[0:11] Heat. Heat.

[0:14] [music]

[0:30] Heat. Heat.

[0:53] Heat. Heat.

[1:27] » [music]

[1:32] » 76077 at the request of Miss Terry Schroeder,

[1:36] program director for student services. So with that, we'll be able to approve

[1:41] that agenda tonight. All right. Moving along, recognitions.

[1:48] Um September is uh recognition of childhood cancer awareness. So we'll be

[1:55] presenting a proclamation to the Rally Foundation um for childhood cancer

[2:01] research and Rally GF Coast. So superintendent will have something for

[2:06] them tonight. We have no administrative personnel

[2:10] appointments. Section five, we don't know yet, but

[2:13] that's for speakers. If they have um something want to speak to the agenda,

[2:17] that's the blue card. We have no committee and staff reports. Moving on

[2:22] to the consent agenda. Um 7.1 will be the approval and I've

[2:26] mentioned the um the change. 7.2 will be approval of the minutes from the

[2:32] workshop of August 24th, the meeting of that and the meeting of that date. 7.3

[2:39] Appropriation of District 2 Schoolboard Member Capital Outlay Funds to the

[2:43] Northwest Florida Sort of Ballet Academy for Clear Touch Interactive Panels in

[2:48] the amount of $6,64426

[2:52] by Mr. Dest. 7.4

[2:57] request to advertise a public hearing for revision of schoolboard policy

[3:01] 04-43, prohibition of bullying and harassment,

[3:05] presented by Dr. Belinda Small, Assistant Superintendent.

[3:11] 7.5, Request to advertise a public hearing for revision of schoolboard

[3:15] policy 0507, parent and eligible students right to

[3:20] inspect and review education records presented by Mr. Spolski, assistant

[3:25] superintendent. >> Madam Chair, can we go back to 7.4 real

[3:28] quick? >> Certainly.

[3:29] » So, uh, Mr. McInness, am I reading this? Am I correct to uh state that this is a

[3:36] change in law or uh that the reason why we're requesting this?

[3:41] » The these are updates to bring the policy in line with the uh statutes and

[3:46] the DOE model policy. The elements are all there from the statute and the

[3:51] policy but there are some additional provisions being added and some

[3:54] clarifications. >> Yes sir.

[3:56] » Okay. Thank you. Thank you madam chair. >> Certainly.

[4:00] Okay. Okay. Okay, we did 7.5.

[4:04] All right, moving on to 7.6. Budget amendment number 11, fiscal year

[4:10] 2526, presented by Miss Perry, chief financial officer.

[4:17] 7.7 Revised Monthly Financial Statement Ending June 30th, 2026. Presented by

[4:23] Miss Perry. 7.8 eight school donations presented by

[4:30] Miss Perry. What we got, Mr. Hinley? >> Well, you read my mind. Um, just want to

[4:36] advise everybody, we're at $99,858.

[4:40] $850 this last month. Huge. Huge. >> Um, and we had some huge hits. Usually I

[4:47] give the top one. $50,000 from Keith Howard for the playground, planting

[4:52] trees, and ground beautifification at Dest Elementary School. Huge. huge. And

[4:57] we also had another five figure $10,000 from Jeff Walker for the boys basketball

[5:01] team at Fort Walm Beach High School. And then several several four figures 3,000

[5:09] 1,000 a bunch of 500. So I mean just excellent. Year to date we're at

[5:14] $168,40.86

[5:17] and um last year we're at $169,710. So we're just a little under from last

[5:23] year. But that tells you this community does this year in and year out. So kudos

[5:29] to our community for that. >> Absolutely. It's great.

[5:33] » All right. Thank you. Moving on to 7.9 invoices to be approved for payment

[5:39] presented by Miss Perry. 7.10 Superintendent's annual financial

[5:45] report and program cost report for the year ending June 30th, 2026. Presented

[5:51] by Miss Perry. Madam Chair, I'd like to few comments on that. So, uh, good

[5:57] information there. If you break it down, it's per project, you know, basically

[6:01] per school. >> And, um, so, um, I just as I went

[6:07] through every one and I I did a deep dive on my eight schools, but it

[6:11] generally followed the trend for all all our schools. So salary for for operating

[6:17] a school system if you look at it the salary and benefits uh to our staff

[6:23] there in those schools exceeds you know generally 50%.

[6:28] » So um you know you know there's some exceptions with CTE and what have you

[6:33] but um uh and that's general fund and special uh revenue fund. So um and it's

[6:40] consistent throughout the district. So from a businessman's point of view, I'd

[6:44] like to see that. I mean, that's really good. And and that's a rule of thumb. I

[6:48] mean, you can look at it and say, "Hey, to operate a school, you know, half of

[6:52] it's going to be just in the salary and benefits for the staff." So

[6:57] that's [clears throat] it. >> Thank you, Mr. Heinley.

[7:01] Okay, moving along to 7.11. Application for impact aid under PL81-874

[7:08] for the fiscal year 2627. Naming the authorized representative and core user

[7:13] account signer presented by Miss Perry.

[7:19] 7.12 ITB27-02 indoor air quality remediation presented

[7:24] by Mr. Windham program director for purchasing

[7:30] 7.13 Renewal of ITB22-01 security fence bid districtwide

[7:36] presented by Mr. Windom

[7:42] 7.14 tag on bid annual purchase agreement for

[7:46] indefinite quantity environmental contracting services presented by Mr.

[7:50] Windam

[7:54] 7.15 Tagon bid purchase over 50,000 strides therapy and education services

[7:59] presented by Mr. Windom

[8:04] 7.16 exempted purchase over 50,000 goardian pair deck presented by Mr.

[8:11] Windam

[8:15] 7.17 Sale and disposal of surplus property presented by Mr. Maroy, program

[8:20] director of maintenance.

[8:24] 7.18 surplus and donate bus 707-7 to Dest High School and surplus of 2002

[8:32] Ford Atarus presented by Mr. Gore.

[8:37] 7.19 Termination of professional service agreement number 27-01. Nova Engineering

[8:43] and Environmental LLC presented by Mr. Keith

[8:50] 7.20 approval of the Okaloosa Public Schools Foundation Board of Directors

[8:54] for 2627 presented by Mr. Spolski, assistant

[8:58] superintendent of community affairs. And we're bringing in Miss Diane Frasier as

[9:02] the president, which will be good. So, and I'll speak a little bit more on that

[9:06] later about the foundation. 7.21 21 approval to change district

[9:11] pharmacy option presented by Miss Sarah Ko director of risk management

[9:18] 7.22 Memorandum of agreement for

[9:22] collaboration with the University of Florida Board of Trustees and the school

[9:25] board of Okaloosa County Florida presented by Amy Dale director of

[9:29] elementary education

[9:32] 7.23 23 cooperative service agreement between Florida State University and the

[9:37] school board of Okloosa County presented by Miss Ard, director of exceptional

[9:41] student education.

[9:45] 7.24 Triumph GF Coast budget amendment approval presented by Mr. John Williams,

[9:50] director of the Okaloosa Technical College.

[9:56] 7.25 25 cooperative agreement between the school board of Oklahoma County and

[10:00] the Early Learning Coalition of the Emerald Coast. Presented by Rebecca

[10:04] Heield, Specialist Student Services.

[10:11] 7.26 Request for course adop uh code adoption

[10:15] for 2627 school year presented by Miss Stephanie Gillis, specialist for

[10:20] curriculum instruction.

[10:25] 7.27 27 application to the state of Florida for youth mental health

[10:29] awareness and training LEA support grant uh taps 276077

[10:36] presented by Miss Rotor program director of student services.

[10:41] Okay. So that takes us through all of our items on our consent agenda. Now

[10:46] we're going to move on to uh superintendent's human resources

[10:50] recommendation. Uh 8.1 is for information only and

[10:55] that's employees on administrative leave and that was presented by Miss Lindseay

[10:58] Maxi who assistant superintendent for human resources.

[11:03] 8.2 for information only deferred retirement option program also presented

[11:07] by Miss Maxi Assistant Superintendent Human Resources.

[11:12] 8.3 three employment reinstatement presented by Miss Maxi Assistant

[11:17] Superintendent Human Resources. And 8.4 Four, cleared certification

[11:23] requirements and issuance of contracts for the 2627

[11:27] school year presented by Miss Sharon Duron, program director for professional

[11:32] services.

[11:35] 8.5 out of field report for the 2627 school year, presented by Miss Don,

[11:40] program director of professional services.

[11:44] 8.6 6 employment separations presented by Miss Maxi Assistant Superintendent

[11:49] Human Resources. [clears throat] 8.7 Personnel Recommendations presented

[11:54] by Miss Maxi. 8.8 employee transfers presented by Miss

[12:01] Maxi. 8.9 Reinstatement Reimbursement of sick

[12:06] leave due to line of duty illness injury. Medical examination presented by

[12:10] Miss Maxi. 8.10 leave without paid presented by

[12:16] Miss Maxi. Okay, that takes care of our HR. Going

[12:21] down. Right now, there's nothing on the discussion agenda. Moving on to section

[12:26] 10, construction program owners representative business. First thing

[12:30] would be the 10.1 program status. And Mr. Heinley, you have a meeting today,

[12:35] correct? >> I do. I'll report tonight.

[12:37] » Thank you. All right. But the other item 10.2 2 TPM

[12:42] program number six task order number 49 pregmp Elliot Point Elementary School

[12:47] kitchen renovation project by Mr. Keith and I'm I'm not they probably have the

[12:54] original kitchen don't they my guess over there so it'd be time that's

[12:59] all right then we're moving on to uh section 11 which is our attorney's

[13:05] business Mr. Mr. McInness, you have anything this morning?

[13:07] » No report this morning. >> Thank you, sir. Moving on to the

[13:10] superintendent's business. Mr. Chambers. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. School board.

[13:14] Want to start off with a few um announcements and just some information

[13:19] and then we're going to also have a food services update by the food services

[13:25] department. But I'll first start off by uh just thanking you school board

[13:29] members. As you know, we're starting our celebration of our A schools and we

[13:35] started looking at the calendar this year and

[13:38] a lot of A schools. So, that's a good problem to have to be able to schedule

[13:42] all of those. Uh we started with Walker uh last week. So, Mr. Bryant joined me

[13:47] and the other schools will be forthcoming over the course of the first

[13:51] semester. And it's always interesting, you know, when you're in a new school

[13:54] year, but you're also looking back to celebrate excellence. And this is just a

[13:59] nice time. It was very uh rewarding to see the smiles on the faces of not only

[14:07] teachers but staff as well. Um so it was just a nice time and as we go through

[14:12] the first semester celebrating that a it's just uh it's good for all involved

[14:18] especially the students and families as well. Also just want to then shift to

[14:22] this year. It's amazing. We're already past the midway point of the first nine

[14:27] weeks. So, we have sent out information to families just uh really looking at

[14:32] where students are gradewise. Also, our PM1 testing um is in essence is done.

[14:39] So, our schools are looking at that data, communicating that to families as

[14:43] well, but looking at that data to be able to help students where they are,

[14:47] whether that's pushing them forward or providing extra supports. So, we're

[14:52] already approaching the end of the first nine weeks here in

[14:58] a few weeks. So, just want to make sure that everyone's on the same page in

[15:01] terms of communication. Do have a special announcement and I'm

[15:06] going to read um this one and it goes to the testament where we talk about being

[15:11] an A+ school district. the state of Florida will dictate an A school

[15:16] district. And we've always said the plus because of academics, the arts, and

[15:20] athletics. And it's very I'm just going to use the word neat, but

[15:26] that's not good enough. It's uh almost unique is the word that I was looking

[15:30] for. And you look at Cresview High School band where they were named the

[15:34] 2026 Earl D. Irons program of distinction. And one of the things that

[15:39] you're going to hear here in a second, only two bands across the nation, the

[15:43] first ever in Florida. >> Wow.

[15:45] » And we're incredibly proud of Cresview High School, which has been named a 2026

[15:51] Earl D. Irons program of distinction by the five Beta Moo International.

[15:58] Crestview is one of only two band programs in the nation receiving this

[16:02] honor and the first Florida band to receive the prestigious award. This

[16:07] recognition celebrates not only excellence of today's students and

[16:10] staff, but I love this as well, but the legacy of achievement, character, and

[16:15] commitment to excellence built by generations of Crest View Band students,

[16:20] directors, families, and community supporters since the program's founding

[16:26] in 1938. The band will be formally recognized at

[16:32] the 2026 Midwest Clinic in Chicago in December. This is an extraordinary

[16:37] accomplishment for Crestview High School and a tremendous point of pride for our

[16:41] school district. And as you know, Mr. Dunn over there at Crestview, um he's

[16:46] one of the leaders of the arts in this school district. And what's so amazing

[16:51] is, yes, he's all about his band program, but he's all about the band

[16:56] programs >> in Okaloosa, the high school, middle

[16:59] school, and just the arts at the elementary as well. So just could not be

[17:04] more proud to have this type of of an award. You have to have sustained

[17:10] excellence over time and that's what uh the Crestview band represents and that's

[17:16] definitely what Mr. Dunn represents. We will be recognizing him um in the

[17:21] future, but just wanted to share this information with the board and the

[17:25] public as well >> because he's receiving a personal award

[17:29] too is my understanding that which Yeah. him and uh and as you know he's received

[17:34] a few awards here uh here lately, >> right? That's great.

[17:39] » Do want to say I'm gonna ask first uh Mr. Destin I have on my list here just

[17:45] want to recognize a national merit semi- finalist.

[17:49] » Go for it. >> Do you have that?

[17:50] » No. >> All right. Just want to um congratulate

[17:54] and celebrate um Miss Kira Foy and Mr. Destin and I uh

[18:01] just very proud when we saw this uh come across this student to be a national

[18:07] merit semi- finalist. Now I don't know about you all when I was in high school

[18:12] um I was never eligible for such a thing and you have to have a whole lot going

[18:17] on but Kira is among among 16,000 students nationwide. That's less than 1%

[18:23] of students across high schools across this country. So to be in anything where

[18:28] in you're in the less than 1% in a good way that's uh that's very powerful. Um

[18:34] she also um will be going forward for the

[18:39] national finalist of the merit. So we have a whole lot going on with her. This

[18:45] opens up so many opportunities for her as a student going into college in terms

[18:50] of scholarships and opportunities and resumes. But the only way you get

[18:54] something like this is through um excellence and academics, challenging

[18:59] yourself um more so than what I could have ever dreamed of doing um in high

[19:06] school. So just congratulations to Kira Foy.

[19:10] Do want to let the board know in terms of um student enrollment. This is

[19:14] something that we continue to uh look at each and every day. Uh Mr. Spolski um is

[19:22] paying attention to it. I will say right now we are sitting at about 27,736

[19:29] students. Last year this time we at we were about

[19:33] 28,520.

[19:36] A difference of this year compared to last year is you know when you do FTE

[19:42] projections so we looked at the state model for this year and so we made our

[19:47] FTE projection. We also went a little bit lower than the state model and we

[19:53] are looking good in terms of our enrollment and projection. We're a

[19:58] little bit below the FTE projection uh but in a much better spot than last year

[20:05] this time. So still holding strong 27,736

[20:10] district operated students. We have FTE coming up the first week in October. So

[20:17] we continue to pay attention to our student enrollment and you know that's

[20:20] the survey 2 count. We'll then have the survey three count in February. So as

[20:26] Dr. White was here right now and he would say something to the effect of you

[20:30] know FTE drives funding. So you have to be able to pay attention to that. Um and

[20:35] I just appreciate the work of Mr. Spolski, Miss Mazerb and the entire team

[20:39] in the FTE process. Do we have a count for

[20:45] » with that number? How how much of that is kindergarten that those numbers are

[20:50] affected with kindergarten enrollment? >> So do you have that right off the top of

[20:55] the head? >> We uh we are tracking very similar

[21:00] kindergarten numbers as to last year. I think a lot of the reimagined pieces

[21:04] that we did this year in the marketing actually held us to the same number as

[21:08] last year. um they're very excited on how those

[21:12] pieces supported uh that otherwise if we wouldn't have done those things. It's

[21:16] easy to speculate that it would be much lower.

[21:20] » And uh I would just comment that uh you were talking about reimagining and the

[21:24] marketing piece of it. I know I've seen several billboards where we're

[21:28] encouraging people to uh with kindergarten students give Okaloosa

[21:33] schools a chance. You know, >> I have I have a question. So survey two

[21:37] is in October, right? When is survey one?

[21:41] » It's uh summertime. They don't actually collect funding. Uh survey two is in

[21:45] October. Survey three is in February. And then they go to four and one in the

[21:50] summertime.

[21:54] All right. Do want to let the board know it's

[21:57] already the time where we're looking at legislative priorities and so we are uh

[22:03] continuing that process. Uh so we will be meeting with [clears throat]

[22:08] each of you individually. We'll be talking about legislative priorities.

[22:12] We'll be looking at the superintendent association priorities, the schoolboard

[22:16] association priorities, obviously looking at our own uh we'll continue to

[22:20] look at certifications. We'll continue to look at the BSA, we'll continue to

[22:24] look at teacher pay and other things amongst items that we will uh bring

[22:29] forward.

[22:32] And then lastly, but surely not lastly, just want to um take a moment to thank

[22:40] our schools for recognizing uh an important day um September 11th. And

[22:46] across the district, you know, it was raining that day, which uh some folks

[22:50] had to adjust, but across the district uh schools, the school district honored

[22:58] that day. And I don't know about you, I can remember exactly where I was. I was

[23:04] in a sixth grade classroom over at Ruckle. And I'll never forget when

[23:09] » as a student as a teacher, right? >> As a teacher, not as a student. Um,

[23:13] » please. >> Not sure what to say to that. Uh,

[23:18] considering I was out of school the other day and they said I was old, but

[23:21] that's all right. Um, but I'll never forget that moment and I'll never forget

[23:26] the amount of students whose parents were either at the Pentagon

[23:33] or were on TDY and just the angst that that caused. I'll never forget uh Mrs.

[23:40] Morgan coming across the PA system and saying, "Turn the TVs on."

[23:46] You think about that and in that moment sitting there for the first time with

[23:51] teachers, adults, sitting with students and watching what uh was unfolding in

[23:58] terms of the news coverage and uh just the way that teachers during

[24:04] that time and I'll take myself out of the equation, but teachers during that

[24:08] time, the way that they wrap their arms around those students and parents. Uh I

[24:14] remember the the the pickup at the end of the day. Um just a lot of support

[24:19] from educators to families and just couldn't be more thankful. I think it's

[24:25] definitely appropriate as well. You know, not only do we thank our military

[24:28] for what they did during that time, but what they do today, but thanking our

[24:32] EMS, our doctors, our nurses, our fire department, our police officers, you

[24:38] know, just what they do every day when they wake up, they don't necessarily

[24:42] know what their day holds, but yet they're there for us every day. So, just

[24:47] say thank you. Um, and thank you to our schools, our administrators, teachers,

[24:52] and staff for honoring that day and honoring our first responders in such an

[24:57] amazing way. So, just appreciate that. >> And with that, unless there's any

[25:03] comments, I'm going to have food services come up.

[25:06] » Okay.

[25:13] » Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chambers, Madame Chair, board members. Um so we

[25:18] just wanted to take a few minutes this morning and introduce our food service

[25:21] department and highlight um the vital role that they play in the school

[25:26] district. Uh they work very hard to feed our students so our students are ready

[25:32] to learn when they get into the classroom. Um I appreciate Mr. Steve

[25:36] Anderson being here. He's over our food service uh department, our program

[25:40] director. I do see out there in the audience uh Derek Jones. He flew in from

[25:45] Dallas. He's with AirArk. he's their um vice regional vice president. So, thank

[25:50] you Derek for being here. Uh these guys have worked hard over the school year

[25:54] and and the school year started smooth and uh we are off beating um a lot of

[26:00] students on a daily basis uh breakfast and lunch. So, I'm going to turn it over

[26:04] to Mr. Anderson. >> U Madam Chair, board member,

[26:08] Superintendent Chambers, thank you for allowing us to uh come and share some

[26:12] information this morning. Um, just right out of the gate, all the pictures in

[26:16] this quick slideshow are are are students, our employees. So, I think

[26:22] that's important that we're uh kind of displaying that.

[26:27] All right, I'll slow down. Um, just some quick brief uh information. 200, we have

[26:32] 200 plus staff members, um, managers and administrators in our food service

[26:36] program. That's obviously uh Oakland County School District employees as well

[26:40] as AirArk employees. Um, we serve about 11,000 students a day. Um, we discussed

[26:46] what a bang-up job we did over uh the summer. Um, I think we had more sites

[26:50] open over the summer feeding than we've ever had. Um, and we fed all of June and

[26:55] all of July and over 70,000 meals. So, um, really had a great summer. Uh, this

[27:01] summer we also had our administrative review. And so, what that entails is the

[27:06] state reviews our entire food service program. So they they do things from

[27:11] Tallahassee as far as we send them financials. They look at our menus. So

[27:15] they're checking all that. They also do on-site visits where they come and they

[27:19] visit the sites and to make sure to see what we're doing as we're actually

[27:23] feeding kids. And so that was a very successful uh visit. We had no um no

[27:28] correct corrective action needed. Uh we we passed with flying colors. So, um,

[27:33] that's not not something I don't know if you guys are aware of how often that

[27:36] occurs, but that's every 3 years for summer feeding and then as well for the

[27:40] national school lunch program. So, um, again, our administrative view went

[27:43] really well this summer. Um, just kind of some things we're

[27:48] always uh we're always discussing that we want our food service experience to

[27:53] be a positive one for the students. You know, lots of times, uh, you know, bus

[27:57] drivers are the first to see them, but some of them car riders, we're the first

[28:02] to see them, right? They're coming to breakfast. So, we want that to be a

[28:05] positive experience. Obviously, we want to serve them healthy, nutritious meals

[28:08] as well. But again, that interaction is important. That's something we push to

[28:12] them as far as, hey, that you can really start a child's day off, specifically at

[28:16] breakfast, or you can change a child's day at lunch. you know, if they're

[28:19] having a bad one, you can flip the switch on that or or or you can continue

[28:23] um making them feel good about their day. So, we really kind of make push

[28:28] that message that positive experience. Make sure you're interacting with the

[28:32] kids positively. Um you know, we hear things about the menu all the time. I

[28:36] know the superintendent said, you know, mentioned how much he's he enjoyed

[28:40] lunch. And so, obviously, those standards have changed over time, right?

[28:43] And so, we're we're guided by uh the USDA and FDEX. FDAX is the Florida

[28:49] Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. And so we have to follow all

[28:53] of their guidelines. And so unfortunately that results in, you know,

[28:57] lower sodium content, lower fat content. And so, um, you know, again, the focus

[29:02] is on healthy and and not necessarily back in our day where you would be

[29:06] fighting over that extra roll at lunch or, you know, that big spoonful of

[29:10] gravy. Those aren't the same things. Um, uh, mentioned in here, 7 CFR 210. That's

[29:16] basically one of our bibles in the food service industry um for uh school food

[29:20] services. So a lot of our guidance comes out of that that that we have to follow.

[29:26] Um I brought a copy of this is so obviously

[29:30] um if you are if you if you've been approved for free reduced meal service

[29:35] last year, right, you have a 30-day grace period to start the new year. So

[29:40] you have 30 days that you're going to get that service. and our this year the

[29:44] September 21st is our is our deadline. And so we start the year really pushing

[29:48] out that information. Um these are things that we provide to the schools.

[29:53] Um it's double-sided. So we have it in English and we have it in Spanish. They

[29:57] go out year round in any mailouts we do. Doesn't matter if it's now or it's May,

[30:02] we send these out so that it's just a reminder that hey, you can always apply

[30:05] for lunch um of free or reduced meals anytime throughout the year. There's not

[30:09] a deadline to do that, but if you want a continuation of your current service,

[30:14] you came into the year free. You got until the 21st to reapply. If you don't,

[30:19] then that expires and now we're chasing you to try and try and apply. So, you

[30:23] know, that's something we deal with um annually.

[30:28] Uh, don't do that. All right. So, my attire, I know normally you wear a tie

[30:32] here, but I thought this was a pretty cool story since I was presenting. So,

[30:36] several years ago, um, uh, we wanted to do something for our

[30:41] our folks, right? They're working hard and we wanted to, uh, give them a treat.

[30:45] So, we got with the state, what can we do? We got with the district, what are

[30:48] we able to do? And so, we decided we put out a contest where they could they

[30:54] could pick a slogan. And so, we had uh, folks in the in food services

[31:00] uh, give us some slogans. we we took a vote and this was the slogan, hands that

[31:04] serve, hearts that care. So, we had these shirts made um and we provided

[31:08] them to all the employees. So, I just thought that was kind of a neat story of

[31:11] how these shirts came about. It was internally um voted on by by the staff

[31:16] and and that's how that was selected. Um so, I'm going to pass this off to Mr.

[31:21] Christino um with Airmark. He's going to come up and

[31:27] continuation of what's going on there, sir. Thank you. Morning everybody. My

[31:32] name is Nathan Christine. I'm the new district manager from Aramark. Um I'll

[31:35] give a brief presentation on where we stand from a nutrition partnership with

[31:38] the school district. Um a quick overview of synopsis what

[31:43] I'll be presenting today. We're going to talk a little about communication uh

[31:47] fluid transparency between the board and airmark operations to make sure that

[31:51] we're continually providing excellent service to every uh student every day.

[31:55] We'll talk a little bit about the marketing enhancements, their

[31:58] innovations you may have seen within the schools the last three weeks, a little

[32:02] bit about our social media, where we staying with our Facebook PLA platforms

[32:06] and some of the other um items like LinkedIn. We'll talk about that program

[32:10] growth, HR staffing and retention, where we staying with our staffing model and

[32:14] how we're effectively supporting our schools in our region. and then a little

[32:18] bit of the cool things that we're going to be do uh uh focusing on our culinary

[32:21] our LTO's student um culinary competition which I'll talk more in

[32:25] depth in depth about so flow communication for us it's

[32:30] extremely important to make sure that we have full transparency in how we operate

[32:34] our programs between one-on-one dialogue and also how we execute within our

[32:39] schools. So how we started my first couple weeks being here as being here in

[32:43] less than a month. Uh I started a program where we look at uh strategy and

[32:47] plan with the district first and foremost making sure that uh cadence is

[32:52] set between not only um general like grant but also as Steve as well to make

[32:56] sure that we understand where we're going and what we're doing if anything

[32:59] gets uh uh changed within the platform strategy. The support and timeline are

[33:05] communicated fluidly. So if we have to make adjustments, we're we're easily

[33:08] able to transition and pivot to the next uh uh item that would be needed to to be

[33:13] fully supported. From there, we have district monthly meetings. We had one

[33:17] last week with the team for the first time for the month. Uh greatly uh

[33:21] greatly well supported by all our kms and the rest of the some of the district

[33:24] team members. We have airmark weekly team meetings to support any initiatives

[33:28] that come out of our first and strategy meetings. and then along with our weekly

[33:32] one-on- ones not only with my team but also also the team members within the

[33:36] district. And then how it goes full circle for us is really um the uh the

[33:41] meetings that the supervisors have with their team. So we cover a multitude of

[33:45] items such as safety meetings. We make sure that all of our team are supported

[33:48] with the shoes recruits program to eliminate slip strips and falls. We also

[33:52] have KM roundts. So that means kitchen uh managers. So if they have any

[33:57] concerns, issues within each school, we're able to provide more dialogue and

[34:00] more direction to help support them, whether it's inventory control or again

[34:05] keeping our team safe and making sure that we're aligned with our programs.

[34:08] And then lastly, we do one-on ones. Not only do I do one-on- ones with my team,

[34:12] but the CMs do one-on- ones with their supervisor and I sit on sit on most of

[34:16] those. So, how it goes full circle is we're all communicating within a week

[34:20] cycle to make sure if anything needs to be accomplished in a in a quick time

[34:23] frame, we're able to make that pivoting change.

[34:28] Next piece I want to look at are some of the renovations we've done within the

[34:31] operations. So, you see PL's before and after photos. Great marketing strategy.

[34:36] I think we've got over 20 plus schools that we've um overhauled in the last 3

[34:40] weeks. You can see the color, the vibrant layout from our marketing team.

[34:44] And this is just the beginning. you're going to see a little bit more

[34:46] enhancement over the course of the year um to show what we can do in our offer

[34:50] more of our marketing strategy to help support some of the new culinary

[34:54] initiatives along with the healthy eating standards.

[34:58] Here's the before and after at Ruckle. Same same mentality. It's a different

[35:02] package from the Rally Cafe, but she can already see the vibrant changes as our

[35:06] students walk through. And then a couple other after pictures.

[35:11] Destin Middle looks amazing now the renovations completed along with Fort

[35:15] Walton. The color scheme really aligns with what the strategy was at that at

[35:19] that at the high school. So as you're in your travels or you're walking into

[35:23] schools, we have over 20 schools that have already been renovated. There'll be

[35:26] a few other modifications to some of the marketing materials in the next coming

[35:30] weeks. We're adding a mural over at Destin um Niceville High School. So as

[35:35] those get completed, we should be wrapping up by the end of the month.

[35:40] some of the staffing um not just concerns but things we've been to help

[35:44] enhance over the last few weeks. Um a quick overview was August 11th was my

[35:48] first day. So the first thing I did would make sure that we were able to

[35:51] support our schools efficiently and take a look at our staffing models. So what

[35:55] we've done is um really looked at some of the opportunities we had within

[35:58] within some of our schools and the biggest one we had was Baker. we were

[36:01] deficient in a few few of our openings and since I'm glad to say that we've

[36:05] we're almost back to full strength by offering a few uh unique opportunities

[36:10] to support each each school. So things that we've done to help implement this

[36:13] staffing structure and support. We have daily human resources calls with our

[36:18] leadership team but also the district to help support not only job fairs at

[36:21] locations both north and south but we did just one at Baker a week and a half

[36:25] ago which allowed us to get fully fully staffed at that location. So, we

[36:29] pinpoint our opportunities, find out what really needs to get supported, and

[36:33] we send a multitude of resources to help support those impacted areas. And then

[36:38] future state, um, continue to have our HR calls sporadically to ensure that

[36:41] we're continually staffing our operations. But not only that, uh,

[36:45] ongoing recruiting, which with open positions, but I'm looking towards a

[36:49] third-party solution and, um, additional staffing support, whether it's temp

[36:53] agencies in case we need to go down that go down that avenue. Hopefully we never

[36:57] get to that point, but if we do, we'll have a strategy in place to make sure

[37:01] next next school go we're 100% fully staffed.

[37:05] This is something that's really neat. It's called the Culinary Star

[37:08] Competition, and it's something that Aramark rolls out nationally. So, we

[37:12] have a few high schools um that are interested in um competing in the

[37:16] competition. We have three schools, which is wonderful. this year. Um

[37:20] they'll get the um information on what the platform looks like and what what

[37:24] the culinary um aptitude they're going to have to try to achieve. And I believe

[37:28] this one is based upon um uh Asian techniques and and that part of the

[37:32] world when it comes to the culinary needs. So what's going to happen is

[37:36] they'll have a competition on October 23rd. The winner from that competition

[37:40] will be sent to Dallas to compete nationally. So, it's a really great

[37:44] accomplishment for those who are looking to expand their culinary platform or

[37:48] hopefully maybe some down the road they could be employed with the school

[37:51] system. So, from start to finish, it's a great idea. I think it's going to go

[37:55] really well within our schools and hopefully we bring them a winner uh

[37:58] nationally. And then some other pieces, enhancing

[38:03] our communications, you know, I talked a little bit about Facebook, uh Instagram,

[38:07] LinkedIn. I think we need to do a little bit better job from our perspective to

[38:11] really showcase what we do in our our schools and really give more feedback on

[38:14] these platforms. A lot of our um we've already initiate initiated that in the

[38:19] last two weeks, but you'll see much more communication in the near future. Um we

[38:23] also have a newsletter that's supported, but I I think the biggest enhancement is

[38:28] the links that you see here, which will be an opportunity for anyone to click

[38:31] and and show what they need to look at or any content they like they'd like to

[38:35] add to it as well. A couple culinary enhancements we have

[38:40] from last year this year. Our LTO offerings is almost quadrupled than it

[38:45] was in in last year. So you'll see a monthly um monthly overhaul on some of

[38:49] our neat and exciting food service options. Not only are they nutritious,

[38:54] but they're extremely healthy as well. Uh that's supported by a lot of our

[38:58] marketing campaigns. So, as students walk through with the enhanced marketing

[39:01] that we've just established, they'll be able to see start to finish on what the

[39:05] product looks like and then be able to sample it as well. On the right hand

[39:09] corner, you'll see another uh LTO. It's poppy. It's a very popular uh drink.

[39:13] It's actually much healthier than your Coca-Cas or your or your Pepsi products

[39:17] out there. So, we're excited to bring some of those healthy initiatives to to

[39:21] some of the platforms. >> Madam Chair, I have a question for you.

[39:25] » Uh so, yes. So, uh, all these LTO's, these are only offered at the high

[39:31] school level. Is this correct? >> Correct. Okay.

[39:36] » Uh, summer meals. A little feedback on how the meals went this summer. So, we

[39:40] provided 71,755 meals to our children under 18. Uh,

[39:45] 27,848 were breakfast and four 43,926

[39:50] were lunch. So, a successful program. We're looking forward to next year to

[39:54] see what how many more more meals we're able to provide.

[40:00] » And that's our presentation. >> Thank you.

[40:03] » Excellent. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

[40:06] » Uh don't run off. >> Okay. We have questions.

[40:08] » I do. So, uh Aramark is a huge corporation

[40:13] » and I notice under Aramark here says student nutrition.

[40:18] So ARARK student nutrition is different from Aramark that you would deal with at

[40:23] uh sporting events or even prisons and things like that. So can you kind of

[40:28] break down the difference between and you might have did a little bit but

[40:33] Aramark student nutrition versus all your other entities out there? How is

[40:38] that unique to let's say going to a sporting event and see an air mark being

[40:44] served? you know, because y'all do a big concessions.

[40:47] » Uh, you also have I know you also have prison contracts. You have multiple

[40:52] contracts around besides student services.

[40:55] » Can you just kind of quickly the difference between that and those other

[41:00] platforms that I just mentioned? >> Uh, as someone who's worked in multiple

[41:04] fields with an airark, I've done not only in K through 12, but I've also done

[41:09] um I worked at the Cleveland Clinic for four and a half years with Armark. I

[41:12] also served at senior life. So the platforms are very different based upon

[41:16] the needs of each individual client. Um so within the healthcare services you're

[41:20] looking at um retail, you're looking at patient services, feeding patients in

[41:25] rooms with multiple cycle week menus. Same thing is really similar to what we

[41:29] do here. We have a multiple cycle week menu customized to each individual

[41:32] school. So that helps support our us regionally. But I think what you're

[41:36] really looking for is airmark support nationally because we do have a lot of

[41:40] regional opportunities that help bring people here to our locations. For

[41:45] example, if we're in a labor crunch, we do utilize some of our resources from

[41:49] the um convention centers to help support us in that in that aspect. So

[41:54] from staffing, from operations support, from a culinary perspective or programs,

[41:59] I think that's what separates us from um other divisions. But if you're looking

[42:03] more specific when it comes to say what's better is it is it

[42:08] » nutrition or you you kind of did where you talked about the what's required

[42:14] what the food you know because let's face it you go to a ball game there's

[42:17] going to be a lot of sodium in the food there versus what's here and that's what

[42:21] I was trying to get at just there's a clear difference between Aramark student

[42:25] services versus food services and and here comes Mr. Anderson, I think he

[42:31] could piggyback on that. I will say, Mr. Brian, it's a good question. I I

[42:34] understand your question and I will say uh that the school district itself works

[42:40] with uh Aramark and we're able to create the menus um with within a parameter and

[42:46] uh we're still using the same vendors where we ordered food that as we always

[42:51] have and and we work with Aramark on what that menu consists of. So, Mr.

[42:57] Anderson. >> So just two things in reference to one

[42:59] of the he so uh in creating a menu right air will create the menu. We also submit

[43:03] that for approval uh for each of our programs national school lunch we air

[43:07] creates the menu. We send it to the state they approve that it's meeting all

[43:10] the nutritional needs of the children. We do that for summer feeding as well.

[43:14] The other thing I will say the difference is we deal in commodities

[43:17] right so those are those are donated foods the federal government sends to

[43:21] each of the states. And so our the the products that we bring in are commodity

[43:26] products. They're not purchased goods like you'd have at a um like a stadium,

[43:29] right? They don't use commodities, any of those programs. Our our program is

[43:33] specifically for national commodities for children.

[43:36] » And and I and I appreciate that. I think it's important to understand that people

[43:40] who are actually watching this presentation right now understand how it

[43:45] works. You know, the commodities part. You're right. I mean, we do rely on the

[43:48] federal government to supply us with with food and uh uh and thus that's the

[43:54] difference there. There's there's a lot of, you know, nuances to it, but I think

[43:59] it's important under that people understand that Aramark, the huge

[44:03] company that it is, has to, you know, accommodate for the Okaloosa County

[44:08] School District and versus than they would uh uh the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or

[44:14] » totally different rules, right? Totally different guidelines they have to follow

[44:17] in terms of what needs we have to meet for children

[44:20] » for children of food or whatever else they

[44:23] » 100% totally different program >> 7 CFR like you mentioned designates

[44:27] exactly how it has to be healthy right correct

[44:29] » that was you had mentioned that's kind of the the the guide northstar for how

[44:33] we're making these decisions and I'm sensitive to the criticism that I think

[44:37] um my colleagues alluding to which is of course air is a big company serves a lot

[44:42] of folks a lot of different institutions one of the biggest critiques when people

[44:45] are upset about school lunches. They go they're they're serving the kids prison

[44:48] food because it's a large corporation and they go it could be the same

[44:53] incentives and so that's simply not occurring. And I think it was important

[44:57] for for you to mention that and I appreciate the clarifications that

[45:00] [clears throat] you both just gave because it's out there and and we hear

[45:03] it sometimes from from time to time. This is just a good opportunity to put

[45:07] that to rest. >> No, I appreciate it. And I I will

[45:09] comment that any concerns that I've had over the last year of this contract uh

[45:14] and I know Mr. Vanchek has also mentioned uh I appreciate the fact that

[45:19] there has been communication and I'm unique because y'all actually use my

[45:24] office in Carver Hill for training. So I you know it's uh uh I can kind of know

[45:29] that it's being used because I always get you know say hey we're going to use

[45:33] your office. But, uh, I do appreciate the communication and I know and I can't

[45:37] speak for my other board members, but I'm sure they also do, too. So,

[45:43] » all right. Anything else board? Thank you so much for being here. It's great

[45:47] to see you and and thank you for the presentation.

[45:50] » Thank you. >> And that is it.

[45:54] » Okay. Thank you, sir. All right. Good stuff. All right. Moving on to um

[45:59] section 13, board members announcements. All right. I'm going to start with you,

[46:03] Mr. Bryant. Do you have anything to announce today?

[46:05] » Uh just uh one thing. Uh as you can see, I am wearing my Davidson Panther shirt

[46:11] and this is part of just a series of things I'm going to do over the next

[46:15] couple of months. But this is the last actual named school up in Crestview that

[46:19] we'll be highlighting and did a little research on it. And the school opened up

[46:24] in 1996 along with Antioch. So there was a time when we actually opened two

[46:29] schools at the same time. So, uh, and quite regularly because that was the

[46:34] last of the, uh, two schools that we opened in the 20th century, but

[46:40] Davidson is not actually named after one person. It's actually named after a

[46:44] family of educators in Okaloosa County. And, uh, I thought that was very uh, uh,

[46:50] interesting. But also, one of our former colleagues is a Davidson. That would be

[46:54] Dr. Diane Kelly. >> That's right. So, uh, so it's really

[46:58] interesting to to to know that piece of history. Uh, also, uh, Davidson has a a

[47:04] huge winning tradition over the years and in athletics. Uh, also they rise

[47:09] high in academics. Uh, they've been a school for the last four years, I

[47:14] believe it is, consistently. Uh, the principal there now is Miss Laura King

[47:19] and her team. if you go there. Uh really exciting things to see all the things

[47:24] that they have going on at Davidson. Uh but I I will just say that um you know I

[47:31] live right across the street from Davidson so I get to see all the great

[47:35] things that are happening there. I also get to deal with the traffic too. So uh

[47:39] but I I will just say that uh Davidson is doing a great job. Their enrollment's

[47:44] down a little bit because of Pine View. So, it's uh you know, a little bit

[47:48] [clears throat] more manageable when you go in there. Uh speaking of lunches, but

[47:52] uh Davidson does a great job. But to the Davidson family, uh of educators, we

[47:58] appreciate them. And what a what an honor for their for that school to be

[48:02] named after a family. So, uh thank you for that opportunity to talk about

[48:07] Davidson. >> Doesn't seem like it's been 30 years.

[48:10] » 30 years >> since we opened that school.

[48:11] » Yeah. And Antioch, too. So, you think about it.

[48:13] » I know. I know. Okay, Mr. Destin, you're up.

[48:17] » Not much other than uh October 9th, everybody set your calendars. We're

[48:22] going to do the um Silver Sands >> Fish Fry. We do it every year. We're uh

[48:28] going to raise a bunch of money for their programming. So, October 9th um I

[48:33] believe it's going to probably be around 5:00 p.m. we will get [snorts] started.

[48:36] Other than that, I think I'm good. Thanks.

[48:38] » Always good. All right, Mr. Heinland. >> Okay. Uh, I'm continuing my tradition

[48:44] here making my school board members study their history. Today's 14th is the

[48:49] 14th president of the United States. >> Well, Lincoln was 16. 15.

[48:54] » That would be Franklin Pierce. >> Very good.

[48:56] » Who's 15? Who was the one between? >> Andrew.

[49:02] » There you go. >> Okay. So, Mr. Parker, what's 14 plus 31?

[49:09] » Let's see.

[49:13] Who was the 35th president? >> Yeah. 35 35.

[49:18] » Reagan >> 40.

[49:22] » Kennedy. >> Kennedy. John.

[49:24] » There you go. Good guess. >> So, you know, I try to make history a

[49:27] little fun, but I I just want to um mention this um history-wise. You know,

[49:32] 911 was a huge day. It's >> 25 years. So if you go back in history,

[49:37] the last time that this or the only other time that this country was

[49:41] attacked was Pearl Harbor. Equivalently about the same number of people killed,

[49:45] Americans killed at the same time. But history is changed a little bit or not

[49:50] history but the times have changed a little bit because 25 years from Pearl

[49:55] Harbor was 1966 or 67

[49:59] » 66 I guess. And you know the country didn't come together like they did on

[50:06] this 25th anniversary from Pearl Harbor because that was a different time. So it

[50:11] just says something. It's been 25, you know, multiple decades, you know, um

[50:16] that that happened is still very impactful to this country.

[50:21] » History is important and we always need to keep it and learn from it.

[50:24] » Yeah. I think uh when you go back to Pearl Harbor the call that they you know

[50:30] after the attack Americans did it in a different way where they basically went

[50:35] and joined the service and and I know uh after 911 there was an increase but

[50:40] you're right I mean it was just a different uh

[50:44] » how how America received that because I think because of all the technology it

[50:48] was happening in real time >> it was that

[50:51] » you know and you could watch it you know >> but also So I believe that you know

[50:55] Pearl Harbor was in Hawaii which at that time not a lot of people have been to

[51:00] Hawaii and in fact it wasn't a state yet right and 42 and of course hitting on

[51:07] our homeland you know made a difference so

[51:10] » for sure. >> Okay. All right. So a couple things I

[51:13] have first of all board members next meeting we're going to be having a

[51:17] presentation from the Okaloosa Public Schools Foundation and they're going to

[51:21] give you some great information. They they do wonderful things. So, and

[51:26] speaking of that, they're doing a um a call out now. They're doing a call for

[51:30] teacher grants because that's one of the things they do is we we do our uh

[51:35] fundraisers, raise money for those teacher grants to give those teachers up

[51:38] to $2,000 for some projects they want to do in the classroom that otherwise would

[51:42] have to come out of their pocket or uh some of the kind of funding that just

[51:47] usually is not there. So, uh, that's, um, that's coming up, um, now and

[51:52] getting those out for those teachers. So, looking forward to having, uh, Miss

[51:57] Diane Frasier, who's the new elected, uh, president, and all those folks out

[52:01] of the foundation, coming in front of us. And don't forget the, um, one of the

[52:06] things we do is the barbecue and bingo, and that's coming up on November 5th.

[52:11] We're going to be at the new Okaloosa Gas District building. If you've seen

[52:16] it, it's amazing. So, that's going to be where that's going to be held. So, I'll

[52:21] be bugging you for tickets. All right. Uh, we do have an item we'll

[52:26] have to vote on tonight, board members, 13.2. This is for our um FSBA annual

[52:31] joint conference coming up. Uh, and I know that uh the three of you gentlemen

[52:35] are planning to attend. So, we will be voting on um on that tonight in item

[52:41] 3.2. All right. That moves us to public

[52:45] comment which is the um yellow card which is any general comments the public

[52:50] might have. They get two minutes uh and the yellow card. And then tonight folks

[52:55] at 5:15 we have major public hearing many items. This is about approving our

[53:01] budget which of course rolls all things forwards. Right. All right. 15.1 we have

[53:06] to do each piece separately. We'll be doing the required local effort millage

[53:11] rate of 3.079 079 mills. All of these presented of course by Miss Perry. All

[53:17] right, moving down to 15.2 basic discretionary operating millage rate of

[53:22] 748 mills. 15.3 capital outlay millage rate of

[53:28] 1.500 mills. Uh 15.4 [snorts]

[53:34] total millage levy at a rate of 5.327 mills.

[53:42] Moving down to 15.5 resolution 26-09 which would be adopting the millage

[53:48] rates for the fiscal year 2627 15.6 Okaloosa County School District

[53:54] budget general fund for 2627 15.7 Okaloosa County School District

[54:01] budget special revenue funds for food service uh for fiscal year 2627

[54:09] 15.8 8 Okaloosa County School District budget special revenue funds other

[54:14] federal programs fund 420 15.9 Oklahoma County School District

[54:20] budget special revenue funds miscellaneous internal funds fund 490

[54:27] 15.10 10 Okaloosa County School District budget debt service funds for fiscal

[54:33] year 2627 15.11 Okaloosa County School District

[54:39] budget capital project funds for fiscal year 2627

[54:45] 15.12 Oklahoma school district budget internal service funds for 2627

[54:53] 15.13 Oklahoma school district budget for fiscal Year 2627

[55:02] 15.14 the resolution 26-10 adopting the Okaloosa County School

[55:08] District budget for the fiscal year 2627.

[55:14] So all of those tonight and that will be public hearing where the public can

[55:18] speak to any of those or all of those items.

[55:21] All right, moving along. Is there anything else from up here on the dice?

[55:26] Anybody else have anything? All right, staff members, you have anything over

[55:30] here? Have anything? It's your last call. Okay, then we are adjourned. Thank

[55:36] you very much.

Workshop Meeting - Sep 14 2026

Transcript