[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.