e e e e e e e e we are going to call this regular meeting of the Martin County School Board to order we will now have Reverend Bob McDonald from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Treasure Coast say an opening prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance head and to quiet and calm the world inside your head I invite you to assume that position for this moment of calm and centering we call upon our highest power the greatest good and better angels and values we believe in power and value that have guided us from childhood the best in us we know was planted by People Like Us who cared about our growth and wanted opportunities for us for our children and youth we want opportunity and growth in mind and heart may we be inviters of curiosity and questioning and open-mindedness so that those in our charge one day are grateful for the guidance they got and pass it on and our deepest thanks for those who are AED by Children and Youth and want for them more amen flag States America stand superintendent Maine members of the board and Martin County Community please welcome the Crystal Lake Elementary Choir in the bouncing Ballers under the direction of Miss Bri Bennett the choir will be performing fruit Cannon then they will turn things over to the bouncing Ballers who will be performing a series of rhythms with basketballs to the song in the wild [Music] M M M M mango mango mango mango [Music] mango k k k k k k k k k k k k b banana bana banana banana bana mango mango mango mango mango mango mango m m m m m m m mango mango mango mango mango mango mango m m [Music] m m m m m mango mango mango M mango mango m m mango mangoo k k k [Music] k banana ban banana woo [Applause] [Music] world [Music] all [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] down round [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] thank you so much for sharing your talents with us you all did an amazing job great job a Mrs fall will you please call the role Mr Deeter Lizzy here Mrs Roberts here Mrs Powers here Mrs pett here Mrs Russell here thank you do I have a motion to approve the agenda with the following items added 7.05 18.13 18.14 items updated 3.02 7.0 four second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by Mr dley all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda second I have a motion by Miss Roberts and a second by Miss Powers all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously do I have any board member discussion this evening seeing none we will move on to our recognitions probably there's chairs up here there are some chairs down front if the people in the back would like to come forward please do so first we have Schools of Excellence recognition Dr avota would you like to come forward and superintendent Maine on March 27th the Florida State Board of Education approved a measure that designated the Schools of Excellence for the 2223 Academic School year this designation is awarded to those schools whose school grade calculation in is is in the 80th percentile or higher for at least two of the last three school years the Florida legislature established the Schools of Excellence program in 2017 under house bill 7069 as an initiative to recognize and reward Florida's highest performing schools the program encourages continuous Improvement and provides administrative flexibility to the state's top schools so they can continue to provide the highest quality of Education to students as I announc the schools if there is a representative present please stand to be recognized the following schools have been designated as Schools of Excellence for the 2022 2023 Academic Year Palm City Elementary School Jensen Beach Elementary School Bessie Creek Elementary School Hidden Oaks Middle School Jensen Beach High School and Clark Advanced Learning Center congratulations to each of these amazing School communities thank you next we have our cognia accreditation renewal Dr McMahon and Dr George would you would you like to come forward good evening superintendent Maine Madam chair and members of the board my name is Dr P McMahon I'm joined today by Dr Deborah George and Diana wine bomb of Coga and we are here to celebrate our re accreditation status it was our distinct pleasure to lead our district through this accrediation process we learned a lot it was a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with our school leaders District leaders and other stakeholders ER groups and I'd like to turn it over to miss we bomb senior director of coga's Southeast region thank you so much superintendent Maine your community and your entire board here today cognia has a long history in Martin County dating back to 1947 when Martin County High School became the first accredited school in your District when we first offered districtwide accreditation Martin jumped at the opportunity and has held this position since 2009 this commitment is shown in your positive culture supportive learning environments and your comprehensive initiative to establish a clear and achievable strategic plan to guide the district's progress and continuous Improvement efforts accreditation from cogia is a valuable Mark of Distinction recognized around the globe I'm honored to represent the largest education Improvement organization in the world as I present your District accreditation renewal through June of 2030 congratulations superintendent Maine and your entire Community as this is quite an accomplishment it would be our honor if you would join us for a picture please absolutely thank you for e than thank you Dr George and Dr McMahon and to all the District staff for all of your hard work and dedication during our accreditation process next we have our retirement recognitions Miss Armstrong would you like to come forward good evening Madam chair superintendent Maine and members of the board it is my absolute honor and privilege to be here tonight to recognize two employees that are retiring and I would like to take a moment to invite the principal up to the um Das here for Felix Williams Elementary School and um Kim grubs as well so [Applause] let you do the honor good afternoon superintendent Maine and board members thank you for the honor to speak today about candy Gilbert so candy is our beloved extended day manager at fi and if you did not know Candy has been in the Martin County School District for 32 years years and she began as the extended day manager at Jensen Beach Elementary but she's been at fi since 1994 and if you did not know uh Candi was the recipient of the County non-instructional employee of the year in 2001 so at Felix Williams Elementary we say that f is truly a family so candy is a longtime member of this family and she's also a good friend when we have staff members that celebrate special Milestones or celebrations candies always there to celebrate and support them and one of the greatest things about candy is that she makes meaningful connections with our families and our community she has many extended day counselors that work for her and many of her employees have been an extended day as kindergarteners at fi and have gone through fi and now they have returned to work for her so it is a very special bond and not only does she watch our children and keep them safe after hours she also offers art clubs homework clubs games and many different activities so she makes it a priority that the kids not only that they're not only being taken care of but that they're learning new skills becoming better students and becoming better people so parents in the community appreciate all that she does for their children and I know we appreciate her very much so she is a very special member like we said of the fwi family and it's really hard to imagine going to fi and not seeing candy um but the FI family is here and will always be here to celebrate with her um and she is always so supportive of us and our students so we look forward to celebrating her um congratulations [Applause] I just wanted to say thank you for all the connections that I've made and this is going to be a really really hard last few weeks of school for me if you'd like you could come forward and we could get a picture taken with you bring all those [Laughter] flowers here so there's another one right after she wants the manager what are we doing this time she's retired got all her M she brought a cheering section I love it a red goodness that's okay no go ahead go ahead go ahead not a problem squeeze it in you're okay we can see over your heads [Applause] I find her Joy inspiring so next up I would like to invite Julie cessa up here because she's gonna start um a um a recognition retirement as well because she has a personal story and I'd also like to invite Lori vogle up here so good evening superintendent Maine members of the board chair um we'd like to recognize someone who is an absolute Hero at Jensen Beach High School he has Lori has I don't know how many pages in large font to read the you this evening about Coach Mike sautel Mike you want to come down and bring Lisa [Applause] coming have to listen ready okay can you listen for a minute I can listen okay good afternoon superintendent Maine Madame chair and members of the Schoolboard it is my pleasure this afternoon to honor Michael sattel Mike began his tenure in the Martin County School District in August of 1989 in his 35 years at the Martin County school district Mike has taught Elementary middle and high school physical education Mike has made it his mission and passion to prepare our students physically and emotionally to meet the demands of our ever evolving World Mike has coached volleyball for 25 years in the Martin County School District he began his volleyball career at South Fork High School in 1999 and then created the program when Jensen Beach High School opened in 2004 while at Jensen Beach High School he earned five state championships 10 Regional championships 14 district championships he has been the Florida High School Athletic Association coach of the year six times and the Dairy Farmers coach of the year five times he's been the coach of the year for the Palm Beach Post the TC palms and the Treasure Lake Conference 14 times Mike leaves behind a huge Legacy at Jensen Beach High School School 2025 next school year will be the first year since Jensen Beach has opened its doors that we will not have a sawel on our campus as all of Mike's children are falcon alumni I would also like to take a moment to recognize Mrs Lisa sautel Mike's wife who has shared her husband with us for the fast for the past 29 years being a coach's wife is never easy and we appreciate your support of Jensen Beach High School in the volleyball program undoubtedly M's impact on our community will not retire with him he has built a legacy that will carry on for years he and his family are ingal parts of our Falcon family he will be dearly missed by all of us we miss we wish Mike all the best as he begins the next chapter of his life and Mr Costello said you need this but you have to hold it here hold it there don't hold it wings or feet [Applause] congratulations can I say one just want to say thank you um I've the the Lord has truly blessed me for the last 35 years um and everything I've done I've been blessed with wonderful players wonderful coaches wonderful Administration and the biggest thing I'm going to leave behind is the fact that we were able to touch so many lives in our journey so thank you [Applause] congratulations best wishes [Applause] all right congratulations to both of you and your retirement and we thank you for your many years of service in the Martin County School District our next recognition is for the boys and girls club Youth Of The Year Mr shaza would you like to come forward good afternoon Madame chair members of the board and superintendent Maine the Boys and Girls Club of Martin County's annual Youth of the year event recognizes the incredible achievements of some of its most distinct and inspiring members youth are celebrated for exhibiting leadership and support to their peers and pursuing education training and career paths that will contribute to a better world it's my pleasure to bring forward Miss Megan Sherry director of marketing and external Affairs for the Boys and Girls Club of Martin County so she can present Our Youth Of The Year winner thank you while the boys and girls club is proud and thank thankful for the more than 600 children in our four clubs and the more than 6,000 children that we impact through our programs the Youth of the Year candidates have earned this special honor in addition to being our youth of the year joar has won the character counts Joe Cordic award and I would like to invite you all to join us in that recognition ceremony on April 30th at the Palm City Community Center and without further Ado I would like to introduce you to the boys and girls club's Martin County Youth Of The Year Joe marelia good evening everyone my name is Jamar Zia and I'm the Youth of the year for the 2024 year of the porcelan I started at the portc Boys and Girls Club but now I'm the Youth of the year for the Martin County School District I been attending the Boys and Girls Club since I was 10 years old and I'm happy to say I'm still a regular attending member today the BGC has helped me become the role model I am today by giving me many opportunities and it has helped me become sorry it has helped me through all the through all the opportunities the BGC offers me I proud myself on inspiring Future Leaders through everything the club has offered me the term role model does not mean being perfect or being better than anyone else instead it means achieving New Heights and always being there for others throughout my club experience I have experienced many stages of development which have led me to become which have led me to view things in many different perspectives perspectives I gained while observing various staff and friends come and go with the BGC although my mom originally forced me to go to BGC I I quickly realize all the benefits the club has to offer now that I have a job it is harder to attend a club as much as I would like to however I still make time each day before going to work to stay involved I'm also the captain of the peer forward team at Martin County High School this allows me to help other seniors appli to college and if they do not want to go to college we help them Define and create their post-secondary plans being a part of this team has also allowed me to visit New York and California before I turned 18 this was an eye opener I have also been able to travel to to around the country to places like Atlanta and Washington DC through the Boys and Girls Club exploration tours during these trips I was able to tour colleges and see sites I would have never even known about today it is easy to talk about these things due to my experiences when I first came to the Boys and Girls Club to the Boys and Girls Club of ports soleno I did not know the world of opportunities of future helped for me I went from the kid receiving contributions to the kid making contributions to the community and youth thank you when I help the younger kids at Boys and Girls Club the reaction their faces is priceless the big smiles from E to ear tell me that I am making a difference by sharing the opportunities I had when I was there age the Boys and Girls Club even gave me my first job I was one of the very first kids who ever work with Chef Dan in the fork in the road program back in 2020 the experiences the club gave me create impact so big in my life it helped me plan my dream career in the medical field with a concentration in orthopedic surgery the main reason why I chose this field of study is to continue helping others experience impact influence these are the three pillars of leaders ship boys and girls help Pap Tommy now my goal is to teach it to the younger generation one C at a time thank you congratulations congratulations great job [Applause] [Applause] jar I was able to be there the night that you won this award and I was impressed with how you carried yourself and how you spoke so eloquently you are going to excel in everything that you do and the board wishes you nothing but the best for your future endeavors thank you very much you're welcome our final recognition is the Martin County School District elementary science and engineering Fair special award winners Miss bores would you like to come forward good evening chair Russell board members and superintendent Maine my name is Jennifer Borges and I am the science coordinator for the Martin County School District today I have the honor of recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of our students who participated in the elementary science and engineering Fair held on February 7th 2024 this event showcased the Ingenuity creativity and hard work of over 200 projects from our young scientists and Engineers from across the district before I announce our special guests I would like to extend a special thank you to the Education Foundation of Martin County for their generous sponsorship of both the elementary and Regional stem fairs I would also like to thank the Children's Museum of the Treasure Coast for awarding students with a BOGO certificate their support has been instrumental in making these events possible and empowering our students to pursue their passion it for Science and Engineering firstly I would like to recognize the overall best score for individual projects this award goes to Talis sprin from Palm City Elementary for her exceptional project stop right there rosan her dedication to scientific inquiry and Innovation is truly commendable Talis can you come up [Applause] please next let us recognize the overall best score for team projects this honor is bestowed upon Rya Berkeley and Penny dubraski from Felix A Williams Elementary School for their collaborative efforts and what's the hype with electrolytes their teamwork problem solving skills and creativity have set a high standard for excellence in our district can you guys come up [Applause] please finally we cannot Overlook the remarkable achievements in class projects I've extended a challenge to every class from kindergarten to fifth fifth grade across all elementary schools within the district to participate in a class project witnessing the incredible experiences provided by these dedicated teachers has truly been astounding the award for the overall best scoring class project goes to Mrs Berkeley and her fourth grade class for their outstanding project cotton the fabric of Our Lives their dedication [Applause] finally I'm delighted to announce the best performing School in this year's District stem fair this prestigious honor goes to Port CNO Elementary for their exceptional achievements across all categories their commitment to Excellence in stem education is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all their students teachers and staff thank you l [Applause] congratulations to you all keep up the great work okay moving on we have our student representative Austin Connelly good afternoon everybody going to start today off with Jensen Beach High schol high school but before I do there are a lot of names for me to read today so if I mispronounce any I apologize the Falcon softball team traveled last week to CMI classic and competed against some of the best teams in the state pitcher mallerie wheeler was named the blue bracket offensive player of the tournament over the course of four games mallerie had nine hits with four doubles in three home runs seven RBI and scored six times she also pitched every pitch over A1 four over four games the woman's choir from Jenson Beach High School sang in Washington DC April 5th at the Heritage Festival National Coral competition the choir earned a gold rating for their performance and placed in first in the women's choir division the Jensen Beach High School Key Club and leadership class recently teamed up with Junior achievements High School Heroes program our members taught financial literacy lessons to all kindergarten through second grade classes at F awe South Fork High School the following students will be inducted into The National thepen Society on May 3rd each student listed above has put in at least 100 hours of quality work in theater and will be officially joining the ranks of troop 4437 Samuel Bagwell Holly beers Kate Cannon Natalie carbal Crystal Garber pton Johnson eie parsley Evelyn ryer and Madison Waters yavon Elmore came in fourth place at the FFA District ornamental Horticulture demonstration for her organic fertilizer Enterprise yavon Elmore and Haley Lan both earn their FFA State degree the second highest honor an FFA member can earn and will be recognized this summer at the 96 Florida FFA State Convention Southfork High School benefit concert was recently held to raise funds for fellow classmates facing homelessness using their talents and creativity these students generated $500 to support their peers in need this heartwarming movement showcases the passion and drive within our youth to make a positive impact in their Community let's congratulate our 2023 24 South Fork High School winners in the regional Scholastic Arts competition our gold winners are Daffin Dalton Julia Greaves and Grace Wang with two artwork Julia has been nominated for an American Vision award they will move on to the national competition out of over 4,000 entries these students work have been selected to be in the regional exhibition I'm thrilled to recognize Natalie aora a talented photographer and member of the South Fork High School yearbook team for her outstanding achievement in the spring 2024 digital contest hosted by the Florida Scholastic press Association Natalie's captivating Florida nature photo has earned her the prestigious title of an all Florida Best of the Best winner in this competitive contest her Keen eye for detail and artistic Vision truly shine through in her work Pat Phillips a beacon of knowledge and Innovation and education started her journey at we at Wes in 1994 Pat dedicated 13 years to shaping young minds before bringing her passion for reading to Sal Fork High School as a media specialist for over a decade she's been the guiding force behind the 3D tech club inspiring students to explore and create respected DAC representative and the recipient of the 2002 WS teacher of the year and the 2003 Martin County Teacher of the Year Awards Pat's commitment to Excellence is unwavering join us in celebrating her remarkable 29-year Legacy in education South Fork High School is proud to shine through the spotlight on their incredible assistant principles Mr Gregor Miss herd Tesson Miss McMurray and Miss Reese principal Thompson couldn't be prouder of her exceptional team quote I honored to work with such an amazing team who cares so deeply for our students staff and school Community they are a huge part of what makes Bulldog Nation so special and I'm so lucky to collaborate with them end quote Martin County High School the first certification year of the MCHS Criminal Justice Academy was a huge success with 16 out of our 19 students passing their 911 Public Safety telecommunicator certification we would like to congratu the following students Carolyn bevon Michael couter sha D agustini Anthony Fano Olivia Gro Taylor henrian Aiden Crystle Tiffany Miller Mary Morales Garcia Taylor Murray Gianna Porcelli ree Potter Ariana Rivera Jaden Rosenberg Sawyer Skinner and Remington Remington Trinity in late March Opus competed in the Heritage Festival in Nashville Tennessee they were outstanding and took first place additionally on Friday April 5th members of the course completed competed in the state solo and Ensemble congratulations to the following performers receiving Superior ratings Abigail ban Sydney Brewer Jacob Crosby Katie dunnel mallerie Gard Stephan hery yesco Mato Andreas Lewis Medina Zoe mixer Colin Moore gizle re sorz and Victoria seot Advanced Tre treble embl Kora Kora cido Abigail Bean Jill dunnel Katie dunnel Khloe Hillman Kathy Juan Santiago Addison kis Maria Marcos yesco Matteo Andreas Ella Thomas and Ava wbon for solos Zoe mixner and Mali Goddard and the student conductor Lewis Medina receiving excellent ratings for solos Katie dunnel Landon friend and Addison kis Mar County High School students n  and Nina Goyle competed in the state science and engineering fear of Florida this week Nera earned second place in the behavioral and social science category and was selected to represent the Martin County School District at the international science and engineering fair in Los Angeles in May Nina earned fourth place in the animal science category as her first year competing in the senior division congratulations n and Nina Goyle student athlete Dakota mberg was named TC Palm's player of the year for girls soccer art student Khloe Kelly was selected for the national K12 ceramic Exhibition at ncea Khloe's piece was awarded the Kansas City Art Institute scholarship invitation Alfred Theodore A Randall Memorial Scholarship Griffin grin award pth Gallery award for ceramic design and the ingred mahen foundation scholarship we are thrilled to celebrate our student artists who are gold key silver key and honorable mention recipients for the 2024 Scholastic art awards for Palm Beach and Martin counties gold key Awards have been presented to Tatiana bilan Hannah Hower Lily Larsson Sophia mestan Brook Vander Juan Cara and Cara walar dorf gold key artwork will be in an exhibition at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach from April 15th to 27 and we go on to compete nationally thank you thank you Austin now we will have our district update with Jennifer disazo hello again School Board member superintendent Maine it's my pleasure to bring you the April School District update the Martin County School District hosted the 48th annual music and our schools concert event at Martin County high school on March 21st the program coincided with the National Association for music educations music and our schools month with this year's theme being I see me in music education our annual music and our schools concert showcases the amazing musical talents of our students from all mcsd schools under the guidance of our dedicated music educator let's take a look at this year's concert put on by talented students and Educators here in Martin County you are going to be treated to a free show tonight that will leave you in amazement and you'll forget all about Taylor Swift after tonight welcome to the 48th annual music and our schools concert hosted by the Martin County School District the music in our school's concert is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our students as well as the unwavering dedication of our incomparable music [Music] educators you are going to experience everything in the music programs in the Martin County School District from the elementary through the middle school and the high school you better [Music] [Applause] [Music] can you see [Music] [Music] [Music] can [Music] pretty good this is my first music in our school so it was was pretty fun um I was in band and uh it was just like a really great experience I loved the little kids I thought they were amazing I thought they were perfect and I was really excited to watch them so honestly it was such a nostalgic moment for me seeing all the grades come together was really fun this is also my first music in the schools so it's really fun to just kind of be here and two Educators who are instrumental in our annual music and our schools event um will be retiring at the end of this school year Miss Donna vodik from Jensen Beach Elementary School and Mr Joe Flanigan who is a former School leader and administrator in the district and also traditionally serves as our MC of the event um they've both been instrumental in the continued success of this so please join me in congratulating both of them on retirement with a round of applause students from Palm City Elementary School coached by teacher Amanda Moore recently placed third out of 19 teams at the state level Odyssey of the Mind competition in Orlando Odyssey of the mind is an academic competition that teaches students how to develop the use of their natural creativity to become problem solvers students who participate in Odyssey of the Mind learn about teamwork budgeting time management public speaking and so much more students from Jensen Beach Elementary School also participated in this year's state level competition after both teams qualified during our recent Regional event currently only elementary students in the Martin County School District participate but middle school students will be invited to compete in Odyssey of the Mind beginning next school year please join us in congratulating our students [Applause] and as Dr riota shared I'm going to congratulate our Schools of Excellence once again um the State Board of Education in Florida Statutes designate a school as a school of excellence if its percentage of possible points earned in the school grade calculation is in the 80th percentile or higher for schools comprised of the same grade level groupings for at least two of the last three school years being designated as a school of excellence holds significant importance um in our pursuit of becoming the top performing School District in the state so once again congratulations to the schools you see displayed we are very very proud of your work and until next time you can find us wherever you scroll thank you Jen Mr main our superintendent update thank you madam chair um first would like to thank the Crystal Lake Elementary bouncing Ballers team one more time they did a a phenomenal job really appreciate that and uh they definitely will be attending the superintendent's kickoff this year and getting an invite there because that was very motivational and appreciate that performance I'd like to first start off by uh welcoming to our school district our new director of student services Dr Katherine perendi if you'll please stand and be recognized by the district Dr perendi joins us with over 30 years of exceptional student education and student services um experience most recently with Baltimore Maryland Broward County schools and Indian River County schools there are times in your career where uh you know you have to make a lot of good hires and important decisions and I believe that the team made an excellent choice in Dr perendi uh in the amount of experience that she has and collectively as a whole um what she will bring to the table and I know she has already been meeting with our student services team they've already been out to dinner she's already been attending meetings on her own time just because she wanted to be able to hit the ground running and so I'm very excited to welcome you to our team thank you ma'am we want to continue to publicize Our Town Hall meetings uh this month the district will be hosting the last two Town Hall events of the 2324 school year the first of the two will be held on Thursday at Murray Middle School at 5:30 p.m. while the second and last Town Hall will be held on April 25th at 6:00 p.m. at Warfield Elementary School uh this was a rescheduled Town Hall from Indiantown Middle School there was another event being held at Warfield the same evening and we wanted to make sure that the community of Indian Town had proper representation and the ability to be able to attend and get all of their questions answered and to feel that they were uh properly represented and so uh Chrissy Smith at Warfield Elementary has uh offered to host the next town hall for Warfield uh for Indiantown so we please encourage our Indian toown members of the community to come out and join us uh these sessions are designed to allow our staff to engage directly with members of our local community about issues impacting education if you are able to do so we encourage you to go to our website ahead of time to submit your questions so that our staff can prepare and we would be more than happy again to have a true Town Hall series and answer your questions we've heard a lot about Student Success tonight and I'm really excited uh when we were able to recognize our students we do have some local stem fair winners for our middle schools so we'd like to recognize those this evening last month we told you about all of our elementary middle and high school students who recently competed in the Martin County Regional science and engineering fair you we were able to recognize some of our elementary students earlier this evening those students have since went on to compete at the state level and I'm proud to announce our students have once again gone above and beyond here in the Martin County School District students from Stuart Middle School Murray middle Hidden Oaks Middle Martin County High School and South Fork High School represented the district demonstrating outstanding Talent dedication and Ingenuity in the science and engineering Fields the district is proud to share that six teams finished in the top five in their categories additionally Martin County High School senior n Goyle is advancing to the international science and engineering Fair which is a huge huge accomplishment congratulations to the following students as well honorable mention in category aand aana South Fork High School uncovering seasonal variation in algal growth recognition of project in category mateline Tuma Hidden Oaks Middle School let us talk about Greenhouse fourth place in category Brian Wang Hidden Oaks Middle School where are you V C fourth place in category Eliana lavat Stuart Middle School in St Lucy Inlet sand deposition continued fourth place in category Nina Goyle as mentioned Martin County High School control of fall army worm a global pest using RNA interface and antisense I cannot pronounce this word ol I'm just going to skip it there but thank you appreciate that uh third place in in category Ethan Timmer and Matthew Jerell Stuart Middle School aerodynamics of air foils in a wind tunnel I can go there as someone who has their pilot's license third place in category Veron Singh South Fork High School a novel approach to waste recycling and robotic Force sensing and image processing using deep convolutional neural network and second place in category n a Goyle Martin County High School a review of the use and promotability of mental health apps by teenagers Murray Middle School student Claire Rawlings earned a $50 cash award from the Florida Association of science supervisors and Heartland Regional science and engineering fair for her project titled electric verse bass so we have some just outstanding incredibly talented students here in the district and we want to be able to Showcase them and all of their hard work there are countless hours of preparation and research that goes into these projects and we really appreciate their time and effort many of these students will often times go on to continue their science research projects well into the college level I want to thank our cognia uh re accreditation committee and re review board particularly Dr uh Deb George and Dr paig McMahon and Dr Miller who led the team here locally to make sure that all of our departments and the data that we needed for the cognia to review for our next 5 years was approved this is a huge accomplishment to lead the district into the next 5 years which will ultimately take us into our strategic planning which will then align with our next five-year strategic planning cycle so thank you very much for all of the hard work for all of our team here at the district and at our school sites that had to upload uh countless amounts of data and narratives to make sure that we were prepared and successful and last but certainly not least I want to thank you to the board for all of your hard work in making sure that our apme and mcea employees received raises this year uh even during declining enrollment you stood firm and bold in making sure that our employees and teachers received um raises that that are are owed and in total asme received $1.9 million mcea $1.5 million and non-bargaining which is on the agenda tonight for 650,000 for a total of over $4 million to to our employees and we will continue to push forward uh to increase student enrollment here in the district and thereby giving our board an opportunity to put additional monies in the pockets of our teachers and our employees thank you madam chair thank you are there any questions from the board for any of the other information only reports seeing none we will move on currently we do not have any in any board information share at this time so we will go ahead and move on to public comment citizen input is vital to the Improvement of our district most times your remarks may be listened to without comment from the board members or superintendent this does not mean they are heard with any less intensity or concern where appropriate the superintendent and staff will investigate your comments and report back to you and the board with an answer we thank you for taking the time and having the concern to make our district better your presentation to the board should not exceed 3 minutes letters or statements from others not present can be given given to our clerk who will be sure that each School Board member and the superintendent receive a copy to keep our records straight and authentic our policy does not permit you to read the statements of others into the record first up sta principal Stacy Schmidt good evening Madam chair Mr superintendent members of the board I'm Stacy Schmidt principal of besti Creek Elementary I'm finishing up my fifth year as principle I wanted to talk about the amazing year we've been having at besti Creek growing our literacy expertise in the k to2 space and focusing on small group instruction in the 3 to5 space my belief is that we are once again going to see unprecedented growth all across every grade level and in every every subgroup we are always focused on improving and growing we've implemented Spanish on our related arts wheel we are a Cambridge School offering Global perspectives to all students in K to 5 we have a motor skills lab for our K to2 students to help create strong bodies built for better academic learning and that's on our related arts wheel and we will be improving our schedule to ensure additional Hands-On science labs at every grade level K to 5 for next school year we also have a house system where our kindergarten students and all students new to the school are sorted into their houses on their very first school day and we are five houses in one school family I would like to recognize our PTA for their support of all of my crazy ideas like the big spinning wheel for sorting kids in houses and also for having the biggest hearts and for giving back to other schools in the district as well thank Q PTA um I wanted to say to businesses and families out there looking to support teachers in the coming weeks that teacher appreciation week is May 6th through 10th and I will tell you that every principal would appreciate any donation of fun things like small gift cards or food items for their staff so pick your local school and drop off some special gifts and finally I wanted to thank the board and the District staff for opening up the opportunity for controlled open enrollment we've had lots of interest and have been giving lots of Tours and Bessie Creek really is a special unicorn and I really love every opportunity to meet with my new families and take a little tour and talk a little bit about the special things that we have happening at school and I wanted you to know that in the midst of declining enrollment I'm proud to say that Bessie Creek is projected to have over 50 additional students next year over this school year thank you thank you next up Manuel Gonzalez good evening superintendent and board members being a successful swimmer takes dedication hard work self discipline perseverance and being confident I Believe by waking up early training swimming going to school heading back to swimming will be a valuable school to my success in life swimming can feel like you have hit a wall at times much like this process has been able to able to remain in our pool but by learning how this process works and my commitment to swimming this is teaching me a lessons in and out of the pool right now I would normally be swimming but making sure we have a pool is priority because I like to like so many others kids are passionate about wanting to be an academically High achieving student and athlete High School swim season begins in about three months we need a head coach assistant coaches and captains I also want the classroom to be open again in the morning and afternoons our morning practice time is 5:30 to 6:30 and our school does not begin until until 8:20 a.m. I'm choice in to Martin County High School and both of my parents work in the p in the past we were allowed to swim from 6:00 to 7:30 and when we were done we were we would shower eat breakfast study socialize and get ready for school there isn't much time to talk when you are in swim practice so this time before school has allowed me to make friends since we are no longer allowed to be at the pool after 6:30 I purchased a gym membership for a place to go my teammate has been taking me but not all of my teammates can do this it would be safer for all of us if we were able to swim longer and walk into school on time versus driving all over in the morning please revert back to the student being able to use a classroom in our school it is a safer choice for us to be doing homework exercising and on campus versus sitting outside until school opens thank you for your time thank you Katherine [Applause] Rogers good evening superintendent and board members I've been a member of the Martin County swim team since sixth grade I am now a sophomore being a swimmer takes year dedication early morning practice Dryland practices and starting at a black line on the bottom of the pool for hours that will not be able to continue happening if the pool is shut down my goal is to restore the pool and make it available in our community to serve students and parents that do not know how to swim the pool is an asset for water safety physical education engineering competitions job opportunities and athletes ranging from young to old for multiple Sports I'm hoping to work with District staff to develop a life guard certification class swimming physical education and learn to swim classes for elementary students initiating lifeguard certifications the high school students would be able to assist in teaching younger students how to be safe around the water and learn to swim classes can be taught on pool maintenance creating job opportunities and career paths in the future the pool can host school competition such as the cardboard boat races which I loved competing in throughout Elementary School it would be beneficial to our stem curriculum to include middle and high school school students and construction cardboard boats we can host other sports such as synchronized swimming water polo or allow other athletes to train and recover in our pool recently The ROC manager needed the pool and if we had a pool manager this could be scheduled accordingly there is so much potential and missed opportunities at this facility by opening the pool to all Martin County District students you would attract more students to our district by supporting the pool thank you for your time thank you Kelly Coleman [Applause] good evening my name is Kelly Coleman and I'm a Civics teacher at Hidden Oaks Middle School I have been a teacher at Hidden Oaks for 23 years I was hired by Dr Frank raone who always told me that when things became difficult to just hang on in the on the education pendulum will swing eventually and things will get better I even saw him 15 years later and do you know what he said to me hang on it will get better well I'm here to tell you I have been hanging on for 23 years waiting to see change in the teaching profession I spent my entire profession hoping and praying to see change happen in Martin County what change am I looking for the relationship between this district and its teachers I'm here to say enough is enough everyone in America knows being a teacher is not easy the challenges are draining the demands are overwhelming the students that enter my room are just not the same as when I started started my students come to me with many different needs it is getting harder and harder to meet them due to the unrealistic expectation placed on teacher Shoulders by the school board and our state legislature unless you spend time in a teacher's classroom no one will truly understand what it's like to walk in teacher shoes not only in Martin County but throughout this country I'm here to say enough is enough I love my students I love my school I love my colleagues who are like my second family to me I love my administrators I love my community what I do not love is the division between our school board and our teachers frankly I'm sick and tired of it it is time for change the time has come for us to get on the same page this is the only way this district will retain teachers and truly become number one in the state I have been here long enough to tell all of you that actions speak louder than words the message being sent to teachers is that the interests of the school board far outweighs the well-being of their employees this is something I have never understood if we all want what's best for our students why do teachers feel they cannot trust their District why is our superintendent posting videos that divide us why is there a school board member on talk radio saying they're hoping and praying our Union will not get to 60% this is not a 2024 problem in this District this has been a long-term problem and enough is enough we need to be United it is time for the Martin County School Board to show its teachers that they are on our side there is no pep rally that will ever convince me that we are united until I see the actions of our school board and our district make the changes needed for this County to reach its full potential thank you for your time thank you Emerson Beasley you can hold your applause please Emerson Beasley [Music] hello my name is Emerson Beasley and I am a swimmer on the Martin County tiger shark swim team I am glad to hear that you decided to keep the Pool open next school year but I want to make sure it stays open until I am in high school and beyond for others after me I would like to be able to do my sport just like football and baseball players get to I keep asking my mom I don't understand if there is enough money to fix if there isn't enough money to fix the pool then how is there enough money to fill it in and build a building now you can all be I know you can all be creative and come up with ways to utilize the pool to keep it open please think of kids like me and my teammates in your decision process don't let your legacy be that you took away our pool thank you thank you Elana Beasley hi my name is Elena Beasley that was my daughter you did a great job M um she's my oldest of three children who attend um Palm City Elementary School like her I'm happy to hear that the school district has decided to keep the pool open for the upcoming school year however myself and the team want to ensure it remains open for all the years to come I understand you all want to be fiscally responsible but please be transparent and ethical with your plans on how to achieve this as many of us stated at the last school board meeting sfish flash does not have room to accommodate our team or to absorb our swimmers on the existing teams there please be transparent and keep the flow of communication going with our coaches to ensure the pool can be utilized as the amazing resource that it is it has the potential to offer even more programs to our community than it already does if we invest our time and energy wisely please do not let our kids down thank you Karen [Applause] resin good evening Madam chair school board members and superintendent Main my name is Karen Ren educator of 40 years 20 years with Martin County and former MCA president I'm now retired so I guess I'm just a taxpayer now in 2022 I entered into an agreement with the Martin County School Board exercising our rights under the article of sick leave it was approved so why did this come into question in January and February of 20123 why all of a sudden such a big deal there were no incidents of any kind why because a newly elected School Board member just didn't like it the current president requested the same and was denied a grievance was filed the grievance hearing was held on December 12th of 2023 the decision of the arbitrator um was rendered on March 19th of 2024 the MCA won this arbitration and the arbitrator directed The District to follow the same agreement as mine with some minor changes it's worth noting that the language in this dispute did not cost the district one dime but I wonder how much this arbitration will cost the taxpayers in 2017 the MCA in the Martin County School District went into impass over teacher planning time MCA achieved success for the merits of that argument and the language is now case law all over the state it cost just over $4,000 for the writing of the legal opinion which was six pages build at 2 and at one qu days in the most recent arbitration mca1 I would imagine the cost will be considerable as the written opinion is 42 Pages you can do simple math and that will only be the cost for the arbitrator what about the legal fees incurred by the district or should I say the taxpayers interestingly enough the school board increased their allocated funds to their attorneys from $100,000 in July of 23 of $200,000 on December 19th of 2023 why currently there's pending arbitration regarding the Western Zone supplements which impacted 26 teachers in October of 2022 the teachers filed a grievance regarding the decrease in the western Zone supplement it was denied at level three and the teachers filed for arbitration however at the beginning of the 2223 school year the teachers agreed to a settlement yet in November of 23 the current School Board Vice chair motioned to go to arbitration it is now April of 24 and the board continues to delay the process the arbitrator is quite bothered due to the delay he required a down payment of $1,000 from each side why are they was why are you wasting taxpayer dollars on nonsensical legal ballot ballot battles the district will lose this one too the school board should stick to their role in writing policy instead of focusing on culture wars keep politics out of the classroom focus on the students stop attacking teachers leave our planning time alone William [Applause] Dorney my name is Bill Dorney and I'm one of many seniors who regularly used the high school pool years before I95 was completed through Martin County my wife and I found a retirement home for her parents and Stewart it happened to be next door to the carer family on Cardinal away one of the bridges to Hutcherson island is named in honor of Senator Kerry and his family's contributions to early Morton County 12 years ago the future of the crary historic home was in question my wife and I were able to purchase and donate the crer home to the city of Stewart and her parents' names Donna worked alongside the Historic Society and the house was relocated to downtown Stewart next to the old Feed Store Museum the dick Wells Aquatic Center has great value to Martin County it was built to last for generations with its welded Ste stainless steel coping and gutters one Pool isn't enough to handle the County's high schools age group and numerous other swimming programs I lost my father to cancer when I was N9 years old mom worked as a high school secretary and somehow managed to keep us in our home my sister brother and I I continued our swimming programs our coaches were our mentors and teammates lifetime friends I was able to earn a scholarship to Florida and swam for the Gators my brother swam for Michigan over 15 years I witnessed hundreds of students training at the dick Wells center before the sun rises in the first of two daily workouts many went on to swim in college many received financial assistance the Martin County School System provided the facilities to make that happen and we should all be proud of their accomplishments I can only hope that future student athletes will have the same opportunities thank you for allowing me to address this audience thank you Brit [Applause] schorn good evening uh board members I am a swimmer at the Martin County High School pool and I'm here this evening to speak out for the high school pool and for keeping it open the high school pool um as you've heard from other speakers tonight uh and in past meetings is a force of good here in Martin County and shapes lives uh young and retirees in a very positive way uh that that pool is a much needed and much used community Comm resource here in Martin County on weekday mornings that pool is filled with swimmers Martin County needs two competitive swimming pools the splash park pool cannot accommodate the swimmers that they have and not Martin County High School pool U Martin County High School Kids please keep the high school pool open and accessible to the public and accessible to the general swim community of Martin County uh during reasonable hours thank you very much thank you heather Rogers good evening this election year you have the resources and abilities to negotiate a contract with our teachers that will enable them to live here have affordable health care and to be respected as the professionals that they are you have the resources and the abilities to work with Martin County High School to renovate the pool and add classes that are already in our standards how you choose to handle these responsibilities is entirely up to you historically we know as your constituents you rarely vote in favor of students and teachers you can leave office with the legacies of closing the pool and not supporting teachers and students you can campaign to remain on this board with the platform of denying teach teachers a fair contract and closing the pool either way your constituents lose this all aligns with an agenda from Tallahassee and from supporting extremist groups to end teacher unions as well as taking up every policy that has been passed to hurt students since the last board meeting the district put out a video about the Martin County High School pool that states it will cost 1.2 million to repair the pool via an in-house bid in-house bids without budget line items are not accept able to anyone in our community as taxpayers we are requesting to see every line budget item that would indicate we need $1.2 million stop swimming against students and teachers it would be much easier to have the district relations office do a story on how much the pool has brought to our community in the last 40 plus years as District administrators and elected representatives it is your duty to support teachers and students I get the impression that every chance you get you are collectively hoping the teachers union won't meet its membership quota continuing to treat them unethically you are also actively working to close the pool by increasing the rent in July by almost 500% when you act in the best interest of teachers and students it shouldn't be in opposition to the Public's needs perhaps when you are promoted to these positions you should question if you are truly qualified to be here allow the Dem Democratic process to work without interference and practice The non-agenda Driven disinterest govern governance that is required by all public servants thank you thank you lyy [Applause] Miller last Saturday I watched my son swim three miles that was No Easy Task took over an hour but he was coached and trained well he has a 4.0 GPA but talking in front of you probably took more effort than that swim I wanted to express my concern regarding the Martin County High School swim team what purpose is being solved by making the kids leave by 7: a.m. why can't students remain in the classroom supervised until the school opens this prevents students from walking or driving around going to Wawa it's not is it not safer for them to remain in the classroom to do homework build team Rapport maybe eat some breakfast I'm sure that all competitive Sports programs have some sort of offseason practices or expectations for the athletes are these programs limited by the use of the facilities the facilities department needs to expand the pool management position not eliminate it because of One Bad Seed we had the need for pool manager to facilitate programs is a must not just keep the pool clean but to manage the pool set up facilitate schedule programs to get the most out of the pool for the community and the district this should be a focus of the district not placing limitations and raising the rent in which none of the nonprofits can afford programs could be set up for homeschooling lifeguarding fire or police training and physical education truly using the pool for PE classroom standards could also be researched a pool manager could do this they could also get the district real estimates and bids for the pool itemized bids could then be placed into the budget the pool has been neglected and having someone who knows the pool and able to PRI prior repairs would prevent sticker shock let's focus on the positives for these kids instead of shutting them out thank you thank you Bill [Applause] Smithson hello Mr Maine Madam chair and members of the school board it's me again once again I'm requesting this board to consider your strict interpretation of hb10 69 in favor of a process that meets the needs of all your constituents not just a few as you are aware most laws are ambiguous and Florida is no exception and subject to numerous interpretations the law states books containing sexually explicit material a parent can request to have the book removed from classrooms and media centers one way to get around it is to set up a restricted area containing the books that have thus far been banned Al together from our schools many of these books have been in our school shelves for years without incident until moms for Liberty and lockstep with Governor DeSantis create a solution for which there was never a problem anyway those parents object to a par anyway those parents who object to a particular book can authorize their child to have access to a non-restricted area of the media center for the vast majority of parents that don't object to those books uh banned from our schools that um excuse me that were banned from the uh books from our shelves they can authorize their children and young adults to have full access to the media centers books which will include a restricted area other school districts have done it and I don't see any evidence of Governor DeSantis closing down those schools or arresting school board members at this point I can only assume you are in lock step with the few at the expense of the many now I just want to tell you why I have such a invested interest excuse me in this is that one I have a grandson at marry Middle School I have twin grandkids uh boy and a girl at South Fork in the IB program and I have three great grandchildren at Pinewood Elementary I do not want as they go through the school system to be denied you know any opportunity to learn especially the experience of others that they can maybe develop an empathy for that speaks to them I want them to be fully aware very Progressive Etc but the rate that where we are going now with these Banning of the books all right is a pure indoctrination in white nationalist Christian Creed and Dogma I hate to say that but that is where we're going and I would like to see it stop and maybe some of you up there on the school board can interject some sense into trying to please or accommodate some of us or actually the majority of us that don't want to see these books bad okay thank you thank you Victoria [Applause] deener Victoria defenthaler retired Martin County School District educator and former School Board member I want to thank Mrs Coleman for speaking up tonight on behalf of all teachers she's an excellent educator who has touched the lives of many students in our district including my daughters I'm struggling to understand how one nonprofit can be a conflict of interest for a Schoolboard candidate when we have and have had members of nonprofits on this board for years I am disappointed for the potential possibilities a Schoolboard candidate excuse me with Dr malle's level of Education experience and expertise could have brought to this school board which would have without a doubt benefit our students teachers staff families and communities on another note during the March 19th school board meeting a presentation around average teacher salaries was conducted the public was told that there are a number of supplements that that teachers can receive to enhance their salary Advanced degrees the title One supplement the Western Zone supplement to name a few it was indicated that supplements help to make Martin County Teachers salaries competitive I believe the presentation led the public to believe that many teachers have the opportunity to receive supplements which begs the question why do teachers need to work additional jobs and hours to receive a salary they should receive for serving in their role as qualified teachers thank you thank you dick [Applause] wum dick Landrum hi I've prepared a handout for you and I'm going to summarize the I'm going to just kind of paraphrase the handout that you're getting right now and this is in summary uh of where we stand with a Save the Pool effort um I would like to present these findings so that we won't have to reestablish them again in the next school board's five-year budget planning discussions about the community pool the pool known as the coach dick Wells Training Center belongs to the residents of Martin County the school district agreed in 19 1975 it could use the community funded pool as long as it maintained it historically the pool manager has kept the pool facility clean and opened enclosed and uh for use without incident the classroom and office um have always always been shared by the high school and Club teams for storage education meetings social Gatherings and shelter in case of severe weather community pools cost money the uh they need to be used effectively to justify the cost the February work order for $ 1. 1285 million was not properly bid it was an internal estimate that was not explained to the board the pool is a significant Capital asset and it should be budgeted using fund accounting over a 20 to 30e period with no possibility of using the funds for any other purpose rental increases imposed on the Martin County swimming club are too high and unnecessary as we don't need a full-time custodian um all the rental increases should be on a pro rate basis not born by the only entity using the pool we have 97 hours available for rental of the pool and we're only using it about 34 of those hours so any costs that you think you might want to add to the rental of the pool um need to be considered um as a PR rate of that amount of time and we need to restore the pools use to its original intent and reestablish the programs of community needs several are listed um in in your handout there should be community pools in each of the six major city areas of Martin County perhaps and preferably the school district and County should work together to provide community swim programs for everyone other issues um have come up as we've been listening to your meetings for the last three months and um and and I want to just say this about some other things that I've heard you need to pay teachers a Martin County living wage affordable housing everyone working in Martin County should be able to live in Martin County and they should be able to have a disend no more than 30% of their wages on rent or mortgage fees you could work with the county and uh the school district and County should work together to make that happen thank you Katie [Applause] sport hi I am a uh kindergarten teacher at Citrus Grove Elementary um I've had the pleasure of teaching in Martin County for eight years um this is my eth year and um I one of the few people who came from Palm Beach County to teach here um so I do think what I have to say is valuable um I came to Martin County because I wanted to build relationship with my families and students that I was serving um I wanted to be able to go into the grocery store and have parents stop me and say oh Mrs Spore you are my child you were my child's teacher or oh I know you because I'm on the sack with you or various things like that um last weekend I stopped by uh the random Boy Scout uh Car Wash not because I recognized my own student but because I recognized A co-worker student and they were doing a fundraiser and I went and did that that's that's the feeling of why I came to teach in Martin County okay so um I was blessed to be married and have a husband and be able to afford to buy a home during Co most people would not be able to get that rate or even uh maybe find The Gem of a house that we have but I am a taxpayer and I believe that you should invest money in infrastructure um because it's useful right um so I was very baffled to see the whole thing about the pool because where I'm from in Michigan every high school has a pool and we have aquatic centers because everyone wants to go to the pool so to me it was very eye openening that Place surrounded by water did not value that especially as far as um swimming lessons are concerned so to me I mean in a place where I lived in the middle of nowhere we were taught at in third grade to go to drown proofing class so for me that was like a thing that everybody did and you had to do it um so I I feel like there are ways that you could either figure it out um with parks and wreck if you read all of the comments on the parks and wreck page it's all about how people want more pools um as far as pay goes I really I'm thankful that you want to give us more money I know your hands are tied but I really wish you could figure out how to have the negotiation so sessions go faster okobi got theirs done in one or two sessions we could do that um show us show us teachers that you really do care um that can go a long way um part of of the pay is an issue as I don't don't know how single teachers do it you have $1,500 for a one-bedroom apartment I take home $1,600 every two weeks if I was not married I could not afford to live here let alone anywhere near here so I I don't know figure it out thank you Elizabeth crane my name is Elizabeth crane thank you board members and I so appreciate hearing all the comments I am here to talk about the policy manual uh from April 2nd 2024 Workshop religion in the curriculum and I am a teacher uh I do teach once a week still and in 1962 when I was in fourth grade they took prayer out of school and I have seen our nation decline since that time I think the uh the Declaration of Independence says all we need to say about religion in school when it says we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and they are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and to declare means we can speak freely and there is a movement to shut down anybody who disagrees with the books that they want to put in I know for myself as a child uh there was a ice cream truck man who had literature like that and showed it to kids and you know what happened to him he was arrested this is happening in our schools and parents are okay with it some parents are okay with it I'm not so I would like to say that the constitution is an amazing document because it guarantees that the government exists for the benefit of the people every other government the people exist for the benefit of those who rule that has never gone well for those who are socially engineered on and that's what's happening in our schools they call it indoctrination but it's really social engineering that's what the schools have turned into we're not educating our children anymore so I would like to see religion taught in our schools God brought back into our schools a true and living God that I grew up with and it's made all the difference in my life and to give children the opportunity to know that they can see that a building has an architect that we we see things that are are built by somebody but somehow this just happened all by accident no to bring the option for children to be able to know that we have a Creator thank you for your time thank you Amy Robertson been a while since I heard that name that's my maiden name uh Amy Robertson hufnagle here new building new board members new superintendent same old story for decades now I've experienced firsthand how Martin County values its Educators first as a teacher and now as a parent it's despicable I have lobbied at the national and state level I've met with legislator legislators in Tallahassee and I've negotiated contracts with the union and the board even though I had over a decade of teaching experience my Master's Degree and national board certification when I taught I sat Frozen on my step and watched as my pay actually decreased with not so much as a cost of living increase at one point I barely made more than a brand new teacher with no experience whatsoever so I worked more than one job to pay my bills to pay my rent then the years came where so many steps and half half steps were added or one-time bonuses offered that did not count toward retirement it completely skewed the scale for perpetuity impass after impass at least three times in the past 15 years and here you are again almost the end of the school year no contract there's always been a gross disparity in how this County treats its teachers who remain loyal I don't know why teachers who are at the very heart of education and that's why the retention rate is so pathetic and worse each year Quality Personnel are fleeing to neighboring counties in search of better pay more appreciation or even just a settled contract before the year concludes as a professional their career should value them accurately and appropriately your duty as a school board is to protect the interests of our students the investment in education for our children the common obligation of providing an equitable educational environment for our community if we work together to build a climate where collaboration is the norm not the exception then we must properly prioritize our teachers as the professionals they are set aside instructional salaries first not last then calculate how much you have left over to spend on whatever else it is you've deemed urgent and important at this time it's not that the teachers deserve it which they do it's not that they've earned it even though they have it's it's just simply what's right and long overdue as the old adage States you get what you pay for I'm not selling out the children of Martin County for less than they deserve are you show your staff that you value them s Sweeny please hold your applause you can hear it [Applause] Sweeney my name is Sharita Sweeney and I'm a bus driver here at Martin County I identify with the young lady that just spoke being in transportation right now we're facing uh trying to get uh in the process of a new director from what I understand the new director that you guys are seeking for is someone that has a master's or bachelor's degree in in office what we need is someone from the outside that has logistic experience has cdl's and that has is a people person you guys uh put in a box in our lobby saying uh for us to um put down what we want we have done that collectively and it's going to be titled bus drivers and assistants along with that we are the first ones like you say that see your children see the children okay we don't we do not feel uh valued as such our pay checks have been messed up repeatedly we have not seen any retr pay a lot of us we have not seen bonuses okay why can't we have a cost of living increase as well that's this is something we need now we're going into new medical um coverage uh the new enrollment for me it's going to cost me $500 a paycheck to get medical coverage I can't afford that how am I and I drive from Palm Beach I when I came up here I was so happy and please and I loved it because it's small community but let me tell you it is a lot for us drivers we are out there on the road the traffic is getting horrific they're not building any more new roads and construction is everywhere and the other thing I wanted to speak about was you're speaking I'm so nervous you're getting a um a new compound out in in um in Indian toown we would like to know what are your intentions on that on that compound because we understand that it's going to only be 6 hours I drive from Palm be that compound will be perfect for me because I could just jump on 17 and drive up what is the purpose of that compound to put a manager or um someone permanent out there it wouldn't we don't see where it would be good we need a floating manager and a floating safety from both compounds and the six hours on a contract is not enough it's not enough hours I don't understand why Martin C why we have the contract I understand the union situation but Palm Beach their drivers get eight hours why can't we get eight hours a day okay um oh my goodness I didn't know I was going to have to um that's it thank you thank you that concludes public comment and now we will move on to our action only items item number 18.01 Schoolboard travel there's none at this time item number 18.02 ITB 10001 d223 d224 enhanced security project purchasing maintenance Transportation site proposal approval are there any questions from the board move approval thank you second I have a motion by Miss Powers and a second by Mr dley all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.03 RFQ number 30006 d-220 South Fork High School New Gym approve ffe proposals are there any questions from the board yes Miss Bret uh Mr CEST it has been floating around that the new gym is smaller than the current gym can you elaborate on that so that everyone can hear please yeah so we tried to tackle this about probably 18 months ago because the same rumor was going around it's larger than the existing gym it's a hair smaller than Jensen Beach High School so it's plus or minus 2800 people if you do a graduation you're welcome thank you any other questions from the board do I have a motion move approval I have a motion by Mr dley a second by miss pritchet all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.04 RFQ number 30006 6-0 d2020 Southfork high school project additional cost approval are there any questions from the board do I have a motion move approval I have a motion by Mr dley and a second by miss pitet all those in favor any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.05 RFQ number 303- z-20 2017 in a a Stewart Middle School Phase 2 replacement building number 10 project Builder risk proposal are there any questions from the board do I have a motion second I have a motion by Miss pritchet and the second by Mr dley are all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.06 Indian town bus compound are there any questions from the board I just wanted to make I I think that the Miss Sweeny I think it was that was spoke I think she brought up a good point about the floating um position as opposed to having someone full-time in Indiantown and I know the reason that we are putting the buses back in Indiantown is for safety because um they've had several evacuations where it took well over two hours to get buses um to Indian to evacuate students so but I do think that she brought up a really good point about Staffing and um you know if if a full-time position specifically in Indiantown so I would like to look at that as um an an opportunity to save money as we budget for the coming year any other questions or comments yes M Robert so does that mean we would approve this and then bring it back with an adjustment to Miss Powers or what do you look yes well I think that we're going to move forward this is not going to they need to start work on the infrastructure pieces to have it ready to go for the start of school but yes I would like at least some sort of explanation on why that is not a good idea if it if the superintendent could look at that and you know C report back to the board on that recommendation if it is plausible and it's acceptable to do something like that um to save dollars I would appreciate that right so this piece that we have today is um just the capital piece infrastructure pieces so um I'll move approval of this second I have a motion by Miss Roberts a second by Miss Powers all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.07% are there any questions from the board move approval second I have approval by or sorry motion by Mr dley and a second by Miss Powers all those in favor any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.085 are there any questions from the board um I'll second that and I'd like to thank um Dr Kennedy for the presentation and the work that was put into this agenda item I really appreciate it thank you I have a motion by Miss pritchet a second by Miss Roberts all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.09497 school year yes ma'am okay thank you I and I'll second this and I also want to thank um both Mr L Barbara and Dr Kennedy for the presentation of this item and all the information that went into it I really appreciate it I have a motion by Miss pritchet and a second by Miss Roberts all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.10 is the approval of resolution 2024 -3 authorizing the issuance of series 2024 refunding certificates of participation are there any questions from the board yes Miss Roberts um so when I'm looking at your preliminary offering statement I guess I'm talking to Carter or am I talking to pfm or am I talking to not sure who I'm talking to but um when I look at your preliminary offering statement and I look at page page 55 which is the section about the operating revenues of the district and specifically about the local sources so the language on that last paragraph on page 55 Mr Morrison the language that talks about the um voter approval in August of 22 of the millage should not say what it says it should say revenues are to be used to fund School Safety and Security for all schools or no School Safety and Security mental health programs recruiting and retaining High qualified teachers and support staff not the word highly professional development and academic initiatives if you look to the language that was approved in August of 22 that's where you would get that language you're using I think this is using the language from the prior thing so I think that needs to be corrected in the preliminary office offer yes we will make that correction Mrs Roberts thank you thank you are there any other questions or comments I make a motion to approve With The Changes M Roberts mentioned I have a motion by Miss Powers and a second by miss pritchet all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously we will now recess our regular school board meeting time 5:53 p.m. and we will now call to order the Martin County School Board leasing Corporation committee meeting do I have a motion to approve the agenda I'm moved I have a second second I have a motion by Mr dley and a second by miss pritchet all those in favor any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 3.01 approval of resolution 2024 d04 authorizing the issuance of series 2024 refunding certificates of participation move approval of 3.01 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by Mr Dy all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously this meeting is now adjourned at 5:53 and we will now reconvene our regular Schoolboard meeting item number 18.13 asks me a non-bargaining one-time non-recurring bonus of 7 $90 are there any questions from the board I move approval of 18.13 second I have a motion by Miss Powers the second by Mr Dy all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 18.14 2023 24 non-bargaining salary increase recommendation are there any questions from the board I move approval of item 18.14 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pett all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously all right moving on to our first review of Schoolboard policies and to approve the advertising is there anyone from the public that would like to speak at this time on items 19.01.2016 19.01.2016 [Music] number but um and this is Neola language thank you thank you for clarifying all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.02 policy number 2371 Hope Scholarship are there any questions from the board moove approval of the advertising of 19.02 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pritchet all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.03 policy number 2455 drop out prevention and academic interv intervention programs this is a new policy are there any questions from the board I move approval of 19.03 advertising I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pitchet all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.04 Paul number 2460 exceptional student education are there any questions from the board approval of 19 second I have a motion by Miss pitchet a second by Miss Powers all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.05 policy number 2520 selection and Adoption of instructional materials are there any questions from the board Mo approval of 19.05 advertising I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pet all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.06.13 Miss Powers a second by Mr Dy all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.07 policy number 2522 challenges to adoption of use of instructional library or reading list materials are there any questions from the board of 19 second I have a motion by Miss pitchet a second by Mr dley all those in favor I I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.08 policy number 2623 student assessment are there any questions from the board move approval of the advertising of 19.08 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pritchet all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.09 9 policy number 5420 reporting student progress are there any questions from the board move approval the advertising of 19.09 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pritchet all those in favor any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.10 policy number 8420 Emergency Management emergency preparedness and emergency response agencies are there any questions from the board second I have a motion by Miss pritet a second by Miss Powers all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 19.11 policy number 8600 Transportation are there any questions from the board I have a motion motion to 19 I have a motion by Miss pritchet a second by Mr Dy all those in favor hi any opposed motion carries unanimously moving on to public hearing of school board policies is there anyone from the public that would like to speak on any of these policies seeing none we will move forward item number 20.01 policy number 1242 and 3242 professional learning are there any questions from the board yes yes M Robert so for 12:42 and 3242 U Miss Falls I think there's a scribers era on line two after consortia that an should be removed don't you have a an after organization doesn't change the content so I don't think it's an issue but just for both of those policies 1242 and 3242 so I move approval with that change second I have a motion by Miss Roberts a second by Mr dley all those in favor any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 20.02 policy number 2120 School Improvement are there any questions from the board she for the first one she did are there any questions on this one um he was asking about public comment for this one I move approval of 20.02 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by Mr Dy all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 20.0 3 policy number 51101 homeless students are there any questions from the board thank you I have one M Robert um this is also scribner's error or correction on page two of eight the last um the very last line above what stricken Miss Falls that should be a through C above instead of a through D since we struck d right no substantial change I think it's and I'll move approval thank you I have a motion by Miss Roberts and a second by Mr Dy all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 2 .04 policy number 5410 student progression are there any questions from the board do I have a motion moved I have a motion by Mr dley a second this Pur it thank you all those in favor all any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 20.05 policy number 54101 promotion acceleration placement and retention are there any questions from the board move approval of 20.05 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pitchet all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 20.06 policy number 5460 graduation requirements are there any questions from the board move approval of 20.06 second thank you um I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pritchet all those in favor I I any opposed right Mr dley was not here for that vote so if thank you item number 20.06 policy number 5460 graduation requirements did we we just did did that never mind just kidding let me move on see you're paying attention it's good um item number 20.7 policy number 5465 general education development GED tests are there any questions from the board move approval of 20.07% [Music] is 4 to Z Item number 20.08 policy number 5513 care of school property are there any questions from the board move approval of 20.08 I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pitchet all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries 4 Z Item number 20.09.2011 student and parent complaints are there any questions from the board move approval of [Music] 20.09.2011 in favor I I any opposed motion carries 4 Z Item number 20.10 policy number 5780 student parent rights are there any questions from the board move approval of 20.1 Z second I have a motion by Miss Powers and a second by miss pritchet all those in favor I I any opposed motion carries 40 item number 20.11 policy number 57 82 parent Guardian notification and permission School sponsored events and activities are there any questions from the board I have a motion by Miss pritchet and a second by Miss Powers all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously item number 20.2 policy number 84101 critical incident response this is a new policy are there any questions from the board move approval of 20.12 second I have a motion by Miss Powers a second by miss pitchet all those in favor I any opposed motion carries unanimously okay next up is open to the board Mr Dy did you have anything this evening thank you madam chair I do yes so I know it's coming up on Silly Season and uh I I guess we all know what that is but there's some things said tonight from some members of the public that I don't believe are correct and they might just be um part of silly season but somebody mentioned that we went to impass uh three times in the last 15 years I've been sitting on this board 12 years in my first year we were forced to go to impass because the district had no money and there's not been any impass since then there's been raises or bonuses every single year since then and uh I think we pretty much stepped up to the plate pretty well this year it's obvious that maybe they're not happy with it but um it was an awful lot of money so I'd like uh Mr Maine to please um talk about that and um also I think the public needs to understand a little bit more about our donor County status because people seem to think we have all this extra money and all this extra money but it's to the tune of tens of millions of dollars that of the Public's tax dollars that goes to other counties we have no control over it the state legislature um the Florida Department of Education um has this program that takes our money and sends it elsewhere and not I think we give more than Dade County gives to the donor program which is really ridiculous I just want to clarify that we do not our money does not leave our County that is a misnomer the money collected in Martin County stays here the now the money we get to um from the state may be less than say a rule County and the Panhandle that doesn't have the tax base but every dollar that we collect here in Martin County stays here it's only offset by what we get from Tallahassee so we get less because our tax base is higher than say Jackson County so just I just wanted to clarify that because that is something that I hear a lot um and it's that's just how the process works okay thank you m Bowers um and Mr M one more thing um I'd like to know how many times negotiations were delayed since we began negotiations with the teachers union and who caused those delays because I think there's some misinformation out there on that also thank you that's all I have right at the moment thank you Miss Roberts um sure so last month I spoke at The Rotary um I'd like to congratulate Martin County for their Fire Rescue Training Facility thank the tax collector for the tag art opportunity in that event and also thank Mark cows for his work on that event congratulate Stuart Middle School for their first successful Italian night thank and congratulate Palm City Elementary for their Odyssey of the minds and Earth Day celebration which was very well attended by the community and the parents like to um remind anybody who's listened ing that next Tuesday from 5: to 8: the Jensen Beach Chamber will be having their art music auction event at the mall the Treasure Coast Mall which will be showcasing the music art um for the students from Jensen Beach Elementary Felix William Stewart Middle School and Jensen Beach High School um next Friday April 26 is the Jensen Beach High School talent show May 10th is the South Fork High School band performance May 14th Jensen Beach High School is having a ubil lat performance and I'd like to wish good luck to spam that's heading to Houston for the world championship they um won their divisionals a couple times so managed to get the free ticket to get go there instead of having to pay that entry fee and I wish them the best of luck and one last thing I wanted to bring up was the um so I I don't know if you all caught it but um the city of Stuart voted to have a presentation that had to do with affordable housing um and somebody's working on a presentation that they're giving to the city of Stewart about that but one of the things that was interesting was that if you take the numbers it's it's based on 80% of the um your annual income in your area your Ami and 80% in our area has an income cap of $ 51,3 60 for one person so using that number um even though we're people are always thinking well this is going to be something that's great for teachers it's something that 80% of the Ami with an annual income of 51 360 with a starting salary a minimum starting salary in Martin County for a teacher with no years of experience being 495 and then adding the millage onto that of the 1800 if you had no years of experience of you add the 1800 that puts you at 513 so you're $60 short so as long as you're not in a title school don't receive any other supplement um you might be able to qualify for that but it it probably isn't a program that's going to do a whole lot for anybody that's a teacher just so that um Everybody kind of knows that and that's all I have thank you thank you Miss pritchet Miss pow um so I just had a couple of things um I know there were a few of us that attended the Jackie Robinson youth baseball tournament um it was the groundbreaking of the new sort of in in collaboration with the celebration um was the new Hidden Oaks fields and they are spectacular they are really really nice and it's amazing what um that partnership and the investment that not the school district but private businesses made into that those fields for our students and it's it's really spectacular and there were um teams from all over the Treasure Coast Area attending it was it was a really nice event um also I wanted to congratulate spam I think that um it spam was a a great investment um on our part as a school board and um the what they're doing and what they're learning and what they're giving back to our community when they leave and they get their stem degree and come back and volunteer in the program is just invaluable so um congratulations to them I look forward to seeing how far they go in Houston now there were a lot of questions that came up tonight about the pool um and just to clar the pool is remaining open for at least this this school year the or the coming school year um but I wanted to make sure that we get information out I don't believe that we as a board approved increasing any use of facilities fees so I just want to clarify that to the public that what our use of facilities are when that was approved and you know what the implementation looks like um because I don't believe that we've raised the rent I just don't know how the what the implementation process was before so we need to clarify that um the affordable housing and uh teacher pay which Miss Roberts T touched on um and then Mr D Ley mentioned I know for a fact we haven't been to impass three times in 15 years I I know we've only been once since I've been on the board and it was when the school district we Mr Dy and I came on the board and we were in a in dire Financial um situation we our fund balance had dropped below the state required 3% and we had to make some really tough decisions tough decisions that um impacted every employee not just um not just our teachers but every single employee um gave something up while we were going through that process and rebuilding our fund balance so um I just wanted to make that clear and then there was also a comment made about retray that hasn't been paid to ask me do we know where we are with yeah thank you uh Madam chair members of the board Community the asme raises have been implemented into the system as you are aware or may be aware that our system does not allow allow for a lump sum payment um if we were we could do it but it would is very manual and with the asme bargaining unit of little over 7 800 I believe it would be very risky so what the system does is that it then spreads out the uh retro portion over the the number of remaining paychecks so that's why they didn't get a lumpsum payment but they are getting a retro so I guess that's more of an education process for the employees so that they understand what in the end what what their increase is going to look like um I'm sure that what maybe we just need to have a refresher and remind people and get get the calculations out to them because I know they they they need to see it and they need to understand it clearly um so did we send a email to all of the ask me people to tell them that this is your this is how it's being handled Mr Morrison I can check on that for you Mrs Roberts I'm not sure if we did that or not but I can check on that put that in our work process thing because I think that's something we need to do otherwise well and I guess to if we're going to have an a similar situation with all of our employees that are going to be getting retro pay this year I think we just need to explain how that's going to work uh obviously the timing is going to be different for asme versus um non- bargaining versus um mcea um so we need to educate them on how the process is going to work and what it's going to look like and then there was also one comment made about bus drivers in Palm Beach County getting eight hours a day is that a standard like how what I would like to understand that how I don't know I don't know if it's something that they just pay a minimum of eight hours regardless or what that looks like if it's a 40-hour week how you know maybe we can look into that and see how they do that and what what they do or if they're actually in a bus eight hours a day I guess thank you superintendent did you have anything uh yes ma'am to Mrs power's Point uh there will be a information coming forward to the board with a request to move to 8 hours um that is something that will be forthcoming to the board as our staff puts that information together um I just want clarification from our staff I know that there was conversation uh that we had had in reference to making sure that a memo went out to all asme employees uh explaining the raises and I do believe we received communication back from Lisa Edwards that that communication was very well received and that they appreciated that communication uh but maybe I'm I'm mistaken on that if that if that communication did not get pushed out I know that we had heard from a few employees that appreciated the fact that they understood and that our um payroll department has gone out to the bus compound and has met with uh employees to go over their uh checks and to answer questions individually that they may have so I know that there have been steps to do that I we absolutely will push out additional communication we realize that many of those drivers do not check their email uh or have email access and so a we pushed to move forward with a memo uh that went out to employees that was pushed out from transportation department so I just wanted to make sure that that was clear as well thank you thank you um and I yes it was I I pulled it up in my email it was sent uh to all asme employees on February 22nd um all teammates and the raises were um explained and also explained about how the applicable retropay and how that would be spread over the employees remaining paychecks um but again if you'd like us we could actually put this in their mailboxes down in transportation but it was articulated um to them in an email that went and went to Electric executive leadership principles as well so um it were they given so Messa were they given the amounts or were they just said these are going to be spread out or were they given an individualized thing that said your amount did we do a merge that says your amount of X number of dollars is being spread over the REM remainder this was a group email so I'm not aware of any other do we have the ability to send a personalized email to every person and ask me that says this is the amount of your we want you to to know this is the amount of your increase and this is being spread out over that period of time so that then at least they kind of because otherwise I I mean how do you even keep track of if I'm the employee how do I even know what it is that you gave me right I understand I probably work with Mr Morrison and the payroll team to put that together and and as Mr main mentioned that um every Thursday after the payroll we do go down to the bus compound and we have two members of my staff who meet with every bus driver and answer any questions that they may have and walk them through what the increase is on the change of the contract and how their paycheck will be affected going forward uh I'll have to see if we have the capability to do that mail merge that you're suggesting and and I'm concerned because we don't just have askme employees at at the um bus compound we have them throughout the district so we're answering one question but we're not answering it for everyone I think m Roberts it would be um fair to say that any employee that uh would needs to come down to the district office or needs assistance one-on-one with with personal payroll matters would definitely have access to staff to do that uh in the past we've just received a significant number of our questions that have come from the Transportation Department in Le of other departments as we've pulled them and so that we that's the point of sending a individual staff member or two directly to the compound other um Personnel that are non-bargaining related are able to get those questions often times answered by their principal or an assistant principal that's well aware of how those raises are broken out over the remaining checks and so it's resolved at the local school level or Department level versus transportation and I appreciate that happening at the bus compound and I understand that my concern is that if I'm a principal at um Bessie Creek and my custodian says to me how much is my raise I'm not sure that that answer is coming correctly or whether she has access to say oh let me look it up on a chart or any of that other kind of thing but I would think that and instead of expecting the employee to then well you can pick up the phone and you can call here and then you can leave a message and then they'll call back and then they're going to walk you through it and then you know I just think it would be if there's some way we can communicate with them and and say I mean maybe by email you know I mean we have an email do have emails um there's an email I was just sent from Miss cessa regarding what was sent to the employees so would I be able to tell if I was a custodian at Bessie how much my raise was well it says here that um the ratified agreement includes a 4% raise for all apme bargaining unit eligible members asme members that are unit U eligible members above the top step will receive a 3% increase in addition to the 4% previous L mentioned for a total of 7% then it says in very black letters bold letters applicable retroactive pay will date back to July 1 2023 and will be will be spread out over the employees remaining checks for the current fiscal year eligible employees will receive their updated bi-weekly pay and their paychecks by the end of March 24 oh that's great then it looks like it's being handled sufficiently thank you m thank you for that information um I I did I'm I don't want to believe this meeting I just did have a couple follow-up points uh if I can for chair thank you so uh just to stay with the with the bus drivers um we are over $21 an hour and um just want the public to be aware that the Martin County School District led the charge in increasing bus driver pay uh through the advocacy of the transportation director and our staff uh and the board uh obliged and approved to put Martin County as one of the top paid school districts in the State of Florida for bus driver pay uh because we LED that charge there have been several school districts to push to catch up to us but we are still uh within the 12count Tri Area the highest paid district for bus drivers uh and I know that the board will continue to commit to appsme employees and and raising salaries each year as the budget allows as far as the theme for tonight I'm just thinking fiscal responsibility fiscal responsibility across the board um as a school board and as a superintendent I know that on the decisions that we make behind closed doors that the public is not always privy to always comes first and foremost with with fiscal responsibility in mind to the taxpayers of Martin County I want everybody to understand that FTE dollars meaning every student that we have in the district comes with a dollar amount that is allotted To Us by the state and we do everything we can with that those dollars to make sure that the school district is running as efficiently as possible and we are meeting the needs of all of our students and all of our stakeholders within the district and that includes raises for all of our staff so when we look at making sure that we're transparent I would invite anyone again to continue monitoring and keeping in contact with us everything that we do from the decisions that we make are clearly in sunshine clearly in the public clearly posted on our district website and I would also say that all bargaining sessions that we have with the mcea Andor appsme are recorded are recorded and posted on our website you can watch all of them I also want to just clarify um the audience is obviously left and this is not a tit fortat back and forth with our teachers there's not a single person in this room or on this board and I'm speaking solely for myself but I know that they're committed that believes that our teachers and I shouldn't just say teachers as superintendent all staff within the school district all staff not just teaching staff not just secretaries but all of our in uh employees that work for the district deserve higher wages and we understand that but we can only do so much with the dollars that we have to make sure again that we are fiscally responsible uh if you look to our County to the South Broward County just made mention of having to ask their board to resend raises that they were giving to their staff because of the loss of Esser and ARP dollars that significantly impact the district's Financial stability and stand that will never happen in Martin County because you have a board of elected officials that are that are doing their due diligence to make sure that myself and all of the employees that are in this district and in this room are doing what they can to make sure that where we say we will spend our money is exactly where we are spending our money nothing more nothing less and you will continue to get that under my leadership as superintendent and with my work with the school board we will not put ourselves in a situation where we would have to ask to resend raises therefore the money that is on the table and the raises that our staff are receiving we have 100% confidence that we are able to pay our bills pay our employees and be responsible to the public of the Martin County uh Community I would ask the teachers and the audience to ask their president why we delay or oftentimes are not able to move negotiations forward at the rate in which we would like to see negotiations move forward and that is because the union has only agreed to meet once per month no more or no less uh no earlier I should say no sooner once per month and they do not agree to meet over the summertime so I would encourage that if they're interested in meeting this summer to begin contract negotiations for 2425 we would be more than willing to start that process uh as soon as they are ready and um we're ready we're open we're open to that so once a month is when we meet and oftentimes some there are times where they are canceled for one reason or another again if you'd like to know who's canceled those meetings uh they're posted on our website and you will see I had a labor relations meeting that was scheduled with the Union um just last week that meeting was cancelled by the union president uh to meet with me to discuss further process of moving forward in our relations from teachers uh to to the district we are one team we are not separated by anything that we do we work together collaboratively not in isolation we have over 1300 teachers in this District of which only 25 or 30 were represented here here tonight which appear to be the largest uh the loudest voice we receive emails and communication weekly and daily from teachers that are fully supportive of the job that we are doing and the work that the board is doing and they understand our responsibility as a district to make sure that we are being fiscally responsible um there was a lot said here tonight that was not true we're working very very hard on behalf of allloy employees in this District to make sure that we're moving forward in the direction that we know our students deserve and I with that I will leave it there Madam chair thank you thank you superintendent Maine if there are no further comments from anyone on the board this meeting is adjourned for