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Good morning. I would like to call the November 8, 2011 board meeting to order. We'll begin with

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the invocation by Pastor Joe Glom from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Largo. It will be

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followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Would you please stand?

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Good morning.

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Let us pray.

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God of all grace, we praise you for all your blessings.

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At this time, we especially thank you for our children.

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We pray for their parents, give them wisdom and patience, renewing them a strong resolve

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to be parents.

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We pray for teachers as they confront a variety of challenges each day, kindle again in

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them their calling to form minds and impart knowledge and to inspire.

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We pray for our maintenance staff and food workers and office support staff.

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We pray for counselors and principals, sustain them as they continue their hard work in maintaining a positive environment for learning.

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We pray for this board that you would guide them as they establish policies that are best for educating our children.

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Lead them, we pray, in making wise use of the resources you have given.

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them.

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We pray for our children and youth, give them strength to resist the temptations to walk

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where it is unsafe, to withstand the pressure to do what is unwise, the temptations to be

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someone they are not, encourage them to develop their minds and skills for the future, and

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inspire in them open hearts to serve and help one another from kindergarten to high

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High School and beyond.

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Hear our prayers, O God, for you are indeed our Rock and our Redeemer.

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Amen.

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for

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which it stands, ordination under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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And thank you, Pastor, for filling in so quickly and so graciously.

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We do appreciate you being here.

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Today our centennial moments will feature Sean King, one of our 100 points of pride nominees.

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He will also be attending, and I'm going to put a little plug in.

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On December 14th, we're having a centennial All-Stars football game at Clearwater High

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School.

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So Sean King will also be in attendance, and we will be able to hear a little bit

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in the video about his experiences in Pinellas County schools.

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Hi, I'm Sean King, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback and member of Superbowl 37, Superbowl

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Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but more importantly, I'm also alumni of the St. Petersburg Gibbs

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High School.

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I grew up in a Child's Park neighborhood and that's relatively close to Gibbs High

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School.

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So I got to experience high school with a lot of the kids that I grew up with

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and that was a neat experience.

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Our high school football coach, Al Davis, was such an inspiration to me just seeing how

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he went about his job and staying focused.

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So we were knuckleheads.

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We had a group of knuckleheads, but we banded together and we did some great things.

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I'm still very active.

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He gives high school.

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If I name one teacher and don't name the others, I could really reap some of the consequences

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of doing that.

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So I'm just going to say all of them played a great role.

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I think the one thing that I was fortunate, they all showed patience.

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You know, there were some times I'm sure when I did some things that probably they didn't

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agree with, but they stayed patient with me and, you know, I ended up being okay because

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of it.

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All right.

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If Andrea Zahn would come forward to introduce the professional and community organization

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representatives.

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Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Stewart and staff, it is my pleasure to

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introduce the following representatives of community and professional organizations.

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Representing the Pinellas Education Support Professionals Association, or PESPA,

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is Nellie Henge's president.

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Kim Black, on her way, is representing the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, or PCTA.

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Representing both PCTA and PESPA is Executive Director Marshall Ogletree.

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Representing the SEIU Florida Public Services Union is Rick Brandt.

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Representing the Pinellas County Council of PTAs is Cindy Aaron Zeller.

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Representing students' rights and responsibilities from Bogosillega High School,

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accompanied by Principal Mike Vigue, O'Shane Elliott, and Jazz Deep Singh.

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Representing the Pinellas Education Foundation, Terry Bame, Gus Stabros, Jerry Hogan, Jim Myers, Bob McIntyre, and Mitch Lee.

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Representing the Pinellas Arts for a Complete Education Coalition is Maria Cantonis, and

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the media representative this morning is Rebecca Catalinello from the St. Petersburg Times.

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I have a few reminders for those attending the meeting this morning.

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Please silence your cell phones to avoid interrupting the proceedings.

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Members of the audience interested in speaking to a specific agenda item must

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see me at the rear of the boardroom and fill out a speaker's request form prior

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to the board discussing the item, or if the item is on the consent agenda and not pulled,

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then prior to the adoption of the agenda.

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If you wish to present an issue not on the agenda, you must also see me at the entrance

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to the boardroom to fill out a speaker's request form.

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These presentations from the audience will be taken after the board has concluded

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all of the action items on the agenda.

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The board will not take action on any matter raised by a presenter, but may address

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during a future workshop or board meeting.

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During the board meeting, a board member may need to leave the table temporarily.

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Please be assured that when a board member leaves the table,

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he or she can still listen to the proceedings by way of speakers in the back room.

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We welcome you and thank you for being part of today's proceedings.

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Thank you.

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We not only welcome all of the representatives, but all of you that are in attendance today.

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If you'll notice we have an empty seat next to Dr. Stewart.

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Or Peggy O'Shea is not going to be with us today, well she will be by phone.

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She is not feeling well and we asked her to keep her germs to herself actually.

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So are you there Mrs. O'Shea?

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Yes, you're coming through loud and clear.

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See what I mean?

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I rest my case.

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Okay, good.

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Thank you.

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Should you need to add any comments or anything?

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Just call out and we'll make sure we add you into the rotation.

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Okay.

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Okay, good.

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Thank you.

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All right, we'll move to the adoption of the agenda.

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Do we have a motion?

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We have a motion and a second.

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Dr. Stewart?

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Madam Chairman, I have three things that I would like to ask that we do.

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First of all, I'd like to pull item number one under the non-consent.

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I would like to say that Attorney Jim Robinson, myself, worked.

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In fact, it was mostly Jim Robinson who was able to reach an amenable resolution

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for this.

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and I'd like to congratulate him and commend him for his work on getting that done.

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Thank you very much, Mr. Robinson, and please pull that item.

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Okay.

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Also, I'd like to add a resolution that will honor the PESPA Group Educational Support

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Professionals.

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Okay.

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And I would also like to add an item that changes the job description of LPMs.

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This is necessary, Madam Chairman, to request that you declared an emergency and add

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it to the agenda because, partially because of the resolution of item number one, it allows

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us to have LPNs in the place of RNs and the RNs would supervise them and I think it will

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help us expand the coverage of schools and serve us long term in a much better way.

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Okay.

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That will actually end up being item number five since we just pulled item number one.

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Okay.

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So changing the order of the non-consent agenda, if we could move item, what was item 5 to

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item number 1, that means that we would be taking the Education Foundation, excuse me,

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item 4, I'm sorry, item 4 and moving it to item 1.

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Okay.

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So the Ford grant will become number 1, followed by currently what's number 2, 3, the Charter

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School will become number 4 and the one that we are adding, and I do find good

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cause to do so will be item number five. All right. Are there any other items?

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Madam Chair, we have speakers for the Consent Agenda. Item number two and item number four.

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All right. And rather than pulling item number six, there was a typo in one section that

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It talked about $1,900 as the down payment at the Mahathie and in another section of

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it it was $2,900.

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It was in fact a typo both areas should be $2,900.

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So rather than pulling it and discussing it, we'll approve it as the $2,900 if it is past.

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Okay.

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Are there any other items to be pulled?

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I'm going to share with you the key points.

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Okay.

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Okay, so what we have on the agenda right now is the PESPA Resolution, which I also find

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good cause to add.

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That will be under special order number two following the governor's resolution.

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We'll then move down and have items two and four pulled for a speaker under the consent

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item.

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And then when we get to non-consent, number one will be the Ford Foundation

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grant that we're going to be talking about,

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followed by items two, three, as they are written.

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Item five that is currently written will become item four.

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And then the one that we added will be number five under non-consent.

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Seeing no other comments, we will vote.

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We have a motion and a second.

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All in favor of the agenda as amended.

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Say aye.

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Aye.

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And opposed say no.

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It passes 7-0 and we will move on to special order.

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Presentation of the student's rights and responsibilities from Boca Siega.

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Yes, welcome.

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We have O'Shaen Elliott.

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Please come to the podium or to the microphone.

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And Jazdeep Seaton.

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Welcome.

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How did I pronounce the last name?

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Jazdeep?

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Okay.

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Fine.

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Good morning,

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ladies and gentlemen of the board,

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Ms. Chair.

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My name is Shane Elliott and I come from Bogusiega High School.

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I'm a senior and I am in the medical magnet program.

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I take an active part in my school in 5,000 role models,

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student government, and the other clubs that help bring together the school in a

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united effort for not only education, but only also a spirit of education.

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What I'm going to speak to you about is our three programs that we have at Bogosiega High

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School. That's Project Lead the Way, which is our pre-engineering program,

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Medical Magnet, which is CWMP, Center for Wellness and Medical Profession,

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and A School Within a School, which is our fundamental program.

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Project Lead the Way is an engineering program in which our class enrollment has increased dramatically because of our block schedule for this year.

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We not only certify, but we prepare the building blocks of engineering for our students,

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and those are the areas of robotics, computer electronics, and aerospace. Our school within

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a school is our fundamental program, and it's the first fundamental program in South Pinellas

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offering it to students who may not be able to be as active if they were to go to Osceola,

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and the curriculum is centered around a three-way involvement of students, teachers,

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and parents. It is now located in our new building number one, and our Center for

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Wellness and Medical Profession is our medical magnet. It is continuing to

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provide a health career education to students for four years and offers such

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programs as our first responders program, our student athletic trainer aid

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program, and it also offers a certification in a nursing assistant. We

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We were lucky enough to have two students from CWMP take part in the national HOSA competition

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over the summer last year, and we're very proud of that.

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Next year we're planning on adding other courses to our health section so as to offer

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more options to students due to the spectrum of options in actual health careers.

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Another big aspect of Boca Siga is our new block schedule that has been implemented

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this year, which is four classes one day and four classes the next year throughout the whole year.

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And we're thankful for the option to do this because it has increased enrollment in classes such as

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art, foreign language, TV production, the pre-engineering program, and our drama department.

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It has also increased our JROTC enrollment and has continued to be a prominent program

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at our school. Some issues that do occur at Boga C. Aga though are the extended

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time some students aren't able to concentrate for as long as the period

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is and it is another problem is dealing with construction that continues to go

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on at Boga C. Aga High School. We really call our students soldiers for

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putting up with all the dramatic changes that occur but I think the

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biggest thing is just being able to get used to the new facilities and the

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new administration which we have.

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One of the biggest complaints I hear at Bocasiega is the attendance policy, but I understand

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that things need to be worked out and we really need to be looking forward to a better education.

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Thank you.

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All right.

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Good morning.

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My name is Jasdeep Singh.

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I'm a senior at Bocasiega High School and I'm also in the CWMP program.

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I also take part in clubs and activities like being an officer in Spanish Honor Society,

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a national honor society and doing lots of sports like tennis and soccer.

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Speaking clubs and activities, this year our school has dramatically increased the amount

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of clubs and activities we have at our school.

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For example, we have a new dance team, we have the new math club called Mu Alpha Theta,

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we have a new robotics club.

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And the most important thing is that the kids that don't they feel left out or don't participate

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in these activities.

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It's we have activities going on all year round.

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So whenever they want to feel like just going into a club, there's several clubs they can

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just jump right into if they feel left out.

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The most important thing we experienced this year is the move into a new building.

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The movement to the new building happened at the same time as our homecoming week, so it was kind of hectic.

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But it kind of worked out fine. So this year we had an increase in school spirit.

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Almost everyone in our class dressed up for days like all banged up the superheater, supervillain, the flock day.

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And something unique we did this year is Oshane was probably the leader of this.

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We had a CWMP assembly where we had several kids dress up and dance to Thriller by Michael Jackson.

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And it turned out pretty good.

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Our JROTC program is also increased this year.

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It's a hundred more students than last year.

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So we have 275 students in our program with all these new students.

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We have several new classes with RTC, such as a new PT class specifically for the radar team that helps them prepare for more competitions.

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Also a drill class. And with all these new students,

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we also experience a lot more cadets taking place in extracurricular activities.

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Our AP and dual enrollment has improved this year.

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We have a lot of new AP classes.

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Put together, we have 17 AP classes in our school total.

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But most, more importantly, the dual enrollment has, we now have seven dual enrollment classes on campus.

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Normally, you would have to drive all the way to the SBC campus in order to do your classes.

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but now we just have it implemented in our school.

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So personally I take five AP classes and I think the AP and dual enrollment programs that are school

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really help you prepare for college.

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The new building this year, it's pretty good.

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We have a school store which we never had before that sells you school supplies like pencils, folders,

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but also jackets and shirts that have our school name written on and stuff.

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The New Cafeteria is a really big thing because last year we had a really small cafeteria.

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We only had about two lines.

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Me and my friend would always have to sprint from our classroom straight to the line in order to get our lunch.

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But we would still end up only having like five, ten minutes to eat and do other things with our friends.

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So we now have four lines and the seat, people can actually sit down in the

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cafeteria and eat. We have more than enough seats for the students and also a

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lot more students have started to buy lunch because they can actually sit on

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and eat calmly. We have a brand new media center which is bigger than any other

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media center I've been in. I can see now compared to other media centers that a

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A lot more students have started going in and like reading and they're studying, playing chess, just being more social.

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You we have new comfortable classes, I would say they're better than last year's building.

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And we have a lot more places to hold meetings like, for example, today was club day.

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And for club day, we would have one club in one auditorium, another club in another.

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we wouldn't normally have enough space for a lot of clubs to meet.

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But now we have projectors in the cafeteria.

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We have the media center.

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We have pretty much enough space for all of our clubs to meet whenever they need to.

267
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Most importantly is the staff at our school.

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They do a great job.

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We're very well organized.

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So whenever a student has to go somewhere and do something,

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they know where to go, who to go to.

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you with our new building. We have a brand new office which is organized enough for you

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to know where each staff member's office is. We have a new program this year called Safety

274
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Net and in Safety Net it's basically an extra teacher for you to go to basically a second

275
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set of eyes watching you. You go to them to get your report cards so they can see

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discipline, they can see your attendance, they can see your grades, and if they see

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that you're slipping behind, they can take action and try to help you improve.

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The teachers at our school, they had to do a really good job at making our subjects

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really interesting.

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Like, I know from middle school I didn't really care about school, but the teachers

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at Focus Yaga helped me become really ambitious and now I'm applying to Ivy League schools

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is planning on becoming a doctor. They really know how to get you motivated. They keep you

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engaged in the topics and they're really resilient for when students don't know the topic. They

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make sure you know the topic. They don't just keep going and just do their job and

285
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just to get paid.

286
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None of this would have happened if it wasn't for Mr. Viggy. Out

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00:24:01,660 --> 00:24:06,860
of all my schools I've been to, I can say that he's the best principal I had. One

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one of the best, or the best principle I've had because he actually acts like he cares

289
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about the students and cares about the teachers and he does a good job at making our school

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what it is.

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At B, Bogey High, B, Bogey High School.

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And Mr. Vig, you didn't like that speech for you, did you?

293
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:30,360
No.

294
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:31,840
Well, that's wonderful, then.

295
00:24:32,020 --> 00:24:33,000
Thank you so much.

296
00:24:37,750 --> 00:24:43,030
It's wonderful to hear not only about the course offerings that are being given and the opportunities,

297
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but also the opportunities for students to get engaged in all of the clubs and that kind of thing.

298
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That's really good to hear. We appreciate you being here to share that with us. Thank you.

299
00:24:55,810 --> 00:24:57,190
Ms. Praster, you wanted to say something?

300
00:24:57,330 --> 00:25:03,710
I do. Last year was Mr. Higgie's first year, and I'm not real good about always calling schools

301
00:25:03,710 --> 00:25:09,810
before I just show up and I showed up at Boga Ciega actually because one of my old

302
00:25:09,810 --> 00:25:14,410
elementary school students found me and I walked into the office and I was asking

303
00:25:14,410 --> 00:25:20,810
about Padre White. Mr. Viggy knew exactly who I was talking about. I wanted to

304
00:25:20,810 --> 00:25:24,830
make sure he was going to be graduating on time last year and he knew that he

305
00:25:24,830 --> 00:25:28,890
was and you know for being there that short of time along with your

306
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communication skills with your emails that I get a copy of that you send

307
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out to your families and community. You're definitely a role model, and I hope lots of

308
00:25:38,570 --> 00:25:41,250
principals are out there to emulate what you're doing. Thank you.

309
00:25:42,530 --> 00:25:47,090
Thank you. Okay, next we'll move down to the proclamation

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from Governor Scott of Florida Parent Involvement and Education Month.

311
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Yes, ma'am. Florida Parental Involvement and Education, whereas family involvement

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00:25:56,970 --> 00:26:01,770
in a child's learning is critical to student success from preschool through college and

313
00:26:01,770 --> 00:26:07,170
and sets the foundation for preparing Florida students to be lifelong learners and meaningful

314
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contributors to society and, whereas, creating an environment where learning takes place

315
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not just in the classroom but as a central part of family life, requires that parents

316
00:26:18,510 --> 00:26:23,610
play an active role in their children's education and, whereas, research indicates

317
00:26:23,970 --> 00:26:28,870
that there is a direct correlation between the high expectations and positive contributions

318
00:26:28,870 --> 00:26:35,670
of a child's parents and high student achievements and whereas the role of parents in creating

319
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a successful preschool through college educational system for Florida's children cannot be overstated

320
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and whereas Florida is a home to numerous organizations that stand ready to assist parents help their

321
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children include but not limited to central Florida parent center family cafe incorporated

322
00:26:55,170 --> 00:27:01,150
integrated family networks on disabilities and parents-to-parents of Miami, and whereas

323
00:27:01,150 --> 00:27:06,050
Florida educational leaders are developing resources for parents who want to engage

324
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more fully in their children's education and to strengthen the connection between parents

325
00:27:10,790 --> 00:27:16,630
and schools, and whereas the Florida Department of Education staff are available to provide

326
00:27:16,630 --> 00:27:21,910
information, resources, and training to support families and educators in using schools

327
00:27:21,910 --> 00:27:27,350
schools and state accountability data to help make informed school choice decisions and to

328
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establish effective homeschool collaboration for families to be actively involved in the

329
00:27:32,310 --> 00:27:38,390
academic achievement and development of students and whereas is the appropriate to recognize

330
00:27:38,390 --> 00:27:42,950
the critical contributions made by parents who foster a love for learning in their

331
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children and by educators who acknowledge the importance of parental involvement and

332
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to encourage making parental involvement an integral part of the mission of our schools.

333
00:27:52,970 --> 00:27:57,830
Now therefore, I, Rick Scott of the State of Florida, do hereby extend greetings and best

334
00:27:57,830 --> 00:28:04,130
wishes to all observing November as Florida Parental Involvement in Education Month and

335
00:28:04,130 --> 00:28:09,430
encourage parents and schools to create strong partnerships on behalf of the future

336
00:28:09,430 --> 00:28:12,530
of our children and the State of Florida and our nation.

337
00:28:13,190 --> 00:28:14,150
Thank you.

338
00:28:14,390 --> 00:28:15,530
We have a motion to accept.

339
00:28:16,530 --> 00:28:25,270
We have a motion and a second. Thank you for reading it. All in favor of accepting the proclamation say aye and opposed say no.

340
00:28:25,710 --> 00:28:30,010
It passes seven zero. We'll now move on to the proclamation from the.

341
00:28:31,010 --> 00:28:40,190
It's an else education support professionals association and I'm sure it says resolution resolution already acknowledging the contributions of educational support

342
00:28:40,190 --> 00:28:45,330
professionals, whereas the week of November 13th through 19th is officially recognized

343
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as American Education Week, whereas each year the Wednesday of American Education

344
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Week is designated by the National Education Association as the Education Support Professionals

345
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Day in recognition of the invaluable contributions made by our supporting services employees

346
00:29:03,330 --> 00:29:08,310
at all levels, and whereas the efforts of these valued employees make a significant

347
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difference in the lives of our students, their parents and the community, staff and administration in their schools and departments throughout the Pinellas County.

348
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And whereas educational support professionals are important members of the educational team providing high quality experiences for students.

349
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And whereas the quality of education for all students is measured by the cooperative efforts of all employees in the district working toward a common goal of highest student achievement.

350
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Now therefore be it resolved that the School Board of Pinellas County, the Interim Superintendent and the Community Acknowledge Wednesday, November 16th as Education Support Professional Day.

351
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In so doing we express our sincere thanks and appreciation for the commitment and dedication of the thousands of men and women in Pinellas County who give so unselfishly.

352
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:05,440
The other time and talents so that students can be successful. Sign this 8th day of November

353
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School Board of Pinellas County. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor

354
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:16,760
say aye. Aye. And opposed say no. All righty. Having these two resolutions sort of back

355
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,960
to back, talking about the parents and the support professionals right along with

356
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,240
our teachers really just points out the partnerships that are going. And later on

357
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:29,020
we're going to see the business community in our partnerships that we have in making

358
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sure that our students are achieving and getting the best education possible.

359
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So we thank all of you, acknowledge it, and we're very thankful that you are partners

360
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with us.

361
00:30:39,460 --> 00:30:44,160
We'll move on down now if the board would move forward for the recognition of national

362
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schools of character winners.

363
00:31:06,740 --> 00:31:10,700
Madam Chairman, for the recognition of the national schools of character winners that

364
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will be presented by Val Galena.

365
00:31:12,740 --> 00:31:12,920
Yes.

366
00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:18,580
Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board.

367
00:31:19,420 --> 00:31:21,820
Dr. Stewart, other esteemed guests.

368
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:30,000
I would like to introduce to you two very special schools who have won a national award.

369
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And I'm an instructional staff developer, but I also coordinate the character programs in Palace County Schools.

370
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And the two schools are Fugate Elementary School.

371
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:48,060
And here today is Mr. Michael Moss, if you would like to come up and be recognized.

372
00:31:48,980 --> 00:31:56,660
Their school believes that creating civic-minded students who learn the value of helping others is a key goal to character education.

373
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If you don't mind being recognized by the school board.

374
00:32:00,340 --> 00:32:13,400
And Oakhurst Elementary School, we have a retired principal, Nancy Wilson, who worked in tandem with Kelly Kennedy, who's the current principal at Oakhurst Elementary Schools.

375
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:24,000
We're a community of caring, mentors committed to motivating students to become lifelong learners and productive citizens, promote the Mustang way.

376
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:39,220
Now presented to all the school board members this morning is a packet of information that demonstrates what these two schools had to experience to receive this award.

377
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It's not simply an award. The character education partnership recognized schools and districts around the nation who experienced a rigorous process of reflection and self-evaluation to meet the high quality standards of excellence

378
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through exemplary practices in character education.

379
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Schools must demonstrate their exemplary practices

380
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and demonstrate a positive culture that enables all students to thrive socially and academically

381
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,900
with their recognition. They now become a network

382
00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:16,980
who serve as models and mentors to other schools in the district and the nation.

383
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,380
Although it's not possible to send all stakeholders from their schools,

384
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We extend an invitation for you to visit their schools and see the national schools of character

385
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in action.

386
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:32,320
So thank you very much for recognizing them.

387
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:33,620
I appreciate it.

388
00:34:06,580 --> 00:34:12,280
We've had several nominees and several winners in the state of Florida, in Pinellas County

389
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:21,480
for the character schools, and I want to thank everybody who takes the time to incorporate

390
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:25,920
that into their curriculum and into the daily life at the schools.

391
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:31,180
I think it's very important that we do exhibit character

392
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and the qualities that they have, and these schools have done an outstanding job,

393
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:38,680
and I want to commend them on behalf of the entire board.

394
00:34:39,780 --> 00:34:42,820
Okay, we'll move down to unfinished business.

395
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,880
The public hearing to consider the amendment to policy 2250,

396
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,360
fundamental school, magnet programs and career academies. This is the second

397
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,640
reading and there have been some changes since the first reading. Do we have a

398
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:04,680
motion? We have a motion and a second to accept. Are there any, is there any

399
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,340
discussion? Mrs. Lerner?

400
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:15,160
This is on page 57 actually of the handbook that you

401
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:19,340
you can click on the agenda or you have it in your packet.

402
00:35:21,140 --> 00:35:27,500
We had talked about this at the workshop, but it's just the change of one word and it's

403
00:35:29,740 --> 00:35:31,260
line five and six.

404
00:35:31,420 --> 00:35:36,680
It's about the iSTEM program at countryside, and it needs to be aligned with the discipline

405
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:37,860
of all our schools.

406
00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:43,800
What it states is a disciplinary infraction of a serious nature, including battery

407
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:50,340
drugs, alcohol, weapon gang-related activity, and felony arrest will result in immediate

408
00:35:50,340 --> 00:35:54,820
removal from the program and our reassignment to a district discipline program.

409
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,260
It should say may result because we know we have the wonderful FACEIT program.

410
00:35:59,740 --> 00:36:01,440
We're 500 students and families.

411
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,340
We're not reassigned because they completed that eight-week program.

412
00:36:04,660 --> 00:36:09,780
So just changing that word from will to may.

413
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:11,800
And we talked about this at the workshop.

414
00:36:12,540 --> 00:36:14,400
Do I need an amendment for that or?

415
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:15,660
Yeah, just make a motion to amend.

416
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,940
Okay, I make a motion to amend.

417
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:23,260
Page 57, line 6, to change will to make.

418
00:36:23,780 --> 00:36:24,140
Okay.

419
00:36:24,820 --> 00:36:26,540
And we have a motion and a second.

420
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:31,460
And what this does is it just mirrors all of the other language for those others

421
00:36:31,460 --> 00:36:32,620
so it cleans up the policy.

422
00:36:32,940 --> 00:36:33,080
Right.

423
00:36:34,500 --> 00:36:38,020
Mr. Robinson, you're looking questions.

424
00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:40,480
If you need to find it, does she need to give you the information again?

425
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:46,640
I see that I see a reference to a change from Wilton may also and what I'm looking at.

426
00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:52,120
I'm not sure whether the change has already been made, but we can.

427
00:36:52,980 --> 00:36:54,140
Well, we'll just make sure it is.

428
00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:54,960
Make sure it is.

429
00:36:55,220 --> 00:36:55,580
Make sure it is.

430
00:36:55,700 --> 00:36:58,960
Well, Mr. Robinson, I did type out the agenda sheet.

431
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:06,800
It says the first sentence, a student who continues to commit behavior and fractions while on probation may be subject to removal.

432
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:14,600
But then you go down to the second sentence, they did not replace the will with may.

433
00:37:14,740 --> 00:37:17,100
That's fine. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

434
00:37:17,540 --> 00:37:20,300
All right. Is there any other discussion on the amendment?

435
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:26,100
Okay, we have a motion and a second to amend the word will to shall so it mirrors the others.

436
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:27,320
May.

437
00:37:27,500 --> 00:37:30,600
May, may, may, may. Yeah, will to shall. That's a big change.

438
00:37:32,660 --> 00:37:34,340
I just wanted to see if y'all were listening.

439
00:37:35,260 --> 00:37:43,340
Okay, so moving will to may all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed say no. This I'll show you

440
00:37:43,340 --> 00:37:49,240
you're still there. Yes. Okay. And you're in favor of that also. Yes. Okay. Passes seven

441
00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:58,100
zero. Thank you. Can you hear me? Okay. We can now. Yes. All right. Um, Mrs. Weichel.

442
00:37:58,100 --> 00:38:05,430
Well, on the policy, I'm not making an amendment or anything.

443
00:38:05,650 --> 00:38:09,810
I just want the board, I guess I wanted in the record that this is the second reading

444
00:38:09,810 --> 00:38:18,430
of the policy where we are continuing the feeder pattern to Jamerson and continuing

445
00:38:18,430 --> 00:38:20,290
the transportation to Third Good Marshall.

446
00:38:20,790 --> 00:38:28,730
And I bring them up because I haven't agreed with that, however, we are this middle

447
00:38:28,730 --> 00:38:32,590
school reform that we have going and I just want to hold the middle school reform team

448
00:38:32,590 --> 00:38:38,190
accountable that that's going to be part of this discussion. There are these two issues

449
00:38:38,190 --> 00:38:42,910
that this is my third year as a board member that we talked about. And I think it's just

450
00:38:43,770 --> 00:38:48,750
unfortunate for the parents, again, that they have an inconsistent year coming up

451
00:38:48,750 --> 00:38:53,610
that they have to, you know, just not know whether the pattern is going to be continued

452
00:38:53,610 --> 00:38:55,590
or it will be indefinitely.

453
00:38:55,830 --> 00:38:59,090
I just think we as a board need to get this figured out

454
00:38:59,090 --> 00:39:01,770
so that the principal, the parents, the staff

455
00:39:02,290 --> 00:39:08,270
have a consistent plan of what their future is

456
00:39:08,270 --> 00:39:09,030
at that school.

457
00:39:09,310 --> 00:39:12,470
So I bring it up, I will not vote against it

458
00:39:12,470 --> 00:39:15,670
because of the middle school reform

459
00:39:15,670 --> 00:39:17,090
that you feel like is gonna give

460
00:39:17,090 --> 00:39:19,070
the complete answer that we need.

461
00:39:24,630 --> 00:39:29,590
All right, seeing no other lights indicating discussion, we will vote on the amended motion.

462
00:39:30,270 --> 00:39:31,390
We have a motion and a second.

463
00:39:31,570 --> 00:39:32,730
All in favor say aye.

464
00:39:33,370 --> 00:39:34,430
All in favor say no.

465
00:39:35,130 --> 00:39:36,450
It passes 7-0.

466
00:39:36,670 --> 00:39:37,070
Thank you.

467
00:39:38,090 --> 00:39:38,850
All right.

468
00:39:39,050 --> 00:39:40,610
We will now vote on the consent.

469
00:39:41,310 --> 00:39:41,850
We have a motion.

470
00:39:43,370 --> 00:39:45,730
We have a motion and a second for the consent agenda.

471
00:39:45,870 --> 00:39:46,790
All in favor say aye.

472
00:39:47,070 --> 00:39:47,430
Aye.

473
00:39:47,630 --> 00:39:48,410
Opposed say no.

474
00:39:48,410 --> 00:39:50,150
It passes 7-0.

475
00:39:50,530 --> 00:39:53,010
We'll now move to item 2 on the consent agenda.

476
00:39:53,770 --> 00:39:55,670
Recommendations of the superintendent's personnel.

477
00:39:56,770 --> 00:39:57,790
We have a speaker.

478
00:39:57,990 --> 00:39:58,470
Do we have a motion?

479
00:39:59,870 --> 00:40:00,270
Okay.

480
00:40:00,650 --> 00:40:02,750
We have a motion and a second to accept that item,

481
00:40:02,870 --> 00:40:04,250
and we have a speaker from the audience.

482
00:40:04,770 --> 00:40:05,450
Yes, Madam Chair.

483
00:40:06,050 --> 00:40:08,470
We, uh, Sammy Lee Scott and Paula Williams.

484
00:40:09,090 --> 00:40:12,110
We have, um, a few speakers and we have two microphones.

485
00:40:12,230 --> 00:40:14,430
If you can come to the front of the room at each microphone.

486
00:40:15,710 --> 00:40:16,110
And

487
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:23,080
good morning.

488
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:27,020
Good morning. Good morning to the board, to the leader.

489
00:40:29,730 --> 00:40:29,970
Go ahead.

490
00:40:30,590 --> 00:40:39,550
I am Paula Williams. I am a parent of a couple of students at Gipps Senior High School where you have made an appointment,

491
00:40:40,110 --> 00:40:43,170
or proposed appointment, of a new principal.

492
00:40:44,070 --> 00:40:51,030
I come because I'm concerned about how you came up with your appointment.

493
00:40:51,810 --> 00:41:00,830
I do not, I do not question her ability to lead, but I do know a certain assistant principal,

494
00:41:01,630 --> 00:41:08,750
Ms. Robin Mobley, who has been, it gives, in the trenches since they became an F school

495
00:41:09,510 --> 00:41:17,530
and I've seen progress made under the leadership of Gordon and his staff, she is on his staff.

496
00:41:17,530 --> 00:41:23,530
I was sorry to hear that she wasn't appointed.

497
00:41:27,430 --> 00:41:32,650
The urgency of bringing Gibbs up, which, like I said, there has been some progress.

498
00:41:33,430 --> 00:41:41,410
And I hope that you will consider, when we consider your appointment in this matter, because

499
00:41:41,410 --> 00:41:50,130
Because it does concern me deeply that you would appoint someone who is basically, I've

500
00:41:50,130 --> 00:41:58,130
found out in the drop program, I don't know where her loyalty will be, how urgent she will

501
00:41:58,130 --> 00:41:59,470
take this matter.

502
00:42:00,650 --> 00:42:06,270
So that is my comment for your appointment, and I really wish that you might reconsider.

503
00:42:06,270 --> 00:42:06,470
consider.

504
00:42:07,730 --> 00:42:08,570
Thank you.

505
00:42:09,390 --> 00:42:09,930
Good morning.

506
00:42:11,910 --> 00:42:15,150
Qasarian and Ghera, how are the children?

507
00:42:16,370 --> 00:42:20,930
This question is a traditional greeting from the mighty and intelligent Maasai warriors

508
00:42:20,930 --> 00:42:24,990
in Africa, acknowledging the high value placed on the children's well-being.

509
00:42:25,450 --> 00:42:27,150
They always give the traditional answer.

510
00:42:27,670 --> 00:42:32,050
All the children are well, meaning, of course, that peace and safety prevail, that the

511
00:42:32,050 --> 00:42:37,790
priorities of protecting the young, the powerless are in place, that society has not forgotten

512
00:42:37,790 --> 00:42:38,930
its reason for being.

513
00:42:39,430 --> 00:42:41,530
Its proper functions and responsibilities.

514
00:42:42,170 --> 00:42:43,530
All the children are well.

515
00:42:44,090 --> 00:42:45,330
Means that life is good.

516
00:42:46,090 --> 00:42:50,270
It means that the daily struggles of existence, even among the poor people, do not preclude

517
00:42:50,270 --> 00:42:52,270
proper caring for its young.

518
00:42:52,890 --> 00:42:54,770
And how are the children of gifts high school?

519
00:42:55,110 --> 00:42:58,110
How might it affect our consciousness of our own children?

520
00:42:58,110 --> 00:43:03,670
If Pinellas County, we took to greeting each other with this same daily question, and how

521
00:43:03,670 --> 00:43:04,770
are the children?

522
00:43:05,810 --> 00:43:10,030
If we heard that question and passed it along to each other a dozen times a day, I wonder

523
00:43:10,030 --> 00:43:14,710
if it would begin to make a difference in the reality of how children are thought of,

524
00:43:14,990 --> 00:43:16,610
cared for in this district.

525
00:43:17,010 --> 00:43:18,110
How are the children?

526
00:43:18,850 --> 00:43:23,510
We cannot say that our children are well when African American students here perform

527
00:43:23,510 --> 00:43:25,910
worse than all of the largest districts in the state.

528
00:43:25,910 --> 00:43:30,870
we cannot say our children are well when the percentage of Gibbs non-magnet students

529
00:43:30,870 --> 00:43:33,630
reading at grade level is at 9%.

530
00:43:33,630 --> 00:43:39,850
We cannot say our children are well when students are not proficient in math,

531
00:43:39,950 --> 00:43:45,590
and we cannot say our children are well when they are more likely to go to prison than to college.

532
00:43:46,110 --> 00:43:49,930
Currently, Gibbs has been making progress under the watchful eyes of the state

533
00:43:49,930 --> 00:43:52,530
and guidance of Kevin Gordon and Robin Mobley.

534
00:43:52,530 --> 00:43:55,970
We all know that growth and change do not happen in a vacuum.

535
00:43:56,550 --> 00:44:01,830
Instead, it needs an environment of consistently raised expectations and ongoing encouragement

536
00:44:01,830 --> 00:44:04,870
that is demonstrated with belief and success.

537
00:44:05,550 --> 00:44:09,930
Robin knows all of the GIVE students and is familiar with every aspect of the school,

538
00:44:10,390 --> 00:44:15,450
administration, curriculum, and GIVE's culture, which is needed to produce successful results.

539
00:44:15,450 --> 00:44:21,130
It is seldom that when a lead administrator leaves a post that there is someone knowledgeable

540
00:44:21,130 --> 00:44:27,210
and trained to assume the position without missing the cadence of the march toward success.

541
00:44:27,890 --> 00:44:33,410
We are fortunate to have the strength of Robin Mobley with his much knowledge, experience

542
00:44:33,410 --> 00:44:38,450
and pragmatic ability to create positive changes we have come to know under the

543
00:44:38,450 --> 00:44:39,550
leadership of Kevin Gordon.

544
00:44:39,550 --> 00:44:45,790
Some would refer to her as a clone of Gordon, but however she brings a special uniqueness

545
00:44:45,790 --> 00:44:46,830
of her own brand.

546
00:44:47,470 --> 00:44:52,470
There is an administrator it gives right now that has demonstrated these qualities and has

547
00:44:52,470 --> 00:44:58,070
a strong track record at the very school that could use her expertise and extensive

548
00:44:58,070 --> 00:44:59,730
training the very most.

549
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:07,240
Board members, Dr. Stewart, please consider only the benefits afforded to the children and

550
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:14,660
staff of Gibbs by choosing Robin Mobley to not tap Robin at Gibbs, pushing human understanding

551
00:45:14,660 --> 00:45:17,480
beyond its breaking point. Thank you.

552
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:18,120
Thank you.

553
00:45:18,980 --> 00:45:22,520
Our next two speakers, if I mispronounce your name, please say it correctly when you

554
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:28,060
get to the microphone. I apologize. Kamara Cooper and Gwendolyn Rees.

555
00:45:37,890 --> 00:45:38,310
Good morning.

556
00:45:38,310 --> 00:45:40,990
Good morning. You did a great job with the pronunciation.

557
00:45:42,690 --> 00:45:48,270
I am Kamara Cooper. I'm the department chair for the math program at Gibbs High School.

558
00:45:48,910 --> 00:45:54,130
I work directly with Robin Mobley because she is the assistant principal for our math program.

559
00:45:55,230 --> 00:46:01,850
I started a petition at Gibbs High School so that we can make our voices heard.

560
00:46:01,850 --> 00:46:08,270
We were not asked about the principal that was going to be appointed to Gibbs.

561
00:46:09,610 --> 00:46:17,710
Dr. Stewart has not been to Gibbs to talk to us as a staff for teachers or what have you.

562
00:46:18,030 --> 00:46:21,770
And that's very disappointing because Gibbs is an intervened status.

563
00:46:21,970 --> 00:46:25,050
This is the second year that we have been a DA school.

564
00:46:27,150 --> 00:46:29,910
And I think it's important that our leaders,

565
00:46:30,770 --> 00:46:35,490
board leaders, our superintendent, understand the inner workings of Gibbs High School.

566
00:46:35,570 --> 00:46:39,290
Not saying that you don't know them, you know, even apart from Gibbs,

567
00:46:39,410 --> 00:46:44,030
but you actually have to come to the school and understand what the teachers,

568
00:46:44,710 --> 00:46:47,090
what the students have endured these two years.

569
00:46:47,670 --> 00:46:53,530
This is my second year at Gibbs, so I came to Gibbs when I found out that they were in intervening status.

570
00:46:53,530 --> 00:47:00,150
I am a 1989 graduate of the PCCA program at Gibbs High School and the school is extremely

571
00:47:00,150 --> 00:47:01,070
important to me.

572
00:47:02,390 --> 00:47:08,430
To take Dr. Gordon, Dr. Gordon, I'm so happy for him and his new appointment, but to take

573
00:47:08,430 --> 00:47:14,810
both Dr. Gordon and APC Mobley out of the school at the same time when they are the

574
00:47:14,810 --> 00:47:20,150
two that have been leading us in this intervene status, raising us from the F2C and possibly

575
00:47:20,150 --> 00:47:26,470
even a B school this year. I think it's a grave mistake. It is not good for the

576
00:47:26,470 --> 00:47:30,810
children, especially our seniors, who are going to be losing two of the

577
00:47:30,810 --> 00:47:35,330
counselors. Their senior counselor is pregnant. The graduation success counselor

578
00:47:35,330 --> 00:47:40,430
is also pregnant and will be on maternity leave in January. So we'll be

579
00:47:40,430 --> 00:47:45,190
losing a principal. They will be losing their assistant principal and the two

580
00:47:45,190 --> 00:47:52,050
counselors at the school. I think that, you know, these items are what should be weighed.

581
00:47:52,770 --> 00:47:58,230
I am not saying anything against Ms. Atkinson. I do not know her. I trust that she is a great

582
00:47:58,230 --> 00:48:04,390
principal. I'm talking about the timing. If this is something that you want to do, I'm

583
00:48:04,390 --> 00:48:09,490
saying that at the end of the year, make the switch. But to make Ms. Mobley leave

584
00:48:09,490 --> 00:48:14,670
at this point so crucial, and those of people that have been at Intervene Status, I

585
00:48:14,670 --> 00:48:23,370
I have a petition from teachers who know how hard it was to figure out inner being status,

586
00:48:23,610 --> 00:48:25,610
let alone start being successful at it.

587
00:48:25,870 --> 00:48:32,170
There is a curve in the learning, and for her to come in and then have to learn what to do

588
00:48:32,170 --> 00:48:36,970
when we have somebody already in place who knows exactly what to do to me is a mistake,

589
00:48:37,030 --> 00:48:41,550
and I beg your reconsideration for the good of our kids at Gibbs High School.

590
00:48:42,730 --> 00:48:49,430
Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Gwendolyn Reese and I'm here wearing several

591
00:48:49,430 --> 00:48:56,550
hats. I'm speaking as co-chair of People Advocating Change Together and on behalf of the Gibbs

592
00:48:56,550 --> 00:49:02,430
High School graduating class of 1966 of which I'm a proud member and we are celebrating

593
00:49:02,430 --> 00:49:09,490
our 45th class reunion this year. I also serve on the psych at Gibbs and I coordinate

594
00:49:09,490 --> 00:49:15,490
program, professional opportunities for students. I am the district manager for the St. Petersburg

595
00:49:15,490 --> 00:49:23,050
program. I'm here today not to speak against anyone, but to speak for Gibbs High School.

596
00:49:23,630 --> 00:49:33,090
And to ask you, as you consider acting superintendent Stewart's recommendation to appoint Ms. Atkinson

597
00:49:33,090 --> 00:49:38,290
to Gibbs High School, I ask you rather to consider the recommendation made by Principal

598
00:49:38,290 --> 00:49:45,070
Gordon, and that was to appoint AP Robin Mobley as acting principal.

599
00:49:45,870 --> 00:49:51,350
I think it's very important to take that step because then it gives you the opportunity

600
00:49:51,890 --> 00:50:02,590
and the time needed to make a deliberate, conscious, informed decision about replacing

601
00:50:02,590 --> 00:50:04,830
the principal at Gibbs High School.

602
00:50:04,830 --> 00:50:11,630
Just as the board has an acting superintendent that would allow the district the time it needs

603
00:50:11,630 --> 00:50:18,070
to find the right placement, I ask you to not do anything less than that to give high school.

604
00:50:19,460 --> 00:50:25,390
Robin Mobley, as has already been said, is talented, gifted, and was a part of the

605
00:50:25,390 --> 00:50:30,710
administrative team put together along with AP Hepburn, who is now a principal

606
00:50:30,710 --> 00:50:36,570
at Dunedin High School and AP Robinson and Principal Gordon, they've been in the trenches

607
00:50:36,570 --> 00:50:43,850
since the very beginning. The community has been intimately involved in the process and

608
00:50:43,850 --> 00:50:49,970
the progress of Gibbs High School. The alumni associations and many of the organizations

609
00:50:49,970 --> 00:50:56,790
in St. Petersburg have a vested interest in the success of the school. Principal Gordon

610
00:50:56,790 --> 00:51:03,810
and AP Mobley were very involved in that they nurtured that relationship and I believe

611
00:51:03,810 --> 00:51:07,670
the community involvement had a great deal to do with the success.

612
00:51:08,230 --> 00:51:15,370
I would like you to have a deliberate process, a very thoughtful process in replacing the

613
00:51:15,370 --> 00:51:20,430
principal at Gibbs High School and I would hope that not only would you have input

614
00:51:20,430 --> 00:51:26,110
from the teachers and staff and students but that you would also welcome input from

615
00:51:26,110 --> 00:51:31,610
the community organizations that have been involved in this process. Those organizations

616
00:51:31,610 --> 00:51:38,690
that support Gibbs High School and will continue to support Gibbs. Gibbs is slightly unique

617
00:51:38,690 --> 00:51:43,630
in my perspective, in that it is much more of a community-involved school than many

618
00:51:43,630 --> 00:51:49,090
of the other districts. So please, please I ask you again to postpone the recommendation

619
00:51:49,090 --> 00:51:56,030
to appoint Stephanie Atkinson and consider and stay at appointing Robin Mobley as acting

620
00:51:56,030 --> 00:51:56,430
principal.

621
00:51:56,790 --> 00:51:57,130
Thank you.

622
00:51:57,410 --> 00:51:57,990
Thank you.

623
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:01,420
That completes our speakers.

624
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:02,100
All right.

625
00:52:02,220 --> 00:52:03,140
That completes the speakers.

626
00:52:03,820 --> 00:52:04,420
All right.

627
00:52:04,500 --> 00:52:11,940
I see no lights indicating discussion, so we will vote on – do you have anything

628
00:52:11,940 --> 00:52:12,380
you want to say?

629
00:52:12,660 --> 00:52:12,900
Okay.

630
00:52:13,060 --> 00:52:13,880
Mrs. Krasner?

631
00:52:17,160 --> 00:52:25,080
Dr. – Mr. Robinson, could you – as far as good cause why we vote for Superintendent

632
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:29,780
recommendation. Could you just tell the audience briefly about good cause?

633
00:52:30,820 --> 00:52:36,020
Well, first of all, the appointment is the superintendent's to make. It does not belong

634
00:52:36,020 --> 00:52:42,720
to anybody else. And the question really boils down to whether the nominee meets the minimum

635
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:51,440
qualifications for the job, and secondly, whether the person is morally square, whether

636
00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:57,320
the person has any moral incapacity, but in this case, I don't think there's any question.

637
00:52:58,280 --> 00:52:59,600
So it's that simple.

638
00:53:00,880 --> 00:53:08,680
And if I can just add one more thing, we really do hear what the people who came to the podium

639
00:53:08,680 --> 00:53:09,180
said.

640
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:15,300
Dr. Stewart and Mr. Madden have been very responsive because I have shared those same

641
00:53:15,300 --> 00:53:15,920
concerns.

642
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:20,800
Mr. Madden did go to Gibbs yesterday, and I don't know if I'm out of order, am

643
00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:31,040
I did go to give yesterday and speak with the staff and they have talked to many in the community

644
00:53:31,780 --> 00:53:39,520
and I know that they are truly trying to make the best decision that they see fit for Gibbs

645
00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:43,420
and that's why I haven't said more than I'm saying today.

646
00:53:43,660 --> 00:53:45,200
You all spoke well.

647
00:53:46,780 --> 00:53:50,380
I also spoke with Ms. Adkinson.

648
00:53:50,900 --> 00:53:53,700
I know she has great passion for coming into the job.

649
00:53:53,780 --> 00:53:55,980
It's not just something that she's coming to.

650
00:53:56,500 --> 00:54:01,180
And I also know that the two, Ms. Mobley and Ms. Adkinson, are very close friends.

651
00:54:01,540 --> 00:54:06,960
And I know we'll continue to work together for the sake of our children to make sure

652
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:08,460
it's a win-win all the way around.

653
00:54:09,160 --> 00:54:09,820
Thank you.

654
00:54:10,140 --> 00:54:10,640
Mr. Williams?

655
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:14,560
Thank you, Madam Chair.

656
00:54:16,220 --> 00:54:22,320
I'm very familiar with many of the speakers that spoke today, Ms. Wynne Rees.

657
00:54:22,460 --> 00:54:26,240
We've had a long history of working together on community items.

658
00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:29,600
Ms. Scott stays in my ear forever, all the time.

659
00:54:31,950 --> 00:54:40,910
I have to admit that some of the points that you made were points that all of us have had to reckon with.

660
00:54:41,670 --> 00:54:44,670
But there's always more than one side to an issue.

661
00:54:46,910 --> 00:54:53,930
And when Dr. Gordon, and you can stop me when I'm out of auto, but when Dr. Gordon announced

662
00:54:53,930 --> 00:55:01,710
that he was leaving, the superintendent and board members were flooded with emails on

663
00:55:01,710 --> 00:55:07,230
please don't appoint, and I won't call names, a system principle from Gibbs.

664
00:55:07,890 --> 00:55:09,590
And I think you know what I'm saying.

665
00:55:10,250 --> 00:55:11,690
And it wasn't one.

666
00:55:12,390 --> 00:55:13,450
It wasn't two.

667
00:55:13,450 --> 00:55:18,230
it was many. Well, I'll take that back. There were a number because many is

668
00:55:18,230 --> 00:55:23,650
relative. So, then here lies the challenge for the superintendent and the

669
00:55:23,650 --> 00:55:23,890
board.

670
00:55:25,970 --> 00:55:31,170
We want to make certain that we get leadership in there quickly, that we

671
00:55:31,170 --> 00:55:38,010
don't want to miss a step. And one of the ways by doing this is making a

672
00:55:38,010 --> 00:55:46,810
consideration of who's interested and who does the superintendent and staff feel would

673
00:55:46,810 --> 00:55:48,950
do the most credible job.

674
00:55:51,840 --> 00:55:56,800
Then, once the name of Ms. Atkins surfaced, didn't have again to

675
00:55:56,800 --> 00:56:04,300
be opposition coming in for her, and not just one person. But most of all, I spent two hours

676
00:56:04,300 --> 00:56:09,880
they give yesterday, trying to get around to teachers and staff members to hear and see

677
00:56:10,540 --> 00:56:11,760
things that they were talking about.

678
00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:20,820
And one of the things that I came away with that was going through the discussions with

679
00:56:20,820 --> 00:56:25,980
each group I was able to catch up with was they were concerned, not so much with Ms.

680
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:30,460
Ekinson coming to Gibbs, but the process by which she's coming.

681
00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:38,460
I try to, in the limited ability that I have of understanding on jobs of superintendents,

682
00:56:39,540 --> 00:56:48,660
is that the superintendent does reserve the right to make appointments that he or she

683
00:56:48,660 --> 00:56:51,840
feel is the most appropriate and a good match for school.

684
00:56:53,100 --> 00:57:01,680
The superintendent could appoint someone as principal without putting the tag of acting

685
00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:08,860
on, but usually superintendents across the country get in trouble when they take a person

686
00:57:11,250 --> 00:57:16,370
without going through the interview process and just make them principal without giving

687
00:57:16,370 --> 00:57:17,350
other people a chance.

688
00:57:18,270 --> 00:57:22,210
And for people, I'm not trying to get you to agree with me.

689
00:57:22,210 --> 00:57:23,510
Yeah, I never have worked that way.

690
00:57:24,030 --> 00:57:26,150
I'm trying to get you to understand another side of it.

691
00:57:26,210 --> 00:57:27,650
Not agree, but understand.

692
00:57:29,550 --> 00:57:33,670
If, in my opinion, Dr. Stewart had done,

693
00:57:33,690 --> 00:57:37,610
as some wish, to interview for Gibbs High School,

694
00:57:38,570 --> 00:57:41,650
there may have been 10, 12 people, outstanding people,

695
00:57:42,310 --> 00:57:45,490
that could have surfaced with good interviews.

696
00:57:46,330 --> 00:57:48,030
And this model, it may not have.

697
00:57:49,170 --> 00:57:52,850
And some people can take tests, do well on interviews.

698
00:57:54,190 --> 00:57:58,090
Would that have been then the best match for Gibbs High School?

699
00:57:58,870 --> 00:58:02,690
In my opinion, I say that's risky.

700
00:58:03,790 --> 00:58:05,870
Again, I'm not trying to get you to agree.

701
00:58:06,390 --> 00:58:11,730
I just want you to understand that this has not been an easy situation.

702
00:58:13,090 --> 00:58:17,970
In talking with Ms. Marbley, she is really, really fun of the kids there.

703
00:58:18,810 --> 00:58:28,490
She knows the vision that was set with Ms. Ward and the team, and she would have liked

704
00:58:28,490 --> 00:58:31,570
to remain there to carry it out.

705
00:58:32,610 --> 00:58:35,850
But under the circumstances, being as they are,

706
00:58:38,620 --> 00:58:42,440
based on her statement to them, she

707
00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:44,600
She is okay with going to Tyron.

708
00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:46,160
She didn't have to tell me this.

709
00:58:47,180 --> 00:58:49,500
I didn't bribe her or ask her.

710
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:50,640
She called me.

711
00:58:51,460 --> 00:58:54,360
But she wanted us to know how much she loved those kids again.

712
00:58:54,780 --> 00:58:56,100
It gives us a very special school.

713
00:58:56,220 --> 00:59:00,840
It's a pride of South St. Pete, and it has always been.

714
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:05,980
I have friends who graduated from there who are 50, 60 years old, and they're still

715
00:59:05,980 --> 00:59:06,960
involved in that school.

716
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:13,580
And for anyone to say that the district is lax in trying to do what's best to forgive,

717
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:15,600
I tell you that you are wrong.

718
00:59:16,540 --> 00:59:26,150
I would not be a party to a process whereby we were slack with our concern and recommendation

719
00:59:26,150 --> 00:59:26,790
for gifts.

720
00:59:27,650 --> 00:59:32,970
These board members here, we have had issues with gifts and others, I'm going to call

721
00:59:32,970 --> 00:59:36,330
them struggling schools, and they have come to aid and assistance.

722
00:59:37,030 --> 00:59:39,490
And I know we'll do the same forgives.

723
00:59:40,730 --> 00:59:48,690
So I would just urge you to do as I'm going to do, and that is keep a close eye on what's

724
00:59:48,690 --> 00:59:53,630
going on there and make any recommendations to the superintendent that will help the situation.

725
00:59:53,630 --> 00:59:59,810
I firmly believe in talking with that Administrative Team yesterday, whereas

726
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:05,960
They would rather not have been in a position of accepting change that they will fall in with

727
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:12,440
Ms. Eck and son, if that's the board's recommendation and make things happen it gives. And once again,

728
01:00:12,880 --> 01:00:20,820
I know this is not what you want to hear, but I would be less than honest with you if

729
01:00:20,820 --> 01:00:22,880
I didn't share my feelings. Thank you.

730
01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:24,300
Thank you.

731
01:00:25,780 --> 01:00:29,860
I've seen no other lights indicating discussions, so the recommendations of the suit.

732
01:00:30,340 --> 01:00:30,720
Oh, yes, sir.

733
01:00:32,860 --> 01:00:40,920
I seldom feel it's necessary to defend an appointment because, believe me, ladies that spoke,

734
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:48,260
I hear your eloquence and I appreciate the fact that you came forward to speak on behalf of a good candidate

735
01:00:48,260 --> 01:00:52,940
for leadership in our district, that being Robin Mobley.

736
01:00:53,720 --> 01:00:57,840
But I listened to an awful lot of people before reaching this decision.

737
01:00:58,900 --> 01:01:03,140
Those who spoke for Robin Mobley and those who spoke against her.

738
01:01:05,490 --> 01:01:08,590
I listened to those persons who spoke for Stephanie Atkinson.

739
01:01:10,030 --> 01:01:12,590
No one spoke against her.

740
01:01:14,310 --> 01:01:17,530
She is a leader of sterling qualities.

741
01:01:18,610 --> 01:01:23,330
She will be an asset to Gibbs as she has been an asset to this district for many,

742
01:01:23,330 --> 01:01:29,830
many years. Robin Mobley will be a leader of Sterling Quality once she is given the

743
01:01:29,830 --> 01:01:35,670
opportunity to gain all those skills necessary to be a principal. I can tell

744
01:01:35,670 --> 01:01:39,790
you through 44 years experience that sitting in the assistant principal seat

745
01:01:40,970 --> 01:01:46,390
is remarkably different than sitting in the principal seat of any school.

746
01:01:48,050 --> 01:01:52,570
Miss Mobley has distinguished herself well in the assistant principal for

747
01:01:52,570 --> 01:01:54,470
Craith Rowan's post at Gibbs High School.

748
01:01:55,410 --> 01:01:57,390
And I think she will distinguish herself

749
01:01:57,390 --> 01:01:59,710
as leader of Tyrone Middle School.

750
01:02:00,270 --> 01:02:04,350
She will gain the skills necessary at Tyrone Middle

751
01:02:04,350 --> 01:02:07,210
School to stand her in good stead,

752
01:02:07,410 --> 01:02:10,630
we hope, to move on and be principal of a high school.

753
01:02:10,950 --> 01:02:12,270
Hopefully, maybe someday Gibbs.

754
01:02:13,610 --> 01:02:17,110
But understand that it was not, this decision was not

755
01:02:17,110 --> 01:02:18,990
reached without a great deal of input

756
01:02:18,990 --> 01:02:24,730
from people that you trust as your district administrators and other

757
01:02:24,730 --> 01:02:30,110
persons. I believe it is a firm sound decision and both schools will benefit

758
01:02:30,110 --> 01:02:34,060
by the leadership of these two women. We

759
01:02:37,640 --> 01:02:41,400
have a motion and a second on the floor

760
01:02:41,400 --> 01:02:45,140
to accept the recommendations of the superintendent on personnel.

761
01:02:48,580 --> 01:02:53,960
All in

762
01:02:53,960 --> 01:02:58,760
Moving down to item four, request approval of stipulation of agreement between the School

763
01:02:58,760 --> 01:03:05,000
Board of Pinellas County and the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association relating to differentiated

764
01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:13,160
pay at Maximo, Melrose, James B. Sanderlin, Sandy Lane Elementary Schools, and Maximo

765
01:03:13,160 --> 01:03:18,780
and Melrose Elementary Schools, Azalea Middle School, Boca Seca, Dixie Hollins, Gibbs,

766
01:03:19,460 --> 01:03:20,460
Lakewood High Schools.

767
01:03:20,460 --> 01:03:25,520
We request approval of the following letter of commitment for teachers, the letter of commitment

768
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:31,660
for administrators, and approval of the differentiated pay for administrators at the above schools

769
01:03:31,660 --> 01:03:35,440
as well as Meadow Lawn and Lakewood Elementary Schools.

770
01:03:36,400 --> 01:03:37,000
So, I have a motion.

771
01:03:37,900 --> 01:03:43,020
I have a motion and a second, and we have a speaker, I believe.

772
01:03:43,500 --> 01:03:43,960
Yes, ma'am.

773
01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:44,920
Mr. Jim Jackson.

774
01:03:48,040 --> 01:03:48,800
Good morning.

775
01:03:48,980 --> 01:03:49,360
Good morning.

776
01:03:49,360 --> 01:03:55,520
Chair Puss and Crook, board members, Superintendent Stewart and Associate, I feel better.

777
01:03:57,320 --> 01:03:58,880
Just two quick points here.

778
01:03:58,980 --> 01:04:01,780
I know you've got a lot of community partners and a lot of parents waiting to speak.

779
01:04:02,340 --> 01:04:03,720
A quick thank you to the district.

780
01:04:04,140 --> 01:04:05,680
One of my friends came to me.

781
01:04:06,160 --> 01:04:13,140
He has a Croatian immigrant worker whose two kids were told they would get busing

782
01:04:13,140 --> 01:04:16,600
because the bus stop was right outside their apartment, but it was really a bus

783
01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:23,380
for ESC students only. Working through district personnel, this man, Igor, and let me try

784
01:04:23,380 --> 01:04:27,720
his last name, Rob. I know last names are tough. Igor's his first name, but you'll know

785
01:04:27,720 --> 01:04:36,740
who he is. Bussing is now available to his two students, reaffirms his belief in the

786
01:04:36,740 --> 01:04:40,200
goodness of this country, the goodness of the district. Shows that we do have a heart.

787
01:04:40,840 --> 01:04:45,860
My comments, though, are on this item, just for clarification purposes here.

788
01:04:46,440 --> 01:04:55,080
When I looked at it, and it's evidently not a TIF grant, but I know that we are giving $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 to teachers,

789
01:04:55,340 --> 01:05:00,960
APs and principals, to 13 schools, for-run, intervene, satisfy, or high schools,

790
01:05:01,680 --> 01:05:04,100
and we are not giving anything to support staff.

791
01:05:04,260 --> 01:05:08,280
And, of course, I think a lot of these schools work on a team approach,

792
01:05:08,280 --> 01:05:11,480
And I think support staff should have been written into this grant.

793
01:05:12,080 --> 01:05:16,000
I'm just a little confused about where the money is coming from, how much it is.

794
01:05:16,240 --> 01:05:18,100
Does this go from year to year?

795
01:05:18,520 --> 01:05:23,280
If there's anybody who can give me clarification on any of that before you do vote.

796
01:05:23,660 --> 01:05:24,400
Thank you.

797
01:05:25,240 --> 01:05:28,580
Dr. Stewart, would you like to clarify that or have staff?

798
01:05:30,480 --> 01:05:35,440
Madam Chairman, we'll be happy to give Mr. Jackson a copy of the material that was passed to the board.

799
01:05:35,440 --> 01:05:40,900
this was a question from a board member we provided to you that the teacher

800
01:05:40,900 --> 01:05:44,020
and sending grant is a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

801
01:05:44,820 --> 01:05:47,260
It's a five-year grant, the award of $7 million.

802
01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:53,080
Pinellas County was awarded in cohort three specifically for instruction

803
01:05:53,080 --> 01:05:54,220
administrative staff.

804
01:05:54,800 --> 01:05:58,100
Cohort one and cohort two recipients included support staff

805
01:05:58,100 --> 01:05:59,160
in the award structure.

806
01:05:59,600 --> 01:06:02,680
It is not included in cohort three.

807
01:06:02,680 --> 01:06:05,040
So we cannot give it to them.

808
01:06:05,480 --> 01:06:06,540
That's the main reason.

809
01:06:10,390 --> 01:06:18,470
Currently in year two of the grant, this year, fiscal year, October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012.

810
01:06:19,010 --> 01:06:26,570
The purpose of the TIF grant is to improve student achievement by increasing teacher and principal effectiveness.

811
01:06:26,830 --> 01:06:30,550
So it was written specifically for teacher and principal effectiveness.

812
01:06:30,550 --> 01:06:35,890
reforms, reforming teacher and principal compensation systems so that teachers and principals are

813
01:06:35,890 --> 01:06:40,590
rewarded for increases in student achievement and increasing the number of affected teachers

814
01:06:40,590 --> 01:06:46,550
teaching poor minority and disadvantaged students in hard to staff subjects and schools.

815
01:06:47,730 --> 01:06:52,350
And in setting of the pay performance, you already mentioned the amounts, so I won't

816
01:06:52,350 --> 01:06:52,970
go into those.

817
01:06:54,650 --> 01:07:01,390
Okay, when you're talking about cohort 1, 2, and 3, are those years, are those phases

818
01:07:01,390 --> 01:07:02,270
of the grant?

819
01:07:02,530 --> 01:07:03,770
Can you explain that a little bit?

820
01:07:04,610 --> 01:07:06,130
They were phases of the grant.

821
01:07:06,990 --> 01:07:11,630
I talked to Ms. Slaughter, Portia Slaughter, who supervises this particular grant.

822
01:07:11,810 --> 01:07:18,470
She said that in tip 1, they were included, and in TIF 2, they were included, but in

823
01:07:18,470 --> 01:07:20,390
TIF 3, they were not included.

824
01:07:21,890 --> 01:07:26,590
All right, so that's the reason why they're not receiving it at this point because they're not included in the grant

825
01:07:26,590 --> 01:07:28,710
Therefore we can't spend the grant money in that fashion

826
01:07:29,470 --> 01:07:30,250
All right

827
01:07:31,350 --> 01:07:37,950
I see no other lights. Were there any other speakers? Okay, but you've got to preach the light on. Oh, I pushed

828
01:07:40,290 --> 01:07:42,590
Okay, I'll pull my movie card. Yeah

829
01:07:43,390 --> 01:07:46,150
Have the microphone light. I

830
01:07:46,150 --> 01:07:47,990
was one of the ones that

831
01:07:48,550 --> 01:07:52,990
wanted more information here and what I wanted to really know and I'm not sure

832
01:07:52,990 --> 01:07:59,030
if Ms. Slaughter is in our audience or not but did we have the option of

833
01:07:59,030 --> 01:08:03,410
including everybody in the initial grant and if we do in the near future I hope

834
01:08:03,410 --> 01:08:10,730
that's something that we will make sure that we cover everybody that supports

835
01:08:10,730 --> 01:08:22,250
our students. I mean we just read our proclamation today and being school based, I mean we all

836
01:08:22,250 --> 01:08:29,310
know how critical our support staff is and I don't want to send a different message to

837
01:08:29,310 --> 01:08:37,690
our support staff. So whatever we can do to assure our support staff that either this

838
01:08:37,690 --> 01:08:42,610
was specific to the grant or whichever way it needs to go.

839
01:08:45,030 --> 01:08:52,470
Madam Chairman, to respond to that, of course, Ms. Crasner, you have been a staunch advocate

840
01:08:52,470 --> 01:08:57,070
for these individuals and have spoken to me on a number of occasions about their importance

841
01:08:57,070 --> 01:08:58,670
and I agree completely with you.

842
01:08:59,490 --> 01:09:03,010
And I would say that in future we would include them in the grants.

843
01:09:03,210 --> 01:09:04,470
I have no problem with that.

844
01:09:04,470 --> 01:09:13,010
But I think what we all need to be most assured of is that the federal funding of grants is

845
01:09:13,010 --> 01:09:18,510
probably as in grave concern as anything that we have going on in terms of funding.

846
01:09:19,330 --> 01:09:24,490
The certainty of those grants in the future are slim and numb.

847
01:09:28,600 --> 01:09:29,140
Okay.

848
01:09:29,420 --> 01:09:31,480
I'm seeing other lights indicating discussion.

849
01:09:31,480 --> 01:09:37,540
I'm not going to read this whole thing again, but we have a motion in the second to request

850
01:09:37,540 --> 01:09:41,260
the approval of stipulation agreement between the Pinellas County School Board and the Pinellas

851
01:09:41,260 --> 01:09:44,020
Classroom Teachers Association for Differentiated Tag.

852
01:09:44,780 --> 01:09:46,040
All in favor say aye.

853
01:09:47,460 --> 01:09:50,420
All opposed say no, and it passes 7-0.

854
01:09:51,600 --> 01:09:53,040
We now move

855
01:09:55,280 --> 01:10:01,980
down to non-consent, and we will begin with request approval of the

856
01:10:01,980 --> 01:10:06,740
Pinellas County Schools Ford next generation learning five-year plan for

857
01:10:06,740 --> 01:10:10,700
the academics of Pinellas to improve student achievement in Pinellas high

858
01:10:10,700 --> 01:10:17,240
schools. We have a motion? We have a motion and a second. All right Dr. Stewart

859
01:10:17,240 --> 01:10:21,580
would you like to introduce this or is Dave Mr. Barnes going to come forward and

860
01:10:21,580 --> 01:10:26,820
do that? I would like to call Mr. David Barnes forward because he has

861
01:10:26,820 --> 01:10:31,960
been the central figure for the school district in the handling of this

862
01:10:31,960 --> 01:10:34,840
grant and I'd like for him to have the honor of doing that.

863
01:10:34,940 --> 01:10:37,680
Okay, so we'll have him introduce it and then we'll follow it with the speakers.

864
01:10:37,980 --> 01:10:38,460
Thank you.

865
01:10:38,940 --> 01:10:39,560
Thank you, sir.

866
01:10:39,720 --> 01:10:43,720
Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Stewart and staff, thank you for the opportunity

867
01:10:43,720 --> 01:10:47,960
to bring Pinellas County Schools for next generation learning five-year plan for the

868
01:10:47,960 --> 01:10:50,980
academies of Pinellas to you as a formal agenda item.

869
01:10:51,720 --> 01:10:55,460
And I appreciate the kind words, Dr. Stewart, but I will tell you this has truly been

870
01:10:55,460 --> 01:10:59,200
a community effort both within the school district and without, and many of you

871
01:10:59,200 --> 01:11:03,260
have been, in fact, all of you, have been personally involved in this over the last eight

872
01:11:03,260 --> 01:11:03,860
or nine months.

873
01:11:04,400 --> 01:11:08,180
While the planet itself represents nearly a year's work in development, it also represents

874
01:11:08,180 --> 01:11:13,560
the culmination of a concept that was born in Pinellas in 1993 with the adoption of

875
01:11:13,560 --> 01:11:17,860
an academy methodology at Pinellas Park High School and Boca Ciega High School with

876
01:11:17,860 --> 01:11:21,940
the criminal justice program at Pinellas Park and the Center for Wellness and Medical

877
01:11:21,940 --> 01:11:23,140
Professions at Bogey.

878
01:11:23,780 --> 01:11:27,620
Since that time and with your support, we've expanded career academies and centers

879
01:11:27,620 --> 01:11:33,260
of excellence both of which use the Academy methodology with an area of interest combined

880
01:11:33,260 --> 01:11:36,720
with academic integration as the underpinning for high student achievement.

881
01:11:37,560 --> 01:11:42,180
This plan marks the beginning of taking the Academy methodology to scale across the entire

882
01:11:42,180 --> 01:11:43,260
district in our high schools.

883
01:11:44,120 --> 01:11:48,600
The other very unique part of this plan is that it incorporates the involvement of

884
01:11:48,600 --> 01:11:52,380
our entire corporate and civic community and the long-term sustainability.

885
01:11:53,020 --> 01:11:56,160
Further as you have seen in the document, and you've all had a chance to look

886
01:11:56,160 --> 01:12:02,180
at it over the past few months. There are mechanisms for reporting to you annually and mechanisms

887
01:12:02,180 --> 01:12:07,220
for your approval and making changes in the plan annually, which makes it a bit unique.

888
01:12:07,820 --> 01:12:11,840
The two speakers to follow me this morning have been immersed in career technical education

889
01:12:11,840 --> 01:12:16,300
and career academies and centers of excellence. For some time, they are well known to both

890
01:12:16,300 --> 01:12:21,900
of you. Carl Lavender of Special Note has been our outside the district champion. He

891
01:12:21,900 --> 01:12:24,060
He has gone north to south, east to west.

892
01:12:24,140 --> 01:12:29,680
He has spoken to everyone who will listen to him with regard to the Ford plan, the five-year

893
01:12:29,680 --> 01:12:31,080
plan, and career academies.

894
01:12:31,620 --> 01:12:35,140
Jerry Hogan, who is also well known to you as a longtime champion of career technical

895
01:12:35,140 --> 01:12:37,200
education, will also follow me.

896
01:12:37,240 --> 01:12:40,640
But we certainly appreciate your opportunity for considering this plan as we go forward.

897
01:12:40,820 --> 01:12:41,060
Thank you.

898
01:12:41,220 --> 01:12:41,380
That's good.

899
01:12:41,500 --> 01:12:41,780
Thank you.

900
01:12:42,840 --> 01:12:43,680
Do you want to move the speakers?

901
01:12:43,980 --> 01:12:44,520
Yes, Madam Chair.

902
01:12:44,580 --> 01:12:45,440
We have three speakers.

903
01:12:45,800 --> 01:12:48,500
Mr. Carl Lavender, Mr. Jerry Hogan, are the first two.

904
01:12:51,610 --> 01:12:52,050
Good morning.

905
01:12:52,570 --> 01:12:53,570
Good morning.

906
01:12:53,570 --> 01:12:59,030
Madam Chair, Superintendent Steward, School Board, Faculty and Administrators,

907
01:12:59,250 --> 01:13:03,970
Leaders and Friends of Pinellas County Children, I am here in a privileged

908
01:13:03,970 --> 01:13:07,310
position to announce to you Academies of Pinellas.

909
01:13:10,980 --> 01:13:13,000
I even wore a tuxedo jacket

910
01:13:13,000 --> 01:13:18,900
for this occasion. This process, me standing in front of you today, is the

911
01:13:18,900 --> 01:13:24,540
part two of a forward required process to bring the master plan which you

912
01:13:24,540 --> 01:13:29,060
have seen and read and reviewed to the school board for a a workshop which did

913
01:13:29,060 --> 01:13:33,920
in August and now a formal school board meeting where your vote to adopt the

914
01:13:33,920 --> 01:13:37,840
plan is now incorporated into the minutes it will be shared with Ford in

915
01:13:37,840 --> 01:13:41,960
subsequent reports. I am very very pleased with the support we've received

916
01:13:41,960 --> 01:13:45,500
throughout the community throughout the district particularly with the

917
01:13:45,500 --> 01:13:50,560
Education Foundation and its board have been unusually supportive because they

918
01:13:50,560 --> 01:13:54,140
We know in heart and in mind that career academies do make a difference.

919
01:13:54,660 --> 01:13:59,140
And going forward, as Davis said earlier, you will receive a number of important, timely

920
01:13:59,140 --> 01:14:03,980
and strategic reports from myself as I take off my hat today, if you will, as a forward

921
01:14:03,980 --> 01:14:09,040
person and put on the hat for, yes, the first year coordinator for the academies

922
01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:09,580
of Pinellas.

923
01:14:09,720 --> 01:14:10,540
And thank you very much.

924
01:14:10,800 --> 01:14:11,280
Mr. Jerry Hogan.

925
01:14:15,930 --> 01:14:16,810
Good morning.

926
01:14:18,310 --> 01:14:18,990
Good morning.

927
01:14:18,990 --> 01:14:26,010
And as usual, Carl is a very hard act to follow, so I'm going to incorporate his greetings

928
01:14:26,010 --> 01:14:29,610
to you and assume that mine, well, not as eloquent, covers the same ground.

929
01:14:29,910 --> 01:14:30,270
Thank you.

930
01:14:31,310 --> 01:14:32,830
It is a pleasure to be here.

931
01:14:33,650 --> 01:14:35,390
We've come a long way in career education.

932
01:14:35,570 --> 01:14:40,390
I was thinking how many years ago it was that I stood at this podium to first talk

933
01:14:40,390 --> 01:14:43,650
about this subject, as well as up in Tallahassee.

934
01:14:43,650 --> 01:14:51,090
And I want to thank you as a school board, school district, and staff for having the foresight

935
01:14:51,090 --> 01:14:52,530
to actually apply for this grant.

936
01:14:52,650 --> 01:14:53,570
This is your grant.

937
01:14:54,350 --> 01:14:59,910
The Pinellas Education Foundation has been the facilitator, but you are the ones.

938
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:04,180
Who applied for it? We want to congratulate you and thank you for that foresight and for

939
01:15:04,180 --> 01:15:07,080
the previous administration under Dr. Janssen for doing so, too.

940
01:15:09,280 --> 01:15:13,960
The Pinellas Education Foundation, as I said, is the fiscal agent of the program.

941
01:15:15,460 --> 01:15:21,120
One of the reasons that Ford chose Pinellas County, along with three other districts in

942
01:15:21,120 --> 01:15:25,960
the state, is because of the great success we have already had with the Centers of

943
01:15:25,960 --> 01:15:30,380
Excellence programs that we incorporated four years ago, or launched four years ago, I

944
01:15:30,380 --> 01:15:34,300
should say, and are in the process of incorporating in every high school in the district.

945
01:15:36,560 --> 01:15:42,580
The Centers of Excellence has spent a great partnership among the school district, the

946
01:15:43,320 --> 01:15:47,520
students of our district, and the corporate and civic community of Pinellas County.

947
01:15:48,260 --> 01:15:52,900
And I think it serves as a role model not just for other districts here, but as Ford

948
01:15:52,900 --> 01:15:59,720
has shown with not only putting us in this program, but then taking our thoughts nationwide

949
01:16:00,300 --> 01:16:03,980
is that we are also a role model for what other districts may accomplish.

950
01:16:07,120 --> 01:16:11,640
The most exciting thing is that in career education, the best is yet to come.

951
01:16:12,040 --> 01:16:16,260
Let me go through, if I can, very rapidly some thank yous, because a number of people

952
01:16:16,260 --> 01:16:17,500
participated in this.

953
01:16:17,500 --> 01:16:25,360
The, first in this list, the Pinellas County Urban League, the St. Petersburg Pops Program,

954
01:16:26,160 --> 01:16:35,940
the Tampa Bay Power Broker, the St. Petersburg NAACP, Coquib of St. Petersburg, the Ford Pass

955
01:16:35,940 --> 01:16:41,880
Team Members, Mayor Foster's Office, and particularly Laurie Mattway, Career Education

956
01:16:41,880 --> 01:16:49,360
Board members Michael Lewis, Terry Bame, Dennis Jocks, Jim Myers, Dave Barnes, Mrs.

957
01:16:49,600 --> 01:16:55,020
Lerner, and a number of other associates who are not with us today, but we needed their

958
01:16:55,020 --> 01:16:55,840
support and their help.

959
01:16:56,560 --> 01:17:01,520
The Pinellas Education Board members and committee members, including those here today, John

960
01:17:01,520 --> 01:17:08,500
Leannis, Mitch Lee, Laurie Matwe, Bob McIntyre, Gary Rogoli, Janeth Ryder, Judy Owens,

961
01:17:08,780 --> 01:17:09,520
and Gus Stavros.

962
01:17:10,640 --> 01:17:15,400
And most importantly, the Pinellas County Council of PTA members.

963
01:17:15,940 --> 01:17:19,280
We also want to thank the media partners, including the St. Petersburg Times.

964
01:17:19,460 --> 01:17:23,600
I think most of you, if not all of you, saw the insert that they included in Sunday's paper.

965
01:17:23,720 --> 01:17:28,780
They reached almost a quarter of a million people or families on Sunday.

966
01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:36,300
The Brighthouse Networks, the Florida Public Broadcasting System, Good Living Magazine, and Clear Channel Outdoor.

967
01:17:36,480 --> 01:17:37,840
All of them have been very helpful.

968
01:17:37,840 --> 01:17:43,380
We appreciate the support we got from a number of other associates, including the Ford Foundation,

969
01:17:43,660 --> 01:17:49,400
Workforce Florida, and the Florida Association of Career and Technical Educators.

970
01:17:50,540 --> 01:17:57,400
In addition, we want to give special thanks to the number of Chambers of Commerce who

971
01:17:57,400 --> 01:18:01,020
got behind this initiative and have given great support and input into the program,

972
01:18:01,080 --> 01:18:05,620
including the Clearwater Chamber, the St. Petersburg Dunedin, and Largo Chambers,

973
01:18:06,340 --> 01:18:11,420
as well as work that Pinellas and the Pinellas County Economic Development Office.

974
01:18:12,440 --> 01:18:19,680
Also, thanks go out to the Rotary Clubs of Pinellas County including Dunedin, Belair, and St. Petersburg.

975
01:18:21,240 --> 01:18:25,720
No thank you would be complete if I didn't mention both David Barnes and Carl Lavender,

976
01:18:25,860 --> 01:18:32,960
the two gentlemen who drove this project on an extraordinary tight timetable with about two weeks to get the grant in,

977
01:18:32,960 --> 01:18:37,220
achieve that and then from that point forward have made sure that it happened

978
01:18:37,220 --> 01:18:41,980
and that we were awarded the grant. It's a proud moment for the Pinellas County

979
01:18:41,980 --> 01:18:47,080
Schools. We as an education foundation are thrilled to be part of the effort and

980
01:18:47,080 --> 01:18:51,400
we thank you for your leadership on behalf of the customers of your business,

981
01:18:51,700 --> 01:18:54,840
the students of Pinellas County. Thank you very much. Thank you.

982
01:19:01,980 --> 01:19:02,480
On the

983
01:19:02,480 --> 01:19:06,060
job, sorry, Ms. Kathleen Peters is the next speaker.

984
01:19:11,690 --> 01:19:13,190
Good morning. Good

985
01:19:13,190 --> 01:19:19,090
Good morning. I'm just going to waste my time. I think Mr. Lavender and the previous speaker have done a great job.

986
01:19:19,270 --> 01:19:26,030
On behalf of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, we are thrilled about this project and the business community is very excited about the future

987
01:19:26,030 --> 01:19:31,010
that we're going to have with our workforce as this goes forward. So thank you. Thank you.

988
01:19:34,920 --> 01:19:36,780
Mrs. Lerner.

989
01:19:37,620 --> 01:19:38,260
Is that all the speakers?

990
01:19:38,920 --> 01:19:39,780
Okay. Mrs. Lerner.

991
01:19:41,280 --> 01:19:45,660
I've really had the privilege of serving on the career education board for a number

992
01:19:45,660 --> 01:19:52,120
of years, and as the history person on this board, I can tell you from the time I came

993
01:19:52,120 --> 01:19:59,920
on the board in 1990, the board always talked about career technical and even vocational,

994
01:20:00,040 --> 01:20:03,360
which we weren't supposed to use that word, but I always did, how important it was.

995
01:20:03,360 --> 01:20:10,300
But it really wasn't until the foundation, and Jerry Hogan, Terry Bame, so many of the

996
01:20:10,300 --> 01:20:15,860
people, the leaders who are sitting here, who really began to drive the district to

997
01:20:15,860 --> 01:20:18,260
the career academies and centers of excellence.

998
01:20:19,100 --> 01:20:27,280
And this is certainly one of the most important votes I've taken for kids and for student

999
01:20:27,280 --> 01:20:27,860
achievement.

1000
01:20:27,860 --> 01:20:34,320
And I'm so appreciative also that it's now called the Academies of Pinellas.

1001
01:20:34,840 --> 01:20:35,820
Many of us had a hard time.

1002
01:20:35,880 --> 01:20:38,940
Well, Career Academies and Centers of Excellence.

1003
01:20:39,840 --> 01:20:42,040
The plan is really excellent.

1004
01:20:42,360 --> 01:20:46,500
And as I read through it quickly, but I did read through it like all of you did,

1005
01:20:48,300 --> 01:20:51,760
it's obviously very effective.

1006
01:20:51,760 --> 01:20:59,240
effective, it's efficient, and it's cost-effective because the only way we're doing it without

1007
01:20:59,240 --> 01:21:05,900
spending more money is because of the many hundreds of volunteers that we have led by

1008
01:21:05,900 --> 01:21:12,720
the foundation, the wonderful staff we have led by Dave Barnes and of course Carl Lavender.

1009
01:21:13,460 --> 01:21:20,380
The only thing that I would change, not change, I just want to be sure, we need

1010
01:21:20,380 --> 01:21:25,460
sustainability for initiatives like this, and it needs to be sustained beyond any of

1011
01:21:25,460 --> 01:21:29,600
us being on the board or beyond foundation leaders, although you're going to be there

1012
01:21:29,600 --> 01:21:29,960
forever.

1013
01:21:31,480 --> 01:21:34,300
And I'm going to be involved forever, one way or another.

1014
01:21:36,760 --> 01:21:44,360
That the board, this plan, this is in the agenda item, this plan includes provisions

1015
01:21:44,360 --> 01:21:49,220
for annual review and updating by the partners, as well as an annual review and adoption

1016
01:21:49,220 --> 01:21:54,640
by the Pinellas County School Board, and I fully support that, but I'm not sure unless

1017
01:21:54,640 --> 01:22:02,820
I missed it that it's in the plans. It's in the agenda item. So I don't think it's in

1018
01:22:02,820 --> 01:22:07,700
the plan that we will annually, as a board...

1019
01:22:09,870 --> 01:22:13,570
Yes, ma'am, it is in the plan of under strand number two.

1020
01:22:13,850 --> 01:22:14,670
Oh, got in the plan?

1021
01:22:14,830 --> 01:22:14,970
Yes.

1022
01:22:15,170 --> 01:22:15,390
Okay.

1023
01:22:15,830 --> 01:22:19,350
It is not in that exact language, but the accountability is regarding coming back

1024
01:22:19,350 --> 01:22:24,130
to the district board annually for a report out on the progress of the plan is included.

1025
01:22:24,450 --> 01:22:28,710
Oh, okay. It wasn't a while ago, but I, okay. I think that's real important.

1026
01:22:28,990 --> 01:22:29,310
Yes, it is.

1027
01:22:29,510 --> 01:22:30,230
Okay. Thanks.

1028
01:22:30,370 --> 01:22:30,590
Thank you very much.

1029
01:22:30,870 --> 01:22:31,870
Thanks for that information.

1030
01:22:33,950 --> 01:22:36,710
Time in with that. Are you finished? This is where I'm sorry.

1031
01:22:37,510 --> 01:22:40,890
Yeah, I just thank everyone who's been involved. This is for our kids, and it's

1032
01:22:40,890 --> 01:22:47,910
going to expand more. And this plan is really the roadmap, and it is extremely well done.

1033
01:22:47,910 --> 01:22:54,270
And I think everyone, it's going to be the sustaining factor with all the people involved

1034
01:22:54,270 --> 01:23:01,450
to keep this staying excellent and adding more academies.

1035
01:23:02,150 --> 01:23:03,230
Thank you.

1036
01:23:03,890 --> 01:23:09,230
Keeping in with your comments on the report, while I think this is an excellent opportunity

1037
01:23:09,230 --> 01:23:13,310
and I'm thrilled that we're moving forward with this, I don't know that the criteria

1038
01:23:13,310 --> 01:23:16,510
for the reports are in place at this point.

1039
01:23:16,510 --> 01:23:19,830
What will we be receiving in the report?

1040
01:23:20,010 --> 01:23:23,450
What it will be looking for to determine whether or not we have the success,

1041
01:23:23,610 --> 01:23:27,210
such as the completion rates and the graduation rates and those kinds of things.

1042
01:23:27,830 --> 01:23:35,370
So Mr. Barnes, Dr. Stewart, if Mr. Barnes could come and talk about what that criteria would be,

1043
01:23:35,490 --> 01:23:45,030
or if we need to make sure that we create the criteria and add that to it so that we all know what will be in that accountability report.

1044
01:23:45,030 --> 01:23:51,570
Yes, ma'am. That's a fair question. There are measures built into the plan at the front

1045
01:23:51,570 --> 01:23:56,810
of each strand that you can see, but also built into the plan is the development of

1046
01:23:56,810 --> 01:24:03,010
a dashboard separate and apart from the dashboard that you're currently looking at in concert

1047
01:24:03,010 --> 01:24:08,330
with MIS. We will develop a dashboard. That's part of the year one from January through

1048
01:24:08,330 --> 01:24:13,690
next December. That's part of our charge is to develop that dashboard. You and others

1049
01:24:13,690 --> 01:24:18,630
have an opportunity in addition to the measures that you will already find in the grant have

1050
01:24:18,630 --> 01:24:23,430
an opportunity to add measures or so if you've got specific items if the board does the superintendent

1051
01:24:23,430 --> 01:24:28,070
does or any of our community partners have specific items that they would like to see

1052
01:24:28,070 --> 01:24:31,770
included in that dashboard there will be an opportunity to have that included going

1053
01:24:31,770 --> 01:24:32,210
forward.

1054
01:24:32,490 --> 01:24:37,230
That's part of the first year actually once the approval once the plan is approved

1055
01:24:37,230 --> 01:24:40,930
the real work we really get our hands dirty beginning in January and that's part

1056
01:24:40,930 --> 01:24:44,890
part of this first year activity so that we've got something that is useful to you that contains

1057
01:24:44,890 --> 01:24:47,670
the information that you want come this time next year.

1058
01:24:47,910 --> 01:24:50,930
Okay, perfect. That's exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you.

1059
01:24:51,450 --> 01:24:52,190
Mrs. Krassner.

1060
01:24:53,250 --> 01:24:57,010
Just, I know how motivational this is for our students.

1061
01:24:58,490 --> 01:25:03,290
The one thing that I've harped on a little bit though, too, is for our eighth grade students,

1062
01:25:03,870 --> 01:25:08,790
you know how I like the bullets of what's in each high school as far as for our families

1063
01:25:08,790 --> 01:25:16,050
to really recognize what programs are where, whatever we can continue to do to really get

1064
01:25:16,050 --> 01:25:22,970
that word out there to our students and families so they can make sure their child's connected

1065
01:25:22,970 --> 01:25:26,390
to the right school for their individual family.

1066
01:25:26,730 --> 01:25:32,250
Thank you and that's a really important point and you will know there is mention of public

1067
01:25:32,250 --> 01:25:37,550
relations and moving activities down into the 8th grade and in fact it wasn't technically

1068
01:25:37,550 --> 01:25:41,650
partly part of the plan with I'm sorry it wasn't part of the grant requirements

1069
01:25:41,650 --> 01:25:47,810
that Ford put on us but we agree with you and as do all of the partners that

1070
01:25:47,810 --> 01:25:52,270
that eighth grade piece is key to making the 9 through 12 piece successful so

1071
01:25:52,270 --> 01:25:56,350
there is mention of activities in the plan that will involve us expanding

1072
01:25:56,350 --> 01:26:01,520
what we're currently doing in eighth grade we absolutely agree with you thank

1073
01:26:01,520 --> 01:26:05,140
you this is Michael yes I'd like to thank Mr. Lavender and the foundation

1074
01:26:05,140 --> 01:26:09,160
for the communication process of rolling out this grant that was very

1075
01:26:09,160 --> 01:26:15,300
important that I appreciate the involvement that with the workshop and just the individual.

1076
01:26:16,260 --> 01:26:22,520
Go ahead. He's coming up. No one mentioned it's five million dollars. Oh, well that's

1077
01:26:22,520 --> 01:26:31,560
good too. Anyway, that really it really solidifies our and our information of how this affects

1078
01:26:31,560 --> 01:26:36,900
children and how it affects student achievement. So I applaud the process that you went

1079
01:26:36,900 --> 01:26:42,900
through for this. Thank you. All right. We have a motion and a second on the

1080
01:26:42,900 --> 01:26:48,980
floor to approve the Pinellas County Schools for next generation learning

1081
01:26:48,980 --> 01:26:54,000
five-year plan for the academic, the academies of Pinellas to improve

1082
01:26:54,000 --> 01:26:58,780
student achievement in Pinellas High Schools. All in favor say aye. Aye.

1083
01:26:59,020 --> 01:27:04,700
Opposed say no. And it passes 7-0. And I believe I'd probably speak on

1084
01:27:04,700 --> 01:27:08,440
behalf of the entire board when I think not only those involved but all of the

1085
01:27:08,440 --> 01:27:10,460
partners that are with us.

1086
01:27:14,100 --> 01:27:17,280
We'll move on to item two and get back to the decorum of

1087
01:27:17,280 --> 01:27:21,980
the meeting. Thank you all for being here. Setting up public hearing and

1088
01:27:21,980 --> 01:27:25,020
authorizing the advertisement of public hearing to consider the

1089
01:27:25,020 --> 01:27:30,120
amendment to the various student progression plan policies. This is the

1090
01:27:30,120 --> 01:27:34,580
first reading. Do you have a motion? We have a motion by Ms. Krasner in a

1091
01:27:34,580 --> 01:27:38,300
second by Ms. Weichel. Dr. Stewart, would you like to introduce it?

1092
01:27:41,960 --> 01:27:49,920
This is the first reading and there will be a second reading to follow at the next meeting

1093
01:27:49,920 --> 01:27:58,760
and I would like to, before I get into that, say that the people connected to this have

1094
01:27:58,760 --> 01:28:06,160
done a really marvelous job and I want to commend them on the staff and also the

1095
01:28:06,160 --> 01:28:10,120
board for looking at this as closely and as diligently as you have.

1096
01:28:10,860 --> 01:28:17,780
You really, this has been, coming back into the profession after being gone, it has been

1097
01:28:19,100 --> 01:28:21,720
exemplary how you've approached this topic.

1098
01:28:22,240 --> 01:28:24,860
Thank you for being the guiding light on that.

1099
01:28:25,380 --> 01:28:29,220
I'd like to commend Jim Madden, who heads up the office.

1100
01:28:29,900 --> 01:28:33,160
He is the person to whom they report, student assignment.

1101
01:28:33,160 --> 01:28:41,000
He's done a marvelous job and has personally written back to dozens and dozens and dozens

1102
01:28:41,000 --> 01:28:43,820
of people who have written in to express their feeling in depth.

1103
01:28:44,220 --> 01:28:45,900
I think Jim has really done a marvelous job.

1104
01:28:46,060 --> 01:28:46,520
Thank you, Jim.

1105
01:28:47,000 --> 01:28:50,740
And to your staff, D. Burns and Marshall touched in for their work, too.

1106
01:28:51,140 --> 01:28:52,220
Jim, you want to take it from here?

1107
01:28:53,640 --> 01:28:56,780
I'm going to say, and we'll remember that when we get to the next agenda item.

1108
01:28:59,440 --> 01:29:01,520
It's not student assignment, it's their progression.

1109
01:29:01,520 --> 01:29:03,260
Let's do a progression plan.

1110
01:29:04,200 --> 01:29:05,060
I must have mumbled.

1111
01:29:05,760 --> 01:29:06,700
Not a problem.

1112
01:29:07,440 --> 01:29:08,120
All right.

1113
01:29:08,160 --> 01:29:10,960
We have no speakers on this topic.

1114
01:29:12,080 --> 01:29:17,060
And I don't see any lights, but there are a few things that I would like to mention.

1115
01:29:18,660 --> 01:29:24,580
When I received the answer, I had several questions on the policy itself and the way some of the things were written.

1116
01:29:24,720 --> 01:29:29,240
For example, it refers to people being able to access Moodle.

1117
01:29:29,240 --> 01:29:33,160
And while people within the district would understand that parents wouldn't know what

1118
01:29:33,160 --> 01:29:34,620
Moodle is or even how to get there.

1119
01:29:35,700 --> 01:29:41,560
And so there is some different wording that was suggested in the answers that were given.

1120
01:29:42,020 --> 01:29:46,540
And rather than making motions to move forward with that, I'm just going to ask that they

1121
01:29:46,540 --> 01:29:49,320
be included and we look at that at the second reading.

1122
01:29:49,900 --> 01:29:54,100
There was also a paragraph that some wording needed to be changed because it didn't make

1123
01:29:54,100 --> 01:29:59,940
any sense when you were looking at the strikeouts and the things that were added and I

1124
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:06,360
I think it read, they were required to pass five courses in such courses for promotion.

1125
01:30:06,840 --> 01:30:13,340
And there is some different wording that has been incorporated, again, in the answers.

1126
01:30:14,020 --> 01:30:20,020
And so I would just like to ask that that be included in the second reading so that we

1127
01:30:20,020 --> 01:30:22,140
can look at it and see if it works a little bit smoothly.

1128
01:30:24,560 --> 01:30:24,800
Okay.

1129
01:30:25,440 --> 01:30:28,000
Seeing no other lights, can we give him?

1130
01:30:29,140 --> 01:30:32,720
I read over your corrections kind of quickly.

1131
01:30:32,980 --> 01:30:35,480
Were they all, they're not substantial?

1132
01:30:36,220 --> 01:30:37,200
No, it was...

1133
01:30:37,200 --> 01:30:38,540
I thought they were just...

1134
01:30:38,540 --> 01:30:38,780
Right.

1135
01:30:39,040 --> 01:30:45,940
It was just either to make it user-friendly or on that one where I said line 17 through

1136
01:30:45,940 --> 01:30:47,360
21, what does that mean?

1137
01:30:47,760 --> 01:30:51,720
That was the one where they really needed to work on the paragraph so that it read

1138
01:30:51,720 --> 01:30:53,480
and said what they wanted it to say.

1139
01:30:53,480 --> 01:31:00,640
So it was not a substance, it was more how did it read and is it understandable?

1140
01:31:01,440 --> 01:31:01,820
Okay.

1141
01:31:02,180 --> 01:31:02,360
Okay.

1142
01:31:02,620 --> 01:31:03,040
That's what I thought.

1143
01:31:03,280 --> 01:31:03,480
All right.

1144
01:31:04,400 --> 01:31:05,000
Okay.

1145
01:31:05,840 --> 01:31:12,840
So we have a motion and a second to set a public hearing and authorize the advertising

1146
01:31:12,840 --> 01:31:19,340
of the public hearing to consider the amendment to the various student progression plan policies.

1147
01:31:20,040 --> 01:31:21,460
All in favor say aye.

1148
01:31:21,860 --> 01:31:22,260
Aye.

1149
01:31:22,260 --> 01:31:23,540
And opposed say no.

1150
01:31:24,240 --> 01:31:25,760
It passes 7-0.

1151
01:31:27,860 --> 01:31:30,940
All right, we'll move down to item number three,

1152
01:31:31,580 --> 01:31:34,300
set a public hearing and authorize the advertising

1153
01:31:34,300 --> 01:31:36,520
to the public hearing to consider the amendment

1154
01:31:36,520 --> 01:31:40,260
to policy 5-1-2-0, assignment within the district.

1155
01:31:41,800 --> 01:31:42,500
Thank you.

1156
01:31:42,980 --> 01:31:44,100
This item addresses changes

1157
01:31:44,100 --> 01:31:48,420
to the student assignment plan for the year 2012-2013,

1158
01:31:48,760 --> 01:31:51,520
including school zone changes for elementary school

1159
01:31:51,520 --> 01:31:52,700
and this is the first reading.

1160
01:31:53,320 --> 01:31:54,940
So, Dr. Stewart, would you like to introduce us?

1161
01:31:54,940 --> 01:31:56,260
Same thing I said a long ago.

1162
01:31:57,780 --> 01:31:58,520
Thank you.

1163
01:31:59,060 --> 01:32:00,260
Thank you for the brevity.

1164
01:32:02,080 --> 01:32:02,760
All right.

1165
01:32:03,700 --> 01:32:05,680
I believe we have, do we have a motion?

1166
01:32:06,660 --> 01:32:08,440
Okay, we have a motion and a second.

1167
01:32:09,260 --> 01:32:12,080
And we have speakers, I'm sure.

1168
01:32:13,960 --> 01:32:15,900
I didn't know if we were going to have the presentation.

1169
01:32:16,260 --> 01:32:18,120
Madam Chair, we have 23 speakers.

1170
01:32:18,600 --> 01:32:18,820
Okay.

1171
01:32:18,820 --> 01:32:27,620
Then Mr. Madden, would you like to introduce the item before we have our speakers and since there are so many?

1172
01:32:28,380 --> 01:32:37,080
Yes. I think what we'd like to do is in five or ten minutes or ten at the max is go through what you're actually looking at today

1173
01:32:37,080 --> 01:32:45,280
in terms of there's two pieces of it. It's rezoning and at the elementary level as well as some policy changes

1174
01:32:45,280 --> 01:32:49,400
that are being recommended that impact elementary, middle, and high school students.

1175
01:32:49,660 --> 01:32:53,380
But to do a real quick overview of what it is that you're looking at today

1176
01:32:53,380 --> 01:32:56,600
so that everybody in the audience, anybody that listens later,

1177
01:32:56,800 --> 01:33:00,660
can understand what we are talking about, what we aren't talking about,

1178
01:33:00,940 --> 01:33:05,680
who we are talking to, and who we aren't talking to. Just so we can clarify those kinds of things.

1179
01:33:06,240 --> 01:33:08,800
And yes, as Dr. Stewart mentioned,

1180
01:33:09,340 --> 01:33:12,300
as with any time you do any changes to the student assignment,

1181
01:33:13,120 --> 01:33:21,180
policies or zones in any way. We do hear from our families and we will continue the commitment to treat them as individuals

1182
01:33:21,180 --> 01:33:30,900
because many of the situations are unique to them and we will continue to work with them in whatever it takes to make sure that we answer all of their questions

1183
01:33:30,900 --> 01:33:37,800
and give them the information they need as we go forward. Some of them will attest that I'm keeping hours like everybody else

1184
01:33:37,800 --> 01:33:43,040
or others in the district that we are to the morning or sometimes the best time to write emails.

1185
01:33:43,400 --> 01:33:45,520
But we will stick with those intentions.

1186
01:33:46,740 --> 01:33:50,760
I have, as Dr. Tuja said, we have Ms. D. Burns, Director of Student Assignment,

1187
01:33:51,080 --> 01:33:56,440
Marshall Touchden, who is the district demographer, and Pam Casardo, who is our planning specialist,

1188
01:33:56,600 --> 01:34:01,960
who are tireless in their efforts to do this also, and I appreciate them wholeheartedly.

1189
01:34:01,960 --> 01:34:07,640
So, with that being said, we're here today to share with you and members of the audience

1190
01:34:08,640 --> 01:34:14,520
the reasons for elementary rezoning as well as the proposed rezoning that are before you

1191
01:34:14,520 --> 01:34:16,960
between now and the final vote on December 6th.

1192
01:34:17,600 --> 01:34:21,960
And also at the same time, or a parallel to that, talk about the significant policy

1193
01:34:23,260 --> 01:34:28,580
changes relative to language in our student assignment plan that go along with the zoning

1194
01:34:28,580 --> 01:34:33,780
proposals and because they are, you can't separate one from the other.

1195
01:34:34,280 --> 01:34:42,360
So that being said, Mr. Tutcher, if you'll put the entire county map on the table, knowing

1196
01:34:42,360 --> 01:34:49,120
that the reason for rezoning fall into a number of categories and not necessarily in

1197
01:34:49,120 --> 01:34:53,620
the order that I mentioned them, but all of these are interrelated, but ultimately

1198
01:34:53,620 --> 01:34:59,020
it does have the rezoning proposal do have an impact on student achievement in

1199
01:34:59,020 --> 01:35:04,340
this district for a number of reasons. Some of those are and once again not

1200
01:35:04,340 --> 01:35:10,660
necessarily in this order but it's it helps the district with the staffing

1201
01:35:10,660 --> 01:35:16,700
model that is provided at all of our schools as well as the services that

1202
01:35:16,700 --> 01:35:20,920
those people are able to provide to the families of the district. The one

1203
01:35:20,920 --> 01:35:25,060
One example that I'll give is our staffing model right now at elementary school called

1204
01:35:25,060 --> 01:35:30,880
for one guidance counselor at elementary school and the services are diminished if you have

1205
01:35:30,880 --> 01:35:34,100
a population of 500 versus a population of 900.

1206
01:35:34,480 --> 01:35:36,140
One person can only do so much.

1207
01:35:36,460 --> 01:35:37,640
That's just one example.

1208
01:35:37,840 --> 01:35:39,340
There are many others that I could go into.

1209
01:35:40,040 --> 01:35:43,460
The other thing that we're trying to do here is we're trying to make it so that

1210
01:35:43,460 --> 01:35:47,500
we don't have to come back to you two years from now saying it's time to rezone

1211
01:35:47,500 --> 01:35:47,860
again.

1212
01:35:47,860 --> 01:35:53,840
is trying to build in some sustainability, trying to build in provisions so that we can

1213
01:35:54,800 --> 01:36:00,720
provide a system that allows for zone families to attend the zone schools if that's what

1214
01:36:00,720 --> 01:36:06,940
they wish to do, as well as make sure that we make better use of or most effective use

1215
01:36:06,940 --> 01:36:13,740
of permanent facilities and start reducing our reliance on relocatable classrooms to

1216
01:36:13,740 --> 01:36:14,400
house children.

1217
01:36:14,400 --> 01:36:19,400
In addition to that, we're looking at being able to meet the requirements of the Class

1218
01:36:19,400 --> 01:36:26,680
Size Amendment included in all that because if we can have a situation where we've got

1219
01:36:26,680 --> 01:36:31,360
the right number of classroom teachers at every school, it makes it easy for us to build

1220
01:36:31,360 --> 01:36:37,580
a system and zones where, for example, if you have six primary classrooms, they feed

1221
01:36:37,580 --> 01:36:44,280
naturally into five intermediate classrooms with six times 18 feeding into five times 22.

1222
01:36:44,700 --> 01:36:50,400
I'm not a math person, but I know that's 108 and 110. And then families can feel comfortable

1223
01:36:50,400 --> 01:36:55,560
that they get to stay at that school provided they stay at the same residence.

1224
01:36:56,480 --> 01:37:00,240
At the same time, when you look at some of the facilities that we have out there, we do

1225
01:37:00,240 --> 01:37:04,480
have some facilities out there that they are very taxed in terms of the use of the facility

1226
01:37:04,480 --> 01:37:10,900
as we now know it, the overcrowding situations that has an impact on not just the student

1227
01:37:10,900 --> 01:37:17,160
assignment pieces, just in terms of just transition time, but when you look at the use of facilities

1228
01:37:17,160 --> 01:37:24,440
in terms of media centers, cafeterias, PE fields, bathrooms, all of it has an impact

1229
01:37:24,440 --> 01:37:33,090
that impacts the total population where it makes sense to do it now and get the

1230
01:37:33,090 --> 01:37:34,850
a number of students within all of our buildings.

1231
01:37:36,070 --> 01:37:37,250
And then, of course, the last thing,

1232
01:37:37,390 --> 01:37:41,250
and it also allows for not so much reduction

1233
01:37:41,250 --> 01:37:43,410
in transportation costs, but there will be some,

1234
01:37:43,710 --> 01:37:46,870
but it allows us to have more efficient and effective runs

1235
01:37:46,870 --> 01:37:51,070
with the runs of our transportation departments.

1236
01:37:51,290 --> 01:37:53,630
It can be shorter runs and not longer runs,

1237
01:37:53,710 --> 01:37:55,050
as is the case right now.

1238
01:37:55,550 --> 01:37:58,610
So what I'd like to do is briefly go through,

1239
01:37:59,150 --> 01:38:00,490
and if you look at your screen,

1240
01:38:00,490 --> 01:38:09,610
I'll make sure that I follow the script that I have to make sure that you see what's going

1241
01:38:09,610 --> 01:38:09,830
on.

1242
01:38:09,970 --> 01:38:16,250
Knowing that what you see first, I believe, is all of the highlighted sections reflect some

1243
01:38:16,250 --> 01:38:20,290
part of the county that is being proposed for rezoning.

1244
01:38:21,110 --> 01:38:28,290
If you take a closer look at all of those colored spots, there are really six independent

1245
01:38:28,290 --> 01:38:34,350
areas of each other but within any of the six areas the recommended zoning

1246
01:38:34,350 --> 01:38:39,890
changes are interconnected to each other where if one's changed it impacts the

1247
01:38:39,890 --> 01:38:44,050
others that are being proposed. So starting in the the furthest southeast

1248
01:38:44,050 --> 01:38:49,870
part of the county which you'll notice that because that's where most of the

1249
01:38:49,870 --> 01:38:54,630
schools that we're talking about in this recommendation happen to be housed

1250
01:38:55,690 --> 01:39:01,470
The first thing you notice, first of all, is that we are proposing that Melrose Elementary

1251
01:39:01,470 --> 01:39:02,630
be given a zone.

1252
01:39:02,850 --> 01:39:07,750
It currently does not have one, but we are proposing that Melrose has a zone, and that's

1253
01:39:07,750 --> 01:39:11,510
what the cursor or the little hand on the screen is pointing to.

1254
01:39:12,050 --> 01:39:18,050
To do or to give Melrose a zone, it impacts a number of the neighboring schools.

1255
01:39:18,050 --> 01:39:24,990
You have Lakewood Elementary School, which is where the hand is flashing right now.

1256
01:39:25,470 --> 01:39:30,090
Those students will be going from Lakewood Elementary to Campbell Park.

1257
01:39:30,670 --> 01:39:37,810
Moving to the, you know, that green section right there will be going from North Shore to Campbell Park.

1258
01:39:38,150 --> 01:39:44,930
To the left of that, those two areas in there, one will be going from Woodlawn to Melrose.

1259
01:39:44,930 --> 01:39:49,310
One will be going from Maximo to Melrose.

1260
01:39:50,130 --> 01:39:56,750
And the dark blue area that he was putting at first will be going from Campbell Park to Melrose.

1261
01:39:57,430 --> 01:40:03,550
Moving north, that L shape, upside down L, will be going from Sexton to Woodlawn.

1262
01:40:04,330 --> 01:40:07,910
The purple section will be going from Shorerakers to North Shore.

1263
01:40:08,750 --> 01:40:12,770
The little green section to the left of that will be going from Lynch to Sexton.

1264
01:40:12,770 --> 01:40:19,130
A little blue section that he's pointing to now from Sawgrass to Lynch, moving up.

1265
01:40:20,270 --> 01:40:25,510
That bigger section in there will be going from Sawgrass Elementary, Sawgrass Lake Elementary

1266
01:40:25,510 --> 01:40:31,490
to Pinella Central, and then the two smaller areas over there, the one that's put the

1267
01:40:31,490 --> 01:40:32,430
hands on right now.

1268
01:40:33,030 --> 01:40:39,650
That area will be going from Pinella Central to Skyview, and the one to the bottom

1269
01:40:39,650 --> 01:40:43,070
and right of that will be going that

1270
01:40:45,500 --> 01:40:45,920
whole area.

1271
01:40:46,200 --> 01:40:48,560
Okay, that's the first area.

1272
01:40:48,760 --> 01:40:50,560
Sliding to the west of that,

1273
01:40:50,660 --> 01:40:52,380
we have two schools that are interrelated.

1274
01:40:52,980 --> 01:40:56,080
You'll notice that there's a pinkish color triangle.

1275
01:40:57,060 --> 01:41:00,560
That area is being recommended to be rezoned

1276
01:41:00,560 --> 01:41:02,260
from Westgate Elementary School

1277
01:41:02,260 --> 01:41:04,160
to Northwest Elementary School.

1278
01:41:05,040 --> 01:41:09,520
Heading to the northwest area in the Seminole area,

1279
01:41:10,020 --> 01:41:11,680
you are looking at an area

1280
01:41:11,680 --> 01:41:17,120
area that's being recommended to go from Bouter to Oakhurst, another area that's recommended

1281
01:41:17,120 --> 01:41:23,720
to go from Oakhurst to Fugue to help meet all the requirements that I talked about earlier.

1282
01:41:24,580 --> 01:41:31,540
Going further north, the yellow area is being recommended to go from Frontier to Belcher,

1283
01:41:32,520 --> 01:41:37,580
the pinkish area from Belcher to Ponce de Leon Elementary, and that takes care of

1284
01:41:37,580 --> 01:41:39,320
some of the concerns in that area.

1285
01:41:39,320 --> 01:41:46,980
Moving further north, we'll start with the northeast section in the McMullan Booth Davis and Safety Harbor area.

1286
01:41:47,580 --> 01:41:52,420
You'll see a blue-ish type shaded area.

1287
01:41:52,800 --> 01:41:56,740
That's being recommended to go from Davis to Safety Harbor Elementary School.

1288
01:41:57,680 --> 01:42:04,680
If you look at the westernmost portion of the Davis and McMullan areas or McMullan area,

1289
01:42:04,680 --> 01:42:09,040
You'll see a current grid zone that's going to be separated in half.

1290
01:42:09,560 --> 01:42:13,680
The upper half will be going from McMullen to Dunedin Elementary.

1291
01:42:14,380 --> 01:42:17,400
The bottom half from McMullen to Sandy Lane.

1292
01:42:18,200 --> 01:42:22,900
And then that area that's being highlighted right now is from Dunedin to Sandy Lane.

1293
01:42:23,460 --> 01:42:29,920
And then the final area that's being, that is part of this recommendation before you today

1294
01:42:29,920 --> 01:42:39,420
is the area that's in pink there, and that's being recommended to go from Ozona Elementary School to San Jose Elementary School.

1295
01:42:39,900 --> 01:42:44,260
So that's a brief summary of the areas that are being proposed for rezoning.

1296
01:42:44,900 --> 01:42:56,040
In addition to the rezoning recommendations, there are some policy change language that you'll see outlined in the agenda item.

1297
01:42:56,040 --> 01:43:01,260
some deal with your guiding principles, you know, falsifying residents, changing addresses,

1298
01:43:01,820 --> 01:43:07,900
but primarily the ones that are of the most significance to families right now have to

1299
01:43:07,900 --> 01:43:14,220
do with the entire student assignment process that's listed there and, you know, as well

1300
01:43:14,220 --> 01:43:17,320
as special assignment request, what used to be known as open enrollment.

1301
01:43:17,640 --> 01:43:22,400
We still want to make it possible for families to request a school other than the one

1302
01:43:22,400 --> 01:43:27,920
they may be zoned to, so there's been some changes to that process in terms of it being

1303
01:43:27,920 --> 01:43:33,740
for one year only if that request is granted and they would have to reapply every year.

1304
01:43:34,720 --> 01:43:39,500
Issue, another change being recommended for change of residence where if a parent does

1305
01:43:39,500 --> 01:43:44,240
change residence we will allow them to stay at the school that they're in, but then

1306
01:43:44,240 --> 01:43:46,940
they would have to go to their zone school the following year.

1307
01:43:46,940 --> 01:43:53,400
And in the special circumstances which we continue to work through when we look at students

1308
01:43:53,400 --> 01:44:00,160
that are impacted by policy changes as well as the proposed rezoning, we're very sensitive

1309
01:44:00,160 --> 01:44:04,740
to making sure that we honor any commitment that the school board has made to families

1310
01:44:04,740 --> 01:44:12,000
in recent years to make sure that those students in our system that are the final

1311
01:44:12,000 --> 01:44:17,940
elementary class that went through the choice plan to get its current assignment, as well

1312
01:44:17,940 --> 01:44:22,840
as any subsequent, any lower grade levels that were either granted.

1313
01:44:23,760 --> 01:44:28,040
The opportunity to stay in a school is through an open enrollment process, through a school

1314
01:44:28,040 --> 01:44:30,140
closing, or through some other means.

1315
01:44:30,600 --> 01:44:34,780
And we continue to work with families along those lines.

1316
01:44:34,860 --> 01:44:41,180
And I assure you that as families communicate to you and to us, we are getting, putting

1317
01:44:41,180 --> 01:44:45,960
putting names of students onto those emails so we can carefully research them and make

1318
01:44:45,960 --> 01:44:48,220
sure that we do right by those families.

1319
01:44:48,880 --> 01:44:54,600
So that's a very quick synopsis of what you have today, hoping I kept it within my ten

1320
01:44:54,600 --> 01:44:59,400
minute time frame, so I'll now turn it back to Mrs. Cook for speakers.

1321
01:45:01,360 --> 01:45:07,020
And we have speakers from the audience. And while she's getting ready to call them,

1322
01:45:07,560 --> 01:45:14,640
Ms. Rameth, you'll keep track of any comments, questions. And then at the end, we will clarify anything that's necessary

1323
01:45:14,640 --> 01:45:20,040
and have a conversation with the board. Thank you for your patience. And if I do mispronounce your name,

1324
01:45:20,120 --> 01:45:24,700
please just say it correctly so we know who you are. And we do have two microphones.

1325
01:45:24,700 --> 01:45:28,180
So Jeff Sutliff and Robert Lasher.

1326
01:45:33,600 --> 01:45:34,320
Good morning.

1327
01:45:35,080 --> 01:45:35,620
Good morning.

1328
01:45:36,380 --> 01:45:37,660
And you did very well.

1329
01:45:37,840 --> 01:45:38,040
Thank you.

1330
01:45:40,800 --> 01:45:47,000
Back in 2008, my family relocated rather to Pinellas County.

1331
01:45:48,160 --> 01:45:52,020
And my son now attends Leela Davis Elementary.

1332
01:45:52,900 --> 01:45:54,400
He's been there for four years.

1333
01:45:56,040 --> 01:45:57,180
And his

1334
01:45:59,450 --> 01:46:01,930
life has changed immensely from this.

1335
01:46:01,930 --> 01:46:07,390
The teacher's there to the principal, to the assistant principal.

1336
01:46:08,590 --> 01:46:15,830
He's gone from a shy, timid young man to someone that tries out for plays now.

1337
01:46:16,650 --> 01:46:19,330
He'll be doing his first church play coming up for Christmas.

1338
01:46:19,590 --> 01:46:25,790
So we're very proud of him and we're real happy with his education and everything that's going on there.

1339
01:46:27,230 --> 01:46:37,730
We have a problem in that, back in February, our apartment flooded to the point where we had to find a new place to live.

1340
01:46:39,930 --> 01:46:44,890
And it wasn't an easy process to find a rental that was in the district.

1341
01:46:45,690 --> 01:46:51,150
We were able to find a place to live that was less than a mile away from Lila Davis,

1342
01:46:51,950 --> 01:46:56,030
which made it real easy to jet him to and from school.

1343
01:46:57,930 --> 01:47:03,250
But before we made a determined that that's where we would be,

1344
01:47:04,210 --> 01:47:10,950
I was very careful in going to the school and into the office and talking to them about the situation.

1345
01:47:11,930 --> 01:47:16,830
And I said, here we are. I'm not zoned where I'm at.

1346
01:47:17,310 --> 01:47:20,010
It's less than a mile from you but I'm not zoned here.

1347
01:47:20,010 --> 01:47:28,170
what do I do?" And this is in February. And they said, no worries. Go ahead and you

1348
01:47:28,170 --> 01:47:31,030
can be there. You're close enough, you're fine.

1349
01:47:33,050 --> 01:47:37,000
I signed a two-year lease, so it

1350
01:47:37,000 --> 01:47:44,140
really puts me in a real interesting predicament here. And, you know, breaking

1351
01:47:44,140 --> 01:47:49,200
a lease is, I don't think, a very easy thing to do. And I want to protect my

1352
01:47:49,200 --> 01:47:56,260
child more than anything because he's where he loves his school. He gets awarded all the

1353
01:47:56,260 --> 01:48:04,340
time when they have their pepper alleys and he's very proud to be there. And I would just

1354
01:48:04,340 --> 01:48:11,520
like any kind of help or any kind of advice from any of you that can tell me what I need

1355
01:48:11,520 --> 01:48:14,640
to do with this. That's it. Thank you.

1356
01:48:14,640 --> 01:48:21,360
Good. Thank you. Mr. Madden, would they meet with you or with Ms. Burns and give the name

1357
01:48:21,360 --> 01:48:27,800
and the information so they can check out and see what the reality of that situation is?

1358
01:48:27,940 --> 01:48:34,400
I'm glad you asked because I forgot one detail in my I steal. Ms. Burns has a lime green

1359
01:48:34,400 --> 01:48:40,260
form that that's a perfect instance where she wants to make sure that the family gets

1360
01:48:40,260 --> 01:48:46,340
that form to fill out student information and some of the things cited from the speaker.

1361
01:48:46,900 --> 01:48:51,640
And then we will take each one of those and work through those to see what I'm sure you're

1362
01:48:51,640 --> 01:48:56,120
starting to see some of the unique circumstances that different families will share with us

1363
01:48:56,120 --> 01:48:56,340
today.

1364
01:48:57,240 --> 01:49:01,780
And part of that is plugging in what these rules are to the circumstance they find it

1365
01:49:01,780 --> 01:49:05,380
and let them know, do you stay in that same school, do you go to this non-school

1366
01:49:05,380 --> 01:49:07,180
and give them actually answers.

1367
01:49:07,660 --> 01:49:10,220
of what the reality of their situation is.

1368
01:49:10,540 --> 01:49:10,760
Right.

1369
01:49:11,100 --> 01:49:11,340
Okay.

1370
01:49:11,660 --> 01:49:12,340
Thank you.

1371
01:49:12,800 --> 01:49:13,280
Good morning.

1372
01:49:13,460 --> 01:49:14,820
I appreciate Mr. Madden your presentation.

1373
01:49:15,140 --> 01:49:16,320
It's changed what I wanted to say.

1374
01:49:16,780 --> 01:49:21,300
I'm just going to say that in 2005 my wife and I bought our first home and even though

1375
01:49:21,300 --> 01:49:23,660
we're not college professors, we actually did our due diligence.

1376
01:49:23,900 --> 01:49:25,040
We called this organization.

1377
01:49:25,280 --> 01:49:28,240
We were told don't worry about it, you can send your daughter where you want.

1378
01:49:28,760 --> 01:49:34,400
She's been in safety harbor elementary doing very well and we are now, thanks to the

1379
01:49:34,400 --> 01:49:38,300
banks and Wall Street way underwater. I don't have the option to move because I

1380
01:49:38,300 --> 01:49:41,640
wouldn't have in a minute if I could to keep her in that zone. So I hope you will

1381
01:49:41,640 --> 01:49:45,480
consider that moving forward. Seeing as I have a little bit of time left, I'll just

1382
01:49:45,480 --> 01:49:48,360
say that I think Robert Kalach is one of the finest principles I've ever been around

1383
01:49:48,360 --> 01:49:53,520
in my life. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm sure he appreciates it as well. Thank

1384
01:49:53,520 --> 01:49:58,500
you. Yes, next two speakers are Arlene Andrea and Jennifer Mockreef.

1385
01:49:58,500 --> 01:50:00,040
on Creek. Hello

1386
01:50:06,380 --> 01:50:08,740
and thank you for giving me time to speak to you all this

1387
01:50:08,740 --> 01:50:14,800
morning. I want to tell you all that I moved here from New York City six years

1388
01:50:14,800 --> 01:50:20,760
ago with a two-year-old and a three-year-old and I did my due diligence.

1389
01:50:21,020 --> 01:50:25,340
I bought a little home close to a fabulous school with a wonderful faculty.

1390
01:50:26,380 --> 01:50:32,100
I went to the school way before they were even school-aged. Upon entering

1391
01:50:32,100 --> 01:50:40,420
kindergarten. My son started to develop involuntary eye movements and facial

1392
01:50:40,420 --> 01:50:48,220
ticks. He started to not want to go to school and that was unlike him. So with

1393
01:50:48,220 --> 01:50:55,180
my sister's encouragement, I moved and I started taking to Brooker Creek

1394
01:50:55,180 --> 01:51:01,260
Elementary, which has been a wonderful school for both of my children and they

1395
01:51:01,260 --> 01:51:07,840
both continue to thrive there. I want to congratulate all you girls because I think it's just such

1396
01:51:07,840 --> 01:51:14,760
a great environment for my kids. Not saying that the other school was not, but there are

1397
01:51:14,760 --> 01:51:20,360
different circumstances. He was a victim of bullying and I had to remove him from that

1398
01:51:20,360 --> 01:51:27,680
situation so that at four or five years old, he's not affected his whole life by something

1399
01:51:27,680 --> 01:51:39,260
negative happening in kindergarten. So that being said, and I'm also really happy that

1400
01:51:39,260 --> 01:51:45,020
Mr. Madden said that you can do everything you can to consider that these children stay

1401
01:51:45,020 --> 01:51:53,100
in the schools. But in doing research, because there is a possibility of them being removed

1402
01:51:53,100 --> 01:52:01,780
from their school. And we understand that changes have to be made. But what I don't understand

1403
01:52:02,330 --> 01:52:08,880
is why some have to be made midstream at such a critical time in the children's education

1404
01:52:08,880 --> 01:52:09,480
process.

1405
01:52:11,520 --> 01:52:16,120
Many of us, had we been aware of the possibility that a child could be kicked

1406
01:52:16,120 --> 01:52:21,440
out of their school, we would not have placed them there in the first place. As partners

1407
01:52:21,440 --> 01:52:26,360
parents in our children's education. We are supposed to be dedicated to their success,

1408
01:52:27,260 --> 01:52:33,380
but I believe ejecting them from their school, which is their second home, and displacing

1409
01:52:33,380 --> 01:52:38,480
them from where their friends and peers are, and from their comfortable and familiar learning

1410
01:52:38,480 --> 01:52:40,620
environment could greatly hinder that success.

1411
01:52:42,130 --> 01:52:46,780
These are some of the statistics that I found in my research. The National Institute

1412
01:52:46,780 --> 01:52:49,060
to it for trauma and loss in children,

1413
01:52:49,240 --> 01:52:51,500
recognizes that transferring from one school

1414
01:52:51,500 --> 01:52:55,300
to another negatively affects the child socially,

1415
01:52:55,880 --> 01:52:57,500
emotionally, and academically.

1416
01:52:57,640 --> 01:53:00,260
You can have a negative consequence in learning overall.

1417
01:53:02,060 --> 01:53:05,300
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

1418
01:53:05,300 --> 01:53:07,620
claims that changing schools may be one

1419
01:53:07,620 --> 01:53:11,560
of the most stressful experiences a child faces.

1420
01:53:12,020 --> 01:53:12,560
Thank you.

1421
01:53:13,240 --> 01:53:14,860
Ms. Cook, time is up, I'm sorry.

1422
01:53:15,960 --> 01:53:16,360
Yes.

1423
01:53:16,620 --> 01:53:18,500
Ms. Daniel, check your e-mail from this morning.

1424
01:53:18,660 --> 01:53:20,740
I think you don't know if your question was answered.

1425
01:53:20,900 --> 01:53:23,720
If the policy goes through as it's being proposed, you're okay.

1426
01:53:24,820 --> 01:53:25,920
Check your e-mail from this morning.

1427
01:53:26,040 --> 01:53:26,540
You probably haven't looked.

1428
01:53:30,900 --> 01:53:31,080
Good morning.

1429
01:53:31,560 --> 01:53:31,800
Hi.

1430
01:53:32,020 --> 01:53:33,000
My name is Jenny Monkry.

1431
01:53:33,340 --> 01:53:35,460
I am the PTA president of Ozona Elementary.

1432
01:53:36,060 --> 01:53:38,900
I'm also a resident of Country Woods that is being rezoned.

1433
01:53:39,380 --> 01:53:40,420
And on top of that, I'm a child.

1434
01:53:40,640 --> 01:53:44,740
I'm a parent of two children who are going to be greatly affected by this.

1435
01:53:46,200 --> 01:53:51,140
I feel that my neighborhood is always targeted, and that's the one thing I can say.

1436
01:53:51,240 --> 01:53:56,960
My son started elementary school in 2008, and he's currently a third grader.

1437
01:53:57,640 --> 01:54:03,360
And I know Mr. Madness said the third graders tend to be the ones right now where the problem

1438
01:54:03,360 --> 01:54:08,840
is because some were grandfathered, some were there because they were zoned, and there

1439
01:54:08,840 --> 01:54:11,720
really weren't that many open enrollments, I don't think, in that grade.

1440
01:54:12,560 --> 01:54:18,440
My son went to Ozona because of a medical exception instead of San Jose, but the rest

1441
01:54:18,440 --> 01:54:20,200
of my neighborhood all went to San Jose.

1442
01:54:20,860 --> 01:54:26,100
Then the following year my daughter started kindergarten and we rezoned Ozona because

1443
01:54:26,100 --> 01:54:27,300
you changed us again.

1444
01:54:27,780 --> 01:54:29,840
In 2008, we rezoned San Jose.

1445
01:54:30,200 --> 01:54:34,320
In 2009, you zoned us to Ozona and my daughter started there.

1446
01:54:34,640 --> 01:54:38,080
We didn't have to apply for an open enrollment because you zoned us there.

1447
01:54:38,080 --> 01:54:43,420
So my child will not be an exception under the open enrollment plan,

1448
01:54:43,420 --> 01:54:46,560
because we didn't have that opportunity because we were zoned to that school.

1449
01:54:47,080 --> 01:54:53,040
Next, now they're saying take those kids who in third grade were at San Jose,

1450
01:54:53,560 --> 01:54:57,340
moved to Ozona to be with a sibling, and now let's send them back to San Jose.

1451
01:54:58,340 --> 01:55:00,860
It's just there is no stability for our neighborhood.

1452
01:55:01,580 --> 01:55:05,080
We've also changed on the middle and high school level in the last few years,

1453
01:55:05,080 --> 01:55:06,660
and we're always moving.

1454
01:55:08,560 --> 01:55:13,620
One thing I did want to say is that we are only one-and-a-half miles, if not less, for

1455
01:55:13,620 --> 01:55:16,480
some people in Waterford to Garrison Jones Elementary.

1456
01:55:17,040 --> 01:55:23,980
We are less than two miles to Ozone Elementary, and we are 3.7 to San Jose, requiring bussings.

1457
01:55:24,600 --> 01:55:25,500
And that is a problem.

1458
01:55:25,740 --> 01:55:32,820
We are going to bus people to a school when we have two schools to choose from that

1459
01:55:32,820 --> 01:55:33,660
are under two miles.

1460
01:55:33,660 --> 01:55:37,940
And on top of that, one thing that was put in the paper is that there are three portables

1461
01:55:37,940 --> 01:55:40,600
at San Jose, and there are seven at Ozona.

1462
01:55:41,400 --> 01:55:48,160
By taking their, Mr. Madden's email, it says that there are 72 students that could be affected.

1463
01:55:48,680 --> 01:55:55,380
Of that, registered at Ozona, there were only 42 who are currently in K-3rd who could

1464
01:55:55,380 --> 01:55:56,140
be affected.

1465
01:55:56,340 --> 01:55:59,680
And of that 72, I'm sure, are people who also fall into magnets and fundamentals

1466
01:55:59,680 --> 01:56:06,240
all those in private schools who could potentially come into the zone of those 42, some of those

1467
01:56:06,240 --> 01:56:12,640
were grandfathers because they were the own San Jose, I think there's 18, or I'm sorry,

1468
01:56:12,760 --> 01:56:17,960
15 third graders right now. Some of those are grandfathered children. So will they get

1469
01:56:17,960 --> 01:56:22,440
to stay or will they not? And for me, my children, I have one who went through a medical

1470
01:56:22,440 --> 01:56:26,800
exemption to get there, and the other one is zoned, so what happens to my children?

1471
01:56:26,800 --> 01:56:31,440
children. I can't separate them. I mean, that shouldn't have to be. I think that all children

1472
01:56:31,440 --> 01:56:35,700
who are currently zoned at a school should be able to stay there. Like you promised

1473
01:56:35,700 --> 01:56:39,180
until the end of the day reaching the top of that grade.

1474
01:56:41,380 --> 01:56:49,140
Next two speakers, Eric Keaton and Ken, Ken, Ken Cader. Excuse me.

1475
01:56:51,080 --> 01:56:51,420
Good morning.

1476
01:56:51,720 --> 01:56:55,080
I'm Eric Keaton and you nailed it. Good morning, members of the board. My name

1477
01:56:55,080 --> 01:57:02,480
Ms. Eric Keaton. My kid goes to Ozona Elementary School. I live at 11 Eagle Lane in Gulf

1478
01:57:02,480 --> 01:57:08,260
U.S. states. We've been there for less than a year. We were zoned Palm Harbor Elementary

1479
01:57:08,260 --> 01:57:13,460
and I understand that due to budget constraints, that school had to be closed. And it was

1480
01:57:13,460 --> 01:57:18,340
only a mile and a half from our former residence. We then moved, after we were

1481
01:57:18,340 --> 01:57:23,380
going to Ozona, then moved closer to Ozona Elementary School, which is less

1482
01:57:23,380 --> 01:57:24,120
than two miles.

1483
01:57:24,420 --> 01:57:28,020
We're fortunate that my son can occasionally take the trail with his bicycle.

1484
01:57:28,780 --> 01:57:33,840
My daughter will be attending Ozona Elementary School, and we've been very much engaged in

1485
01:57:33,840 --> 01:57:34,380
that process.

1486
01:57:34,640 --> 01:57:41,920
When I say engaged, we go to all pro-dads, we go to the holiday festival, sometimes teach

1487
01:57:41,920 --> 01:57:46,100
the kids for a great American teaching, we coach them for Little League.

1488
01:57:46,720 --> 01:57:51,600
So say that I'm an engaged parent would be above and beyond for both my life.

1489
01:57:51,600 --> 01:57:55,160
There's times where she's taken the forms from the teachers

1490
01:57:55,160 --> 01:57:59,580
and she's taken those big math books that are like this thick and this big

1491
01:57:59,580 --> 01:58:02,760
and she's been able to make them appropriate for the kids.

1492
01:58:03,860 --> 01:58:07,700
And looking back at the student assignment process, I went to your website

1493
01:58:07,700 --> 01:58:10,840
and I appreciate the information that you have there.

1494
01:58:11,080 --> 01:58:15,960
However, the one thing that I was looking for was our student assignment since 2001.

1495
01:58:16,480 --> 01:58:19,860
That link has not been working. And the reason I wanted to look at that

1496
01:58:19,860 --> 01:58:25,080
is because I felt that there's been continued tinkering with our neighborhood

1497
01:58:25,080 --> 01:58:30,040
and the adjacent neighborhoods affected by this rezoning or overcrowding issue

1498
01:58:30,040 --> 01:58:32,760
that the board and the school board says we have.

1499
01:58:33,340 --> 01:58:37,340
I wanted to find out if another two years down the road this was going to happen again.

1500
01:58:39,120 --> 01:58:41,080
As I said, we're all engaged families,

1501
01:58:41,380 --> 01:58:46,680
and earlier you mentioned the proclamation by the governor talking about having high expectations.

1502
01:58:46,680 --> 01:58:48,900
A zone elementary is an A school.

1503
01:58:49,400 --> 01:58:52,920
I have high expectations for my kids that they're to earn A's.

1504
01:58:53,200 --> 01:58:55,920
Why would I want to take them out of an A school?

1505
01:58:56,220 --> 01:58:58,460
It should be my choice where they go to school.

1506
01:58:59,000 --> 01:59:00,260
We pay the property taxes.

1507
01:59:00,900 --> 01:59:02,820
We elect you to make the right decision.

1508
01:59:03,020 --> 01:59:04,760
So I'm asking you to make the right decision

1509
01:59:04,760 --> 01:59:08,720
and take North Curlew and Palm Harbor off of 5120.

1510
01:59:09,480 --> 01:59:11,800
If you can't do that because you've already made a motion

1511
01:59:11,800 --> 01:59:13,360
to hear the public hearing,

1512
01:59:13,360 --> 01:59:19,400
Please set the public hearing to a time certain 5 p.m. or 7 p.m. on December 6 when a majority

1513
01:59:19,400 --> 01:59:21,280
of parents and the public can be heard.

1514
01:59:21,460 --> 01:59:21,760
Thank you.

1515
01:59:24,090 --> 01:59:24,390
Thank you.

1516
01:59:26,970 --> 01:59:27,490
Okay.

1517
01:59:27,970 --> 01:59:32,670
I'm going to refer back to the rules for a board meeting.

1518
01:59:33,230 --> 01:59:37,690
The applause is supposed to be just during the presentations where we had people come

1519
01:59:37,690 --> 01:59:39,530
up and we recognized them.

1520
01:59:40,230 --> 01:59:44,530
And it's been a little liberally enforced as we go on.

1521
01:59:44,930 --> 01:59:48,070
But if we can, for the efficiency of the meeting, you can give a thumbs up.

1522
01:59:48,170 --> 01:59:49,370
You can wave your hands in agreement.

1523
01:59:49,610 --> 01:59:50,950
You can give them a, you know, whatever.

1524
01:59:51,850 --> 01:59:55,070
No obscene gestures, but any kind of other gestures would be fine.

1525
01:59:55,490 --> 01:59:59,410
So if we could stick with that, I'm going to, from this point forward, enforce it.

1526
01:59:59,510 --> 01:59:59,870
Thank you.

1527
02:00:06,390 --> 02:00:12,610
I'm a little Davis father. I can go on on how my wife, the stuff she does for the school,

1528
02:00:12,670 --> 02:00:19,030
but we don't have enough time for that. I'm just reading a few things from where you guys

1529
02:00:19,030 --> 02:00:22,810
wrote designate schools for each student and the district term by consideration and weighing

1530
02:00:22,810 --> 02:00:26,930
of factors, including without limitation, proximity, keeping underlying neighborhood

1531
02:00:26,930 --> 02:00:34,350
together. We're separated from North City Park. We're at the little Bermuda Triangle up in the upper

1532
02:00:34,350 --> 02:00:41,130
harbor there where I've counted about approximately 38 streets that are affected. We happen to be one of

1533
02:00:41,130 --> 02:00:47,970
them and we are separated by North City Park with the new boundary line. We are just as close to

1534
02:00:47,970 --> 02:00:54,870
to Laila as we are to Safety Harbor Elementary. Again, I'm one of those

1535
02:00:54,870 --> 02:00:59,050
families that moved to the area just to be the zone for Laila.

1536
02:01:01,870 --> 02:01:02,810
As far as getting

1537
02:01:02,810 --> 02:01:08,890
grandfathered in, I don't know why that would not happen. The other thing is I

1538
02:01:11,060 --> 02:01:17,780
know the demographics are probably just set with the computer. I don't know

1539
02:01:17,780 --> 02:01:27,100
If there's any human factors or human common sense put together that where they actually look at it or if it's just the computer just sets it.

1540
02:01:28,720 --> 02:01:33,960
But just looking at that, you can see the seat balance in the schools and with our school alone.

1541
02:01:34,080 --> 02:01:37,520
And I feel sorry for some of these other schools. They have one one person affected.

1542
02:01:37,660 --> 02:01:40,860
It's all grass to lunch from first grade to second. That's ludicrous.

1543
02:01:40,860 --> 02:01:46,720
but with our school alone with about 49 kids being affected next year,

1544
02:01:47,800 --> 02:01:51,900
you're looking at less than two kids per class to be able to put into that.

1545
02:01:52,020 --> 02:01:54,420
I don't know if that seat balance is that sensitive or not,

1546
02:01:54,740 --> 02:01:57,560
but you're looking at less than two kids per class

1547
02:01:57,560 --> 02:02:02,720
and the effectiveness that it would take on these children to actually move

1548
02:02:02,720 --> 02:02:05,900
since we put them in a certain area for a reason.

1549
02:02:07,480 --> 02:02:12,820
I would recommend maybe an intent to remain addendum if you guys could possibly put that

1550
02:02:12,820 --> 02:02:13,580
into the system.

1551
02:02:14,080 --> 02:02:19,780
I know you're going to try to work on a one-on-one basis, but maybe just a general, you know,

1552
02:02:21,140 --> 02:02:25,900
intense remain clause in the system that we can try to keep our kids within, especially

1553
02:02:25,900 --> 02:02:30,620
with the minimal amount of children in a couple of these that I'm looking at right

1554
02:02:30,620 --> 02:02:32,280
here and we happen to be one of them.

1555
02:02:32,280 --> 02:02:37,380
So I would recommend that and I appreciate all the help you can do for us. Thank you.

1556
02:02:37,460 --> 02:02:37,900
Thank you.

1557
02:02:39,180 --> 02:02:42,940
Next two speakers, Mindy Rubio and Michelle Gallagher.

1558
02:02:51,130 --> 02:03:01,010
Thank you for allowing me to speak about the proposed school district rezoning area on 125th Street north of 94th Avenue in Seminole, Florida.

1559
02:03:01,010 --> 02:03:02,690
My name is Mindy Rogillo.

1560
02:03:03,210 --> 02:03:06,190
I reside in the area just inside the proposed new area

1561
02:03:06,190 --> 02:03:11,950
of rezoning on 125th 9605 125th Avenue for the past five years.

1562
02:03:12,590 --> 02:03:15,390
I'm the mother of two boys attending Seminole High School

1563
02:03:15,390 --> 02:03:16,330
and Bouter Elementary.

1564
02:03:17,090 --> 02:03:19,230
I own a real estate company in Seminole.

1565
02:03:19,710 --> 02:03:21,830
I'm the president of the Rotary Club of Seminole

1566
02:03:21,830 --> 02:03:23,730
and a member of Seminole Chamber of Commerce.

1567
02:03:24,410 --> 02:03:27,770
Currently, we are 7 tenths of a mile from Bouter Elementary

1568
02:03:27,770 --> 02:03:30,350
and my son rides his bike with a group of his friends

1569
02:03:30,350 --> 02:03:32,630
in the neighborhood to school each day.

1570
02:03:33,470 --> 02:03:35,850
With this proposed change, my seven-year-old son

1571
02:03:35,850 --> 02:03:39,690
would have to be bussed to a school 1.7 miles from my home

1572
02:03:40,180 --> 02:03:41,630
to a school in Largo, Florida.

1573
02:03:42,530 --> 02:03:44,330
Not even the city in which I reside.

1574
02:03:44,970 --> 02:03:47,790
It makes no sense to uproot his entire life

1575
02:03:47,790 --> 02:03:50,330
and force him to reestablish at this young age.

1576
02:03:50,790 --> 02:03:52,530
He has grown up with all of his friends

1577
02:03:52,530 --> 02:03:55,830
since attending Oakhurst Learning Center at two years old.

1578
02:03:56,770 --> 02:03:59,050
Additionally, you well know school zones

1579
02:03:59,050 --> 02:04:03,710
zones affect property values and we don't need anything affecting them in an adverse

1580
02:04:03,710 --> 02:04:04,870
manner at this time.

1581
02:04:06,010 --> 02:04:11,010
The rezone affects some of the most expensive single family residences in Seminole and speaking

1582
02:04:11,010 --> 02:04:18,310
of WinTree Oak subdivision and Franca States which have a taxable value of just shy of

1583
02:04:18,310 --> 02:04:18,870
$30 million.

1584
02:04:20,090 --> 02:04:23,590
My request is simple and made with great respect to the school board.

1585
02:04:23,590 --> 02:04:28,950
I would like to ask you consider to allow elementary students, regardless of grade,

1586
02:04:29,490 --> 02:04:35,250
if they started their education in kindergarten to remain at their current elementary school.

1587
02:04:36,610 --> 02:04:41,690
I believe that the community of Seminole is my home.

1588
02:04:42,310 --> 02:04:47,390
It's where I've decided to raise my children, volunteer my time, make my living,

1589
02:04:47,810 --> 02:04:52,610
and I feel like it only makes sense that my child go to school in Seminole.

1590
02:04:52,610 --> 02:04:53,250
Thank you.

1591
02:04:54,110 --> 02:04:54,790
Thank you.

1592
02:04:57,540 --> 02:04:58,320
Good afternoon.

1593
02:04:59,160 --> 02:04:59,620
Hello.

1594
02:04:59,900 --> 02:05:00,900
My name is Nichelle Gallagher.

1595
02:05:01,060 --> 02:05:03,860
I have two boys that attend Leva Davis Elementary.

1596
02:05:04,900 --> 02:05:09,160
My oldest, Ryan, is in fourth grade and my youngest, Colin, is in second grade.

1597
02:05:09,720 --> 02:05:10,820
They were new to the school.

1598
02:05:11,020 --> 02:05:14,980
As of last year, we just transferred them from a private school, so they just adjusted

1599
02:05:14,980 --> 02:05:16,020
and transitioned fully.

1600
02:05:16,980 --> 02:05:21,980
And now the proposal will have to move my second grader.

1601
02:05:21,980 --> 02:05:24,680
My understanding is that my fourth grader may remain

1602
02:05:24,680 --> 02:05:26,360
because he would complete his last year

1603
02:05:26,940 --> 02:05:28,180
at his elementary school.

1604
02:05:28,620 --> 02:05:32,000
Therefore, my two boys would be going to different schools.

1605
02:05:32,920 --> 02:05:34,680
I believe that would be sibling hardship.

1606
02:05:35,040 --> 02:05:37,180
Both schools, St. George Elementary and Davis,

1607
02:05:37,380 --> 02:05:38,860
start at the exact same time.

1608
02:05:40,920 --> 02:05:42,660
I'm sure all of you have stepped through car lines

1609
02:05:42,660 --> 02:05:43,220
in the past.

1610
02:05:43,440 --> 02:05:46,200
It is impossible to do both of them at the same time.

1611
02:05:46,860 --> 02:05:49,180
I understand, obviously, there's the emotional distress

1612
02:05:49,180 --> 02:05:53,480
of obviously keeping families, you know, having families separated and that sort of thing,

1613
02:05:53,520 --> 02:05:59,220
but I would hope that the board would consider that if they allow the fourth graders to stay,

1614
02:05:59,380 --> 02:06:04,220
which I think is a valid, valid point, that their siblings that are currently attending

1615
02:06:04,220 --> 02:06:09,040
the school be able to stay and complete their elementary education as well.

1616
02:06:10,780 --> 02:06:16,840
Of course, my, my, my hope would be that our little area, our triangle as we call

1617
02:06:16,840 --> 02:06:21,580
it that has been proposed to be rezoned, the 49 children, which is one of the smaller

1618
02:06:22,140 --> 02:06:28,620
of the areas, what that would be taken off the rezoning at this point, because as some

1619
02:06:28,620 --> 02:06:34,260
of the other parents have mentioned, the two kids per grade is probably not at this

1620
02:06:34,260 --> 02:06:40,960
point going to be the amount of kids that are going to affect the negative transition

1621
02:06:40,960 --> 02:06:45,360
that these kids are going to have to go through with pulling my boys, for example, after

1622
02:06:45,360 --> 02:06:47,580
are only being at a school for one year and changing again.

1623
02:06:48,360 --> 02:06:50,280
But if that is not on the table,

1624
02:06:50,420 --> 02:06:52,340
then I would hope that you would be able to keep

1625
02:06:52,340 --> 02:06:56,340
the current siblings of the upcoming fifth graders,

1626
02:06:56,700 --> 02:06:58,060
allow those kids to complete

1627
02:06:58,060 --> 02:06:59,900
their elementary school education as well

1628
02:06:59,900 --> 02:07:00,660
from where they started.

1629
02:07:00,960 --> 02:07:01,220
Thank you.

1630
02:07:01,820 --> 02:07:02,320
Thank you.

1631
02:07:03,320 --> 02:07:05,820
Next two speakers, Mark Allen and Michelle Fox

1632
02:07:05,820 --> 02:07:08,920
and Mark, or Mark Hill,

1633
02:07:09,140 --> 02:07:10,960
I'm probably not pronouncing it correctly.

1634
02:07:13,070 --> 02:07:14,090
And Michelle Fox.

1635
02:07:19,200 --> 02:07:19,660
Good afternoon.

1636
02:07:19,840 --> 02:07:20,620
Sorry, what was that?

1637
02:07:20,620 --> 02:07:24,120
Algin. Mark Hill Allen or Algin?

1638
02:07:24,580 --> 02:07:27,580
There's Mark Algin. That would be you.

1639
02:07:28,390 --> 02:07:31,520
Well, it is now. Well, it is your handwriting.

1640
02:07:33,280 --> 02:07:37,000
Oh, it's set. Okay, mark.jil. We got it.

1641
02:07:37,320 --> 02:07:39,340
There we go. Yes.

1642
02:07:40,340 --> 02:07:43,780
Like many of the speakers before us, we share a lot of the same concerns.

1643
02:07:44,560 --> 02:07:48,700
Our children, we have three children, fifth grade,

1644
02:07:48,700 --> 02:07:57,800
Third and second, we are up in the Curlew-Ozona area, like Jenny Monkreef.

1645
02:07:58,500 --> 02:08:04,660
Our neighborhood, Waterford Crossing, has been on the crosshairs ever since I can remember.

1646
02:08:05,380 --> 02:08:08,320
Every year it's the same thing.

1647
02:08:10,280 --> 02:08:16,860
Our concerns are really basically uprooting our children from a place where they spend

1648
02:08:16,860 --> 02:08:23,360
the majority of their time during the school year and just, you know, breaking that family

1649
02:08:24,120 --> 02:08:27,620
that we feel that we have at the current school that we're at, Ozona.

1650
02:08:29,900 --> 02:08:30,940
Yes, all three kids

1651
02:08:30,940 --> 02:08:37,760
have started there since kindergarten. You know, I'd also like to mention my wife has

1652
02:08:38,580 --> 02:08:44,460
donated a tremendous amount of her time in terms of volunteer work. I've done teach-in,

1653
02:08:44,460 --> 02:08:46,120
We are involved parents.

1654
02:08:49,200 --> 02:08:56,740
We've also donated either through direct giving or supporting the PTA of the functions, fund

1655
02:08:56,740 --> 02:09:07,920
raisers, as well as donations like TVs, computer equipment, printer paper, ink, things like

1656
02:09:07,920 --> 02:09:08,720
that over the years.

1657
02:09:10,280 --> 02:09:19,400
And the gut feel I have from something like that is, you know, it's been taken and to transfer

1658
02:09:19,400 --> 02:09:21,160
our kids into another school.

1659
02:09:21,820 --> 02:09:27,180
Now I feel like I've left those things that we have given to the school that we've been

1660
02:09:27,180 --> 02:09:31,360
at and we have to leave those.

1661
02:09:32,340 --> 02:09:38,660
So really I would just urge the board to consider grandfathering the kids into the

1662
02:09:38,660 --> 02:09:44,440
schools that they're in. I understand that you're trying to cut costs. I do I do

1663
02:09:44,440 --> 02:09:48,480
want to address the fact that the number of students affected by this change in

1664
02:09:48,480 --> 02:09:56,100
our particular areas roughly 42 which you know across all the grades is not

1665
02:09:56,100 --> 02:10:00,600
going to make any sort of impact whatsoever other than uprooting the

1666
02:10:00,600 --> 02:10:05,380
kids, upsetting them, giving them adjustment periods. All the arguments

1667
02:10:05,380 --> 02:10:06,400
that you've heard already.

1668
02:10:06,680 --> 02:10:10,100
I think I also mentioned that Arizona is two miles away

1669
02:10:10,100 --> 02:10:13,160
versus San Jose, which is 3.6 miles.

1670
02:10:14,200 --> 02:10:18,000
So we're just going to upward our kids from school as two miles

1671
02:10:18,000 --> 02:10:20,980
and double the distance between different schools.

1672
02:10:22,100 --> 02:10:25,800
So we again appreciate the time to present our thoughts

1673
02:10:25,800 --> 02:10:26,980
and hope you consider.

1674
02:10:27,320 --> 02:10:27,660
Thank you.

1675
02:10:28,420 --> 02:10:29,320
Thank you.

1676
02:10:31,560 --> 02:10:32,300
Good morning.

1677
02:10:32,620 --> 02:10:33,380
Good afternoon.

1678
02:10:33,960 --> 02:10:34,520
Good afternoon.

1679
02:10:35,000 --> 02:10:36,060
My name is Michelle Fox,

1680
02:10:36,060 --> 02:10:39,580
and I'm actually the PTA president at O'Courst Elementary.

1681
02:10:40,240 --> 02:10:41,780
I have a third grader and a fifth grader,

1682
02:10:41,880 --> 02:10:44,100
and I understand my fifth grader will not be affected,

1683
02:10:44,600 --> 02:10:47,580
and I do appreciate I have been e-mailing Mr. Madden,

1684
02:10:47,660 --> 02:10:50,280
and I don't think he sleeps because the times of the e-mails

1685
02:10:50,280 --> 02:10:52,380
that I get are very bizarre.

1686
02:10:53,580 --> 02:10:55,520
Anyway, I'm confused.

1687
02:10:55,740 --> 02:10:57,720
I have an individual basis, of course,

1688
02:10:57,840 --> 02:11:01,000
because I'm not sure where my third grader falls under.

1689
02:11:01,180 --> 02:11:03,120
I don't know if he's grandfathered.

1690
02:11:03,160 --> 02:11:04,880
He got in under the sibling preference,

1691
02:11:05,340 --> 02:11:06,660
So we didn't have to apply.

1692
02:11:07,340 --> 02:11:10,740
I believe we just stated we would continue to give transportation.

1693
02:11:12,440 --> 02:11:14,440
So I am confused where he stands.

1694
02:11:15,060 --> 02:11:17,620
My husband and I bought a house about a year ago,

1695
02:11:17,620 --> 02:11:19,880
and I didn't even look at zoning for elementary

1696
02:11:19,880 --> 02:11:22,700
because I thought for sure, you know, we've been there four years.

1697
02:11:22,900 --> 02:11:23,760
I'm sure we're fine.

1698
02:11:24,220 --> 02:11:26,120
And then when I read in the St. Pete Times,

1699
02:11:26,760 --> 02:11:29,120
the article that was on the front page of my heart just sank.

1700
02:11:29,220 --> 02:11:30,100
I was like, are you kidding me?

1701
02:11:30,180 --> 02:11:31,380
For the first year I felt safe,

1702
02:11:31,380 --> 02:11:33,660
And now I don't know what to think.

1703
02:11:35,160 --> 02:11:38,940
We have spent hours and hours as active parents.

1704
02:11:39,140 --> 02:11:42,820
We have such a close knit school, national school character.

1705
02:11:43,580 --> 02:11:46,080
We have over 10 parents that came to the meeting today.

1706
02:11:46,660 --> 02:11:49,160
And for us to have to leave the community

1707
02:11:49,160 --> 02:11:51,340
that I felt like we've become a part of,

1708
02:11:51,420 --> 02:11:53,240
I think would just be horrible.

1709
02:11:53,420 --> 02:11:55,860
My kids don't know any other way than the Mustang way.

1710
02:11:56,160 --> 02:11:58,560
And I don't want to have to introduce them

1711
02:11:58,560 --> 02:11:59,280
to something else.

1712
02:11:59,280 --> 02:12:00,680
So, thank you so much.

1713
02:12:01,300 --> 02:12:01,980
Thank you.

1714
02:12:03,480 --> 02:12:07,300
Next two speakers, Erica Thomsberry and Rosemary Vieira.

1715
02:12:09,020 --> 02:12:14,220
She had to, okay, then after Rosemary would be Phillip Allard.

1716
02:12:16,330 --> 02:12:17,090
Good afternoon.

1717
02:12:18,270 --> 02:12:19,830
My name is Rosemary Vieira.

1718
02:12:20,630 --> 02:12:22,810
Some of the board members might actually remember me

1719
02:12:22,810 --> 02:12:25,350
because I stood here when you closed Palm Harbor Elementary.

1720
02:12:26,170 --> 02:12:27,630
And the one thing I have for the parents

1721
02:12:27,630 --> 02:12:29,070
to take away from this is you think

1722
02:12:29,070 --> 02:12:30,030
you're gonna die from it?

1723
02:12:30,030 --> 02:12:30,710
You're not.

1724
02:12:31,390 --> 02:12:34,830
My kids and 134 other kids went to Ozona.

1725
02:12:36,230 --> 02:12:39,290
The principal did a fabulous job.

1726
02:12:39,590 --> 02:12:41,110
Two of the principals who were sitting here,

1727
02:12:41,150 --> 02:12:42,670
I said to them, talk to Carrie Puzo

1728
02:12:42,670 --> 02:12:45,510
because she did the best job of making sure

1729
02:12:45,510 --> 02:12:46,690
that our kids were welcome.

1730
02:12:49,320 --> 02:12:51,680
It's not ideal when my young,

1731
02:12:52,300 --> 02:12:54,260
this year sixth grade or when he was in fifth grade,

1732
02:12:54,420 --> 02:12:56,120
he wore his Palm Harbor T-shirt on Fridays.

1733
02:12:56,740 --> 02:12:58,740
He never really got over it,

1734
02:12:58,780 --> 02:13:00,840
but he went to school.

1735
02:13:00,840 --> 02:13:08,000
He did well. He's in a magnet. He's a happy little kid. He was happy when he was at Ozona.

1736
02:13:08,440 --> 02:13:11,940
He got along with the other kids. I mean, basically, that was his tiny little grudge.

1737
02:13:12,780 --> 02:13:15,740
His sister is in third grade. She's perfectly happy there.

1738
02:13:16,260 --> 02:13:19,600
She would be happy if, I mean, we live right on the edge of a zone.

1739
02:13:19,820 --> 02:13:22,820
So every so often I'm waiting for Mr. Madden to move us to southern one.

1740
02:13:23,480 --> 02:13:25,920
If they move, just seriously, I do.

1741
02:13:26,260 --> 02:13:28,140
I'm sure he gets, every so often he gets an email going,

1742
02:13:28,140 --> 02:13:34,020
I'm not moving but the truth of the matter is she's going into fourth grade if she had to move to Sutherland

1743
02:13:34,020 --> 02:13:37,600
She'd go because 17 children from Palm Harbor went to Sutherland

1744
02:13:37,600 --> 02:13:42,860
They were not treated in the stellar way the carry of who's I've treated my children and I will tell you something

1745
02:13:43,440 --> 02:13:47,060
They found friends that they knew from sports. They found new kids

1746
02:13:47,060 --> 02:13:52,460
They found other people they get off the middle school bus and they walk down the street with the kids from their neighborhood

1747
02:13:53,040 --> 02:13:57,320
just like they would if they went to Palm Harbor or if they went to Ozona you

1748
02:13:57,320 --> 02:14:01,100
will not die from this it's worse for you I will tell you that as a parent it is

1749
02:14:01,100 --> 02:14:05,780
much much worse for you than it is for them because they get up and they go look

1750
02:14:05,780 --> 02:14:09,660
and your school and oh look I know so-and-so and even if it's only two

1751
02:14:09,660 --> 02:14:14,140
kids in their grade they know so-and-so and that's all they care about and you

1752
02:14:14,140 --> 02:14:17,840
will manage and it's very tough it's a tough decision for the board to make

1753
02:14:17,840 --> 02:14:21,220
and I'm glad I don't have to make it and I'm sure you get a million

1754
02:14:21,220 --> 02:14:24,540
in emails, but in some cases you have to make those decisions.

1755
02:14:25,120 --> 02:14:29,060
That said, I really feel bad for the people from Country Woods because they just keep getting bounced all over.

1756
02:14:29,240 --> 02:14:34,520
So if you do this, don't do it to them again because it's really, really not fair.

1757
02:14:35,440 --> 02:14:36,620
And that's all I have to say.

1758
02:14:37,140 --> 02:14:37,580
Thank you.

1759
02:14:40,050 --> 02:14:40,490
Good afternoon.

1760
02:14:42,610 --> 02:14:48,850
My name is Philip Allred. My son this year just started kindergarten at O'Curt and he

1761
02:14:48,850 --> 02:14:54,430
got into the open enrollment and we were ecstatic because we were worried about where we would

1762
02:14:54,430 --> 02:14:58,730
place him and where we could find an environment that he would foster and.

1763
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:04,200
And we think Oakhurst has really worked out well, not that any other school wouldn't have,

1764
02:15:04,620 --> 02:15:10,340
but he's already integrated into that school. He knows the teachers, he's made friends,

1765
02:15:10,480 --> 02:15:16,460
he's bonded with the environment, the culture, and enjoys looking forward to going to school.

1766
02:15:16,600 --> 02:15:22,640
On the weekends, he talks about what he plans to do the next week. My concerns if he gets

1767
02:15:22,640 --> 02:15:28,260
moved out of that school because of a policy change that he will no longer enjoy going to

1768
02:15:28,260 --> 02:15:35,840
school, he will start over. And in the first few years of school, this is a critical time

1769
02:15:35,840 --> 02:15:39,940
where he gets to decide whether or not he likes school or not. And we were worried he

1770
02:15:39,940 --> 02:15:45,420
would not like school, but he loves it. So I'm not going to go into the emotional aspects

1771
02:15:45,420 --> 02:15:49,760
of it because I understand everyone has the emotional story. What I would like to

1772
02:15:49,760 --> 02:15:57,300
know is what is the motivation behind the policy change for this?

1773
02:15:58,180 --> 02:16:03,800
There's only 3,000, 3,500 students that would be affected.

1774
02:16:04,620 --> 02:16:07,540
And you already know the exact school that they're going to.

1775
02:16:08,180 --> 02:16:09,440
The parents have made a commitment.

1776
02:16:09,640 --> 02:16:11,320
They get their student there every day.

1777
02:16:11,920 --> 02:16:13,820
They went through the process to make sure

1778
02:16:13,820 --> 02:16:15,800
their child went to the school that they felt

1779
02:16:16,360 --> 02:16:19,100
fostered an environment that gave them the best education.

1780
02:16:20,220 --> 02:16:26,080
And so I don't understand why those children should be ripped from those schools

1781
02:16:27,040 --> 02:16:31,820
when the parents, the families, the schools have already made a commitment to their education.

1782
02:16:32,360 --> 02:16:34,340
Why should we break that promise now?

1783
02:16:35,100 --> 02:16:37,480
And I don't see why that's even on the table.

1784
02:16:38,200 --> 02:16:41,920
And I also don't understand the way the policy is written in 5120,

1785
02:16:42,680 --> 02:16:48,680
that it is on the onus of the family to constantly come up and tell you that they

1786
02:16:48,680 --> 02:16:52,700
want to go to that school. I understand there's a need for it, but the way the

1787
02:16:52,700 --> 02:16:57,840
policy is written it almost implies that there's loopholes ready to catch those

1788
02:16:57,840 --> 02:17:02,260
parents, to kick them out of those schools, that if there's not space

1789
02:17:02,260 --> 02:17:08,380
perhaps there would not be space for their child, that if they don't enroll

1790
02:17:08,380 --> 02:17:13,040
their student by January, their child wouldn't be eligible to go to that school.

1791
02:17:13,780 --> 02:17:19,660
I just want to know why there is a push to remove those 3,000 students who have already

1792
02:17:19,660 --> 02:17:27,980
integrated into a school out of a spot in a community that they've grown into for the

1793
02:17:27,980 --> 02:17:30,580
possibility of students that haven't even come in yet.

1794
02:17:31,220 --> 02:17:32,320
I don't understand it.

1795
02:17:32,540 --> 02:17:36,360
And I don't think it's in the interest of the children, the families, or the schools

1796
02:17:36,360 --> 02:17:37,100
that they're a part of.

1797
02:17:39,160 --> 02:17:40,420
Thank you.

1798
02:17:40,960 --> 02:17:41,560
Thank you.

1799
02:17:41,880 --> 02:17:46,420
Madam Chair, we have nine more speakers. Michelle Allred and Tabitha Kanell.

1800
02:17:47,260 --> 02:17:47,700
Connell.

1801
02:17:53,770 --> 02:17:54,190
Good afternoon.

1802
02:17:54,950 --> 02:17:55,230
Hello.

1803
02:17:57,150 --> 02:17:57,910
That's my husband.

1804
02:17:58,570 --> 02:18:00,610
And my son attends O'Cristell Elementary.

1805
02:18:02,490 --> 02:18:07,790
And being a mother of a child going into kindergarten, I was petrified for him.

1806
02:18:08,150 --> 02:18:09,570
And so I researched the schools.

1807
02:18:09,710 --> 02:18:11,910
I was also a teacher for 12 years in planning on some of these schools.

1808
02:18:11,910 --> 02:18:16,010
And I came to the conclusion that Oakhurst was the best placement for him.

1809
02:18:16,630 --> 02:18:19,970
And so we worried and worried and worried about getting him.

1810
02:18:20,050 --> 02:18:24,290
And then we started the open enrollment process in February and even tried to move into that area.

1811
02:18:24,590 --> 02:18:29,870
And we're still trying to move into that area and we're not able to find a house that works for us.

1812
02:18:30,710 --> 02:18:32,110
So it's been a long process.

1813
02:18:32,510 --> 02:18:37,810
So anyway, July 29th we were given the great news that he was going to be allowed to attend that school.

1814
02:18:37,810 --> 02:18:44,550
And so I was assured by the staff and student assignment and at the school that he could remain there through fifth grade

1815
02:18:45,430 --> 02:18:49,110
And so I finally was able to read this out of relief and now four months later

1816
02:18:49,110 --> 02:18:53,510
it seems that you all are changing the rules and that assurance is no longer there and

1817
02:18:54,350 --> 02:18:59,250
Had I known that I may have made other arrangements so that he's not attending a school in kindergarten

1818
02:18:59,250 --> 02:19:03,130
I'm then taken out of that school and having to get used to another school later

1819
02:19:03,590 --> 02:19:05,350
He does not do well with change

1820
02:19:05,810 --> 02:19:10,770
or new environments, but he was immediately comfortable and confident at this school.

1821
02:19:11,830 --> 02:19:14,430
He's extremely happy and loves to go to school every day.

1822
02:19:14,930 --> 02:19:19,470
So changing him now would cause him unfair distress, and it feels like you're saying

1823
02:19:19,470 --> 02:19:24,710
that he's not as important as a family who may or may not later move into that zone

1824
02:19:24,710 --> 02:19:28,890
and that he's not as important as a family who might have wanted to attend that school,

1825
02:19:28,970 --> 02:19:32,590
but wasn't able to because they didn't show up until August to sign him up for that.

1826
02:19:32,590 --> 02:19:35,290
and then they didn't get to get in, and now they're upset.

1827
02:19:35,750 --> 02:19:38,890
So I feel like what you're doing is forcing us and others

1828
02:19:38,890 --> 02:19:41,750
to pick up and move into that zone if we can,

1829
02:19:41,870 --> 02:19:43,010
which we haven't been able to do,

1830
02:19:43,350 --> 02:19:45,630
and that this place is an undue hardship

1831
02:19:45,630 --> 02:19:47,230
on sending those families.

1832
02:19:47,770 --> 02:19:49,450
And you're still gonna end up with overcrowding

1833
02:19:49,450 --> 02:19:51,390
because if those families really want their kids

1834
02:19:51,390 --> 02:19:53,550
to go to that school, they're gonna move into that zone,

1835
02:19:53,910 --> 02:19:55,390
and then they're going to be in zone

1836
02:19:55,390 --> 02:19:56,850
but they're still not gonna be a space available

1837
02:19:56,850 --> 02:19:58,030
for them, so then they're gonna have

1838
02:19:58,030 --> 02:19:58,750
to go somewhere else.

1839
02:19:58,930 --> 02:20:02,150
So even if we are able to move into that

1840
02:20:02,150 --> 02:20:04,810
in the summer, and then he has already lost his spot,

1841
02:20:04,910 --> 02:20:06,010
is he going to be guaranteed?

1842
02:20:06,430 --> 02:20:08,270
The way that's written, it doesn't seem that he will.

1843
02:20:08,790 --> 02:20:10,490
So I feel like it's irresponsible for you

1844
02:20:10,490 --> 02:20:12,470
to cause anxiety and frustration for families

1845
02:20:12,470 --> 02:20:14,570
year after year, having parents worried

1846
02:20:14,570 --> 02:20:16,330
that their children will be not allowed

1847
02:20:16,330 --> 02:20:18,110
to attend their current school every year.

1848
02:20:18,250 --> 02:20:20,110
If you've made a commitment, you should honor it.

1849
02:20:20,690 --> 02:20:22,950
And if you no longer want to have open enrollment

1850
02:20:22,950 --> 02:20:25,570
from this point on, that's completely understandable.

1851
02:20:25,970 --> 02:20:27,390
But I don't think that your decision

1852
02:20:27,390 --> 02:20:29,550
should be retroactive, and I don't think

1853
02:20:29,550 --> 02:20:30,790
that it should affect the students

1854
02:20:30,790 --> 02:20:32,670
that have already been put into a school

1855
02:20:32,670 --> 02:20:33,630
that they're comfortable in.

1856
02:20:34,010 --> 02:20:34,970
It's not fair to move them.

1857
02:20:35,610 --> 02:20:36,130
Thank you.

1858
02:20:36,490 --> 02:20:36,830
Thank you.

1859
02:20:38,250 --> 02:20:39,010
Good afternoon.

1860
02:20:40,230 --> 02:20:41,030
Good afternoon.

1861
02:20:41,510 --> 02:20:42,730
My name is Tabitha Kanell.

1862
02:20:43,210 --> 02:20:46,650
I am an Oakhurst parent, as well as a board member at Oakhurst

1863
02:20:46,650 --> 02:20:47,710
for the last eight years.

1864
02:20:48,370 --> 02:20:50,250
We bought a home in Seminole in 2003,

1865
02:20:50,370 --> 02:20:52,370
and I sit 0.9 miles from Bouter

1866
02:20:52,370 --> 02:20:53,910
and 0.9 miles from Oakhurst Elementary.

1867
02:20:54,750 --> 02:20:56,710
Bouter is my zone school, but through choice,

1868
02:20:56,790 --> 02:20:59,030
we choice my now sophomore into Oakhurst Elementary.

1869
02:20:59,030 --> 02:21:03,710
I now have a fifth grader who is about to graduate from Oakhurst as well, and a third grader.

1870
02:21:04,390 --> 02:21:08,990
My concern here is my third grader has no nothing else but Oakhurst Elementary.

1871
02:21:09,610 --> 02:21:12,970
From the time she was a baby, we have been, like I said, on the board,

1872
02:21:13,170 --> 02:21:15,730
spent hundreds and hundreds of hours there through functions.

1873
02:21:16,530 --> 02:21:22,210
And what we're kind of unsure of is the clarification of she got in through a sibling

1874
02:21:22,210 --> 02:21:26,710
as well as my middle child, and we've been an Oakhurst family for nine years.

1875
02:21:26,710 --> 02:21:43,150
And now, through the policy changes or whatever it may be, my now third-grader, next-year fourth-grader may be taken out of the only school she's known, not just for four years, but since she was a newborn growing up there, and placed into another great school, but not the school she's known.

1876
02:21:44,590 --> 02:21:50,970
I know that when we put her in there, we were told that they were allowed to finish out their school, their highest grade there.

1877
02:21:50,970 --> 02:21:56,970
And I stand here as a parent, as a PTA member, as a person involved in the community,

1878
02:21:57,150 --> 02:22:01,950
asking you as a board, as you make and consider your policy changes and your zoning changes,

1879
02:22:02,450 --> 02:22:06,950
to honor, to remember, to honor the commitments maybe that you have made to those of us

1880
02:22:06,950 --> 02:22:11,650
who have also abided by your rules and guidelines through choice in 2003.

1881
02:22:12,110 --> 02:22:17,390
And when it was taken away, we still went through the guidelines and we abided by everything you asked us to do.

1882
02:22:17,390 --> 02:22:21,890
As you remember that, as you're making your policy changes, if you will remember to honor

1883
02:22:21,890 --> 02:22:26,570
your commitments made to our families that our kids could see through the highest grade

1884
02:22:26,570 --> 02:22:29,850
that they are there, that we have made a family opus elementary.

1885
02:22:30,170 --> 02:22:34,910
We have many, many friends, and my third-grader, seniorly fourth-grader, may lose that.

1886
02:22:35,130 --> 02:22:37,890
And I do ask you, as you make those policy changes, do you remember the commitments

1887
02:22:37,890 --> 02:22:41,650
you did make to us a few years back?

1888
02:22:42,050 --> 02:22:42,470
Thank you.

1889
02:22:43,150 --> 02:22:43,550
Thank you.

1890
02:22:45,530 --> 02:22:50,990
Next two speakers are Klebeck, Passaro, and Phil Latti.

1891
02:23:05,120 --> 02:23:05,460
Welcome.

1892
02:23:06,140 --> 02:23:06,700
Good afternoon.

1893
02:23:08,300 --> 02:23:09,740
My name is Kleber, Pegoraro.

1894
02:23:10,320 --> 02:23:16,740
I'm here to speak about the proposed elementary school rezoning that would affect the neighborhoods

1895
02:23:16,740 --> 02:23:20,060
north of Curlew and west of Sierra One.

1896
02:23:20,880 --> 02:23:24,780
My son is in fourth grade, and my daughter is in kindergarten.

1897
02:23:24,780 --> 02:23:30,160
garden. They are both happily and successfully attending the Ozona Elementary School.

1898
02:23:31,220 --> 02:23:37,640
The proposed changes would rezone them to St. Jose Elementary, which as mentioned before

1899
02:23:37,640 --> 02:23:46,900
is located almost twice as far from our location. Three years ago our son, again now in fourth

1900
02:23:46,900 --> 02:23:55,900
grade was affected by a school reason. Unfortunately, the school change was not a positive experience.

1901
02:23:56,900 --> 02:24:07,420
One year later, while looking for a home to buy, we decided to relocate and our chosen

1902
02:24:07,420 --> 02:24:15,000
area, the current location, we decided to be where we are basically due to the schools

1903
02:24:15,000 --> 02:24:17,840
that were assigned at the time to that location.

1904
02:24:18,680 --> 02:24:30,000
Since we moved, we have learned that for the past years that area has been involved in proposed changes,

1905
02:24:30,740 --> 02:24:39,400
in which last year the high school was actually rezoned.

1906
02:24:40,640 --> 02:24:46,900
If the current proposed changes are approved, San Jose Elementary would be the fourth school

1907
02:24:46,900 --> 02:24:50,400
my son would attend during his elementary school years.

1908
02:24:51,820 --> 02:24:55,660
One can argue that one school may be better than another.

1909
02:24:56,400 --> 02:25:06,060
One can argue that there's a need of restructuring the school system, but I think no one can

1910
02:25:06,060 --> 02:25:08,960
argued that moving kids around is a positive thing.

1911
02:25:10,560 --> 02:25:17,180
According to the letter stating the proposed changes, my son in fourth grade would be allowed

1912
02:25:17,180 --> 02:25:22,600
to stay at a zona elementary, but my daughter in kindergarten would not.

1913
02:25:23,180 --> 02:25:24,600
We would have to move her.

1914
02:25:25,860 --> 02:25:31,540
My son would not be allowed to use the bus system, while my daughter I would assume

1915
02:25:31,540 --> 02:25:31,960
would.

1916
02:25:31,960 --> 02:25:35,100
but please don't split them.

1917
02:25:36,020 --> 02:25:38,660
I agree with the rest of the parents here.

1918
02:25:39,140 --> 02:25:43,580
Please consider keeping the students that are currently

1919
02:25:43,580 --> 02:25:47,060
enroute at Ozone and the other elementary schools

1920
02:25:47,060 --> 02:25:48,180
to stay where they are.

1921
02:25:48,300 --> 02:25:48,960
Please honor that.

1922
02:25:49,420 --> 02:25:49,760
Thank you.

1923
02:25:50,400 --> 02:25:51,180
Thank you.

1924
02:25:53,220 --> 02:25:53,760
Good afternoon.

1925
02:25:55,540 --> 02:25:56,380
Good afternoon.

1926
02:25:56,560 --> 02:25:57,360
My name is Phil Lado.

1927
02:25:57,920 --> 02:26:01,400
I live at 12885 Lowest Avenue in Seminole.

1928
02:26:01,400 --> 02:26:06,500
And my daughter is currently zoned for Bouter, will be zoned for Oakhurst Elementary, both great schools.

1929
02:26:07,500 --> 02:26:13,500
I'm here today to bring to attention a safety concern with the transportation of my daughter to school.

1930
02:26:14,240 --> 02:26:19,960
She plans on taking herself to school along with my younger daughter in the coming years and there's no crosswalk,

1931
02:26:20,380 --> 02:26:25,180
no sidewalk, and no safeway for my daughter to get to Oakhurst Elementary.

1932
02:26:25,980 --> 02:26:29,380
Right now, Bouter Elementary is in the back of our neighborhood.

1933
02:26:29,380 --> 02:26:34,900
it's the closest school that closest local school located to our house you

1934
02:26:34,900 --> 02:26:40,900
know the elementary school and I'm asking you to review the map and possibly

1935
02:26:40,900 --> 02:26:44,680
move that line one block north so that our street continues to be in

1936
02:26:44,680 --> 02:26:48,800
better elementary which is the safest and closest school for our kids to go

1937
02:26:48,800 --> 02:26:52,040
to every day. Thank you. Thank you.

1938
02:26:55,930 --> 02:26:58,830
Melissa Stickler and Kathy Heiderling

1939
02:26:58,830 --> 02:26:59,790
and might

1940
02:27:03,720 --> 02:27:04,480
be key to me.

1941
02:27:06,590 --> 02:27:07,010
Good afternoon.

1942
02:27:07,190 --> 02:27:09,850
Melissa Stickler for Sunny Point Terrace, Oldsmar.

1943
02:27:10,010 --> 02:27:11,890
It's been a few years, but hello again.

1944
02:27:13,230 --> 02:27:15,450
I've got a few things first, just a thank you.

1945
02:27:15,890 --> 02:27:18,030
The second, a question, and the third, a plea

1946
02:27:18,030 --> 02:27:19,830
for some of the others in the audience after,

1947
02:27:20,070 --> 02:27:21,630
but we've been through as a family

1948
02:27:22,180 --> 02:27:23,590
and just hearing some of the other stories.

1949
02:27:24,110 --> 02:27:27,230
My daughter, Start, was the last year of choice.

1950
02:27:27,510 --> 02:27:28,290
She got in the kindergarten.

1951
02:27:29,710 --> 02:27:30,910
We took that seriously.

1952
02:27:31,510 --> 02:27:33,230
We were told we had to choose, so we did.

1953
02:27:35,830 --> 02:27:38,970
Next year came up, she was going to be moved from her school.

1954
02:27:39,110 --> 02:27:40,830
We went through the whole process with her as a board.

1955
02:27:42,190 --> 02:27:48,090
The following year it came up again, this time without blessing, which was what a lot of parents had asked for in the first place.

1956
02:27:49,010 --> 02:27:52,330
And then after that, I have a son that's two years younger.

1957
02:27:52,770 --> 02:27:57,590
He was accepted into open enrollment to the highest grade offered, was what the policy said.

1958
02:27:57,870 --> 02:28:02,690
I stopped listening to just the emails and the phone calls, although I do appreciate that.

1959
02:28:02,690 --> 02:28:04,430
that I always validate everything in writing.

1960
02:28:05,870 --> 02:28:07,330
So we were in this school.

1961
02:28:08,250 --> 02:28:10,610
I actually called the year before last

1962
02:28:10,610 --> 02:28:11,690
because even though it was in writing,

1963
02:28:11,830 --> 02:28:13,070
I still felt uncomfortable

1964
02:28:13,070 --> 02:28:14,970
that the commitment wasn't gonna be held to.

1965
02:28:15,070 --> 02:28:16,910
I called the student assignment office, was told,

1966
02:28:17,450 --> 02:28:19,370
he will be there to the highest grade offered,

1967
02:28:19,510 --> 02:28:20,670
Mrs. Stickler, don't worry.

1968
02:28:21,050 --> 02:28:21,990
I said, that's nice.

1969
02:28:22,630 --> 02:28:23,390
I said, but guess what?

1970
02:28:23,450 --> 02:28:24,750
You'll probably get a call from me every year

1971
02:28:24,750 --> 02:28:25,690
till he's out of school.

1972
02:28:26,310 --> 02:28:27,610
So I called again this year.

1973
02:28:28,170 --> 02:28:30,170
Same thing, Mrs. Stickler, don't worry.

1974
02:28:30,350 --> 02:28:32,150
He's there to the highest grade offered, okay?

1975
02:28:32,150 --> 02:28:35,890
Right now, I have a second grader and a fourth grader.

1976
02:28:37,470 --> 02:28:41,810
I, the way, so first thank you for all your hard work and listening to our e-mails.

1977
02:28:42,070 --> 02:28:44,530
I do think you're responsive and I do think you try to listen.

1978
02:28:44,890 --> 02:28:48,710
And Mr. Madden particularly, I actually, when this came up in the paper, someone looked at me and said,

1979
02:28:48,750 --> 02:28:52,910
I still have his number on myself, but I've read it a few years ago.

1980
02:28:53,030 --> 02:28:53,690
Oh, yes, I did.

1981
02:28:54,790 --> 02:28:55,810
So appreciate it.

1982
02:28:55,950 --> 02:28:56,850
That's the thank you.

1983
02:28:57,890 --> 02:29:02,270
The question is, I've read the policy a couple of times.

1984
02:29:02,390 --> 02:29:03,730
The first time I went, oh, yay.

1985
02:29:03,970 --> 02:29:08,470
I think the children of your choice and their siblings are in the exceptions here.

1986
02:29:08,530 --> 02:29:09,290
I'd like that clarified.

1987
02:29:09,630 --> 02:29:13,370
I think a lot of other parents in the office in the audience have the same question.

1988
02:29:13,590 --> 02:29:14,230
So that's the person.

1989
02:29:14,370 --> 02:29:16,310
Just please clarify this to put us out of our agony.

1990
02:29:17,830 --> 02:29:22,330
Lastly, if that's what it means that the siblings do get to stay, I appreciate it.

1991
02:29:22,710 --> 02:29:24,030
I appreciate your support.

1992
02:29:24,030 --> 02:29:30,710
I think it's a good policy and I appreciate the time that you spent to go back and do what we ask look at the numbers

1993
02:29:30,710 --> 02:29:34,610
You know who these kids are. They're not surprises. You have their names. You have the schools

1994
02:29:34,610 --> 02:29:37,610
So that's you know, I appreciate the exceptions that are there

1995
02:29:37,610 --> 02:29:43,090
So please clarify that you know what I'm reading is what I think I'm reading and that you'll continue to you know

1996
02:29:43,090 --> 02:29:44,970
Vote for that last is the plea

1997
02:29:44,970 --> 02:29:47,570
I've listened to some of the other parents and having been

1998
02:29:48,190 --> 02:29:52,330
Every year on this back and forth and back and forth and back and forth

1999
02:29:52,330 --> 02:29:59,290
I agree that kids are resilient and they can change, but not knowing where they're going

2000
02:29:59,290 --> 02:29:59,970
to go to school.

2001
02:30:00,000 --> 02:30:04,080
The rule every single year is just frustrating. So please, you know, look at, I'm

2002
02:30:04,080 --> 02:30:07,300
interested and you won't be able to grant all the exceptions, but please work with the parents,

2003
02:30:07,660 --> 02:30:12,080
whose kids are in the schools, whose siblings are in the schools, case by case. Thank you.

2004
02:30:12,320 --> 02:30:16,200
Thank you. And good afternoon. Hi, my name's Kathy Cardoing,

2005
02:30:16,320 --> 02:30:19,940
and I have two children at Brooker Creek Elementary. When

2006
02:30:19,940 --> 02:30:23,940
I decided that I was going to look out of zone,

2007
02:30:24,220 --> 02:30:28,300
I went through all of the rules and the regulations and asked

2008
02:30:28,300 --> 02:30:30,760
all the questions and did everything I was supposed to do.

2009
02:30:32,000 --> 02:30:33,940
So they got in on open enrollment.

2010
02:30:35,240 --> 02:30:40,140
My first one got in, I crossed my fingers and toes, prayed to God, went through all of that

2011
02:30:40,140 --> 02:30:41,320
for my second one to get in.

2012
02:30:41,480 --> 02:30:41,940
She got it.

2013
02:30:42,620 --> 02:30:45,340
Thought I could breathe, I can't breathe again.

2014
02:30:46,160 --> 02:30:47,560
It needs to stop.

2015
02:30:48,420 --> 02:30:50,620
They're both there, they're both happy.

2016
02:30:51,400 --> 02:30:57,180
Yes, kids can be resilient, and yes, families, and I can go through the emotions and some

2017
02:30:57,180 --> 02:31:02,360
Some children are just better than others, but it's every year, holding your breath, not

2018
02:31:02,360 --> 02:31:03,560
knowing what you're going to do.

2019
02:31:04,520 --> 02:31:05,640
It's extreme.

2020
02:31:06,300 --> 02:31:10,080
For parents who are involved and who love their children and who are there every day

2021
02:31:10,080 --> 02:31:16,360
and volunteer in their school three times a week, not to know what you're going to

2022
02:31:16,360 --> 02:31:24,660
do on a year-to-year basis is just, I can't even speak because of how difficult it is.

2023
02:31:25,680 --> 02:31:29,640
not knowing. There are so many things that you don't control in life. There are so many

2024
02:31:29,640 --> 02:31:34,660
things that you don't know. This should be something I know. This should be something I can

2025
02:31:34,660 --> 02:31:39,220
look at my children and say, no matter what else is going to change, you're here. I did

2026
02:31:39,220 --> 02:31:46,700
everything. I followed the rules. Mommy made sure you're here. Please, when you make the

2027
02:31:46,700 --> 02:31:52,700
rule, have it so that these kids can finish what we started for them. We made these.

2028
02:31:52,700 --> 02:32:00,600
I made choices. You make choices. They don't have choices. This is not them. Please make

2029
02:32:00,600 --> 02:32:05,640
sure that whatever it is that you're going to do follows these kids through so the parents

2030
02:32:05,640 --> 02:32:11,160
can breathe and they can be reassured that what we say we're giving them, we can give

2031
02:32:11,160 --> 02:32:11,300
them.

2032
02:32:12,880 --> 02:32:13,320
Thank you.

2033
02:32:13,940 --> 02:32:17,460
Next two speakers are Deborah from motto and John Oscar.

2034
02:32:26,690 --> 02:32:26,930
Welcome.

2035
02:32:26,930 --> 02:32:27,050
Welcome.

2036
02:32:27,150 --> 02:32:27,970
I'm Deborah Fomato.

2037
02:32:28,750 --> 02:32:31,170
Most of the parents have already said what I was here to say.

2038
02:32:31,590 --> 02:32:37,450
I have two children in short acres elementary, and it is their home away from home.

2039
02:32:38,070 --> 02:32:42,850
My daughter started there when she was three in a speech program, and my son was one.

2040
02:32:43,450 --> 02:32:45,630
And he's been, that's the only school he's ever known.

2041
02:32:46,170 --> 02:32:51,630
We went to every function, every school function, carnivals, everything that they have ever

2042
02:32:51,630 --> 02:32:52,510
done in the school.

2043
02:32:52,610 --> 02:32:54,030
We've been a part of that family.

2044
02:32:54,590 --> 02:32:55,330
It's our life.

2045
02:32:55,510 --> 02:32:56,110
It's our family.

2046
02:32:56,110 --> 02:32:57,490
as our friends, it's our neighborhood.

2047
02:32:59,110 --> 02:33:03,850
I was told my daughter who's in fourth grade may be able to stay there, thank God.

2048
02:33:04,710 --> 02:33:10,230
My son who's in second, I got the letter saying that he's recommended to go to North Shore.

2049
02:33:11,870 --> 02:33:15,870
We have always been zoned in this area, it is our school.

2050
02:33:16,130 --> 02:33:20,110
I've never had to go through most of what the parents have gone through with going

2051
02:33:20,110 --> 02:33:23,050
outside the zone or being worried about finding another school.

2052
02:33:24,250 --> 02:33:28,950
I just want you to keep in mind that you're ripping families apart.

2053
02:33:29,210 --> 02:33:33,150
This is very important to our family that my son stays in the school.

2054
02:33:33,850 --> 02:33:36,330
He wasn't grandfathered in because it was our own school.

2055
02:33:36,590 --> 02:33:39,770
He's going into third grade and he loves it.

2056
02:33:40,110 --> 02:33:44,750
My children have never, I tell everyone, my children out of the world, all the children

2057
02:33:44,750 --> 02:33:46,810
in the world, they love their school.

2058
02:33:46,990 --> 02:33:48,150
They love going to school.

2059
02:33:48,290 --> 02:33:48,990
It is their life.

2060
02:33:49,970 --> 02:33:55,710
This is going to be such an upset for my son to be ripped away from everything he's known since he was one.

2061
02:33:56,030 --> 02:34:00,450
He used to cry walking out of my daughter's school when she was four, three.

2062
02:34:00,930 --> 02:34:03,710
I want to go to school. I want to go to school. He couldn't wait to get there.

2063
02:34:04,190 --> 02:34:10,250
I paid for his pre-K, voluntary pre-K. I paid for him to go to that school to be with my daughter.

2064
02:34:10,750 --> 02:34:15,550
And that is the only world and the only life that we know and the only school that we know.

2065
02:34:15,970 --> 02:34:17,770
This is going to be so damaging to him.

2066
02:34:17,770 --> 02:34:22,510
He's already gotten wind of what's going on with their that he might have to leave the school

2067
02:34:22,510 --> 02:34:26,670
And he looked at me and said mommy. What did we do wrong now?

2068
02:34:26,710 --> 02:34:29,830
I'm trying to explain to him that we're not being punished

2069
02:34:29,830 --> 02:34:36,710
He didn't do anything wrong, but that it's overcrowded and I'm explaining the problem that we have but

2070
02:34:37,290 --> 02:34:42,910
Please keep in mind that if the children have been zoned for that school since they've been

2071
02:34:42,910 --> 02:34:46,110
able to go to school, please keep them in that school.

2072
02:34:46,250 --> 02:34:47,410
It's the only world they know.

2073
02:34:47,530 --> 02:34:48,530
It's all his friends.

2074
02:34:48,710 --> 02:34:52,070
I just can't imagine picking my daughter up next year

2075
02:34:52,550 --> 02:34:55,390
and not having my son there and his face on that bench

2076
02:34:55,390 --> 02:34:58,030
to get in my car during pickup time.

2077
02:34:58,270 --> 02:34:59,410
It's breaking my heart.

2078
02:34:59,530 --> 02:35:00,890
I have cried myself to sleep

2079
02:35:00,890 --> 02:35:03,050
and I know what it's going to do to him.

2080
02:35:03,330 --> 02:35:06,990
So please, please just let them somehow work it out

2081
02:35:06,990 --> 02:35:09,070
where the families that are in their schools

2082
02:35:09,070 --> 02:35:10,270
stay in their schools.

2083
02:35:10,270 --> 02:35:16,930
schools. This is America. We should have a right to where our children go. And by reading

2084
02:35:16,930 --> 02:35:21,730
that letter, it was like, you're a parent, it's your child. This is America. You have

2085
02:35:21,730 --> 02:35:25,930
no right to say where your child is going. And this is my school zone. We can't pick

2086
02:35:25,930 --> 02:35:32,110
up our house and move. It's impossible. Please, please just consider to let the children

2087
02:35:32,110 --> 02:35:34,150
stay in the school. Thank you.

2088
02:35:35,410 --> 02:35:36,170
Good afternoon.

2089
02:35:37,190 --> 02:35:41,970
Good afternoon members of the board. I'm sure I don't need to tell you guys why my family

2090
02:35:41,970 --> 02:35:49,450
relocated the Tampa Bay area. And in doing my due diligence, I chose to send my daughter

2091
02:35:49,450 --> 02:35:53,530
first to shoreacre. She's six right now. She's in first grade.

2092
02:35:56,350 --> 02:35:58,570
In 2013, we're going to have

2093
02:35:58,570 --> 02:36:04,010
to move. Odds are probably to Kodiak, Alaska, because there's only so many places seen

2094
02:36:04,010 --> 02:36:09,350
what thirties are. Now I'm supposed to move my daughter from shore acres to

2095
02:36:09,350 --> 02:36:15,750
North Shore Elementary in 2012, as well as, you know, the rotating again. I can,

2096
02:36:16,170 --> 02:36:19,750
you know, I'll take the hit for 2013, but I don't know what to tell her about

2097
02:36:19,750 --> 02:36:26,690
2012. Additionally, for my family situation, when we moved to shore acres,

2098
02:36:27,070 --> 02:36:32,550
that was a selling point. Our house is nothing special. There's a lot of great

2099
02:36:32,550 --> 02:36:36,210
big houses in our neighborhood but most of them are starter homes for starter families.

2100
02:36:38,110 --> 02:36:45,410
It's highly marketable in that area for fresh families and with elementary school children

2101
02:36:45,860 --> 02:36:54,250
and we're going from an A school to a C school. Now I'm not as educated as you folks but

2102
02:36:54,250 --> 02:36:59,400
I'm a parent. When I have the choice between an A school or a C school I'm ten out of

2103
02:36:59,400 --> 02:37:00,600
times going to go to an A school.

2104
02:37:03,840 --> 02:37:08,080
That being said, if my house was a C school, I probably

2105
02:37:08,080 --> 02:37:15,240
wouldn't have bought it. So I can only anticipate taking, you know, a pretty big financial hit

2106
02:37:15,240 --> 02:37:18,640
when I have to rotate out whether I decide to rent it out. It probably won't cover

2107
02:37:18,640 --> 02:37:23,000
the mortgage. Or if I decide to sell it, I'm not going to get what I bought it for.

2108
02:37:25,250 --> 02:37:32,450
On the back end, I'm probably going to get stationed back here, and once I get my tour done elsewhere,

2109
02:37:33,390 --> 02:37:36,950
I'm going to go right back to shore acres, because I have a one-year-old son

2110
02:37:36,950 --> 02:37:40,770
who's going to be ready for first grade, and you're not going to get rid of me that easily.

2111
02:37:42,530 --> 02:37:46,690
And once again, I'm going to overpopulate your school.

2112
02:37:49,170 --> 02:37:52,810
And that's my point, is that families are going to do what they can

2113
02:37:52,810 --> 02:37:59,170
to provide the best for their kids. And a lot of these schools are overcrowded strictly

2114
02:37:59,170 --> 02:38:05,170
because they're great schools. And whatever zone you decide to shave off or what neighborhood

2115
02:38:05,170 --> 02:38:09,730
you move around, that great school is going to get overpopulated again.

2116
02:38:12,030 --> 02:38:13,370
So I can only

2117
02:38:13,370 --> 02:38:15,590
speak for my family situation in my neighborhood.

2118
02:38:19,170 --> 02:38:22,970
So for Northeast Park, please consider letting

2119
02:38:22,970 --> 02:38:29,630
in a stay. Additionally, I've got some other numbers that, you know, I see that don't quite

2120
02:38:29,630 --> 02:38:35,010
make sense, and I'm running out of time. So I know I'll send those to you guys shortly.

2121
02:38:35,910 --> 02:38:44,150
Thank you. Thank you very much. Liz Beckers and Dan Green or Dana Green. We'll find out.

2122
02:38:51,190 --> 02:38:56,870
Good afternoon. My name is Liz Beckers. Some of you may remember me. I have written and

2123
02:38:56,870 --> 02:39:00,110
I have spoken to the school board over the past five years and many times about this

2124
02:39:00,110 --> 02:39:00,890
very subject.

2125
02:39:01,470 --> 02:39:05,410
And I'd like to thank Mr. Madden for all of his email responses, Ms. Weichel for her

2126
02:39:05,410 --> 02:39:10,210
conversations on the phone, and Mr. Touchton for his conversation with me as well.

2127
02:39:11,590 --> 02:39:16,590
Who knew that when we moved down here eight years ago into a house that had three elementary

2128
02:39:16,590 --> 02:39:22,250
schools inside a two-mile radius from it with our two-year-old, we would have

2129
02:39:22,250 --> 02:39:26,230
to fight for him and then his sister to be able to go to one of those three schools

2130
02:39:26,230 --> 02:39:31,760
almost every year and speaking about the neighborhoods just north of Curlie Road

2131
02:39:31,760 --> 02:39:35,440
and are currently proposed to be rezoned from Ozone Elementary to San Jose

2132
02:39:35,440 --> 02:39:39,980
Elementary. Yes these are these are the same neighborhoods that were rezoned

2133
02:39:39,980 --> 02:39:44,080
over a weekend at the beginning of 2011 from Palm Harbor University High to

2134
02:39:44,080 --> 02:39:44,640
Dunedin High.

2135
02:39:46,840 --> 02:39:50,680
These zone map changes every year or so in this area need to

2136
02:39:50,680 --> 02:39:56,600
stop. It needs to stabilize or pretty soon you'll be able to remove this

2137
02:39:56,600 --> 02:40:01,900
area from MAPS all together. Would you buy a house in a neighborhood not knowing where

2138
02:40:01,900 --> 02:40:05,340
your children will be going to school the next year? I wouldn't.

2139
02:40:07,790 --> 02:40:08,670
If you are going to

2140
02:40:08,670 --> 02:40:12,550
make these chronic changes, you need to guarantee to the families that their children will

2141
02:40:12,550 --> 02:40:17,850
be able to finish out wherever you put them in the first place. The author of There's

2142
02:40:17,850 --> 02:40:21,930
a Room. If there's room, you can go, but you won't know until a couple weeks before

2143
02:40:21,930 --> 02:40:25,950
school starts and then tell them, oh yeah, you have to do that every year from

2144
02:40:25,950 --> 02:40:26,310
than on.

2145
02:40:28,990 --> 02:40:32,730
There are 42 students enrolled at Ozona in grades K through 3 right now that

2146
02:40:32,730 --> 02:40:38,170
live in this area. These are the only students this policy affects. The rest of the 72 students

2147
02:40:38,170 --> 02:40:42,550
referred to in the chart go to another school outside of their current zone, and according

2148
02:40:42,550 --> 02:40:46,070
to the policy, I believe those students will be allowed to stay since they would have

2149
02:40:46,070 --> 02:40:51,950
gotten in through open enrollment. If there is to be a zoning change, why not make

2150
02:40:51,950 --> 02:40:58,450
to Garrison Jones where the area mostly was historically zoned for. Plus it's over a mile

2151
02:40:58,450 --> 02:41:00,950
closer to these neighborhoods than the proposed San Jose.

2152
02:41:03,410 --> 02:41:05,490
Another point I wanted to make is that

2153
02:41:05,490 --> 02:41:11,770
currently at Ozona there are approximately 16, 60 students that are not zoned. This number does

2154
02:41:11,770 --> 02:41:16,170
not include professional courtesy because I believe that employees should have their students

2155
02:41:16,170 --> 02:41:19,930
there and it does not include any other students that are there for special programs.

2156
02:41:20,990 --> 02:41:26,850
So we have 42 students living in the area currently zoned for Ozona, 60 students out of zone.

2157
02:41:27,610 --> 02:41:34,350
So I'm wondering if you would even be having this discussion at all if the school board's open enrollment policy over the past five years were different.

2158
02:41:36,950 --> 02:41:38,890
The school board does have a policy against bullying.

2159
02:41:39,810 --> 02:41:42,690
Ola's bullying prevention program defines bullying as such.

2160
02:41:43,710 --> 02:41:48,470
A person is bullied when he or she is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions

2161
02:41:48,470 --> 02:41:54,110
on the part of one or more other persons and he or she has difficulty in defending himself or herself.

2162
02:41:55,090 --> 02:41:58,990
No wonder I felt so beat up over the past five years. Thank you.

2163
02:41:59,170 --> 02:41:59,450
Thank you.

2164
02:42:04,210 --> 02:42:04,650
Good afternoon.

2165
02:42:04,950 --> 02:42:10,530
My name is Dana Greeno and I have a daughter in first grade at Shoraker's Elementary

2166
02:42:11,090 --> 02:42:15,210
and I understand the overcrowding problem and that something has to be done.

2167
02:42:15,610 --> 02:42:21,290
But by the same token, these, in the media it talks about the promises

2168
02:42:21,290 --> 02:42:27,810
that have been made to families and the promises that we're implied and how we need to keep

2169
02:42:27,810 --> 02:42:33,630
those promises to families. And I believe that by zoning a child, my child is going

2170
02:42:33,630 --> 02:42:37,590
to her own, home's own school, and now all of a sudden we've decided, oh, we're going

2171
02:42:37,590 --> 02:42:41,830
to kick those out of the zone, but we'll keep these in the zone. We're talking

2172
02:42:41,830 --> 02:42:48,690
about involved families at the school. I'm involved myself. I know many of the families

2173
02:42:48,690 --> 02:42:52,150
and her classroom are involved, and obviously all the parents who are here are involved

2174
02:42:52,150 --> 02:42:56,990
in their own classrooms, in their own schools and their children's classrooms.

2175
02:42:57,270 --> 02:43:01,950
And it's very, very important to have that parental involvement in a classroom because

2176
02:43:01,950 --> 02:43:05,770
there are, for every parent that's involved, there's two parents that are not involved.

2177
02:43:06,130 --> 02:43:11,030
And we want our children to have the best, and in order to keep that the best, we

2178
02:43:11,030 --> 02:43:16,450
need to have some consistency, and we need to have the promises, the implied promises

2179
02:43:16,450 --> 02:43:22,230
that you guys made to us by allowing us to send our children to their own school to be

2180
02:43:22,230 --> 02:43:27,010
kept in place. It is a promise to us that we zone you for this school, this is where

2181
02:43:27,010 --> 02:43:31,150
you started. These kids should be allowed to stay in the school that they started in,

2182
02:43:31,330 --> 02:43:36,210
just like all these other parents. And in many of these cases, you have kids that are

2183
02:43:36,210 --> 02:43:40,570
being asked to move from an A school to an A school. In my case, you're asking

2184
02:43:40,570 --> 02:43:44,330
me to move from an A school to a C school. And I believe that many in the South

2185
02:43:44,330 --> 02:43:48,270
County are being asked to move down instead of move up.

2186
02:43:48,850 --> 02:43:52,410
Obviously, the ones that are moving up are very happy about that, and they're not here

2187
02:43:52,410 --> 02:43:59,150
because they're glad to be moving from their whatever grade school level to a higher grade

2188
02:43:59,150 --> 02:43:59,970
school level.

2189
02:44:00,470 --> 02:44:05,670
So I believe that the compromise here is, yes, you maybe need to change some zones.

2190
02:44:06,010 --> 02:44:08,210
Okay, if that's what you need to do, change the zones.

2191
02:44:08,410 --> 02:44:13,530
But the kids that are already there, figure out some way to keep those kids there until

2192
02:44:13,530 --> 02:44:19,730
so they finish the fifth grade. And then new kids coming in, maybe you can zone them

2193
02:44:19,730 --> 02:44:23,690
to a new school. But the kids that are already there need to be kept at the school

2194
02:44:23,690 --> 02:44:29,510
that they're in. And I also have a 16-year-old who is in a special needs program.

2195
02:44:29,710 --> 02:44:32,910
We went through the choice plan. We went through all this other stuff with her.

2196
02:44:33,330 --> 02:44:37,490
Now, when choice plan came about, all of her choices were basically taken away

2197
02:44:37,490 --> 02:44:43,070
because they spread the special needs part out so thin that we had no choice

2198
02:44:43,070 --> 02:44:44,730
but to send her to a center-based school.

2199
02:44:45,370 --> 02:44:48,690
So, you know, it's not that you affect one person

2200
02:44:48,690 --> 02:44:51,690
when you affect this, and even all these special circumstances

2201
02:44:51,690 --> 02:44:55,290
that you have, my child is just as important

2202
02:44:55,290 --> 02:44:58,050
as their child is to me and to our community.

2203
02:44:58,470 --> 02:44:59,850
It's very important that you guys.

2204
02:45:00,000 --> 02:45:05,120
Allow the kids that are at a school to stay at a school until they're great, until they're finished.

2205
02:45:05,500 --> 02:45:06,200
Thank you.

2206
02:45:06,780 --> 02:45:07,520
Thank you.

2207
02:45:08,180 --> 02:45:12,640
We have three more speakers, Dennis McAllister and Nick Hill.

2208
02:45:21,650 --> 02:45:23,650
Good afternoon. Go ahead.

2209
02:45:26,330 --> 02:45:29,750
Good afternoon to the board. Thank you for the effort and the work that you put into this.

2210
02:45:31,630 --> 02:45:38,410
I'm a father of Gina McAllister at a sexton, and she's doing very well there.

2211
02:45:39,030 --> 02:45:41,490
We bought her home so that she could go to sex school.

2212
02:45:42,230 --> 02:45:43,610
Now you've shifted the lines.

2213
02:45:44,810 --> 02:45:51,970
And I understand you have fiscal reasons to do this, but it seems to me the mark is missed,

2214
02:45:52,850 --> 02:45:54,590
especially when it concerns families.

2215
02:45:55,330 --> 02:45:59,150
Maybe fiscal over families isn't the right direction to make a decision about.

2216
02:46:01,890 --> 02:46:06,530
We have had a lot of points made and a lot of considerations.

2217
02:46:07,770 --> 02:46:11,690
My wife volunteers there, it's the same story, but it's a valid story.

2218
02:46:12,970 --> 02:46:16,110
We take our time to make our choices and our considerations,

2219
02:46:17,510 --> 02:46:21,250
and it seems like that our choices have been taken away from us

2220
02:46:21,250 --> 02:46:23,070
because you have made your choices.

2221
02:46:24,870 --> 02:46:26,050
And there is no way back.

2222
02:46:26,510 --> 02:46:28,150
I didn't see anything on the website saying,

2223
02:46:28,670 --> 02:46:29,590
go ahead and make your choice.

2224
02:46:30,010 --> 02:46:31,150
It's just simply a posting.

2225
02:46:32,390 --> 02:46:33,930
Maybe that wasn't right either.

2226
02:46:33,930 --> 02:46:41,420
fair. She does real well. She goes to a B school. She's been doing well with all of

2227
02:46:41,420 --> 02:46:46,460
her students, Ms. Meeks, Ms. Buff Craig, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Campbell, and now she has to

2228
02:46:46,460 --> 02:46:50,710
go. It doesn't seem so fair or so right.

2229
02:46:54,130 --> 02:46:58,590
Volunteering, we'll do that wherever we go. We'd like to continue to go where we

2230
02:46:58,590 --> 02:47:04,470
do. We don't want our choices made for us by others. That doesn't seem like the

2231
02:47:04,470 --> 02:47:09,970
right thing to do. And underneath the guidance of Miss Davies, who's excellent, we would like

2232
02:47:09,970 --> 02:47:14,770
to continue. It's a B school working on an A, and now she's going to have to go to a D

2233
02:47:14,770 --> 02:47:20,410
or an F school, and that's not quite right. Probably we'll make whatever kind of choice

2234
02:47:20,410 --> 02:47:26,290
we need to, to include moving, so that we can still keep that slot. But maybe you

2235
02:47:26,290 --> 02:47:31,750
guys can, instead of shifting the lines and breaking a promise, you can allow exceptions.

2236
02:47:32,630 --> 02:47:33,270
Thank you.

2237
02:47:33,650 --> 02:47:34,110
Thank you.

2238
02:47:36,970 --> 02:47:37,570
You're welcome.

2239
02:47:38,390 --> 02:47:38,710
Hi.

2240
02:47:38,890 --> 02:47:39,570
My name is Nicholas Hill.

2241
02:47:39,790 --> 02:47:41,310
Sorry if I couldn't understand it.

2242
02:47:42,350 --> 02:47:44,270
Basically, it's going to be real short.

2243
02:47:44,450 --> 02:47:49,450
I gave her a petition that I got together with me and my wife and our community.

2244
02:47:49,990 --> 02:47:50,850
It's over 100 signatures.

2245
02:47:51,330 --> 02:47:54,590
It's only over 100 signatures because we didn't have very long to get it together.

2246
02:47:55,630 --> 02:48:00,710
What I think that says is that the community that we live in, which is frontier, is

2247
02:48:00,710 --> 02:48:01,890
not in agreement with this.

2248
02:48:02,350 --> 02:48:08,210
And I agree with everything everybody else has said, which I think is a general consensus

2249
02:48:08,210 --> 02:48:12,650
that keep the kids where they are until they get out of that school, anybody else coming

2250
02:48:12,650 --> 02:48:18,130
in or rezoning in, you know, you do your thing with them because they don't have history

2251
02:48:18,130 --> 02:48:18,370
there.

2252
02:48:18,550 --> 02:48:21,350
But anybody who's at that school should stay at that school.

2253
02:48:21,890 --> 02:48:23,690
And I am with Mr. Oster as well.

2254
02:48:23,850 --> 02:48:27,310
I'm the Coast Guard, so I serve my country and my community that way.

2255
02:48:27,310 --> 02:48:34,310
and I will be moving at the same time as he is, probably to Kodiak, Alaska, and I would

2256
02:48:34,310 --> 02:48:39,530
prefer to minimize how much impact we have on our kids. Being is that we also, I mean,

2257
02:48:39,610 --> 02:48:45,310
we already impact our kids every four years, and I do it more. So I hope that you read

2258
02:48:45,310 --> 02:48:47,170
my petition. I wrote a letter to go with it.

2259
02:48:48,570 --> 02:48:49,390
Thank you.

2260
02:48:49,530 --> 02:48:49,950
Thank you.

2261
02:48:50,570 --> 02:48:52,730
Last speaker, Benjamin Gloss.

2262
02:49:00,270 --> 02:49:00,890
Good afternoon.

2263
02:49:02,510 --> 02:49:05,710
This is where I just get on you guys so hard you're going to go home and cry.

2264
02:49:08,610 --> 02:49:10,910
I'm going to take a somewhat of a different approach.

2265
02:49:11,230 --> 02:49:14,350
It was glossy, by the way. My writing was bad on the small lines.

2266
02:49:15,450 --> 02:49:20,690
I'm one of the fortunate dads in the community where I volunteer for the last three years.

2267
02:49:20,850 --> 02:49:23,790
I've done over 250 hours a year in the school.

2268
02:49:25,090 --> 02:49:29,510
I have no doubt that my daughter will be resilient and be happy wherever she goes.

2269
02:49:29,510 --> 02:49:33,470
that's the kind of kid she is and that's the lesson I hope to teach her, life's not always easy.

2270
02:49:34,270 --> 02:49:40,910
But at Leela Davis, that is a family and the teachers, the principal, the assistant principal, we're so proud.

2271
02:49:41,670 --> 02:49:45,630
The approach I want to give you, this isn't always just about the kids, it's about the parents.

2272
02:49:46,110 --> 02:49:51,530
We have pride in these schools too. We volunteer our time, we live in the communities we live in.

2273
02:49:51,830 --> 02:49:58,910
We choose to buy the homes we buy if we don't have choice because we want to be a part of that certain educational family.

2274
02:49:58,910 --> 02:50:02,050
And I love to be a part of Leela G. Davis.

2275
02:50:02,790 --> 02:50:11,030
So much that I just started a new business this year and I moved my business in that start-up one block away from Leela Davis.

2276
02:50:11,530 --> 02:50:18,790
And it happens to be one-third of the income that I have is because of the Leela Davis family supporting me as well.

2277
02:50:19,870 --> 02:50:27,790
I think it's important to know that we make decisions in our adult lives that factor the schools as well as it factors our children.

2278
02:50:27,790 --> 02:50:34,010
The money we give, the business partnerships, the finances that we try to make for the school,

2279
02:50:34,550 --> 02:50:38,870
the lessons we try to teach our children, and, you know, moving three miles away, maybe

2280
02:50:38,870 --> 02:50:44,210
that's not that large of a deal, but it would affect my business tremendously, knowing that

2281
02:50:44,210 --> 02:50:50,010
I might lose some of the Leela G. Davis students because now I'm going four miles

2282
02:50:50,010 --> 02:50:52,670
away and I'm not going to have that pull from a brand new school.

2283
02:50:53,130 --> 02:50:54,190
My daughter is established.

2284
02:50:54,730 --> 02:50:55,350
She's happy.

2285
02:50:55,970 --> 02:50:57,070
She's resilient, yes.

2286
02:50:57,070 --> 02:50:59,250
Yes, but I know that she wants to stay in that school.

2287
02:50:59,390 --> 02:51:01,390
She knows who her fourth grade teacher should be.

2288
02:51:01,850 --> 02:51:03,970
She already knows who she wants for her fifth grade teacher.

2289
02:51:04,430 --> 02:51:09,990
But I think that what's important is I want you guys to try to consider this proposal.

2290
02:51:10,490 --> 02:51:12,010
Yes, rezoning needs to happen.

2291
02:51:12,790 --> 02:51:14,290
Yes, there needs to be a new foundation.

2292
02:51:14,990 --> 02:51:19,350
Perhaps in wishful thinking with everybody else, we all get to stay where we are

2293
02:51:19,350 --> 02:51:21,590
because of our family and our pride commitments.

2294
02:51:21,590 --> 02:51:29,410
Maybe incoming kindergartners next year will be the start of a rezoning process that if

2295
02:51:29,410 --> 02:51:31,770
any mistakes are made, we have time to fix those.

2296
02:51:32,190 --> 02:51:37,830
Five years from now in this five-year plan, K becomes five, or fourth grade, and everything's

2297
02:51:37,830 --> 02:51:38,990
in place where it should be.

2298
02:51:39,530 --> 02:51:41,530
And we can stay and finish out where we're proud.

2299
02:51:42,110 --> 02:51:46,310
And the new incoming students are re-zoned how you feel it should be done, and then

2300
02:51:46,310 --> 02:51:50,550
people in their homes, their businesses, and in their educational families are not

2301
02:51:50,550 --> 02:51:55,170
hurt or bothered by this at all any longer. I hope that makes sense. So I

2302
02:51:55,170 --> 02:51:57,730
appreciate your time, but I think it's important you consider the families and

2303
02:51:57,730 --> 02:52:01,390
the parents as well as the kids. Thank you. Thank you.

2304
02:52:03,740 --> 02:52:06,860
That's it. Okay. We're going

2305
02:52:06,860 --> 02:52:11,580
to take a few minutes now for Mr. Madden to answer any questions that came

2306
02:52:11,580 --> 02:52:18,860
out or that any clarification that needs to happen. But as he's getting ready

2307
02:52:18,860 --> 02:52:24,900
to do that. We're going to be talking as a board about the timing for the next meeting.

2308
02:52:25,640 --> 02:52:28,800
We did have some people ask that we move it to an evening meeting. We're going to be

2309
02:52:28,800 --> 02:52:34,020
discussing that during our board report. So you may want to kind of watch the website

2310
02:52:34,020 --> 02:52:37,300
or the remainder of the meeting to find out what we're going to be doing with that.

2311
02:52:37,420 --> 02:52:40,760
So I just kind of wanted to point that out for everybody. Mr. Madden?

2312
02:52:41,900 --> 02:52:48,040
Is it not so much direct answers to questions as it is just response or some comments

2313
02:52:48,040 --> 02:52:51,220
related to the collective set of parent comments that came up today.

2314
02:52:51,580 --> 02:53:00,160
One of the things to just reinforce our intent to work with families directly is, was experienced

2315
02:53:00,160 --> 02:53:04,000
today in just the way the parents presented themselves, because when the words open enrollment,

2316
02:53:04,760 --> 02:53:11,000
grandfathering, sibling preference are all used in the, in presentations, what has happened

2317
02:53:11,000 --> 02:53:16,000
since the days we were even in choice and now have come out of choice, those terms

2318
02:53:16,000 --> 02:53:23,240
have blended together and they take on almost a meaning, but they all mean the same thing

2319
02:53:23,240 --> 02:53:23,980
and they don't.

2320
02:53:25,780 --> 02:53:29,540
When it looked like I wasn't paying attention, I assure you I was because I'm looking through

2321
02:53:29,540 --> 02:53:34,320
the open enrollment for the last four years and I won't mention you by name, but some

2322
02:53:34,320 --> 02:53:41,840
of you are okay in terms of the proposed policy because one of our next tasks is to

2323
02:53:41,840 --> 02:53:48,820
take the students that are impacted because there's a group that didn't come today that

2324
02:53:48,820 --> 02:53:54,900
is impacted by the proposed language. And I sense they're not here today because they're

2325
02:53:54,900 --> 02:54:01,040
now going to be told, whereas earlier we told them you couldn't have your zone school because

2326
02:54:01,040 --> 02:54:06,240
of class size amendment requirements, they're now getting a letter saying you can go to

2327
02:54:06,240 --> 02:54:10,280
your zone school. And those people, we usually don't hear from people that are

2328
02:54:10,280 --> 02:54:15,260
happy with decisions or proposals before the board. It's the one that's impacted, that

2329
02:54:15,260 --> 02:54:23,480
are impacted, such as yourself. I do have to, just being an educator, I'm just humbled

2330
02:54:23,480 --> 02:54:30,300
by the passion, and I'm an former elementary principal, I'm even more humbled by the passion

2331
02:54:30,300 --> 02:54:34,400
that you've shared with us today in terms of your commitment to your students and

2332
02:54:34,400 --> 02:54:39,040
your schools, and we respect that. And that's why the commitment is still out

2333
02:54:39,040 --> 02:54:45,540
there to work with you almost independently as we work through the next few, you know,

2334
02:54:45,580 --> 02:54:52,120
from now to the second reading and thereafter to try to see if we can accommodate what you're

2335
02:54:52,120 --> 02:54:53,000
requesting today.

2336
02:54:53,140 --> 02:55:00,220
But it's, understand that, and I think it's important to, and I realize, you know,

2337
02:55:00,240 --> 02:55:06,480
I heard a number of comments that it's the world of zoning which many families

2338
02:55:06,480 --> 02:55:09,880
have not really experienced for very many years.

2339
02:55:10,480 --> 02:55:14,340
And for those of us that have been in this system in this county for a hundred years,

2340
02:55:14,980 --> 02:55:21,240
we understand what zoning used to be like and how there were times that every two years

2341
02:55:21,240 --> 02:55:21,960
you weren't sure.

2342
02:55:22,120 --> 02:55:26,360
And even sometimes even more frequently, you didn't know from one year to the next

2343
02:55:26,360 --> 02:55:31,240
if your residence was going to be the one chosen to be rezoned somewhere.

2344
02:55:31,240 --> 02:55:37,960
But those were mostly during years when we had increasing enrollment and we were adding

2345
02:55:37,960 --> 02:55:38,380
schools.

2346
02:55:38,780 --> 02:55:43,960
So, you know, if you live north of Olmerton, you usually got moved to a brand new school.

2347
02:55:44,340 --> 02:55:49,040
If you live south of Olmerton, you are helping the district meet its obligation to the federal

2348
02:55:49,040 --> 02:55:51,180
court system to meet desegregation.

2349
02:55:51,760 --> 02:55:57,260
And it was not uncommon for schools to change a fraction of its population in

2350
02:55:57,260 --> 02:55:58,900
South County every two years.

2351
02:55:58,900 --> 02:56:09,160
So we understand how that impacts schools and anybody that's been at a school and you did experience that, you understand that.

2352
02:56:10,420 --> 02:56:17,160
The other kinds of things is, you know, since they have impacted why there's a need to do some stable...

2353
02:56:17,440 --> 02:56:22,720
You actually supported some of the rationale why the board is doing this.

2354
02:56:22,720 --> 02:56:33,260
And one of the reasons why the Board is considering the zoning proposals is to help get to a point of sustainability.

2355
02:56:33,800 --> 02:56:39,780
Now that we know the population which has been declining for the last number of years is going to stabilize,

2356
02:56:40,300 --> 02:56:45,460
and the hopes would be that the zones can then be drawn to help us, you know, like I said at the beginning,

2357
02:56:45,880 --> 02:56:50,840
to use space the way it was intended to be used to meet the class size amendment requirement,

2358
02:56:50,840 --> 02:56:54,980
because just in the last few years, we've gone from, and I heard a couple of speakers

2359
02:56:54,980 --> 02:57:01,600
say, well, if you could just put a couple more students in every class, if we were allowed

2360
02:57:01,600 --> 02:57:07,700
to use the school average to meet class size, we could have that conversation.

2361
02:57:07,960 --> 02:57:14,920
But it has now moved to, it's a class by class average that were required to meet,

2362
02:57:15,140 --> 02:57:19,420
and that complicates things as we look at putting all these variables together.

2363
02:57:19,420 --> 02:57:27,220
That coupled with the fact that this district has experienced over a hundred million dollars loss of revenue in the last five or six years.

2364
02:57:27,720 --> 02:57:35,060
So when you put all those things together, it's how do you then create the system, build a system that can support what you're saying,

2365
02:57:36,000 --> 02:57:41,020
and do what we need to do and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

2366
02:57:41,640 --> 02:57:49,400
That being said, I heard on a number of occasions about honor your commitment, honor your promise,

2367
02:57:49,560 --> 02:57:50,420
you broke a promise.

2368
02:57:51,000 --> 02:57:56,500
The proposed language right now that's before the board, and today it's just first reading,

2369
02:57:56,620 --> 02:58:02,300
it's not a final vote till December 6th, the proposed language would allow students

2370
02:58:02,300 --> 02:58:06,840
who did in fact get into a school through open enrollment stay there.

2371
02:58:06,840 --> 02:58:12,360
The difference is, in fact, I'm looking at my one, this is the Brooker Creek pair and I

2372
02:58:12,360 --> 02:58:15,280
was going to jump out of my chair and say, you're okay, you decide to sit down.

2373
02:58:15,580 --> 02:58:21,380
But that's why I'm already learning your names and who you are because I was highlighting

2374
02:58:21,380 --> 02:58:25,520
a person from about 15 of you through email already and we'll stay with you for the

2375
02:58:25,520 --> 02:58:25,840
long time.

2376
02:58:25,920 --> 02:58:26,500
I'm not going to call you.

2377
02:58:27,860 --> 02:58:34,040
But let us work with you individually, let us sort through each of your individual

2378
02:58:34,040 --> 02:58:35,340
cases because they are unique.

2379
02:58:35,340 --> 02:58:40,540
There are some overlap, but there is some uniqueness to a number of your requests.

2380
02:58:41,360 --> 02:58:46,920
And the other thing, and I know it's not going to give you a comfort level with me sitting here today,

2381
02:58:47,180 --> 02:58:51,480
is that if there's two of you in here that are dying to stay at your respective schools,

2382
02:58:51,700 --> 02:58:56,760
and you're really holding each other's seat, then why wouldn't we let you both just stay where you are?

2383
02:58:57,940 --> 02:59:02,780
But it's working through that set of dynamics.

2384
02:59:02,780 --> 02:59:08,020
So it's like you're in school A and somebody else in school B and you're being told you got to go here

2385
02:59:08,020 --> 02:59:11,160
And you're being told you have to go here and you want to stay here

2386
02:59:11,160 --> 02:59:12,220
You want to stay here?

2387
02:59:12,320 --> 02:59:18,420
Then let us work through the system to try to see if we can do that and make that happen and at the same time

2388
02:59:18,880 --> 02:59:22,900
You know make sure we comply with class size make sure that we you know

2389
02:59:22,900 --> 02:59:29,420
Do make provisions where zone students or families that move into a zone actually get their zone school the other comment

2390
02:59:29,420 --> 02:59:30,300
They're going to make it a

2391
02:59:32,040 --> 02:59:34,160
was related to transportation.

2392
02:59:35,800 --> 02:59:40,520
And sometimes, you know, it was the Ozona San Jose group of families.

2393
02:59:40,980 --> 02:59:44,940
What's happening right now, and I don't know the exact numbers,

2394
02:59:45,040 --> 02:59:48,660
but the potential that we run because of class size and the way the rules are currently

2395
02:59:48,660 --> 02:59:54,540
written is because Ozona has no room to accept new students unless somebody

2396
02:59:54,540 --> 02:59:58,420
leaves and creates an open space, somebody that moves into Ozona

2397
02:59:58,420 --> 02:59:59,680
to school right now.

2398
03:00:01,200 --> 03:00:08,880
We have to provide them a bus to take them somewhere else, and it's at a place where there's an opening.

2399
03:00:09,400 --> 03:00:19,080
So you could have five different families move into Ozona's zone as we know it today, and based upon the grade level of those students,

2400
03:00:19,600 --> 03:00:24,060
they could end up at five different schools, and we owe all five of them a bus.

2401
03:00:25,040 --> 03:00:34,280
But by doing the rezoning then we run the greater likelihood that we can run one bus into that area and take all those students to the school.

2402
03:00:34,440 --> 03:00:38,940
So it's not, it's somewhat complicated as we move through this.

2403
03:00:39,380 --> 03:00:44,700
But once again I'll just reassure the families, we'll work with you, that's the nature of our department.

2404
03:00:46,060 --> 03:00:50,060
And you'd be surprised what we're able to do for families as we move through this.

2405
03:00:51,100 --> 03:00:54,940
And some of you were testing to that from previous years in that.

2406
03:00:57,440 --> 03:01:01,880
Yeah, and understand the class size amendment requirements.

2407
03:01:02,480 --> 03:01:07,820
It's a, it's, it was approved by the voters of Florida and it's a state mandate.

2408
03:01:08,420 --> 03:01:09,500
It's a constitutional amendment.

2409
03:01:09,500 --> 03:01:10,660
It's a constitutional amendment.

2410
03:01:11,420 --> 03:01:14,240
And it takes 60% of the voters to change it.

2411
03:01:15,000 --> 03:01:18,100
So we have to, yeah, we tried, but we have to follow that.

2412
03:01:18,820 --> 03:01:24,520
Before we start with conversation from the board members, I want to thank all of you

2413
03:01:24,520 --> 03:01:27,720
for the way in which you addressed us, the way in which you spoke.

2414
03:01:28,180 --> 03:01:30,600
I think you set an excellent example for your students.

2415
03:01:31,220 --> 03:01:35,960
The commitment to character, the schools that were there would be very proud to see how

2416
03:01:35,960 --> 03:01:37,660
you addressed the board.

2417
03:01:37,800 --> 03:01:40,820
And I thank you for that because this is a very difficult time.

2418
03:01:40,820 --> 03:01:48,740
I know that, you know, you can be upset and you can be angry, but yet you addressed us

2419
03:01:48,740 --> 03:01:51,040
in a very kind and polite way, and I thank you for that.

2420
03:01:51,500 --> 03:01:53,340
Mrs. Lerner, we're going to start with your comments.

2421
03:01:53,900 --> 03:01:54,160
I

2422
03:01:57,140 --> 03:01:58,960
just have a couple of questions.

2423
03:01:59,820 --> 03:02:06,640
In the agenda item, I think it said 1,900 will be moving if it's passed the way

2424
03:02:06,640 --> 03:02:10,140
it's written now because of rezoning.

2425
03:02:11,160 --> 03:02:11,840
Am I correct?

2426
03:02:11,840 --> 03:02:17,660
But then we have the students in elementary schools who are not having a new zone, but

2427
03:02:17,660 --> 03:02:19,100
they're not in their zone school.

2428
03:02:19,940 --> 03:02:26,360
What is the total number under this recommendation about?

2429
03:02:31,610 --> 03:02:38,350
There's about 1,900 kindergarten through fourth grade students that are currently not in a

2430
03:02:38,350 --> 03:02:43,630
fundamental school, not in a charter school, not in a full-time ESC center, not in a

2431
03:02:43,630 --> 03:02:49,710
full-time magnet school that live in the areas, the 21 areas we're recommending for rezoning.

2432
03:02:50,670 --> 03:02:57,470
If you look at the K3, because we're going to allow fourth graders to remain, if they ask us to,

2433
03:02:57,890 --> 03:03:05,190
it brings it down to about 1,600 students living in the areas where we think a zoning impact would affect them.

2434
03:03:05,510 --> 03:03:10,670
By virtue of the fact that we know they're not, they may not be at a given zone school,

2435
03:03:10,670 --> 03:03:14,790
but we know that their zone is going to change and because they're not in a

2436
03:03:14,790 --> 03:03:17,830
magnet they're not in a fundamental it will probably affect them. Some of those

2437
03:03:17,830 --> 03:03:21,610
may already be at that school because we may place them there because there

2438
03:03:21,610 --> 03:03:27,130
wasn't room at what used to be their zone and we're changing it. So that's

2439
03:03:27,130 --> 03:03:32,090
one group and it's either 1600 if you look at K3 or about 1900 if you look

2440
03:03:32,090 --> 03:03:37,310
at K4 but the fourth graders they will have the option of staying. The other

2441
03:03:37,310 --> 03:03:44,070
group. The other group, right. Yeah. It's about 4,400. The other group. Right. K through

2442
03:03:44,070 --> 03:03:50,970
4. If you take out the fourth graders that would be allowed by exception to remain for

2443
03:03:50,970 --> 03:03:58,350
their final year, it brings it down to, it brings it down to, I think it's about 2,900

2444
03:03:59,150 --> 03:04:04,410
K-3 students where we anticipate we're not, we're not rezoning them per se. We're

2445
03:04:04,410 --> 03:04:08,710
not saying your zone's changing, but the policy change would be likely to affect

2446
03:04:08,710 --> 03:04:11,290
them because they are not currently at their zone school.

2447
03:04:11,930 --> 03:04:15,970
Did those families get phone calls or letters, the 2,900?

2448
03:04:16,710 --> 03:04:17,050
Not yet.

2449
03:04:17,490 --> 03:04:18,890
That's why they're not here, I guess.

2450
03:04:19,470 --> 03:04:19,770
Probably.

2451
03:04:20,490 --> 03:04:21,290
Some are.

2452
03:04:21,890 --> 03:04:22,670
Oh, you did?

2453
03:04:22,830 --> 03:04:23,330
Some of them are.

2454
03:04:23,530 --> 03:04:23,810
OK.

2455
03:04:24,190 --> 03:04:24,450
OK.

2456
03:04:24,710 --> 03:04:25,690
And you've done a great job.

2457
03:04:25,810 --> 03:04:28,410
I have to compliment D. Burns and Marshall Tuckton.

2458
03:04:28,510 --> 03:04:30,350
They have done an excellent job.

2459
03:04:32,450 --> 03:04:35,150
So we're talking about 19 or 1,600,

2460
03:04:35,150 --> 03:04:39,270
and then about another 2,900, okay.

2461
03:04:47,040 --> 03:04:50,600
There are a few things I think the district needs to do in a better way.

2462
03:04:51,520 --> 03:04:56,560
I've been on the board a long time and I do remember before we were under a court order,

2463
03:04:56,760 --> 03:04:59,240
then we were under choice, then we were under control choice.

2464
03:04:59,420 --> 03:05:00,600
It's very complicated.

2465
03:05:00,860 --> 03:05:05,300
Much of it was due to the court order that we were under since 1971.

2466
03:05:07,020 --> 03:05:13,300
But we had rezonings, and we had rezonings in North County where schools were built,

2467
03:05:13,500 --> 03:05:20,080
and we had satellite zones where students went for two years to a South County school,

2468
03:05:20,180 --> 03:05:23,040
and other students came to a school further north.

2469
03:05:23,920 --> 03:05:27,480
I think we have to make it real clear to our community we want stability,

2470
03:05:27,940 --> 03:05:32,480
and that's what we hope, at least what gets passed in this recommendation,

2471
03:05:32,480 --> 03:05:39,460
will give the schools, but never buy your house based on what school it's

2472
03:05:39,460 --> 03:05:47,620
zoned for now. Because there are, well, I'm just saying, you may not, maybe if

2473
03:05:47,620 --> 03:05:52,480
you're in a smaller school district like up north, Connecticut, where I went to

2474
03:05:52,480 --> 03:05:56,520
school, there were two high schools, four middle schools, two middle or three

2475
03:05:56,520 --> 03:06:00,100
middle schools, a few elementary, what we have about how many schools?

2476
03:06:03,460 --> 03:06:09,180
142,000 students K through 12, populations are shifting.

2477
03:06:10,120 --> 03:06:14,760
We have capacities at schools, and then we have the class size amendment.

2478
03:06:15,850 --> 03:06:25,680
And whether you're in, I think, K through 2, it's 18, and then 22, we have to keep to that.

2479
03:06:26,440 --> 03:06:32,960
And what happens, what happened at North Shore Elementary, there were three or four kindergarten

2480
03:06:32,960 --> 03:06:35,520
classes that would have had 19 students.

2481
03:06:36,020 --> 03:06:37,720
They had to hire another teacher.

2482
03:06:38,560 --> 03:06:40,540
That teacher floated from room to room.

2483
03:06:40,860 --> 03:06:44,360
They had no place to put that teacher, and then I think they found part of the library.

2484
03:06:44,820 --> 03:06:49,620
But the schools that are overcrowded have given up libraries, they've given up computer

2485
03:06:49,620 --> 03:06:53,740
rooms, they have not had effective and efficient way of working.

2486
03:06:53,740 --> 03:06:57,200
So our capacity and the class size amendment is an issue.

2487
03:06:57,800 --> 03:06:59,680
Grading schools is another issue.

2488
03:06:59,800 --> 03:07:02,920
I have been a strong advocate who has said,

2489
03:07:03,240 --> 03:07:07,980
don't celebrate high grades and don't just look negatively at low grades.

2490
03:07:08,220 --> 03:07:11,060
It's one test, the F-CAD, at one time.

2491
03:07:11,420 --> 03:07:14,660
And I understand where you're saying going from an A to a C,

2492
03:07:14,920 --> 03:07:20,340
but let me assure you it does not really tell you what the school is like.

2493
03:07:20,340 --> 03:07:27,720
And I think what we find when we have these meetings, the good part of it is everyone wants to stay in their school.

2494
03:07:28,100 --> 03:07:30,460
That's wonderful because we have good schools.

2495
03:07:31,160 --> 03:07:36,380
And, you know, I do understand your concerns.

2496
03:07:36,640 --> 03:07:42,860
As a board member, I have to look at the whole district and I have to look at what's safe, effective, and efficient.

2497
03:07:43,960 --> 03:07:49,560
The other issue, and it's complicated, you know, I'm still reading over all the parts of it.

2498
03:07:49,560 --> 03:08:04,180
But I have faith that our student assignment and Mr. Madden will fairly look at each situation

2499
03:08:04,700 --> 03:08:07,560
based on whatever is passed at our December meeting.

2500
03:08:08,260 --> 03:08:12,360
And Mr. Madden, you've done a great job, but when you said two families switching,

2501
03:08:12,860 --> 03:08:17,680
that got me a little concerned, even though Mr. Madden is doing an exemplary job, but

2502
03:08:17,680 --> 03:08:18,820
I have to relate to that.

2503
03:08:18,820 --> 03:08:23,460
That isn't how it works, that each one, and this is what Mr. Madden has been doing,

2504
03:08:24,120 --> 03:08:30,600
each case is looked at, and then whatever is passed at our December meeting,

2505
03:08:32,740 --> 03:08:34,380
that's where it has to be looked at.

2506
03:08:35,420 --> 03:08:41,160
And whether a parent is here or not, whether they made one phone call or ten phone calls,

2507
03:08:41,840 --> 03:08:47,440
that that's, and that's how I have trusted the system and I have been proven right,

2508
03:08:47,440 --> 03:08:54,760
that's how it's done. I wish we didn't have to do any of this, but we absolutely

2509
03:08:54,760 --> 03:08:59,120
have to. Some of our schools are extremely overcrowded and we have the

2510
03:08:59,120 --> 03:09:04,280
class size amendment and capacity of schools. Having said that, I certainly

2511
03:09:04,280 --> 03:09:11,300
will listen to any exceptions that maybe other board members will bring up, but

2512
03:09:11,300 --> 03:09:16,640
we have to do something and maybe you don't understand it, but I that's my

2513
03:09:17,640 --> 03:09:23,960
So thank you for coming and you still have this discussion and the meeting in December,

2514
03:09:24,060 --> 03:09:25,600
which I hope will be an evening meeting.

2515
03:09:28,060 --> 03:09:30,240
Okay, good. Thank you. Mrs. Weichel.

2516
03:09:30,420 --> 03:09:35,580
Yes, Madam Chair, I have questions, quite a few questions for Mr. Touchden and Mr. Madden

2517
03:09:35,580 --> 03:09:40,220
that we've answered some of them, but I want it for transparency with the audience.

2518
03:09:40,720 --> 03:09:41,840
And then I have some comments.

2519
03:09:41,980 --> 03:09:43,120
I wanted to thank the parents.

2520
03:09:43,120 --> 03:09:49,540
You were cordial and and also all we feel all our schools are excellent schools

2521
03:09:49,540 --> 03:09:54,180
So I appreciate you saying positive things about your school and knowing that

2522
03:09:55,140 --> 03:09:59,180
This is I really feel that you're very involved parents

2523
03:09:59,180 --> 03:10:04,740
Whatever school your child ends up in it's going to be the greatest school in the world because you're going to make it like that

2524
03:10:04,740 --> 03:10:06,440
I have to just say that statement out

2525
03:10:07,120 --> 03:10:10,720
Some of the questions that were brought to oh the other thing is emails

2526
03:10:11,300 --> 03:10:18,960
Some of you wrote us personal emails, and I pride myself on trying to respond to personal

2527
03:10:18,960 --> 03:10:19,240
emails.

2528
03:10:19,400 --> 03:10:20,180
I'm sure we all do.

2529
03:10:20,840 --> 03:10:27,520
And last week, Mr. Madden, he asked us to not respond personally so he could give the

2530
03:10:27,520 --> 03:10:30,900
same information out, and so I just wanted you to know as board members, if we didn't

2531
03:10:30,900 --> 03:10:34,760
respond it wasn't, it was that we decided that was the best way to get the accurate

2532
03:10:34,760 --> 03:10:36,260
information out, not to respond.

2533
03:10:36,460 --> 03:10:38,980
I did get a few of you in before that email came out.

2534
03:10:40,340 --> 03:10:42,380
Question on one of the emails was feeder pattern.

2535
03:10:43,580 --> 03:10:46,420
And I'm only going to talk about what we might not have talked about here.

2536
03:10:47,140 --> 03:10:51,120
A feeder pattern that made sense.

2537
03:10:51,460 --> 03:10:55,700
And one of the North County, the Ozone was the feeder pattern.

2538
03:10:56,400 --> 03:11:06,000
And the stats that we have now are that 60% of our schools have the same feeder pattern.

2539
03:11:07,440 --> 03:11:14,860
And 60% in Marshall, you need to, Mr. President, 60% of the students that will be going to

2540
03:11:16,280 --> 03:11:22,120
Ozona, well, I mean, going to San Jose, have the same feeder pattern, it'll even increase

2541
03:11:22,120 --> 03:11:24,320
the desirability of the feeder pattern.

2542
03:11:24,420 --> 03:11:25,140
Is that correct?

2543
03:11:25,640 --> 03:11:27,060
And you can say it a different way.

2544
03:11:27,380 --> 03:11:28,700
Let me say it a different way then.

2545
03:11:28,800 --> 03:11:28,940
Yeah.

2546
03:11:29,900 --> 03:11:30,540
I've written.

2547
03:11:30,900 --> 03:11:34,320
Yeah, I'm struggling with a cold, so I'm going to read slowly from what I responded

2548
03:11:34,320 --> 03:11:34,800
to you.

2549
03:11:34,800 --> 03:11:36,340
so hopefully I don't get it wrong.

2550
03:11:37,320 --> 03:11:40,120
The feeder pattern for students will still

2551
03:11:40,120 --> 03:11:42,580
be Palm Harbor Middle, Dunedin High

2552
03:11:42,580 --> 03:11:46,040
when we're discussing the three grid zones that we're

2553
03:11:46,040 --> 03:11:50,180
recommending moving from Ozona zone into San Jose zone.

2554
03:11:50,920 --> 03:11:54,020
Students that are zoned for San Jose already,

2555
03:11:55,560 --> 03:12:01,660
60% of them go to Palm Harbor Middle, Dunedin High.

2556
03:12:01,660 --> 03:12:07,220
Then if 40% of them go to Dunedin Middle, Dunedin High.

2557
03:12:07,760 --> 03:12:13,720
So the area that we're recommending moving will be moving into a school

2558
03:12:13,720 --> 03:12:19,880
where the majority of the students at San Jose will go to Palm Harbor Middle School together

2559
03:12:19,880 --> 03:12:21,800
and Dunedin High School together.

2560
03:12:22,580 --> 03:12:29,920
Let me quickly say that feeder patterns, although we always attempt to sort of maximize

2561
03:12:29,920 --> 03:12:36,060
the relationship between having the most kids from a neighborhood go to elementary, middle and high school together.

2562
03:12:36,960 --> 03:12:40,240
It's like looking at three jigsaw puzzles stacked on top of each other.

2563
03:12:40,900 --> 03:12:48,680
And it almost never works out that every single student that goes to an elementary school all go to the same middle school

2564
03:12:48,680 --> 03:12:55,700
and then all go to the same high school because when we create our zones, we try and do it based on where the school is.

2565
03:12:55,700 --> 03:13:00,680
In some areas where you have an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school all very close to each other,

2566
03:13:00,900 --> 03:13:06,400
it's reasonable to assume that most of the people that live very close to it are going to go to all three together.

2567
03:13:06,880 --> 03:13:08,820
In other places, that's not the case.

2568
03:13:09,340 --> 03:13:12,920
When we looked at this, one of the final things that we did was take a look at,

2569
03:13:13,400 --> 03:13:20,780
are we increasing or decreasing the likelihood that kids going to an elementary school together will all go to the same middle school?

2570
03:13:21,260 --> 03:13:24,540
In some cases it improved it, in some cases it didn't.

2571
03:13:24,540 --> 03:13:31,860
The most noteworthy one because it's one of the ones with the largest group of children would be our recommendation for saugrass lakes

2572
03:13:31,860 --> 03:13:36,480
Where right now saugrass lakes is elementary zone as it's currently drawn

2573
03:13:36,480 --> 03:13:43,100
It's basically cut in half. We're about half the kids go to Fitzgerald half go to

2574
03:13:44,460 --> 03:13:52,260
Hopkins now the students. I'm sorry metal on now the students that would be going to Pinellas central if we move them

2575
03:13:52,260 --> 03:13:58,680
would be going to Pinell Central and Fitzgerald together.

2576
03:13:59,540 --> 03:14:03,260
So it significantly increases them in that recommendation.

2577
03:14:04,800 --> 03:14:06,780
In that example, I would say it improved the feeder pattern.

2578
03:14:06,840 --> 03:14:10,660
The reason I think it needs to be a discussion is because it is a legitimate point.

2579
03:14:10,840 --> 03:14:15,680
It's one of our guiding principles of the student assignment plan is a predictable feeder pattern.

2580
03:14:15,920 --> 03:14:21,580
And I thought that was a legitimate question to know whether that improved that feeder pattern

2581
03:14:21,580 --> 03:14:27,300
will be improved or the majority of the students are following the same theater pattern.

2582
03:14:27,440 --> 03:14:33,380
It will increase the number of students that go to the same elementary, middle and high school together for the neighborhood that we're proposing moving.

2583
03:14:33,920 --> 03:14:39,980
But the immediate impact on the families that are already at Ozona clearly is not what they prefer and I understand that.

2584
03:14:40,700 --> 03:14:46,880
My questions for this North County area are legitimate for me for proximity.

2585
03:14:46,880 --> 03:14:51,760
many. I drove it every which way over the weekend and it is they are further away from

2586
03:14:51,760 --> 03:14:59,960
their currently zone school. Absolutely. And a legitimate question was why in the

2587
03:15:00,000 --> 03:15:04,260
And I know, and you gave me the answer, and I'm going to give the answer, and I think I can do a better job.

2588
03:15:04,440 --> 03:15:13,080
Would we have switched these three grids in 2009 when we closed the school to Ozona?

2589
03:15:14,260 --> 03:15:16,500
They were all three in San Jose.

2590
03:15:16,720 --> 03:15:21,300
Why would we put them in Ozona just two years ago when we closed the school,

2591
03:15:21,380 --> 03:15:25,520
and we knew that Ozona was going to be increased in numbers with the closing school?

2592
03:15:25,520 --> 03:15:30,620
The answer was because there was a fear that we were going to overcrowd Dunedin from the

2593
03:15:30,620 --> 03:15:34,140
closing schools of North Ward and King's Highway.

2594
03:15:34,800 --> 03:15:44,160
So we took some kids from Dunedin, took some kids from Dunedin, put them in San Jose, took

2595
03:15:44,160 --> 03:15:49,500
some kids out of San Jose, and put them in Ozona in case the fear of the closings

2596
03:15:49,500 --> 03:15:50,160
of North Ward.

2597
03:15:51,420 --> 03:15:52,200
It makes sense.

2598
03:15:52,200 --> 03:15:57,480
And also the word Jenga, which is what you use with that Jenga game, where you put all

2599
03:15:57,480 --> 03:16:01,800
the pieces in, that's where I think you have that all the way from the south to the north.

2600
03:16:02,120 --> 03:16:05,540
It's just like you can't pull one without affecting the other.

2601
03:16:06,180 --> 03:16:12,360
Am I correct on the reason why you moved them only two years ago?

2602
03:16:12,940 --> 03:16:13,020
Yes.

2603
03:16:13,020 --> 03:16:17,160
And there's three grids in that area, and one out of three have been moved three

2604
03:16:17,160 --> 03:16:19,280
times in the last four years.

2605
03:16:21,780 --> 03:16:26,720
There's three grids. Two were San Jose. One was Garrison, then San Jose, then Ozona.

2606
03:16:27,460 --> 03:16:30,120
Prior to the choice plan.

2607
03:16:30,520 --> 03:16:36,700
Coming out of the choice plan, all three were initially zoned for San Jose, then changed to Ozona.

2608
03:16:37,240 --> 03:16:38,540
Now it's back to San Jose.

2609
03:16:38,960 --> 03:16:43,260
The neighborhood that I think most people are here from this weekend, or I'm sorry, today rather,

2610
03:16:44,700 --> 03:16:48,100
was zoned for Garrison Jones prior to the commencement of the choice plan.

2611
03:16:48,100 --> 03:16:54,500
We, when we closed the schools in, that we were talking about earlier, Northward Elementary

2612
03:16:55,020 --> 03:17:01,800
and King's Highway, Garrison Jones' zone used to be configured almost the exact opposite

2613
03:17:01,800 --> 03:17:02,660
of the way it is now.

2614
03:17:02,780 --> 03:17:07,220
If you imagine a zone that's a little bit taller than it is wide, prior to the choice

2615
03:17:07,220 --> 03:17:12,320
plan, the school sat at the geographic bottom of its zone and its zone came up

2616
03:17:12,320 --> 03:17:13,520
north of Curlew.

2617
03:17:13,520 --> 03:17:19,060
Then, we're coming out of the choice plan because we were closing schools to the south.

2618
03:17:19,500 --> 03:17:24,300
That absence of zones for North Ward Elementary and King's Highway,

2619
03:17:24,460 --> 03:17:29,540
in addition to physically relocating Dunnead Elementary from where it was located further south,

2620
03:17:29,980 --> 03:17:35,920
basically creates a vacuum that drags all zones that it touches along south with it,

2621
03:17:35,980 --> 03:17:41,160
where now Garrison Jones' zone is still kind of a long rectangle,

2622
03:17:41,160 --> 03:17:47,020
But the whole thing is moved to the south, where now the school sits at sort of the northernmost point in its own.

2623
03:17:47,680 --> 03:17:51,040
Thank you. And some of these we can work through at the workshop.

2624
03:17:51,420 --> 03:17:57,220
But a question, is North City Park, is that a subdivision that you're splitting up in Safety Harbor?

2625
03:17:58,240 --> 03:18:05,600
The way we're splitting it, we're taking two grids, which is what we thought we needed to take out of Davis so that its zone would be the right size.

2626
03:18:05,780 --> 03:18:09,000
So people that live there had a reasonable expectation to attend the school.

2627
03:18:09,000 --> 03:18:13,840
is separated by railroad tracks from one area to another.

2628
03:18:14,180 --> 03:18:16,140
I haven't gone and walked the railroad tracks.

2629
03:18:16,700 --> 03:18:19,400
It's not my place to tell people what neighborhood they do

2630
03:18:19,400 --> 03:18:20,660
or don't live in in terms of the community,

2631
03:18:20,780 --> 03:18:23,860
but it seemed like a reasonable natural barrier

2632
03:18:23,860 --> 03:18:28,220
because there's only one street that traverses the railroad tracks

2633
03:18:28,220 --> 03:18:30,500
and in drawing the line the way we were drawing it,

2634
03:18:30,900 --> 03:18:33,760
we weren't driving it down the middle of somebody's street

2635
03:18:33,760 --> 03:18:37,000
where people would see each other getting their mail in the morning

2636
03:18:37,000 --> 03:18:38,160
and be going to two different schools.

2637
03:18:38,720 --> 03:18:41,800
Okay, my question was, is it a subdivision?

2638
03:18:41,960 --> 03:18:44,640
Could we find that out, please, for the workshop?

2639
03:18:45,240 --> 03:18:47,660
Will we work with the families to help us define

2640
03:18:47,660 --> 03:18:50,360
whether the whole thing's a subdivision or not?

2641
03:18:50,520 --> 03:18:51,020
Yes, correct.

2642
03:18:51,340 --> 03:18:52,380
Could we find that out?

2643
03:18:52,800 --> 03:18:53,240
Okay.

2644
03:18:55,600 --> 03:18:58,040
And someone else, the motivation behind this

2645
03:18:58,040 --> 03:19:01,000
over in that section, and I think the motivation

2646
03:19:01,000 --> 03:19:05,380
is in the assignment plan with sustainability.

2647
03:19:05,380 --> 03:19:10,440
That's my main word, I want sustainability and you're all exactly right, effective and

2648
03:19:10,440 --> 03:19:11,360
efficient operations.

2649
03:19:12,100 --> 03:19:16,860
And you mentioned student impact, student achievement, Mr. Madden at the beginning,

2650
03:19:17,080 --> 03:19:22,600
but for these parents, I think the word positive, we want to impact positive student achievement

2651
03:19:23,360 --> 03:19:24,480
by doing this.

2652
03:19:27,080 --> 03:19:30,200
I have two more, thank you board for being patient.

2653
03:19:30,200 --> 03:19:36,600
Do we have kids that are less than a mile, such as the gentleman from Bouter or Lila Davis,

2654
03:19:36,920 --> 03:19:39,540
that are actually less than a mile and we're rezoning?

2655
03:19:40,500 --> 03:19:41,360
I don't know.

2656
03:19:41,640 --> 03:19:45,640
I thought that one of the gentlemen that lived less than a mile away from the school

2657
03:19:46,420 --> 03:19:49,500
wasn't in the zone, but I think we had 26 speakers.

2658
03:19:49,860 --> 03:19:51,780
I have to go back and review my notes.

2659
03:19:52,140 --> 03:19:57,160
I know that the area that we're recommending where we're moving students out of Davis

2660
03:19:57,160 --> 03:20:02,040
into safety harbor they're roughly equidistant depending on where you live

2661
03:20:02,040 --> 03:20:08,000
in that area you may live closer to Lila Davis than the other school it sort of

2662
03:20:08,000 --> 03:20:13,540
depends I get that but less than a mile is is trouble some and and that was

2663
03:20:13,540 --> 03:20:18,220
about her that was actually about our family yeah because it was and we're

2664
03:20:18,220 --> 03:20:22,880
changing the name to open enrollment to zoning exception rules is that the

2665
03:20:22,880 --> 03:20:25,780
recommendation in this? No.

2666
03:20:27,920 --> 03:20:30,980
We're changing that to special assignment

2667
03:20:30,980 --> 03:20:36,280
request and the change in the name and also that it will if we grant that one

2668
03:20:36,280 --> 03:20:41,800
year then we'll ask them to request that again the following year and in some

2669
03:20:41,800 --> 03:20:45,600
ways that can help us because you know when you make a commitment for six

2670
03:20:45,600 --> 03:20:48,500
years of elementary school but if you can do it for one year and sometimes

2671
03:20:48,500 --> 03:20:52,140
folks only need a year sometimes you know they can be there for the

2672
03:20:52,140 --> 03:20:54,320
the entire time, but they want me to ask each year.

2673
03:20:56,720 --> 03:20:58,700
We talked about this in the workshop,

2674
03:20:58,920 --> 03:21:01,860
the open enrollment leads to suggest that this is,

2675
03:21:02,600 --> 03:21:04,780
we have opportunities all over the district

2676
03:21:04,780 --> 03:21:07,400
and we don't, we actually have very, very full schools.

2677
03:21:08,180 --> 03:21:09,780
Do we currently have siblings?

2678
03:21:10,660 --> 03:21:11,900
And I know we did last year

2679
03:21:11,900 --> 03:21:12,980
because they were friends of mine.

2680
03:21:13,740 --> 03:21:15,140
Not anymore, no, I'm kidding.

2681
03:21:16,140 --> 03:21:20,420
At two different schools, or have we finished that up?

2682
03:21:20,500 --> 03:21:22,720
Do we currently have siblings

2683
03:21:22,720 --> 03:21:29,820
that choose on their own choice because they could pull their that go to two different schools. Yes, right for a variety of reasons

2684
03:21:29,820 --> 03:21:31,040
It could be in magnets

2685
03:21:32,500 --> 03:21:35,620
Different needs for different children. Okay, I think I

2686
03:21:37,120 --> 03:21:40,200
Guess I didn't mean for ESC or magnet. I meant for

2687
03:21:41,360 --> 03:21:45,820
Regular, okay, if this is difficult. I was in a

2688
03:21:46,680 --> 03:21:51,620
Place an establishment and I had a PE teacher and I could tell you who because I don't want you to track her down

2689
03:21:51,620 --> 03:21:57,060
So, Robin, thank you so much for getting these P.E. these portables off my P.E.

2690
03:21:57,180 --> 03:22:02,040
court. So you got to kind of look at the big picture of what we're looking at as a

2691
03:22:02,040 --> 03:22:06,780
board. Real estate, Ms. Lerner mentioned it. There's a code of ethics with the

2692
03:22:06,780 --> 03:22:12,120
real estate, Pinellas Real Estate Organ, Pinellas Realty Organization that

2693
03:22:12,120 --> 03:22:16,320
says when they sell you your house they have to say you are currently

2694
03:22:16,320 --> 03:22:22,220
zone for this school. So know that, you know, because of our policies, it's subject to change.

2695
03:22:22,480 --> 03:22:28,420
So don't let a realtor put you in the wrong, steer you in the wrong direction. There, some

2696
03:22:28,420 --> 03:22:34,060
of them are really good. Transportation. My last question I had asked the questions

2697
03:22:34,060 --> 03:22:42,460
on transportation on how many students were, were currently, we call them outliers

2698
03:22:43,400 --> 03:22:49,580
that can't go to their zone school such as those known and we're transparent all over the place. How many students are that in our hope?

2699
03:22:49,800 --> 03:22:55,280
And our hope was to get that to you for today, but it's more it looks more like well, it'll be for the workshop. Okay.

2700
03:22:57,840 --> 03:23:00,160
That's all my questions. Thank you. All right.

2701
03:23:00,540 --> 03:23:04,840
Miss Crestman, you said your question was the same as well. Do you have more regard?

2702
03:23:05,080 --> 03:23:08,200
Well, no, not really just one comment one question.

2703
03:23:08,200 --> 03:23:12,480
and I wanted to, I definitely identify with the school family.

2704
03:23:13,160 --> 03:23:15,540
I still call my Westgate family

2705
03:23:15,540 --> 03:23:18,940
and I was with them for 17 years, my school family.

2706
03:23:19,120 --> 03:23:21,340
So I know what that means to families.

2707
03:23:21,580 --> 03:23:23,700
We had many that were in our building for,

2708
03:23:24,460 --> 03:23:27,800
I even had one up to 14 years there, so I know that.

2709
03:23:28,060 --> 03:23:31,400
And with that, what is our rationale

2710
03:23:31,920 --> 03:23:35,660
for why they're having to apply each year

2711
03:23:35,660 --> 03:23:41,600
for open enrollment or the special assignment request as we're going to call it?

2712
03:23:43,300 --> 03:23:47,660
Accuracy because, as we said before, we don't always know what people want and we do need

2713
03:23:47,660 --> 03:23:53,720
to do our due diligence as we look at what we call the district rollover, which happens

2714
03:23:53,720 --> 03:23:57,340
toward the end of February, the beginning of March, when we go, who are all the students

2715
03:23:57,340 --> 03:24:00,340
who are going to be in our schools so that as we work with budget and staffing,

2716
03:24:00,760 --> 03:24:03,500
we can say for sure these parents want to be in there.

2717
03:24:03,500 --> 03:24:07,520
So it helps us have more stability as we look at moving forward in the spring

2718
03:24:07,520 --> 03:24:11,340
through staffing model, unit allocations, and looking when we do go

2719
03:24:11,340 --> 03:24:16,520
into, because we will continue to have a special assignment request period to say.

2720
03:24:16,900 --> 03:24:20,720
And would there be any other students that we could allow in or continue to

2721
03:24:20,720 --> 03:24:22,460
allow in through a special assignment request?

2722
03:24:22,980 --> 03:24:24,880
But Ms. Burns, there's another reason.

2723
03:24:25,040 --> 03:24:28,240
And one is to increase the likelihood that somebody who actually moves

2724
03:24:28,240 --> 03:24:32,580
into a school zone can have a seat in that zone school.

2725
03:24:32,580 --> 03:24:37,220
that may currently be taken up by somebody who's not in that zone.

2726
03:24:37,440 --> 03:24:40,480
See, that's where it's giving the parents the concern,

2727
03:24:40,620 --> 03:24:44,460
that it's not giving them a guarantee that they're going to be able to stay in their own.

2728
03:24:44,460 --> 03:24:45,440
And let me address that.

2729
03:24:45,720 --> 03:24:48,040
And once again, sometimes you have to learn from history.

2730
03:24:48,520 --> 03:24:52,140
But for those of us that lived in the world prior to choice,

2731
03:24:52,300 --> 03:24:57,080
which was a world of zoning, there was something known as a special attendance permit,

2732
03:24:57,080 --> 03:25:01,700
which granted families that option to attend a school

2733
03:25:01,700 --> 03:25:07,800
other than what their zone school was for a number of reasons, but that was only good on

2734
03:25:07,800 --> 03:25:13,940
an annual basis. Of course, that was before we had class size. That was before a number

2735
03:25:13,940 --> 03:25:19,740
of the things that we discussed earlier, but it's, remember, going back to the what we're

2736
03:25:19,740 --> 03:25:24,860
trying, it's the sustainability that we're trying to create, trying to reduce transportation

2737
03:25:24,860 --> 03:25:29,400
because we have to take students that are zoned to a school, that can't get into

2738
03:25:29,400 --> 03:25:34,240
of a school to other schools, there are a number of reasons why we're recommending

2739
03:25:34,240 --> 03:25:38,020
that for a one-year option.

2740
03:25:38,580 --> 03:25:42,620
Can I state what I think is the single best and easiest to understand reason for it?

2741
03:25:44,420 --> 03:25:49,220
If right now, today, there may be plenty of room to accommodate

2742
03:25:49,220 --> 03:25:52,780
a student that doesn't live in a zone as a first grader,

2743
03:25:53,780 --> 03:25:58,700
because it may be that that neighborhood had more first grade parent families

2744
03:25:58,700 --> 03:25:59,920
as the first graders move away,

2745
03:26:00,040 --> 03:26:01,820
it may be that there was a dip in the birth rate

2746
03:26:01,820 --> 03:26:02,740
within that area.

2747
03:26:03,120 --> 03:26:05,320
It may make perfect sense for me to accommodate a student

2748
03:26:05,320 --> 03:26:06,340
that doesn't live in his own

2749
03:26:06,820 --> 03:26:08,980
in a seat at a school for first grade.

2750
03:26:09,460 --> 03:26:10,660
Two years down the road,

2751
03:26:11,320 --> 03:26:13,400
if that school has a bad year with that cat,

2752
03:26:13,560 --> 03:26:15,740
may end up retaining an additional number

2753
03:26:15,740 --> 03:26:17,600
of third graders more than they had anticipated.

2754
03:26:18,540 --> 03:26:20,860
Now I have sort of the legacy of the student

2755
03:26:20,860 --> 03:26:22,580
that it made perfect sense of the time

2756
03:26:22,580 --> 03:26:24,340
to let them come in because there was room.

2757
03:26:24,780 --> 03:26:26,300
But as neighborhoods change,

2758
03:26:26,300 --> 03:26:30,120
as owner-occupied single-family dwellings become

2759
03:26:30,120 --> 03:26:33,440
right or occupied in some neighborhoods that didn't have as many kids today,

2760
03:26:33,640 --> 03:26:36,280
might have more families moving in the next couple years.

2761
03:26:37,180 --> 03:26:42,220
What made sense at exception at one grade level, we have to live with that

2762
03:26:42,220 --> 03:26:45,920
under the current rules all the way through fifth grade. If you get in

2763
03:26:45,920 --> 03:26:48,520
via open enrollment in kindergarten, the neighborhood,

2764
03:26:49,820 --> 03:26:53,600
the zone may look very different four years down the road where we think, wow,

2765
03:26:53,600 --> 03:26:59,820
We it made sense then it doesn't now because so many more people have moved into the zone and are part of that zone that now

2766
03:26:59,820 --> 03:27:02,920
We have to send somewhere else where they may be

2767
03:27:02,920 --> 03:27:05,840
Displacing a student from a seat at their zone school

2768
03:27:06,540 --> 03:27:12,440
They may be doing that, but I guess the peace of mind factor for a family to know that they're you know

2769
03:27:12,440 --> 03:27:13,360
They are at

2770
03:27:13,360 --> 03:27:18,940
Whatever school that they know that they can be there kindergarten through fifth grade.

2771
03:27:23,060 --> 03:27:23,580
I

2772
03:27:23,580 --> 03:27:28,160
any compromise in that area at all or any other thing that we can come up with?

2773
03:27:28,400 --> 03:27:33,540
Well, maybe we can just do one bit of clarification because we are talking about two separate processes.

2774
03:27:33,840 --> 03:27:37,860
One, which is the January process, what we're saying is the intent to remain,

2775
03:27:38,280 --> 03:27:42,420
which is our district's honoring prior commitments to say,

2776
03:27:42,820 --> 03:27:47,440
if you got there in one of the special circumstances, that's your opportunity to tell us.

2777
03:27:47,520 --> 03:27:50,740
But you do need to help tell us every year because it helps us balance the books.

2778
03:27:50,740 --> 03:27:52,840
And I think that's important for everyone.

2779
03:27:52,980 --> 03:27:59,600
And the second way that will be what we formerly called open enrollment, but that's the special

2780
03:27:59,600 --> 03:28:00,460
assignment request.

2781
03:28:00,780 --> 03:28:05,720
So right now it's our staff recommendation that if we've made that prior commitment

2782
03:28:05,720 --> 03:28:09,440
to intent to remain, that you ask for it every year, you will get it every year until

2783
03:28:09,440 --> 03:28:10,540
that child is done.

2784
03:28:10,740 --> 03:28:16,420
And that special attendance assignment is, which we would move on forward, that would

2785
03:28:16,420 --> 03:28:21,340
be where we could not necessarily be guaranteeing if we gave you a special

2786
03:28:21,340 --> 03:28:25,280
assignment request that you would be able to stay the following school year it

2787
03:28:25,280 --> 03:28:30,480
would be based on other enrollment data okay but what you just said we'll give

2788
03:28:30,480 --> 03:28:34,740
people peace of mind for that for that ones we say we're honoring our

2789
03:28:34,740 --> 03:28:41,020
special circuit our special circumstances and of the change of

2790
03:28:43,620 --> 03:28:49,800
My suggestion is, this is something that I believe we should more fully bet in a workshop

2791
03:28:49,800 --> 03:28:57,260
setting because it's not a simple answer, because there are consequences to whichever

2792
03:28:57,260 --> 03:29:01,460
direction you take what you're, what you're, you know, asking.

2793
03:29:04,080 --> 03:29:04,620
Okay.

2794
03:29:04,880 --> 03:29:05,220
Thank you.

2795
03:29:05,540 --> 03:29:05,900
Yes, sir.

2796
03:29:06,120 --> 03:29:11,920
I would even go so far as to say that Mrs. Burns was, might have been a bit hasty

2797
03:29:11,920 --> 03:29:19,160
in making that comment. So please, please, it was made with good intentions, all good

2798
03:29:19,160 --> 03:29:27,720
intentions, but please don't hold her to that because it was not, she wasn't given the amount

2799
03:29:27,720 --> 03:29:33,100
of time that she needed to make that decision without having thought it through and consulted

2800
03:29:33,100 --> 03:29:33,960
other persons yet.

2801
03:29:36,060 --> 03:29:40,260
And that leads into, this is the first reading.

2802
03:29:40,900 --> 03:29:48,980
We have another workshop on November 15th where we take the comments and things into consideration that have been brought to us today.

2803
03:29:49,480 --> 03:29:55,280
We hash it out again and come in December to the meeting where the final vote will be taken.

2804
03:29:55,620 --> 03:29:59,040
That's when it becomes official. There could be some speaking.

2805
03:29:59,040 --> 03:29:59,860
There could be

2806
03:30:00,000 --> 03:30:05,640
Some clarification as the kinds of questions that we're asking right now.

2807
03:30:06,140 --> 03:30:15,060
So don't take any piece of the process out of the whole picture because nothing is official

2808
03:30:15,060 --> 03:30:21,080
or final until after we hear from anybody who may be at that December meeting as well

2809
03:30:21,080 --> 03:30:25,780
as the final vote. So there is more discussion that will be happening on the student assignment

2810
03:30:25,780 --> 03:30:27,440
plan. Mrs. Lerner.

2811
03:30:27,440 --> 03:30:28,460
I

2812
03:30:30,830 --> 03:30:35,350
just want to read from the policy language on page 306.

2813
03:30:35,790 --> 03:30:37,270
This is special assignment request.

2814
03:30:37,970 --> 03:30:40,790
All such assignments are valid for one year only.

2815
03:30:41,090 --> 03:30:44,830
Parents wishing to remain at the assigned school must reapply each year.

2816
03:30:45,430 --> 03:30:49,790
But my understanding was we want the zone kids to be in the school.

2817
03:30:49,930 --> 03:30:53,970
And anyone going under the special assignment, it's only good for a year.

2818
03:30:53,970 --> 03:31:02,070
And if there's room for students who are in the zone or we want to leave some room for

2819
03:31:02,070 --> 03:31:10,530
other students, because one issue that bothers me a little bit is open enrollment students

2820
03:31:10,530 --> 03:31:17,050
can stay in the school, but students who were zoned for the school are now being re-zoned

2821
03:31:17,050 --> 03:31:17,690
can't.

2822
03:31:17,950 --> 03:31:22,870
I don't know the answer to that, and I didn't know whether I was going to bring it up

2823
03:31:22,870 --> 03:31:28,090
at the meeting but I have. There's something about that that doesn't sit right with me.

2824
03:31:28,330 --> 03:31:34,270
But definitely my understanding was from now on special assignment only good year to year.

2825
03:31:34,490 --> 03:31:39,730
So don't think your your child will have continuity if it's not their zone school.

2826
03:31:40,830 --> 03:31:43,670
So we need to discuss that more. And this other issue.

2827
03:31:44,550 --> 03:31:47,010
Okay. Mr. Williams.

2828
03:31:49,560 --> 03:31:56,700
Madam Chair, I'd just like to share with our parents that you've been very courteous

2829
03:31:56,700 --> 03:31:59,460
and accommodating to us, and we've done the same with you.

2830
03:32:00,020 --> 03:32:07,360
But I have a concern that it appeared to me that I was hearing that practically,

2831
03:32:08,320 --> 03:32:12,940
practically, the concerns that all of you have that we can work you through them.

2832
03:32:12,940 --> 03:32:19,000
and that's not true. That's not true. I don't want you to go away with that impression because

2833
03:32:19,000 --> 03:32:25,240
if we were able to work all of you through the concerns that you have concerning your

2834
03:32:25,240 --> 03:32:30,960
school, then there would have been no need for this rezoning process. I do trust that

2835
03:32:30,960 --> 03:32:37,280
I staff two very experienced people in working with the zoning process and working with

2836
03:32:37,280 --> 03:32:44,340
families and the students, we deal with the hardship cases, and we know those cases that

2837
03:32:44,340 --> 03:32:49,960
exceptions should be made, and they will work with you, and those kind of exceptions we would

2838
03:32:49,960 --> 03:32:50,200
pay.

2839
03:32:50,500 --> 03:32:55,540
But I want you to get the feeling, though, that all of us are in a position where we're

2840
03:32:55,540 --> 03:32:57,560
going to work through it with you to make sure it happens.

2841
03:32:57,900 --> 03:32:59,100
That's not so.

2842
03:32:59,560 --> 03:33:03,300
But thank you again for the way you've conducted yourselves with us.

2843
03:33:05,810 --> 03:33:12,990
Yes, the working through each individual situation I interpreted as they will let you know whether

2844
03:33:13,790 --> 03:33:17,730
you fall into the category of being able to stay in that zone school or whether you fall

2845
03:33:17,730 --> 03:33:21,750
into the category of, I mean, you'd be able to stay in the school in which you're not

2846
03:33:21,750 --> 03:33:25,090
in zone or whether you fall into the category of you must go to your zone school.

2847
03:33:25,390 --> 03:33:27,450
Those were the one-on-ones that we had.

2848
03:33:27,810 --> 03:33:33,270
I have a couple of questions that came up as a matter of the conversation that has

2849
03:33:33,270 --> 03:33:33,770
happened here.

2850
03:33:33,770 --> 03:33:36,850
but I think I'm probably going to hold those off for the workshop.

2851
03:33:38,110 --> 03:33:42,870
One of them was the comment about the intent to remain.

2852
03:33:43,610 --> 03:33:47,210
I want to know if that's actually going to end up being phased out

2853
03:33:47,750 --> 03:33:53,250
as we do away with students that are out of zone

2854
03:33:53,250 --> 03:33:54,990
that are allowed to stay in schools.

2855
03:33:55,310 --> 03:33:57,270
And I'm thinking that I'm understanding

2856
03:33:57,270 --> 03:33:58,610
that it will be phased out.

2857
03:33:58,910 --> 03:34:00,810
But the special attendance permits

2858
03:34:01,650 --> 03:34:05,570
are being recommended to go back very much to what we did before.

2859
03:34:06,050 --> 03:34:11,330
One of the things that's difficult in this district is the people that are in our schools now

2860
03:34:11,330 --> 03:34:17,970
never experienced the zoning that we had, never experienced, although we had to move people,

2861
03:34:18,390 --> 03:34:22,930
the consistency that most people in the district had.

2862
03:34:23,410 --> 03:34:26,890
And what I, as a board member, am trying to do is get back to that,

2863
03:34:26,890 --> 03:34:39,410
So that we're not wondering every year where we're going to school, where's my child going to go to school, unless you're asking for the, what I'm calling, special attendance permit, which is actually special assignment request.

2864
03:34:40,950 --> 03:34:48,770
Those are in place for a parent that possibly wants their child to go to a school close to where they work.

2865
03:34:49,710 --> 03:34:55,470
They may work in Largo and live in St. Pete or vice versa and would like a student.

2866
03:34:55,790 --> 03:35:00,750
The parent has the opportunity to make a request to get into a school that may be close to where they work.

2867
03:35:02,150 --> 03:35:04,610
And that flexibility may change.

2868
03:35:04,830 --> 03:35:10,450
It may be that a year or two years from now they don't work there anymore and they want to be back in their own schools.

2869
03:35:10,790 --> 03:35:15,730
So those are kind of the exception to the rule type requests

2870
03:35:15,730 --> 03:35:19,790
as opposed to, massively, everybody looking for a special request.

2871
03:35:21,670 --> 03:35:24,390
I think there are some points that were brought up.

2872
03:35:24,810 --> 03:35:30,510
There are some safety issues that were brought up that I think we need to look into the sidewalks

2873
03:35:30,510 --> 03:35:34,730
and the crossing at Bouter and Oakhurst, as well as some others that were listed.

2874
03:35:34,990 --> 03:35:39,630
So I think there is time for us to look into those before we have the meeting on

2875
03:35:39,630 --> 03:35:40,790
the 15th.

2876
03:35:40,790 --> 03:35:47,430
But the things that were requested, the stability, doing away with the angst that parents are

2877
03:35:47,430 --> 03:35:50,750
going through year after year, trying to figure out where they're going, that's our goal.

2878
03:35:51,190 --> 03:35:54,630
That's what we're trying to accomplish by this, and personally that's what I want to

2879
03:35:54,630 --> 03:35:55,110
see happen.

2880
03:35:55,750 --> 03:35:59,310
So I don't see any other lights that are on.

2881
03:35:59,410 --> 03:36:03,290
I want to remind people again that we will be having the workshop on the 15th, looking

2882
03:36:03,290 --> 03:36:05,930
at all of this and our meeting on the 6th.

2883
03:36:05,930 --> 03:36:13,570
So at this point in time, we have a motion to, and a second, to accept the policy as it is presented.

2884
03:36:14,370 --> 03:36:17,010
We'll take all these things into consideration at a later point.

2885
03:36:18,150 --> 03:36:22,650
So I don't have we, do we still have the connection going?

2886
03:36:23,230 --> 03:36:23,750
Mrs. O'Shea?

2887
03:36:24,050 --> 03:36:25,070
Yes, can you hear me?

2888
03:36:25,370 --> 03:36:25,810
Okay, good.

2889
03:36:26,090 --> 03:36:27,870
I wanted to make sure, I heard a click during them.

2890
03:36:28,410 --> 03:36:30,110
I was muting it because I was coughing.

2891
03:36:30,510 --> 03:36:31,010
Oh, okay.

2892
03:36:31,670 --> 03:36:37,750
I was hoping we didn't lose you at that point that you were still listening, but all righty, so we have a motion in us

2893
03:36:38,790 --> 03:36:39,710
Mrs. Lerner

2894
03:36:41,290 --> 03:36:47,010
The first reading is the first reading and it can always be changed, but in this circumstance

2895
03:36:47,010 --> 03:36:53,790
We are having another workshop. I am voting for this first reading. I think everyone is but there are certain

2896
03:36:53,790 --> 03:36:59,710
parts of this including what we talked about about special circumstance that absolutely

2897
03:37:00,590 --> 03:37:07,350
some of us think needs to be looked at again. And there might be. So is it appropriate, Mr.

2898
03:37:07,570 --> 03:37:14,330
Robinson, as part of the motion to say understanding there are still details that need to be addressed?

2899
03:37:14,770 --> 03:37:15,890
That's kind of understood.

2900
03:37:16,210 --> 03:37:17,050
That's understood, yes.

2901
03:37:17,350 --> 03:37:19,990
So you don't, but it just, this one seems even more so.

2902
03:37:20,510 --> 03:37:21,350
But it's a given.

2903
03:37:21,570 --> 03:37:22,290
It's a given, right?

2904
03:37:22,610 --> 03:37:27,190
Okay. And now that it's been said to understand it, it doesn't need to be part of the

2905
03:37:27,190 --> 03:37:33,970
motion. All right. So all in favor. Let me read it again so that it's all official.

2906
03:37:37,390 --> 03:37:40,670
For setting the public hearing and authorizing the advertisement of the

2907
03:37:40,670 --> 03:37:45,110
public hearing to consider the amendment to policy 5 1 2 0 assignment within the

2908
03:37:45,110 --> 03:37:51,890
district. All in favor say aye. I post a no. All right. It passes 7 0.

2909
03:37:55,590 --> 03:38:03,210
We'll now move on to item 4, which is, before we do that, I want to thank everybody for being

2910
03:38:03,210 --> 03:38:08,890
here and sharing your concerns and sitting through a very long portion of the meeting

2911
03:38:08,890 --> 03:38:12,150
so far, but we will be taking it into consideration.

2912
03:38:12,950 --> 03:38:13,130
Okay.

2913
03:38:13,310 --> 03:38:17,270
Request approval of the charter application for Pinella School of Math and Science.

2914
03:38:18,570 --> 03:38:19,990
Do we have a motion?

2915
03:38:19,990 --> 03:38:23,070
motion. And we have a second.

2916
03:38:25,190 --> 03:38:28,610
I'm going to ask a question. Do we have people here from

2917
03:38:28,610 --> 03:38:33,970
the charter school? We do. All right. Because I was going to suggest we take a break. But

2918
03:38:33,970 --> 03:38:41,510
since we have them, we'll take a break right after we finish this item. All right. Do

2919
03:38:41,510 --> 03:38:45,530
we have a motion? We did. We had a motion on a second. Okay. Dr. Stewart, would

2920
03:38:46,310 --> 03:38:50,630
I would call Mr. Steve Schwartzl or Clark.

2921
03:38:53,250 --> 03:38:55,690
Okay. Welcome, Mrs. Clark.

2922
03:38:56,090 --> 03:38:56,310
Thank you.

2923
03:38:57,630 --> 03:39:02,470
This charter school is going to be a K-12 school,

2924
03:39:03,030 --> 03:39:04,630
one of the first in our district.

2925
03:39:05,590 --> 03:39:08,930
They're going to model after the Orlando Science School

2926
03:39:09,320 --> 03:39:13,330
that is a high-performing charter school in Orlando.

2927
03:39:14,510 --> 03:39:19,930
They're going to base it on integrating math and science across all the curriculum.

2928
03:39:24,920 --> 03:39:26,100
Do we have any speakers?

2929
03:39:27,360 --> 03:39:27,680
Okay.

2930
03:39:28,200 --> 03:39:31,040
And no comments from the board members?

2931
03:39:31,980 --> 03:39:32,700
All right.

2932
03:39:32,820 --> 03:39:34,400
This one looks like it might be a slam dunk.

2933
03:39:34,760 --> 03:39:34,880
Great.

2934
03:39:35,380 --> 03:39:35,740
Okay.

2935
03:39:36,020 --> 03:39:36,560
All in favor.

2936
03:39:37,020 --> 03:39:38,040
We have a motion and a second.

2937
03:39:38,180 --> 03:39:42,740
Should request approval for the charter application for Pinellas School of Math and Science.

2938
03:39:42,920 --> 03:39:44,140
All in favor say aye.

2939
03:39:44,400 --> 03:39:44,660
Aye.

2940
03:39:44,660 --> 03:39:45,980
I suppose they know.

2941
03:39:46,640 --> 03:39:49,200
All righty, thank you, and thank you for your patience.

2942
03:39:51,920 --> 03:39:53,560
And we will,

2943
03:39:56,300 --> 03:39:59,360
okay, let's finish item five

2944
03:39:59,360 --> 03:40:01,800
that was added, then we'll take a brief break

2945
03:40:01,800 --> 03:40:04,220
and then come back and have the presentations

2946
03:40:04,220 --> 03:40:08,660
from the audience as well as the reports from the board.

2947
03:40:09,720 --> 03:40:17,740
All right, okay, we have the item is

2948
03:40:17,740 --> 03:40:22,780
a modification of minimum qualifications of a job classification for the licensed practical

2949
03:40:22,780 --> 03:40:23,280
nurse.

2950
03:40:23,920 --> 03:40:24,560
We have a motion?

2951
03:40:25,600 --> 03:40:26,160
Second.

2952
03:40:26,700 --> 03:40:28,440
We have a motion and a second.

2953
03:40:29,040 --> 03:40:32,260
Have you all had an opportunity to look at this item?

2954
03:40:32,540 --> 03:40:34,320
Dr. Stewart, would you like to introduce it, please?

2955
03:40:34,700 --> 03:40:39,900
Madam Chairman, this basically is for the purpose of changing the job description, and

2956
03:40:39,900 --> 03:40:47,720
the main change is that we're removing the one-year required experience and the

2957
03:40:47,720 --> 03:40:49,940
to hire the practical nurses.

2958
03:40:50,680 --> 03:40:55,160
We believe that this is a way that we can alleviate our nursing shortage that we've

2959
03:40:55,160 --> 03:41:01,140
been experiencing for some time, and it will help us, I think, a great deal in reducing

2960
03:41:01,140 --> 03:41:02,220
our costs, too.

2961
03:41:05,300 --> 03:41:08,820
Do you see no lights indicating discussion in

2962
03:41:10,900 --> 03:41:11,380
the flight calls?

2963
03:41:12,320 --> 03:41:22,020
You know what, anytime we take a job description and minimize it, I have to, you know,

2964
03:41:22,020 --> 03:41:30,890
like a little stomach going on, I think we've exhausted other possibilities of

2965
03:41:30,890 --> 03:41:33,550
improving the nursing shortage.

2966
03:41:35,710 --> 03:41:37,950
You know, we got a few emails on that a few

2967
03:41:37,950 --> 03:41:42,750
months ago, and I don't know if we've ever kind of discussed it as a board. I'm

2968
03:41:42,750 --> 03:41:46,670
just, I'm not gonna not approve it. I'm just wondering if we've done

2969
03:41:46,670 --> 03:41:54,410
diligence in pursuing what our expectations are in the nursing area for our schools,

2970
03:41:54,590 --> 03:41:56,870
that type of thing. And then I could be the only one as a board.

2971
03:42:01,720 --> 03:42:07,000
Dr. Stewart, can you explain to us with whom you've been working and the process behind

2972
03:42:07,000 --> 03:42:07,460
this, please?

2973
03:42:07,960 --> 03:42:13,520
I have worked with Dr. Damaraj with the Pinellas County Health Department, and she

2974
03:42:13,520 --> 03:42:21,160
We recommend we pursue this particular way of going after helping to fill our shortages.

2975
03:42:22,080 --> 03:42:23,660
I've also worked with Ms. Baskett,

2976
03:42:26,520 --> 03:42:30,740
who she's talked with us about this, and I've talked

2977
03:42:30,740 --> 03:42:36,080
with Mr. Robinson about this, and it does everything – an LPN can do everything in

2978
03:42:36,080 --> 03:42:38,760
our school that an RN can do for them.

2979
03:42:39,140 --> 03:42:42,240
And they are working under the supervision of an RN.

2980
03:42:42,240 --> 03:42:45,060
So we feel very comfortable with it.

2981
03:42:45,160 --> 03:42:55,700
What the main purpose of this is, is it says right now that they have to have a years experience in pediatric care.

2982
03:42:56,080 --> 03:43:01,060
Well, they could have experience in other areas, not necessarily pediatric care.

2983
03:43:01,560 --> 03:43:07,440
And we couldn't hire them because they haven't had the pediatric experience.

2984
03:43:07,440 --> 03:43:13,700
So I think that that might have been an unreasonable qualification to start with.

2985
03:43:14,620 --> 03:43:19,480
If I may, Madam Chair, this would enable us also to recruit directly from PTEC,

2986
03:43:19,580 --> 03:43:25,920
from the PTEC graduates who might not have that one year, but there's a fresh crop of LPNs

2987
03:43:25,920 --> 03:43:26,900
that we can hire from.

2988
03:43:27,300 --> 03:43:32,700
And they again, as Dr. Stewart says, would be under the supervision of an RN right from the get go.

2989
03:43:32,860 --> 03:43:36,160
So it opens up possibilities for us that we don't have now.

2990
03:43:39,380 --> 03:43:44,040
No, I just want to, Madam Chair, because this was a walk in because of time restraints,

2991
03:43:44,120 --> 03:43:49,560
I think it was a diligence for the board to have the discussion of where the qualifications

2992
03:43:49,560 --> 03:43:53,000
came from and how the discussion was, and that's why I bought it.

2993
03:43:54,140 --> 03:43:57,340
Mr. O'Shea, did you have a comment on this?

2994
03:43:58,700 --> 03:43:59,180
Mrs. Cook?

2995
03:43:59,380 --> 03:43:59,660
Oh, yes.

2996
03:44:00,780 --> 03:44:01,580
Just one question.

2997
03:44:01,740 --> 03:44:02,940
I'm supportive of this.

2998
03:44:03,400 --> 03:44:05,140
Have other school districts gone this route?

2999
03:44:05,140 --> 03:44:05,960
Do we know?

3000
03:44:08,460 --> 03:44:08,960
Yes.

3001
03:44:09,980 --> 03:44:10,800
Okay, great.

3002
03:44:10,960 --> 03:44:12,820
So it's consistent with what other districts are doing.

3003
03:44:13,180 --> 03:44:13,580
That's good.

3004
03:44:14,040 --> 03:44:14,480
Thank you.

3005
03:44:14,900 --> 03:44:16,000
Okay, thank you.

3006
03:44:16,560 --> 03:44:24,040
And am I correct in understanding that this allows us to actually get more LPNs into

3007
03:44:24,040 --> 03:44:25,840
our schools to work with students?

3008
03:44:26,580 --> 03:44:27,380
Yes, ma'am, it does.

3009
03:44:27,520 --> 03:44:28,040
I think that's what I thought.

3010
03:44:29,700 --> 03:44:30,220
Alrighty.

3011
03:44:30,760 --> 03:44:32,180
Any other conversation or questions?

3012
03:44:33,660 --> 03:44:34,180
Okay.

3013
03:44:34,740 --> 03:44:35,440
Seeing none.

3014
03:44:35,440 --> 03:44:40,760
All in favor of the modification of minimum qualifications of the job

3015
03:44:40,760 --> 03:44:47,140
classification for licensed practical nurses say aye. Opposed say no. And it

3016
03:44:47,140 --> 03:44:53,800
passes 7-0. All right at this point we are going to take a short break for

3017
03:44:53,800 --> 03:44:59,260
everybody. Let's just say 10 minutes just a chance to stretch our legs.

3018
03:45:00,000 --> 03:45:08,920
Do anything with the taping that they may need to do, and we will come back and complete presentations from the audience and then the various board member reports.

3019
03:58:54,610 --> 03:58:55,930
Talking to you lately.

3020
03:58:59,520 --> 03:59:00,400
There must be something.

3021
03:59:03,600 --> 03:59:04,680
It'll happen, I know.

3022
03:59:04,680 --> 03:59:05,420
Can

3023
03:59:11,410 --> 03:59:15,310
I ask you essentially an email about a settlement of that case that would have been

3024
03:59:15,310 --> 03:59:17,990
very far-reaching, the one that was on the agenda?

3025
03:59:19,150 --> 03:59:24,890
Can you stand either a little, either the settlement or just a little summary?

3026
03:59:25,030 --> 03:59:27,870
Because that was really very problematic.

3027
03:59:28,790 --> 03:59:29,430
Very problematic.

3028
03:59:30,110 --> 03:59:31,910
Should I send you the email or you'll just do it?

3029
03:59:31,950 --> 03:59:32,210
Okay.

3030
03:59:43,020 --> 03:59:43,420
All right.

3031
03:59:43,500 --> 03:59:48,160
I'm going to call the meeting back to order, and we will begin with presentations from

3032
03:59:48,160 --> 03:59:48,700
the audience.

3033
03:59:48,700 --> 03:59:52,580
Yes, ma'am. We have Ms. Laura Faulkner and Greg Pound.

3034
03:59:53,340 --> 03:59:59,880
Okay. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon.

3035
04:00:00,000 --> 04:00:07,480
Good evening, Superintendent Stewart. I am Lenore Faulkner. I was speaking at Dr. Janssen's

3036
04:00:07,480 --> 04:00:14,440
dismissal meeting. I got my feathers ruffled, and I was featured on Channel 10 with security.

3037
04:00:15,380 --> 04:00:21,840
My six-year-old granddaughter saw it stream to her computer, and she says, Grandma, just

3038
04:00:21,840 --> 04:00:29,880
what were you thinking? And this is what I've been thinking. This is from 2007. I turned

3039
04:00:29,880 --> 04:00:39,360
on C-SPAN on Memorial Day 2007. Tim Russert was on America's perspective, awarding $10,000

3040
04:00:39,360 --> 04:00:46,300
to the Best High School Dropout Essay. It was sponsored by the Gates Foundation. I

3041
04:00:46,300 --> 04:00:53,160
realized that I had the hat trick of dropouts. My 16-year-old, as you know, did not graduate

3042
04:00:53,160 --> 04:01:00,740
late from Seminole High, I dropped out, and Pinellas Park dropped out, and all middle

3043
04:01:00,740 --> 04:01:03,180
schools in Pinellas County dropped out.

3044
04:01:06,470 --> 04:01:08,610
I fell

3045
04:01:11,620 --> 04:01:14,200
through the cracks. However, in 1997,

3046
04:01:14,800 --> 04:01:20,780
I promised the students of Pinellas Park Middle, a world-class career and technology

3047
04:01:20,780 --> 04:01:26,480
school. Eight of us went to the National School Board, School to Work Convention.

3048
04:01:26,480 --> 04:01:29,760
We were the only middle schools in America there.

3049
04:01:30,400 --> 04:01:33,400
Rick Lager was on our SAC committee for years.

3050
04:01:33,600 --> 04:01:36,160
I just talked to Mr. Barnes about it.

3051
04:01:37,220 --> 04:01:45,080
When June arrived, Tim was discussing the 2008 election.

3052
04:01:45,520 --> 04:01:49,320
He said that it would be technology savvy event, not

3053
04:01:49,320 --> 04:01:50,240
an issue event.

3054
04:01:50,660 --> 04:01:53,500
I was waiting for a new public school system

3055
04:01:53,500 --> 04:01:58,500
because it was not working in Washington, D.C., Florida, or Pinellas County.

3056
04:01:59,280 --> 04:02:07,020
On 777, I was inspired to design a new school system for America, 777 Education Heaven.

3057
04:02:07,500 --> 04:02:11,300
I wrote a note to Tim Russert with a green return card on it.

3058
04:02:11,580 --> 04:02:14,940
He received it on July 19, 2007.

3059
04:02:15,640 --> 04:02:17,700
It has been on my desk ever since.

3060
04:02:18,380 --> 04:02:20,580
In 2008, he went to Heaven.

3061
04:02:21,560 --> 04:02:27,740
To design a new school system, I would need to investigate school systems in America, especially

3062
04:02:27,740 --> 04:02:29,400
Washington, D.C. and Florida.

3063
04:02:30,460 --> 04:02:34,780
I was an expert on Pinellas County Schools and the data was not good.

3064
04:02:35,380 --> 04:02:37,900
Chaos and confusion was the order of the day.

3065
04:02:38,640 --> 04:02:40,900
Superintendents became super fat cats.

3066
04:02:41,380 --> 04:02:43,820
The super fat cats became super vendors.

3067
04:02:44,460 --> 04:02:46,680
It was a great digital kid experiment.

3068
04:02:46,680 --> 04:02:52,740
it. Students were burnt out with technology at home and school. Now they were dropping

3069
04:02:52,740 --> 04:02:59,780
out. 14,000 students we lost. Johns Hopkins published dropout and graduation problems in

3070
04:02:59,780 --> 04:03:02,280
Florida, especially Pinellas. Thank you.

3071
04:03:08,980 --> 04:03:09,420
Good afternoon.

3072
04:03:11,280 --> 04:03:19,800
Greg Pound, Pinellas County. I'm a member of your board, the juvenile justice board

3073
04:03:19,800 --> 04:03:23,740
here for Pinellas County. I just wanted to bring up some of the issues that I see that's

3074
04:03:23,740 --> 04:03:30,400
going on in the county that's affecting our children in a negative way. One of the issues

3075
04:03:30,400 --> 04:03:37,820
is I was thinking of a mother by the name of Tina Tatum who brought an issue to me concerning

3076
04:03:37,820 --> 04:03:41,660
the fact that her daughter, she didn't want her daughter to go the last chance dance

3077
04:03:41,660 --> 04:03:46,480
over here at Largo Middle School right over here off of 8th Avenue. I believe that's

3078
04:03:46,480 --> 04:03:50,860
Largo Middle School just just down the road from here and what happened was her

3079
04:03:50,860 --> 04:03:55,500
daughter on the teacher asking class who's who's all going to the last chance

3080
04:03:55,500 --> 04:03:59,080
dance and her daughter raised up for him. I don't think that we should be

3081
04:03:59,080 --> 04:04:03,700
discussing personally identifiable student information. Okay. Well, you want me to

3082
04:04:03,700 --> 04:04:08,900
leave off the name. Yes, at least. Okay. Okay. That's. Since you've already

3083
04:04:09,440 --> 04:04:12,560
identified the name, however, we might need to delete the story.

3084
04:04:15,920 --> 04:04:16,480
Delete it

3085
04:04:16,480 --> 04:04:18,620
from the broadcast of the...

3086
04:04:18,620 --> 04:04:21,820
Well, in other words, I don't think he can really speak to it now because we now know

3087
04:04:21,820 --> 04:04:22,460
who it is about.

3088
04:04:23,040 --> 04:04:24,860
So it would be traceable to the students.

3089
04:04:25,240 --> 04:04:25,440
All right.

3090
04:04:25,540 --> 04:04:30,260
Can you make your point without talking about the dance or that portion of it?

3091
04:04:30,400 --> 04:04:30,560
Yeah.

3092
04:04:30,660 --> 04:04:30,800
Okay.

3093
04:04:30,980 --> 04:04:35,260
Well, my point is that what happened was that there's a situation going on where

3094
04:04:35,260 --> 04:04:40,100
people in our public school systems working with DCF, all the referrals that go to

3095
04:04:40,100 --> 04:04:42,120
the Department of Children and Family are coming through the public schools.

3096
04:04:42,580 --> 04:04:46,780
And what happens is the parents in Phinals County need to know that as they put their

3097
04:04:46,780 --> 04:04:51,240
kids in the public schools, and anything that they can get out of the children is causing

3098
04:04:51,760 --> 04:04:55,260
Department of Children's Family to come in and get involved in their lives for the most

3099
04:04:55,260 --> 04:04:59,060
craziest thing that you couldn't even imagine that's causing their children to be taken

3100
04:04:59,060 --> 04:05:02,980
from them, stuck in the system, causing the families a whole lot of problems in

3101
04:05:02,980 --> 04:05:03,480
Phinals County.

3102
04:05:04,140 --> 04:05:09,160
And I wanted to read a verse out of the Bible, Isaiah 54 verse 13, and it says,

3103
04:05:09,160 --> 04:05:16,480
And all thy children shall be taught of Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, and great shall be

3104
04:05:16,480 --> 04:05:17,220
the peace of thy children.

3105
04:05:17,700 --> 04:05:24,480
We see the dysfunctionalism of our young people in Pinellas County in this whole country now.

3106
04:05:24,880 --> 04:05:29,020
We see the school system as anti-God, in the public schools, instead of teaching our

3107
04:05:29,020 --> 04:05:33,020
children they gave thanks to the Lord God at Thanksgiving, they teach them they gave

3108
04:05:33,020 --> 04:05:33,900
thanks to the Indians.

3109
04:05:34,500 --> 04:05:40,700
And once you have this going on, this programming, this anti-God, but you allow this, this, this

3110
04:05:41,100 --> 04:05:45,400
screeching evil of Halloween and the evil and all the stuff that goes along with it,

3111
04:05:45,400 --> 04:05:48,860
everywhere you go from the billboards driving down the road, looks like people have been

3112
04:05:48,860 --> 04:05:52,040
chopped up and hatched up, we become now a buddy society.

3113
04:05:52,760 --> 04:05:55,480
And so what I want to do is I just want to appeal to them, because I think one of

3114
04:05:55,480 --> 04:05:59,180
the best things for Pinellas County people to do in order to protect their children

3115
04:05:59,180 --> 04:06:02,620
and their families, and to build strong families, is to homeschool, to homeschool

3116
04:06:02,620 --> 04:06:02,980
their children.

3117
04:06:02,980 --> 04:06:05,420
and we have that right, and that's what people should do.

3118
04:06:05,760 --> 04:06:07,380
Because what's going on in the school system

3119
04:06:07,380 --> 04:06:10,780
is the social engineers' goal in America

3120
04:06:10,780 --> 04:06:13,540
is to destroy the family, turn the men into the women,

3121
04:06:13,700 --> 04:06:14,600
and the women into the men.

3122
04:06:14,900 --> 04:06:16,300
And they're doing a real good job of it.

3123
04:06:16,480 --> 04:06:18,500
And they're working right through the public school system.

3124
04:06:18,780 --> 04:06:21,220
The people who deal with their children on an everyday basis,

3125
04:06:21,500 --> 04:06:23,560
they are not looking out for the best interests

3126
04:06:23,560 --> 04:06:25,460
of their families, of their country.

3127
04:06:26,040 --> 04:06:28,740
Now this country is anti-God, anti-family.

3128
04:06:29,140 --> 04:06:30,460
When you took the 10 Commandments out,

3129
04:06:30,600 --> 04:06:31,560
honor your father and your mother,

3130
04:06:31,560 --> 04:06:35,340
thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false

3131
04:06:35,340 --> 04:06:39,160
witness out of our school system and teaching this to our children and out of our court system.

3132
04:06:39,580 --> 04:06:43,240
Now we have a rampant problem with everything that you can imagine from disobedience to

3133
04:06:43,240 --> 04:06:45,300
parents or our crimes and our prisons being filled.

3134
04:06:45,840 --> 04:06:46,880
So thank you very much.

3135
04:06:47,180 --> 04:06:47,600
Thank you.

3136
04:06:50,870 --> 04:06:51,410
Is that it?

3137
04:06:51,770 --> 04:06:52,030
Okay.

3138
04:06:52,750 --> 04:06:53,190
All right.

3139
04:06:53,370 --> 04:06:56,530
We will move on to items introduced by the superintendent.

3140
04:06:57,770 --> 04:07:05,770
Madam Chairman, I wanted to mention to you that I have been talking throughout the system

3141
04:07:05,770 --> 04:07:12,870
everywhere I go about the continually disruptive student and have begun talking about the formation

3142
04:07:12,870 --> 04:07:20,510
of a task force to address this particular issue, and I found that there is an enormous

3143
04:07:20,510 --> 04:07:26,630
a tremendous amount of interest in working with this and finding what are some potential

3144
04:07:26,630 --> 04:07:33,790
answers to this because they're concerned not only for the disruptive students themselves

3145
04:07:33,790 --> 04:07:39,010
but for the other students in the classroom that they are robbing them of an opportunity

3146
04:07:39,010 --> 04:07:39,630
to learn.

3147
04:07:40,130 --> 04:07:49,090
So we have a very large task on our hand and I wanted to inform you that I will

3148
04:07:49,090 --> 04:07:54,430
be putting together a task force and to that end I've asked you as the chairman

3149
04:07:54,430 --> 04:08:02,730
to name a board member who will serve on that task force and even made a

3150
04:08:02,730 --> 04:08:07,570
suggestion to you the person that I have found to be the most interested in it so

3151
04:08:07,570 --> 04:08:12,330
would you officially name that individual to the task force so that I can begin

3152
04:08:12,330 --> 04:08:15,700
getting that together after the first of the year yes yeah we're going to

3153
04:08:15,700 --> 04:08:18,720
I'm going to appoint Linda Lerner to that committee.

3154
04:08:18,720 --> 04:08:20,640
Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.

3155
04:08:21,600 --> 04:08:28,440
This I think is something that we can really look forward to and get our self-put together,

3156
04:08:29,060 --> 04:08:37,780
a real, real good committee and do what's best for those students and for the students

3157
04:08:37,780 --> 04:08:38,660
in our school district.

3158
04:08:39,240 --> 04:08:45,020
I've had teachers write in, principals call in and community members call in that they

3159
04:08:45,020 --> 04:08:48,420
want to serve on this task force, so I'm pretty excited about it.

3160
04:08:49,720 --> 04:08:55,360
Also I wanted to tell you about the middle school reform initiative that Mrs. Lerner,

3161
04:08:55,420 --> 04:09:00,040
Mrs. Krasner, and Mrs. Clark all came to the learning labs, and I'd like to thank them

3162
04:09:00,040 --> 04:09:01,020
for their participation.

3163
04:09:01,260 --> 04:09:05,440
That was an all-day session, and I'd also like to commend Mr. Bill Lawrence for his

3164
04:09:05,440 --> 04:09:06,180
efforts there.

3165
04:09:06,660 --> 04:09:11,100
Mr. Lawrence is going to take what was gathered in the way of information at those collaborative

3166
04:09:11,100 --> 04:09:17,240
of labs and get with his steering committee to review the recommendations and then he's

3167
04:09:17,240 --> 04:09:21,980
going to provide that to Donna Winchester who will give it to you in your Friday update.

3168
04:09:22,380 --> 04:09:25,220
If not this Friday update, certainly next Friday's update.

3169
04:09:26,040 --> 04:09:31,380
Ms. Weichel, it will include your concern about what we're going to do with Thurgood

3170
04:09:31,380 --> 04:09:32,360
Marshall as well.

3171
04:09:33,520 --> 04:09:38,040
Also Madam Chairman, I would like for you to please consider calling an executive session

3172
04:09:38,040 --> 04:09:43,500
today so we can discuss bargaining issues that are very, very important to resolution

3173
04:09:43,500 --> 04:09:45,000
of the collective bargaining process.

3174
04:09:45,480 --> 04:09:46,340
Would you please do that?

3175
04:09:46,700 --> 04:09:47,460
I will do that.

3176
04:09:47,680 --> 04:09:50,500
And we'll do it after we have finished our pluses.

3177
04:09:50,700 --> 04:09:55,860
I mean our evaluation of the meeting at the close of this meeting if that works for everyone.

3178
04:09:56,480 --> 04:10:00,120
And if we would please then have it, could we have it in the superintendent's conference

3179
04:10:00,120 --> 04:10:02,220
room upstairs on the third floor?

3180
04:10:02,500 --> 04:10:02,760
Yep.

3181
04:10:03,060 --> 04:10:03,640
We will do that.

3182
04:10:05,300 --> 04:10:06,520
That's all I have, Madam Chairman.

3183
04:10:06,640 --> 04:10:07,240
Okay, good.

3184
04:10:07,240 --> 04:10:11,480
Thank you items introduced by general counsel nothing at this time. Thank you

3185
04:10:12,580 --> 04:10:14,440
Items introduced by board members

3186
04:10:15,600 --> 04:10:21,320
This is a shea. Are you still there? Yes, I am. Okay. We're going to start with you in your report. Should you have one?

3187
04:10:21,860 --> 04:10:28,860
Okay, just very briefly. I know there's been some conversation about moving the December 6th meeting the 5 p.m

3188
04:10:28,860 --> 04:10:31,640
And I would support that to allow the public to participate

3189
04:10:32,540 --> 04:10:34,560
I don't know if that's come up yet or not in the meeting

3190
04:10:34,560 --> 04:10:38,120
I've heard most of it, but the phone connection does kind of go in and out.

3191
04:10:39,160 --> 04:10:40,560
And I want to thank Mr. Madden.

3192
04:10:41,040 --> 04:10:47,920
He has answered numerous volumes of emails and clarified many of the concerns the parents have.

3193
04:10:48,100 --> 04:10:53,720
I've gotten some calls and emails from parents thanking us for his efforts there.

3194
04:10:54,220 --> 04:10:58,880
And I think that will help alleviate some of the confusion and the concerns about the rezoning.

3195
04:11:00,600 --> 04:11:02,280
And I just had a question.

3196
04:11:03,640 --> 04:11:06,200
I know the 1900, I believe it is, got letters.

3197
04:11:06,780 --> 04:11:11,120
What about the others who could possibly be moved back to their own school should this go through?

3198
04:11:11,320 --> 04:11:12,620
Are we notifying them or not?

3199
04:11:13,260 --> 04:11:20,500
We can discuss that at the workshop, but I just want to know if they've been notified in time to participate in the discussion if they want to.

3200
04:11:22,900 --> 04:11:27,380
And the rest of it, I'll just, I'll wait and discuss that at the workshop. That would be good.

3201
04:11:28,040 --> 04:11:32,380
All right. Good. Thank you. All right. Mrs. Krasner.

3202
04:11:33,680 --> 04:11:39,900
I actually am going to pass. I feel like I said enough during our meeting today and got many of my points across. Thank you.

3203
04:11:40,120 --> 04:11:41,140
Okay. Ms. Weichel.

3204
04:11:42,040 --> 04:11:47,280
Madam Chair, I also want to point out there's a parent Miss Vera's in the room and she sat on the middle school planning.

3205
04:11:47,720 --> 04:11:51,480
And I appreciate a parent taking their full day to be on that planning.

3206
04:11:51,840 --> 04:11:55,300
It sounds like there's some exciting things coming from that.

3207
04:11:56,040 --> 04:12:05,720
I want to, today, on page 59 of the agenda, we approved the issuance, say it correctly,

3208
04:12:06,340 --> 04:12:10,940
issuance, thank you, of the request proposals for the performance auditing services.

3209
04:12:11,760 --> 04:12:17,440
I want to thank the board and the committee, Mrs. Cook, Ms. Lerner, Ms. Clark, Linda

3210
04:12:17,440 --> 04:12:23,920
Balkum and her office, general counsel, Mr. Matt's finance for seeing this come

3211
04:12:23,920 --> 04:12:28,320
to fruition and we're excited and proceeding forward with the district in this for more

3212
04:12:28,320 --> 04:12:34,960
effective and efficient operations. We also on page 69 that we approved school improvement

3213
04:12:34,960 --> 04:12:40,880
plans. A year ago when we did that there was a lot of talk about the board reading all

3214
04:12:40,880 --> 04:12:46,360
those school improvement plans and how a link should be put on each website and the link

3215
04:12:46,360 --> 04:12:49,780
to the agenda and all those things were put into place and it was an appreciative

3216
04:12:49,780 --> 04:12:52,060
board member. I want to point that out as a positive.

3217
04:12:52,060 --> 04:12:53,220
That's awesome.

3218
04:12:53,400 --> 04:12:53,680
Very good.

3219
04:12:53,820 --> 04:12:54,080
Thank you.

3220
04:12:54,320 --> 04:12:55,100
Mr. Williams.

3221
04:12:57,580 --> 04:13:02,820
Madam Chair, I'm going to pass on a board report, but I would just like to thank Dr.

3222
04:13:03,060 --> 04:13:10,080
Stewart for his prompt reaction to problems and concerns that come to him in copies of

3223
04:13:10,080 --> 04:13:11,260
letters that we get.

3224
04:13:12,380 --> 04:13:18,260
One example is, along with this learner, I have been very, very concerned about what

3225
04:13:18,260 --> 04:13:20,840
we do with our chronically disruptive students.

3226
04:13:20,840 --> 04:13:27,220
And I shared this earlier, and now Dr. Stewart is something that's beginning to happen already.

3227
04:13:27,480 --> 04:13:32,880
So I just want to thank him for the quick responses, not just to that problem, but any

3228
04:13:32,880 --> 04:13:34,360
problem that comes across his desk.

3229
04:13:35,000 --> 04:13:37,800
Thank you, Mrs. Lerner.

3230
04:13:38,900 --> 04:13:45,140
I agree with Mr. Williams' comments about Dr. Stewart and this issue of repeated misconduct

3231
04:13:45,140 --> 04:13:47,360
chronically disruptive students.

3232
04:13:47,360 --> 04:13:52,280
And Lou does remember when you were director of school operations that you and the other

3233
04:13:52,280 --> 04:13:57,080
three directors of school operations for a long time, it was the understanding we needed

3234
04:13:57,080 --> 04:13:57,360
it.

3235
04:13:57,440 --> 04:14:00,060
Then we had Oak Park, didn't quite work out.

3236
04:14:00,360 --> 04:14:08,120
But I am convinced that we can have a continuum of services that are sustainable within

3237
04:14:08,120 --> 04:14:11,540
our budget, maybe we can even get grants, that can be a model.

3238
04:14:12,200 --> 04:14:13,680
I believe we absolutely can.

3239
04:14:15,200 --> 04:14:18,220
As I visit schools, there are wonderful things going on.

3240
04:14:18,320 --> 04:14:25,360
I don't always mention all of them, but when I see a decentralized decision-making initiative,

3241
04:14:26,240 --> 04:14:27,700
I like to just mention it.

3242
04:14:27,880 --> 04:14:31,100
Pinellas Park Middle School has a couple of those initiatives.

3243
04:14:31,720 --> 04:14:38,100
The one I'll just briefly talk about is they have started an alternative success academy

3244
04:14:38,100 --> 04:14:38,860
program.

3245
04:14:38,860 --> 04:14:46,780
And they have put together a team of a regular teacher and an ESC teacher for 6th, 7th, and 8th

3246
04:14:46,780 --> 04:14:50,120
for their most challenging behavior situations.

3247
04:14:51,020 --> 04:14:53,540
And it has made a very big difference.

3248
04:14:53,740 --> 04:14:55,540
And they have a whole plan.

3249
04:14:55,540 --> 04:14:59,520
and it was done with Mr. Ward Kennedy providing support.

3250
04:15:00,240 --> 04:15:01,320
I think he's back there.

3251
04:15:03,380 --> 04:15:09,360
There was a little extra money for a social worker to have three

3252
04:15:09,360 --> 04:15:15,580
days instead of one day. I think that's correct. And they are doing home visits to parents who

3253
04:15:15,580 --> 04:15:22,740
cannot or are not able or, for whatever reason, can't come to the school. So I am sure we

3254
04:15:22,740 --> 04:15:27,760
can provide, and I think it may be different for different schools what they need to do.

3255
04:15:27,760 --> 04:15:32,020
So I'm really very excited about that.

3256
04:15:32,180 --> 04:15:37,280
It's been a long time coming where we have a plan that will have sustainability.

3257
04:15:40,720 --> 04:15:46,200
I support the evening meeting on December 6th.

3258
04:15:46,220 --> 04:15:52,680
In the past, when there was an item like student assignment, a high profile, much interest item,

3259
04:15:52,680 --> 04:15:57,680
We've usually had it at a time certain, like usually 7 o'clock.

3260
04:15:57,960 --> 04:16:03,080
I mean, the board can talk about that so we can get, do some of our other things, you know,

3261
04:16:03,180 --> 04:16:05,780
before that's going to be a long discussion.

3262
04:16:06,220 --> 04:16:12,040
And we've done that in the past, so I hope the board will agree to that.

3263
04:16:15,190 --> 04:16:17,450
And I just want to compliment John Just.

3264
04:16:17,850 --> 04:16:21,170
Another thing that many of us have been waiting for ever for the dashboard.

3265
04:16:21,170 --> 04:16:23,450
board, I already thanked him.

3266
04:16:24,630 --> 04:16:29,810
Just to tell you, somehow you have to unblock the blocking.

3267
04:16:30,570 --> 04:16:34,270
There's some blocking of pop-ups.

3268
04:16:35,890 --> 04:16:37,530
Because sometimes it doesn't let me on it,

3269
04:16:37,530 --> 04:16:38,470
sometimes it wouldn't.

3270
04:16:39,350 --> 04:16:42,350
On our own site, it was blocking the dashboard.

3271
04:16:42,910 --> 04:16:45,010
But I think Mr. Just is working on that.

3272
04:16:45,090 --> 04:16:46,670
And I was able to get it working today.

3273
04:16:46,810 --> 04:16:47,870
So thank you very much.

3274
04:16:48,290 --> 04:16:50,310
It's going to be a huge help for the board

3275
04:16:50,310 --> 04:16:55,690
and the community and others in the system to get really a good snapshot of what's happening,

3276
04:16:55,910 --> 04:17:00,930
not only for the district but for the schools. So many positive things are happening,

3277
04:17:01,330 --> 04:17:02,710
and I appreciate all the hard work.

3278
04:17:03,330 --> 04:17:05,190
All righty. Ms. Clark.

3279
04:17:05,970 --> 04:17:10,630
I just have a couple of things. The first thing, as Ms. Weichel said, we did our board,

3280
04:17:10,770 --> 04:17:16,670
our, the board performance auditor today. So I'm, if the committee doesn't eject,

3281
04:17:16,670 --> 04:17:21,290
And I think I spoke with Mrs. O'Shea, and I think you, Ms. Weichel, are the other person

3282
04:17:21,290 --> 04:17:21,890
on the committee.

3283
04:17:22,430 --> 04:17:27,890
I will get with Ms. Balcom to get our timeline reorganized, because the original timeline

3284
04:17:27,890 --> 04:17:30,230
that we had set up was Ms. Lerner.

3285
04:17:30,990 --> 04:17:34,150
I get so confused with these committees that talk to an advocate.

3286
04:17:35,090 --> 04:17:35,910
It's fine with me.

3287
04:17:35,990 --> 04:17:37,110
No, I think you and I talk.

3288
04:17:37,250 --> 04:17:37,930
It's Ms. O'Shea.

3289
04:17:37,950 --> 04:17:38,750
It's just about the date.

3290
04:17:38,910 --> 04:17:39,310
Nothing else.

3291
04:17:39,430 --> 04:17:39,570
Yeah.

3292
04:17:41,170 --> 04:17:43,070
Peggy, are you the one that's on the committee with us?

3293
04:17:43,590 --> 04:17:44,330
No, Robin is.

3294
04:17:44,990 --> 04:17:46,150
I didn't talk to you.

3295
04:17:47,870 --> 04:17:51,030
You didn't talk to anybody on your committee, now change that out.

3296
04:17:51,030 --> 04:17:51,050
I tried to.

3297
04:17:51,230 --> 04:17:51,950
No, I didn't.

3298
04:17:52,130 --> 04:17:52,990
I talked to Ms. Lerner.

3299
04:17:53,170 --> 04:17:54,870
Just about a date.

3300
04:17:55,950 --> 04:18:01,250
Yeah, just about whether there was an objection to me talking to Ms. Falcon about getting our

3301
04:18:02,410 --> 04:18:03,330
timeline straightened out.

3302
04:18:03,830 --> 04:18:04,230
Okay.

3303
04:18:04,450 --> 04:18:04,910
All right.

3304
04:18:05,050 --> 04:18:07,230
So I'll do that instead of calling another committee meeting.

3305
04:18:07,290 --> 04:18:07,750
That sounds great.

3306
04:18:08,030 --> 04:18:08,730
That was the plan.

3307
04:18:09,030 --> 04:18:09,070
Yeah.

3308
04:18:09,090 --> 04:18:11,530
So I'll get the dates, the significant dates from her.

3309
04:18:11,730 --> 04:18:12,630
So that's that.

3310
04:18:13,490 --> 04:18:20,550
The other thing I wanted to thank Dr. Stewart for the middle school thing this last week.

3311
04:18:20,730 --> 04:18:23,810
We had a good crowd. I think there was a lot of good work done.

3312
04:18:24,270 --> 04:18:25,710
And I appreciated you coming.

3313
04:18:25,870 --> 04:18:32,450
You said something at that meeting that is something that I have believed since the day I started teaching middle school.

3314
04:18:32,930 --> 04:18:38,850
The two important ages in children's lives are from birth to three in middle school.

3315
04:18:38,850 --> 04:18:44,790
You know, I think those are really decisive, the decisive time areas where we are setting

3316
04:18:44,790 --> 04:18:50,010
our kids on a path and getting our kids the way they need to be going.

3317
04:18:50,170 --> 04:18:53,310
I think you're absolutely right with that, and I thank you for coming and saying that.

3318
04:18:54,510 --> 04:18:58,950
The other thing is I went to the DMACC meeting, I filled in for somebody and went to the

3319
04:18:58,950 --> 04:19:04,510
DMACC meeting this last week, and they're doing a bit of struggling right now I think.

3320
04:19:05,150 --> 04:19:11,670
Mary Beth Chorus was there to help them organize their thoughts and she did her quality magic

3321
04:19:11,670 --> 04:19:14,330
with getting things going and getting some next steps going.

3322
04:19:14,850 --> 04:19:19,330
But I was concerned about what our board could do to help them out.

3323
04:19:19,490 --> 04:19:26,270
And one thing was there are some organizations that have not pointed new members and they're

3324
04:19:26,270 --> 04:19:28,650
missing three or four members right now.

3325
04:19:28,990 --> 04:19:33,850
And I suggested to them and they said, please do this if we ask the Chair to write

3326
04:19:33,850 --> 04:19:38,510
a letter to the organizations that, you know, stressing the importance of the committee

3327
04:19:38,510 --> 04:19:41,930
and the importance of having their membership represented there.

3328
04:19:42,370 --> 04:19:45,290
So if that would be okay, I'd really appreciate that.

3329
04:19:45,470 --> 04:19:46,130
Happy to do it.

3330
04:19:46,210 --> 04:19:49,430
There were a couple of things they said they were missing, that they weren't always getting.

3331
04:19:49,590 --> 04:19:51,970
One was the Super's report, which we had talked about.

3332
04:19:52,710 --> 04:19:56,970
And then the other thing, they said they hadn't received any charter school applications.

3333
04:19:57,650 --> 04:20:00,430
And I don't know if this is just stuff that's falling through the cracks, but

3334
04:20:00,430 --> 04:20:02,410
they're supposed to be correct, Mr. Madden.

3335
04:20:02,410 --> 04:20:05,530
I mean, you you you lived with them for a long time.

3336
04:20:05,790 --> 04:20:10,670
Right. And I would probably be the best route to take is for me to get with Mr.

3337
04:20:10,770 --> 04:20:14,830
Robinson because it's my understanding that the charter school applications were

3338
04:20:14,830 --> 04:20:19,070
only required to go to DMACC while we were under ratios.

3339
04:20:19,370 --> 04:20:21,550
OK. But I'll clarify. I mean, if that's if that's true.

3340
04:20:21,670 --> 04:20:23,370
I mean, I could have said that if I had known that.

3341
04:20:23,530 --> 04:20:27,610
But, you know, if you can just if you can do that and get with them.

3342
04:20:29,410 --> 04:20:36,590
And the other thing that we didn't know about was, is there a SAC organization, a county-wide

3343
04:20:36,590 --> 04:20:38,270
SAC organization anymore?

3344
04:20:39,090 --> 04:20:39,550
Not anymore.

3345
04:20:39,790 --> 04:20:41,150
No, there used to be.

3346
04:20:41,810 --> 04:20:45,550
Because two of their members are supposed to be from the SAC, from that organization.

3347
04:20:46,230 --> 04:20:49,290
And since there's not an organization anymore, what are they to do?

3348
04:20:49,510 --> 04:20:51,470
I mean they have two SAC members right now.

3349
04:20:52,010 --> 04:20:55,550
But once those terms run out, you know, are they supposed to go out and just fish

3350
04:20:55,550 --> 04:21:00,370
from that big pond of sacks or, you know, do we have the right organizations there?

3351
04:21:01,030 --> 04:21:06,630
One of the things that plaintiffs' counsel want to talk about in the ongoing Bradley discussions

3352
04:21:07,970 --> 04:21:09,010
is DMACC.

3353
04:21:09,690 --> 04:21:09,950
Okay.

3354
04:21:09,950 --> 04:21:16,310
So a lot of the, all of the issues that you've raised and undoubtedly more can be

3355
04:21:16,310 --> 04:21:19,370
taken up in those discussions, which should be coming up shortly.

3356
04:21:19,950 --> 04:21:20,170
Okay.

3357
04:21:20,170 --> 04:21:25,810
And the last thing that we mentioned was maybe getting a letter from the board to thank people

3358
04:21:25,810 --> 04:21:32,190
who are on their way out of their DMACC service, a letter from us thanking them for serving.

3359
04:21:32,710 --> 04:21:34,750
So at least a pat on the back for them.

3360
04:21:35,110 --> 04:21:37,830
But that was all I had from that.

3361
04:21:38,190 --> 04:21:40,050
And now that I've said that, I'm done.

3362
04:21:40,330 --> 04:21:40,850
I'm grinding.

3363
04:21:41,470 --> 04:21:42,350
Very good.

3364
04:21:43,090 --> 04:21:43,430
All right.

3365
04:21:43,530 --> 04:21:46,030
I'm going to start with the meeting.

3366
04:21:46,030 --> 04:21:52,490
One of the things we didn't realize when we moved our January evening meeting to a daytime

3367
04:21:52,490 --> 04:21:57,430
meeting, because some of us would be leaving and going to Tallahassee, that it was really

3368
04:21:57,430 --> 04:22:03,330
going to end up being from November, today's meeting, all the way until February 23rd before

3369
04:22:03,330 --> 04:22:04,510
we had an evening meeting.

3370
04:22:05,170 --> 04:22:11,210
So we have the option of doing the next meeting as an evening meeting if you would

3371
04:22:11,210 --> 04:22:18,670
like. That would be a five o'clock meeting or our first meeting in January. Could be a

3372
04:22:18,670 --> 04:22:25,950
530 meeting. With us having a daytime meeting for student assignment, it would be very logical

3373
04:22:25,950 --> 04:22:30,110
for us to have an evening meeting for student assignment. Understanding that there will

3374
04:22:30,110 --> 04:22:33,190
be several teachers that would also like to come to that meeting, so it's going to

3375
04:22:33,190 --> 04:22:38,670
be a very long meeting potentially. And if we do that. So what is the will of the

3376
04:22:38,670 --> 04:22:44,950
board at 7 p.m. time certain well we have one time certain yet until I know what

3377
04:22:44,950 --> 04:22:50,550
time the meeting okay yes no I just want to it is five o'clock the time that we

3378
04:22:50,550 --> 04:22:55,770
want to do for the December meeting okay I'm seeing yes now do we want to do it

3379
04:22:55,770 --> 04:23:00,570
time certain at at 7 for student assignment all

3380
04:23:04,440 --> 04:23:06,380
right we'll do time

3381
04:23:06,380 --> 04:23:12,400
certain. Seven o'clock for student assignment.

3382
04:23:14,590 --> 04:23:14,970
All right.

3383
04:23:17,630 --> 04:23:20,610
In your folder, and I also sent

3384
04:23:20,610 --> 04:23:27,210
in an email form, a request for a letter of recommendation. You know as much about it as

3385
04:23:27,210 --> 04:23:33,230
I do at this point in time because all I received was the letter itself. We have

3386
04:23:33,230 --> 04:23:37,230
not had the opportunity to look at what the criteria should be. There was some conversation

3387
04:23:37,230 --> 04:23:41,150
recommendation about not doing anything with letters of recommendation until we had a criteria.

3388
04:23:41,670 --> 04:23:48,270
So I'd like to just ask you what you want me to do with this because I did not believe

3389
04:23:48,270 --> 04:23:52,410
it was mine to say yes or no as far as writing the letter.

3390
04:23:54,310 --> 04:23:56,390
It is a

3391
04:24:00,490 --> 04:24:06,830
group that is applying to the Florida Division of Historical Resources for Funding

3392
04:24:06,830 --> 04:24:11,650
for past forward Florida, and they would like us to write a letter.

3393
04:24:12,270 --> 04:24:16,610
So I would now like to get direction from the board as to what you'd like me to do.

3394
04:24:17,130 --> 04:24:17,910
Mr. Krasner.

3395
04:24:19,630 --> 04:24:23,830
Until we do have a process in place, I feel like we need to decline.

3396
04:24:26,230 --> 04:24:32,750
I think all of us are very cautious about what we attach our name to, and if not

3397
04:24:32,750 --> 04:24:39,970
not really knowing. I just feel like we need to, so we're very sorry at this point, but

3398
04:24:40,490 --> 04:24:44,210
and then really work on getting a process in place for that. If we knew them, that'd

3399
04:24:44,210 --> 04:24:44,970
be something else.

3400
04:24:46,870 --> 04:24:58,660
How do other people feel? Yes, this is what I know about the organization. Yep.

3401
04:25:00,680 --> 04:25:01,160
And

3402
04:25:01,160 --> 04:25:02,440
yes, Mrs. Lerner.

3403
04:25:03,100 --> 04:25:09,920
I read this over quickly, and I thought the process really, I think, is to be sure all

3404
04:25:09,920 --> 04:25:13,820
the board members get a chance to look at it and that at a workshop or a board meeting

3405
04:25:13,820 --> 04:25:15,120
we have that discussion.

3406
04:25:15,280 --> 04:25:20,980
But this is a partnership of the St. Petersburg Times newspaper and education program, American

3407
04:25:20,980 --> 04:25:26,920
Institute of Architects, Florida, Tampa Bay, and the Tampa Bay Architectural Heritage

3408
04:25:26,920 --> 04:25:27,360
Committee.

3409
04:25:27,360 --> 04:25:35,160
It seems to me it's extremely credible and could provide good educational resources for

3410
04:25:35,160 --> 04:25:36,320
our students and teachers.

3411
04:25:37,060 --> 04:25:45,080
I think we have approved others that really weren't as much attuned to the education of

3412
04:25:45,080 --> 04:25:45,560
our students.

3413
04:25:46,120 --> 04:25:48,060
I think it would be wrong not to approve it.

3414
04:25:48,240 --> 04:25:51,700
And then we really need to talk about a process, but you're bringing it to us.

3415
04:25:51,900 --> 04:25:53,180
You're not deciding on your own.

3416
04:25:53,480 --> 04:25:54,940
Well, I haven't decided on my own on any of them.

3417
04:25:54,940 --> 04:25:55,520
No, you have not.

3418
04:25:55,520 --> 04:25:56,440
They all come forward.

3419
04:25:57,940 --> 04:26:02,140
But the last time we brought one, I believe it was Mrs. O'Shea that brought one forward

3420
04:26:02,140 --> 04:26:06,720
and we said not to approve any until we, my understanding was that we weren't supposed

3421
04:26:06,720 --> 04:26:08,620
to approve any until we had a process in place.

3422
04:26:09,860 --> 04:26:13,640
I am willing to do whatever the board wants at this point.

3423
04:26:13,760 --> 04:26:19,680
We have one board member saying yes and another one saying no, Mrs. Lerner has spoken.

3424
04:26:19,980 --> 04:26:20,520
Mrs. Weichel.

3425
04:26:21,420 --> 04:26:25,560
Actually, I was just reading, my question was, is there a date and there is November

3426
04:26:25,560 --> 04:26:26,220
11th?

3427
04:26:26,220 --> 04:26:33,740
I would, you know, I would hate to prohibit somebody from getting on a war, I mean a grant

3428
04:26:33,740 --> 04:26:38,440
because this is to support them with the grant.

3429
04:26:39,180 --> 04:26:44,040
I would be willing to write a letter of support, okay?

3430
04:26:44,520 --> 04:26:50,260
In the email that I sent there was also a copy of the letter of support and I hope

3431
04:26:50,260 --> 04:26:51,400
people read that.

3432
04:26:51,680 --> 04:26:51,860
Yes?

3433
04:27:05,220 --> 04:27:13,580
Yeah, but I do concur with Mrs. Lerner our partnership with the Times and the other organization

3434
04:27:14,280 --> 04:27:20,860
is of such that we are not taking that much of a chance recommending a letter for someone

3435
04:27:20,860 --> 04:27:25,300
that we don't know about, because I think we do know these. So I would vote yes.

3436
04:27:27,080 --> 04:27:29,480
Okay. All righty. Mrs. Krasner?

3437
04:27:31,240 --> 04:27:38,080
Just a question, you know, first of all, I mean, have we even verified that this is, you know, somebody from the St. Pete Times?

3438
04:27:38,860 --> 04:27:44,960
And second of all, I know that the funding that they're seeking is from the state as far as money.

3439
04:27:44,960 --> 04:27:51,140
And it's like, you know, I know all the different things that are out there that we want to

3440
04:27:51,140 --> 04:27:52,360
seek funding for.

3441
04:27:52,620 --> 04:27:58,940
And I just want to make sure, you know, that this is, I mean, do we know teachers or anybody

3442
04:27:58,940 --> 04:28:05,020
who really, I just, I feel like we're doing this, you know, very quickly just because

3443
04:28:05,020 --> 04:28:10,860
of an association that we don't even know is a total association.

3444
04:28:10,860 --> 04:28:17,240
We haven't heard from anybody that we know from the St. Pete Times to help us bring

3445
04:28:17,240 --> 04:28:17,880
this forward.

3446
04:28:18,380 --> 04:28:21,480
You know, this is somebody that we don't know person at all.

3447
04:28:24,190 --> 04:28:24,910
This is Cook.

3448
04:28:25,390 --> 04:28:26,170
Yes, ma'am.

3449
04:28:27,510 --> 04:28:28,730
I would support it.

3450
04:28:28,910 --> 04:28:32,810
I mean, these are all reputable groups that are working in our area, you know, our

3451
04:28:32,810 --> 04:28:33,670
geographic area.

3452
04:28:34,570 --> 04:28:39,010
And as you know, with most grants, the more letters of support that you can submit

3453
04:28:39,010 --> 04:28:42,310
with them, the greater the chance of getting the grant, we probably ask for support

3454
04:28:42,310 --> 04:28:43,870
and some of our grants from time to time.

3455
04:28:44,350 --> 04:28:46,350
And so it's sort of just a collaborative effort

3456
04:28:46,350 --> 04:28:48,730
to help get the funding for this local area.

3457
04:28:49,530 --> 04:28:50,970
So I would support it.

3458
04:28:51,110 --> 04:28:54,230
I don't see that there's any detrimental aspects to it,

3459
04:28:54,530 --> 04:28:55,430
to our school system,

3460
04:28:55,670 --> 04:28:56,930
anything that can be an enhancement.

3461
04:28:57,750 --> 04:28:58,450
All right.

3462
04:28:58,570 --> 04:28:59,110
Good, thank you.

3463
04:28:59,350 --> 04:28:59,570
Ms. Clark?

3464
04:28:59,910 --> 04:29:02,070
I think this is cool, you know.

3465
04:29:02,450 --> 04:29:05,050
The project that they're doing,

3466
04:29:06,750 --> 04:29:09,450
they're going to produce a full color tab

3467
04:29:09,450 --> 04:29:13,870
upload style, multimedia educational publication, exploring the diverse

3468
04:29:13,870 --> 04:29:18,170
architecture, history, and cultures of Tampa Bay. It'll be distributed to eighth

3469
04:29:18,170 --> 04:29:21,850
grade students in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and

3470
04:29:21,850 --> 04:29:26,050
Pinellas County in insert. It'll be an insert in the, in a Sunday Times.

3471
04:29:29,210 --> 04:29:34,770
445,000 is the estimated print circulation. And what it will be, it'll

3472
04:29:34,770 --> 04:29:40,690
and they'll have an electronic form for free download by students, educators, and the general public.

3473
04:29:41,770 --> 04:29:48,130
It's an, take a tour of Tampa Bay on your own, on your own pace.

3474
04:29:48,610 --> 04:29:54,250
It's a self-guided multimedia walking tour of historic and notable architecture in Tampa Bay,

3475
04:29:54,370 --> 04:29:58,790
which allows the users to scan QR codes affixed to the exterior.

3476
04:29:58,790 --> 04:29:59,970
the barrier of various systems.

3477
04:30:02,480 --> 04:30:08,360
I think that's a really cool thing that, you know, that students, you know, you get them

3478
04:30:08,360 --> 04:30:14,240
right there with that. So I'm all for this. I think it sounds like a neat project. You

3479
04:30:14,240 --> 04:30:18,040
know, we support other things, so I don't know why we shouldn't this.

3480
04:30:18,320 --> 04:30:21,060
Okay. Well, it sounds to me like the majority of the board would like you to write the

3481
04:30:21,060 --> 04:30:23,600
letter of recommendation, which I would be happy to do. Mrs. Weichel.

3482
04:30:24,300 --> 04:30:30,840
Madam Chair, would this be a good time to appoint a committee to figure out what our

3483
04:30:30,840 --> 04:30:35,460
process is as a board so we don't, you know, we do have a process in place.

3484
04:30:36,100 --> 04:30:43,260
As far as time commitments, it's not our, you know, that old saying comes back, an

3485
04:30:43,260 --> 04:30:47,880
emergency, you know, if there's a consistent emergency on our part, if we have a process

3486
04:30:47,880 --> 04:30:50,620
in place then we shouldn't have any time restraints at the board table.

3487
04:30:52,200 --> 04:30:58,380
Or do I need to – we need to point out at the workshop, at the workshop and have people

3488
04:30:58,380 --> 04:31:03,980
have an opportunity to think who might want to do it, what kinds of things might be included

3489
04:31:03,980 --> 04:31:07,580
in that process just to kind of brainstorm a little bit and have some conversations

3490
04:31:07,580 --> 04:31:08,680
during leadership discussion.

3491
04:31:09,260 --> 04:31:09,840
All righty.

3492
04:31:10,620 --> 04:31:11,060
Okay.

3493
04:31:11,260 --> 04:31:13,000
That was a second item.

3494
04:31:15,100 --> 04:31:23,460
The third item is this school district participated, and all of you know that I also serve on the

3495
04:31:23,460 --> 04:31:24,580
close of kids for the directors.

3496
04:31:24,840 --> 04:31:29,420
And this district participates not only in payroll deduction but in an activity that

3497
04:31:29,420 --> 04:31:35,120
they had at the end of last month, it was called drop off the drawers as they were getting

3498
04:31:35,120 --> 04:31:38,580
underwear for children in Pinellas County.

3499
04:31:38,580 --> 04:31:43,070
I just wanted to give you a little bit of update with that between the St. Pete store and

3500
04:31:44,900 --> 04:31:49,580
The Clearwater store where children can actually kind of come and shop for

3501
04:31:50,140 --> 04:31:50,940
for clothing

3502
04:31:50,940 --> 04:31:54,300
30,000 pairs of underwear

3503
04:31:54,710 --> 04:31:59,680
Were raised and and and brought brand new all-in packages

3504
04:32:00,540 --> 04:32:05,960
So so 30,000 pairs of underwear were dropped. So we have a lot of drawers

3505
04:32:05,960 --> 04:32:06,800
That's amazing.

3506
04:32:07,080 --> 04:32:11,640
The neat thing about this is there are so many students that are being serviced by this

3507
04:32:11,640 --> 04:32:12,160
organization.

3508
04:32:12,340 --> 04:32:15,980
Those 30,000 pairs of underwear, the last, less than six months.

3509
04:32:16,460 --> 04:32:21,780
How many students are coming through that aren't free or reduced lunch, that are coming

3510
04:32:21,780 --> 04:32:25,000
in and getting what we call a wardrobe five days worth of clothing?

3511
04:32:25,380 --> 04:32:29,060
And one of our biggest expenses was underwear, five pairs of underwear, five pairs of socks,

3512
04:32:29,400 --> 04:32:30,220
and that kind of thing.

3513
04:32:30,660 --> 04:32:32,160
Yeah, yeah, so they have to be, yeah, new.

3514
04:32:32,160 --> 04:32:37,320
and so I want to thank the whole community as well as the people in this

3515
04:32:37,320 --> 04:32:42,940
building and everyone else in the system that participated in that because it was

3516
04:32:42,940 --> 04:32:48,180
very successful for our first try out there and in Pinellas County School

3517
04:32:48,180 --> 04:32:53,360
districts dropped off a bunch of drawers for the students in Pinellas and

3518
04:32:53,360 --> 04:32:59,880
I want to thank everybody for that. Yesterday when Mr. Robinson and Dr.

3519
04:32:59,880 --> 04:33:06,960
Stuart and I were meeting and Mr. Madden about this board meeting and moving forward, we

3520
04:33:06,960 --> 04:33:15,600
looked at the statute for the organization meeting and we had some requests that we were

3521
04:33:15,600 --> 04:33:19,760
looking at as far as could we get a little bit of change, could we have some flexibility

3522
04:33:19,760 --> 04:33:25,680
and the answer was no, we don't get any flexibility, but in that process we also

3523
04:33:25,680 --> 04:33:30,260
realize that we've maybe been doing things a little differently with our

3524
04:33:30,260 --> 04:33:34,440
reorganization meeting and so I'm just kind of kind of give everybody a heads

3525
04:33:34,440 --> 04:33:38,120
up because I don't know who's going to be the chairman but the superintendent

3526
04:33:38,120 --> 04:33:43,800
will do the election of the chairman and then the chairman will take over and

3527
04:33:44,660 --> 04:33:50,820
we will then hold the election for the vice chairman and the legislative

3528
04:33:50,820 --> 04:33:54,660
chair according to their statutes. In the past we've had the superintendent

3529
04:33:54,660 --> 04:34:00,580
that you all love it, but once the Chairman is elected, the Chairman is the one that holds

3530
04:34:00,580 --> 04:34:01,060
the next.

3531
04:34:01,700 --> 04:34:03,580
So I'm going to get with Ms. Beatty.

3532
04:34:03,700 --> 04:34:09,020
We're going to write a little script out so that should you be nominated and elected as

3533
04:34:09,020 --> 04:34:11,000
Chairman, you don't have to walk up cold.

3534
04:34:11,280 --> 04:34:14,140
It will be here's the process and here are the kinds of things that you say.

3535
04:34:14,780 --> 04:34:15,180
Okay.

3536
04:34:15,320 --> 04:34:15,600
Yes, ma'am.

3537
04:34:15,900 --> 04:34:17,920
And that's all that's going to be done that day.

3538
04:34:18,400 --> 04:34:19,400
So someone's out of town.

3539
04:34:19,520 --> 04:34:20,320
They could call in.

3540
04:34:20,380 --> 04:34:20,740
Correct.

3541
04:34:22,560 --> 04:34:22,920
Okay.

3542
04:34:22,920 --> 04:34:23,120
Okay.

3543
04:34:23,720 --> 04:34:24,040
Okay.

3544
04:34:24,300 --> 04:34:24,860
Scheduling.

3545
04:34:25,580 --> 04:34:26,260
Oh, yes.

3546
04:34:26,640 --> 04:34:27,480
One of the other things.

3547
04:34:27,620 --> 04:34:28,120
Thank you.

3548
04:34:28,360 --> 04:34:28,740
Thank you.

3549
04:34:29,700 --> 04:34:37,740
We also are supposed to, at that meeting, vote on and announce when our board meetings will

3550
04:34:37,740 --> 04:34:39,440
be for the rest of the year.

3551
04:34:39,800 --> 04:34:42,980
We've always been kind of voting on it with our fiscal year.

3552
04:34:43,680 --> 04:34:50,340
Well, we're going to have the dates that we've already put in place from January through

3553
04:34:50,340 --> 04:34:58,820
through June, but we will also have a recommendation of our June through November meetings to be

3554
04:34:58,820 --> 04:34:59,140
added.

3555
04:35:00,060 --> 04:35:00,360
Okay?

3556
04:35:00,720 --> 04:35:03,600
So there are some different things that we do at this meeting.

3557
04:35:04,000 --> 04:35:04,280
Yes, ma'am?

3558
04:35:04,400 --> 04:35:04,740
Can't.

3559
04:35:06,000 --> 04:35:08,480
You'll be looking at Jewish holidays and things like that.

3560
04:35:08,740 --> 04:35:09,560
It's just our board meeting.

3561
04:35:10,180 --> 04:35:10,580
Oh, yeah.

3562
04:35:10,760 --> 04:35:10,900
Yeah.

3563
04:35:11,060 --> 04:35:11,340
Oh, yeah.

3564
04:35:11,560 --> 04:35:12,400
The high holidays.

3565
04:35:12,580 --> 04:35:13,840
Yeah, we wouldn't hold the board meeting on a Jewish holiday.

3566
04:35:13,840 --> 04:35:14,660
Someone is going to, yeah.

3567
04:35:14,700 --> 04:35:15,300
Yeah, right.

3568
04:35:15,360 --> 04:35:18,160
It'll come to us as it normally would in an agenda item.

3569
04:35:18,440 --> 04:35:19,540
It'll be that same kind of thing.

3570
04:35:19,540 --> 04:35:22,940
And if we find, I'm going to say give you on Kipper and Rosh Hashanah, okay.

3571
04:35:23,780 --> 04:35:24,060
Okay.

3572
04:35:24,180 --> 04:35:25,980
Mr. Robinson, you had a...

3573
04:35:26,820 --> 04:35:30,980
I was going to say that you could, at that same time, you could change the time from

3574
04:35:30,980 --> 04:35:31,980
our five...

3575
04:35:31,980 --> 04:35:32,100
Yes.

3576
04:35:32,460 --> 04:35:34,440
...to 5.30 and our 10 to 10.30.

3577
04:35:35,280 --> 04:35:36,020
We'll get that ahead of you.

3578
04:35:36,040 --> 04:35:38,040
And then we'll all be done in that one agenda item.

3579
04:35:38,360 --> 04:35:38,660
Okay.

3580
04:35:38,980 --> 04:35:39,400
All righty.

3581
04:35:39,980 --> 04:35:41,260
Do you have any questions about it?

3582
04:35:41,300 --> 04:35:43,800
I'll be happy to explain it.

3583
04:35:44,000 --> 04:35:44,420
Yes, ma'am.

3584
04:35:47,260 --> 04:35:54,260
Just one question. Do the people on our board let us know if they're interested in anything?

3585
04:35:54,560 --> 04:36:01,440
In the past, Ms. Hicks has sent something out to every board member and you check if you're interested in...

3586
04:36:02,100 --> 04:36:07,540
Well, it could be interested or willing to do the chairmanship and the vice chairmanship

3587
04:36:07,540 --> 04:36:10,380
and we can add the legislative piece to it.

3588
04:36:10,660 --> 04:36:13,720
And so that you'll have a general idea of who might be going to do that.

3589
04:36:13,720 --> 04:36:22,880
Okay. Any other questions? All right. With that, we will have our evaluation after we

3590
04:36:22,880 --> 04:36:27,800
do this and then follow it up with executive session. Meeting is adjourned.