##VIDEO ID:wRsVE-B9lKc## e [Music] good evening everyone the November 12th 20124 meeting of the Maran County School Board is called to order at 5:30 p.m. 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 meing we are I'll Now read our board commitment statement we are the Maring County School District leadership team when we come together to work we are efficient effective and productive our three most important characteristics are dedicated transparent and individually responsible to work well together we must demonstrate respect confront reality and be accountable we will always put students first and we will leave a legacy of success for the courtesy of those listening to the meeting I am 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 5 minutes and are televised if you wish to address the board regarding a regular agenda item or matters on which the board customarily takes action you must first complete a peach form located in the lobby if you wish to address the board regarding a public hearing or a student discipline matter please complete a lime green form these forms must be fully completed and received by the board clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. the procedures applicable for for each are on a separate sheet good evening board clerk please call the role Dr Campbell district one here here here here here Vanguard school here here scho here thank you and good evening Dr please introduce the member of your staff who will provide us with the inspiration and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance this evening good evening Madam chair members of the board as you know my voice is still struggling a bit but it's my pleasure to be here tonight introduce Mr Carlile with somebody very special that sits up here with your board um for tonight's inspiration and pledge thank you evening board chair no good evening board chair thrower School Board you're not on oh that sounds promising test test test test test we have an extra there's always fix it's board rep there's always an accommodation yes good evening board chair thrower school board members superintendent Dr gullet coming off a great Veterans Day ceremony yesterday we thought it was timely to have a member of one of our outstanding jotc units join us tonight for our inspiration and pledge with me here I have our student School Board representative Sanjay cark from Vanguard High School sanj's here I want to we're just going to start pling now briefly introduce him sanj is currently a senior at Vanguard High School in the IB Program where he has a perfect 5.0 GPA sanj has been an active member of the Vanguard Navy jotc for three and a half years and he currently serves as the Battalion commanding officer and Color Guard team Commander sanj represented Maran County as the Sunshine State scholar during his junior year and has also participated in the Yale young Global Scholars program and the US Air Force Academy's summer seminar it is my honor to introduce you to Sanjay cark thank you good evening board members and um Dr gullet so before I start the inspiration speech I just want to give a piece of advice to any students listening in um to always take up every opportunity that comes your way because you might regret it if you don't do so and jrtc was one of those experiences that I definitely would have regretted if I had not taken advantage of jrtc is more than just a class it is more than just a feeder into the military ultimately it is a program that Fosters the highest level of values within its students I have had the opportunity to serve as the commanding officer of the kns Battalion having the responsibility of turning over 200 students into Cadets ones of character leadership and Excellence being the product of the co era I entered High School feeling isolated from my school environment and peers opening the door to the jrtc classroom was like opening the door to challenge and opportunity never holding a gun I joined the Air Rifle Team never being able to run far I joined the orientering team through these Pursuits I learned what it means to be on a team I also recognize the value of serving my community watching the smiles of children and Veterans alike inspired me to live a life of selfless service for these Reasons I'm currently applying to the United States Air Force Academy to take what I learned as a Cadet and serve my country as I close the door to the jrtc classroom I'll never forget the experiences and opportunities I gained thank you now would everyone please kindly stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please be seated thank you sanj I'm going to ask Sanjay to remain here at the podium for a moment and I'd like to introduce the senior Naval Sciences instructor at Vanguard High School Commander Steven Davis to come up for a special recognition you didn't know about this tonight we would like to share the presentation of a very special award from the Legion of Valor the Legion of Valor of the United States is an organization composed of Medal of Honor distinguished service cross Navy cross and Air Force Cross award recipients annually Navy Jor jrc senior instructors May nominate one Cadet from their unit to the area manager for the Legion of Valor bronze cross the area manager will then select the two most deserving Cadets from all of his units and forward their nominations of the chain of command once approved the selected Cadets are presented with the Legion of valer bronze cross to recognize achievement of AC academic excellence in Naval science and academic subjects and to stimulate development of leadership this year we're proud to recognize vanguard's Cadet com Commander Sanjay carthi with the Legion of Valor bronze cross [Applause] it's well deserved my goodness Sanjay please stay right there we're going to come down and and take a picture with you and and before we do that I heard you say you know as a as a covid kid and needing to step outside your comfort zone you know when opportunity presented itself and because of that courage uh look at what you have have accomplished getting nominated is is one thing but but actually being selected for the Legion of Valor bronze cross puts you in very elite company and and thank you for the example that you're setting not only for other students and obviously your very proud family but for the whole Community as to what can happen when you step outside your comfort zone and and just do and go where you're being led so congratulations again on behalf of this whole school board and we're going to come down and take a picture with you if that's [Applause] okay for e and we sure continue to be honored to have you as one of our student board Representatives thank you all right Dr gullet I think that we have h two different recognitions to share this evening we do thank you board the first I would have Kathy aie come forward from Career and Technical education department we have some very special guests here and some folks from our amazing team you can see in the front row board and she's going to introduce uh the Okala film Derby winners and the winning video and I want to thank our teachers for all their hardworking making that event possible so thank you good evening good evening chair thrower Vice chair Conrad board members and superintendent Dr golet tonight I'm honored to recognize some of the students and leaders that participated in the second annual Okala film Derby during the film Derby students from our middle and high school digital video programs participate in film workshops including leadership sessions acting courses and received internships from leaders within the film industry this year students were also able to attend a private screening of Tony fak's film Ezra with a question and answer session with Tony himself the film culminates in students being assigned to teams with students from different schools and given only 9 hours to create a film for a competition students are given three things they must have in their video one is a line of do dialogue um which this year was why you have to say it like that a prop which was a red Stanley and a location they must include in their venue which this year was the horses downtown the films are judged and then actually played at the Maran theater for their families and for community members tonight I have a few different people to recognize um first we're going to watch the winning video from the team the unknown artist everything just seems like it's falling apart my mom's been getting worse and [Music] [Laughter] worse these bills they're piling up and here I am still jobless unable to help my [Music] [Laughter] [Music] mom my dad what's this deal cutting me off and making me get this stupid job [Music] I bet if my little sister was still here they never would even thought of doing this to me [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] this place is definitely a last resort what's the [Laughter] [Music] point um excuse me um my name is Ry and I was wondering if I maybe get a job application here sorry where we're not hiring but I do know a place that is if you'd be interested I'd like to take you there later all right that that' be great all right well meet me in the square in like 30 minutes uh by the horse all right also what's your name Lola okay [Music] nice he's so driven I wish I had the motivation like him she's so full of Hope [Laughter] hi Riley oh hi Lola you're a Stanley girl why did you have to say it like that well you seem so like well put together it seems like you have it all far from it actually but um you ready to go job searching sure um first place I was thinking of was actually Grandpa Joe's candy shop a candy shop yeah me and my sister used to go there all the time well yeah anyways let's hit it all right let's go yeah I don't know it's kind of chaotic in here hey look at this place we'll enjoy it imagine all the little kids running around just hey hey hey this is a job you need this go get him tiger all [Music] right um excuse me do you think I can get a job application of course I hope we set you up some energy right now that that would be great awesome [Music] [Music] hello yes yeah I got the [Applause] job and they were all giggling early CU I announced their team name wrong apparently they were team love works is that right no so it was the unknown artist okay so um now we're going to recognize the members of that team and then we have two other groups to recognize after that um from biew high school we have Jonathan [Applause] ancrum from DaNell and middle Cheyenne O'Neal from Forest High Kelvin Nar Riviera Cruz from North Maran High Reese [Applause] Courtright from Vanguard toia Parker from Westport Alysa shimborski and then I'd also like to recognize their team Mentor Brian Reed and the teachers that assisted with their team Joy Avery from oila and Travis Bennett from Lake Weare High [Applause] and then if you guys want to stay up there we have a couple more groups um we have another student from the film Derby to recognize tonight for the first time the film Derby gave out scholarships to some of the participating seniors and it was really interesting the way they chose the scholarship winners was the students participating in the derby actually rid the seniors on their leadership skills and the things they saw during the Derby and they actually chose the scholarship recipients themselves so um tonight I'm excited to announce the lead scholarship winner that was from High School Harper Bowman and she received a $6,000 scholarship from the Derby that's awesome lastly I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the team of individuals who worked tirelessly for well over a year to put this event together for students first I'd like to recognize Miss Lori zinc who created and leavs this event for [Applause] us and then i' read to recognize her team um the film Derby committee who is consistent of teachers and also members of the film industry here in um Marian County so tonight we have Mike Palma Andrew Andrew Opitz David guest Marsha dobin [Applause] Meer Aon Conrad Frank Gallagher and Travis Bennett so this is a truly amazing event if you guys haven't been out to see it I highly encourage you to come watch the videos next year at the Marian theater with us and um I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who puts this event together for our students and a congratulations to the winning team here [Applause] here yes so much thanks to to everyone and what an incredible team effort I it just must have been really fun you worked with other students that maybe you had never met before is that right yes and so just what that takes in terms of uh you know bonding with each other and learning each other's creativity and and their comfort zones and how willing they are to step outside of them you know just just all of those things and and then having the film Derby being screened at the Maran Theater which is so historic and and a huge part of of vocal and the adults um that are so committed to the the kids via this project and and the scholarship money being earned it's just incredible all the way around and and I can only imagine how proud your families are of you and and everyone that has has supported you and it'll be kind of interesting to follow your your path and see if they take you you know into the film industry and and so many opportunities so thank you so much for coming before us tonight giving us a chance to honor and congratulate you and we definitely want to come down and take a picture Miss zinc was there anything else you wanted to to add I would you could come over to go over to the microphone real quick y you're just such a catalyst I just think we would be really remiss in not recognizing our uh Community mentors who are not here with us tonight because we've had every team had a mentor that was from a local business that is in the video or digital media visit business um we also want to th thank all the sponsors that came together both scholarship sponsors and all the sponsors who helped us I mean this is a five-day event that we're taking care of 88 kids um so uh and I also want to recognize our downtown and all the um Proprietors and all the people oala Main Street and everyone who really helped put this together I mean it's a it's a huge effort and it truly is a a community effort big Community effort and we so appreciate uh the school system coming together and um seeing how important this is and being a very um big part of us as we grow so thank you very much thanks everybody thank you the network of support from the community is always a win for kids so we will come down and take a picture with you all right here we go and one two three couple more you got yours moms and dads yes y can come up front [Applause] okay e great stuff yeah all right I think we have one more recognition right Dr gullet we do I just want to add if I could Madam chair that that seeing that in action is really a model program the work that happens and the engagement of the students in the community um I thinked Lori before and thank the teachers but the students are so talented they were getting recruited for jobs while we were there so uh no surprise um so the final recognition board for tonight are in addition our amazing students we have amazing talent in our in our midst and so I'm pleased to introduce two new team members and I'll have them stand when I announce their names so the first um I am pleased to introduce Dr Ana Brockington Ana Brockington who is our new director of talent management to give you some background she previously served um at the University of Washington in Seattle she was responsible for talent acquisition Employee Engagement and Learning and Development and before that she spent 18 years with as the director for recruitment retention and compliance with P County Public Schools so we are very pleased to welcome Dr Brockington to our team yes welcome and glad to have you on board and our next announcement and welcome tonight goes to our new assistant principal at Anthony Elementary School Dr Joyce Scott Dr Scott previously served as a Content area specialist at ellan elementary school we wish her congratulations welcome to our team members yes thank you and and welcome Dr Scott you're a thorad now okay well we will move into the recognition um not recognition the donation portion of our agenda and we always graciously acknowledge the following donations that are made to benefit our schools students and staff members including $225,000 to North Maran High School from the St Bernard Foundation Incorporated to be used at the principal's discretion to support students faculty and staff $10,000 to bellw high school from Triple Crown Homes to be used to improve and update the athletic fields courts equipment scoreboards and Facilities $5,500 to reic Coler Elementary School from Edwin and Stephanie Waters to be used to purchase May on for Reddit Coler Elementary School for the 2024 2025 school year and finally last but not least $393 41 to Hillcrest School from rack Room Shoes to be used to purchase shoes and socks for Hill Crest students as a part of the shoes that fit program and we just continue to be so grateful for the community support all days always thank you all right Dr gullet um would you please make a recommendation on this evening Schoolboard meeting agenda certainly happy to I recommend approval of the agenda for the November 12th 2024 school board meeting with the materials in the board packet those materials distributed to board members at the meeting and the audio recording included as part of the official record of the meeting with the exception of the following items d 26.1 d 26.2 d 26.3 d 26.4 d 26.5 d 26.6 d 26.7 d 26.8 d26 .9 D 2610 d261 and D 26.12 that have been placed under discussion as well as C 23.1 that has been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items thank you thank you Dr gullet may I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation so move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad all those in favor favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the October 17th 2024 special school board meeting motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the October 17th administrative briefing and work session so move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the October 22nd 2024 school board meeting motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by board member Cummings are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero Miss Martinez would you please provide the proof of publication for tonight's Schoolboard meeting November 122 school meeting ran on November 1st we're having a hard time hearing you yeah we can't hear you well you need to speak into the microphone is it on it's not working okay the notice for the November 12th 2024 school board meeting ran in the Okala Gazette on November 1st 2024 the proof of publication has been attached in board Ducks under proof of publication thank you all right I'll now ask the school board's attorney to explain the rules governing persons who wish to address the school board this evening good evening attorney Powers good evening and thank you in compliance with Section 286 0114 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 are available from the table in the lobby public speaker forms are also located on the same table the completed forms were due to the school board's clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. this evening speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of receipt by the school board clerk before you begin speaking please State your full name for the record and spell your last name each speaker will have five minutes of time however if there are more than five persons who wish to speak the board May seek consensus to limit each speaker's time to 3 minutes when the speaker has one minute remaining the speaker will receive a visual notice to complete his or her comments speakers may not yield their time to other people speakers and meeting attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner therefore verbal attacks and profanity are strictly prohibited pursuant to the procedures for public comments item six speakers are not to identify specific individuals other than themselves or their child unless the statement is provided 24 hours in advance the board is here to listen to your comments only you may be directed to an administrative staff member following the conclusion of your comments for further assistance to address your concerns if there are matters dealing with student discipline including expulsions they will be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting parents May address the board regarding a discipline matter at that time to ensure student privacy only a parent or Guardian may use the student's first or last name identifying references to or identification of other students or their families is also strictly prohibited a speaker's speech does not reflect the endorsement sponsorship position or expression of the school district thank you for your attention to the board's requirements Madam chair that concludes my explanatory remarks thank you attorney Powers Miss Martinez do we have any speakers this evening yes Madam chair Mr John Nicholson good evening sir good afternoon board um my name is John Nicholson last name is n i c h o l s o n this is my son Joshua um there's something really going wrong with Joshua inside Howard Middle School it's really frustrating it's really hard to communicate so I wrote it down this way I can try to take the emotion out of it and be respectful and follow your rules so these are my thoughts the relationship between Educators and students in the is the Cornerstone of a productive learning environment particularly during the formative years of kindergarten to 12th grade education trust is Paramount not only that the students who are navigating their academic and social Landscapes but also for the parents who want to ensure that their childrens are treated with fairness and compassion unfortunately my experience with the at Howard Middle School has raised serious concerns about this trust particularly in the light of the recent disciplinary action taken against my son it is essential to address these concerns and Advocate to for an educational climate that forcers respect understanding and Justice trust in this contest is a two-way street young teenagers are at a critical stage in their development where they learn to navigate their ACC complex social interactions and consequences of their actions they need to believe that their educators are acting in their best interest treating them with care and understanding and providing them with a safe environment in which to learn and grow simultanously parents must trust their Educators with uphold standards of discipline equality and judiciously when this trust is compromised the entire educational experience is jeopardized the incident inv and my son who allegedly altered a purist paper underscores a significant misalignment between the administration's approach and the principles of fairness of progressive discipline which is outlined in a student coded conduct the consequences my son faced one day of in school suspension arose from an interaction that at it at worse was a misguided joke not a serious offense the label of 2A in appropriate behavior seems to be misop not only by the nature of my son's actions but the context in which they occurred it is essential to recognize that the application of disciplinary measures must reflect be reflective of the actual Behavior exhibited rather than a rigid adherence to punitive protocols it is evident that the infraction reported by a teacher is incomplete and floored notably the first intervention lacked any Det details leaving us without crucial information about what occurred and what steps were taken to prevent the reoccurrence of the behavior as a parent I require transparency and Clarity to understand the specific actions I need to address at home the absence of information undermines the the collaborative effort that is essential for Effective Behavior correction furthermore the report appears to contain fraudulent information as it contradicts evidence from the school Skyward system and my son's account for instance there was no test on October 17th the day this teacher alleged that my son was talking during during a test this discrepancy raises questions about credibility of their report my son recalls signing the report only after this teacher stated after the teacher stated that he was kicked out of the classroom claimed that another student was giv him hand sign interestingly Joshua stated that the other student was making sexual juses which occurred on a different date than the one cited on his report such inconsistencies in his document suggest troubling patterns of misrepresentation and bias against my son additionally Joshua recently reported another negative interaction with his teacher today during teacher state that Joshua put a Nazi symbol on his hand this accusation is unfounded and easily disproven as the pen markings on his hands tell a different story the fact that I felt compelled to check him out of school early without his prior knowledge speaks of biomes about the distress he's experienced in this environment regarding to the second intervention while it is inconsistent in Flor it stated that J well messed that one up but it's okay it's the same thing about him talking at a test when there was no test that day so they were misrepresenting my son to have inappropriate behavior or or um negative behavior panents which they have no report they send me this classroom report your time is expired oh I'm so sorry sir I just need to have this addressed I'm going to I'm going to end this right here but I just need somebody to help me to address this situation I try to address it at the school and it seems like things are becoming more retaliatory against and I'm lost at words and I have no Direction that's all I have to say I'm sorry for taking so much time not at all thank you sir and appreciate you bringing your concerns to us um Dr G is there a member of staff that may be able to assist what Miss Kinder will be able to discuss things with you forward thank you Mr David Williamson good evening good evening David Williamson w l l i a m s o n I'm here on behalf of the Central Florida free thought Community also serve on the board of directors of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida and on the commission for Religious Freedom of Central Florida I want to again express my thanks to you for addressing the uh policy on volunteers at the last meeting first it meant a lot to me to be home8 hours later and see you here still talking and me being gone so much gratitude for that um and and to the time you spent to discuss the issues that you yourselves had and that the community expressed um you're definitely not heading into this uh chaplain policy considerations unprepared uh we all want the very best for Maran County students and we all want to provide the best resources available to them to achieve success and make decisions with their interests and their safety in mind the reason we've never before seriously talked about allowing clergy members into public schools is because it has been and remains fraught with complications and I fully expect the first Florida school district that implements this policy to have to defend that decision in court Governor disantis the legislators that sponsored the bill and those that voted for it they won't be in court and they won't be in depositions and they won't have to write a check that covers the cost of that litigation but how do we as lay person know that this practice is unconstitutional of having religious clergy members on campus outside of the extensive case law that is well first if it wasn't unconstitutional clergy would already be there if it were permissible under the law there would already be religious chaplain roaming the halls of public schools around the country free to have private one-on-one conversations about religion in offices paid for by the public school system no one has done this yet because they can't not because they don't want to and not because there wasn't a state law state laws don't Trump the Constitution of the United States or even a state's own constitution in fact state laws often run a foul of the state's own Constitution it's for the courts to work out and that will be the case in this instance as well it's unclear to me why your attorneys that you confide in aren't advising against this or if they are advising against it in private why you're going ahead with it it is clear though why virtually no other school board is even discussing it only two have spoken of it at meetings Miami Dade hasn't talked about it since May and aola voted three times not to do it as recently as last month your attorneys are giving you good advice about why you not should not pick and choose your chaplain and that's a concern that several of you had at the work session two weeks ago chaplain who app apply will have no training no certification no qualifications and don't even need to be a member of clergy everyone volunteering right now on mcps campuses is eligible to be a chaplain as is anyone who can pass an instate only name only criminal background and employment history check no fingerprints please correct me if I'm wrong about that no Seminary training no chaplain certification not even an online hourlong course is needed in fact these volunteers religious or not Christian or not can claim any religion they like in fact the way in the door and to ensure parents give permission is just to claim to be a Christian chaplain your superintendent says staff aren't qualified to determine training your attorney advised against making decisions as to whether someone's religion or worldview is appropriate for one-on-one contact with students either anybody and everybody who wants to be a chaplain is or you don't approve any applicants by not having a chaplain program I hope you'll choose the latter because that's the solution that best serves mcps students and keeps them safe thank you thank you s Miss Martinez Cassie Rivera good evening good evening good evening board my name is Casey Rivera former assistant principal at Fort King Middle School my last day being October 25th I come before the board today with much disappointment in decisions being made within our district I was raised in Maring County and I'm a product of the very system I worked for for 12 years I started off as a substitute in 2012 and became a teacher in 2014 teaching for 5 years before moving into the content are specialist role for 2 years Dean for 2 years and now I just ended what would have been my second year as an assistant principal over discipline just over a year and a half ago I sat before a final interview panel to become assistant principal and was asked by superintendent gullet something along the lines of do you have what it takes to always do what's in the best interest for children no matter the cost I knew without a doubt I could confidently say yes even though I've made the hard decision to resign I'm here today to Advocate one last time for the best interest of our children in Maring County especially at Fort King just last year as I sat as a new AP over discipline at a very high need school with three brand new Deans and only two counselors I knew we had a task to conquer the very large task of turning the discipline the student discipline around I immediately started diving into the discipline data some very scary and concerning data in my opinion some of the highest and most dangerous in the district at that time the same uh data that was a direct result of having only two deans on their Staffing plan the years prior with the extra support last year we developed a strategic plan for each of the three Deans put structures in place set up mobile offices in the hallways taught and retaught expectations held students accountable rewarded students through well um who did well through PBIS and built strong relationships through restorative practices two of my Deans even wrote a grant called rolling for success in which every walking child would have the opportunity to rent a bike and then earn it through good attendance because of all of this our discipline data dropped tremendously students were beginning to trust adults and and we saw a difference in the culture of our school but our work wasn't done we came into this year with fire in our hearts to continue to make a difference even if it took exhausting days to feel the impact with one of the highest number of ese units in the district with students having individualized education plans and behavior plans and being under State watch for our ESC Essa group we knew we had to come up with an even more targeted plan unfortunately we started the school year with no Behavior Specialists only half of our self-contained classroom staff of certified teachers and no plan from the district on where we send ESC and 504 students under the 10day rule for level three and four incidents when awaiting manifest meetings even with three Deans and two Behavior texts on our day on on our campus our days were long and tiring just over a month ago I received a phone call stating we would be losing four instructional units one being a Dean's position duing to lack of enrollment we didn't meet the numbers the district anticipated so two months into the school year we'd be losing a Dean's position being the assistant principal of her discipline this directly impacts my team and our daily work life but those that made that this this fairly large decision never took the time to discuss what that would even look like and how much it would would in fact negatively impact our school and culture with all of us already worn thin vital resources were stripped away overnight even when clearly the needs were higher than the numbers yet we were still expected to maintain the same number and intensity of discipline incidents occurring on a daily basis our Fort King Middle School students and staff deserve the support and resources to continue the tremendous growth I've seen in just the one year I was blessed to serve Fort King but it takes human resources in my opinion they need three Deans and three counselors to properly serve the Fort King student population but taking one Dean may not seem like a lot to people who don't live the life of discipline in a high needs environment nor have I seen on Fort King's campus quite frankly to even experience it in the year or so that I was there but to us it's like losing a pillar to our foundation that we took a whole year year to build just for it to be torn away because our enrollment numbers didn't meet a certain standardized guideline which I believe is one Dean per 500 kids and then to be told that our district doesn't have any additional funding to help keep our Dean position at Fort King but yet we receive an email Days Later stating the district miraculous has money and will be Prov providing stiens to recruit and retain the best administrators whose School assignments meet certain criteria again unfair and inequitably designed with no input from administrators but that's for another day just Note Fort King was not on any of those lists if the purposes to retain shouldn't we be offering all of our proposed ipens to all of our current administrators or we only looking to retain certain ones but I digress furthermore the numbers that we need to be analyzing should be money and how we can allocate funding more effectively and equitably to support the needs of our schools on an individualized basis then we may see change we are school choice District it's not Equitable to allow privileged families who can provide transportation for their students to choose to have their students attend what they might perceive as the best school across town and then push all of our money and resources into that one school because their enrollment is the highest their numbers may be higher but their needs may not if we're asking our teachers to differentiate for our students I would charge our district to differentiate for our schools and that starts with funding allocations based on criteria Beyond just basic enrollment numbers our students are not just numbers I'll end by asking the board do you have what it takes to do what's in the best interest for our Maring County Public School students no matter the cost we must consider their needs before their numbers I appreciate your time thank you thank you thank you for coming Dr gullet um I would just like to request as the board member that represents Fort King Middle School um for one of the area superintendents that is assigned to that school have additional conversation with principal Carter just to get an update on where we are with that school and and ensure that they have uh what's needed with these changes took a long way you know a lot of work to get to where we were last year and certainly want to see that success continue so thank you for that any other speakers no Madam chair okay thank you um we will move on to our public hearing portion may I have a motion to approve the resoning for new elementary schools W and x a move move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell Dr gullet thank you the resoning for new elementary schools W and X will best serve students educational needs and align the numbers of students with facility capacity to be in compliance with Florida statute 100014 one thank you thank you I declare a public hearing is there anyone present who wishes to address the rezoning of new elementary schools W and X hearing and seeing none is there any discussion from the board hearing and seeing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor of the rezoning for new elementary schools W and X say I I I those oppos nay motion passes unanimously 5 moving on to informational items the school district uses a construction management delivery method including a guaranteed maximum price known as GMP to perform construction work on the following projects to allow the district to purchase materials through the owner direct purchase OPD process to save sales tax the construction manager needs to return the funds to the owner via deductive change order 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 will be in her judgment in the best interest of the board such change orders will be binding upon execution by the superintend endent the superintendent shall report each change order that she approved to the board at the board meeting that follows her approval for approval of the change orders will be entered into the official minutes of the board meeting we'll go on to item 10.1 guaranteed maximum price for Oola Middle School New gymnasium change order number two amendment number one project 24-19 the next next one is replacement of roofs at buildings 18 and 24 at North Marian High School change order number one work authorization number8 project 24125 item number 10.3 temporary easement associated with construction of new Elementary School X for installation of water and sewer lines project number 24-12 the construction of new Elementary School a X requires the connection of water and sewer lines in the future RightWay of the new road being construction by being constructed by KL Winding Oaks company this temporary construction easement allows the contractor to have access to the area to make the necessary installation and connection for the needed water and sewer line the easement will expire on December 31st 2026 or when a permanent rideway or easement is recorded in the final plaque okay moving on to our consent agenda may I have a motion to approve consent agenda items c2.1 through C 23.1 with the exception of items d261 D 26.2 d 26.3 d 26.4 d 26.5 d 26.6 d 26.7 d 26.8 8 d 26.9 d 2610 D 2611 and D 26.12 that have been placed under discussion and item C 23.1 that has been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items May I have a motion please motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member James all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously 5 moving on to student disciplinary matters before addressing expulsion matters I wish to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement list for students through October 4th 2024 Miss Martinez are there any parents who have submitted a timely request to speak on their child's disciplinary matter no Madam chair thank you may I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD 25-37 JD 25- 071 e JD 25- 076 and JD 25- 077 without services for the remainder of the 2024 2025 school year and the first quarter of the 2025 2026 school year motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second was that board member Campbell thank you second by board member Campbell all those in favor say I um discussion do we not discuss it before we talk about it or should I have pulled it to discussion because I'm not voting on it so I have a motion second and vote okay that's my I overlooked that if I needed to pull it to discussion to be able to say that I'm not voting on the item that's fine well let's go ahead and discuss okay I just have a brief statement so as a board member I've been requesting a more sufficient Progressive discipline plan that consistently outlines how a student will be disciplined for offenses that are of the caliber to deserve expulsion without Services until I receive that consistent discipline Progressive plan I will be refraining from voting on students without Services expulsions okay all right um any other discussion from the board hearing and seeing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay and the motion passes 4 one with board member James abstaining to zero four to zero with board member James abstaining sorry about that all right may I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD 25-0 63e JD 25- 066 e JD 25- 067 e JD 25- 068 JD 25- 069 JD 25-70 JD 25- 072 JD 25- 074 JD 25-75 with services for the remainder of the 2024 2025 school year and the first quarter of the 2025 2026 school year may I have a motion motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 z may I have a motion to approve the Grant application Early Childhood music education incentive program this is our first discussion item moved by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes thank thank you madam chair members of the board the cost for this item should you approve is 16,800 and Miss rle is going to come forward um there she is and uh I just want to say um I want to extend my thanks to Senator Keith Perry who has been a true leader we appreciate his commitment to Early Childhood music education and with our students and so um Miss rle has some additional information thank you thank you good evening Miss rle the early childhood music education incentive program established by Senator Keith Perry was created to assist participating school districts in implementing and supporting comprehensive music education programs for students in kindergarten through 2 grade Marian County Public Schools First participated in this incentive as a pilot and continues to participate since the bill was passed in 2023 establishing the program as a permanent Statewide Grant integrating music into curriculum helps students to improve engagement language development brain development as well as fine motor skills The Early Childhood music education grant provide funds to per provides funds to purchase items such as instrument supplemental curriculum technology and professional learning for our music teachers this year participating schools include 8th Street Elementary forom Early Learning oakrest elementary Okala Springs Elementary and Reddit colier Elementary to be eligible for the grant each school's comprehensive m music program includes all students at the school enroll enrolled in grades kindergarten through grade two is staffed by a certified music educator and they agree to provide music instruction for at least 30 consecutive minutes to days per week we are very excited about this grant this year again thank you Miss appreciate that um is there any discussion from the board on this item okay hearing and seeing none just wanted to extend I don't know if uh Senator Perry has termed out and so that was bad timing because it became our agenda item after the election and it's just important to share thanks um at at that level um for the foresight and and the commitment to children and music education that Senator Perry had and I also wanted to um say thank you to his uh former Chief of Staff and former Schoolboard employee Suzanne Maguire um for for her work on this as well so if there's no further discussion we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5- Z thank you now I have a motion to approve the grant award for the Marian County Hospital District motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr you have something you would like to add regarding this item yes thank you also extending our thanks for another amazing partnership uh with the Maran County Hospital District the cost for this item board is 533,000 and Dr Brew is going to provide some additional information as we support healthy eating and fitness with our students thank you thank you good evening thank you good evening board chair thrower board members and superintendent Dr golet this evening we are requesting your approval of the $533,000 Grant award from the Maran County Hospital District that supports the continued work of our Fitness and Nutrition in schools we call them team we call them fans in our schools they increase they are helping us to increase our physical fitness opportunities improving nutrition and educating students about Healthy Lifestyles I would like to provide a couple highlights to you that the work of the fans has done this past year to support our schools fans has built a a positive and effective working relationship between food and nutrition services and our secondary agriculture teachers this past year students are now exposed to healthy colorful fresh produce grown by students in their schools the collaboration has raised awareness of healthy eating choices by putting fresh vegetables directly in the hands of students at lunchtime it this has reinforced the value of our shared Farm to school initiative itive last year was a banner year for our farm to school program every Secondary School contributed to the students and the community this year we have already crossed our goal of 50% harvesting and going into with food going into the schools cafeterias we have increased this Harvest by 34% from this time last year so we can't even imagine what it's going to be by the end of the school year in addition every middle and high school camp now has a fans club that meets after school with the support of fans teachers have also physical education teachers have also been able to measure and compare physical activity with the students overall health to make educated effective decisions when designing and implementing the fiscal education programs through elementary through the high school levels we also would like to highlight the work in the health area the health Educators Pro successfully have provided lessons on the importance of not vaping or smoking and the harmful effects on their bodies and I would like to share a few numbers with you the increase the goal last year for our fifth graders and our health educator teacher was to increase that number um with visiting the elementary schools she was able and I say she because we have one Health educator at that time Christy Dixon was able to present to 1,313 fifth grade students and shared the benefits of Healthy Lifestyles she was able to meet with 2,941 8th grade students to provide the um benefits of anti vaping and again making smart choices and she also was able to support our supportive enforcement program which is the new and improved diversion program she was able to meet with 208 students last year with the supportive enforcement program so we're thankful for the partnership like Dr gullet said with the Maran County Hospital District and we look forward to continuing our work that benefits our students thank you Dr gullet awesome um thank you and I'll just say that um when you mentioned putting fresh vegetables into the hands of every student I was thinking even if they don't know what it is because I had never heard of called Robbie before and a student actually mentioned it to me so they're learning things that certainly a lot of us weren't taught when we were in school about the importance of healthy eating so that I just thought that was pretty cool all right is there any additional discussion from the board yes please um just very excited you know fans has a great Facebook page also we can't be everywhere for every event but they do a great job of sharing the exciting and fun things that they are doing I did have a quick question on the secondary level do they work in partnership with the agricultural or is it total a two separate programs oh oh yes ma'am they work directly they're um in the Mr Chris Roy leads the horiculture side of fans and he supports all of the agriculture all the um all the shade structures all the green houses um he's very involved and supportive of the agriculture teachers fantastic thank you Dr Brewer any more discussion from the board go ahead board member Campbell just a thank you to the Marian County Hospital District because 500 plus thousand just for this project alone they they are wonderful Financial Partners for us um and just grateful for the work that they see us doing and how we align with their mission because as we're educating students on how to be healthier individuals that is going to be a long game for Hospital District to make our community healthier so great Point Bo member cel any other discussion from the board hearing none all those in favor say I I I those oppos nay motion passes unanimously 0 moving on to D 26.3 may I have a motion to approve the First Amendment between the school board of Maran County and Cambridge assessment International Education motion to approve motion by board member James second second by Vice chair Conrad and Dr G you have information you'd like to share yes thank you madam chair this item speaks uh board to one of our strategic plan priorities to increase access to rigorous courses for our students Dr hurg is here to provide some additional information uh in order to try to do that the cost of this is $900,000 thank you good evening board chair thrower board members superintendent goet um I'm here to share with you how the approvement uh or the approval of this agenda item would directly impact our schools and students and sharing some specific facts with you so Cambridge courses are offered at all high schools which provide rigorous Advanced coursework for students we currently have 33 C Cambridge courses with 6,378 enrollments in those courses it's important to also note that the district earns weighted FTE funds for each student that is enrolled in a Cambridge course and students who pass the International Cambridge as and a-level exams are awarded college credit by a postsecondary institution which then shortens the time frame it takes them to earn a degree and saves them tuition dollars high school students in Florida who also earn a Cambridge Ace diploma and complete the other requirements they qualify for the bright future scholarship which covers full tuition at any public Florida institution additionally approval of this contract will allow Marian County Public Schools to continue to provide these robust opportunities for students as well as support military middle school and element students who are also using Cambridge curriculum at those School levels this is beneficial to those students as well because they learn the attributes of the Cambridge program in primary and lower secondary program which help support their future learning at the high school level in Cambridge courses thank you thank you Dr HR um any discussion from the board regarding this topic all right hearing and seeing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5 Z it's worth almost a million dollars to continue to create these opportunities for our students for sure all right moving on May I have a motion to approve the discount catalog bids 4087 ah art supplies and equipment 4088 ah science supplies and equipment 4091 ah special needs and therapeutic equipment 4092 ah teaching supplies 489 ah physical education supplies and equipment 4088 a music supplies and equipment and 4093 ah vocational supplies and equipment term contracts may I have a motion please move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr goet do you have information on this item please yes thank you madam chair a board you've seen these items before for the discount catalog Miss Boston Ellis is here tonight to provide some information for you and your consideration of this item as the um discount cataloges help support the teachers and their needs and the cost for this item tonight for consideration is approximately $1.4 million thank you okay thank you thank you good evening chair thrower board members and superintendent Dr gullet item 264 was moved to discussion so that we could provide additional information if approved the discount catalog bid will will provide all the things that um chair th mentioned uh equipment for art um also science special needs and therapeutic teaching supplies PE supplies and equipment music supplies and equipment and Vocational supplies as Dr gullet mentioned the estimated cost of this bid is 1.4 million funded primarily from the general fund operating for the the current bid 1.1 million has been encumbered to date there are various vendors in the discount catalog bids and this affords an opportunity to shop online so how does this bid work um I'm glad you asked catalog bids are used in place of line item bids when it is impossible to know or forecast what miscellaneous supplies or materials that teachers may want or need for their students in a given year we utilize our discount catalog bids as a convenient way for teachers and staff to shop from multiple vendors who are awarded vetted approved by our system in our department purchasing and this is like a One-Stop uh uh shopping setting we have several different specific catalog categories um teachers and staff again can review all of the awarded vendors of a catalog bid and easily requests quotes from multiple awarded vendors of each catalog many of the awarded catalog vendors provide substantial percentage discounts from their standard prices and the discounts could range from 0 to 50% all right thank you Miss Boston Ellis for that overview is there any discussion from the board hearing and seeing none I just have one comment um I love the idea of the the shopping online and making it accessible and I was thinking about my um Vice chair to my right you know that I hope that the turnaround time this really helps with turnaround time because there's only 180 days in the school year anyway and you know getting the supplies to the teachers to get to the students is the name of the game absolutely exciting yes all right thank you um hearing no further discussion we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5 moving on to D 26.5 may have a motion to approve renew bid 4026 6 GM network cable installation services may I have a motion please motion to approve motion by board member James second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item as well yes thank you madam chair cost for this item tonight board is $300,000 Mr Ben vudi is back again this week to talk more about what we're doing in technology to help to meet the expectations and the needs of our district thank you good evening board chair thower board members and superintendent Dr gullet this evening I'm requesting approval for a network cabling bid G sorry 46 4026 GM which includes insulation Services the bid for low voltage cabling installation is essential as it provides the backbone for systems that directly support safety and enhancing learning reliable cing sorry cabling powers are critical infrastructure that supports security cameras access controls and alarms which are all vital for maintaining a safe campus and environment this network supports digital displays interactive boards in classrooms cabling teachers need to engage students with Dynamic multimedia instruction additionally highquality cabling ensures fast reliable internet service which is crucial for both educational activities and administrative tasks in importantly this infrastructure positions us for future technology upgrades and increased device use ensuring that we're prepare to meet the evolving demands of the district as technology needs grow our district will require scalable adaptable systems that only robust quality cabling can support approval of this bid allows us to build not only for the current requirements but also for long-term sustainable technological growth thank you for support thank you always great to talk Tech with you all right is there any discussion from the board I just have a quick comment yes go ahead bu sh Mr Ben vui I just want to say thank you for your continued work in this area um you know even the the short time since I've been out of the classroom you visit and if you can't access your technology sadly things really come quickly to a halt so I just want to thank you for your work in this area I know um when you arrived here we had we were behind we have a lot of work to do so thank you for continuing to plug away at moving us forward my pleasure most of the time all right is there any other discussion from the board hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5- Z all right moving on May I have a motion to approve the construction of an ADA chair lift ramps at fendon elementary school change order number one work authorization number 10 project 23-13 may I have a motion please motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information regarding this item yes thank you board I first want to let you all know that board members that the next four items Miss bomach who is standing before you already is going to speak to this first item um Miss Bach is going to provide some information on the structural needs that were identified during the demolition process uh at fessenden thank you good evening good evening board chair board members Dr gallet um as you know we are in the middle of um installing an ADA lift at fendon elementary school it is a very old campus so it has quite some challenges um for wheelchair bound students and we have installed a fence recently which cut off um the excess that was used from for the wheelchair bound students before they usually came out the front door and then from there they had an easier way to get to the buildings and the rest of the campus now is the new fence installed they would leave the secured area and would have to come out of that area and enter Then back into the secured area behind the fence so so it was recommended to install that new Ada lift and also a ramp to keep the students and the staff behind the fence in a secured area um it is also a very old building so we didn't had much existing drawings to go by to to help us in um designing the new construction so when we started or the contractor started digging and uh doing some investigative um demolition um we we found some areas that that were of concern one of them were the footings for the new canopy and they were in con conflict um with the footings of the Ada lift um so we we stopped construction there we had the engineer come back out we had conversation uh with the manufacturer of the um canopy they all came together we worked through the problem um shifted some um columns around and some footings and then it had to go through the redesign um of the manufacturer they provide their footing details so they needed all that information to move forward so that took some time they worked through those um complications and we have it design now we can move forward the other um issue was we we had to provide provide a new entry door to that new ramp so we started taking down um the plaster and the the drwall and then we discovered that the wall that was built had no structural Integrity so to take a part out of there to put a new door in seemed very um dangerous and um so we had a structural engineer come out for that as well and we wanted to keep the look of the building because it's uh a historic building so we really wanted to keep the Integrity of of that look so now we found a good solution we keep that old window in there and we keep that look we adding some steel columns to provide the structure that that door needs and um the architect redesigned all that so we are all good to go now but it did take some time and they're asking for um for the additional time um I F I lost my track here how many days we are asking for 83 days yes ma'am okay was there anything else that you that that was it okay that was a mouthful yes all right thank you um on this particular topic uh board any discussion I just have one comment yes um I just want to highlight that I feel like this is an opportunity to highlight that this is a change order of a timeline that is more than appropriate and necessary the contractor couldn't have foreseen any of the things that they have come in contact with there were no drawings even to reference regarding fesan so a change order like this changing a timeline for the contractor so that they are not held accountable for the Lost days is more than appropriate because they have they have encumbered unforeseen circumstances that is in in my opinion the opposition of what we see at North bran high school so I just wanted to highlight that change orders when appropriate I'm completely in favor of if it's something the contractor has faced that is not in their any way they could have ever foreseen that so thank you all right any other discussion from the board Vice shair comrad I just want to say thank you um for the detail that you put into um preserving the historic um structure uh because we we do know that that's very important to the community um on the north end of town and so I appreciate the extra time and effort that went into preparing that thank you Vice chair any other discussion from the board all right um thank you for the presentation and um yes trying to preserve uh what just simply cannot be replaced is admirable all right um there's no further discussion we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5-0 we're on 26.7 have have a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price known as GMP for Oola Middle School New gymnasium change order number three amendment number one project 24-19 may I have a motion please motion motion by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad and Dr gullet you have information for this one yes thank you Miss bomach has some information to share on this project board uh the cost is $42,000 approximately thank you so this um item is just like uh we discussed in the last board meeting we had [Music] some issues um with the process of the ODP um order and uh we are very excited to present in the next work session um to explain to you how the ODP process works and we have some ideas to present to you how we could change the process so this vendor Annex um when we presented the deductive change order to pursue um Owner Direct purchase it was shown as an active vendor so we started to when go ahead with the deductive change order but then the statues changed over the summer and we needed a new vendor application and um they had to sign the new human trafficking affidavit so that delayed that process the gear package is a very critical component um we needed to order that right away um to keep that project on track and to open the gymnasium for next school year so that delay in getting that new paperwork um we could not wait to order that electrical gear um the good news is annex there's now an improved vendor um which didn't help us here because we had to go ahead and order it but um it's a big company we use them a lot so going forward we will not have that problem great thank you um any discussion from the board chair I'll be recusing myself from the vote okay any other discussion hearing none we're ready to vote all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay motion passes 41 with board member Campbell recusing four zero 4 Z one of these days I'm going to get this right 40 with board member Campbell ru using thank you um may I have a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price for the roof replacement at Lake wear high school project 24-1 122 motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second by board member Cummings and I know you remain uh Miss bmach to share information save Dr gull's voice yes so Lake V high school we are looking to replace the roofs of buildings three 4 6 and seven as as well as the walkways um these roofs are very old they are over 22 years old and and they require replacement um some information about that uh we are about to replace 45,5 186 square foot of roof which is quite a lot and uh lakev High School is also an old campus and added on several times so it's it's a hch PCH of roofs there um little example we we have most of them are a gravel surfaced cold tar buildup roofing system um I can go in more detail but um and there are on several different structural system from pre-cast concrete systems to metal deck to lightweight insulated concrete so every roof is different and we had to address each one of them differently but we will place them all with a three ply modified bitumin system over new insulation we also had to increase um the insulation requirements because the code changed um to uh for the new energy code um so we will replace all that insulation we have to increase the size of it to comply with the code um there's lots of hvs equipment on those roofs so that also Al involves than the an HVAC contractor all these curbs for those equipment they have to lift the equipment they have to rewrap the the curbs sometimes they have to raise the curbs to stay code compliant now um then they have to lower the equipment back down there's a lot of electrical connection then as well when they have to connect and disconnect so there is lot more than just Roofing on there we also will replace the gutters where needed and uh the light lightning system protection on the roofs building four and six will be done during the summer because we have also an HVAC uh project out there so the units on the roof will be replaced completely uh on those two buildings and uh the contractor is the same contractor so they're working together and coordinating that so that we don't do the work twice and then we will open that's why substantial completion is slated for August 8th that's the same time that hvac's um project will finish um right now we are on schedule to start maybe mid December to mobilize for the roofs okay great thank you um is there any discussion from the board and it's a just for the community knowledge it's 2.9 Million right that's correct okay yes go ahead by share um Miss Bomar I just want to say thank you thank you um for going into such deep explanation there was um in the community a little bit of negative conversation floating around about the cost of this roof and so I had I had asked Miss Dobbins earlier in the week about just some questions um you know that it's not a simple project that it is complicated and so I appreciate you taking the time uh to break it down for us and explain what some of those complications are so thank you thank you Vice chair any other discussion from the board all right hearing none yes I read some of that too and I thought well gosh if you can do it for 350,000 you know become an approved vendor with Maring County public schools because uh come on yeah who are you all right hearing no other discussion all those in favor say I I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5 Z all right uh D 26.9 may have a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price GMP for offset improvements at new Elementary School W project 24101 may I have a motion please so move move by board member Cummings second second by V sure conran and Miss bombach will defer to you so Elementary School W is is in construction right now and um there were several phases um if you remember phase one was the early procurement you approved that GMP and they could get started ordering materials phase two was the GMP for the construction itself and the rest of the project this is a phase three it includes bring there is no water and sewer on the side right now and there is a small water line which is a residential so that wouldn't give us enough water pressure for what we need especially for the fire uh suppression system so we we needed to go a little FTI interest tying and at the at the road we have to go south to 66 Avenue Road and we are probably installing around 3,700 linear feet of water line this is also coordinated and permitted with the utility department of Maran County and this connection is very critical um to connect our water our fire system especially to to that to open the school on time um we looking at 2 yeah 2,7 74,900 start of construction of that part of the project is December 2nd and it also includes an additional 440 linear feet to go a little further down U Maran County Utilities has asked us to connect a little further down to a bigger water line to improve the flow um and the pressure of the whole system also helping the residents in that area and uh we have broken out that cost and we will seek to get the reimbursement from marrying County um for that additional 440 linear feed okay thank you any discussion from the board board member Campbell mine isn't really a discussion on this particular item but it does beg the question as we proceeded with our new high school CCC will we also be anticipating waterline creation Etc uh because Public Utilities in that part of our County are at a premium for certain and I'm certain the county would be grateful for us to continue to put in water lines yes so at the high school CCC we're a little closer to the main water line which helps but we're also creating a loop to help with the water pressure and it's very important to Maring County Utilities that we don't have fire pumps because they're creating a quite an issue for them if they would turn on so creating a loop and having enough pressure Without fire pumps helps them as well and they're really appreciated of appreciative thank you thank you any other discussion from the board look at us all working together holding hands singing kumbai yeah it's wonderful as soon as they pay us back as Miss bomach just said we'll be getting reimbursement yeah sounds great anything else from the board yes um Miss boach I just I you know I just want to continue to say thank you for your work in problem solving um I was fortunate enough to sit in on part of a a meeting with Miss D and some of some of these items were being discussed um with a group and again it's very complicated and it takes a team coming forward to work out and find Solutions so that we can move forward so just thank you again for your cooperation um your open-mindedness and you're willing to work as a team so thank you thank you thank you I think this concludes your items once we vote all right if there's no further discussion all those in favor say I I those oppos nay motion passes unanimously 5 Z all right may I have a motion to utilize Florida sheriff's Association contract fs24 dve 32.0 excuse me to purchase eight assorted vehicles for the technical services department may I have a motion please move by board member Cummings second second by board member Campbell and Dr gullet um information on this item please yes thank you board um the cost of this item is approximately 477,000 Miss Boston Ellis is going to come back and share uh with the board how these purchases are utilized um through this contract act and how we are working through vehicle replacement as coste efficiently as we can thank you Miss bonis I'd like to compliment you for sitting near the podium so you can just pop right up and tell us all about it I noticed that too she's wise she's not wasting time thank you good evening again item 2610 was moved to discussion so that we could provide additional information if approved we we will utilize the Florida Sheriff Association contract to purchase eight vehicles for Technical Services that's our maintenance department um carpentry HVAC paint and plumbing the estimated cost as Dr gullet said is about 477,000 and that's an average cost of about 60,000 per vehicle these new trucks and vans will replace aged vehic Vehicles which have many miles parts needed that are hard to find and please note that one of the vehicles will be purchased without a bed or a box the bed on the disposed vehicle will be used on the new vehicle thus saving the district approximately 24 to 25,000 currently we have 348 vehicles in what we call our White Fleet and that's all our vehicles other than buses with an original cost of about $8.1 million the dates of inservice range from 1982 to 2024 so we have some pretty old Vehicles these vehicles are used by various departments ranging from maintenance custodial facilities Food Service central warehouse technology and transportation for vocational and some of our schools the Departments assess every year their vehicles along with input from our bus garage who is responsible for um maintaining our vehicles and they work with them to determine whether they can the vehicles can be repaired or if parts are even available to make repairs requests are submitted to supervisors to evaluate along with supporting documentation justification in order to be um considered most of the vehicles are purchased out of capital project funds and as you can see in the best practice the new vehicles are replacing vehicles with over 93,000 to 130,000 miles our vehicles uh at that point are worn out and and finding repair parts it excuse me is becoming very difficult so as you can see we are getting the most out of the vehicles in the White Fleet all right thank you very much and head off to our Mechanics for keeping a vehicle from 1982 still serviceable and on the road going yeah um all right any discussion from the board right hearing and seeing none all those in favor say i i i those oppos nay motion passes unanimously 5 thank you Miss Boston Ellis really appreciate the information that you um provide and sometimes you know we hear about it in the community as far as our technical service U vehicles and I think it's important to highlight you know that we really do wear them out before we replace them so thank you again all right um moving on to d26 point11 we have a motion to approve the sale of L parcel 2822 d035 d77 motion to proof well we'll say uh motion by board member Campbell second by uh board member Cummings um attorney powers do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes ma'am um at our November 7th work session the Schoolboard opened five bids for the purchase of the vacant land with the parcel number you listed upon review of those bids the School Board reach consensus to accept uh the bid from Hard Times Development LLC a contract will be executed and entered into between the school board of maring County and hard times development and the closing will occur on December 12th of 2024 uh provided the board votes in the affirmative thank you attorney Powers any discussion from the board hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5 Z congratulations to the buyer all right moving on to D 26.12 may I have a motion to approve the rejection of all bids for the sale of the central warehouse motion to approve motion by board member James second second by Vice chair Conrad attorney powers do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes ma'am also on November 7th 2024 at our work session the school board opened four bids submitted for the central warehouse property upon review of those offers the school board elected to reject all four bids by a consensus upon the rejection of the four bids the school board will move forward for move forward to alternative methods for selling the central warehouse property to ensure the sale is in the best interest of the public so upon this form rejection of for bids the school board will begin the process of alternative methods to sell Its Real Estate thank you attorney Powers is there any discussion from the board I just want to confirm alternative methods mean the best and final offers coming back to us next Thursday that would be one of the best U that's one the best excuse me the best and final offers are one of the methods those best and final offers if not those still may lead to rejection and if so there are other Alternatives as well thank you any other discussion from the board hearing and seeing none all those in favor of rejecting um this all bids say I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5 Zer thank you all right moving on to our ped agenda item this is C 23.1 may I have a motion to approve the construction of a covered play Pavilion at Maplewood Elementary School change order one work authorization one project 23-1 123 motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad board member James you pulled this item and wish to have further discussion yes thank you board so so I was approached by this contractor a couple of weeks ago to discuss a greater issue regarding payment for these two projects which is covered play at Maplewood in Mort Highlands I thought it was a good opportunity since this change order was coming on the agenda to pull it so that we could um have discussion or I could share with you all the concerns I have so collectively the two two covered areas together were just south of of a million dollar projects collectively to dat the contractor is still owed is has to be used in a very unique special way and the time cards have to be very particular and all of the details have to be very precise when the contractor took the project they didn't know it was a Davis bacon project and it wasn't properly communicated to them that it was they wouldn't have taken the project otherwise but by the time they first were informed in November of 23 they had already signed the contract to to build the covered play so they requested opportunity to to be uh compensated more for the time it was going to take to process those Davis bacon paperwork and that was denied and over the course of the project you know they've done their best to meet the expectations but it has Whitted down to as little as 20 cents discrepancy in a time card that is holding up $561,000 8 $561 1869 cents so I'm tonight is not the time to get into discourse about the weeds of why this is occurring but my request to the board is for Miss Boston Ellis Dr gullet attorney Powers attorney Blackman whatever powers that need to be involved have a discussion about being able to give a substantial draw to a contractor and withhold whatever percentage is necessary to cover the gap of um maybe a discrepancy that's in paperwork but this contractor who sitting in the audience tonight is a is a quality contractor in our community and has used his own money to cover the subcontractors that he needed to pay because he has not been paid over half a million dollars this contractor one of the subs that was used went out of business because he couldn't get paid for the concrete that was poured we have a problem and if the problem is lying in the processing of paperwork for Davis bacon and maybe this contract s um depending on who you talk to the narrative is whether the issue lies with the contractor or with our departments either way we're not getting the paperwork processed and there's not payment being made so if it's possible for this board to develop policy to say we pay 95% and we withhold a certain percentage until we can Whittle the difference that's left but to not give payment for essentially 20 cents on a time card is just like it's almost you can't even believe it but it's true and so I I really implore this board and Dr gullet and Miss Bost Nellis and attorney powers and Blackman to get together and have conversation about how we can figure out how to make this happen um they're very complimentary of Miss bomach and the relationship they've built with her and trying to figure this out and how helpful she has been but failing to pay our contractors a substantial part of what is left is not okay with me as a board member and I want to figure out what policies we need to enact so that we can ensure We are following the guidelines that are set forth by the federal government with the funds and still trying to get the majority of the money to the contractors who've completed the work the work is done the children are covered in Play they're enjoying it so um for the purposes of tonight's 90 something thousand which is included in the 561 essentially those additive change orders get into uh miscommunication from facilities to the contractor about you know where Footers go and plans being wrong and um all of that regardless it needs to get taken care of and it needs to get approved but we have some we have some issues with Davis bacon this isn't the first contractor that's brought it to my attention and I I hope that as a board we can problem solve how to get them substantially paid and hold back whatever we need to hold back to ensure that we're covering our bases so that's my request to staff that's my request to the board if it implores you all to have a discussion about that but I feel horrible that we have a local contractor who we owe over half a million dollars to all right um board any other discussion I just um attorney powers can you weigh on in on that at all I I I cannot I I don't have any particular knowledge of this of this item okay is that is that legally possible for for us to do which I'd have to I'd have to look into that you really okay um any other questions or comments from the board okay other than just saying that I I concur with what Dr James is saying if there's something that we need to get our ducks in a row and get the right people in the right room to have the conversation I completely agree with that I just want to find a solution and I understand we have to cover our bases but if that means that we got to put the change orders differently or the um the the draws differently so that we get them pay the majority of the money and hold out whatever difference and we still need to work on how we're effectively communicating not the project is a Davis bacon project because that has not been effectively communicated and these contractors are taking the hit for it and no one wants to do the work and not get paid and um I don't want us to have a reputation of uh hurting local businesses so that I think that is something we do need to look at have attorney powers and whoever else look at what we need to do to rectify these situations I don't like having our name out bad in the public that we're not paying thank you board member Cummings and um did you have something as your comment um no I don't I all right um yes thank you all uh this is the the first that I have heard about this I I do know that um especially when you get to the federal level it almost makes me cringe um you know that is the last thing that anyone wants to have to deal with is government red tape um that's there's a reason why we don't have more affordable housing in this area um you know it's it's a nightmare and but anything we can do um because if it's brought to my attention that yeah we might be me slow pay but but you get paid and our checks don't bounce um and it's worth waiting for but there's a limit you know to how long you should be waiting and you know the 20 cents on a time card to me that just screams government regulation if it does it's the same thing we went through with Esser you know what it is um a nightmare so I would welcome um how the collective heads can be put together to do anything we can to reduce um the red tape without exposing us unnecessarily um to any liability yes for M uh last thing I want to add just for the record and the purpose of the conversation the greater conversation occurring no Owner Direct purchase occurred on this either so metal a metal structure was purchased purchased as the covered area and no ODP was completed um the contractor didn't even know what ODP was when I brought it up because it wasn't even asked for so in our greater conversation about Owner Direct purchase there was tax savings that could have been captured with this project that we're not okay and I know that there's been other projects where tax savings wasn't able to be captured because we didn't have the money um so there's a lot that still needs to be discussed um on this um so if there's any further discussion all right hearing and seeing none all those in favor say I I I I those oppose nay motion passes unanimously 5 Z all right we'll move on to board committee reports and concerns there's an organizational meeting scheduled for November 19th 2024 at 11:00 a.m. and immediately following there will be the board of directors leasing Corporation organization meeting there's also an attorney client session scheduled for November 21st 2024 scheduled for 9:02 a.m. or as soon as practicable there after the next administrative briefing and work session is scheduled for November 1st 2024 at 9:00 a.m. there is a special school board meeting scheduled for November 21st 2024 at 7:30 a.m. all right and we will go ahead and ask Miss Martinez anything from your seat for us tonight thank you attorney Powers not at this time thank you okay thank you um we will ask our student board member um Mr caric anything from your seat sir yes chair power thank you I just want to emphasize um some of the bills and items that are brought up this evening the film derby um The Early Childhood music education incentive program and the grant award for um from the Maring County Hospital District for the fans Club I believe that um these three bills really emphasize how much our school district puts into um outside education all the extracurricular activities and just an emphasis on um developing the soft skills and um just general skills that us students will be using lifelong so I really appreciate that the school district is able to um early on in the students career um enable them to learn these skills and um especially for the fans club um personally um as a gen Zer we're definitely um having a harder time with um uh keeping our health in check but I believe that these um chronic illnesses can be inhibited um with activities that are not just informative but also funs such as gardening and promoting exercise and team team building activities and also I heard that our cafeteras are also being stocked with these um produce items from these Gardens so not just the member of fans but also the general student population will benefit from from these thank you thank you sir and and I continue to just appreciate your thoughtful and and insightful comments um and is this your last meeting with us no there's more okay good I was like no this can't stop now and we did uh Miss student board uh representative uh Martin this week and he always has great comments that are just spot on as well so so thank you sir we'll see you at the next one all right board member J thank you good evening everyone I have a few items that I wanted to um touch on some updates and other things um first I sent an email this morning and we received corresponden as a board this afternoon regarding the pay for the Hurricanes I just wanted to touch based on this I obviously read Miss Mor's response um and the way that I read board policy 8415 is not um the way that it's being interpreted and if if I misunder it when we talked about it as a board last then I take full ownership of that um specifically the statement that reads both non-exempt and exempt staff members shall receive one and a half times the established rate in the board approved schedule for such emergency services for All Hours worked during the emergency or disaster in direct support of the Sheltering operations in any case the pay received shall be considered extra compensation and shall not be part of the employees based salary perspectively I read that to say that when we do administrative weather pay for an emergency and all of our employees are paid to be home which is something this board worked together on to establish and I'm proud of when an individual was working during the hurricane they were being compensated time and a half for all of that time they worked because everyone's Baseline was to be paid to stay home so working during that was time and a half for all of the hours work that is the way that I understood what we did and I didn't go back to the board meeting where we discussed it I know Miss marant shared that and I can go back and reflect on my own participation and comments in that meeting but I just want to go on record and say that if that is the case I miss I was unclear and misunderstood it and as a board I would like us to readdress the way the policy is being implemented because the way I read that statement and the way I understand it it says extra compensation and not shall not be a part of the employees based salary perspectively to me that is very crystal clear but it seems as if I for one and misunderstanding it and so I would like for an opportunity for this board to have a greater discussion about that policy specifically um God willing in the creek don't rise we will not have another hurricane this season um but before next season I would like for this board to address this policy again because if this is the way it's going to be implemented which it seems like that is the case I'm not in alignment with that and that's okay I guess but I want it us to have a discussion before next hurricane season about it so at a minimum attorney powers can it be put on um our group of policies in the spring when we'd have a policy discussion absolutely okay um I don't know if anyone else had anything to say about that but I can certainly keep going uh I think it's a good idea to to discuss it yes definitely revisit it okay um that's just me anyone else no I agree because my understanding was um the same as Dr James so well I guess could I ask if the whole board if it's a board policy and the board Con in consensus reads it one way can can we not just have it implemented that way I'm not prepared to do that tonight um I need to hear from uh attorney powers and have a chance to really take a good hard look at it again myself okay well possibly then be in our work session next Thursday in comments attorney Powers could you possibly just provide us with some guidance I just it's a it's it's a pretty steep amount of money for some employees who gave lots of effort during our last two hurricanes and if the board all thought we were doing one thing and it's being interpreted a different way it is the board's policy and so if we all are all in consensus about how we wanted it to be implemented I would love to be able to retroactively address that and we haven't paid for Milton yet so we could really help our employees and they would get money for the holidays potentially so is it possible then in his comments on next Thursdays board work session we could discuss it get some guidance sure is that sure I can give you guidance as interpretation but that's largely going to be based on pulling your own you know the actual time we put the policy in place pulling your own discussion around it and reminding you of it I can tell you that based on the intention behind it uh the intention behind it was not to provide base pay and then 1.5 additional it was to provide 0.5 additional not 2.5 times pay for working in the shelter so uh if if that is not clear from the policy the board has the right to alter that but well so next Thursday then maybe we can have a discussion about it okay wonderful um speaking of pay uh the board had a session um where we came to a group discussion about um non-represented raises and we talked about um this was in a shade session about um Union negotiations don't we're not no but non-represented isn't Union negotiated I understand let's I'm not talking about the union negotiations I understand so I'm talking about non-represented right I just don't want to make reference to shade negotiations at all okay I'm just referencing the conversation so we as a board asked if our non-represented could get their raise by Christmas and we asked if that we could get it on the December 12th meeting so that the non-represented could get their raise and we haven't received an update about that since that meeting so um I know that the no December 12th meeting publication is Friday so I'm wondering if is there an update on that is that going to happen I know that it was important to me as a board member that our non-represented folks would get that um that raise and so that's something that I wanted to get an update on as we will not be together again before Friday when the publication is you know the submitt for publication for the December 12th meeting I hear what you're saying I'm I just think that as a board we need to continue to be very careful of of anything that we discuss um in a shade meeting and and make sure that you run it by attorney Powers before sharing publicly and not just you any of us uh we I think everyone sitting up here wants to support our employees as best as we can but we just need to be careful are we not allowed to talk about non-represented not during a shade meeting no um and and I will say this now that we've kind of I need to clarify the record in a shade meeting we can't discuss things like that however if it comes up in the context of other Union negotiations which we also cannot discuss in public um then within that context for comparison's sake for example um then discussion is permitted in a limited fashion which is what I ensure when we go to those meetings so without reference to that the appropriate thing would be simply to bring it up as you know as um as you did except without the reference to shade session at all simply to bring it up as a new item and discuss for the first time publicly well because it a request is not the same as board discussion and so we have to be careful the request to staff was made for non-represented to receive their raise that was fit within the budget by Christmas is that going to be able to happen how do you recommend we proceed attorney power you can make that request of Staff if we have consensus publicly which we have not had consensus publicly yet which I think is what attorney Powers is referencing uh the other piece I think that you said was that the publication deadline was this Friday for a December 12th meeting it needs to be submitted to staff so it can get in the in the in the hopper the hopper the timeline builds up to a meeting so it all has to be submitted so then it can go to step one step two step three so can be publicized so things that are the timeline the little whatever you want to call it Progressive timeline that's built every year for all of our meetings states that this Friday is when all documents need to be submitted for review understood I it certainly if there was a an item that the chair wanted to have an or that we all wanted to have we could have additional conversation next Thursday during our work session if we had a I'm not going to call it a walk-on item because December 12th is a month away so I I think we still would have time uh but I I guess I personally if we're having discussion now if we need to have additional discussion about it maybe put it in the work session next Thursday but if the team isn't prepared to comment on that tonight I'm I'm attempting to believe that they're not since this was something that wasn't on our agenda or anything to be discussed publicly but we do need to have the public conversation because it was not a public discussion whenever um we were in a separate meeting about negotiations I'd feel a lot more comfortable to just put it on and hash it out Cummings um you we would be doing something that we traditionally have not done um we've always tried to do things systematically when it came to how we paid um which is why we really need to discuss it not to interrupt but yeah I just want us to get we we we getting we going some where we may not need to be going well let's go ahead and add it um Dr gullet and then we can discuss it and share our views and see what we come to and I I think that it absolutely fair to say that the intent of all board members are uh appears to be that when um when whenever those uh additions or increases are going to be made that they made in an be made in an equitable and fair manner that is that is then um you know dispersed among all employees within their individual brackets so that you're not having one group paid one time one group paid another time so that's really extent of what we're talking about here and that would be a matter of public discussion and a request for the board to make of the payroll department in order to do that and yes okay um I'm just looking for um when I pulled up today I got here a little earli and obviously all of the buses were here so at some point I'd like to receive an update on the transportation contract we approved um I don't know if there's a way we could get a public update on um that at some point in the near future where we are with hiring um I know they had a goal of hiring 18 bus drivers so how many they've hired where what that looks like and the impact for ontime arrivals that's in our weekly update uh I know that but it doesn't appear that we've really made much movement in hiring bus drivers for that contract so I would like to be able to have a public discussion as a board about what that looks like and if there are implications for transportation sure we can um we're gotten pretty good ask for updates from Transportation so if we want to do that in comments we can but I would like for the staff to be able to be prepared to have all the numbers when we those questions are asked um I wanted to ask um I wanted to acknowledge principal dos for principal of the year she was recognized she is Works tirelessly um at East Maran with her team she is transformative leader and is incredibly deserving of principal of the year um as a board member I wish I would have been able to be there um I didn't know about it but I would have been there had I known I think it's uh impactful for us to be able to be part of the process she is someone who has truly just dug in and done some amazing work in the last few years there and it shows their attendance is hitting the 90s pretty consistently um it is it's really tremendous what she has done so and last but not least I know we had talked about this and Miss boson Nels and I have talked about it before but I would love to see a work session um on how the financing plan for sales tax how we can Bond what that's going to look look like so that we can going into January and the New Year have a plan for how to execute so that concludes my comments for tonight thank you and yes attorney Powers also adding to that um we are going to need an oversight committee we are indeed and thank goodness we have a good model hopefully of bylaws to um help structure that and and get that done too so yep exciting things all right uh board member Cummings um no promise tonight okay and Dr G I almost hate to ask you but but I will uh thank you I'll be brief I appreciate it or um just want to thank our um veterans again we had the opportunity to to do a wonderful ceremony in honor of our veterans yesterday but I want to thank specifically also our employees who have served and we really appreciate their service and just again want to extend my congratulations to miss dos and Miss carp and thank them for their leadership and congratulations to you yes we're just so proud of you just it's an honor to sit next to you thank you right right thank you Dr gullet um board member Campbell sure thank you so uh we were mentioning our student board member um sea Mark absence this evening unfortunately there was a scheduling mixup on campus and he's volunteering this evening at the denell and stem and literacy family fun night so um we certainly have missed him this evening but just wanted to give the board update as to where he was um Also earlier this month I had the privilege of attending the Marksmanship competition I watched some of our Belleview High School old and new Shooters compete and had the privilege of watching our very own SJ carthic I helped the Vanguard Precision team lead them on to Victory so that was a pretty fascinating couple of hours spending watching the Vanguard Marksmanship competition and had several several uh different teams from around the state who came to Vanguard to participate so congratulations again for leading Vanguard to Victory uh he's pretty pretty good y'all I'm just going to say that Precision team is no joke his whole gear and the whole it's he's really talented okay moving on uh tonight we approved resoning for elementary schools on the south side to create zones for elementary school W and X we've already referenced a social media post about something else that caused some confusion or something and I'm going to reference one that uh also was on out today on a parents page it was not on a Maran County Public School social media page but it was out that caused some families confusion the statement was made that basically if you have kids in all of these different schools then your students are all going to be zoned to these new schools and that is not accurate so I want to assure families in impacted schools if you have not received any notification that your zoning is going to be changing for your student it's not going to be so we have been communicating extensiv ly with the families uh in those areas for Community meetings and and other kinds of communication through Skyward or skylert and and so if your student attends one of those schools whether it's Saddlewood or bellev Elementary Bell s like all the different schools that are impacted if you have not received communication chances are you are not going to be impacted it's not every student in every school but some of those zones will be tonight we also approved perfect audits for Hammond bow and J Elementary I know when I go first I get it before Vice chair con perfect audits for hey B bow and Junior Elementary as well as Spar Elementary so kudos to those teams um that is incredibly important for us to be not only managing our money collectively that we see that we oversee from the board but also that all of our school teams are are managing their money appropriately so grateful for that also grateful that the opportunity for the Belleview High School Ace Program just got back last night from their civil rights field trip this is now my second child who's been able to go on that trip after touring a campus of Florida State University they then traveled through Selma Montgomery Birmingham and wrapping up in Atlanta yesterday and it just is a wonderful wonderful field trip so kudos to the Belleview team for putting that together every year and uh the things that the students learn it's just things they'll never be able to learn elsewhere the opportunities they're given is just it's great uh the museums and and different engagements they have I was disappointed to miss yesterday's Veteran Day program as I said Thank You board members for sharing all the social media posts because I was able to see that too and so thank you for all of the the videos and the the footage that was out about that U but as you know I was attending the first time as a board member for the Florida school music association and so I just wanted to give you a couple of tip couple of tidbits from that um it was great to know know that we are one of the districts that does have a fine fine arts coordinator not all districts do and even some of the districts that are really large Representatives who are also on the Florida school music association say I don't know who that person is and I've worked in my district for 20 some odd years and and anyway so we have it was great to be able to email Miss hudo and say hi I am in this meeting right now and I wanted to talk to you about this and um so a couple of things first of all if you weren't already aware the governor did sign into law this past year that there is now A Fine Arts seal opportunity that students can earn on their diploma if they reach certain criteria that just got signed into law in April and so it's for students in class of 2025 and Beyond so the new Fine Arts seal uh we do have a little bit about it on our website already for in our fine arts department but there's even more information that misso is working on on getting out I know it just went out to guidance counselors last week from what I hear and so we'll be getting a lot of information on that for students who might be in the Fine Arts and want to achieve that seal now that they could get on their diploma but there were two things that F FSM is putting on their legislative platform and you know that's my like I I love legislative platform things so one of the things they're going to be requesting this year is to get acceleration points for schools that have students who receive the Fine Arts seal so that in addition to all the like if certainly if you have a student who's getting a credits or AP or that kind of thing then and they're already getting the points for those then they wouldn't but if you do have a student who's getting a fine art seal and may not be getting acceleration points elsewhere then their request at least of the legislature this year that they add that and another thing they're trying to ask for is that they could also have students who are participating in at least two or three years of a music program within their secondary school that they could get the hope class waiver just like we have the waivers for those students in jroc as well as junior varsity and varsity Athletics so those are two things that the Florida school music association's putting on their legislative platform I thought that would be interesting for us to see as we go up to Tallahassee in February as we've just scheduled and just to see how we can follow those along and potentially even you know encourage uh legislators to consider those and with that I'll leave one final comment I told you last time we were together uh about a conversation I was having having with commissioner Matt mlan about the possibility of a joint appropriation for a special needs shelter had conversation with commissioner mlan today so just to update you what was shared as uh we we have a plan we have a plan there's not a plan um the the plan is actually uh many years down the line if a private entity within our community chooses to build something in the future they would be including a special needs shelter component to that future construction but that has not even been confirmed that that private entity is going to build a facility so I just want to share that first secondarily though in considering an appropriation so the County Commission has already approved and voted upon their legislative platform we essentially have as well but we did leave the open door as I was speaking with him further because we don't fully have a real plan on what it would look like I certainly have some ideas of what I think that we could make that look like if we were to have a public conversation at some point about of combining schools on the North side I know that's been a a brief conversation not fully ready to have that conversation we're not anywhere near that but if we were it might open up a at least a land opportunity uh but we are not really close on that conversation yet and if we didn't have real solid movement on that within the next four to six weeks hitting a legislative appropriation this cycle is probably not going to work what we can do though because committee weeks for the 2026 session will begin in the fall of 2025 that we as a board can start having real concrete conversations to say what would the special needs shelter look like in our community and what would our or could our role be and again if we were to have a property somewhere that might work or if we wanted to say we will operate XYZ of whatever this might be I just I wanted to give you that update to say I'm not certain that we're ready for an appropriation conversation this year about a special needs shelter but I would like to continue the conversation and for us to have real concrete conversations about if there would be opportunities for us to participate in a land swap uh something like that as a part of that because if the state does consider an appropriation for something like a special needs shelter they certainly would be looking looking for participation from the municipalities and potentially the school board as well from Financial positions donation of land donation of other resources and so forth that potentially could help with that so my recommendation just since we had the conversation last my recommend recomendation is that we continue our conversation but not consider it for an appropriation for this legislative cycle that because committee weeks are starting in January and we don't really have a real plan yet so but I would like to say let's figure something out to have a plan for committee weeks in the fall of 2025 so that we potentially could work with our local local municipalities on how we could get that and get it built quickly and that wraps up my comments all right thank you board member Campbell always for your diligence in that area all right Vice chair Conrad yes thank you good evening and so one of the Silver Linings is when you go second to last you get all these things marked off of your list that because other board members have shared them so my list is much shorter now um your thund turned to drizzle yes um very quickly um I just want to say that uh Golden Apple um observations have started and what an exciting time it is in our district it's always um inspiring to go in and see the great work that's happening um in classrooms across the district and if you are interested the gala is going to be February 1st so I just want to encourage and invite um everyone to attend because it is a fabulous evening I don't know how Megan and Kevin do it but every year it gets just a little bit better it's just always a great um funfill evening we have a location yet is it still going to be at the Riley okay at the Riley Riley yes um so just sharing that uh what a great opportunity uh I also want to say uh thank you for our um our teams I actually don't know who all is responsible for the Veterans Day program but it was just fantastic um it brought tears to my eyes it was inspiring um it was honorable um um it was memorable all of those things and the students of Maran County that performed really made it that much more special all the way from kindergarten to our high school students we had elementary students it really was just beautiful and I was excited for our Veterans Park because I I don't know what the count was what the attendance was but that's the most people I've seen in attendance at our Veterans Park and so um they had an unveiling the night before uh of a new um statue and so uh there was a lot of attention brought to that it was the title of that is family which was fit in nicely with Veterans Day um yesterday and so just thank you um Mr Christian I know that you know you had a lot to do with that program and it's a lot of work um and he rallies our schools and our students uh and so and we had had staff we also had staff members that spoke sorry not remembering every single piece but um it it is a beautiful event and so thank you again for all of your work um and getting that together um I actually went to the groundbreaking of the freedom Public Library expansion um this morning and I went because I am passionate about literacy and so having the the expansion of the library it's going to be three times the size that it currently is is really exciting and especially in an area that we are feeling on the school side so much growth um so it was super um excited they had staked out where and how far the addition would go out it it was really something to look forward to so in 2026 there'll be a a nice big Library um down in the southwest area of town um they had a great Community turnout um and one of the speakers was having us do a little exercise and envisioning this great library and when chair Stone spoke um I did get the giggles cuz she it was really hot and she told us to Envision the air conditioning so I appreciated her sense of humor in that very hot moment but it was a very nice event and I I'm excited about that addition um to our community uh moving forward and I think chair throw I think that wraps it up for me so thank you very much all right right thank you very much yes that Veterans Day celebration it just and honoring just gets better and better um and we you know have uh our own changes uh coming up um on this board pretty shortly and I just wanted to take a moment um to share my gratitude for the honor and opportunity um to have served as your chairwoman for the of the school board these past 12 months um during this time the school board has catalyzed a great run of historic successes um fiscal stewardship and policy are the primary functions of any school board and I'm incredibly proud that the conservative oversight of our board combined with the wise operational direction of our first appointed superintendent the tireless Dr Diane gullet and her amazing staff very notably our award-winning finance department resulted in earning the fit rating that made it a solid business decision to borrow over $300 million that are already directly benefiting students and families we've broken ground on two new elementary schools and very soon we intend to break ground on the also greatly needed new high school we were successful in advocating for and ultimately earning a unanimous yes vote from our County Commissioners in support of reinstating impact fees on Developers for the first time in 13 years thank you to our County Commissioners for recognizing that supporting our Public Schools is both a privilege and a shared responsibility more highlights include our fantastically supportive Community overwhelmingly supported a half cent sales tax to ensure that so many of our old Schools maintenance needs will be met and more infrastructure can be built to accommodate our growing student enrollment in facilities that are safe functional and appealing thank you to former Maran County School Board member and Community leader Beth McCall and Kevin Shey from the C along with newly reelected and current board member Allison Campbell for stumping on the campaign Trail and at multiple Community meetings to share your voices that help Propel us to Victory I'd also like to thank news Channel 6 for their investigative reporting pieces that spotlighted the needs our schools have thank you to all the media who shared and Amplified our ask for community support and my gosh did our community respond with a resounding yes each current board member sitting up here contributed to the support and success of these initiatives and I thank you individually and collectively for your vision and commitment to getting all of them across the Finish Line finally as my time as your board chair draws to a close I encourage you all to keep your focus on the kids and continue to put your primary Comm commitment towards helping each and every student succeed thank you all and God bless you and there being no further business to discuss may I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Campbell all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously 5 Z we are adjourned at 757 p.m. we made it before 88 [Music] [Music] e