and if there is a workflow in the procedures within our facilities Department to make sure that we are staying on top of CMS who are staying on top of what um subcontractors I don't know what that is but ultimately I believe that we are owed money for this project being delivered delayed because they ordered the projects late and in the email from miss bomach it says um essentially the email sent to attorney Powers this morning it says the fault still lays with the subcontract subcontractor with instructing the abatement company to remove the existing windows in May without properly securing the timeline for the delivery of the material first so to me that is our facilities Department saying that the fault is lying with the sub contractor who ultimately reports to the contractor so I brought this and pulled this item because ultimately I want the board to begin a a stronger stance that we are going to hold all of our contractors accountable for the deadlines that that are set and if there fail to meet them and it impacts our student learning that's a problem and there should be some level of financial responsibility for that so I welcome a discussion from the board thank you uh for bringing this to our attention board member James um we'll go ahead and open it up to the board for discussion um questions mam chair um thank you Dr James for bringing that forward and I say thank you because with the amount of uh building and constructions that we we're moving into and the things that we got do going on within the district we do need to make sure that we're on top of all these these delays and all these things where it's going to cost us more money so I I thank Dr James for bringing that forward I'm not I'm not um I'm not well versed on this particular one but I know that um in the past we've had them before and we need to hold people accountable if if they've signed a contract that they're going to do something in a certain time we need to make sure there's some accountability going on with this I do understand that there's going to be delays I do understand buildings but um sometimes I think they look at the school system as an easy target and just take advantage of some things we need to make sure that we're on top of it thank you board member Cummings um board member Campbell um thank you chair I I don't disagree with us making sure that we are are holding contractors accountable and I believe having a conversation about that now is imperative knowing that we have two elementary schools that absolutely have to start on August 2025 and so if we make that very publicly known now that every contractor is on notice that there will be Financial ramifications if things are not deadlines are not met while I also don't know the specifics around this one as you have detailed them I don't know if there's additional information Dr goet or her team wants to share about it beyond what has already been shared um but I concur that we need to put contractors on notice um mainly because I have just been thinking in the last two days about what happens if these two elementary schools aren't ready to go and we're rezoning so I mean we're we're g we're going to have kids ready to go to school somewhere so um yeah thank you if I can add one piece I forgot to mention so the new expected delivery day is 1011 for this particular item and so if we want to blame a manufacturer delay the item was going to arrive on 82 and now it's going to arrive on 1011 and the new subst cial completion date is 1227 which is 2 and a half months after 1011 so presumably one could deduct that it's going to take two and a half months from the time we received this part to finish the product and we would have received it if it was on time on 82 which would have still put the project finishing sometime in mid to late October and it was supposed to finish on 8:31 which still puts it about 45 days behind schedule so I find it hard to believe that a manufacturer delay is the reason for this project delaying I do believe it's because things weren't ordered properly and and now we have ourselves in a position where we have students in improper conditions and so um I think that I would love to see somebody provide evidence of who's responsible for this delay and and what when it would have been finished if they had really arrived on 82 because if that's the case and it really is just a manufacturer delay then I guess it's just an unfortunate circumstance but I'm not convinced of that being the case so that was just the last point I had thank you board thank you um Vice chair Conrad um thank you Dr James I appreciate you bringing that forward um this is a is a tricky conversation um we all know that uh there are many delays in building right now uh not just in Maran County but all over and to me it sounds like a similar conversation that we've had earlier in the year about communication uh and procedure and so I think this gives us the opportunity to evaluate um what we're asking for and and what we expect and so there's room for improvement um in that area moving forward thank you Vice chair comrad so is it your position that um that they should be held financially accountable I do okay just wanted to make sure I was clear on that um Dr gullet certainly thank you madam chair memb of the board I I concur with the board I mean think that our St and our students deserve an environment conducive to learning and teaching and so I would um I haven't had a chance to haven't heard from attorney powers to hear um what he can advise the board and what options we have as this is a board item that has a contract so certainly look forward to that thank you thank you and um before we hear from attorney Powers I'll just say briefly that um it sounds like the sub is already being penalized um and is going to be be removed from our preferred list so that indicates to me that the the sub is responsible because they're already getting a consequence um and to be removed from a preferred list from a school district that has a lot of money to spend and we're going to be spending a lot of money we know we need more but we have a lot of projects to do uh it doesn't sound like it's going to be that easy for them to get that that piece of the pie moving forward um as they shouldn't because I don't like the sound of not to mention the Aesthetics but but just having cheap plywood covering window openings I I think about the safety factor of that I do have a clarifying question so it was uh substantial completion 8:31 and final completion by 9:30 was that the original correct 227 board meeting okay thank you and I would also be interested to know I think recently we came to an understanding with the with the warehouse um came to a a settlement agreement because they were very substantially behind now we got a great product out of the deal but they were far behind in what they said they were going to do so I would kind of like to know um what we've done in in the past in these situations um and I can get behind this just in the sense that since we're already working on proced procedures and policies let's make sure we have one that is going to apply to everyone you know if we're going to move beyond penalizing the subcontractor then I think that we need to make sure that if it's going to apply to this contractor would apply to any other contractor I you know bringing up the two elementary schools was a great point because we are under the gun Madam chair I got a question too um and and getting Clarity with this who who comes up with these deadline dates is it our staff coming up with the dates or is it the contractor who who's giving us these dates that these deadlines that are not being met the dates of substantial completion and so on and I'm not going to I I think I know but I'm not the expert so that would be a question for someone else Dr goet certainly Madam chair if uh Miss bumbak is here if she would like to come forward especially since she manages this portion I think if she could answer sorry to put you on the spot thank you for sharing thank you good evening right please understand that my question is not to put anybody on the spot I just I want to know yeah no I understand good evening board chair thrower Vice chair Conrad board members Dr gallet um the timeline is Set uh with the contractor when they get the project they bid it out they talk to their subcontractors they put a schedule together they also double check on lead times for equipment and that all will get put into the schedule so they establish the end date with a lot of unknowns at that point that's part of the bidding process then say again that's part of the bidding process corre that's correct thank you yes um just a question um do we have what is our proof what is our our where is the line where we say that it it was a holdup from the manufacturer or we or we're saying that it is a mistake on the on the subcontractor for not getting it ordered in time do we have a way of um knowing that for certain yes so in in this case um it is it was a combination of two things okay um one was miscommunication from the subcontractor and um to make matter worse uh after that was discovered then the manufacturer delay came out as well so it was two things here okay I do think I do think that should be part of the conversation we we do need to be certain of why there was a delay and who was the cause of the delay before um issuing a financial consequence right that's what I wrote down too I actually wrot put a box around you know who's really responsible right and and if I may um we had tough conversations with the CM um about this Pro problem and um they have made any every effort to address the situation to improve on the delivery they have um we had to provide these um emergency erress um situations now they have um provided all the extra Workforce to install them the material to install them all at their own expense and they have now brought on a second company um to help the first company who fell short of their promises um to speed up and um work on evenings overnight on weekends to install the windows now to to get the project finished out chair I just want to make sure Vice chair Conrad just had one more thing Dr James and my understanding this is a local contractor correct that is correct yeah um it's that's just an important piece for me um from as you heard from conversation not too long ago so I just want to make sure that um that we're giving every opportunity for our local contractors to be successful uh here in Marian County and so um I'm going to go back to that piece about it sounds like it's a split responsibility so I'd like to have further conversation and and input well thank you um attorney Powers hasn't had a chance to weigh in so let's hear from you and then board member James will be right after him I I think factually everything I've heard is is in compliance with what I've um heard previously what I heard tonight uh and that is that uh there was a combination of factors that resulted in this delay um some are attributable to the subcontractor some to the manufacturer so sort of a perfect storm of events there um now historically we have not set a precedent of utilizing the um liquidated damages provision within our contract often in fact I'm only aware of one instance in the past where we did and that was as you said with the warehouse where there was um some substantial delays in that case we reached a settlement with them uh which which allowed them to expedite some things at their expense and also to give us a financial recompense for some of that liquidated damage now as to the contract itself um provision C in the contract it's rather lengthy but to to to sum it up I think that it's it's been summarized accurately by Dr James in that um it says it's hereby agreed that it'd be appropriate and fair that the owner received liquidated damages from contractor If contractor fails to achieve substantial completion of the work within the required contract time unless otherwise provided for and the work authorization should contractor fail to substantially complete the work on any project within the required time period owner shall be entitled to assess as liquidated damages but not as a penalty $1,000 for each calendar day thereafter until substantial completion is achieved and $500 for each calendar day thereafter until final completion is achieved so it is definitely within their financial best interests to expedite as much as possible um the completion of the project U and the question is whether or not we intend to actually pursue those liquidated damagers or not that's a question for facilities operations the board all collectively to make but um some advantages are that obviously in doing so it does set a strong precedent it has to be indicated that it's not this is not a penalty provision this is a liquidated damages clause damages Clause says the the parties had agreed going in saying that this was that that there are going this is an expectation and there are going to be consequences that we can put a a number on if it's not completed within time and it's it's not just as a penalty so um those consequences are the kind of consequences that have been described now the question is as to disadvantages sure those exist as well um enforcing um a liquidated damages provision which historically we have not done so so much however we also have not had the amount of building that we're about to inter and plunge into um it does encourage in the future for contractors to give an increased um estimate of the time frame that'll be necessary because it it will allow them to build in additional time in case they have a shortfall um to some degree it could be argued that it can discourage um CM participation because they would not want to deal with the district if we are going to you know take a very aggressive stance on enforcement of such Provisions um and to some degree it also allows us to negotiate when we do have the um liquidated damages provision but we have not enforced it yet it does permit us to be able to say um you know it's within their financial best interest to expedite and we need to see that they're doing everything possible to expedite in this case they given an estimated uh final completion date of um or substantial completion date of 1227 um so they obviously whether it's through trying to avoid and and um uh convince us not to enforce liquidated damages at all or whether it's to avoid the number and degree of liquidated damage days they have an incentive to make this their absolute priority project now nothing we do is going to get those windows in any faster at this point because the fact is the manufacturer from what I was able to see in this case the manufacturer that has these windows there's a there's hinges I guess that are that are specific to these windows a specific design only available from this manufacturer they're a soul Source provider and that is the date that the manufacturer is given now so so everyone is pushing the maximum they can to get these things delivered as quickly as possible and installed as quickly as possible um and so the question really for the board is to what degree are we willing to work with the con the CM and let the consequences fall on the sub or to what degree as as was also pointed out here do we say that the the CM they better choose better subcontractors and monitor them better so that's a question for the board I can tell you that legally sure we can we can hold them compliant and and assess liquidated damages and the board may wish to or it may not and I'll let facilities you know Express their opinion on that as well I'll say historically we've not it doesn't mean we can't do it in the future thank you attorney powers and board member James you've been waiting somewhat patiently go ahead thank you so respectfully I think it's important to note that the cont the CM Andor the subcontractor had to work nights and weekends to get the egresses done because there was no legal way for students to occupy those rooms when I walked that campus I believe it was Wednesday of pre-planning week with Mr Johnson um so teachers had already come to campus there was not legal egresses from those rooms they had not installed them which is why they had to work nights and weekends to get it done before students arrived because they had just put plywood up and there was no egress from the windows so they had to go back and makeshift and create essentially a door out of the plywood so that there was a legal egress so students could occupy the space ultimately the CM is responsible our contract is with the CM who the CM chooses to hire as a subcontractor the CM model is the way that Maran county has done work for many a years we've collectively had conversations about it over time this is the way that we do work our contract is with the CM if they decide to hire subcontract our ABC or lmop ultimately the responsibility and our contract is with the CM the CM should have a subcontractor there or a superintendent there ensuring that the product is getting done when a timely in a timely manner and our facilities Department in their free time which is a which is a silly joke should be able to then supervise them but ultimately we are handing the responsibility over to the CM that is our manner of work so that the CM can be held responsible so even if even if the 621 date had the delivery of 82 that Pro they would not have completed the work by 8:31 substantially it was already ordered late so I am of the opinion we have more than enough data to support that they are financially responsible for this delay in some capacity and yes it is a a myad of of multiple things but we need to set a precedent that we are going to start holding contractors accountable for their failure to deliver on the timelines that they set they went out and saw the lead time they went out and did the research or the lack of research which is why they're in the pickle they're in and there should be a financial responsibility applied to contractors local or not for their inability to complete work on time because we are with a sales tax going to be entering into an immense amount of work and we need to have a hard precedence said that you are setting this timeline and if you fail to meet this timeline this is what is going to happen going forward and and that is of my opinion and I believe that that should happen here thank you board member James your comment question yes I do miss bomy I have another question um in the contract does it state that the contractor has pro has to provide accommodations um when materials have not arrived on time so with the windows that are not in does it state that they are responsible for filling that Gap while we're waiting for the windows to has anything in the contract about that okay so so they took that on on themselves which they should not arguing that um I'm just interested in that cost what that looks like compared to um what our fee would be okay we can probably get that number from the contractor it can be an estimate yeah also um when they contract their bits out the project um they have to send it at least to we we usually require them to have at least three bids um they in this instance they send it out to 12 window companies um because of the complexity and the tight timeline we usually have over summer work the business of construction in the summer because all school districts have their summer work only two companies uh replied so it and we always go with the low bidder and at that point the low bidder is geted vetted by the CM um none not the contractor nor us mcps has worked with that subcontractor before so it was a new company to us and like I said um there was not a lot of interest in that project which complicates it does make it very complicating when nobody's capable of doing the work and we only have two to choose from so I would agree thank you thank you um this particular CM have they done work for us before yes they're on our continuing contract list um and when we chose them for this project too we knew it was a complicated project all camp on on the whole campus um they have done a similar project in dellan middle school and they have done an excellent job in communicating with the School Employees with the principal working around their schedule and coordinating well so we felt very comfortable with them in in that situation because it is a very complicated project it involves every single door and every single window on the campus thank you anything else anything further okay Cummings Campbell um the only thing I would say is it it what you just said to us miss Muk is it speaks to our policy or I guess its procedure more or less that we always go with the lowest bidder and I I don't know that that's always going to be in our favor and and so if that's enshrined in policy I highly recommend that we as a board ad amend that if it's enshrined in procedure please consider what that looks like because if we're talking a couple thousand dollar difference but yet they would have been able to be on time we're in a pickle right now because we chose the low bidder and that's not necessarily going to be what's best for students so while I understand it's probably what's best for taxpayers depending on the dollar amount if it's not what's best for students that should Trump anything at all times so it cost us more money anyway yeah especially it's going to cost us more money anyway um yeah that's that's the only thing that I really took away from that I I don't know where we go from here because clearly we have a motion in a second on this item and and so I think we're moving forward with a vote but uh as far as holding them accountable attorney Powers I can I can speak to that the board has the option and I may suggest this option of U entering into a settlement agreement with the CM um and that settlement agreement much like we did with the warehouse just an option and such an agreement um would have the value of uh rather than simply setting a precedent that says you missed it therefore we're charging the liquidated damages per day period we're being consistent across all cases regardless of the reasons which may not really be the most effective route there are a number of factors that the board could consider whenever it attempts or chooses to enter into a settlement agreement and it could certainly have the facilities crew who knows quite a bit more about this process and and the facts of the case to negotiate that with them some factors that you might consider would be for one the reasons for the delay number two what communication was taken what communication steps were taken in order to minimize the delay um what Curative efforts have they made to fix the delay um how cooperative and participative have they been in the process all of those factors together um along with what do we feel that regard L of liquidated damages the actual um you know the the actual damages are certainly if it makes an area completely in uninhabitable it's a bit different than a leaky window or something that makes it less so so those factors together would result in a case-by casee sort of analysis where we enter into we still hold accountability but we may fall we may say that in this in case uh we're not going with the liquid Dam liquidated damages as $1,000 per day and instead that we're going to uh settle on some negotiated sum and that's completely within the discretion of the board I would advise that your your experts in this are the facilities Department who sort of knows all the factors of what has gone into this and may be able to provide uh a good and cogent argument for why they should be a um a difference in in the cost factor that we apply to this whereas we might apply something different in the case of a CM who just seemed really not to care and really didn't do anything to make a Curative effort other than put something together at what you know with whatever materials they had at hand and then engage in future litigation that has to lead up to that so those are just factors the board can consider and um that facilities may be able to give you more information on and I I don't want to speak for them because I have not discussed this with them but that's that's sort of I think uh the direction that we went in Inc coming to a settlement with the warehouse and that was um we brought that to the board and said you know board has to approve all settlements and here's here's a settlement that we believe is reasonable and given the light of circumstances so that allows a multiactor analysis thank you attorney Powers um thoughts from the board based on what attorney Powers just shared I I'm fine with going for a settlement if that we think that's better than going for actually what the contract language says either way I think there needs to be a financial um obligation from the CM because missing the the date is on them but either way we go whether it's strictly abiding by what the contract says with $1,000 a day or with a settlement agreement let every contractor right now go on record who is working on projects that's Oola Middle School gym that's two elementary schools that's I mean we could just start listing them off we have definite completion dates that we need each one of those projects done go on record now you will be financially responsible if you do not meet those States um whether that's a settlement or a $1,000 a day I I mean and again that is held the CM is the one that's held just like what you said Dr James it's while they hire subs and while they have to order parts and order product and all the things they have to order start ordering now if you've got an completion date in August make sure you've got everything on hand I mean it we we H it's what's best for students and that's all we're about all day long and in that case I would recommend that um and I'll allow facilities to speak to this as well but the change order that you would be voting on uh if you read um I I assume everybody has that in front of them the um the under present agreement amount it says the time for completion shall be increased by 119 calendar days due to this change order and um it goes on to say your acceptance of this change order shall constitute a modification to our agreement it be performed subject to all terms and conditions as contained in our agreement as fully as if the same were repeated in this accept the adjustment if any to the agreement shall constitute a full and final settlement of any of all claims for impact and delay costs so it strikes me that this would then be something that the board given what you've expressed would intend to vote no to the change order so and discuss correct me if that's you know not the understanding that facilities has but I believe that to be the case if the board is if the board expression is what the board has just expressed then this change order at this time is not appropriate so if the board votes this down then it provides the opportunity to move forward with either liquidated damages or a settlement based on what the board directs and is that correct that would be my analysis I mean I I don't know we we still have to have some something that commemorates and memorializes that we have a we have an agreement with them that they're still going to go forward and and what our what our dates are that they're going to go forward with but um this change order would seem to modify that in a sense that it just it it it it seems like dises the settlement yes it seems like the board would need to see something that reflects what we just said up here you know and and and bring it back and we need to come to a consensus whether or not we feel like moving in the direction of of a settlement conversation or the uh liquidated damage is one thing that I lean a little bit towards the the settlement agreement is that allows us to take each each one on a case-by Case basis um because there's a lot of competition for these projects well right that's what I mean like there's there's a lot of competition for these projects so that and there's only so many ones that are doing it so we certainly want to make sure that we reflect as a district our values of accountability but also willingness to see each case for what it is and make sure that we're approaching each one in the right way and that gives us the flexibility so something to consider um anything from facilities that can be added to this conversation um at this point before the board makes their decision and if not that's fine I just want to the opportunity at Dr and if I may Madam chair thank you for that I was just going to ask Miss bubach what needs to happen now for the work to continue so that we can make sure that school is as we expect um considering what the board action might possibly be what do we need to do from the facility side to make sure that the work gets done they're in the process of installing uh whatever material they have on hand already inspections are ongoing um they're not stopping on installing the windows if it yes Ahad if we could just solidify then the purpose of the change order is to Simply extend give them an extension on their timeline that's correct I see Miss dobbin's head nodding so without the change order they have the same timeline which means they are still held accountable to the same timeline that exists right now in this moment before we were to approve a change order the the change order is not changing the amount of money the change order is not changing the contractor it's not changing anything about the project the project will continue to go forward they are just held accountable to the timeline so if I were the contractor I'd want the change order too because that means that my timeline gets pushed out and I get more free time and so instead of being held accountable to the timeline that was set in the original contract which was 8:31 what we we are not adding any go ahead any additional money that uh is um owed now to the contractor like when they when they do now night work and weekend work to install the windows because schools in sessions they have higher costs now they have more staff on on hand as well so they uring more costs they are not charging us any additional cost they're holding their GMP so all they are asking is for the extension of time to be this is a legal document tying back to the continuing contract I don't think we can have that time elapse well and respectfully I don't care that they're working nights and weekends that would be my expectation because unfortunately for them the timeline didn't work the way the timeline should have worked and so they got to work nights and weekends because there are students in the classrooms that's the way this cookie particularly crumbled and they realized that and they are they are willing to step up to this and absorb any additional cost um to make that happen like I said earlier too they hired another company to help us the installation as well and they're paying um for that company as well I mean I I think I would be I would be boing if they had come and said by the way now the cost is higher because we I mean that would have been that would have sent me completely spiraling so I mean I'm just saying board the reason I pulled this item was because essentially voting yes on this change order is a giving them the extension in a timeline which doesn't necessarily allow us the opportunity to hold them accountable for the timeline that was set in the original contract and that's the way I kind of understood it attorney powers and I spoke a lot today and we went back and forth with emails with facilities and that's why I wanted to bring it to your attention because I believe that we have a we have a obligation to to set a president here thank you um attorney Powers at at this point I feel like what I'm hearing is that it's it's not costing us any more money nor should it um we've they've already missed the Dead line we need the windows um so what would be your suggestion attorney Powers as far as and and we need some direction from the board here too are we going to be looking at agreeing to go with the liquidated damages or we're going to look at you know mediation regardless we need this project completed you know that's that's the bottom line miss dobins good evening good evening thank you uh just a few comments on on my side of things so I believe we set precedent with the warehouse because it was actually the first time to my knowledge as uh attorney PO said that we went after a construction company for significant issues with the project the difference in that project is they weren't showing up to work and that was their own fault and their own delay when I step back and I look at this situation um I believe that on the facility side we agree that the fault is with the subcontractor the subcontractor is receiving if you want to call it a penalty uh I know attorney Paris doesn't like that word but they're they're not going to be part of our preferred list of vendors when we hire the CM yes I I wholeheartedly agree they're they're there to get a job done but most of our projects go past that susp stantial time and so picking it apart to this level in my opinion is concerning because we have a relationship to maintain with our 18 contractors and when you only had two subcontractors to choose from and you went with the local subcontractor to give them a chance and they failed well that's a lesson learned for all of us and and so we're going to not put them on the preferred list they're going to lose money with Maring County and that cm is working very hard as they should to rectify the situation if if we don't get the extension in time then we're not going to get the windows put in I do have faith and and and respect for the company that has done great work for Maring County in the past and I do believe that they're going to make sure that they go very quickly without interrupting that campus when those windows come in so again I I I re I respect what we need to do if we need to look for a settlement I have no problem with that but to say that we're just gonna do this every single time I just I I'm concerned about maintaining relationships with CMS and picking apart the job to to a certain level thank you chair thank you Mr doin go ahead board member comings M doin I I do have a question so because yall don't want to use the word penal penalize whatever so there was a con it's fine as to the subcontractor as to the contractor with liquidated damages it's different than there was a consequence for the subcontractor the subcontractor will not make our preferred vendor list okay our preferred vendor our preferred vendor list so we will not approve for a sub for a cm to utilize that subcontractor because of this fault so all subcontractors are ultimately approved through us once the CM there there's a balancing act with that and it's called audits so CMS have to go through a sealed bid process they have to look at the lowest bidder and if that lowest bidder is qualified which our list is a qualification piece to that then they have to go with that low bid but if they're not on our preferred list then they can go to the next one so so um I too when I listen to this whole conversation and look at this I too am concerned about the relationship part of this um because there is going to be a local and external uh biders and um making sure that we maintain we do need to hold people accountable though there has to be some accountability because the community is going to hold us accountable phisically responsible and we are supposed to be the stewards of the County's money in it comes to relation to these projects and again we keep saying what's best for kids it's not going to be best for kids for kids to sit a whole semester in the school without Windows right it's not that's not good so um whether we do um a settlement or whatever I think you still have to you have to um put some teeth to the things that we're saying and and hold people accountable that's where I'm at thank you board member Cummings um is there any other comment from the board bless you all right um at this point then I I think we're ready to vote Yes okay all those in favor say I I those oppos nay nay okay um motion passes fails fail I mean I'm sorry motion failed four votes to one with h chair thrower descending all right thank you all um moving on to uh board committee reports and concerns we'll start with a few meeting reminders the next administrative briefing and work session has been scheduled for September 19th 2024 at 9:00 a.m. the next school board meeting has been scheduled for September 24th 2024 at 5:30 p.m. the following administrative briefing and work session has been scheduled for October 3rd uh 2024 all right we'll move on to committee reports and concerns um anything from your seat Miss Martinez no Madam chair thank you anything else Dr gullet just briefly thank you madam chair um I don't often mention um the different awareness months but I think this is important September is National attendance awareness month and as I know this board um and our whole team has been very committed to educating our not just our students and families but our community about how important it is for a students to be um at school appreciate um all of our schools for all of the creative ways that they uh work with their local communities to um engage families and helping to understand um what their needs are so we can ensure that our students get the education they need so just wanted to highlight that there will be some uh additional notes and recognitions at our next Schoolboard meeting this month but just wanted to thank everybody for their work on that thank you thank you Dr gullet attorney pow anything from legal uh just that we are we've finalized most of our uh our review of the uh policy updates that we need uh within legal and and conglomerated those those together into the into the piles to be distributed to staff by the end of the week uh from that time frame uh we will try to build in two to three weeks of time for St staff to review those and each department uh go over the policy updates that apply to them make any recommended changes that they might have as to uh those particular updates and then we will advertise it on rle making and development timeline and move forward from there so I would anticipate that you'll hear a lot more from me about specific dates uh at the next work session or board meeting thank you attorney Powers um for M James thank you um couple things I wanted to um mention uh first uh Dr gullet Rec uh recognized Miss James today who's at Horizon if you have not seen her in action she hustles she runs I don't think I've ever seen her not running um and so every time I've been in Horizon I see her and she just moves so quick so when she stood up tonight I hadn't connected the face to the name and when she stood up tonight I made that connection so I just wanted to to go on record and say she is a hustler uh tomorrow is September 11th um and as we age the the distance for some of our students have have no idea completely disconnected even our high schoolers don't have a a memory of what 911 is um and so uh in our community there's many events tomorrow and I know a few of us may talk about them I'm since Miss Slaughter was here talking about the Athletics tonight um I'll pin these conversations together um I am one for the Athletics myself and so every 911 I climb um 2200 steps or um essentially it's 110 stories and it's in representation of the flights that were climbed by the firefighters um on 9911 and so I personally go to the fire College to do it but you could go to the Downtown parking garage or anywhere and climb your 110 stories um as a way to remember those who um paid a pretty significant sacrifice on that day uh we do it in in perfect quietness um and just in memory of those who had to experience something so horrific so just everyone keep that in your frame of reference and um I hope our teachers will take time to try to encapsulate the memories and of that particular event uh I started I try and give principles a few weeks before I start showing up at campuses because I know the first couple weeks are crazy but I started back visiting schools this week um and visited um two schools yesterday was out at reic and every time I'm at reic elementary I am just in awe at how beautiful it is Mr Manning has done such a tremendous job beautifying that campus it just looks so nice um and so I'm excited to go out and visit all kinds of schools over the next couple of months uh this evening in public comment we had a Community member that spoke about the Rails to Trails um and so Bor I just wanted he he made a request of us and so I was hopeful that we could collectively talk about it um chair I don't know if that's on on your agenda to talk about yes it was so let's go ahead and do it okay perfect um waiting so so as a as a downtown business owner myself I'm also interested in this project but I would also love to see an opportunity for students to be able to potentially get very safely to multiple of our school sites via a uh Trail program we did this in Orange County where I grew up um and it was wonderful it was a beautiful paved trail there was I don't know if it was the same organization but it was the same concept and so um I would certainly support us um collectively writing a letter or showing our support to at least put a pause and a break on the progression of the vote at the County Commission so that the community can have more time to talk about whether we want this project instead I can appreciate bringing jobs to the community but I also um would love to see a really awesome Trail so board what's your pleasure thank you um I agree 100% thank you Vice chair I I think it would be great to oh sorry I'm leaning back Reverend Cummings looky there lucky there and he corrected you yes um I agree 100% And um I think it would be great um if we wanted to write a letter um attend the meeting um whatever the board decides on you know I'm in support of that I do think it's important that we do um take a pause I don't know how much of the community is aware that this is even coming forward because I wasn't and so I I appreciate it being brought forward thank you Vice chair board member Campbell sure so my comment is going to be a little bit different and it's not that I disagree with the project at all it's just going to be talk about some precedent setting I don't know that this board has put forth some kind of letter before to the County Commission or the city Council saying we disagree with a project you're about to vote on that that's a that's a really big conversation to have uh I wonder if the better Forum would be a walk-on item to your technical working group on Friday because in all honesty comments perfect because in all honesty that's where all of the representatives from the elected bodies are there including city council County Commission and the school board to have a conversation collectively with your planning folks to say what if we take a pause here and certainly saying that the school board believes this would be a wonderful path forward no pun intended for our students to create better walkable zones I know that there has been work to build sidewalks outside Forest High School it's been a long project and it's still in process but things like that are going to be helpful for our students there aren't sidewalks out by Lake Weare high school so I I understand the walkability need but I also want to take a pause and just Express concern with us just writing a letter um because I I think it does warrant a little bit more nuanced conversation ahead of us just having a letter come today for a meeting they're having next week so that those are my concerns I think we individually certainly can make those phone calls to each County Commissioner with our relationships and have those individual conversations about it I believe chair thrower as our representative on the technical working group can absolutely advocate for this position on Friday but I would just say I'm not completely certain I would be in favor of us writing a letter and saying we want you to vote this project down thank you um board member Campbell um board member Cummings just just for the record just for the record that's not what we said I'm just I was saying let's take a pause I would be in you know um just stating that we want to make considerations um that this is an overlapping item that it it can has the potential to negatively impact Maran County Public Schools so that I just wanted to clarify that just to take a pause was all I stated thank you and and I I think what we're looking to build consensus on is uh how to present it correct and I agree thank you uh board member Cummings I'm I'm in agreement with um Dr Campbell um I don't think I think the I I haven't seen the board go out that far with a letter I I think we all have our our opinions about this this item I do I would love to see the study done I would want to know um how it affects kids walking down a trail throwing rocks on the railroad tracks and all those types of things so I want to see the study but I think um I would concur more with Dr Campbell that there is a technical working group and let go use that route versus a letter per se um because the and and I tend to agree um I think it will be powerful to uh Express to the technical working group that we did reach consensus that we think that this Trail idea H Trails idea has has great potential um from my perspective I have done many Rails to Trails I've I've biked them I've horseback ridden them I've walked them I love everything about it um I have found along those trails that a lot of small towns and small businesses pop up with all kinds of ecotourism restaurants so while I appreciate you know bringing a fairly large from what it sounds like Factory um I think that the same goal can be accomplished in in a way that better serves the the community um I would say I am very concerned about 48 or more um uh train train cars coming through we already struggle getting our kids to school on time I can't imagine you know um something like that but but on the on the positive side I think that these are what successful communities as as board member James has mentioned you know it is it is about the big picture it is about the the livability and the walkability and the opportunities um all along the way and and I love that it extends all the way out to uh lakee middle I mean lakee High School um you know there's just a lot of opportunity in this Trail so maybe maybe the intent um can end up being met to grow businesses but do it because we have a Rails to Trails not a new Factory with 48 train cars and maybe more and a special use permit but that's for the uh that is for the County Commission to decide um as long as the board is in consensus at the technical working group uh and if you are I will Express um that our board is interested Ed in the commission if they're willing to further explore the development of the multi-use trail um maybe take a pause to uh approve the special use exception until there's more analysis and the in the benefits to both you know just have more conversations is there really a rush and if there isn't you know let's do it and chair if I may I I I believe additional the thing that I would also like to see is the pause on where all this railroad essentially I I mean I know the railroad we're talking about it maybe has one or two train cars that go down and it's the slowest thing ever and it crosses over the road that I and it's so and when it comes traffic backs up really badly really and if you have an actual train that's doing 48 60 cars our buses are going to be significantly impacted in multiple areas with that rail railroad so I would be interested in seeing additional study as Mr shot said that this hasn't been studied about the rail railroad and how much that is going to impact not just traffic but also our bus traffic and and it it'll be significant in some areas specifically right and I guess I didn't single out just buses but you know our business is kids we we know the pickle we're in with buses so I certainly you know hope that nothing comes along that continues to exacerbate that because we're having enough problems as it is okay so um bring it up at the technical working group during the coming time where we share out express our consensus that we think it's a great idea to continue to explore the viability of this Trail you know versus the factory and um the commission will uh take you from there here sound like a plan sure okay I just have two more items yes um we were tasked with um prioritizing our projects um I just wanted to share with the board that as I am very um hyper um aware of publication timelines I have prepared a one-pager of my priorities and I'm going to be submitting it to Miss Martinez to upload for Thursdays which is a which is OB obiously posting because it's an agendized item so we have um the the our item and our discussion about our priorities is agendized for next Thursday's meeting uh and so I have prepared my one pager and we'll be emailing it to Miss Martinez to upload um so that it's properly noticed I don't necessarily know if that's a requirement or not but I wanted you guys to know so that if you saw it um ahead of I we we had a discussion we're not going to talk about it it's just an agend IED item and then we'll have public discussion about it but I didn't want to catch anyone off guard when you saw that publication um and so whatever youall choose to do with yours is is on you but I just wanted you to know um and then finally Miss Slaughter talked about Athletics tonight and I uh I was a multiple sport athlete myself in high school I think that Athletics is one of the most important components in a public education and I'm proud of the work that this board has done to prioritize our budget um we were look back even just two years ago before I joined the board what we were able to to to peel out in the budget for athletics and what we've been able to do now I would say that and Dr Campbell you might know better than me but because it's been a hyper Focus for you but prioritizing $1.5 million for athletic stadiums as a board is probably some of the most money we've ever spent on Athletics and so I'm proud of the the the focus effort this board has given to trying to prioritize it in a um a huge deficit for facilities and we have a huge mountain to climb and I will continue to be very focused on prioritizing getting funds into Mr Tucker's hand so that he can give it to all seven high schools as equitably as possible and then from a board's perspective continuing to try to prioritize projects um we just I think are a little bit disalignment the Vanguard project but I would love again and I think chair thrower spoke to conversation that may occur on Fridays um I would love to see a partnership with the city and I think maybe we've all had um maybe a a similar conversation with community members about what it could look like and uh my hope would be that we could work together collaboratively to develop a a program out there that um could even possibly be shared use so I look forward to hearing more about your conversation after the meeting on Friday but as a board member I just want to reiterate that I am absolutely prioritizing Athletics it just might look a little bit different than what some community members would like but ultimately we're doing a really good job prioritizing that and I'm proud of the work we're doing so thank you board for uh engaging in the conversation today about North Marian High School I encourage you to go take a visit go look at the facility um just to understand the um the reality that our because it's not just the students we've talked about the students a lot tonight but the teachers are in classrooms that aren't climate controlled and the staff are working and um it's a safety problem right the SRO has addressed it and so Mr mcfat and I've had a conversation about it and so um I would implore you to go out and take a look yourselves if you haven't already um but thank you for engaging in the conversation this evening that's all I got all right thank you very much um attorney Powers just to clarify if we have something in writing a list to submit um does it need to be uploaded ASAP or is that something we can provide to Miss Martinez at the meeting and it can be uploaded after that can be provided at the meeting however obviously board members would not be able to have quite as much time for review um these are items which you can't communicate amongst yourselves obviously beforehand however you can you know share those collectively as a group you just can't discuss them amongst yourselves so if if in other words you put it up if each of you puts it up all of you can view one anothers you just can't come to a vote or conclusion on any of them together um you can have a copy ready to go when you get here you can upload it in advance that's entirely up to you it's not prohibited for you to do so nor is it required okay thanks I appreciate it all right um board member Cummings no comment tonight thank you sir board member Campbell sure thank you so um I first want to say I'm grateful that we approved this evening and the consent agenda the interlocal agreement with the county for the radio communications uh we had a work session about that and just grateful that we have come to that agreement it's going to be what's best for kids I think that's kind of the theme for the night um one item that was completely withdrawn from the agenda was withdrawn but it was never explained as to why so if the community is listening the collective bargaining agreement with the Marian Education Association was withdrawn because we didn't have the they didn't have the time to get all of the necessary approvals it will be coming on our next board meeting agenda so I just wanted to make sure I I never actually heard those words and so if you're just listening to the audio of this and you may have seen that that was the item that was withdrawn please know that it's because it's coming to us at the next board meeting there were just some timing things that delayed this one so um it seems like that one is going to be coming before us for approval and looking forward to that uh also as Dr James mentioned looking forward to the conversation that we have thank you for the recommendation of of putting up our priorities with the actual agenda going live on Thursday I'm still nuancing what my recommendations might be man thank you so much to miss Dobbins and all the staff that put together that enormous document for us we have so much detailed information I knew that I know that took weeks and months to put together so for the community to be aware we have a document that's even an electronic one we haven't received it electronically yet but we have every building every school that we have when it was built when the roof was replaced when the plumbing when the electrical we have all of that detailed showing us which ones would be essentially high priority items for facilities for maintenance purposes and that can then impact our conversation on Thursday of next week um I'm still nuancing what my recommendations are going to be because it may actually be that the I might want to change what our um $330 million loan says because we can wait on a couple of those Elementary School wings and actually add in some wings that we need to get done before those um so anyway I that's where my Nuance is kind of looking at right now and so I will try to meet that deadline though and try to have something to Miss Martinez by noon on Thursday for um uploading as Miss Slaughter was here talking about athletic facilities absolutely that's going to continue to be a priority uh if we're wanting to be Equitable across the board I say immediately we rubberize every track in Maran County because the fact that our public school students cannot have track meets on our own campuses is ludicrous to me and we have to fix that we have to rectify that right now now in my opinion certainly we can have greater conversation next week um but that needs to be a top priority as far as I'm concerned but all of those priorities the reason we're having that conversation is we are prioritizing this school board is prioritizing and we'll hopefully come to consensus on what that priority list will be next Thursday should voters approve the ballot initiative in November for the half cent sales tax and that all is all of those priorities and all of that conversation is certainly hopefully going to help our voting population to understand what our goals and our priorities are it's not a blank check it will be this is what the board would want to do should voters approve that ballot initiative and the proposed that we have seen is that a half cent sales tax over 10 years potentially could bring in 335 million which is basically what we just took a loan out for so we kind of have a good idea of what that looks like we know you can basically build one high school we know you can basically build one middle school if you need to build from the ground up so um nevertheless that is all I have to say about that the last thing that I was going to mention is because that agenda for the work session next Thursday has not gone live yet I would request chair and and superintendent gullet if we have a work session agenda item that gives us an opportunity for chair thorough to give us a recap of the technical working group meeting and the reason that I ask for that is I have recently spoken with a county commissioner and a city council member who haven't been afforded those opportunities in their Collective bodies I'm grateful chair thrower that you have been in constant communication with us about the technical working group what those conversations are what the agenda looks like I encourage our counterparts in the city council and the County Commission to request that of their members as well because the members I've spoken to have not been afforded that same information so I welcome if you are willing as well as Dr gullet in that work session agenda if it's not too full already and I don't know what the agenda says but if it's not too full already I would like to request we have an agenda item for chair th to give us a technical working group recap and those conclude my comments thank you board member Campbell and you know it certainly was going to be my intention to talk about it during my commment time but we can add it to the agenda if Dr gullet approves it because you come put together the work session s agenda so either way is fine with me and um hopefully we'll have some good things to share I think we will all right sounds good thank you uh board member Campbell and we'll move on to our first student board rep Diaz uh yes one of the topics that I wanted to bring up today was C 13.1 from today's agenda uh for those of you who don't know September is National Suicide awareness month and as someone who Advocates the importance of mental health awareness in my own School the importance of equipping faculty and staff with the ability to recognize signs of mental health challenges in students cannot be overstated adolescence is a critical point for emotional and mental development and many students face stressor stress stressors such as stress and that can lead to anxiety depression and behavioral issues and sometimes unfortunately these struggles can go unnoticed and this escalates the more severe outcomes such as academic decline social isolation and even self harm at some points so better undergoing the ymhfa training faculty members will be better prepared to identify early signs of mental health concerns understanding how to appropriately engage with students and connect with them with the support that they need and I think that was an important thing that I should have mentioned today thank you thank you really appreciate that was on our consent agenda tonight yep great job all right and um student board representative bani thank you um so first obviously I appreciate and honor the opportunity to be here at today's meeting and to represent bellw High School um supporting effective instruction was discussed today in d2.3 and I would just like to say that I as well as many others really value our education immensely and we would be more than happy to have even more helpful instructors throughout schools than we already have emphasizing the last part the last part we do already have amazing instructors and I always continue to benefit from all of mine I believe supporting effective instruction will drastically Aid those students who are striving to achieve their aspirations using the Effective Education they receive from school also as someone who also advocates for mental health especially by constantly helping as many people around me as I can not just my friends and loved ones but e even others that I'm not close with I want to really emphasize what Miss Diaz said that September is suicide awareness month so um to everyone listening please always spread kindness and positivity and always check on those around you and to those who are struggling through hardships externally or internally please do not hesitate to seek help one needed because there is always someone available who's more than willing to help out to help out sorry communicating has also been proven to help people feel better so if you ever need to vent out your feelings instead of Bing your emotions do not hesitate to go to a trusted person once again many people are willing to help especially adults in your school such as teachers and staff members I know that when I went with my issues and stuff to honestly like any teachers and staff members they were all more than willing to help me out and hear me out when I needed event and talk about my feelings so it was very helpful so um yeah prioritizing one's mental health is very crucial and I feel that everyone should take uh should partake in this as much as they can especially considering that many don't or aren't able to put enough time into taking care of themselves for themselves and their quality of life thank you ma'am thank you student rep wani really appreciate your comments both of you all right Vice chair Conrad yes thank you chair um good evening everyone um I just want to highlight uh a few things um last Saturday I had the privilege to participate in apple paper scissors with the Education Foundation put on um like an similar to an ed camp and I just can't express enough how fantastic it was was and so we had a great turnout we had 50 to 60 teachers show up and I'm looking forward to our next session um I see it growing by leaps and and Bounds it was wonderful to have a space where at um teachers were free to express any concerns any ideas um that they wanted to discuss with their peers and that just I haven't been aw aware of a space like that in Maran County for quite some years so I'm just really grateful for that work and look looking forward to seeing it grow um tomorrow 911 Dr James mentioned um the Veterans Park is having a service at 8:30 at the Veterans Memorial Park um I will be there I just invite you to join me um in Remembering um all those that lost their lives in 911 um I did have I do have a question we've been talking we always are talking a lot about Transportation when I pulled up this evening for our special board meeting um it was pouring down rain and the buses 11 all 11 of them were lined up you know here along the side and as I watched the children um loading there were not very many children getting on each bus um so as we look at um improving our arrival and dismissal time for transportation I just am interested to know how many students are on each bus for MTI on an average each day um because we had a lot of buses a lot of bus drivers sitting and it seemed it appeared um that we didn't have very many students and so I would just like more information on that uh moving forward so we can get our kids to school and get them home on time and that's all I have today thank you all right thank you um Vice chair Conrad and yes it's interesting that it is September is National attendance awareness month and it's also suicide awareness month and it was really gratifying to hear from both of you that the connections that you have made with the adults at at your schools um and how they have been so supportive to you and I think that's a great message for all students to know is if you come to school I think that you'll have the opportunity to be amazed if you're open to it that there are many many many adults that care so much about your education your well-being um your ability to thrive and and uh engage in your passions and and do everything you need to do to to move forward to success in life um so the it's really important um to come to school every day for academics mental health Athletics you name it you know we have it and we're offering it so um please come to school and speaking of coming to school I attended the Vanguard um sack meeting last night and and while it was a little strange I have to say not to have Mr Carlile as the principal anymore after six years uh please know sir that uh principal Wade is building on your success and it was it was a great meeting and I just thought it was was wonderful to hear how the laser focus continues on on all students success you know there's there are students at Vanguard that are very motivated you know with our magnet programs and and IB um and then we have you know kids typical kids from the typical neighborhood and I just love the the global focus and and how that's continuing and I also again it seem to be a common thing this time around I mean Vanguard missed getting a b by by one point so many other schools missed that next highest school grade by by one point you know um so so they'll say it's not a competition but it's a competition and and everybody is just redoubling their efforts to say uhuh that's not GNA happen two years in a row next year it's going to be we made it not just by one point but hopefully by 20 um so it was a very up uplifting meeting and um definitely continues to be my pleasure to uh represent Vanguard High School um thank you attorney powers for mentioning that our policies reviews um will hopefully begin in October you had mentioned that several months ago um there's so much background and back office work that has to happen before they begin to come to us for consideration so it it's laborious but it's necessary and I'm proud of this board um thank you uh board member Campbell you know for for taking the lead on this you know all of the cleanup all of the all of the the work to elevate Us in every way um continues um I did see an ad today and I don't know if it's going out on social media hopefully it will uh we are continuing to look for temporary bus drivers so uh there are some folks that are retired and may want to pick up you know a few hours here and there so uh please uh keep that in mind as as a possibility um trying to think of what else I had uh I will say that again tonight has been um a robust meeting with a lot of celebrations and a lot of of deep conversation um regardless of how any vote goes I am convinced that everyone on this board you know in the end wants to see uh student safety Student Success um meeting our deadlines on time and also uh being willing to you know look at situations and evaluate them and and then move forward part of the rational for my no vote tonight was that I still wasn't 100% clear I I know that that sub um really dropped the ball and and they're being penalized for that as as for the rest of it it was I just didn't feel comfortable so so that was my vote but that doesn't mean for a second that and I think everyone knows this but I just wanted to reiterate you know that that we're all about making things right at every school every day so I appreciate the deep conversation and um I'll finish with that for tonight so if there's nothing else for the good of the cause I will entertain a motion to adjourn to Jour what just for the the interlocal meeting is a public meeting isn't it yes and it's been everything and you just confirm the location in time just in case any of the Community member wants to come yes I think it's at 9:00 am it's at 9:00 am and it is on um Friday I believe every day is different sorry to put you on a spot oh not at all I don't mind for the technical working yes it's I always I thought this was pretty cool it's Friday the 13th yay 9:00 a.m. and it is here at MTI and it is in building 1 room 17 awesome thank you very much yes and I believe snacks will be provided all right uh so I think I heard a motion by yes board member Campbell and I need a second second okay second by board member Cummings all those in favor say hi hi motion passes un 5 thank you everyone we are adjourned at 7:42 p.m. [Music] [Music] --------- ##VIDEO ID:jtg89mqRUzo## [Music] [Music] good afternoon everyone the September 10th 2024 special meeting of the Maran County Schoolboard is called to order mirroring and modeling the way our students begin each day I ask that we observe a moment of silence at this time please join me thank you I'll now go ahead and read our board commitment statement 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 we must demonstrate respect confront reality and be accountable we will always put students first and we will leave a legacy of success for the courtesy of of those listening to the meeting I'm requesting everyone in the audience to please remove their hats and turn off their electronic devices or put them on vibrate for clerk please call the rooll Dr Allison Campbell district one here Mrs Lorie Conrad District Two here Mr Eric Cummings District 3 here Mrs Nancy thrower District Four here Dr Sarah James District 5 here Dr Diane gullet superintendent here Mr Jeremy Power School Board attorney here thank you please stand for the pledge pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all this point I'll hand it over to Dr gullet good afternoon Dr gullet good evening Madame chair members of the board I recommend approval of the agenda for the September 10th 2024 school board meeting special Schoolboard 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 thank you thank you may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation please so move second move by board member Cummings seconded by Vice chair Conrad all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z Miss Martinez again please provide the proof of publication the notice for the September 10th 2024 special board meeting was published in the Ocala Gazette on August 30th 2024 proof of publication has been attached in board dos under proof of publication thank you the purpose of this meeting is to hold public hearings on the final millages and budget for the 2024 2025 fiscal year the budget process involves public hearings to be held in the following order a rolled back rate computation and tentative budget amended to conform to final budget b resolution determining revenues and millages levied resolution number 23-7 and C resolution adopting the final budget which is resolution 23-8 if you wish to address the board regarding one of the public hearings there is a special form to be completed on which you will need to select the appropriate areas of concern I now recognize our Schoolboard attorney to address the rules governing this special budget meeting good good afternoon attorney Powers thank you in compliance with Section 2860 one14 of Florida Statutes the school board has adopted uniform procedures for public speakers who wish to speak at this evening's meeting either regarding one of today's agenda items or a matter relating to the operations of the school district these procedures will ensure the public has a reasonable opportunity to be heard on school board and School District matters a written summary of these procedures is located in the table on 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 5:00 p.m. this evening speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of receipt by the school board clerk before you begin speaking please State your full name for the record 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 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 strictly prohibited pursuant to the procedures for public comments item six speakers are not to identify specific individuals other than themselves or their child unless the statement is provided 24 hours in advance the board is here to listen to your comments only he may be direct ired to an administrative staff member following the conclusion of any comments for further assistance to address your concerns if there are model matters dealing with student discipline including expulsions they'll be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of the regular meeting parents May address the board regarding a discipline matter at that time to ensure student privacy only a parent or Guardian may use a student's first or last name identifying references to or identification of other students or the families are strictly prohibited a speaker's speech does not reflect the endorsement sponsorship position or expression of the school district thank you for your attention to the board's requirements Madam chair that concludes my explanatory remarks thank you attorney Powers Miss Martinez do we have any speakers this afternoon no Madam chair thank you all right we will begin with resolutions before proceeding with fiscal year 2024 2025 budget hearings we need to finalize the fiscal year 23 2024 budget may I have a motion to approve final budget resolution number 10 for the fiscal year 2023 2024 motion to approve second who was that oh thank you motion by board member James second by Vice chair Conrad is there any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z I have a mtion motion to approve the monthly financial report for year ending June 2024 motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second we'll go with second by board member Campbell is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z the chair now recognizes superintendent gullet to begin the budget public hearing process thank you madam chair the total millage to be levied is greater than the rolled back rate by 3.80% the required local effort millage rate is greater than the roll back rate by 1.86% each School Board participating in the state allocation of funds for the current operation of schools must Levy the millage set for its required local effort from property taxes as a result of the work sessions we held with the board since the adoption of the tentative budget of 1 b323 million $493,500 of 2024 the following changes have been made and have been Incorporated excuse me into the proposed final budget and they are as follows major changes include a net increase or decrease in Revenue due to the following under general fund operating Maran Technical College Workforce Development grant school activity fees and transfers from capital projects for portable leases under the category of adult education we have Marian Technical College Workforce Development Grant and special Revenue other and then the third category is special Revenue federal state and local grants which includes new end carryover grants we also have net increase and decrease in expenditures due to the following reasons and categories under general fund operating we have net change in the Staffing plan alternative education contracted service property casualty insurance premiums portable classroom lease Maran Technical College Workforce Development Grant and carryover for categoricals under the category of general fund adult education we have the following changes net change in the Staffing plan and Mary and Technical College Workforce Development Grant under the category of general fund referendum we have a net change in the Staffing plan under capital projects we have remodeling renovation and new construction as well as motor vehicles and carryover projects under special Revenue Food Services we have a net change in the Staffing plan and additional food costs and then under the category of special Revenue other we have new end carryover grants changes in the fund balance are due to the following actual revenue and expenditures recorded in July for the prior fiscal school year the following attachments have been added to the rolled back computation there are four items here the memo changes from tentative to final budget the second is certification and compliance the third is the public hearing certification and the final in the fourth is fiscal year 2024 2025 final budget publication which is to be published on Marian County public website on September 11th that's tomorrow 2024 thank you thank you Dr goet may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation that the board amend the adopted tenative budget to conform to the proposed final budget for fiscal year 2024 2025 so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell this is a public hearing does anyone wish to address the board concerning the roll back rate Andor the amended tenative budget think you already shared we don't have any speakers tonight Miss Martinez it's correct thank you any discussion from the board hearing and seeing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z Dr gullet thank you madam chair members of the board the school board of Maran County Florida proposes is a total millage rate of 6.32 3 which is greater than the rolled back rate of 6.09 one4 Mills by 3.80% I recommend the board adopt resolution 24-7 determining revenue and millages to be levied for fiscal year 2024 2025 thank you Dr goet may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation that the board adopt resolution 24- 07 determining revenues and millages levied for fiscal year 2024 2025 motion to approve motion by board member James second second by board member Campbell this is a public hearing does anyone wish to address the board concerning the millages I understand we have no green forms that were turned in so we'll turn it over for the board for any discussion any discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z Dr goet thank you again Madame chair members of the board I recommend the board adopt resolution 24-8 affirming the final budget for fiscal year 2024 2025 in the amount of 1 billion 335 milon $838,000 thank you Dr gullet may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation that the board adopt resolution 24-8 affirming the final budget for fiscal year 2024 2025 in the amount of 1 Bill 335 mil8 38,9 may I have a motion please motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad I second by board member James this is a public hearing does anyone wish to address the board concerning the final budget again I understand that no green forms were turned in so we'll take it to the board for discussion any discussion from the board hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5- Z thank you we'll move on to our last item and I have a motion to acknowledge receipt and approve the annual financial report for fiscal year ending June 30th 2024 motion to approve motion by board member James second second second by Vice chair Conrad sorry board member comings any discussion from the board hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero we will move on to board committee reports and concerns any board committee reports and concerns at this point before our next meeting okay seeing and hearing none everybody good attorney Powers nothing further okay board clerk no ma'am okay thank you Miss Martinez all right there being no further business to discuss may I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 0 we are adjourned at 5:116 p.m. thank [Music] you e