[1:42] >> good evening. Welcome nassau county

[1:44] board of

[1:45] county commissioners joint meeting

[1:47] with the nassau county

[1:50] school board. 6:00 p.m. ,

[1:51] february 11, 2025. I call the meeting

[1:53] to order. I ask you

[1:55] to rise for in vocation and pledge

[1:56] of allegiance.

[1:59] bow our heads. Heavenly father, we

[2:00] gather today to serve the people of

[2:02] nassau county. We ask for

[2:05] your wisdom and discernment in the

[2:06] decisions

[2:07] we make. Guide our discussions with

[2:08] compassion and fairness, and

[2:09] grant us the strength to work together

[2:11] as a team for

[2:13] the common good. Allow our communications

[2:14] to

[2:16] reflect your will and bring only positive

[2:17] change to

[2:19] our community. We also ask that you

[2:20] provide extra protection over

[2:23] our military and first responder personnel

[2:25] who confront evil and danger to keep your peace

[2:26] and light

[2:29] in this world. In jesus name

[2:32] I humbly pray.

[2:35] a men. Please join us in the pledge

[2:38] aleemgance to our country.

[2:39] >> I pledge

[2:40] allegiance

[2:41] to the flag of inunited states of

[2:42] america and to the republic for which

[2:43] it stands

[2:44] one nation,

[2:47] under god, indivisible

[2:48] with liberty and justice for all.

[2:50] >> madam clerk, if you'd please

[2:53] call the roll.

[2:55] >> commissioner gray. >> here. >>

[2:56] commissioner farmer.

[2:57] >>

[2:59] here.

[3:02] >> commissioner --dr.

[3:05] burns, school board member cook.

[3:08] school board member

[3:11] simpkens, school board member

[3:14] zimmerman, school board

[3:17] member braddock,

[3:20] and school board member

[3:29] hogue.

[3:30] >> discussion items, "a," state

[3:31] of

[3:32] the school district

[3:34] presentation by dr. Kathy burns. Dr.

[3:35] burns, as

[3:38] you make your way over, I would like to

[3:39] welcome you and

[3:40] the school board and thank you for

[3:41] coming over tonight and being part of

[3:44] this joint annual meeting, which I

[3:45] think is really important

[3:47] for our citizens.

[3:48] >> thank

[3:50] you.

[3:51] >> yes, ma'am. >> how are you

[3:53] all this evening?

[3:55] >> super , thank you. >> so every day

[3:56] is a

[3:58] great day when you can be at a school.

[4:02] I started to keep on the mustache I

[4:03] had on

[4:05] at the event, but I knew someone would

[4:06] take my

[4:07] picture and it would end up in the

[4:08] paper somewhere. I tell everybody

[4:11] it's nicer in nassau, in case you

[4:12] didn't know it,

[4:13] and certainly good in our school district,

[4:14] so I'm going to share a

[4:15] few updates with you this evening.

[4:17] as you know, from all the times

[4:20] we've been here, this is still our

[4:23] mission statement. To develop each

[4:24] student as

[4:26] an inspired lifelong learner and problem

[4:27] solver with the

[4:28] strength of character to become productive

[4:29] members of society.

[4:32] our demographics currently almost

[4:35] 13,000, 12,596, 17

[4:38] schools, 1,800

[4:41] employees, 2. 3 million square

[4:44] feet of buildings. Bus drivers, cafeteria

[4:45] workers,

[4:46] custodians, maintenance workersch

[4:47] we invest in people. Our

[4:49] people make the difference in the

[4:51] nassau county school district. So we

[4:53] are number 3 out

[4:54] of 67 districts. And I'm just going

[4:56] to pause for a minute there. I think

[4:59] that's worth celebrating. I do. And

[5:00] all of those people

[5:01] that I just mentioned as well as our

[5:02] community members, our parents,

[5:05] our families, men of our

[5:07] nonprofits, all of those people play

[5:08] a role in this. We

[5:11] are once again an a-rated

[5:14] school district. We are

[5:16] graded by the state of florida. These

[5:19] are our school grades. You'll see

[5:20] "a,"

[5:23] "a," "a," one "b," and the rest a's.

[5:24] I

[5:27] can tell you

[5:28] just about 3 points to get back on

[5:30] that honor roll.

[5:32] great things happening at our schools,

[5:34] so we're proud of those "a" grades.

[5:36] where do

[5:37] we rank out of 67 districts in the state of

[5:39] florida? We

[5:41] are number 2 in language urts learning

[5:42] games,

[5:45] 2 in math, number 2 in

[5:47] geometry, first in 8th grade science,

[5:51] second in

[5:54] civics, and eighth in

[5:56] biology. I always say we're getting

[5:57] better. We don't

[5:58] settle. We want to continue to move

[6:00] to the top.

[6:01] our students with disabilities are

[6:02] performing very well. We are also

[6:03] number 3 in

[6:05] the state for our students with disabilities.

[6:06] when we

[6:08] go back to our mission statement that

[6:09] says

[6:12] we want our students

[6:14] to be lifelong problem solvers and we want them to be

[6:16] productive citizens, that is for everyone of

[6:18] our students including

[6:19] our students with disabilities. So this

[6:21] is a lot to brag about,

[6:24] because many of these students

[6:25] have more challenges whether they

[6:26] be physical challenges or learning

[6:27] challenges, but

[6:30] our ese

[6:32] students are number 2 in the state, number 3 in

[6:36] math, number 2 in science. We

[6:37] are an academically high performing district.

[6:39] that's based on the school

[6:41] grades that our schools receive, our

[6:42] class size

[6:44] compliance. We are 100% compliance

[6:45] with

[6:47] class size in the nassau county school

[6:48] district and our

[6:51] financial audit reports. Thank

[6:54] you,

[6:56] ms. Allen harper right here. Our strategic

[6:57] goals. We

[6:59] have five focus areas, academic and

[7:00] student

[7:01] performance. We want to continue to

[7:03] improve our graduation rate

[7:06] to 95% by 2025. We just recently

[7:07] received our graduation rates, which

[7:09] is always a year lagging

[7:11] behind. Our high school graduation rates

[7:12] are continued

[7:15] to improve. 98%,

[7:18] 94%, 96%. Our community school,

[7:21] which is a school at the meeting center

[7:24] which serve students who do not necessarily

[7:26] fit in a traditional high school and

[7:27] make another

[7:29] choice, our graduation there is not

[7:30] very good right now,

[7:32] so it's brought down our overall graduation

[7:33] rate

[7:36] to 91. 3, but we are going to continue

[7:38] to work with those staunts to improve

[7:39] their graduation rate,

[7:42] but our overall goal is 95% by

[7:44] next year. Human resources. Increase

[7:45] recruitment and retention of

[7:47] our highly qualified teachers. That

[7:48] is something we've continued to

[7:50] work on. The last two years have been

[7:51] much better.

[7:53] we've raised our beginning teacher

[7:54] salaries to

[7:56] over $52,000. That's higher than our

[7:58] florida neighbors in our surrounding

[8:00] counties as well as our georgia

[8:02] neighbors, which is a big task because

[8:03] it's difficult to compete with georgia.

[8:05] their teacher salaries are set by

[8:06] the state legislators,

[8:08] and then the local counties add to

[8:09] that. But we are

[8:10] higher than all of them, and it's

[8:12] paid off for us in the last year

[8:14] and a half. Growth management. You

[8:15] all know what's happening. You hear

[8:17] about it all the time. So our gel

[8:18] is to identify funding

[8:20] options for our capital projects for

[8:21] new schools. You

[8:22] hear a little bit more about that

[8:24] in a few min, and to manage

[8:26] this growth better, find opportunities

[8:27] for land and

[8:29] new schools for the future, technology

[8:30] services

[8:33] is a huge area for us.

[8:35] we continue to enhance and increase

[8:36] our technology

[8:39] for our students. One of our

[8:42] biggest challenges is security risk

[8:45] in

[8:47] technology. They're smarter than all

[8:48] of us, and

[8:50] no matter how many firewalls and whatever

[8:51] else you do, they

[8:53] have ways to go around it, and it's

[8:54] difficult for us to

[8:57] keep those folks in security engineering

[8:58] for technology because I say they

[9:00] use us as their

[9:01] training ground. They get great experience

[9:03] in the school

[9:05] district, and they go onto wonderful

[9:06] jobs doubling

[9:08] their money and working from home.

[9:09] but we continue to work on

[9:10] these things. Community relations.

[9:15] we want to create and implement

[9:18] a comprehensive

[9:19] public relations engagement plan.

[9:21] if you look at

[9:24] our data for community

[9:26] engagement, it's over 100% increased

[9:27] over the last year. We

[9:28] continue to work on that and have

[9:30] some plans to continue that in the future.

[9:33] just a few more highlights. We have

[9:34] several of

[9:35] our schools --nine of our schools

[9:36] that are schools of

[9:37] excellence, and that means they are

[9:39] performing in the top 20% for

[9:41] the students in the state of florida.

[9:42] we're expanding

[9:45] our career and

[9:48] technical

[9:50] education programs. About two years

[9:51] ago the sheriff came to

[9:54] us and said, hey,

[9:56] can you help us with 911. We can't

[9:57] get 911 operators

[9:59] and we can't keep them. Last year

[10:00] we launched

[10:02] a 911 program training our students

[10:03] in

[10:06] 911 operations. And this is done at

[10:07] beam college and

[10:08] un with of the reasons we wanted to

[10:09] do it there is

[10:11] that is where our community school

[10:12] is. Those students were able to participate

[10:13] in

[10:14] some of these programs during the

[10:15] day while they were in

[10:17] their classes. We have art classes

[10:18] for our

[10:19] elementary students. I'll talk a little

[10:21] bit more about that in a moment. Then

[10:22] there's

[10:24] a picture of our community schoolteachers at

[10:26] the bottom. They're all heroes and

[10:27] champions, and some of

[10:30] our community partners you'll recognize.

[10:31] I want to touch on the one

[10:32] on the top right in just a moment.

[10:33] we have

[10:36] a fantastic rotc program at west nassau

[10:39] high school. They win many awards

[10:40] in that

[10:41] program, and many times it's a place

[10:42] for students who are not necessarily

[10:45] in sports or in other things but a

[10:47] place for them to grow and gain skills

[10:48] and move onto greater things.

[10:51] some of them are becoming pilots and

[10:52] doing

[10:53] all kinds of great things. So we wanted

[10:55] to add that program to

[10:56] other schools, but we were turned

[10:58] down in many instances because

[10:59] they're getting real picky about where they have

[11:01] these programs.

[11:03] so we had the next best thing which

[11:04] we

[11:05] just launched in january at yulee high

[11:07] school, and that

[11:08] a naval cadet program. It started in

[11:10] january, and

[11:12] we came back from christmas break.

[11:13] we have 60 students

[11:14] enrolled in that program. Very much

[11:16] aligned to what the rotc

[11:18] program is. And this is kind of like a

[11:19] first step

[11:20] and evolve into that. I challenge

[11:22] you to go by there and take

[11:23] a look. We have a former military

[11:25] person who's in charge of that

[11:27] program, and she's doing a fantastic

[11:30] job, so we're really excited about

[11:31] that

[11:32] at yulee high school. So I want to

[11:34] talk a moment

[11:35] about the millage and what the millage

[11:37] is doing in the

[11:38] nassau county school district. I mentioned

[11:40] the previous slide

[11:42] we had art class. For the first time

[11:43] in as long as

[11:45] I can remember, we have art teachers

[11:46] in all of

[11:47] our elementary schools doing great

[11:49] things. You'll see a lot

[11:50] of their art here, so that's one of

[11:52] the areas that the millage

[11:54] is enhancing as well as our performing

[11:55] arts programs.

[11:56] we have personal trainers in all of

[11:58] our high schools for all 06 our

[11:59] sports that we've never been able

[12:01] to have before.

[12:03] we purchase band instruments through

[12:04] our arts millage.

[12:06] about a year and a half ago a band

[12:07] teacher came to me

[12:09] and said, hey, I need to order a new

[12:10] tuba. I'm

[12:12] like, yeah, sure, just send in a purchase order

[12:13] and we'll get

[12:16] you a tuba. Well, I had

[12:17] no idea how much instruments cost,

[12:19] so I kind of had to eat that one.

[12:22] but,

[12:24] anyway, these instruments are $20,000-plus.

[12:25] they're getting

[12:26] new instruments in our high school

[12:28] performing and middle school performing

[12:29] bands, so they're able to do that.

[12:31] let's talk about sports for

[12:33] a minute. We've revamped all of the

[12:34] weight rooms in

[12:35] our high schools. We're currently

[12:37] working on our fields. If you have

[12:39] a chance to go by yulee high school, this

[12:40] have

[12:42] a rubberized track for track and field.

[12:43] so for

[12:46] the first time ever we will be able

[12:48] to st track meet at yulee high school.

[12:49] and

[12:50] the other schools we're working on

[12:52] what next steps are for

[12:53] them in their fields as well. A lot

[12:55] of good things as a result of

[12:58] the millage,

[12:59] so we appreciate your support for

[13:01] the millage. So this

[13:03] is how the millage dollars are broken down.

[13:07] 70% of that money goes to compensation for

[13:08] our employees. It has made a difference

[13:10] not only for our teachers but

[13:12] for bus drivers and other folks in

[13:13] our

[13:16] school district.

[13:18] 9% for our athletics, 9% for the arts, and

[13:22] 12% for safety arts

[13:23] and intervention and prevention. And you

[13:25] all know that is a

[13:28] huge area. So let's talk about safety for

[13:30] a minute. We have monthly safety meetings.

[13:31] we meet with the

[13:33] sheriff's office and the city police

[13:34] department. We

[13:37] just recently launched the strategic

[13:39] badge program that's an additional badge

[13:40] that goes on

[13:43] with your I.d. S. In winder,

[13:46] georgia, where they had a school shooter

[13:49] come in. They

[13:52] all had badges.

[13:54] any person who has that badge can press

[13:55] that badge, the school

[13:57] will go into a lock down, law enforcement

[14:00] is identified, and we have a quicker

[14:02] response. We've launched that now.

[14:04] we are adding updating cameras to

[14:06] all of our schools and security systems.

[14:09] and we have know the law and theidary program.

[14:10] two

[14:12] years ago the sheriff's office could

[14:13] no longer support theidary program.

[14:15] we did not want to see it go away,

[14:16] so all

[14:18] of our officers teaching that to our

[14:19] fifth graders and elementary

[14:21] schools, and the other officers teaching

[14:22] know the law to

[14:24] our middle and high schools. Not only

[14:25] knowing the law

[14:27] but knowing the consequences. And then we

[14:28] have officers in all of

[14:31] our schools. So I

[14:33] want to talk now about the florida

[14:34] department of education recommendations.

[14:37] there was a headline last week after

[14:40] the presentation about

[14:43] consolidation. Every five years the state of

[14:45] florida comes into the district and

[14:46] evaluate every student's

[14:48] station. That means every seat that

[14:49] a student can sit in

[14:52] your school. They evaluate the libraries,

[14:54] the cafeterias, every space for students in

[14:55] your school

[14:57] district. And then they provide you

[14:58] with recommendations

[15:00] of what they believe should be coming in

[15:01] the

[15:03] future. Now, they don't give you money

[15:04] to go with that. They

[15:06] just give you recommendations. I want to

[15:07] share this

[15:09] with you all because I think it's

[15:10] important that you see this.

[15:12] our board has received this information,

[15:13] and we're working on now

[15:15] for the board, our next steps to this.

[15:16] but I want you

[15:19] to see, and once again these

[15:21] are just their recommend asians. We

[15:22] as a school district can take this information

[15:24] and do what we believe is best for

[15:25] our school district, and you

[15:27] all --many of you and our community

[15:28] members will be a part

[15:31] of that. So these are their

[15:39] recommendations.

[15:40] >> so for the west

[15:43] side,

[15:46] hilliard and callahan, they want to

[15:47] close

[15:48] hilliard and make callahan one big

[15:49] bus facility.

[15:52] that's a much needed upgrade. We don't

[15:55] argue with this

[15:58] one. In bryceville not a lot of

[16:01] improvement there but student

[16:03] drop offs, renovations for the students there.

[16:04] we have about

[16:07] 200 students in bryceville currently,

[16:08] but

[16:09] these are their recommendations. Callahan

[16:10] elementary, and I'm going to talk

[16:12] about this and you can read it on

[16:13] your own. So the

[16:15] recommendation is that we close callahan

[16:16] elementary

[16:19] and we combine callahan elementary

[16:21] with callahan intermediate school

[16:22] and make it a k-5

[16:25] school. And then part of their recommendation you'll

[16:26] see at

[16:28] the bottom is turn the callahan elementary

[16:29] school into

[16:30] some workforce housing. I don't think

[16:31] this is a bad recommendation

[16:34] if you know where callahan

[16:36] elementary school is, right on that highway.

[16:37] parking is terrible, stacking

[16:40] is terrible, even though we just improved

[16:41] it this year.

[16:42] but this is not a tomorrow plan. This

[16:43] is a longer-term plan, but this

[16:48] is their recommendation. And I --

[16:49] I really

[16:53] like the idea of them making a

[16:54] recommendation for workforce housing.

[16:56] if you

[16:59] look at our current interlocal

[17:00] agreement, it says we're going to collaborate

[17:02] with the county and

[17:03] other entities to determine the best

[17:05] use so

[17:06] this will be conversations we can have

[17:08] down the road. Then again, this

[17:09] is not happening tomorrow or next week.

[17:11] these are just their

[17:12] recommendations. So callahan intermediate, so

[17:15] a lot of these are improvements that

[17:17] would make this a

[17:18] k-5 school expanding the cafeteria

[17:20] and other spaces.

[17:22] we have little barricades on things that

[17:23] we're

[17:24] already working on there like a water

[17:26] plant and

[17:28] an ese playground and things like that.

[17:32] but you'll see in this

[17:34] list are the recommendations that

[17:35] would make

[17:37] this a k-5 school. Callahan middle

[17:38] school, the recommendation

[17:40] is combine callahan middle with west

[17:41] nassau and build

[17:44] a new school. West nassau

[17:47] middle senior

[17:49] high school. And then you'll see their

[17:50] next bullet is look

[17:51] for an agreement with the city of

[17:53] callahan. So their idea

[17:54] was if we build middle high school,

[17:56] then we use the

[17:57] callahan middle school space for some

[17:59] kind of community center. Not a

[18:02] bad idea. Not a bad idea for the

[18:05] future. And west nassau kind

[18:07] of goes along with the middle school

[18:08] plan. Relocate

[18:11] west nassau, build the 6-12 school

[18:12] and that would combine the middle

[18:14] school and the high school. Now,

[18:16] the last line, the last couple of

[18:17] sentences are true. Almost all

[18:19] the buildings are old outdated for

[18:20] future

[18:23] educational use. Continuous

[18:24] repair. Continuous repair there. If

[18:26] you know anything about

[18:27] the west side some of you do, it's

[18:29] just wet.

[18:32] it's just wet. And then the new

[18:35] west nassau school, the 6-12, it tells

[18:37] you what we would need to do to get

[18:38] to that place. And you notice

[18:40] at the end they say this side of the

[18:41] new combination

[18:43] would be at the fairground property

[18:44] north of callahan. We do

[18:45] have a lot of property there. We have

[18:47] a lot of property that we lease

[18:50] to the fair association for 100

[18:53] years, but there's still

[18:56] additional properties

[18:58] there. Hilliard elementary, the sunshine,

[18:59] the barricades are things

[19:00] we're going to be working on now.

[19:02] just some improvements to

[19:04] current buildings as well as for hilliard

[19:05] middle senior

[19:06] high school. No new construction there in

[19:11] this recommendation.

[19:12] wildlight, this is basically already done.

[19:14] we've added

[19:16] nine primary classrooms and fournered mediate

[19:17] and

[19:19] middle classrooms. And we've done

[19:20] some

[19:23] remodeling.

[19:26] we're not doing those new

[19:28] portables. First of all the buildings

[19:29] are already small and

[19:31] using the portables still and they

[19:33] keep coming there. That's where we are.

[19:35] this is done

[19:38] right now. Ycec, this is our old building

[19:40] on 17. So they recommend some repairs

[19:41] there, creating a technology

[19:44] center, maybe an agcenter

[19:47] or cte complex there, not bad

[19:49] yis. We believe there are many opportunities

[19:50] even

[19:52] opportunities for us to collaborate

[19:53] with the county and other

[19:56] folks there on the property. Nassauville

[19:59] they recommended we had the property

[20:00] you

[20:02] all know about at the end of the concourse

[20:05] recommend a new

[20:08] elementary pre-k-5 to support

[20:11] the increase in population in

[20:13] the nassauville yulee area. And yulee

[20:14] elementary, this

[20:16] is another big one. They recommend

[20:20] closing

[20:23] yulee primary school

[20:24] andnered mediate. Their response we

[20:26] have to close

[20:28] yulee primary school because of its

[20:29] proximity to the

[20:32] gun range. They said combine

[20:35] yulee primary and yulee

[20:37] elementary school and make that a

[20:38] k-5 school and

[20:41] move the district office to the yulee

[20:42] elementary school. Not bad ideas,

[20:44] again, these are recommendations we don't

[20:45] have

[20:46] a plan yet in our school district.

[20:47] and then

[20:49] a new yulee elementary school, which

[20:50] would be a

[20:53] k-

[20:56] 5 school. Yulee high school,

[20:59] you'll

[21:01] see on this slide on the next one, they

[21:02] did not recommend anything for a new middle

[21:03] school or high high

[21:05] school yulee. Yulee high school

[21:08] and yulee

[21:11] middle school are

[21:13] 1,400 schools. So they recommended

[21:14] some

[21:16] remodeling, some up grades, some expanding of

[21:17] the dining, but

[21:19] no recommendations for a new school.

[21:20] same with

[21:23] yulee

[21:29] middle.

[21:31] fernadina beach middle they recommended

[21:35] we demo that school and move

[21:37] the middle and high school together.

[21:38] these are, again,

[21:40] their recommendations. We do not have

[21:41] a

[21:44] plan yet. And then

[21:47] fernandina beach

[21:49] middle-high school, make that all

[21:53] one campus. Emma love, just some up

[21:54] grades and

[21:56] improvements there on the current

[21:59] campus as well as

[22:01] southside elementary school. And then

[22:02] these

[22:04] are just some current projects that

[22:05] have been

[22:07] completed and that are in the works.

[22:08] I just kind of wanted you to

[22:11] get an overall view. You'll see

[22:14] the weight room, some

[22:16] painting, some softball improvements,

[22:17] playground

[22:19] improvements, marquee sign nl, kitchen

[22:20] up grades. These are

[22:23] just things that

[22:25] are have happening or are happening

[22:26] now through our

[22:28] maintenance facilities. There again

[22:29] those are

[22:30] state recommendations. What our board

[22:32] has asked us to do is to come

[22:35] together, work on a plan for our most

[22:37] immediate needs, and then we will

[22:38] work together for

[22:40] a longer-term plan, a master plan

[22:41] for future

[22:43] schools in the nos ou county school

[22:44] district. You

[22:46] all know that we're growing like crazy

[22:47] and especially in

[22:49] the yulee area, so we know there are

[22:50] some immediate needs that we have

[22:52] to address. Now, as I said earlier,

[22:53] they don't give you

[22:55] money to go with these recommendations.

[22:56] so in the past we have saved

[22:59] our money for years until we had enough

[23:00] money

[23:01] to build a school, and then we build

[23:03] a school. We don't have

[23:04] that luxury today or in the future,

[23:05] so we are looking for opportunities

[23:07] on what we can do to secure the funds

[23:09] that we need to

[23:12] build schools for our needs that

[23:15] we have now. This is

[23:17] just a good visual for you of our budget.

[23:18] if

[23:20] you'll see up here, this is where

[23:21] our

[23:22] funds come from. You'll see these

[23:24] are local funds and these

[23:26] are save funds. As our local tax base

[23:28] increases, state funding goes down.

[23:30] it's not

[23:33] always equal. They

[23:34] don't maintain the same level of funding,

[23:36] so you'll see majority of our

[23:37] funds come from local. On the right

[23:39] you'll

[23:42] see this is our blue area is

[23:43] spent, big area is salary benefit.

[23:45] over 70%

[23:46] of our budget is in salary benefits.

[23:48] our people

[23:49] make the difference. I like to know

[23:51] and so do our families they know who's

[23:52] driving the bus, who's working the

[23:54] kitchen, who's working

[23:55] the cafeteria, who's in the office.

[23:56] our people make the difference. So

[23:59] how do we continue to improve? Make

[24:00] sure that we

[24:02] have a rigorous curriculum, recruit

[24:03] and retain

[24:06] the best teachers, expand

[24:07] our partnerships within our community,

[24:09] our career and technical

[24:10] opportunities, continuously review

[24:12] the data to see how we

[24:15] can improve, and

[24:17] you'll see our little brick over here.

[24:18] we've got

[24:20] a plan for the future. And actually

[24:23] it's here now. That's where we are.

[24:24] so thank you all.

[24:27] do we have any questions?

[24:33] >>

[24:35] I do.

[24:36] >> what's the rationale --I

[24:37] understand

[24:39] combining schools is supposed to

[24:42] save money, you'd have fewer buildings, you can

[24:44] do something else with the other buildings.

[24:45] but what is your opinion

[24:48] we have a 6-12 in milliard and middle

[24:50] senior right now. Is that a good model,

[24:51] or do you like

[24:52] the middle school being separate from

[24:54] the high school? I think

[24:57] 6th graders --how do you separate

[24:59] a 6th grader from a senior in high

[25:00] school?

[25:01] >> so I

[25:02] think hilliard is unique because of

[25:03] that community and their size.

[25:05] I don't know yet. When we look at what

[25:06] other counties are

[25:08] doing, and of course we follow st.

[25:11] john's very closely, and we know that that's

[25:12] what they're doing.

[25:13] they're doing it for two reasons.

[25:15] number one, to save

[25:16] money, and number two, they don't

[25:18] have a lot of land. So I'm really

[25:19] not sure. I think we will continue

[25:21] to explore that. You

[25:24] know, right now I --I don't

[25:25] know if that's the best thing because

[25:27] I do know what a 6th grader is

[25:29] like and then a high schooler. So, yeah.

[25:33] somebody else have a

[25:36] question?

[25:37] >> we've mentioned it

[25:38] before, has it been talked about to

[25:39] build up versus out

[25:42] on some of your sites?

[25:43] >> yes,

[25:46] absolutely. And, you know, the piece of

[25:47] property we have at the end of the concourse here, and it

[25:48] was mentioned in one of

[25:49] the slides, we would have to do it

[25:51] if we build there because we

[25:52] don't have the land capacity to do

[25:54] what we would do in a

[25:56] spread out space so absolutely. When you look at

[25:59] other counties st. John's in particular

[26:00] they're building

[26:03] up instead of out. The other issue we

[26:04] would

[26:05] face is they have the additional capital

[26:06] millage for

[26:08] their construction projects that passed

[26:09] in their county last

[26:10] year, but they're finding all their

[26:12] bids are coming in double

[26:13] for all their projects, so they're

[26:15] having to reassess where they

[26:18] are and what they're going to

[26:20] do.

[26:21] >> dr. Burns, I'd just like to

[26:22] commend

[26:24] you and your board and

[26:27] all your staff

[26:28] structural and nonstructural on the

[26:30] job you've done for

[26:32] many years regardless of who's been

[26:33] on the board. The

[26:35] board's always done a great job, and

[26:36] your people,

[26:38] they do make the difference whether

[26:39] they're in

[26:42] the classroom or out of the classroom.

[26:45] I've got my nassau county school district

[26:47] lapel pin on today.

[26:48] >> I see it. >>

[26:49] in honor of that.

[26:51] and I'm due for a new one, I think.

[26:52] you

[26:53] stopped putting the years on there.

[26:54] >> we have a new

[26:57] one

[26:59] coming. We can't look the same.

[27:00] >> I have several of them at

[27:01] home. They used to do by

[27:03] year, and I had an

[27:06] old one that was like

[27:09] '22 and '23. She found me a

[27:10] general one that covers all the years

[27:12] because you've been doing it for so

[27:13] long.

[27:14] I know you talked about it all in

[27:15] your presentation,

[27:18] but some people

[27:20] just --I don't think they --when you're doing

[27:21] so well for

[27:23] so long, that becomes the expectation,

[27:24] and then people think,

[27:26] well, it's not a big deal anymore.

[27:27] it is

[27:29] a big deal the amount of work and

[27:30] effort and success you

[27:32] and the school district have had,

[27:33] so I just want to thank

[27:35] you and commend you for it.

[27:36] >> I appreciate

[27:37] that, and we

[27:38] do have great people. We have a wonderful

[27:39] board. And, you

[27:41] know, listen, this is not easy. And

[27:42] it's not

[27:45] easy to stay --keep climbing

[27:46] to the top because obviously they

[27:48] raise the bar on us, too, but I

[27:51] want to brag on everybody and of course

[27:54] alyson's a teacher and she knows what

[27:55] it's

[27:56] all about. I tell everybody this and

[27:57] I'm not going to leave here without

[27:59] saying this today. Wave at the bus

[28:00] drivers when you pass them

[28:03] on the road. Don't just go past

[28:06] that bus. Raise your hand if you would be

[28:08] a bus driver. Wave at the bus drivers.

[28:09] god bless the bus

[28:11] drivers, the teachers, the cafeteria

[28:12] workers, the

[28:15] pick up line at wildlight. If you haven't

[28:16] had

[28:17] the opportunity to drive down cure

[28:18] yusty in the early

[28:20] morning or in the afternoon and stay in

[28:21] that line to pick

[28:23] up your kid or somebody's kid, you

[28:24] need to

[28:27] see the phenomenal job they do. Someone

[28:30] just told me at event I was speaking

[28:31] at noon

[28:32] saying they must have gotten their

[28:33] training

[28:35] from chick-fil-a, those people know

[28:36] how to do it, and that's on

[28:38] top of all the other things they're doing.

[28:39] and let's add to

[28:41] that hurricanes and snow days, and

[28:42] all those, and just the

[28:44] resilience of the people and our students.

[28:45] I have a group of students that

[28:48] I meet with,

[28:51] student supervisory

[28:53] counsel students that are phenomenal.

[28:54] they are our future. I have

[28:57] your people come and speak to them

[28:58] because we want

[28:59] to hear from them as well. We have

[29:00] our challenges, and we are

[29:02] challenged to be better every day, but

[29:03] it's still nicer

[29:06] in nassau.

[29:07] >>

[29:08] commissioner gray.

[29:09] >> dr. Burns, thank

[29:10] you for coming.

[29:11] the yulee high school the naval cadet

[29:12] program, do

[29:14] you eventually see the possibility

[29:16] of that evolving into an

[29:18] rotc?

[29:19] >> it will. And so the program

[29:20] we're

[29:21] modeling after, of course they had to reach out to us

[29:22] and offer us the

[29:23] opportunity because you can't just

[29:25] say you want to sign up. We have

[29:26] been trying to get this since the

[29:28] school opened. In

[29:30] the models we see if we do this well

[29:31] for the next four

[29:32] to five years, it would evolve into

[29:34] an

[29:35] rotc program. Yes.

[29:36] >> thank you. I

[29:37] know there's a lot of work that's

[29:38] been

[29:39] done, a lot of building and construction

[29:41] at yulee high school and middle school.

[29:43] it looks like

[29:45] it may be built out, but I know y'all

[29:46] have

[29:48] a lot of students there, and it's

[29:49] a wonderful facility. I go

[29:52] to

[29:54] events there that are at the school on

[29:55] the

[29:57] school property. It's maintained and

[29:58] being in the school

[30:00] district here, I think rotc will be beneficial

[30:02] for our students.

[30:03] >> we're excited.

[30:04] we

[30:07] had 60 students sign up that

[30:08] were in the program, soso excited

[30:12] about that.

[30:13] >> dr. Burns, most of

[30:14] y'all know in the room

[30:15] I announce all the football games

[30:16] for west nassau high school. And

[30:18] I got pulled in that position a couple

[30:19] years ago.

[30:20] it's fun to be a part of that. I'd

[30:22] never announced

[30:24] a ball game before prior to my tenure

[30:25] being the voice for

[30:27] the warriors, but it's really been

[30:28] fun,

[30:31] really rewarding. To your point, the

[30:33] kids they're very, very helpful. You

[30:34] can see that

[30:35] parenting obviously goes a long way,

[30:37] but whenever they get dropped

[30:39] off at the school via bus or via parents,

[30:40] that's when the

[30:41] other set of parents take hold. And

[30:43] so you can really tell a difference

[30:45] over on the west side of the county.

[30:46] there's

[30:49] really, really some

[30:50] good, wholesome, let's say young people coming through the

[30:52] system, and that's definitely a product

[30:55] of what you just showed us there on

[30:56] the screen. I wanted to just go one

[30:58] step further in saying that

[30:59] the personal trainers out there on

[31:01] the football field have been a huge,

[31:02] huge

[31:03] step forward for our sports programs

[31:07] and athletic programs. We don't need

[31:09] to fail to mention them in anything and

[31:10] everything that we

[31:11] do because those --those guys and

[31:13] gals are out

[31:15] there engaged in all these sports,

[31:16] and it's

[31:19] a real heavy them, too. I've made

[31:22] friends with

[31:24] tony mara which is our trainer out

[31:25] there, and

[31:28] tony

[31:30] stretches himself really thin and all

[31:31] over the

[31:33] board and really cares about the kids and

[31:34] cares

[31:35] about athletics. You know, it's been a

[31:37] rare,

[31:38] rewarding friendship to make friends

[31:39] with him because then I'm able to

[31:40] kind

[31:41] of look behind the scenes and do what I

[31:43] can to try and

[31:44] volunteer or gather up other volunteers

[31:46] to make the situation a lot better

[31:48] out there. But I just wanted to say I

[31:49] know that there's

[31:50] some conversation coming about fields.

[31:52] you mentioned the rubberized

[31:55] track, and I was involved

[31:58] in that. Mr. Pierce asked me

[32:00] to out as a stakeholder the other day

[32:01] and set part

[32:03] of that meeting. I told him obviously

[32:04] on my side of

[32:06] town, football is a big thing. I mean

[32:07] for

[32:09] nassau county football is a huge thing.

[32:10] but we're

[32:11] starting to see other sports starting

[32:13] to come into

[32:15] the limelight like lacrosse. And lacrosse

[32:16] is starting to come

[32:18] up on the east side of the county.

[32:19] it's going to move and probably

[32:22] make its way on the west side. I

[32:24] have buddies of mine from south florida

[32:25] that live in the

[32:28] jupiter area, and their boys

[32:31] are heavily engaged in lacrosse.

[32:33] I would advise you to see it because it's

[32:34] very athletic.

[32:36] it's very interesting. It's almost a

[32:37] cross between football

[32:39] and hockey in a way. And, you know,

[32:40] it's very,

[32:42] very entertaining, very physical.

[32:43] and I look

[32:45] forward to seeing us continue to do

[32:46] big things

[32:49] for these kids because the more that

[32:50] we can offer them as

[32:52] far as athletics is

[32:53] concerned, the brighter their future

[32:55] can be in more than

[32:57] one way. And just like to say I know

[32:58] that there's

[33:01] challenges, you know, versus turf

[33:04] versus sod versus rubberized track.

[33:06] at least over on my side for the team

[33:07] I represent, I know that

[33:09] football is going to obviously be

[33:10] a

[33:12] lot bigger priority than the track

[33:13] is even though we care about

[33:16] our track stars as well. And just

[33:17] like

[33:18] to say that as we move forward and

[33:19] we research these contracts and

[33:21] stuff, the one thing that kind of

[33:22] stood out

[33:25] in questioning in that group the other day was

[33:28] the group that puts in these turf

[33:29] fields

[33:31] don't offer us a maintenance package

[33:32] for these

[33:33] turf fields.

[33:34] >> that's right. >> so I

[33:35] wanted to just go on the record of

[33:36] saying to the board that as we move

[33:37] forward, we

[33:38] might want to see what it's going

[33:40] to take for us to take care of this

[33:43] because that's new to me, and

[33:46] I know it's probably new to all of you, but

[33:47] we

[33:48] probably need to find out, you know,

[33:49] let's drill down and make sure

[33:51] if we've got to have machines to take

[33:52] care of that

[33:55] stuff, do you

[33:58] groom it after every game, have fluids

[34:01] that go out there and have to somehow

[34:02] disinfect the field? There's just

[34:04] a lot of questions I had.

[34:07] and so as we move forward, let's

[34:10] make sure that we put those out there

[34:11] for our people to

[34:13] make sure we keep safety at our forefront.

[34:14] but

[34:16] other than that, thank you so much.

[34:17] I appreciate you guys and appreciate

[34:18] you joining us tonight. Means a lot.

[34:19] >> so I appreciate you

[34:21] saying that. And I wasn't at that

[34:22] meeting, but I got a full update

[34:25] on it. And I talked about callahan, the

[34:26] west side

[34:28] is wet. One of the things

[34:30] within that project or whatever the project

[34:31] is going to be at west nassau and

[34:32] on

[34:33] the west side will be drainage, that

[34:34] we address that as well.

[34:37] and I want to mention one more thing about

[34:38] personal trainers.

[34:39] we attempted to hire them in the past

[34:40] and kind of we would have one

[34:43] here and have one there, but never were

[34:45] we able to have trainers for all of

[34:47] our high schools. Particularly hilliard

[34:49] we struggle with that. Now we're able

[34:50] to

[34:52] pay them adequately and have the support

[34:54] of u.s. Health, and I want to give

[34:56] a shout out to dr.

[34:57] jeremy coleman who's been a great

[34:59] partner with us as well. Having

[35:01] them on the field, and I was at the night a

[35:02] student

[35:03] broke his leg or whatever severe.

[35:05] having the trainer there and

[35:06] having the right people at the right

[35:08] time and knowing what to do

[35:09] has mademade huge difference. But

[35:11] it's just keeping our students safer

[35:12] and I appreciate that. Anybody else?

[35:14] >> dr. Burns, one thing.

[35:15] on the growth management part, we

[35:17] can sympathize with you

[35:19] on the needed planning for the cost --

[35:22] the increase cost as you look at the

[35:23] out years

[35:25] are exponentially more painful than

[35:26] they have ever been.

[35:28] and so we sympathize with you, and we

[35:29] look forward to

[35:30] the dynamic, creative work you're

[35:32] going have to do like we do

[35:35] to figure out how to reach

[35:38] those out-year capital plans.

[35:41] so keep pushing

[35:43] and creating --

[35:44] >> we will because

[35:45] we want

[35:46] everybody to be updated on these things.

[35:47] thank you all.

[35:48] >> thank you, dr.

[35:53] burns. Item b, interlocal

[35:56] agreement update.

[35:57] >> yes.

[35:58] so I am happy to report after three

[35:59] years, we were going to tell you we

[36:00] were updating this, we were updating

[36:02] this, but last

[36:04] week, and there has been some work

[36:05] overover

[36:07] time. It's just been hard for everybody

[36:08] to get

[36:10] together, but I want to say that last

[36:13] week, do we have four attorneys involved?

[36:14] >> we

[36:16] had at least one too many. There was

[36:20] one too

[36:21] many.

[36:22] >> very important to us. We had

[36:23] the town of hilliard attorney, the

[36:26] town of

[36:29] callahan attorney. Am I missing

[36:32] any? You had your four attorneys,

[36:35] staff

[36:37] involved. We went through the entire

[36:38] and

[36:39] local agreement. We have another date

[36:41] set for march. We're going to come back

[36:43] and look at all the changes that were made.

[36:44] so hopefully in

[36:45] just a very short time, we will have

[36:47] an updated

[36:48] interlocal agreement for everybody

[36:50] and every board to review

[36:52] and approve, and this is critical

[36:53] to all of us because

[36:55] some of the issues we're having to

[36:56] address not addressed in

[36:57] the current interlocal agreement that

[36:58] are causing everybody some problems

[36:59] and

[37:00] some pause. So very soon we're going

[37:05] to

[37:08] have that.

[37:09] >> and item

[37:11] c I have is the impact fee report.

[37:14] >> yes. So we are required to provide

[37:17] you with an update every

[37:20] year on

[37:26] our impact -- on our impact fee

[37:29] collections and then

[37:31] our current expenditures. So this

[37:32] is the report for

[37:35] you

[37:38] all. And thank you, ms. Ellen harper

[37:39] is

[37:40] here, our finance director to put all

[37:41] this together.

[37:44] and actually she gave you more information

[37:46] than I have. She goes above and beyond.

[37:47] if you look

[37:50] at starting from 2005 through

[37:52] 2014, '15, you'll see the totals we

[37:54] received, interest. She's making money

[37:56] on our money,

[37:58] the grand total. So if you go down

[37:59] to really the

[38:01] bottom of the page you'll see our

[38:02] ballots year over year. But

[38:05] if you look at fund balances

[38:08] and the usages for

[38:11] of the 24,

[38:14] 25, we have the yulee

[38:17] model, portable leases, portable setups,

[38:18] new schools

[38:19] to be determined. Every year in our

[38:20] capital budget we set

[38:23] aside dollars for that new school, like I

[38:25] talked about earlier. We just don't

[38:26] have enough time to set

[38:29] aside money

[38:32] out of our total capital budget.

[38:34] you'll see our total fund balance.

[38:35] if you go to the next

[38:37] page, you'll see a graphic that identifies

[38:38] our impact

[38:39] fee revenues earned and available

[38:41] for the fiscal years. You'll see the

[38:44] funds collected and available the

[38:45] first

[38:47] several years. We're

[38:49] almost none, that's because we were

[38:50] using those for the wildlife school.

[38:52] if you go to the next page, you'll

[38:53] see another graphic

[38:55] that shows you where our dollars are.

[38:56] you'll see we have

[38:58] a majority of those dollars set aside

[38:59] for the next new school. So we

[39:01] are required to present this to you

[39:02] every year, so this

[39:05] is meeting that requirement for us.

[39:06] >> mr.

[39:08] chairman, I have a question.

[39:09] >> commissioner

[39:10] mark.

[39:11] >> so if I read this correctly, right

[39:12] now you have

[39:13] a little over $27 million set aside

[39:14] for a new school?

[39:17] >> right. >> what do you estimate

[39:18] the cost

[39:20] of a new school?

[39:21] >> we don't

[39:23] have an actual number right now.

[39:25] we thought we had some numbers, but we

[39:26] are working with

[39:28] the associates who works with several

[39:29] on this type of thing.

[39:31] we know whatever we think our number

[39:32] is going to be

[39:35] double that. When we built

[39:38] wildlight it was about

[39:41] $23 million.

[39:42] >> thank you. >> I'm

[39:44] sorry, doctor. You're saying now

[39:46] you think it may have doubled.

[39:47] >> at

[39:48] least. At least.

[39:49] and we built the road to wildlight at

[39:50] the time

[39:51] as well because there was nothing

[39:53] there when we built that school, and

[39:54] of course

[39:56] we got paid back for that road

[39:59] over time. But,

[40:02] yes, I would say

[40:05] double

[40:08] plus.

[40:09] >> any

[40:11] other

[40:13] questions? Okay. Item d, I just have

[40:14] other business as needed.

[40:17] I don't have any additional business,

[40:18] so what I would like to

[40:20] do is if I may go around, I'd like

[40:23] to give each board member to ask if you

[40:24] want

[40:26] to say something. Board

[40:28] member hogue.

[40:29] >> we just thank you

[40:30] you guys

[40:31] for allowing us to meet again. We

[40:32] always

[40:35] like seeing people. Thank you for

[40:36] everything

[40:38] you do. We know that being a

[40:41] public servant is just

[40:43] a service to others, so I appreciate

[40:44] everything that

[40:47] you guys did.

[40:48] >> right

[40:50] back to you. Ms.

[40:52] braddock?

[40:53] >> also thank you very much,

[40:54] and

[40:56] we appreciate your support. You know, it's

[40:57] difficult being in

[41:00] the public eye a

[41:02] lot. In fact, I don't think I've seen

[41:03] you

[41:05] since the last time you were here.

[41:06] that's how busy you

[41:09] are, and we live in the

[41:11] same neighborhood.

[41:12] >> I'm beat when

[41:14] I go by. Anyway, we look forward to

[41:16] meeting with you annually, and we

[41:18] talked last time about maybe

[41:20] making it two times a year.

[41:21] >> yes,

[41:22] and I think as we

[41:23] progress through whatever our planning will be

[41:27] for future, we will want to come back

[41:28] to you and talk about it some more.

[41:30] >> mr.

[41:31] zimmerman?

[41:32] >> thank you. This is my

[41:33] first time attending

[41:36] this meeting

[41:39] and previously sat down at that

[41:42] part of the dias.

[41:43] I'm grateful for the commissioners

[41:45] for continued support and

[41:48] we stand

[41:51] ready for

[41:52] any issue in any way possible.

[41:53] >>

[41:54] I like the

[41:57] partnership that we

[42:00] have, you know, that

[42:01] the different communities are all

[42:03] part of

[42:06] our growth

[42:08] management so that everybody is having input.

[42:09] and it is going to

[42:11] be challenging once we start deciding

[42:12] what

[42:14] direction we want to go and having

[42:15] that

[42:17] partnership and keeping everybody

[42:18] informed

[42:21] will hopefully make it a little

[42:24] bit easy and anticipate --

[42:26] I mean, y'all don't have to deal with

[42:29] rezoning --well, you have to do a

[42:30] rezoning --

[42:32] attendance zonings, and that's probably

[42:33] going to be one of the

[42:36] first things we have to

[42:39] do, and that's not anybody's

[42:41] favorite discussion item. So there's

[42:42] challenges to be

[42:45] met.

[42:46] >> commissioner martin? >>

[42:47] well, I said an awful lot earlier,

[42:50] so I'll be brief. We'll be brief this time.

[42:51] unless

[42:53] I missed it, dr. Burns, you usually say

[42:54] in every

[42:57] one of these meetings, if

[43:00] it wasn't for teachers.

[43:01] >> we

[43:03] vnt have

[43:04] other professions. That's right. Everybody

[43:06] has a teacher first.

[43:07] >>

[43:09] make sure we got that.

[43:11] >> yes. >> thank you, mr. Chairman.

[43:12] you know,

[43:13] I've heard it said before in different

[43:17] ways, and I think it --it's really

[43:18] true for

[43:21] we are here in nassau county, but

[43:22] places

[43:23] that don't live, thrive, and grow,

[43:24] they die. And at

[43:25] the end of the day I think all of

[43:27] us that have

[43:30] a vested interest here, and

[43:33] I look around the dais, around the

[43:34] room, and there's people that lived

[43:36] here a long, long time. My

[43:38] family moved here in '74 and lived

[43:39] here

[43:40] my entire life, essentially. Went

[43:42] to callahan schools and

[43:44] was blessed with really, really good

[43:45] educators along the way.

[43:48] and they didn't just teach. Like I

[43:49] said before when you

[43:51] were

[43:54] up there, where your parents didn't

[43:55] have

[43:56] their eyeballs on you. It means a

[43:57] lot to see the

[43:59] parent engagement, whenever you drop

[44:00] your kid off school

[44:02] that they're in good hands. And just

[44:03] wanted to

[44:04] say thank you in the bottom of my heart.

[44:06] I've got a niece

[44:08] now that's 10 coming up through the

[44:09] school systems in

[44:12] callahan, and she's what we call

[44:14] the miter bird because she talks,

[44:15] but she

[44:17] comes by that honestly. But she's --

[44:18] I

[44:20] know you'll find that very humorous.

[44:23] I think that, you know, watching her,

[44:24] though, develop

[44:27] we'll say I'm not so sure maybe --

[44:28] she may

[44:29] be the physician of the family. She's

[44:30] very, very

[44:32] detailed and intricate, and some of

[44:33] the stuff she

[44:36] comes up with kind of blows me away

[44:37] as

[44:38] uncle bub a, she would call it. I

[44:39] just want to say thank you

[44:42] because there's so much going on out there.

[44:43] nobody mentioned

[44:44] it, but we mentioned it several times,

[44:45] and you

[44:48] guys see it too because we see people

[44:49] throw

[44:50] the stones. Social media is very,

[44:54] very ugy

[44:57] to all of us as electeds

[44:59] and public officials. I appreciate

[45:00] you

[45:03] guys standing strong and

[45:06] communicating with people, putting yourself out

[45:09] there in harms way saying you haven't reached

[45:10] out

[45:12] to us. Instead of the banter and

[45:15] playing around and giving it another

[45:18] light, you pick up the phone. I squim

[45:19] saying

[45:20] this not because I sit on the board, I can

[45:21] pick up the phone and call

[45:22] and these people answer their e-mails

[45:24] and answer their phones.

[45:27] let's continue to stay above the fray.

[45:28] I say don't wallow in

[45:29] the mud with hogs, and let's continue

[45:30] to do what's best

[45:33] for nassau county and be proud that

[45:34] we're

[45:35] all here and a great place to live, that

[45:36] people aspire to bring their

[45:39] family here, to raise a family, and

[45:41] educate their young ones. So thank

[45:42] you all

[45:45] very much.

[45:46] >> thank you, commissioner.

[45:47] >>

[45:48] commissioner gray.

[45:49] >> thank you, mr.

[45:50] chairman. Yes, I

[45:51] want to thank each and every one of

[45:52] y'all for all your hard

[45:54] work

[45:56] and efforts in maintaining nassau county's

[45:57] a-rated school. As we flourish

[46:00] here in nassau county and grow, people

[46:01] come here

[46:02] to raise their families and have their

[46:04] children go to a

[46:05] safe environment and school environment,

[46:06] and that's a big thing nowadays. I

[46:09] mean on the eastern sea board, you want

[46:10] to

[46:12] come to a place raise your children,

[46:13] grow

[46:14] up, have them go to school, be safe.

[46:16] and, you know, the

[46:18] schools, the facilities that y'all

[46:19] are providing for our students and our growth

[46:22] in the county

[46:23] is wonderful. And like the commissioner

[46:25] said earlier, if we're not

[46:26] growing, we're dying. And we don't

[46:28] want that.

[46:29] we want economic opportunity and expansion.

[46:31] we thank y'all as

[46:34] a partner very much.

[46:36] and again, congratulations on another

[46:37] year of

[46:39] a-rated schools in nassau county.

[46:42] >> commissioner m ccullough. >> I

[46:43] should

[46:45] have asked you earlier at the dais.

[46:46] one

[46:48] of the barriers I receive on both

[46:49] ends parents are like,

[46:50] oh, the commission's just building

[46:52] all these neighborhoods, and there's

[46:53] nowhere for these children to go to

[46:55] schools, but I'm so glad

[46:57] you highlighted number one, we are

[47:00] not above glasroom capacity. Any of

[47:01] our schools because a

[47:03] lot of the banter does come from people

[47:06] who do not know the fact, but we're

[47:07] not over

[47:09] those fte counts. You just quoted

[47:10] $27

[47:11] million for the last school we built

[47:13] and we're looking at doubling that.

[47:16] people don't understand the financial risk

[47:18] of prebuilding out schools, that the state

[47:19] requires

[47:21] we have to have bodies before we can

[47:22] even

[47:23] consider school growth. So I think

[47:25] one of the things that I

[47:26] highlight every year for the public

[47:28] when we have this meeting

[47:29] is without the homes and neighborhoods, there are

[47:31] no new schools. And

[47:32] I just think that's important for

[47:34] both of us to remember and

[47:37] recognize as we move

[47:39] forward and for the public to be consciously made aware

[47:40] of, that

[47:41] without the neighborhoods there will

[47:42] be no new schools. And the cost to

[47:43] build

[47:44] and looking at you brought up the

[47:46] pie chart. When

[47:47] those local taxes come in and the

[47:49] state revenues go

[47:51] down, people think that we get this

[47:52] huge check from the state,

[47:53] and that is now how it works. More

[47:55] homes come in, so everything

[47:56] just takes time. And I think that

[47:58] the more you know, the

[48:00] more empowered you are to make those

[48:01] positive decisions

[48:04] that affect your communities so

[48:06] much. You know, I'm a 15-year teacher.

[48:07] ms.

[48:10] simpkens was my first principal.

[48:12] she hired me. 15 years later I'm still

[48:13] here at

[48:15] hilliard after she hired me. But one

[48:16] of

[48:17] the closing of our mission statement

[48:19] is to make productive

[48:20] members of society, and I've worked

[48:22] with teachers who have been there

[48:24] for six months, who have been there for

[48:25] a year. Some of us

[48:26] have been there in the trenches. I

[48:28] call it in the trenches for a

[48:30] long time. But I can tell you this,

[48:31] if you survive a

[48:32] decade in public education, you can

[48:34] survive anything. You can --

[48:36] if you have been there more than a

[48:37] decade, your investment

[48:40] in your community and growth and the true heart you

[48:41] believe

[48:43] to make nassau county a better place.

[48:46] I think a lot of times, dr. Burns,

[48:47] you

[48:48] and I had a conversation about this earlier.

[48:49] we

[48:51] do have a false tenacity to look at

[48:52] the negatives and

[48:53] highlight the negatives. We're doing

[48:55] such

[48:58] amazing things as the nos awe board

[48:59] of

[49:00] commissioners, school board working

[49:01] together,

[49:04] our sheriffs and police to make

[49:07] nassau county

[49:09] one of the greatest communities to

[49:10] live

[49:12] in the state. Our students, our parents,

[49:13] our residents

[49:16] so much more positive. And I hope in 2025

[49:17] we're

[49:18] really looking and focusing on what

[49:19] are the positive things and things

[49:21] we're doing right and growing on those right things,

[49:22] so thank you, mr.

[49:24] chairman.

[49:25] >> dr. Burns? >> I just

[49:26] want to say

[49:27] I do appreciate I know I can pick

[49:28] up the phone and call any one

[49:31] of you. I want to give out

[49:34] a shot out because I can always call him.

[49:37] I we share ideas. You know,

[49:38] looking ahead to the future, and I

[49:40] appreciate the working relationship

[49:41] we

[49:42] all have. Even if it's something bad,

[49:43] something good.

[49:46] and I want to re-emphasize again

[49:49] if you look at

[49:51] our interlocal agreement if we do

[49:52] close schools

[49:55] or make decisions moving forward, I

[49:56] believe there

[49:57] are opportunities to benefit all of

[49:58] nassau county whether we turn

[50:01] it into youth

[50:02] facilities, affordable housing or

[50:04] something like that,

[50:05] I believe there's many opportunities

[50:07] for the

[50:08] future and appreciate the cooperation and

[50:10] support I get from all of you.

[50:11] >> a

[50:12] comment following on what she said.

[50:13] >> when we

[50:16] were allowed to

[50:19] build yulee high school, there were

[50:20] over --

[50:22] there were 27

[50:25] portables. There was

[50:27] 27 portables at the high school before they

[50:28] gave us a recommendation.

[50:31] and a lot of people --

[50:34] and the attendance

[50:37] zone, redesigning that, was something that had to

[50:38] be done

[50:42] first, too. With neighborhoods we

[50:43] don't just

[50:45] get to just jump in.

[50:46] >> thank you

[50:47] very much. I'd like to close

[50:48] with this. We're the sixth fastest

[50:49] growing

[50:52] county

[50:54] in the state of florida. That's a reality.

[50:55] we're I believe the

[50:58] 31st in the nation. Am

[51:00] I close? 46, I'm sorry. I'm exaggerating.

[51:01] the 46th out

[51:04] of 3,100 counties in the nation.

[51:07] and I know that when folks relocate

[51:10] for work or for life

[51:12] change, the first thing they do is look

[51:13] at the schools before they figure out

[51:15] where they're going to buy their house

[51:16] or relocate to. So the

[51:19] challenges are there for both of you.

[51:20] recently we

[51:21] had a joint meeting with the city.

[51:22] here we are now with the

[51:24] joint meeting with the school board.

[51:25] we are one nassau.

[51:27] everybody is working together on these

[51:28] tremendous challenges, and I

[51:31] think that as public servants we are

[51:32] completely

[51:33] transparent in the efforts that we

[51:34] put forth for the

[51:36] citizens of nassau county. If you

[51:37] don't know

[51:39] the numbers and you don't see the

[51:40] data, you're just not looking.

[51:43] so, folks, we're out here serving

[51:44] for you and I

[51:45] think we're doing good work, and we're

[51:47] going to keep plugging forward

[51:48] to improve nassau county for everybody.

[51:51] and on that, I am going to adjourn.

[51:53] thank you very much, dr. Burns and school board.

Nassau County Board of County Commissioners Joint Meeting with the Nassau County School Board

Agenda

Transcript