e of all First Responders matter followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Vice chair Carol cook in the national anthem colors will be presented this morning by the Gibbs High School US Army jroc under the leadership of Colonel Sandy Saddler the national anthem will be performed by Gibbs High School Vox Nova chamber choir under the direction of Matthew clear please stand and remain standing until the colors have been retired chaplain Smith good morning let us pray dear Lord we are grateful for another day we're grateful for your daily blessings that you bestore upon us today we pray for our schools our children the teachers the administrators and the school board blessed that this board may make decisions that would benefit all who come through the doors of the pellis County School System blessed that there may be engaging teachers wonderful students and a great support staff grant that their classrooms will be a safe place of learning bless as this meeting move forth and we ask this in your most holy and precious name amen Mark Time March one oh left face bre color i al to of the United States of America stands naice by the dawn early light what so proud at the Twilight [Music] lasts weing and the Rocky [Music] through [Music] the [Music] stillar of the free the [Music] [Applause] yes word please be seated Mr clear could you please introduce the second song yes thank you our second piece will be Chaka by Sydney Gom it's a Haitian piece and we'll be singing it today in Haitian cre [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] speee you [Music] [Music] [Music] sh [Music] Bo [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] show [Music] [Laughter] [Music] for fore [Music] fore [Music] [Music] Fue [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] fore [Music] [Music] not I mean wow wow thank you so much Treyon uh Messi and with my high school French I've got to look up the words to that song so I'm dying to know what it said I could pick up a few here and there but it was just amazing thank you so much Mr clear and congratulations what what a beautiful beautiful display of talent and uplift for all of us for the day thank you Mr Brown that was pretty great do you get to hear that every day Principal Brown I mean that's that's good stuff right there um so we'll now share a video that shows a recap of experience PCS which was held at Clearwater High School just a couple of uh weeks ago [Music] watch your robot are you the green one so today we're super excited we have our experien PCS event which is our second annual event where we're showcasing the amazing programs that we have available to students in pelis County Schools all right we have four schools that are participating in a chalk mural competition they are working with their art teachers to create a chalk mural to represent youth art month which is the month of March and we have a culinary competition where our families are voting on their favorite sweet [Music] treat [Music] offers go [Music] down we want families to leave today experiencing the amazing opportunities that we have for students across all levels in our school district all the way from our pre students all the way up to our adult education students thank you pretty pretty incredible to bring those number of programs and people and schools and then the number of people who attended incredible to be able to um display and show all the programs we have to offer thank you and thank you Miss Hill for all the work that went into organizing that day next we'll have the introduction of professional and Community organization Representatives Isabelle mascarenes our public information officer good morning Madame chair members of the board Mr hendrik and staff it is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives of community and professional organizations from the penis classroom Teachers Association Lee Bryant president representing the north penila League of Women Voters Vivien posy Carol Bailey and Karen glass from the penila arts for a complete education Coalition Terry Marx today we have a presentation from the student rights and responsibility committee please welcome students Rebecca c MC certon and Jordan Martin from Gibbs High School and their principal Barry Brown good morning thank you for being here this morning good morning and thank you very much for having me I am Jordan Martin and this is a message that goes out to the graduating class of 2024 as I stand before you today I am filled with a mix of emotions we finally reached the end of our high school career reflecting on the past four years we can all realize how much we've grown both academically and personally high school has always been a roller coaster of experiences from late night study sessions to Unforgettable moments on the field of stage we've navigated through challenges celebrated victories and formed lifelong uh friendships along the way now everyone can agree that freshman year was like one weird dream whether you went on campus or online covid affected everyone including the teachers what makes us special though is that we push through that obstacle to become successful each one of us has a unique story to tell I would like to share my experience not only as a successful scholar but as a proud Gibbs Gladiator one thing I want to highlight is the campus activities it's something new every time and even if you aren't participating you will still enjoy watching ranging from activities like kickball to musical chairs to dancing it's guaranteed to always get a crowd going my personal favorite activity we did at Gibbs this year was culture day it took place outside during lunch those who wanted to rep their ethnic background participated and dressed up in their attire and made things like post ERS cards and other items that are linked to their culture another thing that I'd like to do is thank the teachers and staff that helped shape me into the student I am today I'd like to thank Miss uh Mrs Corbett uh Mrs dard and beta counselors like Miss Miller Miss Brown uh Mr muha you've been also great and these are just a few things that the awesome staff at gibes uh helped me with and I want to thank uh I want to thank them so much for giving me the opportunity to grow and prosper as a student with that being said My Life as a gladiator has been a little bit challenging but the ride was also fun may we continue to chase our dreams and make a difference wherever life takes us thank you thank you Jordan thank you so much for having me I'm Rebecca when I chose Gibbs High School when I was in the eth grade all anyone brought up was my high school experience I was going to be driving 30 minutes from my house in Palm Harbor all the way down to St Pete for the chance to attend pelis County Center for the Arts so I figured football games and pep rallies would not be my thing I guess I was sort of right because I can't say that I ever made it out to a football game over my four years but that didn't stop me from screaming my head off rooting for our boys that were winning the basketball state championship this year so what led me there what is my reason to shed a teer at graduation it's the students and an amazing faculty let's start with pcca pelis County Center for the Arts my reason for the 30-minute drive that turns into an hour drive in the afternoons when I found out about pcca there was nothing that was going to stop me from attending and I'm so glad that my parents let me go pcca has done so much to help me these past four years I got voice lessons once a week dance classes every other day acting and musical theater classes that delved into Collegiate material this past year my musical theater teacher Mr hinesman helped me film pre-screens with which function as artistic applications to colleges these pre-screens got myself and my friends called back to some of the most prestigious theatrical institutions including juliard NYU and University of Michigan he had coached our whole class on the college audition since the beginning of our junior year making sure that we were ready for a highly competitive field beyond that pcca has allowed me to experience leadership and dedication that I'm not sure I would be able to have anywhere else just this year I got to help cast our district thesan festival and I directed our large group musical of 15 people which ended up getting selected to perform at morsani Hall at the stz for state thespians and from of an audience of over 2,000 all of this makes pcca the best option for me but it's not only the curriculum and opportunities that have made the program worthwhile it's the student body I have never been in such a supportive and kind place with a small class size for each major each class feels like a little family my class has gotten together to have picnics pitched in to get our teachers Christmas presents and helped each other get through AP Statistics however pcca exists within Gibbs so what about Gibbs what makes Gibbs special my parents had the same question when they were debating sending me to an IB program or a private school well I can now say that Gibbs has some of the best teachers and students the teachers I have had have been so wonderful and have taught me so much I would not have gotten through all of the AP classes without the support of this amazing faculty when I decided to go to Gibbs I decided to participate in the AP Capstone diploma this involves passing Six AP classes including AP research and AP seminar both of these classes have been the most difficult and wonderful classes I have ever taken AP seminar which I took last year allowed me to learn how to collaborate with others present an argument and defend it and begin my own research this year in AP research which is taught by Dr teao a graduate of Texas A&M with a doctorate in science I'm doing my own ethical research by putting out polls putting together interviews and creating a 12,000w document that justifies all of that work and it's not just my AP Capstone required courses that have allowed me to learn so much AP US History and AP World were such a joy to be in that I contemplating majoring in history AP comp and AP Lit were so fun that I'm minoring in literature in college not to mention all of my AP Capstone required courses inspired me to plan to get my masters in dramaturgy to become a theatrical journalist but just like pcca the student body makes Gibbs a joy to attend lunches alone are a permanent party every Friday the jazz band plays in the courtyard on the days of big games our band dance team and cheer team holds pep rallies and our Pac Club make sure that there's always some sort of Celebration whether for Valentine's Day or women's History Month the Gibb student body is alive and filled with pride we are a group of students that hold our campus in the highest regards all of this to be said I am proud to be a gladiator I am proud to be a part of a supportive and Lively campus filled with amazing students and a wonderful faculty the students are also backed by amazing Community if you've never had the chance to go to a Gibs graduation I would highly recommend because there is no energy greater than the Gladiator Nation watching their kids walking across the stage in May it is often what inspires me to keep trying in class the community of Gibbs is truly an inspirational community of students and families so even after I walk the trop I will be glad to say go Gladiators and to all the people that question my high school experience in such a unique place all I can say is don't knock it till you've tried it I just so happen to have had the coolest and most special High School experience it's even better than Ferris bu's day off Rebecca and Jordan thank you so much for your presentation this morning it was exceptional hearing about pcca certainly but also about all the activities um across campus and the and the student body and just the feel um we do have a gladiator graduate on our school board Mrs Edmond graduated from Gibbs High School um and also that State basketball championship that your boys team just won is not just about basketball it is about the entire campus and it's about the student and staff leadership and atmosphere that's created there that allows that kind of success to happen so Principal Brown congratulations and Jordan and Rebecca thank you for being here today really appreciate it the next item on our agenda um am minutes to the agenda uh Mr Hendrick any amendments there are none Madam chair thank you board members any amendments uh seeing none may have a motion to adopt the agenda by motion motion by Mrs long and a second by Mrs Meyers all those in favor of adopting the agenda say I I any opposed passes 7 to zero we don't have any items on our special or uh order agenda today Mrs how do we have any speakers to agenda items yes Madam chair we have one speaker for agenda items thank you members of the public have three separate opportunities to address the board when we gather for a business meeting the first is public comment on agenda items the second is at public hearings most of which are policies and the last is after our meeting when speakers May address the general business of the district it each opportunity for public input board members are here to listen to you this is not a time for interaction but the board will take your comments into consideration before we vote on agenda items the board is committed to a standard of Civility and decorum in conducting our meetings this includes refraining from clapping or making audible noises during or after a speaker comments We Appreciate You assisting us in maintaining a civil and constructive environment lastly please note that this meeting and all public comments will be broadcast live on the internet and the video will be publicly archived members of the public may always communicate with the board through our email address board pcsb.org or by calling the board office at 588 63000 thank you please go ahead thank you um Madame chair board members Mr Hendrick our speaker is Mark kutho he's speaking to items 7.7 7.8 and 8.1 Mark clth o Largo 7.7 7.8 St Petersburg Collegiate High School that's a joke these Charter Schools they ought to be outlawed but calling it a collegiate High School yeah right now moving on to 8.1 the Strategic priority fiscal and operational responsibility uh there you go again using that word strategic uh that that's way past your whatever you say 3, 126,000 the whole job is 5, 326,000 but you're saying you're using these six pre-built classroom buildings to Place traditional classrooms and this is economically efficient well there you go again using that word you're not qualified efficient no you don't know what it means you wouldn't be doing something like orienting that building up there in Clear Water the wrong way you don't know what efficient is you wouldn't Mount Imaging specular reflectors the wrong way you wouldn't put clear story Windows the wrong way I could take all day describing all of your mishaps with the buildings but see what's happening right now 2023 the graph says it all and you're doing your big part to make this happen with the stupid buildings and say Madam chair there are no more speakers for agenda items thank thank you item six unfinished business we don't have anything under that item we'll move on to item seven our consent agenda may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda approval of consent agenda second thank you a motion by Mrs cook and a second by Mrs Edmund any discussion all those in favor of approving the agenda say I I any opposed passes 7 to zero we have one item on our non-consent agenda today item 8.1 request approval of agreement with creative Contractors Inc for construction Management Services in connection with the pocket Village at Gulf Beach's Elementary School in the amount of 3,126 279 project number 9452 we have a motion to approve this item Mrs Meyer motion and second by Mrs long Mr Hendrick would you introduce this item thank you madam chair we're excited to share with the board kind of an update from a workshop that we had several years ago as the board made the decision to get rid of least Portables and also try to get as many students as possible out of Portables and into permanent spaces and so Mr her's going to share this update with this project and uh and how it's going to be for the students and improving the look of a neighborhood in school as well Mr heret thank you Mr hendrik and Madam shair and board members I think probably biggest question everybody has is what is a pocket Village and so I want to give you a little bit of a background on that first and then uh we'll share some slides with you a little bit later on but as Mr Hendrick alluded to in 2017 the district set a goal of eliminating uh what we used to call portable cities which is really these longstanding um multi- portable unit kind of deployments uh that were used at one time for overcrowding and um as as an option to building a new uh building our goal was to specifically eliminate the those large scale portable cities which had six or more units and had been there a decade or longer and we identified several schools uh but since that time since 2017 we've accomplished uh that goal at um at shoreacres elementary school at Sawgrass lake at Northshore Elementary School and at sandland prek-8 and when those four projects combined we eliminated over 50 Portables and put students back into traditional buildings we still have four more schools that have those six or more Portables that have been there a decade or longer um to go and Gulf beaches is one of those schools and as Mr Henrik talked about there's several reasons to eliminate those type of um portable deployments uh one of those um is that schools really find it difficult it find it difficult to create a sense of Unity on their campus and when you go and visit one of those they're kind of laid out in a traditional almost checkerboard pattern for efficiency of space and efficiency for covered walkways and things like that but they don't have shared hallways or shared spaces they don't have collaboration spaces for teachers or for students and a lot of times they're placed in a part of a campus that's kind of away from everything else it's really not in the in the central part of the campus and together all of those things create a really sense of isolation and so as we um kind of started exploring different ways to eliminate these portable cities and different um Avenues news we had we wanted to look beyond the traditional building as we've done before and look at different ideas and one of the ideas we came across is that of the pocket Village and again Mr hendrik said that we shared that with you at a workshop a few years ago but for the Public's sake as well pocket Villages are really used by cities right now uh to create multifamily housing options on small spaces and if you kind of think of a small um lot or a small block somewhere in a city that you might have two or three traditional size houses going on a pocket Village you could put a dozen or more houses in there kind of this the tiny house version um that you kind of see on TV and some I think St Petersburg and a couple other cities here in pelis is doing that as well the good news though is that that concept can be adapted to a school and the really good news it's cost cost effective uh this pocket Village is running about 2third the cost of a traditional um concrete block building so I think instead of trying to explain it more uh we do have some slides and the first one that you see there is an overhead view of six of these pre-engineered pre-constructed buildings this is on the GF Beach's campus where the Portables currently stand well and I take that back they they're not there anymore we have removed them but where they once were and you can see we've oriented those uh to kind of create this Center Courtyard uh give everybody a sense of purpose a sense of belonging to a small little Community out there um and you can see the covered walkways that lead from Traditional School um out to the rest of the um buildings and our next slide will show you more of a ground eyes V vision of that um looking East toward the rest of the main campus and then we zoom in a little bit more on the next slide and we have shade sales to provide um shade and covering from the Sun and then our last slide again is a little bit more of a vision of one of the front of the buildings um these are all um steel framed um the skin of the building if you think of it that way is composite material we have some of the composite material has a wood look some of it has a stucco look uh but all and all together what this does is it allows us to put these buildings on place in a very small uh campus and we can do it very quickly which is a very which is a key at golf beaches because there's no other place to put Portables on campus while we build a building so we have to have this done in two months and so the buildings are on their way uh we will have this done before uh teachers report in August and with your approval today we'll get started on some of the underground at other construction and um have our first pocket Village up and running before the start of school in the fall thank you board members any discussion Mrs edman um Mr herick you you mentioned um there were four four more schools to go including Gulf beaches what are the others uh four in total golf beaches is one of those the others are anona Elementary School Pasadena fundamental and Southerland Elementary School and and again I I do um I I I failed to mention earlier there um with the caveat we still do need the use of the occasional portable yes so we won't be putting this in when we need one or two portables somewhere right um and I mean so this is our first time doing this concept and I do remember looking at it closely in the workshop asking a lot of questions about the materials that it means code you know all the all the pieces we have to meet as far as hurricane shelter Etc um and um but you know it could be something we use at some of these other schools once we once we see how it is and works absolutely we picked golf beaches first because it's the most challenging project so we figured if we can pull it off there we can do it anywhere else that's great thank you any other questions or discussion okay with the motion in a second uh we'll take a vote all those in favor of approving item 8.1 say I I any opposed passes 7 to zero on to new business item 9.1 items introduced by the superintendent Mr Hendrick thank you madam chair uh welcome back to our board members and all of our staff and students from spring break I know it may seem like so long ago now but it's only been three days uh and we have nine weeks of school left and lots to accomplish and so uh we're excited about this final home push here in the last quarter over spring break though we did have a number of academic challenges going on across the district we had students in elementary school read over 15,000 digital books through through one of our digital learning Mayan uh platforms and we had thousands of secondary students compete in course specific challenges as they gear up towards the end of the year uh just yesterday we found out that one of our penel County Schools volunteers was a finalist for State outstanding School volunteer Mr Bill schmidling who we honored a couple weeks ago um he volunteers and has for two decades at Oak grve Middle School he's one of three finalists for the state volunteer of the year and we're so proud of him and his continued great work at Oak grve was mentioned already but uh worth mentioning again the congratulations to the Gibbs High School boys basketball team for their state championship uh 4A Championship they had a nice pep rally when the students returned to school the next day uh thank you Mrs Edmund Mrs Hines for hin for making it down there and also to our East Lake girls soccer team which finish a state runner up uh I'm going to speak with them at their banquet here next week and congratulate them in person as well and and we're really proud of the work of all of our student athletes you you saw the video on our student experience our second uh PCS student experience it continues to grow and change and and more really neat to see those chalk art competitions but also Lots going on there and the idea is to give families and the community it's open to anybody what's happening in penel County schools and it was another great success award season is beginning and is upon us uh so thank you to the board for being out and about for all these Awards ceremonies we've already had the yes I can Awards we've had one of our Tak stock in children's uh scholarship celebrations with over a 100 students receiving scholarships we have another one this Friday with another 100 plus students receiving scholarships and then lots of Awards coming up the pride Awards honors breakfast Walkers Rising Stars verl Davis Maria Edmonds carwise Awards Lots going on in the next month so we're excited to celebrate our students and summerbridge is registration opened yesterday in the first 24 hours over 2,000 families signed up for summerbridge uh so families can check out our website and find out more about Summer Bridge registration and also learn about all of the programs that we have to offer this summer we also have a couple of other things for families to check in on and one of those is the ridership campaign for transportation that also opened up uh yesterday and families received a call home and we're asking them to log on it takes uh the phone call says it takes one minute to do the ridership campaign uh so just log on to uh your focus account for your child and declare if you need Transportation next year in the morning in the afternoon or both so that as we plan out all those routes here in the next couple of months uh we can do so as efficiently as possible that campaign last year really helped us trim our routes and make them more efficient which means students get to school on time which has been a much uh improved effort this year and lastly uh for the es portion of a request is for parents with students with disabilities the annual state survey for families to complete that survey is out there as well you can see that link on our website as well and families uh received a message about that and finally I want to honor one of our employees as I do at each meeting for recognizing and demonstrating our core values and this meeting uh recognition is for school counselor at skyrest elementary Mrs nth U Miss nth has been at skyrest a number of years but recently was uh recognized by a colleague as a shining example of a role model and what a colleague should be she has helped tremendously with students that I've had concerns about she creates behavior checklists for my students to meet not only their needs but also helping teachers so that we can be successful she's always there to listen support and give suggestions while making you feel valued and heard and she genuinely cares about students at Sky Crest taking her job seriously and literally putting her whole heart into the effort our families and our students are grateful for her work each and every school day and we are as well thank you Mrs nth and all of our employees for the work they do each and every day thank you madam chair thank you Mr Hendrick items introduced by the Schoolboard attorney I have no items thank you ma'am thank you items introduced by the board Mrs Edmond thank you um I just would like to share that April 10th from 3: to 5:00 p.m. at gibbes High School the last student discipline Community session for the 2023 24th school year will occur and the public is welcomed also I would like to share that I continue to hold the status of a certified School Board member um through Florida school board Association and then just some few just a few highlights from my um learning at the Council of great City schools in Washington DC at the legislative conference a few days ago I I know I mentioned um at the last board meeting how important it is to be able to learn Network and bring that information back and I want to share with you that you all should have received an email from Mrs which includes minutes from the fall board of directors meeting as well as other attachments from um the meeting that I attended um a few days ago and then I have some hard copies of things that you may want to take a look at at your convenience some of the sessions that I participated in were very informative including the panel discussion from receiving updates on what's going on in Washington to looking at how states are being advocated um how states are being affected by education issues on a federal on a federal platform for example Federal funding um right now there's a cut a significant cut in federal funding in The house's budget which could impact us if something doesn't change so again learning information about that and how what and and bringing that back to our staff is informative to me because I think it provides the opportunity for us to look at what other things we need to do as it relates to budgeting um as well as planning for the future if Cuts occur additional topics that were discussed were chronic absenteeism several several of their task force which many of our staff have opportunity to um chime in or provide feedback on and that was another insightful moment of being there that our district is providing information and collaborating with us other Urban school districts throughout the country and kudos to you superintendent hendrik and staff for that work also I would like to just share that I was able to ask questions that was um provided to me from Mrs do and superintendent as it relates to the funding and I've already shared some of those recommendations and suggestions with staff as well as shared um some of the feedback as well as PowerPoint presentations with teaching and learning staff minority achievement Officer school climate and behavior as well as um strategy and impact again I think it's important when we are out at conferences to bring that information back and see how we can impact our district in positive ways so thank you for that and last but not least at the next Workshop I wish I will be sharing with the board superintendent and staff requests regarding discipline chronic absenteeism mental health and continuing the dialogue regarding bullying and harassment policies yes we had the first draft of conversation however I think it's important that we take a look at all of the bullying harassment policies if we're going to make changes in one so I look forward to having that discussion at the next Workshop thank you Mrs Kane thank you so much um I just had a couple just short very short things to say first of all I want to um congratulate the uh group from Gibbs that was here what an it was incredible performance they really did an amazing job um it's such an incredible amount of work that goes into performances like that and I just want to give them a shout out that they did a wonderful job I had the um honor and privilege of being able to attend the uh Florida State senior lesbian conference that was in held in Tampa last week during spring break and got to see our incredible students from Phu perform their production of Chicago at the Straz Center and it was such a privilege uh an honor to be in part of the audience and get to watch them and it really speaks to some of the um incredible experiences that we're trying to provide for our students and I just wanted to um give you all a little update because I think sometimes we think of all the Performing Arts as the performers getting these you know performance opportunities on stages but there was so much more involved in this than maybe people would understand or know um and when we talk about chronic absenteeism so I think it's so much for bringing that up one of our challenges and initiatives as a district was to provide better student experiences to make sure that we are uplifting students and inspiring them to attend school by giving them as many experiences that they may not be able to have from a digital platform and I think that that is increasing of course there's always more but it opened up opportunity for conversation on even more experiences that we can have but during the um State lesbian performance that they got to do they were main stage which was an honor in and of itself as a group but the tech team from Palm Harbor um so congratulations Miss Timberlake who is their Performing Arts coach there um they had to move all of their sets load a truck unload it at the St Center set it up and reload it and break down all within a 24-hour period like a Road Show so there uh students who are working on Tech not only had to Stage manage but work a professional Lighting and Sound move their sound equipment to the stress Center set everything up in a 4-Hour period and they did it successfully they did a beautiful and wonderful job and what an incredible experience for all of those students who had the experience of working in a professional entertainment environment because that's what it would be like and so I just thought that was um really something that a lot of people don't realize they work it was hours it was week for them and congratulations to them for a wonderful performance and I know that um our Gibbs Performing Arts they're they're doing some incredible things as well similar experiences and we are just so proud of them as a district but it did open up conversations um as I spoke with teachers and parents in that experience of how we can even offer more certifications and experiences to expand upon what we're already giving for our students so with that being said also wanted to note that um I I would like to second also miss Edmund's request for the bullying and harassment policies um I have some questions on that that I can follow up with at another time but also um next week we are holding the subcommittee meeting uh what is that the 26th for the operating procedures manual uh for those that were going to that we'll give you an update at the next meeting when we come to some more conclusions so with that thank you so much Mrs long thank you I just want to encourage all of you nine weeks of school left it's hard to believe but if you're retired if you only work part-time please consider becoming a mentor I have started mentoring a a little girl at Cypress Woods and I am having such an incredibly good time I can see me staying and watching her go through high school it is such a joy she runs and she jumps towards me and she hugs me and it is you know such a joy to help a child I'm teaching her math because she's very weak in math and I'm having a blast since I'm the one who's afraid of math I think I'm learning just as much as she is but please consider this there are so many children in our schools that need a mentor and next year to be able to fill as many of those requests as poss possible would be wonderful it doesn't take May a half hour 45 minutes of your time but I promise you when you leave you will feel so good because it really boosts your spirits and I'm going to add a few more next year as I see how my schedule goes but what a wonderful opportunity and it keeps you young it keeps you vibrant and you know that you're helping children and that that's what it's all about so thank you thank you Mrs long Mrs Edmond Mrs Kane um we just got through spring break and as we all know it goes quickly from here doesn't it so let's just stay focused and bring it home thank you to all the all all the teachers one more quarter um and and it's going to be a great a great quarter and I know we're going to end strong um I do want to acknowledge the Summer Bridge and the summer so summer summerbridge and then summer camps this year which all filled up quickly you know we nearly have year- round school available essentially here in penel County schools and I think it's incredible and I want to acknowledge too the extended summerbridge at some of our TZ schools and and so that's now a six-week program with activities and and enrichments in addition to that study and I really appreciate that uh move um okay thank you um I hereby recess this public meeting uh we will now hear from public speakers Mrs Hal are there any public speakers today yes Madam chair we have eight speakers this morning thank you so we'll move on to the public comment on the general business of the district please note that the views and comments of the public speakers are their own and they're not endorsed nor sponsored by the school board or District we cannot ensure the accuracy of statements made but will'll review concerns that are raised and take appropriate action which may include clarifications or the referral of speakers to the proper staff member for assistance the board is committed to a standard of Civility and decorum in conducting our meetings this includes refraining from clapping or making audible noises during or after a speaker's comments We Appreciate You assisting Us in maintaining a civil and constructive environment additionally please note that although board members are superintendent Hendrick may leave the dis briefly there are speakers in the back room and we will continue to be able to hear your comments thank you Mrs ha thank you madam chair board members Mr hendrik the first two speakers are Aunt Aila and Charles derkson good morning um chairwoman and uh and board superintendent thanks so much uh my name is ant Aila uh I am the Tampa Bay Community organizer with equality Florida I want to start with um once again thanking um the district for releasing its inclusive guidelines um we very much appreciate that and have been um sharing that news with teachers um so that they can um understand how to create inclusive environments for all students um I'm uh here uh also to speak about our initiative um that we've launched called bring back books so the district um like many has seen um a great deal of requests and reviews to um to remove books from schools and we would really like to encourage this district and others to um bring about policies that encourage books coming into the district from a really PR literacy standpoint obviously something everyone on this dis can agree um is a priority for this District um so uh some policies that we would like um to the district to to consider are around um allowing parents to Advocate um for books being in in their child's school and um inquire if those books are already so there are processes placed to review books and remove books we would like um similar processes to um inquire if those books already uh are accessible to uh students and if they're not if they can be um so we again thanks thank you to the district and to the board for um hearing the voices of the community um and bringing about um inclusive guidelines for teachers and and staff to effectively serve the student body um and we look forward to working with you on bringing books into the schools um from that Pro literacy standpoint thank you thank you good morning Charles derkson good morning Mr hendrik miss hin school board members and staff I only have three minutes let me correct that I will only have about one minute I will have to allow two minutes for myself not to break down first of all I'm not here to accuse or to place blame I'm here to ask for vigilance and help I'm here to talk about Michael Michael was a 2012 mayor of Enterprise Village 2012 graduate of Ridge Crest Elementary A4 14 semi-finalist for pelis County School Board youth volunteer of the year 2014 recipient of the doorways now takes stock scholarship 2014 member of the simal Middle School 5,000 Role Models 20156 member of Dixie Hollands Roc 20156 member of the culinary arts program at Dixie Hollands a 2017 Dropout from the doorways program a 2018 Dropout from Largo Senior High School a 2018 victim of homelessness a 2020 victim of psychosis and mental health issues and on February 29th 2024 8 hours after his 24th birthday alone and cold Michael became a victim of homicide the question that haunts me is this how did this child become a tragedy what I do know is we missed something do we miss a two-point drop in Greenpoint average in a year to a Dropout yes do we miss the dismissal from a scholarship program yes why we suspected drug use yes we missed something because Michael did not hit one of our number targets he flew under the radar an average white mail average grades normal attendance at first no real discipline issues just average did the school system fail Michael probably not did the legal system fail Michael most definitely did Society f m faile Michael Yes did I fail Michael most likely I don't have the answers but I have the pain I don't have the degree but I have the pain I don't have the knowledge but I have the pain we can't allow this to happen again thank you the next two speakers are Lee Bryant and Barbara melon uh good morning chair Hine members of the board superintendent Hendrick and staff my name is Lee Bryant my pronounce are he him and his and I am the president of pcta the acting executive director of pcta pespa and the head maintenance person at the Jade mord building for for PCD pcta to keep representing our members at schools at the district level and at the bargaining table we collected showing of Interest cards to submit to the public employee relations commission the perk rules require 30% of the bargaining unit to sign these cards so that we can trigger a vote on keeping pcta as the bargaining agent on the morning of March 5th I hand delivered 4,030 signed cards representing 58.84 per of the members of the bargaining unit to the perk offices in Tallahassee I even took the office people there a box of donuts uh because they had a lot of work ahead of them that day uh it's nearly double the ount needed to trigger the election the next step in the process the next step is a mailin vote run by perk not by pelis County Schools not by pcta but by perk uh and we have no idea when that will be they are swamped they are overloaded because of the legislation we have no way of knowing it but our contract remains in place and enforceable until the vote is called pcta is only getting stronger and stronger the Gratitude I have for the challenging work our staff and our members put in to reach that number is immeasurable we have no quit in our office moving on to pespa PESA begins its showing of Interest card campaign this week we look forward to having the same success as our sister Union uh the members of PESA bargaining unit have an even greater opportunity to show their Collective Strength as this is an open book contract year for pespa we will need to show that we are standing together as we enter into contract negotiation to make life better for the employees that support our schools we need to make sure our support Personnel our support professionals are fairly compensated and are supported by the school system because bargaining builds Better Lives we won't back down thank you for your time now if you'll excuse me I'm sure something at the office must have broken by now that I need to go back and fix alone we can do so little together we can do so much my name is Barbara melon and I'm the parent of a third grader in pelis County Schools I usually stay stay up here and just urge you to ensure books are available to all students to trust our media Specialists and our teachers to do the job they are trained to do and let a student's parent decide for their own child today I want to bring up the settlement of the don't say gay lawsuit I'm sure everyone's heard about it by now this settlement both affects books and the safety of our students staff and teachers as school board members and Educators I'm sure you want all of our students staff and teachers to be safe in our schools and I do recognize that pelis has an inclusive schools policy I've read it thoroughly and that policy means we have been on the Forefront in Florida allowing gsas School safe space stickers and similar however despite these guidelines there is still so much bullying going on parent requests for inclusivity are ignored in various schools because of tradition our lgbtqia students and staff are still not safe as noted in our own inclusive policy pelis county has one of the highest suicide levels in the state so this means our policy is not stopping the harassment and bullying encouraged by this law just last spring a close friend was told by an elementary school principal that her first grade non-binary students safety could not be guaranteed that student has since left pelis County schools with this settlement our staff must be immediately notified that the policy is in place and the bullying and harassment cannot continue or be tolerated and now notably the settlement also includes a clarification of the library books policy stating that library books with lgbtqia plus themes may not be banned under legislation so long as they're not being used for instruction while it's true pelis has not removed as many books as other districts we still have removed books by and featuring members of the lgbtqia plus Community for no specific reason these books have been challenged and REM removed or without of or have been removed or um restricted without formal challenge in particular those that were removed last summer are that were removed or still pending review now statistically we have had nine books challenged by parents or citizens but 44 were removed or restricted so the district's still not following their own process for book removes removals this continues to harm our children please follow this settlement bring back the books ensure our children's teachers and staff have a safe are are safe and have safety and representation in schools continue to allow parents to restrict books for their own children but in order to comply with the lawsuit our policy must include returning books thank you the next two speakers are shantala Davis and Mark kutho good morning I stand before you not just as a concerned Citizen and a native of pelis County but as a mother a grandmother and a founder of a nonprofit organization that was initiated to assist the parents with life skills and empowerment with a mission to help reduce stress and prevent child abuse neglect and death of children and in these current times there are so many triggering factors in everyday life that mental health has become one of the greatest issues of discussion in almost every household and with that being said San Jose Elementary has crafted nothing but mental stress on myself and my family for many years now my son who is now 38 years old attended San Jose and I was a young parent and always believed that the teachers and the school staff knew what was best and I allowed them to label my son as a slow learner years later I had my eldest daughter who is currently 34 years old and she also attended San Jose and miraculously she was labeled as a slow learner but during her years of schooling I started to learn about schools are able to get extra funding for children who were considered as having a disability hence slow Learners many many years later I gave birth to now my soon Tobe 17-year-old daughter who who also attended s Jose and guess what happened yes she too was set to get the label and after she was shamed lied on and mentally abused by her teacher I had her removed from San Jose to a different school and she excelled every since but the story doesn't end here as I said I am a grandmother and I also have two grandchildren that currently attend San Jose Elementary and ladies and gentlemen what do you think is currently taking Place San Jose is now trying to label my grandchildren San Jose has labeled my whole entire family lineage in one way or another in some type of way with some type of disability or slow learner I find this remarkably absurd disappointing abusive and mental and I demand answers and actions I said now we're so busy creating the outside appearance of these schools but what about the inside and the people that's in internally supposed to be planning power and seeds of greatness in our children and our families San Jose has been doing this for years and I'm sure that if you had children my son 38 my daughter 34 and then you tell me all the way down to a 17-year-old something's wrong with all of my children and now my grandchildren had to move back into my household while my daughter is looking for another place to live Mr clo Mark luo Largo well yeah there's an old saying Penny wise pound foolish and boy that plan 8.1 that says it all here's a primeron sustainable building and there's a rendering here the anastasi Indians over 1500 years ago they knew that proper orientation was the key to their survival in discussing Green Design a bit of historical perspective is useful it's important to understand that the idea is not new for Millennial most buildings were of necessity sustainable it is only in the past Century or so as cheap energy large sheets of glass and air conditioning appeared that archit architecture lost its Moorings and forgot the ancient truth that the most important building covenants are dictated by the earth now you people you know what you are you are evil making sick buildings and destroying the future here's this headline the Earth is hotter than we think sponges say these sponges without brains are smarter than you are the headline could the Gulf Stream be near a Tipping Point this is what you're doing with your stupid buildings that plan you have it's about as dumb as you can do it's criminal malens energy appetite in the US and dangerous goals on climate Rising strain on grids this is bad I mean the next two speakers are Nicole St Ledger and Tim Conroy good morning it's nice seeing everyone today I know there have been recent calls for books to be brought back into our schools with panel's County school records of reviewing and retaining books you might not think that there is much that will have to happen with these new changes going on but there are these words to air on the side of caution I've heard them spoken here and I'm sure they have been spoken outside of this room too these words have been said to protect teachers administrators and the district but the consequences of those words have led books to be silently censored books have been removed from classrooms and media centers by teachers and administrators with no formal paper trail or specific request to remove them to air on the side of caution I am not saying this to disparage teachers they were protecting themselves in the light of vague laws and I hope that any calling requested by administrators was done to protect the teachers and the schools but these removals were noticed by our children my child specifically although I'm sure if she saw it others did too now the laws are changed so these books need to be brought back teachers and administrators need your support to bring those books back why is this so important because the books removed represent specific cohorts of our communities when our children do not see themselves in their learning or the resources around them they do not feel supported and learning can be stifled when they need support from their teachers they are less likely to ask for help whether in an academic setting or a more serious situation such as bullying when children don't feel supported in the schools incidents of bullying are that is reported decreases returning books tell students they are seen and supported requesting teachers and administrators to return the books remind them how important these books are and let teachers and administrators know that you are here to support them so please let's air on the side of caution to support our children now thank you and I'm done early so I'm going to add one completely off topic thing about um excused absences and graduations currently a penis County student attending a graduation of a sibling it is not an ex used absent if if they miss schools how what a better idea for them to miss school to celebrate the academic success of a sibling so please look into reconsidering that thank you thank you school board members superintendent hendrik and District staff for giving me this opportunity to speak my name is Tim Conroy and I'm a proud member of indivisible North pelis a nonpartisan organization that supports public education I am not a member of the League of Women Voters of Florida however I come before you today to advocate for increased access to voter information and preparation for voting for young adults currently enrolled in the pelis county schools while this responsibility is currently exclusive to the panala supervisor of elections office staff who are required by law to make one visit to every panel public school during the Academic Year I am concerned that the task is Too Tall given the number of schools and students in pelis county and the many other responsibilities of the supervisor of elections office it is unlikely that every student is presented critical voter information this results in many students not knowing that they can pre-register to vote at age 16 or eligible to vote once they reach the age of 18 according to Civic Center statistics only 30% of eligible 18y olds are registered to vote in our community there are approved third-party voter registration organizations including the League of Women Voters which have a long history of providing voter information and protecting the right to vote for every eligible citizen their members are trained and certified to provide unbiased information about the voting process and voter registration assistance members of this and other nonpartisan thirdparty voter registration organizations could supplement the supervisor of elections office staff efforts to ensure that even more students would receive this critical information by increasing access to voter information through using approved nonpartisan community volunteers there is a greater likelihood that all students are well informed about the importance of voting this is as essential and as valuable as allowing military recruiters for the Armed Forces to inform students about career opportunities training and benefits of serving in our military as board members you are doing everything possible to produce responsible and engaged citizens equipped to make informed decisions impacting our society I urge you to further your effort by considering the use of approved Third Party voter registration organizations monitoring the number of schools and students who have access to voter preparation and registration assistant events and making this information available to parents and taxpayers or considering becoming a thirdparty voter the next speaker is Sarah peacock hello thank you chair Hine board members superintendent hendrik and uh staff for your work and for your support and opportunity to speak um I was really impressed by the coral presentation it was incredible and I'm really pleased to see our students highlighting Haitian art especially in a time when the Haitian people are in such desperate need of our support um I'm glad that we're talking about chronic absenteeism um the child labor bill as you all well know um our very own pelis legislator Linda Cheney sponsored a bill to roll back child labor protections uh member Meyer's good friend Bernie jacqu voted in support of the measure and it has now passed as a committee substitute um as it has yet to be sent to the governor's desk I have two asks one is that we be thinking ahead to Solutions um I hope that our school board is thinking about planning for if this does become law um can we support our guidance counselors in making sure that our students understand their labor rights and state and federal protections when they are now going to be entering construction sites and increased uh jobs on their time away from school I'm sure it's going to lead to more absenteeism um I'd like to support them in protecting themselves since our legislature has seen fit not to protect them um and since it has yet to be on the governor's desk I hope that you'll all do everything in your power to Lobby the governor to veto this bill um in an effort to stay uh on a positive note at the end I want to Echo uh Aunt Ava's appreciation of your offering inclusive guidelines for lgbtq students and staff uh and support all of your work to bring back any books possible thank you madam chair there are no more speakers thank you thank you for your comments I hereby reconvene the public meeting at this time the school board will leave the Das to convene in a closed attorney client session to discuss pending litigation the estimated time of this closed session is 30 minutes the attendees will include all school board members superintendent hendrik Deputy superintendent Woodford Kevin Smith David kerski William Keebler Chris Alton bur and court reporter Kathy Lyall e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I hereby reopen the public meeting after the conclusion of our closed attorney client session is there any final business from Schoolboard members before we adjourn seeing none I now adjourn this public meeting e